A Turn for the... Best? (A Turn for the Worse Sequel)

Chapter 13

"Oh sweet memories. How they make my anxiety arise from its slumber..." I sighed as we walked through the narrow hallway from the airplane into the airport.

"You okay Yuri? Do you need to take a minute to breathe?" Seung looked back at me. His face pinched with worry.

Otabek paused next to me, his fingers lacing with mine. He looked up at me with a pained expression. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

It's fine. You're okay. There's nothing to be afraid of. Just breathe.

I relaxed my shoulders and breathed out slowly. When I opened my eyes again, the world seemed more stable.

Phichit, Seung, and Otabek were staring at me with worried expressions. I gave them a small smile before speaking.

"I think I'm fine now. Let's go so we don't make Mila wait any longer." Victor had told me the day before that Chris had gone back home so Mila was going to greet us when we arrived.

Otabek hesitated before nodding. I kissed his forehead and led him to the terminal where Mila would have been waiting.

Mila was very happy to see us. She jumped up and down when she saw us walking towards her after we picked up our bags. I smiled at the sight.

She ran over and gave us all a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"It's so good to see you guys again. I've missed you all." Her smile was bright and contagious.

"Ditto, Mila. How have you been?" I asked her as we fell into step.

"I've been good. Just making sure that Victor and Yuri don't get into too much trouble. By the way, Victor got released early so he said to ask you if you could go visit him after you guys got settled." Her voice quieted and was gentle when she said this.

I looked over to Otabek who was holding on tightly to my arm. His expression was pinched with what I assumed was worry and... anger?

"I think I'll go see him tomorrow. It'll probably be best since it'll give me time to get used to being back here." I forced a small smile at Mila who nodded in understanding.

The walk to her car was brisk and quiet after that. Phichit sat up front with Mila and Otabek sat to my right while Seung sat to my left. I could tell Otabek didn't like being back here. He was tense ever since we landed. He seemed to be more on edge when we got to our hotel.

Me and Phichit checked in at the front desk while the other two waited in the main lobby. We took the elevators up to the third floor where we were staying. Phichit and Seung's room was in the opposite direction of ours so we made a quick plan to meet for dinner later this evening.

Once we got into our room, Otabek flopped on the bed after taking his shirt off and kicking off his shoes. I sat next to him and thought for a bit before speaking.

"Are you okay with me going to see him? I know we haven't really talked about it since this all kind of happened pretty quickly." I laid on my side, facing Otabek who was pouting slightly.

He was quiet for a moment before he said anything. "I'm okay with it. It's just kind of hard being back here... I just need to calm myself down before we go anywhere outside of the hotel."

"Okay. Do you want to take a nap or just lay here for a while?"

"I just need you here. Feeling you next to me gives me peace." He smiled as he put my arm over his waist and rested his head on my shoulder.

I pulled him closer to me and hummed softly. His voice came out strained. Almost like he was on the verge of tears. "Can you read something? I need to get my mind off of these thoughts."