Yuri!!! On Ice Book 1

Chapter 24

Yurio's POV 1st Person Omniscient

The next morning I don't leave my room. Otabek comes to the door and knocks, calling my name, but I don't answer. Eventually he leaves me alone, saying he's going to visit Mila in the hospital. I really hope she's okay. A few hours later Otabek returns, telling me that Mila says hi. He tells me she swears she's not mad and that her only injury is a minor concussion. They're keeping her one more night for observation, but after that she's fine and cleared to skate. I don't respond. He leaves me alone. I stay in there all day. I don't know what to do. I have to go back to the rink sometime, there's no getting around it, I know that. I also know it'll be easier to go back sooner rather then later. Ideally, I would have gone back today, but I didn't. Which means tomorrow, tomorrow's my best bet. Maybe if I'm lucky Victor and Yuri will be there, announcing their engagement, taking the focus off me, and my attack on Mila. God I hope she's okay. I know Otabek says she is but I don't believe that. I spend the afternoon and evening thinking about tomorrow, and how I have to handle it. I can't just stay in bed, that's for sure. I am Yuri Plisetsky, a soldier, I do not make mistakes and I do not give in. 

The next day I get up with my alarm, and am standing in the kitchen making breakfast when Otabek leaves his room. "Good morning." I say to him, trying to act casual, nothing happened. He looks at me,

"Good morning," He says, looking unsure of himself, and watching me carefully, "How are you?" 

"I'm fine." I answer quickly, too quickly. I force myself to look him in the eye and smile, "Did you sleep well?" The most normal thing in the world, I think to myself, Except of course, I never say that. He nods, and steps into the kitchen, grabbing a cup. Potya twines in between his legs and purrs, he pats her head. I reach past him and grab the egg carton, I crack a few into the pan, watching them fry determinedly. 

"Thanks," Otabek says as he watches me, I nod and don't look up. 45 minutes, and one painfully awkward breakfast later we leave our apartment. I delayed for quite a while before we went, in grabbing my bag, filling my water bottle, and changing into skating clothes. I'm sure Otabek noticed this because as I checked over my possessions for the third time before leaving he watched me and said, "We don't have to go today. It's alright." I look at him and try to smile convincingly, I doubt it works, and reply,

"No, I'm good. I was just missing my lace pullers last practice and it was really bugging me," I say and hold up the little instrument, "But I have them now, so I'm good!" I throw them into my bag and leave the apartment, Otabek watching me, concerned. Don't be concerned, I'm fine. I'm fine. 

***

We reach the ice rink late, due to my endless checking, and make our way to the locker rooms. My hands shake slightly as I pull on my skates, using the essential lace puller to tighten them. Chris and Georgi are already on the rink, lucky for me. This way we don't have to socialize, just train. I take longer than Otabek to get ready, and he stands by the door, waiting  patiently. Eventually I put on my temporary guards and walk out with him. My heart starts thumping as we walk up to the side and begin to remove our guards. My hand grips the wall so tightly my knuckles turn white. Don't hit anyone! 

"Yuri!" A voice from behind me screams, and I turn to find myself engulfed in a hug by Mila. Everyone's watching. I step back quickly, and look her up and down, she seems okay enough. 

"Hi," I say awkwardly, looking down toward my skates, still wearing their guards, "How are you?" She smiles brightly, and replies, 

"I'm great! Back and better than ever!" She pumps her fist in the air and laughs, "It was great actually, like a vacation, I got to watch TV like a normal human!" She smiles at me genuinely and whispers, "I'm fine Yuri. Don't worry." I look her in the eyes, and see her concern, she's waiting for a response. 

"Uh, good." I say slowly, "I'm glad," She goes to hug me again and I step back, a gesture that is not lost on her. "I don't think my skates are tight enough," I mumble, "Let me just go and fix them." I back away from the door and retrace my steps to the locker rooms. Her eyes follow me, and I know she's worried. I glance over my shoulder and see her say something to Otabek who immediately dismounts from the ice and begins to follow me. Shit. 

**Author's Note!**

Hey, so this is the shortest chapter I've ever done on here and here's why. I wrote this chapter and published it last night, it was the normal length around 2000 words or so, but today when I started writing the next chapter it just didn't work. So, basically I deleted everything I had and started from scratch! Yay! This is kind of badly written, and is the definition of a filler chapter but it does help the flow of the story. I hope it wasn't too bad, but I'm not surprised if it was. I feel like my writing's really gone downhill lately, but then I reread the early chapters and I'm not so sure. I'll see you guys in about five seconds with the next chapter, bye!