Damaged love

How to make a friend

Yuri. I watched him across the table from me. He was looking out the window. His blonde hair covering most of his face that I could see. It was frustrating. I had asked him to be my friend. The shock in those eyes… I sighed feeling so bad for this kid. That wasn’t good. Not when I was hired to end his life. His head turned back to look at me.
“Uh, sorry I uh saw the dog…” he pointed out the window where a young child was holding the leash to a dog nearly as big as it was. “I like animals. Not home enough to have a dog, so I got a cat.” He picked at the table cloth.
“Cats are interesting. I move around a lot, so …” I waved my hand. My eyes slipping over his bent head.
“Otabek?” Why had I given him my real name? Why had I felt the need for this kid to know me? I groaned inwardly. Partly because I used to be a figure skater. Used to be pretty damn good too. But the money ran out, my folks kicked me out, then I just had to find a way to survive.
“What is it Yuri?” I asked.
“You, uh, have a place to stay?” he asked. I saw the green of his eyes peeking up at me. I smirked.
“Not yet. I’m staying at a hotel for now.” I said. The waitress came over with our food. He sat back to allow her room to set everything down. I reordered our drinks. She went to go get them. He didn’t talk for a while.
“Yuri?” I asked. He looked up at me a French fry lightly touching his lips.
“Huh?” he answered
“Have you ever had a friend?” I quizzed. It was the wrong thing to say. Instantly his eyes filled with rage. Hardened emeralds sparking a prism of glares at me.
“Why would I need a friend?” he growled. “I’m fine on my own.”
“You sure about that?” I arched a brow. God he was so young to be so angry. My eyes widened. He wasn’t looking at me, but I realized something. He was just like me. I had been angry all the time.
My family never understood my love of the ice. The degraded me for skating. Telling me I would have to get a real job some day. Yet they spent all the money I made saying I was a minor and they needed it to take care of me. I needed that money to hire coaches, fly to events but they didn’t see it that way. When I could no longer afford to get to events I was dropped from the circuit. That’s when they kicked me out.
Thinking about that,, watching this kid heading in the same path it freaked me out a little. What possessed me to do what I did then I was never sure. I reached across the table to place my hand over his fist. “Hey, its ok. People suck, I get that.” His eyes shimmered for the briefest of moments. Had this kid ever been allowed to cry? I wondered.
“I have my grandpa.” He whispered.
“You have me as well.” I told him. His head came up. Those eyes were so lost, hard and lost. I felt like pulling him across the table to hug life back into him. “I’m not going any where, Yuri. You’re stuck with me.” I smirked. His only response was to pull his hand away. Slowly he began to eat his dinner. We didn’t talk for a while as we ate. When the waitress came back to take our plates away I ordered apple pie alamode for both of us. Yuri looked shocked.
“I don’t eat sweets.” He muttered.
“One won’t kill ya.” I pointed out. The smile that touched his lips, though small, was worth it. I grinned at him. As we walked out of the café, after I paid for everything and he objected. I had laughed and pushed him away so he couldn’t pay. I looked up at the clear sky.
“Great night for a ride.” I whispered.
“Can we?” he asked looking anywhere but at me.
“Go for a ride?” I asked. He nodded looking at the light pole in the corner of the parking lot. “Sure.” I held out his helmet. He put it on as I swung onto the bike. One small hand gripped my shoulder as he got his leg over the seat. For a skater, especially one who studied ballet, lifting his leg wasn’t the issue. I chuckled a little as he struggled slightly to pull himself up and onto the seat.
“Shut up.” He growled, there was no menace behind the words.
“Ready?” I asked when I felt him settle in. His legs touched mine slightly. One hand still gripped a buckle on my jacket. “Feel free to hang on.” I said. He grunted. Being a smartass I popped the clutch causing the bike to buck up on its back tire. He let out a tiny squeak as his arms caught my waist. Laughing I pulled out of the parking lot.
There were some hills just outside of town. I had ridden up there my first day here. I drove there now. It was nice this time of year. The air was still fairly warm. We drove through the winding roads. I let go of the handle bars to touch his hand. In my head it was just to see how cold he was getting, I never expected the electric shock that the touch produced. It felt like I had just touched an electric eel.
I pulled my hand back. Coming out of a bend I pulled the bike up to a small park nestled in a little bowl like valley. Yuri didn’t move. Twisting I looked back at him. He was asleep. I grinned. He looked so peaceful.
I sat there on the edge of the world watching the sunset. Once it was under the horizon, I turned the bike back toward the road. Yuri only had a thin jacket on. He would be getting chilled soon. I headed back into town. Due to my orders to kill him, I knew where he lived. Yet he himself hadn’t told me yet. So to not look like a stalker, I drove back to the skating rink.
Shutting the bike off, I felt him stir against my back. He sat up the cold hit where his body had been pressed against me. “Where are we?” he muttered. Glancing down in my rear view mirror I saw him rub the sleep out of his eyes.
“At the rink. I uh didn’t know where you lived.” I smirked. He pointed to a tall building just behind the rink.
“Over there.” He said.
“Alright, hang on.” I drove toward the white tower. As we drew nearer he reached around me to point me into he right direction. Just behind the white tower like building was an old warehouse. It was apparent that it had been transformed into apartments.
The red brick looked dull, but the windows shined in the fading light. I pulled up in front of the building. Yuri swung off of the bike. “You want to come in?” he asked.
“Yeah sure.” I grinned. I parked the bike off to the side of the door. Locking the helmets in the trunk I had on the back I followed him inside. He lead the way to a bank of three elevators. Pressing the up button he waited. Once more he still wasn’t looking at me. The elevator dinged. A female about my age stepped out. Her blue eyes lit up when she saw the teen waiting.
“Hey, Yuri. You have a good practice?” she asked waiting.
“Yeah, sure.” He muttered shoving past her to get in the elevator. I stepped around her. A smile with a slight nod of my head. She didn’t appear to see but fluttered her fingers in a wave. I smirked.
“I think someone has a little crush!” I giggled. He glared at me.
“She’s annoying.” He muttered. “But she's a fan so I have to be nice, ish.” He snarled.
“Not into her, or not into girls?” I asked. His head snapped up at me. I arched an eyebrow waiting to see what his response might be.
He ducked his head looking away from me. Smirking I so wanted to press the issue. Then I remembered how young he was. Maybe he didn’t even know. Shouldering his arm I whispered. “Hey, its ok. Forget it.” I turned away as the door dinged open. A young twenty something couple stepped in.
“Hey, Yuri.” The female said with a soft smile.
“Hey.” He muttered.
“We saw your skate from the exhibition last week. That was impressive. I didn’t know you could do the quads like that.” The man said.
“Yeah, I could always do them.” He shifted uncomfortably.
“Well it was amazing! I like your exhibition skates so much more than you programs. You look happier.” She informed him I watched as he shook his hair down to cover his face. It wasn’t before I noticed the slight pink blush to his cheeks.
“Wow, I am going to have to check it out on YouTube or something.” I smirked.
“Oh, are you interested in figure skating?” she asked me.
“I have recently became a rink mate of Yuri's.” I stated.
“Oh, you skate!” she seemed more impressed with me now. I chuckled.
“Yes.” I smirked. Yuri snagged my coat sleeve as the doors opened.
“Bye.” He muttered as he hurried us out the door. I chuckled again.
“It hurts you to be nice doesn’t it?” I teased.
“Shut up.” He growled at me. Tossing my head back I laughed.
“Yup, there it is. I think that’s you're tiger roar.” He elbowed me in the side.
“Knock it off!” but I saw the corner of his mouth curve up.
“Better watch out. You might crack that beautiful face of yours if you smile.” He stopped in front of a door, putting a key into the lock.
“Beautiful?” he said it so softly that I don’t think he realized he spoke out loud. Yes he was beautiful.
Pushing the door open he marched inside.
“It's not much…” I looked around. The place had a rustic homey feel. The bricks wrapped around a nice place. To one side of the door was a very modern kitchen. It was separated from the living room by a long bar, several stools nestled under it. The living room was plush. A long soft grey couch faced an electric fireplace. On the mantel sat a large flat-screen TV.  I could see a gaming device hooked up to it. There were two easy chairs tucked on the sides of the circular steps.
“Its nice.” I said. Suddenly a puff ball of a cat leapt up on the counter beside Yuri.
“Poyta!” he cried scooping it up. I could hear her purring from across the room. They shoved their faces together. It was the first genuinely happy look I saw on the boys face since meeting him I smirked to myself.
He fed the cat then invited me to play games with him. It was several hours later that I decided I should be getting back to the hotel.
“Uh, Otabek?” Yuri stood between the kitchen and the living room. “I meant to ask, do you want to stay here? I have a spare bedroom.” He was looking at the floor.
“Really? Let’s see it.” I offered. It was plain. Blue walls with a single closet, full bed and a dresser. Simple.
“Alight, how much?” I asked turning to face him.
“Oh, uh, I don’t need the money…” he looked away.
“Good thing I can cook then, and do a few repairs.” I added he grinned.
“So, you'll stay?” he asked.
“Yeah just give me about an hour to go pack and check out of the hotel.” He eagerly agreed. Even handed me a key to the place before I left.