Flowers Fall (viktuuri AU)

Chapter 31- The Fire Burns Eternal

Yuuri took a deep, shaky, breath, nervously fiddling with his mechanical pencil. Small piles of paperwork and receipts laid in front of him on his desk as he slouched over a particularly large order, that of a wedding, more specifically.

And boy was it an ambitious wedding. He was commissioned to provide about fifty custom floral arrangements to place on the guest tables, as well as to manage the general decoration of the site, not to mention the bride's bouquet...

Well, safe to say, it was going to be some hellish work.

But Yuuri wasn't thinking about it at all. Oh no, his mind was somewhere far, far, away...

The clock on his desk had struck four-fifty-five, just about five minutes before he'd have to close shop for the day. He would normally let Sky close it, but decided instead to give her an early dismissal, to have some time alone, just to properly collect his thoughts.

After all, he had a meeting to attend.

The very thought of it made him feel queasy.

How could he even explain something like that? The things that he said...the things that he did...they were too conspicuous and planned to be just a bare coincidence and Victor probably must've noticed that.

No, there was no meddling with it. He definitely noticed that, because why else would he react like that? Yesterday...his voice sounded so angry and upset as if he was deeply disappointed by the situation.

Was he even going to show up? Or have all the bridges been already long burned?

Yuuri shivered at the last bit.

Surely, as upset as Victor might've been, he would be willing to give a second chance, right?

Let's hope that it's the case...

With that in mind, Yuuri weakly pushed himself up and began putting away the numerous stacks of paperwork back into the cabinets and tidied up the store.

Taking one last glance around the place, he let out a shaky huff and grabbed his backpack, locking the door behind him.

The weather outside felt cool and uninviting and the receding rays of the sun became fainter with every passing moment, giving way to the darkness of the twilight looming over the skies.

Yuuri figured that he had at least an hour before the sun ultimately disappears and the night claims its rightful time. He'd best return home before then, lest he'd catch a cold.

He quickly made his way up the street, rock music drumming in his headphones. Store windows and lampposts illuminated the otherwise dark road, its fluorescent markups flashing with the occasional passing car.

He could've taken the long way, choosing to observe the hanging plants and Halloween decorations of the small alleyways, but ultimately decided otherwise, as he had a time to respect and, truth be told, he didn't want to disappoint Victor more than he already had.

In no time, Yuuri found his way to the local park, still bright, just like during the day. Indeed, a myriad of lanterns was sprinkled all around the territory, making it a safer space for its visitors. Not to mention that it also looked beautiful.

And only then had he realized that he never specified an exact location for their meet-up.

Yuuri cursed and facepalmed at his own stupidity. What was he to do now?

Well, he could always go to the weeping willow on the hill and wait there. Maybe Victor would be there too? After all, they've gone to that place together several times...