All Grown Up [Yuri Briar x f.Reader - SPY x FAMILY]

Can We Change

Stepping onto the platform you catch sight of his obsidian locks immediately. Yuri is standing in the line to board, but the moment the train slides into the station and he sees you alight, he turns around and blends in with the departing crowd.

Gazing down at his phone, headphones on, he walks right into you as he makes his way to the stairs too. "Oof-" he turns to apologize, pulling the bulky device from his ears as he does.

"Nee-chan, what a coincidence! Are you going home too? I just finished my shift at the bookstore. I forgot this was the station you... transfer... at..."

You stare up at him, unimpressed, arms crossed and lips pursed as he trails off, then drag him off to the side to free up the stairwell.

Scratching the back of his neck, he looks away sheepishly. "You saw me, didn't you? Watching you from afar..."

You raise your brows by way of acknowledgement, begging an explanation.

"On your first day of work, I heard you were having a welcome party, so I held back... but I've been waiting here every day since..."

You know. You saw him every time.

"My part-time job is close to your office! And, and it's dangerous at night, so I was reeeeeaaalllly worried!" he exaggerates, trying to find an excuse you'll buy.

Noting your increasingly displeased expression, he mumbles, "I thought maybe one of your ex's or another guy might try to hit on you... so I wanted to be near you."

"Finally, being honest, are you?" you sigh, exasperated with his childishness.

"Actually, I'd really like to intimidate your stupid male colleagues... but I know you'd just get mad at me...." he mutters the last part more to himself than you.

"No shit."

"The truth is... even when you're at work... the thought of you chatting and laughing with other men... just makes me want to cry..."

"Seriously, Yuri? Cry?" you ask, incredulous.

"Is it cringey?"

"Yes!"

"I figured you'd say that... I know I must seem a little dramatic..."

"I would use the word unhinged, crazy, obsessed or the like, but go on."

He sighs dejectedly, clinging to his own arm for comfort as he continues, "I've wanted to be beside you for so long... and I just couldn't take it anymore... Now that the woman I love has come home... I started to worry..."

Beside the two of you, the clacking of the next train rolling past fills the silence.

"I am genuinely worried for your safety walking around after dark... but more than that, the area where your company's office is where a lot of guys hang out at night..."

Yuri meets your gaze fully for the first time since he realized he got caught. "I'm worried one of those grown-up men will take you from me... and I can't help but think about when you got your first boyfriend ten years ago..."

"What do you mean?" you ask quietly, the pain in his eyes stealing your voice.

"The day you brought him home... my whole world shattered... Even if I wanted to do something about it, I was just a kid in elementary school. All my friends made fun of me for being jealous. They didn't care or console me."

The grip he has on his own arm is vicious with restrained frustration, but his voice cracks with anguish as he says, "I was always fretting about our age gap thinking, 'If I don't hurry up and become an adult, I really won't make it in time!' I may only be an adult in body, but I'm finally eighteen..."