Otabek noticed a puff of air leaving Yuri's mouth on the cold, and his face was frozen for a split second. But the blonde's face soon broke out into another smile, but this time it was sweet and comforting.
'Not bad yourself.' Yuri hadn't turn to face him, but instead crept his hand over to the raven's. Otabek's heart fluttered in his chest when he felt a warm hand gripping his own, and he couldn't bring himself to speak.
'Otabek, it was kinda funny.'
'Hmm?'
'We liked each other since the beginning and we both knew full well, but it never seemed to bother us. So we were kinda...' Yuri scratched the back of his head.
'What is it?'
'We weren't exactly friends the whole time, if you know what I mean.' The blonde went slightly red, but Otabek looked him in the eye with a smile on his face.
'I know. I was a coward and afraid to actually tell yo-'
'Until now.' Yuri was smirking.
'Haha.' After saying this sarcastically, Otabek decided to tighten his grip on Yuri's hand, who responded calmly.
'The first thing I noticed when I looked at you were how pretty your eyes were, Yuri.' The blonde scoffed jokingly at this. 'No, really, they are!'
'Of course you'd say that.'
Otabek stood up without letting go of Yuri's hand. 'We should probably get going, it's cold out.'
The Russian nodded, and Otabek helped him pack up his things. Every few seconds he had to let go of Yuri's hand, the Kazakh's stomach throbbed slightly. They walked home that way, both of them glued together and keeping each other warm in the bitter cold around them.
'I'll see you at school, Beka!' Yuri waved with a smile on his face, and Otabek did the same.
'I'm looking forward to it.'
The next morning, Yuri left the house about ten minutes earlier than usual, and bought along Otabek's scarf. Obviously. He made his way through the empty school corridor not ten minutes later, seeing Otabek with his back facing the blonde. Yuri walked up to Otabek, giving him a few pokes. The raven didn't even have to turn around to see who it was.
'Good morning, Yura.'
'Did Beka sleep well? Hmm?' He had begun using his baby voice.
'Yes, Beka did sleep well, because Beka was thinking about Yura.' The Kazakh turned around - smiling affectionately - making Yuri feel on top of the world. The blonde noticed another boo in Otabek's hand.
'Oooh, whatcha reading?'
'The Lord of the Rings.' Now here, Otabek was maintaining his distance.
'Aaah, Sam's accent is hilarious in the movie!' But here, Yuri had placed his chin on Otabek's shoulder. The raven wouldn't even find it weird if his younger sprouted cat ears and a tail right about now.
'You certainly know what a personal bubble is, Yura.'
'Aww, you don't like it?' Yuri had a whining tone in his voice, making Otabek flush crimson.
'...I-I don't mind...'
'Yay!' Yuri backed away from Otabek, and was about to pull him by the hand when someone dashed past them.
'VIKTOR, SERIOUSLY?!' Yuri definitely had a different attitude towards others.
'So you two are finally dating, huh?' Viktor raised a curious eyebrow at the distance between Otabek and Yuri, but never seemed to bully the pair about it. He was on his skateboard, and picked it up to walk over to them.
'Our home room is empty, you guys can go there if you wanna sit down.' Viktor chuckled, bid the two farewell and made his way to the library.
Yuri had already memorised where Otabek's homeroom was, so dragged him through the school and towards the room.
'Yura, slow down, it isn't the end of the world.' Otabek chuckled, and so did Yuri. The blonde slowed down, and slid his hand up Otabek's arm. He now had it wrapped around the raven's forearm, and couldn't help but notice how well built it was through his hoodie.
'Yura.'
'Hmm?'
'When's your birthday?' Otabek was looking at Yuri thoughtfully.
'Oh, it's on the 1st of March. Yes, I'm a baby, don't bully me.'
'You are practically three years younger than me, so yeah.' Otabek smiled, and Yuri hissed.
'And when's yours, Mr Hero of Kazakhstan?' The blonde rolled his eyes and waited for an answer.
'Halloween.' Otabek sighed helplessly, but Yuri marvelled in it.
'WOAH, THAT'S SO COOL! You're like, the living embodiment of spook!'
'So I'm scary to you?'
'UHH- NO! I think you have more of a big brother vibe.' Yuri laughed as they walked into the class, and he sat down on the desk in front of Otabek.
'That's gonna break if you sit on it like that,' grinned Otabek, sitting himself down on a chair instead.
'I'm said to be as light as a feather,' Yuri spread his arms, 'wanna test?'
'I'm fine, thanks.' Otabek chuckled, though he did imagine Yuri being pretty light. 'You said you liked fine liners, right?'
'Yeah. Why?'
'Nothing.' Otabek smiled to himself, thinking about a possible birthday gift for Yuri. But before he could say another word, Yuri had managed to slip off the table from trying to get off, and burst out laughing when he fell.
'THAT WAS SO STUPID, BWAHAHA!'
'Yura, be careful next time.' The blonde had fallen straight onto Otabek, who unfortunately got elbowed in the stomach. 'Are you trying to murder us both?'
'One day, I might just do that by accident.' Yuri was fixing his hair, and realised what position the pair of them were in. The two blushed fairly pink.
'S- Sorry...' Yuri straightened his clothes and pulled a chair over, attempting to hide his red cheeks with his bangs.
'Yeah, I don't recommend sitting on a desk again.' Otabek was somehow able to smile calmly, despite how shy he usually was.
Yuri wanted an excuse to hold Otabek's hand again, so had an idea.
'Wait a second, how big are your hands compared to mine?' He pulled the Kazakh's hand towards his and rested his palm on it.
'Your hands are tiny, Yura.'
'Yours are huge!' He tightly interlocked their hands, and started playing with Otabek's. He thankfully reacted just as Yuri had wanted to, and rubbed his fingers gently against Yuri's skin. There was a silence between them, but the silence was filled with bliss.
'I-I wanna be the only one to have to hold your hand.' Yuri had no idea how he managed to say it, but it came out of his mouth before he could use his tongue to trap it inside. Otabek's eyes widened and his cheeks became the colour of candy floss.
'I'm not interested in anyone else, I won't ever be. Okay?' Otabek smiled passionately, making a few sparks light in Yuri's chest. The blonde nodded, managing to hum a reassuring reply.