Victor yawned as he took his first step through the school gates. He hadn't seen Yuri after school yesterday and no matter how many text messages he sent him, he hadn't received a reply. Not a single word, even if it was just to let him know he was ok.
Dragging his feet as he walked down the hallway, Victor made his first stop the bathroom. He pushed the door open just enough to slip inside before heading over to the sinks. With one twist of the tap, he could hear the gushing of the water. He held his hand under the waterfall and finally felt some relief as he threw the pooling substance onto his face. It was cold, but he didn't care, it was refreshing more than anything else.
The water dripped from his face, some going back into the sink whilst some stained his blue t-shirt with darker patches as if it wasn't the tap water but salty tears cascading. He sighed, raising his head to stare into the mirror at his own reflection. Overnight a bruise had formed under his left eye from where JJ had hit him yesterday after the second time Victor had confronted him about Yuri's whereabouts.
With care Victor traced his fingers over the mark, feeling the slight sting but he kept his face neutral as the reflection of his own piercing eyes stared back at him.
Surely he was overreacting, it wasn't normal for someone to get this worked up about anything so foolish. He hadn't seen Yuri for half a day, he shouldn't just immediately assume the worst, no matter how plausible it could be. Maybe Yuri was still mad at him for offering him money or for telling him that he should focus on his studies?
Victor raked his fingers through his hair, only to grip it, closing in on himself as different thoughts and ideas ran through his head, all of them as bad as the next. He liked Yuri, he liked him a lot and it hurt physically to know that something was amiss.
A loud ring suddenly echoed around the school and as the bell sounded Victor clutched the edge of the sink with both hands, staring back at his own reflection. He looked like shit today and he knew it. His silver hair was scruffy and unkempt, his clothes thrown onto his body without a care in the world and the bags under his eyes were dark and showed everyone exactly how much sleep he had missed out on the night before.
He twisted the tap, stopping the flow of water and as he could no longer hear the stampede of footsteps beyond the door he could assume he was now late.
+ + +
By the time it was officially break, Victor could barely keep his eyes open. His feet padded along the hallways as he made his way towards his English classroom. The plan was to wait there throughout break as him and Yuri had English together. That way he would surely be able to catch him before class started.
It only took him twelve minutes and fifty-six seconds before out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a small boy in an oversized hoodie, some raven-black hair escaping the coverage of his hood.
In one swift motion, Victor was up off the floor, leaving his bag by the wall he was slumped against and taking massive strides towards Yuri. However, as Yuri saw silver hair and those blue eyes coming towards him he stopped in his tracks. It was all one big panic of what to do. His heart began to beat faster and he half considered turning around and running away - this wasn't Victor's burden to bear, it was his.
Despite this, in the end, he couldn't do anything, he was frozen as Victor's eyes locked on his. Though immediately he shifted his gaze to the floor, allowing his fringe to cover his face and pulling his backpack tighter around his shoulders.
A second later strong arms wrapped around him and a soft voice cooed in his ear 'I'm sorry...whatever it is, I'm sorry.' But Yuri felt everything all at once, the paracetamol he had taken this morning had little to no effect as the pressure if Victor's arm on his side sent pain prickling throughout his body. He gritted his teeth, holding back a whimper before shoving Victor away.
Yuri stumbled backwards as did Victor.
"Yuri?" Victor questioned, reaching out a hand for Yuri, hurt scrawled across his face.
In an instant, Yuri realised what he had done and how it might have seemed to Victor like he didn't want him, but that was far from the truth.
He took a step forward, allowing Victor's hand to slide into his, "What's wrong?" Victor asked, his voice gentle as he pulled Yuri a little closer. He reached his hand up to brush the hair from Yuri's eyes, however, Yuri flinched away from his touch. Victor knew that whatever was going on, they needed to talk about this but with five minutes until English, they wouldn't have time.
He quickly retracted his hand from hovering by Yuri's face and bit his lip gently as he turned around. With Yuri's fingers still intertwined with his, he pulled him along back to where he had left his bag earlier before picking it up and slinging it over his shoulder.
"Victor, what are you doing?" Yuri asked, his voice hoarse as he spoke.
Victor cast an eye back towards raven hair as he led him down the corridor away from English. "We need to talk, and anyway, I'm too tired for English." He smiled gently.
"I want to go to English," Yuri replied, "can't we talk later?"
For the first time that day Victor managed to see bloodshot chocolate eyes staring into his as a breeze from the open door tousled both his and Yuri's hair. It honestly looked as if he hadn't slept in days, even though he was perfectly fine the day before.
"You're tired too Yuri, English can wait."
"Don't just assume that I'm tired," Yuri argued back but Victor really didn't want to get into a fight with him now, he just wanted to talk.
"Ok..." he hummed gently, "Come on."
He squeezed Yuri's hand gently and Yuri let out a defeated sigh before silently walking beside Victor, down hallways and towards the heavy blue doors. Students were now all beginning to file into the school from outside, screaming and laughing as they made their ways to their lessons. It was an effort to work their way through the dense crowd but eventually, they found themselves outside and Victor began to pull Yuri round the side of the school where they wouldn't be spotted.
+ + +
"So what was so urgent that we needed to talk about?" Yuri asked, fiddling with his fingers though occasionally flicking his eyes up to Victor who sat next to him, slumped against the brick wall and although he wouldn't admit it, trying to hold back shivers from the cold.
"Have I done something wrong?" Victor's voice sounded steady as he spoke, but again, as Yuri stared into those mesmerising eyes he could feel the sadness and the insecurities behind them.
"No, you haven't done anything wrong." Yuri sighed, shaking his head.
"Then why won't you let me touch you?" Victor questioned, the hurt leaking into his voice as he once again reached a hand up to Yuri's face. He saw Yuri flinch a little and dropped his hand back to his side.
Yuri stayed quiet and all they could hear was the faint chatter of students coming from the building behind them and the gentle songs of the birds hiding away in the trees. Unlike the first time they had walked home together, this was an awkward silence. Neither party knew what to say and it made it all the more unbearable.
Suddenly a massive gust of wind came from nowhere sending a shiver through Victor who was too out of it that morning to remember something as simple as a jumper before running out of the house late and jumping into his car.
Beside him, Yuri felt Victor shaking, it wasn't surprising that he was cold really, given the time of year and the fact he was just wearing a t-shirt. However, looking at Victor, the shirt tight around his shivering muscles, and his sharp jaw clenched in an attempt to suppress his chattering teeth, all he wanted was to wrap his arms around him. And so he did.
Victor's breath hitched as he felt Yuri pressed against his side and his arms tight around his waist. It felt as if he'd been engulfed in a bubble of warmth; as if the cold wind could no longer touch him.
"I promise you haven't done anything wrong, ok?" Yuri whispered, leaning his head against Victor's shoulder.
"Ok."
Time between them passed slowly as Victor tried to refrain from wrapping his arms back around Yuri even though Yuri was holding him. He didn't know what had happened or what was going on but he didn't want to push any boundaries and be pushed away again. He was content with Yuri close to him, being enveloped in the warmth that he radiated so he let it be. With his arms around his legs and Yuri's arms around him, they just sat in their bubble of warmth.
It was god knows how long until Victor felt Yuri's warm breaths on his neck even out into a steady rhythm and the arms around him went limp.
He took a deep breath and carefully pushed Yuri off of him, leaning him back gently on the wall. Each time Yuri breathed in Victor could his chest rise and then fall as he let the air leave his lungs. In that state, Yuri looked so peaceful. Victor was so careful not to disturb him as he crouched down before his sleeping figure and just as he tried to when he was awake, he brushed Yuri's fringe out of his face and pulled the hood back a little to expose everything.
His eyelids were settled closed so gently over his resting eyes though fluttered gently as Victor couldn't resist the urge to run his fingers through Yuri's hair once more. Yet, below his eyes were bags so dark they could be mistaken for bruises. But that wasn't what hurt the most. What hurt the most was staring fixated at the swollen mess of green and purple that covered his cheekbone. Just looking, it was obvious he had tried to cover it with makeup, though it had proven to be a futile effort.
Victor felt his heart almost stop as he looked down at Yuri's face. This was why he was pushing him away?
Acid ran through his blood, fueling his anger.
JJ had gone too far this time and he needed to be taught a lesson.
With that in mind and also Yuri, Victor carefully slid his arms underneath the smaller boy, picking him up and carrying him carefully towards the carpark. The last thing he cared about right now was school and he completely ignored the teacher who had seen him through a window and had run outside to drag him back inside the building. Instead, he opened the door to the passenger seat of his car and slid Yuri into it, buckling him up before getting himself into the driver's seat.
Victor took one last glance at the fuming teacher storming towards them before he pulled out into the road.
A.N. I am really excited for where this is headed and will definitely try and keep on top of updates ;)
Thank you and I'll see you all next time. Don't forget to vote/comment if you're enjoying! xxx