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Chapter Text

There were two things that Yuuri knew without a doubt;

1) Victor Nikiforov had been his idol and love since the tender age of 12
and
2) Victor Nikiforov was currently standing in his rinky-dink flower shop

Yuuri near dropped the potted iris he was holding, fumbling for a moment as he sought to find his voice. The jingle of the entrance bell drowned out each and every mumble did he manage to squeeze out, leaving Victor to look curious and lost in the entryway. The store wasn’t big enough for the two men to avoid each other long, especially with Yuuri frozen in place, and yet Phichit was the one who approached Victor first.

“Welcome, welcome!” Recognition flashed in Phichit’s eyes – who didn’t know the world-renown Victor Nikiforov ? That smile grew just a bit more, the young man clasping his hands and continuing, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Victor paused for just a moment before his puzzled expression shifted into something kindly, asking softly, “Is this where they sell Victory flowers?” His English was good, better than most, but the lingering Russian accent was still noticeable.  

Somehow Yuuri was screaming both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ internally, at the same time, to no avail as Phichit turned and pointed them out. With their attention turned, Yuuri snuck even further from view, hiding among the towering cacti. Well.

Victor Nikiforov, the Russian god of figure skating, was actually in his store.

Now was as good a time as any other to die of shock.

And today had started off so mundane too, barely worth a thought until your head hit the pillow at night. Breakfast, Twitter, open the shop, hide in the back while Phichit chatted up clients, dinner, sleep, rinse, repeat. Easy. The Snow Flower was somewhat popular around town for having fresh flowers year-round and having a pair of owners who dabbled in cross breeding fauna, but other than that it was a standard kind of place.

Certainly not the kind of place someone like Victor Nikiforov showed up.

But the fact that he was asking for the Victory flower by name was interesting. It had popped up in the market just over the last two years, starting as a pet project to defeat depression and then spiraling into something even more.

When Yuuri started toying with the roses, he never thought that it would bring about something as revolutionary as the first naturally blue flower. And blue it was – not violet, not gray, but an actual blue, like the sky had been injected into the very core of the flower. They were an overnight hit. The interest had, of course, died over time, but not before their little flower shop had scored a few key deals; one of which was the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in New York.

Yuuri, still sneaking away, caught the tail-end of Phichit’s comment, “…sell them in batches but unfortunately this is near the end of our season.” That was true. What Victory flowers they did have left were hardly their best pick. The greenhouse could only do so much for the flowers’ life cycle, after all.

“If you have enough for a bouquet I would be happy with that.” Victor quietly confessed. “For traveling so far, I don’t want to go home empty-handed if it can be helped.”

“Of course! We wouldn’t want that.” Phichit turned from the front of the shop and caught eyes with Yuuri. “Yuuri, can you grab us a dozen?” With Phichit’s gaze came Victor’s, but Yuuri wouldn’t know that until he returned with the flowers in hand. Interacting with Victor felt like an act similar to drowning.

When Yuuri went to hand the flowers over, he found that Victor was staring openly at him. Why would he stare at some nobody like me? Yuuri asked himself. Oh, shit, do I have rice on my face from breakfast? Trying not to be self-conscious and failing horribly, Yuuri put the flowers on the counter and made a break for the back, intercepted by Phichit’s iron grip. “Yuuuuuuuuri, Victor says he remembers our flowers from the Championship last year!”

“O-oh, really?”

Victor struggled to find his words for a moment, his cheeks growing a warm pink. “Yes! The arrangements were so stunning with the ice. The crown at the end, too, I had to find out who provided the flowers for the occasion. I am a bit of a fan, myself.” He chuckled.

Yuuri almost had to squint against the power of Victor’s thousand-watt smile. That smile alone had won him the heart of near every person who even knew what figure skating was – the breathtaking skill and grace that accompanied was enough to make the frail crumble.

Glancing down at his feet, Yuuri was relieved to see he hadn’t turned into a puddle.

I’m losing it. Yuuri blinked up at Victor with disbelief, but didn’t voice it too loudly, muttering, “It was a good show that year.” And then, “Can I get your autograph?”

“Can it pay for these flowers?” Victor asked with a wink, to which Phichit immediately rang him up.

***

Yuuri was still thinking about the delicate silver of Victor’s hair when his key skidded around the apartment’s lock.

Later, his blue, blue eyes.

The rice was burning when he moved to Victor’s strong jaw.

The remainder of the day had felt like a blur – hell, the blur started the moment Yuuri saw him enter the shop. What kind of world was he living in right now? Some rom com? No, no, Yuuri chastised himself, that sort of stuff only happens in movies.

Later that night, when Yuuri and Phichit were sitting on the couch and flipping through TV channels, the topic of Victor finally came back to light. “Soooo…are we just not going to discuss Victor Nikiforov walking into our flowershop?” Phichit had a way of being honest like that. Yuuri just didn’t want to deal with the reality of it at the moment. “Because that was fucking amazing.”

“I heard rumor he was back in the States.” Yuuri mumbled around his dinner, “Just never thought he’d make his way near here.”

“How are you not flipping out right now?! Do I need to remind you who we just met??” Phichit demanded, motioning very quickly to the autographed poster of Victor they now had mounted on their living room wall.

“I think my spirit has left my body. I’m waiting for it to come back.” Yuuri finally managed to crack a laugh, but it didn’t convince even him. “You’ll let me know, right?”

The two men fell into silence as the TV started blasting out the latest news about Victor landing in Detroit. The whole event felt a bit surreal, and the reality of it didn’t hit Yuuri until he curled up in bed. He had shaken hands with Victor Nikiforov. He had talked to Victor Nikiforov. He had gotten an autograph from Victor Nikiforov. Yuuri rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling with a renewed sense of horror; he had met with Victor Nikiforov and disassociated through all of it. “…fuck!”

When Victor came into the shop a week later with a guilty smile, Yuuri was fucking on it.

“Victor!! How can I help you!!!” With a nervous crick, Yuuri cleared his throat and dialed it back just a touch. “Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”

Victor let out a small sigh and threw his hands up in exasperation. “Yuuri, my friend, my house is in desperate need of a green thumb.”

Yuuri had been living in the city for a little over five years now to finish his college degree, but he never knew that Victor had a house in the area. It seemed like something that would come up on his fan-powered Wiki.

None of that deterred Yuuri from giving Victor the customer service of his life. Adjusting his glasses, Yuuri took a sweeping glance of the shop and focused in on the easy plants. There was no way Victor was home often, so those would be perfect!

The three mother-in-law’s tongue sat on the check-out counter in pristine condition, but Victor still didn’t seem satisfied.

Another sweeping glance had Yuuri sliding a small assortment of orchids on the counter. Victor hummed with indecision.

Yuuri raised him a spider plant. Victor didn’t budge.

It was only when Yuuri placed a small basket of tulips that Victor finally broke into his thousand-watt smile. “Perfecto!” He crooned, sweeping back his bangs with a lazy gesture. “They are truly American flowers, no?”

Yuuri didn’t have the heart to tell Victor that nearly everything currently on the counter came from another country. “Uh…sure. Do you really want all these?”

When Victor only titled his head, Yuuri fought to find the right words to explain. “N-not because I don’t think you can take care of them! J-just that you won’t be in the city for so long, with the Preliminaries coming up—”

“No.” Victor flashed his thousand-watt smile again. “I’m on vacation.”

What? Why? Yuuri squinted. “In Detroit.”

“Yes?”

“In the dead of winter.”

“I’m a figure skater, Yuuri.”

Well, fuck, Yuuri couldn’t really fight with that logic. As he rung Victor up, his eyes took care to drink the sight of him. After all, with all the plants the man bought he wasn’t likely to be back in for another year.

***

He was back the next week. This time they actually had other customers, so Yuuri couldn’t rush to him first, but even so he stared with a mystified disbelief. Did they all die? Yuuri couldn’t help but wonder. Was that my fault?

“Yuuri!” Victor greeted him all the same, “Long time no see!”

Conscious of the eyes boring into the two, Yuuri gently steered Victor towards the emptiest corner of the shop. “What happened?” With Victor so close, Yuuri could smell the faint scent of his cologne. It smelled surprisingly fruity. Yuuri imagined he smelled like insecticide.

“What do you mean?” Victor blinked down at him like a lost poodle puppy.

“The plants,” Yuuri motioned to the shop brimming with green, “you left with $50 worth just last week!”

“Oh.” Almost like Victor had forgotten, all he did was shrug. “I found more window space. Perfect for roses!”

Oh, god, they were all dead. Who put roses in a window and thought they would thrive? The gardener in Yuuri was starting to butt heads with the romantic in him. He wanted to make Victor happy but he wanted his babies to live too! The plants Victor bought must already be dried and shriveled, crying out for attention.

“Roses don’t really thrive in this kind of sun…”

“Then, peach blossom?” The names of flowers Victor was throwing out seemed random at best, ignorant at worst. Who had peach blossoms this close to winter? Victor looked so hopeful, though, so Yuuri turned away with a sigh and thought of something similar.

Something with color, obviously. “We have carnations. They do well in the winter.” Yuuri suggested, puzzled when Victor dug out his phone and started tapping away. Whatever he found seemed to make him ecstatic.

“What colors? White, or red?” Victor was hanging on Yuuri’s answer, though he couldn’t imagine why. Yuuri took a cautious step back and looked at their array of colors.

“You can’t go wrong with pink or red…”

Before Yuuri could say anything more, he suddenly found himself with a finger on his lips. Victor’s finger. Yuuri audibly gulped, breaking out into a mad sweat as Victor chuckled to himself and caught him in his ocean-blue gaze. “Then we’ll go with that, then.”

Something seemed to shift between them, but Yuuri was panicking too much to figure out what, and before he ever registered what was happening, Victor was walking out of the store with armfuls of pink and red carnations.

Yuuri looked at the receipt in his hands and almost started shaking.

Victor was, and would remain his idol and love for all Yuuri’s life. But someone had to tell him it was bad money sense to buy $100 worth of carnations any time of year.

Yuuri almost worked up the nerve to say it to Victor’s face the next time he appeared, but he had missed that thousand-watt smile so much he completely forgot to mention it. Who had the right to look that good in below freezing weather?

Whereas Yuuri looked like a pig in 3 layers of winter padding, Victor was elegant, smooth, with only the tip of his nose showing any sign of the man noticing the cold. It has to be because he skates for a living, Yuuri though, but maybe he’s warm to the touch, too. Long, silver hair, with those crystal-blue eyes, and just the barest touch of pink to his skin…Victor was immaculate.

Yuuri stared long and hard at himself in the mirror, squinting through the steam of the waiting shower. “Maybe I should start running….”

“What?” Pitchit called from the other room.

“Let’s start running again!” Yuuri peeked his head out of the bathroom door and squinted at the blob that he assumed was his friend. Said blob laughed at him.

“You look good Yuuri, what do you worry about?”

Not compared to Victor. “I won’t be able to hide in winter clothing forever. The season will turn soon enough.” He turned to the side and sucked in his gut, wondering if he could get back to his pre-college body. With enough exercise and careful food habits, maybe…

“It’s too late to be self-conscious about your appearance,” Phichit sucked on his teeth, “which you look fine, again,” one leg flopped off the couch, “but we’ll be closing shop soon remember?”

“Even with the greenhouse we really can’t keep things alive in the winter.” Yuuri knew it to be true, but he still hated his idle self.

“Exactly.” Phichit rested his cheek on his hand and sighed. “Now stop whining and use the shower. Our water bill, Yuuri!”

It was hard to think that in just a few weeks their shop would be closed until the buds of spring returned. Yuuri knew there would be plenty of work to do in the time in-between, but he was a little excited to get the chance to visit home again. As he stepped under the now-cold spray of the shower, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous about it.

People back home didn’t have much to do but be nosy, though his parents were kind enough about everything. They, too, operated a small flower shop in the bountiful seaside city of Hasetsu, and were pleased that Yuuri was following in their footsteps, but…

Yuuri closed his eyes with a sigh. His older sister, Mari, had dreams of her own, and something needed to be done with the family business. Yuuri was certain his parents would work themselves until their bones were dust, but he didn’t want to see that happen.

But to move back home to Japan…?

Even the Snow Flower had been something of a surprise. Yuuri never meant to start his own business – Phichit was the one who had the idea. He saw the potential their partnership had. The potential of the yet-unnamed Victory flower.

The water had gone ice-cold by the time Yuuri finally stepped out and toweled off. Phichit was still laying on the couch watching TV, but Yuuri just said goodnight, not feeling any desire to avoid sleep any longer.

“Small steps.” Yuuri whispered as he set out his running gear.

Chapter Text

He started off running every other morning.

Just a mile at first, moving upwards to two, and so on. Yuuri started dropping pounds like mad, but...

Everything was burning. Yuuri was sure he was dying. All the signs were there – burning lungs, wobbling legs, and threat of collapse. If it weren’t for the unfriendly pavement beneath Yuuri’s feet, he would have welcomed the slow scrape to a halt. This is voluntary torture, Yuuri’s body screamed, that you used to be fine with.

Ah, the days of past, when Yuuri was ripped and nimble. While Phichit hadn’t let college soften him up, Yuuri unfortunately didn’t have to try hard to lose sight of his abs. One day, they would return from fatty war.

“One….one more block…” Yuuri wheezed, glancing down to his watch. Just a little bit more until his first three-miler! Unfortunately, that split second Yuuri looked away was all the universe needed to send him toppling to his fate.

A dog yelped and Yuuri went flying. He closed his eyes, expecting the rough tear of concrete, but instead fell into something surprisingly soft and fruity. Yuuri opened his eyes and found himself gazing into the unmistakable blue eyes of Victor Nikiforov, which meant…

“Ah, Makkachin! I’m sorry!” Yuuri pulled himself from Victor’s limp body and gave the oversized poodle a few reassuring pats. “There, there.”

“Yuuuuuuuri.” Came Victor’s weak cry for help. Yuuri looked back with a cry of astonishment and quickly scrambled back to the Russian star.

“Victor, I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry! Are you OK? Can you get up?” Yuuri took Victor’s hand and pulled him up. They both breathed a sigh of relief when everything checked out OK. “I should have been looking….sorry.”

Now that he was up from the ground, Victor gave Yuuri a curious one-over. “You’re…running? Why?”

Why?

“Ah, uh, I don’t want my family to make fun of me when I return home.” Yuuri blurted.

Why were things like this? Victor only chuckled awkwardly.

***

“Here, Victor, this is for you.” Without any flair, Yuuri placed a single potted cactus in front of Victor. The other man stared at it for a moment, his wide-eyes a clear indication of surprise. “It’s a cactus, which is virtually impossible to kill.”

“H-How thoughtful.” Victor spread his hands and gave Yuuri a small, reversed smile. “What’s the occasion?”

Here was the difficult part. Victor had been coming into the shop for 2 months and all he did was buy more plants! Things were starting to calm down -- Victor moreso laying against the counter or helping Yuuri prune plants in the back rather than buy anything else, but it was still too much!

Yuuri put on his best smile. “Now you don’t have to come back so often!” Please stop wasting your money here. “Besides...we’ll be closing up shop soon and I won’t be here to help.”

Victor held the little cactus in his hands and looked like he was going to weep. “You’re leaving?”

“It’s cheaper to close up in the winter than try to stay open and sell anything…” Yuuri admitted with a nervous chuckle. Case and point, only he and Victor were at the shop right now, even though it was the middle of the day. Makka lay on the ground between them, panting softly. “I was going to go home to Japan for a bit. Phichit would go home to Thailand to visit family, too.”

Victor wasn’t saying anything more, so Yuuri trailed off. It seemed Victor wasn’t a fan of this new bit of news.

After a strangled silence, Victor pulled out his phone and started to flip through some kind of wiki page. He held it out to Yuuri, angling it so they could both look through it together.

To Yuuri’s surprise, it was the Wiki page on the language of flowers.

“Floriography?” Yuuri asked. “I didn’t think you were a fan.”

“Not really.” Victor murmured after a moment, scrolling down until he landed on a particular set of flowers. “I thought it would bridge the gap.”

He was about to tap on one of the external links when Yuuri found his hand over Victor’s wrist, stopping him. Victor looked up with a start, eyes imploring for answers, but Yuuri had glanced away.

His stomach was twisting into knots -- he felt like he was going to be sick.

How could he have been so stupid?

“Yuuri.”

“Don’t toy with me like this.” Yuuri’s breath was coming out haggard -- don’t cry, idiot. He felt his grip strengthen around Victor’s wrist like a threat.

“I’m not.” Victor’s voice, normally laced with his good-natured energy, was so quiet now. Yuuri didn’t even need to look over to know Victor was watching him.

“You’re Victor Nikiforov.”

“I know.”

“You could do -- do a million times better. To waste your time here, with me, like this --”

“I want you, Yuuri Katsuki.”

At that, Yuuri finally turned. He looked to Victor, with his sky-blue eyes and kind smile, and broke. “You’re an idiot.”

A bit of Victor’s playfulness peeked through -- he feigned innocence. “Eh? Why?”

“You spent so much money . You killed so many of those poor plants.”

“Um?” Victor looked down at his phone guiltily and flipped through his photo album. Yuuri saw a living room swimming in green. “The first part, yes.”

Yuuri buried his face in his hands. Unbelievable.

***

“I’m going out.” Yuuri announced, swaddled in his giant scarf and tight-fit peacoat. Phichit glanced up from his spot on the couch and squinted at Yuuri until he started to sweat under his gaze.

“You look nice.” Phichit accused. “ Really nice.”

“Why do you say that like it’s bad.”

“Because,” Phichit got up from the couch and stalked closer, “you’ve been working out. You’re eating better. You’re wearing the tightest jeans I have ever seen.” He leaned close and whispered, “You’re going on a date. AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME!”

The lesser of two evils. Yuuri took a hard step back and threw up his hands in a defensive position. “I’m going out with Victor.”

Phichit also took up a fighting stance. “Fucking finally.”

They circled around one another, waiting. “You knew?” Yuuri bit back, wounded.

“You weren’t satisfied with the blue of the Victory flowers until they matched Victor’s eyes exactly.” Phichit jabbed Yuuri through his coat. “You -- are -- so -- obvious!”

Yuuri faked his fatal wound and blocked Phichit’s next blow. “You knew Victor liked me!”

“He was buying the sappiest flowers in the store in bulk while staring you in the eye.”

“Fair. That’s valid.”

“He also stared at your ass a lot.”

“No!” Yuuri finally lost to Phichit’s jabs, leaning against the doorframe in defeat. “I was always wearing my comfy jeans…What a fool I was.”

“So you’re going out with him?” Phichit sighed. “He knows you’re leaving for Japan soon, right?”

“Yeah.” Yuuri sighed too. “The fact of it kind of...forced him to be more direct.”

“As if he could.”

Yuuri grumbled at that. “Can I leave yet?”

“No.” Phichit made a twirling motion with his finger. “Let me see what else you’re wearing.”

***

Yuuri was still 15 minutes early, despite Phichit’s nagging. Turns out, Victor had been waiting even longer. Yuuri got to see him from a distance, wrapped up just right in scarves and a warm coat, tapping his leg nervously.

As if he was going to be nervous.

Yuuri tugged on his sleeve to get his attention, pulling down his scarf enough to speak. “Victor. Did you wait long?”

“No.” Victor lied, his bright pink nose betraying him. “Ready?”

Yuuri grabbed for him as soon as they slid out onto the rink. Victor laughed just a little, careful not to let him lock up and fall. “I can’t believe I haven’t done this before.”

“I thought you were a fan.” Victor mused, skating slowly forward.

Yuuri was going to die. “Moreso of the person than the sport.”

Victor gripped his heart at that, looking genuinely touched. “Yuuri…!”

“Don’t let go!”

A bit more scrambling, and they were connected once more, Yuuri wobbling like a newborn deer on his skates. This was humiliating. But Victor was warm, and pressed right against him, so Yuuri wasn’t going to complain.

Until Victor left him stranded. “Victor!”

“Come on, come into my arms!” Victor called from 10 feet forward. Yuuri eyed the distance, feeling it stretch into infinity before his very eyes. Couples skated around them with judging glances, making his ears burn with embarrassment, but he was determined.

One foot slid forward.

Then the other.

How did anyone do anything on the ice? By the time Yuuri had finally slid gently into Victor’s arms, he felt out of breath. “You did it, Yuuri!” Victor’s thousand-watt smile had returned in full force, pride glimmering through.

“I went ten feet.” Yuuri wheezed.

“By yourself.” Victor took his hand and led him around the rink, glancing back to make sure he was still doing OK. Yuuri could at the very least lock his ankles, so as long as Victor pushed them forward, he was fine. He kind of missed being pressed to his side though.

With a few unsure pumps of his skates, Yuuri was back up against Victor, arm around his waist. Victor didn’t say anything, just smiled, and synced their movements together.

“Is this a pair skate?” Yuuri laughed once they completed a loop.

“Do you want me to throw you in the air?” Even though the question was innocent, Yuuri could see Victor wanted to give it a try.

“No thank you. I like my ankles intact.” Yuuri dragged his heels back and the two were spinning, Victor surprised as Yuuri led him by one hand. When Yuuri was starting to dip, and he had to put one hand on the ice, Victor snatched him up, laughing as they pressed close.

It felt unreal.

They were on the hours for what felt like hours -- Yuuri eventually became comfortable enough to skate on his own, though his hand remained in Victor’s.

When they finally exited the ice, Yuuri went and bought them both a hot chocolate. They walked hand-in-hand through downtown Detroit, passing by stores and sights Yuuri had never bothered to learn. With Victor’s hand squeezing his own, Yuuri knew he wouldn’t learn them tonight either.

The date ended on the bridge leading to the subway -- Victor had offered Yuuri a ride home, but at this point Yuuri felt like he was going to short-circuit as it was. They spent a few minutes overlooking the downtown park, Victor skimming through the new pictures on his phone.

Yuuri blushed at the sight of them, hip-to-hip, on the ice. “The pictures look good.”

“Are you sure you aren’t a skating prodigy?” Victor murmured, “You took to it quickly.”

“I had a good teacher, is all.” Yuuri squeezed Victor’s hand again and ducked his head at the words. “We...we should go again. Sometime. It was fun.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Victor clicked off his phone and shoved it into his pocket. Still, Yuuri saw the time. His train would come soon.

The thought of leaving made his stomach churn.

Yuuri made himself pry his hand from Victor’s, one finger at a time. It was a foreign feeling he didn’t want to leave. Victor watched him with a sad smile. He turned his gaze back to the park, suggesting, “Would you like to have dinner with me Wednesday night?”

“Yes!” Yuuri blirted. They both looked at one another, laughter bubbling to their lips. With some convincing from Victor, Yuuri was pulled into a hug, the two squeezing each other tight. “Goodnight, Victor.”

“Goodnight, Yuuri.”

Chapter Text

Oh no.

Yuuri looked around, practically blinded.

Oh no.

Victor watched him quizzedly from the kitchen table, where food was currently being set out. “Yuuri?”

There were so many goddamn plants. A few of them were obviously years old, but Yuuri recognized all the ones he had sold to Victor. Every counter was bursting, with plants overflowing off the tops of bookcases, tables, window sills, and even taking up floor space if they were too big for a perch. The little cactus sat obliviously on the kitchen table, a little bloom at the very top.

“There’s so many.” Yuuri mumbled.

Victor looked like he was realizing his mistake. “I’m not bad with plants.”

“There’s so many .” Yuuri reiterated. “Victor…!”

“It’s OK! Look, dinner.”

Dinner was lovely.

But it wasn’t enough to get Victor off the hook. Even when they went to relax on the couch, they had to carefully place their feet on the cushions since the coffee table was an informal succulent farm.

“How much trouble am I in?” Victor asked with a coy smile.

Yuuri couldn’t say anything mean to that thousand-watt smile, but he could still think it. “None.”

“Wow…!” Victor threw his arms around Yuuri and drew him into a hug, laughing when Yuuri curled against him immediately. “I’m so lucky to have such a kind boyfriend.”

“What are you even going to do for competitions?” Yuuri grumbled against Victor’s neck.

“Hmm.” With Victor’s hand combing through Yuuri’s hair, he suddenly didn’t really care about an answer. But still, Victor indulged him. “I guess I’ll have to give my boyfriend a key so he can come over whenever he wants.”

“Boyfriend’s free labor, huh?”

“Yup.”

Yuuri stifled his laughter, doing his best to roll onto his back, but paused when he saw something small and gold in Victor’s hand. What, seriously --

“Oh.” Yuuri took the key in hand and rolled it between his fingers. “Really?”

Victor pressed a soft kiss to his cheek and sighed, lovingly. “Mhmm.”

Something told Yuuri, waaaaay back in the recess of his mind, that Victor had been aching to give him a key for awhile. Somehow he made it to the 2-month mark. Good for him. Though did the month that Yuuri was away even count?

1-month mark, then. That was even more dubious.

“I-I don’t have a spare for my apartment, but I can work on getting you one.” Yuuri sputtered out. He felt his ears grow an embarrassing shade of red when Victor pressed another kiss to his temple.

“If you want.”

“...yeah.” This time they met for the kiss, Yuuri ignoring the growing crick in his neck for the benefit of getting to kiss his boyfriend.

Later, when they were curled together watching a movie, Yuuri realized he didn’t need anything else. He had Victor holding his hand, thumb stroking his knuckles. His body was a solid weight behind him, one leg pressed between him and the back of the couch to keep them even closer together.

It was too early for anything too much, but….still, Yuuri wanted to say it. He never worked up the courage before.

“I could be like this forever, and be happy.” He murmured, voice just barely louder than the TV screen.

After a moment, Victor smiled and said, “Me too, Yuuri. Me too.”