Love is a Battlefield (Yuri!!! On Ice - Otayuri)

Chapter 4: With or Without You

Yuri reached out, hesitated, then picked up his phone and unlocked it with a shaky swipe of his finger. No texts. No voicemails. No email.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart as he logged into Instagram. It wasn't a big deal or anything. It had only been a few days since he'd last spoken to Beka. Yeah, they usually chatted every few days, and texted more often, but maybe...

0 new messages.

37 new followers

189 likes

75 comments

Yuri turned off his phone without bothering to read any more. The comments would all be from the Angels anyway. He usually read every comment; even responded to some of the more amusing ones. He... just didn't feel like it right now. Maybe it wouldn't seem like so much effort if he had a snack, first. He could just be hungry, right?

Lies...

He left the phone on his dresser and wandered out to the kitchen to see if there were any oranges left.

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0 new messages

45 new followers

342 likes

88 new comments

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0 new messages

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0 new messages

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Yuri rolled over, yawned, and reached for his phone - like he did every morning. He paused, finger hovering indecisively over the screen. He sighed, tossed it back onto the dresser without unlocking it. What was the point?

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The next morning he shoved the phone into the bottom drawer of his dresser without even bothering to open it. He was tired of it sitting there day after day, silently mocking him.

—

The phone rang, a few days later, and for a moment he stared around in puzzlement, wondering where the vaguely familiar music was coming from. Then he remembered that he'd changed his ringtone just before the competition.

He scrambled to get it, nearly knocking over his chair, clipping his shoulder on the doorframe after cutting the corner too short, and tossing half the contents of the drawer across the room in his haste.

He grabbed it seconds before his voicemail picked up.

"Hello?" he asked, breathless with anticipation.

"Yuri!" Victor's obnoxiously cheerful voice hit him like a sledgehammer and he could only sit for a moment, stunned, and listen as Victor chattered on obliviously about the amazing meal he and the piggy had had yesterday and the amazing trip they were planning and—

Yuri finally found his voice.

"Victor."

It wasn't welcoming. His voice was scratchy from disuse - he thought back to the last time he'd spoken and realized he hadn't actually said a word today. Huh.

"Yuri?" Victor didn't ask why Yuri had cut him off so rudely, in the middle of a sentence. He didn't seem phased at all. Yuri wondered how much insolence his friends were used to, from him, then shrugged the thought off. He could examine his character flaws later.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to check on you, see how your grandfather is doing."

"We're fine."