to be young and in love (Otayuri AU)

three

Deep within him, Yuri had known since that morning that his mother wouldn't ever come back, so did Nikolai. But that didn't mean that Yuri didn't secretly hoped that she would, despite his anger at her that steadily grew in his stomach and burned him from the inside. It took him several years to swallow the bitterness of the fact that he had been left by both parents and that neither of them loved him enough to come back for him.

Yuri thought that his Grandfather was the only person that would ever truly care for him and he decided to show his gratitude by caused him as little trouble as possible. He moved into his little house without moaning and unpacked his belongings as soon as they arrived, putting them neatly into the small guest bedroom. Then he went to wipe his tears and as he looked into the mirror, he told himself to stop crying altogether for it wouldn't change anything. Afterwards he helped his dedushka peeling potatoes for dinner. Ever since then Yuri only cried if he absolutely couldn't help it.

Living with his Grandpa was completely different than living with is mother had been. Nikolai made sure that Yuri was registered into a new school and he kept a close eye on his grandsons attendance, grades and social behaviour. He attended parent conferences, helped Yuri with his homework as best as he could and didn't let it swipe easily when he had gotten into fights with other kids.

And while Yuri's grades didn't dramatically raised for the better, it was still good enough to not let the teachers complain about his work. They were busy complaining about his his big mouth and his sassy attitude anyway. When that happened, Nikolai scolded Yuri for cursing but in the end he decided that he'd rather have Yuri dealing with his anger with words than fists.

He also made sure that Yuri helped around the house a lot, thought him how to cook and clean wanting the boy to be able to take care of himself. In the summer he planted potatoes and tomatoes in the small garden behind the old house and he showed his grandson how to take care of them and harvest the fruits.

As a reward for doing well in school, helping around the house and not getting into physical fights much anymore, Nikolai took him to dance lessons whenever he could afford it.

Really, it was just another small town dance studio that desperately needed some maintenance work with a dance teacher that was more bored and desperate for money than talented but still, Yuri was over the moon.
Over time he started to carry out newspapers, washing neighbors cars and walking their dogs to get a bit more money for more dance lessons. He new that his Grandpa hadn't enough to send him to lessons all the time.

And it worked for them, Yuri went to school and Nikolai worked part time. They watched crime shows on TV and listened to music from the old record player while baking Pirozhki. They kept each other company, when Yuri was reading, Nikolai sat across the table solving crossword puzzles. When Nikolai was repairing things on the house or the car, Yuri was dancing through the garden and brought over his tools when he needed them, humming happily.

And neither of them felt alone any longer.

Nikolai wasn't happy about the circumstances leading them there but having that boy around was a blessing, he was a big help to him and filled his perviously quiet days with music and laughter and way too many curse words.

Around his Grandfather, Yuri never felt invisible. Of course the heart that his mother had broken still ached from time to time and he still hated going to school but things were looking up. His cloths were clean, his stomach full and no worries weighed down on him until he had the feeling that he would need to scream out loud. It didn't matter that he wasn't good at making friends, he wasn't very social anyway.

He finally had a home and someone that took care of him and that was all he needed for now.

xxx