An Unwavering Love (A Yuri Plisetsky Fanfiction)

Chapter 24: Take the "A" Train

[116th Street- Columbia University Station, New York]

Our hearts are like firestones
And when they strike, we feel the love
Sparks will fly, they ignite our bones
And when they strike, we light up the world

Ayumi checked the time as she boarded the train. 1:09 p.m. EST. She had plenty of time before her 6 p.m. practice. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued to listen to music though her earphones.

She just finished her morning practice, classes and a team project meeting, and she was off to a meet-up with a friend. Normally she was driven around the city by a chauffer and was not pressed for time, but it was one of those rare days Kamoshita allowed her to go out and take the subway. She was not about to let the opportunity for adventure slip.

The past five weeks went by so fast. She came to the city that never sleeps so emotionally distraught, and she just fell into its busy atmosphere and fast-paced lifestyle. She was used to living like that—always moving, never stopping.

A phone call interrupted the song. She answered without hesitation. "Hi."

'Hey! Where are you?'

"I'm on the subway heading there right now."

'Sure. Could you hurry it up a little, though? I'm getting a bit hungry.'

She sighed. "I can't make the train go any faster, you know?"

'You're Ayumi Matsumoto, you usually have a way with everything. I remember that one time when—'

"Wait!"

'What's wrong?'

She rushed out of the train just before the doors closed. No one needed to know Ayumi Matsumoto, who 'usually has a way with everything', was almost stupid enough to miss her stop. "Nothing..."

------

After walking along 59th street, she finally reached Sarabeth's. She was only a couple of minutes late for lunch (okay, maybe more than an hour). A couple waved at her from a seat close to the window, and she approached them tentatively.

"Hey," Amanda greeted, giving her a hug. Ethan was beside her not saying a word. "You look like you're doing well."

"I guess you could say that," Ayumi said as she sat down and skimmed the menu. After they all ordered, she started to ask. "So, how have you two been since..."

Amanda shrugged. "We've been alright, I suppose. Ethan's done a pretty good job avoiding his mother for the past month. I've tried getting him to at least talk to her, but it might take a while before they could be in the same room without arguing."

Ayumi nodded at this. Despite the overwhelming response they received during the proposal, she knew getting Madame Khoo to come to terms with it was still going to be a challenge. The woman was known for being as stubborn as a mule. She was just glad the two were still going strong.

Ethan scoffed. "Babe, can we get back to the issue at hand? We both know Yumi's just trying to divert this entire conversation." He looked at Ayumi. "I didn't forget that stunt you pulled a month ago. I mean, seriously? Your ex-boyfriend slammed me to a wall because you weren't there to answer to him. You owe me."

"God, Ethan! Let it go!" Amanda reprimanded, seeing her wince at the mention of Yuri. She reached across the table and placed her hand on hers. "Are you feeling... you know... better?"

She looked out the window, avoiding her friend's worried eyes. "I am. New York is great. It's eased things for me, and I'm already over with what happened."

"Tsk. When are you gonna stop lying to yourself?" Ethan objected. "You're not over it. Do you think your depressed face isn't obvious on photos? And look," he pointed to her fingers, which was touching something below her collarbone. "You're still attached to that necklace. Really, Yumi. We're your friends, and we aren't that stupid."

Ayumi immediately let go of the snowflake pendant. Ethan was right—she has not forgotten about Yuri. No matter how much she busied herself with schoolwork and poured over her duties in the company, he always crossed her mind. There were a lot of 'what ifs' that plagued her: What if I told Yuri about Ethan's request in the first place? What if I noticed the nasty comments sooner? What if I fought instead of fled?

But there was one 'what if' that overruled everything else: What if I never became his girlfriend in the first place? Would things be better for us?

"Okay. I admit it," she mumbled. "I miss him. But it's not like that'll change anything, right? What's done is done. Yuri is fine now, and he doesn't have to deal with my mess anymore. He could go back to the way things were before he met me."

"Yumi..."

She held the cup of coffee that was served to her earlier, running her fingers along the rim. "We're only sixteen. There's a lot of opportunities for him to meet someone else, and so will I. Life won't end for us here, and we have bigger things to worry about. The Grand Prix, the Olympics... those are more important. Let's just move on and call it a teenage romance. That kind of thing isn't meant to last anyway, right?"

"How do you know that?" Ethan snapped. "How are you so certain it wasn't meant to last? You gave up so quickly! I'm not a huge fan of Yuri, but I pity him, you know? You decided to leave on your own without telling him. He literally chased after you when he found out you were gone. He clearly didn't want this."

"I don't think he knows what he wants."

At that statement, Amanda finally had it. "You have no right to make that assumption, Yumi! Your boyfriend loved you a lot! I saw how troubled he was that night... he wanted to stay with you! And it's pretty obvious you wanted to stay with him, too! Stop doing this to him, and to yourself!"

Ayumi tried her hardest to smile through the sadness. "Whatever feelings we have for each other... I don't know if it matters anymore. He wanted the drama to end, and I left. We both made our choices. We need to stand by it."

"But that's not—"

"Please, I don't wanna talk about this anymore. Jessica, Ryoji, Kamoshita, my mother, and even Yuri's grandfather tried to reason with me already. I realize what I did was foolish, but it's what's best for him. His fans are right—I'll only ruin his life."

Ethan and Amanda looked at each other with concern. They have never seen Ayumi so dejected before. But then again, she did tend to think the worst of herself. When she disappeared off the face of the earth a year prior, Ryoji told them about her struggle to accept Miwako's death. He told them how she took all the blame and shut out everyone else. This was clearly another one of those cases. It would take more than just a casual conversation at a posh American restaurant to change her mind.

The food soon arrived, and they decided not to mention Yuri's name again as they ate in silence.