[Otabek's POV]

Yuuri Katsuki throws his arms around Victor affectionately. "Vitya! Let's go home."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Victor kisses Yuuri on the nose before hurrying to take his skates off.

Acting so in love together, I can't help but yearn for a relationship like theirs.

"Vitya..." I mutter unconsciously.

"Cute right?" Victor says.

"What?" I reply, snapping back to reality.

"When he says Vitya." Victory answers, clasping his face in his hands dreamily.

Yuuri seems to get flustered. "W-Why is it cute? Yakov calls you that, so I wanted to as well."

I understand how he feels; sometimes when I hear them call Yuri by his 'Yurio' nickname, I wish I had a special connection like that with him as well.

As if mocking my thoughts, Victor calls out happily. "Yurio!"

Yuri comes jogging towards us. My attention is captured by his silky blonde hair flowing gracefully behind him like a waterfall of liquid gold.

"All ready to go?" Yuri asks as he reaches me.

I am still focused on the beautiful hair that curtains his delicate face. "It's getting a bit long." I observe, lost in my own thoughts.

I reach out and gently brush the strands aside. Yuri stares up at me; his striking turquoise eyes captivate me. Like the crystal sea, they are calm and dazzling...until the relentless storm of determination consumes them; just as the fierce waves, they are untameable. Cold and driven like the eyes of a soldier. I love the depth of these orbs, shifting from a tropical ocean to an icy lake in a matter of seconds. I love the enchanting colour of determination.

"I love your eyes." I say aloud.

"W...what?" Yuri slurs in confusion.

I feel his cheeks growing hotter under my fingers. I quickly take my hand away from his face after realising how long I had been studying it.

"Uh, sorry—I just mean...you should push your hair back more." I explain awkwardly.

Victor and Yuuri watch in silence, their eyes shifting eagerly between Yuri and me. I try my best not to notice the fact that I just did that in public, but I can feel my cheeks going red.

"Let's go." I say before quickly pacing away from the scene.

I don't dare stop walking until I am safely beside my motorbike outside, where I let out a big sigh. Yuri emerges from the building not long after, striding along casually unlike my panicked leave. He fiddles with a lock of his hair as he walks, looking deep in thought. He gets on the bike silently and doesn't say a single word the whole ride home. It's weird seeing Yuri in such a daze...

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(The next morning)

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[Yuri's POV]

I roll out of bed lazily and sluggishly walk across my room. As I make my way to the door, my passing reflection in the mirror catches my eye. I retrace my steps and stare at the reflection intently. Tangles of bed hair hang over my face. Curiosity wills my arms to move on their own, reaching up and pushing the hair aside like curtains. I lean closer to the mirror and peer into the reflection of my eyes...

I don't see what's so great about them.

I restraighten my posture and stare at the mirror blankly, already quite bored of what I am seeing. Still my mind replays Otabek's words,

"I love your eyes...you should push your hair back more."

The very memory of his voice brings warmth to my chest. Once again, my arms move without my conscious command, reaching up and tucking my hair behind my ears. I study the reflection before me. Usually if I have to wear my hair back, it's in a braid or a ponytail. I look different with it tucked behind my ears.

"I look like a dork." I mutter dully.

Actually, Victor left most of his hair accessories when he gave it the chop.

My eyes wonder to the closet beside me.

What am I even thinking about right now?

"You should push your hair back more."

Oh,...right...

Damn it Otabek. I don't care what you think.

I storm over to the closet angrily. I needed to clean it out anyway; I should start sorting through this stuff. I dig around eagerly until finally uncovering a basket of hair accessories. I grab a light pink headband and kick all the other crap back into the closet before slamming the doors.

I sigh as I gently push back my hair with the headband and look into the mirror. I turn from side to side as I admire my reflection. Having my hair behind my ears looks slightly better with the headband; I guess I'll wear it like this or whatever. It's not like I like the colour pink, I would just look good in anything.

I stride out of my bedroom and into the kitchen where Otabek is pouring cereal.

"Morning." I greet.

Otabek looks up from his bowl and his mouth drops a little.

"Y-you're um, you're wearing..." He stammers.

"I don't like wearing pink I just had nothing else!" I blurt out before quickly sitting down at the dining table.

I rest my forehead in my hands and stare down at the table. What the heck was that outburst? My heart is pounding. Why do I always feel so insecure around him? I said I didn't, but I have never had someone to impress before, maybe I do care about what Otabek thinks.

As soon as I admitted it to myself, a rush of anxiety courses through me.

What if he doesn't like it? Otabek always looks cool, I probably look stupid. What if he thinks I look dorky? What if he doesn't even remember what he said yesterday and he just thinks I'm weird?!

Otabek carries his bowl of cereal over to the dining table and sits down beside me. "No, I meant you're wearing your hair back. I like it."

I slowly look up from the table to see Otabek smiling warmly. My heart flutters. For some reason I feel all light and dazed. I guess I'm just relieved he doesn't hate it...not that I care too much...

"Yeah, whatever, I just felt like it." I say casually.

Otabek rests his head on his hand and admires me. My heartbeat quickens.

"I really do love your eyes." Otabek mutters as if talking to himself. He takes a deep breath before shifting his focus back to his cereal. "By the way," Otabek adds a little louder. "I think that headband looks really cute on you."

Otabek's words seem to have stolen my voice. Without anything to say in return, I just sit there blinking slowly at him. Silence falls between us and I can hear only the sound of my pounding heartbeat. Heat slowly prickles to the surface of my cheeks—

Okay I appreciate his approval or whatever, but why am I blushing? More importantly why aren't I speaking? Say something. Say anything!

I manage to clear my throat and choke some words out, "s-so, um, anyway—we know which bed you want, but you still need to decide on a colour."

"I like the colour of determination." Otabek says simply.

"Determination isn't a colour," I laugh.

"It's a colour that can't be mimicked by fabric." Otabek replies.

Despite his seriousness on the subject, I had completely lost it—laughing so hard my ribs hurt. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means looking at a blanket doesn't give me the same feeling as looking into your eyes." Otabek answers.

I slowly stop laughing as he raises his eyes from his cereal bowl to gaze at me. Hot blood rushes to my face. Why? Why always do I feel so hot and flustered when he looks at me? It's embarrassing.

"You're weird." I reply.

Otabek laughs and returns to his cereal. "I guess a nice grey would work too."

"About time," I say before getting up to retrieve my laptop. "I'll order it now."

"Yeah since you got us kicked out of the store." Otabek teases.

I poke my tongue out at him as I sit back down with my laptop. A few moments of silence passed before Otabek spoke up again,

"Hey, Yuri?"

"Mmn?" I murmur in half-assed reply as I scroll through the furniture website.

"It's really nice that you're close enough with Victor and Yuuri to have nicknames. I mean how they call you 'Yurio'..." Otabek's eyes are fixed on his spoon as he speaks, fiddling with it nervously. "Do you...like being called by a nickname?"

"As if!" I deny. "That idiot changes my name, without my consent, to make it easier for some pig he ran off to coach who has the nerve to call himself by the same name and then the pig himself starts calling me by the stupid nickname and suddenly it becomes my token nickname or something!"

"...Wow...okay. That—that was...a long sentence." Otabek scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. "Anyway, yeah, that's what I thought as well. Nicknames are...dumb...right?"

He is acting weird.

"Why do you ask?" I question.

"Oh—I just was wondering how you felt about nicknames. Since we are pretty close, you know, like you are with Victor and Yuuri." Otabek answers.

He looks almost...disappointed...

"My grandpa calls me Yura." I say suddenly.

"What?" Otabek replies.

"I don't mind nicknames that much, my grandpa calls me Yura. I like it." I explain.

"Oh..." Otabek taps his fingers on the table and looks around the room as if stalling. "Would you," he says finally. "Would you mind if I called you Yura?"

Otabek nervously speaking my Russian nickname, my brain is screaming.

CUTE!

"I-I wouldn't mind." I answer.

Again, the room falls silent. Otabek is staring down at his bowl. I cover my mouth with my hand; my face is getting all hot.

"You know, my little sister calls me Beka." Otabek says. "You could call me that if you like."

"Okay," I agree. "I didn't know you had a sister by the way."

Otabek snaps up from his cereal bowl, his face beaming. "Yeah! She's really cute. I think she would like you. We should go visit my family some time and you could meet them all!"

My mouth stretches into a smile. For some reasonmy chest feels all warm and fuzzy inside. "Yeah, I would like that."

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So here is the headband, aannddd....

The color pallet from the last chapter which I forgot to add in, THEY ARE REAL COLORS like wth? XD