PICTURES

Yuri stared at the blank wall of his bedroom.

It looked so empty without the pictures of his idol. He had stared at them for so long that it's almost as if Victor had been silently living with him all this time.

He snorted at that thought. Now that Victor was at his home he could see for himself that living silently with Victor would be something impossible. He was all over the place, not just in his room anymore. Just for himself.

Those pictures were now part of some past that he didn't want anyone to peek at. Such pictures lied in a red paper box under his bed, hidden away from everyone's attention, but when Yuri closed his eyes while staring at the wall, they were still there, staring back at him, keeping him company.

He searched for the box with his heel while sitting on the bed, just to make sure that it was still there. It was his little treasure.

Yuri laid on his bed, suddenly feeling the result of a whole day worth of training. His muscles hurt, but he was happy.

It was a feeling beyond happiness that washed over him every time he woke up at morning and remembered that Victor came all the way from Russia to be with him, to help him become what he desired.

But maybe what he really desired was inside that red paper box.

And maybe that feeling beyond happiness was love.

Yuri rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling. He stretched his legs, enjoying the feeling of the soft fabric of his blanket against his feet.

Every time he closed his eyes he remembered how close they have been lately and how his heart skipped a beat whenever Victor entered his personal space.

He did not mind it at all, he just didn't know what to do with the sudden rush of feelings. He was used to loving pictures who didn't hold his hands or touch his lips. The pictures didn't give him butterflies.

Yuri sighed quietly, remembering what Victor's touch felt like. He could even remember the scent of his skin. He wanted to memorise all these things about Victor, as if it was a picture that he would stare at whenever he wanted to feel that again.

He didn't know if he was allowed to feel so much.

But he wanted to feel that much, because day by day, Victor touched his heart deeper and deeper and he felt embraced by that gaze and all that attention. He didn't want Victor to look away from him for even a second.

Yuri decided that he should let that buried treasure go, because now he could pursue the most precious treasure of all treasures. It was calling for him.

Unlike those silly pictures that didn't love him back.