THREE

The sky opens up just as he's pulling into the driveway, unleashing a sudden wall of rain and he says a small prayer of thanks that his dedushka had a garage. Yuri feels lighter than he has in weeks, has a good feeling in his chest, probably because of the Snap reply Otabek finally sent. He'd screenshot it as soon as he opened it and saved it away in his BEKA folder with a stupid smile on his face. Otabek was going to be okay and that seems like the most important thing in the world.

He locks the car and makes sure the garage door is shut, then heads for the house, tugging out his phone just in time for an incoming call from Mila. A roll of the eyes and he's accepting the call and pulling it to his ear, pausing in the process to find the house key, "Hag." he greets her in monotone.

"Yuuuri!" he winces at the pitch in her voice, "You'll never guess what happened! Remember that hockey player we met a few weeks ago? The one who kept looking at my ass?"

"Uh-huh." No, he doesn't, but it's easier to just let her talk. He thinks she probably knows he doesn't remember but she doesn't really care and resumes talking. He lets her babble through the phone as he lets himself inside.

Something is wrong, he can tell the moment he steps into the entryway. There's a floral smell that wasn't there yesterday and the air just feels...off. He freezes, Mila a hum in his ear that fades away. There's footsteps upstairs.

His heart thunders in his chest. A break-in? He should call the police, right? He sets the bag he'd brought with down and moves slowly towards the staircase, "Mila." he whispers urgently but she doesn't seem to hear him and keeps talking.

When he's halfway up the stairs, avoiding the third step that squeaks, he hears the footsteps clearly, coming from his dedushka's room. And more; there's the sound of a female's voice, soft, like they're talking to themselves.

"Mila."

This time, she hears him and asks, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

The bedroom door opens and he's staring at the last person he'd ever expect to see, "I'll call you back." He doesn't wait for her to reply, just lets the phone slide away from his ear and blindly hangs up, eyes never moving from the silhouette.

"Yuri?" Her voice is adrenaline in his ears, memories that spill out of an old wound. She steps into the hall and breaks the spell over him with eye's that mirror his own. He shakes his head and straightens, and she smiles, "Look at you!"

Look at him? How is she even here? He'd always assumed she was…was dead. But she comes down to meet him, rough fingers brushing his cheek, soft smile on thin, painted lips.

"Mom." he whispers, and the heaviness settles into his shoulders again.

༺༻

She's got coffee in a carafe in the kitchen and he pours himself some to give himself something to do. She sits at the dining table and waits for him. His mind should be full; of questions, of anger, of anything, really. But there's nothing, so when he settles into a chair across from her, her doesn't say anything.

"You've done a wonderful job of cleaning." She says softly, both hands holding her mug, leaned forward over the table, "I know this couldn't have been easy."

He huffs, finally looks at her and just feels tired. He doesn't need to hear these things from her, he knows how hard he works. Had always worked. Without her. He simply shrugs.

"I've been following you in the news, you're turning into such a wonderful man." She's filling the silence and that's all. Empty words in awkward air, "I'm so proud of you."

He closes his eyes and tries not to feel anything at that. But it isn't pride that hits him, it isn't anger either. He feels lost. He can't form the questions spiralling in his mind. Where does he even begin?

"I'm sorry," She says softly, "For missing the funeral."

And that finally lights a fire in him, he jerks his head up and looks at her, his expression must change because she leans back in her chair and her mouth opens into a small 'o'. "For missing the funeral? What about missing the last 10 years of my life? What do you even know about me? That shit you read in articles barely scratches the surface." He stands, leaves the coffee mug behind, "I'm amazed you even remember my name. Where did you go? Why didn't you take me with you? Why are you even here now?" He tugs angry fingers through his hair and stares at the line on the floor where the dining area switches to the kitchen.

He hears her move, but she doesn't stand, doesn't come near him. When he turns back to her, she's staring at her own coffee again, worrying her lower lip, "Well? Do you have any defense? Nothing you can say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry." She says softly and her shoulders shake just enough that he notices, then she's shaking her head and her blonde hair is flying around her, "I have nothing to defend myself with. I have no excuses. I just…" She trails off.

"You just? You just looked at me one day and said, 'I'm done with this. I don't want to be a mom anymore.'? You just decided to drop me off at deda's and never come back to pick me up?" He steps backwards, his shoulder hitting the doorframe, "You just figured deda could handle me for a few years and then it turned into my entire life? You were dead to me. You are dead to me."

She finally looks at him and he hates it. Hates that he sees himself when she's looking at him with tear-filled eyes. But she doesn't say anything, she barely drags in a breath.

He thinks that's worse than anything she could have told him.

༺༻

He doesn't tell Otabek and he ignores Mila's frantic messages. Instead, he ignores the woman in the house like the memory she should be. He has other things to worry about and she's a curveball he didn't see coming, but he can't afford to be down and out about it. Instead, he finishes cleaning the bedrooms and the bathroom, loud, angry music spilling from his phone.

She's downstairs and he doesn't care what she's doing, as long as she isn't screwing up his hard work. The realtor will be by in late afternoon to take pictures and talk money, he's wondering if he can chase her away before that when his phone goes off in his pocket again.

It's another Snap from Otabek, and he can't help pausing to open it. Otabek is on a mountain, it looks like, his back to a wide expanse of a valley, he's wearing his leather jacket, his designer sunglasses and has a scarf wrapped tightly around his mouth, the only pieces of his face visible are his forehead and nose, which is bright red.

It's a little cold, but it's one more day of killing time before I see you.

Yuri rolls his eyes and takes his own selfie, holding a peace sign up next to a bored expression. He looks tired, his hair is up in a tail that's falling apart and he's covered in dust. He's decidedly unattractive at the moment, he thinks, but he decides it's good enough. Otabek accepts all sides of him and, let's face it, this is not the least attractive he's ever looked.

U could come help me clean instead

He sends it off and hides his phone away again, just as quiet footsteps move up the stairs, "Yuratchka?" He shudders at her voice and doesn't look when she enters the bathroom, instead scrubbing harder at the bottom of the bathtub. He hears her sigh, "Yuri, I want to fix this. Please? I know I've been...the worst mother ever."

Most non-existent, you mean. He thinks bitterly, but doesn't say anything, turning his back to her in silent protest.

"But please, give me a chance. Just one more."

He throws the scrubstick he's been using down, it makes a loud noise as it bounces around the tub, but he can't hear it as he throws himself to his feet. She takes a step back from him as he spins on her, finger raised to point accusingly at her, "Why should I? I'm an adult, you've missed all the crazy major milestones. What do you even want? There's nothing left for you here! Dedushka is dead. No one lives here anymore! I'm selling the house that he left to me. And if you're looking for money, you're shit out of luck there, too! Ice skating is not a profitable sport, so there's nothing for you to take from me!"

Her eyes harden like stained glass, "What? I don't want any money! I don't want to take anything from you!" She takes a step towards him again and he backs up to match the movement, "Yuri, please. I just want...I want us to be a family again."

He laughs. It builds in his chest and unleashes hard enough to curl him over, "Yulia," He gasps out, he will not call her 'mom' again, "There is no family anymore. There was at one time, when I was little and didn't know any better. There was deda and me and then there was just me. I don't need you-I don't want you here. Go back to your other life and forget about the Plisetsky name. It will all end here, anyway."

She frowns, "What do you mean?"

"You read the articles about me and you don't know the rumors? My secret boyfriend and the outlandish lifestyle I lead?" He snarls at her, "I'm the last branch of this family tree and I'm happy to leave it that way. I'm sure you have another family by now, all picture-perfect and not a fucking accident like me. Go back to them and let me believe you're dead. It's better for both of us."

Her mouth opens and closes several times before her shoulders sag. She turns without a word and walks out of the bathroom. He stills, listens to her walk down the stairs and hears the front door close.

He should feel triumphant, but he doesn't. It doesn't feel like he's won anything at all.

༺༻

It's been a really weird day.

When he finally reads Mila's message it's simply a long string of different smiley emojis with an occasional eggplant emoji thrown in. He doesn't get it and sends back '?' but she doesn't reply.

The realtor is scheduled to be there at 5, so he's killing time playing a game on his phone, sound turned up loud to kill the silence, when someone knocks on the door. It's a bit early for her, but maybe the realtor is early. Or worse, his mother is back. He hesitates but gets up from the table and goes to the door, just as they knock again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," He casts one last look at the screen of his phone before shoving it in his pocket and looking up just as he says, "Sorry, I wasn't ex-" the words die on his lips as he realizes it's not his mother or the realtor.

It's been a really weird day and it doesn't seem like it's going to be over yet.