Two in one day, aren't you guys in for a treat :D

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[Yuri's POV]

Today's the day. All of our preparation, training and hard work has been leading up to this competition. It's not like this is a real competition, it's just a bet. I don't know why I'm so nervous but my heart is pounding so hard I feel as though I might cough it up. I just don't want to disappoint Otabek. We have both worked so hard. Victor and Yuuri were right, even if it is only one pair skate it is still a partnership in which we have to support each other and work as one. I was trying to prove that I could perform in a team without being as dramatic as them, but...when I skate with Otabek it really does feel like everything they have ever described to me.

Victor and Yuuri have finished their pair skate. I was right in assuming they would do something slow and romantic, but it wasn't at all boring like I said. The whole crowd is swooning and sobbing; their performance was truly beautiful. I'm hoping that I was at least right in saying that we could win over the crowd with a cooler performance, something that will get them excited enough to forget about all the other emotions that Victor and Yuuri made them feel.

I take a deep breath as I look in the mirror. I'm wearing a black singlet-leotard with fishnet tights and a little black skirt over the top. As I am the smaller one, I will be skating the woman's role, so I thought my outfit should reflect that. Otabek on the other hand will be wearing a fishnet top to show off his muscles and black leggings, as he is skating the more masculine role. Since I am playing the female I will also have to be the temptress in this routine. The music I thought told the story of a bad boy seeming as it sounded more badass than ladylike, but either way I will be playing the role of the one teasing Otabek's emotions... Of course the way he has been playing with my heart like a tennis ball makes me think it should be the other way around, but these role allocations fit all the jumps and lifts and stuff.

"Yura?"

I turn to see Otabek, dressed in his outfit, standing in the doorway of the change rooms. As soon as I have turned around, he looses concentration in what he was saying.

"You look fit." He says, looking me up and down.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I reply with a smirk. "But you're missing something."

"What?" Otabek asks nervously.

I reach into my bag and pull out two pairs off cat ears, both patterned with tiger stripes.

Otabek hesitates. "I...Do I have to wear that?"

I ignore him and shove a pair on his head. "Come on, I think you look cute."

I instantly blush after what I said but it seemed to have convinced Otabek.

"O-Okay." He answers with a smile. "But I thought you liked leopard print?"

"I don't know, tiger ears seemed to fit the feisty rhythm of the music." I reply.

I lift my own pair of ears up to my head but Otabek stops me.

"Hold on. Shouldn't you put your hair up or something?" He asks. "It's getting a bit long to leave out. Let me braid it for you."

"Okay..." I agree.

I sit down on one of the benches and Otabek sits behind me. Tingles shift through my body as his fingers gently brush through my hair. My breathing slows, calming all my nerves.

"You've done so well this past month." Otabek says softly. "No matter who wins, I'll be happy to have skated with you."

Warmth fills my chest. "...Me too."

Once Otabek has finished braiding my hair, he carefully places the tiger ears on top of my head.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Ready." I answer firmly.

We walk out of the change rooms and through the crowd, side by side. Since this competition is just for fun, we all agreed not to include a professional scoring system. The winner will be decided by the audience, which means I have to give it everything I have.

Otabek and I enter the ice rink and take our starting positions. My heart beats faster and faster to the point where I'm not sure if I can feel it anymore. The crowd quiets down and silence falls. Then, without two seconds to prepare myself, the music starts.

Otabek stands still in the centre of the rink as I skate around him, my movements sharp, confident and sexy. I do a triple toe-loop, followed by a split jump in which I leap up high and tough my toes, and as I land I finish with a double toe-loop.

The audience is getting pumped, it's time to awaken Otabek.

As I skate towards him, I slowly bend backwards until my hands are gracefully gliding across the ice along with the rest of my body (like welcome to the madness, lol); I hold this pose as I skate through Otabek's parted legs. The moment I pass under him and lift myself up, he begins skating along with me.

Otabek's rhythm is desperate and yearning as he chases after me, but I am still skating confidently—always one step ahead of him. I tease him with my movements. This is the part of the story where the first person (Otabek) firsts encounters the temptress (myself). I skate as though I am playing with his emotions, like Eros, but Otabek skates with love, like Agape. It is a cross between the two in the way that I tease Otabek's heart but he continues to love me unconditionally.

I continue to excite the audience with my unpredictable movements, until it comes time for the plot twist. After playing with Otabek and staying just out of reach, I do a triple Salchow perfectly timed so that when I land, Otabek smoothly glides beside me and we begin skating together. Finally, Otabek has caught up to me. This is the part of the story where I, the temptress, let my guard down and Otabek believes to have finally won.

I am graced with the feeling of Otabek's warmth and energy transferring into my own movements. Our minds and bodies become synced as though we are one. In this moment, everything is perfect. Even though this part of the skating program is the most physically demanding, it fills me with fun and freedom, which is exactly what we want it to do for the audience.

Otabek lifts me and spins me, we do coordinated triple flips which really gets the crowd screaming, we continue to skate and jump faster, higher, stronger, more and more wildly. This is the moment in which we free each other.

But Otabek begins to fall behind again. I feel the warmth of his body leave me, sorrow tugging at my heart, but I persist in the story. I do a triple Lutz and glide away from him, continuing to skate around him playfully like in the beginning. But this time Otabek's movements aren't as lonely and desperate; he accepts that he may never catch up to me and begins skating with me from a distance. We swivel and turn in sync, though there is some distance between us, circling the rink on opposite ends. My movements are playful and intriguing, while Otabek's are curious to mimic them. Finally, as the end of the music draws near, Otabek takes his place in the center of the rink where he started and I take a sharp turn to join him. We strike a strong pose on the final beat of the music and the crowd goes wild.

Cold air slices my dry throat as I wheeze heavy breaths.

We're done. It's over.

Screams echo throughout the stadium. Otabek turns to me with a shining grin, his eyes alight with happiness. I smile back at him weakly, exhaustion and a little bit of disappointment still haunting me.

I don't want it to be over.

I follow slowly behind Otabek as we exit the rink.

What if it wasn't good enough? Otabek sure skated amazing, but...did I drag him down?

I stare at the back of Otabek's head as he walks in front of me. Every single training—every time we skated together—my heart yearns for him more. I can't help but feel like I only analysed his song as a struggling love story because that's how I have been feeling. Otabek plays on my heart strings every single day and though he is always out of reach, I continue to chase him. Is it always going to be this way? Can I continue to play it safe as his friend, neither risking rejection nor getting what my heart desires? It's straining to be with him every second of every day and yet still feel so far away. A small part of me is begging to tell him...but I'm scared. For some reason, though, it felt like we were on the same wavelength whilst skating together. I poured all of my emotions into that routine...maybe my feelings got through to him?

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[Otabek's POV]

Skating that routine is heart-wrenching, particularly because it reminds me so much of my love for Yuri. I don't know if it's just because he is constantly on my mind, but as I developed my song I began to hear a story playing out. The music seemed to describe the way I feel, the way Yuri teases my heart though I can't help but enjoy the game he plays...he gives me life and freedom. Am I just going crazy or did Yuri hear it too? I poured all of my emotions into that song, maybe my feelings got through to him?

I am suddenly pulled from my thoughts by the commentators booming voice,

"My ears are ringing after that exciting performance. I think it's pretty clear who the winners are, but as promised I will leave the deciding to the audience."

I recognise the voice immediately as Georgi's...he sure does love the drama.

"All the fans of Victuuri out there, can I hear your love loud and clear?" Georgi prompts.

Of course all of Victor and Yuuri's loyal fans shout and scream, but they don't sound honestly convinced.

"Hmm...Victor and Yuuri sure have numbers, but the response is lacking emotion." Georgi comments. "Let's see if the Otayuri fans can do better."

"Ota...yuri...?" I repeat.

"Did he just give us a ship name?" Yuri asks, his voice quivering with embarrassment.

"Let me hear your love for Otayuri!" Georgi exclaims.

The crowd roars with determination, Mila's excited screams stand out in particular.

"GO OTAYURI!!!!!" She shrieks.

I clasp my hands over my ears, feeling as though my brain would explode from the noise. Yuri, however, bathes in the glory.

"You heard it, folks," Georgi yells over the ruckus. "OTAYURI WINS!"

Yuri joins in with the shouting, his face lighting up. "We won, we won! WE WON!" He grabs my arm and shakes me back and forth. "I told you we could win! BEKA WE BEAT THEM TOGETHER!"

My heart skips a beat.

Together...

I smile down at Yuri and, before I can stop myself, launch forward to hug him tightly. "Congratulations, Yura, you're awesome."

Yuri hesitates for a second and I instantly begin panicking—Is this weird? Oh god. What am I doing? Get off. Get off him! Ah. AH!

But then I feel his arms wrap around me as he snuggles his face in my chest. I calm my breathing and allow myself to relax into his embrace.

"Congrats, Yurio!"

Yuri and I jump in fright and quickly pull away from each other. Victor and Katsuki Yuuri are standing before us, smiling fondly.

"Yeeahhehe, that's right! We won. Not you. So looks like I proved you wrong." Yuri sniggers.

Katsuki Yuuri shrugs. "Well, I guess we're getting married then."

Yuri's expression fades to a blank stare for a moment. "Y-You're getting married?..." His face suddenly breaks into a smile. "You're getting married!" Yuri leaps around ecstatically. "I'm gonna be a best man! I'M GONNA BE A BEST MAN!"

My mouth stretches into a smile. He was so stubborn about 'proving them wrong' and 'teaching them a lesson' but in the end, he just couldn't hold in his joy. I knew he wanted them to get married.

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[Yuri's POV]

Victor and Yuuri are finally getting married. Love really does prevail! I have new hope—new life! This is it. I'm going to tell Otabek. This is a sign. Against all odds we won the competition together. Victor and Yuuri's wedding is a symbol of new forming bonds.

Victor leans in close to my ear and whispers, "You said you were going to prove us wrong, but are you sure you didn't learn something through this experience?"

I stop celebrating to look at him but he has already begun to walk off with Yuuri. Victor reaches his hand up as a goodbye wave. "I'll be expecting you to work hard, best man."

And with that, they exit the building.

My eyes are glued to the spot where Victor once stood. What does he mean, have I learnt something?

I look down at the golden bracelet gleaming upon my wrist.

I guess...I guess I did...

In the beginning I was angry about how perfect Victor and Yuuri's relationship was. I was envious of their love and wanted to prove that I could be a good partner too. I said all those things about how easy it was, but skating with Otabek reminded me of how hard love is. I said all those things and yet I don't even have the guts to tell him how I feel. Being in a partnership with him in order to perform the pair skate was stressful too. I was constantly worried about dragging him down...

But we are a team, and honestly the feeling I got when I skated with him was worth the stress. He is my other half and I never want to be separated from him again.