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There was a certain thrill in running off to a place where no one knew where you were.
When he was younger, Yuri would hide from his parents when they would start fighting. They didn't notice he was gone until after they stopped the yelling, of course. His father would storm out, and his mother would realize he was gone and search the house frantically, calling out his name. She would find him under the bathroom sink or in the corner of the attic. She would look at him with tired eyes and a tear-stained face and hold out her hands to him, begging him to return to her.
One day, she stopped looking for him.
When Yuri was a teenager, it was easy to run away for a few hours. Everyone had come to expect it of him at that point. He would hide in the storage closets under the bleachers at the rink, he would hide in little cafés and clubs in the city he wasn't meant to be in. He would hide with people, sometimes. When they curled up next to him, breath heavy, it sometimes felt like they were hiding in him.
He always had his phone with him, anyone important who really needed to make sure he wasn't dead or kidnapped could easily track him. But there was this mutual understanding that if Yuri didn't want to be found, the other party wouldn't go looking for him.
When he met Otabek, he didn't run away alone anymore. It was more of a team effort.
“Yura, wake up. Let's go.”
The whisper in the dark didn't scare Yuri, it only got his heart beating faster.
If Lilia ever heard Otabek sneaking into her house when he visited, she never confronted Yuri about it. It had been easy enough for Yuri to copy the key, give it to Otabek without thinking too much about what it meant. If he did, it was going to lead to problems for the both of them that were already hard enough to keep under wraps.
Otabek watched him get dressed silently, kneeling down to stroke potya’s fur when she approached him and circled his leg, scratching at his boot.
They crept quietly out the front door, walking side by side down the long driveway, away from the lights of the house, away from any eyes that may be peeking through windows.
Otabek had parked his bike at the very end of the driveway so that when they mounted it and Otabek started the engine, it would be virtually unheard and unseen from the vantage point of the house.
Yuri held tight as Otabek sped off towards the outskirts of the city, away from where anyone they knew would go looking for them.
They found a gas station after driving twenty minutes along a stretch of road with seemingly nothing on it. The neon lights flashed like a mirage in the desert. Yuri saw it in the distance and tapped Otabek's shoulder twice. That's the one.
Otabek laughed when Yuri took his helmet off, he always did. Yuri shut him up, pressing him to the brick wall and pushing their hips together. He kissed him for the first time in three months, and Otabek actually moaned softly, like he'd been longing for it. Yuri pulled back after a moment with a smirk, a coy gleam in his eyes that sparkled under the outdoor fluorescence.
He cuffed Otabek’s cheek lightly, teasing “Sucker.”
Yuri skipped to the door, leaving Otabek to follow him inside behind.
The interior was what could be expected at half ten on a Wednesday night. There was dirty linoleum tile and rows of junk food, but Yuri headed straight towards the back of the store towards the glow of the icee machine.
Otabek watched in amusement as his boyfriend grabbed a king-sized cup and set about layering flavors of brightly-colored slush into the container. He used to think that was disgusting, had always forced himself to choose just one. Yuri never settled for less than everything, so this was really no exception.
They paid for the slushie and a packet of pop rocks at the front counter, the store clerk looking tired and unamused at the noise they had brought into their calm night.
There was a sad-looking playground installed on the side of the gas station, just a simple swing set and a dinky metal slide settled atop a short hill. They walked over, each taking a seat on a swing. Passing the slushie between them, they talked of the surface-level topics. Yuri complained about his rinkmates, but Otabek could hear the undertone of kinship in his words. Otabek talked about his latest gig in Almaty, his friend’s 21st birthday bash the same night. He made it sound like it was less fun than actually was, because he knows Yuri was sour about not being there. He makes a point of saying it would have been better if Yuri had been in attendance, if only to see the sliver of a smile at the reassurance.
When the drink was gone, they moved to the slide. Yuri climbed up the wrong way, laughing and encouraging Otabek to join him on the platform.
“You're so boring, Beka!” Yuri whined when, instead of climbing up backward, he took the ladder as the design of the slide intended.
“Is that so?” He chuckled, sitting behind Yuri and pulling him closer until the younger’s back was pressed into his chest. “I'll remember that next time I sneak you out of your room in the middle of the night.”
Yuri huffed indignantly and nuzzled his head into the dip of Otabek’s shoulder, resting there. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, lowering the brightness and untangling the red cord of his earbuds wrapped around it. He handed Otabek the left one, and skimmed through their Spotify playlist, watching the song title turn green when he touched it.
It took two song for their position change. Halfway through Green Day’s “kill the DJ”, Yuri took out the pop rocks they had bought, and asked Otabek if he wanted to taste them. When he nodded, Yuri turned around and hooked his legs over Otabek’s hips. He tipped the open packet back, the fizzy candy hitting his tongue. He pulled Otabek in, arms wrapping over his shoulders. Otabek smiled into the kiss, his tongue sliding over Yuri’s easily.
They ended up laughing at the sensation, Yuri pushing at Otabek’s chest between giggles and insisting he'd ruined the moment.
Then the song changed to the weeknd’s “true colors”, and Yuri let the pop rocks melt in his mouth as Otabek kissed his neck.
It was easy to push Otabek down onto the platform of the playground slide, easy for Yuri to linger on top of him. It was easier to kiss him, and feel wandering hands mapping the expanse of skin under his shirt.
It was easier to let his fingers find the zipper on Otabek’s jeans without shaking. When he did shiver, he blamed it on the cold and Otabek pulled him closer.
By song five, Yuri was looking up at the stars, his heels digging into Otabek’s back. He breathed out a sigh, watching the puff of cold air travel up. Then Otabek did something new, ever needing attention, and Yuri looked down to see dark skin and even darker eyes both washed in moonlight, and the eyes were looking up at him, watching his every move.
Yuri’s eyes looked back to the stars briefly and then, accompanied by the arching of his back, fluttered closed in bliss.
Otabek helped him down the ladder when they were done, still connected by Yuri’s headphones. Once their feet were back on the ground, Yuri kissed him like they were saying goodbye, even though they would probably spare a few more kisses before the night was over.
They walked back towards the light of the gas station, one last song playing where they were connected. Otabek’s bike was lonely and gleaming under the cheap artificial light, as if it were calling them, telling them there was one more ride for the night.
Yuri didn't want the night to end, though, so he left his phone with Otabek and ran back into the gas station, much to the clerk’s dismay.
Otabek was used to Yuri’s shenanigans and just rolled his eyes fondly, mounting his bike and waiting for Yuri to return, helmet in his hands. He opened the camera app on Yuri’s phone, took a few selfies, and added them to the “Beka ❤️” folder that Yuri had saved.
Yuri exited the store a moment later, a gun in his hands. The gun was made of pink plastic and filled with cherry Kool Aid, so Otabek only smirked, watching his boyfriend approach with his wild eyes.
“You've compromised my virtue for the last time, Altin.” Yuri accused dramatically, stepping forward and pressing the toy against Otabek’s forehead. “Open your mouth, and get ready to taste sweet justice.”
Playing along, Otabek lowered his head, leaning in to the handlebars of his bike. He looked up at Yuri, who seemed to falter for just a moment, seeing him at a lower angle.
He opened his mouth slowly, innocent eyes looking up. He could swear he saw a pink flush on Yuri’s cheeks, and it looked just as pretty under flickering gas station lights as it did when they had been washed in moonlight only a handful of moments earlier.
Yuri moved the gun down from Otabek’s forehead to his mouth, pushing the barrel between waiting lips. He hesitated, then pushed the spring-loaded trigger, red liquid gushing out and landing on the flat of Otabek’s tongue.
“Boom, you're dead. You're my ghost boyfriend now.” Yuri smirked, and Otabek swallowed the koolaid, pushing the toy away and pulling Yuri in by the collar of his shirt for a kiss.
“I suppose I'll have to compromise your virtue from beyond the grave too, then.”
Otabek returned him to his clock struck three, which would be more than enough time for Yuri to sneak back into his room before the alarm went off for training.
Still, he didn't want to let Otabek go. He tried to convince him to come back upstairs with him, kissing his jawline between begs as they leaned against the bike, parked at the end of the driveway.
“You can help me get undressed, put me to bed.” Yuri suggested, a desperate whisper under a street lamp.
Otabek groaned low at the thought. He wanted nothing more than their relationship to be normal, to stop sneaking off in the middle of the night. He wanted to follow Yuri back to his room, fall asleep beside him. It just wasn't in the cards yet.
“I can't, you know the rules as well as I do, Yura.” Otabek explained, kissing the top of his head. “I think Yakov would actually shoot me. With a real gun.”
Yuri buried his head against his chest, mumbling. “You're the worst ghost boyfriend ever.”
Otabek smirked, cupping his face in his hands and holding it up to look at him again. He kissed Yuri’s forehead, then the tip of his nose, his lips, and his cheek.
“I'll be a respectful gentleman tomorrow and take you to lunch after practice, alright?”
Yuri nodded, and stole one last kiss. He was truly inexhaustible when it came to kissing Otabek. It seemed wrong to deprive himself of anything when they were separated for months at a time. It seemed wrong to deprive himself of anything involving Otabek, ever.
He looked over his shoulder and gave a thumbs up when he reached the front door, Otabek giving one back before the engine of his bike roared back to life and he disappeared down the street.
Yuri went to the kitchen and made the quietest cup of tea he’d ever managed to make, taking it up the stairs with him to his room. His heart stalled as he reached the top, because he could swear he saw a strip of light underneath Lilia’s bedroom door. When he looked again, it was gone, so Yuri just continued past it with bated breath.
When he crawled back into bed, pajamas back on and Potya curled up next to him, there was a text waiting on his phone.
I'll see you tomorrow, officially. You'll have to act like I've only just arrived.
Yuri smirked, texting back immediately.
It'll be like I've just seen a ghost.