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“Whoa, whoa. Just stop there. You what?” Victor stood as his brother remained sitting, pale and speechless, hands covering his mouth. The boy looked like he was about to be sick.
His mother gave him a sad look. “Vitya…”
“Don’t ‘Vitya’ me! Not now?” Victor snapped, standing in front of Yuri. “Why wouldn’t you say anything to us? To any of us?”
“It was a dark time in my life. I didn’t even mean to conceive,” his mother whispered, looking to her clasped hands. “I told your father eventually. I was too ashamed to keep it from him. But I truly thought Yura was your father’s, I promise.”
“And you didn’t think to tell even him?” Victor thought briefly that he was going to be sick. When his parents called him and Yuri into their sitting room, the last thing Victor was expecting was to be told about an affair that his mother had had when he was eleven.
An affair that Yuri was the result of.
When he’d been told he was getting a little brother, Victor had been ecstatic. He knew that his parents had wanted another child, they were just having problems having one. Yuri had been an amazing surprise, and he knew when he held his little brother in his arms that his family was complete.
Only, Yuri wasn’t Victor’s father’s son.
“Vitya, do you think it’s been easy to raise my wife’s bastard? I didn’t even know for the first seven years of Yura’s life.” Victor’s father said, an unfamiliar sadness pulling at his face.
“And even then you decided not to tell us?” Victor hissed, his hands clenched so tight he was sure he was going to end up with bruises on the heels of his hands. “Do you even love Yura at all?”
“I’ve loved that boy like he’s my own since day one, and I continued even after I found out the truth. And I’m telling the truth, Yura. I do love you,” the older man said, looking around his son to see the teen. “You are like a sun to me. But you have to understand how hard it is to look at the child you’ve raised and know that you’re not mine. It’s absolutely devastating.”
“You don’t have to keep saying it!” Victor protested. “It’s not his fault mother had an affair! He’s simply the result!”
“It’s okay, Victor,” Yuri’s soft voice piped up from behind him, small and quite, but still holding a firmness. “I just need some time.” The younger boy stood and left, the soft click of the door closing more heart-shattering than if he’d slammed it. It was so against his nature, how he usually held himself.
Victor dropped back down on the sofa that he and Yuri had been sharing. “What spurred this on? Why are you telling us the truth now, fifteen years later?” he whispered, elbows braced on his knees.
“There have been rumours circulating. Of course, our people will be none the wiser, Vitya,” his mother said, her usually kind blue eyes going as hard as ice. “We will all remain that your father is also Yuri’s father. They are not to know of my affair. In public, we play the happy, perfect family. No one outside the four of us are to know. Not even Yuri’s father knows he has a son, and he won’t.”
“I am not lying to my husband. He is a part of this family now, and has the right to know. I will tell who I want so I can protect and consul my brother,” Victor stated flatly before standing again. “Now, I have more important matters to attend to.” Victor started toward the door.
“Vitya,” his mother stood, but his father grabbed her wrist to stop her from following their son.
He didn’t so much as acknowledge she’d spoken to him. He just needed to find his brother.
Unfortunately, Yuri was unpredictable when he got upset. He could have been anywhere.
Victor rolled his shoulders back, and started toward his brother’s room.
He had to start somewhere, after all.
~`~
When Yuuri entered the library closest to Victor’s room, the last thing he was expecting to hear was crying. Not the soft weeping of one reading a particular part of a book, nor was it the crying of getting a letter from someone a person hadn’t heard from in a long while.
Yuuri knew this crying too well.
It was the crying out in pain, gasping sobs and cries that someone, anyone would come, would consul him. Cries that got worse, raspier, the longer they went unanswered. Yuuri knew they usually went unanswered.
Yuuri was even more surprized to find that the cried were coming from his brother-in-law.
“Yuri?” Yuuri murmured, cautiously approaching. He’d never seen the teen in such a state before. He didn’t know how the teen would react. “What’s wrong?”
“You wouldn’t care,” Yuri hissed, curled up in an armchair with his knees pulled up against his chest.
“Try me,” Yuuri replied, sitting in the chair across the coffee table from the boy.
Yuri sniffled, readjusting his grip on the handkerchief that was holding almost his full attention. “I just found out that I’m the product of an affair my mother had. That the man raising me isn’t my actual father. That the recent articles everyone has been telling me to ignore are true.” Yuri looked to Yuuri, his blond hair hiding most of his face. What was showing was red and blotchy, his usually vibrant green eye rimmed red and bloodshot. “I’m a bastard.”
“Oh my god, Yuri.” Yuuri got up, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. “I am so sorry. No one should have to go through that.”
“Thank you, pig. I… I mean Yuuri.” Yuri wrapped his arms around the older man, gripping tight.
It was then that Yuuri realized that, unlike in his family growing up, Yuri and Victor hadn’t had anyone to turn to when they were upset or frustrated. Yuuri had always had his family, especially when his anxiety spiked. They’d been able to calm him down, distract him, and completely change his mood in no time. Phichit and Victor had taken over that job since he’d moved to Russia, though he’d been relatively level headed through the entirety of his time in Russia so far.
Yuri, on the other hand, had probably always been told to bottle up his emotions, told that they were unbecoming of a young prince in his position. It was most likely why he was almost always in a sour mood.
Yuri didn’t have anyone to go to, and Yuuri found himself saddened over that fact.
“Just let it out,” Yuuri whispered, rubbing circles into Yuri’s back. “Let it all out. I’m here whenever you need me. I promise.”
Yuri was still, quiet for a moment. Then the tears of agony came back, full force. Yuuri held him, keeping him grounded until he calmed down.
“Thanks,” Yuri mumbled a few minutes later, when he’d calmed down a bit.
“You’re my brother now. If I can help you in any way, I will,” Yuuri vowed, meaning every word.
“I guess I’m used to only having Victor around. He’s the only sibling I have. Well, that I know of, at least. I’m not really used to others,” Yuri admitted.
“It’s okay. I don’t want to push myself into you. Just come to me when you need me,” Yuuri murmured.
“You know what, pig? You’re actually pretty okay,” Yuri said, his cheeks brightening.
Yuuri grinned. “You’re pretty okay yourself, Yuri.”
The door behind Yuuri opened, and both Yuris looked to the room’s newcomer.
Victor stood in the doorway in complete disarray. His hair looked like he’d raked his fingers through it countless times, and his suit was slightly rumpled, no doubt from running around in search of his brother.
“Yura,” he whispered, coming closer, obviously just as weary of the teen as Yuuri had been upon approach. “Oh, Yura, I am so sorry. I swear, I had no idea. I would have told you if I did. You don’t deserve this.”
“It’s okay, Victor. It’s not your fault. And either way, if mother hadn’t had the affair, I wouldn’t have been born. Perhaps it was for the best, in a way,” Yuri said.
Yuuri took one of Yuri’s hands and squeezed it tight. “At least you can find a bright side.”
“It’ll take some time, but I’m sure things will get better. Time heals all wounds, right?” Yuri murmured, looking up at the couple through his pale lashes.
“Exactly.” Victor nodded his approval, then clapped his hands together. “Now, how about the three of us spend the rest of the day together? No parents, no distractions, just the three of us.”
“Sure. I know my brothers will take my mind off things.” Yuri stood, starting across the room.
“He called you his brother,” Victor whispered, gripping Yuuri’s shoulder. “It’s progress. What did you say to him?”
Yuuri smiled. “Nothing untrue. I just told him that I was always going to be there for him. And I will be. Not only is he your brother, but he’s my brother-in-law. And on top of that, he’s still just a kid. He needs people to look out for him. People that will help him when he needs it, whether he asks for it or not.”
“I’m not sure I could have found a more considerate person to marry. Many people don’t take their partner’s family on as their own. But you…” Victor broke off, shaking his head.
“Family means a lot in my culture. It’s how I was raised.” Yuuri felt an almost instant need to look down as he blushed.
“Well, I’m glad for that.” Victor pressed a kiss to Yuuri’s temple. “Because I know your family’s mine too.”
“Come on, old man, piggy,” Yuri said, crossing his arms. “Let’s go.”
Yuuri smiled at Victor, and got to his feet, following after the teen. “At least he’s still somewhat himself.” He took Victor’s hand, pulling him along.
“At least,” Victor agreed, squeezing Yuuri’s hand.
They knew Yuri was going to be fine. He just needed time to adjust to what he’d learned. But once he did, Victor knew that his brother would be perfectly fine.
After all, Yuri was a lot stronger than most gave him credit for.