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Yuri slides his sunglasses down his nose, his eyes roaming the bustling airport around him, but he has to quickly push them up again. It’s too bright, and he’s too tired; his delayed flight ended up leaving two hours after it was scheduled.
With a groan, he tries to call Jean again. The dumbass is late, and Yuri doesn’t have the patience for this on a regular day, let alone today. His boyfriend picks up after the third ring, at least.
“Jean! Fucking finally!”
“Hi, kitten. I’m so sorry. I was in the kitchen and lost track of time.”
“It’s fine.” It’s not fine, but Yuri doesn’t want to start this trip on the wrong foot. After all, they have a whole week to themselves before they have to jump in a car to Mississauga, which is the first event in the race for the Grand Prix. He gets up from the uncomfortable seat and stretches his back a bit. He wants a bed so badly. “Are you outside? Should I come meet you?”
There’s a sigh on the other end. Oh, no . “Actually …”
Yuri can’t help it. He closes his eyes and draws in a long, heavy breath through his nose. “Jean, did you forget you were supposed to pick me up?”
“No, no, no!” comes the quick response. “I didn’t! It’s just—” JJ stops talking. There’s rustling and then some muffled words in the background, as if JJ were speaking with someone else.
“Jean, what the hell is going on?” Yuri raises his voice and gets a few glares from the people around him. He rolls his eyes but moves to the closest doors anyway. JJ isn’t here, so he will need to get a cab. “Jean? Oi, are you even there?”
More rustling. “Yes! Sorry again. It’s just … I’m dealing with some stuff, completely unexpected. Could you get a car or something? I’ll pay!”
The offer is sweet, but it makes Yuri snort. “Thank you, but I think I can afford it.” He steps out and, thankfully, there is a taxi stop nearby. The bad news is, the queue is long-ish, which means more waiting.
JJ pauses, the thud-thud-thud of his shoes against pavement drifting through the phone instead. Is he outside right now? “I promise I’ll make it up to you, kitten.” His tone sends a pleasant shiver down Yuri’s spine. Before he has a chance to reply, though, JJ continues as if he hadn’t said anything. “Do you have the address?”
Yuri has to shake his head to get rid of the current scenarios his mind is conjuring up. “Uh, y-yeah. You emailed it to me before I left, just in case.”
“Good, good.” There are other voices shouting in the distance on the other end now. Seriously, what the hell? “Ugh, okay, I gotta go take care of something. Call me if you need anything?”
“Sure, see you soon.” Yuri hopes his breathy tone conveys just how excited he is about their upcoming week all alone.
Apparently, it does the trick because a dreamy sigh escapes his boyfriend, and then the man is almost purring in Yuri’s ear. “Can’t wait to see you, kitten.”
They hang up, and Yuri is grateful for the two people still standing in front of him because it gives him time to collect himself before interacting with other human beings. Forget the nap. He has other plans now.
Surprisingly content despite the situation, Yuri tells the driver the address with a smile on his face when the car parks and a moment later, he’s getting into the taxi and is on his way to JJ’s place. According to the driver, it’ll be a good thirty minutes, but at least the man doesn’t try to fill the silence with idle chatter. Instead, he turns on the radio, and Yuri looks out of the window, taking pictures here and there of different buildings that catch his attention to ask JJ about later.
After twenty minutes or so, the car enters a more residential area, and so Yuri texts JJ his location to let him know he’s probably nearby. But ten minutes pass ... and no reply comes. The two ticks suggest his boyfriend got the message but hasn’t opened it yet. Weird. JJ usually answered Yuri immediately . With a frown, Yuri calls him, but there’s no answer.
He is about to call again when the driver speaks. “Ah, looks like something happened around the place we’re trying to go to.” Yuri looks up from his phone, and the frown on his face becomes more pronounced. A fire truck drives by. It came from the street they are supposed to go to ... and where a few police cars are parked, blocking all traffic. “We’ll have to take a detour. Unless you would like me to park at the corner and you can walk the next two blocks? It’s close by.”
Thinking over his options, Yuri agrees to walk and pays the driver after the man kindly helps him with his bags.
When the blond turns, though, he’s met with a scene from a movie. People are everywhere , trying to catch a glimpse of what is going on, cell phones in hand. There are also some thin trails of smoke coming from a building … two blocks from the corner, outside of which another fire truck and two ambulances are parked as well. Icy dread settles in Yuri’s stomach, and he starts speed-walking towards the source of the commotion.
The police officers there have another idea, though. “Excuse me!” Yuri stops and looks over his shoulder. “Where are you going? There was a fire in that area.”
Past tense. That’s good ... right? “Sorry, but someone I know lives there. Do you know if anyone was hurt?”
“I see. Don’t worry. The firefighters have already taken care of everything, and no one was injured, luckily.”
Yuri nods. “And the, um, source of the fire?” His curiosity needs to be satisfied, even though he can already kind of guess what the answer is going to be.
“We’re not sure yet. But we do know it originated in one of the kitchens.”
Deep breaths. Yuri thanks the officers and starts navigating his way through the crowd. Ugh, people are disgusting, always recording when something happens, without any regard for who might be involved.
Yuri needs to be careful, though. There are still way too many phones around him, and no one actually knows he’s there, except for their teams and families, so he makes sure his hoodie is still covering his hair and adjusts his sunglasses as he drags his luggage.
When he finally makes it to the building and spots JJ sitting at the back of one of the ambulances, Yuri sprints towards him, the people around them instantly becoming the least of his worries. “Jean!”
JJ’s eyes snap up. Yuri sees him exchange a few words with the EMT that was checking him, and then JJ stands before running and meeting Yuri halfway. JJ’s arms wrap around the blond’s middle in a tight embrace. “Kitten, I’m so sorry—”
“Shh, it’s okay.” Yuri starts rubbing JJ’s back in soothing circles. And when his boyfriend steps back a moment later, the evidence of a horrible experience is etched across JJ’s face. His hair is a mess, and his skin and clothes are smudged with soot. But he at least appears to be physically fine. “What happened, Jean?”
“I …” He trails off and sighs, seemingly looking for the right words. Yuri gathers all the patience he has left in his tired body and waits, holding onto his boyfriend’s hands and interlocking their fingers. Once JJ starts talking again, though, he doesn’t stop. “I was cooking, okay? I had this whole lunch idea I wanted to make, and everything was going according to plan. I was going to surprise you when you got here! But then I thought I could also make some pirozhki, right? So I’m texting Beks to see if the recipe I found online seemed legit and going down to buy some more ingredientes, and I just … forgot about the meat in the oven. Next thing I knew, I was coming back from the supermarket and, yeah, you can probably figure out the rest.”
Yuri looks away and takes yet another deep breath. This hopelessly romantic man was either going to be the death of him or he was going to somehow kill himself trying to surprise Yuri every time they met. Or both.
When Yuri’s gaze falls back on JJ, he’s met with the biggest puppy eyes he has ever seen—and he grew up with Mila around, so that’s saying something. Yuri all but melts at the sight. He sighs as he buries his face in JJ’s neck. “You are the biggest idiot, do you know that?”
JJ laughs in his ear. “But I’m your idiot.”
Yuri lets that one slide, and once the police and ambulances leave, and the building is deemed safe to reenter by the firefighters, the two of them finally go up to the apartment—after JJ is given a long talk by an officer and firefighter, that is. Since nothing actually caught on fire (it was just the food in the oven), there was no property damage and no one was hurt, he receives a warning and is told he will only have to pay a fine, which isn't as bad considering this is the first time something like this happens in the building.
As they climb the stairs, the smell in the hallways is strong, but it’s nothing compared to inside the apartment. When they step through the door, their eyes water and their noses clog, assaulted by the lingering haze of burnt food. Apparently, the smoke from the oven was thick enough to activate the fire alarm above the fridge, hence … the subsequent scene outside. JJ tried to get back inside, but the neighbours coming from the upper floors took him down with them when they were escaping from the ‘fire’.
Even though not much happened, the inside is still a disaster. Yuri takes one look at the kitchen, opens a few windows and goes in the opposite direction to the bedroom, where JJ just left Yuri’s other suitcase.
JJ walks up to him with what looks like the intention of kissing him, but Yuri stops him with a hand against his chest. “Shower, nap, then cleaning?”
His boyfriend looks dejected but nods anyway. “I smell horrible, don’t I?”
“A bit, yeah.”
JJ disappears into the hallway leading back to the rest of the apartment, and a few seconds later, the shower turns on, the echo of the stream spilling through the open bathroom door. Yuri stands in front of his suitcase, debating whether he should just change into his pyjamas and pass out or wait to have a shower too, when JJ hugs him from behind and drops kisses along his jaw and cheek. With the hoodie covering most of his head, JJ doesn’t have access to Yuri’s neck.
Yuri slaps a hand on top of the one resting on his stomach. “What do you think you are doing, Leroy? You’re gonna stain my clothes.”
“Nah,” is the carefree answer Yuri gets, so he turns in the embrace to give JJ a piece of his mind ... only to be met with his smiling boyfriend wearing nothing but his bright blue boxers. “Care to join me, kitten? Gotta save water and all.”
The cheesy line makes Yuri snort, but he follows anyway. What else is there to do, really? JJ still has a lot to make up for.