This oneshot is dedicated to the absolutely talented SchornEE (Instragram: schornee) who's kittens on ice finally made me watch this amazing anime. Thanks to you, I rediscovered my love for anime and fangirling.

A German version of this Oneshot can be found on Fanfiktion. de (User name: MidnightsLullaby)

"Hey Victor…" – "Hmmm…" Victor heard the rustling of Yuuri's bedding and felt how his boyfriend cuddled up to his back. Even if he was close to falling asleep, he noticed the tremble in the Japanese's voice. "Well…Tell me… did you mean what you said back then? The evening before my first Grand Prix finale?" – "What do you mean?" The Russian had a hard time concentrating on this conversation in order to not fall asleep instantly, but he sensed that this wasn't going to be just small talk. Something about Yuuri seemed odd. Was he nervous, because both of them would compete against each other tomorrow in this year's Grand Prix finale? "I mean… that time when you said… that… that we…" Victor rolled around and looked into Yuuri's eyes. Despite the faint moonlight that shone through the closed shutters, he could tell that tears welled in his eyes. Carefully, he took the hands of his boyfriend and squeezed them against his chest to stop them from shaking.

"What's wrong? You know that you can tell me everything? Are you nervous because of tomorrow?" "No, it's not about tomorrow. I… I just wondered, if you… well… if we… would get married for real if I'd win that gold medal." Seemingly shocked about his own words, Yuuri buried his face in Victor's chest. The Russian on the other hand didn't know what to reply. Yeah, he remembered that moment well. Last year, on the evening before the finale, the two of them exchanged their rings in front of the Sagrada Familia. Originally, they were just charms and a sign of their deep connection, but when Phichit congratulated them on their wedding, he allayed him by telling him that those were engagement rings.

Surely, at that time they hadn't been ready for that step. Back then, they hadn't even had a name for what had been going on between them. They had been close and Victor has never been feeling so intimate as when he was with Yuuri. This was one of the few things that hadn't changed. But everything else… Since Yuuri moved to Sankt Petersburg, their relationship had shifted to something that was more close, more intimate and even more loving than before. It hadn't taken much time until they lived together as a couple with all the things that come with it, although it had needed a furious Yurio to become aware of that.

"Well… I..", Victor stuttered. He had no idea what to answer. He loved Yuuri and he wanted to be together with him forever, but… "No. It's alright. That was a stupid question, I'm sorry", Yuuri instantly withdrew from that topic. Obviously, Victor had taken too much time to find a reply, because his boyfriend rolled around and wrapped his blanket around him tightly. "I… Yuuri…" The older Skater tried to approach him. Yuuri's voice was trembling even harder than before and Victor was sure that he held back in order not to burst into tears right away. He commenced reaching out for the black-haired, but the latter winced due to the touch and moved away. "We better sleep now." Victor's heart broke after hearing Yuuri's fragile voice. He tried to say something one more time, but his boyfriend tugged his blanket even tighter and increased the space between them even more. Victor sighed. He had no idea what to do. He didn't have any other choice than letting this topic rest and hope that he would fall asleep soon. He had to prove that the break he took last season hadn't had any impact on his ability to amaze the crowd, after all. The last things he heard before he shut his eyes were sounds of sobbing muffled by the blanket.

"What the hell did you do to the piglet?" Yurio laughed and poked his college in the ribs. "He looks way more out of it than usual." As expected, the youngest member of the Russian team did qualify himself for the Grand Prix finale. Without taking any notice of that question, Victor stared down the hallway where Yuuri warmed up for his last turn. The blond boy was right, the Japanese didn't look well today. This morning after getting up, his eyes had been red and swollen and his hair had been all over the place. When Victor had asked him how or if he slept, he hadn't given him an answer.

The rest of this day, the black-haired had avoided his coach whenever he could. Even now, right before his finale skate, he had ignored Victor's offer to warm up together, put in his headphones and backed down into one of the deserted hallways of the ice rink. Since their talk last night, Victor knew he had hurt Yuuri a lot, but he didn't reckon that it bothered him to this extent. Probably, the Japanese thought that Victor never intended to marry him, that he never took their relationship seriously. But quite the contrary was the case. Victor has never loved anyone as much as he loved Yuuri and he wouldn't give up on him for all gold medals in this world. Maybe he should tell him exactly that.

"Hey, old man. That pig of yours is next!", Yurio roused Victor from his trance. Slowly and moping, the older Russian ditched the smaller without any comment and approached his boyfriend who was stretching on a wall. Victor raised his hand carefully and touched Yuuri's shoulder cautiously. "Yuuri…it's your turn. We should…." He couldn't even end his sentence, because the Japanese turned around, took a sad and angry look at the hand touching him and at Victor and without any word he passed by his coach. The latter was left perplex in front of the wall until he could detach himself and follow his boyfriend. This look…He thought he knew all of Yuuri's expressions, but… he had never seen him like that. So angry, but also cold and repelling. And so hurt.

When he caught up, Yuuri had already put on his skates and was standing on the ice leaning against the boards. "Yuuri, love, please…" Victor reached out his hands to wipe away a flick of hair that was pending into the other's face. "What can I do to make you stop looking at me like that? I want you to smile. I want you to dance as you always do, with love and passion. I want you to perform the best you can. Please…as your coach…" – "As my coach, hmm…I do really appreciate what you're doing, I really do. But…sometimes…I just wish, you weren't here as my coach but… Ah, forget about it…." With these last words, Yuuri pushed himself away from the boards and took his position on the ice.

No matter how much he hurt Yuuri, you would never have noticed from the way he skated. On the contrary, Victor was sure that his boyfriend hadn't performed this amazing the whole season. Not only that all of his jumps were absolutely flawless, but his expression was so strong, so determined and so beautiful. Once more, the Russian realized how lucky he was having Yuuri at his side. Most people would describe his boyfriend as weak just judging him by his appearance, yet he was the most determined person Victor has ever met. Never has he felt more comfortable as during those two years with Yuuri. And now he knew it. He knew exactly what he had to do.

Deafening cheers and the commentator's voice roused him from his thoughts. He had been so captivated by Yuuri's performance that he hadn't noticed it already ended. The Japanese looked quite satisfied with himself as he thanked the crowd and left the ice. He seemed really happy although Victor was able to see in his eyes that last night's conversation was still floating around in his head. However, he couldn't resist clasping Yuuri in his arms and holding him as close as possible. "You were absolutely amazing. I am so, so proud of you", he whispered into his ears and let out a sigh when his boyfriend hugged back.

Silently looking into each other's eyes, they moved apart slowly. "I guess we should take our seat on that bench, shouldn't we?", Yuuri whispered and looked at the ground. Hesitating for a second, they turned around and took their seat in front of the cameras to wait for Yuuri's score to be announced. The Japanese still held his head down looking at his golden ring and turning it to and fro. The silence between them made Victor shiver and he felt as if it cut through his skin like glass. He couldn't wait any longer. He took Yuuri's hand pulling him up. "Victor, what..?" "We have Katsuki Yuuri's scores…" Ignoring his boyfriend's cries and the voice through the speakers, Victor pulled Yuuri away from the rink and covered his ears as soon they reached an abandoned hallway. "Why did you do that? Are you mad?", the Japanese shouted at Victor. But the latter stayed silent, took the right hand of his counterpart and tried to pull off the ring from his finger.

"What the hell are you doing?", Yuuri shrieked and wrenched his hand back. "Please give me your ring", Victor begged him calmly. "Do you...want to break up? Don't you love me anymore? Why do you have to do it here, when all those people are just a few steps away? Do you hate me so much you have to humiliate me this way?" Now the black-haired started to cry without restraint. "Why didn't you just wait until my scores were announced?" – "No, I…" Victor sighed and took Yuuri's hands into his own. "I don't want to break up with you. I never will. This is what I want to explain to you." He took one deep breath and lifted Yuuri's chin with one of his hands to make him look at him. He wanted his boyfriend to look into his eyes, hoping that Yuuri would understand.

"Yuuri, I love you. More than anything else in the world. I couldn't wait your announcement out. You know I said that we would marry after you won your first gold medal, but…This thing here is way to important to me to rely on stupid judges and their opinion about you. Sometimes they love you and the next day there was something wrong about your technique. Don't misunderstand me, I believe in you and I believe that you will win a gold medal one day – no matter if it is today or tomorrow. I am proud of you, as your coach and your boyfriend. I love to watch you skating and I hope that you will never stop doing it so we can work together forever. But I love all your other sides as well. I love it when you fall asleep on the couch with Makkachin and I love the confused face you make when you wake up, not knowing where you are. I love the side of you, you only show when you fight with Yurio or you get worked up over something. I love it when we just lay in bed and do nothing but being together. I always want to be with you, not only on the ice. I want you to be mine. You belong with me, not only as my mentee but as the man by my side. So please, hand me your ring."

Yuuri trembled when he took his hands from Victor's warm grasp and slowly pulled the ring from his finger. Tears were still running down his face and he tried to wipe them away. But there were too much and so he covered his face with his hands. "Yuuri. Look at me", the Russian begged his boyfriend. The latter hesitated for a few seconds but finally he opened his eyes. This very moment, Victor knelt before him. "Katsuki Yuuri, do you want to marry me? Now, with or without a medal?" Yuuri's eyes widened and for an instance, Victor thought he might reject him. However, the Japanese started to nod vigorously and his lips formed the most beautiful smile Victor has ever seen. All tensions eased from him as he stuck the ring on Yuuri's finger again. The place it always belonged to.

"Victor, Yuuri, where are you? You both…" Someone was coming down the hallway, approaching the two skaters. Without let the voice disturb him, Yuuri pulled Victor up to kiss him passionately. "Where the hell did they go? Of course, they need special attention on them. That looks so much like Victor." In the back of his mind, the Russian recognized the clamoring voice to be Yurios, but he couldn't care less. Everything except for Yuuri didn't matter know. He embraced him even more until not even a piece of paper had space between them. He would never part from him.

"You two…Are. You. Mad? You…" Yurios furious voice rang down the hallway. Just a second before he turned around the corner where the lucky couple was caught in its own world, two strong arms wrapped around his shoulders keeping him from heading further. "Beka, what the hell are you doing?", the blond Skater shouted at his boyfriend. The latter only smiled and softly whispered in his neck: "My dear Yuratchka, I guess, they have something more important to do."