That made Angelo pause. Had he? Flipping through his memories, he saw that while what Yuri said was technically true, if exaggerated, it should’ve been obvious he’d never been serious.
“I’ve never hated you.”
Yuri rolled his eyes, then closed them with a wince. “Right.” He laid his head back down.
“I mean, you’ve annoyed the fuck out of me like it’s your life’s mission, and yeah, I have kinda resented being given no choice about my own future and who I’m allowed to love, but that’s not your fault.”
“You treated me like it was.” Yuri sniffled.
Angelo felt horrible. Instinctively, he reached his hand out and touched Yuri on the back of the neck. His hair was shorn to almost nothing there and it felt like velvet under his fingertips. Yuri twitched a bit at his touch but didn’t shake his hand off. “Well, I didn’t mean to. It was just…”
“Just what?” Yuri mumbled. He was starting to sound more sleepy than intoxicated.
“I don’t know. Habit? What we do? It’s what we’ve always done.”
“I like this better,” Yuri said with a yawn.
“What do you mean?” Angelo found himself wanting to bury his hand in Yuri’s gold-streaked hair to see if it was as soft as he remembered, but didn’t. He didn’t pull away his hand from Yuri’s neck, though.
“This. Talking and not shouting. Listening. You touching a tiny part of me and not freaking out. If it could always be like this, the future might almost be tolerable. Like, I can get off by myself if I have to. Because, yeah, obviously. But I can’t go the rest of my life with nothing. I just can’t. I’ll cheat, and I’ll get caught and it’ll be this huge thing and my parents will be pissed off and it’ll just be fucking awful but it’ll happen, Angel. I’m just not that strong.” He wiped his eyes, looking defeated and furious and utterly lost.
Angelo opened his mouth to say something comforting, although he wasn’t sure what, but then Yuri’s mobile buzzed. Laboriously, he lifted his head off his arms, fished the phone out of his pocket, and looked at it blearily. “It’s Philippe. He’s wondering if I’m incarcerated or if I’ve perished. So damn prissy.”
Angelo snorted. “You two are a good pair.”
“Ha, ha. Rub it in that I still have a glorified babysitter for a valet and you don’t.”
“You love his fussing. You know you do.” Angelo grinned at Yuri but a part of him still felt uneasy and unsettled.
“I admit nothing. There. I’ve told him that I’m staying with you overnight in London and there’s absolutely zero reason to notify my parents I’ve gone missing.”
Angelo’s mobile buzzed loudly, vibrating against the counter. He picked it up and saw a text from Philippe.
Philippe: Is Prince Yuri lying to me?
Angelo: Nah. He’s here with me. He got separated from Jacki and her gf then called me to come rescue him.
Angelo: I told him I’d put him up for the night and get him on a train back to Oxford tomorrow
Angelo: he’s fine, but he’s probably gonna be hung over. Sorry, in advance
Philippe: Thank you, your highness. I appreciate your candor. Good night.
“See what I mean?” Yuri rubbed his temples. “It’s not fair. You should get a babysitter, too.”
“It’s not like I don’t have a security detail. They have a flat on this floor and they follow me everywhere. Who the fuck did you think was driving the car I came and picked you up in?”
Yuri opened his eyes again. “Not Uber?”
“No, idiot. Not Uber or anything else. We’re in the same boat, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Yuri said glumly. He stretched and yawned, his mouth gaping wide enough that Angelo thought he could see Yuri’s tonsils.
“Come on, princess. Let’s go to bed.”
Yuri flinched then nodded. “Right, yeah. Good idea.”
Angelo led Yuri down the hall and into his bedroom. Yuri just stood there, looking around the room with a vacant expression on his face.
“Hey. Yuri. You still in there?”
“What?” The owlish look was back on Yuri’s face.
“Are you going to sleep in your clothes?”
Yuri looked down his body then brought his gaze back to Angelo. He looked confused, like he’d forgotten where he was and what he’d been doing.
Angelo sighed. Yuri was pretty much down for the count at this point. Expecting any kind of coordinated movement or coherent speech was futile. He reached for the hem of Yuri’s shirt. “Come on. Help me out. Lift your arms or something.”
After a bit of wrangling and swearing, Yuri stood in Angelo’s bedroom wearing only underpants and socks. It was strangely endearing, especially since his boxer briefs were dotted with cupcakes. Angelo pulled back the covers on his bed and herded Yuri over to it.
“Come on. Get in. There you go. I’m going to put something on the floor beside you to vomit into, so try to hit that and not the bed or my floor, okay?”
“‘Kay,” was Yuri’s sleepy response. His eyes were closed, his golden lashes fanned out on his cheeks. He looked years younger than his actual age.
“Good.” Angelo quickly got ready for bed and slipped under the covers on the other side. Yuri was on his normal side of the bed, but Angelo wanted him closer to the bathroom, just in case.
“Hey.” It was a very feeble protest.
“What?” Angelo turned onto his side, facing the back of Yuri’s head. Because he could, he reached out and lightly stroked the velvety nape of Yuri’s neck. Under his fingers, Yuri shuddered.
“I didn’t know we were going to sleep together. In one bed. Together. In one bed,” he repeated.
“We’ve done it before, princess. Dozens of times.”
“I know, but…” Yuri trailed off and didn’t seem inclined to finish his sentence.
“But what?” Angelo prompted, curious.
“Nothing. Night.”
Angelo gave the nape of Yuri’s neck one last swipe of his thumb, then pulled back. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep. Over the course of the night, both men migrated toward the
