Skate With Me (Victor Nikiforov x Reader)

Chapter 31: The Castle

I placed my phone down and stared at the ceiling. This place started feeling like home. I'm slowly getting used to the people around. But where is home, really?

They say home is the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household. Home is not where you are from. It is where you belong. Some of us travel the whole world to find it. Others, find it in a person. Are you home?

Maybe home is nothing but two arms holding you tight when you're at your worst. Maybe home is the person whom you meet at the end of every path you take. No matter how much you try to avoid that person, you still find them at the end of your path. Maybe that is home. If that is, then I'm already home.

Home is where your heart is, they say. Then I can say, I found my home now. My heart is with Victor for my heart found it's home in him. He had always been at the end of every path I take. I have tried several times before to stay away from him in fear of getting my heart broken again, but I always end up with him. And no matter what, he spreads his arms open for me.

I'm home. And believe me, it feels so good to be home. Just sitting in silence feels great when Victor is with me. Have you found your home yet? If you haven't, don't give up! Just go forward until you reach the end of a path, maybe you would find your home there as I did. And if you already found yours, never let go of it.

A knock on the door took me out of my thoughts. It must be Mari. I stood and walked towards the door. I opened it to see Mari holding up a tray of food. She extended her arms and gave the tray to me. I gladly thanked her and closed the door.

There are a table and a chair located beside our bed, so that's where I headed. I placed the tray on the table and pulled out the chair beneath it. The food looks tasty. There were four bowls, one rectangular plate and a pair of chopsticks.

The main dish, I believe, is the grilled mackerel placed on the rectangular plate. To its left, is a small bowl of brown rice and above it was the side dishes: meat and potato stew, cucumber salad, and miso soup.

I felt my stomach grumble as I look at the food. I quickly grabbed the chopsticks below the plate and started eating. Oh, how good it feels to eat when you're really hungry. I continued eating until the door opened. Makkachin barked and I heard his little feet' thump against the floor.

I ate the last bite and turned around. Victor was kneeling on the floor playing with Makkachin. I stood up and picked the tray. Mari was kind enough to bring me food. I should take this down in return, somehow.

I walked towards the door. Victor stood when he saw me. Makkachin ran towards me and cuddled my legs. "Where are you going?" Victor asked.

"Oh, I'm going to take this down," I replied. I gently pushed Makkachin away. "I'd take it down," Victor said and took a hold on the tray. He gently pulls it away from me. "It's okay, I'd do it. I don't want to be treated like a princess here," I said and gently pulled the tray as well.

"Well, you are my princess, so I'd do it," Victor insisted and pulled harder making me let go of the tray. "Well, if you insist," I said, giving up. Victor chuckled and opened the door. He turned around and was about to leave when I grabbed his shoulder and kissed his cheek from behind.

"What was that for?" He asked. "For taking proper care of your princess," I chuckled. "Hurry up, because your princess is sleepy again and she can't wait to sleep with you."

"Understood, milady," Victor smiled and went outside. I closed the door behind him. I turned the light switch off beside the door. I turned around and see Makkachin wagging his tail playfully. I smiled and picked him up. I walked towards his dog bed beside the table and placed him on it. He stood up and continued wagging his tail playfully at me.

"Sit," I commanded and Makkachin did as I said. "We'll play tomorrow," I said as if he would understand me. I ran my hand repeatedly on his back until he stopped wagging his tail and lie down on his bed. I pat his head before walking to our bed.

I picked my phone up and sat on the bed. There was a text message from Sandra saying Yuri is very determined to practice. Well as far as I can remember, Yuri hated practicing. But I guess the face-off with Yuuri here served as his wake-up call. I'm glad about that. By the time, the finals come, I'm sure Yuri would get much better. I placed my phone on the bedside table and laid down to wait for Victor.

I stared up at the ceiling again and let my mind drift off to a train of thoughts. I've dreamed of being a princess before when I was a kid. My parents would often take me to princess ice shows. I adored how beautiful those skaters danced on the ice, and told myself one day, I'd become a great skater and enthrall the audience like how those skaters enthralled me. This was one of the things that motivated me to skate before.

Like in the cliché movies out there, princesses always find their charming princes. The rink is where I found mine. I remembered Victor and I dressing up as a prince and princess in one of our competitions before. The judges and audience found it cute. Well, we are cute when we're together, there's no doubting that.

Whether you believe in fairytales or not, every girl is a princess to somebody. Young girls, are princesses to their parents, and me? I'm a princess to Victor, we know that. And to me, he will always be my prince and my knight in shining armor.

The door opened and Victor came in. "Come on, I wanna sleep," I said and closed my eyes. I heard Victor's footsteps get closer until I felt him lay down beside me.

I turned to my side and hugged him. He did the same. He turned to me and hugged me as well. "Goodnight!" I said, my face buried on his chest. He said goodnight and kissed my forehead.

"Now this is my home," I said in my mind, and it was not long before I drifted off to sleep.