he spent more nights in Yuri's room than his own, sleeping on a thin pallet laid out on Yuri's floor.
“You can leave, you know,” Yuri said one day. “I'm completely healed. I can fend for myself.”
His skin was mostly healed, not completely, but Angelo let it pass. “I've made a decision,” he said.
“Hm?” Yuri thumbed through something on his mobile as he sat next to Angelo on the room's undersized sofa.
“We should start dating.”
Yuri dropped his mobile. “What?” he squeaked, then reached down to pick it up.
“We're almost twenty-three. If we're to become officially engaged before thirty, I think it would look good if we were exclusive beforehand. I want everyone to know we're a couple. Like, for real.”
Yuri looked suspicious. “But we're not a real couple. We're never going to be a real couple.”
“The world doesn't need to know that.”
“What about all the women you've dated? It's obvious to everyone we're only getting married for diplomacy.”
Angelo shrugged. “I could be bi. I think it would be great press to give everyone a romance.”
Yuri goggled at him. “When did you get your brain transplant? You are not the Angelo I know and… never mind. It doesn't matter. We can't do this, because if we do, that means no more lady bits for you and I don't think you're ready yet for a sex-free existence.”
Angelo gave him a disgusted look. “Don't be an utter twat. I know what I'll be giving up, but it's past time. We'll both graduate in a few months.”
Yuri bit his lip. “I've already arranged to do a postgraduate degree in history. I'm not done with my education.”
“Right then. I hadn't thought about it, but going further with economics would probably be a better use of my time than getting a job somewhere or going back home.”
“You don't have to stay here. We don't have to commit to anything just yet. We have time. Lots of time. So much—”
“I'm going to be your husband,” Angelo said, “sooner or later, like it or not. What's the point in putting it all off?”
Yuri raised one finely shaped brown eyebrow. “So you're cool with not having sex again for like… ever? Or kissing or holding hands, even? Because I'm not. I'll go mad. I'm not ready yet. It's way too soon.” He looked at Angelo like he was an animal caught in a trap, terrified and half-crazed to escape in any way it could, even if that meant chewing through a limb.
Angelo rubbed Yuri's shoulder tentatively. “I know,” he said soberly. “I've been thinking about it for days.”
The idea of Yuri putting himself again into the hands of Francis, or someone like him, terrified Angelo. It didn't matter that Yuri was gay and Angelo wasn't. Someone needed to protect Yuri and that someone was Angelo. Would always be Angelo. Yuri was his curse and his cross to bear and his inevitable destiny. And despite years of resentment and irritation and anger, that still made Yuri his.
Yuri relaxed his stiffened posture enough to slump against Angelo. “Angel, it's a really stupid idea. We'll keep going on as we are. We've got years to date and 'fall in love.' No point rushing it. You'll have to pretend your whole life. Be discreet when you need to fuck someone. You won't be allowed to fall in love, and if you do, you'll never be able to act on it. I get you're feeling overprotective and cave mannish, but you don't need to be. I'll be way more careful next time. I'll find someone who can hurt me, but not hurt me. Those men exist. I know they do. Let me find one and live before my freedom is completely gone.”
Nervous fear dumped adrenaline into Angelo's bloodstream. It made him want to do something—anything—to make things better. “I can do that,” Angelo burst out, licking his dry lips. “I can be that man. For you. For this.”
“Do what, be what?” Yuri put his mobile aside and gave Angelo his full attention, spearing him with crystalline blue eyes. “You're. Not. Gay.”
“Um. I can hold your hand. In public.”
Yuri rolled his eyes. “Seriously? I can see you sweat from just the thought of it. What about the rest? Can you really kiss me in front of others? Pretend for the rest of your life to be in love with me? Do you have any clue what this'll mean? I don't think you do. You don't have to protect me. I'm fine. Francis was a huge mistake,