"I'm sure you will be fine on your own, but...", you sighed, rubbing the back of your neck. "Can't you stick with what you're doing now?"

Annoyed yet with a smile on his face, Viktor stopped in the middle of the bridge to grab your hand.

"(Y/N).", his smile broadened as your name crossed his lips. "If you take a risk for me, I take a risk for you. That's what we always did, no?"

He placed a kiss on the back of your hand.

The gentle touch, mixed with the warmth of his breath on your skin made you almost melt.

You knew that Viktor was an affectionate man, especially with you.

But ever since that kiss, he acted a lot softer, more intimate.

Even as a child he had hated it to be touched or to touch others unless he was familiar with them.

But now he was totally different, so sweet, as if he was seriously trying to court you the old fashioned way.

It made your heart beat faster, but at the same time you also feared that this would go too far.

Telling yourself you didn't love him would have been a lie and the two of you knew that every well.

But you couldn't be with him and that knowledge tore you apart.

Once you would agree to date he would try everything in his power to stay in the Undercity with you. He would let that one chance slip.

You couldn't let that happen.

But that would mean you had to push him away. And that was something neither of you really wanted.

With a smile that was both meant to be happy and an apology, you pulled away.

The tips of his fingers locked with yours for a second, making it hard to let go. A cold breeze stroked the palm of your hand as he let go.

"You just said that once you're involved with these people, they'll never let you go again.", you stroked a strand of his brown hair out of his field of vision. "We need to make sure you'll leave everything behind once you get up to Piltover."

Amused, he curled his lips and shook his head.

"But that would mean I'll leave you behind as well, silly."

A sound of defeat escaped you.

"You really try everything to argue against me."

"Not everything. It's easy to win against you, so why use all my resources?"

You pulled a face, playfully offended.

"Every day you send me to the edge of my patience...",
you mumbled with a smirk tugging at the edges of your mouth.

He gifted you a smirk, so confident and smug that it took you by surprise. Usually, Viktor wasn't like this. But maybe the kiss had given him a boost in confidence.

"Let's just go and make money.", he grabbed your hand with both of his, the cane squeezed under his arm for support. "If we both work, we'll have twice the money in half the time."

A deep breath escaped you.

"And then what?", you asked.

"And then we will go up to Piltover together.", he smiled as if it was obvious.

"But once you're in the academy.", you still need money. "How are we going to finance it?"

"You'll keep working."

"So I'll go back to Zaun every day to work and risk my life? Then I might as well stay here."

"No. I want you to make honest money. I'll earn honest education and you'll earn honest money."

Your eyes widened.

A laugh escaped you.

"Viktor...", you pulled away to lean against the railing of the bridge. "How am I supposed to do that?"

His eyebrows knitted together.

"By looking for work?", there was still a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, but it started to fade. "You'll finde something. You're skilled in many ways."

"I'm a criminal, Viktor. Nobody in their right mind will employ me."

With his eyes lowered and a heavy darkness shimmering in those amber orbs of his, he let out a deep breath.

His shoulders sank.

"Let's not argue about it now, please.", he turned away to walk on. "It's still far away. We will work out the details, no?"

With a glance over his shoulder he gifted you a hopeful smile.

But you could tell that he was getting tired.

He had a plan and your disapproval kept crushing it.

But what else were you supposed to do?

He didn't know that you wouldn't make it up to the shining side of the city. And even if you were hopeful, the realistic chances were so slim, it was almost like a dream.

Your health was declining by the day. You could feel the strength leave your body.

Piltover had prestigious doctors and mages, but those people were expensive. Not only didn't you have money, the coins you earned were supposed to go towards Viktor.

This was a race you couldn't win.

So it was useless to try in the first place.

With lowered eyes and a slim smirk of sadness on your lips, you looked after him, how he walked away, bend on his crutch.

You still remembered the first time you had met him.

He had been such a small, cranky child, without any hope or life in his eyes.

And now he tried to be all grown up. Viktor had grown into a man.

Only problem was that you didn't want him to be a man. Because him being a man meant that you could fall for him.

Maybe you had already fallen for him and just refused to acknowledge it.

"Shit...", you cursed softly as your heart skipped a beat thinking about the kiss.

Immediately, the nature of your smile changed from despair to a soft, loving one.

There was so much you felt for him.

But it was stupid to ruin his chances.

You were a burden.

A cough scratched in the back of your throat.

The iron taste of blood lay on your tongue.

Quickly, you spit it down into the depths of the Lanes.