Archive of Our Own ^beta

Shane was never the type to want to make anything public, not even his relationship with Ilya, he always loved his privacy after all. At least at first he did. He was content with the secret meetings, the late hotel visits, the media not knowing and stalking them. He eventually comes to terms with his true feelings and confesses the truth to Ilya. Sure he knows the kind of consequences possible if they were to announce a relationship, but it doesn't stop him from wishing he could kiss Ilya on the ice after a win like his teammates do with their chosen partners. Why can’t he have that? Why does he have to worry about his reputation just because he fucks around with a man?

Instead he can only love him in private, in the not so quiet visits in hotel rooms, or those small weekend trips to his cottage where he and Ilya don't have to be “Hollander” and "Rozanov”, just Shane and Ilya, the same 17 year old boys who first met each other and knew immediately they were ruined for anyone else. The Two men have kept up this lie, this charade, for so long that Shane has even proposed to Ilya, which was a mess all on its own. But he accepted, and he felt like the happiest man in the world as he and Ilya celebrated alone all weekend.

The issue presents itself when they realize that they can't really get actually publicly married without fans somehow finding out and causing potential problems. Then there's the whole problem with the league and Russia, both the company and Russia’s homophobia isn't a hidden thing. Its blatant, and it fucks with them both so much that they constantly fight with the urges to just follow in Scott’s footsteps and announce it on the big screen. Shane and Ilya have lost count of how many times made eye contact with each other after a won game, and debated pulling each other into a sudden kiss, saying “Fuck you!” to the people who would give them issues, but always think better of it. Always deciding after a moment too close it’s a horrible idea and chickening out.

It takes a few years together before they decide they hate the idea of being forced to wait to marry after retirement before they decide to just get married with a really small and intimate wedding. They decided to hold the wedding at the end of December, a private call back to when they first met at the World Junior Hockey Championships almost 10 years ago. Those present were Shane's parents, Rose, Svetlana, a few assorted trusted friends, and a surprised Scott(and Kip who of course was his plus one). They decided to go out on a limb and invite the man since Scott getting the courage to bring Kip down onto the ice in the first place was what caused Shane and Ilya to just go for it. They start to think better of it until they realize It’s just an added bonus that they can mess with their opponent with the invitation and decide to send out the invite anyways.

Scott shows up to the wedding but hesitantly, assuming the two had been playing a hurtful joke against him despite the fact that Ilya had even sent a message after he initially came out in support. But when he shows up and sees it's a small reception, and even getting introduced to Shane’s parents when his mom corners him and congratulates him on coming out, he starts to think this is a legitimate thing. He leaves Kip with Shane’s parents, the three hitting it off with a conversation about some brand’s newest ad they all saw and liked.

Scott wanders off and gets pointed to a dressing room and knocks on the door. It’s answered by a beautiful woman in a solid black floor length dress with warm skin and curly hair perfectly styled around her face. She recognizes him apparently since she steps aside and lets him walk in. He spots Rose, Shane's old girlfriend, and suddenly feels even more confused until the woman who lets him in speaks up just loud enough for him to hear.

“That’s Rose, Shane’s ex, she's pretty cool, really understanding of his whole deal with Ilya.” Svetlana explains with a small shrug and smile.

He wraps his mind around the new information quickly before nodding and turning to look at her while adjusting his suit, almost as if a nervous tick. “And you are? I don’t believe I've seen you before, I'm Scott.” He introduces himself properly even though he's convinced she already knows him by the look in her eye.

She just smiles and says, “Svetlana. Ilya’s Rose.” And walks off like that's all the explanation he needs.

He supposes that's not too far off, though he feels as though he’s missing something from that. He decides to brush it off as he quickly catches up with Svetlana, falling into step next to her as she walks back over to Ilya. Ilya looks up, intending to ask Svetlana something when he spots Scott next to her. He straightens his posture immediately and schools his expression from the almost nervous expression.

“Ah, Scott, I am pleased to see you’ve come. Is your partner here with you?” Ilya asks, almost offhandedly as he adjusts his tie in an anxious fashion.

“Yeah, Hollander’s parents cornered us to congratulate us on coming out themselves. They both seem like good people.” Scott responds, watching as Svetlana reaches forward and lightly pushes Ilya’s hands away from the tie and properly fixes it.

“There, don’t touch it again. It’s fine how it is.” She says with a huff, but her tone is obviously fond. Scott can’t help but think they are overly familiar with each other as he looks around the rest of the room. Across the way he sees Shane and Rose, seemingly in a very similar situation as Ilya and Svetlana. He hesitates before turning back to Ilya.

“Congradulationsby the way. I have to admit, this isn’t something I had expected.” He says, hoping he doesn't come off as rude or confrontational as he's still trying to figure out if he’s being pranked or not.

Ilya makes eye contact in the mirror and awkwardly half smiles. “Thank you, we were quite surprised ourselves, we hadn’t expected it to turn out so quickly.” Ilya replies half distracted with reaching up to the tie again. Svetlana smacks his hand away again, this time slightly more forceful as she fixes it.

“Leave. It. It's fine Ilya.” Svetlana says exasperated but still with fondness warming her tone. He and Ilya idly talk, Scott subtly trying to question if this wedding is the real deal or all an expensive act without coming across as suspicious.

He eventually slips away to walk across the room to Shane and nods towards the man and Rose.“Hollander, Ms. Landry.” He greets them both politely before turning to Shane specifically. “I already talked briefly with Rozanov, but congratulations, Hollander. I wish only the best for you two.” He says sincerely, but still guarded.

Shane nods to him with a smile that appears to be some form of casual mask, but it's clear the man is only nervous. “Thanks, Scott. But it’s our wedding, you can call us Shane and Ilya here, it might be weird if you run into my parents and call me Hollandar.” He jokes slightly, clearly trying to distract himself a bit to not to be too anxious over the upcoming ceremony.

Scott watches over him for a moment before asking, “Can I actually ask you about that Hol-Shane?” Scott catches himself on the slip up of names, quickly correcting himself.

“About what?” Shane asks as Rose leans over to adjust part of his hair.

“About your parents. Kip and I got introduced as we arrived, they seemed nice, but I can't help but wonder how long they knew? They both seemed excited to brag about you.” He can’t help but tease Shane as he brings up his parents. He also finds himself wanting to ask the obvious, ‘How long have you and Ilya been together?’ but he decides that it just isn't his place to try to ask. He was invited to celebrate them. So for now, while he still is in the mindset of believing them, he holds off.

Shane gets an almost embarrassed look as he sits up slightly straighter and clears his throat. “Oh- oh well, a few years now,” Shane stutters over his words before clearing his throat. “They found out by accident when my father was grabbing something from my place when he saw us. Luckily they’ve supported Ilya and I unwaveringly” He trails off slightly before quickly adding on, “Oh-! Thank you for coming, Scott. We both appreciate it.”

After a few minutes of talking, Scott waves bye to the room and decides to go find Kip again and wait for the ceremony to start. As he walks back, his mind feels even more confused. He sits where Shane’s mother guides him down next to Kip. He leans over as he sits on the seat and kisses Kip on the cheek. After a few more minutes, everyone hears music start up as the ceremony begins.

—
-timeskip-
—

“INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY PLAYERS SHANE HOLLANDER AND ILYA ROZANOV BREAK THE INTERNET”

Scott stares at the headline on Elena’s phone, wide eyed and jaw dropped. Kip’s best friend had showed up on their doorstep waving her phone and banding on the door. She shows them as soon as she gets inside, already raving about how people think it's a joke.

“Hockey champions Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov shock the world with matching posts to their twitter accounts. Today, April 1, 2019, the two hockey players posted a photo to both accounts with no captions.”

Scott stares at the article with Elana’s voice in the background excited shouts as she rants about the post., and trying to figure out if it's some form of prank for publicity. In the photo, the two men are both in white suits, chest to chest, embracing each other, gently cupping each other's faces as they kiss, stood in front of what is clearly a wedding altar. Scott recognizes it immediately as he and Kip attended, though he says nothing to Elana about it, it’s not his place to talk about a secret relationship after all. Though the post being published today of all times causes him to question the relationship further.

“Is this… Is this some sort of joke..?” Scott hesitates to ask out loud. He sees Kip look over, seemingly confused since he and Scott literally attended the wedding, but Elana jumps to respond first.

“I know right? Like hello? April fools? Almost seems like some kind of massive prank.”

Kip, seeing this and not wanting to assume the worst, speaks up to defend them. “Oooor hear me out, they did it to see how others would react? Maybe they posted it today so that if everyone reacted poorly they could just claim it was an elaborate joke…?” He trails off seeing Scott’s side eye directed towards him.

Days pass by, the internet hasn't let go of the posts as they still try to dissect the photo to see if there was some sort of hidden code or message to hint towards any upcoming announcements from either man. Scott finds himself scrolling frequently online, growing more invested in the fans’ posts as he too feels the need to know if Shane and Ilya made it all up. Part of him can't help but wonder if it really is fake, but he went to the wedding. He saw it all, Svetlana and Rose helping the two grooms getting ready, Shane's parents greeting them, crying with smiles as they said “I do”, hugging both of them during the dinner after. He saw how all of their friends present seemed so happy to be there. There’s no way it'd be all fake right? He’s had his moments fighting with the two, always butting heads in game, but neither man seems the type. He decides to let it go for now, focus on that new recipe he wanted to make for Kip, and maybe call one of the two men and just ask like a man.

Right as he moves, sitting up from laying on the couch and moving to turn off and set down his phone to not keep scrolling through twitter drama, he sees it. He pauses for a moment before smiling as he hears the front door open and shut, Kip’s voice calling out. He stands, tosses his phone onto the coffee table and walks away to the kitchen.

Shayne Hollander-Rozanov and Ilya Rozanov-Hollander have uploaded a photo album with 10+ pictures with the caption, “My husband and I at our wedding. December 2016”-See More…