Chapter Text
“Hockey Player Hayden Pike Comes Out, Confesses Love for Shane Hollander”
“The Bisexual Invasion: Another Hockey Player Plays for Both Teams”
“Hayden “Homewrecker” Pike Confesses Gay Crush on Shane Hollander: Is This the End of Hollanov?”
—
@shaydenator
no one:
hayden pike: shane this, shane that, have i mentioned shane yet #myshane
@hollanderyaoi
hayden calling shane his first name but only referring to ilya by his last name OH he’s messyyyy
@liartoldyouthat
istg if i went through ALL OF THAT only for hollanov to get divorced and end up with h*yden p*ke, you’re gonna see me on the news
@princessrozy
y’all he literally said he is happily married like you guys want a bisexual man to cheat on his wife so bad
@hollzyandhaas
okay shayden this, hollanov that, but can we talk about how nervous pike seemed coming out. his heart was probably pounding admitting all of this for the first time. especially after talking about how scared he was over shane losing his career. i wish nothing but the best for mr. hayden pike.
@shaydenov
NEVER KILL YOURSELF
—
It’s article after article. Tweet after tweet. His phone blows up with texts either congratulating him or asking if it’s real. Which it’s not. Of course, it’s not. He’s just planning what he’s going to say. He doesn’t want to come across homophobic but isn’t it more homophobic to pretend to be something he’s not? Which, to be clear, he is not.
His agent told him to leave the statement to him, so that they can toe the line between respectful and firm. He knows people will run with this for a while, maybe for the rest of his career. He wonders if this is how Shane felt. Only, for Shane it was real. For Hayden, he just put his foot in his mouth.
Shane calls him shortly after he’s off the phone with his agent.
“Hey, Hayd,” Shane sounds soft, like he’s treading carefully.
“I didn’t mean it!” He shouts into the phone.
“...okay,” Shane whispers something indistinct.
“I didn’t mean it that way! I didn’t know the reporter would tell everyone I was bisexual! I never said I was!”
“Well, you did say you’ve thought about it. And the article never refers to you as bisexual. It just quotes you saying you’ve thought you were. Most of the original article is about us, but everyone else ran with all the-” he coughs, “stuff you said.”
“Fuck, sorry.”
“I’m sorry that everyone is talking about your sexuality.”
Then he hears someone else mumble indistinctly again. He sighs, “Rozanov? Are you there?”
“Oh, hello, homewrecker,” Rozanov’s accent is thicker than usual and his words are sharp.
“Ilya,” Shane sighs.
“He steals my sexuality. He steals my husband.”
“He can’t steal your sexuality. You don’t own being bi. And he hasn’t stolen your relationship, I’m right here, aren’t I?”
“And I don’t want your husband!” Hayden barks, feeling all too left out of a conversation regarding his feelings for his best friend. Or lack thereof.
“You said he had a great ass, Pike!”
“I’m hanging up now!” He ends the call and seconds later Shane is calling him back. This time with a quieter background.
“He’s not actually mad, you know.” Shane says, “He mostly just thinks it’s funny and embarrassing for you.”
“Well, it isn’t funny but it is embarrassing. I don’t even remember saying half the stuff I ended up saying.” Hayden remembers seeing something about how he sang “Pink Pony Club” and something about loving lesbians.
“No, yeah, it seemed involuntary. What did your agent say?”
“To shut the fuck up while he fixes things.”
Shane hums and stays silent.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just- that’s what coach said to me after everything.” He remembers. He remembers Shane telling him he was told to sit down and be quiet and let the league “fix” the mess he caused by the crime of being gay.
“They were assholes for that. But, in my case, I actually did just fuck up.”
Shane was silent for a second, “Right. Of course.” There was silence again. It felt like a reprieve, because Shane was nice like that. “So you don't think I have a great ass?”
Okay, maybe not, “I hate you.”
“That's not what you said in the interview.”
“I'm seriously hanging up now. Goodbye.”
He hears a certain Russian laugh in the background and slams his phone down. Then it starts to ring again. He picks it up without looking at the ID.
“Shane, I swear to God, I don't want to fuck you.”
“Mr. Pike-”
Oh, it's his agent. “Shit, sorry, hi. Do you have the statement?”
He did, in fact, have the statement. It wasn't a good one, but it was what he had.
He memorizes it word for word and decides to record a video, instead of just copy and pasting it from his messages. He posts it to his Twitter, his Instagram, and for good measure, his Facebook. His agent also gives him a script to read off of for every interview he’s lined up to do for the next week.
—
“I would like to start by saying that I wholeheartedly support the LGBTQ+ community and I want to apologize for any confusion I may have caused through my interview with PinkNews. I was not aware of the miscommunication that occurred at the time and would never purposefully mislead anyone about my sexuality. Although I support the queer community and the bisexual community, I myself am not bisexual. I was only trying to communicate that I am an ally but I misspoke and I understand why people may have misinterpreted my statement. I hope you all can understand I did not mean any harm, nor was I trying to queerbait my fanbase. I’m truly sorry for the confusion I caused and to show my dedication to allyship and supporting the community, I will be making a donation to PFLAG Canada. Um, again, I’m not bisexual. I am, unfortunately, straight.”
—
@bisexualhaydenpike
you're kidding.
@shaydenov
there's no way, the league forced him to say this, there's no way he's walking it back.
@hollanderyaoi
so first he accidentally outs his best friend, and then he accidentally outs himself. he is never seeing the gates of heaven.
@unfortunatelystraight
new url to commemorate this monunental day
@castielscock
HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME
@ilyarozanov81
He wishes he had my husband, he wishes he were bisexual, he wishes he were as good at hockey as I am. Please, Pike, this is embarrassing.
—
“Why did you say unfortunately?” Jackie asks, after watching the video.
“Jackie, baby, why do I say anything?”
She laughs and brings a hand up to his hair, “People are saying you were forced into saying it.”
Hayden hums, “That's not untrue.”
Her hand pauses, she falters, then continues, “Hayd, you don't have to say anything you don't want to. You didn't say anything homophobic or biphobic or problematic. Shane and Ilya know that. I know that. Your fans know that. Let people think what they want to think.”
“I don't want people to think I’m something I’m not. And I also don't want Rozanov to kick my ass because he thinks I’m stealing his husband.”
“He did text me to apologize for making me a widow.”
Hayden laughs, almost fondly but refuses to admit that, “I bet he's having a field day with this. I gave him so much more material to use against me.”
“Yeah, don't check his Twitter.”
“I’m just happy to be done with this.”
And, of course, because the universe hates Hayden, he was not done with anything.
—
For the next few weeks, if he and Shane were spotted anywhere, there would be a resurgence of articles, tweets, comments, the whole nine yards. He and Shane get coffee, and five minutes later, he's tagged in a picture from DeaxMoi, with a caption that reads: Pike and Hollander cheating on Rozanov?
He's benched from post-game interview questions for the most part. Most of his teammates avoid the subject of his friendship with Shane, unless it's to mock him after a bad game. The insults in the locker room have gotten worse. Way worse. But it's nothing compared to the paparazzi.
“Ignore them,” Shane tells him, as they grab their cups from the counter and walk out. There's a man across the street with an obvious camera, attempting to hide behind a car.
“I’ve never had people follow me around like this.”
“It’ll die down, I promise.”
“Pike! Hollander!” The man starts calling.
They both groan as they keep walking.
“Hollander! Are you and Rozanov on the rocks? Are you and Pike the next hockey couple?”
“No and no!” Hayden shouts back.
“Ignore him.”
“What do you think about your teammates claiming they've caught you looking at them in the showers?”
What? “That's- that's not true.”
“Hayd, just keep walking.”
“We have multiple sources telling us otherwise. Is your wife your beard? Is there a divorce coming soon?”
“Shut the fuck up!” Hayden has fully turned around to talk to him at this point. “Don't talk about my wife.”
“Hayden, come on. It's probably a lie, anyway.”
Hayden honestly doesn't believe that it is. Not because he actually was caught staring at any of his teammates though. He learned a long time ago to keep his head down and his eyes glued to the floor to minimize the amount of awkwardness experienced by all parties. But he does believe that his asshole teammates would live up to their asshole-ness and tell TMZ or whoever this guy was with that he's some horrible perv.
“Does she know that she's covering for your illicit affair? Hollander, how do you feel about being Hayden's side piece?”
The next thing happens very fast. All he knows is that one minute, there's a man standing in front of him with a camera, and the next his fist is flying through the air and the man is on his back and the camera is shattered on the ground.
“What the fuck?” The guy yells, clearly not as injured as he is angry about his camera.
Shane grabs his shoulder, “Hayden-”
“Oh, shit, sorry. I mean, fuck you but I didn't mean to-”
“Screw you, man,” he grabs his broken camera and runs in the other direction.
“Hayden,” Hayden turns to look at Shane, who's frozen and gasping where he stands. His eyes are that kind of blank and his body the kind of stiff that they get when the world starts to become too much and he has to go sit in a dark, quiet room for a little while. Hayden feels guilt and dread boiling in his stomach.
“I probably just made everything worse, didn't I?”
“Probably, yeah.”
—
Douchebag Agent:
PIKE
CALL ME
ASAP
—
@shaydenov
hayden defending his wife and his boyfriend, iktr!!!
@liartoldyouthat
i owe you an apology hayden pike, i wasn't familiar with your game
@MHLofficial
We do not condone the actions of Hayden Pike and would like to offer our most sincere apologies to George Badswanger, the man who was physically assaulted by our own league member. Mr. Pike has reached privately to Mr. Badswanger and he has been fully compensated for both the camera and any medical bills. The MHL stands for peace and nonviolence.
—
Hayden sinks into his couch further, buried in a sweatshirt with his phone turned completely off. He's not sure how he ended up having one of the worst months he's ever had but he's sure he can find a way to put the blame on Rozanov. That always makes him feel better.
He's made his second apology for the month and will be benched for a game. He was also served a fine. He's given the league far too much trouble than even Hayden himself would say he's worth.
“Hey, baby?” Jackie rubs his shoulders. “You've got a visitor.”
Hayden perks his head up, “Shane?”
Jackie shakes her head, “No, no, someone else. They're waiting at the door for ya, I’m gonna go drop the kids off at my mom’s so we can have the night, okay?.”
Hayden kisses her cheek and makes his way to the front door.
Ilya Rozanov stands in front of him, holding a bottle of vodka, and a shit eating grin.
“Hello, Pike. Let's talk.”