Chapter Text
Shane wasn’t the most tuned-in to global politics. He could barely keep up with Canadian ones and he generally only knows the biggest highlights of American politics just because he has to travel there a lot for games. He still knew where he stood on most global issues and tried to stay educated on those, it’s just that he wasn’t necessarily up to date on most things.
All that to say, if Shane Hollander heard about some news in American politics along with everyone else, it had to be big. Really big.
He was scrolling on his phone while lying on his bed when he heard pounding on his door.
“Shane, I need you to open right the fuck now!” It was Hayden, sounding frantic. Shane’s blood ran cold, something was wrong. He scrambled to open the door and braced himself for whatever Hayden was about to throw at him.
“Hayden? What’s up-”
Hayden pushed his way into the room, and Shane closed the door after him. “Did you hear?”
Shane shook his head. He felt his throat tighten up. Oh my god is it the kids? Is it Jackie? Is it Ilya? Is Ilya okay? Is he h– “The first son of the United States and the Prince of England are fucking!”
And. Okay. That wasn’t exactly what Shane expected to hear coming from Hayden’s mouth on a random Tuesday evening. “What the fuck?!”.
Hayden threw himself on Shane’s bed and grabbed the TV remote. “I promise you I’m not bullshitting you, it's all over the news!”
And. Yeah. It was indeed all over the news. They flipped through a few channels and could not escape the picture. Or the emails. Once Shane understood what happened, he felt sick to his stomach. He wasn’t a high profile political figure, thank god, but he could still relate to wanting to keep a relationship secret because you feel like the entire world could crumble if this somehow got out. Except, for them, it was kinda the case. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how they must feel, seeing the things that they thought would stay private be broadcast to the entire world. If his text conversations with Ilya got out- Shit. Ilya.
Just as he grabbed his phone to call him, it started ringing. Hayden, looked over. “Is that…?”
Shane nodded, “Yep.”
His friend got up from the bed. “Alright. I’m going to go back to my room then. Don’t hesitate to knock if you need anything.”
He left and Shane answered the phone. “Il-”
“Shane. Hollander. Am I fucking hallucinating or did I just see a picture of the First Son of the United States and the Prince of England make out in a car?”
Shane chuckled. “Well if you are, I probably am as well. A shared hallucination or something. And Hayden too.”
“Ah. Must be real then. I don’t want to think I share brain cells with Hayden of all people.”
They both laughed and then stayed quiet for a few seconds. Shane broke the silence “And -we- thought it would be hard for us to come out. I mean,it is, but at least… I guess we don’t have the weight of entire Nations resting on our shoulders.
“Neither do they, technically. I mean I don’t know much about those countries and their politics but I don’t think they’re that important to their……. functionality”.
The Canadian shrugged. “Yeah but, still, I don’t think the Royal family likes gay people all that much. I mean I don’t even think there’s been an out gay prince before that kid in Sweden, and no one even really cares all that much about Sweden.”
He heard Ilya snort. “Americans don’t care all that much about Sweden. It was very big deal in Europe. Probably even more in Scandinavia.”
“You know what I mean! Its different! Especially since the thing with the Prince of England also involves the US in some capacity? Oh god, do you think we’re gonna get asked questions about this in interviews? What are we supposed to even say???”
“Shane, my love, please breathe. It’s not like they would be asking you to come out. Just say you don’t really want to talk about politics but that you condemn the…. breach of privacy or whatever and you will be fine.”
Shane nodded. “Okay. Alright…” He took a deep breath. “I sat next to Prince Henry at Wimbledon once.”
“Damn. You missed your chance at being Princess of England there.” Despite not seeing him, Shane could hear the shit eating smile on his boyfriend’s face.
“Really funny, Rozanov. Unfortunately, at the time I was already hopelessly in love with the second best player in the NHL, but hey, at least I still got a blonde European boyfriend.”
“Hollander. Were you cheating on me? Because if I remember correctly, we were together when you went to Wimbledon and I’m not second best player in the NHL.”
The Canadian grinned. “Oh? Are you third best then?”
“Ha. Ha. Very funny Hollander. You are such a brat.” Ilya’s smile could be heard through the phone.
“You love me.”
“I do love you.” Ilya’s voice was a lot softer, the genuine love seeping through it. Shane suddenly missed him a lot more.
“I love you too. I miss you.”
“Me too. Hey, can you imagine if our texts got leaked?”
Shane groaned. “Oh god. Don’t even start. That’s like, my worst fear.”
The mere idea of his intimate conversations, or pictures, getting out to the public made the Canadian shiver. He refused to even entertain the idea, out of fear of speaking it into reality somehow.
“What? You don’t want people to know you’re getting laid?”
“No, thank you! And, I guess we also have to be careful about cameras and shit. Apparently that’s how they got caught.”
Ilya snorted. “I mean, we’re not that dumb. How can you even forget you’re in public. Or not realize that you’re getting filmed or photographed?”
Shane smiled. “Yeah you’re right. It probably wouldn’t happen to us anyway, we’re too careful.”
“Yes, we are.”