Chapter Text
The car pulled into the driveway. Shane and Ilya climbed out and went into the cottage. Shane was still on edge, breathing hard as they entered the palace. Ilya was looking at him carefully.
“I need some air,” Shane said quickly as soon as they entered. The two of them went out to the back deck again.
Ilya hated seeing Shane like this. He knew, going into this, that Shane was a ball of walking anxiety. But he also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, is that he loved Shane. And Shane loved him. He would kiss every bit of anxiety out of Shane if he could and take it on himself. But he knew he couldn’t do that.
it didn’t mean he couldn’t try.
He let Shane sit outside by himself for about 30 seconds before joining him on the deck. Shane was pacing, stretching, doing everything he could to try to find some control back. Ilya pulled him into a hug, and Shane melted into it.
“I love you,” Ilya reminded him gently, softly. He kissed Shane’s neck.
“I love you too,” Shane whispered back. “I…I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m freaking out.”
“It’s okay. Shane. We’ve been keeping a secret for a very long time and it just got…um…found?”
Shane nodded. “Yeah. It works, Ilya.” He smiled at him.
“Shane,” Ilya began. Then he stopped, hesitating.
Shane looked at him, still wrapped in his arms. “Are you okay?”
Ilya considered him for a long moment. “I am better than okay, Shane. I…we are being honest with each other, yes?”
He took a deep breath and Shane nodded carefully.
“Shane. I am the happiest I’ve ever been right now.”
Shane’s face cracked with a smile. Ilya’s number one favorite thing to look at in the world.
“Really?”
“Yes. I…” He hesitated. English seemed to be escaping him. “I want to say…I’m sorry if English is bad. But I want to say something.”
“Okay.”
“I think your parents are going to accept me. My father and brother…they never did. I feel like you’ve maybe given me a chance at a family again. Thank you.”
Shane’s smile got even brighter somehow, and Ilya thought it might give world peace with its power and beauty. He kissed Ilya, and it was the sweetest kiss Ilya had ever gotten from anyone.
“What if,” Shane began, and he paused. He looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and said, “What if we…just told our friends? I told Hayden and you told…Svetlana?”
Ilya noticed his hesitation about mentioning Svetlana. He grinned at him.
“You’re jealous of Svetlana.”
Shane’s expression scowled a bit. Ilya’s second favorite thing in the world to look at.
“You’re jealous of Rose. I think I’m allowed to be.”
“Of course you are,” Ilya said sweetly. He kissed Shane again. “You have nothing to be jealous about, Shane. She isn’t you.”
Shane’s ears turned pink as he blushed.
“I’d…I’d like to meet her, I think. Someday. And I want you to meet Hayden. And Rose.”
“I have already met Hayden.”
“No, I mean for real. As my…as my boyfriend. Not as my arch rival.”
Ilya kissed him, and Shane hummed in happiness. It seemed maybe his kisses were magical after all. Even if only slightly.
“Hayden…I think Hayden might already…suspect. Like my parents did.”
Ilya pulled away and raised his eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”
Shane shook slightly, so Ilya stroked his back. “He knows…he knows I text Lily. A lot.”
Ilya nodded, kissing Shane’s cheek. “Is okay,” he whispered into Shane’s ear. “Svetlana knows…that I am in love with Jane.”
Shane froze. “She doesn’t…know who I am, does she?”
Ilya hesitated. But he said, truthfully, “I didn’t tell her anything. But I think…I think she’s figured it out.”
Shane took another deep breath, and then laughed. Ilya’s favorite sound in the world. “Maybe we weren’t as secretive as we thought.”
“Nope. Both of us, very stupid and irresponsible.”
The two men held each other, grinning.
“So…we tell Hayden, and Rose, and Svetlana. And then…”
“Stop,” Ilya said. It was forceful but sweet. “Shane, let’s do one thing at a time. Telling our friends is a big step. Okay?”
Shane nodded slowly. “Okay.” He took another deep breath. “When should we tell them?”
“I will call Svetlana right now if you want.”
“Do you…do you think it can be a phone call? Or should it be face to face?”
“Phone call, or FaceTime I think is fine. Gives them time to…process.” Ilya’s use of the English language was getting better, but he had to think about the word process a bit. Shane nodded though.
“Okay. Should we start with Svetlana?”
“She is in Russia for the summer. I think we will actually need to wait until it gets a little bit later. It is very early there. I can text her and tell her I want to FaceTime with her later though? You want me to?”
Shane nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I do want.”
“And Rose?”
“She’s filming. I don’t think she’ll have a lot of time to FaceTime with us, but I’ll send her a text.”
“So that leaves…”
Shane was already typing out a message to Hayden. Ilya traced his fingers over Shane’s as he hit send.