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Ilya sighed as he lowered himself into the hot tub, that he was thankful that the Centaur's trainer had talked him into adding it when he bought this place. By hockey terms, Ilya wasn't a young player anymore, and even practice could do a number on his knees. But in this case, it was purely for relaxation. It had been a rough couple of weeks since he and Shane had been outed (fucking Pike and his Fanmail videos. Although Ilya was mad at the how they were outed, he was glad that everything was out in the open, and he could show his love for Shane outside of the walls of his house, and the times they were able to meet at David and Yuna's, and their final game against each other. The media and most of Montreal's team had been vicious and blamed Shane for purposefully tripping and letting Ilya win; the only one who had stood up for him was Hayden. Ilya still had an uneasy truce with Hayden, but the way he had stood up for Shane both to the team and to people online made Ilya glad that Shane had one friend from Montreal in his corner, and he could put up with him for Shane's sake. Jackie and the kids would always be welcome at Ilya and Shane's home as well. Ilya and the Pike children got along so easily, and it drove Hayden nuts. Jackie said that it was because Ilya was a giant child behind his hockey façade. Ilya would never admit it, but she was right. Ilya never had a chance to just be a child growing up, so any time he interacted with children, he tried to let them lead and be children around him.
Hayden had told Shane that he was looking to leave Montreal, but he still had a year on his contract left. Shane had told him that Montreal would need him now that Shane had left. That his and Jackie's life was centered in Montreal. The kids had friends and were about to start school. Hayden had responded that unless things changed in a major way during the upcoming season, there was no way that he would resign with the Voyageurs. His family would adjust; trades and transfers happened all the time in hockey. He and Jackie had discussed it after the Ilya/Shane fallout, and both had agreed that they no longer wanted to be part of a team that would turn on their captain (who was their "fifth child") for wanting to be with the person that he loved. Jackie had let it slip that a few of the WAGs were trying to get their partners to reach out to Shane and get their heads out of their asses. She even hinted that there was one who had told her husband that if he didn't stop acting like an asshole to his friend that she would leave him. Jackie wouldn't say who it was (the WAG chat was sacred, and Ilya could respect that), but Ilya had a few ideas.
Ilya had hope that things would get better, slowly but surely. They all knew that there would be no support from the league itself, but there were enough queer and ally players who were starting to make waves that he could see in a couple of seasons the tone would start to shift. Ilya was thinking that it might not be a bad idea to try to get Montreal's 15th-best player signed to Ottawa. He already played well with Shane and, from the few times the teams had met off the ice, was friendly enough with the other guys on the team. He could see him slotting in naturally, even though he would never admit that outside of Wiebe's office. He felt Shane get in next to him and lean against his side. It was nice to see Shane relax.
It had been a rough afternoon for him. J.J. had stopped by to talk with Shane. Ilya was nervous about leaving them alone, but Shane had asked him for privacy, telling Ilya that this was something he had to do alone.
"But you are not alone, Hollander," Ilya had told him, as he held him close, rubbing his hands up and down Shane's arms as he looked him in the eyes.
"I know, but please, I need to let him know that I haven't changed, I'm still me. Ok?" Shane had whispered sheepishly.
"Fine, I will take Anya," Ilya told Shane, kissing him on the forehead. Then he looked over Shane at J.J. and said with his voice dropping an octave, "I will be in house, but only phone call away. If you hurt my Shane, I will hurt you ten times more. Am I clear?" Ilya glared at J.J., who only nodded. Ilya gave Shane one more kiss and took Anya into the house.
"What do you want, J.J.?" Shane said coldly. Depending on how this conversation went, he would either have two friends on the Voyaguers or only one.
It took J.J. a minute to gather his thoughts. Shane was about to tell him to get to the point when he mumbled, "I'm sorry," so softly that Shane wasn't sure if he had actually formed the words or if that was just what Shane wanted to hear.
"What was that?" Shane said, crossing his arms and looked down at J.J. from the top step. He was usually not a confrontational person, never getting into fights on the ice, but the past few weeks had made him so tired that he was at the end of his patience with everyone.
"I said I was sorry," J.J. said, loud enough for Shane to hear this time. "I was an ass, and you didn't deserve that. I know that you didn't trip on purpose and give the game to Ilya. I was hurt, ok? Not that you were gay, I know we play hockey for Christ's sake, but hurt that you wouldn't tell me. Didn't trust that I would still be your friend. Shane, we've known each other for years, I thought that we could trust each other. I would have dropped the gloves for you in an instant. You could have told me, you told Hayden for fuck's sake."
Shane was getting angry, "We didn't tell anyone besides our agent and my parents. We knew the reaction to us being together would be like what they were. We were the golden rivalry of the NHL; we were supposed to hate each other, not fall in love. We were going to keep it a secret until we retired. Hayden fucking guessed man. Ilya can't go back to Russia, can't go see his parents' graves, or see his niece again. Do you understand? Our entire relationship changes everything, ok? There's still so much we don't know about the future, just that we are in it together." Shane tried to blink away the tears that were building up, but the dam broke, and he started to ugly sob in a mixture of fear and anger. He was about to turn around and go back inside to be by Ilya when J.J. spoke again.
"Shane," J.J. walked up the steps and pulled Shane into a hug, gently rubbing his hands on Shane's back, letting him sob into his shoulder. After a while, the tears stopped, and J.J. pulled them both down to sit on the steps, throwing an arm over Shane's shoulders. They sat like that for a while until J.J. spoke again, "I'm sorry, I guess in my freak out, I didn't stop to think about how it affected you or him. But Shane," he waited until Shane looked him directly in the eyes, "no matter what happens, I want you to know that I will always be your friend, you don't have to do this alone. Hayden and Jackie will be there for you, and I will be there too. All of us by your side, ok?"
Shane brushed the last of the tears out of his eyes, "Thank you,"
"I do have one question, though. You never went easy on him, did you? Always battled 110%?"
"Of course, you've seen how competitive we are. Not giving it our all would go against who we are as players and people." Shane said. "It was also sort of foreplay," Shane admitted with a grin.
"Gross," J.J. laughed, pushing him away. "I need to amend my previous promise. We will be by your side for everything but discussions of your sex life. Deal?" J.J. asked, extending a hand.
"Deal," Shane said, taking J.J.'s hand and pulling J.J. in for a hug. They sat in a comfortable silence while Shane texted Ilya. He knew he was probably pacing by the window, waiting to see if he was needed.
Shane: We're good, Ilya. You can join us if you want. I love you.
Shane slipped his phone back into his pocket, not waiting for Ilya to respond. He knew that his fiancé would be out as fast as he could be. Not even a minute later, J.J. and Shane heard the front door open and saw Ilya walk out. Shane wasn't sure what expression was on his face, but it looked to be a mix of anger and concern. J.J. stood up and raised his hand towards Ilya. He started to speak, but was cut off when Ilya punched him in the stomach, shocking Shane.
"That was for being a dick to my fiancé," Ilya said gruffly. Just as quick as he punched J.J., he pulled him into a hug. "This is for making it right."
"Fiancé?" J.J. asked once he got his breath back from the physical and emotional whiplash of the past two minutes.
"Umm, yeah," Shane said, "look out for an invitation."
The three of them had spent a few more hours talking, and when J.J. left after promising to check in with Shane later in the week, Shane collapsed against Ilya's side.
"Come," Ilya said, "I think we've earned jacuzzi, yes?"
******
Ilya moved Shane so that he was sitting between his legs and alternated between rubbing his shoulders and massaging his scalp. Eventually, Shane spoke.
"That went better than I thought it would," Ilya gave a non-commital grunt. He was busy trying to ease the tension out of his fiancé's shoulders. "I do wish you hadn't puncehd him."
"I'm sorry, I crossed line. I won't do it again as long as your friend keeps his promise to be actual friend." Ilya said
"Thank you," Shane said, leaning into Ilya's touch.
"Besides, I am not who he needs to worry about. I have no more connections in Russia; Svetlana is from old family. Old connections." Shane turned to look at his fiancé. He wasn't sure if Ilya was making a joke about using his ex's crime family connections to threaten J.J.. If it wasn't so horrifying to think about it would be almost endearing. "I'm only joking. But know that if she could, she would do anything for us. Sveta was disgusted by what the papers were saying about you and me. Turn around, you just undid all of my hard work getting you to relax." Shane leaned back into Ilya's musings. It had been a long day, but hopefully it was a sign of better things to come. All Shane knew was that there was no place he wanted to be, other than right next to Ilya.