Work Text:
*Buzz* *Buzz* *Buzz* *Buzz* *Buzz*
Ashley looked up from her phone and straight ahead at the elevator doors as the only other occupant of the elevator’s phone vibrated with five notifications. The exact number of texts she had just sent to Lily. Ashley got ready to send one more: GIRL, then pressed send and pretended to toss her hair over her shoulder so she could glance at Ilya Rozanov.
His broad frame leaned against the side of the elevator, one shoulder braced casually against the mirrored wall. He held his phone in one hand, scrolling with his thumb like he had all the time in the world on a site that looked suspiciously like Twitter. And just when Ashley was about to turn back to face forward, she saw it:
A text notification popped up at the top of Ilya’s phone for a second before he swiped it up with his thumb. Ashley couldn’t see the contact name, but it looked like it was only a first name - possibly her name, Ashley.
The blood in Ashley’s veins ran cold. This was impossible. Utterly impossible. Lily was her internet friend, a little person who lived in her phone and didn’t exist in her real life. Someone she never thought she would meet in person after Lily repeatedly turned down every attempt Ashley made to hang out irl.
So then how were her texts to Lily appearing on Ilya Rozanov’s phone at that exact moment?
Her heart began to pound so loudly she was sure he could hear it. Before she could talk herself out of it, Ashley clicked on the videochat button to the right of Lily’s name and hit FaceTime Audio. The ringing started immediately.
And at the exact same time -
Ilya Rozanov’s phone started ringing. Ashley gasped as her head swung over to stare at him. But just as he moved his thumb to hover between the accept or decline icons -
“No. No way.” The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Ilya turned his head, brows pulling together slightly as he looked at her, a look of surprise evident on his face. His gaze dropped to her phone held out in front of her, screen glowing, unmistakably displaying Calling Lily.
He lowered his own phone enough so that Ashley could see his phone with the unmistakable screen of an incoming FaceTime Audio call from Ashley.
For a split second, neither of them moved.
“Why,” Ashley asked, her voice barely holding together, “do you have Lily’s phone?”
“Uhh…” Ilya quickly hit decline on his phone to silence the ringing then pressed the side button to turn the screen off. He straightened a little, suddenly not so relaxed, one hand rubbing the back of his neck.
“Because… I am Lily? Surprise?”
Ashley felt like her world turned upside-down. Not only was Ilya Rozanov standing three feet away from her, tall and real and hot as hell, but he was… Lily? She felt her grip on her phone loosen as she stumbled back.
Ilya reacted instantly. He lunged forward, closing her fingers around her phone before it could hit the floor, then reached out to steady her by the elbow with his other hand.
“Hey hey, is okay, is okay.”
“You’re Lily,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he said softly, then winced. “Well. Ilya. But also Lily. Lily online. And in your phone.”
“Oh, I’m gonna pass out,” Ashley mumbled.
“Ah no, not good, don’t do that,” Ilya said quickly, tightening his grip on her elbow a fraction.
At that exact moment the elevator slid open with a cheerful ding, welcoming them into the apartment lobby.
“Come on,” Ilya directed, a guiding hand still at Ashley’s elbow, “let’s sit by the fireplace.”
Ashley let herself be guided, feet moving on autopilot. The doorman glanced over, concern flickering across his face, but Ilya offered him a brief nod that said handled, and that was apparently enough.
Ilya led her to the half-circle of leather armchairs around the (fake) fireplace to the side of the front desk. Ilya gently pushed Ashley into one chair, then dropped himself into the chair closest to the fireplace, his back to any passerbys.
Ilya didn’t say anything, seeming content to remain quiet until Ashley decided she was ready to break the ice.
The silence stretched.
Ashley swallowed, her mouth uncomfortably dry as her heart continued to hammer out of her chest.
“So… you’ve really been Lily? All this time? It’s not actually… I don’t know, a cousin or niece's phone that you use sometimes?”
Ilya let out a long breath, rubbing his palms together before resting his forearms on his knees. “Yes, it’s been me, the whole time. No one else.”
Ashley widened her eyes in shock, silently pleading with him to elaborate.
“I always liked to scroll on Twitter and talk to fans. Even when not many people were using it, I found it most interesting app to be on. I liked reading what people say when they think you will never see it. Is very honest place. And at certain point… I decided to make secret account under name Lily. To not be Ilya, and talk about hockey and… other stuff with fans, who were - very entertaining.”
Her hands flew to her mouth as the implications hit all at once. “Oh my god,” she whispered. “Oh my god.”
“We talked about Hollanov together!” The second the words left her mouth, Ashley froze, horror blooming on her face. “Oh, Jesus Christ. I can’t believe I just said that out loud. To you!”
Ilya let out a chuckle. “Is okay. I like reading the fics. Not the ones with Hayden though - I wish Kelli would stop writing those.” He wrinkled his nose. “And talking about me and Shane with other people who don’t know us is fun.”
Me and Shane. Ashley’s brain screeched to a halt.
Ashley sat up straighter. “I heard that! ‘Me and Shane’!” She said sharply.
Ilya stiffened.
Ashley pointed at him, finger trembling with adrenaline. “You and Shane are together, aren’t you?”
Ilya frantically beckoned for Ashley to keep her voice down as he shot a glance at the doorman, who thankfully was not paying them any attention.
“Not so loud, yes?” He hissed.
Ashley clapped her hands over her face again, but this time it was to contain the scream trying to claw its way out of her chest. Her eyes sparkled between her fingers.
“You guys are dating!” She whispered loudly. “Oh my god, this is insane!”
She dropped her hands and leaned toward him, barely containing herself. “I’ve been texting Ilya Rozanov who is secretly dating his archrival while pretending to be a girl on Twitter and reading his own fanfiction.”
Ilya opened his mouth, seemingly to argue before abruptly closing it.
Then he nodded once, solemn. “When you say it like that, yes it does sound… very crazy.”
Ashley burst out laughing, hysterically trying to stifle the noise in the otherwise quiet lobby.
“I need you to understand,” she said between laughs, “that I will never emotionally recover from this.”
Once the laughter had died away and she had wiped at her tears, Ashley unlocked her phone.
"The group chat is never going to believe this,” Ashley said, already grinning as she lifted her phone. “We have to send them a selfie.”
But before she could open her camera app, Ilya’s hand covered Ashley's, turning the phone facedown.
“No selfie,” he said quietly. “And no telling group chat.”
Ashley blinked, surprise flickering across her face as the excitement drained out of her expression. “What? Why not?”
“There are too many people in there,” he continued, withdrawing his hand but not the seriousness in his voice. “All it takes is one screenshot. One person who talks to someone else. And then my secret is out.”
Ashley’s face fell. “No one would tell! I know you haven’t been in the group chat as long but no one would do anything to hurt you or Shane. They’re not like that.”
Ilya removed his hands from her phone and put them on the sides of his armchair. His jaw tightened, eyes dropping to the floor for a moment before lifting to meet hers.
“Is too risky. Please don’t tell them.”
“Really?” she asked, quieter now. “You don’t trust me? Or our friends?”
“That is not what I’m saying,” Ilya replied immediately, leaning forward. “I trust you.”
“But -”
“But I don’t trust the world,” he finished. “Not with this.”
“So what,” Ashley said, trying for light but missing the mark, “I just… found out the biggest secret of my life and I’m supposed to sit on it forever?”
He gave her a small, apologetic smile. “Hopefully not forever.”
She eyed him. “That’s not comforting.”
He shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
They sat in silence for a moment, the fake fire crackling between them.
Finally, Ashley nodded once. “Okay,” she said. “I won’t tell.”
Ilya’s shoulders visibility relaxed. “Thank you. You are a good friend. To Lily and to me.”
“Yeah, I know I am.”
Ashley sighed. “I need to get to school. I already missed the T I usually take and now I’m really pushing it.”
She got to her feet, sliding her phone in her pocket and pulling on her backpack.
“Do you have practice now?” She asked, looking over Ilya’s Adidas joggers, basic gray hoodie, and socks and slides as he got up too.
“No, just going to go back up to apartment.”
Ashley shot him a suspicious look. “So then why were you in the elevator coming down? And Lily told me that you probably have a secret elevator since you are in the Penthouse so I started to assume that was why I never saw you before.”
Ilya scratched his head sheepishly. “Ah, I do have private elevator that I use most of the time. But… I started using main elevators from time to time after you texted that you had never seen me in the building. I thought you might like to catch a glimpse just once.” He grinned.
“Never did I think you would instantly start texting Lily right next to me and my secret would be revealed.”
Ashley snorted. “Yeah not the smartest move on your part.” She smiled. “But, I’m glad it happened. It’s kinda cool knowing now.
*****
As Ashley held onto the pole on her packed T train, she opened her message with Lily and sent a text.
2 months later