Chapter Text
If Shane had known the rental car would give him so much trouble, he wouldn't have taken it. He had been waiting for his new car for months, and it had been delayed again, for the third time. Normally, he bought straight from the main dealership in Montreal, but he had used the Ottawa one because he felt bad that he used Montreal more. He felt like he should be supporting his hometown.
He regretted that now. They had given him a rental while he waited the extra month for delivery. He should have just gotten a long term rental from another garage or cancelled the fucking order.
Everything started fine, he had picked Ilya up from the airport over an hour ago, and they were having a lovely drive, chatting shit about other teams, Ilya even held his hand. Then, 55 minutes into their journey, the lights had appeared on the dashboard. All the lights, at the same time. Then, if that wasn’t a big enough red flag, the engine started to make a grinding noise.
Shane had been driving since he was 17 years old, and this was a new one for him. It was like the car was throwing a massive tantrum of epic proportions. He had pulled over immediately and turned off the engine. There was no smoke or fire, but you could never be sure. Thankfully, there was a good layby within striking distance, so at least they weren’t on the side of the road completely.
Now he and Ilya were stuck in the layby, an hour from the cottage, with a car that had decided that working was for chumps and breaking down was fun. He had checked the engine, the tyres and reset three different warning lights, and it did jack shit. Now the fucking thing wouldn’t start at all. He had turned the engine over for several minutes, several times and nothing. The car simply wouldn’t start.
‘I don’t think we are going anywhere anytime soon Ilya.’ He walked up to the passenger side door, sighing, wiping off the black smudges from his hands with an old rag. He really hated the texture of oil and car dirt on his fingers.
‘No shit, Hollander.’ Ilya put his phone down, looking frustrated. ‘Where did you buy this crap?’
‘I didn’t buy it.’ Shane shot back defensively. ‘It’s a rental. The dealership fucked up my order, so they gave me this while I waited for the Land Rover I actually ordered.’
‘Land Rover really?’ Ilya's face was full of judgement but his sports cars, as much as Shane thought he looked sexy in them, wouldn’t be good in Canada even in the summer. Not when the weather changed quickly, and the cottage was so isolated.
‘It’s reliable and good in the snow, trust me, I did not want this piece of shit car. But it was free while I waited.’ He sighed again, walking around the car and getting back into the driver's seat, leaning his arms on the steering wheel ‘Fucking regret that now.’
Ilya's hand reached out to rest on Shane's back tenderly, softly moving up and down. It felt good. Domestic in all the ways that Shane wanted it to feel. He allowed the petting to calm him while he thought through the options. There weren’t many.
‘Shane, you have plan? Ilya spoke. ‘Car…cover’
‘Breakdown cover’ Shane responded, ‘Yeah, I have that. But the whole point of us being here was so we could be alone.’ He sat up, and Ilya's hand moved from his back to his thigh, resuming the light stroking. ‘Where no one would know us and put expectations on us. I think that's gone down the drain now.’
Ilya looked at him sadly. ‘It will be ok, we can make them sign NDA if need be.’ His hand moved to the side of Shane's face and cupped his cheek. Even in the summer air, Ilya was a little cooler than normal. ‘Not your fault. Cottage was always a dream we...'
‘NO’ Shane raised his voice, grabbing Ilya's hand before he could move it away, keeping it next to his cheek and kissing it softly.
‘No’ he repeated quietly. ‘We’ve fought too hard to get here. I have another option, I could call my dad. He would get here quicker, and he could drop us at the cottage or tow the car.’
‘You aren’t out to parents yet though.’
‘No, I’m not. But I don’t want to hide you, and I want to spend time together at the cottage.’ He looked into Ilya's eyes and smiled, tears shining. ‘More than anything.’
Ilya looked scared for him; he knew Ilya's father was the reason he was still uncomfortable around old men, as much as he tried to hide it. ‘You think they will be ok? That they will be kind?’
‘I’m mostly sure they will be,’ Shane said, grabbing his phone. ‘But I know I would rather it be Dad than a random car mechanic that we can’t control.’
He had forgotten to charge his phone this morning, rushing in his excitement to the airport. The battery was only at 31%. The car was supposed to have charged it as he drove but apparently, even that didn’t work; that really should have been the first sign it was useless.
He dialled his Dad's number, heart beating loudly in his chest. Ilya's hands had moved back to his own lap; he was listening but giving him the space he needed. His father answered the phone within a minute; he never made Shane wait if he could help it.
‘Shane, I didn’t expect to hear from you soon. How goes the silent retreat.’ He could see Ilya trying not to laugh in the corner of his eye. He really did think it was a good excuse.
‘Not silent anymore.’
‘Oh, is something the matter?’ He could hear his dad walking through the garden, the crunch of the gravel reminding him of the years spent playing tag with his father, learning how to dodge off ice first.
‘The rental has broken down’ He got straight to the point before he chickened out anymore ‘Can you pick me up or tow the car to the cottage?’
‘Of course Shane, but I thought you had CAA.’
‘I.. I do.’ He hesitated before ripping the bandaid off ‘I have someone with me, I don’t want the story to be sold and their privacy violated because some mechanic needed the cash.’ He rushed out the last words, trying to get it all quickly. It was too warm and his skin felt itchy in his clothes.
‘I understand son.’ His father's voice was soft. ‘It’s ok. Where are you?’
‘I’ll ping the location to you, we are about an hour from my cottage.’
‘Ok, I’ll leave in 5 minutes. I’m not going to tell your mother, but you know I don’t like keeping secrets from her. I don’t expect you to say anything straight away, but please know you can be honest with us. Ok?’
‘Ok’
‘Do you need me to bring something to eat or drink?’ Ilya shook his head; he was fine it seemed. Shane was definitely getting thirsty after standing in the baking sun, trying to fix the car
‘Yeah, some water and some snacks please, since it will be at least 2 hours before we get something else.’
‘No worries kiddo, see you soon.’ His dad hung up. Shane took a moment to send the location to him and got a thumbs up in response before he collapsed onto the steering wheel again, breathing heavy.
‘Shane' Ilya spoke, breaking the silence ‘Shane, are you ok?’
‘Fucckkkk. Oh god.’ His breathing was getting faster, and the road was starting to blur and bob around like he was on a boat. ‘I feel like I’m gonna die.’
Ilya got out of the car and was around to his side of the car within a minute, pulling open the door, he yanked Shane into his arms and held him tight. Gently, they rocked back and forth. The only noise was the hitching breaths from Shane and the sound of the birds. The road was deserted; it was oddly peaceful for a summer day.
It was like all stars all over again, but this time Shane was the one being comforted and rocked like a baby. It was nice. It was perfect. It felt right. Ilya hugged him for what felt like a long time; Shane didn’t attempt to pull away once, even though he was overheating a little bit and his foot was cramping from the awkward position it was in. Ilya pulled back when he felt that Shane had calmed down.
‘Feel better’ Shane nodded slowly. Words were hard right now, but he felt calmer in himself. He glanced at the clock; it had been twenty minutes, so they had time to themselves for a bit.
There was one good thing about the rental: it had a spacious back deck. Despite his hesitation to get back into the sun, he did want to stretch his legs a bit and sitting in the back sounded like a fabulous idea.
‘Come’ He grabbed Ilyas's hand, hopping out of the driver's seat and pulling Ilyas to the back. Opening the door of the boot, he started to arrange the seats so they would have somewhere to sit. The boot would give them some shade and protect them from the sun, and they could stretch their legs properly in the back.
‘This is better now’ Ilya nodded and joined him as he sat down. ‘We just have to wait now.’
They spent the next 40 minutes playing snap with a pack of cards Shane found in the side of the rear passenger door. That made him happy and uneasy. He wondered when they had last cleaned the rental, if he could find whole decks of cards in obvious places.
Ilya was too good at snap and found it hilarious when Shane got all the more grumpy when he lost again. The final score was 18-11 in favour of Ilya when Shane saw his father pull up in front of him in the layby in his Jeep Cherokee.
Ilya grasped his hand in his own, quickly squeezing it tightly in reassurance before letting go. Shane watched his dad approach the car with dread. He wanted to get out and meet him, but his legs wouldn’t move.
David Hollander approached the broken down vehicle with curiosity that quickly turned into confusion when he spotted who was sitting in the back with his son playing snap.