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When Shane had thought about people finding out about his tattoo, he had mostly worried about his locker room.
He knew the guys would keep their mouths shut about it, and if that was less about loyalty to him and more about the similarity between his and Ilya's tattoos, and because their Captain imitating the Raiders' Captain for his girlfriend would be an embarrassment for their team...
And apart from them, and Ilya of course, no-one ever saw him naked, really, and even his shortest shorts covered up the heart high on his right thigh.
He did briefly consider what he might have to tell his parents if they ever saw it, but just came to the conclusion that he would just not let them see it, which shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Of course, he hadn't calculated Yuna Hollander's tendency for ignoring people's private space, especially when it came to her own family...
"Shane? I've brought you some groceries, they had a sale for those vegetable patties you like, and - well, what's this, then?"
Shane almost falls on his ass trying to get out of the yoga pose he had been holding when his mother's sudden arrival startled him.
He's in his underwear instead of wearing yoga pants, mainly because of the summer heat but also because he had gotten rather used to videocalling Ilya while doing yoga as his boyfriend loves watching him, and Shane loves that the yoga videocalls inevitably lead to horny phone sex when he lets him watch...
'Good thing Ilya is with Sveta right now, or I'd have to scramble to turn my tablet off. Or worse,' he thinks as he turns to his mother.
"Uh, what's what?"
Yuna points to Shane's hip with a raised eyebrow, and Shane blanches.
"Um, I. Uh."
There's no way for him to talk himself out of this one, is there?
"Do you have a girlfriend? You have a girlfriend! And it's serious enough to get a tattoo for her, but not enough to tell us about her?" Yuna asks, perplexed.
"Um."
"Honestly, Shane, her name? You know better than that! What are your sponsors going to think? And if you had to get a tattoo, could it not have been something you aren't going to regret if you break up?"
"We're not breaking up!" Shane snaps on instinct, aghast at the very thought of losing Ilya. He is it for him, has been for much longer than he dared to admit. "And why would any sponsors even know of this? It's not like I tattooed my face."
"...so there is a girl!" Yuna stops moving groceries out of her bag and whirls around to point an accusing finger at him.
"Uh, no?"
"Shane? What, you didn't get a tattoo on a dare, did you?"
That's the perfect excuse, actually - throwing JJ or some other player on the team under the bus, sticking to Ilya's story about the bet with Marleau that led to his nipple piercing, but... Shane doesn't want to lie to his mom anymore.
It's been bad enough to keep this huge part of his life from his parents, especially since Ilya is really his boyfriend now, he doesn't want to outright deny it now that he has been caught.
"No, um, there is no girl, but. I actually have a boyfriend?"
"What." Yuna blinks, dazed, standing frozen in place.
Shane quickly gets up to take the six-pack of ginger ale from her that she has been holding upside down, which can't be good for the stuff. Probably. Maybe. Okay, maybe it's just that it looks wrong to him.
His hands are shaking as he puts the ginger ale into the fridge. Shit, this is not how he planned to come out to his mom. Not that he planned to come out to anyone, ever, really.
"Oh, honey! You have a boyfriend? That's wonderful!"
Yuna's voice is higher than normal, but maybe the enthusiasm is still mostly real? Maybe it's just because of the shock of it.
"You know we still love you, I mean, your dad and I don't have any problems with gay people, honey. Actually we kind of thought you might be gay, or not interested in relationships at all? But that's so nice that you have a boyfriend!"
"Right." His voice feels kind of shaky, but hopefully she can't hear that.
Shane closes the fridge, and his mother tugs him into her arms. He hugs her back for a long moment before she suddenly steps back.
"Wait, you have a boyfriend? What's this tattoo about then? Did I read it wrong?" Yuna bends down to get a better look at the tattoo. Shane has the sudden urge to cover up and put on more clothes, even though it's just his mom.
"I'm pretty sure Lily is a girl's name, honey." Yuna looks up and raises an eyebrow at him. Shane awkwardly steps back and waits until she has straightened up again before he quickly makes his way to the other side of the kitchen aisle.
"Yeah, um. It's a fake name, I mean, obviously. It's what we've got each other saved as on our phones? You know, because no-one in the league can know that we're gay."
"And you got that as a tattoo." Yuna replies rather deadpan.
"It's romantic!" Shane defends himself. And Ilya. Because it really is romantic, and they wouldn't be boyfriends without the tattoos, probably. "And he got his first."
Oups, he maybe shouldn't have said that.
While Shane's own tattoo has stayed mostly private, Ilya's has been photographed and shared in all of the league group chats and gossip sites.
Shane can see Yuna's mind whirling and eventually reaching the only correct conclusion. "You're dating Ilya Rozanov?!"
"Um. Yeah? You can't tell anyone, mom, I mean it! He doesn't even have a green card yet, and if the league finds out and fires him he has to go back to Russia and they'd probably like, kill him, you really, you really can't tell anyone -"
"I won't! I won't say anything, goodness."
He's hyperventilating, only notices once he hears her reassurance that she won't say anything, and he can focus on his breathing through the panic. In for four, hold, out for eight. In for four, hold, out for eight. In for four...
"Are you quite sure that tattoo is for you, honey?" Yuna asks him, small worried lines forming on her forehead. "He's known to be quite the ladies' man, he might know someone who's actually called Jane. Well, at least the tattoo is quite thin, it should be easy enough to cover it up or get it -"
"I'm not getting rid of the tattoo, mom! And Ilya isn't cheating on me, Jesus! I mean, yeah, he's been with a lot of people, but we weren't exclusive then, and he's had me in his phone as Jane for years! It's definitely for me!"
Yuna's mouth is hanging open, her eyes wide.
"You. For years?" This seems to shock Yuna more than even the revelation of Ilya's identity.
"Yeah, but like, we weren't official then, or anything," Shane quickly reassures her. Shit, why does he feel so bad for having kept this from her for so long?
"I mean, he wasn't actually my boyfriend until after he got the tattoo, you know? So it's kind of recent but it's also been years and it's definitely for me, okay? He's really not so... not like how he's portrayed in the media. He's really sweet."
Yuna blinks, and Shane bites his lip, worried he will have to keep defending his boyfriend, when she suddenly starts to laugh.
"Men! Honestly. You've been seeing each other for years, and you got couple's tattoos before you managed to say that you're a couple?"
Shane feels his cheeks heat. "Technically I got the tattoo after we talked about it."
"Right." Yuna is still smiling, and Shane tentatively smiles back. "So, how did this even happen? When?"
"Do you remember the CCM photoshoot?"
"The one they made you do with Rozanov?"
"Actually, Ilya organized that. Because, you know, he wanted to see me again."
"That long ago..." There's a far-away look in her eyes, but before Shane can really start to worry about her reaction, Yuna bursts into giggles again.
"He organized an entire photo shoot for you, and it still took you a decade to figure out that there might be feelings involved?!"
"Oh my god, mom!" At this rate, Shane is never going to have his normal skin colour ever again.
"No, no, this is wonderful. Tell me about him, this boyfriend of yours. You said he is sweet?"
"Yes." Shane can't help his smile as he thinks about Ilya. "I mean, he got the tattoo when he was drunk, but it wasn't like, a dare or anything," though Ilya first pretended that it was, but Shane would rather keep that to himself so he doesn't give his mom any more ammunition to call them emotionally constipated or whatever, "and he can be really romantic. I'm in his phone as Jane, heart emoji, now."
Yuna smiles. "I'm so happy for you, honey." She goes over to the coffee machine, starts pressing buttons. "Let's sit and talk some more, yes? And can you invite David over? I really don't think you should keep this from him, not now that you are, how have you put it, official. You should also really tell your agent, just in case it does get out, and we need to make a plan for statements and of course citizenship, and can we meet him? Is this why you have -"
"Um, can I maybe put some clothes on?" Shane interrupts his mother before she can keep going until it gives him a headache. This, Shane remembers, is exactly why he tries to keep his mother out of his personal life. That and the whole gay for Ilya Rozanov thing, of course.
"Of course! Why were you doing yoga in your underwear in the first place?"
Shane quickly snatches up his phone from the counter and hurries off in the direction of his bedroom before he has to explain that. "I'll text dad!" He calls over his shoulder. He'll talk to Ilya first, though, and hopefully he won't be too mad that Shane told his mother about them without asking him first...
He's not all that worried, though. Yes, when they had still just been casual fuckbuddies, Ilya might have run for the hills if someone had found out, but they are boyfriends now. Ilya loves him. And his parents won't let anything about their relationship slip to anyone, Shane can reassure Ilya of that.
They're going to be okay.
Well, they might have to spend more time with his parents than he would like during the few weeks they get to themselves during the summer, but that shouldn't be too bad of a trade off for having someone in their corner.
Shane smiles as he pulls out his phone.
There are three new text messages waiting for him.
LILY
moy 💗
save me from boredom, Sveta has found hot fashion guy and I am abandond
still doing yoga? 🥵
Hey 💗
I'm done with yoga, sorry
Tomorrow!
Actually, I need to talk to you about something
Can we call?
<LILY is calling you>
~ The End ~