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Cliff was exhausted, mentally and physically. His body was aching, especially his shoulder that had slammed into Hollander and sent him to the hospital. Sure his pads had lessened the blow but it still hurt, the angle had been wrong for both him and Hollander in the end, obviously he got off luckier than the other man.
That line of thinking was what led to his mental exhaustion, he couldn’t help replaying the collision in his head, refreshing his phone for any news on Hollanders condition. Hockey was a rough sport, he had sent more than a couple players off the ice but usually they didn’t end up needing to be rushed to the emergency room barely conscious.
So yeah, even though it was a legal hit and all part of the game he felt bad. Would keep feeling bad until he got an update on his condition to make sure he hadn’t made a career ending hit. He couldn’t even imagine that, Hollander was an amazing player, something he was not too proud to admit. Roz was better of course, but Hollander was right there next to him. As much as he dreaded playing against him he could not imagine him suddenly not being a part of the Metros.
His aches, pains and guilt was what led him to be stretched out in his hotel room instead of out celebrating their victory against Montreal with the team. It wasn’t for lack of the team trying to get him out but he wanted nothing more than a scalding hot shower and some type of delivery he could eat in bed. He had finished the shower already and was waiting for his food to be delivered while scrolling the news sites. As nosey as the media was they hadn’t managed to learn anything new about Hollander besides that he was at the Montreal General.
It was nearing 11pm now, the beside lamps and TV the only light in the room. His stomach was growling, the beer he was sipping on was not helping. Luckily for him he shared a room with Roz for away games, but just like he did every time they played in Montreal Roz had disappeared quickly once the game ended. Cliff was sure he wouldn’t see him again until it was time to board the bus tomorrow to head to the airport. He was so sure about that the second bed in the room had all of Cliffs stuff thrown on top of it instead of on the floor where he would inevitably trip over it. Even though he knew Roz would be off with his Montreal Girl, he wished he had come back to the room before leaving to spend the night with her.
The team had tried to raise his spirits about taking Hollander out, but he wanted to talk to Roz about it. He was his captain but also his friend, the words coming from him about how it was an accident and that he was sure Hollander would be fine would mean more than they did coming from the rest of the team. Honestly he felt a twinge of annoyance at Roz for not trying to comfort him at all, his captain had merely nodded along to everyone else’s words before giving Cliff a clap on the shoulder before he rushed out of the locker room.
He tried not to let it get to him too much, he had enough to be worrying about at the moment. Besides, he knew Roz always looked forward to his nights with Jane. It had been years at this point since they started texting and meeting up. Even though Roz acted like she wasn’t anything serious Cliff wasn’t stupid. Jane was the only person who had Roz smiling at his phone like a fool before a game, the only person who made Roz blush, even though he denied that fact.
Russians do not blush! Russians do not do this.
Bullshit.
They must have gone through a rough patch recently though if the absolutely vile mood Roz had been in for like two months was anything to go by. The last time the team played in Montreal they hadn’t met up, Roz growling at anyone who mentioned Jane’s name. He was ruthless during their practices, snappier than normal. His chirps less friendly and more like he hated your whole bloodline. All that combined with the fact Cliff was not seeing her name light up Roz’s phone screen led him to believe they had ‘broken up’.
Something must have changed though, shortly after the All Star Game he was back to his usual self. Still an asshole but a likeable asshole. The boys chirping their captain about being glued to his phone started up once again. Cliff was glad, shortly after he presumed they had gotten back together Roz was rushing to Russia after the news of his father’s passing. Cliff tried his best to be there for him, but his friend wasn’t one to open up about his deeper feelings. Hopefully he had Jane to talk to during that time.
Tonight was his captains first game back after bereavement leave and having to see someone sprawled out on the ice in front of him not moving, probably didn’t help his grieving process even though he pretended he was fine. So a night out with Jane was exactly what Roz needed, in Cliff’s opinion.
Just as he went to refresh the news sites again he heard a shuffle at the door. He frowned in confusion, he doubted his pizza was here already but he wouldn’t mind it being earlier than expected. He moved his legs over the side of the bed to check it out when the door was flung open and a figure stormed into the room.
“What the fuck?” Cliff shouted as he jumped up and hurried forward to push the person back out into the hall.
“Marleau!”
Rozanov’s voice filled his ears as he pulled his hood back to reveal his face and hair.
Cliff felt his heart rate instantly lower as he let out a breath. Thank god, he did not have enough energy in him to fight off a crazy person who broke into his hotel room.
He plopped back down onto his bed in relief.
“I thought you would be out with the team,” Roz said as he went to his own bed and started moving all of Cliff’s shit off of it and onto the floor.
“Wasn’t in the mood,” Cliff responded while he watched his friend rearranging everything.
What was he doing back? He never came back this early in Montreal if he did at all.
“Why aren’t you with Jane?”
Roz’s whole body tensed once the name left his mouth. A moment passed before he answered.
“Ah, she is out of town. Work thing, unfortunately for me.”
Well that was shitty, but something was off. He thought back to their plane ride here and how St Simon had been teasing Roz about seeing his girl that night. Roz had simply smirked at him, there was no mention about her being out of town. Maybe he found another girl to hook up with and that’s where he was until now?
Nah. Even before their break up Roz had stopped hooking up with anyone else. Every time the team went out he had a good time, maybe danced with a girl or two at the bar but it never went farther than dancing before he ended up going home alone. Now that Jane was certainly back in the picture there was no way he was going to ruin it by seeing someone else, he had been miserable without her, there was no way he was going to purposefully fuck it up again.
“Ah,” he replied. “That’s bad timing,”
Roz did not reply, the bed was finally empty and he threw himself down onto it his face glued to his phone screen.
Now that he was laying down Cliff could see his face, he did not look right.
He seemed pale, his shoulders tense, but what really worried Cliff was his eyes. They looked red even in the dim lighting of the room. Roz smoked, that was nothing new but it smelt like he smoked a full pack with the amount of smoke that clung to him. Something was wrong.
“Are you alright?” He asked carefully.
Roz’s head snapped over to him, had Cliff not known him so well he would have shrunk under his piercing gaze.
“I’m fine.” He snapped with a roll of his eyes.
Uh huh. He knew better than to push again right now, he would have to wait it out and see if he would open up.
“Well, at least one of us is,” Cliff decided that turning the conversation to himself would be a good idea, besides he needed to talk about it. His guilt was not lessening in the slightest.
“I know its hockey, the hit was clean, legal, but I still feel like shit about it,”
Roz’s hand was gripping his phone so tightly his knuckles were turning white. At first he didn’t think Roz was going to say anything but he let out a breath before he glanced over at Cliff.
“Is game Marleau, shit happens. Hollander will be fine,”
He could swear he saw Roz cringe as he said Hollanders name.
“I’d just like to hear something you know? If all I did was break a rib or an arm I’ll relax. I just don’t want to hear that I ended his career-“
“You wont. He will be fine, career will be fine. Won’t even be mad at you for it, Saint Hollander will forgive you.”
Even though Roz’s voice sounded like ice Cliff snorted. Hollander was one of the scariest, but nicest players in the NHL. He probably would forgive Cliff, unless he did actually end his career. There’s no way Hollander was that nice.
An idea popped into Cliff’s head as he went into his phone and turned on notifications for Hollanders name. It would probably be going off a lot but at least Cliff didn’t have to worry about missing something when news did come out. He turned his volume off, already sensing how annoying it would be when his phone lit up twice in the last ten seconds with notifications.
“I ordered a pizza, should be here soon if you’re hungry.”
Roz nodded before he rose from his bed.
“I will shower before it gets here then,”
Once the door shut behind him Cliff heard music start up. Typical Roz, he always had music playing when he was in the shower, anytime at all really. There was never a time he went over to Roz’s house when his sound system wasn’t being used.
The shower started and the music volume was raised, Roz listened to anything and everything but tonight it was some type of Russian music. More slow paced, and even though Cliff did not understand a word of it, it seemed sadder than his usual choices.
Jane being out of town must be really bothering him after all.
A sudden knock came from the door and Cliff quickly collected his pizza and tipped the guy generously even though he glared at Cliff through the whole interaction. Undoubtably he was a Montreal fan and knew exactly who Cliff was.
Popping open a new beer he inhaled two slices before settling back to watch whatever was on the TV. He avoided the sports channels because he knew damned well the hit would be replayed any chance they got. He did not need to see it from another angle, in person was more than enough.
Roz’s music never bothered him before, but the fact the music kept cutting out every thirty seconds was starting to grate on his nerves. Roz’s phone was blowing up in there, much like his own that sat beside him buzzing away. It took him longer than he would like to admit to realize that their phones were going off at the exact same time. Did Roz have notifications for Hollanders name turned on as well?
It was weird, but the more notifications that came through there was no room for an arguement against it. Their phones were perfectly in sync Cliff’s buzzing at the same time Roz’s music cut out for a moment before continuing.
Did Roz really care that much? He was their captain after all, maybe he felt responsible for the injury. His brain went back to the arena, the minute after Hollander hit the ice and stopped moving. Roz had skated up to Hollanders side, had been trying to talk to him before the medics shoved him out of their way. Roz had looked concerned, his face pale as he watched the scene in front of him. At the time Cliff was about to skate over to his side before he was assaulted by a very angry blue and red blur, also known as Hayden Pike. The man had gotten in a quick punch to Cliff’s face before he even registered what was happening. By the time a ref had separated him and Pike, Hollander was on a spinal board being lifted off the ice. Roz had made his way back to their bench when Cliff joined the rest of the team but his eyes were locked on the patch of ice where Hollander had been lying.
They barely had time to recover from the shock before the game had started again. Cliff did not play well, his mind elsewhere while his shoulder and face (thanks Pike) ached. They ended up winning in the end, but now that he thought back Roz hadn’t been playing well either. He was Ilya Rozanov, he wasn’t capable of playing badly, but it was not his best night even with the winning goal. Anytime Cliff looked towards him during the remaining periods he was either glancing towards where Hollander had been hit or he was zoned out entirely as though he wanted to be anywhere else.
Maybe seeing someone he played against for years go down in front of him after he just returned from the other side of the world for his fathers burial was too much for him. Roz was one tough mother fucker, but there was no way that would not mess with your head. Maybe he was more worried about Hollanders condition than he let on, telling Cliff he would be fine when maybe he wouldn’t be. Roz had gotten a closer look at Hollander than Cliff, maybe it was worse than he thought.
That line of thinking made the pizza want to make its way out of his body so he tried to think of something else. He clicked off the television and leaned his head back against the headboard with a sigh. He was going to have the worst time sleeping tonight.
With the television noise gone the only sound left in the room was the running shower and Roz’s music. He tried to focus on the sound of the shower, it was soothing.
A sob broke Cliff out of his concentration.
What was that? He strained his ears but did not hear anything else.
He was in a hotel room, that could have been someone in the room beside him or someone in the hallway.
Another sob came, and this time there was no mistaking the fact that the sound was coming from the bathroom. Roz was crying.
Cliff had seen Roz cry once, if you could call two tears crying. It had been Mothers Day, they had lost badly against Seattle and everyone was in a terrible mood. They got drunk off their asses before basically tripping back to their hotel room. Cliff had been panicking, realizing he forgotten to call his mom after the game like he promised. He was debating if he should call her at 1am before Roz stopped him and told him to wait until the morning and send her a very nice gift. Cliff had asked him if he had gotten to talk to his mother with the time difference. The silence after his question had told him he was not about to like the answer he received.
“My mama, she is not here anymore. Accident when I was twelve.”
His voice was smaller than Cliff had ever heard before, two tears escaping his eyes before he wiped them away with his sleeve. Cliff felt like an asshole, so he smothered him in a hug.
“I’m sorry, man.”
Roz had tolerated the hug for ten seconds before pushing Cliff away.
“Get back to your own bed you are not sharing with me,”
That had to have been six or seven years ago now.
Over the next several minutes Cliff listened carefully but there was no more noise from the bathroom. He thought about knocking on the door to check on him but he doubted that would go over well. He would wait until Roz came out and see how he acted.
Eventually the shower turned off and Roz appeared moments later. He was in sweat pants while he towel tried his hair. He eyed the pizza box but did not grab a slice.
Cliff let his eyes study his captain, he looked less pale now but his eyes were redder than before. He for sure had been crying.
“Is everything okay, Rozy”
“Da. I am fine,”
The words came out of Roz’s mouth but Cliff did not believe them. Maybe he would try and be direct, sometimes it got him answers sometimes it just pissed Roz off.
“I can tell you were crying, Roz. You can talk to me, this week must have been a lot for you,”
Roz merely stared at him, his eyes bouncing around Cliff’s face as though checking if he was being serious.
Before Roz could deny he was upset again Cliff spoke,
“If you don’t want to talk to me why don’t you call Jane? I can leave the room for a bit, the hotel bar is open.”
Once again at the mention of her name Roz’s whole body tensed up. Maybe she wasn’t out of town after all? Maybe they split up again? He didn’t understand why he was getting this reaction out of him.
“Good idea, but I can go to lobby instead. I’ll call Sha- Jane”
Cliff felt like he was struck by lightening.
Shane. Roz was about to say Shane.
Shane. Jane. Shane. Jane.
Could have been a slip of the tongue seeing as he was worried about Hollander, but once the name left Roz’s mouth it was caused a lot of things to click in his head.
Jane and Shane were very similar names.
Jane lived in Montreal, so did Shane Hollander.
At the same time Roz and Jane were broken up, Shane had been very publicly dating Rose Landry while Roz was in the worst mood known to man.
Shane and Rose had fizzled out around the same time as All Stars when she did not go to see him play, the same All Stars Weekend that Roz returned from practically glowing and with Jane texting him again.
Roz had planned to see Jane tonight, but suddenly she was out of town after the game. The same game that had sent Shane to the hospital.
Roz had notifications for Shane’s name turned on, maybe he was being a good rival captain, or maybe he was worried sick about his…. Montreal guy. The guy he had been texting and meeting up with every time they played Montreal at home or away since he had signed with Boston.
Holy shit. Shane Hollander was Montreal Jane.
Cliff’s face must have given his thoughts away because Roz was staring at him nervously. He reached for a t shirt and pulled it on quickly before he started to look for his shoes.
“Da, I will call Jane. Don’t wait up-“
He enunciated the J in Jane very forcefully, as though hoping Cliff would realize he heard him wrong the first time. Noticing one of Roz’s shoes was near his bed he quickly grabbed it before Roz could and stood up.
Roz had one shoe on and was staring at the other in Cliff’s hand. He looked like he was going to say fuck it and just leave with one shoe.
“Roz,”
He felt like he was trying to talk down a rapid bear that was about to attack. His tone was gentle as he slowly reached out to touch his friends shoulder. Roz flinched but accepted the contact as he closed his eyes.
Cliff tossed the shoe onto his bed behind him and placed his other hand on the opposite shoulder.
“Look at me,”
He felt Roz trembling slightly before he opened his eyes and looked at Cliff. He hoped his face was relaying the message he was trying to send.
You are fine. Calm. I am not mad. Relax.
“Is Hollander, Montreal Jane?”
He expected Roz to deny, to laugh at him, to deflect. What he did not expect was Roz’s shoulders to drop and for him to instantly admit it.
“Da. Hollander is Jane.”
Cliff felt like the world had tilted. Ilya Rozanov was involved with Shane Hollander. The two biggest rivals in the hockey world, the two of them supposedly hating each other with a passion on and off the ice. It made no sense, but then when he thought about it it actually was the only thing that made sense.
Jane was always in Boston for their home games, even though she lived in Montreal. At one time Cliff had thought that maybe she worked for the Metros, but she had not been found on their media pages when the rest of the team went and tried to find her. The guys had tossed around the idea that maybe she was a married woman, that was why Roz never brought her around to meet the team, but Cliff hadn’t really thought that could be true. Roz would not sleep with a married woman knowingly. He had boundaries. So why was she such a secret? He had no issue with other women being around the team over the years, why was Jane so secretive?
Well the fact that she was actually Shane Hollander certainly answered that burning question.
Cliff had no idea that Roz even liked men, Roz flirted with anyone with a pulse but Cliff never thought about it too much. He had never left a bar with a man before that Cliff could remember but why would he? The NHL was not an inclusive setting, on top of that Roz was from Russia, a country where being gay was illegal. That alone would be enough for Roz to not show that side of himself to anyone, let alone his teammates. He always complained to Cliff about how he did not want a Russian passport, and without the NHL Roz would not have his visa, so he would not mess that up.
He realized he had been silent for way too long, Cliff was never good with his words so he simply stepped closer and enveloped Roz into a hug.
“Fuck man, I’m so sorry.” Cliff pulled back to see Roz’s face. “It was a bad angle, I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
He felt bad enough about the hit without the knowledge that Hollander was Jane, now he felt a million times worse.
Roz wasn’t crying again but tears were swimming in his eyes threatening to fall.
“I know, Marly.”
Roz broke out of the hug and sat on his bed, Cliff sat beside him.
“You are not mad?” Roz asked tentatively. He still looked nervous as though he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Mad? Why would I be mad? I don’t care who you’ve been hooking up with all these years, Jane or Shane. Not my business.”
Maybe he should say more, but he did not know what to say. Roz being gay, or well bi he imagined, did not change anything. He was still his captain, one of his closest friends. Honestly the fact that he managed to hook up with and keep Shane Hollander interested all these years was worthy of praise. The fucking guy had been voted the number one hottest NHL player multiple times, was rich as fuck with all his brand deals, and he was a legendary player. Frankly put he was a catch. Roz sure knew how to impress.
Roz nodded at Cliff’s words but still looked nervous.
“You’ve been seeing “Jane” since you joined the team. We’ve beat their asses more times than I can count, and won a cup before they did. It would be pretty fucked up for me to care that its Shane and not Jane since it doesn’t seem like it effected your hockey in any way.”
“It doesn’t. He doesn’t. If anything he makes me play better,” Roz replied,
“The rivalry, it is real. Only not in the way the media makes it seem. We do not hate each other, obviously.” He smirked slightly, “But we are competitive, we both like to win, especially against the other.”
Cliff nodded. The two of them were terrors on the ice. The games between Boston and Montreal were always intense, no room to breathe the whole time they played. Roz and Hollander were the top two players in the league, and it was never more noticeable than when they were across the ice from each other.
“Have you been together this whole time?”
With the amount of women Roz took home from bars he was assuming the answer would be no.
Roz shook his head, “It is complicated. We have been, hooking up, from the beginning. That’s all it is, hooking up when we can. Nothing serious.”
Cliff wanted to laugh at him. Nothing serious? Hooking up for eight years and crying when he got hurt on the ice was not serious?
“It was not, or maybe it was but we did not want to admit. We had fight, broke it off for awhile-“
“Rose Landry?” Cliff butted in.
Roz glared at him,
“Yes he was with Rose Landry during that time, but then well at All Stars we talked.”
Cliff was sure they did more than talk but he let Roz continue.
“Something changed, a bit. Then my father, and now this.”
Roz ran a hand through his hair, the stress was radiating off him.
“We cannot be together, but I think we both want to be. But it is- too much, too hard.”
There was never a time Cliff heard Roz accept something was too hard for him. Even though this situation seemed fucked, it was not impossible.
“Well the first step is figuring out when you can see him,”
Cliff grabbed his phone and checked for updates, he had missed quite a few during this conversation.
“How can I see him Marly? I can’t just walk in and visit,”
“Sure you can! You’re the captain, and I’m the guy that fucking hurt him. We just have to go to the hospital for a visit to give our apologies and well wishes on his recovery. You did that when Andrew’s broke Reynolds’s leg in Washington, its common enough that no one will question why we are there.”
Roz must have been beyond stressed out to not have thought of that before now, Cliff was not usually the one with the plans but he had things to make up for.
“They reported that he was taken to Montreal General, I’ll call them and ask when visiting hours start. We can go first thing in the morning, lots of time. The flight home isn’t until 2pm. We can tell the others or just keep it to ourselves and tell them after where we went.”
Roz was nodding along, he looked perkier than he had all evening.
“I have notifications on for his name too, no news on his injuries but lets just stay positive. Like you said, we are talking about Shane Hollander. He will probably be back before we know it, he is like a hockey robot.”
Roz actually let out a laugh.
“He is, he lives off bird food. He might as well sleep at the rink for all the practicing he does.”
He could imagine the face Hollander would make at the sight of half the shit Roz ate on a daily basis if he was one of those health nuts.
“Okay, I’ll call the hospital. You eat some fucking pizza since I’m sure all you had since the game was twenty cigarettes.”
Roz did not deny the accusation and made his way towards the pizza box.
———
Cliff and Ilya made their way through the front doors of Montreal General the next morning. They both were clutching large coffees in their hands, neither had slept well the night before so they needed all the caffeine they could get.
They approached a woman behind a desk and Cliff took charge explaining that they wanted to see Shane Hollander so the Raiders could extend their apologizes and well wishes. The woman seemed impressed by their show of sportsmanship and told them he was on the third floor in room 303.
Roz was nervous, he couldn’t sit still, he seemed to be vibrating and it wasn’t from the lack of sleep or caffeine. Cliff put his hand on Roz’s shoulder in the elevator but stayed quiet. They had kept watch on all notifications about Shane during the night but nothing new was released. Cliff wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, on one hand maybe it meant it was nothing drastic, on the other hand it could be so drastic his manager needed time to figure out how to break the devastating news.
The elevator came to a stop and they headed to the left after reading some signs. Hallway down the hall they passed a vending machine and Roz stopped so fast Cliff nearly crashed into him.
Roz dug out some change and two seconds later he pulled a can out of the machine.
It wasn’t the normal red coke can that Cliff associated with Roz but a dark green one. Gingerale. Roz was turning the can over in his hand staring at it like it was made of gold.
“The extra large coffee isn’t enough?” He joked.
A small smile crossed Roz’s face,
“Is for Hollander. Basically the only thing he drinks, its a….comforting thing to him,”
Cliff nodded, seeing how Hollander spent the night in the hospital he probably needed something comforting. The fact that Roz said this ‘relationship’ was nothing serious was even more laughable now with the way he was clutching the can like it was his most prized possession.
Two minutes later they were standing outside of room 303.
“How do you want to do this?” Cliff asked. He would follow Roz’s lead, even if he didn’t want Cliff to come in at all he was happy to be here and could guard the door. Roz seemed uncertain, glancing between Cliff and the door. Cliff decided to take charge again which felt just as weird as it did last night.
“I’ll guard the door, you go in. Just make sure you tell him I’m really sorry.”
Roz looked grateful, he took a deep breath before he slipped into the room pulling the door shut behind him. The door did not latch properly and Cliff was about to pull it the rest of the way when he heard a delighted voice.
“Ilya!”
Cliff snorted quietly, they must have Hollander on the good shit. He was happy to hear his voice, at least he was awake.
“Hi,” Ilya responded awkwardly. “I just needed-are you-?”
“I’m okay. Concussion, and a fractured collarbone I’m out for the playoffs but…”
“Could have been worse,” Roz voice sounded relieved, Cliff felt the same. It was like a massive weight disappeared from his shoulders. Hollander would be fine, out for the rest of the season but not forever. Thank fuck.
“Marleau, he feels terrible. He did not mean to hurt you. He is very angry at himself, I was so mad at him as well.”
Roz hadn’t told him he had been angry but he didn’t have to. Once Cliff understand who Hollander was to Roz they way he left the stadium without a word made so much more sense to Cliff. He was lucky Roz hadn’t punched him out honestly, he probably was only spared because Roz wouldn’t have had a reason he could tell people when they asked him why he was using Marleau as a punching bag.
“It’s hockey, Ilya. I know he didn’t mean it, we all get our bell rung eventually, right?”
Cliff would message Hollander himself to apologize later but it was nice hearing he had no bad feelings against him. Unless this was just the drugs talking.
“He probably doesn’t want to meet my mom in a dark alley though, she’s out for blood”
“I will warn him.”
Cliff could hear Roz getting choked up, if he could see is face he was sure tears would be forming. Hollander must have noticed the tone or maybe the tears because his voice rose and he sounded concerned,
“Hey, heyyyyy”
He heard Roz shush Shane followed by footsteps. Cliff didn’t want to pull the door shut in case Hollander noticed so he instead chose to step away. He should have already stepped away and let them speak in private but, well to put it bluntly he was nosey as fuck. He knew when to draw the line though and now was the time to give them some space.
A few minutes passed by uneventfully with Cliff loitering in the hallway, then a woman in green scrubs rounded the corner and looked like she was heading straight for room 303.
When Cliff said he would guard the door he never actually thought he would have to do it, what was he supposed to say?
Think.
“Uh, excuse me? Before you go in there,” He spoke louder than he normally would, hoping Roz would hear. “Do you know where the nearest washroom is? I got a bit turned around up here.”
The woman gave him a smile and pointed back the way she came,
“Just go to the end of this hall and turn left, then take a right.”
“Thanks, I’ll be going then!” She gave him a weird look when he increased his volume even more before he started down the hall.
Well, that was the best he had.
Twenty seconds after she entered the room Roz slipped out. He had a dazed smile on his face, the Gingerale no where to be seen. He noticed Cliff and schooled his features back to something less love struck.
“How is he?” Cliff asked even though he already knew. He would not admit to eavesdropping.
Roz briefed him on the injuries as they left the hospital. Soon they were back at the hotel packing quickly to head to the airport with the team. Roz seemed happier, but not quite back to his normal self. Cliff felt great with the burden of guilt lifted, all they had to focus on now was winning the Stanley Cup.
——-
They did not win the Stanley Cup.
A loss to the Admirals took them out of the playoffs much to everyones dismay. The whole team had gone out that night, drinking to forget how close they had come to holding the cup in their hands for the second time before it was snatched away. Instead of being on the ice for the final game Cliff was seated on Ilyas couch watching it on his massive TV.
Roz’s friend Svetlana was here as well, she may have been more upset by their loss of the cup than they were.
“Remember the presents for your niece?” She asked Roz who was multitasking by packing for Russia while watching the game. Cliff frowned at the mention of Russia. A few days after they visited Hollander in the hospital Cliff had come over to Roz’s house and they had a drink before he thanked Cliff for not being an asshole about the whole thing. Cliff had waved him off, but Roz insisted. He knew not everyone would have reacted that way, his family most of all. Cliff’s acceptance had meant a lot to him.
He asked how Hollander was recovering, heard about him being cared for at his parents cottage. At the time he could tell Roz was holding back so he pushed.
“Is there something else you want to talk about?”
Roz had hesitated before telling Cliff about Hollander inviting him to stay with him at his own cottage. Cliff remembered the cottage, had watched the documentary where Hollander gave a tour and explained how he designed it and what it mean to him.
Cliff whistled, “Canadian five star resort, Rozy.”
Roz hadn’t smiled, explaining how he could not go. How he told Shane maybe. How he wanted to but he could not. It was too much, if he went he knew he would never recover. He would never be able to not want things that he wasn’t able to have more than he already did.
Cliff had wanted to argue that he could have it, but Roz had stopped any of his protests before they started. No point in trying to change his mind, he would go to Russia.
So now, watching Roz pack his suitcase to go back to the country he did not want to return to gave Cliff a sour feeling in his stomach.
The clock had run out in the game and the Admirals had actually managed to pull it off. The three of them groaned in despair.
“I need a damn drink, that should have been us.” Cliff grumbled as he made his way for another beer. He grabbed one and turned around to return to his spot on the couch when he noticed the way Roz and Svetlana were staring at the TV. He looked to see what was going on and saw what looked like a fan hopping the boards and grabbing onto Hunters hand. Hunter did not let his hand go as he led him onto the ice, a smile on his face. They stopped once they got closer to the middle and the pair were speaking, low enough no camera could pick it up.
Hunter suddenly bent down and grabbed the sides of the shorter mans face before kissing him.
Holy shit.
Svetlana let out a string of Russian Cliff didn’t understand as his eyes locked onto Roz’s face as he sat frozen staring at the screen in disbelief.
The pair broke apart both of their smiles dazzling before they were hugging each other while the crowd in the stands were losing their minds.
Roz shot off the couch and beelined it towards Cliff with his phone in his hand, he ended up going straight passed him without a glance and into the hallway. Cliff just stood there unsure if he should follow him until he could clearly hear his friends voice full of emotion,
“I’m coming to the cottage.”
Cliff had no doubt who was on the other end of the phone call. If Hunter was in front of him right now he would slap the biggest kiss on the guys cheek for kissing his boyfriend (?) on the ice.
Roz wasn’t going to Russia, he was going to visit Hollander.
Hollander who he had been involved with for eight years.
Hollander who made Roz blush at his phone.
Hollander who had Roz worried sick when he was injured.
Hollander who was the cause of the absolute menace Roz became during their ‘break up’.
Hollander who Cliff was 1000% sure Roz was already in love with and pretty sure returned the sentiment.
The Shane Hollander and The Ilya Rozanov in love.
Honestly, this was better than the Stanley cup.