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They don’t know about the things we do,
They don’t know about the I-love-yous.
But I bet you if they only knew,
They would just be jealous of us.
They don’t know about the up-all-nights,
They don’t know I’ve waited all my life,
Just to find a love that feels this right.
Baby, they don’t know about, they don’t know about us.
-They Don’t Know About Us (One Direction)
David only wanted to get the dishwater tablets. What he didn’t expect was walking in on his son making out with someone whom he was pretty sure to be Shane’s archrival, Ilya Rozanov. Now, David wasn’t an expert on hockey, but his wife was, and he was pretty sure the same person Yuna was always yelling at on their TV was the same person who was kissing Shane fully on the mouth like his life depended on it in the backyard of Shane’s cottage.
1 hour ago
“Hey David?” Yuna called from the kitchen, “we forgot to buy the dishwater tablets the other day. Can you ask Shane if we can have some from his cottage?”
“Yeah sure, I’ll call him right now and let him know I'm stopping by.”
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David and Yuna weren’t at all clueless about what was going on with their son. They both knew Shane’s “meditation retreat” in his cottage for two weeks was just an excuse for something else, they just didn’t know what.
“Do you think it’s for a secret girlfriend?” Yuna had asked him a while ago.
“I don’t think so. I think if he found someone, he would’ve told us. Besides, for all we know Shane is actually meditating for two weeks.”
“Maybe.” But neither of them really believed that.
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David calls Shane from his phone. It rings, but no one picks up. He frowns. Tries calling him again, but no one answers. After one last attempt, David pulls up his messages and shoots Shane a text; I’m coming over to the cottage for dishwater tablets since your mother forgot to buy them.
Shane doesn’t answer. Doesn’t even read it. Fine, maybe he really was meditating.
When David knocks on the door to Shane’s cottage, no one opens the door. He assumes Shane is working out in the gym or something, and walks into the house. However, as he makes his way to the kitchen, he can’t help but notice there were clothes scattered throughout the rooms, two plates in the sink, two cups of water on the counter, and…. Is that laughter coming from the backyard?
Maybe Hayden is over to hang out and check up on him, David thinks.
When he walks by the sliding glass doors that lead to the backyard, he sees Shane walking with someone that was distinctly not Hayden, and immediately freezes in place. David stares as the two laugh in their swim trunks with towels around the necks, stares as the taller man grabs Shane’s hand lightly by the wrist, as the blonde kisses Shane and Shane kisses him back, his hands traveling up the other man’s body and end up in his blonde curls. David coughs, and they turn, eyes wide like two deers caught in headlights. David immediately turns, embarrassed to have intruded on such an intimate moment, and walks at the door and drives back to his house.
It wasn’t until David had pulled up to the driveway that he realized he would need to explain everything he saw to Yuna. And he didn’t bring back the tablets. Suddenly, David remembers a time a few years ago, when his wife had told him her suspicions that their son might be gay. Why does Yuna have to always be right about everything?
David walks into the house and was greeted immediately by a “Did Shane give them to you?” as Yuna walks to the doorway. She takes in David’s expression, and he realizes he must’ve been as white as a sheet, with his eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar. After all, he was still reeling in the aftermath of what he’d witnessed in the cottage 15 minutes ago.
“David? Honey, what happened?” Yuna asks while she slowly makes her way over towards him.
“Shane…” was all David managed to say before Yuna immediately started to panic.
“Oh my god is Shane okay? What happened? Is he hurt? Oh god.”
“No. No, no, no, no. Shane is fine.”
Yuna frowns. “Then what?”
David hesitates, “You might wanna sit down for this one.”
Yuna stares at him for a second, still perplexed before making her way to the couch.
David clears his throat. He knew his wife is still confused and worried, but the truth is, he just didn’t know how to say “Our son is gay and i saw him kissing his rival”
“Okay. So, you know how a while ago you said Shane might be gay?”
A furrow appeared between her brows. “Yes.”
“Well, you were right.”
Yuna’s eyes widened. “Wow. Um, okay. Did you see him with someone or….”
David sighs. There was no way to sugarcoat what he was about to say next. “I saw him with Ilya Rozanov. At the cottage. In the backyard by the lake.”
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“So… what did you do?”
“Well, I just stood there.”
“You just stood there?”
“And then they saw me.”
“They saw you?”
“Yeah. They saw me. I think Shane’s on his way here right now, so we need to show him our support and stuff.”
“Yeah. Yeah sure let’s go.” Yuna still looked like she was in a daze, but got up from the couch just as Shane’s Jeep Cheroke pulled up in their driveway.
“Okay shit he’s here.” David tells Yuna, and her eyes widened impossibly further as she stared at the window. “Is that Ilya Rozanov with him?”
"Everything's fine. Just relax. It’s all going to work out.” David tried soothing his wife by rubbing circles on her back, easing her back onto the couch. However, the moment Shane opened the door, they both stood up.
“Shane..?” Yuna’s words came out slightly strangled as they both watched as Rozanov stepped through the doorway as well, hovering just a few inches from Shane. David vaguely realized that Shane was talking to them, but his eyes were locked onto Rozanov and took this opportunity to look at him up close. This Rozanov was different from the one on the ice. The arrogant smirk was gone, replaced by a neutral expression. He didn’t look cocky, like he was when he played hockey, instead he looked…nervous?
“Um, and this is… Ilya.” Shane was saying. “Rozanov.”
“Hi.” Was all Rozanov said.
“And he’s been… visiting. He’s… we’re…” Shane seemed suddenly at a loss for words.
“Lovers.” Ilya offers, and Shane grimaces. “Ew, no. Ilya, that’s gross.”
David watches this back and forth with interest. They were bickering like an old married couple, which made him wonder how long they’ve been together.
“But…you hate him.” Yuna said unhelpfully.
“No, I…I don’t. I mean. Sometimes I do, kinda. But mostly I…love him actually.”
“You…what”
David sensed that Yuna was going to go into a full panic attack if he didn’t do something in the next 10 seconds, and Shane was shuffling his feet around nervously, while Rozanov stood still with his hands at his sides. He gestured at all of them towards the dining room and they followed him. David and Yuna sat one side while Shane and Rozanov sat across from them.
“Shane…” David started. Fuck, this was a lot harder than he thought. Thankfully, Yuna helped him. “We suspected you might be gay.”
Shane blinks. “You did.”
“Yes, well. We didn’t know for certain, obviously. We just thought it might be a possibility.”
Shane blew out a breath. “Wow, geez.”
“What we did not expect,” David added, “was that you were…friendly…with Mr. Rozanov.”
“Ilya.” Rozanov said. “Call me Ilya.”
“Ilya then.”
“When did this happen?” Yuna asked.
“Well…” Shane trailed off and looked at Ilya, “It’s a really long story.”
“Wait.” David said, a sudden realization coming to him. “The 2017 All-Star game. You two had so much chemistry then.”
Shane smiled sheepishly and shook his head. “No, it was before then.”
“So when?” Yuna asked again.
Shane looked at Ilya again and the Russian shrugged. He blew out another breath, as if preparing himself for their reactions. “Since our rookie year.”
“Since your rookie season?” David didn’t think he could possibly get any more surprises today but obviously that was wrong. “Wow.” he said.
“No,” Ilya frowned at Shane. “Before then.”
Yuna stared at them. “Since before your rookie season?”
“The summer before.” Ilya clarified, ignoring Shane’s glare that clearly said “not helping”
“So…” Yuna was frowning, “You’ve been in love this whole time?”
“No!”
“No, no, no, no.” Both hockey players started saying.
Yuna still looked confused. “Then… oh.” and blushed.
Now it was David’s turn to be confused. “What?”
Yuna gave him a look and bobbed her head, clearly trying to use her telepathic abilities and tell him something, but David wasn’t receiving the message. His wife rolled her eyes and mouthed the word “hookups” and now it was David’s turn to go “Ohh.”
“Anyways,” Shane said, bushing furiously, “that’s not the point. The point is that it’s impossible for us to be together, because,... y’know. Hockey.”
Now David shared a look with Yuna that they both understood. Two hockey players who were in love since their career started but were advertised as rivals. They would never be able to go out publicly. Yuna however, was still scrutinizing Ilya. “Shane honey, weren’t there any nice men in Montreal.”
“Probably.” Shane muttered.
David used this as an opportunity to ask a question that’d been floating in his head for some time now. “Do any of your teammates know? Coach?”
“No! No one else knows.”
“Anyone want a beer?” David asked as an uncomfortable silence fell down on them. Yuna nodded at hims and he got up and walked to the kitchen towards the fridge. Wordlessly, he handed them out around the table.
“I can’t believe any of this is real.” Yuna was saying.
“I know.” Shane replied.
“All this time,” David muttered to himself, “You’ve been holding this secret inside. This whole time.”
“You never let him win though, did you?” Yuna questioned their son.
“God, no! Mom, do you ever let Dad win at Yahtzee?" David smiled as Yuna quipped back “No, of course not!”
Now that they were all comfortable talking, David asked Shane and Ilya, “Is your plan to just keep doing this? Hide this secret forever until you retire?”
Shane squirmed in his seat, “Maybe. I mean, yes. Probably.”
Yuna looked at them sadly. “Oh, Shane,” and David agreed. Hiding their love for each other the rest of their career would be hard, especially since they were the best ones in the entire league. At the thought of their hockey careers…
“I’m surprised about you, Ilya. You’ve always had such a reputation as a, you know, a ladies’ man.”
“Is not untrue.” Ilya replied smoothly.
“Ilya likes both.” Shane supplied for them.
David exchanged a look with Yuna. Ilya is bisexual and is known to have slept with half the entire population of the U.S. What if he cheats on Shane? Shane opened his mouth to say something before Ilya beat him to it. “I have been with lots of women. That was not…fake. But…” he looked at Shane with such love and adoration that David had to give a tiny smile. “I have only been in love with one person.”
Shane’s eyes immediately went glassy as he turned from Ilya to look at his parents. “Me too. Just one.”
Yuna looked at him and Ilya carefully, and whatever she saw there seemed to convince her that their love for each other was real. She clapped her hands, and from all the years of their marriage David learned that this was a sign that Yuna was determined to fix this problem, no matter what.
“Have either of you talked to Scott Hunter?
“I have.” Ilya said. “But not about…us.”
“I’ve emailed him.” Shane added, “But I didn’t tell him about Ilya and me either, because…the situation is kinda different.”
Yuna nodded thoughtfully as Ilya smiled and said, “He would probably be very confused about us.”
David felt his own lips twitch into a full smile. “Confused is a word for it.” He’d felt like his whole world tilted slightly when he saw them in the cottage.
Shane went on to talk about how Hunter kissing his boyfriend after winning the Cup had really changed things for him, making him feel braver than before and Ilya had nodded along with him. He told David and Yuna their plan, how Ilya would leave Boston and move to Ottawa so he would be closer to Montreal and therefore spend more time with Shane.
“You would do that?” Yuna asked, shocked, “You would leave Boston for Shane?”
To Ilya’s credit, he didn’t flinch or hesitate before giving them a firm “Yes.”
Yuna frowned, and David knew she was questioning Ilya’s loyalty to his team. Shane seemed to have reached the same conclusion because he turned to Ilya and said, “My mom, by the way, cares about hockey a little too much.”
Ilya snorted and replied with, “Now I know where you get it.”
Suddenly, Shane seemed to shrink into himself, and David knew he was spiraling into his thoughts. Yuna noticed this too, and immediately tried soothing him as Shane folded his arms on the table in front of him and put his head down.
“Hey. Hey, Shane. Everything’s going to work out between you two. Your father and I aren’t going to tell anyone.”
“I’m fine.” Shane’s muffled voice said, “I’m just…freaking out.”
Ilya reached over and began rubbing his back while leaning down to talk to him. “Shane? Shane. Everything will be fine, yes? Your mom is here, your dad is here, your boyfriend is here. We’re all here to support you, yes?”
Shane’s head perked up. “Boyfriend?”
Ilya shrugged and grinned. “I think, yes?”
“Yes.”
David and Yuna looked at each other again and smiled. Yuna shook her head, “Since their rookie season. Can you believe it?”
David looked at his son and the Russian, smiling at each other with so much passion and love that made him question how he hadn’t noticed this before. He told Yuna, “Looking at them now, I can.”