Chapter Text
It started, as many things do, with a mistake. With a simple hand movement, all their lies had come shattering to the ground. Who knew a simple ring could cause so much drama?
It began on a Monday. Shane always thought that Mondays were bad luck, and this had just confirmed it. Ilya had left early that morning to head to his game, Boston vs Ottawa. The game had gone spectacularly. Boston was on form, and Ilya was on fire. Shane had thoroughly enjoyed watching his husband dominate the ice. Watching as he deftly wove the puck around the opposition and scored 3 out of the 4 goals, but Boston winning wasn’t the mistake. In fact, Shane would argue that being married to an incredibly talented hockey player who was at the peak of his game and henceforth being treated to viewing his favourite special interest, his stunning (and exceptionally hot) husband and research material for insight into the strengths and weaknesses of both Ottawa and Boston all in one TV program, was frankly a dream. If you’d have told 8-year-old Shane that this would be his future, he would have cried.
But alas, some good things were just not meant to last. The post-game press had begun. Ilya stood in the dead centre of the screen, jesting and laughing. It was when he brought his hand up to his face to unstick the hair from his face that Shane noticed a glint of silver. His wedding ring. “Fuck”, he thought. Shane personally preferred to wear his around his neck, finding the sensation of the metal on his finger somewhat unsettling and uncomfortable, but Ilya chose to wear his more conventionally. Shane knew Ilya wore his under his gloves whilst playing, claiming it brought him good luck, but ordinarily, he’d pocket it the moment his gloves came off, preserving their lies. Not today, apparently, with the success of the game, he’d evidently forgotten.
“Ilya Rozanov, is that a ring I see there? Are congratulations in order?”
“Who’s the lucky girl?”
Ilya paused, “I’m sure you would all like to know, and let’s just say after that win, she’s going to be very lucky indeed.” But the smile had fallen off his face, his accent just slightly thicker than it had been moments before.
Not that Shane noticed, he was hugging his knees and rocking back and forth with an intensity he normally reserved for the ice. All the world blurred, and his breathing felt jagged. A phone rang. His phone rang? He didn’t know where his phone had gone, and the incessant buzzing was too loud. He pressed his hands to his ears. The phone stopped. He relaxed his grip for a moment, only for his phone to go off a second time.
“Shane.”
He knew that voice. A hand came down beside him, followed quickly by a body which was clearly being careful not to touch him. Someone who knew him well.
“Shane, deep breaths for me.”
“Breath in for 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. Breath out for 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.”
The voice continued for a little while in a similar manner until Shane’s breathing settled to a somewhat normal rate.
“Am I okay to touch you?” Shane nodded, not quite trusting his voice just yet. Suddenly, he was enveloped by strong arms and a smell that was distinctly Ilya and for the first time since the reveal, he felt safe.
They stayed like that for how long neither was quite sure, but it was dark before they made a move to bed.
To say the internet goes wild would be an understatement. Yuna, the ever-wonderful manager that she is, carefully curates a statement, and Ilya wonders for a moment how he ever managed without her.
IlyaRozanov: As many of you may have seen, it was revealed yesterday in a post-game interview that I am, in fact, married. I understand that many of my fans may feel conflicted about how I’ve kept my love life and marriage a secret, but let me assure you it doesn’t change how I play on the ice. My wife is a deeply private person, and it is due to her wishes that I have kept her out of the public eye for so long and in line with her wishes, I will continue to do so. I hope you will respect my privacy. I look forward to absolutely destroying @NYAdmirals next week! See you on the ice!
They had gone back and forth about what pronouns to use.
“It’s the internet, they will just assume it’s a woman,” Ilya argued
“Exactly, it’s the internet, someone out there will start speculating and then what – you can’t go back to Russia, and we both get dropped from our teams.” Replied Shane
“Moya Lyubov, I think you’re getting ahead of yourself slightly, but fine.”
Ilya pouted as he pressed send. “I still think I could have passed you off as my spouse, you would make very pretty woman.” Shane rolled his eyes. “What? You are very pretty man, would make very pretty woman too.”
IlyaMarryMePlease: And now the hottest player in the league’s taken, Woe is me
“Shane! Shane! Look, they call me hottest player in the league. If the internet said it, it must be true. I am hottest player. You must feel very lucky to be married to hottest player.” Ilya had taken to the new development like it was his favourite reality TV show and had decided that the only way to improve Shane’s life was to provide live updates to the very saga that he was trying exceptionally hard to avoid.
IlyaRozanov: Hear that @ShaneHollander, hottest player and best player. Someone has a lot of catching up to do…
IlyasWife: Not how I expected to reveal my marriage status to the internet, but happy the cat’s out of the bag now
IlyasREALwife: Bitch like you could bag him, my darling husband has far better taste than that.
HockeyIsMyLife: I bet it’s @SvetlanaVetrova, they’re always photographed together. Did you see them at that club last year?? True romance
IlyasNo1Fan: OMG YES @HockeyIsMyLife, I can totally see it, they have so much chemistry together. It would make so much sense for Ilya to be into a hockey players daughter.
Ilya had laughed at that, because if only they knew how deep his spouse was into the hockey world.
WhiskersOnKittens: @HockeyIsMyLife, Ilya explicitly asked us not to pry. This is a violation of his privacy. If you were a true hockey fan, you’d respect the players' privacy as individuals, not as some sort of reality show for your entertainment.
IlyasREALwife: Looks like someone’s jealous that she didn’t get in quick enough.
HockeyIsMyLife: Or maybe… @WhiskersOnKittens is trying to hide something. Like her relationship status??
WhiskersOnKittens: I’m not jealous, and I’m not his wife; I just think that it’s important that we respect the boundaries he set out for us.
SvetlanaVetrova: Whilst I’m honoured to be considered worthy enough to marry @IlyaRozanov, our relationship has been strictly platonic for a number of years now, and I regrettably have not had the good fortune to have married him. I wish my love to his wife, who is probably struggling through the media scrutiny right now.
HockeyIsMyLife: “our relationship has been strictly platonic for a number of years” OMG I called it, they’ve totally dated before
IlyasNo1Fan: It could totally just be a cover, though. They’ve dated before; they could still be dating now.
WhiskersOnKittens: @HokeyIsMyLife, @IlyasNo1Fan, did you miss the bit where she calls out for sympathy and well wishes for Rozanov’s wife, who’s under intense scrutiny? For people who analyse every word, you seem to be missing quite a bit of content.