Work Text:
June 2020 - Dallas, Texas
Today was the day. There was a possibility Shane would be a three-time Stanley Cup winner after today. The Montreal Metros were facing off against the Dallas Stars in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Shane was sitting in the locker room getting ready for the game. He was trying to focus, but was overcome with complicated emotions. He wanted to win today, but part of him didn't want to win Montreal another Cup. They didn't deserve that, not after the way they had treated him. Shane had been barely holding this team together. Since he came out, his team had decided that he was a completely different person. He hadn't told them about Ilya yet, but he wanted to do it today. He was planning to tell the entire team after the game, win or lose. J.J and Hayden already knew, and they had promised to be in his corner. It was obvious to all three of them that the reaction would be bad, but he didn't care. He had already decided this would be his last season with the Metros. Next season, he would be playing in Ottawa with Ilya. It had been three years, but he still couldn't believe he got to have this life with Ilya. It was something he never thought he would have.
"Hollander, can you talk to the media?" Coach Theriault asked from where he had stuck his head into the locker room.
"Of course." Shane stood and rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants. He made his way out of the locker room to the waiting cameras and reporters. He sat down and waited for the usual questions.
"Shane, how are you feeling about Montreal's chances against Dallas tonight?"
"I feel good. I have confidence in this team and our abilities."
He continued answering questions with the same media-trained answers he gave every game, a fake smile on his face. He managed to get away after only 5 minutes, which was a miracle. He stepped back into the locker room and was met with the now familiar chill from his teammates. The only ones who looked his way were, of course, J.J. and Hayden. The two gave him a small smile; he could see the underlying sympathy in their expressions. He had told both of them that he wasn't planning on staying in Montreal after this season. They were understandably sad, but they understood. They knew this environment was not somewhere Shane could stay. It wasn't a place he felt safe. If he had to guess, he would say that J.J. and Hayden wouldn't be staying once their contracts were up either.
Shane hadn't told Ilya about leaving. He wanted to surprise him with his Ottawa jersey at the cottage this summer. He had been in talks with Wiebe. The coach had informed Shane that he could get him an early release of his own Centaurs jersey. He had also promised not to say anything to Ilya or the team yet. Shane would surprise the team this summer at one of Bood's barbeques that Ilya always talked about. Shane finished lacing up his skates and told them to head to the ice to start warm-ups.
As Shane stepped onto the ice, he looked towards his reserved seats. He saw Ilya sitting with his parents. His boyfriend wasn't wearing a disguise. There was no need. Everyone knew they were friends, and soon everyone would know they were dating too. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when he saw his family wearing his jersey. All three of them wore the red and blue jerseys with pride. Ilya beamed at him when they made eye contact. Shane heard the cheers from the arena get louder. He looked up to the jumbotron to see what was happening. He was met with the faces of his family cheering loudly. Ilya turned around to point to Shane's name on the back of his jersey. Shane couldn't fight the smile that made its way onto his face. He loved Ilya so much, more than anything in the entire world. J.J. skated over towards him, grinning.
"You look like a lovesick puppy. I don't know how no one has figured you guys out yet."
"Leave me alone, asshole."
"He's in love, J.J. He can't help it." Hayden said as he skated up next to them.
"Wow, you guys. Say it a little louder. I don't think everyone heard you well enough."
"Sorry, Capitaine. You and Roz are just cute. We're just happy to see you happy."
"Well, thank you. I appreciate it, but please go finish your stretches."
"Captain mode is back." Hayden laughed as he and J.J. skated away.
_______________________
Shane won the opening face-off against Johnston, Dallas's star center. He managed to score a goal during the first period. The score was currently 1-0 Montreal.
The second period went by similarly. Montreal scored another goal in the second period, but Dallas managed to score as well. The score was 2-1 Montreal at the end of the second period. He was sitting in the locker room, looking around at his teammates. All of them were talking about what they were going to do if they won. The one common denominator was that everyone was excited to celebrate with their wives and family. Shane realized, sitting there, that he deserved that, too. He deserved to be able to celebrate with Ilya and not be ashamed of it. He was tired of waiting for 'the right moment', so he made a decision. He texted his mom to come see him in the hallway right now.
Shane: Mom, can you come meet me in the hallway outside the locker room quickly? I have something I want you to hold onto for me until after the game. Don't tell Ilya because he'll want to come with you.
Mom: Okay, I'm coming now.
Shane waited outside the locker room, clutching the velvet box in his hand. He'd been carrying it around with him everywhere since he bought it a few months ago. He saw his mom coming down the hallway. She was walking quickly, like she was on a mission.
"What is it you wanted to give me, honey?"
Shane held out his hand, showing the box. His mom let out a quiet gasp. He could see the tears gathering in her eyes.
"Are you sure? This is a big decision."
"I'm sure. I'm done hiding. I know it's been hard on Ilya since moving to Ottawa. He tries to hide it from me, but I know him better than I know myself. Keeping this a secret is slowly killing us both, and I don't want to do it anymore."
His mom threw her arms around his neck and pulled him in tightly. Shane wrapped his arms around her waist and held on.
"I'm so proud of you. I love you both so much."
She pulled away and wiped the tears from Shane's cheek. He didn't even realize he had started crying.
"He's going to cry, you know that, right?" His mom said with a laugh.
"100%"
"Okay. Go get ready for the third and make sure you hold the lead, Shane!"
Shane rolled his eyes playfully and headed back into the locker room. He had a game to win.
_______________________
Shane scored the final goal of the game with 10 seconds left on the clock. The buzzer went off, and he was immediately caught in a hug by the team. The Metros seemed to remember who they were hugging and let Shane go quickly, except for J.J. and Hayden. The trio all clung to each other, cheering loudly. The commissioner made his way onto the ice with the Stanley Cup. He presented it to Shane. Shane yelled as he held it above his head and skated around the ice. He kissed the Cup before handing it off to J.J. Friends and family had started to make their way down onto the ice. Shane saw his mom, dad, & Ilya making their way down the stairs towards the boards.
Shane skated towards them, helping them onto the ice. He grabbed his mom's hand and led her out; his dad and Ilya followed. His mom hugged him tightly, for the second time that night. When she pulled away, she discreetly slid the ring box into his hand. He signaled at her to keep it for now because he had nowhere to put it. He hugged his dad next. He could hear his dad whispering how proud he was of him. Shane thanked him, and then Ilya's arms were around him.
"I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. You deserve this." Ilya whispered softly against his ear. Shane held on tighter to Ilya, if that was possible.
"I love you so much." He said into Ilya's shoulder.
"I love you more."
Shane pulled back and looked into his boyfriend's eyes. They were glassy with unshed tears, and Ilya was looking at him with a look of pure adoration. Fuck it, Shane thought. He grabbed both sides of Ilya's face and pulled him in for a kiss. He felt Ilya pull away almost immediately. He looked at Shane with a mixture of shock and uncertainty.
"Are you sure?" He asked Shane. Instead of answering, Shane pulled him back in. This time, Ilya kissed back. Shane could tell the arena had gone quiet. The only sound was the sound of cameras going off and people whispering, but he didn't care. He deepened the kiss and brought his hand to run through Ilya's curls. He felt Ilya's hand slide to the back of his neck as he licked at Shane's bottom lip. That brought Shane back to reality, and he pulled away. Ilya's lips were swollen, and he had a smile Shane hadn't seen on his face before. It was a smile that wasn't weighed down by secrecy. They were free now.
Shane remembered the box. He turned around to face his mom and held out his hand. She grabbed the black velvet box from her purse and handed it to him. He turned back to face Ilya and saw his eyes glued to the box. He lifted his gaze from the box to meet Shane's eyes. Ilya's eyes were wide and filled with disbelief. Shane slowly sank to one knee and opened the box. He could feel the eyes of the entire arena on them, but he only cared about the ones in front of him.
"Ilya Grigoryevich Rozanov, you are the love of my life and my best friend. I've been halfway in love with you since 2010, but I knew you were going to be important to me since that parking lot in Saskatchewan. We've kept this a secret for ten years because I was scared. I'm tired of being scared, and I'm tired of keeping the best thing in my life a secret. You deserve better than that. We deserve better than that. Will you marry me?"
There were tears streaming down both of their faces. If Shane looked around, he would see similar tears on the faces of his mom, dad, J.J., Hayden, and Jackie.
"Da. Yes, of course, Shane. I will marry you."
Shane slipped the ring onto Ilya's finger and stood up. He was immediately pulled into another kiss by Ilya. This kiss was shorter than the last, but no less passionate. Once they pulled apart from each other, the couple was immediately engulfed in a group hug. Their small group celebrated amongst themselves, ignoring everyone around them. Shane and Ilya were attached the entire time, both refusing to let go. From the corner of his eye, Shane could see the media approaching them. He tugged on Ilya's hand. Ilya looked at him, and Shane nodded his head in the direction of the cameras.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Ilya asked him.
"Would you?"
"Of course."
Shane and Ilya made their way across the ice, hand in hand, towards the waiting cameras. When they stopped, he looked at all the waiting faces and took a deep breath.
"I assume you guys have a lot of questions. Who wants to go first?"
A girl with blonde hair in the front raised her hand. Shane nodded at her.
"I just wanted to say congratulations. I think I speak for everyone here when I say we are shocked. How long have you been together?"
Shane looked at Ilya and raised his eyebrows, a silent conversation passing between them. She had moved her microphone to be closer to his face, so he leaned in slightly before answering.
"We've been involved in some sort of fashion since 2010, before our rookie season."
Shocked gasps came out of the reporters.
"Did your teams know about this?"
"I came out as gay to Montreal over a year ago. The only people who knew about my relationship with Ilya were Hayden and J.J."
"The Centaurs don't know, but I think Troy Barrett had his suspicions. They are all very shocked right now, I assume. I will have many missed texts and calls when I check my phone later."
Shane gave Ilya's hand a tight squeeze. A man in the back raised his hand; Shane thought he could see a Pride flag pin on his lanyard. He pointed to him.
"Were you worried about your team's reaction? I know there was a less-than-pleasant reaction from The Metros, minus Pike and Boiziau, on the ice today. None of your teammates came to congratulate you or seemed slightly excited for you."
"I'm not surprised by their reactions in the slightest. This team has treated me very differently since coming out. I hid myself and Ilya for a long time because I was terrified of being the 'gay hockey player'. I also knew my team wouldn't respect me once they knew. I came out to test the waters before telling them about Ilya. Their reaction was worse than what I expected, if I'm being honest with you. I was suddenly not the same person who had won them back-to-back Cups. I was someone completely different to them. I spent a lot of time being worried about how they would react to my relationship, but I'm done. I deserve to celebrate with my partner and my family the same way everyone else does."
"How do you think this will affect the locker room atmosphere next season?"
Shane took a deep breath before continuing.
"I don't know, and I don't care. This is a good time as any to announce that I am not resigning with Montreal. Today was my last game as a Metro."
Another round of gasps went through the reporters. He looked at Ilya, but his fiancée didn't look shocked. He must've guessed this was coming based on the stories he heard from Shane about how horrible the locker room had been.
"You're leaving the Metros?"
"I am. I'm not going to stay with a team that doesn't value me as a person or as a captain. Obviously I have my eyes on a specific team."
He bumped his shoulder into Ilya's.
"But nothing has been confirmed yet."
The same lady from the beginning spoke next.
"Well, I'm happy for you guys. I wish you all the luck on your wedding and the next season."
"Thank you so much. Goodbye."
They both turned around and started walking away from the cameras. Ilya wrapped his arms around Shane's waist from behind, putting his head on his shoulder. Shane stopped and leaned into the embrace.
"Are you ready to go back to the hotel?"
"Yeah, let me just go tell Mom & Dad where we are going."
"Hurry, I want to make love to my fiancée," Ilya said with a slight pout on his face. Shane just laughed and craned his neck to kiss Ilya quickly before removing his hands from his waist. He told his parents they were leaving. They gave both of the boys hugs and congratulated them again. Shane & Ilya made their way quickly into the Metros locker room, so Shane could change and grab his things. Thankfully, everyone was still celebrating, so the room was empty. Ilya packed his bag while he changed. Once they were finished, they walked out of the arena and into the waiting car. They both knew that there would be more to deal with tomorrow, like talking to Ilya's team, but it could wait. Right now, they just wanted to exist together.