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1. The Long Way Home by fingerstokeyboard

   Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV), Heated Rivalry (TV) RPF, Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types, Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid  

   • Mature
   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • M/M
   • Work in Progress

   27 Aug 2026

   Tags

   • No Archive Warnings Apply
   • Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov
   • Shane Hollander & Ilya Rozanov
   • Shane Hollander & Ottawa Centaurs Team Ensemble & Ilya Rozanov
   • Shane Hollander
   • Ilya Rozanov
   • Troy Barrett
   • Zane Boodram
   • Wyatt Hayes
   • Luca Haas
   • Jean-Jacques Boiziau | J. J. Dagenais
   • Hayden Pike
   • Original Male Character(s)
   • Post-Canon
   • Alternate Ending
   • Breaking Up & Making Up
   • Fluff and Angst
   • Angst with a Happy Ending
   • Marriage
   • Therapy
   • Communication
   • Jealous Shane Hollander
   • Personal Growth
   • Found Family
   • Family
   • Slow Burn
   • Healthy Relationships
   • Depression
   • Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
   • Break Up
   • Post-Break Up
   • Mutual Pining
   • Spoilers for Book 6: The Long Game (Game Changers)
   • Book 6: The Long Game (Game Changers)
   • Canon Compliant
   • Angst and Feels
   • Self-Discovery

   Summary

   The Boxing Day argument changes everything.

   This time: there is no emergency Centaur plane landing. No moment of clarity. No grand realization waiting around the corner.

   Instead, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov come to terms with the fact that they are not on the same page about their relationship. Ilya, the physical touch king, is ready to stop hiding. Shane, the reserved, this-needs-a-15-step-plan king, still needs more time.

   So they break up.

   Ilya throws himself into therapy, starts taking antidepressants, adopts a dog, befriends a very attractive new reporter, and develops a newfound commitment to living authentically. Shane is left wondering: what happens when hockey, the thing that’s always defined him, no longer feels like enough?

   A canon-divergent story beginning after the Boxing Day argument in The Long Game.

    

   OR: because my daddy Ilya deserved more than a plane-crash induced panicked proposal & my baby Shane deserved more than a social media outing.

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   26,656

   Chapters:

   13/17

   Comments:

   223

   Kudos:

   426

   Bookmarks:

   149

   Hits:

   10,043