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Shane is not having a good night.

Well. That was an exaggeration. He'd had a fantastic night on the ice in a hard-fought game with Detroit, ending in a last-second goal to avoid overtime. Shane was pretty pleased about that, and especially Rose and Ilya's running text commentary.

Lily: солнышко that goal was so hot 🔥 can't wait to beat you in three weeks.

Shane: Awfully confident for someone on a four-game losing streak.

Lily: 🤬

Lily: video call later?

Shane: Of course 🩷

Lily: 🩷

Rose: 😡😡😡 Shane why are you so good at hockey. Are you sure I can't convince you to play for Detroit?

Shane: Positive. Maybe you should pick a better team?

Rose: 😡

Rose: no one would ever believe me if I told the world how much of an asshole you can be.

Rose: I'll steal away your mystery boyfriend to Detroit and then we'll see.

Getting to wind up his boyfriend and one of his best friends after a really good hockey game was amazing and more than he'd ever dreamed he could have. So when the team wanted to go out to celebrate, Shane acquiesced to being dragged along. At least with it being a home game, it wasn't just the team going out; so were some of the partners. Jackie was going to be there, and knowing that Hayden and Jackie and J.J. would all be there made Shane less apprehensive. Maybe the night wouldn't be too bad.

The bar's music blares loudly and it is packed to the brim. There's no quiet place to settle with few people to decompress, but it's fine. Shane is fine. He's got his ginger ale and Jackie and Hayden and J.J. and it's fine. If he keeps moving he's fine. He gulps down half his glass of ginger ale and keeps moving.

The feeling creeps up slowly, then all at once. Shane feels . . . out of it. Like he's been unspooled and left in a pile. It's not a pleasant sensation and he can feel panic grasping at the edges of his mind about how out of control he feels.

Something is wrong. Something is really, really wrong.

He needs to find someone to help. Hayden, Jackie, J.J., one of his teammates, anyone.

He finds J.J. first.

"Ah, Capitaine, having fun–" J.J. cuts himself off when he sees Shane's face. "Shane? You okay?"

"Feels weird." Shane blurts out.

"What?"

"Everything feels weird and bad." Shane clarifies slowly, fighting against the spinning feeling in his head.

"You only had ginger ale, right?"

"Yeah."

J.J. panics. "Marde. Marde, marde, marde."

"Marde." Shane repeats, listing into J.J.'s shoulder.

"HAYDEN! JACKIE!" J.J. shouts, windmilling his free arm in an attempt to summon the Pikes.

"So loud." Shane complains.

"Sorry, mon ami, I have to be loud to find them." J.J. says apologetically, kindly placing his hands over Shane's ears while he resumes yelling for the Pikes.

"Jesus Christ, J.J., what the hell is it." Hayden appears out of nowhere, Jackie right next to him – where had they been, how had Shane not seen them approach?

"Shane's drink was spiked." J.J. explains.

"Tabarnak." Jackie says.

"Tabarnak." Shane agrees miserably.

"Can you go with him to the ER?" J.J. asks. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on the team, talk to the bartender about it."

"Sure thing." Hayden agrees. "We've got him."

Shane lets himself collapse into Hayden and Jackie as they guide him to their car. They have him, he's safe now, he doesn't need to hold onto his control so tightly, they're there to protect him. It's a dizzying relief.

Or maybe the dizziness is whatever was in his drink.

Oh, the dizziness is absolutely whatever was in his drink. This sucks.

Shane is barely walking himself at this point, all of his weight resting on Hayden and Jackie. They've got one of his arms across each of their shoulders and between the two of them and Shane's staggering steps, they're making good progress.

Once they get to the car the debate about who's driving begins. Shane's focus warbles in and out, but he can guess the gist of it. Hayden's an overly cautious driver, and the rationale for picking him is for steadiness in the drive. Jackie is a bit of a speed demon, and the rational for her is a swift arrival to the hospital.

Apparently, Jackie driving wins, because she unlocks the car and Hayden maneuvers him into the back seat and sits with him. Shane feels very apologetic about how much work they need to do to deal with his liquefied self.

"Sorry that I'm melted." He says earnestly.

Jackie hides a laugh behind her hand in the driver's seat and Hayden blinks at him in bemusement.

"Any time, Shane." Jackie says fondly. "Let's get this shitshow on the road."

She proceeds to floor it and Shane clings to Hayden for dear life. Jackie is driving smoothly with not a lot of sudden stops, so Shane's stomach isn't protesting too much, but it's still startling.

"Sooner we're there the sooner you're out of there." Jackie promises as she wove her way through the insanity of post-game Montreal traffic in the way only someone who'd learned to drive in Montreal could.

"Fair enough." Shane groans, and steels himself for the rest of the brief car ride.

Shane hates hospitals, and he especially hates hospital waiting rooms. You'd think that a place meant to hold sick and injured people until they could receive care would be designed for that and be comfortable, but instead it's a torture chamber.

The lights are too much. Everything is too much and Shane can't handle it. He buries his face in Hayden's shoulder to block everything out.

Wordlessly, because Hayden knows him so well, he tucks Shane further into his shoulder so one ear is pressed against Hayden's neck and brings a hand up to cover Shane's other ear entirely. Shane cries in relief over the immediate reduction in sound. Everything feels more manageable now, hidden away from bright lights and loud sounds.

Jackie gets back from arguing with the receptionist and the familiar weight of her hand pressed on his back, grounding him further.

"They should be getting you soon. I explained what's going on and who you are to the receptionist. Took a bit of convincing that I was serious that Shane Hollander is in the waiting room and needs to be seen now, but I got through to them. You'll be alright soon."

They're all relieved to hear that Shane should be fine with some rest and fluids. Shane is a little less pleased to hear he should be monitored overnight. He does not want to spend another second in this hospital than he absolutely has to.

But Hayden and Jackie are godsends, and immediately agree to take him home and watch him for the night. So he won't be stuck in the hospital with its bright lights and loud noises, thank fucking god.

Shane's steadier on his feet now, but still not entirely there, and thus still ends up leaning heavily on the Pikes on the way to the car. They're no longer in a huge panicking rush, so Hayden wins the driving argument this time on the benefits of a careful drive and Jackie crawls into the back with Shane. He's still feeling bad, so he curls into her shoulder as much as he can with the seat belt on. Jackie, in turn, rubs his shoulders and pets his hair and quietly heckles Hayden for how eagerly he flicks on the turn signal a while before turning and his measured cautious stops. It's a familiar argument and lulls Shane half to sleep.

He's most of the way there by the time they pull up at the Pike residence and begrudgingly lets himself be woken up and manhandled into their house. He drifts through the process, only becoming aware of where he is once Hayden and Jackie are passing him one of the pairs of pajamas he keeps at their place for overnight babysitting and then pushing him into the bathroom to change.

The master bathroom.

The one connected to their bedroom.

Shane blinks a couple times before deciding that the grimy feeling of the bar and hospital have lingered on his clothes long enough and he wants them off.

It feels so much better, and Shane steps out of the bathroom feeling much more comfortable. Hayden and Jackie then carefully guide him into their bed – "so we can keep an eye on you!" – and snuggle him between them, blankets wrapped around them tightly.

It's by no means the first time they've done this – that was soon after the twins were first born, and Hayden and Jackie were exhausted by being new parents and Shane came over to help regularly and oftentimes at the end of those days all three of them would collapse into an unselfconscious tangle in Hayden and Jackie's bed. They'd done it again when Arthur was born, but not Amber due to the broken collarbone (thanks for that, Cliff Marleau). It happened after the Metros cup wins too, with the addition of J.J. – they had all been incredibly drunk and happy. And, of course, it happens occasionally when they all go out.

Now that Shane thinks about it, there was probably at least a 30% chance they ended up like this anyway if things went to plan tonight.

Normally, Shane would hate being touched this much. But Jackie and Hayden are some of the few people that don't make his skin crawl with casual touches. It's nice, really nice, being sandwiched between the two of them while his nerves buzz and he feels totally out of control of himself, to know that they’re here to hold him and keep him safe. They're some of the only people he'd trust like this, to look out for him while he's so vulnerable. In fact, the only others would be his parents and JJ and Rose and Ilya.

He misses Ilya. The only way he could feel any better in these circumstances would be if Ilya was here with him, but he can't be.

Like an unlucky omen, Shane's phone starts ringing.

"Who the hell would be calling you so late at night? Don't they know about your routines?" Hayden grouses, and Shane is filled with a rush of warmth at how well his friend knows him.

"Probably a spam call, babe." Jackie says, turning over the phone. "Oh!"

Hayden's eyes light up in glee. "Boston Lily is video calling you?!?"

Dread pools in Shane's gut. Shit. He completely forgot that he and Ilya were going to call later. He's such a bad boyfriend.

"Uh, um, it's nothing." He stammers. "Just ignore it."

"Nuh uh, you guys were going to call, weren't you. She'll be worried if we don't answer and she should know that you're okay."

"That's really not necessary–" Shane chokes out, but it's too late. Hayden and Jackie have hit answer, holding his phone in between them so Shane is fully visible. It would be really, really sweet if it wasn't about to blow up his whole life.

"Hiiii Lily!" Hayden and Jackie chorus in greeting.

"Ah, you finally picked up, Shane. Not polite to–" Ilya cut himself off, realizing that Shane is not alone. "What the fuck?"

"What the FUCK?!" Hayden echoes. It's a testament to how shocked Jackie is that she doesn't remind him of the swear jar.

There's a moment of silence and Shane has a moment of hope that Ilya will hang up and they can all forget this ever happened and he can also sink into the ground and never speak to anyone ever again.

That's far too much to ask of Hayden and Ilya, though.

"Why the fuck is my Shane in your bed?!" Ilya says shrilly.

"Why the fuck do you have Shane's number?!" Hayden gestures wildly.

"How are you Boston Lily?!" Jackie yelps.

"Your Shane?!?!" Hayden's voice goes up an octave in outrage.

"What the fuck is this!" Ilya demands, voice still high pitched in shock and outrage.

"Oh my god!" Jackie yells.

All of this yelling is giving Shane a headache, and he lets out an involuntary whine, his chest beginning to tighten with anxiety.

"Oh, sorry, Shane," Jackie says, thankfully no longer yelling.

"Sorry, Shane, I'll be quieter." Hayden says at significantly reduced volume and ran a soothing hand through Shane's hair. Shane melts. Ilya is much less appreciative of this and scowls.

"What the fuck are you doing to Shane."

"He's hurt!" Hayden defends.

"Shane is hurt?! Pike, what the fuck did you do to him!" Ilya's voice rises in agitation.

Hayden's matches it, never once stopping running his fingers through Shane's hair. "We didn't do this, how fucking dare you suggest that?!"

"He is with you and he is hurt, what else would I think?!"

"The fuck!? Not that we fucking hurt him! You think we'd do that shit to him?!"

"What shit? What fucking happened!?!?"

"If you two really need to do this right now take it outside." Jackie orders.

"What?!? NO!" Hayden and Ilya yell in unison, and if Shane wasn't still teetering on the edge of a panic attack he might have laughed.

"Pike, if you take me away from Shane right now, I will drive to Canada and kill you myself."

"Oh fuck you, I wasn't going to leave Shane you colossal asshole!"

"The ER doctor said Shane needs to sleep and this is not helpful."

"ER doctor?!" Ilya's eyes have gone frighteningly wide. "Shane went to the hospital?! The fuck did you DO?!"

"Did you not hear Jackie?! Keep it down" Hayden hisses. "And fuck you, we didn't do anything. Why do you care so much?"

Panic fully pierces through the lingering fogginess in Shane's head as he fully realizes the situation he's in. They know. Hayden and Jackie answered a call from Lily and got Ilya. They know, and maybe they'll hate him for it. Hayden certainly doesn't sound happy right now, and Jackie definitely doesn't sound thrilled either. He could lose this, lose this friendship that feels like family, that takes care of him when he vulnerable and that he trusts to do so and that he loves so so so fiercely. He's losing it right now. And he's not ready and Ilya's not ready – they'd discussed telling close friends but there were no definitive plans, everything was out of control and wrong. His head swims from the mixture of drugs and panic, dread pooling in his stomach. Distantly, he's aware of his breathing picking up, of wheezing in panic. His boyfriend and friends' upset voices fade into the static rush of his heartbeat in his ears. His world is crashing down around him and there's nothing he can do.

"—Shane? Shane, you're okay. Everything is okay." Hayden's voice wavers back into comprehension.

"No it's not." Shane warbles weakly.

"It is. We love you, we care about you, nothing could ever change that and especially not this." Jackie says calmly, and vaguely Shane becomes aware of the soothing circles she's rubbing against the back of his neck. On his other side, Hayden is squeezing his shoulder. Ilya's voice drifts from the phone Hayden is still holding, saying a gentle and soothing string of reassurances that everything was alright.

Shane can't quite get himself to believe that right now, but it's enough to push back the panic enough to really hear what's going on.

"Everyone here loves you, Shane, it is alright." Ilya says.

"However odd it is that you're saying that." Hayden mutters under his breath.

Shane's breath wheezes again, and Hayden backtracks instantly

"Sorry, sorry! I'm not mad, just . . . really, really surprised."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Shane chokes out, trying to ignore the tears he can feel trickling out of his eyes. Everyone makes a noise like they've been punched in the gut for some reason and Jackie squeezes the back of his neck.

"It's alright, bud. You don't have to tell us anything." Hayden says firmly. "I won't lie, I'm curious as hell, but you only tell us what you're comfortable with okay?"

"We won't ask any questions til you're ready for them." Jackie confirms. "This is yours to share. And if you share nothing, that's completely okay."

Somehow the reassurance that he doesn't have to say anything at all, that Hayden and Jackie will ignore the gay elephant in the room and pretend nothing is going on until Shane's ready, loosens the knot of fear in his throat. It's still scary, but it's easier to trust that there's a soft landing for this terrifying drop, that Hayden and Jackie will catch him like they always have.

"I'm gay." Shane says evenly, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Arms wind themselves tightly and affectionately around Shane, tucking him closer to Hayden and Jackie like they're one being. Dizzying relief fills Shane's veins – they still love him enough to touch him like this.

"Okay. That's okay, Shane." Hayden says, wiping tears from Shane's face.

"Thank you for telling us, I'm so proud of you." Jackie says, hand pressed soothingly against his chest.

Shane cries, tears washing away the fear and dread that's tangled up in his chest all of these years when he thinks about Hayden and Jackie knowing this about him. The two of them hold him tight as he lets it all out.

"Thank you," he whispers once he's exhausted his supply of tears.

"You never need to thank us for this." Hayden scowls.

"But–"

"No buts. We love you and nothing will ever change that."

"Yes, what Jackie said." Ilya agrees from the phone, belatedly reminding Shane's scrambled brain that he's there.

"Oh!"

"Yes, oh, I am still here." Ilya says fondly. "Watching Pike snuggle you for some reason."

"I need to introduce you!"

"Shane, I think they already know who I am, this has been established."

Shane is undeterred by this statement; he knows he's been terribly rude by not introducing Ilya yet and now he can fix it.

"Hayden, Jackie, this is my Lily. Ilya."

Ilya turns scarlet the instant that Shane says my Lily. Ha, and he says Russians do not blush! Shane wins this one.

"Yes, I am."

Shane beams, and Ilya smiles back.

"Rozanov can look that happy. That's new." Hayden says faintly.

"Yeah, 'cause he loves me." Shane crows. "And I love him!"

Ilya somehow manages to blush harder as Hayden and Jackie sputter in surprise.

"Alright, Shane. Can I ask any questions about that?" Jackie chuckles.

Shane nods agreeably. "Go ahead."

"Rozan-Ilya," Jackie corrects herself as Shane shoots her a look. "Ilya is Boston Lily?"

"Duh."

"Just clarifying," Jackie says peaceably, "and you two are . . ?"

"Dating!" Shane feels a silly grin steal across his face, and a matching one spreads across Ilya's.

"And he's good to you?" Hayden asks sincerely.

"The best." Shane confirms, nodding. "I think he's it for me Hayden."

"Then I guess we'll have to get to know him." Hayden says. "Man, this is not how I thought this night would go."

"Yes, yes, me either. So what happened tonight? What's wrong?" Ilya says impatiently, agitation creeping back into his tone. A fond warmth sweeps through Shane at the thought of how Ilya had held off his concern to be there for Shane while he came out to the Pikes.

"Shane's drink got spiked at the bar." Jackie says.

"WHAT?!" Ilya yelps. "Why is he not in the hospital?"

"We took him there, the ER doctor checked him out, he's alright. A bit out of it and needs rest and fluids but that's it. Could have been much worse." Jackie explains.

"J.J. stayed back to deal with the bar." Hayden adds. "So that's taken care of as well."

"Good." Ilya says darkly. "But Shane is okay? Nothing happened at bar?"

"No, I think he realized what was going on pretty quick and found J.J." Hayden says.

"You think?! You do not know?! Shane–"

"Nothing happened, I just feel weird." Shane interrupts before Ilya can really get on a roll with his worry.

"You are sure? What was the drink, what are your symptoms?"

"Ginger ale, I knew something was wrong when I started to feel off."

Shane's Russian is very rudimentary, but he's fairly sure that Ilya is muttering death threats about whoever drugged Shane.

"Off? Off how?"

"Dizzy, disoriented, nauseous, headache, sensitive to light and sound, and loopy, I guess."

"Not usual ginger ale side affects." Ilya says dryly.

"Yeah, not normal. I found J.J. as soon as I noticed and Jackie and Hayden took me to the ER. Doctor looked me over and said I'm good."

"And you are really okay?"

"Of course I am, why would I not be?"

Ilya exchanges a look with Hayden and Jackie. Rude.

"He's fine. Just needs rest and fluids, and J.J. is taking care of tracking down who did this." Hayden reassures Ilya.

"You are sure?"

"Promise. He's fine, we brought him home so we can keep an eye on him tonight. We'll look out for him." Jackie says.

Ilya opens his mouth to speak again and is interrupted by Jackie's phone ringing.

"Shoot, that's Mom, something must be up with the kids."

"Ah, shit," Shane groans, shifting closer to Jackie both in support and so he can hear better. Hayden does the same, Shane's phone with Ilya still on it held at a distance so it isn't visible as Jackie goes to accept the video call.

"You, uh, have to deal with kids?" Ilya says, awkward and uncertain. "I can–"

"I'm not going to hang up on Shane's partner after he got fucking drugged even if that partner is you." Hayden huffs. "Just be quiet."

Ilya mimes zipping his lips as Jackie answered the video call. Geneviève’s face fills the screen immediately, Arthur's tear-stained face residing in the bottom left corner.

"What's wrong?" Jackie asks.

Geneviève gently bounces Arthur. "This little guy wanted Uncle Shane to say good night to him and, well, I know how you guys act on nights out and figured I'd call you first to see if he's there."

"Yeah, he is." Jackie tilted the phone down so that Shane's face was visible tucked against her shoulder, and Hayden next to him. Arthur lit up.

On Shane's phone, Ilya mouths "what the fuck"; Shane's not entirely sure why Ilya's so shocked about this, this is normal.

"Hey buddy!" Shane croaks, a smile stretching across his face at the sight. God he loves being Uncle Shane, loves taking care of these kids, loves how just seeing him can make Arthur that happy. Loves that Hayden and Jackie are still letting him have this, now that they know.

"Uncle Shane!" Arthur wriggles in delight, distress forgotten.

"I hear you aren't being good at bedtime for Granny."

Arthur pouts. "Maybe."

"I understand, honey, but you're with Granny and it's bedtime."

"Wanted to see you."

"You can see me in the morning, okay?" Shane reassures him. Ilya seems to be going through quite the emotional journey in Boston about that statement and Shane is too out of it to even attempt to parse that at the moment. "Okay?"

"Okay. Good night Uncle Shane."

"Good night, Arthur." Shane says fondly. They wave to each other as Jackie's mom hangs up the call.

"What was that?" Ilya asks.

"Arthur's pretty attached to me and sometimes wants me to say good night when he's nervous before bed."

"That is . . . unusual." Ilya says, stiff and confused for some reason.

"Not at all. It's normal uncle stuff. Jade had the same phase." Shane elaborates.

"That is not normal uncle stuff." Ilya raises an eyebrow. "I am also an uncle. I do not do this for Katya.”

Shane shrugs. "I mean, I helped a lot when they were all really little and I room with Hayden on the road so they see me really often. It's natural. It's not like I'm coparenting or something."

"If you say so." Ilya chuckles. Shane will figure out what he finds so funny tomorrow when he can think clearly. "And you are really okay?"

"I am really okay." Shane says, failing to hold back a yawn.

"Ah, you are tired and not feeling well, I should let you sleep." Ilya says guiltily.

"I'm fine, I'm not too tired." Shane smiles. "Better now that I talked to you."

Ilya blushes again. "You can't just say these things, Hollander!"

Hayden and Jackie laugh quietly, and Shane realizes that Hayden's been carefully holding Shane's phone with Ilya on it the entire time so that he and Ilya can see each other easily. God, Shane loves his friends.

"But really, you should sleep Shane." Jackie reminds him. "You need to rest."

Hayden and Ilya nod vigorously, and Shane makes a mental note to test how many other things he can goad them into doing at the same time.

"Goodnight Shane, lyubimyy, I guess goodnight Pikes too."

"Goodnight, Ilya."

"Night, Rozy." Hayden acquiesces to using one of Ilya's hockey nicknames.

"Night, Ilya, good to meet you." Jackie adds on.

Ilya waves before hanging up.

"Well." Hayden says, blinking a couple times. "That was something."

"Did you like him?" Shane blurts out, feeling oddly like a high schooler who wants his friends to like his crush. Or, well, what Shane thought that must have felt like.

"He clearly cares about you so he's alright in my books."

"Yes." Jackie agrees. "I liked how attentive he was about making sure you were okay."

"Good." Shane says. The exhaustion of the evening fully hits Shane, and he's asleep before Hayden's even put the phone on the nightstand.

Hayden isn't quite sure what wakes him up, but it takes him a moment to remember everything that happened last night. Immediately, he turns over to check on Shane.

He's asleep, his chest rising and falling easily from where he's tucked between Hayden and Jackie. In the course of the night, he's managed to tug the blankets up to his nose just like he does every time. He looks a little ragged, but better than last night. Jackie is also still asleep, her arm hooked protectively over Shane's chest and her face pressed into his shoulder. Hayden melts at seeing his two favorite people in the world so comfortable.

Still, Jackie at least should be awake so that they can plan out their approach to taking care of Shane this morning and also reassuring him that they are 100% supportive of him being gay and dating Rozanov and nothing will ever make them kick him out of their family, he's stuck with them for life.

The doorbell rings before Hayden can do anything more than think about it, waking up Jackie and Shane both. Jackie blinks blearily and tightens her hold on Shane. Shane merely groans, looking like he's regretting being awake.

The doorbell rings again.

"That'll be Mom with the kids." Hayden says. "I'll tell them to be gentle with you."

"Thanks," Shane says hoarsely, leaning heavily on Jackie as they follow him out of the bedroom and station themselves on the couch.

Hayden yanks open the door, ready to tell the kids to be quiet so they don't disturb Uncle Shane. It is not his mother-in-law and children on his front doorstep, though.

It is Ilya fucking Rozanov, with a ferocious scowl and hair standing on end as though he's been running his hands through it constantly.

I cannot deal with this right now. Hayden thinks blankly, and closes the door in Rozanov's face. How the hell does Ilya Rozanov know his home address?!?

"Pike!" Rozanov yells, pounding on the front door.

Hayden spins around to stare into the living room. Shane looks sheepish and delighted from where he's curled into Jackie.

"Shane, did you give Ilya Rozanov our address?"

There's a long, telling pause. ". . . no."

"Do you want to try that again?"

"Dude, are you seriously using your dad voice on me?"

"Is it working?"

"Not really."

Hayden pinches his nose. "Shane."

"I may have had him drop me off here once when he was visiting last time." He admits.

"What the fuck is my life." Hayden despairs "God. Okay. Ilya Rozanov shows up uninvited on my front doorstep at–" He checks the clock and goggles in disbelief "—9 AM? When the hell did he leave Boston?"

Shane only looks more gooey about this. Wow, he is deeply, deeply in love and Hayden is happy for him, he just does not want to be dealing with Shane's boyfriend Ilya Rozanov at 9 am on a Saturday morning in his own house unexpectedly. Especially this morning.

Hayden's not opposed to the concept itself – in fact, a large part of him is pretty damn thrilled that Shane has someone who cares about him so much he drove five hours through the early morning to get to Shane because he was hurt. Who is willing to assert himself to be with Shane when Shane needs him. Hayden's wanted someone like that for Shane for literal years, because Shane deserves everything good in the world.

It's just. Even though he's only known Boston Lily is Ilya fucking Rozanov for not even 12 hours, he'd had plans – he and Jackie had both had plans – on handling and arranging a formal first meeting, getting to know the person Shane has chosen to share a life with, properly welcoming Lily to the family. Those plans have existed, nebulous but meticulous, for years at this point. Hayden suspects that Shane had a plan as well for this that had now been thoroughly trampled. Shane's boyfriend Ilya Rozanov showing up unexpectedly after that planned introduction would be a normal event, nothing special about it, just a partner showing up out of worry.

But things haven't worked out that way, and this is the first time Hayden is meeting Shane's boyfriend Ilya Rozanov instead of Captain Ilya Rozanov of the Boston Raiders, Shane's professional nemesis. Hayden wishes, uselessly, for all their sakes that they'd gotten to have that meeting when they're not all incredibly high strung and on edge and worried for Shane. When they were all ready and not raw nerves ready to snap at each other.

God, this is going to go terribly, but he'll do his best to make it the best it can be in these circumstances.

"I'll let him in." Hayden sighs ruefully. "Hell of a welcome to the family."

Shane's soft, shy smile tells him it was the right thing to say.

Rozanov barrels past him the instant the door opens without a word. Hayden is mildly offended for a moment before reminding himself that Rozanov is just singularly focused on getting to Shane and that's not a bad thing.

When he re-enters the living room, he finds Rozanov kneeling beside the couch with one hand in Shane's hair and the other on his chest rubbing soothing circles. He's murmuring reassurances and questions about how Shane's feeling while Shane just grins at him happily. It is more than a little endearing.

Shane apparently decides he wants Ilya closer and makes eye contact as he pats the couch next to his head.

"Of course, lyubimyy." Carefully, he slides onto the couch and puts Shane's head in his lap. Shane stretches like a content cat in sunlight and Rozanov belatedly realizes that he's now seated right next to Jackie and that Shane is laying across her lap as well. The look he shoots her is full of apprehension and confusion and Hayden can't help but quietly chuckle.

That catches Shane's attention and he imperiously taps his foot and glares at Hayden until he deposits himself on the couch on Jackie's other side and drags Shane's feet into his lap. Shane makes a happy noise and Rozanov looks at Hayden in despair.

Hayden's sure that his face is quite smug about Rozanov's disgruntlement, even though he himself is not a fan of sharing a couch with the man.

But he’ll do anything for Shane.

“So, Shane, how are you feeling this morning?” Hayden eases into conversation, but also, well, things have happened so fast this morning that they haven’t really had a chance to gauge that.

“Fine.”

“Want to elaborate on that?” Jackie asks, easily picking up the questioning.

“. . . I’m not dizzy any more, but my head still hurts and I feel sore.” Shane admits. “But it’s way better than last night.”

“Good.” Rozanov says, a wealth of emotion in that single word that Hayden doesn’t know where to start with it.

“Still,” Jackie gestures at Hayden and he automatically grabbed the glass of water and ibuprofen on the side table – wow, when did Jackie put that there? – and passes it to her. “You still need fluids.”

Rozanov cajoles Shane into sitting upright against his chest enough to accept the glass and drink.

“Thanks,” he mutters eventually, passing the glass to Rozanov who passes it to Jackie who passes it to Hayden who sets it back down on the side table, like a conveyor belt of taking care of Shane.

“Better?” Rozanov asks.

“. . . yes.” Shane says reluctantly. “Thank you.”

“So polite.” Rozanov snorts.

“Oh, fuck off!” Shane snaps back, grin on his face as he slumps back into Rozanov’s lap, and okay, yeah, that’s normal Hollander and Rozanov other than the snuggling. Which begs the question, how the fuck did this happen?

“Soooo, how did this–” Hayden gestures to the two of them “–happen?”

“Well, when two men love each other very much–” Rozanov smirks, and Shane smacks him in the chest. “Ow! You wounded me!”

“Fuck off, no I didn’t.” Shane says. “It’s . . . a bit of a long story.”

“Well, we’ve got some time, and I’d love to know.” Jackie says.

“Well, it started our rookie year–”

“Your ROOKIE year?!” Hayden yelps.

“Almost eight years?!” Jackie yells.

“Summer before, you always say this!” Rozanov complains. “Not rookie year, the summer before!”

“And you always fall for it.” Shane says smugly, and Rozanov growls. Ah. This must be one of those little couple arguments you use to wind each other up playfully, like how Jackie and Hayden argue about whether teal is blue or green. God, it’s weird to think of Shane and Rozanov having that kind of relationship, and they clearly do, and have apparently had it since the summer before their rookie season.

“You’ve been together for eight years.” Hayden says wonderingly. “Oh my god.”

“Not quite together for eight years but something, yeah.” Shane says, flustered. “It wasn’t really – we didn’t really think it was possible, for a lot of it, and had a lot of our own issues to work through, on . . . being gay, and wanting things and having feelings, and external stuff like Russia the MLH and we only really got to the point of truly being together and talking about it this summer. So it’s old but also new, if that makes sense?”

Well that was a depressing mess of things that Hayden and Jackie were going to talk with Shane about later. “I’m glad you worked that out, then.”

“Sounds like it was a tough time.” Jackie says sympathetically.

Rozanov presses a kiss to Shane’s hand, eyes fixed on him. “We got through it.”

“Eventually.” Shane says wryly.

“Eventually.” Rozanov agrees fondly, running a gentle thumb over Shane’s freckles.

Rozanov – Ilya is so gentle with Shane that Hayden can't help but reluctantly begin to like him as a person and not just who he is to Shane.

He's abrasive and obnoxious, yes, but he's doing so in defense of Shane, to deflect their attention away from Shane and onto him, and it's clear he cares deeply. His comments are deeply irritating, but he's not crossing the line with them as so many of their fellow hockey players do. He's not necessarily someone Hayden would have specifically sought out to be friends with, but he can see them becoming that anyway as they get to know each other better for Shane’s sake. The competition and hockey of it all are likely what drew Shane to him at first, but it’s the care and love he’s showing now that are why Shane’s stuck around so long through all the difficulties he’s alluded to, Hayden’s pretty sure, and he’s glad Shane has a person like this in his life. Especially one devoted enough to drive five hours in the early morning just to be with Shane after playing a game the afternoon before.

He exchanges a glance with Jackie and reads the same understanding in her eyes.

Right. Ilya Rozanov is a member of the family now, whether he likes it or not.

But on that topic, Hayden does have some questions about how Ilya got here so fast.

“Dude, when did you leave Boston? How’d you get here so early?” Hayden asks, finally unable to hold that question back.

“Drove.” Ilya says carefully. Shane’s eyes sharpen and he cranes his neck to try to make eye contact, which Ilya studious avoids.

“Did you obey speed limits?” Shane asks, face twisted into a furious frown.

“Do not ask questions you do not want answers to, moy lyubov.” Rozanov says gently. “I did what I had to.”

“What car did you take?” Jackie asks with a grin.

Rozanov shrugs. “Had to be subtle so it’s a bit boring.”

Jackie looks outside. “Oooh, the black Ferrari?”

Rozanov nods.

“Very nice.” She says appreciatively.

“One of my favorites.” Rozanov says, face lighting up. “Pike, how is this your wife, she is too good for you.”

“Oh god, there’s two of them.” Shane groans, burying his face in Rozanov’s lap.

“No, no, no.” Hayden says, life flashing before his eyes at the thought of Jackie and Rozanov bonding over fast cars. God, they’d go too fast and get in a wreck and then he and Shane would both be widowed. This was a disaster in the making.

“I drove safely.” Ilya says defensively, running a hand through Shane’s hair. “Just fast. Shane needed me.”

Well, Hayden can’t exactly argue with that entirely. “Still, don’t get yourself in a wreck. We had it handled, you’re not taking care of Shane alone, you know?”

Ilya opens his mouth as though to snap back at him and then pauses. “Yes, right.”

There's another knock on the door.

"That must actually be Granny with the kids." Hayden groans, levering himself to his feet.

"You get up like old man Scott Hunter." Ilya quips from the couch, never once taking his hand away from Shane's hair.

"Oh, fuck off." Hayden grumbles, turning away from the bizarre situation of Ilya Fucking Rozanov being sweet to Shane on his couch. 

"He's not that old, Ilya, and I heard the sound your knee made last month." Shane mumbled.

"My knee made no sounds." Ilya protests.

"Lies."

"I am not lying!"

"You are."

"Are not."

"Are too!"

"Are you sure you're not five?" Jackie asks between chuckles as their argument sounds like it's devolved into some kind of play fight. Hayden shakes his head in amusement as he heads towards the door. Honestly, this is exactly what he thought Shane's long-term relationships would be like. As much as it pains him, Ilya really does fit well with Shane.

Geneviève smiles warmly when he opens the door, but is immediately concerned when he steps outside and closes it behind him rather than letting her in with the kids. Normally she would, and she'd visit with all of them for a bit before heading home. But that's not feasible with Ilya Rozanov sitting in the living room, so he'll have to adapt.

"Did you have a good night? Is everything okay?" Geneviève asks. "You three looked fine on the phone last night."

Hayden grimaces at the reminder, but knows that Shane would be okay with him letting Geneviève know what happened. He's family to them too, invited along with Jackie and Hayden and the kids to all family events, occasionally getting lunch with Geneviève and Simon on his own and also with the two of them, just generally treated as a member of the family. Shane wouldn't want to cause a fuss, but he'd be fine with Hayden telling her so she doesn't come in and find Ilya Rozanov, which would be a whole other conversation. "Shane's drink got spiked last night. We took him to the ER, he's fine, but not really in the mood for talking or doing much. He's probably going to just snuggle the kids and go back to sleep, honestly, and the doctor said to let him rest."

"Oh, no!' Geneviève gasps. "How is he feeling this morning? I could bring by soup or something."

"We've got it covered," Hayden reassures her. Honestly, if Ilya Rozanov wasn't here, he'd be encouraging her to do exactly that because Shane loves her wild rice soup and it would really cheer him up. "Shane just wants to sleep a little more and I'm sure seeing the kids will have him feel better too."

"Sounds like a good plan." Geneviève says, smiling softly. "I'll call him later today to check up."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it." Hayden says.

"Take good care of Shane, Hayden." Geneviève hugs him goodbye and passes Amber over to him. "Tell him to visit soon, it's been a while."

"I'll pass that along." Hayden promises, waving goodbye as she heads out. He then turns his attention to the gaggle of concerned kids looking at him.

"Okay," Hayden said softly, crouching down so he was on the kids' level. "We need to be really quiet and gentle, okay? Uncle Shane got sick last night and he's not feeling very well. Can you do that?"

Amber merely snuggles closer to him. Ruby and Emma and Arthur nod seriously. "Yes!"

"Alright let's go say hi, okay?"

"Okay!" The kids tear open the door and sprint off immediately towards the living room and Hayden preemptively winces, trailing behind holding Amber. Ruby, Emma, and Arthur are at least gentle when they crawl up the couch and onto Shane. Jackie is of course unphased to have their three children on top of Shane while he's sprawled across her lap, but Ilya looks extremely startled and alarmed that he now has three kids on top of him and his boyfriend. In their excitement, the kids don't notice Hayden maneuvering himself back on the couch with Shane's feet in his lap, or seemingly that Ilya exists at all. No, they're entirely focused on Shane.

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" They all chant, wriggling around until they're all firmly ensconced in Shane's arms. Hayden spares a vague thought to figure out soon why he was just demoted to Uncle Hayden.

Ilya looks deeply, deeply overwhelmed. Hayden stifles his amusement. "You are dad now?"

"Mm, good point. What's Uncle Hayden's crime this time?" Shane asked.

"You're hurt so you're Dad. It helps." Ruby says stubbornly.

"It helps to be dad?" Shane asks.

"Yes." Emma nods.

"Okay then." Shane says.

Ilya looks at Jackie and Hayden and mouths "what the fuck". Hayden shrugs. Kids, man. It's not that complicated.

"You are just. Dad now." Ilya repeats to Shane.

"Yeah."

"This is odd, no?"

"Well, usually the kids are mad at Hayden or Jackie for something and they become Uncle and I become Mom or Dad. But I guess the rules include becoming Dad to feel better."

Ilya blinks repeatedly. Sarcastically, he replies, "Right, that makes sense."

Shane just nods and Ilya visibly decides to table the topic for later. He'll just have to get used to it, Hayden muses, in the way that their teammates have gotten used to that routine.

It's a good thing Ilya has decided to get over it, because the kids finally notice there's another person holding their beloved Shane. They squint at him suspiciously, like a bunch of skeptical owl chicks. Rozanov stares back slightly warily, and Jackie and Hayden stifle laughter.

"Dad, who is that?" Ruby asks.

"He's playing with your hair." Emma adds like this is a personal attack. Arthur merely glares about there being a stranger so close to his favorite person.

Shane smiles sweetly and gathers them all closer. "Well, he's someone really important to me that I want all of you to meet. Kiddos, this is my Ilya."

Ilya once again turns bright red upon being called Shane's.

Ruby, ever the least cautious and most curious of the kids, examines Ilya for a moment before holding out a hand to him. "Hi Dad's Ilya. I'm Ruby."

"It's very nice to meet you, Ruby." Ilya grins, crooked and bright and remarkably soft, and shakes her hand seriously.

It really hits Hayden then that Ilya Rozanov is a member of the family now. He's Shane's Ilya, and he's going to be Shane's Ilya for the rest of their lives. And he's good at it – good to and for Shane, kind to the kids, an overall good person that Hayden can see himself loving like family soon.

It's not the first meeting with the love of Shane's life that Hayden pictured, but it's a good welcome to the family nonetheless.