Chapter Text
Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been publicly out for a year. They never imagined all the love they would get, and it's been overwhelming, but not in a bad way. There are people who have nothing nice to say, but they try to ignore them as much as they possibly can. Although Shane is still upset about how the Montreal Metros treated him, he won them three Stanley Cups for fucks sake, he has been truly grateful for how welcoming the Ottawa Centaurs have been.
When Shane and Ilya first got outed, they thought their career was over. Shane's teammates and coach hated him and his life was falling apart, but at least he had the love of his life by his side. A few weeks after, he realized his life was in fact not ending, it was just starting. Shane signed with the Ottawa Centaurs and although it took him a while to start feeling like he fit in and the world was not caving in on him, his teammates were welcoming and gave him time to adjust. His parents treated Ilya as their own and were extremely supportive every second of their journey.
A few weeks after Shane signed with the Centaurs, he decided it was time to bond with the team, so he has been going to Bood's BBQs and team hangouts with Ilya a lot lately during their free time as they continue into the play offs. The team has been on a high, everyone training constantly and working hard to win the Stanley Cup, and Shane thinks this is the year. With two of the best MLH players in the league in the team, the Centaurs have been winning nearly every game since the start of the season and their chances of winning the Cup are very high.
Shane has been dreading today for weeks, because today's game is against the Metros. He doesn't want to face his old teammates, but at the same time, he wants to show them that he is doing good with his new team and life. He wants to show them that no matter how mean their stares are or how ugly their words are towards Shane and Ilya, he will not let it break them. This past year has been tough, but Shane got to meet his new family and finally have the life with Ilya that they deserve.
Ilya walked over to Shane in the locker room, sensing how tense he is.
"Shane, are you okay?" Ilya asks with a concerned face.
"I will be better once we beat their ass." Shane says, truthfully. The only thing keeping him going right now is how badly he wants to see his old teammates faces as he, his husband and his new team destroys them.
"Damn right, Hollander!" "We're going to crush their ass, Hollander, don't you worry." Luca Haas, the rookie Shane has grown quite fond of, and Troy Barrett yelled out.
In that moment, Shane misses his best friend, Hayden. At first, Hayden was upset at Shane for not telling him about his and Ilya's relationship. Thankfully, after a few conversations, Hayden was very supportive of Shane and they continue to be great friends, but Hayden is still with the Metros, which means they will have to beat each other tonight, instead of working together like they have done for over a decade.
Coach Wiebe calls out that they have 5 minutes until they have to be on the ice, so Shane takes a deep breath and finishes changing.
As Shane walks out of the locker room and onto the ice, with Ilya right next to him, he is immediately met with his former team mates faces. His heart starts to speed up, but Ilya's hand on his arm calms him down, reminding him that everything will be okay.
The face off starts with Ilya and while Shane is waiting for his turn on the bench with his team mates, he sees the Metros’ centre say something to him that makes Ilya tense up.
Ilya lost the face off, but our team has worked tirelessly, practicing for hours, so they were ready. With the assist of Evan Dykstra, Zane Boodram scored a goal.
Shane is already tense as he gets ready for his face off and what his former team mate has to say definitely doesn't help.
"You ready to get your ass beat, fag?"
Shane thought about starting a fight, but he decided the best way to humiliate them is by winning. So, Shane kept his mouth shut and his knuckles tightly wrapped around his hockey stick, waiting for the puck to drop.
Shane won the face off and passed the puck to his team mate. Every player is racing across the ice. JJ pushes Barrett onto the glass to try to steal the puck, but Barrett is able to pass it to Luca, who passes it to Shane and Shane flicks the puck into the net.
His team mates crash into him, giving him hugs and slaps on his shoulder. Shane feels much more loose now that it is 2-0 for the Centaurs.
It is the last period of the game and the score is now tied 4-4. Shane has scored two of those four goals and he is hoping for a hat trick. Ilya and Bood scored the other two and the atmosphere is electric. Everyone is on the edge of their seats as we go into the last 2 minutes of the game. Shane is speeding across the ice, he steals the puck from Hayden and sends it sliding on the ice towards Dykstra. As Shane approaches the net, Dykstra passes the puck to Nick Chouinard. There are 30 seconds left of the game and this is it. Shane takes a deep breath and prepares himself. Chouinard passes the puck to Shane and he sends the puck flying towards the net. The entire arena is quiet as they wait to see if they have a goal.
The arena shakes with the abrupt screams of the fans and players alike, as the Ottawa centaurs win the game. Shane has scored his first hat trick with the Ottawa Centaurs and he has never been happier. His teammates are jumping on top of each other and Ilya runs into his arms. Shane has the sudden urge to kiss him, but he thinks better than to piss off the Montreal crowd even more, so he crushes Ilya in a tight hug and kisses his cheek, like Ilya did back in the All-Star game in Tampa. Shane gets overcome with an overwhelming feeling of hope and happiness. Shane and Ilya are playing together in the same team, they are out to the entire world and they are so close to winning the Cup.
He still can't believe this is really happening, but with Ilya in his arms and his team mates surrounding them, it all starts to feel so real that he can't help but let his smile grow wider.