Chapter Text
One of the perks of going to a small college was that everyone knew everyone. The downside was that everyone knew everyone. That’s why when Shane Hollander transferred, it really didn’t take all that long to get accustomed to it. He got ‘adopted’ by a friend group and even though he’d describe himself as an introvert, he couldn’t say he hated it. He couldn’t really say anything bad about it at all.
The group consisted of four people before Shane joined: Kip, Hayden, Rose and Jackie. Over the first few days, Shane got familiar with their dynamics. Kip and Rose would run a gossip girl blog, if Jackie wasn’t there to talk some sense into them, Jackie and Hayden were practically married, everyone had insane FOMO over wine nights and Shane had to note to himself to never ever watch hockey with Hayden and Kip again. Things got intense.
Hockey was held closer to Shane’s heart more than anyone knew. More than he himself would admit. Not just because he used to play when he was young, but also because not many people knew that Shane was married to the Ottawa Centaurs’ star center, Ilya Rozanov.
They didn’t hide it because it interfered with Ilya’s career—it didn’t and even if it did, Ilya would not hesitate whatsoever punching the lights out of anyone who had a problem with it. They did so, because Shane was entitled to privacy. It’s not like it was super guarded, some of Ilya’s teammates have met him, Shane’s parents knew and their mutual friend Svetlana, too. It wasn’t a long list, but it was enough to feel support from the outside.
The sound of campus during the day was cozy. The five didn’t have much to do, so even if the Canadian autumn had gained a bit of a freezy bite to it, they’d just sit around for a while. At this time of day the courtyard was practically empty. There were a few people scattered around, but Shane and his friends were the only group there. Everyone seemed to be caught up in their own business. Hayden was laying on the bench with his head in Jackie’s lap, waving his arms around as he complained about someone in his public speaking class. Shane, Rose and Kip sat on a bench opposite of the couple. Shane couldn’t help but wonder who designed these seats. The benches were a couple of feet apart, at best, so sitting like this with total strangers would just be weird, wouldn’t it?
His train of thought was interrupted by Hayden finishing a question with “right, Shane?” Well fuck. He hadn’t been listening at all and just stammered out an uncertain “Uh… right.” He felt his ears go red as Kip snorted out a laugh and Rose was giggling a little. Shane raised his eyes to meet Jackie’s, but all he saw was an entertained smile. This was embarrassing.
“He hadn’t been listening, at all,” Rose provided helpfully, putting emphasis on the word ‘all.’
“Thanks, Rose,” Shane muttered out.
Hayden just clicked his tongue, a little annoyed. “Well, I’m not retelling all that,” he said, turning his head to the guy at the other end of the bench, “What do you think, Kip?”
“I think…” Kip started and Shane was listening this time. He definitely was. “...that you need to focus on school work instead of beefing with some bitch during a lecture.” He finished. There was a thin moment of silence before Rose filled the air with a cackle. The girl sure loved to laugh. Shane couldn’t help, but smile himself as Hayden’s face contorted from a look of confusion to being offended.
“Jackie, he’s bullying me!” Hayden yelled out, meeting his girlfriend’s eyes, which just made the whole group laugh harder, Jackie included.
“So much for a knight in shining armour…” Hayd went on when he realised Jackie was not coming around to help him.
“Uh, excuse me,” Jackie scoffed, the smile not going anywhere from her face, “where was my knight in shining armour this morning when a certain someone left a million dishes in the sink before leaving and I had to deal with all of it?” A beat of quiet passed when she stopped talking.
“I love you?” Hayden offered as an apology, which made Rose burst out laughing. Again.
Shane loved how easy it felt to talk to these people. Not even talk, just be. He excused himself, saying his goodbyes and started heading towards his last class of the day. It’ll be nearly 5PM when he’s going to be done with his school day and could finally go relax in his apartment. Just an hour and a half until he could fall into bed and call the man he thought of a couple of times throughout the day. A lot of times, actually. He missed being with his favourite person, he missed the pine shampoo smell of his lover’s hair, he missed waking up on the edge of his bed, because his husband decided to sleep like a starfish (not that Shane would ever tell Ilya that,) but most of all he missed his presence. Hearing a door open in his apartment and knowing he’s not alone. Knowing that he won’t be for the rest of his life. But for now, Ilya was on a road trip, so he’d have to suck it up.
He entered the lecture hall and as he made it to his seat, a couple of people said hi to him. Everyone knows everyone. Shane sat down, got his laptop out and waited for the lecture to start. It had become a routine, he’d come to class, sit where he always sat, take notes and leave. Today it felt different. Maybe it was the absence of someone that sat in Shane’s view or maybe a light is out in back of the classroom or maybe it’s the girl that just sat down one seat away from him who’s never sat there before. That just might be it.
The professor was a little late, which was a bit unusual, but it didn’t matter. There was a low murmur of people talking, but Shane kept to himself. That was until the girl spoke.
“You’re Shane, right?” She asked. It wasn’t surprising that she knew his name, but it was still a little nervewracking, since he didn’t know hers. He just nodded.
“I’m Jess,” she said, not caring that this was a one sided conversation. “I’m just auditing this class, my friends are over there,” she said, pointing to a group of girls, who could be mistaken for one another.
“Okay.” Shane didn’t really know what else to say. He wondered why she was sitting here with him instead of them. The blonde continued.
“Well I just wanted to say hi because I thought you were cute,” she said getting up, “see you around.” She said with a smile before running back to her friends.
Shane thanked god that this was the moment the professor decided to show up. She had been flirting with him. And he didn’t pick up on it until the last bit. He really hoped he wouldn’t see her around.
When Shane finally got home he placed his backpack by the door and went to his room to change into inside clothes. The long day was coming to an end and at the first chance he got, he picked up his laptop and FaceTime’d Ilya.
The other man picked up on the third ring and the sight of the smile that met Shane made his heart melt. He hoped that feeling would never change.
Before Ilya could even say anything adjacent to a greeting, Shane spoke up.
“I think a girl from my class was flirting with me.”
Silence followed and he wasn’t sure how Ilya would react until his face split into a grin and he let out the most beautiful laugh ever.
Oh, how Shane missed that laugh. He couldn’t help the smile that reached his eyes.