Work Text:
Early Spring 2026
It's a cool sunny day out in New-York City on this friday, Gabriel dresses semingly warm; a jean sherpa jacket, green barrel pants and rolls a beanie on top of his head. When he does his interviews, he likes to look effortlesly stylish but yet approcheable. He prepares to take to the streets of New York City by gathering his phone, bag, and plug-in microphone. His Instagram has millions of followers, and his videos consistently receive a lot of views. However, his most popular posts are mostly about stylish couples, elderly couples, and LGBTQ+ couples. He's constantly searching for a pair who fit into all three of those characteristics, but he's willing to speak with any couple that catches his attention.
He's done a couple of great interviews and some that didn't end up being very confortable on video when he spots a interesting duo walking closely to one another. One man is slightly shorter, dark wavy hair, long grey wool coat, nice strutured pants and leather shoes. The taller one has a full head of golden curly hair, a shorter camel coat, nice blue jeans and running shoes. They're definitely stylish and ridiculously handsome. He approches them with a smile.
"Hi, sorry to interrupt, are you two a couple?" He asks
They look brievely at each other and nod "Yes, we are." the shorter one answers with a smile, his hand sliding in his partner's.
"Ok, my name is Gabriel, I have this instagram page where I interview couples walking the streets of New-York. I ask a couple simple questions to get the interview going but the couples mostly tell us what they are comfortable to-"
"Oh, yes, I've seen those." The taller man interrupts, his voice is suprisingly deep and there's a hint of an accent there. "We'd love to do that." he adds.
"Oh that's great! I'll just walk back a bit and film as I approach you with the same greeting." Gabriel says.
He does as he says and starts recording, "Hi sorry, but are you two a couple by any chance?" as the two men walk up closer holding hands. They smile genuinely and nod, "Yes, we are."
"Would you tell us the story of when you two first met?"
They smile harder, noses and cheeks getting pink with the cold, and the shorter one lets out a soft chuckle.
"We met in december 2008 in Saskatchewan at the Hockey World Junior's International Prospect Cup. We were 17, Ilya was playing for Russia and I was playing for Canada. I wanted to introduce myself to him, as I had heard a lot about him. I found him outside smoking, I scolded him about it... He just stared coldly at me, I figured he didn't talk english much or he didn't want to talk to me."
"Shane isn't wrong here, I wasn't particulary good with my english yet, but I was mostly just mesmerised by his cute face and his freckles. Then I resorted to flirting and told him he wasn't going to be so nice when we won. - Which I did win."
"Oh yeah, that's his idea of 'flirting', just chirps me relentlessly." retorts his partner.
"I call him boring and then he calls me an asshole. - can I say that on camera?" says Ilya.
"No worries, we'll bleep it." Gabriel chuckles, "What happened after that?"
"We saw each other again at the NHL draft about... six months after we met. I got the number one pick by Boston and Shane got the second pick by Montreal. They already were pitching us to be rivals. He was pissed I got picked first; he kept sending me death glares all day."
"Eh, no, you kept staring at me all day, that's why I was looking back at you. I wasn't jealous." says Shane, fighting a smile on his lips.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, you said NHL - that's big. Are you guys like well know? I'm sorry for my ignorance, I don't really follow sports..." Gabriel says.
They go at the same time, "You could say that." Shane answers while Ilya says "We are." He rolls his eyes at his partner. "Shane, come on, we're the biggest players of our generation. Though, we play for the Ottawa Centaurs now." Ilya looks back at the phone's camera, "Don't listen my husband, he's humble." he says as he places his hand on his partner's shoulders, rubbing them softly.
'Ok, that's going to be huge when this hits instagram!' Gabriel thinks. "So when did you became something more?"
"Not too long after the draft, CCM wanted to have a photoshoot with me and I convinced them to invite Shane; to play out the rivalry thing. - Arranged the whole thing, told him he was pretty, checked him out in the showers, asked him for his room number." says the russian with a sly grin. "He didn't need much convincing." he adds.
"You don't have to tell the embarassing details Ilya." Shane adds, getting beet red.
"It's the fun part of the story. - Anyway, it was not serious for a long time. I think we saw each other casually for what - 7/8 years?" Ilya says as he looks at his husband, the latter nodding along.
"And what changed that?" Gabriel asks.
"You see, there wasn't any queer people out in the NHL. We did had feelings for each other at that point, though, it was hard for us to see a future together. But then, in 2017, there's this old, very old hockey player; Scott Hunter. He wins the Stanley Cup, here in NY and as the team members' family get on the ice to celebrate, he gesture to his boyfriend to join him and they kiss right there in front of the whole world. It was very brave of him. It changed things for us." Ilya says, you can hear he's slightly emotional.
"I do remember that, it was very brave indeed." says Gabriel, he usually doesn't add this much to the interviews, but he can't help agreeing.
"That summer, Ilya visited my cottage, and we came out to my parents. Despite the fact that my mother hated Ilya as a player, they were mostly accepting." Shane laughs "They completely adopted him after that." He continues, "We decided to be boyfriends after that, though keeping it hidden from the public. It was hard being so long distance, so Ilya got traded to Ottawa to be closer." He looked at the taller men fondly.
"I heard husbands earlier, how did that happen?"
"Oh, I almost died in an airplane with my whole team." Ilya flashes a comical smile.
"Ilya messaged me while on the plane, thinking he was going to die and I realised we couldn't waste anymore of our time together. Having had lost so many years fearing what would happen if people found out? I couldn't wait any longer. I proposed right when he came home. We had a small private wedding at my cottage, it was a beautiful day."
"The most beautiful day with the most beautiful man." the taller man purrs at his husband, the later blushes in response.
"So when did your relationship became public?"
"Shane's fool of a friend was doing a fanmail video and you could saw us in a reflection kissing. Stupid fan reposted the video for the whole world to see. If I can give out an advice; please don't out people." Ilya says seriously, looking straigh at the phone's camera.
"And almost 20 years in, what do you love the most about each other?" Gabriel asks, both men turn towards each other with a smile.
"Ilya has such a big heart, you wouldn't know when you meet him, but he's the most caring person I know. He learned all my little quirks and knows exactly how to get me out of my own head, which is an achievement in itself, because I don't even understand myself half of the time." Shane says while looking at his husband with heart eyes.
"Shane is my everything; he is the most precious, beautiful, funny, lovable guy I've met. I know we can overcome anything together." the taller man says as he brings out his hand to caress his husband's jaw.
"Thank you so much for your time, last question, if you had one advice to give to a new couple, what would it be?"
"Truely listen to your partner, stay honest, open your heart and don't wait a decade to make it official." says Ilya and he kisses his husband's temple.
The video ends as the couple walk forward, hand in hand, smiling.
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Gabriel edits and posts the video a day later and it goes viral; the video gets shared everywhere and the comments keep pouring in nonstop.
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@atlaswithhockey
I can't believe you ran into ILYA ROZANOV & SHANE HOLLANDER. wtfffffffff #imjealous
@dailylife.kayla
I'm not a hockey fan but this is the sweetest couple ever. Where do I find a love like this?
@OttawaCentaurs✔
Proud of our two amazing players! Your story make us believe in true love. #thiscouplehasgoals
@MidnightPebble
I also had the worst outting ever, please don't out queer people! Glad it worked out for you two.
@Hollanover
MY BABIES. They're the cutest, I love them so much. #hollanovforlife
@HaydenPike✔
I was a fool indeed, please, check your videos before sending them to strangers. The whole Pike family sends you love. xx
@Hockeeeehoe
Okkkkkkkkkkk, we need more of their story? How come we never heard the full thing!!! #giveusmore
@ShaneHollanderOfficial✔
Thank you for running into us, we loved telling you about our story.
@TheIlyaRozanov✔
We are the cutest couple indeed, thank you for all the beautiful comments.