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It shouldn’t have been a surprise for Ilya to hear people talking about his past with women after he and Shane were outed, but it still stung nonetheless. He was a publicly bisexual person after all and people loved to run with that as a reason that he would cheat on Shane. Article after article, tweet after tweet, post after post, so many people assuming that he’d leave Shane for a woman. Because it was easier, they’d say. Because Shane couldn’t give certain things to Ilya. Because he was always going to choose a side and that side would always be dating women. Never mind that he and Shane had been together in some fashion or other for almost over a decade at this point– clearly Ilya was a greedy bisexual slut who was going to cheat on his long term partner with women.
Which is why he shouldn’t have been surprised that JJ Boiziau decided to run his mouth during the small engagement party being hosted in Shane and Ilya’s backyard.
“I just don’t get it,” Ilya could hear Boiziau saying to Hayden. His back was to the two of them, his attention nominally focused on the story Marly was telling him; it was too hard to focus on that given the topic of conversation behind him, though. “Man goes from sleeping with woman after woman after woman, and I’m supposed to believe he’s given all of that up for Shane?”
Ilya was about to turn around and tell Boiziau exactly what he thought about his stupid comments, but Hayden’s voice stopped him in his tracks. “Why wouldn’t he? He loves Shane, Shane loves him– you do know what being in love means, right? I know it’s been a while for you but surely you know.”
“Oh come on, Hayd, you really think–”
“You’re literally at their engagement party, dude. Of course I ‘really think’,” Ilya could feel the sarcasm rolling off of Hayden’s words.
It had taken them some time to get here, but Ilya’s relationship with Hayden had grown from actively hostile to playfully antagonistic. He even got first name privileges– not that he’d ever call Hayden by his name to his face. Even still, knowing that Hayden Pike of all people was defending him made Ilya calm down. That sense of calm was rapidly leaving when he felt a hand on his back, being forcibly turned by Boiziau towards him. “Ah, Boiziau. I’m surprised you showed up.”
“Cut the shit, Rozanov,” Boiziau bit out. “What’s your game here?”
“Game,” Ilya said dryly. Marleau held out a hand, taking Ilya’s beer from him and letting him square up to JJ fully. “I did not realize there was a game at play here, Boiziau.”
“You and Shane–”
“Are getting married,” Ilya said loudly, drawing the eyes of his teammates to him. He could sense the air in the party changing, tension crawling into the once happy buzz of the space. “Is problem?”
Boiziau scowled. “I just don’t buy it. You’ve always been a womanizer, Rozanov.”
Ilya rolled his eyes. “Yes, women are very pretty, like me very much. Men do too,” he winked at Hayden who blushed furiously at even the smallest indication that he might find Ilya attractive. “What is the problem, Boiziau? That I have slept with women? Shane has also slept with women.”
“But he’s not attracted to them,” Boiziau said through gritted teeth. “He was never going to fall in love with one of them. Although, maybe love is asking too much of you, I’m not sure you know how to do that. You’ve always seemed like the type who was filling the void of no one wanting you with as many bodies as possible.”
Ice settled in Ilya’s veins. What JJ said wasn’t untrue– at least, not in Ilya’s youth. Before he and Shane were IlyaAndShane, Ilya did spend a lot of time trying to find connection with people however he could. He would sleep his way through whatever city he was playing in, physically close but emotionally detached. Shane was the only one who saw through all that, who tried to connect with Ilya emotionally, who made sure Ilya felt safe and loved and–
“I think it’s best if you leave, JJ,” Shane’s voice rang out calmly through the space. “Otherwise I think Marleau is going to punch you in the face.”
“Shane, you know I’m just–”
“I don’t know, actually,” Shane said sharply. “I don’t know what happened here, all I know is one minute everyone is having a lovely time at me and Ilya’s engagement party, and the next minute Jackie is coming to get me because my fiance has gone into an apparent state of shock over something you said. I’m giving you the chance right now, JJ. Leave before someone here decides its best to hurt you.”
Boiziau looked around the yard, the only person who would’ve ever dreamed of defending him being Hayden– none of the other Metros had shown their face around Shane since what happened– and Hayden was clenching his fist like he was going to try and beat Marly to the literal punch. “I’m just worried about you, Shane. I’m worried you’re making a mistake.”
Instead of softening at Boiziau’s concern, Shane’s gaze hardened even further. “Worry about yourself, JJ.”
Marly beat Hayden to the punch by mere seconds, sending Boiziau stumbling back. He remained on his feet, starting to raise his fists to fight back, but Hayden grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him out of the backyard. Silence fell in the space left by the two Metros, heavy and awkward, almost too much for Ilya to bear. He was brought back down to earth by the feeling of Shane’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly. “That was a good hit, Marleau,” he heard Shane saying. “You want some ice for those knuckles?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.”
The backyard sprang back into life again, Harris bringing over some ice for Marly as conversations started up again. The entire time, Shane’s hand remained on Ilya’s shoulder– almost possessively. Once Hayden returned and gave Shane a nod, Shane wrapped his arm around Ilya and started to usher him towards the house. “Come on, mi vida, let’s go inside for a bit, okay?”
Once they were safely in their room– the sounds of the party floating in through the window– Ilya allowed himself to break. Tears he didn’t know he had been fighting started to slide down his cheeks, silent save for the stuttering of Ilya’s breath. “Oh, corazon, come here.” Shane wrapped his arms protectively around Ilya, letting Ilya cry into his shoulder. “You’re okay, querido. I’ve got you.”
Shane pulled Ilya into his lap, whispering soft words of reassurance in a mixture of English, Spanish, and broken Russian, punctuating his thoughts with kisses to Ilya’s head. Eventually the tears ran dry, leaving Ilya feeling hollowed out and fragile. He pulled himself out from the safety of Shane’s shoulder, looking towards his fiance’s face without truly looking at him. “Do you worry about me leaving you for a woman?”
“Of course not.” Shane’s answer was instantaneous and bewildered, like Ilya had asked him if he’d quit hockey right that second and run away to become a cheesemonger. “Is that what JJ said to you?”
“Is what everyone says,” Ilya admitted. “The press, people online, they all think I will cheat on you. Leave you for some woman because it’s easier.”
Shane looked contemplative for a moment before eventually shrugging. “I mean. It might be easier to date a woman, sure, but if you were going to do that you would’ve done it by now.” Ilya let out a watery laugh at that, the bluntness of the statement and the confidence in Ilya absolutely staggering to him. “We spent a lot of time not being together exclusively. If you really wanted to get a girlfriend– to find a wife– in that time, you would’ve. It’s like you said to me the first time at the cottage: you had all of these beautiful, exciting woman after you, but you chose me. Why should I think– after all of these years– that you’re going to change that choice?”
More tears started to gather in Ilya’s eyes only to be gently brushed away by Shane’s thumb. “You’re it for me, mi vida. And I know I’m it for you too. We’re getting married, for fuck sake!” That caused a smile– genuine and joyful– to rise to Ilya’s face. “I can’t believe he accused you of wanting to cheat on me at our engagement party.”
Ilya couldn’t help but laugh at the hilarity of it. “Is absolutely crazy. What did he expect? ‘Yes, Boiziau, I will be cheating on your friend this party is all ploy to find new partner’– what a dumbass.”
Shane giggled, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to Ilya’s lips. “I’m sorry he said that to you. He had no right to– no one does.”
“I don’t care if Boiziau thinks I’m destined to be a cheater because I’m bisexual– as long as you don’t think that,” Ilya tried to keep his words light and teasing, but he could tell Shane saw right through that.
“I know you’d never cheat on me– even if you ‘don’t believe in cheating’,” Shane teased, Ilya’s face growing red at the memory of that past argument. “Just because you’re also attracted to women doesn’t mean you don’t love me. If anything, it makes me even luckier to have you since I had twice the competition.”
Ilya pulled Shane tight to his chest, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “I love you so much, solnyshko.”
“I know, corazon. I love you too.” Shane gave Ilya one more kiss before bringing them both back to their feet. “Come on, let’s get back to the party. Any longer and they’ll think we’re having sex up here.”
“Well…”
Shane hit him lightly on the shoulder. “Absolutely not. Knowing our luck, someone would come try and find us and we don’t need a repeat of that.”
Another laugh burst from Ilya’s chest, his grin undeniable at this point. “Fine, fine. We can go back to boring party with our boring friends.”
“You love them,” Shane said as he held out a hand to Ilya who took it readily.
“Not as much as I love you,” Ilya said before pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“Sap.”
“Your sap,” Ilya murmured as they approached the door to the backyard again. The sounds of the party were louder now, joy evident in the space. “Always yours.”
Shane leaned up and kissed him again. “Para siempre.”