Chapter Text
Shane and Ilya are just getting back from their honeymoon. After a delayed flight they arrived back in Ottawa in the middle of the night. Shane thought that would mean less looks and attention but it seems like the few people at the airport all know him and Ilya.
“I guess between being the top two hockey players, the fan mail video, and first husbands of hockey we will be getting noticed more huh?” Shane says a bit irritated after catching another person recording them. The unusual amount of attention and the long travel day are starting to get to him.
“Hey. Ignore them, it's been long day. Let’s get to the car and go home then sleep. Yes?” Ilya says, grabbing Shane’s hand stroking the back with his thumb.
Shane sighs and nods. The couple try avoiding the looks and whispers and find themselves in the safe haven that is Shane’s car.
Ilya thankfully drives them home, Shane chooses to ignore the number on the speedometer eager to get a shower and sleep.
Their Ottawa home is unusually quiet as Anya is staying with Troy, Harris, and Chiron. Since they got in so late they plan to stop by in the morning and pick her up.
After a quick shower the couple slip into bed too tired for anything other than sleep. Ilya places his dead phone on the charger. Glancing over at Shane he asks. “Where’s your phone? I’ll plug it in for you?”
“I think it’s in my carry-on bag. Leave it, I'll get it in the morning.” Shane grabs Ilya and snuggles into his chest half way asleep. Ilya is easily convinced to stay in bed and deal with their phones in the morning.
Shane feels like he just shut his eyes when he hears knocking on their front door. He can hear Ilya groan and try to hide in Shane’s neck.
“Nooo. Too early.” Muffled from his hiding place Shane has to agree with his husband.
Shane yawns and places a gentle kiss to the top of Ilya’s hair. “Stay here, let me see who it is.” Shane shuffles out from under Ilya and sits up just as they hear a familiar bark.
“Anya!” Ilya is up and out of their bedroom door before Shane fully stands. Smiling and rolling his eyes, Shane makes his way to their front door following Ilya.
Rounding the corner as Ilya opens the door for Anya, Troy and Harris. Ilya is instantly on the ground whispering sweet endearments in russian to Anya.
“Hey guys. Thanks again for watching Anya, but we were gonna stop by this morning. You didn’t have to come all the way out here.” Shane doesn’t clock the look Troy and Harris give each other, but Ilya does.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to Anya?” Ilya instantly is inspecting her face, paws, teeth, and only stops at Troy’s insistence.
“No nothing wrong with Anya…”
“But something is wrong, yes?” Ilya asks, looking up at Troy and Harris. The other couple has a silent conversation. Before Harris grimaces and looks at Shane then at Ilya.
“Have either of you been on your phones yesterday or today?”
“No. Ilya’s phone died during our delayed flight layover. I left mine downstairs yesterday. It's still in my carry-on. What happened?” Shane searches their faces for a hint of what’s to come but it’s not looking good. Troy is struggling to even meet his eyes.
“Let’s leave the phones for now and take a seat.”
The two couples make their way further into the house and grab seats in the living room. Harris clears his throat and sits up tall. “So there is no easy way to say this. It’s also kinda a lot. First no one is hurt and we all love you very much and will support you through everything. The entire team wants me to make sure you know this.”
Ilya grabs Shane's hand that has begun to shake a bit at the serious tone and ominous start to this conversation. The couple lean into each other a bit more. “Harris, you're scaring us. What happened?”
“I’m going to say everything and then we can tackle this together. Please don’t interrupt. Again everything will be ok.” He clears his throat again. “Yesterday morning every streaming platform aired a new TV Show. No one heard about it, including the streaming services. It was up most of the day before it finally got taken down. Unfortunately the internet does what it is known to do and it’s everywhere online still available to watch. No one knows how it’s possible but this show is 6 episodes of the two of you documenting your relationship from 2008 thru 2017 ending with you coming out to your parents at your cottage. It’s you two and it does cover what looks like every moment of your relationship. I- no one knows how it happened but it’s definitely you two. I’m so sorry that this has happened but we are all here for you. Anything you need we are on it!”
The silence is abrupt after Harris’ explanation.
“Oh my god, it’s all my fault.” Shane says, shaking his head.
“What do you mean?” Harris asks gently, trying to make eye contact with Shane.
Shane looks at his husband. Ilya is equally confused and shocked. Not fully understanding what’s happening but the idea of people seeing them and not knowing how much of their story is making him feel extra vulnerable. Ilya looks back at Shane. “How is this your fault? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Remember the wishing well?” Shane asks, giving Ilya a look. Ilya's eyes widened slightly.
“Solnyshko, no this is my fault. I didn’t think it would work.” Now Shane looks confused.
“What do you mean?”
“I wished the world could see how much I love you, and understand our story better.” Ilya says guilt coursing through him. How could he do this to them.
“Oh.”
“I’m so so-“
“I wished for the same thing.”
Shane and Ilya stare at each other. Fuck. They did this to themselves.
“So just to be clear. You two made a wish for everyone to see how much you love each other, at the same exact time, and now basically everyone has seen this TV show of you two falling in love.” Troy asks, glancing at the couple.
“Yeah, basically.” Shane sighs, dropping his head onto Ilya’s shoulder trying to process the chain of events.
“Damn, Scott is going to be pissed when he hears that.” Troy says laughing.
“Hunter? Why would he be pissed? It’s not him that’s all over the tv.”
“Yes it is.” Harris starts laughing with Troy. “Scott and Kip have a whole episode about their relationship.”
“What the fuck, this is our TV show! Why does Hunter get episode?” Shane almost laughs at Ilya, worked up over Scott getting a full episode, but Shane is honestly relieved that it’s one less episode of them.
“It’ll make sense when you watch episode 5.” Harris says more relaxed seeing the couple work through the news. Of course their wishing well wish would come true.
“So you’ve both seen it?” Shane asks, lifting his head back up. Harris and Troy nod.
“Who else has seen it?”
“Everyone.” Troy says as Harris begins listing people. “The team, Scott and Kip, the Pikes, and Rose Landry from what I’ve seen on Twitter. Your agent and Mom were the ones making sure it got taken down so not sure if they watched it. I’m sure your mom skipped around if she did.” Harris cringes thinking about his own family seeing him like that.
“What do you mean skip?” Ilya asks as Shane groans burying himself into Ilya hiding.
“The TV show goes into some intimate detail. Nothing too crazy gets shown but it gets pretty steamy at the beginning. It’s not the whole point of the show but it looked like it was a big part of the beginning of your relationship.” Troy avoids making contact as he tells them. Blushing as he recalls the scenes.
A muffled groan and oh my god can be heard from Shane against Ilya’s chest. Ilya starts stroking his back. “It’ll be ok.”
“Shane, we are here for you. I know this isn’t ideal, but honestly the responses have been really positive and I think your wishes have been fulfilled. People know how much you love each other. They’ve seen it happen. A lot of people have shared how much this means to them. Many people can relate to the two of you in one way or another. It’s been really wholesome to see the good come out of this. I know you might not see that immediately but it’s something to keep in mind.”
“Do you plan to watch it?” Troy asks the question that’s also been on Harris’ mind.
“Of course!” Ilya says as Shane says “I don’t know.” Shane looks at Ilya.
“I already hate watching myself from interviews. I don’t know if I can watch it knowing everyone else has seen us too.” Shane admits. Ilya looks at his husband fondly.
“I think it’d be better to watch it. I want to know what we are dealing with and how could I not want to watch us fall in love.” Ilya presses a quick kiss to Shane’s forehead.
“Fuck, yeah you’re right. It’ll be worse if I don’t know.” Shane also is intrigued to see how their love story gets shown.
“Well everyone online-“
“Harris, I don’t know.” Troy interrupts him before he can share.
“Shush. Harris, what were you going to say?” Ilya asks, shushing Troy.
“Like I said earlier the show has gotten a really positive response. There is currently a petition to get you two to live stream your reaction as a fundraiser for the Irina Foundation. Mostly people want to see you two respond to the show. There’s quite a bit that people are curious about and want your thoughts on.”
“Does the show not go into enough detail?”
“It’s very detailed.” Troy says as Harris smacks his arm.
“There are some scenes where people just want to know the thought process behind them.” Harris shrugs. “Is this something you two would be interested in?”
“I think we need to talk about it first.” Shane says, shocking Ilya. He thought he’d say no right away.
“Totally understand. Let us get going, take your time and let me know if there is anything you need. We are here for you.” They say their goodbyes and Shane and Ilya walk them out.
Once the two are alone. Ilya pulls Shane into a hug. They stay there for a while. Eventually Ilya whispers into Shane’s ear. “So you are copy cat.”
Shane pulls back, “What?”
“You copy my wish.”
“Fuck you. You copied my wish.”
“No, obviously I threw my coin first.” Shane goes to respond and he sees the grins start to slip onto Ilya’s face. Rolling his eyes Shane decides they need breakfast if they are going to properly talk through the mess they brought on themselves.