Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:

Multi

Fandoms:

Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid

Relationships:

Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Shane Hollander & Hayden Pike, Shane Hollander & Rose Landry, Hayden Pike/Jackie Pike

Characters:

Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Hayden Pike, Rose Landry, Jackie Pike

Additional Tags:

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, in which hayden saw the photo on shane’s phone, Coming Out, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Sex, Good Friend Rose Landry, Good Friend Hayden Pike, Humor, Established Relationship, Crack Treated Seriously

Language:

English

Stats:

Published: 2025-12-26 Words: 1,725 Chapters: 1/1

Thought I had it right, once, twice (but I did not)

Summary

About three minutes ago Shane had smacked his phone down on the bed with too much force. It had tumbled off, landing screen up next to Hayden’s bed. A picture of Ilya Rozanov’s dick taking up half of the screen. Shane had to watch in horror how his best friend picked up the phone, barely glanced at it and then almost dropped it after a second look.

So he had blurted out the first excuse that came to mind, which was ‘I think I’m gay but I’m not sure’. That had made Hayden disregard the picture completely. Instead of asking whose dick it was, he had told Shane to kiss him.

Notes

“You want me to kiss you?” Shane’s voice cracks halfway throughout the question out of pure confusion. He stares at Hayden with wide eyes, trying to figure out if it’s meant as a joke. The dead serious expression his eyes are met with does not make it better. If anything, it makes him feel as if a camera crew is going to stumble through the door in the next ten seconds and laugh at him. “That’s not funny. That’s really fucked up, actually.”

Immediately Hayden starts sputtering out words, gesturing wildly with his hands. “No! Dude, no, I didn’t mean it like that. Shit, sorry. I’m not homophobic.” He nearly trips over himself trying to stand up and face Shane. “I think it’s great you’re gay. Or that you think you might be. That’s awesome, dude.”

About three minutes ago Shane had smacked his phone down on the bed with too much force. It had tumbled off, landing screen up next to Hayden’s bed. A picture of Ilya Rozanov’s dick taking up half of the screen. Shane had to watch in horror how his best friend picked up the phone, barely glanced at it and then almost dropped it after a second look. So he had blurted out the first excuse that came to mind, which was ‘I think I’m gay but I’m not sure’. That had made Hayden disregard the picture completely. Instead of asking whose dick it was, he had told Shane to kiss him.

“You can’t just pick a random guy and kiss him, right? At least not in public. So I thought if you kiss me, you’ll maybe know for sure and won’t have to risk anything.” Hayden’s expression is still serious and genuine. His voice’s undertone is sincere as it can be.

“Isn’t that cheating on your wife?” Before Shane can even finish his question, Hayden already shakes his head. “Nah, Jackie’s totally fine with it. She sometimes jokes about me ‘kissing the homies goodnight on the road’ and then says it wouldn’t bother her. Don’t really know why, I’ve never done it, but this is basically the same.”

That unlocks an entirely different set of questions in Shane’s brain. He chooses to put those aside for another time, wanting to fix this situation first. With a deep breath and not thinking too much about it, he agrees. “Uh- okay. I can try, I guess?” It’s not his proudest moment. But at the same time, the excuse isn’t entirely a lie either. And Hayden is pretty much the safest bet he has if he wants to start figuring out his sexuality crisis. He just isn’t sure if he can ever look Jackie in the eye again.

They awkwardly shuffle towards each other. A silence falls over the hotel room. Right as Shane is about to call it off and embrace the embarrassment, he feels Hayden’s lips against his own. His eyes fall closed automatically. An arm around his waist brings them even closer, deepening the kiss for just a second before both of them pull apart.

It takes three seconds for Shane to start laughing. He has to sit back down on his bed to avoid falling over. Hayden crashes right next to him, on the verge of wheezing as well. With every hint of eye contact they both lose it again. Eventually they fade into chuckles and a few giggles, regaining their ability to breathe properly.

“You got me twirling my hair and kicking my fucking feet, dude,” Hayden sighs out dramatically.

Shane snorts at that and turns his head to face him. “Now I feel like I need to send Jackie flowers or something to apologize,” he says, getting another laugh. The silence returns to them - this time leaving the awkwardness behind. All Shane can think of is how glad he is to stop hiding at least partially with someone. That and successfully avoiding having to confess Ilya Rozanov sent him a dickpic. Realization sets in and he buries his head into his hands. “That was so fucking weird. Oh god, I never want to do that again with you, Hayds. I don’t even know if I’m fully gay because the whole time I was just weirded out.”

“Yeah no, same. That was so weird,” Hayden laughs. He shakes his head and then looks back at Shane. “So no second time?”

“.. Are you seriously disappointed about that?!”

It’s almost a deja-vu when Rose confronts him about it. She takes Shane’s hand over the table and squeezes it. The restaurant around them is almost empty, giving them their privacy. It takes everything in him not to get up and run away when she drops the questions. “Did you uh-, did it take long for you to realize?” He asks her quietly. Her face forms into a sympathetic expression, although not one of pity.

“Well, I wasn’t kidding about the other gay boyfriends,” she flashes a bright grin at him. Rose pushes her hair behind her ear and lays her other hand on top of his as well. ”I realized it after the sex. Suspected it before that, but then it clicked for me. You’re one of the sweetest and most genuine people I know, Shane, truly. But it started to become kinda obvious you had to convince yourself.” Her eyebrows furrow and her voice softens. Then, letting his hand go and leaning back with a pleased smile, she winks at him. “And I’m confident enough in my abilities to know that it wasn’t because of me specifically.”

Shane barks out a shocked laugh, throwing his head back. He can’t help but think about the kiss with Hayden and how he has managed to unintentionally get himself into the same kind of situation once more. His eyes meet with Rose’s and his heart clenches when she scrunches her nose with a big smile. “Thank you, seriously. And I’m so sorry about everything. I do really love you.”

“It’s totally fine, you don’t have to apologize,” she tells him. “I know you do. I love you too, so much. You’ll always have my support for every path you choose. But I also expect to be informed about every spicy detail of your love life from now on, okay?”

They stay for another hour, listening to each other’s stories from work. When their ways eventually part they share one last kiss. And just like a few years ago, Shane feels absolutely nothing during it.

“I just don’t get how he’s such a dick yet for some reason my kids adore him,” Hayden mutters with narrowed eyes. Next to him sits Jackie with Amber bouncing on her lap. Shane is on the chair across from them, watching his fiancé run after the twins. “Everyone does, apparently. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe it’s because he’s a nice guy. I really don’t see the problem with him,” Jackie chuckles. She ignores Hayden’s sarcastic mumbling and turns to Shane instead. “Are you nervous about the wedding? Or are you just letting it all happen?”

Right at that moment Ilya takes place in the empty chair. He tilts Shane’s head a bit by putting his fingers on his chin, then kisses him. They break apart and it takes Shane a few seconds to remember Jackie’s question. “Oh! I’m kinda nervous, yeah, but mostly because of stuff I can’t really control. Like everyone getting there on time and everything going according to plan. Not at all about the marriage part.”

Jackie pouts at him with a twinkle in her eyes. “Look at you two, oh my god. I’m so glad you have each other,” she sighs with an adoring smile. Her eyes find Hayden again and she shakes her head with a chuckle. “Maybe you should leave the story of you kissing Shane out of your speech, babe. I don’t think anyone is going to believe you after seeing them together.”

Hayden rolls his eyes with a small smile and opens his mouth to answer. Except Ilya is already cutting right through the conversation. “A kiss? You kissed Pike?” He asks Shane whilst clearly holding back a laugh. “Was it a bet? Life or death situation? No wait, did he pay you?”

“Fuck you, Rozanov,” Hayden frowns annoyed. Both Jackie and Shane remind him of the kids by saying ‘swear jar’ at the same time. Still, he keeps staring at Ilya with a hint of anger. “I actually did it to help him out. He was fucking struggling, you know? Didn’t know if he was gay or not. So I told him to kiss me to see if it helped clear things up.”

“It uh-, it actually didn’t work. I think it might have even pushed everything back more because I was really weirded out. No offense though, Hayds, I still appreciate it a lot,” Shane offers sheepishly. Next to him Ilya is already wheezing his lungs out. Even Jackie puts her hand over her mouth, though she hooks her ankle around her husband’s for moral support.

“Such great friend, yes. Very telling about your kissing as well. Maybe after hockey you can offer conversion therapy.” Ilya gets cut off by Shane’s elbow stabbing his side.

A mix between chagrin and defeat takes over Hayden’s face. He looks back at Shane. “Seriously? You were googling di- certain photos before that. Like obvious edited ones. Surely that was less helpful than a kiss.”

“Oh I didn’t find that picture on the internet,” Shane says, red creeping onto his cheeks and his ears. “It wasn’t edited either. That was Ilya’s.”

Chaos unleashes in the Pike backyard. Jackie covers Amber’s head in protection and turns away to spit out her drink. Ilya is on the verge of turning blue due to a lack of oxygen, laughing so hard he nearly passes out. Hayden is frozen in place with only a single twitching eye as sign of life.

“Thank you so much for kind words about my body, Pike. Please keep it in your speech. And how you put my husband back into closet,” Ilya snickers once he calms down a bit. When he sees Hayden get up, he starts sprinting away whilst hysterically laughing again - Hayden scrambling after him.

Shane looks at Jackie with an apologizing smile. “Did Hayden also tell you he asked me to kiss him a second time?”