Rating:

General Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:

M/M

Fandoms:

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

Relationships:

Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, David Hollander & Ilya Rozanov

Characters:

Ilya Rozanov, David Hollander

Additional Tags:

Ilya Rozanov Needs A Hug, Ilya Rozanov Misses His Mom, Shane Hollander is a Good Son, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander, Good Parent David Hollander, POV David Hollander, Episode: s01e06 The Cottage (Heated Rivalry)

Language:

English

Collections:

*Heated rivalry melts my heart*

Stats:

Published: 2026-01-01 Words: 895 Chapters: 1/1

I Want a Mom (and Dad) That Will Make It All Better

Summary

Shane went outside to apologize to his mom and got the apology that he needed from her.

Ilya stayed inside with David. He needed something in that moment too.

Ilya & David missing scene, David POV

Notes

Written for Lex <3

Not beta read. All the good things are Rachel Reid's and Jacob Tierney's, all the bad things (like typos) are my own.

I'm pretty sure the song title comes from Rugrats in Paris and that is the only song my brain has ever heard of in this exact moment so I'm keeping it.

“I’m just…I’m going to…” and then Shane grabbed Yuna’s jacket off of the chair where she’d hung it, and opened the door to bring it outside to her. Even while he was clearly struggling, he was always such a thoughtful boy.

Today was overwhelming, and a lot for everyone to process, but they would be okay. David and Yuna had raised him well, and would always be proud of him. He was a wonderful son, whether gay or straight.

David could never have blamed him for being gay, and he knew Yuna wouldn’t either, though she was clearly very overwhelmed by everything that had taken place today. He hadn’t been able to give her a warning – honestly he hadn’t been able to figure out the right words to say, or whether it was appropriate to say them – and before he’d been able to process it himself, Shane had shown up at his doorstep with Ilya Rozanov.

Ilya Rozanov, who was now standing by the dining room table next to David, alone in the house. David resisted watching Shane and Yuna outside through the windows and let them have their privacy.

He turned to Ilya, not sure what to make of him. He smiled awkwardly.

Ilya smiled back, looking equally uncomfortable. He’d said that he was in love with Shane, and he’d certainly seemed to be trying to support Shane through the conversation, in his way, but David just had absolutely no idea what to say to him.

“He is a very good son,” Ilya said eventually, looking out the window. “He loves his mother very much.”

David couldn’t help it, his eyes found them too, before turning away to give them some semblance of privacy.

“I know he does,” he said. “And she does too.”

“You raised him very well,” Ilya added.

“Thank you,” David said, “And I’ll tell Yuna you said that.”

“Thank you,” Ilya said.

David didn’t know what to add to the stilted, uncomfortable conversation. Should he compliment Ilya’s parents on the job they’d done raising him? All he’d ever known of Ilya before today was that he was known as an asshole around the league and that a lot of the family friendly brands weren’t willing to sponsor him. That didn’t seem like a realistic compliment to give.

But the kid in his dining room didn’t seem like that person at all. He seemed so young and maybe a little lost. He seemed beyond his depth to have shown up here, to meet the parents of the man he was in love with out of the blue under less-than-ideal circumstances. He had to get credit for standing by Shane’s side through this. Knowing Shane, it had probably helped keep him steady through the afternoon so far.

So his parents had done something right.

“Does your mother live in Russia?” David asked. He distantly remembered hearing that Ilya had lost his father this past season, so he knew not to ask about him. He hoped it would make the ache of his loss less.

Ilya tensed slightly, but made a visible effort to relax. He was trying.

“She passed away when I was 12,” Ilya said.

Ilya’s face didn’t show any emotion, his expression was blank, but his eyes were misty and full of longing as his gaze stayed on Shane and Yuna outside. He didn’t say anything else as he watched them move to hug, to hold on to each other and cry, but David got the feeling he could tell how Ilya was feeling in that moment.

“I’m sorry you lost your mother so young,” he said gently.

Ilya’s head jolted like he was trying to nod, but he aborted the motion when it looked like he was using all of his strength not to cry watching Shane and Yuna.

“Is okay,” he finally said, but his words were as wet as his eyes as he said it, and David could hear how badly he needed a hug.

David knew what he needed, but he didn’t know how to ask. This was a stranger he’d never met before an hour ago. It was a kid from a different country he had nothing in common with. But he knew what it was like to need a hug from a parent, and he realized he might just be the closest thing available right now. Once a dad, always a dad.

“Come here,” he tried, holding out his arms. He was almost certain that Ilya Rozanov – Center for the Boston Raiders who was normally all machismo and ego – would decline immediately, but he didn’t. He was just a boy who was willing to fall into David’s hug like he’d been waiting for it. Right away, David could feel tears hitting his shoulder. Ilya held on tight, and David felt certain that this was the closest thing Ilya had felt to a fatherly hug since his father had died, maybe even longer. He hugged him tightly too.

After a moment, David could see Shane and Yuna walking back towards the house, and he pulled back, so that Ilya wouldn’t be caught in a vulnerable moment if he didn’t want to be.

Ilya smiled at him after they let go, and this time it wasn’t so awkward. It was actually very nice.

Maybe David could get used to having this kid in his home.