Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories:

F/M, M/M

Fandoms:

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

Relationships:

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

Characters:

Ilya Rozanov, Hayden Pike, Shane Hollander, Jackie Pike

Additional Tags:

POV Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander, Shane Hollander Loves Ilya Rozanov, Good Friend Hayden Pike, Shane Hollander & Hayden Pike Friendship, Protective Hayden Pike, Hayden Pike Knows About Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov is a Menace, Ilya Rozanov is Good With Children, Ilya Rozanov Has Good Gaydar, Shane Hollander Needs a Hug, Mentioned Scott Hunter (Game Changers), Book 2: Heated Rivalry (Game Changers), Pre-Book 6: The Long Game (Game Changers), Hayden Pike & Ilya Rozanov Friendship, begrudging, my dinner with hayden core, But different

Language:

English

Stats:

Published: 2026-02-14 Words: 2,484 Chapters: 1/1

drawing with chalk

Summary

"How did you know?"

“How did I know what?” Ilya asked.

“That Shane was gay." Hayden stared at a spot on the table.

“Well, he really liked sucking my-”

“Stop.” Hayden put a hand up. “No. I mean, obviously then you knew, but I mean… before that. How did you know?”

OR:

Hayden Pike feels guilty about the years Shane spent in the closet, and asks Ilya about it. Ilya doesn't really want to give Hayden a crash course on gaydar, but this is his life now, apparently, so he tries his best.

Notes

hello! so excited about this quick fic!

this takes place btwn Heated Rivalry and The Long Game, so there aren't spoilers for TLG.

Ilya is in Ottawa, Shane is recently out to Hayden

<3

Ilya Rozanov had overcome a lot of things. Pain was tied to his name. It was under his skin and in his nails. There was an ache in his chest that had settled so long ago he forgot what it felt like before. It seemed to be coating the walls of his ribs. He fought very hard and for very long to have every piece of what he had today. Nothing, it seemed, was freely given.

But none of it, not his isolated past nor his tumultuous present, could prepare him for today. He was at Hayden Pike’s house for dinner. Again.

When Ilya found out the Centaurs were playing and afternoon game in Montreal, this was not what he’d had in mind for their evening. Ilya had pictured Shane’s nice leather couch and his expensive bedsheets and maybe his office desk if he could coax him into it. All of those things were at Shane’s house. None of them were here. Their relationship was constrained, tucked away in small, private moments and peppered across the year. Ilya had one wild and precious life, and he only got to experience it with Shane a fraction of the time. But sure, they could spend one of their few evenings with his sworn nemesis.

But Shane thought it could be fun. That had actually been what he’d said. This could be fun. Shane didn’t say many things would be fun. The list was small and dull and if Ilya thought for too long about it it actually made him a little sad. And due to that weakness, and the aforementioned preciousness of their time together, he folded embarrassingly quickly. He wanted Shane to have fun. And he wanted to watch Shane have fun.

That, and Hayden Pike had some frustratingly wonderful kids. They were completely perfect, likely thanks to their mother.

So Ilya said he would go. And he promised to be good while he was there, with the stipulation that he would complain all the way there and all the way back.

Annoyingly, dinner had been fairly lovely. Jackie had cooked an incredible meal, and Ilya made sure to point out several times his shock that Hayden hadn’t seemed to contribute at all. After the meal, Jade and Ruby performed their latest dance routine for their adoring crowd of adults. Shane offered to read to Arthur while Jackie and Hayden put Amber down. Ilya lingered in Arthur’s room for a while. He liked watching Shane with the kids. He did goofy voices and sounded out the bigger words syllable by syllable in the way some article had said was good for their development and comprehension. It all made Ilya’s stomach swoop. He’d be such a good dad. Someday.

Sometime after Arthur’s second book but before the third, Ilya ducked out. The dishes had been discarded, and the last thing he wanted to do was leave Jackie with a messy kitchen. To his surprise and chagrin, it seemed that someone had beat him to it.

Hayden was standing at the sink, scrubbing a frying pan. The prick.

“Are Shane and Arthur still reading?” Hayden asked, looking up.

“Yes.” Ilya said. He was idling in the kitchen, unsure of how to mount his escape.

“I don’t think he knows he can say no to another book.” Hayden laughed, lightly.

“I don’t think he does.” Ilya said, smiling softly, despite himself.

This was a successful interaction. He’d done it. And now he could tell Shane that he’d been so very kind, so wonderful to his annoying friend.

“Well-” Ilya started, signaling he was going to go. Hayden had done most of the dishes, it seemed, and they didn’t need keep doing this.

“Actually, can I ask you something?” Hayden said, at the same time.

“It depends.”

Hayden didn’t bristle. He kept eyeing the hallway, which led to the stairs up to the kids’ rooms. The dish rag in his hand had become rung out and misshapen under his grasp. He was nervous. This was interesting.

“Can we step outside?” He asked, quietly.

“Sure.” Ilya shrugged.

He should’ve just turned around and gone back upstairs, but now he was curious. Ilya followed Hayden out onto the small patio. The entire yard was littered with toys, bikes and a small slide. Ilya moved an action figure off of his seat, and placed it gently on the table. There was chalk at their feet, drawings of the girls and animals and a character from a movie they’d told him about at dinner. Everything was brightly colored and chaotic and unequivocally for them. For the kids. Ilya’s heart ached, the way he came to associate with the Pike’s house. It was something he’d never had, and didn’t realize he’d wanted. And it was something he wanted, so desperately, to give to someone else now. It was a simultaneous grief and hope, which seemed to cover a lot of his life as of late.

Hayden Pike fidgeted beside him. Ilya leaned back in his chair and wracked his brain for what this could possibly be about. What wasn’t safe for the ears of those in the house. What they had to talk about, at all.

“I guess…” Hayden muttered, “I don’t know why I’m even asking you this. I mean, I do know. But I wouldn’t ask you, if I had another choice. But no one else knows so-”

Okay, this had been interesting for five seconds, now he was bored.

“Just spit it out, Pike.” Ilya groaned.

“How did you know?” Hayden asked. Ilya blinked.

“How did I know what?”

Hayden’s eyes darted to a spot on the table.

“That Shane was…”

Ilya rolled his eyes.

“Gay?” He said, a little louder than he needed to. “You can say it, you know. Saying the word doesn’t make you gay.”

“Shut up, I know that.” Hayden huffed. He faced Ilya now, making pointed eye contact. “How did you know that Shane was gay?”

“Well, he really liked sucking my-”

“Stop.” Hayden put a hand up. “No. I mean, obviously then you knew, but I mean… before that. How did you know that he would be interested in you?”

Ilya’s eyes narrowed. This was not what he thought dinner would be like. If anything, when Hayden dragged him out here, he thought he’d be trying to convince Ilya to leave Shane - which he’d attempted at least twice in the past. This was different. And Hayden didn’t seem combative or angry, he seemed… sad. Or disappointed, at least. And nervous. Definitely nervous.

“Why are you asking me this?” Ilya asked, carefully, instead.

“Because you’d met him for what? Like a few minutes? You had like two conversations and that was all it took?” Hayden said, slightly exasperated. “I played with him, I lived with him on the road and the whole time he-” he sighed, running a hand over his face. “I missed it.”

Ilya stilled. He could make another joke. He could tell him about the locker room. He could say something that would make him irritated and loosely embarrass Shane, which were two of his favorite activities. But they were sitting among chalk drawings and dolls and tricycles and as much as he wished those things didn’t change how he saw Hayden, they did.

“He was working really hard for it to stay a secret.” Ilya decided, after a moment.

“Not from you.” Hayden countered. There was no bite behind it. Ilya fought a small smile.

“Well, obviously.” He said, a small twinge of pride bubbling in his chest.

Ilya was a bit jealous of Hayden. Not of his skills or his salary or his house, Ilya had him beat in every one of those categories, but of how much he had of Shane. They were on the same team. They roomed together on road trips, even when they didn’t need to. They trained together over the summer. He had his coffee order presaved in his phone (which was just a tea, but still). He hugged him in public. He told him he loved him without fear of prying eyes. Ilya had known him longer, technically, but Hayden had had more time. He knew him. Not better than Ilya knew him, but he knew him. He knew his quirks and his routines. He was his best friend.

And it was different. Ilya knew it was different. What he and Shane had was more. They were in love. But Hayden loved Shane. And he got to show it all the fucking time.

But Hayden had missed it. There was no way around that. His face had twisted into a sort of concerned shame Ilya was frustratingly familiar with. Hayden loved Shane, and so Hayden knew how important this all was.

Ilya leaned back in his chair.

“I don’t know exactly how I knew. I had a feeling, I guess.” He confessed. Ilya closed his eyes for a moment, returning to those first moments together. “I didn’t know for sure, when we met. I thought that he was cute and awkward. And I knew I wanted to see him again.”

The words spilled out of Ilya. His voice was coated in a sickly sweet nostalgia. When he saw photos of those early years, he was always struck by how young they both looked.

“And then when we finally did see each other… I don’t know.” Ilya sighed, wistfully. “Also, I could tell he thought I was hot.”

“So it’s because he noticed you.” Hayden said. Ilya resisted the urge to groan. Of course he’d skipped over half of what he said. He was dangerously imperceptive for a professional hockey player.

“Partially.” Ilya said, instead. He picked up the action figure and moved it between his hands, absentmindedly. “There was just… attraction. It was simple.” He surmised. “Also he’s just obviously very gay.”

“What does that mean?”

Ilya turned to Hayden, somewhat incredulous.

“He just is.”

“But how did you know?” Hayden pressed. Ilya chewed on the inside of his cheek.

“It’s not like that. There’s not one thing or one way to tell.” Ilya explained. He felt like he was talking to a child. A child who had never met a human person in their entire life. “I just pay attention.”

Hayden nodded, slowly.

“So you have a good gaydar, then." Hayden’s knee was still bobbing up and down, nervously. 

“Who taught you that word?” Ilya laughed out loud. 

"I don't know, the internet?" Hayden huffed. 

"The internet?" Ilya raised an eyebrow. 

"Shut up." Hayden scoffed. “So… did you know about Scott Hunter-”

“No.” Ilya bristled. “Enough about him.” 

“I said one thing.” Hayden argued.

“One thing is too many things.”

In hindsight, Ilya thinks he probably did know about Scott. Or at least, if he’d thought it was a possibility, he would’ve thought about it. Hunter definitely knows about him now, though. They hadn’t talked about it, not really, and Ilya didn’t need to. They were just closer now. Not quite friends, but something. Their mutual understanding had bred an unspoken and begrudging respect between them. But Pike was barely wrapping his mind around Shane, so he didn’t seem ready for the entire intricate and complex world of gay hockey players.

“He’s like a pretty big deal.” Hayden said.

“I’m a pretty big deal.” 

Hayden made a noise that sounded like whatever under his breath. Ilya fiddled with the action figure.

“Jackie said she had a feeling. About Shane.” Hayden said, after a while. “And you had a feeling. And Shane said his parents had a feeling-”

“They’re his parents.” Ilya said, quickly. “That’s different.”

“But I missed it.” Hayden’s voice cracked. He sunk back into his chair like it was dragging him down. 

Ilya set down the toy. He didn’t want Hayden to cry, certainly not about something like this. It touched him, though, that he would. That Shane had someone in his life, a friend, who loved him so deeply that he would cry over not realizing he was gay. This was the thing they shared. They loved Shane. They knew he was special. That he was incredible. And that he spent a lot of his time very, very afraid.

Ilya sat up in his seat.

“It’s not really that kind of thing. At least I don’t think so.” He started. “I think that realizing something doesn’t count as much as the person being comfortable enough to share it with you.”

“I should’ve done more to make him feel comfortable.” Hayden lamented.

“That’s probably true.” Ilya sighed. “But after me… you’re the first person he told.”

“He told other people first.”

“No.” Ilya shook his head. “Other people found out. You’re the first person he decided to tell. About himself. About me.”

Hayden’s eyes widened.

“I didn’t… I didn’t think about that.” He said, slowly.

“Well, you don’t think.” Ilya said. It was right there.

“Alright.” Hayden clipped.

“Even if I don’t see whatever he sees in you.” Ilya started. He put a careful hand on Hayden’s shoulder, which seemed to be equally strange and nice for them both. “You made him feel safe enough to tell you."

“Safe enough.” Hayden echoed. "That's not a lot."

“It’s not.” Ilya squeezed his shoulder, and then let it go. “But it’s something.”

Hayden nodded. It seemed like he wanted to say more, to push back, but he held his tongue. He seemed slightly more assured, slightly less shaken than he had before. Ilya, surprising himself, hoped he was.

Before either could say more, the door slid open. Both men jumped, slightly, at the sound. For being outside a house full of kids, the last ten minutes or so had been relatively silent.

Ilya knew it was Shane before turning around. There was something about the way he moved that had become familiar over the years. From his body language, Ilya realized Hayden probably knew that too.

“Hi.” Shane said, eyeing them both cautiously.

“Hey, bud.” Hayden coughed. He’d wiped his face, but was doing an awful job at looking composed.

Ilya reached out a hand, and pulled his boyfriend to his side. Shane squeezed his hand, and placed the other on the top of Ilya’s chair.

“What are you two doing out here?” 

Hayden gave Ilya somewhat of a pleading look. He seemed panicked, as though Ilya was going to spill every detail of his guilt onto Shane. 

Ilya tugged Shane a little closer, running a hand over his arm.

“Cromwell called and told Hayden he has to quit hockey. He’s too terrible.” Ilya said, mock-seriously. “I was offering to train him. Re-teach him the basics. With my leadership he could really be something someday.”

“What the fuck is your problem?” Hayden hissed.

And in two seconds, everything was back to normal. And in about fifteen seconds, Ilya would be free to leave, and he'd get to bother Shane the entire car ride home.