Rating:

General Audiences

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:

M/M

Fandoms:

Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types

Relationships:

Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, David Hollander & Shane Hollander & Yuna Hollander

Characters:

David Hollander, Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Yuna Hollander, Rose Landry, Zane Boodram, Original Characters

Additional Tags:

Shane Hollander Loves Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander, Coming Out, Good Friend Rose Landry, POV Alternating, POV Outsider, Good Parent David Hollander, David Hollander Finds Out About Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Fuck AI, ai was no where near this, all mistakes are the author's not ai, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Language:

English

Stats:

Published: 2026-03-26 Updated: 2026-03-31 Words: 3,275 Chapters: 3/4

Outside Observations

Summary

Various observations through the years as people realize just what Shane and Ilya mean together in a world where they weren't publicly outted by Brad.

Notes

Okay, I have this all written, just need polishing on the later chapters. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: David
Chapter 2: Rose
Chapter 3: OC - Ottawa HR employee
Chapter 4: Zane Boodram

Chapter 1: David

David didn't suspect anything before that day at the cottage. He came over for dishwasher pods and ended up leaving empty handed.

His son was 27, old enough to make his own decisions. Who Shane slept with was his own business. David, quite frankly, did not need to know. He didn't need to know every casual hookup or sex hideaway marathon or one night stand.

David knew that Shane had sex. His little boy had grown into a full adult with what David hoped was a very healthy sex life — hoping in the way that parents hopes: that their son was happy, but not in a way that they actually wanted to think about it.

Anyway, the point stood: that was all Shane's business.

Despite that, David saw his son with Ilya Rozanov through the large glass windows, making out on the back patio. Hands wondered down already wet bodies, water dripped onto the wood beneath them and created a dark circle around the pair.

They must have been in the lake, David thought numbly.

Shane didn't like going into the lake. The ground is too squishy and he didn't like that fish touched you.

David tried to reconcile the facts in front of him. Shane, wet from a lake that he didn't like. Ilya Rozanov, playboy extraordinaire, also wet from the same lake.

It wasn't until Shane slid a hand under the front of Rozanov's shorts that David's brain caught up with what was actually happening right before of his eyes.

David needed to leave. He didn't need -- nor, quite frankly, want -- to watch his son make out with anyone.

It's not the gay thing, obviously. Years later, when Shane and Ilya were out and the public knew most of the story, ignorant co-workers would tell David, "That must have been a shock to find out your son is gay like that. Nightmare dad scenario."

Yes, it was a shock, but not for that reason. David would have had a shock no matter who was touching his only son's ass in that manner. There were just some things a father should not see from his child, and heated pre-sex make-out session topped the list.

Future David would make a point to avoid those co-workers. Some people simply were not worth your time, energy, and peace. David would never stop being proud of his son, who fought for years to possess what he wanted.

The box of pods dropped onto the hard kitchen tile with a damning clang and David made a beeline for the front door. He didn't turn back, and he didn't realize Shane risked getting his hardwood floor wet with lake water to try and chase after him.

—

It wasn't until David saw Shane walk up to his own front door with Ilya Rozanov's hand in his that he truly understood.

This wasn't casual. This wasn't just a vacation sex rump or a summer fling or meaningless summer sex marathon.

Shane, who had never introduced a girlfriend to his parents, knocked on the front door as it opened with a man in tow. A man who's tongue David witnessed in Shane's mouth not even thirty minutes before.

"Is that Ilya Rozanov?" Yuna's hiss cut through David's thoughts. "What the fuck? I thought you said Shane had a partner over?"

Partner. David couldn't out his own son, not even to his wife. And he didn't want to try to explain that Shane's long-time rival was over at his sanctuary that David himself barely went to.

This was Shane's private life, and it seemed like it wouldn't be too private soon enough.

"Let's keep an open mind, Yuna." David took his wife's hand. His wonderful wife, who loved so loud and made plans and schedules for everyone with that love. "I think this is important."

Before Yuna can say anything, Shane voice called out into the house as he opened the door wide. "Hey, its me. Shane."

Written by a human in Ellipsus.

Chapter 2: Rose

Chapter Summary

Rose finding out about Lily

Chapter Notes

Okay this isn't quite Ilya, but Rose finds out that Shane loves someone named "Lily"

Enjoy ^^

Rose noticed it months later, after the break up and following hockey injury.

Rose had a rare day off in Montreal and decided to spend it catching up with her favorite gay ex.

"How's filming?" Shane asked as he refilled their wine glasses.

God, so goddamn slow. "This director is going to make me go insane," Rose groaned. "He wants everything to have four takes, minimum. So we do a scene, they reset, and we do it again. I think we spent the whole day yesterday on a three-minute block."

Shane, bless him, frowned. "That seems not cost efficient?"

"It's not!"

Rose giggled and Shane laughed with her. Maybe she had a little too much wine, but it's not like she had anywhere to be other than this very large and comfortable couch. She wondered where he got a couch like this? She wanted one in her LA home.

There's a hockey game on, like there always was in Shane's apartment. Toronto versus Washington. Neither team were playing great, taking several penalties on both sides and missing easy shots Shane could have done in his sleep.

"They're playing angry," Rose commented as she sipped her white wine.

"Hmm," Shane hummed distracted.

Rose looked over to see Shane not looking at the game. Instead, his eyes were locked onto his phone. She could barely make out the contact name 'Lily' at the top of the screen

He was blushing pink.

"Shannnne?" Rose's lips curled slowly into a smile. "Have you been holding out on me?"

Shane immediately placed his phone face down on his lap, looking guilty. "No. It was, uh, Hayden."

Liar. He could never be smooth when he lies. "Oh yeah? So you have a crush on your best friend?"

"What? No!"

"Shane, I have never seen that expression on your face, and I dated you." She dug her elbow into his ribs before she shook her head. "You don't have to tell me, but I'm here if you want."

Shane's phone buzzed against his lap, but he didn't look at it. "Uh… It's not like that."

"Oh?" Rose tried to keep her voice casual. She knew how skiddish Shane tended to be, but she also knew that he desperately needed to be pushed outside of his comfort zone sometimes. "What is it like then?" Rose asked as innocently as she could.

Shane's face went perfectly blank. Rose knew this look. She understood he probably felt uncomfortable, but not overwhelmingly so. Not yet. She stayed quiet and allowed him time to come up with what he wanted to say on his own.

"It's a friend," Shane said slowly.

"A girl?" Lily. Though, anyone's name could be anything on a phone. Shane's contact name was 'Metro Man' with just the right amount of blue hearts.

"No."

Damn, Shane sounded wrecked. His eyes filled with tears that won't drop. Not yet.

"So, a guy. That's good." Rose tried to put as much encouragement as she can into the words. "Is it serious?"

Shane's throat bobbed. "Yes," he admitted. "I-I… I love him."

Rose's eyes widened, just a little. Okay, that was more than Rose thought. Love. He's already at the love stage.

"It's serious serious." Rose smiled and reached out to rub Shane's forearm. "I'm happy for you, Shane. You're a good guy. You deserve to have something good."

Shane looked up at the ceiling in that way he does when the tears wouldn't be held back anymore. "Yeah. Uh, excuse me."

Shane fled the room and locked himself in the bathroom. Rose refilled her wineglass again and leaned back into the infuriatingly great couch (seriously, why wasn't hers this comfortable?!). She would give Shane a few minutes before making sure he wasn't trying to drown himself in the sink.

As she relaxed, Shane's phone lit up in the corner of her eye. He must have left it behind in his rush.

Rose shouldn't, she knew this, but she has had a lot of wine and she's only human. She picked up the phone and pressed the power button. She didn't know the passcode, but the previews were still available.

Lily: Toronto cannot do penalty kill. They will lose

Lily: Like you will tomorrow

Lily: I want you on your knees after you get shut out

Lily: Maybe if your good I will let you come

Lily: Maybe not. I know you love to beg for it

Rose's cheeks went pink as she read through the semi-flirty slash very sexual messages. On Shane's phone. Shane, the man who blushed deep red when she asked to suck him off after their fifth date.

Shit, that is more intense than she was expecting.

Lily was a hockey fan. Of course. She didn't think Shane would be able to date someone who didn't share his main passion. But Lily was watching the same game they were and texting — sexting— Shane about it. Right beside her.

Go Shane.

Rose set the phone back where it was before and smiled over her wineglass.

Whoever Lily was, he must be a special guy to have Shane. She just hoped she'd get to meet him someday.

Written by a human in Ellipsus.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed! I will be back with an OC outside perspective -- the Ottata's HR guy and what he observed when he onboarded Shane Hollander to the Centaurs.

Thanks for reading! I have other HR fics if you want them in the meantime! ^^

Chapter 3: Greg

Chapter Notes

HERE WE ARE!! This was the POV that started this entire thing! I wrote this first (edited last oops) then decided I needed more POVs.

This is a universe where Shane and Ilya didn't get horribly outted online. Shane still told his teammates about his sexuality, but no one is explicitly out.

Some of this is a little unrealistic with the HR (human resources, not Heated Rivalry) stuff, but it's fiction so suspend your disbelief a little haha ^^

Enjoy!

The Ottawa Centaurs system was grossly outdated. Greg came to accept this fact four years ago during his second year working for the hockey team's HR department.

Instead of having automated systems or online forms, all player info was written down on hard paper forms by the players, then input into the system by, lucky him, Greg. At the beginning, he would type on his keyboard while silently cursing useless protocols and busywork. But it's not often they get new employees thanks to the high retention rate the Centaurs have.

Greg attributed this low turnover rate 100% to the environment the owners, managers, and other employees worked to foster and thrive. The work environment was good; it was uplifting in a way many other workplaces failed.

Besides, their empty rafters of zero Stanley Cups certainly wasn't keeping anyone around.

The last people Greg had to onboard were Troy Barrett, Jessica Clemens in marketing, and Ilya Rozanov. Three people in a year wasn't bad by any means; Greg could barely complain about antiquated technology at that point.

Today would be the fourth person he's gathered confidential information from this year: Shane Hollander.

"I need your full name, address, SIN number, and direct deposit information," Greg explained, bored. Maybe I can do pasta primavera tonight. Alice would like that, he thought. He always got hungry the last hour of his shift and thoughts of food clouded his mind.

He's so distracted about what ingredients he needed to pick up on the way home, Greg didn't notice Shane Hollander's hesitation until the hockey player asked, "Uh, on paper, sir?"

Greg blinked and sat up. Right, work. It wasn't five o'clock yet. "Everything is confidential. I'll manually input it into the system then shred the copy in your hands now." Shane still had a small frown on his face, so Greg added, "Mr. Hollander, I will be the only person to see this paper and I have signed three different NDAs just to work in this department. The staff information is encrypted and only a select few people can access it, all of whom have the same NDAs on file. Did Montreal not do this?"

"They did when I first started nine years ago," Shane admitted. "I think they give new players a tablet to fill out an online form now?"

Ah, if only, Greg thought. Of course Montreal automated their stuff. It's 2021 for fuck's sake. "We're still semi-old school, unfortunately. But I take privacy seriously, Mr. Hollander."

Once the personal information form was completed, Greg slid over the emergency contact sheet as well. It took less than ten minutes and Shane hopefully doesn't need to step inside the HR office of the Ottawa Centaurs again.

"That's all I needed, Mr. Hollander. Thank y-" Greg happens to catch the names on the emergency contact form and his brain short circuits.

Yuna Hollander was written on the first line. Yes, Hollander's mom and manager, of course. That made sense. David Hollander was listed second, which also makes sense. Greg assumed that's his dad.

The forth line read Hayden Pike, a player for Montreal — which was as far as Greg's hockey knowledge goes. He always rooted for Ottawa, but he's not obsessed with the sport like most people here. But even a former teammate made sense: they've probably known each other for years and built a brothership.

It's the third line that created a short in Greg's brain: Ilya Rozanov. Even Greg with his low hockey IQ knew about the rivalry between these two players, the years of bad blood and animosity. Why would Shane Hollander list Ilya Rozanov, long time enemy and new captain, as an emergency contact?

Shane obviously noticed Greg's expression. "Oh, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck as his ears went a bit pink, "most guys in Montreal do this thing where we put a teammate as a contact? You know, in case we get injured across country borders and other contacts have trouble getting on a flight. I don't know anyone else, so Rozanov is it."

Greg frowned. He doesn't know the guy, but he could swear everything that just came out of Shane Hollander's mouth was a lie. But why lie?

Why would he put Ilya Rozanov as an emergency contact?

It took two seconds for Greg's professionalism to kick in and for him to force his face blank. "It is none of my business. Thank you for the forms. If you ever need anything, our office is always open."

 Once Shane leaves his office, Greg got to work transcribing all the information into their overly complicated and antiquated system.

"Yes, yes, confirm. God, why is this so slow," he grumbled to himself as he clicked through the forms. He flipped the page in front of him and froze as his eyes caught the address.

1576 Eucalyptus St

Ottawa, ON K1M 5T2

Why did that address seem so familiar to him? K1M was on the wealthier side of town, where the houses are more of estates with large yards and high privacy hedges. Obviously, Shane Hollander (AKA Golden Boy of Canada as Greg's co-workers have said) could afford a house in that neighborhood. Greg certainly wasn't wealthy enough for it, nor did he know anyone who did.

With a confused frown, Greg typed the address into the given box and hit enter.

Address already found in database. Confirm duplicate address?

[Yes] [No]

Greg stared at the screen as if a magic fairy would pop out and explain why the hell they already had Shane Hollander's address. How would the Ottawa Centaurs have that information already?

Greg opened a new tab and clicked through Centaur personnel with a growing suspicion. That address was familiar, he knew it. Only so many people who worked here that could afford such an expensive neighborhood.

Greg's cursor hovered over Ilya Rozanov's employee file for a second before clicking his mouse.

Ilya Rozanov

Address: 1576 Eucalyptus St

Ottawa, ON K1M 5T2

The exact same address. Why on earth would Shane Hollander have the same address as Ilya Rozanov?

Greg clicked back to Shane's profile and slowly continued to complete the on-boarding process. His mind raced too much for him to truly focus on what he typed anymore.

Shane Hollander was living in Ilya Rozanov's house?

Okay, okay, Greg thought. There's a reasonable reason that this makes complete sense.

Possible reason #1: Ilya Rozanov offered to billet Shane Hollander until he found his own house.

Possible reason #2: Shane Hollander rented a room from Ilya Rozanov until he found a place to rent or buy.

Possible Reason #3: Ilya Rozanov sold his house to Shane Hollander.

Wait, that made sense! Ilya Rozanov, in that huge house? He probably wanted to sell it to move to Westboro or some other upcoming art district. Rozanov wanted to sell and a new teammate comes along: boom! Perfect solution.

As Greg shredded the paper copy of Shane Hollander's forms, he considered sending a new address form for Rozanov to fill out.

But the clock read six till five o'clock and pasta primavera held most of Greg's attention now that the mystery of Hollander's address was figured out. Emails requesting updated information could wait.

Greg shut his computer down and grabbed his sports jacket off the back of his chair. If he hurried at the supermarket, he could get dinner finished before six o'clock.

—

"How was work honey?"

Alice kissed Greg's cheek as she set her purse on the kitchen counter. She worked in the front office of University of Ottawa and tended to get stuck on more traffic than Greg. Thankfully, the supermarket trip didn't take long, so he's just finished dinner when she walked in.

"Oh, you know the Centaurs." Greg plated up Alice's dinner and set it on their kitchen table. "I onboarded Shane Hollander today."

"Oh, thank God we have him now, oui?" As much as a fan Greg wasn't, Alice very much was. She gratefully took every ticket Greg managed to get from work, which was a lot. "What's he like?"

The image of Ilya Rozanov flashed in his mind for some reason. Something about that situation still seemed… off? "Quiet. Polite, I guess. Called me 'sir.'"

Alice laughed as she sat at the table beside Greg, same as they've done everyday for the last four years. "You sure he's a hockey player?"

Greg laughed and dug into his food. They passed commentary about their individual days as the meal progressed. One of the professors at the university left for maternity leave, but didn't fill out any paperwork. One of Greg's coworkers brought in donuts in Centaur colors.

Domesticity. Greg smiled at his wife, glad to have found someone to share the boring parts of his day with.

In fact, he stared at Alice for so long that he thought he misheard her question.

"Are the rumors true?"

Greg straightened in his chair and shook his head. "Eh… What rumors?"

Alice swirled her wine glass. She has a conspiratorial smile that she always wore when she wanted gossip. "That he's gay? Shane Hollander."

"Shane Hollander?" Greg barked a laugh. "There's rumors that a Canadian hockey player who is famous enough that I know who he is, is gay?"

Alice's gossip-hungry smile grew. "So, I heard from Francois, who heard from Debra, who heard from one of her friends who happens to work at the Montreal Metros that the reason Hollander didn't resign with Montreal is that management wasn't happy he was gay."

Greg shook his head and started to gather their empty plates. Gossip ran like crazy in these cold climates, even ones so insubstantial as this. Shane Hollander couldn't possibly be…

Greg froze — just for a second — as things clicked into place. The emergency contact. The address. Hollander's general awkwardness and lies about the paperwork.

Gay.

That's one explanation for things. And definitely fell into several clauses of his NDAs.

"Besides," Greg tried to sound casual, "as long as he doesn't end up in the HR office, it doesn't concern me. You know how I am, Alice."

"Do I ever." Alice gently shoved his shoulder. "Go start up Yellowstone and I'll do the dishes. And don't even think about taking my blue blanket."

Greg kissed his wife with a quiet, "Yes, ma'am," and left to follow his orders.

Uh, Shane Hollander. Gay.

Well… at least he didn't have to email Rozanov in the morning.

Written by a human in Ellipsus.

Chapter End Notes

I hope you enjoyed! I will be visiting family this next week, so I will not update the next chapter until I get back. It's mostly written, just needs edited and fleshed out in a few bits.

Drink some water ^^ Thank you for reading!