Summary:

Today something is different. Ilya feels off balance at morning skate. He wobbles, but he doesn’t fall, because Shane is there, his hands on Ilya’s waist, holding fistfuls of his jersey, his legs spread wide to brace Ilya on the ice. Ilya almost breaks the rules. Almost lies. But Shane just looks at him, worried even though he doesn’t want to say so, and Ilya can’t. “Something is wrong,” he says. “Okay,” Shane nods. “Let’s figure it out.”