Summary:

College AU. They say you should ring in New Year's Eve with who you want to spend the rest of the year beside. Shane is trying to make peace with the likelihood he’s going to spend it alone…until a knock in the middle of the night changes everything again. OR: a Hollanov one-shot where Shane gets into multiple law schools; Ilya gets into vet school somewhere else and is too scared to ask for what he wants; and months later, he admits he fucked up. Even in a foreign place, surrounded by the detritus of Shane's unfulfilling life, Ilya still fucking fits. Throat closing up, Shane leans his head against the door to look at the ceiling. If he can keep his eyes off Ilya for a bit, maybe he can dredge up old anger and let it fuel him into turning Ilya away. That's what everyone would encourage him to do. Everyone would say he shouldn't… "I'm sorry is so late." …that he shouldn't be drawn to look back at Ilya. That he shouldn't be affected by the hesitation in Ilya's voice, or his hands balling at his sides, or his light eyes shining under the moonlight streaming through the cracked blinds. That he shouldn't have already let Ilya in.