Summary:

“Why are you calling me, Hollander?” Ilya asks more harshly than he means to. But he’s tired, and impatient, and strung out on a mixture of emotions and longing for the voice on the other end of the phone. “If nothing is wrong, why are you calling?”

“Will you come?” Shane asks, and Ilya’s heart sinks before he can even say the rest of it. He shouldn’t have asked. He should have just let Shane ramble. “To…to the wedding?”

The lump in his throat feels insurmountable. But he manages to say, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Shane doesn’t acknowledge it. “I invited alllll these people, but the only one I actually care if they come or not is you.” He stops and giggles. “Isn’t that weird?”

“Yes,” Ilya replies, because it is. You shouldn’t want your years-long situationship at your wedding. He doesn’t want the drunken musings of Shane Hollander to give him hope.

_________

Or Shane gets engaged. Ilya gets a phone call. Everything breaks. But sometimes breaking is what finally makes room for the truth.