Work Text:
May 2017
To Lily: Hey, Lily, it’s Hayden, Shane’s friend. My wife and I are hosting a dinner at our place to celebrate his birthday, and we’d like to extend the invitation to you.
From Lily: Does Shane know you’re messaging me? He’s going to be pissed, Pike.
To Lily: I know you guys are super private and that you live in another country; it was a courtesy invitation. I just thought it would be polite to invite his girl.
Sometimes Hayden wondered who felt the need to hide this relationship more—his friend or this "Lily." Was it even possible for a woman to be ashamed of dating the best hockey player in the league? Possibly the planet?
"This woman seems unbearable. Look at how she answered me," he complained to his wife, showing her the brief exchange.
"She isn’t wrong, honey. Shane is going to be furious with you. I already had to beg him to let me host this dinner."
"I know she’s not wrong, but I don’t know... she gives off a weird energy. Do you think she’s embarrassed of Shane?"
"Babe, I love you, you know that, right?" Jackie asked. He nodded, because Hayden never doubted his wife’s love. "You have to understand that it’s easy for me to be your wife. You’re well-known, some fans know my name and the kids', and it ends there. No woman dating Shane is going to have the luxury of a normal life. He’s a real celebrity—a brand. He does TV shows; he has ads in Times Square. Lily has the right to not want that life, even if she loves him."
He was about to respond with some weak argument, but his phone vibrated. A new message from Lily.
From Lily: Send me your address. I’m going to send a gift for you to give him.
"She said she’s sending a gift," Hayden told his wife.
"Be kind. Respect their space. If a gift is all she’s willing to give, that’s fine."
He sighed and sent his address to the woman, having no idea what she might send or why she wouldn't just ship it directly to Shane’s apartment.
Everything made sense at 5:00 PM on the day of the dinner. He was helping Jackie set the table for five adults and two rambunctious children who weren't allowed near anything glass. Arthur was napping and likely wouldn't wake up to greet the guests.
That is, until the doorbell rang.
Shane never rang the doorbell; he always knocked because he knew it was less likely to wake any child giving their parents a moment of peace.
"It must be Lily’s gift. She said she’d send it and nothing has arrived yet," Jackie said. "Go get it before Arthur wakes up."
Hayden hurried to the door and came face-to-face with a small truck parked in his driveway and a tiny woman smiling at him.
"Delivery for Shane Hollander?" she asked when he greeted her.
"He hasn’t arrived yet, but this is the place."
"Have you thought about how we should distribute everything? Do you want it out here in the front or inside the house?"
"I’m sorry... but what the hell are you bringing that needs to be 'distributed'?"
"The flowers, of course. Lily said she warned you."
Before Hayden could recover from the shock, the woman whistled, and two men jumped from the back of the truck, unloading dozens... no, hundreds of bouquets of flowers. He wasn't certain, but he guessed they were lilies.
"Okay, I need to check with my wife where to put these... hold on." He rushed inside, not even bothering to close the door behind him. "Babe, Shane has a crazy girlfriend. She sent thousands of flowers to him. I don’t know where we’re going to fit all this."
"Thousands?" Jackie asked, sounding incredulous. Hayden had a reputation for exaggerating, but this time, he wasn't.
He pulled her to the front door and watched her jaw drop. The sidewalk was completely covered in flowers.
"Okay, she’s not normal... We’re going to have to spread these all over the house. My God... I hope he likes them and doesn't have an allergic reaction."
Fortunately, their house had an open-concept design, so there was plenty of room to spread the flowers out without blocking anyone’s path, though some had to end up in the backyard. Ruby and Jade were having the night of their lives surrounded by beautiful flowers, dressed like princesses because "Uncle Shane’s birthday" was a big enough deal to warrant fancy dresses.
Hayden still couldn't believe his eyes as they waited for the guests.
"Babe... I think an entire month of my salary is scattered around this house in the form of lilies that were clearly hand-painted to be Shane’s favorite color. Blue lilies don't exist like this, do they?"
"No, they don't."
"I think I really underestimated Lily. You don't do this for a man you’re ashamed of..."
"Honey, I need to tell you something," Jackie whispered, as if sharing a secret she was afraid the flowers might overhear. "I don't think there are many women who would do this for a man, even if he is Shane Hollander."
"I don't follow."
"Love... I don't think Lily is a woman."
Before Hayden could process how much sense his wife’s words made, his phone buzzed with a notification. From Lily.
From Lily: If possible, I’d like to see his reaction.
"This doesn't seem like a woman who is ashamed to be with her boyfriend," Jackie commented sadly. "This looks like someone who wants to be with him on this day but can't."
Fuck. Hayden had never considered the possibility that Shane wasn't straight, but now that he thought about it, it made sense. Shane wouldn't notice a woman flirting with him if his life depended on it; for God’s sake, Rose Landry was the one who had to make a move and kiss him.
Of course it made sense for Lily to be a man.
Hayden had just been too stupid to realize it before. And now he’d have to pretend he hadn't noticed a thing to keep the birthday dinner pleasant.
He and Jackie had already showered and changed into more appropriate clothes when they heard Shane knocking. Jackie hurried to greet the guests—not for Shane, who was family, but for Mr. and Mrs. Hollander.
"Jackie, dear, you look stunning," Mrs. Hollander said as a greeting.
Before going to greet them himself, Hayden handed his phone to Ruby and asked her to film her Uncle Shane’s reaction to the flowers. The girl got excited and quickly followed her father to the door.
"Uncle Shane!" Jade ducked under her father’s legs and hugged Shane’s knees, eventually ending up in his arms. "Happy birthday!" She offered him a lily she definitely wasn't supposed to have pulled from a bouquet, as her mother had forbidden them from playing with the flowers before the guests arrived.
"A flower for me?" Shane asked, blushing. "A lily? Thank you, princess. It’s my favorite."
Only when he went to set Jade down to greet Hayden did he notice the hallway filled with flowers leading to the rest of the house, which was even more crowded with them. He walked into the house in silence, taking slow steps, his jaw hanging open. Hayden was glad to see Ruby was filming everything with the most innocent face on the planet.
"Lilies..." Shane whispered, likely not intending for Hayden to hear.
"Lily," Hayden said, explaining it all.
"My God, Jackie, did we interrupt some celebration of yours?" Yuna asked. "We could have scheduled this for another day."
"Oh no, the flowers are for Shane."
Yuna turned to ask Shane something but changed her mind and just watched her son, who had tears streaming down his face.
"I... I need to make a call."
And just like that, Shane ran out to the backyard, phone already pressed to his ear.
"Okay, you two need to explain this to me," Yuna said, still watching her son through the French doors.
"Honestly, I don't think we can, Mrs. Hollander," Hayden said. "Let’s wait for him at the table, shall we?"
He guided the guests and called Ruby over to get his phone back. The video quality was exactly what you’d expect from a child, but you could see Shane’s face perfectly—the emotion in his eyes, his open mouth, his shaking hands. Hayden sent the video to Lily immediately, even if she—he—wouldn't see it yet because he was on the phone with Shane.
Shane returned to the table with red eyes and a massive smile, but he didn't give anyone room to question him. He said they needed to eat or it would be too late for the kids to have dessert sugar—as if Jackie and Hayden ever worried about that.
Arthur woke up at some point during dinner, and Shane offered to go get him from his room. Hayden let him, knowing Shane just wanted to be alone for a few minutes.
He came back about five minutes later and sat down with Arthur in his lap. Hayden discreetly took a few photos of the scene and forwarded them to Lily; since she/he couldn't be there, he figured it would make them happy.
"Dears, thank you for this wonderful dinner," Yuna thanked them after dessert. "David and I need to head back to Ottawa tonight, so we’ll be going. Shane, honey, see you next week?"
"Yes, definitely."
"The food was wonderful," Mr. Hollander told Jackie.
The couple left, but Shane stayed in the living room talking about Frozen with the twins while trying to convince them it was bedtime. He ended up having to read two bedtime stories before they finally drifted off.
"Hey, finally managed to escape?" Hayden was sitting on the sofa having a beer. A basketball game was on the TV, though he wasn't sure if it was live because he wasn't paying attention.
"They were full of energy," Shane said with a laugh, sitting down beside Hayden. "I guess you have some questions, right?"
"I have several, but I also don't have the right to ask anything. I didn't stop to think about what might happen when I grabbed Lily’s contact from your phone."
"It’s okay... what you did wasn't right. You invaded my privacy and that’s not cool. Don't do it again... but if you hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten this gift. It was the best gift I’ve ever received in my life. So, ask away. I need to practice for the interview my mom is going to give me next week anyway."
"Lily... is it for real this time? Are you actually together?"
"Yes... no... We’re going to figure that out in the summer. We’re going to spend a few days together at my cottage."
"You are?"
"Supposedly," Shane replied with a shrug.
"Shane... you know I love you, right? That Jackie and I will always support you?" Shane just nodded before hiding his face in his hands. "Does Lily make you happy?"
"Very. But the rest... the circumstances aren't easy."
"Because she’s actually a man?"
Silence reigned for a few minutes. Hayden wrapped his arms around Shane when he noticed him starting to shake. He whispered words of support, making it clear he was still there for his friend, no matter the circumstances.
"You don't understand... you’re going to hate me."
"Why? Shane, I’m not homophobic, man. Of course I won't hate you."
"Lily... you know him. You hate him. And I... I don't think I’ll ever be able to love anyone else but him, Hayd. I don't want to love anyone else."
Hayden had never really thought about the people he truly hated. He had to think hard to come up with a list of men he hated who would be accessible for Shane to date. The list had exactly one person on it.
"Rozanov... He’s the only guy I hate who lives in Boston... Lily is Ilya Rozanov?"
He didn't think it was possible for Shane to cry harder, but he did.
"Shane, Shane... breathe."
But Shane wasn't breathing, nor was he responding to his name. He seemed to have left his own body. It was a panic attack. Hayden knew Shane had them occasionally, but he’d never witnessed one.
Hayden did the only sensible thing. He grabbed Shane’s phone from the coffee table, unlocked it, and called Ilya Rozanov.