@hollanovmicrofic / Prompt: Boyfriend (June n° 14) / word count: 1010
hollanov - Shane doesn't know he's dating Ilya
Shane probably should have been suspicious.
In his defense, he didn't exactly have many Russian friends.
He’d considered asking Hayden or Rose if that was normal. He even thought about looking it up online, but the idea seemed so dumb that he gave up before he’d even opened the browser.
In the end, he simply concluded it must be some cultural quirk of Ilya’s.
The thing was: Ilya always kissed him whenever they met up.
It all started on a random day of a random week a few months ago. He was standing there, fiddling with his phone and waiting for Ilya to arrive, when he was taken by surprise by a kiss. It was a quick, wet kiss that left him speechless.
Shane thought about asking, but simply didn't know how to bring it up. So, when Ilya said goodbye with another identical kiss, he just assumed it might be a habit.
After that, it became routine. Nothing over the top—even when they took a few rather suspicious seconds to pull away.
Shane had heard about how people in other cultures greeted each other differently, so in his mind, Ilya was just showing that they were like really best friends now.
Soon, the kisses turned into more affectionate gestures. Ilya would walk past him and absentmindedly ruffle his hair on his way to another room. At other times, he would sit next to him on the couch and pull him into a hug without warning. Recently, after Shane was nearly hit by a bicycle, Ilya had also started holding his hand whenever they went out together.
At first, it made him a bit weird, but over time, he got used to it.
Shane even stopped thinking about it, accepting it when Ilya pulled him close or gave him a casual kiss on the forehead.
It was simply Ilya being Ilya.
So, when Ilya arrived at Shane’s place to watch the game between Montreal and Boston, Shane didn’t find it strange when he leaned over the back of the sofa, gently caressed his face, and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
It was only when Ilya stepped away that Shane remembered Hayden was sitting right in front of him, staring at him open-mouthed. As soon as he heard the door close, Hayden leaned forward.
"When were you going to tell me that you two are dating?" Hayden asked, unable to hold back.
Shane looked at Hayden confused, but soon turned his attention back to the screen.
Because, in fact, they weren't.
His gaze shifted from Shane to the hallway door where Ilya had disappeared, and then back to Shane—almost as if he were mentally replaying the events of the last thirty seconds to make sure he hadn't imagined it all.
"You guys… kissed." Hayden spoke slowly, looking at Shane as if he were crazy.
Maybe Hayden was jealous of their friendship?
"It's cultural," Shane replied, shrugging.
"What's cultural?" Ilya asked.
He had just returned to the living room wearing one of Shane’s shirts. He sat down next to Shane, his arm slid around Shane’s waist, pulling him closer and without realizing it, Shane leaned against his chest.
He didn’t see anything wrong with it.
"I was asking Shane when you guys started dating."
Ilya let out a thoughtful grunt.
His thumb traced absentminded patterns along Shane’s waist while he rested his chin on the top of Shane’s head, as if genuinely trying to recall.
"I don't know... Two months ago. Maybe three. Why?"
Hayden was momentarily speechless.
His gaze darted back and forth between Shane’s and Ilya’s faces as he watched panic slowly creep into Shane’s expression.
At first, Shane only looked confused, his eyebrows scrunched together as he stared at Ilya. Then, little by little, the color began to drain from his face as his brain seemed to catch up with the conversation. His eyes flicked down to the arm still wrapped around his waist before jumping back to Ilya’s face, and Hayden could practically see him mentally sorting through months of memories.
Shane felt his brain simply freeze.
"We are dating?" As the words left his lips, a strange sensation began to spread through his chest.
Ilya was simply watching him with a puzzled expression, like someone who clearly didn't understand what the issue was.
"So, guys... I think that’s my cue," Hayden announced, already leaning over to grab his keys from the table. He put on his coat in record time and practically fled the awkward situation.
“Is this a joke?” Ilya asked. He was still smiling, but the smile gradually faded as he realized Shane might actually be serious.
It started to make sense.
A very alarming kind of sense.
“Three months ago, I invited you to my place for dinner. I told you I liked you, and you said I like you too. We kissed, and I just assumed that...”.
“I thought you were saying you liked me as a friend!”
Ilya went completely still.
For a few minutes, Shane thought he’d blown it.
He’d lost a friendship. That was it.
He and Ilya could never be friends again.
Then, Ilya’s lips began to curve upward until a laugh escaped his throat. He doubled over, resting a hand against his face as he tried to catch his breath, but that only seemed to make him laugh harder.
“Stop it,” Shane complained.
“It’s kind of funny,” Ilya said between chuckles, clearly amused by the situation. “So... we’re dating now, right?” he added a moment later, as if it were the most natural conclusion in the world.
Shane let out a long sigh and ran a hand over his face.
That made Ilya stop laughing immediately. The amusement vanished from his expression almost instantly, giving way to something warmer and softer as he looked at Shane.
And then, without a moment’s hesitation, he leaned in and kissed Shane.
Because, apparently, that’s what boyfriends did.
Note: just a random story—I'm not even sure if it makes sense, but it seemed funny in my head. Thanks to @ for proofreading the English!
