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ashmackwillty

Mar 3

saltforthesea

What's Your Love Language?

Title: What's your Love Language?

Fandom: Heated Rivalry

Pairing: Shane Hollander x Ilya Rozanov

Language: English

Warnings: post canon (The Long Game), mature content but mostly fluff

Words: 5,8k

Link to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79666801

Summary: Harris makes the Centaurs' film a TikTok for Valentine's Day where the players have to talk about their love language. Both Shane and Ilya don't really understand the concept behind it. How can there be only five different love languages when they love each other a thousand different ways?

“My love language is Russian, right?”

“What?” Shane raised his head to get a better look at Ilya. “What are you talking about?”

“The first time I told you that I love you was in Russian,” Ilya explained. “But I also say it in English. So I have two love languages?”

A/N: With ao3 being down again I decided to share my latest Hollanov Fic with y'all on here! It's a Valentine's Day Fanfic! Hope you enjoy <3

February, 2022

“Hey just a heads up, Harris is planning some kind of Valentine's Day special for our social media accounts,” Troy said as he sat down next to Shane in Ilya's stall in their locker room.

“Oh god, not again,” Shane stopped putting on his skates and looked up at Troy. He looked like he was going through various embarrassing memories of the many TikTok dances Harris had made the team do in the past. Troy wouldn't call them embarrassing though because he knew Harris had loved the outcome.

Just last week they filmed a TikTok to a song from 2013 and Shane had complained the entire time that he didn't understand why everyone was suddenly so nostalgic about the early 2010's. Ilya had agreed.

Troy still didn't know the whole timeline of Hollander's and Rozanov's relationship and had been wondering ever since that conversation about early 2010 nostalgia what exactly had been going on between those two back then. At the same time he wasn't even sure if he really wanted to know that so he just grinned at Shane.

“He didn't tell me what it’s going to be but you can expect something, uhh, romantic because it will definitely be Valentine's Day themed.”

“As long as he doesn't make us skate around with a single rose between our teeth I am fine with everything,” their goalie, Wyatt Hayes, joked and was immediately hit against his chest by Evan Dykstra's water bottle.

“Don't let Drover hear this, Hazy!”

Wyatt laughed and hurled the bottle back at Dykstra. Troy was about to defend Harris (he only had great ideas for social media!) when a loud “Barrett!” coming from behind startled him and made him jump out of his captain's changing spot.

He quickly turned around to see said captain standing in the middle of the locker room, arms crossed in front of his bare chest - the bear tattoo on full display. Ilya only had a towel wrapped around his hips and there were a few drops of water running down his torso - not that Troy was noticing that. Or was staring at Ilya's chest.

Not at all.

“Are you flirting with my husband?” Ilya demanded to know, a mocking grin on his lips. Troy felt his cheeks turn a dark shade of pink and quickly looked back at Shane who was only rolling his eyes at his husband.

“You're just sad no one's flirting with you” Troy chirped back, knowing damn well his reaction was coming a little too late. But it was simply a little intimidating to be staring at a half naked Ilya Rozanov and come up with a snarky comeback. Ilya knew that he was hot. And he knew how to use that for his advantage.

He was also half naked for fuck’s sake.

“Troy just warned me that Harris is going to shove a camera in our faces today,” Shane explained as Ilya sat down next to him.

Zane Boodram, who was sitting on Shane's other side, groaned in frustration at the same time Ilya said “How fun!”.

“Wait until you find out what it's about,” Troy warned as he walked over to his own dressing spot to continue putting his gear on for today's training unit.

“What is it about?” Luca Haas, who was sitting three stalls away from him, wanted to know and leaned over to get a better look at Troy.

“Valentine's Day,” Shane groaned and the others joined them. Only Ilya seemed to be genuinely excited about that. It didn't surprise Troy though. Ilya Rozanov loved every excuse he got to tell a camera that he was in love with Shane Hollander.

“Let's get it done then, boys,” Ilya clapped his hands together after they'd all gotten dressed.

“Yes, come on let's film Harris’ TikTik.”

“It's TikTok, Shane,” Dykstra corrected him but Shane only rolled his eyes.

“Yeah whatever.”

***

“What am I going to do with tiny duck?” Ilya asked Harris as he placed the tiniest plastic duck into Ilya's gloved hands while simultaneously shoving his smartphone in the captain's face.

“They are good luck ducks for tonight's game!” Harris explained, holding up the plastic bag full of multicoloured ducks for Ilya to see.

Ilya's entire face lit up as a huge grin formed on his lips. “So this is not Valentine's special?”

He watched as Harris’ mouth fell open. “Who told you … Oh! It was Troy. Right?”

“Don't be angry at your man, Harris. Barrett only wanted to warn us.” Ilya took off one of his gloves to get a better hold of the duck. “This is so cute!”

“I'm not angry at him. I just wanted to get authentic answers from … okay whatever. Maybe it's even better if you're prepared. I am glad you like the duck, though.”

Ilya's grin grew even wider as he listened to Harris ramble. “Will still be good TikTok video,” he winked at the social media manager. “You only make the best videos!”

“You only say that because yours get the most views,” Shane appeared behind them, peeking over Ilya's shoulder to get a better look at the ducks Harris was holding in his hands.

“Do I also get one?”

“Of course! Everyone is getting a lucky duck today,” Harris said and shoved the smartphone into Shane's face as he handed him a bright pink duck.

Ilya beamed at that and proceeded to show Shane his own duck. “Look, I also got a pink one!”

“Matchy!” Shane smiled at him as he carefully clinked the ducks’ heads together like they would clink their helmets on the ice after a good game.

“Soulmates indeed! Even in duck form.”

***

“Hey before you all leave,” Harris walked into the locker room after they were done with training. At least ten pairs of eyes were looking at him. Ten pairs of eyes that belonged to half dressed hockey players. It was truly a blessing and a curse to be a gay man working with insanely attractive and equally athletic hockey players.

It had gotten him a boyfriend though. So Harris would never complain about it.

He cleared his throat: “Since Troy already told you about my plans for Valentine's Day…”

“That's not true,” Ilya interrupted him, grinning in Troy's direction. “But you can share your date ideas with us, Harris.”

Harris felt heat creeping up his neck. So much for not wanting to complain about it. But he'd been dealing with Ilya Rozanov for almost four years by now. He was more than used to his teasing, which had somehow intensified when Shade had signed with the Centaurs last year.

The easiest thing was to ignore Ilya. So Harris did that. “I'll be making a video about love languages. So if you happen to not know what that is,” he looked back at Ilya and grinned at him. Two could play this game, Rozanov. “Then you have a few days to check that out.”

Harris didn't wait for the players to give him an answer (they would only complain anyway) and quickly turned to Troy to blow him a kiss, then he was out of the locker room.

He had a lucky duck video to edit after all. And then he would take a few days off since it was time for the yearly All Star Game weekend.

***

“So,” Ilya said as soon as he got out of the shower after cleaning himself up. It was their last night in Vegas after the All Star Game and Ilya was trying to make the most of getting to spend time in a luxurious hotel room with his husband. They didn't always share rooms when they were on the road with the Centaurs, mainly because Shane didn't want to be distracted before important games. Ilya didn't like that but he accepted it - obviously. It also meant that he would either be sharing rooms with Bood or Hazy which always promised to be a fun time.

Ilya looked over to his husband who was still lying in bed, his naked body only barely covered by the white sheets they always used in hotels like this. Ilya was distracted for a second, staring at the perfection that was Shane Hollander. His husband.

He still couldn't believe that Shane was his.

“Hm?” Shane hummed, clearly already half asleep after Ilya had deliciously taken him apart for the past hour. But maybe he was also just exhausted from the game and up for another round of sex. Ilya really hoped that that was the case.

He sat next to Shane on the bed and slowly started to clean him up with the wet cloth Ilya had brought with him from the bathroom before finally getting to the question he'd been wanting to ask Shane ever since the thought had popped up in his head.

“My love language is Russian, right?”

“What?” Shane raised his head to get a better look at Ilya. “What are you talking about?”

“The first time I told you that I love you was in Russian,” Ilya explained. “But I also say it in English. So I have two love languages?”

“Did you look up what it means?” Shane wasn't completely sure what a love language was either, but he was sure that he'd once read that there were five different ones. So it couldn't be a language thing. Maybe they should google it, just in case, so they would not make fools of themselves when Harris was filming his little video with them. Maybe they should -

Suddenly Ilya placed a hot open mouthed kiss right on Shane's collarbone making him forget whatever he was thinking about. Ilya rolled himself on top of him, pressing Shane hard into the mattress.

“Do you not want to know what it means anymore?” Shane asked him breathlessly in between kisses.

“No,” Ilya grinned as he started moving his hips against Shane's, which caused Shane to throw his head back into the hotel pillow. A moan escaped his lips as Ilya finally let his hand reach down their bodies to grab Shane's dick. He was already rock hard again which made Ilya's grin only wider.

He started placing kisses all over Shane's body until his mouth joined his talented hand right where Shane wanted him the most. “Ilya,” he pleaded and arched up into Ilya's touch.

Ilya’s mouth let go of Shane's cock and started concentrating on placing tender kisses on the inside of his thighs. “Maybe this is my love language,” Ilya mused, sucking at the soft flesh of Shane's thighs.

Shane let out a desperate noise, half hiss, half moan. If Ilya didn't stop what he was doing he would be leaving marks on Shane again and these were fucking awkward to hide from their teammates. Their teammates which they were showering with. Who definitely saw him naked.

“Ilya.” His fingers were tugging at the Russian's dark blonde curls and Ilya immediately stopped and went back to pressing soft kisses on his skin instead.

“Sor-ry, got carried away.” He smiled at Shane, his lips curving upwards in an almost shy way. His accent was also more noticeable again which always happened when Ilya was turned on.

“That was fucking hot though,” Shane grinned as he reached for Ilya and pulled him up to him again so their faces were only inches apart. “But we have to save these for the summer break.”

“Noooo, Hollander,” Ilya whined but placed a soft kiss on Shane's lips who returned the kiss eagerly until they were full on making out again.

The conversation about the meaning of love languages was forgotten about.

***

“Happy Valentine's Day to my favorite lovebirds!” Harris grinned at Ilya and Shane who were, alongside Troy, the first on the ice for today's practice.

“Happy Valentine's Day, Harris,” Ilya smiled back and skated over to the Centaurs’ social media manager, embracing him in a quick hug. They hadn't seen each other for a couple of days because of the All Star Weekend and Harris had taken the days off to spend time with his family. Or well, he had tried to take the day off.

“Happy Valentine's Day,” Shane, who was right behind Ilya, gave Harris a nervous look. He was smiling though so Harris didn't think that the nervousness had anything to do with him. Maybe it was still weird for Shane being so … well … openly gay on the ice? They had also caused some highly talked about shenanigans at the All Star Game (it was all Ilya's fault though) and Harris had had his hands full trying to keep the Centaurs’ social media channels up to date.

So much for getting a break.

“Are we filming romantic video now or later?” Ilya wanted to know, eagerly wiggling his eyebrows. He really was the only one who was always down to film these videos with Harris.

“I thought we do it after practice so y'all are all hot and sweaty.”

“Who is hot and sweaty?” Wyatt joined them at the team bench and put his helmet down next to where Shane was sitting. Shane kissed his own glove and pressed it against Hazy's helmet. It was a good luck ritual they had started a couple weeks ago.

“Oh you will be, Hazy,” Ilya who had watched the scene fondly only smirked at the goalkeeper. “Especially when I am done with you today.”

Just at that moment Luca Haas and Nick Chouinard walked out of the tunnel towards the rink. Luca looked horrified at what he'd accidentally heard his captain say to their goalkeeper.

“I meant his goalie practice!” Ilya called out but Luca was already grinning at him. He got on the ice and skated over to the crowd that had gathered around Harris, now that Troy had joined them too.

“Do you want me to help you set up the tripod?” Troy had his arm draped around Harris’ shoulders, he was much taller than Harris when he was wearing his skates and Harris seemed to enjoy being snuggled against his boyfriend.

“No, I was just telling Ilya that I wanted to do it after you are done with the practice. I'll have plenty of time to set it up myself. But thank you.” Harris got up on his toes and placed a quick kiss on Troy's lips.

“Oh shit,” Chouinard suddenly said and Ilya turned around to see that he had a matching horrified expression to the one Luca had been rocking merely seconds ago. “I totally forgot about the video.”

“That's no problem,” Harris told him and gave him an encouraging smile. “It won't even take that long, I promise.”

“That's not, I mean I wasn't worrying about that I just -”

But whatever it was that Chouinard had been wanting to say remained unsaid, as Coach Wiebe approached them at that moment. “Do you guys want a piece of cake with your chatter or are we here to practice?”

“Chocolate, please,” Ilya chirped back and grinned at Wiebe. “You know, since it's Valentine's Day.”

Shane stiffened a bit next to Ilya who was, after all these years under the harsh and short tempered Theriault, still not used to the fact that Coach Wiebe never meant things as seriously as they might sound to bystanders. He was the most approachable and easiest to talk to coach Ilya had ever encountered. He knew that Wiebe was just trying to match their shit talks.

So Ilya always just shit-talked right back at him. But Wiebe wasn't even finished with him.

“I would call you a sweet tooth, Rozanov,” Wiebe stepped next to Ilya on the ice and handed him one of two stacks of cones they used for their slalom training. “But I know at least half of your teeth are fake so,” the coach shrugged and skated off with his own cone stack in his arms.

Ilya laughed and raced after Wiebe. Most of the team followed them to start lining up for the slalom skating, leaving only Shane and Troy with Harris.

“Why do I never have the camera out when things like this happen,” Harris was sighing dramatically as he looked over to Ilya who was already in the next half hearted discussion with Dykstra.

He looked over at Shane who was grinning at him. “Trust me, there will be more opportunities.”

***

“Luca hey,” Ilya skated over to the younger swiss player who was currently doing some stretches before he would start his one on one practice with Wyatt. Ilya stopped right in front of him and bent over so it would be easier for Luca to understand what he was saying,

“What's up, cap?” Luca looked up at him mid stretch and smiled.

“What is a love language?”

“What?”

“What is a love language. You know, for the video Harris wants us to do for the Centaurs’ social media.”

Luca stared at him for another ten seconds, his cheeks turning an unnatural shade of red that Ilya usually only ever saw on Shane before he finally let out a high pitched “OH!”.

Ilya decided to pass on the opportunity to make fun of Luca for blushing. He really liked Luca and he knew that growing up, Ilya had been his favorite player. It made him unbelievably proud to know that he was able to inspire others. That he was maybe doing something right by being himself.

He wanted Luca to trust him. As his captain and as a friend. He also really needed his help right now.

“So do you know what it is? I wanted to google it but forgot.”

Luca abandoned his stretching and got up on his skates again, so fast that he almost knocked heads with Ilya.

“Sorry,” Luca was blushing even harder but he raised his chin up to look Ilya in the eye. Then he smiled. “I had to google it myself. But there are, like, five different love languages and they describe how you show your love to others and also how you want to uhm,” he was looking like he was trying to grasp an English word he'd been missing. “Receive it.”

“Only five different ways?” Ilya raised his eyebrow at the younger player. There were so many ways he showed Shane that he loved him. Ilya made fun of him or called him boring. He made him real food when they were coming back from training and all Shane wanted to eat was one of his stupid protein shakes. He helped him calm down from his anxiety attacks and scheduled meetings with Shane's parents for them when Shane was feeling too overwhelmed and the world was getting too noisy.

Ilya showed Shane that he loved him by buying him his favorite ginger ale or by making sure he gave his body enough breaks. He had stopped smoking because he knew that Shane didn't like the taste of it when they kissed and that it also made him worry about Ilya's health.

Ilya also always immediately changed the sheets after they had sex because he knew Shane didn't like stains or feeling dirty.

He loved him by telling him that he was brave and smart and lovable and a fantastic hockey player.

He loved Shane by knowing him.

And then there was also the phenomenal sex. He loved touching Shane and kissing him, he loved being able to make Shane feel good and wanted.

Ilya loved Shane's body and he loved his heart, his soul.

How could there be only five different ways to show someone you loved them when there were a thousand ways he loved Shane? And Ilya knew that there were at least an equal amount of ways Shane showed him that he loved him back.

“Well don't ask me then, it's just what I read online,” Luca shrugged. “I think I'm just gonna say, uhm, quality time. I guess. I am not even in a relationship so I don't know why it matters.”

“Are you still coming over to me or do I have to get the net to you?” Wyatt suddenly appeared right behind Luca, giving the Swiss a near heart attack given by the high pitched scream he let out.

“Shit Hazy you scared me!”

“Sorry,” Wyatt said, his eyes now fixated on Ilya. “Is everything alright, though? This looked serious from over there,” he pointed towards the now empty net where he'd been practicing different shoot techniques with Chouinard and LaPointe for the past couple of minutes.

“Oh I was just asking Luca about the whole love language thing,” Ilya explained and got down on the ice to finally start his own stretching, not before looking over at Shane who was practicing passes with Troy.

When Shane saw that Ilya was looking at him he blew him a kiss which Ilya happily returned, a broad smile on his face. Only one year ago this would have been impossible and seeing Shane being so comfortable not only in his sexuality but also around his teammates made Ilya unbelievably happy.

“Did you not look it up? That's exactly why Harris warns you about shit like that. I swear Holmberg, Young and Dykstra also asked me about it. Can none of you guys google?” Wyatt took his goalie helmet off so they could, Ilya was one hundred percent sure of that, get a better look at his disappointed expression.

“Hazy you make it sound like it wasn't you who asked me about it first,” Bood dropped down onto the ice next to Ilya.

“So it's you who is the love language god?” Ilya asked, wiggling his eyebrows at his alternate captain.

“My wife is,” Zane explained and continued the stretching he'd been doing on the other side of the rink before he'd decided to find out what Ilya, Luca and Wyatt had been up to.

“I asked her right after Harris told us and she almost brought out a Powerpoint!”

“Sounds like my wife,” Wyatt grinned. “They are spending too much time together.”

Bood grinned back at him. Ilya knew that it was special that the WAGS on this team got along so well. They were all basically best friends and there was no competition or faked closeness between them as he'd seen on other teams.

He also loved how clearly the wives and girlfriends (and boyfriend, he couldn't forget that technically Harris was also a WAG) were a part of this team. The Centaurs would be nothing without their support and love.

“Anyway,” Bood continued, ignoring Ilya who made a ‘please for the love of god hurry up’ gesture with his hands. “There is words of affirmation, gift giving, quality time, acts of service and physical touch.”

Jesus. “I have to pick one, da?”

“I think so, yes.” Bood only nodded. Ilya was sure he was getting the worst headache of his entire life. Why was Harris making them go through this? Couldn't they just eat different heart shaped chocolate in front of the camera and call it a day?

After thinking about it some more for a couple of seconds, Ilya decided it was too late now anyway. They would do this video with Harris. So better get over it.

“Alright then,” he winked at his teammates. “Let's get some actual practice in now, shall we? Harris told me he wants us hot and sweaty.”

***

“So when are you gonna post it?” Shane leaned closer to look over Harris’ shoulder to get a better look at the social media manager's smartphone. They had finished filming their valentine's day TikTok only a few minutes ago with Ilya being first and Shane being the last one in front of the camera.

All of the other Centaurs were already back in the locker room getting changed so they could go back home and actually spend valentine’s day with their significant others instead of their teammates.

“Probably tonight,” Harris looked up at him. “People are usually most active in the evening, you know, the classic doomscrolling on your phone when you don't wanna go to bed.”

Shane couldn't relate to that at all but nodded anyway.

“Can you, like, send it to me before you post it?” He was nervously kneading his fingers. Shane was never a big fan of doing social media stuff, especially not after what had happened when he and Ilya got outed because of social media.

There had been so many strangers online who thought it was okay to harass them just because they could hide behind a screen. No one had ever said something straight up homophobic to his face - but online it was something else.

He also still didn't fully understand the whole love language concept. He'd looked it up in advance of course and he'd spent half of the night before today's training brainstorming about which love language suited him best.

The problem was: He couldn't just pick one. He loved Ilya in every way there was.

So he'd been more nervous about this stupid TikTok than he wanted to admit. Harris had told him that he'd done great though so he was trying to hold on to that. Harris knew what he was doing and he never posted anything the team didn't want him to put online. Their social media channels existed for fun. It was something nice for the fans to get to know their favorite players beyond the ice.

It wasn't meant to make him nervous.

And yet it sometimes did. Why was being perceived by the public so difficult? Shane was a professional hockey player after all. He was used to being perceived, even judged and criticized for his play. All that didn't bother him.

It was everything … beyond that. When people tried to look at his soul instead of the shield he'd built up around his private life all these years ago. This team made it so easy, though. To be open and himself. To not hide any longer.

“Of course I'll send it to you,” Harris nudged him, giving him one of his friendly smiles. “Is there anything you said that you want me to cut out?”

“No, it's all good. I’d just like to, well, see it first.”

“I get that.”

Shane nodded, his lips curving up to match Harris’ smile. “I better go to the locker room now before Ilya starts to worry. Thank you again, Harris. I'm looking forward to seeing it.”

“It'll be an amazing video! You all gave such cute answers. The fans are gonna love it.”

“They love everything you post, Harris,” Shane was laughing now. His heart felt a lot lighter now that he'd talked to Harris. He was glad that he had decided to stay behind to ask the social media manager about it.

“It's because everyone is obsessed with you and Ilya.”

“As they should!” Shane turned around to see Ilya standing in the tunnel that led towards the locker rooms, a crooked smile on his lips. He was already freshly showered and fully dressed again. “Are you coming?”

“Oh yes, sorry,” Shane let himself be pulled into a quick kiss by his husband. “I will quickly shower and then we can leave. When do we have to pick up Anya from the dog sitter?”

“In an hour, so don't worry.” Ilya kissed him again. “Hey Harris, didn't you have Chiron with you? Is he still in your office?”

Harris' face lit up by the name of his dog. “He is! If you want, you can come pet him while I finish up this video?”

“Hell yes! Best Valentine's Day ever!”

***

Harris sent Shane the finished video three hours later.

The video was a little longer than two minutes and started with a ten seconds clip of the Centaurs’ standing on the ice in the shape of a heart. Harris had taken the video from the commentators booth so you had a perfect view on the rink from above. When Harris had made them stand like that Shane hadn't been sure if it actually looked like a heart - but surprisingly it did.

In bold pink letters Harris had written “What's your love language?” on the screen.

The first player in the video was Troy, whose cheeks were still red from practice. His brown hair was soaked in sweat, making it look like he just got out of the shower. So that's what Harris had meant when he had said he wanted them “hot and sweaty”.

“Hi Troy,” Harris said behind the camera. The smile on Troy's face widened. “What's your love language?”

“I think it's, uhm,” Troy scratched his head behind his left ear. “Gift giving. And acts of service if I am allowed to pick two. I just like uhm getting you, I mean uhm my significant other a coffee. Or a cake pop.” He grinned into the camera.

The video cut to a short compilation of pictures where Troy was balancing several cups of coffee in his hands, a picture of him eating cake pops in Harris’ office and a photo where he smiled at Harris while giving him a dog sized Centaurs jersey with his name on.

Shane thought that it was incredibly cute.

Then it was Dykstra's turn who told Harris that his love language was quality time. The video then showed several photos of Dykstra with his wife Caitlin and their daughter Susie. But then there were also pictures of Dykstra with their teammates which made Shane smile at his smartphone.

“Hi Zane,” Harris' voice greeted Boodram as he stepped in front of the camera. “What is your love language?”

“Words of affirmation,” Bood grinned and then pulled several folded sheets of paper from behind his back. “I asked my wife Cassie to give me this,” he explained and held them closer to the camera so you could see that it was actually a handwritten letter. “I wrote this for my wife back when we were still in college.”

Harris had added an “awwww” sound to the video and a couple of hearts that were now popping up above Bood's head.

Then it was Shane's turn. It was always a bit weird to see himself in these kinds of videos. He didn't look as nervous as he had felt at that moment. He looked rather calm and … kinda cute?

“Hi Shane. Do you want to tell me what your love language is?”

Now the Shane in the video was blushing a bit. “I don't really understand how you can pick only one. I love … I love Ilya in all kinds of ways.” He hadn't noticed how much he'd been smiling as he had said these words. But he saw it now. His smile even reached his eyes, making him look just as much in love as he felt.

“I love everything about him. He is the best person I’ve ever met.”

Shane could see that there were tears in his eyes and he also felt the tears prickling behind his eyelids just from watching the video. It helped that Harris had edited a bunch of clips of him and Ilya to the video. He'd even put a silly pinkish filter on top of the clips, making them even more cheesy than they already were.

After Shane it was Wyatt Hayes' turn who said his love language was acts of service, followed by clips of him visiting the children's hospital and carrying his wife Lisa after she'd fallen asleep at one of Bood's BBQ's.

Luca Haas and Nick Chouinard both told Harris’ that their love language was quality time, Young and Holmberg said theirs were physical touch and LaPointe joked that the only love he felt was his love for the game.

Then Ilya was smiling at Shane, or well, he was smiling at the camera. Shane immediately found himself smiling back at his husband on the screen.

“Hi Rozy,” Harris’ started off camera. “What's your love language?”

Shane could swear that there were actual hearts in Ilya's eyes. And then he actually said the same fucking thing Shane had said about him.

“Five love languages are not enough to love Shane. He deserves a thousand ways to be loved. And I do. I love him so much.”

Why was the screen suddenly so blurry? Shane tried to dry his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt and almost missed Harris saying: “You can't always get away with that smooth stuff, Rozy.”

Ilya laughed. “Okay, okay. If I have to pick a love language I'll say physical touch.” He showed the camera one of his famous crooked smiles. “And words of affection.”

Shane almost expected that Harris had edited another montage of their best moments on the ice together like he'd done for Shane's answer. But Harris surprised him and the video cut to a scene from today's practice when Ilya had once again chirped at Coach Wiebe.

Shane let out a shaky laugh when the video cut to other moments of Ilya trash talking the team before it ended with a photo of him and Shane, Ilya's hands carefully cupping Shane's face. Their lips locked together in a sweet and tender kiss.

On top of it Harris had written: Happy Valentine's Day from the Centaurs Family.

Shane watched the video two more times before he finally sent Harris a text message.

The video went online and just like Harris had promised him, the internet went wild.

@iloverozanov81

oh my god roz is such a smooth motherfucker

@centaursforlife

Why is this video ten hours long????

@shanesgirl2001

they are all so cute I CAN'T!!! Happy Valentine's Day babes. SO proud to be a part of the Centaurs’ family

@hazybaby333

Can we talk about how Hazy carries Lisa???? #couplegoals

@zanefuckingbaberam

If we talk about Hazy we also have to talk about my man Zane! A FIVE PAGE LONG LOVE LETTER??? Are they fucking kidding me????

@barrett_is_a_sweetheart

WHERE IS THE PHOTO WHERE CHIRON IS WEARING TROYS JERSEY

@therealmrshollander

y'all posting these old photos and clips feels like discovering ancient treasure

@ceceloveshockey

I love love <3 (and hockey, duh)

“What makes you smile like that?” Ilya sat down next to Shane on the couch. He'd just come back from his walk with Anya, his cheeks red from the cold February weather. It was only making him look cuter.

“You also deserve a thousand ways to be loved,” Shane said instead of giving him an actual answer and Ilya kissed him in return, slow and lazy with his hands cupping Shane's face just like he had done on the photo in the TikTok video.

They broke the kiss after a while, their foreheads pressing against each other. Smiling.

“And I do. I love you so much.”

“I love you more, Hollander. Happy Valentine's day.”

It truly was the best Valentine's Day Shane ever had.

#heated rivalry #heated rivalry fic #hollanov #shane x ilya #shane hollander #ilya rozanov #this is so cute