Chapter Text
Shane sat on the edge of Rose’s bed, fingers wrapped around an ice-cold Canada Dry and eyes carefully watching as Rose pranced around her sorority room.
As president of Nu Eta, Rose was constantly on her feet, busy as a bee. She was effortlessly perfect at everything, from her sun-kissed hair and naturally cherry-dusted cheeks, to her wildly fun personality and her top mark grades. She was everything any guy or girl would want to be, be friends with, or date.
Bubbly, bright, kind, extraverted Rose Landry.
And who was she best friends with?
None other than Shane Hollander.
Shabby, shittily dressed, introverted, awkward Shane Hollander.
Even Shane sometimes questioned their friendship- how the hell was someone so loud as Rose friends with some drab like Shane?
“Don’t say that about yourself!” she once said to him with her hands smooshed around his cheeks, “You’re totes cool! You do that hockey stuff, and you’re, like, super smart too!”
Despite all this, Shane was eternally grateful for their friendship. Rose was fun to talk to, and her kindness was enough to fill up all the hearts in the world. All in all, she was great company.
And sometimes… she’d bring great company.
Being a sorority president and all, that meant she was constantly mingling with the fraternity boys.
Shane had mixed opinions on those types of college students. They were loud, reeked of booze and cigarettes, and were constantly red in the face from smoking, drinking, or screaming. However… they were also kind of hot. Like, super hot.
If fraternity boys constantly lacked in their brains, they definitely made it up with their brawns.
Tight traps, bulging biceps, their constant urge to flex whatever part of their body whenever they could… it’d be hard for anyone not to look.
They were eye-candy for Shane– it wasn’t like he’d ever actively seek out a relationship (romantic or sexual) with one of them. They were not his type anyway, personality-wise.
Or so that’s what he thought.
( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;)
Shane and Rose walked with their arms linked through a myriad of foldable tables, party streamers, and cardboard trifolds. Every corner was bubbling with excitement. Bright eyed club and committee leaders were grinning ear to ear, their clothing decked out with the colors and logos of their organization, and their arms constantly outstretched and holding laminated pamphlets towards the crowd of curious students. Shane was used to this now; it was the beginning of the fall semester anyway, so Club Rush was bound to happen.
When Rose had stopped for a second (Shane only noticed when he stumbled backwards since she had kept a tight grip on him) to talk to a curly-haired girl running some sort of modeling club, Shane finally had time to pull out his phone that’d been buzzing like a swarm of bees in his pocket for the past five minutes.
Hayd
11:05 am
-dude where r u
-dude
-dude
-DUDE
-you promised youd try and join this year :(
-pls just check the booth out i promise itll be fun
12:05 pm
-you can look at all the hot guys you want too ;)
Shane scoffed, calling Hayden an asshole under his breath, before pocketing his phone and leaving his friend on read.
He must’ve muttered a bit too loudly though since Rose’s head whipped around and she looked at him with wide, curious eyes.
“Who was that?” She cocked her head to the side, the fashion club girl behind her raising an eyebrow in curiosity as well.
“Oh, uh,” he reached up to awkwardly rub the back of his neck, “it was Hayden. He keeps pestering me to join the frat he’s in– been doing it since Freshman year.”
At that, Rose’s face seemed to instantly brighten up, and Shane immediately regretted telling her the truth. But before she could ecstatically insist on Shane joining, or insisting she go introduce him to some of those frat boys, the girl behind her chirped up.
“Is he talking about Nu Lambda?” He could pick up a hint of a foreign accent in her tone, and she seemed to be addressing Rose, not Shane.
“Huh?- Oh, yeah! He is! His friend, Hayden’s, in it, and he’s been trying to get Shane to join for years now. Even I keep trying to get him to join, but he just won’t!”
She crossed her arms and made an exaggerated pouty face at Shane. He chuckled and rolled his eyes in return.
“I already told you, Rose, I cannot be in a room with people like that–”
“No, your friend is right. You should join, especially if you have no friends,” she deadpanned at him. “I have friend there; he is actually the president. I can tell him to introduce himself to you if you want.”
Shane was very quick to shut down the offer, both out loud and in his head.
For one, he didn’t want some random guy to be forced to talk to him just because he was some loser who didn’t know how to make friends at his grown age. And also… Shane’s heard some ‘horror stories’ from Hayden about this guy.
“He’s a piece of shit man, like, yeah, he throws awesome parties and gets the best booze and whatnot, but overall, man… He’s a real pain in the ass.”
“Really?” Shane had asked, half interested, half completely spacing out, “like how?”
“Like, I don’t know. He won’t talk to you unless you’re in his little clique of European elitists, he’s constantly scoffing and laughing at dumb shit, and overall he can’t communicate for shit. Everyday when I ask him for something it’s always a ‘hm’ or ‘no’ or ‘okey’ in that stupid Russian accent.”
Shane caught himself by surprise after chuckling lightly at the memory of their conversation, his cheeks suddenly flaring at the realization. He looked up at Rose and the other girl, before gently shaking his thoughts away and making his way towards the table.
“I appreciate the offer, but, uh, I’ll just go see my buddy over there. It was nice meeting you though…?”
“Svetlana,” she smirked back at him.
“Svetlana-! Yeah, nice meeting ya,” Shane turned back towards Rose. “You guys seem to be hitting it off pretty well, eh? I’ll just… Go. Yeah. See ya.”
Before Rose could properly bid him farewell, Shane was turned on his heel, setting off to the rowdy conglomeration of boys in tight tops and mid-thigh shorts just up ahead.
( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;)
Shane had to elbow his way through the crowd. He probably got some guy in the gut and another in the face, but he was too adamant on getting out of the stink of sweaty college boys to care.
By the time he could see the two folding tables set up in front of the fraternity’s staircase, Hayden was already standing there, peering over the crowd in search of Shane. When the two made eye-contact, Hayden’s face lit up like a beaming child.
“Shane! Dude!” Hayden jumped over the table, knocking down a trifold in doing so, and came running over to Shane, completely ignoring the jeering of the other frat boys behind him.
Shane was already grinning ear-to-ear by the time Hayden happily slumped an arm over his shoulder, his knuckles coming up to give Shane a rough noogie and messing up his hair.
His friend was wearing what all the other frat boys wore on Club Rush day– battered Birkenstock sandals (with socks), hiking shorts that rode a little too high up the thigh, and a size-too-small white shirt that fit snuggly around his frame with big bold letters reading “NU LAMBDA” sprawled across his chest.
Ugly aesthetically, 0/10. But with a hot bod? 10/10 outfit.
“So,” Hayden started, taking a sip of beer from a can Shane hadn’t even known was there (was he even allowed to have that out on an open campus like this? Especially during a school event?), “Finally decided to join big ol’ Nu Lambda?”
He wriggled his eyebrows expectantly, causing Shane to snort and roll his eyes. “Maybe.”
Hayden, still slumped on Shane’s frame, threw his head back and let out a guttural groan, clearly a bit tipsy. “But you always say thaaaaat! What will get you to actually join!?”
Shane only shrugged (the best he could with a 198 pound man on his shoulders) and continued shoving past people to make it back to the stairs. He could already see the eager freshmen huddling around, curiously eyeing the seniors and juniors running the place while standing around all proudly, backwards cap and all.
It was a sea of bulging calves and fluffy hair in sports caps, dewy tan skin and triceps for days.
Shane let his eyes wander, his interest soon fatiguing when he realized all the guys here weren’t exactly special and just had nice bodies. He was going to turn away and force Hayden to sober up when–
Who the hell was that?
He stood out like a diamond in a pile of dung. Beautifully golden skin with even silkier golden curls, a jawline so chiseled one could probably get a papercut from touching it. He had light blue eyes, the kind that were pale like snow under the Northern lights, and full, heart-shaped lips dusted the perfect shade of cherry red.
And it wasn’t just his face that was hot– it was everywhere.
Shane’s eyes began trailing down his frame. Wide shoulders, large pecs basically bulging out of his tight top, arms for fucking days, quads double the size of his arms… and his ass. Damn, his ass.
Shane seemed to have been ogling for a second too long, for Hayden immediately picked up that his friend was distracted and searched in the direction that Shane was looking. Upon realizing just who Shane had chosen to be his eye-candy, Hayden’s eyes widened. “OH, HELL NO.”
He grabbed Shane by the shoulder, spinning him around, before grabbing his hand and dragging him in the opposite direction.
Shane sputtered, “What the hell man–?”
“No way you think he’s hot out of all these dudes.”
They were still walking, Hayden desperately trying to get them to the frat house’s entrance.
“What’s wrong with him? I was just looking.”
They made it to the stairs and Hayden immediately slumped down on one of the steps. He kept watching Shane as he fidgetted with his fingers before motioning for him to sit down too with a slight nod. Shane obeyed.
“Listen here, dude,” Hayden grabbed Shane by the shoulders, forcing him to look him in the eyes, “I get it. You need a boyfriend. And all the dudes here– hot as shit. I get it, Shane.”
Despite Shane turning bright as a tomato, Hayden continued shamelessly. “But I am telling you. If you go for him out of all people? You’re fucked. He’s a total player. Even if you want to just be friends with him, he’ll play you like a broken guitar.”
Shane was still trying to process just what the hell was going on. He took one glance. One very long glance, but still, just a glance. Hayden was over here acting like he was planning his entire future out with a guy he glanced at from a few dozen feet away.
Hayden was too engrossed in why the idea of Shane getting with this guy was so horrendous, that the two hadn’t realized the sun was suddenly blocked by a looming shadow overhead.
“Who is this player, Pike?”
Both their heads snapped around.
Holy fuck, even his accent was hot.
( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;)
Shane had no idea how he ended up in this situation. Before he knew it, he was coaxed out of his seat, up on his feet, and following this guy with a thick accent and a god-like body to who knows where.
For a moment, the two walked in awkward silence, the only noise being Shane's shuffling, wobbling feet desperately trying to keep up with this guy’s confident strides.
Suddenly, they stopped, secluded under a vacant tree’s canopy just off to the side of the pool of people.
Shane stood there awkwardly, eyes darting everywhere except for the stranger’s face. He could hear a sudden inhale, and then the wretched stench of cigarette smoke filled his nose.
“What is your name?”
Shane almost hadn’t registered he was being talked to. He hesitantly looked up, trying to match the other’s gaze. “I’m sorry?”
“What? You do not even know your own name?” he was leaning on the tree’s trunk now, an eyebrow cocked at Shane and a cunning smirk hitched in the corner of his lip.
“Oh, um. It’s Shane. Shane Hollander.”
The other’s eyes lit up for a moment, a gleam of fleeting surprise flashing across his gaze. “Hollander? Like big bad hockey man?”
“Yeah, I guess so- Wait, how do you know I play…?”
“Oh my god, Hollander, you are so-” he took a deep breath, another lengthy exhale emitting a cloud of wispy smoke. “You are literally captain of school hockey team. Anyone who is little bit into sport knows who you are.”
They both scoffed at that, the blonde man taking another drag of his cigarette and Shane shaking his head in disbelief.
Shane couldn’t help but study the other’s face, taking in his features to even the smallest details. His smile was bright with slightly crooked and pointy teeth glistening as he ran his tongue across them. The dimples on both sides of his mouth were deep, his cheeks were accented with moles– actually, his whole body seemed to be covered with them. Strong nose, strong cheeks, strong jawline… beautiful smile, pretty eyes…
Shane must’ve been staring for a while again because just as he was peeking at the other’s lips, the man turned around, curious eyes now locked on Shane.
He smirked, his eyes dragging up and down Shane’s face as if he’d caught him in the act of something.
The Canadian turned away, a desperate attempt at hiding what he was doing completely useless against the flush that rose up his neck and cheeks.
“Uhm,” Shane stuttered, trying to change the topic, “I never got your name.”
“Ahh,” he tsked, a devious grin forming on his lips again, “Now you finally have decency to ask me my name. I thought you Canadians were supposed to be nice or whatever.”
“Fuck you, man, you’re such an asshole,” Shane teased in between a soft chuckle.
“Mmh, maybe. But it is fun to see you get pissy. Ty pokhozh na serditogo kotenka.”
Shane’s heart skipped a beat at the sudden language change. What was that? Russian? Why’d it sound so nice? Why was it kind of sexy the way he was able to switch to his mother tongue so easily?
“Yeah, whatever man… Are you gonna tell me your name or what?”
“Huh? Oh yeah,” he took another puff, “Ilya Rozanov, ‘Rozy’, ‘piece of shit asshole man’ – that is what your friend Hayden calls me– any of those. Whatever you want.”
So that’s why Hayden had freaked out. Shit. Now Shane was freaking out too.
“Oh.” Shane bit his lip. His heart was beginning to pound into his ears, his head whirling with a million hypotheticals flashing through his mind.
He just met this guy, this guy that Hayden HATES and… it wasn’t like he was so bad. Sure, he was kind of a jerk, but it wasn’t unbearable like how Hayden had described it. Then again, Shane had only met the guy a few minutes ago and that can’t compare to living with the guy full-time and–
“Why do you go quiet, Hollander?”
“What? Oh- I-” Shane was snapped back into reality by the harshness of Ilya’s voice. His hands began gesticulating wildly. “Well, I mean, now that I know who you are, I’m just a bit more intimidated.” He tried to flash a friendly smile, but he was sure it came off as severely awkward looking.
Suddenly, Ilya’s face contorted into an unfamiliar look of surprise, the usual smugness wiped clean, even if it was for only a split second. But before Shane could appreciate any of his softened features, his demeanor grew smug again, and an annoying (sexy) grin spread across his lips.
“Aw, you are scared?” Ilya shifted, using one leg to push off the trunk.
He stood upright now, his lips seeming to take in one more puff of his cigarette before he was gingerly plucking it out of his mouth with his pointer and middle finger and extinguishing it into his wrist. Shane could hear the faint sizzle of a burning nub into skin, sending a shiver down his spine.
“Holy fuck!” Shane gasped. His hands immediately went to clasp around Ilya’s wrist. “Fuck does that not hurt!?”
For a second, Shane’s grasp remained on Ilya’s scarred wrist, his eyes searching for a hint of hurt in Ilya’s gaze. What the hell was that for!? Does he need a bandaid? Was Shane supposed to keep holding onto him?
In the midst of Shane’s panic, Ilya burst out in laughter, his whole entire body buckling over as he howled in amusement. Shane stared at him in disbelief, his body flinching and pulling his hands back.
“What the hell man, you just burned yourself and you’re laughing!?”
“Oh, sorry, sorry– oh god–” He was still bent over, hands on knees, sucking in breaths in a sorry attempt to regain his stability. “Gimme one moment, oh my god this is hilarious.”
Shane stepped back, arms crossing over his chest as he waited patiently for Ilya to recompose himself. It was about a minute later when Ilya finally sucked in one last harsh breath through his teeth and stood back upright, hands on his hips and teary eyes staring down at Shane.
The two looked at each other for a moment, Ilya with his laughter-flushed face and Shane with his deadpanned stare. Ilya couldn’t stifle another snicker that escaped his lungs, his head shaking in utter disbelief.
“Oh my god, Hollander; that is first ever time someone has gotten so scared over something like that.”
“Well that’s because no one just extinguishes fire on themself!”
Then Ilya burst out laughing again, and Shane puffed his cheeks to let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He threw his hands on his head, having to take a few steps away to regain his thoughts because what the actual fuck did this guy just do!?
But when Ilya just kept on laughing… Shane couldn’t help the sudden bubbling giddyness that arose in his core. Hesitantly, he joined in as well. First with a small chuckle, then with full, heavy-hearted laughter alongside Ilya. Shane even found himself smacking the dude a few times too in amusement.
It took a few moments before the two of them settled down again, but when they did, the silence that followed wasn’t awkward anymore. It was friendly, and a little bit… soothing. Shane was smiling fondly to himself, his gaze cast downward at his feet. He heard Ilya heave out a sigh, and then the Russian was standing right in front of him.
Ilya looked down at him, his eyes still gleaming with amusement as he cocked his head to the side.
“I have proposition for you.”
Shane scoffed. “Yeah? What kind?”
“You need friends, da? I need new frat member.” He presented his hand out, presumably for Shane to shake it. “You join Nu Lambda. Now. You skip hazing, you skip looking stupid… because I find you amusing. And in return, you be little errand boy for me.”
Shane was taken aback for a second. “Excuse me, what? I’m not gonna be your maid.”
“No, no. Not maid. More like buddy for me to go get beer and grocery with. Other guys here– psshh– too fussy. But you. You are quiet and easy. I like.” he wriggled his eyebrows, head nodding back towards his unshaken hand.
Shane couldn’t help the grin that etched across his cheeks, teeth fully out and face beaming. “You like me?”
“Mmh. Maybe. I still think you are boring, but you are more tolerable than others.”
“You asshole. Fuck you,” Shane spat out with no real heat behind his words.
Ilya grinned. “Mmh, no I prefer to do the fucking.”
Another exasperated gasp escaped Shane’s lips, his eyes glued onto Ilya’s. He stared a moment longer, heat suddenly pooling in his cheeks, as Ilya’s teeth began playfully gnawing at his lower lip. Shane was amusing to him.
“So. Offer is still up. You shake or no?”
( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;)
Hayd
2:00 pm
(Shane) Hey.
-2:00 pm
-????? Shane?????
-dude i woke up passed out on the couch in the frat house
-howd i end up here????
-where r u????
2:02 pm
(Shane) I joined Nu Lambda.