So I was thinking about Hollanov, and of course that made me think of Cliff and... This happened:
Ilya was waiting almost next to the door, excited for Shane to show, so when the doorbell rang he was opening the door in a second.
Except, instead of Shane's gorgeous face with lovely freckles, was Cliff Marleau.
But Cliff was already entering his home. "Roz, I don't think you should go back to Russia this summer. Or at least not right away. Listen man, we're worry about you. The team knows that family is complicated but man, when you go, you completely disappear."
Ilya was shocked at first, then really moved by his friend's obvious worry, but mainly he was fucking pissed. He needed to kick Cliff out of his house before Shane arrived, but how? Cliff was like a dog with a bone, or whatever the stupid saying is.
"Marley, stop! I'm not going to Russia." His friend halts mid sentence.
"You're not?" Cliff smiled as if this was the best news. Fuck, Ilya loved him and his team.
"Well, I am but not right away. I'm going next week. We can talk about this another day. Now I need you to go."
"go? Why?" And that's when he really took a good look to Ilya and his house. "Wait, you were waiting for someone?"
Ilya doesn't answer, because his mind is a mess of red alerts. Shane must be so close, now.
"You never do this, Roz. Who are you waiting for?"
"Jane!" He yelled, because fuck his life, and Cliff smirked. "Montreal Jane is coming and you know how shy and particular Jane is. I need you to go, now."
"Dude, of course. I was so right about her." They both go to the door and Ilya was all but kicking him out when they stumbled into someone.
Right at his doors steps.
Oh, fuck. Ilya should have waited until November, as originally planned. But he was so excited to show Hollander his home. He was so fucked.
Cliff had never been an intellectual, but he wasn't dumb. He was just smart in other ways. That's how he found out about Montreal Jane and how important she was for Roz, since the very beginning.
He also knew his friend was dealing with too much, so he never pushed. Roz wasn't ready to committ or share, and that was ok. For a while.
Last night, talking with Connors and Carmichael, they agreed someone should talk to Roz about Russia, so Cliff volunteered. Rozanov was more than just a Captain, he was their Friend. The guy that help Cliff organized Connors grandmother's funeral. The guy that went to all the vet's appointments when Carmichael got a dog. The man that was there for Cliff for so many important things, he can't even count.
So, he was pleasently surprised when Rozanov agreed to stay for a little while. He and the guys could arrange something to talk about Russia, finally. But knowing Montreal Jane was coming??? Dude, that was the Best fucking news. Only now, Shane Hollander was about to ruined it, by being there . Just like Cliff.
"Hollander?" The guy looked just as shocked as Cliff was. "Listen, I don't know what you're doing here, but we need to go. Roz's girl is coming."
If anything, Hollander looked even more shocked by the news. His eyes wide Open, his mouth half Open.
"Yes, I know, shocking, but Montreal Jane managed to do the impossible." He put his hands on Hollander's shoulders and was about to push him around when Roz almost knock him to the side.
"Shut your face, Marley." Roz pissed off face melted once he faced Hollander. "Hi. Umh... Marleau arrived like, five minutes ago. Uninvited."
Hollander's panic look also soften a little. "Oh."
"He was worried about me. Stupid thing really." Roz was nerveous now, Cliff never saw him like that, but it was understandable.
"Not stupid, man. But ok, we need to go. This girl is the reason Roz doesn't sleep around anymore."
Which aperantly was the wrong thing to day, cuz Roz glared at him with anger. "Fuck, Marleau. Just shut up."
"You don't sleep with other people anymore?" Hollander's voice sounded weird, and Cliff wonder outloud "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Hollander had an ad to shoot in Boston, I invited him. I'm good that way, yes? My house is better than a hotel." He all but pushed Cliff out the door and grabbed Hollander's arm to pull him inside.
Only he was a lot more gentle with the Montreal Captain. "Now, go Marley."
But, no. Cliff was not going to let Rozanov use Hollander as am excuse to pull back from Jane. So he grabbed Hollander's other arm. "He can stay with me. You are not going to ruin things with Jane. You really need to talk to her."
Again, wrong thing to do, Cliff had never had such a hard time reading his bro. Something was obviously missing here, cuz Roz shooting him daggers with his eyes. They were outright arguing now, Hollander saying Rozanov, louder everytime, but Roz was not listening.
"You have to talk to Jane, man, for real..."
"...Take your hand off him, Marleau or I swear I'll break your bones. You're not taking him away-"
"Ilya." Hollander didn't even shout, not really. But the moment he said Roz's name the Russian stopped arguing. All the fight left his body and Cliff had front row tickets to the most sureal situation.
Hollander pulled his arm from Cliff's hold and just stared back into Roz's eyes. They looked intensely at each other for a while until Hollander spoke again.
"Lets go inside." To Cliff's utter shock, Roz nodded and followed him in. So Cliff did too.
"I am sorry." Roz started but Hollander shook his head. "He's worried about you. It's ok."
Then again, the staring that for some reason seemed like something close to... Longing? Cliff shook his head, what was happening?
"Did you really stop...?" Hollander started to ask, but even Cliff knew what he was trying to say.
"I've been busy." Roz shrugged, trying to look cool, but his face gave him away.
"See why he needs to talk to her? He can't even admit it to us. But the whole team knows by now how gone he is for Jane." Aperantly Cliff had a death wish, because he couldn't shut up.
But instead of trying to kill him, Roz nervously stared down, looking embarrassed.
Hollander stepped closer and that made Cliff realised just how close those too were.
"Do you trust Marleau?" Roz nodded firmly still not raising his head. "Then maybe... Maybe we could... Umh..." Hollander stumbled with his words but Roz seemed to understand him, cuz he looked up with wide eyes and such a... Hopeful Expression? Seemed like hope and so many more feelings Cliff was having a hard time recognizing.
Again, they stared at each other in silence and ... Mmmmm... Maybe there was something more right here, in front of Cliff. Something so insane his brain refuse to name.
"Shane." Roz said with fondness and adoration.
Hollander smiled a little, "Ilya."
Fuck, what the hell was this?
Then Roz turned around, grabbed Shane Hollander's hand and broke Cliff's understanding of reality with his next words:
