Sam

They trust each other so much.

In the book, Ilya has never told anyone about Sasha. Ever. He knows it's a bomb that could completely ruin his life, and he gives all that power to some boy who is enthusiastic but unskilled at sucking dick?

Nuh uh.

Ilya is a traumatized child, he's hypervigilant, he's a survivalist. He's not handing grenades to people he barely knows. Even at his most self destructive, this would not happen.

He trusts Shane completely.

How do we know Shane is in love?

He trusts Ilya completely as well.

We know, from.the books, that Shane has buried his attraction to men very deep (innu-what). Despite being a horny teenager growing up in Ottawa, which is in literal walking distance of Quebec, Shane has never once indulged with a man. He's had oral sex and apparently penetrative sex with girls prior to meeting Ilya, but he hasn't even once so much as gotten a bad hand job at a sleepover from a guy?

Impossible. Except we know Shane is extremely private.

So inviting over his supposed rival for sex? That is an absolute metric fuckton of trust (metric fucktons are larger than imperial fucktons, everyone knows this).

The hallmark of love isn't attraction. It's trust. These aren't two anonymous strangers cruising in a park. These are two people who could completely ruin each other's lives on a fundamental level, but they trust each other completely.

Regina, Baby. They fell in Love in Regina. Right. Fkn. Here.