Something I really really love is how sure Ilya and Shane both are of their love the second they say it out loud. There’s no going back for either of them. This is it.
When Shane’s dad walks in on them, and Shane is terrified beyond belief, Ilya offers to go with him to talk to them together. Shane asks if he would really do that and Ilya looks him right in the eyes and says “of course” in the softest, most reassuring voice you could imagine. Its not a question to him. He wants to be there for his partner. Its intrinsic.
And Shane, when he gets to his parents house, already on the verge of a panic attack and wanting to run out the door, when questioned by his mother who says “but you hate him”, looks them dead in the face and says “no, actually, I love him.” Like they are both so sure and so solid and so real about it.
In My Dinner With Hayden (which you should read), all Ilya is thinking about is how nice it is that he gets to be a real couple with Shane, having guests at their home. Ilya doesn’t like Hayden, doesn’t want to share the little time he has with Shane, but he does because he knows how important it is to him. He stands by him and chops parsley and kisses him in the kitchen before serving a home cooked meal to their guests.
When Shane and Ilya are talking about their relationship to Hayden and Jackie, how long and hard its been, and how all they want is to be together, Hayden is a prick and says “you must love him so fucking much, right? Like, you’d have to, to go through all of this”. And Shane, without blinking, says back “I do.”
I am just obsessed with their solidity and the way admitting their love to the people they trust is so natural to them. Shane and Ilya are sure about each other, they’re proud to be together, they tell each other they love each other as much as possible. And when they can, they easily share it with others and it really warms my heart
