Still thinking about Ilya first confessing his love to Shane in Russian.
Because, as a fellow ESL speaker, I know that your own native language has an inherent power to it, that compels you not to lie to yourself. It's why it's sometimes more difficult to talk about emotions in your mother tongue than it is in your second or third language. Words get stuck in your mouth, won't come out, your voice betrays you and breaks halfway through. The truth becomes difficult to say, in your native language.
At the same time, however, it is so liberating to know you can speak a language that other people won't understand. You could curse or insult anyone and get away with it. Or, in Ilya's case, he could confess his feelings, those overwhelming emotions he doesn't know what to do with, and get away with it. Ilya can be completely true to himself and say "I love you" without any pressure for Shane to understand or say it back.
It's the truth, plain and simple. Escaping from the confines where it's been prisoner for years. No wonder once it's out for the first time, it's in Ilya's mother tongue. The language of self-honesty and authenticity, the language of freedom and liberation. The only possible language for Ilya's confession of love.
