“So I ran my mouth and put up walls, because if I rejected all of you first, then you couldn’t reject me.

” He blinked rapidly, trying to stop the emotional word vomit, but apparently, he’d been pent-up too.

“And it’s not an excuse or a justification, but deities below, Toni, it was six years ago.

Whether you want to admit it or not, I’m not that nineteen-year-old kid anymore, and I’m trying to make my amends. You’re the one still holding on.

“You had years to talk to me about this, but you didn’t.

You let it stew and fester, all the while treating me like I didn’t deserve a place here.

With you.” Rusty jabbed Toni in the chest this time, then pointed at the cafe door.

“With them. With this weird, co-dependent family that was the first family I’d known since I lost my mom.

And that fucking sucked. I might be an asshole, but so are you.

So get off your soapbox, and cut me some fucking slack! ”

The silence that fell between them was heavy, and this time, Toni was the one to duck his head in shame.

Rusty’s chest heaved, and he fought to get himself back under control.

He’d ignored the pain Toni’s attitude and rejection had caused him, but it was there all the same. He was only now naming it.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “For being an asshole and talking shit about all of you when none of you deserved it. I’m sorry for the part I’ve played in this.” He motioned between them vaguely. “You’d bite first, but I always bit back. So I’m sorry, okay?”

To Rusty’s surprise, Toni sniffled, and when he grudgingly met Rusty’s gaze, his black eyes were glossy.

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you didn’t have a place here.

There’s always a place here for anyone who wants it, and it was shitty of me to hold a grudge for six years about something that technically didn’t even concern me. ”

Rusty scoffed wordlessly, and Toni offered him a wry smile.

“If Gem can forgive you, then so can I. And you’re right, I can be judgmental.

It’s something I’m working on, okay? It wasn’t okay that I judged you from the start, and it definitely wasn’t okay that I never gave you a chance to change my mind, and that’s on me. ”

“I didn’t try too hard,” Rusty said, and Toni propped his hands on his hips and nodded.

“Maybe not, but I don’t blame you. I was a douchebag,” he said.

“I was an asshole,” Rusty said.

Slowly, Toni extended his bluish-gray hand, framed with darker blue stripes. “How about we start over. Clean slate?”

Feeling awkward, but somehow touched, Rusty reached out and clasped Toni’s hand in his. “Yeah, okay.”

“I mean, we may never be bosom-buddies,” Toni pointed out, and Rusty nodded his agreement. “But Gem seems to think you’re alright, so…”

“I think the world of him,” Rusty admitted quietly, and Toni’s fingers twitched in his hold.

“You’d be an idiot if you didn’t,” Toni retorted, pulling out of the handshake. “Gem’s the best person anyone anywhere could ever know.”

They stood in awkward silence for almost a full minute before Rusty shuffled toward the door. “I guess we should get back.”

“Why now?” Toni asked as Rusty’s hand curled around the door handle. “You put up with me in silence for six years. What changed?”

Gods, what could Rusty even say to that?

“It hurts Gem,” he said quietly, tail flicking anxiously. “Us fighting or whatever. It puts Gem in the middle, and it hurts him, and I don’t like hurting him.”

Toni was quiet for several long seconds, and Rusty’s hackles rose instinctively at the subtle shift in the atmosphere. It wasn’t animosity, but it was… ominous.

“Why do you care?” Toni asked, and Rusty sighed, glancing at the Elas over his shoulder.

“I think you know the answer to that,” he whispered, hating the vulnerability of the quasi-admission.

A deep growl rumbled in Toni’s chest, expression scrunching into a comically exaggerated scowl. “If this is you trying to get my blessing to ask Gem out or some bullshit, I ain’t ready for that! I need time, and maybe a drink or two. And I kinda wanna make a manicotti.

“Plus, I’d love to break it to you that Gem’s dating someone, so he’s gonna say no, anyway.” A gleeful smile lit up his face. “Oh, you should definitely ask him out so I can watch him reject you. It will go a long way in repairing our friendship. For me,” he clarified, and Rusty huffed.

“I don’t need or want your blessing,” Rusty said as he inched the back door open. “And it’s too late for it anyway, since I already asked him out, and he said yes, and we started fucking a month ago. Okay, good talk. ”

Adrenaline coursing through him, Rusty slid through the opening of the back door and broke into a run as a furious roar sounded behind him. He sprinted past Glyma, Willow, and Zef, heart racing, a half-hysterical laugh bubbling up his throat as Toni’s boots thudded in pursuit.

Bursting through the kitchen doors, Rusty met Gem’s frantic eyes. “You were right, Gem, I don’t got this.”

“Oh my gods, run!” Gem wailed, and Rusty ran.

Shoving through the still swinging doors, Toni pointing a furious finger at Rusty. “Your ass is mine, Róisyn!”

On the other side of the bakery case, Rusty bared his canines. “Only if you can catch me, Maryno.”

“Toni, don’t kill him,” Gem begged, lunging to stop the enraged Elas.

Ducking around Gem, Toni hurled himself over the counter, nearly knocking the register over and kicking Oliver in the face.

With a chitter of alarm, Rusty scrambled to add distance between them.

The front door was blocked by a shocked pair of Ursydae, so he scampered over an unoccupied table, barely dodging Toni’s swiping hand.

“I’m going to murder your face,” Toni spat between jagged, clenched teeth.

“Don’t you dare,” Gem hissed as he attempted to run after Toni in his high-heeled boots. “I love his face exactly how it is.”

Rusty weaved through the tables, Toni hot on his heels. Gem stood near the counter, stamping a foot childishly as he pouted. “This is ridiculous. Toni, stop chasing him.”

“If he stopped running, I wouldn’t have to chase him,” Toni said.

“Stop chasing me, and I’ll stop running,” Rusty said.

They faced off with a table between them, shuffling a few feet one way, then the other, mirroring each other.

“I’m going to eat you,” Toni threatened, low and dangerous.

“That’s gonna cost extra,” Rusty slapped back, and Toni snarled and dove over the table.

He snagged Rusty’s tail and yanked, and Rusty yowled in pain as he tumbled to the floor. Before Toni could get a good grip on him and tear out anymore fur, Gem was looming over them, expression furious. He plucked Toni off the table with two hands as another reached down to haul Rusty to his feet.

“Deities below, you’re both acting like children.”

Once both Rusty and Toni were stable on their feet, Gem released them, and Toni glared up at his best friend as he gestured violently at Rusty. “He’s the guy? Really, Gemae? Him?”

“Yeah, him,” Gem said firmly. “He’s the guy. He’s always been the guy.”

“How long?” Toni demanded, and Gem glanced briefly over his shoulder at Rusty.

“I don’t know. I guess it depends.”

Toni fisted his hands on his hips and ground his teeth. “Depends on what?”

“Well, like, do you mean since I first caught feelings? Or, like, the first time we kissed or slept together? And then that opens up a whole other can of bugs because what is sex, really? Like, are you asking about full penetration or does just-the-tip count?”

“Gem!” Rusty cried in mortification, and Gem made a noise of distress as he warded off another lunge from Toni, who’d grown even angrier at the words just the tip .

“Sorry, pretend I didn’t say that last part,” Gem said.

“I don’t think we can,” Oliver muttered from his spot behind the counter.

“You just-the-tipped my best friend?” Toni roared, still struggling against Gem’s many arms. “I’m gonna kill you.”

Clamping every arm around Toni in a mockery of an embrace, Gem trapped him. “Toni, stop yelling at him, and yell at me! I’m the one you’re mad at, not him. So be angry with me.”

For a moment, Toni hesitated, but then his anger turned to betrayal, and he shoved Gem hard, forcing the Araknis back a step. “You’re godsdamned right I’m mad at you! What the fuck, Gem? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“How could I have?” Gem shot back, motioning between them, between Toni and Rusty.

“Look at how you’re reacting. What could I have possibly said that wouldn’t have resulted in exactly this?

For fuck’s sake, Toni, you freaked out when I told you that me and Rusty were just friends.

How could I have told you that we were something more? ”

“You fucking hypocrite,” Toni accused, and Gem flinched. “You were so judgmental about Jude being secretive and not telling Ollie about us, and now look at you.”

Gem’s voice wobbled with emotion as he said, “Okay, you’re not exactly wrong, but I wanted to tell you.

Of course I did, because you’re my best friend and I wanted you to share in this with me.

But you wouldn’t have been happy for me, and we both know it.

” He hugged himself with several arms as Toni deflated.

“You would have talked shit about Rusty and made me feel bad for liking him.

Or you would have tried to change my mind or stop us from hanging out. And that would have sucked.