Page 122 of Pistols and Plush Toys

Elliot let himself turn to look, just to be sure it really was Gerard. Because if the guy Xander was talking about was one of Mattia’s men, then—then they were in a crowded diner, so the guy couldn’t do anything to Elliot. And Alex had driven Elliot here, and was close by.

Elliot would be okay.

But there Gerard was, now chatting with the waitress to put in his order. The relief Elliot felt at that was enormous. Not only that Mattia’s influence wasn’t following him around, but that Nikolai had asked Gerard to watch Elliot’s back.

It meant a lot, that Nikolai wanted to protect him. That he’d ask even his closest, most trusted friend to make sure Elliot was okay.

Elliot turned back to Xander who was starting to look upset. “It’s okay,” he said again. “It’s just, um, that my ex isn’t taking the breakup well.” Elliot hesitated, then added. “He sort of jumped me one night when I was by myself.”

Xander sat back against his seat like he’d taken a physical blow, his eyes wide. Then he leaned in quickly to hiss, “What the fuck! Your ex–”

His eyes drifted across Elliot’s face. The bruising had gone down significantly in the last few days, more yellow than purple or green, and so Elliot had forgone the makeup on his face, though he was still wearing high-neck sweaters to hide thebruises on his throat. Xander hadn’t asked about the bruising, but now it was clear he was painting a vivid picture in his own head.

“Yeah so…” Elliot swallowed hard. “So Nikolai and Gerard are sort of looking out for me for a little while. I’m sorry, is that too weird?”

Xander blinked rapidly at him, fingers fiddling with his necklace. Elliot had thought that talking about it in texts would make this part easier, but he still felt the shame, the humiliation.

“It’s not too weird,” Xander said quickly. “But… are yousafe? From your ex? Fuck, Elliot, I had no idea.”

“It’s okay,” Elliot said, looking at the table. It was hard to face Xander’s reaction. Elliot had spent so long without anyone in his corner, and some part of him still thought that no one would care. “Nikolai is… helping me deal with him.”

“Okay. Okay.” Xander fiddled with the necklace closer to his mouth, tapping it against his lips. “So you’re like, pressing charges? Getting a restraining order?”

There was no way to tell him that any legal ramifications were impossible when it came to Mattia, so he just nodded. “Yeah.”

Xander blew out a breath, falling back against his seat once more. “Okay, well, I’m glad you’ve got Nikolai in your corner. And me too, okay?” He said, face determined. “If you need anything,anything,I’m here. Just text me, call me, whatever, okay? I’m serious.”

The kindness of the offer made his eyes prick hotly and Elliot had to blink quickly to stop it. He didn’t want to cry in the middle of the diner.

Xander seemed to pick up on that cue immediately, and he perked back up, the worry wiped from his expression. “Here, maybe we should talk about something else?”

Elliot bobbed his head, reaching for his water to take a sip and gather himself. He hadn’t expected it to hit this hard, sharing with someone, being understood and even offered more support. He hadn’t talked to Xander in years, and yet here he was, their friendship picked right back up like it never stopped.

“Okay, right!” Xander nodded. “So! Like I said, I’m coming up on my one year anniversary at Blue Snake? Not to say that Melrose was bad or anything, it was great when you were there, but it was really going downhill. Especially after Eddie left and we ended up with that kitchen manager on a power trip.”

Elliot nodded again. Xander had told him as much when they were texting. “Yeah, that really sucks. But I’m glad you’re at Blue Snake now. You’re enjoying it?”

“Yeah! I’m really glad I applied.” Xander grinned. “Blue Snake pays better than like… anywhere else I’ve ever worked. I’m actually almost finished paying off the credit cards from Caleb.”

“Credit cards?” Elliot asked, confused.

Xander paused. “Oh shit, wait, I didn’t tell you about Caleb.”

“Your… boyfriend?” Elliot asked. He remembered a Caleb. But why was Xander paying off his credit cards?

“Ex,”Xander spat with no small amount of ire. “Okay, so update time! Remember all those nice gifts Caleb used to get me? All those fancy dinners and concerts we went to?”

Elliot nodded. Xander loved music and going to concerts. He remembered now him and Caleb going to them often. And hadn’t Caleb been big on taking Xander out to nice dinners and showering Xander with gifts? Elliot tried to recall what he could.

Caleb had been blond and all-American looking. Nice, but uninterested in anyone who wasn’t Xander. He’d been a model boyfriend, at least on paper.

“Yeah, well, as it turns out, he paid for all that with credit cards,” Xander said, glaring. “That he took out in my name.”

“What?”Elliot gasped.

“Yeah.” Xander sighed. “I only found out because I was trying to get a loan for a new car after mine died and my credit report came back with all of this debt on it. He’d opened up and maxed out, like, five credit cards in my name. Thousands and thousands of dollars.”

“Oh my god,” Elliot said. “That’s–what the fuck?”

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