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Hey everyone!

Finally you can see what the previous chapter's cliffhanger is leading you! This is a turn of events I had envisioned for quite some time, and finally it is here, and I am dying to see what you will think of it. Well, more like dreading your opinions, but still, I hope you will tell me what you think of it in every way possible. I warn you, this is quite an emotional chapter.

Thank you Gritou for being in my life *hug*

By the time Luca was out of the pizzeria the feline he had spotted was already crossing the piazzale1, but not too far away. Dodging a passing care, the lupo hastened his pace without breaking into a run, since there was no need to do thanks to his long legs; they were aching just a little bit after all the walking, but he knew that he was still far from reaching his limits.

The smile still remained there, stretched on his long muzzle, the cause that the lupine was going to enjoy this chance meeting. Well, he was going to surely enjoy the fact that, for once, he wasn't the one to be surprised; plus, that might guarantee that nothing dramatic would happen.

"Carlo!" Luca shouted once he was close enough. The tiger's ears visibly flickered at the sudden voice, either for the shock or because their owner had recognized the voice; whatever they moved for, the feline was grinning when he turned to face the encounter.

"Luca! Ciao!" The usually suited up male purred happily. Since it was Saturday, his body was wrapped in causal clothes that showed how he was building somewhat of a poach, even though it wasn't very big nor ugly, at least by the lupine's judgment.

"Ciao!" The lupo greeted back happily, stopping to chat with his ex boyfriend. "Che sorpresa incontrarti qui2! What are you doing?"

"Visiting my old grandma. She lives just here, remember?" The striped cat answered, one massive paw pointing at a nearby building. Once, the older male would have said that in an accusing tone, like he had taken offence that he hadn't remembered that detail; while now the feline had spoken with an amused voice, it was a good improvement.

"How is your nonna3?" He asked right away, and not only out of politeness: the old tigress was an awesome old lady, and really supportive of her grandchild; she always welcomed him warmly, as if to better cement their relationship at the time. With the senno di poi4, he could think that the granny knew how difficult it could be to live with Carlo, and tried to mend that.

"She is fine, as always, suffering from the heat but who doesn't." The feline said.

"I am sure she can outlive all of us." The wolf nodded, meaning each word of it; the tigress seemed to be made of unbreakable stuff, and was still quite healthy for a fur her age.

"Don't say that to my mom, she can't wait to see her in a bara5! But you know my mom, she is... like that." Carlo dismissed the odd comment, waving his paw aside. The light colored dog knew for sure, it was quite clear from whom the tiger had got his temper.

"I'll make sure I won't!" The lupo chuckled, quite happy that he needed to be very unlucky to stumble in the fearsome feline; it was funny, he would rather like to avoid all the tigresses he knew... Except for Carlo's granny, of course.

"So, you took the bus to come here? Or just avoided the ZTL6?" The lupine asked, curious about the subject; that damn thing was very annoying, after all, and if you breeched the zone, the fine could be very... bothering.

"Dad's car has the authorization, since he has to come and check granny! He let me borrow it for the visit." The other male said, then he smirked, a thought apparently occurring to him on the spot. "So, what are you doing here? Touring some tourists, I can guess already!"

"Well, that's not entirely true. I am giving a guided tour to two young friends." He explained, and by the impish light in the feline's eyes, he knew he should have used some other words.

"Two YOUNG friends? I didn't know you were such a horndog!" The tiger laughed, winking at him; the jab wasn't a serious one, of course, else Carlo wouldn't have been giggling by himself.

"One is a friend of Sara, who asked me to tour him so he could get accustomed to the city. The other is un ragazzo americano I met the other day." The lupine added, graciously avoiding acknowledging what the other had meant.

"Aaaaaah now I see! That is so typical of you, after all." The tiger nodded, calming down his merriment a notch. He glanced over Luca's shoulder, his ears and whiskers moving for what he saw there. "And I see that they are a husky and a cougar... wonder which one is the American boy."

Luca turned, seeing that his two friends were indeed walking to them, Edward holding a plastic bag bulging with its fragrant and yummy contents. The two didn't seem annoyed by being left behind, both smiling and happy it seemed.

"Hey! You could have waited inside; I was just about to come back to you!" The wolf lied, feeling embarrassed that he had left his wards behind, so to speak.

"That place is a fornace6! Better be outside, I think. Less sweating." Stanley joked, his gaze fixed on the tiger as if he was trying to guess who he was. Catching the drift, the lupine proceeded to present everyone, starting with the two younger furs.

"Carlo, this is Stanley, a friend of Sara, and this is Edward." He said while waving to each of them, trying not to jam too much information; after all, he didn't have to tell their lives' stories! "Boys, this is Carlo, an... old friend of mine."

The feline remarkably managed not to show his annoyance to be presented just as an old friend, though his round ears did a flick; but he probably understood that it was better that way; saying "ex-boyfriend" could be a sour thing.

"Hi boys! Enjoying the trip? Isn't Luca the best guide ever?" The tiger grinned widely, showing his rooster of fearsome white teeth; though, considering that they were among carnivores, that didn't hold the same intimidating effect that it had with most pray species.

"Oh yeah, he is fun to be around!" The husky exclaimed with enthusiasm, his tail moving twice behind him.

"Sure he knows lots of little facts." The cougar agreed, answering in the accented Italian that left no doubt about his nationality.

"He gets lots of work because of that, I assure you! You are in very good paws." Carlo praised him, with the intent of making him blush. Unfortunately, he managed to accomplish his goal, a light redness appearing between his cheekfurs.

"I am sure we are." The puma purred contently, worsening the blush on Luca's cheeks.

"Yeah. And I should really leave you to the lupo!" Carlo exclaimed, clapping his paws and turning to said lupine. "Sorry Luca for not being able to see you guys, but..."

"... You had a few busy weeks. I know, you told Ale on the phone, remember?" The wolf completed the sentence, recalling that the announcement hadn't met much sadness, after all. They both knew that the tiger couldn't change completely, not so fast; besides, it was a believable excuse.

"Yeah, I only managed to visit nonna today! And in my spare time, I was reconnecting with Giancarlo." The striped big cat sounded almost bashful in saying that, but his body didn't tell the dog that his attempts had been unsuccessful.

"So, you two are making progress?" He asked, genuinely curious; he knew that they had a tough path ahead of them, but at least his ex seemed to be supportive this time around.

"Yes, slowly. He accepted me back, after I apologized a great deal. I am trying to help him, I know that it will be extra hard... with his wife and kids..." The rounded ears flattened for a bit, but his face showed only resolution, which was a good sign, all considered.

"I know you two can do it." The wolf asserted, grabbing and squeezing the other's shoulder for a few seconds to console him.

"Yeah.... Comunque7! I shouldn't bother you with my problems, and I have to go, too!" Carlo returned to a more cheerful tone, the restorer not knowing if it was real or just for their sake.

"Well, okay! See you soon Carlo!" He waved his good-bye.

"Ciao Luca! Arrivederci ragazzi8! Have fun!" The tiger answered before strolling away, to where his car awaited. The wolf looked at him getting smaller in the distance, before turning back to his two boys; the cougar promptly smiled to him, but the husky had a bit of a frown, like something was bothering him.

"Maybe he is just hungry." Luca thought, dismissing the husky's demeanor. "Okay, shall we go? We can eat our pizza under the pines of Colle Celio9!"

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" The puma answered, while the canine just murmured his agreement. The lupine lead the way, with Edward walking just between him and the pouting black-white fur; that could be worrying, but since he didn't know the young Milanese, he wasn't sure if it was just how he reacted to hunger or if something was wrong with him.

They walked in silence, going around the tree covered hill with the Coliseum at their right, finding the stairs that let them climb the hill and access the park. The heavy foliage of the trees gave a pleasurable rest from the sunrays, and the abundance of marbled benches would give them a nice, cool, if somewhat hard seat for their meal.

"I think we can sit here!" The wolf announced, approaching on of the white benches, big enough to hold all three of them without discomfort.

"Good, I am starving." The American student said with a smile, taking the middle seat and already starting to get the pizza out of the plastic bag.

"Yeah, me too." The husky said, still a bit forlorn, but with his ears perked with expectation. He swiftly sat and grabbed his pizza, peeling away the paper around it to reveal the tasteful inside; he took a bite of it, moaning at the savor, barely gulping down the morsel before taking another.

"Looks who is affamato come un lupo10!" The lupine chuckled, sitting down and getting his own pizza. He put his jaws into action, though not with the enthusiasm that the other canine was displaying, just taking a polite bite and savoring the flavor of the potatoes and the cheese, with just a bit of pepper to add a boost. It was truly a good pizza, and by the pleased sounds to his side, Edward was agreeing.

They were all hungry, so the talk was nonexistent while there was still food, only some words spoken to get the beverage. It wasn't something bad, mind, just guys being guys, and not wanting idle chat to disturb their meal, while a cool breeze rustled the leaves and gave some respite to them.

Stanley was the first to finish, obviously enough, gulping down some water after the last of his pizza disappeared in his muzzle. He then stared to the other two, waiting for them, looking still a bit off, which ruled out that his mood had been caused by hunger.

"Stanley, are you okay?" The lean restorer asked, before wiping his mouth with some water, washing down the last bits of potatoes and pizza left between his teeth.

"Uhm? Yeah, I think..." The husky rumbled, though coming from such a thin dog it wasn't the same as with a bigger dog... Like Ale, for example.

"You don't sound like you are okay." The puma stated, shifting his body so he was turned to the dog, giving his shoulders to Luca.

The young fur stayed silent for a while, before giving in and confessing. "I guess you are right, I am not entirely okay."

"Why so?" The lupine questioned him, his ears flicking; if he had done something wrong, and ruined the day for the Milanese dog, he was sure he wouldn't hear the end of it from Sara.... The very thought made him shudder despite the warmness of the day.

"I... didn't expect to meet someone like your friend." The husky cryptically said, his words stiffening Edward's back for some reasons; it only puzzled the canine, since he wasn't entirely sure what the other meant. The tiger could be a pawful, sure, but he had behaved pretty well and friendly, all considered.

"I apologize, I know Carlo can be too much to deal with sometimes..." The wolf uttered, hoping that those words would mend up the mood of the young husky.

"It's not that... I didn't expect to... Well... You know..." Stanley still hesitated, not managing to properly speak his mind, his paw awkwardly massaging his neck.

"No, I actually don't know." The restorer said, puzzled. If it wasn't that, he didn't even fathom what was bothering the dog; maybe he was being incredibly slow today, catching something that was obvious.

The husky rose from the bench, starting to pace before them, clearly uncomfortable with the situation; the two seated furs waited, giving him time, though the puma was growing visibly impatient of this farce. Maybe he did know what the other was talking about...

"Well..." Stanley spoke again, stopping before them, his tail stiff and his hackles a bit raised, the lupine noticed only now. "I am shocked that he was a frocio11."

That... word hung over them, freezing them in their place, weighting on them, and on Luca. The only things that weren't frozen were their ears, the tall ones of the lupine and the round ones of the cougar. That... word held implications, but maybe he just...

"Ed, frocio in Italian means-" The heavily furred canine started to explain, but he was cut sharply by the American.

"I know what that means, no need to tell me." He hissed, his fur bristling, evidently enraged by the casusal use of that word. Instinctively Luca grabbed his arm, to soothe him and stop him from doing something rush; he also opened his mouth to calm down things, after all it must be a misunderstanding, only that...

"Good. His talk about his... something, taking a fur away from his family for those unnatural longings... Figa12, that's disgusting." The husky continued, sweeping away any chance that he had just used the wrong word. Now the fur on Luca's neck was rising too, though he remained seated, his legs feeling so heavy at the moment.

"How can you know such an abomination? And being friend with him?" The Northern dog continued gay-bashing, referring directly to him now, making him feel in ways he hadn't for a long time. His face showed the inner disgust of dealing with someone like Carlo, someone that was different just because he loved a fur of the same sex

"How do I know him? Are you really asking me that?" He asked back, chill in his voice. Anger was boiling in him, still not overcoming the other feelings, but it was still there, ready to rear his fiery head; the lupo had grown in this past years, and he knew that he had to react, not just enduring. All the while, he kept the cougar in place, the arm under his paw tensed.

"Yeah. I mean, you are a normal fur, and you are friend with Sara, it is incomprehensible how you can know such a creature." Staley said, his voice was louder now, with a hint of white teeth, still oblivious to what his words were causing in the other two.

"Well, I know him because he is my ex ragazzo13." Luca finally answered, as glacially as he could, the words stopping the standing canine on his tracks while they sunk in. The not-so-subtle revelation didn't change a thing in the puma, though, he still was staring at the dog, tensed and with fur raised, a low hiss coming from his chest.

"S-so y-you a-are..." The husky stumbled in his words, taking a step away from them, his face showing only shock for now.

"Yes. I am gay, or, as you can say, a frocio." He completed for him, his muzzle a mask that didn't reveal any emotions; better to be as detached as possible, to be the superior one, so to have the moral higher ground.

"H-how... Porca puttana14!" Stanley shouted, throwing his arms in the air in desperation, still being a few meters away from them

"Listen Stanley, you have to ca-" He tried to soothe him, deciding that it was time to stop all the mess from getting worse; he owned that much to his squirrel friend, at least; the puma seated to his side was still silent, letting the older male do the talk. Maybe he didn't trust himself for talking, or maybe for other reasons, Luca didn't care at the moment.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" The dog snarled at him. "How could Sara do this to me?"

"You need to be calm, nothing happened, you can call Sara if you want." The wolf replied, finally getting up and stepping to the growling pup, making sure that his paws were at his side and trying to be as unthreatening as possible.

"DON'T YOU DARE COME NEAR ME!" The bicolor fur advised him, his lips curled to show his teeth now. Seeing the signs, he did as told, to prevent the verbal abuse to turn into something more physical and ugly.

"Take big breaths, concentrate, it's not a big deal..." The lupo kept trying, even if he knew that it was all in vain.

"Vaffanculo15! Frocio!" The husky insulted him one last time, before turning and darting away, down the steps and out of sight.

Luca sighed, letting his guard down; but in doing so, he opened himself to what anger had been holding back, and the sigh was followed by another, and then another, then turned in a sob, while he vented out the anxiety, sobbing without control.

Among his tears he dimly felt some arms going around him, hugging him, telling him that at least one fur cared; he just let the puma hold him, just for a few seconds, drawing strength from his empathy.

Translation:

1) Large, open square.

2) What a surprise meeting you here!

3) Grandma.

4) Hindsight.

5) Coffin.

6) Acronym for "Zona di Traffico Limitato". A zone where traffic is restrained to all but some vehicles.

7) So, or however. This time it means "so".

8) See you soon boys!

9) One of the Seven Hills of Rome.

10) Hungry like a wolf.

11) Deprecatory term for gay, like "fag".

12) In the North they use "figa", vagina, instead of cazzo, having the same use of fuck. Interestingly, you could translate it as "cunt", but here it doesn't have the same weight as in the Anglophones countries.

13) Ex boyfriend.

14) It's kinda untranslatable, since literally it means "naughty whore". Used in the same way as "fuck" here.

15) Fuck off/go fuck yourself. Abbreviation of "vai a farti in culo", "go and be fucked in the ass".