It hadn't started like this. Not at all. The three of them used to be the closest of friends, and that was that. Nothing more, nothing less. They could just hang out and do stupid things like stick Russell to the ceiling, and that had been fine. They hadn't needed anything more.

They had a dynamic. Russell was the leader—a little serious, a little irritable, but he meant well and looked out for his friends. Vinnie was second-in-command—goofy, but he didn't care; he just went with it. Sunil was the follower—an unbelievable coward who always tried his best. They worked well like this. Why did they ever change?

Something had… shifted. Maybe at some point, being the closest of friends just wasn't enough.

They could recall a day—a pretty ordinary day—when Vinnie and Sunil had decided to pull a little prank. Leading Russell to the Sweet Shop without the company of the girls had been easy enough. The hard part was dragging that vat of strawberry frosting to the edge of the counter. Needless to say, they completely drenched Russell.

The hardest part, though, had been cleaning him off. They couldn't move towards him without slipping and covering themselves in frosting. Soon the three of them were a sticky pink mess, and it was hard to see how they could be otherwise.

It started out with a joking, playful lick.

And then another one.

A nibble.

A bite.

A kiss.

Twenty minutes later, they walked back into the pet shop; sparkling clean, but with the scent of strawberries still clinging to their skin. They had no idea what they had gotten themselves into, but they liked it.

And so started the days of kissing behind the sofa and finding ways to cuddle without poking an eye out or yanking Vinnie's tail off. They were each a little scared, but it didn't take long to master sleeping positions and memorize eye colors. In little time, they could come up with an excuse on the spot.

"What took you guys so long?"

"Well, Vinnie told us he could climb that tree, but…"

"What's that mark on your neck? Looks bad…"

"Mosquito bites. Don't always nab 'em the first time."

"Geez, you keep disappearing on us!"

"Pepper, you know how Sunil is. He's sort of… panicking."

They didn't need anyone else, just each other. It was a guy thing; they didn't expect the girls to understand, so they just didn't talk about it. There was no reason to tell them, so why bother? "What the girls don't know won't hurt them," became their motto.

Sometimes Sunil would panic, or just break down, because he was afraid that they would never be honest with their friends. But Vinnie and Russell were there to hold them and tell him it would be alright. They would tell the girls someday, just not today. Just not until they asked.

Just not until they were sure the girls would except them—not as Vinnie and Sunil or Vinnie and Russell or Russell and Sunil, but as Vinnie and Sunil and Russell. As the three of them, together, just the way they wanted it.