Summary:

"You say you don’t want this. You say you can't. And still the shirt." Shane is quick to protest, not giving himself a second to even consider any alternative. "Look, I don't know what you're trying to prove here but—" "Give it back," Ilya instructs, his voice steady and low. "Tell me I am nothing to you, and I let you go." It's self-sabotage. Textbook fucking definition. Maybe it's what he needs to give up on this. He just needs to hear Shane say it, that's all. —— Shane freaks out. Ilya doesn't want him to leave without figuring out exactly how Shane feels about him. (aka a post tuna melt scene rewrite where communication isn’t a foreign concept to them)