need support

hey guys, it’s been a while since I posted. I need some help right now. I’m crying because I made a stupid fucking action earlier. there was a (what I assume) stray cat outside my garage & my brother let me know. we went to go look at it & it was meowing a bit. I eventually fed it & then picked up the can once it was done. my dumbass was curious to see if they could smell the cat bc I saw a few hair strings attached to the can so I set it down on the floor. my boy sniffed it & was just examining. I grabbed my girl to sniff it & she then started growling. my fucking stupid ass was like “oh?” & watched her sniff it again & that’s when she freaked out & lashed on my boy and they fought & it was scary. my brother and I separated them & they fought again when my boy came into my room as my girl was in there. I’m so scared. I’m regretting ever doing that. I’ve been looking online for ways to make it better. I think I have to officially reintroduce them bc it was a nasty fight. the stray cat is black and my boy is also black. so I think my girl either thinks my boy is the stray but what has me confused is that my brother goes to his friend’s house often and the friend has a cat. he usually comes back home with that cat’s fur and cuddles with our cats and nothing has happened. I’m guessing it has to do w/ that stray cat that roams around the neighborhood sometimes. I grabbed a sock from my drawer and gently opened my bedroom door to rub my boy & let my girl sniff it. nothing happened. she was fine. I rubbed the sock on my girl and let my boy sniff. nothing happened. my boy rlly wanted to enter and so I was vigilant and he was walking slow into the room. my girl was grooming herself on my bed. she noticed him and he saw her. then she started growling again and my boy sprinted out the room. I’ve been looking at posts on reddit & this is prolly called “redirected aggression” & it’s all my fault. I’m scared they won’t ever get along. they weren’t besties but they weren’t fighting 24/7. they tolerated each other ig. I have photos of them sleeping together. they groom each other. but sometimes they might swat at each other afterwards. i’m so scared I messed up their relationship. looking at the posts online, a couple people have had to rehome their cats bc some wouldn’t get along. I’m thinking of talking to a cat behaviorist to help me out bc I’m scared. so many thoughts. the thought of rehoming either of them is heartbreaking. I don’t know what to do. I have class tomorrow but I’m over here stressing at 4 am. I’m trying to calm down. anything but rehoming. please, I want them to be ok. it can take a month but please, I don’t want to let either of them go. i’m gonna put a youtube video on to help me relax. as far as I’ve had them, they are sweet babies. they don’t fight all the time. I’ve been lacking lately on not giving them stimulation bc of fucking rumination. but I’m not gonna let it happen again. I’m gonna be there for them. it’s fucking hard when dealing with fatigue but I will do it for them. god, I just hope for the best. I feel like a bad cat mama. this is my first time and I feel like a wreck. I don’t want to ruminate on these thoughts right now. too much. my girl is on my bed and my boy is sleeping out in the living room unfortunately. but it’s for the best right now. I want to sleep well even though this happened. literally, we sort of have a morning routine and they don’t fight every time they see each other. ugh. I will go sleep now. will put a youtube video on. sweet dreams everyone 🫂