Enzo and Harper left two days later, but they at least said goodbye first. Well, Harper said goodbye. Enzo just kind of nodded at him.

Harper even wanted a hug before he left, drifting towards where Luca sat on the floor until Luca asked what he wanted.

When Luca looked at Enzo, silently asking for permission, the older borrower just nodded stiffly, so Luca took the smaller boy into his hands and held him close to his heart.

He could feel Harper shift against his chest, and he knew without looking that the small borrower was doing his best to hug him back. Just imagining the scene made him smile.

Enzo's glare got darker, so Luca hurried to put Harper down.

"Bye, you two," he said. "Take care of yourselves, ok?"

"Bye, Luca," Harper responded sadly. "I'll miss you."

Luca smiled at him. "I'll miss you, too, buddy," he said. "Come see me if you need anything."

He turned to Enzo, making sure to look him in the eye.

"I've thought about what we talked about," he said evenly. "And I still stand by what I said. You will always be welcome, safe, and respected here. No matter what you choose, or where you go. Everything I do will be for your wellbeing and dignity in mind."

Enzo nodded once. "I'm thinking about it, too," he said, to Luca's astonishment. "I'll let you know if anything changes."

And then they were gone, back to their new apartment.

***

Two and a half weeks passed with no sign of the two borrowers. Luca tried not to feel too anxious about it.

It's their lives, he reminded himself. Not mine. I don't get to make those decisions for them.

But still. After having them out in the open for almost a full week, Luca found himself caring for them even more than he had before. He even liked being around Enzo, though the older borrower intimidated him.

Luca had never met someone so intense. Enzo really was a fierce little thing. The way his eyes bored into you, dark and unfathomable... Luca shivered just thinking about it. If they were the same size, Luca was sure he'd be downright terrified of him.

So, with no way of knowing what the brothers had decided, Luca just continued life as normal. He didn't really need to stick to his old schedule anymore, but he did so out of habit. And just in case Enzo and Harper had already come back without him noticing.

But by the start of the third week, Luca was getting ready for work when a small sound on his desk caught his attention.

He turned towards it slowly, not wanting to get his hopes up. But to his astonishment, both little borrowers stood on his desk, blinking up at him.

"Enzo!" Luca exclaimed, unable to keep the joy out of his voice. "Harper! What are you two doing here?"

Enzo glanced at his little brother, who had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face, his arms crossed over his tiny chest. It looked like he was trying to mimic Enzo.

"We're going to stay," Enzo said, and Luca's jaw dropped.

"What?"

Enzo held up his hand to stop him. "But the second things feel unsafe, or you seem untrustworthy, we're leaving." He shot Luca a glare. "And we're not coming back. Do you understand?"

Luca nodded quickly. "I understand," he said. Curious, he added, "What made you decide to come back?"

Enzo sighed.

"Well, I would have liked to stay away or at least go back to the way things were, but someone here wants to still hang out with you."

Luca couldn't help but smile. "Someone, hmm?" he mused aloud. "I wonder who that could have been."

Unable to keep up the grave pretense anymore, Harper uncrossed his arms and grinned back.

"It was me," he said happily, and Enzo rolled his eyes.

"Yes, of course it was you," he told Harper. "Who else would possibly think it was a good idea to befriend a human?" But he didn't look that annoyed.

Luca took a seat at his desk, being careful not to jostle the table. Enzo still grabbed Harper's arm as if to steady him, even though the desk didn't move.

"So, what does this mean?" Luca asked next. "You're back in the apartment, but are you going to talk to me now?"

Harper nodded enthusiastically, but Enzo looked uneasy.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I don't know what interacting with you would look like. Even if you don't intentionally hurt us, what about accidents? You can't be careful all the time."

Luca already had a plan in mind, one he had come up with during these long three weeks as he waited for an answer. "Well... if you want to interact with me but don't know how, what if we come up with some rules?"

"...rules?" Enzo echoed. Harper tilted his head, intrigued.

"Boundaries," Luca clarified. "Things that you are or are not comfortable with me doing. Ways to ensure there aren't any accidents and that you stay safe and respected."

"Enzo loves rules!" Harper piped up. "He has a whole bunch for me!"

Enzo shot him a glare before turning back to Luca.

"I... what's the point of that?" he asked. "Seems useless to me. What's to stop you from breaking those rules and just doing whatever you want to us?"

Luca nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. There's no way you can make sure I follow these rules. I just want to have them clearly written out, so you know that I'm aware of how to act around you. It's to show you what my intentions are."

Luca tugged a notepad towards him and turned to a clean page. He uncapped a pen and looked at Enzo expectantly. Enzo stared back, looking uncomfortable.

"Rule number one," Luca said, thinking it best to get started. He pressed the pen tip to the paper. "What Enzo says, goes."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Enzo's head jerk back in surprise.

"Huh?" the borrower asked.

Luca looked at him and tried not to laugh at the dumbfounded look in Enzo's dark eyes. He was so used to seeing distrust and uneasiness. Honest surprise was not an emotion he expected to see from the stoic borrower.

"You have the final say in everything," Luca clarified. "If you stay, if you go. If you spend time with me, if you stay in the walls. I'll respect whatever rules you set. If you say you and Harper are or aren't doing something, then that's it. That's what we're doing."

"What?" Harper protested. "What if Enzo says something I think is stupid?"

Enzo frowned at him, but Luca beat him to the explanation.

"When it comes to me and whatever relationship the three of us have, you need to listen to Enzo," Luca told him. "We both do."

"But... why?" Harper wanted to know.

Luca shrugged. "He knows what's best for people like you. I don't know the first thing about what's a potentially dangerous situation for someone so small. And you haven't had enough experience to gauge that yet, either."

He pointed at Enzo, who stepped back a little. "Enzo's the only one out of all of us who knows what's safe for a borrower and what's not. And that includes a friendship with humans."

Harper kicked at the desk and grumbled a bit, but Enzo looked at Luca with what seemed to be... gratitude? It was gone in an instant, however, and Luca wondered if he had imagined it.

"Ok, moving on," Luca said. "I won't wear headphones in the house. That way, I can hear you if you need my attention."

Enzo nodded, so Luca wrote it down.

"And I haven't been using the vacuum cleaner because I've always been scared of accidentally sucking one of you guys up. Do you want me to continue not using it?"

Enzo nodded again. "That would be safest," he agreed.

"Alright." Luca stopped to think.

"No touching," Enzo spoke up suddenly. "And don't pick us up, either."

Luca nodded, about to write that down, when Harper interrupted.

"No, I don't like that rule," the child protested. "I've been fine with all the other ones, even the one about listening to Enzo. But that rule's stupid."

"How is it stupid?" Enzo asked incredulously. "It's to keep you safe!"

Harper bit his lip, but he didn't back down.

"I'm safe with Luca!" he argued back. "He was really gentle with me when I was sick!"

Enzo looked like he was about to snap back a retort when Luca interrupted.

"Hmm, how about this?" Luca suggested. "I won't touch or pick anyone up without explicit permission." He tapped his chin with the pen, thinking. "Well, unless you guys are in immediate danger. Then I think I should be allowed to grab you in case of emergency."

Enzo raised his eyebrows. "And what would you classify as immediate danger?" he wanted to know.

Luca hurried to explain himself. "Well, like if you happened to fall off the table or something. I think it goes without saying that if I'm there, I should try to catch you. Or if you're being chased by a... spider? Or a mouse or... something? And I need to pick you up quickly, so you don't get eaten?"

Enzo let out a little snort at Luca's explanation. "Fine," he relented. He pointed up at Luca's face, squinting. "Just so long as you don't intentionally create situations where you have to pick us up or "save us" from these scenarios."

Luca smiled as he wrote down the rule. Geez, this little guy is so paranoid, he thought. Not that I blame him. I would want all loopholes closed, too.

"And don't just get everything for us," Enzo added. "We still need to keep up our borrowing skills. Just in case."

"Sure," Luca nodded. "That's fine. But feel free to let me know if you need anything. Or if you just want a hot meal for a change instead of leftovers."

Harper's eyes lit up at that, and he tugged at Enzo's sleeve. The older brother's hard gaze softened. "Alright," he agreed. "That's fine."

"Ok, and I won't seek you guys out," Luca said. "The walls are yours. If you want to spend time with me, then it's up to you to initiate that."

Enzo perked up at this, and Luca continued.

"But if I have someone coming over, or if I'm leaving for a few days, I'll let you know beforehand," he added.

"Will it be on the whiteboard?" Harper asked, and Luca nodded.

"Usually, yes. But if it's a last minute thing, I'll need to find a way to tell you so that you don't come out of the walls when I have guests or so that you can stock up on supplies if I'm leaving."

"You can tap on the walls," Harper suggested. "Two taps to stay inside, and three to come out."

"Oh, that's a good idea," Luca said. He glanced at Enzo, who nodded, so Luca wrote it down.

Luca looked over the list so far. "Hmm, and I'll try to never have overnight guests," he added. "In case that messes with your borrowing schedule."

Enzo, who had been quiet for the last few rules, suddenly stared at him, his dark eyes sweeping across Luca's face as if looking for something. Luca raised his eyebrows back at him. "Yes?"

"These are all things you've already been doing," Enzo pointed out.

Luca grinned sheepishly. "Yeah," he admitted, and Enzo looked at him suspiciously.

"What all did you change in your normal routine since you discovered us, anyway?" he asked.

Luca shrugged, uncomfortable with the attention. "Probably just the stuff you've already pieced together," he said.

"No vacuum cleaner, no overnight guests, food and supplies left out easily, a strict schedule, a clean and quiet apartment," Enzo ticked off.

He tilted his head, the few dark strands that had come loose from his ponytail falling around his narrow face. "I'm sure there's more things you've been doing."

"That's pretty much it," Luca confirmed. He kept quiet about the fact that he had intentionally stayed in the apartment the last seven years, despite his friends and uncle asking if he was going to move. And about the fact that he took a job that would make it easier for him to stay. And about the several relationships that fizzled out and went nowhere because Luca wouldn't let his partners stay overnight or move in with him.

He also failed to mention how he had switched to non-toxic cleaners for the floors and counters, and how he only changed clothes in the bathroom since he guessed it was the only place he ever had true privacy. And he definitely didn't say anything about the way he kept an eye out for what was frequently disturbed or went missing so that he could restock or drop those items sooner.

Enzo still looked like he didn't believe him, so Luca hastily shifted gears.

"I want to make a few rules for you guys, too, if that's ok," Luca said. Enzo immediately looked wary.

"Like what?" he wanted to know.

"Well, if you're in the same room as me, I'd like to know," Luca said. "Just get my attention and make sure I acknowledge you, just so I don't accidentally step on or drop something on you."

Enzo nodded slowly. "That makes sense," he said. "Alright."

"You don't have to do this if you're in the walls," Luca clarified, writing it down. "Just if you're on the floor or counter or desk or something."

"Even if we're out borrowing?" Harper asked. "We can just hide so that we're not in the way."

Luca winced. "I don't know, that still sounds risky to me," he said. "I really, really don't want to accidentally hurt you just because I didn't know you were there."

Enzo waved his hand. "Fine, that's fine," he said, gesturing for Luca to move on. "We can do that."

"Ok. And if you need to wake me up when I'm asleep, don't get too close to me. Just stand on the desk or something and yell. I don't want you on my bed where I might roll over on you."

When neither brother protested, Luca wrote it down.

"And don't come near my feet when I'm walking." Luca shuddered. "That's always been my biggest fear the last seven years."

Enzo gave him a ghost of a smile at the nauseated expression on his face, and Luca wrote some more.

Now for the last thing he wanted to ask the brothers.

"Umm... and can I make certain parts of my house... safer for you guys?" Luca wanted to know.

"What do you mean?" Enzo asked immediately, probably thinking back to the "cage" comment he had made a few weeks ago.

"Nothing major," Luca quickly assured him. "It just really freaked me out when you fell that one time. Maybe... I could put mats underneath the places you climb the most? Just in case another accident happens."

Enzo looked like he was about to disagree, but Harper nodded. "I like that one, Enz," he told his brother. "I don't want you to get hurt again."

Enzo grumbled a bit about how he was a good climber, but he eventually relented.

They finished up the list, with Luca assuring the brothers that they could add to it or modify it as needed as their relationship unfolded and different needs popped up.

"And overall, you can leave at any time for any reason, even if you don't have a reason," Luca said in conclusion.

Harper seemed to dismiss the statement, like he had already made up his mind to stay, but Enzo was hanging on to his every word.

"Or you can stop interacting with me at any time, for any reason," Luca added. "Ok? I won't be mad. I'll miss you, sure, but this is your life. I respect you guys."

"Ok, Luca!" Harper chirped. He gave Luca a thumbs up, and Luca smiled as the little boy turned to give Enzo a big hug.

"Thank you, Enzo," the child said, staring up at his brother with adoring eyes.

Even though Enzo was still clearly uncomfortable with this whole arrangement, nothing could stop him from putting his arms around his brother to hug him back.

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "You're welcome, Harps."

Over Harper's head, however, he stared at Luca intently, black eyes peering straight into his soul.

Luca understood his look without needing any words. Please don't make me regret this.

Luca nodded once. I won't.

_____________________________________________________________________

A/N: Enzo really does love rules. If Luca was looking for a way to win Enzo over, he probably did so the moment he suggested making rules. Bona fide way to sweep Enzo off his feet and make him fall for you, tbh.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment or vote if you want. See you in the next part!