3 months later

"Luuuucccccaaaaa!" A frantic voice yelled from the other room.

Luca looked up, concerned. "I'm in here, Harps," he called from the living room, and soon enough, Harper's little figure came barreling across the floor, Enzo walking behind him.

Luca leaned down from the couch and held his hand out, Harper burrowing right into it.

"Hey, little man," Luca greeted him. "You sure were coming in hot. What's up with you?"

The little boy shuddered. "Luca, there were so many spiders," he gasped, and Luca looked at him oddly.

"Enz?" he asked, turning to the older brother. "What happened?"

"Mama spider made a nest in our main room," was all he said. "They completely overran the whole place." He held up their hooks and supply bags. "These are all we made it out with."

"Eww," Luca scrunched up his nose in disgust. "That sounds horrifying."

Enzo shrugged, but he looked tired. "It happens sometimes when the weather starts cooling down. Nothing we can do about it."

Harper made a little gagging sound. "One of the baby spiders ran over my feet," he said. "I can still feel its creepy crawly legs."

Luca patted him on the back with a finger, trying to make him feel better.

"So, do you have another place in the walls to stay?" Luca asked. He almost suggested they stay out here with him, but he held his tongue. He was sure Enzo would refuse.

To his surprise, Enzo shook his head. "Nope. Those spiders are going to be roaming about the walls soon enough. It's best if we stay out here."

"Gotcha." Luca tried not to look as delighted as he felt. Does this mean I'll get to see them more? he wondered. Or will they mostly hide away somewhere?

He usually saw them about three or four times a week already, which was fine. But he couldn't deny that the thought of their company made him happy.

"Do you have an idea of where you want to stay, or should I give you some suggestions?" Luca asked. "You're more than welcome to set up camp anywhere you'd like."

"Can we just stay under your table again?" Harper piped up, and Luca glanced down at him

"Yeah, sure," he said. He rubbed the little boy's head and shoulders, and Harper stretched out under his fingers contentedly. "Let's go get you guys set up."

After the spider incident, Harper spent the rest of the day snuggled up with Luca, who was surprised that Enzo let him hold Harper for so long. Usually, the older brother started looking more and more uncomfortable with Luca handling Harper the longer it went on, so Luca was confused when he didn't say anything.

But even Enzo was sticking closer to Luca than usual, eyeing the baseboards warily. It eventually clicked.

"Ah, are you worried about the spiders?" Luca asked, and Enzo glanced up at him.

"They're not the most fun to deal with," he admitted. "Especially when there are so many of them."

"Hmm, I should probably stop leaving food out for you guys, then," Luca mused. "I know you prefer fetching your own supplies over me just giving stuff to you, but food attracts bugs, and that will lure the spiders out of the walls for sure."

Harper stiffened up, and he looked at his brother. "Enzo," he said worriedly. "Are the spiders going to come out of the walls?"

Enzo sighed and rubbed his head. "No," he assured his brother. "We'll be fine."

"You can just have meals with me," Luca offered. "So that all the leftovers can be cleared away. No mess, no bugs, no spiders."

Harper perked up at this, and Enzo just nodded, looking resigned. "Fine," he agreed. "I guess we'd better do that."

***

Their first day out in the open went fine. And the day after that. And the day after that.

Enzo and Harper changed their usual schedule to be awake during the day, every day, instead of staggering their sleeping schedule. It was just easier to be awake whenever Luca was, especially since they now ate together.

Harper was happy, of course. And Enzo had to admit that being in the apartment was a lot more comfortable than the unheated walls. Their new nest under the bedside table was always warm and soft, and Luca changed out the sweatshirt with a clean one every week, so it always smelled nice, too.

Yes, things were going well. But there was one development that filled Enzo with apprehension: he was starting to feel drawn to Luca. 

What are you thinking? Enzo would chide himself every night before drifting off to sleep. You can't let yourself get sucked into his charm! You have to keep Harper safe!

But Luca was already doing a phenomenal job keeping Harper safe, and Enzo couldn't stop thinking about how relieved he had felt to see Luca's familiar face after finding all those spiders in their nest. Just knowing that there was someone who could and would take good care of them made Enzo's shoulders feel infinitely lighter.

Enzo couldn't sleep at all one night, about a week after he and Harper set up their permanent residence under the side table. He knew that Luca was still up and in the living room, and before he knew what he was doing, Enzo found himself creeping out of the sweatshirt nest, carefully removing Harper's twiglike arm from around his waist and slipping out of the room.

Luca was lying on the couch, scrolling through his phone. From his spot on the floor, Enzo could just make out the screen, and he could see that Luca was looking up pictures of sloths.

He smiled a little to himself. Luca and Harper had looked at a world atlas today, with Luca showing Harper the animals that lived on a continent called South America. Harper had been absolutely fascinated, his eyes huge as he listened. Enzo bet that Luca was looking up more animal facts to show Harper tomorrow.

As Enzo walked closer to the couch, Luca seemed to catch his movement out of the corner of his eye, as his gaze suddenly shifted to the floor.

Enzo froze out of habit and barely stopped himself from looking for a place to hide. Instead, he continued his walk up the couch, trying to ignore how tall Luca looked when he suddenly sat up.

"Hey, Enz," Luca called down to him. "What are you doing up? You need something?"

Enzo shook his head, now stopped at the bottom of the couch.

"No," he responded. "I just couldn't sleep." He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I wanted to come see what you were up to."

Luca stared at him, and Enzo realized that he must have taken the human by surprise. Enzo rarely interacted with Luca on his own, Harper being the main bridge between them.

"Well, want to come sit on the couch with me?" Luca finally offered. He patted the worn couch cushion. "I'm researching some more animals to tell Harper about tomorrow."

Pleased to know that he had guessed correctly, Enzo nodded, slinging his hook into the couch and climbing up the rope. Unlike Harper, who loved to be in Luca's hands, Enzo had yet to let Luca touch him.

"Can I see?" he asked, once he had made it beside Luca.

Luca looked positively dumbfounded by Enzo's interest and conversational tone, but he quickly recovered.

"Umm, yeah, of course," he said, holding out his phone. He pointed at the screen, and Enzo stared at his long fingers instead of what Luca was showing him.

"We talked a little about sloths today," Luca said. "But I couldn't answer all of Harper's questions. So, I'm looking them up now."

Enzo tilted his head. "And?" he asked. "What did you learn?"

Luca flicked through the images on his phone. "That sloths are so slow that algae grows on them. And that sometimes they mistake their own arms for branches while climbing and fall out of the trees they're in."

Enzo winced, remembering his own bad fall several months ago. "Not a fun fact," he commented, and Luca laughed a little.

"You're right," he said. "Maybe I'll leave that one out tomorrow."

They were silent for a moment, as if both realizing how awkward this was without Harper's cheerful little presence.

"Enz," Luca suddenly said, and Enzo looked up at him. The human looked hesitant, but he continued. "I know being out here with me probably isn't ideal for you, but how are you doing? Is this arrangement working out for you and Harper?"

Enzo sat there and considered it. But he quickly realized he didn't need to think about it for very long.

"It's fine," he assured Luca.

"Really?" Luca sounded skeptical. "It's just..." he hesitated again. "You always look so put out when you guys are out in the open, especially..." he took a breath. "Especially when I'm playing with Harper. Are you really okay with everything? I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, and we haven't gotten the chance to have a real talk about it."

That's... so thoughtful of him to ask me that, Enzo realized. He studied Luca carefully, as if seeing him in a new light.

The human looked the same as always— tall and broad with his oddly silver hair and piercing eyes. Enzo noticed that the dark roots of his natural hair color were coming back, and he found himself wondering if Luca was going to dye it again or let it go back to normal.

Since when am I curious about the human? Enzo marveled to himself. It's been... years since I've let myself be curious about him.

He noticed that Luca was fidgeting, and Enzo realized belatedly that he had just been staring at the human instead of answering his question.

"It does still make me nervous," Enzo finally admitted. "But..." he hesitated, too. "You're... good with Harper. And it makes him happy. So... I'm okay with it."

"Oh." Luca blinked, probably a little taken aback by the compliment. "Oh, umm, thanks."

They were silent again before Luca spoke up again.

"Is there... a particular reason you came out here?" he asked cautiously. "Did you want to talk about something? Did I... do something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Enzo repeated incredulously. "Why would you think you did anything wrong?"

His tone shifted. "Did you do something wrong?"

Luca threw his hands up. "I don't know!" he said. "That's why I'm asking you! I don't think I've broken any of the rules we've set, but there could be something I did that you didn't like or something that we didn't think to add to the rules yet."

Enzo couldn't help but laugh a little at the bewildered look on Luca's face. Luca just stared at him, and Enzo realized the human had probably never seen him smile before, let alone heard him laugh.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," Enzo assured him, feeling oddly light at the interaction they were having. Talking to Luca like this was almost... fun.

Luca looked puzzled, his brows furrowed. "Then... well, no offense, but why did you come out here to see me?" he asked. "I mean... you're more than welcome to, but I never see you unless Harper's here, too."

Enzo played with some fuzz on the couch. "I don't know," he admitted. "I just couldn't sleep. So, I wanted to see what you were up to."

"Thank goodness." Luca's tone was relieved, like a huge weight had been lifted. "I was so scared I was in trouble or something."

Enzo shook his head in amazement. Luca was such an odd human. "Why would you be worried about that?"

"Enzo," Luca said seriously. "I don't know if you know this, but you're terrifying."

Enzo really did burst out laughing at that, and the human grinned back.

"No, I'm not," Enzo said, once he had gotten his breath back. "I'm only as tall as your finger. Maybe not even as tall."

Luca just shook his head.

"Come on," Enzo insisted. "Be for real. I'm not nearly as terrifying as you are."

"Nope," Luca disagreed. "Because I know that I will never hurt you. But I'm not so sure if you wouldn't hurt me if given the chance."

"What?" Enzo couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How could I possibly hurt you?"

"You're pretty fierce with that box cutter," Luca admitted. "And Harper told me about the time you killed a mouse with a pin. That was pretty scary."

"Well, are you a mouse?" Enzo challenged.

"Ever since meeting you, I thank God every day that I'm not," Luca said, a solemn look on his face.

Enzo just rolled his eyes. He never knew Luca could be so ridiculous.

They were quiet again, but this time, it was a companionable silence rather than an awkward one. Enzo glanced back over at the bedroom door. He hadn't been gone for very long, but he didn't want Harper to wake up and worry if he found him gone.

"I'm going to head back to bed," Enzo said, jerking his head in the direction of their nest. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Luca nodded. "Sounds good, Enz. Have a good night."

Enzo nodded back and headed down his rope. He was just at the corner of the couch when Luca called down to him. 

"Hey, you can come out to see me whenever you want," Luca told him. "Harper's the best, but I'm sure it's nice to talk to someone your own age."

He's not wrong, Enzo thought, pausing. I haven't had an adult conversation in seven years.

Enzo waved him off and started moving again. "Mm," he acknowledged. "Alright. We'll see."

_______________________________________________________

A/N: They're so awkward. I love them.

Also, everyone say "thank you, spiders!" for driving the plot forward. 

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote or comment. See you in the next part!