When Elise asked him for the borrowers' IDs at the gym, Luca realized something. Up until then, he reasoned that as long as the brothers stuck with him, they would be fine. But now... he was aware that they would be severely limited in the human world if they didn't have any sort of documentation.

They could live with him, sure, but what if he got too sick to work? Or even... died? They would have nothing. They would have no one. It was too dangerous not to be established as humans.

And so, Luca set out to try to convince Enzo.

"Enz," Luca began a few nights later, after he'd had some time to think of what to say. He knew that the borrower would not like this topic.

Huddled in Luca's sweatshirt on the couch, Enzo looked up at him warily. He had been doing surprisingly well with things the last couple of weeks, even going so far as to venture out to several stores and the rock climbing gym.

Luca never expected him to agree to these outings in the first place, but it was encouraging to see him slowly loosen up. His face, while still wary, relaxed ever so slightly so long as Luca was nearby.

Luca sighed and sat beside him. "I think we need some help," he said softly. "Besides just me. I think... I think we need some advice on how to get you guys situated as humans."

Enzo immediately recoiled. "What do you mean?"

"I... I've just been thinking," Luca said. "The longer this goes on, the more I'm thinking this change is a permanent thing. And if that's the case, it will be good for you to get an ID and get established as a real person out in human society."

Enzo frowned. "Why would we need that?" he wanted to know. "Why can't we just stay here?"

"Don't worry, you're still going to stay here," Luca assured him patiently. "No matter what, you can always live with me. But it's not a good idea to hide in the apartment all the time. You're human now. You should have hobbies and friends. An education. I don't want to isolate you from the world."

"I don't need any of that," Enzo argued. "I just need you and Harper."

Luca tried not to sigh. Enzo had never been human, so of course he would have no idea what was needed to make life easier when living like one. And Luca's head swam just trying to think of a way to explain it to him.

"It's a good idea," Luca insisted. "If we do this now and get human documents for you, you guys can go to the doctor easier, Harper can go to school, and you can get a job."

Enzo glared. "What if I don't want any of those things?" he demanded.

"It's still something worth doing," Luca said. "I can protect you easier in the human world if you're registered as a human. And... if anything happens to me, you'll be able to take care of yourself."

Enzo shook his head and burrowed deeper into Luca's borrowed sweatshirt.

"The less people who know about us, the better," Enzo said firmly. "I don't want a whole bunch of humans having me in their records."

"We don't have to decide on this right now," Luca said, trying to make him feel better. "But let's just get another opinion on the situation. I think it will be helpful."

Enzo just sat there on the couch, arms crossed with a sour look on his face. Luca tried to stay focused on the conversation instead letting his mind wander to how cute a grumpy Enzo looked in his sweatshirt.

Luca put a hand on his knee. "Please? It's just my friend Jenny. She's a lawyer, and she can tell us how to get you guys established in human society. We'll just ask her for advice. That's all."

The look on Enzo's face wavered for just a moment before hardening again.

"No," Enzo doubled down. "No one can know about us."

Luca decided to back off. Enzo always got defensive the more he tried to push him.

"Alright. But, Enz, like I said, you guys can't stay in the apartment forever," Luca reminded him gently. "Especially now that you're big. You need more room than you're giving yourself. You need... a bigger life than you're giving yourself."

When Enzo's frown didn't waver, Luca just patted his knee twice. "It's alright. Why don't I get us a snack, and then we go to bed?"

Enzo finally nodded at that, unfolding himself from the couch to follow Luca into the kitchen.

***

Jenny came over two weeks later. Luca didn't know quite how to explain the situation, finally settling on telling Jenny that he had a couple of friends who needed some legal advice on how to get basic identifying documents.

She insisted on coming over to meet them herself, so, after getting Enzo's permission and practicing a story to tell her, Luca invited her over.

Instead of waiting in the living room, Harper wanted to meet her as soon as she walked in the door, which meant that Enzo was there, too, of course. So, that's how poor Jenny was greeted, with three people in her face in Luca's narrow entryway. 

"Umm, hi?" she said as soon as Luca opened the door.

"Hey!" he smiled and opened the door wider, letting her in. "Thanks for coming by."

They had to do a little bit of shuffling to fit four people in the side hallway, but eventually, Jenny was inside, and they all stood around blinking at each other.

Enzo inched closer to Luca's side, glaring at Jenny. Harper wasn't antagonistic, but his curiosity had given way to nervousness, his tiny hand gripping Luca's nervously. 

Luca moved his arm behind Enzo and placed his hand on his back to steady him. "Jen, these are my friends, Enzo and his brother Harper. Guys, this is my friend, Jenny. We've known each other since high school."

Jenny smiled. "Nice to meet you both," she said.

"Hi," Harper said shyly. Enzo just said nothing

"So," Luca said, hoping to cut to the chase and distract Jenny from how awkward Enzo was. "Come on in, and we'll explain what's going on."

He led them all into the living room, ushering the two borrowers ahead of him to put distance between them and Jenny.

Harper kept peeking over his shoulder at her, startling a bit when she made faces at him. Eventually, though, his little face started loosening up into a smile.

"Hey!" he said suddenly, scooting up from where he was seated on the couch between Luca and Enzo. "I've seen you before! You come over sometimes to use that loud thing."

He pointed at the sewing machine in the corner, and Jenny looked at it from her seat in the rocking chair.

"Oh, yeah," she said, surprised. "I taught him how to sew our first year of college. It was totally out of the blue, too. None of my guy friends have ever been interested in it. Just Luca."

"Boys can't sew?" Harper asked, face scrunched in confusion. Which... of course he was confused. Harper only knew Luca and Enzo, and they both knew how to sew.

Jenny laughed lightly. "They can sew, but most choose not to," she explained. 'They should learn, though. It's a very practical skill."

Enzo stared at Luca, his dark eyes narrowing in suspicion. Luca just smiled back nervously. Enzo had probably pieced together that Luca only started sewing so that the borrowers could have more supplies.

"But," Jenny continued, looking confused. "How did you know that? I've never seen you here at Luca's before."

Luca winced internally at Harper's little mistake. How could he explain that Harper had probably been watching from the walls? Enzo stiffened, and he grabbed Harper's shoulders, tugging him back against the couch cushions with him.

"Enz!" Harper whined, struggling a little to break out of his brother's death grip.

"Oh, I showed him a picture of our high school friends," Luca lied, thinking furiously. "And I mentioned you taught me how to quilt. He really likes the first quilt I made— you know, the blue and green one? He sleeps with it now."

That last part wasn't a lie, at least. Luca's first quilt was a small thing, meant to give him practice. But it was the perfect size for Harper, and the little boy loved it, sometimes even wandering around the apartment with it draped over his tiny shoulders like a cape.

"Oh, yeah," Jenny smiled. "I remember that one. Gosh, you hated making that."

Luca groaned. "It was so hard! It took me months!"

She chuckled a bit, probably remembering all the hours Luca spent complaining to her over the phone every time his sewing machine jammed. Luca smiled, too, but then Enzo nudged him, and he knew he had to get on with this before Enzo changed his mind. 

"So," Luca began. "Like I explained over the phone, Enzo and Harper here are in a bit of a... predicament."

Jenny nodded, gesturing for him to get to the point. At least she was as chop-chop as Enzo was. That was something they could bond over.

"It's umm... a bit complicated..." Luca turned to Enzo. "Why don't you explain?"

Luca didn't exactly want Enzo to be the one to tell their cover story, but he figured it would look weird if the affected party wasn't the one to describe their situation

"Our parents were... a bit wary of the government," came Enzo's wooden answer. It sounded rehearsed... which it was. "We lived off the land, and our mom birthed us at home. We grew up completely off the grid. No internet, no school, no hospitals, no nothing. Our births weren't even registered."

Jenny's eyes narrowed, and Luca smiled nervously.

Harper nodded, his little face earnest, like he really had grown up far away from civilization. Which... wasn't exactly a lie.

"I met them about two months ago," Luca said, cutting in. "Their parents had gotten sick and died, and instead of staying on their plot of land out in the middle of nowhere, they decided to come out here. To, uh, the city. And umm, yeah. That's how we met. They've been staying with me ever since."

Jenny shot him a look of concern, but she was too polite to say anything about the situation in front of Enzo and Harper.

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents," she offered instead, and at least the flash of emotion in Enzo's eyes clearly wasn't fake. She paused for a moment, looking at him and Harper, before turning to Luca.

"Ok, but what do you need me for?" she asked.

Luca jumped right in. "I want to help them get documents so that they can live in normal society," he explained. "So, they can get vaccines, go to the doctor, go to school, get jobs. As it is right now... things will be a lot harder for them."

Jenny pursed her lips. "You... do realize that I'm not that type of lawyer, right? Did you literally just call me because I'm the only lawyer you know?"

"Maybe?" Luca admitted, and she rolled her eyes.

"I figured you might know someone!" Luca added hastily. "Or at the very least give us some sound legal advice. You know, point us in the right direction? We... really don't know what to do here."

Jenny sighed. "Well, you're right, it would be a really good idea for them to get situated with birth records and stuff." She looked at Enzo seriously. "Are your parents' names and births at least in the system?" she asked. "That would be helpful in proving you're a real person who was born here."

Enzo hesitated before shaking his head. "No," he said quietly. "Our family has been... living privately off the land for generations. I don't even know how far back. No one will be in any records."

Jenny's eye twitched at the impossible answer. Luca looked around the room nervously. Enzo was sitting with his arms crossed, Jenny looked like she had a headache, and Harper wouldn't stop fidgeting.

"Ok!" Luca interrupted. "Now that you know a bit more about their, uhh, circumstances, maybe we..."

He was cut off by Jenny's phone buzzing, and she shot him an apologetic look as she looked down to see who it was.

"Oh, hell no," she mumbled, typing into her phone furiously. 

"Umm, something wrong?" Luca asked. Enzo just narrowed his eyes at her.

Jenny sighed. "Sorry, I gotta go," she said. "My boss doesn't like the report I submitted, and I need to draft a new one by tonight." She looked at Enzo and Harper. "I'll think about your guys' situation," she assured them. "And I'll see what I can do."

She turned to Luca next, already standing up and grabbing her bag. "Walk me to my car?" she asked, tilting her head towards the front door.

"Sure," Luca said, and he knew she wanted to talk privately.

He followed her downstairs, leaving Enzo and Harper in the safety of the apartment. "Well, what do you think?" he asked once they were in the parking lot. "Can you help them?"

Jenny sighed. "I don't know, Luca," she admitted. "This is... a weird case. No birth records, no ID, no... nothing?"

Luca nodded. "Like Enzo said, their parents were super off the grid," he explained. "They had them at home, never enrolled them in school, never took them to a doctor or hospital."

Jenny's shook her head in amazement. "Where did you even find these two, anyway?"

Luca shrugged. "Near my apartment," he answered. "They'd been out on their own for a while already but were really confused. They know next to nothing about the real world. After their parents died, they left their little cabin and hitch hiked until they landed here. I couldn't just leave them there to fend for themselves."

"O...kay..." Jenny said slowly. "So, you just... took them home with you? Without knowing anything about them?"

Luca gave her a thumbs up. "That's correct."

"You still have no sense of self-preservation," Jenny muttered under her breath.

Luca laughed. "Oh, come on, Jen," he said. "They're harmless."

"Have you seen the older one's eyes?" Jenny countered. "He looks like he'd kill you in your sleep without a second thought if you crossed him."

Luca considered it, thinking back to how scared he used to be of Enzo's intense stares. Finally, he nodded.

"Yeah, but that's just how he is," he agreed affectionately. "He's an... intense kind of guy. He's not a bad person, though. He's mostly that way to protect his brother. I promise he's safe to be around." He paused for a moment. "So long as you don't hurt Harper," he amended.

Jenny sighed. "Whatever you say, man," she said. "It's your life. If you want to make these guys' problem yours, then by all means, go for it. I'll hook you up with a lawyer who specializes in identity and immigration. He can help you contact your vital records office and get started."

She held up a hand to ward off Luca's grateful exclamation.

"It will be slow going, though, trying to get them birth certificates and IDs and stuff," she warned. "I don't even know if they can be classified as citizens. Are you sure they were born here?"

Luca nodded. "Very sure," he said firmly.

Jenny shrugged. "Alright. Let's see what we can do." She clapped Luca on the back. "Take care of yourself," she said. "Call me if you need anything."

"Yeah, you too," Luca said, waving her off. "Thanks for your help."

He turned to look back up at his apartment and sighed. Now he just needed to hear what Enzo had to say on the matter.

_________________________________________________________

A/N: Poor Jenny. Luca doesn't realize it since he's around them every day, but Enzo and Harper don't act anything like real humans. Harper can pass for one so long as he doesn't ask weird questions about human stuff, but Enzo... he's just so stiff and paranoid. Jenny's first thought when she saw him was that he looked like a killer robot wearing a mask of human skin. 

Luca, probably (in response to her mentioning this): You mean a drop-dead gorgeous killer robot wearing a mask of human skin, right?

Also, I really like the next chapter. I posted this chapter today so that I can get to the next chapter faster. Stay tuned. 

Thanks for reading!