It turned out that little Harper loved the water, though he looked like a funny little water bug with his huge goggles and big grin, his light hair plastered to his head during each swim class.

He improved surprisingly fast, quickly catching up to Sam and Collin's level within a month of lessons. In addition to the biweekly classes, Luca took him to the local swimming pool every weekend to practice.

Before long, Enzo finally decided that Harper was a strong enough swimmer to go to the beach, and Luca planned the outing with Charlene and the twins. It was just in the nick of time, too, as summer was ending soon, and the twins would be back in school.

The beach was only an hour away, and Charlene drove everyone in her minivan. The kids rushed out of the car immediately once they arrived, Sam and Collin pulling Harper along to scout out the perfect place to set up their towels.

Luca hopped out of the car, and Enzo watched as the human tugged his shirt off. He looked at Enzo and raised his eyebrows.

"You're supposed to take your shirt off, too," he said. "If you're comfortable with it."

Enzo just shrugged and pulled his T-shirt over his head as well, dropping it on top of Luca's by the towels the kids had set up.

He stood there uncomfortably, watching as Luca applied a white ointment to both himself and to Harper. He tossed the tube to Enzo when he was done. 

"Here," he said, going back to rubbing the ointment onto Harper's arms. "Put on some sunscreen."

Enzo eyed it curiously, and Harper chimed in. "It's so the sun doesn't burn you like a crisp, Enz!" his little brother chirped, repeating what either Luca or one of the twins must have told him.

Enzo was spared a response by Charlene. "Kids, come help me blow up the inner tube!" she called, waving, and the three little kids ran off to where she stood under their beach umbrella.

Now left alone with Luca, Enzo stared at the huge scar on the right side of Luca's rib cage and back. It was large and flat and a slightly paler shade from the rest of his skin. Enzo had caught glimpses of it from time to time over the years, but he had no idea where it was from. He fought the urge to run his fingers over it, though something told him Luca wouldn't mind.

"Oh, are you looking at this?" Luca spoke up suddenly, following Enzo's gaze. He pulled at the skin, stretching the borders of the scar. "I got this in the car accident. They had to take skin from my leg to patch me up. See?"

He stuck out his left leg, and Enzo could see a different scar on the inside of his thigh.

Oh, Enzo thought, his heart softening as he remembered Luca's story back when they had first met. He hadn't been very sympathetic then, but he certainly was now. When he lost his little brother. 

"Hmm," was all he said, unsure what else to say.

"Anyway, you have a few scars, too," Luca mentioned. He touched Enzo's top lip before running his fingertips along the bigger scars on his upper arm and chest. "What are these from?"

"Fell and hit my face on the head of a nail," Enzo said shortly, gesturing to the first scar. "This is a rat bite," he pointed at his upper arm. "And this is from the claws of the same rat," he finished, tapping his chest.

He rolled up the leg of his swim shorts and pointed at his thigh. "Burned this on the end of an incense stick that a human had left out."

He gestured at the various nicks on his forearms, chest, and legs. "Had to hide in a thorn bush once. The second time I moved."

Enzo didn't think much of his scars. His father and mother had been covered in them, too. It just came with the territory of being a borrower. But Luca looked taken aback. 

"Damn," the human breathed out. "That's brutal."

Enzo just shrugged, not too interested. "It's easy to get hurt at any size," he reminded Luca, staring at his own human's scars.

Luca just took his hand in his and kissed his fingertips. Enzo had a few scars there from his knife as well as a bad rope burn.

"Well, I'm glad you're still in one piece," Luca told him, eyes soft. "More or less."

***

Harper came running back at this point, the twins following right behind him.

"We're gonna go swimming now," he told Enzo and Luca breathlessly, and Luca nodded, pulling a pair of floaties from his backpack.

"You need to wear these," Luca told him. He quickly blew them up before kneeling beside the boy and reaching for his arm.

Harper immediately started protesting.

"Aww, but I'm a good swimmer now!" he whined, already letting Luca slip the floaties over his twiggy arms.

"You're a great swimmer, bud," Luca praised him. "But the ocean is more unpredictable than a swimming pool. There are waves and sometimes surprise currents. It's best to wear these."

He nodded at the twins, who were already wearing some, too. "Besides, Sam and Collin are wearing theirs." 

He thought that would be the end of the argument, but Harper wasn't done.

"But you're not wearing any," Harper accused.

Damn, he's right, Luca thought, standing back up. I don't really need them, though. How can I explain this without sounding hypocritical?

"That's because he's using this." Enzo came out of nowhere, shoving the inner tube that Charlene had brought over Luca's head.

Caught in a giant inflatable donut, Luca just stood there and stared at Enzo, who stared back with the hint of a wicked smile playing around his lips.

Is he... is he teasing me? Luca wondered, completely astonished. He never thought the serious Enzo had it in him to tease

"Enz, I don't really need this," he whispered, but the older borrower just raised his eyebrows right back.

"If you're swimming in the ocean, then yes, you do," he insisted. "I don't need you getting swept out to sea today."

"Oh, yeah?" Luca challenged. "Then where's yours?"

Enzo just raised his eyebrows. "Who said I'm going in the water?" he pointed out, plopping onto a towel next to Charlene, who laid sprawled out tanning.

Luca just stared at him in disbelief, and Enzo waved him away. "Go on," he dismissed. "Have fun."

Luca knew that Enzo could swim. The borrower had told him so himself, sharing how his father had taught him in the other humans' sink whenever they were out of town.

Luca couldn't help the mischievous smile that rose to his lips, a plan already forming in his head. He shrugged out of the inner tube and reached out to grab Enzo's wrist, pulling the borrower to his feet. Enzo looked confused, his eyes narrowing.

Luca grinned at him before kneeling down and pulling Enzo over his shoulder. As he stood to his full height, Enzo seemed to realize exactly what was going on.

And he didn't like it.

"Luca, I swear, you'd better put me down right now!" he warned, but Luca was already headed towards the water.

"What was that? Can't hear you!" he called back, still grinning

Enzo began to struggle at this point, punching Luca's shoulder and kneeing him in the ribs.

Luca grimaced, but he didn't put his boyfriend down. Somehow, he had forgotten how freakishly strong Enzo was. He was deceptively small, after all. Luca was going to have bruises for sure.

But he couldn't worry about that now.

The water now lapping against his knees, Luca pulled Enzo around to his chest to hold him in his arms.

"Hold your breath!" he warned Enzo before jumping into a large wave.

Enzo spluttered and gasped when they resurfaced, clinging to Luca's shoulders. With his dark hair in his eyes, he looked like a very angry, very wet cat.

Luca helped him push his hair out of his eyes before giving him a quick kiss.

"You alright there?" he asked tenderly, like Enzo's current state wasn't 100% his fault. "No water up your nose?"

Enzo shot him a murderous glare, but Luca detected a conniving glint in his eyes that he didn't like.

"No, but I can't say you'll be so lucky," he retorted, and before Luca could react, Enzo had reached up and pushed his head underwater.

Luca came up coughing and grinning like a maniac. Enzo was already wading back up to the beach without him.

"Hey!" Luca called, and Enzo glanced over his shoulder to give Luca the biggest grin he'd ever seen from the borrower.

Momentarily shellshocked, Luca quickly shook his head to clear it, flinging water drops everywhere, before dashing after Enzo.

Enzo heard him crashing through the waves, and he also broke out into a run. Luca knew Enzo was fast, so when he actually caught up to the borrower and tackled him around the waist, he realized... Enzo must have let him catch him.

They both fell back into the waves, with Enzo laughing hysterically. Luca couldn't help but laugh, too.

***

Enzo had mixed feelings about the beach. 

For starters, the sand got everywhere, and the seagulls were loud and vicious. Enzo watched them warily the whole time, snatching a defenseless crab away from one and tossing it into the water before sticking his tongue out at the horrible bird.

But the water was nice, and he liked watching Harper enjoy himself. His little brother was determined to do everything, from swimming in the water to collecting seashells to building sandcastles. He and Sam even buried Collin in the sand and gave him a mermaid tail, the three kids laughing wildly the whole time.

Even the games that Luca had them play were pretty fun. He taught the kids a game called chicken, placing Sam and then Collin on his shoulders to face off against Harper on Enzo's.

It was a wild game, and Enzo actually found himself laughing, thoroughly soaked by the water Luca kept splashing at him as a distraction. He caught the human grinning at him the whole time, Luca's hair, now dyed a dark blue, dripping into his eyes.

The kids tired out eventually and collapsed on their beach towels to eat the ice cream Charlene had bought them. Luca took this chance to tug Enzo away to walk along the waterline with him.

Enzo almost turned him down, worried about leaving Harper's side, but Luca pointed out that they weren't going far and could watch him the whole time.

"Besides, Charlene is right here, too," Luca said, and Enzo eventually gave in.

Luca grabbed his hand as they walked, and Enzo liked wading through the cool water as it rolled up onto the shore. At least he wasn't covered in sand this way.

Luca nudged him. "So, how do you like the beach?" he asked. "Everything you hoped and dreamed it would be?"

"I like hiking better," Enzo admitted, and Luca grinned.

"See. I knew you were more of a misty mountains kind of guy," he gloated, and Enzo rolled his eyes.

"This part's nice though," he said softly, glancing down at their clasped hands. "I like spending time with you."

At Luca's silence, Enzo looked back up, only to be met by the softest look on Luca's face.

The human leaned down for a kiss, and Enzo tilted his face up to meet him.

"I like spending time with you, too, Enz," Luca whispered once they broke apart.

________________________________________________________________

A/N: Enzo vs birds is a very real thing. He hates them. And sand. He hates sand, too. As a famous man once said, it's coarse, and it gets everywhere.

Also, this is the closest thing to a date for these two. With Harper, Sam, Collin, and Charlene acting as 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th wheels, respectively.

Also, also, idk which of my readers here have also read my book ...and Falling, but I just want to say that I'm not, like, obsessed with including beach chapters in my stories. It just kind of... happened that way.

Thanks for reading! See you in the next part.