Though Enzo now allowed Luca to take them outside on carefully planned excursions, he refused to go outside when it was dark, saying that too many animals were nocturnal hunters and that it would be too dark for Luca to be able to properly keep track of them.
Harper had been disappointed, as he really wanted to see stars in real life, so Luca tried to come up with the next best thing. He came home with an indoor planetarium one day, one that displayed all the stars on the walls and ceilings when turned on.
Harper was extremely curious, circling around the machine and poking at it until Luca called him away. They all lay on the floor of the living room after dinner to try it out, Harper and Enzo settled on Luca's chest as they stared up at the ceiling.
"Wow!" Harper exclaimed, pointing at a streak of light that shot across the sky. "What was that?"
"A shooting star," Luca explained. Enzo couldn't help but press himself closer to Luca's chest as he talked, drawn to the low vibrations of his voice. "You can make a wish on them."
"A wish?" Harper echoed.
"Mhmm," Luca confirmed. "Something that you really, really want."
Enzo suddenly felt Luca poke him lightly in the ribs, and he jumped.
"What?" he snapped, more harshly than he intended.
If he was bothered by Enzo's tone, Luca's voice didn't show it. "If you could wish for anything, what would it be?" Luca asked easily.
"Hmm." Enzo was silent for a long time. He felt himself rise and fall with the human's soft breaths, Luca's heartbeat sounding solidly beneath them. Harper pressed himself closer to Enzo's side and yawned.
"Probably..." he hesitated. "I'd probably wish for me and Harper to be human."
It had been something he'd been thinking about for a while, even more so after meeting Luca. To be able to interact with the human without any barriers? To be able to give Harper an easier life and more freedom? Enzo would give anything for that.
"Oh?" Luca sounded surprised. "Why?"
"It's safer," Enzo replied. "Less lonely. There are more opportunities to do things as a human, too."
"Gotcha. What about you, Harps?"
"The same as Enzo," came Harper's little voice. "Then I could go to the playground."
Luca's soft laugh rocked the both of them.
"Dude, the whole world's your playground," he reminded Harper.
"Yeah, but playgrounds look so cool. And then I could make friends, too. And go to school."
Enzo's heart dropped at all the things Harper wanted to do, things that he couldn't provide for him. He hugged Harper a little tighter, and Harper happily snuggled closer.
"What about you, Luca?" Enzo demanded, to get his mind off things. "What would you wish for?"
"Oh, probably the same as you two," Luca answered. "It'd be cool if you were both human. Then you could actually leave the apartment without being afraid for your lives. There's so much I want to show you."
Harper was falling asleep at this point, so Enzo stayed silent and just stared at the pinpricks of light that moved slowly above him. Eventually though, as Harper pulled away in his sleep, Enzo was freed up to turn onto his side and run his hand over the fabric of Luca's shirt.
But if I was human, he mused, would I still be able to be close to Luca like this?
***
YOU ARE READING
Out of the Walls
General FictionEnzo is just doing his best. Forced to leave his home at 15 years old, he's done everything he can over the last seven years to ensure that he and his little brother Harper can survive on their own. Unfortunately, surviving is hard when you're only...
