Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Amity turned the textbook page and sighed when she found herself face to face with yet more information to memorize. And she thought college would be fun, just how foolish. In a way Amity was hoping that studying abroad, far far away from the disease she had for a family would alleviate and help her heal, and she was also studying at Harvard, one of the most prestigious universities, she should be proud of herself, she had earned her scholarships with no outside help(even though she knew she wouldn't get any) and studying what she had always dreamed should be fun, she loved learning after all. Wrong. She loved learning, that's for sure, but she definitely didn't love learning when she had seventeen assignments due in the next week, eight exams to study for, and no time to sleep, eat or... do pretty much anything at all. And so there she was, studying microbiology at one in the morning while praying that none of her teachers had a bad day and decided to hit them with a pop quiz. Her almost unnatural amber eyes felt heavy, closing on their own and threatening the brunette to close completely, meanwhile, the rest of her body felt numb, she was sure that by the end of the semester she was going to become one with the chair, having spent the past six hours completing assignments and trying to telepathically(and Physically) consume the information off the books, or she might be feeling weak because the last thing she ate was an expired mini macaroni n' cheese she had for breakfast. If her anxiety and crippling depression didn't end her then starvation and exhaustion will. But there was no stopping now, she needed to pass the semester with straight A's, which were probably the only straight thing about her at this point, but we're not going to talk about that. Maybe she should take a break? She should most definitely take a break and change clothes and take a bath too while she was at it. But just because she should doesn't mean she will, and she will probably not listen to her sane side in this, and just continue to overwork herself until she gets a burndown and/or mental breakdown, whichever were to happen first. Amity closed her eyes and lumped back on the chair, she should definitely buy a comfier one, this one was going to kill her back. The brunette closed her eyes and let herself relax for a minute, but not completely relax because she was about to fall asleep. The young woman suddenly opened her eyes in surprise when she felt something wet, Amity looked at her side, where her fateful companion and best friend stood, his tongue licking her hand, she was about to move back to study when he looked at her with his adorable puppy eyes, even though his puppy days were far gone Amity couldn't help but to smile at the sight.

"Come here, buddy."

Amity patted her tights and waited, Caliban immediately jumped up and Amity closed her eyes in slight pain.

"Man, you're heavy."

The woman cooed and hugged the dog, hoping that all her worries would simply disappear and her chronic stress would leave, at least for a minute. And for the most part, it did work, Caliban moved his head to Amity's shoulder and stayed still. Amity moved her hands up and down his golden fur, the woman could do this for hours, and it seemed like she did, her exhaustion became too strong to be evaded this time and her eyelids simply refused to keep open, instead, Amity closed her eyes. She didn't fall asleep, at least she didn't think she did, partly because of the absence of dreams and the all too usual emptiness, and partly because of the denial of needing sleep.

A loud bang like noise woke Amity from her slumber, the woman moved her hands up to her face in hopes to alleviate her headache. Just what was happening? Her first thought, and although she was clouded, was that something had fallen or someone, but then the realization that she, unfortunately, lived in the real world and also lived alone made Amity stand up faster than she thought was humanly possible. Where was Caliban? He had probably run downstairs and... oh no. Amity tiptoed to her closet to grab her baseball bat, although it weighed next to nothing she still found it too heavy. She was going to die, wasn't she? Not if she got her phone and called the police she wasn't. Amity frantically looked around for her phone, only to remember she had stupidly left it downstairs. She was definitely going to die. With a gulp, the woman opened the bedroom door and went downstairs, the tremendous weight of the bat and the sudden realization of what might happen threatened to make her cry. Amity looked around her living room and found nothing, spinning her face around the kitchen only to find nothing more than darkness. Looking at the door, her face spun a bit way too fast and a wave of nausea hit her, but she didn't have time for this. Not when someone had possibly broken into her home. Yet by the looks of it nobody had, the door remained the same as how she had last left it, and while she wasn't an expert on picking locks (obviously) she knew that if someone had broke in then there would be some type of change on the door, but nothing. Unlocking the door the amber-eyed woman looked around, trying desperately to find any trace of something out of place, but again, nothing, and it wasn't like she was going to be able to concentrate when her head felt like it was about to explode and the fact that the neighbors had the speakers up to eleven wasn't helpful either. The youngest Blight took a deep breath and lowered the bat, maybe she should still call the police. Amity was about to go back inside the warmth of her home when she heard Caliban bark and someone laughs in what seemed to be her backyard. Oh fuck. The brunette ran back inside and almost forgot to close the door by how fast she ran into the kitchen. She was about to open the door but stopped in her tracks when she saw the scene happening in front of her. A girl was in her backyard playing with her dog. A beautiful clearly drunk stranger had sneaked into her backyard and was giving tummy rubs to her dog. Amity had to laugh, otherwise she'd probably cry.

With a deep breath Amity opened the door and walked the snowy path towards the stranger, she should have gotten her coat first, it was winter and hella cold in Massachusetts. The girl didn't seem to realize Amity was there and continued cooing and playing with Caliban, who seemed to be having the time of his life. Looking closely at the girl Amity could recognize her as the one who always hangs around with Willow, and since the two shared a class she had seen Willow sometimes around campus with her, but she couldn't put a name. Yet never had she realized just how beautiful she looked, maybe it was her tired brain acting up, but at this point, all inside her mind was the image of how adorable the dark-skinned woman looked. Maybe she had a problem, this was a stranger that had broken into her home, she shouldn't be thinking about how cute she looked, she should be thinking about calling the police.

"Oh hey there gorgeous."

Amity looked up to see the girl looking at her, a smirk on her face that was most definitely supposed to look seductive, yet all it did was make her look like a fool.

"Uh-"

"So, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" Amity bit her lip to keep herself from laughing while the drunk stranger shot her a wink.

"This is my backyard?" It came out as much more of a question than Amity originally intended, yet the girl seemed to understand.

"Ohhhh... is this your dog too!? What's her name!?"

The dark-skinned woman sat up from the snow and held Caliban in her strong arms, his tongue out as he panted and nuzzled the girl's face, and for a moment Amity felt incredibly jealous.

"Yeah. That's a he, and his name is not important. What's important is who are you and how the hell did you get here." Amity responded and walked up to Caliban, taking him in her arms all she wanted to do was put him down because apparently, rugby had not worked to make her strong long term. The stranger stared at Amity for a minute, a goofy smile over her blushed face, and she couldn't tell if it was from the alcohol or from... you know... her.

"S-"

"I love dogs, you love dogs, it's just me or is there some real pet-tential here?" Amity felt herself cringe at the pun, but also felt something building inside her chest, her limbs suddenly more wobbly than before and her face became dangerously hot. 'Come on Amity! Not the time to be gay!' The brunette scolded herself.

"Who are you?" It was a simple question that hopefully, the stranger would answer her without making some awful pun.

"Some people call me Luz, but you can call me tonight." Okay, that one was actually kinda good.

"You know who else I could call, Luz? The police." Amity looked at Luz for a minute, the girl seemingly deep in thought. Amity looked around nervously before walking a bit closer to her. "H-hey a- Holy fuck!" Amity yelled and turned back, falling butt first into the snow. Luz had just thrown up. everywhere. Amity stared in disbelief at the still vomiting girl. The amber-eyed girl awkwardly moved next to Luz, patting her back in comfort.

"Are you okay?" Amity asked when Luz looked up, she looked around before brown met amber. "No." That was all she answered before throwing herself at Amity and wrapping her in a tight hug, so tight it was painful. The dark-skinned girl began to ugly cry in her shoulder and all Amity could do besides trying desperately to breathe was pat her back and whisper comforting words that were becoming huskier and huskier as she began to lose air. "Hey, it's okay, let's just walk towards the party house, it's two doors away, I'm sure one of your friends will be there and help you," Amity said when Luz's embrace weakened, but the girl said nothing. "Luz?" Amity shook her and moved up to see that she had fallen asleep. This is why she doesn't drink. "Hey! Wake up, Nitwit!" Amity yelled as she began shaking her, but all she got in return was a snore. She continued shaking her for a few minutes in hopes that she would wake up, but Luz was not waking up anytime soon.

What should she do now? She just couldn't leave a passed out girl in the snow to get hypothermia or something. But should she bring her inside? Or maybe walk to the party house and ask someone to pick her up? 'Calm down Blight, just breathe. Take her inside and then go to the house. Easy.' Amity nodded at herself, "Yeah you're right." She agreed and tried to figure out a way to take Luz inside without dropping her. She obviously couldn't drag her across the snow all the way inside, but Amity doubted if she could carry her all the way on. "Only one way to find out." Amity sighed and moved her hands around the sleeping girl, one arm on her back while the other one was under her knees.

"Caliban go inside," Amity commanded and the golden retriever ran to the inside of the probably freezing house, she should have closed the damn door. Moving up and carrying the surprisingly heavy Luz was... a process. She definitely didn't look as heavy as she actually was, or maybe Amity was just weak, or maybe both. Trying her hardest to avoid the vomit Amity almost dropped Luz, she should make her clean this mess when she saw her again. Just the thought of them meeting again, with Luz being sober, made Amity feel tingly, and that tingliness was apparently giving her strength, seems that her gay was powering her. Amity giggled at the thought and dropped Luz over the first thing she saw, which was her sofa. "Oh fuck..." Amity sighed and sat down in order to catch her breath, Caliban sitting beside her and licking the cold sweat that ran down her forehead. Remembering she had left the back door open the brunette rushed to close it before any more snow could get in. She was definitely going to have Luz clean for her.

"Caliban stay here, I'll be back in a second,"

Amity ordered as she took her coat and eyed the clock on the microwave. 4:12 AM. Amity shook her head and walked outside and as fast as she could towards the party house. Knocking the door the brunette waited for an answer that didn't come, after a minute she knocked again, only stronger and more desperate. Could nobody hear her? Sure, the music was so loud that it could break eardrums, but she had also been to parties in her youth and people always seemed to hear each other, not that she was interacting with anyone, she was far too busy listening to actually good music, like Paul McCartney. "Hello!?" Amity yelled as she began to hit the door with both her fists, yet she still received no answer. Why did she have to share oxygen with these assholes? Running back to her home the amber-eyed woman was debating on what to do now. Should she just watch her sleep all night until she woke up and make her call someone? Nah, that was just crazy. That was exactly what she did. Or tried to do, because she fell asleep not a minute after.

Luz groaned when the light hit her face, she woke up with a massive headache and everything hurt, from the tip of her toes to the last hair of her head. She shouldn't have gone to the goddamn party if this is how she was going to end up like. Sitting up Luz yawned and stretched, her head about to explode, but no time for that, today was a new and beautiful day and a headache wasn't going to ruin her weekend. Looking around Luz's eyes widened in fear once she realized she had no idea where she was, Luz looked down only to sigh in relief when she saw she still had all her clothes on and no weird marks anywhere. Thank god. The last thing she needed right now was... that. Luz looked to her side and blushed slightly when she saw who was in front of her. A girl Luz recognized as Amity Blight was tangled with a beautiful golden retriever and she looked absolutely gorgeous, her reddish hair slicked to the side, the soft freckles that adorned her pale face made Luz fall in love instantly, not being able to take her eyes off her Luz sighed and blushed. But no time for that! She should be trying to figure out what happened last night, not gush over cute girls! Luz took her head in her hands and tried to remember, but all she did was make her headache worsen. "Oh, man," Luz whined and hid her face in her knees from the sunlight. Maybe she should just wake up Amity? Yeah, she should probably do that. Sitting up Luz groaned in pain and tried to focus on something to stop the dizziness that invaded all the woman's senses. Just when she was about to wake her up the memories from last night hit her like a truck. She had snuck on Amity's backyard and played with her dog, then flirted with her then threw up. Just her luck. Luz felt herself go red, now from embarrassment rather than from her crush. Looking around Luz walked as fast and as silently as she could towards the door and shooting one more look at the sleeping girl and her canine companion, Luz left the house in a mad dash and called her roommate and best friend Willow the second she was far enough from the house.

"Willow please pick me up." Luz pleaded the second her friend answered the phone.

"Luz! Where are you? I called you like crazy last night but you didn't answer... Is everything okay?" Willow sounded so worried it made Luz feel guilty.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but please pick me up, I'm in front of 'The Owl House' Relics shop, please hurry up," Luz answered and hoped for Willow not to question her too much, the last thing she wanted right now was for Willow to make fun of her.

"Okay, I'll be there in ten," Luz groaned internally, but thanked her never the less, ten minutes seemed like such a long time, especially out in the snow. She should probably get inside 'The Owl House'. Looking both ways Luz crossed the street and was immediately hit with a strong smell of old, and looking around the Latina saw why. Hundreds of antiques played around the now seemingly large shop, it was definitely bigger than it looked on the outside.

"Hello, new customer!"

Luz's head spun around so fast that she was sure she had pulled something. "Uhhh..." Luz stared at the animatronic owl in front of her, and she wasn't sure what was weirder, its voice or its... nevermind, the more she looked at it the stranger it looked. Luz looked around and let out a yelp of surprise when she saw a woman right behind her.

"Good morning to you too." The woman smirked and for a moment Luz was convinced that she might get murdered right there and then.

"G-good morning?" Luz doubted for a second, her eyes not leaving the woman in front of her, she looked very unique, yet strangely nice. She stared at her expectantly, almost as if she wanted Luz to say something.

"Do you sell apology cards in here... Oh and also water!?" Luz asked and The woman smirked.

"Of course we do! Take a look around, I'll get you a water bottle."

Luz sighed when the gray-haired woman left. Maybe she should but Amity something, she had fucked up, the least she deserved was a nice card or some chocolates or a flower. But wouldn't that be too romantic? Maybe she would get the wrong idea, and it's not like they were friends anyway. "There you go, kid." Luz almost screamed when she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, miss..." Luz looked around trying to find any sort of name identification. "Eda, the owl lady. Anything else I can help ya with?" Luz sighed, it was weird how comfortable she suddenly became with the woman.

"What would you give to someone as an apology?" Luz found herself saying before she had time to process it.

"Hmm... Just a card and maybe someone flowers if you really fucked up." Luz sighed and looked down.

"Why the long face kid? I'm sure your boyfriend or girlfriend will appreciate the effort... or completely hate it and send it to beep yourself." Luz laughed and shook her head, her face becoming red.

"It's for an acquaintance, I kinda did something bad yesterday... yeah."

Luz rubbed her neck awkwardly and Eda seemed to understand that she should drop it. "Hmm, then this one is for you." The woman said and gave Luz a card, in it the words 'I fucked up' Were written in a vintage manner and Luz wasn't sure if the paper was yellow because it came like that or it was just old.

"I think I'll take it Owl lady."

Luz giggle and walked towards the register, her plans were to stay until Willow came, but maybe she'll have time to deliver Amity the letter. Luz was thankful when she realized she had her wallet and everything inside, which she should have checked long before she came here. "Have a nice day!" Luz giggled and ran towards the exit. "Hello, new customer." Luz cringed when she heard the weird bird demon thing speak again, the Latina refused to look at it, and instead, she ran all the way back to Amity's house. Yet the closer she got her confidence became smaller and by the time she was there she wasn't sure if she wanted to go through it anymore.

Amity looked up from her breakfast when she heard her door being knocked. Who the hell could it be? The least she needed right now was some asshole trying to sell her something or the stupid Jehova witnesses that came in her house every week because Amity didn't know how to say no and now she had to listen and be info dumped about Jesus when she was Jewish. All because Amity couldn't just fucking say no. Opening the door with a blank and angry expression that quickly got replaced by a nervous smile when she saw who was in front of her.

"Ohh... Hey!" Luz chuckled and rubbed her neck awkwardly.

"Uhhh... Hey, girl." Amity replied and mentally slapped herself the second she said that, gods she sounded like such a virgin.

"I was just here to say I'm sorry for you know... last night. And to give you this card I brought." Luz said and offered Amity the card, which made the brunette laugh out loud.

"It's fine, you didn't need to buy me anything," Amity stated and stared at Luz. Neither girl said anything, instead they stared at each other, and as strange as It was it didn't feel awkward. Amity was enjoying staring at Luz way too much for her own sanity.

"Do... do you want to come in?" Amity asked once she realized Luz was shivering, but of course, she was, it was snowing and she was barely protected against the cold. Luz seemed to think about it for a second, but her eyes moved from Amity to the inside of her house momentarily, and looking behind her Amity found Caliban sitting on the floor in front of the door like Amity had thought him to do, he was clearly very exited to see Luz again.

"Do you want to pet him?" Amity asked and saw a big goofy smile on her face, much like the ones last night.

"Yes please!" Luz exclaimed excitedly and threw herself on the floor in front of the sitting animal once Amity allowed her in. Between the cooing and rubs Amity could tell her dog was in paradise, and to be honest so was she, it wasn't every day that a pretty and nice girl played with her dog while saying who knows what in Spanish. Amity was definitely going to treasure this moment.

"What did you said was her name again?"

Amity laughed and shook her head. Being this cute just couldn't be legal.

"His name is Caliban."

Luz giggled and mumbled an apology and continued playing with him for a while, and as entertaining as it was Amity needed to get ready for a lecture she had in less than an hour. With a disappointed sigh Amity disappeared into the kitchen and threw away the whole breakfast, she wasn't even hungry anyway. Now she was just disappointed she had to leave and wouldn't see or speak with Luz again, not when she was always so busy. 'Why don't you give her your number then?' Amity's heart almost stopped. "No, I can't." She whispered at herself. 'Don't be a pussy and just give her your number.' Amity became red and looked back at Luz giving tummy rubs to Caliban. Maybe she could tell her that she would send her pics of him. 'Just do that and at least you'll have a friend!' Amity scolded herself and the youngest Blight nodded.

"Soo uhhh... hey!" Amity called and tried to recline her arm over the couch, only to almost fall instead.

"Huh?"

'ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!' Amity gulped and looked around, she couldn't do this.

"Oh, mierda! I have to go!" Luz exclaimed from the floor and shot up. "I'm sorry Buddy, I'm going to miss you." The Latina said and hugged her dog.

"W-well, maybe I could send you pictures of him if you want?" Amity smiled was so forced that it was physically painful.

"Oh yes please!" Luz giggled and took out a pen from her jacket.

"Do you have anything i-" "Here!" Amity passed her a blank paper. Luz stuck out her tongue while writing and Amity was sure she was dying. "There you go! I have to go now or Willow is going to kill me! Text me when you can!" Luz laughed while leaving the house. Amity locked the door and sat down on the floor, staring at the paper in her hand. Caliban sat down next to her and Amity broke out into a huge grin.

"I never thought You were going to help me get a girl, but not really, but... you know... girls." Amity giggled and petted the dog's head, who until this point was just confused. "You really are the best aren't you?"

Chapter Text

Amity couldn't remember a day where she felt as miserable as she did today. The initial shock of pure serotonin that she had experienced just an hour earlier had already left her body, and instead of giving her hope and happiness to feel the same way again, all it did was make her feel worse. How was a drunk girl playing with her dog the happiest she had felt in years? Was her life that pathetic? What was she doing wrong? Feeling mentally and physically bad was not a good combination, the effects of not eating or sleeping correctly were definitely catching up to her and making her regret not doing any of those things, yet Amity found no inner strength to start changing the sad sad routine that had become her life. She had thought and hoped with all her heart that leaving her family would help her cope with the abuse she suffered all her life, yet all it did was show her that she could not take care of herself and show how much she needed help. But the brunette refused to accept any type of help, and that was partly because she refused to even acknowledge the bigger issue and was instead, just waiting for something truly bad to happen for her to even consider it. After all, admitting for help was admitting defeat and imperfection, and a Blight must always be perfect no matter what, even though Amity had since left those oppressive walls that came with her last name she found herself struggling every day to try and forget everything her parents had thought her, but she was obviously failing. Taking a seat as fast as she could the brunette closed her eyes and caught her breath, since when had walking become so hard? It seemed that as the days passed Amity found it harder and harder to do basic chores, from being able to feed herself without throwing up to now not being able to walk at all without having to sit down to catch her breath. Just what was wrong with her? Opening her eyes Amity looked down the endless rows of seats in front of her and all the way to the board, where she saw the words 'Test today'. Amity was sure she was going to cry, but she couldn't, not when there were so many people to watch her slip and break, crying was something to be done alone, crying was for the imperfect. Her professor began to explain something, but Amity's ears were plugged, and her brain was not capturing any information given. She knew she had to listen, even if it was forced and it will hurt her in the long term that seemed to be getting shorter and shorter the more she forced herself. Her world was spinning now and every color and light in the room was suddenly too bright to be looked at, every smell was too strong and she was hyper-aware of everything around her. Should she leave? It wouldn't be the first time she had broken down, yet she wasn't sure if she could push this one back long enough for her to arrive home. The youngest Blight looked up when a hand posed on her shoulder, a million memories of the same action passed through her brain at that moment, but at least her world had stopped spinning.

"Do you have a quiz already?"

The boy, she could not call him a man, in front of her asked as he motioned to a stack of paper in his hands. Amity tried to speak, but no words came out of her mouth, he seemed patient enough to wait for her with a smile, yet all Amity could think of was how bad he was judging her, after a few seconds Amity shook her head, the boy, whose bracelet said the name 'Gus' placed a quiz on her desk and left towards the next student to deliver the paper. Should she start now? Looking around the classroom she saw that most students had started, and if their faces were anything to judge then Amity was sure that most of them were not going to pass, and looking down Amity herself felt about to cry again. The page was too blurry and no matter how many times she read the questions they made no sense to the amber-eyed girl. She was going to fail for sure. Her only solace was the fact that it was a multiple-choice test and she wouldn't have to write down anything. She was going to fail. With a trembling hand, the suddenly too pale girl tried to write her name in cursive, only to give up in the middle and write it as best as she physically could, but her hand and brain didn't seem to coordinate and it read nothing more than gibberish, but hopefully, her professor would understand the sentiment.

The fact that Amity got home at all should be considered a miracle. Although she didn't live very far from campus the distance felt almost eternal, and the brunette was sure she might pass out. Opening the front door she found Caliban sitting in front of the door waiting for her, she smiled a little when the dog barked and moved towards her.

"Hey, Caliban," Amity said, her voice not being able to reach above a whisper, petting his head Amity walked towards the kitchen.

She had to eat something or she was going to pass out, but as soon as she entered the smell of the breakfast she threw away earlier hit her, and Amity's throat closed. Maybe she wasn't hungry? Amity didn't feel hungry, but she most definitely felt the effects of not eating, and looking down Amity could see just how slim she had become, she used to be so strong when she was younger, and now she looked so fragile and skinny that the wind might as well take her away along with the dead leaves it picked up. Amity gulped and walked towards her room, change of plans, she could eat later when hunger hit her, but assuming she'll be hungry later seemed nothing more than wishful thinking. Amity had purposely avoided weighing herself for a while, partly because of the fear she felt when she even thought of the number and partly for always forgetting about it, just like how she forgot to do other basic things, maybe she should change that, no, she should absolutely change that, she should change pretty much everything... but not today, not when Amity knew that whatever results she was going to get on the scale were going to break her, and she would much rather not breakdown than face the results. Sitting down on the bed next to the only light of her life Amity closed her eyes, letting everything that had happened today wash through. She felt like a truck had hit her, and for a moment Amity wished that a truck would hit he- 'Don't you even think about that!' Amity's inner voice screamed, and Amity opened her eyes and sat up on bed as fast as she could, trying desperately to catch her breath. When did it become so hard to breathe? And as much as Amity tried to free herself from 'bad thoughts' they were too strong to be ignored. She tried to remember happy times, yet all that came to her mind was this morning, the memory of Luz playing with Caliban, but all it did was make her more miserable. Why was that memory her happiest? A stranger playing with her dog while she stared like a creep? Just how pathetic was that. Amity could feel hot tears rolling down her cheeks now, her inability to breathe and the crying caused her to begin to sob uncontrollably. Closing her eyes and with the little control, Amity had left she grasped her reddish hair and massaged her skull. Falling down on the bed Amity began wondering what would have happened if she had left with the twins when they offered. But she had fourteen then, so naive and clueless, and at that time Amity had hoped that without the twins her parents would begin to love her... she had been so stupid then. Had she left would her life be better? How is that even a question, of course her life would have been better without them, every time she even thought of them as parents she felt her heart ache. Why couldn't they just love her? Why couldn't she be perfect so they would love her? She clearly wasn't perfect, not when she had just failed a test and had to skip the rest of her classes. The light of her phone suddenly turned on, illuminating the dark room, and the sound of a message made Amity's eyes open. Just who was texting her? She had never given her number to anybody. Her breath got caught in her throat when she saw the time. 1:21 PM. She came home at ten, how did time pass to quickly? It felt like it had been five minutes since she came home and broke down. A new text message came to the screen and Amity looked down to see who it was, the light was hurting her eyes, yet she made no attempt to adjust the lightning.

The first message she read said a simple 'Hi', the next one said this was from Luz... Amity felt her chest begin to bump faster and her face redden like a schoolgirl. The fact that Luz even had her number seemed so strange yet so adorable. A new text came up saying that she got her number from Willow and she was worried when Willow told her she didn't show up for class. 

More tears rolled down her cheeks, yet this time Amity didn't feel the immense void in her heart. A new text came up, this one was a video of adorable cats with a caption of 'I know you like dogs but these are just too cute.'

Amity didn't even bother opening the video, instead, she quickly typed 'thank, you. I forgot to write to you, sorry' She doubted for a minute if she should send it, deciding to just go with it, her trembling finger clicked the blue arrow and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see the possible reply she might get.

Opening one eye Amity saw a new text from Luz.

'So, you got them?'

Got what? Amity was confused, but she was too scared to ask what Luz meant.

'Caliban pics?'

Amity let out a sigh when Luz texted her again. Going to her picture gallery Amity curated the best pictures(all of them excluding her) as fast as she possibly could and send them. Why was she so nervous? Luz was the one who asked her to send them, but maybe she was just being nice to her. Maybe she just wanted to own up to her after what she did last night, maybe she just wanted to end this as quickly as possible and not see Amity again. Yet she had seemed so nice yesterday that Amity found it hard to believe she could be so fake, granted, she didn't know Luz, but for what she had seemed of her she sounded so... she didn't know how to describe her apart from amazing and all the synonyms that the word might have. 'How can you say that About someone who you just met?' Amity scolded herself, and as much as she tried to agree with herself she just couldn't do it.

'Calm down chief, I can't save all of them at the same tiem' '*time'

Amity sighed and rested her head down on the bed rest, Caliban choosing this moment to place his head next to Amity. Luz suddenly bombarded her with messages about how much of a cutie her dog is and how much she wanted a dog then again about how cute he was. That caused Amity to giggle, and reading the messages caused her to be in a much better mood than this morning, Luz had no idea just how grateful Amity was. The next text Luz send her caused Amity to go into a loop.

'You're pretty cute too.'

Blink.

'Sorry! Didnt mean ti send it!'

Amity stared at the screen for a second until Luz, in all her infinite wisdom somehow made it worse.

'Stupid autocorrector am I right'

Apart from the timing making no sense at all, Amity was inclined to believe Luz had made a mistake. How could she call her cute when she looked like she belonged in a hospital with sick people? If she had told her that three years ago then it would make sense seeing how she was generally very attractive, but she was not expecting Luz to say she looked cute at this point in her life. In an act of impulse, Amity pressed the call button, only to immediately regret it and hang up the second it started calling. But maybe Luz didn't saw it and she had nothing to worry about, then Luz called her not a second after. Amity gulped and Looked around. Should she answer? Amity felt inclined to answer, yet some part of her just wanted to turn off her phone and pretend this interaction never happened. Fuck it. Amity pressed the green button and used the speaker option, she didn't want her ears to hurt from the noise.

"Sorry! Caliban accidentally pressed the call button."

Amity bit her lip at the lie, it was credible enough, yet she felt something wrong. Some noise came from the other end of the receiver, it sounded like people talking and someone walking away from the noise.

"Amity? What's wrong? You sound... agitated?"

Amity closed her eyes and felt a sudden need to slap herself. Thinking of a lie came easier than she had expected. "

Oh... I was running."

It was a plausible lie, yet the way she said it gave her away.

"You sure? You don't sound too sure."

Amity quickly pressed the big red button on her phone, turned it off, and hid it inside the drawer of her night table. The amber-eyed girl stared at the wall for a second, not knowing what else to do. She felt herself about to cry again, yet she wasn't sure if she had any more tears left. Was she really that obvious? If Luz could tell something was wrong with her, then so could other people. Other people had seen her fall from her throne and struggle to even crawl and all they did was stare.

The cold and unforgiving wind send chills to the core of Amity's bones. It had not been a good idea to walk Caliban during winter. Not for him, he seemed to be having fun, but Amity was dying internally. From the way she found it difficult to walk in the snow and how cold the whole place was, it was a nightmare for Amity. It wasn't like she was a stranger to cold temperatures, far from it, winters in France and Massachusetts were quite similar, but Amity was having much of a harder time dealing with it that she had had the previous years. But it wasn't all that bad... and who was she trying to fool, it was absolutely horrible and she hated it. It couldn't be worse than this. Amity heard Caliban begin to bark excitedly at something, and Amity supposed it was a squirrel and didn't give too much thought to it, but looking about Amity froze, this time not from the cold. Walking towards her was the last person she wanted to see, the one and only Luz Whatever-her-last-name-is. At that moment Amity felt the same terror she felt yesterday when she took the quiz. Should she leave? Or maybe hide? Luz looked so much more athletic than her, and she could be able to catch her. But again why would she even run after her? Amity's safest option was to hide, and the first thing she saw was a tree, it's trunk seemed thick enough to hide her, but it's not like it needed to be thick anyways. Running towards it and hiding, Amity closed her eyes and counted the seconds that passed, she was hoping that Caliban wouldn't fuck up her hiding. But she really couldn't trust her dog with it because it was the first thing he did. The golden retriever began barking excitedly and Amity wanted to disappear.

"Hey, buddy!"

Amity heard Luz's voice right next to her, and Caliban's barks and him pulling the leach only became stronger.

"Hey, Amity." Luz giggled, she didn't sound mad, which surprised the still hiding woman.

"Uhh... hey, Luz."

The brunette said, opening her eyes to find Luz kneeled on the ground and petting Caliban, and once again, Amity's heart and cheeks melted.

"I just wanted to give you this," Luz said and took out a card from her bag, extending her arm.

Amity doubted if she could take it for a minute, but one look at Luz's adorable puppy face was enough to convince her to take whatever the dark-skinned woman was offering. It was a card similar to the one she had given her yesterday, but this one was a cookie with a band-aid, and the words 'You're one tough cookie' Appeared on the top.

"I know you were not feeling great yesterday, and I won't push you to tell me why, but I just wanted to tell you that I'm here if you need help," Luz stated as she sat down on the floor.

"Why? We don't know each other, it's we're not like we're friends." Amity found herself saying before she had time to think. Luz didn't say anything, instead, she just stared at Amity.

"Well, I didn't know any of my friends before meeting them. We can get to know each other and become friends."

Luz smiled and Amity just stared while contemplating all the choices that led to this moment. She was getting a friend. It seemed so unrealistic and far fetched that Amity had trouble believing it was real.

"I-i'd like that." The brunette whispered. Luz's face got covered in a happy grin and she stood up, extending her arm expectantly. 

"Well, if that's settled, may I walk Caliban with you?"

 Amity quickly nodded and followed Luz towards the park trail. She began talking about many things, and Amity listened to her with more interest than any of the lectures her professors gave, Amity didn't talk much, but Luz didn't seem to mind. For a moment the idea of actually having a friend, a real friend who wanted to be with her for her, and not for her money or reputation, a friend that hadn't been picked out by her parents, it seemed so strange but so nice, the thought of someone actually wanting to be with her felt so alien. But it was true and Amity knew it, her sane and insane part both agreed that Luz was just amazing and she couldn't be doing this for money or status. Amity wasn't sure Luz even knew who her family was, instead she just wanted a friend out of the girl whose backyard she had trespassed to play with a dog.

"Amity!? Are you okay?" Luz asked in sheer panic once she noticed Amity had stopped walking and was instead frozen in place crying.

"I... yeah, I'm just really happy to have a friend." The amber-eyed girl confessed, Luz's face shifted from worry to something between happiness and understanding. Amity was taken out of her reverie by Caliban barking at her.

"Well, another friend." Amity corrected.

Chapter Text

Walking home an hour later made Amity feel fresh. The whole interaction had made the brunette feel new and happy in a strange way, and as weird as it sounded and probably was, crying in front of Luz made Amity feel clean, she hadn't even stopped to think about weakness and imperfection at all, which Amity felt was a step forward, and She would be lying if she said that didn't make her feel ecstatic. Opening the front door and going inside Amity felt like she could take on with the world with no fear of people judging her or the thought about her past and everything that had happened to her. Amity walked towards the kitchen and looked around, for the first time in what felt like forever she felt actually hungry and capable of eating without having to stop at the first bite. Looking over the fridge the amber-eyed woman made a mental note to go shopping later, but for now, she'll have to do with what she had, maybe a sandwich will do? She could also do some macaroni n' cheese, but they were already probably expired, and a sandwich sounded delicious anyway.

"Caliban, are you hungry?" Amity asked, though she already knew the answer when she saw how he stood patiently in front of his food bowl, never having to worry about earning his food as a reward for good behavior. 'Not today Amity!' Her inner voice laughed and so did she, not today, today was a happy day, she could worry about her problems another day, but it wasn't going to be today. The golden retriever dipped his face into the food as soon as Amity placed it down on the bowl, and on the other side, Amity was also enjoying her food. Unlike most days her throat didn't close and she didn't feel the urge to vomit everything that entered her stomach, instead, she was quite pleased with her sandwich, although it wasn't that fancy it still tasted great, and bite after bite Amity finished the whole thing. Looking down at the empty plate with a satisfied smile Amity felt proud of herself, it seemed silly to feel proud of yourself for even eating, yet that was such a huge accomplishment for her that she felt the need to celebrate.

"Nothing better than bad Christmas movies!" Amity called to the emptiness of her home as she fell deep into the comfort of the couch.

Searching for the cheesiest title and summary almost felt as boring as watching the actual movie, which was about a prince and was sorta related to Christmas but also not really because it had nothing to do with it, and the more seconds that passed the more Amity just wanted to cut the director's throat for thinking this would ever be a good idea. After a while, Amity saw Caliban moving from the kitchen and sitting down underneath the coffee table, apparently very interested in what was happening on the screen. Between watching her dog watch the movie and actually try to use some logic and common sense on the trash happening on-screen Amity began to feel tired, as she usually always felt these past days, or had it been months... it had been two years since she had begun feeling tired, but that didn't matter right now because she was being positive. Closing her eyes she didn't immediately fall asleep, she was tired, not sleepy. Instead of sleeping Amity began to think, it wasn't anything serious, it was more about what she wanted to add to the grocery shopping list, then her mind shifted towards the fact that she didn't know how to cook, then for some reason her brain got weird and images of Azura started coming to mind. Azura... she'd have to reread the book, that at this point were just catching dust, and maybe she could even buy the "new" one she never had the opportunity to read. She had read somewhere that they were even planning to make a new series, she'd have to catch up on that, but for now, Azura filled dreams would do.

Or not. They most definitely were not filled with magic and positivity. Although Amity rarely dreamed, when she did they were usually far from nice, they were usually(read: always) About her parents forcing her to dye her hair and being thrown into a dark room, the room was so similar yet so different from the one at the Blight Mansion, it had the same four walls and tiny space, where she would usually curl down into a ball and cry her eyes out, yet the space felt so different, and no matter how hard she tried Amity couldn't tell why, it was like one of those spots the difference games, she could tell something was off yet couldn't pick point it if she tried. Today was no exception, Amity was locked in those all too familiar four walls, and all she could do was cry and scream in hopes that someone would help her, but none one came. No prince or princess in green came to rescue her and no loving parents tried to help her. Amity was all alone. The second her eyes opened she tried to focus her view on something, anything, and try to catch her breath. It was just a bad dream. It wasn't real and she was safe. She was at home and they couldn't hurt her anymore. Amity suddenly felt sick, and against her best wishes she had to rush towards the bathroom, all the pride she had felt earlier went down the flush. 'J-just st-stay posi-tive.' Amity continued repeating inside her mind, each time her inner voice broke more and her head felt like it might as well explode, Amity wanted it to explode, maybe that way she wouldn't be feeling all this pain. Her inner mind made no attempt to stop the bad thoughts this time, instead, it kept on repeating the same three words, and all Amity wanted to do was make it shut up. How!? How could she stay positive when her world was falling apart!? How could she stay happy when there was so much to be sad about?! How could she try and act like nothing bad ever happened and forget about her whole childhood! How... Amity wanted to desperately find that answer. Because if she did then maybe she would be happy because no matter how much she tried staying positive was so hard when there was nothing to feel good about.

Walking had never been so difficult, she realizes the same thing every day, but it just keeps getting worse and worse. Every single of her muscles ached and she felt so tired, yet she had to keep going, she couldn't just pass out in a bathroom, it was just a few more steps and it would soon be over. Falling deep into the couch Amity tried to calm down, trying to ignore the obvious she began to think about Azura, but for some reason, the thought of green hair immediately reminded her of her Edric and Emira. Amity felt her heart break into trillions of pieces by even thinking about them. She used to hate them growing up, she used to hate them because they were never treated the way she was, while she had to work hard every day to earn the most basic of human rights, Ed and Em could destroy her efforts and do whatever they wanted with no repercussion. She spent her whole life resenting them, she thought she would be happy once they left, yet she felt so empty. She felt like her heart was torn further apart, and all she wanted to do was apologize, apologize both for the things had done and the things she hadn't, she just wanted to see them again, or at least hear their voices, just that would be enough. 'Then why don't you?' Amity thought, she had their phone number, she could call them whenever she wanted, but it had been so long since she last spoke to them, seven years to be exact. It felt so wrong to call them. She wanted to press the call button more than anything, yet her hand and brain never coordinated and she never did. Today wasn't the day for it either, she should wait to be in a better state before calling them and possibly worrying them... would they even be worried? Amity couldn't blame them if they weren't, she understood. She understood if they had better things to worry about, they were probably rich and successful somewhere, not having to stop for a second to remember what their parents did to them, and while they had definitely suffered, they never saw the dark part of their parents, they never had to worry about it while Amity did. They had probably moved on, moved on to make a better life and forget about their past while Amity was stuck in it, stuck within those four walls that didn't seem to break no matter how much she tried to escape. Just how pathetic. It had been three years since she left, why couldn't she just move on? Would she ever be able to? She hoped she would, she just didn't know how. Maybe one day it would magically happen and she would forget about Alador and Odalia's abuse and just move on with her life. With a sigh Amity looked around the room that suddenly felt too small, she saw shelves full of books she had read enough times to be able to recite from memory, she saw Caliban's toy box that he seemed to be using less and less, and finally saw the golden retriever still asleep, he seemed to be sleeping more, but Amity just assumed it was because he was old, he was twelve years old after all. Amity looked down at her phone and went through her contact, becoming somewhat disappointed when she realized she had less than ten people, she remembered a time where her contact list was full of friend's numbers, fake friends, but it was still full. Finally landing on Luz's profile the brunette began to read their conversations, it cheered her up a lot, more than she had expected. Feeling herself in a more positive mentality again the amber-eyed woman looked at the time. 4:24 PM. It had been four hours and Caliban needed to eat and drink water again.

Looking down at his food bowl Amity saw he barely ate anything, thinking about it he had been eating less and less by day, but he was an old dog and Amity gave no thought into it.

"Come buddy!" Amity called, waiting for a few minutes she became worried, she peeked through the kitchen to see him just waking up, yet making no attempts to get up. Was something wrong with him? He seemed so cheerful just some hours before.

"Come on Caliban, time to eat," Amity repeated, lightly and ever so gently trying to move him up. The golden furred dog yawned and sloppily made his way towards the kitchen.

"Something wrong?" The brunette asked, she hoped with all her heart that he was just tired from their walk and nothing more. She couldn't live without him. Literally. The thought of something bad happening to Caliban made as well be the last straw.

"Just eat a little? je te donnerai des friandises si tu le fais." Amity switched to french for the familiarity, and maybe that would get him to feel better. A minute after staring at the bowl he began eating and Amity was able to breathe again. She sat down in a chair in front of him and kept watching him eat, slowly, very slowly, but it was better than not eating. Amity was taken out of her trance when her phone vibrated, and the screen illuminated, looking down at the screen she saw a new text by Luz asking her if she was busy, to which she immediately wrote an answer, but waited for a minute before sending it, she didn't want to sound desperate, even though she really was. After sending her reply Luz began texting her about weird yet entertaining things, she fell deep into the conversation and forgot everything else going around her, much like this morning she didn't contribute much, but she was happy like that. A new message popped up and Amity had to smile, it was about Azura.

'You like Azura too?!'

Amity's smile turned into a grin, and an even bigger grin when Luz answer with an upper cation 'yes' and what felt like a million exclamation marks.

After that Luz began info-dumping her on the series and her theories, and this time Amity didn't lay back and relax, she sat up on her chair and responded with her own. All and all Amity was having a good time, many of the things Luz was sending her were unknown to her, she assumed it was because Luz had read the sixth book and she hasn't, which she had to let her know because the number of spoilers she was being bombarded with were too overwhelming. Luz was in disbelief when Amity told her she didn't read the last book. Her new text almost sent Amity flying,

'Do u wanna meet when youre not busy?'

She did, she would like that very much, all her classes tomorrow were at noon, so they could meet then, otherwise, she would have to wait until next week to do so, and she was dying to read the book, and she was even more excited because Luz was going to read with her.

'I'm free tomorrow, when are you free?'

Amity didn't even feel nervous when she clicked the send button, in any other case she would have, but the conversation gave her so much security and happiness.

'Sure! I'll meetyou at thr library at 9?'

Amity smiled, turns out she won't have to spend her whole day studying tomorrow when her friend and definitely not crush asked her to read a book they both liked.

'Of course!'

Amity was quick to text back, she felt so happy once again. Granted, she wasn't as happy as she was in the morning, but it seemed that what Luz did for her just now canceled the bad she suffered earlier. Amity noticed from the corner of her eye that Caliban was going back to the living room, and looking at his food bowl Amity's heart broke. He was eating fine just a week ago! Why was he suddenly just not fine? Did she miss something!?

'I have to go.' Amity quickly typed and turned off her phone, she didn't want to seem rude, but she was really worried right now.

"Hey there buddy," Amity mumbled and sat down next to him on the sofa, caressing his golden fur seemed to make cheer him up a little, but Amity's panic was eating her alive. Maybe she should book a trip to the vet? The last time was barely two months ago when he turned twelve, but maybe she should go again, just to be safe, better safe than sorry.

"Do you want to study with me?" Amity asked with a small smile while rubbing his neck. The brunette stood up and walked upstairs, checking to see if Caliban was following, to which he indeed was. She was just going to study for a couple of hours and then, as scary as it sounded, go to sleep.

Going to sleep at four in the morning was not a good idea. Who would have thought? But what mattered was that it was a new day, and more even more importantly Luz was going to meet with her to read. She had been hesitant to leave Caliban alone, but he was going to need to stay alone when she went to classes, and so Amity left him alone with a few treats. Looking around for the thousand time that evening Amity saw no trace of Luz, it was still early, but she was still nervous. Maybe Luz wasn't coming. No, Luz had to come, otherwise, she would have told her, and she, from the little she knew about Luz knew that she wasn't someone who would enjoy hurting others. She was way too nice and Amity was way too gay. Amity pressed her back against one of the massive poles outside of the building and looked around. This place was similar to the library she would hide in when she was a child, the best moments of her life where spent in that library reading books to Caliban and drawing fanart, she had practiced drawing so much that at this point her works could be accepted into an art academy, but she had no interest in doing that. Amity felt a wave of nostalgia hit her, the only thing she missed about her past was her secret hideout, but reflecting on it, she shouldn't even have needed to have a hideout. The sole reason she went there was to have a place to hide from "Home", she shouldn't have needed to.

"Amity!"

The woman in question turned her head around to see Luz running towards her, she looked like she had just run a marathon.

"Hey!" Amity smiled and walked closer to the shivering girl.

"G-glad we could meet! L-let's go in I'm freezing."

Luz took Amity's hand, and the touch definitely didn't send Amity up to could nine. Neither girl said anything, instead, Luz tried to find them an empty table secluded enough for nobody to bother them.

"How come you read every Azura book except the last one? I mean, it's not... great. But I was expecting more of a fellow Azura fan!" Luz exclaimed as she took the book out of her backpack, backpack with was filled with pins, ranging from cartoons to memes to a... Bisexual flag. Luz was bi? Amity didn't know why she felt so happy, seeing how she was definitely not attracted to Luz in any way shape or form. She was definitely not attracted to the way her dark-skinned glittered in the snow, her adorable big brown eyes, or her short hair. No sir! She was also not attracted to just how amazing and funny and cute and any synonyms for those words, that would be absurd.

"Hey! Are you listening?"

Luz snapped her fingers in front of Amity, causing her to come back to reality.

"Yeah! Totally!"

Amity laughed nervously, a shacky smile covering her face.

"Uh, okay! But remember I'm here if you need to talk." Luz giggled and shot Amity a wink, and at that moment Amity was thankful she was seating because her legs started failing.  Luz opened the book to the first page and Amity saw Luz's annotations and doodles adorn the page. Looking around nervously Amity fixated her view on the text and began to read.

"Just tell me when to pass the page," Luz commented, and Amity nodded, the first page was not perfect, and the fact Luz had said the book was not great made Amity to worry.

"Okay pass the page." The amber-eyed girl whispered, only to go down and read the two new pages.

Amity didn't know at what point Luz suggested they read it aloud, Luz was the narrator and against Amity's wishes also Azura while she was stuck at being Hectate and the rest of the characters, at least she got to voice her totally not first crush Malingale the mysterious. It was honestly really fun. Luz made funny voices and sound effects that made Amity laugh out loud a couple of times, and she had also somehow managed to convince Amity to do funny voices herself, she was hesitant at first, but upon hearing the drug that was Luz's laugh she became more and more sure of herself. That day Amity felt like a child. Worry-free and happy, nothing mattered more than the present and she was making the most out of it.

"Hey, so I was just wondering, what are you studying?" Luz asked in normal Luz voice, Amity looked at her for a second before answer.

"I'm studying medicine, you?" Amity replied, somewhat surprised at the way Luz's eyes lit up.

"Oh, that's so cool! You must be so smart, I mean, I already know you are smart cuz Willow told me you are at the top of every class. But you know, I think that's really cool." Luz giggled, and Amity chose to not ask why Willow told Luz that.

"I'm studying to become a writer," Luz stated proudly, her chest puffing up.

"Oh, you must have written a lot of books," 

"Yeah, it started as fan fiction, but now it evolved to writing full-length actual books, but most of my best ones are in Spanish."

 "Are you from Spain?"

Luz chuckled and shook her head. "No, I'm from The Dominican Republic, but I was born in the US." She explained.

"Are you from here? You give me foreigner vibes, I'm either a god from having guessed it or incredibly silly." Amity chuckled, gods why was she so cute.

"I'm french, I came here three years ago." Luz's eyes lit up once again and Amity felt her heart skip seven beats.

"Oh! Baguette Oui Oui!" Luz did a weird hand gesture and Amity burst out with laughter. Why was she so dumb yet so cute. It should be illegal at this point, if she continued it then Amity was sure Luz was going to kill her of a heart attack.

"Do you want to play a game?" Luz asked, a smirk covering her face.

"A game? What game?"

"Two truths and a lie! Ever heard of it?" Amity noded, this was the perfect opportunity to get to know Luz better.

"Okay, you start!" Amity swallowed as she thought of something to say.

"I can play the violin, I am really bad at sports, I never learned how to ride a bike." This shouldn't be too difficult. Luz thought about it for a while, while in deep thought

Luz bit her lower lips and scratched the back of her head, she looked so attractive... but Amity wasn't attracted to her! Not at all! It wasn't gay to admit someone was hot and you would date them if you could, no it was not gay at all!

"Hmmm. Truth is you are really bad at sports and also that you play the violin. The lie is that you never learned how to ride a bike." 

"Why is that your answer," Although Luz didn't look as sure of herself she tried to think of why she might be right.

"Well, you look like the kind of person to be into music, and the violin is really classy and stuff, you were really bad at sports because you look like you would rather watch a movie and stay inside than go outside. And you have to know how to ride a bike because come on." Luz explained.

"Nope, I can play the Violin, that's the truth, but I was really good at sports, I even was the captain of my school's rugby team." Luz sat back on the chair, crossing her hands as she pouted.

"N-now it's your turn," Amity stammered, those pouty lips were adorable.

"Well, I am bi, I know how to play the guitar and my favorite song is All star."

This one wasn't difficult, Amity knew Luz was Bi because of the pin, but she was in between the smash mouth and playing the guitar, Luz looked like the type of person to be into really weird and funny music, so maybe the guitar was the lie.

"The truths are that you are Bi and that your favorite song is all star, and the lie is that you play the guitar. No explanation." Amity guessed, she was pretty sure of herself on this.

"Nope! I am bi, but My favorite song is shinzou no sasageyo, and I do know how to play the guitar. With my Latin charm, I could serenade a pretty girl like you under the moonlight." Luz joked, then went pale when she realized what she said.

"But like in a non-homosexual way." She clarified, but her face looked like a kid's whose hand got caught in the cookie jar.

"I-... my turn!"

Amity tried to desperately change to the topic, and not think too much about Luz's words or the way they caused her to have five different heart attacks, each of them unlike the other. As soon as Amity said her truths and lie Luz became cheerful again and they both acted like nothing happened, both tried to ignore all different kinds of tension in the air around them. They continued their game for about half an hour until Amity noticed the time, she had classes in an hour, she needed to go home and prepare as well as to eat something.

"Luz? I need to get going now, sorry."

Amity was disappointed she had to leave, if she could then she would stay here all day, but she had to leave.

"That's fine! Remember to eat, sleep, and drink water." Luz stated, staring at the book in her hands.

"Maybe we could finish reading the book together? Since we started it together we could finish it together?" Luz suggested, and Amity almost instantly agreed.

"I have the same schedule for every Monday and Thursday, if you're free then we can meet one of those days."

Luz nodded and took Amity's hand again. "Let's go then, so Thursday can come quicker!" Amity was once again too focused on the contact between them to understand what Luz was saying. Once the two got to the entrance She saw her friend turn bright red.

"I could still serenade you if you want," Luz mumbled. Amity wanted to say no, they just meet less than a week ago, but she also wanted to say yes, she would love to be serenaded by this girl who seemed to be just perfect, perfect for Amity at least.

"S-sure, I'd love that." Amity turned even redder than before, and unlike Luz who you really had to pay attention to her face to see her blushed, Amity was really pale and you could clearly see her reddness.

"Really? I mean, of course, señorita."

Luz's voice drastically changed from surprised to suave and charming faster than Amity had time to process. Luz winked and did some finger guns, only to walk away and ultimately trip over air. Did that just happen?

Yes! Nailed it! Luz made her hand into a celebratory fist. She had soberly flirted with a girl she liked, shame on Gus and Willow who thought she was too disastrous to do that, even better was that the two had pretty much agreed to meet to have dates, but not really dates because Amity didn't know they were dates. Maybe she should buy her something? Yeah, she should start by buying a guitar, she wasn't going to actually serenade her, but just in case she one day needed to, she could also buy her a flower or something romantic, or she could buy Caliban something cute, but this was about Cutie Amity, not Cutie Caliban. Luz looked up to see herself in front of The owl house, for some reason she found the place to relaxing and comfy, except when Hooty went off, that sound taunted Satan himself, but other than that Luz was pretty excited to go back to the owl house. Maybe she could even buy Amity a new card, just like the previous two she had brought.

"Hello, new customer."

Luz became pale at the sound, no amount of mental preparation was enough when it came to hooty.

"Back again kid? What did you do this time?" Eda raised an eyebrow from behind the counter, she was wearing the same red dress, but now was wearing a silly red hat with a Pacman fish thing in the middle.

"I didn't screw up anything this time, in fact, I may or may not have flirted and got a kinda date kinda not." Luz's chest puffed up with pride, she chose to ignore Eda rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, why don't you just go buy them a card," Eda said, but Luz didn't catch the sarcasm behind her words.

"Yeah! I think I will. Thanks, Eda."

Luz ran towards the card section once again and stared at the cards. They were all too cheesy. Nothing wrong with being cheesy, but cheesy wasn't what she was looking for.

"Need help? I recommend this one." Eda said behind her, she picked up a card and gave it to Luz, causing the Latina to go bright red. 'I want you to be happy. And naked. But mainly happy.'

"Eda!" Luz scolded the woman, who just laughed and placed the card back. The two spent a couple more minutes, between Luz taking it seriously and Eda making inappropriate jokes the two women had a good time.

"I think this one is it!" 'Your the one I flirt with while I'm drunk, that's commitment.' Not only did it fit the way they met but it was also really cheap.

Going to the register Luz saw Eda had a flayer about hiring people. Maybe she should try out for the position. She had quit her job a week ago and she needed one quite desperately. So maybe the owl House will do.

"Are you still hiring?"

Eda looked puzzled for a second, then she saw the flayers and smile.

"I haven't even put them up. Why, are you interested?"

Luz nodded, she still needed a resume and talk it over with Willow, who was like 90% percent of her impulse control.

"Yes, when can I get an interview?" Eda laughed and shook her head.

"Nah, we can talk about your payment and hours whenever you're free, which is boss talk for you're in."

Luz stared with disbelief at the woman in front of her, was it that easy? Wasn't there something she needed to do to test her or something?

"Just like that?" Luz wondered out loud.

"Yup, I like your spirit."

She liked her spirit? Luz felt flattered, but she was just hiring her because of her spirit?

"Anyways, when do you wanna discuss work things so I can book you?" Eda asked when she gave Luz her card.

"Is today okay?"

She was either going to regret this or it will be great, possible the latter.

"More than okay!" Eda smirked and began to explain Luz's work things, she didn't sound professional at all. Luz was sure that she was going to love it. She just had that feeling.

Amity got home with a big smile on her face.

"I'm hoooome!" She called, receiving a bark from Caliban from the living room.

"Guess what happened today!"

Amity laughed and sat down on the couch, she had to get ready for class, but instead, she began explaining to her dog the full interaction, more often than not slipping and gushing over how cute Luz was, then when she got to the I could serenade you if you want Amity's brain gave up. Instead, she became a hot mess, the only thing she could talk and think about was Luz... but not because she liked her! They were only friends, Luz had 'Flirted' with her and so what, it's not like Amity wanted to kiss her or... oh fuck.

Chapter Text

Luz patiently looked out the window as she waited for the bus to stop at her destination. There wasn't much to do other than get a headache either by wondering what were the black thingies on the window or putting her head next to it and acquire brain damage by how much it shook. All in all, Luz was extremely bored by the lack of things to do and she didn't want to make her head explode, at least not now. The only thing she could do was pass through her contact list and reread Amity's texts to her. It felt so weird to have so many contacts. In her childhood, nobody wanted to be her friend, much less give her a mean for her to info dump them and annoy the hell out of them. But everything changed when she came to university, she was studying at Harvard, almost everyone's dream university, she used to be scared that people here would hate her as they used to at her old school, but it seemed like her weirdness and creativity were more than welcome and even sometimes required. People here adored her and were not bothered at all by how she saw the world differently than them. It felt like a dream come true, and as much as Luz knew it was true she still feared that she would one day wake up and realize it was all a dream. The dark-skinned woman backed away from the messages and opened the notes, looking at the hundreds of fanfics she had written Luz sighed. She should start writing real books and talk to a publisher instead of 'Wasting' her time on silly personal projects. Who would even want to read them anyway? Well, besides the one hundred sixteen thousand seventy-five people that read her most popular fic. But besides them who would want to read them? Gus didn't even like Azura, although the dark-skinned boy was usually down for anything Luz had to offer she didn't want to seem weird by forcing him to read them, Boscha would just tease the hell out of Luz and Willow was out of the question for the same reasons as Gus. Maybe if she wrote a real book they would read it? They definitely would, Luz knew that her friends loved her as much as she loved them, and would do anything to support her. Maybe Amity would like to read one of her fics? The new one she was working on seemed right up her alley and she knew that the pale girl would like it. It still needed a bit of work and Luz didn't really like the ending she gave it, so she might as well change it before sending it. The bus came to a halt at a stop near her house, Luz picked up the guitar she bought fifteen minutes ago and exited the bus, saying goodbye to the driver and wishing him a good day.

Luz walked the empty snowy streets towards her home. She was couldn't wait to tell her friend's about her new job at the Owl house. She was either going to get scolded by Willow for making such a rash decision or congratulated by them. Either way, Luz was also dying to play her guitar, although she was originally joking about serenading Amity, the more she thought about it the more she was urged to do it, and even if she didn't end up doing it she was still dying to play the instrument again, It felt like it forever since she last played it. Just the thought of its music caused Luz to feel light and dreamy, and then her brain shifted back to Amity and playing for her Luz felt her heart skip a beat. Truth to be told Luz was head over heels for the amber-eyed woman, it was also a plus that her newest crush seemed to actually like her, romantically she didn't know, but in a friend's way she did, which was better than her last crush who absolutely hated her guts. The blonde girl with gray eyes had made it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with Luz, it broke her heart and she didn't crush on anybody since then. But now it was different, Amity was a good person, she wouldn't break her heart like that, and if she was going to reject her then she didn't seem like the type to make fun of her for it. Luz shook her head to make the memory leave her brain, she didn't want to remember that, instead she wanted to make new memories that wouldn't hurt when she looked back to them.

"I'm hooome!" Luz sang as she opened the door. None of her roommates seemed to be home at the moment, they were probably still in class or somewhere studying for exams. Luz walked towards the kitchen and opened the fridge, placing her guitar on the counter the Latina took out some orange juice and served herself, it was the most bitter juice Luz has ever tasted and she loved it. Nobody else was allowed to drink it, and it's not like they would willingly ever drink it considering how bitter it was, and so Luz was allowed to drink directly from the cup, which she didn't because she wasn't an animal, but still.

"Welcome home Luz, I didn't see you come in." Luz turned around to where the voice came from, confirming her suspicion she saw Willow, still in her pajamas walking towards her. The dark-haired girl looked red in all the wrong places, unlike Amity, and her eyes looked red and swollen, which meant she was probably sick and Luz should stay away from her if she didn't want to catch whatever she had to.

"Willow! I have good news! Or bad news... depends on how you look at it. I, got a new job all by myself! Starting on Monday I'll be working in the owl house!"

Willow looked a mix between tired and confused, but Luz couldn't hold it against her when she had made so many rash decisions in the last three, almost four, years they have known each other. Most of those rash(bad) decisions ended with her either in the hospital or regretting it for life. It made sense her friend would be a bit skeptical.

"Good for you Luz, I'm really happy. If you don't mind that I ask... why do you have a guitar?" Willow asked and sneezed, although she looked soft and fragile she had the strongest dad sneeze Luz had heard in her life.

"Oh, that? I just brought it to serenade Amity! Wait... Nonono! Forget I said that!"

It was far too late by then. Willow smirked and coughed before giggling, her eyes never leaving Luz.

"Looks like someone's in love."

"What? Me? Nah! I'm not in love with Amity or anything. I just think she's neat! Granted, she has to be the most beautiful woman I've seen in my entire life and she's so smart and nice and pretty and awesome and... okay, I might have a little crush but that's it!"

Willow smirked and looked directly into Luz's eyes, her friend looked like she was having a field day. The staring competition was starting to make Luz feel uncomfortable, but she didn't want to seem suspicious by looking away.

"When are you serenading Amity?"

"Never! I'm not serenading Amity, we were just joking and it came up. Ugh! I'm not even sure why I said it, I probably sounded like a weirdo. There are a billion ways to flirt and I had to pick the worst one." Luz groaned and drank all the juice in one go.

"I think it's sweet, you should ask her out and play her something. I would love it if someone did that to me." Willow said, a blush appearing on her cheeks, and Luz suspected it wasn't from her sickness.

"Yeah... too bad Boscha is bad at everything." Luz joked and took the guitar case, starting to walk toward the second floor. Even though Willow hated(loved) Boscha with a burning passion the joke managed to make her laugh, only to have a coughing fit afterward.

Luz was startled when she heard her phone vibrate, signaling that someone was calling her. Taking the device out of her pocket she saw the call was from her mom. Luz looked around nervously before running inside her room and picking the call.




"Hola mami!" Luz giggled and sat down on her bed.

"Hola Mija, como esta? Te va todo bien? Como va la escuela?" (Is everything okay? How is school going?) Luz frowned when she heard her mother's voice. It was very husky, although voices sounded different on the phone, hers just sounded wrong.

"Everything is going great... are you okay? You don't sound good."

"Ay Mija. Todo bien, I'm just a bit sick, that's all."

"Sick? You should go to the doctor! I know you're a nurse and stuff but we don't want to risk it, especially after what happened four years ago." Luz exclaimed into the phone, worry eating her alive.

"It's just a cold, I'm fine, I called you to know how you're doing, not to talk about me."

"You should still go to the doctor. Don't worry about the money I'll pay for it, I have a new job and I'll be sending you money soon!" Luz insisted on the phone, clutching her hand into a fist.

"No, it's fine. You don't need to keep sending me money, I'll do fine by myself. You need to move on from me and make your life, get yourself a nice husband or wife, and do things for yourself."

Luz closed her eyes and sighed. Didn't this woman understand the concept of motherhood? I mean, she obviously did, she was her mom, but what she didn't understand is that she was Luz's greatest love and she would do anything for her? After she pushed herself too hard and had a heart attack four years ago, Luz simply couldn't leave her mama, it had taken a lot of convincing for her to move states and attend school. Luz promised her mom she was going to send her money so she wouldn't have to work that much, at first Camila was hesitant, then she figured the only way for Luz to move was if she accepted. But it seemed like Camila didn't understand that Luz would literally commit mass genocide for her.

"Mami, te voy a mandar dinero para que vallas al doctor y quiero que me mandes lo que te diga. Okay? I have to do homework now, call me later. Te amo, bye." (I'm going to send you money for you to go to the doctor, I want you to send me the results. I love you, bye.) Luz pressed the red button and groaned in frustration, softly massaging her temples. She liked it when her mom called her, sometimes the two would spend hours talking, but sometimes, like today, Luz just couldn't take her mom and ended up making some lame excuse and hanging up. Luz knew she was hurting her, but maybe if Camila wasn't as stubborn as she was then maybe the two wouldn't disagree so much, Luz was, after all, just as stubborn and insistent as her mom.

The dark-skinned woman threw her phone to the side and lay down on her bed, becoming just as bored as when she was on the bus. She didn't have much to do, homework was done and she didn't feel like studying right now, maybe she could reread Azura to prepare herself for the next reading meeting with Amity... Maybe she should finish her fanfic and ask Amity to proofread it. Maybe Amity had read one of her previous fanfics, seeing how she was one of the most popular writers in the fandom. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea and it gave her an excuse to talk with her amber-eyed friend without it being awkward. Luz moved her hand to get her phone and began working on her writing. It was a fairly simple story, Hecate and Azura team up to save a town from a dragon and make it a competition to see who can find it's hiding place first. Luz was not satisfied with the ending and some parts of her writing but was too lazy to even attempt to correct them, and so she just continued making a bigger mess and writing more and more until it made no sense to anyone who wasn't her.

It had been around an hour and Luz still didn't like it, she tried to fix it and even contemplated starting over again, but decided against it and simply send it to Amity. Maybe she knew how to fix it, if it could be fixed that is. Luz doubted for a minute if she should send it, Amity was probably busy memorizing whole books or dissecting something or whatever doctors did. Although Amity seemed to like Luz, she became very awkward around her and blushed a lot, but maybe Amity was just that awkward and she was acting normally with Luz. Yeah, it was probably that, there was no way someone as gorgeous and amazing as Amity would like someone like her. Finally pressing the send button Luz waited, and waited and- a reply!

'Looks awesome! Cant wait to read it'

Luz giggled and typed a new message.

'<3'

Amity stared at her screen, she didn't dare to move a muscle in fear of waking up. Luz just send her a heart... but maybe it was a friendly heart! It was definitely a friendly heart, Luz couldn't possibly like her. No way!

'I figured that you would like it! Pls tell me how to fix it though, I wanan publish it later.'

Amity's finger moved to the screen, her finger trembled so much she was unable to tap on the correct letters. Then her heart skipped about seven beats by her next reply.

'And of course to know what my señorita thinks.'

Did she just call her that? Amity didn't know what señorita meant, but it sounded romantic and personal. One quick google search left Amity confused, Luz was calling her miss? That didn't make sense since the first time Luz said it sounded charming and flirty, so maybe there was some hidden urban meaning behind the word Amity didn't know. But she'll figure it out later, now she needed to focus on class and take notes, even though she already knew the material being covered she still didn't want to fail like the last quiz.

'Iii hsto go'

Amity groaned and turned off her phone. Great. Now Luz probably got the wrong message that Amity didn't like it when she flirted with her and now things are going to get awkward. Amazing. 'What a talent to fuck things up you have Blight.' Amity turned off her phone and looked towards the board where her professor was explaining the material. It was far from interesting, pharmacology wasn't precisely her strongest point, and that was precisely why she needed to study more, if she only studied the things she was good at and left out the rest then she was just going to be one awful doctor. Her amber eyes shifted from the board towards her notes, and back to the board, she didn't know what to focus on anymore, not after Luz fried up her brain and made her a gay puddle.

Class ended faster than Amity realized. She gave up trying to focus on what her professor was talking about and instead chose to focus on more interesting things, such as Luz. She was still worried about giving the wrong signals and pushing the kind girl away. But in her defense, she had precisely zero romantic experience, and never in her almost twenty-two years of life had she had a crush, a real crush. She thought she was incapable of love, she felt attracted to other people, but they weren't crushes, that just meant she had eyes and was growing into a woman, but she had never fallen in love before, she didn't know what she was supposed to do when it came to Luz. Maybe flirt with her? Nah, that would just be a disaster considering how much gay energy radiated off her every time she would even go as far as to think about Luz, much less be with her and romantically interact with the woman. So flirting was off the table, what should she do then? Hope for Luz to take the first step and pray that her gay panics would magically stop. Not a bad idea... Yeah, she'll just do that. Packing her bag the brunette walked towards the exit, only to be stopped by her professor calling her.

"Yes, Miss Clawthorne?"

"Ah, Miss Blight, I noticed you didn't perform very well in our last exam. Since you are one of the brightest students in my class it'll be a shame to damage your clean record, and wondered if you would be interested in retaking it when you're not busy, preferably today."

Amity almost burst in excitement, but kept a serious face all the time, even though her inner mind was having a serotonin party

"Thank you so much, I am not bust today."

The elder woman smiled empathically and handed Amity a paper, telling her to go to the back and try to finish it in under an hour. It wasn't like Amity had anything better to do anyway. It wasn't like she needed to proofread a story the love of her life was patiently waiting for her to read or attend her sick dog... maybe she should start working on it quickly.




Amity ran inside the house and laughed in the hallway. She couldn't remember a time she had felt so relieved, she was one hundred percent sure she had passed the test and her brain was having a field day. So many positive emotions passed through her head at once and Amity didn't know what to do with her body anymore. She walked in and threw herself on the couch.

"Good afternoon Caliban!" Amity cheered and moved to pet the dog, he made no attempt to move out of the embrace and simply stayed still. Amity gulped and looked around awkwardly, worry replacing joy.

"How about we order some take out? I'm in for a treat and you deserve one too."

The brunette stood from her seat and walked towards the kitchen, finding the restaurant pamphlets she had accumulated over the years, she looked at them for a bit, yet none one of them seemed like things she would ever willingly eat, finally deciding on just pizza the amber eyes woman called the restaurant. Pizza, perfect for a celebration, although Amity wasn't feeling as happy as she had initially felt just ten minutes ago. What a way life had to ruin her joy, but maybe it was what she deserved. 'No Blight, enough about that! Don't you have a fanfic to proofread?' Amity lifted her head at the suggestion and noded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea!" She replied to... well herself. It was weird, so many lonely years had made Amity's mind separate into two different beings, almost as if they were two different people who lived inside her body. She usually held full-on length conversations with herself, but not really herself because it wasn't herself she was speaking to and more like people who lived inside of her, but they had different personalities and Amity had no idea what they would say next... it was very weird and not normal at all, but it didn't affect her or anything, if anything the voices helped her and along with Caliban kept her company. If the voices suddenly turned on her then yeah, she'll start worrying about them if that happens. But she already had too much on her plate and didn't want to be thrown in a mental asylum over something as silly as hearing voices and severe depression and anxiety.

Amity walked back to the couch and took out her phone, opening the text message and beginning to read Luz's writing.

"Come here Caliban!" Amity called and patted over her stomach, hoping the golden retriever would snuggle with her like they used to do before she became too busy with her studies. The dog didn't move for a minute, apparently calculating his options. When did he become so calculative? The Caliban Amity knew was playful and energetic, not calculative and lazy. The golden furred dog moved from his position and lay on top of Amity. The woman made a face and gagged once she smelled him, he smelled awful, which was weird seeing how she had bathed him just a week ago. Maybe he played too much outside? It was snowy and Amity had cleaned the vomit, there was absolutely no reason for him to smell as bad as he did. Amity took a deep intake of breath and began reading once again, becoming used to the smell a few minutes later.

So far the story was going great, although Amity soon realized that Luz tended to have run-on sentences and go off-topic sometimes. Luz did say to proofread it, and so she made a mental annotation to it. Amity became flustered when the story became romantic, she knew it was a heczura story and it had to be romantic, but Luz had written it so well and so detailed that Amity felt lost in that moment, her mind not able to leave the scene. Amity sighed and smiled, her cheeks grew hot and Amity felt a bit dizzy, probably for the lack of food and bad smell. Azura and Hecate were so close to kissing, just millimeters away when the dragon and delivery man both interrupted the moment. Fuck. Why did people always interrupt her when she was in the best part? Why couldn't they just let her have five fucking minutes of peace? The pale woman groaned and sat up, making Caliban who had fallen asleep wake-up and move off Amity. She quickly took the food and closed the door. Neither Amity nor the delivery boy wanted to spend more time than needed with each other, both just wanting to get the interaction over as quickly as humanly possible. Amity walked into the house with the pizza box in hand, placing it on the counter the brunette took in the smell. It was very pleasant and welcoming, unlike the odor her friend was emitting, she remembered a time where Caliban was the smell of home, but now he smelled like dea... 'No, that is wrong, there is nothing wrong with him, he just played outside a little too much.' Amity nodded at herself.

"Yeah! That's gotta be it! But what if it isn't?"

'It isn't anything! He'll be fine within a week and we'll have his usual energetic goofy self back to cause mayhem.'

Amity nodded in approval once again and opened the box, being greeted with the food in front of her. She didn't feel as hungry anymore, but she also didn't feel an urge to throw it away just by smelling food, which was progress, small progress, but still progress. Just as Amity remembered, the pizza tasted heavenly, or maybe it was the fact that all she ever ate was microwave food and she forgot how to tell when things tasted good. Who knew? What Amity knew was that having a full stomach felt amazing. Looking down she saw Caliban seated beside her, with a small smile she lowed her hand with a small piece of pizza. He examined it before turning away and lay down under her chair, he used to love eating pizza! Amity was smart enough to rarely give him, but when she did he became very happy and excited about it. Why did he just not want to eat now? Putting away the rest of the meal Amity went back to the couch and continued reading, she didn't call Caliban to come with her, she'll book him a trip to the vet for next week. But for now, she was getting frustrated and didn't want to snap at her dog who had done nothing wrong, he was probably a little sick and the last thing he deserved was Amity screaming at him.

'It was awesome! You're an Amazing writer, did you knew that?'

Luz took her phone out of her pocket and opened the new text notification, she was beyond excited to see Amity's reply. Her cheeks turned bright red when she did. Luz smiled like a dork and sighed.

'Thamks (≧◡≦) I have a surprise for u'

'A surprise?'

Luz grinned, her cheeks now hurting from how red they were.

'Your girl got a guitar to serenade u'

Luz giggled, she could hear Amity's screams from here.

'Oh'

'Is taht a good Oh or a bad oh?'

'Gpof oh'

It was really entertaining to see Amity's texts pass from collected and polite to a mess in mere minutes. But Luz just had that effect on people(Not really)

It was adorable how Amity couldn't write a single correct sentence after that, meanwhile, Luz was just enjoying teasing her friend. She could only imagine Amity's pretty face turning bright red every time Luz would shoot her one of her best pick up lines, or not best because even she had to admit that they would not have worked on anybody but Amity. It felt like time was flying, she was no longer aware of what was going on around her.

"Luz! Get down here!"

The woman in question groaned and replied I have to go message to Amity before running downstairs, tripping and almost falling down the stairs, but she managed to get a hold of herself.

"Yeah? Oh, food!" Luz felt her stomach grumble in hunger and she ran towards the kitchen to serve herself some.

"Made by yours truly! Also is everything okay? You spend an awful lot of time in your room giggling." Gus commented and sat down at the table.

"Huh? Yeah totally fine! Just uhh... you know." Goddamnit, how did she managed to make the situation more awkward?

"No?" Her friend replied with a confused face, Willow giggling beside him.

"Am I missing something?!" He asked and turned towards the sick woman.

"Why don't you ask Luz to tell you?" Willow replied and moved down to consume the food in front of her. Gus looked at Luz with his best puppy eyes and Luz felt her heart melt.

"Okay fine! I may or may not have a romantic interest." Luz mumbled, she looked down and dipped her face into the pasta, choosing to ignore Gus's little gasp and Willow's giggle.

"Who is he? Or her? Do I know them?" Gus questioned excitedly from his chair.

"Well, her name is Amity Blight and-"

"Amity Blight? Pale, ginger, and golden eyes?" Gus asked.

"Yeah! That Amity Blight."

"Oh! I have a class with her!" Gus said.

"I can't believe I'm the only one in this house who doesn't share a class with Amity," Luz mumbled.

"Don't feel too bad, Amity doesn't really like interacting with other human beings that much. Anyway, did you ask her out? You should ask her out on a date!" Gus stated.

"On a date? I mean, we already had a kinda date on the library... she just didn't know it was a date."

"No! Ask her on a real date! Go to eat somewhere or watch a movie, but you need to make it clear that you want to be romantically involved." Willow said this time.

"You know what? I will! Tomorrow I'll ask Amity Blight to go on a date with me." Luz laughed and went back to eating, already imagining how red Amity will become when she asks her... or not and she will completely crush her heart, but Luz would rather for Amity to return her feelings... and now that she thinks about it she doesn't even know if Amity likes girls. Ugh, this was already going badly and she hasn't even asked her yet.

After dinner ended Boscha decided to come home to try and seduce Willow, keyword being try, then Willow got smart and pecked Boscha's lips, at first Gus and Luz were confused, then they remembered Willow was sick and had just spread whatever she had to Boscha.

Luz made her way towards her room and sat down at the desk. She would much rather study than breathe Boscha's air, she was hesitant to leave Willow alone, but Gus was there to protect her, it wasn't like Willow needed protection, but still.

Opening her notebook Luz stared at the empty page, she wanted to write a story, she just didn't know which story she wanted to tell. It wasn't a fanfic, she wanted her own original fantasy story instead of something about the good witch Azura. Staring at the paper Luz had an idea, granted, it was a weird idea, but just because it was weird didn't mean it was bad. Starting to write on the paper, Luz already even knew the name of her story. The Owl House. She'll ask Eda if she can use the name later when she went to work. But for now, the adventures of Lucky the Witch apprentice were taking place in the small cottage with a bird demon for a guardian.

Amity walked the crowded campus towards her next class' building, it was cold enough to freeze anyone on the spot and Amity didn't want to stay out more time than she needed to.

"Amity!"

The woman froze, and not from the cold. She wasn't ready! She needed to mentally and emotionally prepare herself before meeting Luz! Oh no. This was a disaster.

"Luz! You're here... I mean obviously, you're here, this is school, and you go here... with me! I'vebeentalkingfortoolong."

Luz stared at Amity for a second before she shook her head and smiled.

"Yup, I'm here. Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to go see a movie with me! Tell me when you're not busy to see when we can go."

Amity felt her heartbeat fast inside her chest, threatening to jump out of her chest at any moment.

"Uhhh... Well, I don't have anything to do after this class which ends in an hour, so maybe we can watch it today?" Amity stammered.

"Perfect! I'll meet you in the theater at four. It's a date!" Luz giggled before running away.

Amity gulped and looked around. That didn't happen, did it? Did Luz, the girl she was crushing on, just ask her out on a date? It was too good to be true.

Amity always focused in class, but today she found herself unable to, all she could do was doodle Luz in her notebook and imagine the taste of her lips, all until the realization hit her. Holy shit, she was going to have her first date! And maybe she wouldn't need to imagine the taste of her lips because she might kiss her! 'Congratulations Blight!' 'You're not as useless as I thought!' Amity thanked them underneath her breath as a goofy smile formed on her lips.

Chapter Text

Amity was always early, it didn't matter where it was or why she was there, she was always an hour early no matter what. Today was no exception, the second she got out of class she sprinted towards the cinema, her legs hurt from running, but she was so excited that she barely felt the pain or cold. All she knew was that she had a date and she was dying for it to begin. But after she arrived she was met with the grim reality that just because she was early didn't mean Luz will be too. And so here she was, standing awkwardly in front of the cinema while looking at her clock every three seconds. Luz wouldn't be here in another hour, but the fact that Amity was so early caused her to be filled with anxiety. Because what if Luz wasn't coming? What if Luz got bored of her? What if she was only joking about it being a date? What if Luz didn't like her? Amity shook her head and sighed. She shouldn't be this nervous, if something came up then Luz would call her or text her to cancel, the dark-skinned woman wouldn't stand up Amity to get in a few laughs, she was too kind to do that. But what about the rest? What if Luz didn't like her and Amity got her hopes up? Amity didn't know what to do if that was the case. She knew that Luz had been flirting with her both drunk and sober, and she didn't look like the type of person that would enjoy breaking people's hearts. Amity hugged herself and looked around again, no trace of Luz yet, it was really cold and Amity was freezing. 'Go inside then!' Amity shook her head and looked around.

"I can't, what if Luz comes? I need to be here to greet her." Amity stammered to herself, the cold not allowing her to talk correctly. 'Come on dipshit, just get in and sit around somewhere, Luz is going to call you when she comes.' Amity sighed and nodded.

The brunette walked towards the entrance, her muscles aching from standing in the snow for thirty minutes, but Amity paid no mind to it, as painful as it was. Looking around Amity was relieved when she saw that there weren't that many people inside, she hated large crowds. Although she was used to being around people, she would much rather be by herself or in a place without many than standing somewhere crowded. In her youth Boscha and her supposed friends seemed to get the memo that Amity didn't like them and wanted to be left alone, to be honest none of them liked each other, they were forced to hang around and befriends by their parents, but there wasn't chemistry or love in their group. The only thing they had was hate that more often than not led to one of them snapping and bullying people. 'Not now Blight! You have a date and this is a happy day.'

"Right, sorry." The pale woman mumbled. 'No need to apologize!' Amity smiled and nodded. She didn't want to talk, not right now, although there weren't that many people here she was still going to be looked weird if she began talking to herself. What should she do now? There was nowhere to sit and she didn't want to just pick a movie by herself, because truth to be told Amity could not physically care less about the movie. She was excited to have Luz with her and have a date, not about some boring movie. Looking at her right the arcade section of the cinema caught Amity's attention. She had never been interested in video games, but it wasn't like she had anything better to do anyway. Perhaps she may be good in one of them and buy a price or something.

Amity never liked games, and she was fucking awful at them. The car and motorcycle games never really cough her attention, and all the other games looked awful, the only decent game she found was Pacman. She had it on her phone when she was younger, she never even opened the app, but it couldn't be that hard, could it? It was actually really damn hard, or perhaps it was easy and she was just bad, probably a combination of both. Amity was starting to get bored, and the most aggressive of the voices was throwing all kinds of insults at her, and she just wanted to shut her up. But there were some people in here, and so she kept quiet.

"Wow, you really are bad huh."

Amity almost screamed once she heard the voice behind her.

"Luz! You're here!" Amity cheered and smiled, Luz looked stunning, which was weird considering she was wearing the same clothes as this morning.

"Yup, didn't I tell you I was gonna come? Anyway, it's really painful to watch you lose so much, allow the professional to show you how it's done." Luz smirked with pride, moving to the Pacman machine, and starting a new game. Amity stood beside her and watched as Luz played. She, unlike Amity, was really good at the game, but what was to be expected from a girl who's backpack was full of videogame pins.

"Haha! Eat that suckers!" Luz cheered once she collected every little ball point thing whatever it was called, Amity didn't care.

"Wow. You're really good at it." Amity mumbled her cheeks beyond red at this point. What had Luz done to her? By just being with her Amity felt herself about to faint. That wasn't normal, was it? Just one look at her dark eyes or adorable face was enough to send Amity flying.

"Hey? Earth to Amity! Are you there?" Luz asked and snapped her fingers in front of her face, causing Amity to snap out of her reverie and yelp in surprise.

"Sorry! I... was thinking. What were you saying?"

"I asked if you wanted to dance with me." Luz giggled and took Amity's hand. Every single nerve reacting differently to the contact.

"D-dance?"

"Yeah! It's okay if you don't want t-"

"Yes! I'd love to!" Amity laughed and tried to recline her shoulder against the machine, but miscalculated the distance and nearly fell.

"Great! Let's go." Luz said and guided Amity towards the dance dance revolution machine. Amity gulped and looked at it. She had never played in one of them, she had no interest in ever playing in one. But Luz looked so excited that Amity found herself unable to say no. Not when Luz's eyes had lightened up with so much happiness as she info dumped Amity on the game and all of its history.

Turns out that Amity wasn't as bad in dance dance revolution as she was in Pacman. She was actually winning against Luz, she suspected that Luz was letting her win, yet she was still very happy about her victories. Amity found herself red and sweaty, this time not from her crush, although watching Luz sweat caused Amity to go into a loop and feel tingly in all the wrong places. Amity looked back and Luz, but she saw her date run away towards another game machine, Amity giggled and stood up, at this point, she didn't even know what caused her legs to be weak, but she didn't care either.

"Luz? Where are we going?" Amity asked as she ran towards her friend. Luz giggled and stopped in her tracks, facing a jackpot machine.

"I'm going for the highest point!" Luz commented and passed the arcade game card in the machine.

"Really? Even I know those things are cash grabs and you never actually win any-"

"Made it!" Luz cheered and jumped in excitement. Amity stared wordlessly at the machine, Luz had indeed won the most amount of tickets you could earn. It seemed like Luz was a good luck being that brought happiness and good luck everywhere she went, kinda like that St Patricks day man thing, just way cuter and nicer.

"What! How!?," Amity exclaimed, her eyes shifting from the machine towards Luz, she had calmed down a little, suddenly she threw herself on the floor next to where the tickets were being dispersed and giggled in excitement.

"Dunno, guess I'm just that lucky, first a pretty girl goes on a date with me, and then I win the arcade lottery."

She giggled and locked her eyes with Amity, who was currently tomato red, patting the space next to her, inviting her to sit down.

Amity did, the floor was cold although fluffy and Luz immediately took her hand in hers.

"We're gonna wait a bit for the tickets to come. Is that okay?" Luz asked, a smile over her lips, and Amity once again found herself unable to say no to her.

"Sure!" Amity replied, her eyes glued to their interlaces fingers. Luz scooped closer to her and began telling her about the new project she was working on, Amity, much like when they were talking about Azura, didn't shy away and let Luz talk, instead, she replied to Luz with excitement and even suggested a few things for her book.

When Amity was younger she imagined her first date in a boring generic romantic restaurant where her date and her would rarely even talk and time would just move on and they would call it a day. She never imagined her first date being as fun as it was actually going. Playing arcade games in the cinema and talking about all sorts of things was the most fun Amity had have in years. Or maybe it wasn't the setting that made it fun, maybe it was the fact that Luz was her date and the overly excited woman had a tendency to make everything fun and happy.

"So how's Caliban? I haven't heard from him in a while." Luz asked. Amity didn't know how to answer that question. She didn't want to worry Luz about the health of her dog, but she also didn't want to lie.

"He's a bit sick, but he'll get better," Amity answered, her grip on Luz's hand increasing.

"Oh, sorry... maybe I could go and try to cheer him up. He seems to like me."

"Sure... he really likes you."

Luz suddenly stood up, making Amity stand up with her. The Latina took all the tickets and smiled, guided Amity towards the price corner while talking excitedly about what to buy.

"What are you going to get?" Amity questioned, Luz didn't answer, she was too busy looking over the different rewards that she could get as well as how many tickets they costed.

"Man, I'm between the glasses that let you look behind or the pokemon cards... Oh, I know! Close your eyes!" Luz ordered.

"Close my eyes? Why?"

"Just close them!" Amity swallowed and placed her hands over her closed eyes. She had no idea what her date was going to do next. Some part of her was hoping that Luz would kiss her, but she knew better than to let her hopes too high. Amity could hear the sound of Luz's voice mixed with the loud noises the arcade machines were emitting, yet no matter how hard she tried she couldn't decipher what Luz was saying.

"Ready, open your eyes," Luz said. Amity opened her eyes and was greeted with a plush toy in front of her face. She let out a yelp of surprise and took a step back, she would have fallen if Luz wouldn't have caught her.

"Sorry! Here you go!" Luz exclaimed and helped Amity up, placing the toy in her hands. And upon further inspection she found it was a golden retriever plush, its golden fur almost as soft as Caliban and he smelled like strawberries. Amity found herself without words.

"You shouldn't have wasted those tickets on me." That was all Amity managed to say.

"Waste? It's not a waste when it comes to you. And I wanted to, maybe they'll keep Caliban company." Luz said sweetly, taking Amity's hands in hers once again. Amity had read in many books the part where the romantic interests meet and how it's described as the whole world stopping, the only thing they could see was each other. She always thought it didn't happen in real life, surely something like that was just something cheesy the writers came up with. But turns out Amity had been wrong all her life, a moment like that did exist and she was experiencing it right now. Luz's dark-skinned glowed in the different colored lights from the machines and her dark brown eyes gave Amity a sudden urge to kiss her pretty lips.

"Amity?"

"Yes?" Amity imagined that they would have a dramatic moment where the two would suddenly kiss, or Luz was going to come up with a pick-up line, or anything really, but reality hit Amity like a truck after what Luz said.

"Should we go see a movie and buy some popcorn? So much dancing made me hungry."

Amity nodded, disappointment could not have been any more clear in her face, but either Luz didn't notice or she chose to ignore it. Either way, the two girls walked towards the computer and stared at the movie options.

"When did good movies stopped being produced?" Amity wondered out loud.

"After Azura grudgby season." Luz joked. 

"How about home alone? They put a shit ton of Christmas movies, and I've never watched it." Amity suggested.

"You've never watched home alone!? I'm ashamed I have to breathe your same air Miss Blight." Luz laughed and pressed on the movie, most of the seats were unoccupied, which gave them the liberty to pick any chair they wanted. 

After buying popcorn and drinks they made their way towards the room. The movie had already started, although it was still only in the begging Luz gave her a full recap of what she had missed along with a few spoilers, but nothing too big. And it wasn't like Amity was going to watch the movie, not when the love of her life was next to her.

Twenty minutes into the movie Amity was having a blast. She liked Christmas movies even though she didn't celebrate Christmas, she liked the ones that were so bad they were funny, but home alone was just a really fun movie. Luz yawned, making Amity's eyes depart from the screen and look at Luz, the taller girl stretched her arms up her head, but just when she was putting her arms down, Luz did that incredibly cheesy and romantic thing and placed her arm around Amity. The pale brunette became stiff under her embrace. She had always imagined a scene like this inside her head when she was younger, but now that it was finally happening Amity had no idea what to do. Should she place her head on Luz's shoulder like her date was quite obviously suggesting her to do? Should she just continue not to move? Should she-

"Sorry. I got a bit carried away." Luz whispered and removed her hand from Amity. Oh no. She fucked it up.

"Nonono. It's fine. Sorry, I've never been on a date before and I wasn't expecting that. You... you should do it again." Amity mumbled.

"This is my first date too... you know I thought that someone as pretty and amazing as you would have had a lot of dates," Luz confessed, she yawned once again and placed her arm around Amity again, making the amber-eyed woman giggle.

"Cuddle me?" Luz pleaded, giggling once she saw how red Amity became. The pale girl doubted for a second before she moved closer to Luz, the taller woman moved Amity's head to her shoulder. Amity thought about saying something but decided against it. Luz was really warm and nice, her hair smelled like apples and her coat was warm against Amity's cheek. Although the armrest was hitting quite uncomfortable against her side, she was far too comfortable and happy to attempt to move. Amity was no longer paying attention to the movie, instead, all she could focus on was Luz and only Luz.

"I had a lot of fun today." Amity laughed as she walked out of the movie room hand in hand with Luz.

"Me too! We should do this again." Luz commented and gripped Amity's hand. She giggled when she saw Amity blush for the hundredth time that evening and led them towards the exit of the building.

"Say, would you let me walk you home?" Luz asked as she opened the door that let them out of the building and into the snow.

"S-sure... if you want to." Amity mumbled and began walking next to Luz towards her house.

She had a car, yet she rarely ever used it, she lived near everything and never felt the need to use it that much, yet today she was glad she walked all the way here instead of using her car. That allowed her to walk hand in hand with Luz. The Latina didn't say much, she would occasionally shot loving stares in Amity's direction and mumble things in what Amity assumed was Spanish, but outside of that, she was relatively quiet.

"I know it's kinda late to ask now, but do you like girls? Like romantically?" Luz asked nervously.

"Yeah, I'm a lesbian."

"Oh thank god." Luz sighed in relief, becoming red once she realized she said that out loud.

"I also like tall bisexual Dominican girls who study to become writers and have an uncanny love for dogs." Amity teased, she didn't know from where she was getting her confidence, but she sure as hell was enjoying teasing Luz.

"Oh, that's good, because I also have a thing for french ginger girls who study medicine and own dogs." Luz joked and began walking faster.

"Man, I wonder who that lucky girl might be." Amity wondered out loud, earning a giggle from her companion.

"I might tell you later, when we're alone."

That should not have caused Amity's brain to shut down, but it did and Amity had no idea what to do.

"I'm dying to know." She whispered and kept walking next to Luz.

Upon arriving at her house Amity unwillingly let go of Luz's hand. She didn't know what to do know. Say goodbye's and call it a day? Or perhaps kiss or... kiss. Amity shook her head and tried to make those thoughts leave her body, but she found herself unable to do anything other than stare at Luz's lips.

"As promised, I'm going to tell you the girl I'm in love with," Luz said and moved dangerously close to Amity.

"I wonder who's the lucky girl."

"Do you have any guesses?" Luz asked, they were so close to touching, the wait left Amity mad.

"No... I think you should tell me."

Luz smiled and pushed forward, her lips tasted like popcorn and soda. Amity didn't know what to do, she closed her eyes and tiptoed to be the same hight as Luz, interlacing her hands behind her neck Amity lost herself. She would always treasure this moment, though she really doubted she would ever forget her first kiss.

"Wow," Luz mumbled once their lips departed, Amity wanted to push in and kiss her again, but she barely had any air to breathe anymore.

"Yeah..."

Luz hugged Amity before laughing out loud.

"What's so funny?" Amity asked.

"Nothing, it's just that you're my first kiss," Luz replied and broke the embrace, and as much as Amity wanted to hug her again she decided against it, as much as she would like that it was already late and she needed to tend to Caliban and make sure he was okay. 

"You're my first kiss too... maybe we could do this again?"

"Of course! We should meet up somewhere and have another date."

"I would love that. I have to go now though, I'll see you at our library date." Amity giggled and kissed Luz's cheek. She walked into the house, leaving Luz outside with a warm smile and red cheeks, both from Amity's lipstick and her blush.

Amity waltzed into the house after locking the door. This was the best day ever! She no longer went on a first day with her crush, but Luz had also kissed her! That meant they were girlfriends now... right? Goddamnt it! But it was fine, a lot of good things had happened that day and it didn't really matter, she could always ask her later.

"Caliban! I'm home! You would never guess what happened today! Luz and I went on a date and w- Caliban!" Amity threw herself on the floor next to her dog as soon as she saw him.

He was laying on the ground taking deep breaths, or at least trying to, next to him was vomit everywhere... he looked like he was in so much pain.

"Nonono! What's wrong!?" Amity cried and tried to make him stand up, but he collapsed immediately after. Amity froze, what was she supposed to do? The wise choice would have been to take him to the vet. But she didn't feel capable of driving. She could barely feel anything around her. Everything was too loud, natural sounds such as the air conditioner and not natural sounds, such as bangings in the walls and screams from unknown voices, every light too bright and weird shadows and things moved around, objects blinked and things were replacing furniture, such as a strange face on a vase she kept on the kitchen and her lamp began looking like a body.

Amity stood up and ran outside, looking desperately for Luz. She couldn't have gone that far, she should still be around. Amity didn't know what was happening, she felt her head hurt like never before and she was about to faint, but she tried to keep herself together and ran off towards the direction she thought Luz had gone off to while desperately screaming her name.

"Amity! Amity! I'm right here! What's wrong!?" Amity could barely hear her voice, she was hearing so many things and Luz's voice sounded so small, even though she was screaming.

"I-i don't know! I g-g Caliban isn't moving and h-he vomited an-nd please help me!" Amity cried.

Luz took her hand and ran towards Amity's house. If she said anything then Amity didn't hear her, she was barely aware of her surroundings anymore. The only thing that kept her from fainting was Luz's strong grip on her hand and the pain that came with it.

Luz opened the door and the two ran inside, Caliban was breathing heavier than last time Amity saw him, and there was more vomit with a little blood next to him.

"We need to take him to the vet! Now!" Luz commanded and moved next to the dog, not sure what to do.

"I-i-i can't drive!" Amity yelled as more tears fell down her eyes. 

"I'll drive! Start the car!" Luz commanded and took Caliban in her arms, the dog closed its eyes and continued to fight for air. Amity rushed out of the house and opened the car, she fumbled with the keys as she screamed at herself for being so useless.

"You get on the back with him, we'll be there in a minute and everything will be fine," Luz said as she rushed towards the car with Caliban wrapped in her military jacket. Amity nodded and sat in the back of her car, she gently took Caliban and hugged him as if it was the only thing keeping her alive. Amity was mildly aware of Luz starting the car and beginning to drive, the only thing she was aware of was how cold Caliban was and how bad he smelled.

"It's okay buddy. We're almost there, just a few more minutes." Amity begged, she moved her shaking hand to her pocket and took out a toy. The golden retriever plushie Luz had given her.

"H-here," Amity mumbled and placed the toy next to his body. "It's fine, everything will be fine, I promise."