Chapter Text
Luz knew she wanted to marry Amity one day after moving in with her.
The couple had decided to live together after a year of dating. Since Amity fully owned her own house on the outskirts of the city, the decision of who would move in with whom didn’t really take much negotiating. Luz’s only concern was leaving Willow without someone else to help pay her rather large rent.
This was quickly remedied when Gus enthusiastically offered himself to be Luz’s replacement. The lease on his own apartment was ending, and Willow’s place was closer to work for him.
Luz was initially skeptical, she knew they worked for the same company, and was concerned that they would be seeing too much of each other and end up regretting it.
Willow brushed her worries away and explained that while they did work in the same office, they were on different floors and departments. They really only saw each other in passing or during lunch.
With these doubts settled, the weeks leading up to the move were spent with anticipation and overwhelming excitement for all four. The only hiccup to occur was when Luz started asking Amity if she should pay rent.
“Luz, it’s my house. As in, I own it. I don’t pay rent, why would you?”
“But what about the mortgage?”
“I never took one.”
Luz opened her mouth to retort, but then snapped it shut. “Oh.” Was all she could say.
This was yet another obstacle they overcame in their relationship.
It was no secret Amity had money. Anytime she voiced that she’s vice-president of a well-known company, the automatic conclusion was she was well-off. The fact it was her parents’ company only added to the assumption.
Amity, rather fiercely, defended that although she came from money, everything she had, she earned through hard work. Her parents never gave her special treatment because she was their daughter, if anything they were much harsher and judgmental with her. They had to show they weren’t soft, and proved it by making her work three times as hard for a small amount of praise, which more often than not, was delivered with backhanded compliments.
Luz was constantly at war with herself when it came to this. She knew that Amity loved her, but Luz never liked the idea of a free ride. She wanted to earn her place at Amity’s, yet another thing the two women had in common.
“Well, at least let me pay half of the utilities. And when we do grocery runs and stuff.”
Amity gnawed on her bottom lip in thought. She knew Luz was solely doing this out of pride.
Recognizing that she herself was very prideful, she relented with a small smile. “Okay, deal.”
The smile Luz gave her made swallowing her own pride all the worthwhile.
So, Luz and Amity packed up all of her stuff from Willow’s apartment the night before the big move. On Saturday, they spent the morning lugging it over, and then the rest of the day helping Gus with his belongings. By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted. They spent their first night together with everything still in boxes, the only thing Luz bothered to unpack was a change of clothes and her toothbrush.
The following Sunday, Amity busied herself with organizing and unboxing Luz’s things while Luz went to work. She came home to Amity asleep on the couch, Luz’s art station already set up next to the giant window facing outback, right where she was considering after scouting for a spot around the house.
Luz smiled lovingly at Amity’s sleeping form. She carefully extracted the book she had been reading from her grasp and then gently lifted her into her arms, carrying her to their bedroom. When she woke up the next morning, Amity had already left for work.
Luz stretched her arms out, her fingertips brushing against a piece of paper. She rubbed her eyes with a yawn, blinking away the blurriness so she could read the little note.
Morning, amor!
Thank you for carrying me to bed last night ;) I tried to wait up for you, but I guess was still pretty tired from Saturday. I should be back at our home around 6:00 tonight. I LOVE YOU <3 <3
Luz couldn’t stop herself from smiling giddily, reading the note over and over.
She felt her heart skip at Amity calling this place their home. This was her life now, she got to live with her amazing girlfriend, and wake up everyday with her.
Luz looked to the empty side of the bed and snorted to herself. Well, not everyday.
Even though they had just started to live together, she felt so comfortable and content, like they’d been doing this for years. She couldn’t imagine not living with her now, after only two nights.
She audibly gasped as she began to understand what all these emotions meant.
Luz got out of bed, dug through the many boxes for her laptop, and started researching rings.
Amity’s realization was a lot slower than Luz’s, and quite frankly, was more bittersweet. It was about three months after the move. She was meeting her parents to discuss the quarterly review of this year’s progress. It was a lengthy meeting and never ceased to leave Amity very high-strung and irritable after it was over.
They had just finished up, for once seemingly without an incident, and Amity had stood to leave when her mother cleared her throat.
“Amity, dear. How are things with you personally? Are you still traipsing around with that young woman?” She asked icily.
Amity froze at her mother’s cold tone. She immediately felt her blood boil, but remained calm and shot her mother a stony glance. “Her name is Luz, and I’m not just running around with her carelessly. I’m in love with her.”
Odalia scoffed. “Come now, Amity. I think it’s best you stop playing house and get serious. You’re turning twenty-seven soon, you’re well into your late twenties.”
“What does that mean?”
“Dear, control that attitude.” Odalia scolded. She laced her fingers together on the table primly, sitting up as straight as she could. “You’re not getting any younger. You need to start planning for your permanent future. I don’t see Luz being a part of that.”
Her nostrils flared when she released a giant breath through them. “And why, may I ask, not?”
Her mother tutted, clicking her tongue while slowly shaking her head. “The girl is an artist whilst moonlighting as a waitress. She’s clearly not financially stable, nor does she take her work seriously. All I’m saying is, think about our company’s public image. Our family’s image.”
Amity felt her hand clench into a fist. She could handle her mother’s criticism, she’d grown up with it for years now. But insult Luz, and all she could see was red. “She takes her work very seriously. You may not see it as a proper job, but Luz has a following with her work. She’s well known in the art community. And, while being a bartender is a blue-collar job, she's never asked for my help, though I would gladly give it to her in a heartbeat.”
Amity walked up to the head of the table, restraining herself from pointing a finger. She settled for sending a pointed look. “I agree financial stability is important in a relationship, but it’s more than just our statuses in society. We care about each other’s happiness, we take care of each other, we love each other, we…” Amity trailed off as her own words began to sink in.
Odalia raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to finish that sentence?”
She narrowed her eyes, upset that her mother was ruining what was supposed to be a joyful revelation. “You know what, I’m not. I don’t have to explain myself to you, I’m a grown adult and know what I want in life.”
She grabbed her briefcase and started for the door, this conversation finished. She stopped in her tracks when she heard her father’s stern voice.
“Amity, we are not through. Think about your place at this company before storming out.”
The young woman whipped her head around in disbelief. “What?”
Alador rose from his seat, his hands cupped behind his back. “You heard me. If this attitude continues, your future position as CEO may be in jeopardy.”
Amity could not believe her parents were stooping this low. “Are you seriously threatening me? We literally just finished up a meeting proving that our sales are at an all time high this year. Employee satisfaction has increased by twenty percent, with a decrease in turnover. How do you think they would react to me being suddenly fired for no apparent reason?”
“I simply said it was in jeopardy, not that we made a decision. Your mother and I want what’s best for you. Keep that in mind.”
He gave a curt nod, sat back down, and dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
She left with her blood absolutely boiling. The drive home disobeyed every speeding law and, looking back on it, she was very surprised she was never pulled over. As soon as she shifted into park in her driveway, Amity stomped up the walkway and kicked the door open.
Luz, Willow, and Gus all jumped at her entrance. The three were huddled on the couch, watching a movie.
Amity didn’t even bother them a glance, marching right over to the mini bar they kept in the living room. She uncorked the scotch, filled about half the whiskey glass, and shot it back in one go.
All three looked at each other with concern, silently debating who would speak first. Luz swallowed and dared to address the atmosphere of the room.
“I take it the meeting did not go well.” Her voice was clear, but very soft.
Amity whipped her head around and glared, murder in her eyes. “Ya think?”
Willow and Gus looked at each other worryingly, very surprised at her harsh tone. Luz and Amity were sickeningly sweet and gentle when speaking to each other, they had never seen them interact like this.
Luz apparently had, because she didn’t seem hurt by Amity’s rude bite, if anything she looked more sympathetic.
“Do you want to talk about it now or later?” She didn’t give Amity a choice on whether or not if, only when.
Amity looked over at her two friends, who were also her employees. She debated for a moment before letting out a frustrated scream and banged her fist on the table. “She’s just so...unbelievable! How can one person be so unpleasant?!”
Luz got up to walk over and placed a hand on her girlfriend’s closed hand. “What did Odalia say this time?”
“If I have to hear her make one more comment about the Blight family name, I’m gonna have a brain aneurysm!” She yelled to the ceiling, pausing to fill her glass again.
After downing the second shot, Luz grabbed the scotch and put it out of reach. “Okay, start from the beginning.”
Amity breathed harshly for a few moments before collecting her thoughts. “The meeting started out fine. Usual mundane stuff, going over numbers and performance reviews. I actually thought I was gonna get away without any arguments. But she had to prove me wrong,” Amity started pacing, needing to burn off the adrenaline high she was on. “We wrapped up the business side of things and I went to stand, thinking we were done, and she made a snide comment about you, stopping me in my tracks.”
Luz noticed the way her girlfriend avoided telling her what Odalia said about her, but made a mental note for later, letting Amity continue with her tirade.
“That one remark turned into her analyzing my future and how my behavior was a direct correlation with our family’s image.”
She walked throughout the living room, doing laps around the couch. Three sets of eyes followed her. “And then my dear father decided to dangle the CEO position in my face and threatened to take it away if I didn’t stop giving my mother an attitude. Like I was some petulant child!”
All three raised their eyebrows in alarm, but Amity didn’t even give them a chance to interject. “Well, if that’s the way they’re going to behave, they can have their precious company. Fuck, they can have the family name! I’m renouncing myself as a Blight!”
Luz grabbed her shoulders to stop her pacing and brought her into a hug. Amity initially tried to fight it, but soon slumped into the embrace. Luz ran her hands up and down her back, softly murmuring in Spanish before speaking.
“You don’t mean that. You worked too hard and gave so much of your heart for your business. I know you’re not going to give up without a fight.”
“Yeah, you’re the best boss anyone could ask for!” Gus encouraged. He stood up with determination on his face and a fist raised high. “If they try to get rid of you, we’ll all go on strike.”
“You’ve been working towards this your entire life, Amity.” Willow joined in, standing up as well. “Anyone with half a brain cell can see that. And we know you truly care about the well-being of your employees, not just the company’s success.”
Amity pulled away from Luz’s arms and looked around at her friends’ encouraging smiles. She felt her eyes water, wiped the tears away with a small sniff, and smiled. “Thanks, you guys. It means a lot hearing that from you, especially after hearing nothing but criticism just an hour ago.”
“Screw your parents.” Luz said fiercely. “If they can’t see what an amazing daughter they have, they’re the ones who should be ashamed to call themselves a Blight.”
Gus and Willow sandwiched Amity between themselves and Luz, wrapping everyone together in a group hug. Amity laughed and returned the embrace with just as much vigor. Her girlfriend kissed her cheek, pulling away with an audible pop, causing Amity to giggle at this amazing woman who could make her laugh after one of her worst days. She glanced over and stared lovingly at Luz.
I’d rather be a Noceda.