Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Luz P.O.V.

I looked myself up and down in the mirror.

Damn, I look good. I thought.

I readjusted my red beanie and grabbed the front of my red and black flannel, turning to see myself at different angles. You could see my Led Zeppelin shirt beneath my unbuttoned flannel, and the top of my sleeves were tight to my muscled arms.

This was the night I'd been waiting for. I needed to look my best.

And no, I'm not going on a date. But maybe if I met someone tonight I could.

This is the first night Eda, my adopted mom, is letting me go to the night club. I've been hearing stories from her about it since I was 15, and ever since I've wanted to go there myself. Now that I'm 18, I finally have my chance.

I glance over at the alarm clock on my bedside table and see that it's nearly 10 pm. Just about time to leave.

The club technically opened at 7:30, but most people head in towards when the performances start, which is around 10:15.

"You ready to go, kid?" I hear Eda shout from downstairs.

"Yeah!" I yell back. "Just gimme a second!"

I grabbed my phone, and walked downstairs, where Eda was waiting by the front door, swinging her keys on her finger with a grin.

"You got your shit?" She asked me.

"Yep," I began to smile, getting excited as to what this night would entail.

"Alright, kid, listen up," Eda's expression turned serious. "Don't do anything stupid. Don't let people push you around. Don't go in the bathrooms."

I raised my eyebrow at the last one. "Why shouldn't I go in the bathrooms?"

"Trust me kid, you don't wanna get involved with that crowd. If you get into anything bad, just go backstage, and if you get stopped, just mention me. Tell 'em I'm an old friend of the owner's. You should be fine, they’re a nice person. If you wanna go home early, call me. Alright?" She pointed at me with a sort of glare.

I nodded, picking up on how serious Eda actually was. 

"Good. Now, you ready to go?" Her grin returned.

"Hell yeah I am!" I burst out the door and happily walked to the car.

I heard Eda laughing behind me.

"What's so funny?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Oh, nothing," She opened the driver's side door and hopped in. "It's just that most people would be so concerned to see you this excited,"

It was a fair point. I was known to most of Hexide High School as someone you didn't want to mess with, but could give you a good time if you didn't piss me off. It helped that I was best friends with the biggest plug in the school. For their sake, I'm not going to mention their name right now. 

"Well, either way, kid," Eda sighed. I could tell she was having a hard time letting me do this. "Be careful, but be sure to have fun, okay?"

"Okay," I smiled over at her. Something about her sitting there made her wrinkles look a little more prominent. Her gray hair a little brighter. I knew she cared for me. That was never questioned. But there was something about the way she'd taken care of me for so much of my life that made me think of her as a friend, but also my mom. It was a weird relationship, but it was one I would never let go of.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Eda put the key in the ignition and turned the radio up. It wasn't the most pleasant music, but I couldn't help but get into it, seeing how pumped Eda was.

The way to the club wasn't the far. Other than the fact that our house was in the middle of the woods about 10 minutes out from town, it was an overall short ride. We pulled up to the side of the road by a random 24-hour convince store and Eda looked over at me and started to wave me out.

"Why am I getting out here?" I asked confused, but I undid my seatbelt.

"We can't park too close because it makes it look suspicious. Don't wanna get shut down."

"Ah," I nod my head.

"You have money?" She asked me.

"A little," I took my wallet out and pulled out a ten and a few singles.

Eda shook her head and handed me a twenty. "Enjoy yourself kid. Just don't get into too much trouble, alright? Just the normal amount," Her grin grew. "And I'll be there by two, so if you're not out front, you get to walk home drunk and high."

I sniggered and agreed.

"See you kid. Have fun. Be safe," There was a look of concern and slight hurt in her eyes.

"I will. See you Eda!" I got out of the car and started walking in a direction, not quite sure where I was going.

"Other way kid!" Eda yelled at me through her open window.

"Yep!" I turned around and started my way to the club, ignoring Eda's laughing fit as she drove off.

I had a feeling that tonight was gonna be great. I knew Gus and Willow would be there. They're my best friends and they've been going to this club for like a year now, so they know their way around the place. 

I was lost in thought, and bumped into someone as I neared the club.

"Hey! Watch it dumbass!" I said instinctually.

"You watch it dumbass!" A familiar voice said back.

"Oh! Hey Willow," I smiled, realizing who it was. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Ah! You're finally here," They said, grinning. "It'll be nice to have you. Bring some more fun to this joint."

"Where's Gus at?" I asked, looking around.

"He's already there. Saved us a table," Willow said as we neared the entrance. "You got your money?"

"Yeah," I pulled a ten out of my wallet. You had to give $10 to the guy at the door to get in. It was kind of a way of weeding out the people that were just gonna go there to cause trouble with the stuff some people brought in. 

Willow and I walked up to the door and handed the very buff man our money, and he stepped aside to let us in.

The smell of alcohol and smoke hit me immediately, and it took me aback.

Willow must have noticed, because they started to laugh. "Yeah, it takes some getting used to,"

I immediately hardened my expression and shrugged it off. "Nothing I can't handle,"

Willow chuckled and started leading me through the crowd of people. I tried my best to stick with them, and somehow, I wasn't lost to the mass of people. We'd arrived at a table, somewhat close to the bar.

"Hey! Luz!" Gus waved us over. His smaller stature was contrasted by the fact that he was strong. The boy worked out. Although I dwarfed him, I would be scared to fight him.

"Hey! Gustifer! Gustaban! Agustabeth!" I joked, pointing finger guns at him.

"Ha ha," He rolled his eyes but I could tell he was grinning. "When are you going to stop calling me that?"

"When you're not a midget!" I scruffed his curly black hair and sat down in the seat next to him.

"Hey! I am a perfectly average height for my age!" He defended.

Gus was two years younger than us, but he'd skipped two grades, and he hasn't reached more than 5'7". Since I was just over 6 foot, I liked to tease him about it. I don't know where I got my height from. I remember my mom being relatively short, but I never met my dad. Apparently he didn't stick around. Not like I care. I've got a great life now, so I don't give a shit whether he stayed or left when I was little.

"Yeah, and I'm a giant," Willow said sarcastically, sitting down at the other empty seat at the table.

Before Gus could respond, someone played a single chord on an electric guitar, leaving it to ring out as everyone got quiet.

Then whoever it was started to GO OFF on a scale, just messing around with it, and coming from a guitar player, it was impressive. The crowd started screaming.

I looked over to the stage, and it was dark, but the lights were beginning to get brighter, illuminating the mysterious figure.

I can't say I wasn't intrigued. Whoever they were, they had long teal hair, half up half down, but it had started to grow out, so their roots were brown, which I assumed was their natural color. They weren't that tall, I could tell that from down here, but I could also tell that they made up for that in attitude.

The girl walked up to the mic stand and started to play and sing along. Her voice. Her voice! It was incredible! And her stage presence! She had the whole crowd drawn into her performance. Not to mention the fact that she knew how to play guitar far better than most people I've seen at these sort of things. 

I didn't realize how I was staring at her until Willow spoke up.

"Got your eye on her, huh?" They grinned over at me.

"Yeah..." I looked back at the girl on stage. "I definitely do,"

Chapter Text

Amity P.O.V.

When I finished with my school work, I was called down to dinner by my father. 

I politely went down to the dining room and ate in silence. My parents at each head of the table, me in the middle, and my twin siblings sitting across from me. They were being all perfect in front of mom and dad, which wasn't surprising. If we acted out at all, we were sure to get our asses handed to us. 

My parent's never hit us. No, that would be illegal. They just held us to standards much to high for many to deal with. They hit us with words. Words that at this point, didn't cut as deep.

"Children," My mother got our attention.

My siblings and I looked up at her.

"As you know, your father and I are going to pass down the family business, and therefore family fortune, to one of you." She always tried to make it seem like it was a good thing by adding the fortune part. None of us wanted it. We didn't want to have to deal with all the shit my parents are leaving one of us.

"Yes, and your mother and I have decided on which of you is going to be bestowed with this great honor of carrying on Blight tradition," My father continued.

What they said next was no surprise.

"Amity, you will be the one to inherit Blight Industries." My mother looked over at me, waiting for the gratitude I was sure to have.

"Thank you mother, father," I said looking at them respectively. "This is such a great honor, and I will be sure to follow in your footsteps when the time comes," I nodded my head in "appreciation".

My older twin siblings, Edric and Emira, have been causing trouble for all of their lives. They don't get good grades in school, and they actually had to repeat their senior year of high school, so it was no surprise that my parents saw me, little miss perfect, as the best fit for their needs. But the twins looked over at me with sadness in their eyes when they heard.

I can promise you though, I'm not the precious little girl they think I am. 

The rest of dinner was silent. When my parents left to to whatever the hell they do with their lives, Ed spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Amity," He looked over at me once he saw our parents were gone.

"Yeah, we didn't want it to be any of us, but that's not really how this works, is it?" Em added, with a slight chuckle.

"It's whatever," I shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about it, so why not live the rest of my life until it comes along?"

"You mean the club?" Ed asked, grinning.

"No, I meant school, and working," I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I mean the club!"

"Don't you play tonight?" Em asked me.

"Yes, I do. But if we're gonna talk about it anymore, just come up to my room," I got up from the table and they followed me.

I opened my door and flopped onto my bed, looking up at the white ceiling. You could see outlines from where there were once glow in the dark stars, but I had to take them down when my mom realized they were there. Apparently they were "too childish" for someone of my status.

"Well?" Em asked, sitting on the foot of my bed. "When are you planning on leaving?"

"Probably around 9:45," I sat up and looked over at the twins.

"We'll cover for you," Ed gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up and his signature dorky smile.

"Thanks guys," I smiled, knowing how much the twins actually cared about me. They were probably one of four people in this world that I know I could trust. 

You could probably guess that the other two aren't my parents. They would be my two closest friends, Boscha and Scara. They've always had my back, but I haven't told them anything about what I do outside of school. It's not that I don't trust them. It just gets... complicated. And I don't want them having to worry about me. So I keep it to myself. Well, myself and the twins, that is.

"Well, we'll get going now!" Emira grabbed Edric by his arm and dragged him out.

"See you later, Mittens!" He said before forgetting to closing my door on his way out. 

I rolled my eyes and got up to close the door. I then decided to take this downtime to scroll through Instagram. It's something I didn't get to do often, since I was always busy doing school work ahead. I couldn't risk being average, or even worse, behind. So I did assignments in advance.

But I can say that the downtime was much needed.

*le gay time skip*

I looked at the time to see it was nearly 9:15. I decided that I should start getting ready.

I pulled out a black cropped tank top, a slightly more cropped baggy pink t-shirt, some black ripped jeans, a darker pink belt, and a spiked bracelet and choker. And for my shoes, I grabbed some jet black platforms.

After putting it all on, I started with my makeup. Usually my look was pretty simple. Just some eyeliner, a little mascara, and some lipgloss. But on nights like these, I liked to go a little more over the top. I went with bigger wings, bright sparkled eye shadow, and a bold lipstick. It was a look. A look that I could get behind. 

I texted my group chat with my siblings and told them to come to my room.

No less than 30 seconds later, Ed and Em burst into my room with big grins on their faces.

"You ready, Mittens?" Ed asked me.

"Almost," I rolled my eyes. "Unless you want me to go out there like this and get caught."

"No, no, take your time, sis," Em put her hand on my shoulder but I pushed it off and went to go grab my black sweatshirt and sweatpants.

After donning my sneaking-out gear, I grabbed my phone and was ready to go. All I needed was a hand from Ed. My room was technically on the second floor, but our house was backed up against a hill, so my window was close-ish to the ground, but not close enough that I could just hop out and be fine, especially in my platforms, so Ed needed to lower me down.

"Alright, Ed," I turned to my siblings who were looking at the different textbooks on my bookshelf.

"You ready now?" He walked over to me, already getting ready to lower me out the window.

"Just don't hit me against the wall this time," I rolled my eyes and winced at the memory.

"Yeah, Ed. We don't need her broken before her big show," Em laughed at her twin, making his face redden slightly.

"Hey, that was an accident," He looked a bit sad for a moment.

"Just get me out of here already. I don't need to be late," I sat on the windowsill and held my hands out.

"Whatever you say, Mittens!" My brother grabbed my hands and climbed up on the ledge next to me, slowly lowering me as I edged myself off. After reaching the ground safely, I looked up at the twins, both of them with that enormous grin on their faces.

"Have fun~!" Emira waved at me from my open window. I gave her an unenthusiastic wave back, and sighed as I walked away from the house. But before getting too far, I looked back to make sure that my window was closed and the curtains shut, which thankfully, it was. I didn't need any more suspicion on me than there already was, considering that Ed and Em were my cover.

The walk to the club was uneventful, but that's how I like it. I looked up at the sky, the stars barely visible due to the lights of the town. It made me frown, thinking about how much more I could see if there weren't so much light.

But once I got to the club, I handed the money to the man at the door. He greeted me by name, and I nodded in a response. I'd never bothered to ask him for his name. There wasn't a need as far as I was concerned. After weaving my way through the growing mass of people, I'd made it to backstage, where Jerbo and Barkus were already setting things up for all of the acts tonight. 

"Hey Amity!" Jerbo waved, his headset almost falling off as he had tilted his head up from what he was doing. He quickly grabbed it before it could fall and break, and he muttered under his breath.

"Hey, Jerbo," I gave him a light smile. "Why don't you just ask Raine for a smaller headset?"

"I don't wanna bother them," He looked down sheepishly at his sneakers.

"Dude," Barkus's deep voice made his head whip around. "Just ask them. You've been doing this for over a month now." He gestured to the headset still in Jerbo's hands.

"Yeah, but I just don't want them to get mad at me!" Jerbo slid the one headphone part over his ear and put the other shorter side in just the right spot on the other side of his head, before it started to slip again.

I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder as I walked by. "Jerbo, they won't care. Just bring it up casually and they’ll get you a smaller one," With that, I left the two to continue setting up as I went to change out of my black sweats and put my stuff in my designated locker.

Then I went into the storage room, which was lit only by the blue LEDs running around the ceiling. I located my guitar wedged between an old crate and the wall in the back corner. I kept it there because there was no way that I would ever see it again if it came to my house, and there wasn't enough room in the small locker they gave me. 

I took out my guitar and sat in the storage room to tune it, the blue light reflecting off of the shiny surface. You could also see the scratches below the strings on the body of the guitar from where my pick hits. I threw the strap over my shoulder and began to pluck each individual string, listening and adjusting as they needed. Once I deemed it satisfactory, I experimentally played one of the songs I knew would make an out of tune string stick out like a sore thumb.

Before I could get too far into the song, there was a soft knock at the door.

"Yes?" I saw the door open and there was a silhouette of a short and muscular man.

"Hey, Amity," Barkus's deep voice rang through the silence of the room. "Just to warn you, you have 10 minutes before you go on,"

I smiled, thanking him as he slowly backed out of the room. I then went back to testing my strings, and after a few more minutes, I was satisfied. 

I took my guitar, leaving the case open next to the box I was previously sitting on, and went to wait out by the stage. I slung my instrument over my shoulder and waited, scrolling through my phone. My head shot up when I heard the voice of the announcer.

I'm going to preface that the announcer sucks. I don't know why Raine hasn't fired the guy. He stumbled over every word, and barely had any emotion in his voice other than the obvious fear.

"H-hello... folks! And uh.. w-welcome.. to- uh- tonight's performances!" I could see him try to smile through the fear as he looked down to his hand, which was marked up with smudged sharpie. Rookie mistake. "The, uh.. first act.. is uh-" He whipped his head over to the side of the stage where I gave him a little wave and a smile, hoping he would recognize who I was and walk of the stage so I could get this show on the road.

"N-none other than... uh..." There was a moment of silence as he tried to put the pieces together. "I'll just let her introduce herself..." He quietly said into the mic. This got a laugh from the crowd. Not a laughing with him sort of deal. They were making fun of him. 

I felt bad, don't get me wrong, but I still wanted the guy fired. I'd rather have someone who can confidently and enthusiastically introduce the bands that were gonna play. Not some 40 year old man with stage fright.

But after he scrambled off the stage, the lights on the stage went out before I was in view. I made my way over to stand a couple feet behind the mic at the center of the stage. I put my hands into the formation of one of my personal favorite chords and strummed it once, letting it ring out as people got quiet. Then, I decided that I wanted to show off a little, and started just playing around on the notes of the chord, getting really high and then bringing it back down as the stage lights rose, giving the audience a clearer view of me. They erupted into applause and whistles, those who were new catching on from what the regulars were doing. They knew who I was. I've been doing this for months now, and I've grown quite a fan base. Luckily, my parents don't know how to use social media and none of my friends at school would have this kind of thing on their feed. 

I walked up to the mic and dove right into my first song. The people on the dance floor got into the music. I could tell which ones were already drunk. 

I ran through two more songs after finishing the first, and thanked the crowd before walking off the stage.

"Good job tonight, Ms. Blight," I heard the slightly timid voice of the club owner.

"Thank you, Raine," I smiled. "What brings you backstage?"

"Oh, just checking in on everyone," They looked around before shaking their head. "Anyway, to get to the point, I have your paycheck,"

"Oh!" I was a little startled that they chose now to tell me, but I was grateful all the same.

They struck up small chat with me for a minute before the announcer man went back out onto the stage to introduce the next band that would perform.

"N-next up!" He tried to read some of the smudged sharpie on his palm, and without saying an anything else, ran off the stage, and the lights dimmed once again.

"You should really get a new announcer," I said without thinking. I then realized what I said and looked at Raine with wide eyes, making sure they weren't mad or anything.

"Yeah," They ruffled their hair and ran their hand down their neck and stopped at their shoulder. "I just can't find anyone willing to do the job."

"I'd be happy to see if I can find someone," I suggested, trying to be helpful.

"Oh, you don't have to go looking," They gave me a quick smile before continuing. "But if you happen to stumble upon anyone who's perfect, don't hesitate to let me know."

I chuckled slightly. "I'll make sure to,"

Raine and I chatted for a minute more, and then I went to pack up my guitar. I placed it back in its case and wedged that back between the wall and the crate. After doing all that, I decided to go to the bar to get a drink. 

Once there, I sat down and waited for someone to be free from either making a drink or talking to a customer. As I was sitting there with my head in my hand, I saw someone walk up and sit next to me out of the corner of my eye.

I slightly turned my head to see a very tall Latina with a red flannel as a jacket and a beanie. She looked over at me with a little grin on her face.

"Well hello there, hermosa," She leaned against the counter.

"Hey," I said simply turning slightly more to face her. She had a strong looking build. Not too muscular, but just enough where you could tell that she could knock someone out with one blow. 

"So what's your name?" She asked, continuing to look at me.

"Amity," I said simply, looking her up and down. "You?"

"Luz," She grinned holding out her hand to shake.

I hesitantly took it, fearing that she would pull me into something I didn't want. But she only lightly grabbed my hand and shook it, continuing to give me a warm smile.

"That name doesn't really seem to fit you, from what I can tell," I knew that "luz" meant light in Spanish. I didn't take much in the way of Spanish classes, though, before I switched over to French, which I enjoyed much more.

"I can't tell if you mean my name's translation or how it sounds," She gave me a slight look of confusion, but she kept that little grin on her face.

"I've had a few Spanish classes in my day," I gave her a little flirty look. Or, rather, what I thought would be a flirty look. In all honesty, I don't know how that looked.

She shook her head with a laugh. "You act like that's all fancy. I've been speaking Spanish since I could talk. Probablemente no sepas lo que estoy diciendo,"

I gave her a little laugh. "Yeah, I don't know that much Spanish," I turned to face the bar. "I dropped out of Spanish to take French. Vous venez souvent ici?"

"Huh?" She tilted her head.

"You come here often?" I translate, turning my head back to her. "I don't think I've seen you before. Someone like you would be hard to miss."

She chuckled. "No, this is my first time dropping by here."

We fell into silence. Then Viney, one of the twin's friends who also works here, walked up to us.

"Hey Amity!" She smiled. "What can I get for ya?"

"I'll take anything you wanna make with strawberry," I said simply, wanting a surprise. "And I'll pay for her's." I looked over to Luz, letting her pick.

She hesitated for a moment, trying to tell me that she could pay for her own drink before giving in and getting a rum and coke.

"Gracias, hermosa," She smiled. "What brings a girl like you to a place like this?" Luz asks me, leaning against the bar, turning her full attention to me.

"Well, I use this place as an escape from the monotonies of life," I shrugged. "What about you?"

"I've been hearing about the shit that goes on here, and I decided to check it out for myself," For a moment, there was silence between the two of us. It was eventually broken. "Tell me about yourself."

"I'm an asshole that can play a guitar and sing." I said simply.

"And she's so cute when she's mad!" Viney jumped in, handing us our drinks.

"Viney!" I shot her a glare, but handed her the money.

Luz chuckled. "She's right though," 

I whipped my head around to her, giving her a deadpan look. "Anyways..." I tried to continue normal conversation. "What about you?"

"I'm also a guitarist, I'm also and asshole, and I want your number." It was smooth, I'll give her that.

"I'll have to think about that one," I rolled my eyes, but gave her a grin.

We casually chatted, getting to know each other a little better, before Luz looked at her phone.

"Oh, shit." She cussed under her breath, but not quietly enough for me to hear.

"What's up?" I asked, concerned since her playful demeanor had dropped.

"Sorry, my friends just texted me asking where I was. I'm probably gonna have to get back to them," She went to stand up. "Unless you wanna come with?"

"As much as I would like to, I have other business to attend to," I lied, not wanting to make her friends—or myself— uncomfortable.

Her shoulders dropped a bit and a sad look came to her face, but it was immediately replaced by her usual smirk. "Well, it was nice meeting you," She started to walk away before I stopped her.

"Forgetting something?" I asked.

"What?" She cocked her head.

I took a napkin and borrowed a pen from a bartender, wrote my number down, and handed it to Luz. "Text me, okay?"

"Sure thing, hermosa!" A more joyous grin came to her face as she walked off.

Before she could get to far, two men blocked her path, giving her a menacing smile.

Chapter Text

Luz P.O.V.

I looked at the two men blocking my path.

"What the fuck's your problem?" I spat, my good mood instantly ruined.

"Oh, got a temper, huh?" The man on my right chuckled.

"Just how I like 'em," The other man moved closer to me.

I backed up to get them out of my face, only for them to continue to move closer.

"Back the fuck off!" I shoved one of them back, making him stumble a bit before hardening his expression. 

"You gonna choose the easy way?" He glared.

"Or are you gonna choose the hard way?" The other man finished the sentence.

"Did you not hear her?" I looked past them to see Amity impatiently standing behind the two guys. "Since you're obviously deaf, I'll relay the message. Back the fuck off!"

"Ooh, some feisty ones, hey?" The first man chuckled.

"Looks like we got lucky," The other one smiled mischievously.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Amity shook her head and chuckled. "You don't get the memo?"

"What's that sweetheart? You don't want a piece of the action?" He turned completely to face Amity.

Our eyes locked for a moment, relaying a silent message. She ever so slightly cocked her head, and I gave a small nod.

Simultaneously, I kicked the man on the right in the back of the knees, while Amity swept her foot under the other man's legs, successfully getting both of them to fall.

Immediately, Amity grabbed my hand, dragging me through the crowd. I felt my face heat up as I looked down at my hand in hers.

I know, I know. This isn't the time to be gushing over some girl I just met 15 minutes ago, but something about the way she knocked that guy over and immediately took the initiative to get us out of there was hot.

She led us to a door near the stage that was tucked away in a corner behind a bunch of spare chairs and tables and immediately went through it, shutting it behind her.

"Well, if we didn't lose them there, I don't know what'll shake 'em." Amity sighed, breathing a little heavier than normal. Then she looked down at our hands, which were still locked together, and immediately let go, blushing a bit as she did so. Then there was a bit of an awkward silence as we stood there by the door to what I assumed was backstage, going over what just happened in our minds.

"Thank you," I said, looking over to the teal-haired girl beside me. "I don't think I could have handled them on my own, so thanks for jumping in."

"Oh, it was nothing," She shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck. "Guys like that show up here all the time. There's really no way to stop them from coming, so I've just learned to avoid them."

"Well, either way, I owe you big time. Those are the kinds of guys that make me question liking guys at all," I chuckled.

"Those kind of guys just solidify in my mind that I don't like guys," Amity started to walk away from the door, with me in tow.

"So you listen to girl in red?" I asked with a grin.

"And you listen to Sweater Weather," She turned around and smugly grinned at me.

"Good observation. But you didn't answer my question," I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head slightly.

"Yes. I do listen to girl in red," She turned back around, only to nearly run into someone coming from around a corner.

"Hey! Watch it-" Amity started. "Oh, sorry Jerbo." 

He chuckled nervously. "It's fine Amity!" He squeaked out. Then he noticed me. "Wait, who's this?"

"Oh!" Amity turned around, remembering that I'm not usually here. "This is Luz. Luz this is Jerbo. He helps set things up for the performances."

"You know Raine doesn't like when people come back here..." Jerbo said hesitantly.

"We were just hiding from some creeps," Amity rolled her eyes and dragged me by my wrist away from Jerbo.

"Man, you already want me alone?" I asked with a little smirk.

"Not yet," She smirked, but soon her tone turned back to being serious. "I'm trying to get you back out of here before your friends start to get too worried."

My eyes widened, remembering that Willow and Gus were still waiting for me to come back. "Hold on, lemme text them real quick,"

Amity dropped my wrist and stopped for a moment, impatiently leaning against the wall.

Me: Heyyy guys! Sorry for disappearing... may have got distracted. I'll explain in a minute when I get back! 😅

I started to put my phone away and then it buzzed with a reply.

Willow🌸: You better.

I chuckled. Willow hated that I had a flower in their contact name, but for some reason it felt right. And that emoji with the tone of the message they sent did not look right side by side.

"Alright, I'm good," I pocketed my phone and started to follow Amity.

She was walking slightly in front of me, and I felt the urge to match her pace and grab her hand. I know that I shouldn't push too much on her this soon. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. So I just walked behind her in silence. 

"Well here we are," Amity stopped at another door, cracking it open slightly to look who was on the other side.

"Where is here?" I asked.

"The other stage door. It's on the opposite side as where we came in. If they followed us, they shouldn't find you now," She opened the door fully and waved me out.

I started to leave, but I stopped before fully exiting the doorway. "You coming?"

"Nah. I think I'm gonna go home. It's almost 1:30 so I should probably head back before I won't be able to sneak back in," She laughed to herself. "But it was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you, hermosa," I flirted. "Text me, alright?"

"Sure thing," She smiled and waved as she shut the door, leaving me alone.

I whistled quietly. How am I this lucky? A pretty, badass, snarky woman is interested in talking to me. Me! The dork that can barely flirt!

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and I started walking towards where Gus and Willow should be sitting. When I arrived, they were both looking away from me.

"Heyyy!" I said, ruffling Gus's curly hair.

He snapped his head around to look at me. "Luz!"

"Where the hell did you go?" Willow asked, sounding slightly angry. Then they noticed my expression, and a wave of realization washed over them. "Ah, okay. I see."

"You see what?" I said defensively as I sat back down in my seat.

"You met someone, didn't you?" Willow grinned, and Gus gasped.

"Oh my god she totally did!" Gus exclaimed, making my face grow redder. "Tell us everything!"

"No," I looked between them both, deadpanned.

"Oooohhh Luz has a crush~!" Gus drew out the last word, making me groan.

"Shuddup..." I said under my breath, slouching in my chair. 

I felt a buzz from my pocket and smiled. I quickly put her name in my phone so I wouldn't forget her number.

Amity⭐️: Hey asshole guitarist

I laughed under my breath before responding.

Me: well hello there hermosa 😉

There was a moment of no response while I assumed she was thinking of something to say back.

Amity⭐️: Comment allez-vous jolie fille?

Me: although I don't know what the heck you just said, i'm going to take it as a compliment, so thank you  😊

I could just feel the facepalm she must be doing.

Amity⭐️: Whatever. I'm almost home, so I'll have to talk more a little later.

Me: Alright, hermosa. ttyl!

I mentally cringed at that last part, but I put my phone in my pocket, looking up to see that Willow had left the table.

"Where'd Willow go?" I asked, confused.

"They went to go get some shots," Gus said nonchalantly, looking down at his phone.

Just as he said that, Willow walked back with nine shots, three for each of us.

"Alright! Whoever can get all three down fastest wins," They said, grinning.

"Wins what?" Gus put his phone away and got ready to take the shots.

Willow slapped a twenty down on the table. "Anybody else wanna pile in?"

I shook my head. "I'm nearly broke. There's no way I'm putting money into this,"

Before I even got to finish my sentence, Gus put another twenty in the middle.

"Well someone's eager," Willow chuckled.

"Wait a second," I paused. "Who's gonna tell who wins if we're close?"

"Just record it, dumbass," Willow said deadpanned.

"Oh, right," I propped my phone up on one of their drinks so that all of us were in view and hit record.

"Alright," Willow rubbed their hands together. "Ready... set... go!"

All three of us downed the first shot, and Gus took a moment before reaching for the next while Willow and I showed no hesitation in downing another. 

Willow hesitated. Only for a split second. But that was all the time I needed to down the third and slam the glass on the table in victory.

"Bam!" I threw my arms in the air to see Gus wincing and drinking some of his other drink.

Willow shook their head. "Man, that was pathetic. Lost to a newcomer,"

I reached over and stopped the video. "Well, as you know, this isn't my first time playing a drinking game," Then I looked at the time and noticed that it was 1:50 and I jumped up.

"What?" Gus looked up at me with concern.

"I gotta go out front soon or Eda's gonna leave me here," I said simply.

"Well, this was fun," Willow got up to wave me off. "Other than the fact that you were gone off with some chick most of the night."

"Hey, look at you assuming who I was with," I tried to catch them off guard, but that never worked.

"We all know that you don't act like that when you meet a guy, so shut up," Willow said deadpanned.

"They're not wrong," Gus shrugged.

I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck. "So what if it was a girl? It's not like she saved me from two guys that were harassing or anything..." I paused. "Anyways! I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"Wait wait wait." Willow grabbed my arm before I could leave. "She saved you from being harassed?"

"Heh... yeah. They were getting a little too close and we may have knocked them to the ground and then she grabbed my hand and dragged me backstage and now we're here," I said in one breath.

I got two looks of shock from my friends. 

"Well that's an eventful night," Willow chuckled. "But you should probably get going. Unless you wanna walk home."

"Yeah no. See you guys!" I waved and left the club.

While I was waiting outside in front of the convenience store, I pulled my phone back out and texted Amity.

Me: you know, you look really good on stage

I don't know why I felt the need to say that, but I decided to be flirty.

"Hey kid!" I saw Eda pull up and roll her window down. "How was it?"

"Eh," I got in the car. "It was alright." I then got a response from Amity and a smile worked its way onto my face.

"You sure about that?" Eda had seen my expression and was smirking.

"Well... it was interesting to say the least," I decided not to text Amity until I got home, in fear of being drilled with more questions from Eda.

"What happened that was interesting?" Eda started the drive back home.

"Well other than getting harassed by two men for a minute there, it was great!" I said sarcastically.

"Harassed?" Eda looked over at me with concern.

"Yeah. But it's okay because someone dragged me out of it," I smiled, thinking about the way Amity grabbed my hand.

"Oh, I see." Eda turned her attention back to the road.

"You see what?" I gave her a little glare.

"Nothing, nothing," Eda had a massive smirk on her face that just screamed 'I know everything!' "You just met a girl, that's all."

I turned my attention to the passing trees out the passenger window, saying nothing.

"And that just confirmed it. What's she like?"

I hesitated a minute before saying, "Her voice is just insane... she's beautiful... not to mention she's got an attitude and she's a bit of an asshole, but also a little soft," I rattled off.

"So what you're saying is that she's your type?" Eda said bluntly.

"Hey! I don't have a type!" I acted offended.

"Yeah, right," Eda snorted. "Say that to your last few partners."

I grimaced. I didn't like any of my exes. I'm not even sure I could consider them exes, since I'd never actually started officially dating any of them. I regret even talking to most of them.

"Just because all of the people I've talked to are slightly similar doesn't mean I have a type," I argued. "Besides, what does that matter? It's not like we did anything other than flirt."

"You gotta start somewhere kid," She shook her head but her grin disappeared after a moment. "You didn't happen to meet the owner of the club, did you?"

"No. Why do you ask?" I looked over at Eda's uncharacteristically sad expression.

"Oh, no reason. Just wondering if they're still the same as when I knew them," At that comment, she smiled. It was more of a nostalgic, hurt smile, not one of joy.

I could tell the subject was touchy for Eda, so I decided not to press it further. And when there was silence in the car, I reached over and turned on the radio. I cranked it up and started dancing to the music, which made Eda laugh.

Mission accomplished.

"I'm surprised you even like this music enough to dance to it," Eda continued to crack up at my awful dancing skills.

"Oh! I don't!" I said cheerily, which only made Eda crack up more, struggling to keep her eyes on the road.

"Kid, you gotta stop!" She said between fits of laughter. "I can't drive if you're making me laugh my ass off!"

I stopped, but laughed with her. But before I could say anything else, we pulled up to the Owl House. Don't ask me why it's called that, because to be honest, I don't even know. I've asked, but all I got is, "Because I'm wise! Like an owl! And this is my nest!" from Eda.

"Well kid, go text your girl. I'm gonna head off to bed," Eda got out of the car with me in tow.

"Who said I was texting someone?" I closed the car door.

"The look on your face when you got in the car," Eda said matter of factly as we entered the house.

"Pfff no..." My voice continuously got quieter.

"Whatever kid, just lemme sleep," She trudged off to her room and left me alone in the living room.

When I knew she was gone, I pulled my phone out to see what Amity said.

Amity⭐️: Aw how sweet. I bet you'd look better up there though

I know she only meant to flirt, but that got me thinking. I've been playing guitar since I was 13 and I went through a bit of a gender/sexuality/identity crisis and I used it as a way to cope. I've also been writing songs, just for fun. But I'd never really thought about doing anything with them. Maybe playing them to a significant other in some soft, super cliche, cute moment, but making a band? It sounded appealing. The only problem was the lack of people to make a band with. That would be something to bring up to Gus and Willow tomorrow at school.

But before I could think about it any further, I decided that I should probably text Amity back before it seemed like I was ghosting her.

Me: hah! as if hermosa you're fucking badass up there

Amity responded almost immediately.

Amity⭐️: Thanks, but I should probably get to sleep so I don't have my parents yelling at me for not sleeping tomorrow lol

Me: they know youre up?

Amity⭐️: No, but they would if I look like a fucking zombie from the lack of sleep

Me: fair point lol

Amity⭐️: goodnight!

Me: goodnight hermosa 😉

I smiled at my phone. I thought about bringing up my idea to her, but it was something that could wait. 

I actually took in my surroundings for the first time today since walking into the house. My younger adopted brother, King, was passed out on the couch. Okay, he's technically not that much younger than me, but I like to tease him about it. It just makes it ten times better since he's so small and his voice never really got that deep, so hearing him argue or get mad is just hilarious. I don't know how a nearly 18 year old boy still hasn't hit puberty, but you know, some people are just a little late to get into things.

I walked over to him and flicked his head, which made him immediately jump up.

"Hey!" He screeched. "What was that for?!"

"You fell asleep on the couch. Figured you didn't wanna wake up with a sore neck," I shrugged and tried my best to keep a straight face. But then again, how straight of a face can you make when you're not straight? 

"Whatever," He got up and rubbed his eye as he walked up the stairs to go to his room. "Just don't wake me up again." He tried to sound threatening. That was kind of his thing. We don't really know why his birth parents named him King, but he took the name to heart, that's for sure.

I shook my head and chuckled quietly as I took my shoes off and went to follow him. 

When I entered my room, I took off my beanie and chucked it on my dresser, and then I took off my flannel, t-shirt, and jeans, leaving me in my boxers and a sports bra. I quickly set an alarm on my phone, plugged it in, and flopped on my bed, passing out almost instantly.

*le bi time skip*

I woke up to the blaring of my alarm and a headache. I thought back to the previous night.

Did I even drink that much? I thought. I guess I did have that rum and coke... and those three shots... and that other thing... yeah I guess I did this to myself...

I begrudgingly got out of the warmth of my bed and dragged on my school uniform, which consisted of black dress pants (Eda convinced the school to bend the rules a little bit since I really didn't want to wear a skirt), a white button-up shirt, and a royal blue blazer with the school emblem on the front. I then threw on my navy blue beanie and made my way to the bathroom, where I found King already brushing his teeth.

We greeted each other without speaking, and we didn't exchange a word as I started brushing my teeth or when he finished and left. There was more time for conversation later. We were both too tired. I'd head from Eda that he'd spent last night out with a couple of his friends, and they may have had a couple drinks, so I figured we were in the same boat.

After completing my morning routine, I sent Amity a good morning text and went downstairs to see Eda making pancakes in kitchen and King already digging into his small, but substantial stack.

"Good morning, kid!" Eda chirped. "How was your sleep?"

"Better question," King said before I could speak. "Why are you in such a good mood? Oh! Did Hootie finally die?" Hootie is Eda's really weird pet bird, that really really likes to mess with you and just annoy the absolute shit out of you any chance he gets.

"No," Eda's expression hardened at that, but immediately went back to being cheery. "Am I just not allowed to be happy? Is that what you're saying, King?"

"Well, I haven't seen you like this since that one time you managed to steal that one rich guy's wallet," I commented.

Oh, did I forget to mention that Eda might be a felon and might just steal things and rip people off? Well, yeah. She does that. And that's why we can afford to feed three people and two birds. The other bird, if you were wondering, is Owlbert. He's definitely my favorite out of the two because he's a lot more cuddly and he can be helpful. Unlike Hootie, he likes to greet you warmly when you come home, and leaves you alone once you either put him back in his cage or shoo him away.

"Well, if you must know," Eda started. "I have just come into the possession of a large sum of money, and I was just thinking about all the shit I can do with it!" Her smile was about as big as her hair, and that was saying something.

"You didn't rob the bank, did you?" King seemed almost uninterested as he continued to chip away at the pancakes in front of him.

"No!" She put a hand over her chest in mock offense. "How dare you assume I only get money from stealing! My great uncle or something just died and left me a bunch of money!"

Both King and I stopped what we were doing to look up at her with concern.

"Uh... Eda? Are you okay?" I asked wearily.

"Yeah kid! Why wouldn't I be? I got a bunch of extra cash!" I couldn't see any other emotion besides excitement in her eyes.

"Bro, your great uncle died and your celebrating," King gave her a weird look before digging back into his food.

"Eh, it's fine! I didn't even know the guy all that well! Only met him when I was like 4!" Eda took the pancake that had just been cooking and flopped it onto a plate and handed it to me.

I nodded in thanks and asked, "What are you gonna do with all that money, then?"

"I dunno. I was gonna ask you guys," Eda started to wash the pan.

I thought back to my idea I'd had the previous night. "What about if I started a band?"

For a moment there was silence. And then all of the sudden, King nearly choked on his pancake and Eda dropped the pan with a loud bang as both of them broke out laughing.

"As if you would have enough people to make a band!" King squealed.

"Yeah, and what are you even gonna do? Blast out people's eardrums with your voice?" Eda gave me a playful shove and wiped a tear of laughter from her eye. "Ahh... that was a good one kid."

"I'm serious," I crossed my arms and leaned back into my chair. "First off, I do have people to join my band, and second, my singing voice is ten times better than yours, Eda, so shut the fuck up both of you."

This just made both of them burst out into more laughter, causing me to blush out of a combination of anger and embarrassment.

"Ah, whatever," I got up without eating my food. "I'm going to school. See you guys later."

They were both still dying of laugher as I grabbed my car keys and school bag, slipped on my shoes, readjusted my beanie in the mirror, and walked out the door.

Making a band wasn't that bad of an idea, right? I guess I would have to ask Gus and Willow first, to see if they were even interested before I pressed the matter with Eda further. 

I got in my car and checked my phone before pulling off, only to see I had a text from Amity. She'd said good morning back with one of the little sun emojis, which brought a smile to my face.

She's so cute. No, stop it Noceda. You just met her yesterday. You've only spoken once in person. Just wait for those thoughts once you get to know her better. That's assuming you two keep talking... and you still get to go to the club... and she still wants to talk to you...

I shook my head to clear those thoughts, and started my drive to school.

The sky was still dark, but you could just see the sun beginning to rise on the horizon. It was always very peaceful to me, especially since there weren't many people out this early. I enjoyed the calm before the storm. I knew things would get more hectic as soon as I stepped out of my car. That's just one of the downsides to having a reputation like mine. There's a lot of people who stay as far away from me as possible, but there's a handful that won't stop pestering me, despite my constant threats.

I pulled into the school parking lot and made my way to my spot. It was one of the perks of being a senior. You get one of the first picks on parking spaces, and the way our school did it was by alphabet, but since our school was so big, you also had to pay for a spot if you wanted a good one. Unless you were in a sport, which I am. I'm on the basketball team, and even though the season is over, I get to keep my premium parking space.

After I park, I grab my stuff and make my way into the school, and then to the cafeteria, where I meet Gus and Willow.

"Heyyy!" I walked up to them and took a seat at my usual spot.

"Oh! Hi Luz!" Gus looked up from his phone and gave me a smile.

"Hey." Willow just waved, not even breaking their eye contact with their phone.

"Texting your girlfriend, Willow?" I smirked, knowing that would get a good reaction out of them.

Their face turned slightly red and they looked me in the eye, trying to keep a serious expression. "So what if I am?" They asked defensively, and then looked back down at their phone and smiled.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just cute, that's all," I smiled to myself, thinking about texting Amity. But I don't know what she would be up to now. I figured she was also in school, but I don't know if she goes here or to one of the private schools around this area. It wasn't a topic that had come up last night. 

"Have you been texting that girl you met last night?" Gus asked me with a little smirk.

"As a matter of fact, yes," I stated. But before I could continue, the 5 minute warning bell rang, signaling to me that it was time to head off to first period. "Well, I'll see you guys at lunch!"

They both got up with me, and we said our goodbyes before I went in the opposite direction as my friends.

I'll spare you the details of what happened in my first two periods. It was boring. Just note-taking the entire time. But my next class should be a bit better, since it was English and all we did was pretend to write papers. The teacher was very chill and sometimes kinda fun. I also heard from some people that we were getting new seats, which is always a little bit stressful for me. I don't wanna be stuck next to some kid that I hate for a couple months. I always hope that if I'm stuck next to someone insufferable, the teacher would let me switch. I don't cause much trouble in class and I get good enough grades, so I don't see a reason why he wouldn't let me.

When I walked into the English room, I saw people lined up on the wall, waiting for the class to actually start and we can get our seats. I didn't go too far into the room and just waited on the wall by the doorway until the bell rang.

"Alrighty class!" The teacher clapped his hands and gave us all a smile. "As you can tell, we're gonna switch things up today and get a change of scenery! Now I'm gonna go table by table and when you hear your name, just go on ahead and get ready for class!" He was almost overly enthusiastic, but I found it refreshing compared to all of the other teachers I have.

"Mr. K!" An annoying voice rose up above the general chatter. "I'm not in the back, correct? As you know, I have trouble seeing from-" He was cut off.

"Yes, Hunter. You are right here in the front," Mr. K didn't like Hunter. He was one of the few teachers who actually agreed on me with that. Hunter is an asshole and a suck up. His uncle is the mayor of our little town, and he makes sure to remind you, should you ever talk to him.

"Next to Hunter is Smith!" He continued on with the last names of the people who were at the tables in the first row, which was farthest away from the door, and I didn't hear my name until he got to the last table. "And all the way at the back is Noceda and then Blight in the corner!"

I made my way back and sat down. I saw someone with teal hair sit next to me out of the corner of my eye. I quickly looked over, and then shifted my vision back to the front of the room.

Wait a second... I turned back to see none other than Amity sitting at the table with me.

"Amity?”

I could see her eyes widen as she turned her head to face me. "Luz? You go to this school?!"

"Uh, yes?"

"Oh, just great!" She huffed and turned her head back to the front.

"Well, it's nice to see you again too, hermosa," I grinned.

"Okay, listen up, Noceda," 

She already remembers my last name? 

She turned to me with a serious expression and a threatening tone to her voice. "You will not speak to me outside of this classroom. You will not attempt to approach me anywhere else. You will not flirt with me in this school. Understand?"

I cocked my head, amused by the way she was cracking down on me like that. "What's wrong, hermosa? Embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"What did I just say?" She sighed. "I can't tell you here. Just meet me outside after school. I'll explain everything then."

Before I could question, Mr. K started the lesson, and I tried my best to pay attention, despite the shock and nerves of sitting next to Amity.

I couldn't believe my luck. Not only does she go to this school, but I get to sit with her for a while now. This should get interesting.

Chapter Text

Amity P.O.V.

Sometimes I think the world is out to get me. I can't possibly have this bad of luck.

Okay I take part of that back. If I was thinking about what I wanted, I had great luck. I was stuck next to this really cute girl that actually flirted with me without wanting to get in my pants straight away. It was refreshing to have someone who just wanted to talk to me, unlike a lot of the encounters I have with other girls—and unfortunately guys—at the club. But if I was thinking about what my parents wanted for me, this sucked. I was forced to associate with someone of a much lower status than I, and on top of that she was flirting with me. My parents want me to marry a rich man and settle down to have kids to carry on the family business.

Little do they know, I am very much a homosexual, which might I add, they would not approve of. They were always appalled if we encountered a same sex couple in public, and often would ridicule them. As much as I hated it, there was nothing I could do unless I wanted to be burned alive.

But despite all this, when the taller Latina passed me a note while Mr. K was explaining the instructions for the day, I took it.

It read, "hey princesa how were your first two classes?"

I tried to keep myself from smiling. But looking over at Luz, who was feigning attention to the front of the room, I found it much more difficult.

I wrote back, "as much as I would love to chat, I need to pay attention. we can continue this after school" When I passed her the piece of paper back, she frowned slightly, but then immediately continued to listen to what the teacher was saying with a neutral expression.

I felt bad, but I couldn't risk having someone else seeing me associating with anyone other than the high ranking people at this school, in fear that they would bring it to my parents. That was something I couldn't risk happening, especially since I didn't want anything to happen to Luz because of me. Even though I didn't know her all that well yet, I would feel bad if she got into something just because she was trying to talk to me.

"Alrighty! Now that that's over with, you can get to work on these papers!" Mr. K said with excitement laced in his voice.

I almost panicked for a second since I wasn't listening to a word he was saying, but then I remembered how far ahead I was in this class. I'd finished this paper like four days ago, and I was already beginning the next project. So I pulled everything out for that and started working even farther ahead.

This drew a look of confusion from the girl beside me, but she quickly went back to what she was doing. I really appreciate that she was respecting my wishes, as much as it may annoy her. I can tell that Luz would be a very good and loyal friend.

And probably an awesome girlfriend. No! Amity! No gay thoughts, just get to work. 

The hour flew by like seconds, and the next thing I knew, it was time to go to fourth bell. I gathered my things and started to leave, but a tap on my shoulder stopped me. I turned around to see the Latina smiling softly.

"What's your next class?" She asked me.

"History. What about you?" I couldn't help but keep up conversation.

"Huh. Look at that. We were in two of the same classes and we didn't even know the other existed," 

I chuckled. "Who knew?" 

"You mind if I walk with you?" She seemed hesitant to ask, as if she was afraid I would reject. 

And as much as I didn't want to say no, it was the automatic answer that the Blight side of my brain so helpfully supplied. "I'm sorry, but I can't be seen with someone of a lower rank around school. There are a few people that I don't want to rat me out to my parents," I hated every second of it. 

But what I hated more was Luz's face after being rejected. 

"It's okay, señorita," She put on a smile. "I'll go on ahead then." She took her bag, put it over one shoulder, and made her way out the door.

I took another minute to compose myself before walking out after her, and one I arrived in the History classroom, I noticed the students lined up against the wall.

More new seats? Did all the teachers communicate this or something?

When the bell rang again, the teacher started assigning where people would sit for the next couple of months.

"Noceda at the table in the back," She pointed towards the back of the classroom. "And Blight, you're next to her,"

How? How does this keep happening to me? A part of me—the part that wanted me to rebel more against my parents— was very excited. The other part of me, however, was annoyed beyond belief. So much so that I considered speaking up and asking to be moved to a different place. But that thought didn't last long. I couldn't bear to see the look on Luz's face if I were to move.

"Well then, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other now," Luz smirked as I sat down at the table next to her.

"Don't distract me," I stated firmly. "I need to pay attention or I'm going to fall behind."

She put her hands up in surrender. "Alright, hermosa! Don't worry. You won't hear another word from me until the end of the day." She gave me a smile, but quickly went to take notes.

And that was how we spent the class. Just focusing on learning the new material, and writing down everything important. The bell went off again, but this time Luz just gave me a quick smile before heading out the door. I liked that smile more than I was willing to admit.

The next thing I had today was lunch. I dropped my bag off at my locker and grabbed my lunchbox; then I waited for Boscha and Skara to walk by, as they always did.

"Hey Amity!" Skara waved fiercely, giving me a warm smile.

"Hey guys," I gave a small wave back.

Boscha just lightly waved in between typing things into her phone.

"Boscha's texting Willow again, isn't she?" I asked Skara.

"Yeah. It's actually kinda cute how much they talk to each other," The three of us started walking to the cafeteria, and Skara and I had to steer Boscha away from running into various obstacles, since she wasn't giving a shit about where she was going.

"Boscha!" I snapped—a little more aggressively than I had intended— after she almost took out a freshman. "Please for crying out loud, just wait to text your girlfriend back until we sit down!"

"Geez, sorry," Boscha rolled her eyes and put her phone in her messenger bag that was hanging over her shoulder. "You just jealous that you don't have a boyfriend to text all the time?" She smirked as if she knew everything.

I hadn't come out to them yet. It was something that never seemed necessary, considering that we never really talked about all that love drama that goes around high school. 

I just rolled my eyes at the comment and shook my head, keeping my expression emotionless. Boscha and Skara knew me well. They probably could tell by now that I didn't like guys, but as good friends would do, they didn't make me come out to them or anything. They just played along as if I was straight.

We walked up to our table, which was also occupied by a few others from our friend group, but I wasn't close friends with any of them. I sat down in my usual seat and started to get my food out, before I spotted a certain someone sitting on the other side of the cafeteria.

Luz was sitting at a small table with Willow, and some kid I didn't know. He looked like a sophomore, but it seemed weird for him to be hanging out with seniors if he was that young. They all were cracking up, and the smile on Luz's face made my heart skip a beat. She was honestly beautiful. There was a part of me that longed to be sitting at that table, laughing along with them, sitting next to her, maybe even holding her hand. The Blight in my head reminded me to continue with what I was doing before I looked suspicious.

It was too late for that, since Boscha and Skara were giving me a look, but it seemed the rest of the table didn't notice anything. I shot Boscha and Skara a look that said I would tell them later, and we went back to eating lunch and occasionally interpolating in the conversation.

*le gay time skip*

The rest of the day sped by surprisingly fast, and the next thing I knew, I was waiting in front of the school building for Luz. I would have went to wait in my car, but I didn't drive myself to school today because Boscha had picked me up since my car was broken. I had a pretty old car, since I insisted on buying one myself, but now that it doesn't work, I gave into my parents giving me one. I was trying to act all independent when I turned 16, but as of now, I just wanted a car. And that would have to wait for a few months, since my parents only ordered cars that were manufactured out of the country, for some petty reason.

Just as I was about to give up and go to where Boscha had parked, I saw a tall figure with a beanie emerge from the school.

"Hey!" Luz waved and beamed. "Sorry that took so long. Some asshole stuck a bunch of shit in my lock so I had to get a new one." The annoyed look on her face told me not to push that matter any further. But, the irrational side of my brain took over for a second.

"Why would someone stick stuff in your lock?" I gave her a look of confusion.

"Let's just say I'm not the most popular with everyone in this school," She shrugged. "But anyways, I'm ready to listen when you're ready to talk."

It took me a moment to process the statement before I remembered why we'd planned to meet out here. "Oh, yeah. Well, I'd prefer not to spend too long here, since it kind of poses the same issue,"

"Ah, yeah," the Latina started to walk away and waved for me to follow. "Come on, I'll bring us somewhere less public."

I hesitated for a second, remembering that Boscha was my ride home. "Um, Luz?" I got her attention before she could walk away. She looked up at me with a questioning look. "I kinda have a ride home with someone else, and I don't really wanna hold them up. Could this maybe wait?"

"Nope!" She grabbed my hand and started to drag me along with a huge grin on her face, which made my cheeks flush red. "Just tell your ride that you got someone else to take you home!"

"I- I can't-" I fumbled over my words. "You're just gonna drag me off somewhere and you expect me to just go along with it?"

"Well, do you trust me?" She looked up at my face, which at this point was probably somewhat comparable to a tomato.

"I just met you yesterday!" I was taken aback by the question.

"Well?" She waited for an answer.

"I.. I mean, uh- yeah?" I could see the smile brighten.

"Great! Then text your little friend that you got someone else to take you back home, and we'll go chat about things somewhere else. Unless you want to stay here and possibly cause more trouble," She dropped my hand.

"Ugh, okay fine," I pulled out my phone and texted Boscha.

Me: Hey sorry about the long wait but I got another ride home so you can leave

Boscha: Oh that's good because I already left 😊

Me: .... You're telling me you just left without me?

Boscha: Yep! Now have fun~!

Me: I hate you.

Boscha: I know you do

I rolled my eyes. Boscha was a pain in the ass sometimes, but she was a good friend to have. Unlike most of the people in my life, she listened. She understood. And she knew when to keep something to herself.

"You ready to go?" Luz asked me with a smirk.

"Yeah, whatever," I followed the girl towards the parking lot, but instead of her heading to where most students parked, she led me to the athlete spots. "Do you play a sport or do you steal someone's parking spot?" I asked with a grin.

"How rude of you to assume I would steal something," She put her hand over her chest in mock offense. "For your information, I play basketball."

"Oh, I see," I nodded. "You the star player of the team or something?"

"Well, yes and no. I'm one of those players that rides the bench until my perfect time comes. Which is usually when we need someone obnoxiously tall to defend the block while we're down or really close at the end of a game," She explained. "It's really rewarding when it works, but when it doesn't, I feel worse sitting and doing nothing."

"How are you even that tall?" I looked up at her looming figure. She had to be at least eight inches taller than me, if not more.

"I don't know to be honest," Luz shrugged. "My mom is like 5'2 and I never met my dad, so maybe it's from him." We'd arrived at what I assumed was her car. She unlocked it and threw her stuff in the back seat, prompting me to do the same. 

Once we were both in the car, Luz leaned over to the passenger side and grabbed an empty soda bottle and a plastic bag and tossed them in the back.

"Sorry about the mess," She chuckled slightly. "I'm not the cleanest person when it comes to my car."

"Don't worry about it," I smiled. "Mine's a mess too."

Luz started her car and started to drive out of the school, and as we were waiting for an opening in traffic to pull out, she turned on the radio. We caught the very end of one song, but the next to play made me want to sing along.

"I just wanna be in love with you."

The ukulele played alone for a minute and Luz started swaying with the beat.

"You like this song?" I asked with a grin.

"Of course!" Luz smiled at me, but soon turned her attention back to the road, since she actually had to leave the school if we wanted to go somewhere.

"Woke up today and heard you name once again."

"Its getting harder now to see you as a friend."

"Your pretty face, the way you talk, the way you smile."

"Hey tunnel vision, welcome back, it's been awhile, oh~"

Luz and I started to sing along with a stupid grin on both of our faces. 

"Everything around you fades to grey."

"Terrified of scaring you away."

I looked over at Luz. She was drumming her fingers on the wheel and kept looking over at me. I looked her directly in the eyes as I sang along.

"I wanna hold your stupid hand and kiss you on your stupid face."

"Oh, I just wanna be in love with you."

To this, her cheeks flushed red and she turned her attention back out the front window and rested one of her hands on the gear shift instead of the wheel. Something about that made me feel bold. More than I usually am. So, like any rational person would do, I put my hand on hers.

She tensed up for a moment, before moving her hand off of the stick to grab mine. I looked over to see her smiling. This made my face heat up a bit, so I looked out the passenger window. I noticed that we were driving away from the town.

"Where are we going?" I asked, trying to get my face to calm down.

"Well, there's this little cafe on the edge of town, and I figured that we could go there and hang out!" Her voice was excited. "And you know, talk about whatever you needed to tell me."

"That sounds nice," I smiled and looked back out the front widow to see us pulling up to a small building with a sign that read, 'Cassie's Cafe' in a cursive font. "Huh. I didn't even know this place was here."

"Most people don't," Luz parked the car. "My house is just close to here and I found it by accident when I took a wrong turn one day. I've been coming here ever since. I'm usually one of the only customers."

I nodded and looked up at the cafe. It was a cute little place. It appeared that the second story was where the owner lived while the first was the cafe itself. The walls were a pale yellow and there was a white trim around all the windows and door frames. The door was a sky blue and had a blue striped overhang above it. 

"You might wanna grab your stuff from the back," Luz caught my attention. "I'm probably gonna end up doing school work, so I figure you would want to as well?"

"Yeah, okay," We dropped each other's hands, got out of the car, and retrieved our backpacks from the back seat. I started walking beside her towards the door; I felt the urge to grab her hand again, but she beat me to it.

"Come on!" She started dragging me a little faster towards the door. "I'll buy you a drink!"

"No, you don't have to do that," I tried to change her mind, but Luz was stubborn. She just told me it was payback for buying her a drink at the club.

"It's the least I can do, princesa," She brought my hand up to her mouth and kissed the back of it, making me chuckle.

"You're such a dork," I was smiling up at her. (quick A/N: someone please tell my why it tried to correct dork to door XD)

She opened her mouth, but immediately closed it again and just opened the door for me. "After you, miss," She bowed slightly and her backpack nearly fell off her shoulder.

I laughed. "You're such a gentleman," I walked in and the smell of coffee flooded my nose. The inside of the cafe was a lot more modern than I had expected. Although it had a slight old-timey feel to it as well. 

"Well, hello there, Luz!" A peppy voice rang out over the quiet background music.

"Hello, Mrs. Cassie," Luz smiled and pulled me along with her up to the counter. "How have you been?"

Mrs. Cassie was a short woman with wavy brown hair down to her shoulders. She looked like she was in her late 40s or early 50s, if I were to guess. Her whole demeanor screamed that she was a kind, caring, and peppy woman.

"Oh, you know, same old same old," Mrs. Cassie beamed and looked over to me, and then back to Luz. "So who's this beautiful young lady?" At that I blushed slightly. I wasn't used to receiving compliments.

"This is Amity! Amity this is Mrs. Cassie, the owner of this magical place," Luz introduced us.

"Hello, Mrs. Cassie," I held my hand out to shake and she gladly accepted it. "You have a very nice cafe."

"Oh, you're just a sweetheart!" She placed her hand over her heart and gave me a warm smile. "What can I get started for the two of you?"

"I'll take my usual," Luz then looked over at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'll just have an iced coffee please," I kind of panicked and quickly made that decision, but it wasn't one that I came to regret, unlike most of the rash decisions I make.

"Alrighty then! I'll get those started for you guys!" Mrs. Cassie walked away and busied herself making our orders.

Luz hadn't let go of my hand through that whole exchange, and now she was dragging me—albeit gently— to a table near the back of the cafe.

"Here's my little homework spot!" Luz did jazz hands towards the table. "It's not much, but this is where all my work gets done."

"Why not do it at your house?" I asked as I sat down in one of the seats.

She sat down next to me. "My brother King is a pain in the ass and won't leave me alone. He dropped out of high school so he has nothing better to do than bug me,"

"And your parents just let him drop out?" I was appalled. If one of my siblings or I dropped out of school, my parents would make sure it was the last thing we did. It was bad enough when the twins had to repeat their senior year.

"Yeah, Eda's not really into school so she doesn't care," Luz just shrugged. "I go because I want to get somewhere in life and not get stuck working at a McDonalds in this middle of nowhere town."

I nodded before realizing what she'd said. "Wait, you call your mom by her name?"

"Oh, yeah. I always forget to explain that part. My dad left when I was really little and my mom died in a car wreck when I was 14, so one of my mom's old friends took me in!" She seemed almost too happy for what she was talking about. "And while King is my brother, we're not related 'cause Eda took him in too, but way before I came along." She was smiling, but I could tell it was to mask the pain.

I gave her an understanding look. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Her smile dropped to reveal a sad face laced with pain. "I mean..." Luz hesitated. "I don't wanna drop all my life problems on you or anything." She chuckled, but it was more of an uncomfortable reflex, and avoided eye contact.

I put my hand on top of hers that was sitting on the table. "Hey," I tilted her head up to look me in the eye. "I'm here to listen if you ever need me to, okay?"

She nodded and her eyes darted down to my lips and then back up to my eyes. I felt my face heat up but I didn't look away. She started to lean forward and our faces were only inches apart at this point. I started to close my eyes when we were interrupted by Mrs. Cassie.

"Hey girls! I've got your drinks~!" She was smiling with her eyes closed and had a drink in each hand.

Luz and I jumped apart. If my face wasn't a tomato before, it was now. I glanced over at Luz and she looked more annoyed than flustered.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cassie," She put on a smile when the lady set our drinks down in front of us.

"No worries!" She started to leave before Luz stopped her and actually paid her for the drinks. When she did finally leave, Luz chuckled and shook her head.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she gave out free coffee because she forgot to collect the bill," She looked back to me. "Anyways, what did you want to tell me all about that had to wait until after school?"

"Oh, yes. I was going to explain why you can't talk to me at school," I paused for a moment and Luz took a sip of her drink, waiting for me to continue. "Well, you see, my parents are really strict about pretty much everything, and it doesn't help that they're one of the biggest socialites in town. So because of their status, I am expected to be the perfect student, the perfect daughter, and the perfect person to inherit their fortune."

"Wait, your parents are rich?" She jumped up a bit.

I sighed. "Think of one company that has the name 'Blight' in it,"

It took her a minute to think about it. "Oh," She drew the word out. "Your parents own Blight Industries. Makes sense. Okay, continue."

"So, if someone like Hunter sees us talking outside of class, it's very probable that he'll bring it up to his uncle, who will bring it up to my parents, and make both of our lives a living hell," I paused and took a sip of my iced coffee—which was very good I must say—and looked over to see Luz's response. 

I expected her to be mad. I expected her to not want to talk to me again. I expected her lose interest in me. But what she did shocked me.

"That must suck. Being in a house like that," She gave a soft expression of empathy. "I can understand why you escape to the club. But, I'll be sure to keep my distance at school. I don't want you going through that. As long as I get to see you out of school, I don't care."

I looked up at her with shock. "You mean that?" My voice came out quieter than I'd expected. It was very out of character for me. But it felt right.

"Of course!" She smiled and grabbed my hand again. "But speaking of the club, I had an idea the other day, and I wanted to run it by you. See if it would be worth talking to Eda, Gus, and Willow about."

"Shoot," I turned more in my chair to face her.

"So, when you said something about me looking better on stage, it got me thinking. As I've told you, I can play guitar. I can kind of sing, it's nothing special, but it would probably get the job done. Gus can play the drums and Willow's been taking piano lessons since they were like three." She paused for a moment and looked at me nervously.

"Go ahead and say it. I won't laugh or anything," I encouraged her.

"What if I started a band?" She locked eyes with me.

"That sounds like a great idea!" I smiled, thinking about all the times we could spend together at the club. Watching each other's shows, drinking, smoking.

"The only thing I wouldn't have is a bassist, a sound director, and a good singing voice," Luz looked across the room, deep in thought, and sipped her coffee.

"I know a bassist and someone who's been messing around with sound stuff for a while now. And I can sing too," I offered. "I mean, if you would want me to be there of course. I totally understand if you don't. I don't really like to be with me either-"

She cut me off by placing her hand on my mouth gently. "I would love to have you in my band!" She then removed her hand, smiling brightly. "I mean, your performance was amazing! You had the entire audience drawn in! I would be an idiot to leave someone like you out of my band."

I blushed a little at that comment, which made the Latina next to me giggle.

"You don't get compliments much, do you?" She asked me.

"How could you tell?" I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling.

"Well then," She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "We're gonna have to fix that."

"Oh, really, Noceda?" I raised an eyebrow. "What about you? You're too good looking not to get compliments."

Her cheeks flushed red. "Heh... yeah," She rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't really get compliments either."

"Well, why don't we get some homework done before we get out of here?" I proposed after there was a moment of silence.

"Sounds like a wonderful idea, princesa!" Luz grabbed her backpack, which she had discarded on the table adjacent to us.

We spent the next two hours or so finishing assignments and just getting to know each other better.

I learned that Luz loved to read, and her favorite series was The Good Witch Azura, which I also loved. I learned that Luz loved otters. It was a random thing the mentioned, but I thought it was cute. I learned that Luz loved music and tried to learn to play any instrument she could get her hands on, which it turns out is a lot. I also learned that Luz was a physical touch kind of person, which didn't come as a shock.

I told Luz about how I also loved reading, and we fangirled over the new Azura book that was going to come out soon and our theories on what would happen. I told her that I also loved music, but I could only really play the guitar and the violin, since my parents basically forced me to learn the latter when I was little. I told her about how I was a physical touch person, but only with certain people, and how words of affirmation could always make me feel better.

It was probably one of the best times I'd had in a while. There's just something about Luz that made me feel safe. Something that made me drop the act that I put up in front of everyone. Something that made me feel important. And it was perfect.

It made me frown when I looked at my phone to see that it was 4:30. I knew I needed to get home, but I didn't want to go back to that world. I would much rather stay here, in the safety and warmth of Luz's presence. However, all good things have to come to an end, and the more rational Blight part of my brain took over, and told me to get home.

"Oh, wow, look at the time!" Luz made me jump. "We should probably get home, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess we should," I started to pack up my stuff before Luz put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, uh- I just wanted to say thanks," Luz took her hand off my shoulder and avoided eye contact. "There aren't many people that actually listen to me, so thank you." She smiled and finally locked eyes with me.

"Oh, it's nothing," I gave her a smile back. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go," Luz grabbed my hand again and we walked out to her car after saying goodbye to Mrs. Cassie. We threw our bags in the back seat and Luz started the engine. "You're gonna have to give me directions. I don't know where your house is."

"Oh, yeah," I pulled up google maps and put my address in, telling Luz the fastest way to get there from here.

On the ride over, we chatted some more about stuff we liked to do, and I told her how much I loved stargazing and how sad it made me that you couldn't see that many stars from the town. She agreed that it was sad, and told me about how she loved sunset and sunrise, which were, in her opinion, hindered by all the buildings and power lines of the town. She said that she'd much rather go out somewhere where you could see the whole sky. I agreed completely, and the conversation carried itself to other topics. The next thing I knew, we were pulling up to my house.

"Jesus Christ your house is big," Luz commented with shock in her voice.

"Yeah," I chuckled uncomfortably. "Super rich parents, am I right?"

"Well, I guess I'll drop you here, so your parents don't get all upset over you being with me," Luz gave my hand one last squeeze and handed me my backpack from the backseat. "I'll see you tomorrow, princesa."

"See you tomorrow," I smiled at her and exited the car. As soon as I opened the gate and it closed behind me, I saw Luz drive off. "Holy shit..." I muttered. "That girl is going to be the death of me..."

Chapter Text

Luz P.O.V.

I was giddy on the drive back to the Owl House. The whole afternoon seemed surreal to me. Almost like it was a dream. She's just so understanding and kind. The Amity that I saw at the cafe today was miles different from how I've seen her before, but it was incredible. I feel like I'm seeing the real Amity. Not the mask the puts on at school. Not the person she became after drinking. It was just so organic.

And she wants to be in my band! That's probably what shocked me the most about the whole ordeal today. Someone as amazing as Amity fucking Blight wants to be in my band.

I tried not to let my thoughts roam too far, and I turned the radio back on before they wandered where they weren't supposed to go. I spent the rest of the ride in a good mood, just singing along and dancing to all the songs that came on.

I pulled up to the Owl House to see that both King and Eda's cars were here. It wasn't a surprise to see that Eda was home, but I figured that King would have gone out with some of his friends. I took that as a sign that he would be either passed out on the couch, or pissed off.

It turned out to be the latter. I walked in to hear Kings scream of rage, and I immediately covered my ears, but smiled at it all the same. I don't know how the hell his voice got that high, but something about it was adorable, but also kind of blood curdling.

Once he stopped, I voiced my presence. "What's got you so worked up?"

"Weh?" He whipped around to face me, looking kind of embarrassed. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to hear you screech like a pterodactyl," I joked.

"Ha ha, so funny Luz," He said, deadpanned. "And for your information, I'm mad because-"

I cut him off. "You know what? I don't wanna know," I held my hand up and started to make my way to my room.

"Hey! Who said you could leave?" He tried to sound intimidating, but since I knew him so well, I knew it was just his little facade he liked to put on. "I am the man of this household and you will listen to me!"

"Yeah, right," Eda walked in and snorted, holding her mug—which I knew wasn't filled with coffee. "Luz is more of a man than you are, and she's not a man."

"Ooh, that was cold," I sniggered and glanced at King, who was wearing a look of utter shock, looking Eda right in the eye.

"What?" She asked with a smirk. "Little boy's mad that he's just a itty bitty wittle baby?" She mocked in a baby voice.

This caused King to ball his fists at his sides and he held his breath, trying to hold back another squeal of rage, to no avail. After a few moments of silence from Eda and I waiting for him to crack, he let out a high pitched squeal with his eyes closed and his fists in the air, waving in anger.

Once he finished with his little tantrum, Eda and I burst out laughing, me holding on to the railing of the stairs for support while Eda relied on the doorframe to the kitchen. 

"Hey! No one laughs at me! The King of all!" He looked between us with anger written clearly on his face.

"I'm sorry," I said between laughs, finally taking a deep breath to calm myself down.

"It's just so cute!" Eda said after doing the same.

This did not help the situation, and just made King grab his keys and head out the door.

"I am not cute!" He said before attempting to slam the door, only for it to bounce back open. He tried and failed a few more times with a cute little, "Weh!" each time he closed the door, until it eventually closed.

Eda and I laughed again for a moment before she wiped a tear from her eye and looked over to me.

"Well, that sure was something," She took a sip from her mug and shook her head slightly.

"Yeah..." I paused and contemplated whether or not to talk to Eda about my band again. Apparently the look of pondering on my face was evident enough for Eda to ask if anything was up. "I mean, yes?"

"Did you get suspended again?" She asked without hesitation. If anything, there was a sliver of hope in her voice.

For the record, the only time I've been suspended was for something that was definitely not my fault. My stupid lab partner in chemistry didn't read the instructions and poured random shit together until it "looked cool" and it ended up exploding, causing a lot of trouble and making a huge mess. This was, of course, pinned on me for not paying attention to what my partner was doing and we were both suspended for a week. Eda was proud, to say the least, since she hated school and caused as much trouble as possible when she was in high school.

"What?! No!" I gave her a look of disapproval, but continued. "I was just wondering if I could ask you something."

"Shoot kid. Unless it's illegal. I can't afford another run in with the law right now," She sat down on the couch and put her legs up on the coffee table.

"No, it's not illegal... in itself," I decided that was the best way to put it, considering that the club wasn't technically the most legal place on earth.

"Sounds sketchy," She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment. "I like it already! Continue!"

I chuckled at her antics. "Well, I was just wondering..." I paused, afraid of her making fun of me again. "I was wondering if you could help me kick start my band?"

She noted my hesitation and serious tone and didn't laugh. She just looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. "You already have a band?"

"Well, kind of?" I shrugged and fiddled with the hem of my shirt. "I have lead singer who can also play guitar. And then there's Gus and Willow who will hopefully want in on it. And my lead singer said that she knew a bassist and a sound director."

"And what are you planning on doing with this band?" She was taking this seriously, and I thanked her for it in my head.

"Well, maybe we could play at the club. I think it would be super cool to be a part of that, and I could make a little cash while I'm at it," I grinned at the last part. "And if you want in, you could be the manager. I'll even give you a cut of the pay."

"Well kid," She stood up and came to put a hand on my shoulder. "I'd be more than happy to help get things started. I know the owner of the club, so I'll talk him into letting you guys play if you can get a group together."

"Wait really?" I got excited and almost went to pull Eda into a bear hug before she spoke again.

"And if you wanna clean out the shed, you can use that as your band room," Eda was then engulfed in my hug, causing her to choke slightly. "Don't crush my ribs kid!"

"Sorry!" I let her go. "I just got a little excited there."

"It's okay. Now scram before I change my mind," She turned around to go back to the kitchen, probably to refil her mug.

I chuckled slightly and took the stairs two at a time up to my room. I opened the door to see my unmade bed in the far right corner, blankets hanging off the side and bunched up at the bottom. My bi flag that I had pinned on the wall was waving due to the a.c running, and my desk that was up against the window on the back wall was cluttered with various pieces of paper, drawings, and writing utensils. My full length mirror that was sitting in the corner by my closet and my desk was riddled with photos and stickers I had around the edges. I took off my beanie and tossed it onto my dresser as I ran my hand through my hair.

I plopped down on my bed and quickly pulled my phone out to text Amity, smiling at what I'd changed her contact name to.

Me: hey ami~

Amity❤️: since when did i say you could call me that?

Me: you know you love it 😉

Amity❤️: ...

Amity❤️: anyways... what's up?

Me: i dont wanna tell you over text. do you mind calling?

There was a moment before she responded, and for a second I regretted asking. But that washed away when I saw her response.

Amity❤️: Sure!

I excitedly shuffled around on my bed, pressing the little phone button at the top of my screen. It only took her two rings to pick up.

"Hey Noceda~" Just hearing her voice made my heart flutter. "What was so important that you needed to call me?"

"Oh nothing," I smirked. "Just convinced Eda to sponsor and manage the band."

"Wait! What?" She sounded excited. "Luz, that's amazing!"

"Sure is!" I laid back on my bed and put my forearm over my eyes, smiling like an idiot. "Now we can start doing band shit!"

This made the Blight chuckle. "When do you wanna have the first meeting?"

"How about tomorrow after school we can start cleaning out the band room?" I suggested. "I can bring you here and then take you home."

I heard shuffling on the other end as Amity repositioned. "That sounds nice!" I could just feel the smile from her tone. "Do you mind if I tell my friends that'll be the bassist and sound director?"

"Go ahead! As soon as we can get everyone together, the better. I'll see if I can ask Gus and Willow tomorrow too," I felt slightly nervous at the thought of bringing this up to my best friends. I knew that they would support me in anything I did, but there was tiny voice in the back of my mind that warned me of rejection and humiliation.

Apparently Amity heard that in my voice, because she spoke up. "Don't worry about them saying no. Knowing Willow, they'll be all in,"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You know Willow?"

"Yeah," She sounded kind of sad and remorseful. "We were really close when we were little. But my parents forced me to stop being friends with them."

"Aw, that sucks," I empathized with her.

"Wait... shit!" Her sudden outburst made me concerned.

"You good there?"

"My parents aren't just gonna let me go to some band practice after school! I'll need an excuse that they'll buy..." We both paused to ponder it for a moment.

"Well you could just tell them you're hanging out with friends," I suggested.

"They're super strict and wouldn't let me do that to begin with, dumbass," She sighed.

"Well if you're so smart then you think of something," I chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm working on it!" She sounded slightly frustrated.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, suddenly getting an idea. "What if you just say your tutoring me?"

"Hey, that could work," She paused for a moment. "But my parents will want me to get something out of it... they're not the most philanthropic people."

"Well, you could tell them I'm paying you. If they ask to see money, just use what we make from performing!" I started getting excited as this began to seem more plausible.

"Aw, look at you using that brain of yours," She sniggered slightly.

There was silence, and after a moment, I broke it. "Well, are you gonna go tell your parents?"

"After I get off the phone with you," I could hear her shift again, presumably getting more comfortable.

"Awww you wanna talk to little ol' me~?"

"Yes, now do you wanna make a big deal out of it or do you want me to leave?"

"No no, just flattered is all," I smiled. 

We ended up talking until she had to go eat dinner, which was after about three hours. Amity was just so easy to talk to, so it didn't feel like any time had passed when we said our goodbyes and hung up. I was left staring at the ceiling with a stupid smile on my face, thoughts of what the band would be like with Amity and my two best friends running through my mind.

"Hey kid!" Eda called up the stairs, snapping me out of my trance. "Get down here unless you don't wanna eat!"

"Coming!" I got up and threw my beanie back on before heading down the stairs and into the kitchen, where King and Eda were already eating the pizza that Eda had ordered.

"Took you long enough!" King said as he grabbed another slice. I stuck my tongue out at him and sat down.

"Who were you talking to for so long?" Eda asked with a knowing grin.

"Oh, just the singer for my band," I shrugged and loaded my plate with a few slices of cheese pizza.

"Does this singer have a name?" Eda pried.

"Amity," I said bluntly before shoving food in my face.

Eda choked on her drink and almost spit it out. "Amity Blight?" She gave me a look of shock.

"Yes?" I was confused by this strong reaction, and apparently King was as well, as he'd stopped shoving pizza in his mouth to look at Eda with concern.

"You got Odalia Blight's kid to be in your band?" Her eyes were wide and she had her full attention on my expression as if she were reading my face for any sign that I was joking. 

"I mean, I don't know who that is, but yes?"

"You mean to tell me that Odalia and Alador are letting her be in a band and play at the night club? Do you know how fucked up they are?"

"Well for one, they don't know that she plays at the club and she's telling them that she's tutoring me. And yes, I've heard enough from Amity to pick up on that last part," I went back to eating, thinking that would be the end of the conversation.

"Kid, you are so lucky. That girl can sing and play, let me tell you," Eda shook her head and took a sip out of her mug.

"Oh, I know," I thought back to the club. "I got to see her perform. That's where I got her number. She's fucking amazing..." I said somewhat dreamily.

This made Eda and King give each other a look, and then that was directed at me, both of them smirking.

"What?" I asked.

"Someone has a crush~!" King taunted. 

"What? No I don't!" I could feel my cheeks flush red.

"Ahhh ha ha!" Eda cackled. "She's blushing, just confirmed it!" She elbowed King as both of them cracked up.

My blush died down and I gave them both a look that said 'fuck off.' This, of course, made them laugh harder. So I threw another slice of pizza on my plate and took it up to my room to eat. I didn't get stopped because, one Eda didn't care, and two, they were too busy laughing to pay any mind.

Once I got to my room, I contemplated whether I should eat in here or out on the roof. I decided on the latter. I temporarily set my plate on my desk and grabbed a blanket and a few pillows to create a little place to sit. Once that was situated, I grabbed my guitar, my plate, a pen, and a notebook, deciding to take this time to see if I could write another song.

I experimentally strummed my guitar and discovered that I had left it in open D tuning, which I know means absolutely nothing to people who don't play guitar, but it's basically where a couple of the strings are tuned lower to create a D chord when you're not pressing on any frets.

I thought about adjusting it back to standard tuning, but decided against it after I accidentally played something that sounded good with one hand as I shoved pizza in my mouth with the other.

After spending about 20 minutes or so playing around with it, I had a chord progression and the start to some lyrics. So to test it out, I started from the top.

"Am I allowed to look at her like that?"

"Could it be wrong, when she's just so nice to look at?"

"And she smells like lemongrass and sleep."

"She tastes like apple juice and peach."

"Oh, you would find her in a Polaroid picture."

"And she..."

I stopped. There was something holding me back from finding the right lyric for that line, and it was bugging me. Why I can't think of what "she" is is beyond me, but I got tired of trying to figure it out, so I set my guitar down and took a moment to look at the setting sun.

It was one of those nights where the oranges and pinks and purples blended together on the horizon to paint a beautiful picture. The clouds looked like cotton candy in the sky and blue faded to orange and then into pink. Despite the beauty of it all, I frowned at all of the buildings and power lines blocking the majority of the view. 

I then thought back to what Amity had told me about how she loved stargazing, and an idea formed in my head. But before I could ponder it more, I heard someone stumble onto the roof.

"Ow..." King was on the ground in a heap as he'd just fallen out of the window.

I held back a laugh and got up to offer him a hand. "You good?"

"Yeah, yeah..." He took my hand and brushed himself off. "I could ask you the same thing."

"What do you mean?" I went back to sit on my pile of blankets and pillows.

"You usually sit out here when you're sad or you need to think," King sat down next to me and gave me a look of questioning. "Anything you wanna talk about?"

As much as a pain in the ass King could be, he was also an amazing brother. An amazing friend. He cared about me, even if he didn't show it sometimes.

"I don't know..." I turned my gaze back to the horizon. "I'm just kinda nervous I guess?"

"What do you have to be nervous about? You're Luz Noceda! You have no fear!" He playfully punched my arm.

I chuckled. "Well, as much as I would like that to be true, I'm only human,"

"Then what's ordinary little human Luz nervous about?"

"I want to ask Gus and Willow to be in my band, but I guess I'm just scared that they'll say no. Or worse, make fun of me," I shivered at the thought.

"Hah!" King laughed.

"What?" I looked over at him, kind of offended that he was laughing at my worries.

"Sorry, sorry," He took a breath to collect himself. "It's just that I know that they'll totally say yes and I'm not even friends with them."

"Heh... yeah... I might just be overthinking things," I leaned back against the wall of the house and picked my guitar back up, strumming out a couple of the chords from the song I was writing.

"You definitely are," King leaned back next to me, staring up at the sky as I continued to play the chords. "That sounds nice. Is it a Noceda original?"

"Yeah," I looked down at my hands.

"Does it have lyrics?"

"Not quite," I shrugged and stopped playing. "I can't figure some of it out."

"You'll get there," King stood up and ruffled my hair through my beanie. "Don't stay out for too much longer or you'll get eaten alive by the mosquitos."

"Do you mind taking these inside?" I held out a few pillows and a blanket.

"Sure," He took them and made his way back inside, leaving me alone. 

I took another moment to look at the almost completely set sun and then grabbed the rest of my stuff and went back inside, closing the window behind me. King had just left the pile of pillows and blanket on my bed, but had closed my door. So I set my stuff down, tossed my beanie onto the dresser, got changed into some sweatpants and a hoodie, and flopped onto my bed.

As I stared up at the empty ceiling, my mind wandered back to the teal-haired girl of my dreams. I thought about taking her out to this field where I knew we could see the whole sky and having a cute little picnic or something, but the voice in the back of my head stopped that fantasy. It warned me that she might not like me back. Sure she flirted too, but that could just be her way of talking to new people. Sure we almost kissed today, but that could have been all me.

Wait.

We almost kissed today!

"Holy shit..." I mumbled. I let my brain fantasize about what could have happened if Mrs. Cassie hadn't walked up. It made me smile. There's just something about that girl. A part of my brain is telling me to take it slow, and I tell myself that I'm going to do just that. I don't want to make her uncomfortable, or worse, make her not want to talk to me ever again. I've only known her for two days, but I can't imagine not being able to see her.

Noceda stop thinking like that. Get your head out of the clouds. There's no way she likes me like that...

I sighed and decided to go do my night routine. Once done with that, I went back to my room and took off everything but my sports bra and boxers. I don't know why I always do that, but if I sleep in anything else, I get too hot.

Then I picked up my guitar, thinking about Amity, I knew what to say. So I started playing.

"Am I allowed to look at her like that?"

"Could it be wrong, when she's just so nice to look at?"

"And she smells like lemongrass and sleep."

"She tastes like apple juice and peach."

"Oh, you would find her in a Polaroid picture."

I smiled, and looked down at the blank spot in my notebook for this next line, now knowing exactly what to say.

"And she... means everything to me."

I thought about Amity's family situation, and just let the words pour out of me.

"I'd never tell."

"No, I'd never say a word."

"And oh, it aches."

"But it feels so oddly good to hurt."

"And she smells like lemongrass and sleep."

"She tastes like apple juice and peach."

"Oh, you would find her in a Polaroid picture."

"And she... means everything to me."

I heard a noise from outside my door and I was snapped out of my trance.

"Hello?" I set my guitar down and got up to open my door.

"Shit!" I heard someone mumble under their breath.

I opened the door to see King trying to put a picture back on the wall, pretending like nothing happened. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Heh... totally not listening to your song..." He was finally satisfied with the placement of the picture and avoided my gaze.

"Well?" I asked.

"Huh?" He looked at me confused.

"How was it?" I was always open to feedback, but I was a little hesitant to ask King for his opinion.

"Well it sounds like someone fell pretty hard," He laughed and gave me a knowing grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said deadpanned.

"Suuuure you don't. I'll just be on my way then," He walked down the hall and into his room, shutting the door behind him.

I rolled my eyes and went back into my room. I tucked myself in, set my alarm on my phone, and tried my best to sleep. The last thing on my mind was Amity's smile.

Chapter Text

Amity P.O.V.

After eating dinner and then pacing in my room for a few minutes, I decided to bite the bullet and just go ask my parents if I could "tutor" one of "Emira's friends" and that she "begged me" for help. As I was pacing, I imagined all of the different scenarios of how this could play out. The worst being that they saw right through me and figured everything out about my life outside of being a Blight. The best, being them accepting it and then never bothering me about it again.

I figured that it would fall somewhere in the middle, so when I knocked on the door to my parents' room, I was ever so slightly optimistic. 

"Come in." My mother's voice rang out from behind the closed door.

I opened the door, slipped in, and closed it behind me. 

"What do you need?" My mother was sitting in an extravagant—and not that comfortable looking—chair, stirring a cup of what I assumed was tea. Her expression was somewhat impatient and as cold as ever.

"I have been offered a position as a tutor to one of Emira's acquaintances, and I have come to seek your approval." I stood up straight and kept my voice neutral.

"What will you be gaining from this ordeal?" She asked me.

"I will be paid by the hour for each session," I answered calmly.

"And when will these sessions be?" My mother's gaze never wavered from mine.

"Each day after school," I tried to keep myself from cowering away from that gaze.

"Hmm," She pondered it and looked over to my father, who was immersed in his laptop. "What do you think, Alador?"

He looked up for a moment. "Well, she will be gaining from it, therefore I allow it," He then looked over to me once my mother had also turned her attention back to me and gave me a little smile. 

My father was always kinder than my mother. He was the one to comfort me when I was sad, the one to patch up my scratches and scrapes when I was a kid, the one who actually cared for me. I figured that he knew about a lot of the things I did, since he was still seen as the head of the family to the public eye and got all of the information from mom's little spies. If I wasn't in trouble yet, he either didn't know, or just wanted me to do what I loved to do. That little smile he gave me told me that he knew something, and was covering for me, giving me the chance to live out my life. That little smile meant the world to me. 

I nodded and thanked both of them as I walked out and quietly shut the door behind me. Once I turned around, there were two very curious twins right up in my face.

"Sooo?" Edric was grinning.

"What was that all about?" Emira finished the question.

"And what's got you smiling like that?" I didn't realize that I was smiling until Ed pointed it out, and for a moment it shocked me.

"We can talk about it in my room," I quickly walked down the hall, the twins almost jogging behind me to keep up.

"Ooh! Does it have something to do with that girl you were on the phone with for like three hours earlier?" Em put a hand on my shoulder, effectively stopping me in my tracks.

I felt my face heat up a bit. "Let's just get to my room first," I brushed Em's hand off my shoulder and speed walked into my room, letting the twins in before locking the door behind me.

"So is it that girl or not?" Ed had a smug look on his face as he sat down on the bed with his twin.

"Yes. Now before you freak out, let me explain what's going on," I started pacing and told my siblings about the situation. When I met Luz at the club, sitting next to her at school, our little study session, how we almost kissed, all of the conversations, how she wanted me to be in her band, what our excuse to mom and dad was, and how they let me. 

When I'd finished, I stopped pacing and looked over to see Ed and Em with their mouths hanging open.

"What?!" They both exclaimed in unison.

"You're telling us that this hot girl that you're totally into is doing all these things with you and you just met her yesterday?!" Ed got up and shook my by my shoulders.

"Gah! Stop shaking me!" I ducked under his arms and sat down on my bed next to my sister. "Yes! And I don't know what's going on, but I'm not against it..." I was staring at the ground, trying to process everything.

"Well, it sounds like you like her, which is different from most people you meet," Em observed.

"I think 'like' is an understatement," Ed chuckled and sat down on my other side. He then winced and glared at Em, who had just jabbed him in the side, but I didn't care. I was lost in my mind, trying to figure out what about Luz made me just open up like that.

"Well, when are you going to see her again?" Em gave me a soft look and smiled.

"Tomorrow at school... and then she's taking me to her house after school to clean out what's going to be the band room," I looked up to see my sister's reaction. She was always more helpful with these sort of things. She has a girlfriend so she understands what I'm going through. Ed always tries his best, but he's been dating Jerbo since his sophomore year of high school, so he's no help.

"Well, that should be fun!" Emira gave me a reassuring smile. It made me lighten up.

"Yeah..." I smiled. "But I should probably get some more work done so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow."

"Aren't you already like five assignments ahead?" Edric raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but I can't fall back or mom and dad will kill me," I said bluntly.

Both of the twins stood up and Em spoke. "Well, we'll leave you to it!" She dragged Ed out of the room, and thankfully he actually closed the door behind him this time.

I sighed and got to working even farther ahead. And after a few hours of that, I was satisfied and I got up to go do my nighttime routine. Once finished, I changed into my pajamas, turned off the lights, settled into my bed, and set my alarm. I drifted off to sleep, thinking about what tomorrow would bring.

*le gay time skip*

I was snapped out of a dream by an annoyingly loud beeping sound. I rolled over and fumbled around my night stand, trying to find my phone. Once I grabbed it, I cracked my eyes open just enough to shut it off and I stretched before getting up to get ready for the day. I was sluggish walking into my en-suite bathroom until I remembered what I had in store for today.

Oh yeah! I get to see Luz a bunch today! I got excited thinking about talking to the Latina again. I quickly got ready and made sure I looked presentable in my uniform. I double checked that the collar of my white button up shirt was perfect, there were no wrinkles in the white and royal blue skirt, my tie was on right, and there was no lint on my blazer before gathering my things and walking out of my bedroom and down to the living room.

And there I sat, waiting for Boscha to come and pick me up, which was supposed to be right around-

HONK HONK!

Oh. I guess she's here.

I walked out of my house and got in the back of Boscha's car since Skara was already seated in the passenger seat.

"Hey, Amity!" Skara turned around and waved at me. 

"Hello, Skara," I gave her a small smile.

Boscha stayed quiet, and it concerned me for a moment, but I shrugged it off, assuming it was nothing.

About 2 minutes into the drive, we were stopped at a red light near the school and Boshca glanced at me in the mirror and spoke up.

"So, uh... who's that girl you were staring at and talking to yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah!" I was prepared for this, and I quickly prepared my story. "It's one of Emira's old friends that needs tutoring. We were just planning it out yesterday." I smiled and Skara immediately nodded along as if she understood. But Boscha wasn't so easy to please.

"Skara stop being such a dumbass!" Boscha turned most of her attention back to the road and continued driving. "We know that's not Emira's friend." She paused. "Look, Amity. I know we don't always talk about a bunch of stuff, but you know you can trust us, right?"

I sighed, then I took a deep breath. "Okay so she's not actually Emira's friend I met her at the night club where I perform on the weekends and we really hit it off and then we spent yesterday after school together and now we're making a band to play at the club and also I'm gay." I said in one breath.

If Boscha hadn't just parked the car, I think we would have crashed. "I don't think I've heard you speak that much... like, ever," She turned around to face me. "Are you serious?"

"Yes..." I looked down, slightly ashamed that I'd been lying to my best friends for so long. "Look, I'm sorry I-"

Boscha cut me off. "Shut up for a second," Boscha and Skara shared a look and then they turned their attention back to me. "Okay, Amity. First of all, I don't care that you're gay. I would be a total hypocrite if I did."

"Yeah! I don't care that Boscha's gay, so I don't care that you're gay either!" Skara squeaked excitedly.

"I'm pan dumbass," She glared at Skara for a second and then looked back to me. "Second of all, you got a super badass side job as a performer, and I dig it." She nodded approvingly.

"Before you say anything about the band, I wanna ask you two something," I fiddled with my hands. "Would you guys wanna be in the band? Like Boscha you would play the bass, and Skara, I know you're really good with sound stuff so you would be the sound director. And Willow's gonna be the keyboard player and this kid named Gus will be on the drums."

"Ooh! That sounds so fun!" Skara squealed. "We would get to spend so much time together!"

I looked over at Boscha. "What about you?"

"I'm in," I could tell from the look in her eyes that it was because Willow would be there too.

"Great! Luz and I are meeting after school to clean out the band room, do you guys wanna join?" 

"Well, we already made plans to do stuff after school today," Skara glanced between me and Boscha awkwardly.

"Oh that's alright," I reassured them. "I'll talk to Luz about it later, but we're hoping to get everyone together soon so we can start planning things out."

"Wait a second, that name just clicked. Do you mean Luz Noceda?" Boscha asked me.

"Yes?" I said hesitantly. I don't know why Boscha would know who Luz was and I hadn't for so long.

"You mean that you got the resident stone cold party bitch of Hexide to fall for you?" I cocked my head in confusion at Boscha's words.

"What do you mean, resident stone cold party bitch of Hexide?"

"Of course you wouldn't know..." Boscha shook her head and started to get out of the car.

"Hey!" I grabbed my stuff and got out too. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Just means little miss perfect is keeping up her act," Boscha grinned and we started walking. "Don't talk to her too much at school unless you want to be murdered by your mom."

"Oh trust me, I figured that part out on my own," I rolled my eyes as we entered the building. We still had around 10 minutes until the start of first bell, so we made our way to the cafeteria and found that our usual table was empty.

"Where's everyone else?" Skara asked.

"Like I would know," Boscha sat down in her normal seat and pulled her phone out, presumably to text her girlfriend.

As I sat down in my seat, I felt my phone buzz in my bag, so I pulled it out and saw that I had a text from Luz.

Luz<3: meet me in the bathrooms

Me: and why on earth would I do that?

Luz<3: I just need some advice and I know you wont talk to me in the middle of the cafeteria

I looked up from my phone and glanced across the lunch room to see Luz at her table with her friends. She was also looking at me.

Me: fine just let me leave first... wait a minute and then follow

Luz<3: whatever you say princesa

I rolled my eyes and stood. "I'll be back,"

"Where are you going?" Skara asked with a smile. I saw that Boscha was just watching the exchange.

"Bathroom," I said simply as I began to walk away.

I went into the girls bathroom to find it empty, so I leaned on the wall and pulled out my phone to at least have something to do while waiting for Luz. After a few minutes, the door to the bathroom swung open and a tall figure with a beanie and a half-on blazer walked into the restroom.

"Hey, princesa~," Luz made sure the door closed behind her—they weren't very reliable when it came to that—and made her way towards me.

I put my phone away and waved for her to follow me into the big stall at the back. Once we both had entered, I locked it behind me and leaned up against the wall. "So, what do you need advice on?"

"Alright, skip straight to the point then," Luz grinned that stupid little grin.

"Yes, I don't have much time, and neither do you, so make this quick," I said deadpanned.

"Okay okay, chill out," She raised her hands in surrender. "I was just a little nervous about talking to Willow and Gus and I wanted to ask you about it..." She was looking down at the ground.

I saw her normal confidence fade and I softened. "Hey, look at me," I tilted her head up. "You have nothing to worry about, okay?"

She nodded and looked me right in the eye. "How should I bring it up?"

"When you guys are eating lunch, just say it. Tell them, 'I'm starting a band, and I want you guys to be in it.'" I say that as if it's something easy. I can tell you from personal experience that it's not.

She chuckled lightly. "You make it sound so simple,"

"Because it is," I smiled, but my expression immediately turned to one of fear when I heard the bathroom door open and the voices of either freshman or sophomore girls fill the room.

"You know, I've heard about her. She seems like such a riot," One girl said as she walked into one of the stalls.

"Just looking at her I can tell that much," Another girl quipped.

"I know right? How did she even get the school to let her wear pants as her uniform?" A third girl questioned. 

That's when it hit me that they were talking about Luz. She was the only girl I'd seen without a skirt as part of her uniform. I looked at Luz's face to see her smirking slightly. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the conversation.

"I don't even know!" The second girl sounded exasperated. "I asked so many times, but all I get is, 'No Sadie, you need to wear the skirt! Sadie, that's not fit for a girl!' It's so annoying!"

"Anyways..." The third girl changed the topic. "Luz is in one of my classes, and you won't believe who she's going for."

"Ooh!" The second girl sounded interested. "Do tell!"

I saw Luz shift uncomfortably as the girl began speaking again. "Amity Blight!"

"What? Why her? She's just some stuck up bitch with money! She'd be better off with someone like me," The first girl had come out of the stall and joined the conversation.

"I know right? She's just so bland and proper. Definitely not worth the time of Luz Noceda," The third girl sneered. "But I saw it with my own two eyes! And the funny thing was, Amity turned her down!"

This made the other girls laugh, but the second spoke up. "I thought she would be more desperate than that. Especially since it's Luz we're talking about,"

I looked back at Luz to see her fuming. She shifted her weight to go and confront the girls, but before she could make another move, I grabbed her by the tie, and she tripped and put her hand up on the wall by my head to avoid falling. She looked at me with wide eyes for a moment before I shook my head, silently telling her that it wasn't worth it.

"Ugh, I know. What a loser," The first girl had finished washing her hands and the three left the bathroom, presumably still gossiping about Luz and I.

I looked back at Luz to see that our faces were mere inches away and she had me pinned against the wall. I immediately let go of her tie and she stepped back, both of our faces dusted red.

"Sorry about that..." I avoided her gaze.

"No no no, don't worry," She grabbed my hand and looked me in the eye. "Thanks, for not letting me beat the shit out of those girls."

"Heh... it's nothing," I smiled.

"No really. Most people would have just let me for the fun of it, and I would have regretted it later," She scratched the back of her neck with her free hand.

"Well, in all fairness, they were being assholes," I looked away from Luz.

"Don't listen to a thing they said. You're an amazing person, Ams," She tilted my head up to look at her. "They don't know the real you, and sucks for them 'cause you're great." She gave me a warm smile.

Those words hit me in a way I can't describe. To many people, they would have just felt like nothing. Just another untruthful compliment to another untruthful person. But the way Luz said it, her facial expression, her readiness to jump out and fight three teenage girls just because they picked on me... it hit home. It made me feel like a real person. Not some mindless drone going through the motions. Not the emotionless little miss perfect I came to think of as myself. And I loved it more than I'm willing to admit.

"Thank you..." I stared into those hazel eyes, trying to convey my message further.

"Man, you really don't get compliments often, do you?" She smirked, returning back to her jokester demeanor.

I rolled my eyes and punched her playfully. "Shut up..."

"Well, Blight," She started to walk out of the stall. "We should probably get off to class soon."

I followed, but walked to the sinks to wait a moment before returning to my friends. "Yes we should, Noceda,"

"See you in third bell, princesa~!" She waved and grinned as she walked out the door and shut it behind her.

I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror. 

We're those girls right? Was I just a stuck up rich kid? Why does Luz even like me enough to stay around? 

All of those thoughts and more were swirling my head as the 5 minute warning bell rang. I took a deep breath to compose myself and walked out of the bathroom, heading back to the cafeteria to see Boscha and Skara starting to get up to walk to their first class.

"Well well well," Boscha grinned. "Look who's back."

"Hey, Amity!" Skara waved as enthusiastically as ever.

I gave them a small wave and went to grab my bag.

"What's got you so quiet?" Boscha raised an eyebrow.

"I'll tell you later..." I mumbled as I walked off to my first class. My brain was flooded with new emotions, thoughts, and ideas, and I didn't know what to think of them.

Sure, I've "dated" people before. But most of it was to please my mom, so of course all of my exes are boys. They never lasted long. I've never felt remorseful at all after dumping a guy. They were just little pieces in my game against my mother. And sure I'd kissed girls before. I work at a night club, so how could I avoid it? But none of those girls made me feel anything compared to how I feel when Luz just looks my way. She made me feel things no other person had, and it confused me. And things that confuse me scare me. But despite my perception of fear, this felt like a good kind of scared.

Before I knew it, I was walking into my first bell class and sitting down at my desk, prepared to take notes on the lecture, even though I'd already taken copious notes on the material from the textbook, which I knew would be exactly what the teacher would talk about. The bell rang again, signaling the start of the day, and the teacher started the lesson.

I tried to pay attention. Key word, tried. But my mind kept wandering, trying to place a label on all of the emotions going through my brain. By the time the bell rang for the end of first period, I had only taken one page of notes, compared to my usual four or five per-lecture. I scoffed at my own incompetence and packed up to head to second, vowing in my head that I would pay closer attention.

...

I didn't pay closer attention. Thankfully, I was also well ahead in this class and didn't need the teacher telling it to me all over again. As I was packing up, I got slightly more excited. I had a little more pep in my step. Luz was in my next class, and I was excited to see her again.

As I walked into the English classroom, I saw Luz already sitting at the table. She was leaning back in her chair with her legs extended in front of her. She smiled when she saw me walk up to her.

"Hey there, señorita," Her smile gave me butterflies.

"Hello, Noceda," I sat down next to her, placing my bag on the ground and taking out my laptop to prepare for essay-writing.

"Well, aren't you eager," She chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. "At least I didn't get a C on my last paper," I quipped, and this made the girl next to me falter.

"Wh- how did you know that?"

"I saw it when he handed it back. I'm more observant than I look," I grinned, and it only made the Latina sink lower in her seat. It melted my heart and immediately dropped the snarky act. "Oh, I'm sorry, that was out of line."

"No no, it's okay," She smiled at me. "I started it, so it's really my fault."

"No, it's not okay. That was really rude of me," 

Before she could try and take the blame off of me again, the bell rang and Mr. K started to explain what we were working on today. He informed us that we would spend the entire period finalizing these essays, so there should be minimal talking. He also said that we would need to complete a peer review on these papers, and he would tell us after about 20 minutes of writing to switch with your table partner so they could proof read it and such. This particular paper was one that I'd struggled with more than normal. The topic was, "What is your favorite thing about the life you're living right now? Explain in great detail and provide examples." My life was a shit show, and to be honest, it still kind of is. I wrote my essay about the opportunity I get being a Blight.

I hated it. If I were to have written this paper when we got it assigned, I would have without a doubt written about Luz, although I probably would have kept her anonymous. But, since I'm always ahead, I wrote this essay like a week ago, before I even knew Luz existed. Unfortunately—but also kind of fortunately since Luz is my table partner—I had no time to write a new essay. I just worked on fixing minor errors that I spotted here and there until the twenty minutes were up, and it was time to switch.

"Alrighty then class!" Mr. K clapped his hands together. "Now is the time to peer edit and revise! Go ahead and exchange papers! You have the rest of class to do this, and if you don't finish, it's homework."

I turned to Luz. "Well, let's see what you got, Noceda,"

"I'd love to see how perfect your paper must be, Blight. Probably gonna make my work easy," She grinned and handed me her laptop as I handed her mine.

I rolled my eyes and began to read Luz's essay. It was beautifully written, I must say. She painted a picture with her words. Strung them together and made music. She poured emotion into each sentence. She talked about how she loved where she was living. How tragic it was when her mom died. How she didn't care anymore that her father left when she was a baby. How Eda so lovingly took her in. How King instantly felt like a brother to her. How she's feeling now. Every line had me hungry to read more. I figured the reason she got a C on her last paper was just because of grammatical errors, because besides the abundance of those, the content of her paper was stunning. Mine paled in comparison.

It made me feel almost jealous for a moment. The fact that someone could be so effortlessly better than me at something usually infuriated me. But when I looked over at Luz to see her immersed in my paper as well, all I felt was admiration. 

A few moments after I finished reading through her's, she turned to face me, ready to talk about our thoughts on each other's work.

"So? How was it?" I asked, a little bit nervous as to what she was thinking.

"I don't think I've ever seen such a grammatically perfect paper in my life," Luz chuckled and shook her head.

"That's a good thing though," I pointed out.

"Yes, it absolutely is," Luz paused for a moment and she seemed to be collecting her thoughts. "But... when it comes to content... you lose me."

"Yeah... I don't really like it that much," I shrugged and looked at my laptop sitting in front of Luz.

"Well, I didn't say it was bad. It's just not you," She observed. "I mean, I bet you'll get a 100 because objectively, it's a really good paper. But, since I know you on a deeper level than a teacher and a student, I know that this isn't a good representation of who you are,"

"Ah, so you know me on a deeper level?" I teased with a grin.

She blushed slightly and chuckled. "You know what I mean..."

"Yeah, I do. I had nothing good to write about a week ago when I started this, so I went with what made sense. And that's being a Blight," I shrugged.

"Do you think you would have done something different if you did it when it was assigned?" Luz asked with a raised brow and a smirk.

"Maybe maybe not," I smirked right back at her.

"I'll take that as a yes," She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Anyways, how shitty was mine?"

"Surprisingly, it was somewhat enjoyable," I scrolled through the paper again on her computer, looking for what I changed as I scanned it.

"Woah... approval from the top student. How gratifying," She held a hand over her heart and grinned that stupid cute little grin.

Wait... cute?! Now is not the time, Amity!

"However," I snapped my thoughts back to the paper. "Grammatically, it was worth a C."

Luz winced and dramatically placed both of her hands on her chest and slouched down in her chair. "Ouch, princesa. Brutal,"

"Do you want me to tell you why or do you just wanna keep up the theatrics?" I asked deadpanned.

"Sorry, sorry," Luz sat back up and put her full attention on me and her paper. It was refreshing that she could go back and forth so effortlessly between goofing off and putting her full attention into the work she does.

"So from what I can tell by this paper, you think that this is how you use a semi colon," I highlighted a sentence that I left unchanged for this exact purpose and paused for a moment to let her read it. "But, you need to have two independent clauses on either side."

"Oohhh..." Luz nodded slowly. "So it's not used like a comma?"

"No, but if that's what you're going for, you could use a dash," I suggested.

"Oh, okay," Luz reached out for her computer. "Lemme see that for a minute."

I handed it over and watched her begin to concentrate on her essay. She appeared to get really focused, and her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth a bit. It made me giggle, which caused the girl next to me to look up.

"What?" She cocked her head.

"Sorry, it's just that you got really concentrated and stuck your tongue out," I chuckled and grinned at her.

"Oh..." Her cheeks flushed red. "Sorry, that's really weird."

"No no," I shook my head. "It was kinda cute." I immediately froze.

Oh shit... why did I say that? What on earth would possess me to say something like that to Luz Noceda?

I heard her chuckle slightly and she turned her attention back to her screen. "You should've seen yourself working on your essay. That's cute concentration."

I felt my face heat up slightly, but I laughed it off, and joked about Luz needing to concentrate more on her paper, which she soon did. Not much longer after, we were both satisfied with the work we'd put in on our essays, and we were left with nothing to do for the rest of class—which had about 20 minutes left.

"What are we gonna do now, princesa?" Luz asked as she turned to face me. "I've never actually finished my work this early."

"Well, I usually just keep working ahead, but I doubt that's what you had in mind," I chuckled and watched her feign disgust.

"How dare you suggest such a thing?" She acted appalled, but I could tell it was just sarcasm. "Do work? In class? Ahead of time? Yeah that doesn't sound like something I would want to do."

"I figured," I leaned over to my backpack and pulled out a book, planning on reading instead, since I knew I wouldn't be able to focus that well with Luz sitting next to me.

"Ew what kind of book is called 'The Wealth of Nations'?" She asked.

"Well, you see, it's a book from the 1700s about this guy named Adam Smith's ideas on capitalism," I started to explain. "It's actually a lot more boring and hard to understand than you would think... but I'm already this far, so why stop now?"

"Because it sucks," Luz said flatly.

I burst out into (kind of but not really) quiet laughter. I began to see a few heads turn, so I stopped and regained my stone-cold bitch demeanor.

"Yeah? Well, I'm still gonna read it," I snapped. I immediately regretted it, but I had to show the other people in the class that I had gained the attention of that I was not  going soft on Luz.

"Woah, that was aggressive," Luz leaned back with a startled expression.

I sighed, and turned to type something at the bottom of my paper; a way of communicating to Luz without saying anything. When I lightly smacked her under the table and motioned towards my screen, she leaned forwards to read it.

I have to pretend I don't like sitting next to you or people will get suspicious.

I heard a small 'oohhh' escape her lips, and she sat back, and regained her "super tough" bad-boy persona. "Like I would care, asshole,"

I rolled my eyes and played along with it. "Whatever, Noceda. Just leave me alone," Then I pulled my phone out of my bag and started to check my email, since I had nothing better to do in class. I saw Luz pull her phone out of her pocket out of the corner of my eye. Soon after, I got a text.

Luz<3: was that convincing enough for you princesa?

I chuckled and responded.

Me: yes, thank you

Luz<3: now should i do the same thing in history?

Me: that would be preferred

Luz<3: whatever you say señorita

I closed messages and went back to doing random shit on my phone until the bell rang for the end of third period. Luz and I gathered our things and left separately. I wasn't ready to start giving my tutoring excuse to the rest of the school since we hadn't actually had a "tutoring session" yet. 

Once I arrived in the history classroom, Luz was already sitting at our small conjoined table with her notebook out and a pen in hand. We nodded at each other as I sat down and started to get myself ready to take notes on today's lecture.

The class started, and I tried my best to pay attention. Luz made it difficult. Whenever she got really focused on copying the important material down and listening to what the teacher had to say, she would do that thing where she stuck her tongue out. It was very distracting. 

Not because it was cute or anything. Nooo...

I don't like Luz that much... right?

Chapter Text

Luz P.O.V.

I was nervous. Very nervous. As I walked to the cafeteria, I ran all the scenarios through in my head, bracing myself for the worst. But before I got there, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, so I swiftly pulled it out and saw that I had gotten a text from Amity.

Amity❤️: meet me in the bathroom about half way through lunch

Me: why? do you need advice from yours truly?

Amity❤️: no i have something to tell you that i forgot about until just now

Me: as much as i love seeing you, dont you think we're pushing it a bit? can it wait maybe?

Amity❤️: if you dont want to talk to me just say that

Me: no no no no i just don't want you getting in trouble or anything. ill be there

Amity❤️: okay :)

I laughed at her response as I walked up to my lunch table, where Willow and Gus were already sat talking.

"Hey guys!" I ruffled Gus's hair.

"Luz! Stop doing that!" Gus fixed his hair and both he and Willow stood up.

Willow chuckled and shook their head. "You guys want food or what?"

"Not even a question," I started walking towards the lunch line and I heard Willow chuckle behind me.

Once we all were stood waiting in the line, Gus and Willow started talking about who knows what, and I was zoned out fiddling with my hands.

"Hey, Luz, you okay?" I heard Gus ask which snapped me out of my trance.

"Yeah! Totally fine!" I smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"You sure? You always mess with your hands when you're nervous," He gave me an understanding look. I just nodded.

"You know you can tell us anything, right?" Willow assured me.

"Yeah, I'm just..." I sighed. "So, I had this idea. And I wanted to run it by you guys, but you need to promise not to make fun of me."

"We won't make fun of you. Right, Gus?" Willow elbowed him.

"Yeah! I would never!" He gave me a warm smile.

"Okay..." I took a deep breath. "So, I was thinking about starting a band. And before you say anything, let me explain. I would play guitar, probably sing background vocals as well. Gus, you would play drums. Willow, you would be on keyboard. And I have a lead singer that's also gonna play guitar, and then she knows a bassist and a sound director. Eda's gonna talk to the owner of the club and ask them if we can play there. She'll also be our manager, and the shed will be our band room after Amity and I clean it out today." I stopped and looked between the two of them.

"Well first of all, do you mean Amity Blight?" Willow asked me.

"Yeah, why?" I was confused why that would matter.

"Good choice for a lead singer," Willow smiled and nodded. "And second, I'd love to be in the band. Sounds fun. And you know, we'd get paid."

I laughed and nodded. "Yes, we would get paid. What about you Gus?"

"Hold on, let me process for a second..." He looked like he was thinking. "I, Gus Porter, am being asked to join a band. And I accept your generous offer!" He smiled from ear to ear and held out his hand to shake.

I took it while laughing. "Okay, well then. Now that that's official, I can see if Amity's friends are in, and we'll probably meet up either tomorrow or Thursday!"

We'd reached the front of the line, so we grabbed our food, bought it, and returned to our table. I ate pretty quickly, since I wanted to be ready for when Amity wanted to talk to me. Willow noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"Nobody's gonna take it from you," They chuckled.

"I've gotta meet someone half way through lunch and I don't wanna be starving by seventh bell," I said before shoving the last bite of my sandwich in my mouth.

"What did you do for a teacher to have to talk to you during lunch?" Gus stopped eating to stare at me with concern.

"Oh, I'm not meeting with a teacher," I said simply, glancing up at Amity across the cafeteria.

She was at a table with a bunch of the popular mean girls. Most of them are just there because they want the status of being friends with Amity, since she's a Blight and all. There were 8 people at the table, and 5 of them were chatting and laughing. Then there was Amity, a girl with pink dyed hair, and a girl with silver hair just sitting there on their phones or eating in silence. I figured they were just there because they had to be. I saw the girl with pink hair go from eating to typing something into her phone, and seconds later, Willow's phone buzzed, and they smiled to text someone back. I pieced it together, and figured that the pink haired girl must be Willow's girlfriend.

I don't know why Willow hasn't introduced us to their girlfriend, but they're very private about their love life. I knew it was because of past trauma—an old friend of their's outed their first relationship to the whole school—but it's still a little annoying.

Before I could say anything about it, I saw Amity get up from her table, bringing her stuff with her. So I waited a minute and then did the same, telling my friends that I was going to that meeting. Willow just nodded while Gus gave me a thumbs up as he was finishing his math homework that was due the next bell. I shook my head and chuckled as I walked away.

I walked into the bathroom to see Amity leaning against the wall on her phone again. I grinned and closed the door behind me. "Hey, princesa!"

"Hey!" She gave me a warm smile and waved for me to follow her, which I did.

She led me to the large stall at the back again, and when she had locked it behind us, I spoke up. "So what was so important that you needed to talk to me before school was over?"

"Well, I asked my friends this morning if they wanted to be in the band, and both of them said that they would. I just wanted to let you know so that we could start planning stuff," She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall with a huge grin on her face.

"That's awesome!" I started to get excited. "But, can I know the names of these friends?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. You've probably seen them sitting at my table, and you might know Boscha already. She's the one with pink hair that's dating Willow,"

"Ooohhhh so that's Willow's girlfriend," I smirked, thinking about how I could tease them later.

"Wait, Willow didn't tell you who they're dating?"

"Nope," I popped the "p" and shook my head. "They're still a little hesitant since one of their old friends outed their first relationship to the whole school."

"Oh, yeah. I remember that," She frowned slightly. "Anyways. The other is Skara, the one with the silver hair, and she's the one who's good with sound stuff. They're both really good at what they do, and they're also really good friends."

"Well, from what I can tell, this should be a good group!" I smiled, before remembering what had just happened a few minutes ago. "Oh! Also, Willow and Gus are both in. Probably gonna see if everyone can meet up tomorrow. We can get most of the shed cleared out this afternoon and then we'll start getting it all set up tomorrow with everyone."

"Oh, so they're gonna get out of all the hard work," Amity joked. "How typical for Boscha and Skara."

I laughed. "Yeah, I'm always the one that's gotta do the dirty work. Willow just sits back and smokes and Gus is usually trying to study for some test."

"That sounds about right," She laughed too, and it made my heart flutter. I could listen to that sound forever. "But if you don't mind me asking, who's Gus?"

"Have I not told you about him?" I was slightly shocked at my ignorance, and Amity just shook her head. "Oh! Well, he's the short guy that sits at my table with the curly hair. If he weren't so smart, he would be a sophomore, but he's gotta be a try hard and now he's a senior too."

"He skipped two grades?" Amity raised an eyebrow as if she found that hard to believe.

"Somehow he did," I shrugged. "But he's cool. Doesn't act like a 16 year old."

"Huh... surprised I haven't heard of him," Amity said before we heard the door open to the bathroom, and her face paled.

Here we go again... I rolled my eyes as I heard the voices of what sounded like freshman girls fill the bathroom.

"She yelled at me for not wearing my blazer right!" One girl sounded exasperated.

"Why would she care?" Another girl sounded equally annoyed.

"She shouldn't! She's just some high school stereotype senior that hangs out with the super rich kids so she can look good," The first girl slammed a stall shut a little hard and I saw the whole connected structure shake.

"There aren't any good people in that group. Especially the Blight. I heard that when she was a freshman, she made a senior cry,"

"Why would she do that?" The first girl replied from inside the stall.

"Apparently they were blocking her locker," The second girl scoffed. "Bitch move, if you ask me."

I started to get angry. Very angry. No one, and I mean no one, talks about Amity like that when I'm around. So when I heard the first girl come back out of the stall, I moved to go and confront them. I felt a hand grab my wrist, but I was seeing red and I shook it off.

I put on a calm expression and opened the stall door, closing it behind me so the freshman girls didn't see that Amity was in there too. "You got anything else to say about Amity Blight?"

"Huh?" The girls looked up at me, confusion written on their faces.

"Don't go talking smack about someone when you don't know what kind of shit they're going through," I snapped, my expression getting more angry.

"What do you care?" The first girl snapped back, trying to act all tough, but I could see fear written in her eyes.

"I assume you're just incapable of empathy, or you would care a lot more. I care because she's a good person," I spat, getting closer to her face. "You're just a little bitch who perpetuates the cycle of self deprecation in places like this. Now I better not hear another thing about Amity Blight come out of your mouth, or I will personally make sure it's the last thing you say," I threatened, leaning down slightly to get closer to their eye level.

Both of their eyes were wide and I heard a little squeak come from the first girl as she opened her mouth. I could see the second girl—who seemed to have a little more common sense than the first—grab the arm of her friend and start to drag her out of the bathroom.

"I'm so sorry about my friend here!" The second girl chuckled nervously. "She gets a little riled up! It won't happen again, okay bye!" She ran out of the bathroom, dragging her still shocked friend behind her.

I huffed and turned around to see Amity opening the door with wide eyes. My anger faded when I saw her and I immediately walked up to where she stood.

"Wow..." She was staring at the slightly open door. "That was... thank you." She looked up to meet my gaze. "Not many people have stood up for me like that. But you shouldn't have. You've probably traumatized them now."

"I don't care. I can't just stand by when people are being assholes like that. Especially when they're talking about you," I smiled at her.

She shook her head and sighed. "Well, all the same, thank you. We should probably be getting back though. I figure that lunch is almost over,"

"Yeah, I bet it is. Don't wanna be late to study hall. That would be such a tragedy," I joked, waving my hands in the air.

Amity laughed. "It certainly would be. Now, if you don't mind, I'll leave first," She started to walk out, but faltered for a moment, and looked back up at me. She stood there for a moment as if she was pondering something. Before I could ask, she got up on her tippy toes and kissed my cheek. "See you after school, Noceda~!" She quickly walked out of the bathroom.

I stood in shock for a moment before bringing my hand up to my cheek where she kissed me. "Holy shit..." I shook my head and walked over to the mirror to make sure I still looked presentable. There was a slight shine on my cheek where Amity's lips had been—probably from her lipgloss. "Well, that just happened..." I begrudgingly washed it off and made my way out of the bathroom right as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang.

I spent the rest of the school day only half paying attention to what was going on. Thankfully, the only classes I have after lunch are study hall, Spanish, which I didn't need to pay attention in because I was already fluent, and creative writing, which I just took for the art credit. When the end of the day bell finally rang, I sprung up out of my seat and made my way to my locker to gather the rest of my things that I needed to take home. Once that was taken care of, I walked out to the front of the school to wait for Amity.

I sat down on one of the benches and pulled out my phone, and I saw that I had a text from Amity.

Amity❤️: go ahead and go to your car. i have to talk to my teacher real quick

Me: i don't mind waiting for you princesa

Amity❤️: that's very sweet of you, but i also dont need a bunch of people seeing me walk to your car every day after school

Me: you make a good point

Me: i parked in the same spot so you can just come find me when youre ready

Amity❤️: okay thanks

I got up and pocketed my phone as I walked back to where I parked. When I got there, I threw my stuff in the back seat and then sat in the front, pulling out my phone to wait for Amity to get here.

No more than 5 minutes later, I heard a knock on the passenger window. I whipped my head up to see Amity smiling at me. So, I unlocked the doors and she put her stuff in the back seat and then climbed in the front.

"Hey there, señorita," I smiled as she put on her seatbelt.

"Hello, Noceda," She pulled at the collar of her shirt. "Turn the a.c on, it's fucking hot in here."

"Doesn't help that it's like 90 degrees," I shook my head and turned the ignition, which also kicked on the air conditioning.

"I don't know why it's already this hot," Amity stated as I started to pull out. "I don't think I've ever seen it already like summer in April."

"Yeah, it is pretty strange," I said as we drove out of the school. It was slightly awkward, considering that we were just talking about the weather and avoiding the elephant in the room. "So... uh," I started, but Amity cut me off.

"Listen, Luz. I don't know exactly what's going on between us right now, but I'm willing to see where it goes," Amity looked me in the eye and gave me a warm smile. "If you want to, of course." She quickly added.

"Yeah," I smiled back at her before turning my attention to the road. "I wanna see where this goes too." There was a moment of silence; the only noise was the drone of the moving car. "So, does that mean we're talking or..?"

"Yes, Luz. That means we're talking," Amity shook her head but I could see her grinning.

"Okay, okay. Just wanted to make sure," I chuckled awkwardly. "Anyways. We're gonna have a lot of work to do. I think we can get most of it done today, but it mostly depends on when you're gonna have to go home." I explained.

"I bet I could stay until around 6:30 to 7 maybe. But I can ask Ed and Em what they think," Amity pulled out her phone to text her siblings.

Edric and Emira had come up a few times during our many chats, and from what Amity has told me, they're annoying—like all siblings are—but they're also always there for her. It sounded a lot like the relationship I have with King. You're at each other's throats 90% of the time, and then there's that rare, but sweet 5% when you both get along and care for the other. The other 5% is a grey area. One person's trying to be sweet and the other isn't having it. Prove me wrong, but that's what I've deduced from having King as my brother and hearing stories from Amity about her siblings.

After a few moments of Amity texting her siblings, her phone started buzzing.

"Why the hell..?" Amity answered a phone call and put it up to her ear. "What?" There was a moment of silence, but I could hear the faint voice of another person on the other end of the line. "No, I'm not putting you on speaker... ugh fine. Give me a second." She pulled the phone away from her ear and hit the mute button.

"What's that all about?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Okay, so my siblings want to talk to you. Some overprotective brother and sister shit... just play along, and don't bother to put up an act or anything. They'll like you," Amity didn't give me any time to think, as she immediately took herself off mute and put it on speaker. "Okay, Ed and Em. Try not to freak her out too much."

"Heyyyy," I heard two voices say together.

"So, you're the girl Mittens has been taking so much about, huh?" A male voice, which I assumed was Edric, questioned.

"Ed!" Amity snapped, her cheeks turning slightly red.

"What? Just asking questions," I heard him laugh through the phone.

"So, you talk about me, huh?" I asked her with a smirk.

"Maybe..." She turned away from me.

"Anyways. The name's Emira, but since our little Mittens seems to like you so much, you can call me Em," Amity's sister introduced herself.

"Nice to, uh, meet you?" I replied. I don't know whether or not to classify this as meeting them or not. "Luz Noceda." I wasn't sure what else to say, but (luckily?) the twins seemed interested in grilling me.

"Well, I'm Edric. Call me Ed. Now that introductions are out of the way, why our little sister?"

"Could you elaborate on that?" I asked as I turned onto the backroads that would lead us to the Owl House.

"Well, from what we know about you from last year, you're a hotshot," Em started.

"So, when you could pull anyone, why go for our little mittens?" Ed finished.

"Well, first of all, I don't think that first part is true. But as to Amity," I looked over at her for a second, seeing her nervous expression, so I gave her a warm smile. "She's just so different from any other person I've met in the best possible way. She's smart, she's funny, she's kind, she's caring. And she listens to me. Not a lot of people do that. Not to mention, she's hot."

I got a laugh from both of Amity's siblings, but Amity herself just flushed red and turned her head to face the window.

"Well, from what I can tell, you're good in my book," Emira chuckled.

"I'll allow this," Ed paused dramatically. "For now... but if you hurt our little sister in any way, trust me when I say it won't end well for you." His voice turned slightly menacing.

"Edric! Stop scaring her!" Amity snapped.

This made him laugh. "Don't worry, Mittens. If I scare her away, she's not worth it,"

"Ugh... you two are the worst," Amity put her phone on her lap and buried her face in her hands.

"Just to let you know, we're almost to the Owl House," I told Amity.

"Ooh, you live in the Owl House?" I heard Em ask.

"Yeah?" I didn't know why that warranted that reaction.

"Well, don't fry up any owls with Mittens there," Ed chuckled.

"Yeah, we don't need her getting traumatized," Em laughed with her brother.

"OKAY! Nice talking to you guys bye!" Amity quickly hung up. "I am so sorry about them. They can be very annoying."

"Oh it's fine. They seem like good siblings to have," I smiled as I pulled up to the Owl House and put the car in park.

"Yeah... they can be,"

"I only have one question," I turned to face Amity to make sure she was paying attention. She tilted her head slightly to show that she was. "What do they mean about frying up owls?"

"Oh... that's just some rumor that went around when we were kids about this place..." Amity paused. "It is just a rumor, right?"

"As far as I'm aware," I chuckled. "Unless Eda was frying owls before I came here, or she's been doing it behind my back." This got a slightly relieved expression from the Blight. "And I doubt that she would, considering that she has two pet birds."

"Yeah, I knew it was just some rumor," Amity sighed.

"Eda probably made it up to keep kids off her property to be honest," I laughed, as it sounded like something that Eda would do. "Well, anyways. Let's get inside, shall we?" I unbuckled my seatbelt and quickly exited the car to go and open Amity's door, holding my hand out to guide her out of the car.

"Okay, dork," She laughed and took my hand. We started to walk towards the front door, but Amity stopped me. "Aren't you going to get your stuff?"

"Oh shit, yeah," I dropped Amity's hand, quickly grabbed my stuff, and walked back up to her only to take her hand again. "Thanks for the reminder, princesa."

Amity sighed and laughed lightly. "You're welcome, mon chaton,"

"Ahh French. A language I don't understand," I swung our hands back and forth.

"Well, I don't understand most of your Spanish, so we're even," Amity smiled smugly at me as we reached the front door.

I opened it for her and bowed. "After you, malady,"

"Ah, merci beaucoup, mademoiselle," Amity chuckled and walked inside.

I couldn't help but smile at her reaction to the living room. Her jaw dropped and her eyes were wide. For me, it was normal, but I knew that compared to most places, the Owl House was different. The vaulted ceiling is painted with gold depictions of what I always thought were withces, and the cross beams have owls carved into them. Although the furniture was a little run down to say the least, it is very comfortable.

"I didn't think the inside of here would be so... cool looking," Amity commented.

"Yeah, to be honest, I was a little surprised when I first came here," I smiled at the memory. My first day here was a strange one, but it's also one that I would never change.

"Well well well, you must be Miss Blight," Eda walked into the front room with her mug in hand.

"Uh, hello, miss Clawthorne," Amity waved shyly.

"Don't call me that. Makes me feel old. Just call me Eda, kid," She walked up to Amity and aggressively patted her shoulder.

"Okay, let's stop abusing Amity," I pulled the girl by her hand and started walking towards the stairs. "We're gonna go change and then get started on the shed."

"Got it kid," Eda gave me a thumbs up. "Just no funny business, alright?"

"Eda!" I felt my face heat up. "No!"

"What? You're about that age!" Eda cackled. "You know what, I revise my statement. No funny business while I'm here."

"Eda no! Stop!" I hid my face in my hands, but glanced at Amity to see her in a similar state of embarrassment. Her face was a tomato, but mine was probably the same. "Come on, Amity." I took her hand again and guided her up the stairs and down the hall to my room. "I'm sorry about Eda. She can be a bit over the top."

"It's fine," Amity shrugged. "My siblings try to embarrass me every chance they get."

"Heh... yeah," I stopped in front of my bedroom door. "Just to warn you, she's probably gonna make a lot of those kind of jokes."

"It's okay, really," She squeezed my hand lightly. "Is this your room?"

"Yep!" I grinned and opened the door dramatically. "¡Bienvenido a mi habitacion! ¡Siéntete como en casa!"

"Ahhh very nice," She pointed to my bi flag with a grin.

"Heh... yeah. Put that up when I was 15," I threw my backpack down next to my desk and went over to my dresser to find clothes to wear while we were working.

"You were already out at 15?" Amity asked me.

"I was a very open and optimistic 15 year old," I chuckled. "Didn't turn out all bad, but it definitely was an interesting approach."

"I don't think I was even out to myself at 15," She continued to stand in the middle of my room awkwardly.

"You can sit down, you know," I smiled at her over my shoulder. "You look awkward just standing there."

"Oh, right," Amity walked over to my bed and sat down on the very edge of it with her hands crossed in her lap and her back straight.

I sighed and chuckled as I turned back to my dresser, digging for stuff that I didn't care if it got too dirty. I pulled out one of my old black t-shirts and a pair of shorts for Amity to wear, but as for myself, I didn't have any other clean clothes to do work in.

"Here," I handed the t-shirt and shorts to Amity. "Looks like this is all I got, so I'm just gonna have to wear my old basketball shorts and a sports bra." I shrugged and grabbed my basketball shorts.

"Um, do you want me to go to the bathroom to change?" Amity quietly asked.

"You don't have to. I promise I'll just look at the window," I suggested.

"O-okay..." She turned around to face the opposite wall.

I quickly got changed and I heard the shuffling of Amity doing the same behind me. After a little while, I heard a soft 'okay' from the Blight behind me.

"You good?" I asked, wanting to make sure I didn't make her uncomfortable.

I heard her take a deep breath. "Yeah,"

I turned around to see that Amity had her uniform neatly folded in a little pile in her arms with her eyes trained on the ground. She was also wearing my shirt, which was a little big on her, but my shorts seemed to fit her just fine. She'd also quickly thrown her hair in a messy bun, and the whole getup gave me a warm feeling inside.

"You look beautiful..." I muttered without thinking.

I saw her face turn red and she seemed to relax a little. "Thank you," She then looked up at me, in nothing but basketball shorts and a sports bra, and if possible, her face went redder.

"Like what you see?" I jokingly asked, holding my arms slightly away from my sides almost as if I was presenting myself.

"Um, where do you want me to put this?" She asked me, avoiding the question.

"You can just set them on my bed," I started to put my uniform away as well. After that was done, I held out my hand. "You ready to get started?"

Amity just nodded and took my hand. I guided her out of my room, down the hall and the stairs, out the front door, and around the side of the house to a different door. Eda has always called this part of the house the shed, but it doesn't resemble a shed in the slightest. It's built off the side of the main house, but it doesn't connect inside. What I assume it was intended for is a guest house, but for one, Eda doesn't have guests, and for two, it doesn't have any air conditioning, which was not ideal for the summer months. When you walk into the shed, there's a wooden staircase on the right wall that leads up to the loft, a bunch of randomly placed windows on the left wall, a tiny little bathroom hid under the stairs, and a sorry excuse for a kitchen in the back right corner. The only thing in the kitchen right now is two little cabinets and a broken refrigerator. Eda didn't really care about this room, so it turned into storage. That's why Amity and I have to clean it out, since there's too much shit in here to do anything.

"So, I guess we should start by getting all these boxes out of here," I clapped my hands together and looked at all of the boxes stacked up.

"What does Eda want us to do with them?" Amity asked, also inspecting the precarious stack.

"She said just to put them in the living room for now. She wanted to look through them and see what she could sell and what she's gonna shove in the attic," I recalled.

"I bet I can carry more boxes in than you," Amity smirked at me.

"Is that a challenge, Blight?" I turned to face her, placing my hands on my hips.

"I dunno, Noceda. You too chicken?" She stepped closer to me, getting up in my face.

"Ha! Me? Chicken? No way," I stepped closer as well until we were only inches away from each other.

"Prove it," She whispered. I saw her eyes dart between my lips and my eyes.

I wanted to kiss her so badly, but I restrained myself and just replied with, "Then I guess I will," and went to go and grab some boxes.

"Hey! No cheating!" Amity grabbed me by my forearm and stopped me from picking anything up. "We have to start at the same time."

"Okay fine," I walked back to the wall of the bathroom and motioned for Amity to stand beside me. "The person with the most boxes by the time we run out wins."

"Alright. Good luck Noceda," She smirked. "You'll need it."

"Sure I will," I chuckled. "Okay, on three. One... two... three!"

The two of us sprinted to the stack of boxes and started piling them into our arms, and then we sprinted to the living room to drop them off. We did this over and over again for what felt like hours in the heat. By the time we were done, I'd carried 24 boxes into the living room.

"How many?" I panted with my hands on my knees.

"22," Amity had a hand on her hip and was breathing heavily.

"Ha! I win!" I raised my arms triumphantly.

"What? How many did you get then?" 

"24 baby!" I pumped my fists. "Well, that was fun, but we've gotta clean this place up a bit. How about we tackle the loft first?" I suggested.

"Sure," Amity walked towards the stairs, but stopped. "What do we have to do up there?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not sure," I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck. "I guess we can go check it out."

Amity climbed the stairs before me, and when she reached the top, I heard a small gasp.

"Wow..." She sounded stunned.

"What is it?" I mounted the last few stairs and my jaw dropped.

On the far wall, there was a circular stained glass window that was divided in two. One side was the night sky, the moon shining brightly and stars scattered throughout. The other side depicted either a sunrise or sunset just above the crest of a hill. Other than the beautiful window, there was an old bed frame, a discarded recliner, and a worn-out love seat couch all placed around the space. It seems like at one point Eda had tried to do something with the loft and gave up half way through the project.

"How does someone make something like that..?" Amity walked closer to the window to get a better look at it.

"I don't even know..." I walked up next to her. "Heh... it's both of our favorite times of day." I pointed out.

"Look at that," She smiled. "I don't know why, but the night sky is just something else to me."

"Yeah, it is pretty," I paused. "But not as pretty as you." I gave her a cheesy smile and pointed finger guns in her direction.

I could see her cheeks get slightly pink at that comment. "Have you looked at yourself recently?" She said shyly.

I felt myself blush and I chuckled lightly, looking away from Amity. There was silence as both of us took a moment to calm down our blushing faces. "Heh... anyways," I looked back to Amity and saw that she was still looking directly at me. "Why don't we go and grab some cleaning stuff and get this whole place all shiny, yeah?"

"Lead the way," Amity took my hand again and I led her down the stairs, back into the house, and to the laundry room to grab all the cleaning supplies. Once we'd returned with those, we got to work.

It was grueling in the heat, and by the time we were finished, both of us were caked in dust, dirt, and sweat. But I must say, the shed looked a lot better.

Amity and I were standing in the middle of the first floor, catching our breath and trying to cool off a bit. 

"I'm getting an air conditioner for in here 'cause it's hot as hell," I said as I took off my beanie to ruffle my sweaty hair. "No way I'm gonna do band practice in this shit."

"Your hair looks soft," Amity said, her gaze transfixed on my hair.

I walked over to her, grabbed her wrist, and placed her hand on the top of my head. She ruffled it and ran her hand through it. I hummed lightly and dragged her up the stairs to sit on the loveseat.

"What are you doing?" She asked once we'd sat down.

"Thought we could get more comfortable," I said simply, placing her hand back on my head. "My mom was the only one who used to do this. It feels nice."

Amity softly smiled. "You wanna tell me about her?"

"Maybe some other time..." I sunk slightly into the couch. Thinking about my mom still hurt, even though it was all four years ago.

"That's okay," Amity tilted my head so that I looked her in the eye. "Take your time."

I stared into her golden eyes. Her gaze was caring and comforting, but my eyes flickered down to her lips, and then back to her eyes. I turned more to face her completely. I saw her eyes flicker down to my lips as well.

"Can I kiss you?" I asked quietly.

Chapter Text

Amity P.O.V.

When Luz asked that simple four word question, my brain broke. Yes, I wanted to kiss her. That was an obvious answer. But my brain was failing me and I couldn't form words. So, I just nodded.

She quickly closed the small gap between us, and I didn't hesitate in kissing back. It was an entirely new sensation; miles different from how it's felt to kiss any other girl. This was the first time I understood what all those romance books had said about a spark. I thought that I've felt it before, but the electricity that ran through my entire body when Luz's lips touched mine blew every other interaction I've had out of the water.

After a moment, she pulled away and looked me in the eye. My brain went into gay panic mode. Part of me wanted to celebrate and make a big deal out of it, but another part of me wanted to go and hide. Not because I didn't like it. No, far from it. Just because I was so overwhelmed. I was also torn, because I wanted to kiss her, but I also wanted her to kiss me. We just stared at each other, waiting for one of us to make a move.

"Fuck it," Luz stopped all the thoughts running through my brain when she leaned in and connected our lips again. This time, it got more passionate. I felt Luz's hand make its way up to tangle itself in my hair as she tilted her head to get closer to me. I took my hand and ran it up her toned arm, stopping at her neck. She shifted and started to lay me back on the couch without breaking the kiss.

When we were both severely out of breath, we separated again. After taking a minute to breathe, I grabbed Luz by the collar. "Kiss me again,"

She didn't hesitate in doing so, and before I knew what was going on, we were both laying down on the small couch and Luz was on top of me.

"Are you okay?" Luz asked after she disconnected our lips.

I just nodded and pulled her down by her collar, which was still in my hand. 

But before we could get into it again, someone burst through the door to the shed.

"Hey Luz!" I didn't recognize the voice, but that didn't matter as Luz and I scrambled to get out of the position we were in.

"What do you want, King?" Luz got up completely and walked over to the railing that was around the edge of the loft.

"Oh! There you are! Eda was wondering if your little friend was staying for dinner." King's voice was surprisingly high for someone that I knew from conversations with Luz was our age.

Luz looked over at me and cocked her head. "Do you wanna stay for dinner?"

I looked at Luz's discarded phone for the time, and saw that it was only 5:15. "Sure. That would be nice,"

"Cool!" Luz's face lit up. "She is, King."

"Yeah, yeah I heard," King shut the door and Luz and I were alone again.

"Sorry about that," Luz held her hand out to help me up.

"No no, it's alright," I took her hand and she pulled me up.

"You should probably shower off. It would be really suspicious if you went home sweaty and covered in dirt," Luz pointed out.

"Yeah, it probably would be," I ran my hands through my hair to smooth it out a bit and followed Luz down the stairs and back into the house.

I had a crazy idea as Luz and I were walking up to her room, and I was a little nervous to ask it, but I would never know if I didn't try. 

When Luz went to her dresser to grab herself some different clothes, I took the risk.

"Um, Luz?" My voice was quiet, as I didn't want her to hear it break out of nervousness.

"What's up?" She turned to face me.

"Do you maybe wanna, um, shower together?" I looked at the ground and hugged myself nervously.

Why did I ask that? What the hell is wrong with me?

All the negative thoughts were wiped from my brain when Luz replied with an enthusiastic, "Sure! I mean... uh... yeah! That would, uh, be cool," 

Luz got herself some clothes to change into and led me to the bathroom. She grabbed two towels, turned on the shower, and set her clothes in a pile on the counter.

"Do you want to go in first?" Luz asked me, her face completely red.

"Um, sure," I quickly took off the clothes I was wearing and pulled back the curtain to get into the shower, returning it to its place after I'd entered. I stood under the flowing water and closed my eyes, letting the hot water fall over me. Soon after, I heard the curtain open and close and I turned around to see Luz with her eyes trained on the ground. "Hey, you can look at me," I said softly.

She slowly raised her gaze and her eyes met with mine. "You're so fucking pretty,"

I couldn't see my face, but I can bet that it looked like a tomato. "Speak for yourself, Noceda,"

She chuckled at that. "There's the flirty Amity,"

"What, you like being told you're pretty?" I stepped closer to her and ran my finger down her jawline, leaving a trail of water.

"Only by you, princesa," She placed her hand on my cheek and leaned down to peck me on the lips. It made my heart flutter. I couldn't believe this was happeneing.

I wanted to get as much out of this encounter as I could, so I risked it and asked another embarrassing question. "Would you like me to wash your hair?"

Luz smiled warmly and nodded, reaching over to grab her products as she did so. "Here, let me switch with you first," She grabbed me by the waist and moved me in a circle so that she was now sitting under the water. "There. Now I can actually get my hair wet."

I smiled and turned my attention to washing her short hair. It was a little bit sad that I had to stand on my tip toes and extend my arms all the way to even reach her head, but I managed. I occasionally glanced at Luz's face, and every time she was just softly smiling at me. It made the blush on my face grow.

When I'd finished with her, she spun me around again. "Your turn, hermosa," 

I just nodded. Words were failing me. Again. She delicately ran her hands through my teal hair, and poured some shampoo into her palm, massaging it gently into my scalp. I can't lie, this was calming me down. School is always stressful when you have parents that ride your ass about anything below a 98%, so this vulnerable and serene moment brought down my anxiety levels. Before I knew it, Luz had finished cleaning my hair, so we both quickly washed off our bodies and exited the warmth of the shower. We threw on our clothes and made our way back into Luz's room, and she immediately flopped onto her bed and sighed.

"You know, you look really pretty with your hair down," Luz lifted her head and softly smiled.

I blushed a bit. "You look really nice without your beanie," I walked over and ruffled her still slightly damp hair. "You should wear it less."

"Nah. This is only for you, princesa," She grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to her. "Lay with me?"

"Not with you hanging half way off the bed," I chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, right," Luz repositioned. "That wouldn't be comfortable would it?"

"No, it really wouldn't," I crawled up to lay beside her. She wrapped me in a hug and I rested my head on her chest, intertwining our legs as I did. "Is this okay?" I looked up to make sure I wasn't making Luz uncomfortable.

"Very," Luz said simply, hugging me back to her chest. 

"Good," I smiled and buried my face into Luz, enjoying her warmth. It was almost overwhelming how comforting she was. Just being around her made me feel like I was wrapped in a soft, fluffy blanket, and there was someone whispering to me that everything was going to be alright. Something about this girl just made me feel safe.

Our comfortable silence was broken by a phone vibrating. Luz sighed and removed one of her arms from around me to grab her phone. She chuckled and I felt her shake her head.

"What is it?" I asked, looking up.

"King just being his weird-ass self," Luz turned her phone around to show me what was on the screen. There were messages between her and her brother. The older texts were irrelevant, especially considering I didn't have context, but what immediately caught my eye was the video that King had just sent Luz. It was titled, "THE EARTH IS FLAT! EVIDENCE AND EXPLANATION!"

"What the fuck?" I burst out laughing, which triggered Luz to do the same.

"I don't even know! This is the weird shit he sends me!" Luz flipped her phone back to look at it and I could see her scrolling up. "Here's another one." She showed me another video, but this one was called, "cute cats fighting to make ur day".

"How does he simultaneously get stuff about the earth being flat and cats fighting?" I asked, amused.

"I dunno, but I do know that he spends waaayyyy too much time on the internet," Luz laughed again and turned off her phone, placing it on her night stand before wrapping her arms back around me. "Do you want to go downstairs and see what they're getting to eat?"

"If it's alright with you, I'd be fine with staying here for a little while," I snuggled more into her embrace.

She started to slowly run her hand through my hair. "That's what I was hoping you would say," Even though I couldn't see her face, I could hear the smile in her voice.

It was calming. Life is stressful, and this down time with this person that made me feel so safe was the perfect antidote. The serenity of it all made me want to just fall asleep, and I nearly did, but I was jolted awake by someone yelling from downstairs.

"Luz! Food's here!" It was Eda, and the sudden loud voice made Luz jump.

"Prepare yourself, I gotta yell back or she'll come up here," Luz warned me. I covered my ears, and Luz shouted back. "We'll be down in a second!" She sighed and I uncovered my ears. "Sorry about that. I wear headphones a lot and if I don't respond quickly, Eda marches up here and just about breaks my door down."

"That's a little over the top," I chuckled and got off of Luz so that she could stand.

"That about describes Eda," Luz sat up and stretched her arms, and as she did, I saw that my wet hair had left a mark on her shirt.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I got your shirt wet," I pointed down at her chest.

"It's fine," Luz shrugged. "I'll just change really quickly." Before I could even react, Luz whipped her shirt off and walked over to her dresser to grab another. 

It made my face flush red—even though I'd literally just showered with her—and I looked away to give her some privacy.

Luz noticed my flustered expression and chuckled. "You know, I don't care if you look at me," She pulled a different t-shirt over her head. This one was black and had a little purple otter on the front and white block letters that read, 'otterly adorable'. 

"Sorry," I looked back up, my cheeks still dusted red.

"No need to apologize," Luz walked back over to me and grabbed my hand. "Now let's go eat."

Luz took me downstairs, through the living room, and into the kitchen, where King and Eda were already seated and eating Chinese takeout.

"Took you two long enough," Eda snorted.

"Bet they were just making out on the bed," King laughed and went to grab more food.

My face—after just calming down I might add—was a tomato. I looked over at Luz to see her in the same state.

"No! We were not making out on my bed!" Luz looked very flustered, so I decided to mess with  her too.

"Oh, but I bet you wanted to," I elbowed her in the side jokingly.

Eda and King both burst out laughing, and King nearly knocked over his drink. Luz looked at me slightly startled, but just smiled at me and walked over to a chair, sitting down and motioning me to sit next to her.

When they calmed down after a second, Eda looked me up and down with a massive grin. "You're alright in my book, kid,"

"Because I was definitely looking for your approval," Luz gave Eda a look and reached out for one of the boxes of food.

"Well, you still live under my roof, so if I hate your date, they aren't coming here," Eda pointed at Luz with her fork.

The rest of dinner was uneventful. There was some casual small talk, getting to know each other a bit better, and everyone messing with each other. This whole house is something else, I must say. After we ate, Luz introduced me to Eda's pet birds, Hooty and Owlbert. Hooty tried to nest himself in my hair, and trust me when I say I didn't let that happen.

"I'm sorry about Hooty, he can be a pain in the ass," We were back in Luz's room and she pulled me back over to her bed.

"It's fine. I just won't go near him again," I shrugged. "But what do you wanna do now? I don't have to go home for another hour or so."

"Well, we could go back to what we were doing before," Luz eyed me hopefully from her seat on her bed.

"Do you mean before dinner or back in the shed?" I raised an eyebrow. Her request was very vague, and I wasn't sure if she was referring to the making out or the cuddling.

"Before dinner," Luz opened her arms and warmly smiled. "Unless you wanna do what King accused us of." She gave me a mischievous look and tilted her head slightly.

"You know what, cuddles sound nice," I ignored the last thing she said. I'm not ready for where that was going yet. I mean, I just met her like three days ago. But we're already so close, that these three days have felt like months in the best way possible.

"Alright, princesa," She leaned forward to grab my hand and pull me towards her. It made me yelp slightly, and that made Luz chuckle. "You're cute when you're not trying to be little miss perfect."

"Are you saying I'm not cute when I am?"

"Nah, little miss perfect Amity is kinda hot," Thank god that Luz had just pulled me back into the position we were in before and she couldn't see my face light up like a stoplight. "But Amity at the club," She whistled. "She's real hot."

"Are you just trying to make me melt?" My voice was muffled, since I was still trying to hide my face.

"Well, considering how warm your face is, I think I'm succeeding," Luz laughed smugly.

Before I could say anything else, Luz's phone buzzed again, and one of her arms was removed from me to retrieve it. This time, she didn't laugh. I heard and felt her heart speed up and her breathing became shallower. I got worried, and looked up to see her face was shocked, but she quickly shook it off and put her phone down.

"Are you okay?" I put my hand on her cheek to make her look at me.

"Yeah!" Her voice was almost too enthusiastic. "I'm great!"

"Are you sure?" I didn't want to let on that I could tell she wasn't, but I did want to give her the opportunity to talk.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Luz smiled and put her hand on top of mine, leaning into my touch. "Thank you for worrying about me though."

"Just know, Luz, I'm here if you ever need it," I scooted up a bit to peck her on the lips, and then I went back down to put my head back on her chest.

"Thank you, hermosa," She gave me a soft kiss on the top of my head and snuggled me closer. After that, a comfortable silence fell over the room, and Luz's breathing and heart rate went back to normal.

I wonder what message could have made her freak like that?  

I told myself not to worry about it and that if Luz needed anything, she would let me know. I mean, it can't be that bad, right? Yeah. Yeah! If it was, she would tell me.

My last hour at the Owl House flew by, and the next thing I knew, Luz was walking me out to her car to take me home.

"So, the plan for tomorrow is to meet up here after school," Luz told me as we got in the front seats. "Willow and Gus are carpooling so we don't have like seven cars here, so if you don't mind asking Boscha and Skara to do the same, that would be great."

"Boscha usually brings me and Skara to and from school anyways, so I'll just tell them to come here instead," I buckled my seatbelt and double checked that I had my phone. 

"Perfect. At some point tonight, can you text Boscha and tell her to bring her bass? I don't have one and I wanna make sure hers can hook up to my equipment," Luz asked me as we drove off from her house.

"What do you already have?"

"I've got a couple of speakers, some extension chords, two electric guitars, a keyboard, and a drum set," Luz rattled off.

"Man you really are musical," I chuckled as Luz pulled out of the back roads and towards my house.

"I go through phases with instruments, but guitar has stuck around the longest," She shrugged. "Eda usually gets me the other stuff second hand, so it's not in the best shape when I get it, but I clean everything up. The guitars, however, are both bought new. You can rock on one of those during practice so you don't have to bring yours back and forth from the club. I assume you keep it there, right?"

"Yeah, if my parents ever found it, it'd be destroyed before I could say anything," I winced at the thought of all that money I spent being wasted because of my mom's stupid image for the Blights. "I spent way too much of my own money on that thing for me to let that happen."

"Yeah, guitars are expensive," Luz shook her head as we pulled onto the street that would lead to my house. "Especially if you want a good one."

"I know! It took me so long to save up for mine. Especially since I was too stubborn to ask my parents to buy me a car so I was basically broke to begin with," I rolled my eyes at how stubborn my 16-year-old self was. Honestly, I should have just let my parents get me a car, and then I wouldn't be in the situation I'm in now; hitching rides to and from school makes me feel like a bother.

"What happened to your car?" Luz asked innocently.

"It was a piece of shit, and it gave out on me recently. I've been getting rides everywhere, which sucks, but I have a better car on its way," I explained. "My parents have some weird grudge on American car dealers so they have them shipped in from Europe."

"Ha! Imagine having enough money to get a car shipped in," She laughed. "We just buy what we can afford in the used dealerships. That's why I got this hunk of junk. It may or may not die someday soon."

"Well, when I get a car, I'll drive you around so you don't have to worry about that," I smiled over at Luz. Something about the lighting made my breath catch in my throat. The sun shone off her chocolate colored skin, and her hazel eyes sparkled in the light. To say the least, she looked pretty. "Wow you look really good right now..."

This made Luz blush. "You can take a picture if you want," she timidly looked back at me. "It'll last longer."

I quickly pulled my phone out so that I didn't miss the moment and snapped the picture. That's going to be my wallpaper...

"How does it look?" We'd just pulled up to my house and Luz put the car in park, looking over my shoulder to see how the picture turned out.

"Hot," I said simply. This made Luz's face turn all new kinds of red. I noted that she responded more to being called hot than pretty. It made sense, since she wasn't a very feminine person, so being hot probably appealed to her more than being pretty. "That's definitely gonna be my wallpaper."

"Hey, now I need one of you," Luz whipped out her phone with a stupid—but cute—grin on her face. "The lighting is really good here and I want a cute background too."

I chuckled and turned my head towards the passenger side window. "Well you don't get to see my face. I don't need someone accidentally seeing that and getting any ideas,"

"Says the person that's gonna put me as their wallpaper," Luz chuckled, but tapped my shoulder, signaling me that she took the picture.

"Well, I don't show anyone my phone, so I have nothing to worry about," I smiled smugly.

"What if I don't show my phone to anyone?" Luz smiled right back, getting closer to my face as she did.

"I can't trust just your word, can I?" I moved towards her as well, flickering my eyes down to her lips and quickly back to her eyes.

"I guess you can't," Her eyes went down as well, but she brought them back up slowly, meeting my eyes with a soft look. I saw her open her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.

"You don't even have to ask," I anticipated her question and started to lean in.

She met me with a soft kiss, both our eyes closed and slowly moving within our own rhythm. I brought my hand up to tangle itself in her chocolate brown hair, and I felt her hand snake it's way up my arm and down my back to come to a stop on my waist. After a few more moments of that, we both pulled back and took a deep breath, looking into each other's eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Luz ran her hand back up my arm to cup my cheek.

I leaned into her touch and smiled. "Alright, I'll see you," I grabbed my things from the back seat and climbed out of the car, waving to her as she drove off. I made my way inside my house and closed the door behind me.

I let out a sigh, and was immediately swarmed by my siblings.

"Heyyy Mittens~!" Emira placed a hand on one of my shoulders, leaning in to say it right in my ear.

"How was your little date~?" Edric copied the actions of his twin.

"Shut the fuck up," I shrugged off their hands and walked quickly towards the stairs.

"Hey it was just a question," Emira said as she and Edric scrambled to follow me up the stairs and down the hall to my room.

"A question that I'm not answering out here," I flung my bedroom door open and put my stuff down by my desk, watching as my siblings came in after me and closed the door. I sat down on my bed, waiting for them to ask what they wanted to ask.

"So?" Edric started.

"How was it?" Em finished with a warm and understanding smile.

I let out my breath, not realizing that I was holding it in, and spoke quietly towards my soft carpet. "It was amazing..."

"That's good!" Emira walked over to me and knelt down so that I was looking at her. "So why do you look so... sad?"

"I'm not sad," I quickly reassured her. "I'm just... kind of overwhelmed? And a bit confused."

Em and Ed gave each other a look, and then they turned their attention back to me.

"Good overwhelmed or bad overwhelmed?" Edric asked me seriously.

"Good?" I looked at him so he could see the look on my face. "I'm just feeling so many new and different things, and I'm not sure what to think about it."

"Well, if you could describe these feelings, maybe we could help you figure out what they are," Emira suggested, moving to sit next to me on my bed.

"Yeah!" Edric sat down on my other side. "First of all, we are talking about Luz, right?"

"Yes, you dumbass!" Emira hissed, glaring at her twin.

"Sorry, sorry! Just clarifying!" He raised his hands in surrender.

"Anyways," Emira turned her attention back to me. "You wanna try and describe those feelings now?" Her voice was gentle and reassuring. It made me relax a bit, knowing that they were only trying to help me.

"She just makes me feel so calm, and warm, and safe," I rattled off, keeping my eyes on the ground. "Every time I'm around her, my face heats up and I start panicking, but it's not a bad panic. It's kind of exhilarating and freeing. And kissing her is like nothing I've ever experienced before."

"Wait, back up," Edric stopped me. "You guys kissed?"

"Yeah," I smiled, remembering the events of this afternoon. "And then we, uh, showered together. And cuddled on her bed." I felt my face heating up. It was weird saying it out loud.

I looked up to see both of the twins staring at me with disbelief written on their faces.

It was a few more seconds until Emira said something. "Wow, sis, you are winning,"

"Yeah, no shit!" Edric laughed and slapped me on the back. "I mean, I've always heard that lesbian relationships were fast, but damn!"

I blushed profusely, and looked back down at the carpet. "But I don't want to go so fast that I scare her away,"

"Oh, trust me Mittens," Emira put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "If you guys are already doing all that, and it is completely consensual, she is so into you,"

I perked up. "You think?"

"I don't just think, I know," Emira smiled at me warmly. "And from what I can tell, all these things you're feeling are completely normal and good things to be feeling for someone like Luz is to you."

I sighed and flopped backwards onto my bed. "Thanks, you guys,"

"It's nothing, Mittens," Edric gave me his signature dorky smile.

"Yeah, we're always here to help, okay?" Emira stood, dragging her twin with her. "But we'll leave you to relax before bed. Night, Mittens~!"

"Night, guys," I said reflexively as the twins left my room.

My mind was spinning. There were so many new thoughts and ideas running through my head. God, I really like Luz. There's not another person on this planet like her. She's just so different in the best way. And she likes me? Why would she like me? Why did she even talk to me? I'm no one, but yet she chose to talk with me. She could pull anyone she wanted to, and I'm the one she picked? I definitely would pick her. Am I even ready for a relationship? Yeah, I think so. Especially if it's with her. But I need to take this slow. I don't want to scare her off.

I was snapped out of my trance by the buzzing of my phone.

Luz<3: miss you princesa

I smiled and quickly responded.

Me: miss you too dork

Luz<3: what happened to the french name? it was cute 🥺

Me: tu veux que je parle en francais? (Translation: you want me to speak in French?)

Luz<3: oui oui baguette

Me: d'accord. je ne te parlerai plus jamais anglais (Translation: okay. I'll never speak English to you again)

Luz<3: okay you lost me-

Me: that's the point <3

Luz<3: anygays

Me: wtf-

Luz<3: pick a number between one and two

Me: 1.5

Luz<3: no pick one or two

Me: you said between one and two

Luz<3: yOu KnOw WhAt I mEaN

I started chuckling at my phone and decided to mess with her a bit. It was funny, so why not?

Me: hmm I'm not sure that I do

Luz<3: fuck you

Luz<3: one or two?

Me:  one ig

Luz<3: there you go you did it

Me: what was that even for?

Luz<3: you just unknowingly picked which guitar you will be practicing on

Me: wut-

Luz<3: i have two guitars and i needed to know which one you would use

Me: why not just do that tomorrow...

Luz<3: i dunno

Luz<3: i was bored so i texted you and that's what i thought to talk about

Me: aww how sweet you want to talk to me?

Luz<3: didn't we already discuss this blight?

Me: oh i just wanted to make sure~

Luz<3: ha ha youre so hilarious

Me: I know

There was a moment of radio silence, so I closed messages, thinking that Luz was done talking. But as I was scrolling through Instagram, I got a text back.

Luz<3: hey do you wanna call?

I was quick to respond.

Me: sure!

Within seconds, my screen was filled with the picture I'd taken of Luz earlier today. It made me smile, knowing that I would see that every time she called me. I answered and brought the phone up to my ear.

"Hey Noceda~" I smiled bigger.

"Hello Blight," I could hear the grin in her voice. "Sooo, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, how about you?"

"Drop the formality, Ami," She laughed. "It's just me,"

"No, it is I," I corrected. It was mostly meant to be a joke, but it is also grammatically correct.

"Oh, shut up," She huffed. "I don't care what our ninth grade English teacher had to say, I'm not going around saying, IT IS I!" She put on an accent and lowered the pitch of her voice.

This made me burst out laughing at how ridiculous she sounded. "What the fuck was that?"

"My accent!" She chirped. "I know, I know, it's the greatest accent you've ever heard. Don't need to tell me twice."

I just laughed more, starting to lose my breath. After a moment, I calmed down enough to form a coherent sentence. "Yes. Absolutely the best thing I've heard,"

"Your laugh is pretty," Her voice sounded kind of distant. As if her mind had started to wander and those words left her mouth without permission. All the same, it made my face explode in red. "Woah my mouth just totally disconnected from my brain there." She laughed, and I could almost see her shaking her head in embarrassment.

"Oh, so you don't mean it?" I joked with a grin.

"I never said that, now did I?" She rebuked.

We spent hours talking. It was getting to be almost 10:30 when Luz finally decided that she should go to sleep. She took her time in hanging up, but when she did, I was left staring at my ceiling with a stupid grin on my face. 

This girl! She's... amazing. In every way shape and form, this girl is the best thing that has happened to me in a long shot. I can't believe how close we already are, and how easy it is to spill out my guts to her. 

I thought about all these feelings coursing through my body, and I think I finally found a word to describe it. It seems a bit eccentric—especially considering how long I've known her—but it fits perfectly.

Love.

Chapter Text

(Isn’t he so beautiful?!?!?)

Luz P.O.V.

I woke with a start, breathing heavily and in a cold sweat. I put a hand on my chest to feel my heart beating rapidly.

It wasn't real... it was just a dream. He's not actually here.

I took a deep breath and looked over at my clock to see that it was 4:30 in the morning.

Great. Now I'm not gonna be able to go back to sleep.

I sighed and got out of bed, deciding to go and get a glass of water. When I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen, the lights were off, but the moon shining through the window was bright enough to illuminate that I wasn't the only one awake.

"Why the hell are you up?" I asked in a raspy voice.

"I could ask you the same thing," King was sitting at the breakfast bar, shirtless and holding a cup filled with something I couldn't identify. Probably milk. I couldn't drink that unless I wanted to hate myself later. Lactose intolerance is wonderful.

"I asked first," I pointed out as I grabbed a glass from the cabinet.

"Fine. If you must know, I couldn't sleep, so here I am," King loudly sipped his drink and shrugged. "Now why are you here? You interrupted my peaceful alone time."

"Nothing important," I lied. "A dream woke me up."

"Ha, wimp! Dreams don't scare me!" He puffed out his chest and smirked.

"Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes and filled my cup with water. "Cause you totally haven't come into my room a hundred times in the middle of the night because you thought there was a monster in your closet."

"Hey! That was when I was like 15!" King said defensively.

"One, that is far too old for that, and two, it was like last week," I gave him a deadpanned look.

"Tomato potato," He shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure that's not the phrase,"

"Shut up you don't know everything," He got up and started walking out of the kitchen. "I'm going back to bed. Night."

"Night," I sat down at another barstool and sipped my water, chuckling lightly.

Not too long later, the memory of my dream came back in full force, causing me to panic slightly.

*in the dreams of a bisexual disaster* (and just to clarify, this part of the dream is a relived memory)

*ding dong!*

"I got it, Eda!" I yelled, getting up from the couch.

When I walked to the door and cracked it open, I was met with a man with jet black hair, slightly tanned skin, and arms covered in tattoos. He was wearing jeans and a hooded jacket with the sleeves cut off which revealed his very muscular arms. His shoes were dingy—used to be white—air forces that were beat up nearly beyond recognition.

"Hey, kid," He waved and gave me a big smile. His teeth were shockingly white. "Is Luz Noceda here?"

"Um, yeah, I'm right here," I gave him a little wave and a grin. "What do you need?"

"Do you mind if I come in?" He took one of his hands out of his pocket and stepped forwards slightly, almost trying to edge himself through the doorway.

"Uh, yeah, I do mind actually," I stood to block more of the doorway so he wouldn't sneak in. "I don't usually let strangers into my house."

"Oh, how rude of me," He placed his free hand on his chest. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tyler-James Waters." He held his hand out to shake.

I took it hesitantly. "Nice to meet you, I guess," I dropped his hand.

"There is one more thing you should know before we get better acquainted," He examined me for a moment, looking from my face, down to my arms and then my long legs. "You really do look a lot like your mother."

"I'm sorry, what?" I stepped back a bit, startled by his comment.

"She was always so good to me," He smiled and looked me in the eye. "But, of course, she wouldn't want to run with someone like me. Especially after having you so young. Apparently I wasn't fit to be a father."

I stood there, frozen in a mixture of shock, fear, and disbelief.

"So, before you were even born, I had to leave. I never got to meet you," His smile turned to one that was slightly sad. "I heard about what happened to your mother. I am terribly sorry for your loss."

I just stood in front of the man, completely frozen in shock. That must have been evident because he spoke up once more.

"Cat got your tongue?" He laughed a bit. "I don't blame you, but I'd like to hear what you have to say."

There was only one answer that came to my mind. I laughed and said, "Yeah, right. Get the hell out of here, creep. My dad doesn't give a shit about me. Not like he would start now."

"But I do care," He frowned slightly at my reaction. "That's why I'm here. To be the father you didn't have because your mother was too much of a goody two shoes." He said the word mother with venom in his voice. It sent a chill down my spine.

I had heard the story from my mom shortly before she died. She was young and stupid. In love with a man who seemed to only be in it for the undivided attention and sex. From what she'd told me, she knew the man didn't love her, but she was determined to make him feel the same that she felt for him. She, of course, left out some details before she got to when she found out she was pregnant with me, but I could fill in the blanks. When she started to suspect something was up, she took a test, and it came back positive.

My mom was 19. She was, at the time, no where near ready to have a kid, but something inside her told her that she wanted this. That's what she said to me, before she also mentioned that that same voice told her that she didn't want the man to be in this child's life. She didn't say it flat out, but I assumed that the man was abusive—whether it was physically or verbally—towards my mom. So she laid down the law, and left him. Telling him nothing about their kid on the way.

She went back home to live with her mami, updating her on her situation, and although she was disappointed, she was always there for her daughter. Little did my mom know, the man had found her positive pregnancy test, and wasn't going to let her walk of that easily, especially since she was carrying his own flesh and blood.

He found where my mom was staying, and broke in, attempting to kidnap her. My abuelo didn't let that happen. He stopped the man and called the police. Shortly after he was arrested, and sentenced to just under two years in jail, along with a $4500 fine. After that, he didn't mess with my mom again, and he never tried to get back into our lives. Until now, evidently.

If this was the same man, I wasn't going to let him anywhere near me for any longer. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm being called to go and help my brother," I lied, pulling out my phone. "I'm afraid that I can't stay. Goodbye!"

"Wait-!" I closed the door in his face before he could protest.

I quickly locked the door and let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

"Who was that, kid?" Eda asked as she descended the stairs.

"Oh, no one. Just trying to get us to buy land on Pluto or some shit," I quickly lied.

Eda cackled. "Sales people just get weirder and weirder!"

I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, they sure do,"

Eda noticed that something was off. "Are you okay kid?"

"Yeah!" I put on a smile. "I'm great! I'm just gonna, go and head off to my room. Didn't get much sleep last night, heh."

"Oh, okay," Eda nodded, but I could tell that the answer didn't satisfy her. "Go off and get some rest then."

"Will do, Eda!" I quickly ran up the stairs and into my room, locking the door behind me. I collapsed on my bed, fear gripping my heart.

*magic dream skip* (this part is actually a dream. It didn't really happen)

I was beginning to drift off to sleep when I heard a crash from downstairs. It made me jump up out of my bed to go and see what was going on. All I could hope was that Eda and King were okay, and that it was just some freak midnight-snack accident. When I was all the way down the stairs, I saw one of the windows shattered and glass all over the floor. This was no accident. Someone broke in. Otherwise the glass would be outside.

I grabbed a red baseball bat that was sitting by the front door and made my way into the kitchen. There, I saw a tall person in all black, with their back turned to me. They were looking at a piece of paper that was sitting on the counter. It was my report card that had just come in. Mostly A's, but the unavoidable B in math. That is not my strong suit by a long shot.

I heard the man chuckle. "You got a B?" He turned around with a malicious smile. It made my heart drop to my stomach. It was my dad.'' "What a disappointment. Just like your mother."

"Hey! You don't get to talk about her like that!" I snapped, raising the bat to show I meant what I said.

"Oh? A feisty one?" He laughed again. "You don't talk back like that to your father." His expression turned cold and menacing. It made me seize up in fear. If I weren't so tense already, he would have been able to tell that I was scared. "Girls that misbehave deserve to be punished." His glare was deadly. All I wanted to do was shrink away and hide, but I had to hold my ground. This was for my mom.

"Fathers that leave their kids don't get that privilege," I snapped at him. Surprisingly, my voice didn't waver.

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

Before I knew what was happening, I was tied to a chair. The bat was gone. My vision was trained on the ground. I felt something hot run down the side of my face, and it fell onto my lips. I licked it off, and that dreadful, yet so rememberable coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. I started internally panicking. The adrenaline pumped through my veins. My heart was racing. Why am I bleeding? Why does everything hurt? When I looked up from the floor, I got my answers. But the answers only threw me into more of a panic.

"Had enough?" The man that called himself my father stood above me. The same liquid that had just fallen into my mouth—presumably from my head—was dripping off the bat. The expression he wore was one that terrorized me, as well as angered me. It was malicious. Cocky. Almost daring.

I bought into it—all common sense has gone out the window at this point—smirking as I said, "You cocky son of a bitch. You think I'm tapping out already? Hit me with all you got. See what happens,"

This made him furious. His eyes lit up, filled with fiery anger. He lifted the bat above his head once more, and the last thing I saw was the red object mere inches from my face.

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

That was when I woke up. It was still fresh in my mind as I was sitting in the kitchen. Even though I knew it wasn't real, the thought of him doing something like that terrified me. Something about it felt so vivid and clear.

I guess the text I got today reminded me of his visit a few months ago. The text was from some random number, but it said something about how there was someone who wanted to catch up, and get to know me better. It was signed T.J.W. So there was no doubt in my mind that it was from my father. I don't know why I didn't tell Eda that it was him that day, or why I didn't tell Amity what was bothering me.

All I want right now is to hold her in my arms. It comforted me way more than anything else has. However, it is in fact 4:45 in the morning, and I highly doubt that she's awake.

I finished my water, made a quick stop in the bathroom, and made my way back to my room. I climbed into my bed, slipping under the covers and trying my best to clear my mind.

It seemed like fovrever until I fell asleep, but mere seconds before I woke up again. My alarm was blaring, and I dragged myself out of bed.

When I picked up my phone to turn the alarm off, I had a text from Amity, and it made me smile.

Amity❤️: good morning ☀️

I quickly responded.

Me: good morning princesa

I went to go and get ready, expecting that Amity would be done talking, but to my surprise, she sent me another text.

Amity❤️: do you wanna meet me at the cafe before school to get some coffee?

I smiled. Even after a bad night, she could make me smile. God, was I falling hard.

Me: I'd love to 😊

Me: what time you thinking?

Amity❤️: seven maybe?

Amity❤️: so we have a little time before first bell

Me: sounds great hermosa

I turned of my phone and threw it back on my bed, hurrying to get ready so that I was on time.

Once I had finished getting ready, I grabbed my phone back, seeing that I had another message from Amity.

Amity❤️: i hate to be that guy, but i need a ride there-

Amity❤️: Boscha's not getting me today for some reason

I laughed lightly with a smile on my face. Of course she would go out of her way to plan something and then not have a way to get there.

Me: i'll be there in like five minutes

Making sure to grab all of my things from my room, I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Eda was sitting alone at the breakfast bar, King nowhere in sight. I assumed that he was still asleep after his 4 am 'alone time'.

"Morning, Eda," I gave her a small wave and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

"Morning, kid," She took a long sip of her coffee. She looked tired as well. Did no one in this house sleep last night?

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked with a bit of a smirk.

"It's that noticeable?" She sighed. I just nodded. "Yeah, I guess it was just one of those nights."

I laughed and shoved my water bottle in the side pocket of my backpack.

"What's so funny?" Eda snapped.

"Nothing, nothing," I raised my hands. "Apparently no one could sleep last night. I came down here at 4 am and King was just sitting at the counter drinking milk."

Eda just chuckled lightly. She must have been really tired not to laugh harder at that. "Sounds about right,"

I nodded, and started to make my way out the door. "Well, I'm off!" I'd almost left the kitchen before I remembered that the rest of the band would be coming over today. "Oh! Also! The band is gonna meet up here today. We'll set up the shed and talk about stuff. If you wanna meet everyone we'll be here after school." I informed Eda.

"Yeah, great, whatever," Eda waved her hand and got up to refill her coffee mug. "See ya kid."

I sniggered. "See you," After finally making my way out of the house, I threw my shit in the car and climbed in the front seat, turning the ignition as I fastened my seatbelt.

The drive to Amity's house was calm. Peaceful. The sunrise was especially beautiful this morning; pink flowing with orange and blue to paint the sky like a picture. I hoped that it was a harbinger of a good day to come. When I pulled up to Amity's driveway, I saw her sitting on a small bench next to the gate.

She quickly got up when she saw me, going to put her things in the back seat before sitting with me in the front.

"Good morning, princesa!" I smiled at her as she clicked her seatbelt into place.

"Good morning," She looked over at me with the most adorable face and grabbed my offered hand. Her expression was somewhat like a kid who was just told they were going to get ice cream for breakfast.

It only made my smile grow as I backed out of her driveway and began the drive back to Cassie's Cafe. Since it was pretty early in the morning, the traffic wasn't bad, and we arrived in under five minutes. The ride over was silent. There was just nothing to be said at the moment. We just sat with the radio softly playing, holding hands and relaxing in the other's presence.

Once I'd parked, I glanced over to see the teal haired girl staring at me. As soon as I turned my head, however, she whipped around and pretended to be really interested in the neon flashing "OPEN" sign.

I laughed lightly. "I don't care if you look at me," I gently tilted her head to face me and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

She kissed me back, slow and languid. It didn't last, and she pulled away to get out of the car. "You wanna get some coffee now?" She caressed my cheek, sending a warm sensation of comfort through my body. All I could do was nod with a gentle smile.

We exited my vehicle, not bothering to get our things out of the back, and entered the cafe. There were a few men in business attire sitting at tables with laptops and coffee in hand, but it wasn't crowded in the slightest.

"Good morning Luz! Ah, I see you brought Miss Amity back!" Mrs. Cassie beamed from her position behind the counter. "What can I get you two on this fine morning?"

"I'll take my usual," I grabbed my wallet from my pocket, preparing to pay her before she forgot about it, and turned to Amity, silently asking what she wanted.

"Oh," She turned to look at the menu. "Um, I'll have an iced mocha please."

"Alrighty! Those'll be up shortly!" Mrs. Cassie turned to go and start making our drinks.

"Um, Mrs. Cassie?" I called after her.

She paused and turned around. "Was that not all?"

"No, I just need to pay," I gave her a small smile.

She shook her head and laughed. "Yes, that would be a good thing for business, wouldn't it?" She punched some things into her little register. "That'll be 8.56 total!"

I handed her a ten, and waited for her to pass back my change. "Thank you,"

"It's no problem, sweetie," She brightly smiled again. "Those drinks will be out shortly!"

I nodded and pulled Amity off to sit in my corner while we waited.

"So," I began. "Any particular reason you wanted to meet up with me this morning?"

Amity blushed. "Is it so bad that I like spending time with you?"

"No no, it's fine, just curious," I grinned at how easily I could fluster her. "I just wouldn't expect someone like you to want to hang around with me."

"What do you mean?" She looked at me with concern.

"Well, before high school, I was a nobody. A weirdo that was outcast from every friend group at least once and some twice," I sighed with a sad smile. "I was a minority on many fronts, but the one that people hated the most was, ahem." I held up a peace sign. "They called me slurs, bullied me, etcetera. So, to be honest, I'm still not used to the fact that people like me for, well, me." I shrugged and looked over to gauge Amity's reaction.

She was staring at me with utter confusion and shock. "I still don't understand how people think that it's okay to do shit like that," Amity huffed, anger filling her tone. "It's so fucked up that kids, especially who are minorities, are treated like that."

"Tell me about it," I rolled my eyes, matching her frustrated energy. "I mean, I know you're gay, but imagine being bi and Latina."

"I'm sorry for what you had to go through," She grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. "If it makes you feel any better, I grew up in a homophobic household and I thought that my sexuality was a point of failure for a long time."

"Well, it is kind of better knowing we both had to go through shit to get where we are now," I smiled and squeezed her hand lightly.

Before we could say anything else on the topic, Mrs. Cassie boisterously walked up to us with our drinks. "Here you are ladies!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Cassie," I took my drink from her hand just as Amity took hers.

"It's nothing, dearie!" She smiled and walked away, ebullient as ever.

I chuckled and turned back to Amity, who was staring at me with the cutest little look. She immediately jumped, but she didn't turn away like last time. "Sorry... you're just cute to look at," Despite her still facing my direction, she avoided eye contact.

"Says you," I laughed and stood up. We were still holding hands, so I pulled her with me. "But you ready to get to school?"

"I guess so," She sighed and followed me out of the cafe, both of us thanking Mrs. Cassie again as we left.

The drive to the school was as quiet and comfortable as the first. But when we pulled into the parking lot, I felt Amity tense.

"What's up?" I glanced at her to see that she looked a bit nervous.

"Nothing," She sighed and sank down in her seat. "I just didn't think about the fact that people will see me riding to school with you."

"Oh," My eyes widened. "Right. Forgot about that part. Do you want me to pull around the back or something?"

"No, it's okay. I'll just leave before you, if that's alright,"

I nodded and spoke softly. "Of course," Then I quickly pulled into my parking spot and started to gather my things while Amity climbed out of my car. "See you in English!"

"Bye, Luz," She smiled and closed the door, heading off towards the entrance.

God that girl is going to kill me.

*le bi time skip*

The first two bells went by quickly, and before I knew it, I was walking into Mr. K's room and sitting down next to Amity.

"Hey, princesa," I dropped my backpack on the ground and flopped into my chair.

"Hey, dork," She already had her laptop out and was writing down a few things on a small notepad.

"You sure are prepared," I chuckled and pulled out my own laptop. "What are you even working on?"

"Next week's prompt," She said tersely, not bothering to look up.

I just nodded, noting that she wanted to focus, and waited for Mr. K to start the class.

No more than two minutes later, he did, and just about as quickly as my first two classes went, third period was over with the ring of the bell. I started to pack up and leave when I heard a small noise from behind me.

When I turned around, Amity was sheepishly looking at the ground, but kept flickering her eyes up at me. I raised an eyebrow and gave her a confused look.

"Do you want to, um, walk to history with me?" She asked quietly.

I smiled warmly. "I'd love to, hermosa," I waved for her to follow me, and she did without hesitation.

As we were on our way to the history room, I felt a buzz from my pocket and pulled my phone out subconsciously to check and see if it was something important from Eda or King.

What I wasn't expecting was another message from dear old dad. It read, "If you don't start answering me when I message you, we're going to have an issue sweetheart."

I felt sick to my stomach and I stopped walking. I saw Amity stop shortly in front of me and look back. Her confused expression quickly turned to one of worry when she saw my face, undoubtedly drained of color.

"Are you okay?" She came up to me and stood a few inches away to try and give me comfort without giving away to the rest of the school that we were closer than we let on.

I nodded, and pulled my backpack off my shoulder. "Do you mind taking this to class and telling the teacher I'm in the bathroom?"

Amity gave me another worried glance, but took my bag. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah..." My voice was betraying me, and gave off that I was, in fact, not alright.

Amity just nodded slowly and started walking to history, which let me speed walk to the bathroom without worrying about being marked tardy.

When I pushed through the door and entered the large stall at the back, not bothering to lock the door behind me, I sank down the wall, coming to sit on the ground with my head between my knees.

My breaths were shaky and my heart was pounding. It felt like there was a knot tightening in the pit of my stomach and my heart was going to combust.

I sat there for god knows how long, brain spinning with questions and worries.

Why is he trying to get into my life?

Why now?

Why can't I tell people that I'm not okay?

Why do I lie every time something is wrong?

Why-

My thoughts were cut off by the sounds of the bathroom door opening. I quickly put my hand over my mouth to quiet the sounds of my rapid breathing.

"Luz?" The voice made me calm slightly, and I let out a long, shaky breath. It was Amity. Of course she would walk in right as I'm having a breakdown.

"A-Amity?" I called out, my voice cracking as I did.

I heard—and saw—her walk up to the stall door. "May I come in?"

I stuck my foot out and hooked the bottom of the door, pulling it open enough for the teal-haired girl to slip in and close it behind her. When she saw me, she seemed to look even more worried than she was before. When I saw her, I tried to keep my composure, but my eyes started to water as my breathing returned to be sporadic and uneven.

Amity quickly knelt down in front of me and took my hands, holding them tightly. "Luz, look at me," She commanded firmly.

I looked up, and I was met with warm, caring, and comforting golden eyes.

"Luz, what happened?" She ran her thumb on the back of my hand. It was calming, but not enough.

I lowered my knees, dropped her hands, and opened my arms, silently asking for a hug. Amity carefully crawled forwards to accept my offer.

When she was close enough, I wrapped my arms tightly around her torso and buried my head into her chest, finally shedding tears.

"Shhh, it's okay," She ran her hand through my hair and spoke softly. "I'm right here, don't worry. I've got you."

We sat like that for a long while, but after what felt like a few minutes, I calmed down enough to talk.

"I-I'm sorry," I sniffed, keeping my head down.

"Hey, there's nothing to be sorry for," She rubbed her hand up and down my back. "You're allowed to feel emotions."

"No, I'm sorry for not telling you that something was wrong," I looked up, meeting her eyes to find them filled with the same affection. I took a deep breath, preparing to tell her what's wrong because, evidently, I can't keep this to myself anymore. "So, apparently, before I was born, my mom left my dad because he didn't love her." I took another shaky breath.

"It's alright," Amity soothed me. "Take your time."

"My dad broke into my grandparent's house where my mom was staying, and he tried to take her back. Thank god my grandpa stopped him and he was arrested. Put in jail for two years and fined," I explained, gauging her reaction as I went on. "After that, I guess he just left us alone, and I was brought up in the care of my mom and grandparents. My mom was the youngest of 5, so to say the least, her parent's weren't young, and when I was like 3, my grandma died, and not too long after so did my grandpa."

"I'm so sorry," Amity put a hand up to my face and rubbed my cheek softly with her thumb.

I leaned into the touch and continued. "So my mom was left fending for me and herself. She managed to get a job working as a low-level assistant at the vet clinic, but it didn't pay much. I just went to school and lived the most normal life a kid like me could live. And then when I was 14, like I told you, she died in a car accident," I paused, taking a moment to breathe. "I got sent to one of mom's old friends to stay for a bit, and we ended up liking it so much that she just took me in. Fast forward to a couple of months ago, a guy knocked on our door, asking for me."

Amity was still paying close attention, with empathy written on her face.

"He said something along the lines of, you look a lot like your mother, and it scared me to think that he might be trying to get back in my life. So I made up an excuse and left him at the door," I shrugged. "But yesterday, I got a text from some random number, and that part doesn't matter, but what does is the initials at the bottom. The guy told me his name was Tyler-James Waters, and the text was signed T.J.W. And then last night, a dream about him beating me with a bat woke me up and then he just texted me and-" I had started to ramble, but Amity cut me off with a quick kiss.

"Sorry, you were just starting to panic again," She blushed. "So you're worried that your psycho dad is going to come and try to get in your life?"

I nodded, pulling Amity back in for another tight hug. "I'm scared, Ami," My voice was quiet and it cracked when I spoke.

I felt Amity tighten her grip on me and she kissed the side of my head softly. "It's going to be okay, I promise," She whispered in my ear. "Have you told Eda about this?"

I shook my head and buried my face in the crook of her neck. "It wasn't really a problem until yesterday,"

"Was that what you saw on your phone just before I left?" She asked quietly.

I just nodded. "What do I do?"

"I think the first thing you should do is tell Eda what you told me," Amity suggested. "That way she can help us take the next step, alright?"

"Okay," I took a deep breath and released her from my death grip. "I guess we should go back to class, huh?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, probably," Amity stood up and offered me her hand.

"I'm sorry for making you miss class," I took her hand and she hauled me up.

"It's no big deal. I'm already super far ahead," She shrugged and opened the stall door. "The teacher sent me to see if you were alright when you didn't come to class straight away, so I figure he'll understand."

"Oh..." I blushed slightly as we began to walk out of the bathroom, but before we did, I checked my appearance in the mirror to make sure I looked presentable. I looked in the reflection behind me to see Amity with that same soft, admiring gaze. "You like to look at me after I bawled my eyes out too?" I asked jokingly.

"What can I say, you're just always attractive," She walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. Her cheek only reached my shoulder blade when she rested her head on my back. "Even if you're freakishly tall."

"That's a drawback, miss five foot two?" I grinned at her in the mirror.

"Shut up," She rolled her eyes and laughed. "I never said it was a bad thing."

"Yeah, yeah," I decided that I looked good enough to leave, and I followed Amity out of the bathroom and back to history.

Once we got back, the teacher paused his lesson to bring me out in the hallway. He asked me if everything was alright and if I needed to talk to someone. I just told him that everything was fine now, and he took me back into the classroom to start the lesson.

The rest of the day flew by, and before I knew it, I was waiting in my car for Amity to meet me. I'd texted Gus and Willow to remind them what we were doing, and they told me that they would be over by 3:00. 

Just as I was getting ready to text Amity and ask where she was, I heard a knock on my window that made me jump. My head whipped up to see Amity smiling brightly at me from the passenger side window, so I unlocked the doors for her so she could get in.

"Hey, princesa!" I greeted as she climbed into the front seat.

"Hi," She threw her stuff in the back and snapped her seatbelt into place. "First band practice."

"That's right," I started to pull out of my spot, and once I had the car back in drive, I grabbed her hand. "Do you know when Boscha and Skara are gonna get there?"

"Probably sometime around three. They're going to get us all snacks," Amity leaned over the console to flip on the air conditioning. "It's gonna be hot as hell in that shed if it's this bad in here."

"Yeah, I think we'll be able to go and get an a.c second hand tomorrow before we all meet up. I was looking at where we could by one last night, and I found a store with a couple in stock like ten minutes down the highway," I explained.

"How are you planning on paying for that?" She asked me with a knowing grin.

"Oh-" I blushed a bit, noticing the massive hole in my plan. "Yeah, I didn't think about that part."

Amity just laughed.

God that sound! It was like music! I would play that on repeat in my room at three a.m. without a second thought!

"Don't worry about finding money for it," Amity gave me a warm smile and squeezed my hand. "I'll pay up front. My allowance should cover it."

"What?!" I whipped my head over to look at her for a moment before turning back to the road so that we wouldn't crash. "Your allowance can pay for a fucking air conditioner?!"

"Luz, my parents own Blight Industries, we've been over this," She giggled. "They don't really care about us learning to spend responsibly, since they assume we'll have the same lavish style and a barrage of money coming in."

I laughed and tried to keep driving. "I love how nonchalant you are about that!"

We spent the rest of the drive laughing and talking, and by the time we pulled up to the Owl House, we still had about 15 minutes until everyone was going to show up. We made our way inside and decided to just cuddle on the couch until our friends got here.

In that time, I realized how much I really loved being around the teal haired girl. I know I've gone on this rant about a thousand times already, so I'll save the details.

And just as we were moving around to check the time, someone burst through the door, causing both of us to jump up and turn to face the front of the house.

"Aww, you guys are so cuddly!" Skara smiled from behind Willow, who was the one who had entered so loudly.

"Is Luz going soft for little Blight?" Willow teased, punching me in the shoulder playfully.

I blushed.

"I never thought I would see the day!" Gus exclaimed, placing a hand over his heart dramatically.

Why do my friends have to be so embarrassing?

Chapter Text

Amity's P.O.V.

It was funny to watch Luz get so flustered, instead of it being the other way around. It was a cute look on her.

Once her friends were done teasing her, Luz led everyone to the shed. After we had all entered, everyone threw their stuff down against the wall, and Boscha propped up her bass in a corner.

"I'm surprised you remembered to bring that," I pointed to the base and chuckled.

"Hey, I'm not always forgetful," Boscha snapped. "Just sometimes."

"Well anyways," Luz clapped, gaining everyone's attention. "Why don't we do one of those cheesy get to know each other games we would do in middle school? Since I am pretty sure that half of us aren't acquainted."

"What, like what's your name and one thing you like to do?" Willow asked with a raised brow and a grin.

"Yeah, pretty much," Luz shrugged and sat down on the ground, legs crossed. "Form a circle, band mates!" She grabbed my hand and yanked me down to the ground, nearly making me face plant into the hardwood.

"Luz!" I yelped, catching myself and repositioning so that I was actually sitting, and not whatever weird version of kneeling I was stuck in before. "That was unnecessarily aggressive."

"It worked though, didn't it?" She grinned at me cockily and leaned closer to me to give me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Ew, gross," Boscha scoffed and sat down. "Affection."

"Aww babe, you don't like it?" Willow kissed their girlfriend on the cheek as well, effectively shutting her up and making her face red.

"You guys make me feel very single," Skara pouted and sat down as well.

"Wait, are you two dating, Luz?" The short, but buff looking boy I didn't know the name of excitedly asked, sitting next to Skara.

I felt my face heat up as Luz spoke. "No! Not officially, at least," She chuckled and scratched the back of her neck nervously and looked directly at me. "But maybe someday."

I laughed a bit and gave her a quick kiss, drawing some groans of annoyance and some 'awww's from the group. "Oh, shut up, Boscha," I shot her a glare. "You're the one that's actually dating someone here."

"She's got a point there, babe," Willow shrugged and pulled Boscha into a kiss, just to make her flustered, I would think.

Luz laughed and quickly intertwined our fingers. "Okay! Now that all that's out of the way, let's get to know each other a bit better!"

"I'll go first!" Skara exclaimed with a raised hand. Luz nodded, and she went on. "My name is Skara, I'm a sound director, and I love shopping!"

"Alright everybody," Luz raised her hand up a bit to conduct us. "Hi Skara!"

"No way in hell I'm doing that," Willow leaned back against the wall and crossed their arms.

"Okay, fine," Luz sighed. "Next up?"

"I'm Augustus, but you guys can call me Gus!" The smaller boy chirped. "I play the drums, and in the summers, I wakeboard!"

"Can you do any tricks?" Boscha asked him.

"Hell yeah I can!" He smiled brightly. "I can show you sometime if you want."

Boscha nodded, and then took her turn introducing herself. "Boscha. Bassist. I do basically all the behind the boat water sports,"

"Such a show off, babe," Willow cut in. "Name's Willow. Been playing piano since I was three. You didn't hear it from me, but I know where to hook you up with all the weed you could ever want."

"I heard nothing," Luz chuckled. "I'm Luz Noceda, the asshole guitarist." She looked over at me with a grin, and I laughed lightly. "I write a lot of songs. That's about it."

"I'm Amity. Don't need to know my last name if you don't already," The fact that I was a Blight wasn't something I loved to flaunt, so I don't go around telling people before they get to know me for who I actually am. "I picked up guitar when I was walking around the mall one time, and now I play in secret cause my parents suck." That drew a few laughs from everyone. "Other than that, I'm basic and boring. I do a lot of school in my free time." 

"So nothing has changed?" Willow asked with a smirk.

"Oh, totally forgot to mention that I perform at the club on the weekends. Got a lot of fans over there," I nodded with a grin.

"Yeah, I know," Willow was looking at me with an unreadable expression. "Just wanted to see if you were gonna bring that up or not."

"Okay then," Luz interrupted, looking suspiciously between the two of us. "Now that that's over with, we have a few things to discuss. First being, we need a band name, and quickly. Anyone have any ideas?"

"Should be something cool and edgy," Gus drew out his words to add effect.

"Yeah!" Skara agreed quickly. "Like maybe something with fire?"

"Oooh yeah, I like fire," Boscha nodded.

"How do you guys feel about something with the word inferno?" I suggested.

"I like the sound of that!" Luz grinned. "Now what are we gonna put with the word inferno?"

"We could do like an animal or maybe a color," Willow suggested.

"Oh!" Luz snapped her fingers. "What about-" She stopped mid-sentence. "Nope, never mind. That doesn't make sense."

I chuckled a bit, and soon after the room fell silent as everyone was thinking.

"Okay, how's this," I broke the quiet atmosphere. "What's everyone's favorite color? And if there's one that repeats, we pick that one."

"Good idea!" Luz beamed. "My favorite color has to be purple."

"Green," Willow said bluntly.

"If you can't tell, I love pink," Boscha added.

"I've got a thing for silver and red," Skara stated with a small nod of her head.

"Gotta go with the classic blue," Gus shrugged.

"Okay, well, how does Purple Inferno sound to you guys?" I proposed.

"Wait, what's your favorite color?" Skara asked cluelessly.

Boscha facepalmed. "If everyone picked a different color, and she was the last one to go and said Purple Inferno, what do you think?"

"Oooohhhhhh," Skara drew out the word. "Purple?"

"Yes, dumbass!" Boscha chuckled.

"Well, I for one, love the name Purple Inferno," Gus interjected.

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "It's got a nice ring to it."

"Okay, who votes for Purple Inferno?" Luz asked. 

Everyone raised their hand.

"Great! Unanimous! Purple Inferno it is!" She clapped once more. "Next topic of discussion. What kind of music should we play? Metal, indie, pop..." Her voice trailed off, leaving room for anyone to add something or suggest which one we should do.

"I've always wanted to be a drummer in a rock band," Gus said excitedly. "But anything works for me."

"Yeah, I don't really care as long as you don't make me play so much my fingers fall off," Willow sniggered at her own remark.

"Well, I'm a real big pop fan, but I am the sound director, so my opinion doesn't really matter," Skara added.

"Your opinion absolutely matters since your a part of the band," Luz said to Skara.

"Okay okay," Boshca stopped everyone. "How about this. We play whatever the fuck we want because we can."

For a moment there was silence. Then, all at once, Luz, Gus, Skara, and I burst out laughing, with Luz and I leaning on each other for support as we started to keel over.

"I actually really like that line of reasoning!" Luz said after calming herself down.

"Yeah, that's amazing," I laughed, but with a lot less intensity than a few moments prior.

"Well, now that all that is decided, we need to get all my instruments from the house, into here," Luz informed us. "Gus, my drum set is in the garage. Bring Boscha with you since her instrument is already here."

"Got it!" He jumped up and Boscha slowly followed him out the door.

"Skara, all the sound equipment is in the closet below the stairs. If you can't find it, ask Eda and she'll show you," Luz directed Skara. "You can take Willow since I can just grab the keyboard from my room. You'll need to get the amps, extension chords, and the sound board. I've got four amps, but one of them doesn't work, so you're gonna have to just bring all of them 'cause I don't know which is which."

"Ugh, I have to do shit?" Willow groaned and stood.

"Yep!" Luz grinned. "Now go do shit."

Willow trudged out the door, Skara following close behind with a pep in her step.

"Okay, Ami," Luz turned to face me. "That leaves you and me to get all the stuff from my room."

"Cool," I joined Luz in leaving the shed and going up the stairs to her room.

"Oooookayyyyy..." She looked around. "I think I left the guitars in here?" She walked over to her closet and slid the door open.

"You don't know where you put your guitars?" I asked, amused.

"Um, well, I cleaned my room recently, and I put them somewhere rather than just having them block my mirror," She explained. "And I don't quite remember if I put them in here or in the hall closet."

"Ah, I see," I nodded and looked around at her room.

"Oh! Here's something I need!" Luz emerged from the closet holding a keyboard in one hand and the stand for it in the other. "Can you prop it up against the door, please?" She handed the items to me and I did as instructed.

There was a bit of silence, and when I spotted a closed notebook on her desk, I recalled something that she'd said earlier. "You said that you write songs, right?"

"Sure do!" She turned around for a moment to flash me a smile, but soon returned to digging through her closet. "Can't say that they're all good, but they exist."

"Pft," I chuckled. "Do you mind if I take a look?"

"Of course not!" She walked over to her desk and picked up the notebook that I had seen. "Here, let me find one that I think you might like." After a minute she flipped the book around and handed it to me, revealing one of her songs. "This one is called Bad Romance. It's one I came up with when I was really lonely and wanted a partner." She chucked and scratched the back of her neck nervously, walking back to her closet to continue the search for her guitars.

Only then did I look at the page. From what I could tell, it was a good song. The lyrics were edgy, the melody would be catchy, and my part wouldn't be all that hard, but would still produce a good sound.

I've tried writing songs before, and it didn't end all that well. So to say the least, it was impressive that Luz had an entire notebook filled with lyrics and music for all the instruments we would need.

"Wow, I'm very impressed that you can write all this," I voiced, flipping through all the pages of lyrics and corresponding notes.

"Thank you," I could hear the smile in her voice, even if I couldn't see it. "If you could believe it, that's like, my third notebook of songs."

"What the hell, how are you so good at this?" I asked with a laugh.

"I honestly don't know," Luz shrugged.

As I was looking through the music, one caught my eye. It was a solo, with only an acoustic guitar part along with the vocals. It had me intrigued to hear what it would actually sound like.

"Yes! Here we go!" Luz yanked a long, black object from her closet: an electric guitar that was in its case. "I'm almost 100% sure now that the other one is in the hall closet." She chuckled.

"Hey, Luz?" I said timidly.

"What's up?"

"Do you mind, um," I swallowed. "Would you mind playing this song for me?"

Luz walked over and took the book from me and quickly read the title. I saw her blush a bit. "Um, sure," She went over to her bed and sat down, grabbing her acoustic as she did. She cleared her throat. "You can sit, if you'd like."

"Oh," I went over to her desk and plopped myself down in her chair.

"Now, I've never played this one for an audience, so don't judge too hard," She laughed nervously.

I just nodded and let her go on with it.

She cleared her throat one more time before jumping straight into it, the guitar starting only seconds before the lyrics.

"Can I tell you something just between you and me?"

"When I hear your voice, I know I'm finally free."

"Every single word is perfect as it can be."

"And I need you here with me."

There was a small pause where she let the previous chord ring out.

"When you lift me up, I know that I'll never fall."

"I can speak to you by saying nothing at all."

"Every single time I find it harder to breathe."

"Cause I need you here with me."

"Every day!"

She started using her right hand to slap out a beat against the body of the guitar as she plucked the strings.

"You're saying the words that I want you to say."

"There's a pain in my heart and it won't go away."

"Now I know I'm falling in deep."

"Cause I need you here with me."

"Every day!"

Luz began playing a very intricate series of notes between the rhythm slaps of her right hand, and somehow, still managed to continue the lyrics.

"You're saying the words that I want you to say."

"There's a pain in my heart and it won't go away."

"Now I know I'm falling in deep."

"Cause I need you here with me."

The lyrics stopped for a moment and Luz went back to playing the more simple chords.

"I think I see your face in every place that I go."

"I try to hide it, but I know that it's gonna show."

"Every single night I find it harder to sleep."

"Cause I need you here with me."

"Every day!"

"You're saying the words that I want you to say!"

"There's a pain in my heart and it won't go away."

"Now I know I'm falling in deep."

"Cause I need you here with me."

"Every day!"

Luz started up the more complex playing once again. It was very impressive, to say  the least.

"You're saying the words that I want you to say."

"There's a pain in my heart and it won't go away."

"Now I know I'm falling in deep."

"Cause I need you here with me."

She stopped the beat with her right hand, and made everything a lot quieter and softer.

"Can I tell you something just between you and me?"

"When I hear your voice I know I'm finally free."

"Every single word is perfect as it can be."

"Cause I need you here with me."

She let the final notes ring out into the silence of the room, keeping her eyes locked on her guitar.

"Wow," I sighed out after another moment of quiet. "That was... amazing."

Her face lit up instantly. "Really?"

"Yeah, really!" I smiled to show that I was genuine. "That was really good! I don't know how you can do so many things at once! You were playing the notes, tapping out a rhythm, and singing! Very impressive!"

She blushed and looked away. "Thank you,"

I walked over to her and gave her a slow, passionate, but chaste kiss. "Thank you for sharing that with me,"

"My pleasure," She grinned, brushing a small strand of hair behind my ear.

"Now we should probably get the other guitar and go back to the rest of the band," I stood and put the guitar over my shoulder while also grabbing the keyboard stand.

"Yeah," Luz put her acoustic back on the stand and picked up the keyboard. "You can go ahead. I'll check the hall closet."

"Oh, wait," I stopped before leaving. "Do you have picks?"

"Oh, yeah, right!" She walked over to a small bowl on her bedside table and pocketed a few different picks. "I'll bring them down with me."

"Okay, see you in a bit," I stepped out into the hall and made my way back to the shed. "Hey guys." I greeted Willow and Skara as I propped the things I was carrying up against the wall near Boscha's base and the sound equipment. I noticed that there were parts of a drum set sitting near the back of the room.

"Hello!" Skara waved enthusiastically. "Where's Luz?"

"She's getting the other guitar and the keyboard," I informed. "She shouldn't be too much longer."

"Well, just in case you were wondering, Boscha and Gus are having to take a lot of trips to get all the drums in here," Skara pointed to the few pieces already in here.

"Ah, okay," I nodded and sat on the stairs, waiting for everyone to return.

No more than two minutes later, Luz walked in, bearing the other electric guitar and the keyboard.

"I come with instruments!" Luz declared, holding said instruments in the air to show them off.

"Took you long enough," Willow teased, walking over to take their instrument from her.

"This is what I get for trying to clean out my room," Luz chuckled and came over to sit on a stair below me. Without really thinking about it, I started playing with her hair that protruded from that signature beanie, which drew a small hum of satisfaction from the Latina.

"Yep, still feel really single," Skara sighed dramatically and pulled out her phone.

"You're such a drama queen," I chuckled. "And don't worry about it. You'll find someone."

Before Skara could respond, the room was filled with the soft, yet fast paced sound of a piano—or in this case, a keyboard.

"Do you know anything other than classical stuff?" Luz asked, leaning back against my chest.

"Yeah, my 78 year old piano teacher teaches me hard rock," Willow quipped sarcastically. 

"Then here," Luz threw her song book at them, and they caught it quite easily. "Flip to the page with the folded down corner. Bad Romance. Start learning your part."

"How do you change the sound on this thing?" Willow examined the different dials and buttons above the keys.

"Top right, you're gonna wanna use the first three," Luz instructed. "Not all the way up, but close. Just play with it until you get the sound you want."

"How do you remember all that?" I asked, shaking my head.

"No clue," Luz shrugged. 

Just as Willow was starting to play the piano part for Bad Romance, the shed door burst open and in came Gus carrying the bass drum.

"Could I get some help?" He asked, out of breath.

Luz jumped up and grabbed the other side of the large instrument. "Where'd Boscha go?"

"She's got the stands for the cymbals," He jerked his head back to show that she was behind him. "Trying to carry all four at once."

Willow chuckled. "Of course she is,"

"Hey, I can carry this stuff just fine!" Boscha stumbled through the door with a stand in each of her hands and one under each arm. "Although I may or may not drop them now."

I hopped up and walked as slowly as possible towards her. "So you do need help?"

"No! Of course not!" Boscha said stubbornly while leaning a bit to keep one of the stands under her arm. "Okay maybe I do."

With that, I walked the rest of the way over and relieved her of two stands, bringing them to the rest of the drum equipment soon after.

"Okay!" Gus exclaimed. "Just got the snare, one of the toms, and the cymbals left to grab!"

"Is the high hat not in there?" Luz scratched the back of her neck in confusion.

"I didn't see it," Gus shrugged and walked out of the shed to go and get some of the final pieces of his set.

I saw Luz's face contort in annoyance. "That little..."

"What's wrong?" I gently asked as I placed a soothing hand on her back.

"King's a thieving little asshole," Luz huffed and began to walk out.

"You want some help with that?" I asked with a grin.

"Yeah, feel free to join me in beating him to the ground," Luz chuckled and took my hand as we exited the shed and entered the house.

"KING!" Luz shouted up the stairs. "GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!"

I heard a door open from the second floor and footsteps followed. "What the fuck do you need so bad that you're interrupting my afternoon nap?"

"Did you take my high hat again?" Luz glared at her brother.

King just looked at Luz deadpanned. "No,"

"You fucking liar!" Luz went to jump at him, but I restrained her by latching onto her arm.

"Okay okay! Let's not murder someone," I laced my fingers through Luz's in hopes to take off some of the edge.

"What's going on in here?" Eda came through the kitchen door, thirty and flirty mug in hand.

"King stole my high hat again!" Luz snapped, pointing accusingly at him.

"Did not!" King stuck his tongue out, which, of course, further angered the girl beside me.

"King, give it back," Eda looked at him, very much over the situation despite only being in the room for a matter of seconds.

"What!" His jaw dropped. "Wh-what if Amity stole it?"

I gave him a 'really?' look and then glanced back at Eda to see her on the verge of laughter.

"Yeah, right," She chuckled a bit, but her expression soon turned serious. "Now go get it or I'm hiding the switch."

"UGH!" He stomped up the stairs, mumbling something about how life was so unfair, and when he returned, he had the instrument in hand. "Here, take your stupid high hat."

Luz grabbed it swiftly, causing the two metal circles to rattle against each other as she pulled it away.

"From now on King, no taking without asking," Eda reprimanded. "Especially since Luz isn't the one using it now."

King just rolled his eyes and moodily trudged up to his room.

"Thanks, Eda," Luz sighed and I lessened my grip on her arm.

"No problem kid," Eda sipped from her mug and then exhaled dramatically. "Now, let's meet this band of yours."

"Lead the way, miss Blight," Luz bowed slightly, trying not to drop the object in her other hand.

I giggled. "Of course, miss Noceda,"

"Eugh," Eda mock gagged. "Young love. Gross."

"As if you weren't obsessed with Raine Whispers when you were my age!" Luz retorted with a chuckle.

"Wait a second," I stopped in my tracks, putting the pieces together. "Raine Whispers, as in the one who owns the night club?"

Eda's face erupted in red as she struggled to form a response.

"Hold on!" Luz narrowed her eyes at her adopted mother. "Is that why you asked me if I saw the club owner when I went there on Sunday?"

If possible, she blushed more, but finally found words. "Can it, kiddo, or I'm not funding this stupid band of yours,"

Luz raised her hands in surrender—or, attempted to rather, since one hand was holding the high hat and the other was interlocked with my own. "Just asking, just asking,"

"Well, stop asking," Eda huffed, agitated. "It's not like we've seen each other since high school anyways."

Luz gasped dramatically and put her hand—the one that was holding mine—over her heart, speaking with some sort of hero accent. "Then I, Luz Noceda, vow to restore this formerly tender and loving relationship, if it's the last thing I do!"

Eda groaned and facepalmed. "Look kid, don't meddle with things that you should be involved with. If they wanna come back, then they come back. But it's not up to me, or to you. Kapeesh?"

Luz slouched a bit as we neared the shed, dropping our hands back to our sides. "Fineee," When we got to the door, she tried, and failed, to turn the knob.

"Here, let me do it," I reached forward and pushed the door open before Luz could object, being the overly chivalrous person she is.

"Gracias, princesa," She smiled warmly at me and carefully put the high hat through the door in front of her. "Okay! Now we should have all the drum set pieces, correct?"

"Sure do!" Gus exclaimed as he took the final piece from Luz.

"And I have brought with me, our manager slash sponsor, Edalyn Clawthorne!" Luz presented Eda, who was slouched in the doorway, sipping from her mug.

"Hey," She waved lazily at everyone. "Don't call me anything other than Eda, unless it's the most powerful and amazing woman in all of Bonesborough." She ended the sentence with a grin and a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Nice to meet you Eda!" Skara held out her hand with a massive smile. "I'm Skara, the sound director!"

"Yeah yeah, that's great," Eda quickly shook Skara's hand, dropping after about two seconds, and inspected everyone in the room, starting with Skara, and ending—for what seemed like slightly longer—on me. "Well, kid, looks like you've got quite the band here. I'll go ahead and see when Raine can book you. And if anybody needs anything, ask Luz, cause I'm gonna go take a nap."

With that, Eda left the shed, and as soon as the door closed behind her, Willow snorted.

"Well, she's a character," They rolled their eyes and went back to softly playing their part for Bad Romance.

"Yeah, probably should have mentioned her sooner," Luz chuckled nervously. "Oh! Wait! I gotta go tell her our band name!" She dropped my hand and just about started sprinting out the door. "I'll be back!"

"Oookay then," I turned to face the rest of the band. "Why don't we start setting everything up? Chances are we won't practice much today, but it wouldn't hurt to get started."

"Didn't Luz say something about one of the amps being broken?" Skara asked.

"Oh! Yeah!" I recalled. "Boscha, why don't you start testing one with your bass, and I'll get one with one of the guitars."

"Sounds good," Boscha shrugged and went over to where she had placed her bass guitar and removed it from its case, beginning to tune it. "Skara, where are the cables? I didn't bother to bring mine since I figured Luz had that covered."

"Oh! Here, let me get one for you!" Skara scampered over to a pile of chords on the ground and grabbed one that would hook a guitar of any kind up to an amp.

"Do you mind getting me one as well?" I asked as I sat down on the stairs with one of the electrics, tuning it before I would have to play it really loud.

"Not at all!" Skara beamed and ran one over to me as well, while Gus silently brought each of us an amp without us having to ask.

"Thanks," Boscha nodded and plugged her base into the already plugged in amp. After waiting a moment for it to warm up—yes, you have to do that with some amps and I find it very annoying—she started playing a warmup. The sound came out just fine, signifying us that this was one of the working ones. "Well, seems like this one's good." 

As if she was drawn in by the sound of Boscha's music, Luz burst through the door with a smile on her face. "Hey, look at you guys being productive while I was gone!"

"All thanks to your not-girlfriend over here," Willow slapped me on the back, and I nearly choked from a combination of them saying girlfriend and hitting me in the middle of swallowing.

"Hey, hands off!" Luz rushed over and pushed Willow away from me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded and suppressed a laugh, but grinned up at Willow's slightly shocked face.

"Okay then, felt the need to go all protective girlfriend mode to your best friend?" Willow shook their head with a light laugh. "Noted."

Luz glared, and only then noticed that I'd gotten one of her guitars out. "Oh! You actually picked the one that you picked over text!"

"Heh... how convenient," I chuckled.

"This is Sunny!" Luz beamed down at the body of the guitar. The majority of it was a sparkled gold, and the plastic plate around the strings was a dark, metallic grey, making the gold stand out more. The neck was a deep brown wood, with the same metallic grey on the strips that separated each fret. "Named for obvious reasons. First guitar I ever bought. Took me a year to save up for it while I was working a bunch of odd jobs for Eda."

"Wow," I glanced up at Luz's still smiling face. "Are you sure that you're okay with me using it?"

"Of course!" Her bright smile turned to one that was warmer, more comforting. "I trust you! Besides, I haven't got to try much out with my other one since I got it pretty recently."

I know that she just meant to soothe my worries about her guitar, but those three words were repeating over and over in my mind.

"I trust you!"

Three simple, ordinary, nothing without context, words that made my heart swell. She trusts me. She trusts me enough to let me play the guitar that she worked to save up for. The guitar that the bought with her own, hard earned money.

But it's not just the guitar. Its the sentiment that lies behind what it was meant for. This girl—that I met less than a week ago, keep in mind—put her trust in me. Now, there are a select few people in this world that I would willingly hand my prized possessions to, and to be frank, I'm not even 100% sure that Boscha and Skara make it on that list. But I can say with complete certainty that this girl that just so happened to wander into my life a matter of days ago and turn it around for the better would be my first choice.

I uttered out a quiet, but very sincere, "Thank you," and went to go plug Sunny into an amp.

"Just to let you guys know, it's almost 4:30," Luz announced.

"Oh!" Skara perked up. "We'll probably have to head out in a bit."

"Yeah, probably," Boscha agreed.

"Also," Skara gained Luz's attention once more. "I have a bunch of unused furniture and decorations sitting in my basement storage if you'd like me to bring some it tomorrow."

"Oh, that would be awesome, thank you!" Luz looked shocked by her generosity. "But quick question."

"Hmm?" Skara hummed in response.

"How are you gonna get it over here?" Luz waited as Skara thought for a moment.

Boscha rolled her eyes and spoke up. "My dad has a truck. I can borrow it tomorrow and we'll take a couple trips back and forth. We'll be late, and I'll probably need to drag you two along," She pointed to Willow and Gus.

"That's totally fine," Luz waved her hand in dismissal. "Amity and I are gonna go and get an air conditioner for this place tomorrow anyways, so it'll work out perfect."

"Thank god," Gus fanned himself and tugged at his shirt to cool himself off. "I didn't wanna say anything, but it's hot as hell in here."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Eda disconnected this from the house's system to save a couple bucks," Luz shrugged, and then grinned. "But it's fine, we'll just rack up her power bill instead."

I interrupted the conversation by playing a chord. It was a very spotty sound and it waved in and out, which is not something you want.

"Well, looks like I got the broken one," I chuckled and quickly unplugged the guitar so we wouldn't hear any more awful noise from the amp.

"Yeah, you definitely did," Luz walked over and grabbed said amp, only to bring it a couple feet away from me to the door. "I'll give it to Eda and see if she can sell it."

"How is she gonna sell a broken amplifier?" Gus asked, bemused.

"Excellent question," Luz laughed lightly. "She does it every time something of mine breaks, and I have no clue how."

"Well, with that out of the way, I think we're gonna head out," Boscha stood and walked over to put her bass in its case. 

"Yeah, us too," Willow walked up behind their girlfriend and gave her a quick kiss goodbye. "Come on Gus, you can play those tomorrow."

Gus was sitting at the drum set, just about to slam his sticks down, but his face sank in slight disappointment when Willow stopped him. "Fineee," He whined and got up. "I just wanted to try out Luz's set!"

"Don't worry, you'll get to tomorrow," Luz ruffled his curly hair as he walked by.

I set down Sunny and stood, walking over to Luz so we could wave everyone off.

"Bye guys!" She shouted to the cars that were pulling away.

"You know they can't hear you, right?" I asked her while still waving.

"Yep!" She smiled, and suddenly turned around and picked me up, slinging me over her shoulder.

"Luz!" I gripped her shoulders for support, my teal hair falling in my face as I did. "I'm wearing a skirt!"

"It's not like there's anyone around here to see," She readjusted me though, so now I was sitting bridal style in her arms. "Where would you like me to take you, princesa?"

"Surprise me, mon chaton," I kissed her on the cheek and wrapped my arms around her neck.

"Okay then!" She kissed my forehead and started walking back into the shed. With my help, she opened the door and took me up the stairs, sitting on the couch once we ascended. "How's this?"

I was positioned in her lap, my head on her shoulder and my arms now wrapped around her torso. "Great," I snuggled myself into her neck.

Just as I was settled down, Luz was stroking my hair, and my breathing relaxed, my phone went off. The name on the screen sent me into a panic.

Dad

Chapter Text

Luz P.O.V.

We were just cuddling on the couch, and the next thing I knew, Amity was freaking out.

"Fuck," She cursed under her breath and sat up after her phone started going off.

"What's wrong?" I ran my hand up and down her back in an attempt to take some of the edge off.

"My dad's calling me," She took a deep breath. "Don't say a word, Noceda, or I'll rip your fucking throat out."

Before I could even form a response, she answered the phone.

"Hello, father," Her tone was formal and stiff. It was little miss perfect Amity. Still stand by the fact that she's pretty hot like that.

Due to our proximity, I could very clearly hear what Mr. Blight was saying to his daughter.

"Hello, Amity," He sounded really tired. I bet being the head of a family like the Blights would do that to you. "How is your studying coming along?"

"Well," She replied laconically.

"Good to hear," He let out a sigh after a short bit of silence. "Amity, I know you're not studying."

That sentence made Amity tense up greatly, and it appeared as though she had a rebuke on the tip of her tongue, but her father continued speaking.

"I have no issue with it, however," His words made the girl in my lap relax a bit, yet a look of confusion remained on her face. "Your mother, on the other hand, would be less than amused."

Just as quickly as she relaxed, she tensed up again; her hand subconsciously found mine, and held me tight.

"I have no intention to tell her anything, but I do advise you to be cautious," He warned. "You know how she is about status, and of course, your... interests." I couldn't tell what he was referring to, but it seemed that Amity got the message.

"Y-you're not mad?" Amity's voice came out small, and it broke as she was speaking.

"Of course not!" Her father said with conviction. "Why would I be mad about my daughter living her life? You are an adult now, and there's no reason I should be prying into what you do in your free time."

"T-thank you," She choked out, breathing rapidly.

"There is nothing to be thanking me for," Mr.Blight's voice was smooth and convincing. "But, I will remind you to be cautious of your mother. As you know, she took on the last name with more pride than I, and I don't take it to be a good thing. So, live your life, but cautiously."

Amity nodded, and after a moment, she realized that her father couldn't see that. "Yes, yes. Of course. Thank you,"

I heard him laugh lightly on the other end of the line. "Now go and enjoy your time with that little friend of yours,"

"I will, dad," She smiled warmly. "Bye."

"Goodbye, Amity," With that, the call ended, and Amity let out a sigh of relief.

"Holy shit that was a rollercoaster," She leaned back into me and buried her head into my neck.

"So... your dad's cool?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," She paused for a moment. "I think he is."

"But... your mom? Is she, um... homophobic? Or did I misinterpret that?" I looked down at the mass of teal on my chest.

"Well, I think he was referring to all of my interests," She raised her head to look at me. "Like, playing guitar, being in a band. But yeah, also that I like girls."

"So she would love me is what you're saying," I joked with a grin.

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "I bet you'd be her favorite person,"

"Undoubtedly," I leaned down and kissed her, before she went back to hide in the crook of my neck.

"This is comfy," Her voice was muffled by the position she was in.

"You're cute," I said absentmindedly as I began to run my hand through her hair. "But this is kinda starting to hurt my back. Mind if we relocate?"

Amity grunted and wrapped her arms around my neck again.

"You want me to carry you, princesa?" I asked with a grin.

All I received in response was a small nod and a light kiss on my neck, as if she was saying, 'yes please'.

I chuckled and worked my arms underneath her so one was in the crook of her knees and the other was steady behind her back. "You're lucky that I like you," If it were anyone else, I would have said no. To be fair, I wouldn't be sitting like this with anyone else, but that's besides the point.

Oh! I thought suddenly. That would make a great song!

Before I got up, I quickly took my phone out of my pocket to type my thoughts in my notes app before I forgot it.

"What are you doing?" She asked groggily. She seemed very tired, and I found it absolutely adorable.

"I got a song idea and I don't wanna forget it," I replied quickly, thumbs flying over the keyboard.

Amity nodded and looked to read what I was writing. "You're gonna write about how you're a bitch?" She snorted.

I felt myself blush. "That's only part of the idea..." I said in a small voice.

Amity quickly looked me in the eye, a slight bit of fear washing over her face. "I'm not making fun of you, I'm sorry if it came across that way," She clarified. "I just wasn't expecting to see you calling yourself a bitch in a song."

"You just wait," I grinned, pocketing my phone and returning to carry Amity out of the shed. "This song's gonna be amazing."

"I don't doubt it," She nuzzled back into my neck as I stood, her grip tightening as I did. "Where are we going now?"

"My room," I answered simply, carefully walking down the stairs.

After making my way out of the shed, through the house, and into my room, I laid Amity down on my bed and went to go and grab a notebook and pen, but I was held down by the arms around my neck.

"Don't go," Her voice was quiet, pleading. 

"Don't worry, I'll be back," I reassured her.

"Promise?" She asked in a whisper.

"Promise," I kissed the top of her head gently and she relaxed her hold on me, allowing me to get my song notebook and a pen.

When I turned around to face my bed again, I was met with Amity sitting up attentively, watching me as I got what I needed. "What're you gonna use that for?" She asked, gesturing to the items in my hands.

"Song lyrics," I walked back over to her and moved to sit against the headboard, motioning for Amity to join me. "I got an idea I want to get down before I forget it."

"Do you write the lyrics before the music?" She questioned, full of curiosity.

"Not all the time," I shrugged. "Honestly, it depends on what I think of first. But if you do get lyrics before music, sometimes the words have to be adjusted to fit the rhythm."

"Oh, that makes a lot of sense, actually," Amity nodded, snuggling up next to me.

"You're a really good guitarist, I bet you could write good songs too," I pointed out.

"Believe me, I've tried," She chuckled. "Never seems to come out right."

"Maybe we could try writing one together sometime!" I suggested, grinning. "With your amazing musical ability and my wonderful writing skills, it should be a breeze!"

Amity picked her head up—she was leaning on my shoulder—and smiled at my enthusiasm. "I would like that," She laid back down. "But right now, I'm tired."

"Do you wanna take a nap?" I fished my phone out of my pocket and checked the time, setting it on my nightstand after reading the numbers at the top of my screen. "It's only five. I can set an alarm for like 6:15 so we have some time to eat before you have to go home."

"That sounds nice," Amity mumbled into my shoulder.

"Well in that case, let me lie down," I quickly set an alarm and readjusted so that I was lying flat on my back with Amity's soft, comforting weight on top of me.

"I'm not crushing you, right?" Amity whispered, lifting her head to check my expression.

"No, you're good," I smiled and she laid back down, her eyes fluttering shut as her head made contact with my shoulder. I kissed her head, tossed a blanket over us, and wrapped my arms around her protectively.

In no time at all, her breathing slowed and her muscles relaxed, telling me that she fell asleep. Not too long after, I felt myself drifting off, completely at peace, despite the still looming issue of my so called father.

I woke before the alarm, and when I glanced down, Amity was still wrapped around me like a koala. I found that absolutely adorable.

After carefully removing my arm from around the sleeping girl on my chest, I grabbed my phone to see that it was only 5:50.

Well, I guess my streak of not being able to sleep continues.

As quietly as I could, I placed my phone back down, but, of course, I accidentally dropped it barely above the surface of my nightstand. It didn't make too loud of a noise, so I thought I was in the clear, but sure enough, Amity shifted, and cracked her eyes open.

"Hey," I smiled and started to gently run my hand through her hair.

"Hi," She grinned and dropped her face back down into my chest.

"What's got you smiling like that?" I joked in a quiet voice, as to not wake her up too fast.

"Oh, just this adorable dork," She mumbled.

"Hmm, do I know them?"

"You've probably met once or twice," Amity responded sleepily.

Oh, wow. What a surprisingly peaceful and domestic moment. I thought. When will it be ruined..?

Just at that exact moment—because the universe hates me, I guess—King bursts through my door, holding a spatula and wearing an apron that said, 'king of the grill'. (He only bought it because it had his name on it.)

"Luz!" He exclaimed with a grin.

"What the fuck, King?" I glared at him, unimpressed.

"Come and look at what I did!" He had this huge grin on his face despite my obvious anger.

"I can't exactly get up right now, and I don't really want to either," I hugged Amity tighter.

Only then, it seemed, did he realize what I was doing. "Oooohhhhhh Luz has a little girlfriend~!"

"Yeah, no shit," Amity sat up, stretching a bit as she did.

I blushed profusely, stuttering, attempting to form a coherent sentence. "Is this your way of asking me out?"

"Nah," Amity shrugged and pulled out her phone. "Just wanted to shut him up."

"Wow," King stood in the doorway, arms at his sides, giving Amity a look of approval. "You guys are too perfect for each other."

"Get out!" I jumped up and chased him out the door. He made a little 'weh!' as he jumped out of my reach. When I had successfully closed the door, I turned back to Amity with a sigh. "I'm sorry about him. He's a pain in the ass."

"It's alright," She threw her phone to the other end of the bed and opened her arms in an invitation. "I have annoying siblings too."

"Will I ever get to meet these siblings in person?" I asked, accepting her invitation and cuddling up into her embrace.

"Not if I can help it," Amity chuckled and took my beanie off so that she could play with my hair.

"Huh," I glanced at my beanie with a look of slight confusion. "I didn't even remember I had that on."

"That's probably what happens when you wear it 24/7," She ran her fingers up from the nape of my neck, stopping once she reached my cheeks, cupping them in her hands. "You're cute without it."

"Thank you, but that doesn't mean I'll quit wearing it," I wrapped my hands around her waist, pulling her closer to me.

"Hmm, what a shame," She shook her head in mock disappointment and leaned closer to me—so close that our lips were nearly touching, but not quite. "Would it change your mind if I said that you look really hot?" She whispered.

I felt the heat in my face, and I presumed Amity could as well, but I somehow managed to quip back without missing a beat. "Nope. But I'd love to hear you say that again,"

"Save it for another time, Noceda," She finally closed the gap, but just as we were getting into it, there was a knock on my bedroom door.

I groaned in frustration and responded with a little more bite than I'd intended. "What?!"

Eda peeked her head through after partially cracking the door open. "Well, if you don't wanna eat, I'll just leave you be, but I figured you might want to have dinner," 

"Yeah, we'll be down in a minute," I sighed and stood, closing the door as Eda left. "I am moving out of here as soon as I'm done with school."

"You don't like it here?" Amity asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I love my family," I waved my hands, dismissing the misunderstanding. "But they're a lot, and I don't get much privacy."

"But isn't it nice to have them here with you?" She tilted her head with a small frown.

"I mean yeah, I guess it kind of is," I scratched the back of my neck, pondering what Amity was implying.

"I'm not trying to convince you to stay here or anything. I just never really had what you would call a loving household growing up, so this all seems pretty nice," Amity was suddenly very interested in playing with her own fingers, not meeting my empathetic gaze.

We could live together someday. The thought entered my brain before I could stop it, and my cheeks flushed a bit. I fought the blush and walked over to where the teal-haired girl was sitting, holding my hand out.

"Well then, why don't we go and spend some time with my family, yeah?" I gave her a soft smile.

"That sounds wonderful," Amity took my hand and made her way out of my bed, beginning our walk down to the kitchen.

"Has your mom ever found out that you're a lesbian?" I asked quietly.

"Well, I think when she found out I was talking to a girl before, I said I was bi," Amity looked off into the distance, eyes slightly vacant. "She wasn't happy to hear that, to say the least. She made my dad kick me out and I had to stay at Boscha's for the night."

"Your own mother kicked you out for liking girls?" I was dumbfounded. The nerve of some people! It's not affecting you, so why bother to try and stop it?

"Yep," She smiled sadly. "It sucks, but I've learned to keep my love life private."

"Well, if you ever need a place to go, the door is always figuratively unlocked," I gave her hand a light squeeze. "I'm not going to literally leave my door unlocked for you, but you get the message."

"Yeah, I do," She laughed lightly, giving my hand a gentle squeeze back. "And thank you for that. It means a lot to me."

"What kind of partner would I be to just let you live out on the streets?" I avoided using the word 'girlfriend' since we weren't technically official yet.

"A really bad one," Amity oh so helpfully pointed out as we walked into the kitchen.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up!" Eda snorted and took a big bite of her burger.

"Ah, King made burgers I see," I pulled out a chair for Amity and she sat in it, giving my hand a final affectionate squeeze as she let go.

"Sure did!" He squeaked proudly, lathering his own in ketchup. "Didn't make charcoal this time!"

"Yeah those did not taste very good," I grimaced at the memory. "Be glad you weren't here for that, Amity."

"Don't your parents wonder why you're not there for dinner?" Eda asked, changing the subject rather abruptly.

"Um- well, no," Amity shifted uncomfortably as she loaded her burger with toppings. "They don't really care if I show up for 'family stuff'." She put air quotes around the words. "As long as I keep my grades up and associate with the right people, they don't bother me."

For no apparent reason, Eda burst out laughing, which, to say the least, ticked me off. "Hey, dealing with that isn't funny!" I snapped, causing Eda to stifle her laughter.

"No no no," She waved her hands dismissively in front of her. "Not that. It's just- Luz? You can be all lovey dovey with this kid and your parents don't care? I mean, she's not exactly prim and proper business lady."

"That's why my parents don't know," Amity shrugged. "Well, that's why my mom doesn't know. She's the one that I really have to worry about."

"Leave it to Old-alia to be a menace to her own kids too," Eda scoffed and stuffed her mouth with more food.

"Excuse me? What was that name?" Amity raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Old-alia," Eda repeated with a grin. "It's what we used to call her back in high school. No offense, but she was a bitch."

"Yeah, not much has changed then," Amity chuckled and finally got to eating her burger.

"Wait wait wait, back up," I set down my food and pointed to Eda. "You knew her mom in high school?"

"Sure did," Eda shoved fries in her mouth, but continued to talk. The lack of manners made Amity cringe beside me. "She totally had a major crush on me, but would never admit it."

Of course at that moment, I'd decided to take a drink. It was promptly spit out at her words. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"Oohhhh yeah," Eda laughed. "She'd follow me around everywhere! Always trying to tell me off for doing something. Insisting that I accompany her to the principal's office. Sitting near me in class. Stuff like that. Well, that was until she had Alador in her crosshairs instead of me, which was a relief."

"Huh. Well, that explains a lot," Amity looked like she was deep in thought as she continued to eat.

"So what this means is... your mom is a hypocrite!" I exclaimed, slamming my hands down on the table to prove a point. "Y'know, I've always hypothesized that homophobes are just super deep in the closet and in self-denial, but this just proves it!"

"Yeah, that doesn't seem like something I'm going to bring up with her, though," Amity laughed and took a sip of her water. "Although I agree with homophobes just being secretly gay inside. It makes sense, when you think about it."

"Everybody's a little bit gay somewhere deep inside, don't make a big deal out of it," King retorted with a chuckle.

"Well, I don't know about that, but I'll just play along with it," I paused, and thought about it for a second. "Wait... is this your coming out to me, King?"

"What?! No!" He squeaked, getting a bit red in the face. "I'm not gay!"

"Well, gay is only one sexuality," I smirked, already knowing what I was prodding for, but doing it all the same.

"Well, yeah," King rolled his eyes and avoided speaking any more by stuffing his face with fries.

"Well?" I raised an eyebrow. There was no need for me to clarify what I meant. King already knew.

"If it means so much to you, I'm bi," He glared at me, but still answered my question.

"That seems to be a running theme here," Amity snickered and grabbed my hand under the table.

"What can I say? Sweater Weather's just great!" I shrugged with a small laugh. "Although I do have a great appreciation for girl in red."

"Oh yeah, great artist," Amity nodded and attempted to keep a straight face, ultimately failing miserably.

"Am I missing something here?" Eda asked with a raised brow.

"Don't worry about it," King waved it off and stood, putting his dirty dishes in the sink before leaving.

"Well, thank you for the dinner, Miss Eda," Amity let go of my hand and got up to put her plate away.

"It's nothing kid," I saw Eda smiling warmly. It made me glad to know that my family liked Amity. If they didn't, I'd still see her, but it's nice to know they don't hate her guts.

"Hey, Luz?" Amity gained my attention after placing her plate on top of King's discarded one.

"What's up?" I copied her actions and soon turned to face her, noting the serious expression.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Her features were soft, but at the same time they left no room for argument. Not that I would object to begin with.

"Sure," I followed her out of the kitchen and into the living room, and once we reached the middle, she turned around and took my hands in hers.

"Luz, do you remember what we talked about in the bathroom today?" It felt so out of the blue to bring that back, but I nodded. "Then why don't you talk to Eda while I'm here? So I can help if you need me to. Does that sound alright?"

She's only trying to help... don't snap at her. Don't fucking snap at her. I took deep calming breaths. Letting out emotion and vulnerability was still very new to me. There are a select few people in this world that have seen that side of me, and Amity was quickly making her way to the number one spot on that list. It's okay to not be okay... just tell her that's fine, and we can do something about it.

While I was calming myself in my head, Amity was just waiting patiently. I guessed that she could see my inner turmoil based on my expression. 

"It's okay if you don't want to," She brought a calming hand up to my face that nearly instantly slowed my sporadic breathing. "I just figured that it would be easier if you had someone to help back you up."

I cleared my throat and shook my head in order to clear my thoughts. "Yeah... yeah it would be," I leaned into her touch and smiled. "Thank you." My voice was soft, but conveyed all the emotion I was feeling.

"I'm always there for you, okay?" When she received a nod, she dropped her hand from my face and stepped a bit towards the door. "Now, how about we go talk to Eda, yeah?"

"Okay," I inhaled deeply and steeled myself, walking hand in hand to the kitchen with Amity. "Eda?"

She was standing at the sink, loading the night's dishes into the dishwasher. "What's up kid?"

"I- um," I choked on my words a bit, but cleared my throat and powered through it. "I need to tell you about something."

She immediately stopped what she was doing and looked directly into my eyes. "I swear, if you had a run in with the cops-"

"No no no!" I waved my hands around, dismissing the misconception. "It's not that. There's just... a person that I need to let you know about."

"Okay, then spill," Eda continued what she was doing, which put me off slightly.

"Um, do you mind sitting down?" I asked in a small voice. 

Only then did she seem to realize how serious I was, and she went over to sit back at the table, eying me as Amity and I took a seat as well. "So... what's going on?"

I looked over at Amity, and found that she was already looking into my eyes lovingly and empathetically. She mouthed, "You got this."

I nodded. "Okay, so I guess I should start at the beginning,"

The next 20 minutes or so were spent filling Eda in on what had been going on with my 'dad'—Amity helping fill in some of the parts I had trouble saying. Once we'd finished all the backstory up to now, I finally chanced looking at her and all I saw was a look of pure anger.

"That son of a bitch," Eda snarled. "I didn't like him back then, and I don't like him now."

"Why do you know all of our parents..?"

"Small town, kid," She shrugged, but continued on with the previous conversation. "So what you're saying is, he shows up here, tries to get to know you, you leave him at the door, he texts you out of the blue without you ever giving him your number, and basically threatens you?"

"Yep, that pretty much sums it up," I shrugged and looked down at the table in front of me. "What am I supposed to do, Eda?" I was surprised at how lost and sad my voice came out.

"For now, I don't know that there's much we can do," Eda sighed. "But the next time he shows up, I'm not letting him go without a little chat."

"You think he'll come back here?" I asked quietly, voice full of fear.

"Unfortunately I assume that he will," She balled her fists on the table. "But believe me kid, he's not scaring the shit out of you and your mother and getting away with it."

"I hate to interrupt," Amity spoke for the first time in a while. "But what are you planning on doing if he comes back? You can't exactly beat the living daylights out of him and expect to get away with it."

Eda shrunk a bit. "You have a point..."

"Here's what I propose," Leave it up to Amity to already have a plan. "If he comes over again, we just return the favor."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"We scare the shit out of him, he runs off scared, and there you go," She explained simply.

"I'm not exactly the best at that sort of thing," I scratched the back of my head, recalling the time that I tried to scare King on Halloween. The plan was to jump out at him as he was leaving to go out with his friends, but of course, it backfired. I ended up with a thousand mosquito bites and King scared me when he came out from the back door and snuck up behind me. To say the least, I was not amused.

"I happen to know two people that are," Amity smirked.

It took me a second, but it eventually clicked. "Do you mean..?"

"Yes, I mean Ed and Em," She nodded. "So yes, you may get to meet them in person. But, desperate times call for desperate measures."

"You think they'd help?" I really hoped they would. From what I've heard, they are prank masters.

"They owe me big time for a lot of things," Amity nodded. "Also, they'll probably do anything to get to mess with me a little bit."

"They sound like my kind of people!" Eda cracked a grin. "When's the best time for them to come over and plan everything out?"

"I'll have to ask them tonight," Amity shrugged. "But there is one problem."

"What's that?" I tilted my head slightly.

"We don't know exactly when he's going to come. Or if he is, for that matter," She had a point, and the truthfulness of it all made me nervous. "We may have a hunch, but that doesn't tell us anything for sure."

"What was the last thing he texted you?" Eda turned to me with a face that looked like she was trying her best to think this through.

"Lemme check," I pulled my phone out of my pocket and went to the messaging app, pulling up the previous texts from my 'dad'. "If you don't start answering me when I message you, we're going to have an issue sweetheart." I read off, verbatim.

"Ew he called you sweetheart?" Amity scoffed.

"Yeah that's nasty," Eda shook her head. "The next time he sends you something, text me a screenshot as soon as possible. I want to be in the loop if things start to get bad." I nodded, and grabbed Amity's hand under the table. "And as for the Blight twins, the sooner they can be over, the better."

"Got it," Amity pulled her phone out and her fingers began flying over the screen. "I'll ask them if they can call me now, so we can get a date on the table." No more than five seconds later, Amity's phone was buzzing with an incoming phone call. "Man they are eager... hello." She answered after that remark, and the voices of the twins came flooding out of her speakers.

"Heyyyy Mittens!" They were in complete unison, which was slightly unnerving.

"What did you need so bad that you had to call us from your girlfriend's place?" Ed's teasing tone was impossible to miss.

But, so was Amity's blush. "I swear to god, if you tease me too much, you don't get to be involved in scaring the shit out of a grown man,"

That shut up the teasing very quickly, and Emira was instantly ready to talk business. "What's the situation?"

"My asshole excuse for a dad's trying to get into my life," I filled them in. "And we need the professional prank experts to get him to stay the hell away from me."

"Oh-ho-ho!" Edric chuckled. "Leave it to us, sister's girlfriend!"

"When can we scope the terrain?" Emira jumped in excitedly.

"As soon as you guys can get here," Eda informed.

"Man, how many of you guys are over there?" Emira snickered, before continuing. "But how does tomorrow around noon sound?"

"Great," Eda said laconically. "Hold on a second, do you guys not have school?"

"College," Edric explained. "We don't have any lectures until three tomorrow."

"Ah, got it," Eda nodded and stood. "Well, kiddos, I'm going to sleep."

"Kay, bye Eda," I gave her a small wave as she left.

"Okay, I'm gonna head home here in a minute," Amity said to her siblings. "I'll see you guys soon."

"See you, Mittens!" They both said in unison before Amity hit the end call button with a sigh.

"Do you want me to start calling you Mittens?" I joked with a grin.

"I swear to god, Noceda..." Her voice was intended to be threatening, but, of course, I just found it cute.

"Don't worry, princesa," I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I won't."

There was a moment where no words were spoken. My mind was still reeling, and I assumed that Amity was deep in thought as well. This silence was broken by a loud bang from the living room, followed by a whisper-yelled "Shit!"

"You good?" I called behind me, assuming that Eda or King had knocked something over. When there was no response, I gave Amity a questioning look. She just raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Eda or King, I assume?" She guessed, mirroring my thoughts.

I suddenly had a not so welcome feeling that it wasn't Eda or King that was in the living room. Amity went to speak again, but I put a finger to my lips and quietly extracted my phone from my pocket. If shit was gonna go down, might as well get it on video.

I stood, dropping Amity's hand as I began to walk towards the closed kitchen door. The teal-haired girl got up to walk beside me, but I grabbed her arm and positioned her so that she was blocked by my body.

"Stay behind me," I whispered, giving her a look that told her I was serious.

With my phone in one hand, and an acquired frying pan in the other, I slowly kicked the swinging door open to peek into the living room for the source of the sound.

What I saw made my stomach drop and my heart speed up. There was a man in our living room.

Chapter Text

Amity P.O.V.

I was calm until I saw the color drain from Luz's face. Before that telltale sign of absolute fear, I assumed it was Eda or King messing with us. But when she raised the pan and put on an intimidating face, I could tell something far worse was in that living room.

"HANDS UP MOTHER FUCKER!" Luz screamed and kicked the door open, startling both me and the man standing in the middle of the living room. Well, man is not the term I would use.

I recognized them instantly, but it seemed that Luz did not.

"Luz-" I tried to put a hand on her shoulder to alert her that this was no robber, but she shoved me behind her protectively.

"Stay back," Luz whispered to me.

"Luz,"

"Sh!" She kept looking ahead of her.

"Luz,"

"Shut up!"

"Luz!"

"What?!" She whipped back around to face me.

"That's no robber," I whisper yelled, pointing to the person standing wide-eyed in the next room.

"Then why is he in here?" Luz quietly snapped back.

"They," I corrected. "Why are they in here."

"What the fuck is going on..?" She dropped the aggressiveness and just looked at me confused.

"That's Raine Whispers," I told her. She just raised an eyebrow and waited for further explanation. "Owner of the night club?"

"Oh!" She turned back around to look at them again. "Why are they in my house then..?"

"I have no idea," I shrugged and pushed past Luz to properly greet them. "Hey, Raine!"

"Oh, hello, Amity!" They smiled timidly. "Who's your friend back there?" They nervously peeked around me to glance at Luz standing in the doorframe, frying pan hanging at her side.

"Ah, that's Luz," I stepped back a bit to grab her hand and pull her forwards. "Luz, this is Raine, Raine, this is Luz!"

"H-hello, Luz!" They squeaked, holding a hand out to shake.

Luz took it with a smile. "Hey," She dropped their hand and scratched the back of her neck nervously. "Sorry about that. I didn't expect anyone to be over."

"No no, it's my fault, really," They shook their head and waved their hands dismissively. "My plan was to surprise Eda, but I suppose I should have taken into account that there would be other people home."

"How did you even get in?" Luz looked behind them to see that the front door was shut, but she couldn't remember which direction the lock had to be facing to actually be locked.

"Front door," They chuckled nervously. "It was unlocked, and I'm an old friend of Eda's, so I let myself in."

"Ah, okay," Luz nodded and started towards the stairs. "I'll uh, go get her."

“If you wouldn’t mind, could you not tell her who I am?” Raine tentatively asked.

“Sure thing!” Luz nervously shot finger guns towards Raine and ran up the stairs two at a time.

I chuckled and shook my head before turning back to the person still awkwardly standing in the middle of the living room. “How’ve you been?”

“Oh you know, same old same old,” They shrugged. “I heard you’re in a band now.”

“That I am,” I nodded with a smile.

“How do you guys sound?” Raine asked, trying to continue the small talk.

“Don’t know,” I chuckled. “We haven’t played together yet. Probably gonna get to that some time in the next few days. It’s a lot of work setting up a practice room, it seems.”

“Oh, yes, I know how that goes,” They laughed a bit and smiled in what looked like a nostalgic way to me.

“Wait, were you in a band?” I was taken aback. Raine wasn’t the most outgoing or social person, and to think that they might have been in a band? It was strange.

“I was,” They nodded, that same small smile on their face. “I was never the lead, of course. I was the bassist.”

“That’s awesome!” I grinned. “Who were your band mates?”

“Oh, a lot of people you wouldn’t know,” They waved a hand dismissively. “But Eda was the backup guitarist. We met through that band.”

“No, I promise it’s not some random salesman!” Luz’s voice drifted down the stairs.

“Then who the hell is in my house?” Eda’s head popped into view, and she immediately froze when she spotted the person standing next to me. “Raine?”

“Hey, Eda,” They waved shyly, face flushing ever so slightly. “Long time no see.”

Eda slowly descended the rest of the stairs and came to stand in front of Raine, a look of shock still residing on her face. Soon enough, that look was discarded for her signature grin, showing off her golden tooth.

“I didn’t expect you to break in when I emailed you!” She slapped them on the back excitedly.

Raine was knocked forwards and they spluttered, attempting to breathe normally.

“Oh, sorry!” Eda rushed to their side and patted them on the back more gently. “Don’t know my own strength, I guess.”

Raine took a breath and turned back to face Eda. “It’s alright. It’s good to see you again!”

“Yeah, likewise,” Eda’s grin grew. “So, why did you barge into my house?”

“Well, I read your email, and decided to come and discuss things in person!” Raine smiled warmly, their eyes giving away their adoration for Eda. “It shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to get this band in for a gig, but I figured I could talk things over with you before I do anything. And I, uh, wanted to see you again…” The last sentence came out very quietly, and I watched as it made Eda’s cheeks flush red.

“Of course!” Eda quickly started towards the kitchen, guiding Raine along by a hand on their back. “Why don’t we go to the kitchen then?”

“Alright,” They laughed and quickly glanced back at me. “It was nice seeing you, Amity! And good to meet you, Luz!”

“Right back at you!” Luz shot them finger guns.

“Yes, good to see you, Raine,” I waved as they left.

“Why do I impulsively do finger guns..?” Luz muttered to herself, staring at her hands in confusion.

“Because you’re bisexual,”

“Wow,” Luz’s eyes darted to me in surprise. “Way to call me out, Blight.”

“Oh, you know I’m right, Noceda,” I smirked and walked past her to go upstairs. “You coming or what?”

“Well if you want me to, you’re gonna have to try harder than that,” Luz grinned and gave me a suggestive look.

My face exploded in red, and I stuttered trying to find a snarky comeback. All the while, Luz was just laughing.

“You’re so cute when you’re flustered!” She ran up and grabbed both sides of my face, quickly pecking my lips before grabbing my hand and dragging me up the stairs. “Now come on! We’ve still got like a half an hour before you have to leave!”

I wordlessly nodded and followed Luz up to her bedroom. She appeared to be deep in thought the entire way, barely paying attention to where she was going. This, of course, caused her to nearly trip over a small table supporting a lamp off to the side in the hallway.

“Luz!” I pulled her away from the table by our connected hands. “I get that you’re thinking, but please pay attention to where you’re walking.”

“Oh,” Luz looked at the table in confusion for a moment, before shaking it off and dragging me even more quickly to her room. “Eda doesn’t care about that lamp anyways!”

I chuckled under my breath, and before I knew what was happening, I was pulled into Luz's room and pushed up against the door. In my peripheral vision, I could see a tanned arm braced against the space near my head, but that was nothing compared to the view in front of me.

Why Luz had turned so… dominant(?) so quickly was beyond me, but I couldn’t say that I disliked it. She was giving me a look that made me want to lunge forward and kiss her to wipe that smirk off her face, if only for the satisfaction of shutting her up. But at the same time, it set a fire to my insides; a fire that I had no intention of extinguishing.

I could only guess that my entire face was akin to a tomato because Luz simply chuckled and smirked, leaning closer to my ear to whisper, “What’s the matter princesa? Don’t like it?”

“Oh, you could not be more wrong,” I whispered back, getting a sudden wave of confidence. Before Luz could react to my comment, I leaned forward and connected my lips with the side of her neck.

Her breath hitched, and I could feel her control shatter. “Fuck, Amity,” She inhaled sharply. “Why do you have to be so goddamn hot?”

I chose not to reply, and simply continued what I was doing, Luz’s breathing getting all the more labored as time went on.

“Luz!” 

Damn it, Eda.

“Yeah?” Luz replied, voice cracking.

“Is Amity still here?”

“Yeah, she is,” Luz backed away from the door.

“Then both of you get down here!” She called up the stairs.

“They really do have a way of interrupting us, don’t they?” Luz chuckled and held out her hand.

I accepted with a shy smile. “It’s okay. We’ll just pick this up later,” I brought my finger up to her face and slowly traced her jawline. It had the desired effect.

“I- um, okay!” She squeaked, face bright red. But before I had the chance to fluster her more, she quickly dragged me downstairs to where Eda and Raine were waiting.

“Ah! There you guys are!” Eda exclaimed. “Raine wanted to tell you guys something before they head out.”

“Yes, I have some news regarding your band,” They clapped their hands together with a smile. “After speaking with your lovely manager, I’ve decided to give you the chance to perform at the club!”

“Oh that’s great!” Luz beamed.

“And I know that you guys haven’t actually practiced anything yet, so I’m giving you two weeks to prepare,” Raine explained. “You’ll have a 10 to 15 minute window to perform in, so don’t feel pressured to learn too many songs.”

“I mean, that sounds great to me,” I nodded and mulled it over for a second. “One question though.”

“Shoot,”

“Will I still do my solos, even if I’m in the band?”

That was my only worry. I knew I could probably do both, but I’d end up with raw fingers and no voice. Not to mention, whichever came second would be a worse performance.

“You’re still on for this weekend, but after that it’s up to you,” They shrugged. “If you want to keep doing both, you can. But I will tell you that I’m not paying you double.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll just stick to the band,” I decided, giving Luz’s hand a squeeze.

“Sounds great!” They smiled and then started towards the door. “Now I have to make my leave. But I’ll come back tomorrow with a contract for the whole band to sign, including your pay and such.”

“Well,” Luz began. “If you’re gonna do that, come a bit earlier. The whole band is here from 3 to 5-ish, if you want to see everyone.”

“I’ll drop by then,” Raine gave one last wave before saying their goodbyes and leaving.

“That went well!” Eda clapped her hands. “But now I’m done interacting.” She slouched and went to go up the stairs. “See you girls tomorrow.”

“Bye, Eda,” Luz chuckled and waved, and the next thing I knew, she was gone. “Well, I guess I should get you home now.”

“I suppose,” I sighed, not wanting to leave just yet.

“How about this…” Luz started with a small smile. “We’ll take the long way there.”

I lit up and looked at her excitedly. “Really?”

“Sure thing, hermosa,” She leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on my head. “As long as you hold my hand the whole time.”

“That’s a given,” I shrugged with a grin.

Once we were on the road, Luz flipped the radio on and started scrolling through the channels. She stopped when it landed on a familiar guitar intro.

“Ooh,” Luz smiled and laced her fingers back through mine. “Good song.”

“She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean!

She was the best damn woman that I ever seen!” Luz sang along, bobbing her head and drumming her fingers against the steering wheel.

“She had the sightless eyes, telling me no lies!

Knocking me out with those American thighs.

Taking more than her share, had me fighting for air.

She told me to come, but I was already there!

‘Cause the walls start shaking, the Earth was quaking.

My mind was aching and we were making it!”

I joined for the chorus, grinning like an idiot as I watched Luz get into the beat.

“And you shook me all night long!”

There was a small pause where the guitar shone through.

“Yeah you, shook me all night long!”

“See? Good song!” Luz shouted over the break in the lyrics.

And that was how we spent the rest of the car ride. Jamming out to whatever ‘good song’ we could find on the radio. It was honestly the most carefree I’d felt in a long time.

That’s why it hurt all the more when I kissed Luz goodbye and made my way inside my cage of a house.

Blight Manor was built to be extravagant, elegant, and luxurious. My parents—specifically my mom—wanted to show how wealthy the Blights were. Her opulence was never hidden. However, Blight Manor was not designed with comfort in mind. It was probably second to last on the list of necessities. Last being practicality, but that’s another story.

So, all in all, being home was disappointing. It felt so cold here compared to the cluttered, homey feeling of the Owl House. It was a bit messy, sure, but it felt warm. It felt like people lived there.

I couldn’t say the same about my house. And it was very apparent as I entered my room. I didn’t see nor hear a single person the entire way from the front to my door. I honestly expected the twins to ambush me, but my guess was that they were on the switch in Ed’s room. That was typical for this time of night.

So, with no homework left to do, I did my nightly routine and scrolled aimlessly through Instagram until I felt my eyelids growing heavy. After plugging in my phone, I rolled over and slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

*le gay time skip*

“Mittens! Your girlfriend is here!”

“Ed, shut up she is not my girlfriend!”

I quickly shoved the last of my school things into my backpack and all but sprinted down the stairs and out the door.

“Woah woah woah!” Emira stopped me before I could leave. “Forgetting something?” She held up my lunchbox with a knowing grin.

“Okaythankyoubye!” I snatched my lunch and left, walking much slower to Luz’s car.

What? I don’t need to look desperate.

“Good morning, princesa!” Luz greeted me with a smile as I lowered myself into the front seat.

“Good morning,” I smiled right back at her, holding my hand out, face up on the console.

“Someone’s eager,” Luz joked as she backed out of the driveway. She took my hand anyway. “You wanna grab a coffee or just head straight to school?”

“Well, we can’t head straight to school,” I smirked and waited for her to catch on.

“Heyyyy!” She faked offense. “That’s a joke I would make!”

“That’s why I did it,” I grinned and kissed the back of her hand. “Your humor is rubbing off on me, Noceda.”

“What can I say, Blight. I’m just a comedian,” She shrugged with a smile. “But that didn’t answer my question.”

“What do you want to do?” I bumped her arm with my elbow. “You’re always the one doing stuff for me, so you pick.”

“You down for coffee then?” She gave me a quick glance, but her eyes soon went back to the road in front of her.

“Coffee sounds amazing,”

“Then I definitely need to turn here,” She let go of my hand and slowed down enough to make a quick turn that made our backpacks slide across the back seat.

“Well that was conveniently timed,” I chuckled. 

“More like we just barely decided on time,” Luz took my hand, fingers coming together once more.

Far too soon for my liking, we were at school after getting our coffee. I didn’t want to leave Luz, but I knew what would happen if someone saw us getting too close. No way was I going to let my mom ruin this for me.

So, with a quick kiss goodbye, I made my way into the school, easily finding Boscha and Skara at our usual table.

“Hey, Amity!” Skara beamed when she saw me.

“Hey, guys,” I sat down in my usual seat, taking a sip of my iced coffee after I did.

Boscha chuckled, for reasons unknown to me, but I didn’t have time to unpack it before an annoying voice interrupted me.

“Hey, baby Blight,” The tall, blonde figure slid into one of the empty chairs.

I internally groaned upon realizing who it was.

“What do you want, Hunter?” I snapped, not bothering to hide the irritation in my voice.

“Woah woah woah,” He put his hands up, but he was still smirking. “No need to get all bitchy just yet.”

“Cut to the chase before I leave,” I deadpanned, not leaving him room to draw this out any further.

“Chill out, baby Blight. I just came over to ask you something,” He leaned forward, placing his head in his hand.

“Well?” I rolled my eyes, growing impatient.

“You free this Friday?”

“Not interested,”

“Come on!” He sat up straighter and grinned larger. “It’ll be fun! Get you out of the house for once.”

“First of all, I am out of the house, thank you very much,” I spat, glaring daggers at the blonde. “Second, I’m talking to someone, so fuck off.”

He took on a look of shock. “You’re telling me… that someone, other than myself, is interested in you ?” The way that he said the word “you” made my blood boil.

I clenched my teeth as I said. “What are you implying by that?”

“Well, all I’m saying is that you’re not the most fun person to be around, amiright?” He glanced at Boscha and Skara for backup, but that just made his cocky expression drop. Yet, for reasons unknown, he continued. “A-and you’re so smart and intimidating! I’m just surprised that a guy got enough courage to ask you out, is all.” He relaxed slightly, thinking he’d fixed his mistake.

“I see,” I nodded, making a show of finally understanding.

“What?” He shrank a bit, nervousness one again making its way onto his face.

“You assume far too much, Hunter,” I chuckled darkly. “Now get out of here before I report you for harassing me.”

He stopped for a moment and I could practically see the gears turning in his head. And all at once, his eyes snapped back to me, a mischievous glint now residing there.

“I see,” He copied my previous words and expression. “I know exactly who you’re talking to, Blight.”

“Oh, do you now?” I challenged, fists balling under the table.

“The same person you’ve gone to and from school with,” My glare faltered. Only for a half second, but he caught it, smirking all the more. “You, Amity Blight, are talking to Boscha, are you not?”

There was silence at the table for all of 15 seconds before the three of us burst out laughing.

“What?!” His eyes widened and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “What’s so funny?!”

“Oh you think you’re so smart,” Boscha wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and shook her head. “First of all, I’m already dating someone dumbass. Have been for over a year. Second of all, why the hell would I date my best friend?”

“I-I don’t know… you guys are close,” He stuttered, confidence long gone.

“Let me put this in perspective for you,” Skara jumped in, leaning forward. “Imagine dating your best friend. Oh, right! You don’t have a best friend!”

This drew more laughs out of the three of us, and Hunter just shrunk further.

“If you guys keep doing this, I’m telling your mom about that girl you’ve been hanging around with,” Hunter snapped. “What’s her name? Lily? Lucy? Luz? Luz. Noceda, if I recall.”

My heart dropped.

Would he really..?

“For your information,” I powered through, ignoring the rapid beating of my heart. “I’m tutoring her. And my mother approved it herself. Do your research before you go and try to blackmail me.”

“Then why does she drive you to and from school?” He persisted.

“I don’t have a car, and she’s being a kind human being,” I snapped.

“Unlike some people here…” Boscha scoffed.

Hunter didn’t say any more as he stood and stormed off.

I released a breath that I didn’t know I was holding. The chatter of students filled my ears. It was loud, and it was suffocating. My ears started ringing and the voices only seemed to grow in volume. 

“You okay, Amity?” Boscha asked, concern filling her voice. I could barely hear her over the cacophony in my head.

“Yeah, yeah,” I nodded and took another deep breath.

“You sure?” Skara put a comforting hand on my back, which I just shrugged off.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I stood quickly, grabbing my things as I did. “I’ll see you two in class.”

I made a beeline for the girl’s bathroom, wanting nothing more than to just take a minute without all the noise. This insufferable noise that I couldn’t seem to shake.

I burst through the door, not bothering to see if it actually closed behind me, and stood in front of the sinks, vision locked on the drain. I had a white-knuckle grip on the ceramic, my breathing somewhat ragged as I tried to regulate it.

Having those sorts of conversations always gave me anxiety. It doesn’t matter who it is; if someone is being a pain in the ass and I have to drive them off, it tires and stresses me out at the same time.

Thankfully, I still had ten or so minutes until my first bell to calm myself down.

Taking a deep breath, I looked up to the mirror, noting the fact that I still looked completely fine—other than the obvious fact that I was mentally exhausted. And it’s only seven a.m. Great.

I didn’t even notice that someone had entered until I heard them speak.

“Are you okay?”

I jumped and whipped around, only to find that the soft voice came from a tall brunette with a beanie and a half-on blazer. Luz.

“I saw Hunter talking to you and you looked uncomfortable…” She looked down sheepishly. “So I came to check on you… y’know, make sure you’re not too overwhelmed.”

At first, I just stood and stared, somewhat in shock. No one has ever come to check on me after these things go down. That’s just not something that happened. Yet, Luz was here, and she was giving me the most gentle, comforting look. So, I did the only rational thing that came to mind.

I threw myself into her arms.

She quickly wrapped me in a tight hug, one hand holding steady in between my shoulder blades, the other rubbing comforting circles on my lower back. From where my head was positioned, I could hear the steady beating of her heart. I could feel her chest rising and falling with every breath. I could smell that distinct scent that I could only describe as Luz—kind of like sweet lemons and a hint of lavender.

She was whispering everything and nothing at the same time, words of comfort constantly flowing from her lips. While the noise of the cafeteria was suffocating, these sounds calmed my beating heart. They energized me enough that I thought I might just be able to get through the day. 

And the longer I stayed in the embrace, the more these effects were felt; I didn’t want to let go.

“Thank you,” I muttered into her chest.

“No need to thank me, princesa,” She hugged me tighter and placed a soft kiss to the side of my head. “I’m just here to help. But are you alright?”

“I’m better now,” I felt myself start to smile.

“What did he even say to you?” She pulled back enough to look at my face.

“He tried to ask me out again,” I rolled my eyes. “It happens every once and a while. Can’t seem to take the hint.”

“What did you tell him this time?” She tilted her head to the side a bit.

“Well, at first I just flat out said I wasn’t interested, but that never works. So I told him I was talking to someone,” I paused and took a breath. Just thinking about it was making my blood boil once more.

“And he didn’t care, I presume?”

“Well, he acted all shocked that someone was interested in me, and then he went all Sherlock Holmes and said that he knew who I was talking to,”

“Does he know..?” Luz’s voice wavered, and she looked worried.

“Well, he thought I was talking to Boscha, so not in that way,” Luz snorted, but I continued. “We laughed at him, but then he was all like, ‘I’ll tell your mom about that girl you’ve been hanging out with.’” I mimicked his voice.

“Wait wait wait,” Luz stopped me. “Does he know or not?”

“Well, he knows that we’re hanging out, at least,” I shrugged and avoided eye contact. “But I told him that I was tutoring you, and of course he asked why you were driving me to and from school.”

“You don’t have a car,” Luz stated. “That’s why.”

“Exactly,” I nodded. “And that’s what I told him. Then I said something about how you’re actually a good person, Boscha said unlike some people here, and he stormed off.”

“So… he bought it?” Luz raised an eyebrow, a look of confusion now residing on her face.

“For now,” I took a deep breath. “But he’s absolutely going to keep bothering me until he gets an answer he likes. Namely, he wants to date me so he can have more money and power.”

“That little bitch doesn’t need any more money and power,” Luz scoffed. “His uncle’s the fucking mayor.”

“What can I say? People are greedy,” I shook my head and finally let go of Luz. “I guess we should probably get to first period.” My point was proven when the 5 minute warning bell went off.

“Alright,” Luz gave me a quick peck on the side of my head and walked towards the door. “See you in third bell, hermosa!”

The rest of the day passed like normal. I took subpar notes in first and second period, held Luz’s hand during third and fourth, and suffered through the rest of the day. I was relieved when the final bell rang out, signaling the entire student body to rush out the doors.

I took as long as possible packing up so that there would be fewer students about to see me drive off with Luz. I didn’t need more people on my case—Hunter is far more than enough. And when I finally made my way out of the school, I was stopped before I even descended the steps.

“Hey, baby Blight!”

  My god his voice is annoying…

“What do you want, Hunter?” I turned to face the scrawny boy, not hiding the fact that he was the last person I wanted to be talking to.

“I felt the need to warn you that your little student is getting close to crossing a line,” He looked smug, and all I wanted was to wipe that smile off his face.

I simply raised an eyebrow to his statement. It wasn’t a look of confusion, it was more of a, ‘get on with it then’ expression.

“I only come bearing the news that she decided to smack talk me today in sixth bell. I handled it, of course, but get her in line before I do,”

“Oh, did she hurt wittle Hunter-wunter’s feewings?” I mocked in a baby voice.

He stared at me incredulously before finding his words. “Of course not!”

“What did she say? I’m curious what’s caused you so much discomfort that you felt the need to inform me,” I smirked, showing my slight intrigue.

“T-that’s none of your business!” Hunter stuttered. “Just get her in line before I report her!”

“Yep yep, got it,” I nodded and began my walk to Luz’s car. “Now go on and do whatever spoiled brats do in their free time and stop bothering my student.”

Hunter stood in place and spluttered, trying to find a snarky comeback, I presume, but I was long out of earshot before he could think of anything good.

I walked up to Luz’s passenger side door, feeling proud of myself, and knocked. Her head immediately whipped up to lock eyes with me, and a smile spread onto her face. The doors were quickly unlocked and I clambered into the front seat.

“Hello there, princesa!” Luz greeted excitedly.

“Hey,” I threw my stuff into the back and turned to face her, grinning broadly. “Guess who decided to talk to me again?”

“Your teacher?” Luz raised an eyebrow, evidently not catching where I was going with this.

“No,” I shook my head. “Hunter.”

“Really?” Luz’s brows furrowed in what I picked up as frustration. “He hitting on you again?”

“No no, don’t worry,” She relaxed a bit at that. “But he did tell me that you were, and I quote, ‘Getting close to crossing a line’.”

“What did he mean by that?” Luz turned completely to face me and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“He said that you were talking smack about him in sixth bell, but he wouldn’t tell me what you said, so I’m not really buying that story,”

“Well, I did talk to him in sixth bell,” Luz looked down sheepishly.

“What did you say?” I tried to make eye contact with her, but she was very focused on her seatbelt buckle.

“I just told him to lay off,” She shrugged. “I pointed out that you were obviously uncomfortable when he tried to ask you out, so I said to leave you alone. He didn’t like that.”

“That’s not shocking…” I shook my head in thought. “But anyways, enough about Hunter. Aren’t we gonna go get an air conditioner?”

“Indeed we are!” Luz perked up and threw the car into reverse, pulling out of the spot to get on the road. “There’s this place a couple exits south we can check out first. If they don’t have anything, there’s one a bit farther, but I’d rather not go there if we don’t have to.”

“Well then, we’ll hope there’s something we can buy at the first place,” I supplied as Luz turned out of the school parking lot. “Didn’t you say they had some in stock yesterday, though?”

“Yeah, but that was yesterday. What if a bunch of people needed those tiny little window air conditioners?”

“Luz, I highly doubt that there are that many people in Bonesborough that want this specific air conditioner at the exact same time,” I grinned over at Luz, who was still—rightfully—focused on the road.

“That is a very good point,” Luz nodded, and we fell into a silence. “Okay I’m turning on music, this is too quiet.” She rushed out and reached over to flip the radio on.

I chuckled and held out my hand. “And you forgot something,”

She gasped dramatically. “How could I have forgotten something so important?”

“I don’t know but my hand is unusually cold,” I interlaced my fingers with hers and relaxed.

“Better?” She gave my hand a gentle squeeze as we pulled onto the highway.

“Much, thank you,” I smiled over at her.

The car was filled with only the music flowing from the speakers as Luz and I fell into a comfortable silence. It was very relaxing, especially after having to deal with Hunter multiple times today. But unfortunately, my state of complete relaxation was broken by Luz’s phone going off.

“Could you put it on speaker for me?” She asked, eyes darting down to where her phone was placed in one of the cup holders.

“Yeah, sure,” I picked it up and saw Eda’s face filling the screen. “It’s Eda, by the way.”

“Okay cool,” She nodded as I slid the button to answer it. “Hey, Eda! What’s up?”

“Hey, where are you?” She asked.

“Uh, we’re going to get the a.c?” Luz answered with a bit of confusion evident in her voice. “I told you about that yesterday, remember?”

“Oh! Yeah!” Eda laughed a bit. “Totally forgot about that. Is the band still coming over?”

“They’re all going over to Skara’s first to pick up some furniture and stuff for the shed,” Luz told her. “They’re taking a few trips in Boscha’s dad’s truck to get everything over.”

“Ah, okay,” Eda paused in contemplation. “So, Raine showed up just before your school let out, and I know they want to meet everyone, so when do you think you guys will all be here?”

Luz hummed in thought. “I would say somewhere around 3:45 maybe? Depends on how fast everyone else is getting the shed stuff over,”

“Got it, got it…” Eda’s voice trailed off.

“What, you nervous that you’re stuck alone with Raine for an hour?” Luz teased, grinning all the while.

“No of course not!” Eda snapped far too quickly.

Luz only laughed. “I’m sure. But we’re almost there, so I’m gonna have to go,”

“Alright, see ya kid!”

“Bye, Eda,” With that goodbye from Luz, I hung up the phone call. “She’s definitely scared to spend that much time with Raine.”

I snickered. “I can tell,”

“You brought money, right?” Luz glanced over at me nervously.

“Of course I did,” I nodded affirmatively and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Okay, good,” She breathed a sigh of relief. “But the next thing we need for the band is on me.”

“You’re already letting me use your first guitar that you purchased yourself,” I pointed out. “I feel like that more than makes up for it.”

“But I bought that when I was 16!” Luz reasoned. “This is now!”

“Luz, don’t sweat it, okay?” I raised her hand to my mouth and kissed the back of it gently. “You just being here is enough for me.”

I internally cringed at those words.

“Wow, Blight,” Luz chuckled. “That was so fucking cheesy.”

“Oh, as if you’ve never been that cheesy,” I rolled my eyes playfully.

“Not once in my life,” She looked over and gave me a smug grin just as she’d finished parking the car at our destination.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I grinned right back at her. “Or, rather, when I don’t see it.”

“Sure, Blight,” With that, she climbed out of the car and closed the door behind her, leaving me alone. Before I could process that quick departure, she was over at my door and pulling it open. “Coming?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I pulled myself out and slipped my hand into hers before closing my own door. “Let’s go get your air conditioner.”

“Our air conditioner,” She corrected with a grin.

“Wow, I am so flattered that the first thing that’s ours is an air conditioner,”

“I know, I’m so romantic,” Luz held open the shop door for me with a little bow.

As soon as we both entered, we were greeted by a very smiley man who looked to be in his late thirties. One look and I could tell that he was going to try and sell us everything in the shop.

But before he could get a word out, I cut to the chase. “We’re here for a window mounted air conditioner and nothing else,”

He deflated a bit, but kept his salesman smile. “Alrighty then! Follow me this way!”

“Wow that was kind of harsh,” Luz whispered into my ear as he was leading us to the back of the store.

“Well, did you want him to try and sell us everything?”

“I’d like to see what all they have! Maybe we can buy some more cool stuff for the shed!” Luz protested, giving me puppy dog eyes.

“Luz, I lo-” I blushed, stopped myself, and rephrased. “I like you. I really do, but I don’t want to put too much of a dent in my wallet today.”

“Ah, yeah, of course,” Luz nodded. “Sorry, I get carried away sometimes.”

“It’s alright,” I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I get where you’re coming from. How about we just get what we came here for, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Luz squeezed my hand back and we spent the rest of the walk with the salesman in silence. He seemed to have gotten my message earlier because he didn’t bring up one other thing.

“Alrighty then! Here we are!” He presented each of the models they had, and finished with a clap of his hands as he looked at us. “So, which one are we thinking?”

My eyes swept down the row, taking in each once more before making my decision. I picked one that was the least expensive that would get the job done for the shed. “This one will work nicely,”

“Alrighty then! What’s the form of payment?” He whipped out a small iPad and clicked around on it, looking at me expectantly.

“I’ve got cash,” I said, pulling my wallet out of my bag.

He stared at me blankly for a moment. “Are you positive that you have enough money for this in cash?” I nodded wordlessly, and he waved his hand in a motion for us to follow him, muttering something under his breath about the weirdest customers he’s ever had. “Okay, that’ll be 469 even.”

I handed him five one hundred dollar bills, and once again, he stared blankly at me. When he took them, he held them up to the ceiling lights, inspecting to see if they were fakes or not. When he realized that they weren’t, his eyes widened.

“Damn, girl,” His salesman facade dropped. “You got money.”

I just raised an eyebrow in confusion and waited for him to continue the transaction.

“Y’know…” He paused in the middle of putting the money in the tray. “My little brother’s been looking for something long-term. He’s got good looks and he knows his way around the house. I could pass along his number for you.”

I felt Luz tense beside me. “She’s taken,” Her arm found its way around my shoulders.

“Yeah, I’m not interested,” I held up my bag and showed him the orange, pink, and white pin that sat on the bottom of the over-the-shoulder strap.

“Ah, okay,” He nodded slowly, finally putting the money in the tray and going to grab my change. “So you two together, then?” He looked mildly disgusted, glancing between the two of us.

Luz pulled me closer to her. “Sure are,”

“Well, if you ever need a third-”

I cut him off. “I am not here to pick up a man, if that wasn’t implied by the pin. I am here to buy an air conditioner. So if you would, please finish this transaction so I can take my things and leave,”

That shut him up, and he quickly handed me my change before excusing himself to the back to grab what we were here for. When he came back, he offered to help take the boxed appliance to the car for us, but Luz immediately said that she could handle it and easily took it from the man’s hands.

Once we were both settled in the front, I let out a breath. “That was a lot,”

“Indeed it was,” Luz quickly pulled out of the parking spot and immediately took my hand once we were on our way back. “I hate guys like that. Think that every girl needs a man.”

“If I wanted a man, I could get one,” I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

Luz laughed. “Oh, I bet you could, princesa,” She lifted my hand up and kissed the back of it. “I bet there’d be a line of men just waiting to see if they had a chance with you.”

I shuddered at the thought. “I’d rather not do what my mom wants me to, thank you,”

One drive later, we were back at the Owl House, and I was surprised to find that the others were already unloading the first truckload.

Luz parked the car and we both hopped out, walking over to the rest of the band once we’d shut the doors.

“Wow, you guys were actually pretty quick with that,” Luz announced as we neared the truck.

“Skara and Gus wouldn’t let us relax,” Willow rolled their eyes and pulled a box out from the bed of the pickup.

I watched the chaos of unloading the first trip and the arguments as they all piled in for the drive to get the second load. But soon enough, they drove off, leaving Luz and I alone to somehow mount an air conditioner.

Chapter Text

Luz P.O.V.

“This should be a piece of cake!” I said.

“We should be done in a jiffy!” I said.

Oh boy, was I wrong.

Amity and I were struggling .

“Do you think we could ask Eda for-”

“No!” I cut Amity off. “We can do it!”

At the moment, Amity and I were sitting criss-crossed on the floor across from each other, attempting to assemble the unit before we mounted it in the window. The directions were vague, and also in Spanish. Luckily, I am, of course, fluent, and could read them without issue. Well, that would be if they made sense.

“If only the person that wrote these instructions wasn’t an idiot when it comes to Spanish,” I gestured frustratedly at the paper in front of me. “The grammar is atrocious.”

“Maybe my rudimentary understanding of Spanish will fare better?” Amity held a hand out for the instructions, which I handed over bitterly. She inspected it for a moment before shrugging and throwing the packet on the ground in front of her. “I have no idea what that’s saying at all.”

I groaned in frustration. “If only that jackass had given us the English instructions,”

“Why don’t we just ask Eda?” Amity suggested with a shrug.

“I’m not admitting defeat!” I declared, picking up the directions once more, this time with renewed vigor.

After a few moments, I gasped.

“What?” Amity raised an eyebrow in slight amusement.

“I get it now!” I exclaimed. “Suck it, idiot that wrote this!”

“So you can do it?”

“Yep!” I smiled and got to work, letting Amity know what she could do along the way.

A few—slightly annoyed—minutes later, we were done putting the air conditioner together, and all we had to do now was put it in the window, which didn’t take all that long and was much less of a headache than reading the instructions was.

“Alright!” I clapped. “We are now air conditioned!”

“Thank god,” Amity sighed. “It’s only gonna get hotter this week. The high tomorrow is somewhere like 90 degrees.”

“Dios mío, eso es demasiado caliente,” I walked over to the stairs and sat, waving Amity over to join me.

“You know I don’t understand most of your Spanish, right?” Amity grinned, raising an eyebrow before walking over to sit on the stair directly below me, leaning into my front once she did.

“I know you don’t,” I shrugged, grinning right back. “But that’s what makes it fun.”

Amity looked back at me only to roll her eyes playfully. “Anyways,” She started. “What do you want to do until they get back?”

“Well, it shouldn’t be that long,” I glanced out one of the many windows, making sure they weren’t already here. “It took us a while to do that air conditioner.”

“True, true,” Amity nodded, and soon after, we fell into silence.

It was one of those silences that just calmed you down. It was as if the pressure was released from the air around me, and I could finally relax. Just being around Amity made me feel that way. I never wanted it to change.

However, one thought briefly crossed my mind that made my anxiety spike.

Are we going too fast?

Sure, I’ve had past relationships that haven’t panned out, but none of them have hit me this hard this fast like they have with Amity. I couldn’t tell you one other time that I’ve instantly felt a connection like I did with the teal-haired girl that stole my heart.

My only worry was the fact that we’ve known each other for legit five days and she’s closer to me than anyone else. Hell, we’ve already kissed! More than kissed! We made out on the couch! I pinned her against a door, and I met her five days ago!

“Hey, Ams?” I started.

“What’s up?” She turned to face me, seemingly picking up on the tone of my voice.

“Do you think we’re going too fast?” I asked, bracing myself for the worst possible answer.

“Hm,” Amity paused to think for a minute. “I guess we did meet on like Sunday.”

“Amity!” I spluttered, looking into her eyes with shock. “That’s not calming my nerves!”

“Sorry, sorry,” She laughed, and became serious again soon after. “Here’s what I think: We move at whatever speed makes us comfortable. If you don’t want to go as fast as we are, that’s totally okay. We can slow it down. But if you like how this is going, I say we keep it up. We’re fast-paced, and that’s fine, as long as that’s what we both want. But I can just tell you now that I’ve never felt as close to someone as I feel with you.”

I felt a warmness blooming in my chest as Amity spoke, filling my entire being with feelings of pure adoration and care.

“Wow,” I chuckled. “You just read my mind.”

Amity laughed—a beautiful sound, I might add. “I’m glad we’re on the same page then.”

“Me too,” I smiled, gently grabbing Amity’s chin to bring her lips to meet mine. A handful of seconds later, Amity and I pulled apart, but there was one more thing I wanted to talk about before I lost my confidence. “Okay, this is going to sound really out of the blue, but while we’re on the topic of discussing our relationship, I want to get this all cleared up.”

“Alright,” Amity nodded. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Okay, I know we’re not actually dating yet or anything, but I want to set my personally boundaries on, uh, sex,” I felt my cheeks heat up.

And, unsurprisingly, Amity looked to be in the same boat. “O-okay! That is a good conversation to have! What’s your opinion as of now?”

“Well, personally, I’d like to wait until we’re a little more exclusive,” I started. “In other words, I’d like to be dating before we get into that. And of course, when I’m emotionally ready, but I have a feeling that won’t take long. Heh…”

“Oh, yes,” Amity nodded aggressively, avoiding eye contact. “I totally agree.” There was a pause for a moment, but I could tell that Amity had something else to say, so I waited until she spoke up once more. “Have you, uh, done anything like that before?”

My face took on even more heat as I spluttered to answer. “N-no! No, I haven't,” I shook my head.  “Have you?”

“No, I haven’t either,” A small smile came over Amity’s face. “I know this probably won’t be any time soon, but I would love it if my first was with you.”

“Eres tan linda,” I whispered, smiling all the while.

“What was that?” Amity tilted her head in confusion.

“Nothing important, princesa,” I gave her a quick peck to the lips. “I’d love my first to be with you too,”

A warm, comfortable smile took over Amity’s features, and holy shit , did it fit her well. Yeah, she looked super badass and hot when she was mad, but this was a different kind of Amity. A kind of Amity where her walls were down, and she could be herself, without the pressures of her parents’ stature and control over her life.

A sense of pride welled in my chest at the thought that it was only me that garnered this reaction from Amity. I’d never seen this smile with anyone else, and there was something within me that wanted to keep it that way.

Our cute little moment was interrupted when the shed door banged open, surely making a dent in the wall. Amity and I both whipped to face the door, but it was me that yelled out,

“Jesus Crist! Relax, Willow!”

“What’s the fun in that?” They grinned, and I bet you that they would have done that super obnoxious hair flip if it weren’t for the fact that their hands were occupied by one end of a loveseat. “Also, where do you want this?”

“Uhhh…” I surveyed the room. “Maybe back by the broken kitchen thing? If we don’t like it there, we can always move it later.”

“Wait, the kitchen stuff is broken?” Gus perked up, looking at me with excitement in his eyes.

“Yes?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Dude, it’s been obviously broken this whole time,” Boscha deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

“Whatever,” He waved his hand dismissively and ran up to me, bouncing in place. “Can I fix it?”

“Excuse me?”

“Can I? Can I, please, Luz?” He clasped his hands together and made puppy-dog eyes. “My dad taught me! I promise I can do it right!”

I sighed. “Gus, you are the drummer. Probably the single most important part of our quality of playing,” I paused, watching as his face sunk a bit.

We’re really doing this, aren’t we?

“But,” He perked back up as I continued speaking. “If you can do it outside of practice times, then yes. You can fix it.”

“Yes!” He pumped his fist in the air. “I won’t let you down, Luz!”

“Uh huh,” I nodded, a small smile on my face. “Now go finish bringing stuff in here or something.”

“You got it, boss!” He skipped off, grinning broadly.

“Don’t call me boss!” I called after him. “Oookay he probably didn’t hear that.”

Amity giggled. “He’s cute,”

I gasped dramatically. “Do I have competition now?”

“Oh yeah, totally,” Amity grinned. “Because just… boys .” She swooned, falling back into my chest.

“Yeah, yeah,” I playfully shoved her shoulder. “I’m sure that’s entirely true, little miss lesbian.”

“Ooh, are we messing with Amity?” Boscha grinned as she walked up.

The girl in question glared at her friend. “ We are not messing with Amity,”

“Well, sure looks like we are,” She shrugged. “But that’s not why I’m over here. You two are apparently too into your own little disgustingly lovey-dovey world to hear that we have everything set up.”

“Oh…” I felt myself blush. “Then, uh, let’s go see.”

Boscha just rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving us to follow her. When we got up and went over to the section where they’d placed everything, I realized a fatal flaw in my plan.

“Uh, I really hate to be that guy,” I heard everyone groan before I finished my sentence. “But, um, there’s not nearly enough space down here for actual band things now.”

“Well then where do you want all this shit?” Willow asked, irritation evident in their tone.

“Maybe up in the loft?”

“We have a loft?” Skara excitedly asked.

“Where did you think the stairs went, dumbass?” Boscha rolled her eyes.

“Anyway!” I interrupted. “Since I’m the one being annoying about this, I can help move everything.”

“You better,” Willow looked at me pointedly. “No way in hell you’re getting out of this twice.”

Before we could argue any more, there was a timid knock at the door, followed by a much more aggressive knock, then two identical soft rhythm sort of knocks.

“Why are they here..?” Amity asked, seemingly the comment was meant for only herself.

“Who?” I asked her just as softly as Skara went to answer the door.

“Ed and Em,” Amity whispered. “Weren’t they supposed to come like three hours ago?”

“How could you tell that just from the knock..?”

“When you live with my parents, you learn who’s who,” Amity explained simply.

I just nodded as four people filed into the shed. First was Raine, followed by Eda, with the twins trailing not too far behind.

“Hey, kid!” Eda walked over and slapped me on the back. “I got some people here to meet you guys!”

“Yeah, no shit,” I chuckled. “Did you really need to bring the whole entourage?”

“Yes,” Eda nodded. “Yes I did.”

And that’s when I got ambushed.

“Hey there, cutie!” Emira stepped right in front of me, smirking despite the fact that she’s about half a foot shorter than me.

“You must be Mittens’s little girlfriend!” Edric mirrored his twin, but he was able to get a slight bit closer to looking me directly in the eye.

“Emira! Edric!” Amity snapped out, pushing her siblings away from my face. “Stop bothering her!”

“Oh, we’re not bothering, right, Luz?” Emira looked to me expectantly.

“Um…” I started.

“Luz, don’t answer that,” Amity said pointedly. “Why are you two here anyway?”

“Came to scope the area out a bit more!” Edric declared happily.

“If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it right,” Emira nodded, determined.

“And as a plus,” Ed started.

“We get to meet this little cutie!” Em finished.

Amity groaned. “Please stop hitting on her,”

“What’s the fun in that?”

“I don’t give a shit about how much fun you’re having,” Amity deadpanned. “Now go and do whatever scoping you came here for.”

I just watched the three Blight siblings bicker with a smile. I could tell that Amity was extremely frustrated, but it was funny to listen in on.

But after not too much longer, Eda yelled for everyone to stop talking and listen to Raine.

“H-hello!” They waved shyly as they looked around at everyone. “If you didn’t know, I’m the owner of the club that you guys will play at!”

I could hear Willow’s wolf whistle from where they were seated against the wall underneath the air conditioner.

“Yes, thank you,” Raine chuckled. “I just wanted to come here and see what you got, so if you don’t mind, could I hear each of you play something really quickly?”

“Skara, Gus, can you go grab the working amps?” I asked them, pointing to the back corner of the room. They both nodded, and I continued, mostly mumbling to myself. “Willow should be good… the drums are set up… wait Boscha. Where’s your bass?”

“In my car,” She answered simply.

“Which is…?”

“At my house,”

“Wow, great job, Bosh!” Amity started slow-clapping.

“Thank you, Amity,” She just rolled her eyes and sat down next to Willow.

“That’s alright,” Raine reassured. “I’ll trust your bandmates’ judgement.”

“Who do you want to go first?” I asked them, pulling the guitars out of the “storage” in the corner.

“Whoever’s willing,” They answered with a shrug.

“Ooh!” Gus jumped up, raising his hand into the air. “I’ll go!”

“Wonderful,” They smiled at Gus’s enthusiasm.

“Wait…” He faltered once he’d sat down at the drum set. “What do I play?”

“Ooh! Do the thing!” I exclaimed, pointing excitedly. “Do that one thing!”

“Which thing?”

“The fun thing that you showed me last week!”

“Oh! That thing!” Gus raised his sticks. “Ready?”

Everyone nodded, some more enthusiastically than others, and Gus started to play.

The first time I heard Gus play, I remember thinking that this kid could join a rock band and excel on stage. And he definitely proved that for Raine. I saw them nodding along, leg bouncing with a smile on their face the whole time.

And once Gus was finished, Willow showed off their fancy skills, which also had Raine dancing along.

As Willow was playing, I nudged Amity’s shoulder. “Do you wanna play together?” I asked her quietly. “I figured that’s what we’ll do anyway when we get to shows, so…”

“Sure,” Amity smiled at me. “That sounds great. What songs do you know?”

The rest of Willow’s performance, Amity and I cycled through songs we knew well enough to play together. Thankfully, by the time they’d finished, we decided on something.

And seemingly before I could blink, everyone had showed off for Raine, and they were done explaining how everything would work.

“Thank you guys for being so cooperative,” They smiled as they walked towards the door.

“Thank you for letting us play,” I said as I put my guitar back into its case.

“I’ll be seeing you guys in two weeks!”

“Here, I’ll walk you out,” Eda quickly followed Raine out the door, closing it behind the both of them.

“Well, now that that’s over with,” I clapped my hands. “Let’s get this shit upstairs!”

The rest of the band groaned.

“Can’t we just do this tomorrow?” Skara asked, pouting.

“Well, if we do it tomorrow, we won’t have time to practice tomorrow,” I pointed out. “And I figure that you guys actually want to play something as a band.”

There were mumbles of agreement as everyone moved to get stuff up the stairs.

“Okay,” I clapped my hands to get everyone’s attention once we were finished. “So, to my understanding, Amity has a performance on Saturday. Is that correct?” I turned to the girl in question, who nodded. “How would you feel about everyone coming to see you?”

“I think that would be pretty cool,” Amity nodded.

“Then here’s my proposition,” I paused for dramatic effect. “We can stay the weekend here at the Owl House, like a long sleepover sort of situation. We come here tomorrow after school, go to Amity’s performance Saturday night, and then do whatever the hell we want on Sunday.”

“Oh that sounds so fun!” Skara exclaimed, beaming.

“I could do that,” Willow nodded.

“I mean, I’ll have to ask my dad, but you know he always says yes to these things,” Gus waved a hand in front of him.

“What about you two?” I asked, glancing between Boscha and Amity.

They shared a look before turning to me.

“I don’t know how well that will work for Amity,” Boscha decided. “I mean, I can because my parents are out of town, but…”

“You know my mom, Luz,” Amity picked up Boscha’s dropped sentence. “There’s no way she’d let me stay the weekend at the Owl House.”

“Then don’t tell her you’re here,” I suggested with a shrug. “Say you’re at Boscha’s or something. If her parents aren’t home, how would they know?”

“They could call my parents and ask if we were there,” Boscha deadpanned.

“Well if they’re gone, they wouldn’t know who you have over,”

“That is a fair point…” Boshca stopped to think about it. “You think we could pull that off, Am?”

The teal-haired girl had a look of intense contemplation on her face. “I dunno…”

“Come on, Amity!” Skara hit her playfully on the shoulder. “Live a little!”

“I think I live plenty, thank you,” Amity rolled her eyes. “But I’m not sure if my mom would even let me have a sleepover at Boscha’s.”

“Ask your dad beforehand so he can help you out,” I said, remembering the conversation they’d had the other day.

“Huh…” Amity’s face lightened a bit at the thought. “That could work.”

“There you go!” I put my arm around her shoulders, smiling. “And now that we’ve got that situated, you guys are free to go home. I assume that’s what you want to do now that it’s five?”

Everyone voiced their agreement and made their way to their respective cars. Amity and I waved them off, watching as they drove down the driveway.

“Well, it looks like we’re the last two standing,” I declared dramatically, putting a fist up in the air. “What ever shall we do now?”

I heard Amity giggle.

Stop making my heart beat like that. I’m going to have a heart attack because of how cute you are.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I have a bit of homework to do,”

I tried my best to suppress an annoyed groan. “But homework is boring!”

“It may be boring, but if I don’t keep my grades up, my mom will hold me hostage in my own home,” Amity explained, irritation showing in her tone. “And she will definitely not let me go to the sleepover.”

I sighed. “Yeah, let’s go do homework,”

*le bi time skip*

Amity had left a few hours ago, and at this point, I was sitting with my guitar on my lap and my songbook open in front of me. Amity was on the phone, like usual for this time of night.

I was trying to write that song I’d thought of the other day, but it just wasn’t clicking. So instead, I offered that Amity and I should write a song about a certain blonde-haired bitch boy.

“Oh my god, yes,” Was her resounding answer. “I need some way to complain about him, and what way better than singing it out to our hundreds of fans?”

“Slow your roll there, tiger,” I chuckled. “We actually have to play before we have fans.”

“Oh, you know they’ll love us,” Amity insisted. I could hear that smirk in her voice.

“I’m sure they will,” I nodded, but brought us back on topic. “Now, how about you tell me how he makes you feel so I can start brainstorming?”

It didn’t take long before the lyrics were flowing onto the page, with the music to match. Amity had a lot to say about him, so to say the least, I had a lot of material to work with.

Music wise, this was quite a drum-heavy song, but it had some nice keyboard rhythm and required Amity and I to harmonize for some of the lyrics. There was actually no guitar riff that sounded good with it, so I just decided to scrap that and just have the two of us singing instead of playing.

And the whole tone of the song matched Amity’s little miss perfect attitude so perfectly that I was honestly a bit shocked with myself.

“Don’t talk about me like how you might know how I feel,” I sang to myself, testing the notes in my mouth. “Yeah yeah yeah, that sounds good.”

I quickly wrote it down, along with the melody I’d sung it in.

“You like that?” I asked, slightly worried at the radio silence from the other side of the call.

“I love it so much that it’s already stuck in my head,” Amity breathed out. “And I haven’t even heard it with the drum and keyboard line.”

“I’m glad,” I couldn’t help but smile. “And as a fun little plus, we wrote this one together!”

“I find it quite amusing that the first song we wrote together is about hating men,” Amity chuckled. “Specifically one man, but still.”

“How very gay of us,” I joked with a grin.

“Ha ha, you’re so funny,” I could feel the eye roll she was surely doing on the other end of the line.

“I know. I’m a comedian,” I finally set down my pen and cracked my knuckles. “But anyways. I’ll revise those lyrics a bit and then we can probably practice it on Monday.”

“Wait, really?” Amity asked, surprise in her voice.

“Yep,” I popped the p, grinning to myself. “This is all pretty solid. I just need to iron out a few parts.”

“Wow,” She chuckled softly. “We’re so good at this song thing.”

“Don’t go and get all cocky,” I warned. “Not every song is gonna flow as well as this one did. We just got really lucky or something this time.”

“I can only hope,”

Soon, the call with Amity ended, and I made my way off to bed, our song still running through my mind as everything faded to black.

 *le bi time skip*

I pulled up to Amity’s house at exactly 7 o’clock. No earlier, no later. That’s when she told me to be there, so I was.

When she actually walked out depended on the morning. Some days, she was out the door before I even put my car into park, but other days, I was scrolling through my phone for a bit before she pulled the passenger side door open.

Today was one of the days where she was smack dab in the middle. She climbed into the front seat at 7:02, throwing her backpack into the back, per usual. But today, she also had a duffel bag that went in the footwell behind her. 

“Good morning, princesa,” I greeted warmly. “How was your night?”

She let out a sigh as she took my offered hand. “My mom made a big deal out of everything,”

“Oh?” I inquired, starting the drive to the cafe.

“Yeah… dad had to calm her down,” I could see a small smile present at that thought. “But after checking my entire schedule for the next month, she finally relented. I’m glad because I didn’t want to have to sneak out. Cause I would.”

“It would have made things a lot harder, but you coulda pulled it off,” I grinned over at her. “Also, we feeling coffee this morning or no?”

“I physically need coffee to function today, so yes,” Amity insisted. “Yes I am.”

“Got it,” I chuckled. “Good job deciding before the turn this time.”

“Hey, it was your fault for not asking sooner last time,” Amity slapped my arm lightly. “Don’t pin that on me.”

“Okay, okay,” I raised my un-occupied hand in surrender. “The goddess Amity Blight can never do wrong.”

She rolled her eyes at me, but I could see the small smile on her face.

Sooner than I would have hoped, we pulled into my designated parking spot at school.

“Well, this is it,” Luz threw her car into park before turning to Amity. “We have arrived at the dreaded destination. Farewell, malady.” I waved my hands around dramatically.

“You dork,” Amity laughed and reached back to grab her bag. “Do you mind if I leave my duffel bag here?”

“Of course not,” I shook my head. “But maybe just toss that blanket over it. I don’t trust some of these kids.”

“Got it,” Amity grabbed the blanket that I leave in my back seat and arranged it over her bag so that it seemed natural. “Okay. I’ll see you third bell?”

“See you in third bell,” I affirmed, giving her hand one final squeeze before she left the car.

Today’s going to be so fucking long, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, I was right. The day drug on, and it felt like I’d already been through about a week of school before I got to third period. And, because the world is out to spite me, third and fourth bell flew by, but the rest of school took years before the last bell rang out.

I gathered the things I would need from my locker for over the weekend and began the walk to my car.

When I walked out of the front doors, I was surprised to see that mane of green hair in the crowd of leaving students. Amity. What shocked me even more was who she was with.

Bitch boy . I thought bitterly.

I started walking in their direction, making sure to go slowly enough that I could overhear some of the conversation to gain some context.

“It’ll be fun!” Hunter insisted. “And maybe we can get a little alone time afterwards.”

I felt anger begin to bubble inside me. Does this kid not know when enough is enough?

“I’ve answered the same way for the past six years, Hunter,” Amity deadpanned, annoyance dripping from her voice. “I honestly cannot fathom how thick your skill must be to completely disregard this many rejections.”

“What can I say, football has taught me a few tricks,”

“Was that supposed to be smooth?” I interjected, coming to stand protectively beside Amity.

His mood changed instantly. “Noceda,” He spat bitterly.

“Wittebane,” I spat right back, glaring him down.

“What’s your problem?”

“I should be asking you the same thing,”

We had a little stare-down for a moment before he rolled his eyes and started to walk away. “You’re lucky I have places to be, otherwise this would last a lot longer,”

Before I could respond, Amity hit my arm and hissed out, “Don’t,”

I complied and kept my mouth shut, but I glared him down until he was out of my sight. 

“You okay?” I asked once he was gone.

“Yeah,” Amity sighed and nodded. “Thanks for the help, but I can handle him.”

“I know you can,” I smiled and had to refrain myself from cupping her cheek. Damn you, Odalia Blight. “You’ve been doing that for years, but I figure the sooner we can get out of here, the better.”

“You have a point,” Amity conceded, dropping her tensed shoulders. “Then shall we get to the car?”

“We shall,” I agreed in my most pomptuous voice.

Amity giggled.

Mission success.

That sound was like music to my ears, and hearing it after I knew she was annoyed made it all the more beautiful.

Soon enough, I’d driven us back to the Owl House and we were bringing our things up to my room.

“Where should I put this?” Amity asked, holding up her duffel bag.

“You can just toss it at the foot of my bed,” I nodded my head towards said location while I dropped my own bag by my desk. “We’ll figure out what the sleeping arrangements are gonna be later.”

“You haven’t thought about where we’re gonna sleep?” Amity raised an eyebrow,  giving me a “really?” look.

“No. But to be fait!” I raised a finger into the air as I attempted to defend myself. “We just made the plans yesterday, so I haven’t had much time to do anything.”

“Okay, fair,” Amity dropped her questioning look and gazed around the room. “I highly doubt that we’d all fit in here.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we will either,” I scratched my head in contemplation. “We could always snatch the guest room.”

“Wait, you have a guest room?”

“Uh, yeah?” I chuckled. “Just down the hall. It’s a bit bigger and has a connected bathroom.”

“Why does Eda of all people have a guest room?” Amity asked, amused.

“That is an excellent question,” I paused to think for a moment. “We’ve never actually had guests stay over… so I’m not sure.”

Amity laughed and took my hand. “How about you show me so we can decide where we’re all sleeping before everyone else gets here,”

“Good idea, princesa,” I smiled and started leading Amity towards the room at the end of the hall. But before I opened the door, I turned to Amity. “This is your chance to turn back. If you so chose to stay, I am not responsible for any permanent scarring that may or may not result from entering this room.”

“Um, okay?” Amity looked concerned at this point, and I was just cackling on the inside.

I knew that Eda used it as a sort of storage room, so there actually very well could be some weird shit in there, but the whole scarred for life thing may be a bit extreme.

Without another word, I opened the door, taking a peek into what was sprawled out across the space.

“Well, this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” I surveyed the room, noting that it wouldn’t take long cleaning it for it to be habitable. “Eda uses this as a sort of spare closet. We can just chuck these things into the actual closet.”

“Oh, okay,” Amity looked only the slightest bit relieved. “And do you have any spare sheets for this bed?”

“Probably in the hall closet,” I pointed out the door towards said closet. “Why?”

“I don’t trust what’s been on here last,” Amity looked suspiciously at the sheets, picking up the top one gingerly.

“That’s probably a smart thing with Eda,” I nodded. “She’s probably passed out here drunk a couple of times.”

“I’m choosing not to comment on that,” Amity turned and left the room, presumably to grab clean sheets.

I chuckled and began the job of throwing the random objects into the closet. There wasn’t that much to do, thankfully, and the two of us were done within 10 minutes.

“Well, there we go!” I smoothed out the wrinkles on the bed sheet and put my hands on my hips. “Ready for whenever everyone else gets here.”

“Where the hell did you two go?” Eda called through the quiet house. 

“Guest room!” I yelled out the door.

There was no response, but I did hear the telltale sounds of people coming up the stairs. I looked at Amity confused, and she just returned it with a raised brow.

“I’m going to pretend you guys weren’t just making out up here,” Boscha said, walking into the room with a grin.

“We weren’t- I was just-” I stammered, face heating up.

“Save it, Luz,” Amity held up a hand, but her face looked about as red as mine felt. “You’re not gonna do anything but prove their point.”

“Wow, look at LMP using her brain!” Willow chuckled, throwing their bag down in the corner of the room.

“Uh, LMP?” Amity asked, an obvious bite in her voice. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Little miss perfect?” Willow raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“Wait, did you all call me that?” Amity looked between Willow, Gus, and me.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Gus nodded with a shrug.

“Amity, everyone calls you that,” Skara spoke up, timidly putting her things next to Boscha’s.

“Even I’ve called you that,” Boscha snickered.

“You guys are all assholes,” Amity crossed her arms and pouted.

“Aw, princesa,” I took her cheeks in my hands and tilted her head up to look at me. “No frowning at this sleepover.” I kissed her, and the frown quickly melted off her face.

“Ew, no PDA,” Willow covered their eyes.

“Says the one who’s been dating someone for a year and a half,” Amity deadpanned.

“Do you see us making out in front of all our friends?” Boscha asked, a hand on her hip. “No, no you don’t.”

“Well, that’s your choice,” Amity shrugged.

“You guys are making me feel really single over here,” Gus’s shoulders dropped.

“Ditto,” Skara sighed.

“Sorry guys,” I pat Gus on the back. “Why don’t we go off to the shed and we can have our very first practice session?”

“Hell yeah!” Gus jumped up in excitement. “Let’s go!” Before I could blink, he’d darted out of the room.

“That kid has more energy than any 16 year old should,” Willow shook their head with a chuckle.

“I’ll go make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid,” Skara sighed, a small smile on her face as she followed in Gus’s tracks.

“Are they..?” Boscha pointed after them with a confused expression.

“God, I hope not,” I groaned. “Not that I want them to be lonely! That would just make the group dynamic really weird.”

“Yes it would,” Amity nodded along, eyes far away as if she were thinking about something. But as quickly as it came, it went away with a small shake of her head. “We should probably follow them, huh?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, slipping my hand into Amity’s. “Let’s go.”

“Hold on a second,” Boscha stopped us from leaving, looking at Willow but speaking to me. “Can Willow and I try writing a song?”

“Of course!” I smiled brightly. “What do you plan on writing about?”

“I have an idea,” Boscha smiled, eyes never leaving her partner. “We’ll work it out sometime soon. But I don’t think we can do the music very well. I can write a bass line and Willow could probably figure out a keyboard riff, but you’d have to do the rest, if that’s okay.”

“Of course it is,” I reassured her. “Just send me what you got when you got it, and I’ll get it fine-tuned to play.”

“Awesome,” Boscha finally turned to look at me wit ha grateful smile. “Thanks.”

“It’s nothing,” I waved a hand in dismissal. “But we should really get going now.”

“Yeah, okay,” Willow said, eyes still locked on their girlfriend. I don’t think I’ve seen them look that mushy. Like… ever.

I decided not to comment on it in fear of ruining the moment and started towards the shed, Amity’s hand in mine and Willow and Boscha following behind us.

On the way down, I quickly grabbed the music from my room, and pretty quickly, we were all station with our respective instruments and parts for Bad Romance.

“Alrighty, Purple Inferno,” I grinned, looking to Gus. “You ready to kick some musical ass?”

“Hell yeah!” Everyone—and I mean everyone—shouted in unison.

“Wow, okay,” I glanced around at my bandmates, a stupid smile on my face. “That has to be our thing now.”

“Hell yeah!” Gus was the only one to shout this time, and it made him blush.

“That’s the spirit!” I nodded with a huge grin. “Let’s try that again. Ready to kick some musical ass?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Then count us off, Gus!” I pointed to my best friend, signaling him to start the beat for Amity’s intro riff.

“And a one, two, three!” His voice cut off, and we began our first ever practice session.

Chapter Text

So uh… I may have some bad news.

For reasons I’m not comfortable disclosing, I may not be able to post anything for a while. I don’t know for sure, but if it does end up happening, I couldn’t tell you how long this will last.

It is my hope that this is all some temporary thing, but I don’t know that that’s the case, so I figured I’d warn you guys.

I can’t express how deeply sorry I am for leaving you guys without anything for so long and then being forced to bail. And for those 17 of you who are subbed to me, I’m very sorry that I may not be able to continue Breaking Normal for a while as well.

I will be writing while I’m gone, but posting becomes the issue. If people start getting mad at me, spread the word, if you wouldn’t mind.

But with all that, this is me signing off. If everything turns out all right, something may be posted in the next few weeks, but if not, I wish you all the best.

Chapter Text

Amity P.O.V.

I was pleasantly surprised at the progress we made during our first practice. After around an hour and a half, we basically had Bad Romance down, and we were brainstorming other ideas for songs. 

Luz thought it would be cool if the whole band cooperated on a song, and to be honest, I was skeptical at first. It sounded like utter chaos, but it turns out that we all work pretty well together, and after building off of little riffs each of us messed around with, we had the beginning of a song. While it had no name or lyrics, it sounded pretty damn good.

“Well, that was quite productive,” Luz commented as she put her guitar back into its case.

“I’ve always wanted to write a song! That was so cool!” Skara clapped her hands excitedly. “I can help a lot more when we start writing lyrics.”

“Oh yeah, she definitely will,” Boscha agreed, putting an arm around Skara’s shoulders. “She’s actually a really good writer.”

“That’s awesome,” Luz sighed gratefully. “The lyrics are always the hardest part for me. Maybe we can get this song done in record time.”

“No, I think our song was record time,” I pointed out, shrugging with a small grin. “Considering we did most of it last night.”

“That is very true,” Luz nodded, eyes slightly widened as she remembered what we’d done yesterday. “I think you guys are gonna like that one.”

“What’d you guys call it?” Gus asked, spinning his drumsticks around in his hands.

“Therefore I Am,” I told him. “But you’ll just have to wait to hear what it’s about.”

“Ugh, how dare you,” Skara pushed my shoulder gently. “I was gonna ask about that.”

“Well you’ll hear about it soon enough,” I smirked.

After a few more minutes of casual conversation in the shed, we all decided to head back into the Owl House so we could order food.

“Hey, Eda!” Luz called out into the house.

“Geez, no need to yell!” Eda glared from her seat on the couch.

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you there,” Luz chuckled. “But I need you to order food for us.”

“And why can’t you do it yourself?” Eda raised her eyebrow in a way that looked challenging.

“Well, if I do it, you’re not gonna get your fancy rewards points,” Luz pointed to her, a knowing smirk on her face.

“Ugh, fine,” Eda rolled her eyes. “What do you guys want?”

Luz looked at us expectantly. “Anything anybody’s craving?”

If this were a cartoon, you would hear crickets.

“Okay, I’ll take that as a no,” Luz chuckled. “Any suggestions then?”

Once again, there was silence. This time, I decided to at least say something .

“How about pizza?” I suggested with a shrug.

There were murmurs of agreement, and Eda left to go order our food.

“Wow, you guys are really indecisive,” Luz laughed lightly. “Remind me never to ask you a life or death question.”

“Don’t ask us a life or death question,” Willow grinned.

“Thank you so much,” Luz deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

“You’re welcome,” They shot Luz a thumbs up and sat down on the smaller couch. “C’mere.” They grabbed Boscha by the wrist and dragged her down to sit on their lap.

“W-when did you get so cuddly?” Boscha stuttered, face bright red. Willow just huffed out a breath and nuzzled their face into her neck.

“Ew, no PDA,” Luz mocked, grinning.

“Shut the fuck up, Luz,” Willow huffed out.

“Geez, relax,” Luz raised her hands in surrender. “Just telling you what you told me.”

I saw Boscha whisper something into Willow’s ear, to which they nodded.

“We’ll be back,” Boscha declared, standing up. “We’re gonna run and grab some snacks for a movie.”

“Uh, sounds good?” Luz watched with mild confusion as the couple left the Owl House, and once they were gone, she turned to me and Skara. “Okay, where are they actually going?”

“Oh, they probably will go and get snacks,” Skara nodded, eyes locked on the now closed door.

“After Boscha deals with Willow in the car,” I added.

“I would say it’s more of a two way thing than that,” Skara reasoned.

“No, yeah, you’re right,” I agreed. “After they deal with each other.”

“I am learning so many things about my best friend today…” Luz mumbled before shaking her head. “Well, while they’re gone, we might as well set up where we’re gonna sleep!”

“I call the spot under the vent!” Gus exclaimed, throwing a hand into the air.

“Nobody else ever wants that spot, Gus,” Luz chuckled. “It’s all yours.”

“Yes!” He pumped his fist in victory. “Now all you losers are gonna overheat!”

“I highly doubt that,” Luz shook her head and took my hand. “But we’ll see.”

“You will see!” Gus declared as he climbed up a few steps to make himself taller. “You will all see!

I looked around the room, eyes locking on the two people on either side of me. “You mean all three of us?”

Skara giggled. “Yeah, Gus,” She put a hand on her hip and fell into a practiced, challenging look. “Show all three of us.”

With that, we all headed up the stairs and down the hall to prepare our sleeping arrangements.

“Okay, I have an air mattress, but I figured that Willow and Boscha could have that,” Luz explained while she reached into the closet to pull out a bag, presumably containing said mattress. “And Amity and I will be on the bed. Gus is under the vent. That just leaves you to choose where to go, Skara!”

“Hmm…” She looked around the room, surveying her options. “I assume the air mattress is going in this corner?”

“Yeah, probably,” Luz nodded, removing said object from its bag.

“Okay,” Skara grabbed her sleeping bag and went to set it up in an empty spot on the floor.

As Gus and Skara were arranging their things in their chosen spots, I went to help Luz put sheets and blankets on the air mattress. And a few minutes later, everyone was situated where they wanted to be, leaving us to wait until food showed up and Willow and Boscha returned.

“So… what do we do now?” Skara asked from her seat on her sleeping bag.

“We could uh…” Luz paused. “I’ve got some fun card games?”

There were general murmurs of agreement, so we headed back downstairs.

*le gay time skip*

It was about 45 minutes until Willow and Boscha showed up, and pizza came about 15 minutes after that. We ate rather quickly, considering we were six teenagers who hadn’t had any food since our ridiculously early lunch.

“Okay,” Luz got everyone’s attention. “I was thinking we could watch some movies for a bit, unless you guys have other ideas?”

“Oh-ho, do I have an idea for you,” Boscha smirked. That smirk always makes me nervous. It usually means that she has something mischievous planned.

Luz, however, didn’t pick up on that part. “Oh! What’s your idea?”

“Truth or dare,” Boscha said, eyeing me with that smirk never leaving her face. “And since we’re all adults here-”

“Uh, no we’re not,” Gus raised his hand timidly.

“Since we’re all basically adults here,” Boscha corrected. “Why don’t we raise the stakes a bit?”

“And whatever does that mean, Boscha,” I played into her little thing here, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You brought it, right Willow?” Boscha turned to her partner, who just grinned and nodded their head. “Good. Then let’s go back to the room.”

“They’ve got alcohol,” I deadpanned. “We all know that at this point. Just get on with it.”

“Buzzkill,” Boscha glared at me before continuing. “But I’ll explain the rules once we’re upstairs.”

Everyone followed Boscha to the guest room, some more excited than others. Gus, for example, was just about bouncing out of his skin, while Luz, on the other hand, looked quite apprehensive. But that very well could have been for another reason. I decided it would be best to check in.

“You okay?” I whispered, nudging her shoulder.

“What?” She snapped out of her spaced-out trance and looked at me. “Oh. Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure about that?” I raised an eyebrow and ran my hand up and down her arm, feeling the defined muscle and the fact that she was obviously tensed up. “You’re all tense.”

“I dunno…” Luz shrugged. “Just feel… off I guess?”

“Did you forget to take something before eating the pizza, miss lactose intolerant?” I asked with a smirk, hoping to loosen her up a bit.

That garnered a small chuckle before her face fell again. “No… it’s not that,”

“Then what is it?” I asked gently, grabbing her hand.

Luz sighed. “My dad texted me…”

“What?” I snapped my head up to look her in the eye. “When?”

“While we were eating…” Luz looked to the ground, guilty. “I know I said that I’d tell you guys, but everyone was having so much fun and I didn’t want to interrupt with my sorry excuse for a father!”

“You guys alright?” Skara asked, smile fading as she looked between us.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” I nodded, but started pulling Luz towards her bedroom. “We’ll be back in a minute. I gotta talk to Luz about something real quick. Go ahead and get started without us.”

I saw Willow and Gus share a look, before they both nodded at me.

“Go on,” Willow waved us out the door. “And take your time.”

“Thank you,” I smiled gratefully as I led Luz out of the guest room, shutting the door behind us. “Come on. Let’s go to your room.”

“But the game…” Luz looked back to the closed door.

“The game can wait,” I dragged her through her own door and closed it once we’d both entered. “We need to talk about this.”

“But do we really?” Luz tried, a nervous and slightly hopeful grin on her face.

“Yes,” I deadpanned. “I know that you’re the type of person to keep everything to yourself because you think it would burden everyone around you, but let me tell you, I want to be burdened. I want to know what’s going on because I care about you, and I want to help.” I took one of her hands in both of mine and looked her in the eye, giving her my most gentle expression. “But I can’t if you don’t let me.”

There were tears brimming in Luz’s eyes, and for a moment, I thought I did something wrong. That thought was quickly thrown out the window when Luz dropped her head down onto my shoulder with the cutest little laugh.

“You really mean all that?” She asked, voice muffled by her position.

“Of course I do,” I brought my hand up to run it through her hair that wasn’t under the beanie. “I really, really like you, and if we’re going to make a relationship work, we need to know that we can confide in each other. Okay?”

“Okay,” Luz nodded, and I could feel her smile into my shoulder.

“Now that that’s all cleared up…” I paused to bring her head up. “Tell me what happened.”

She looked between my eyes for a moment, searching for something. Once she seemed to find it, another warm smile came over her face. “Okay,” She took a deep breath and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “He texted me again, right?”

“Right…”

“But this time was different,” Luz flipped her screen towards me to display his most recent message.

“Hello, Luz. I am sending this message in regards to the last few times I’ve attempted to contact you,” I read aloud, furrowing my eyebrows as I did. “I deeply apologize, as I realize these may have come across more menacingly than I originally intended. I was… going through a rough patch, and this aggression was the result. If you so choose, I have some free time tomorrow, Saturday the 15th, at 11:15 a.m., and I sincerely hope that you at least consider coming to join me at the Starbucks on Main Street in downtown Bonesborough. We can talk this through, and possibly come to a peaceful agreement on some issues that have been plaguing me recently. Best regards, Tyler-James Waters.” I paused for a moment to comprehend what I’d just read. “I’m not sure what to think about that.”

“Same here,” Luz flipped her phone back to face herself. “I know what he was like from what my mom told me. Not to mention the time he came over. I’m not sure that I buy this whole rough patch business.”

“I mean, he very well could have gone through a rough patch,” I shrugged. “But who’s to say it won’t happen again?”

“You make a very valid point,” Luz nodded, one hand in a finger gun under her chin. “Should I go?”

I paused for a moment.

One one hand, she could go, and see what the hell is up with him. Maybe figure out why he wants to get in her life so badly, and why he went through that “rough patch”. But on the other hand, I’ve heard about what this guy did to Luz’s mom and how badly he’s scaring Luz…

“You know what, you should go,” I decided. “But you shouldn’t go alone.”

“Then who do you suggest I bring?”

I stared at her blankly, keeping in silence to give her a moment to figure it out.

Shouldn’t it be obvious..?

“…well? Who?”

“Me, you dork,” I chuckled. “Who else?”

“I dunno,” She shrugged. “You very well could have been talking about Eda.”

“I wouldn’t recommend bringing Eda…”

“Why not?” Luz gasped, sounding slightly offended.

“Do you really wanna let her go off on him before you can even get a word in?” I asked with a knowing smirk.

“I’ve lived with her for four years,” Luz stated, eyes wide with surprise. “You’ve known her for five days. How did you think of that before I did?”

“I’m pretty good at reading people. But that’s not the point,” I shook my head and attempted to bring the conversation back on track. “I think you should go, only if I go with you, but I would definitely check with Eda first on what she thinks. She may have a much better plan than I do.”

“Got it,” Luz nodded. “I’ll go talk to her. You can go back to the game, if you want.”

“I think I just might,” I got up on my tip toes and placed a kiss on Luz’s cheek. “Don’t talk for so long you miss all the fun!” With that, I left Luz’s room and walked down the hall to the guest room.

I knocked on the door first—who knows what was going on in there—and it was Willow who called out, “Who are you?”

“Who do you think?” I called back as I opened the door.

“Where’s Luz?” Gus asked, craning his neck to look behind me. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine,” I reassured him. “She just went to tell Eda something.”

Willow was looking at me suspiciously. “What are you two hiding?”

“Well, uh…” I paused. “I’m not sure if Luz wants me to tell you. But you could ask her, if you want?”

“Okay one question,” Gus started, holding up his pointer finger and looking directly at me. “Should I be worried?”

“Maybe?” I shrugged. “You’re gonna have to check with Luz on that one.”

“How boring,” Boscha scoffed. “I was hoping for all the drama.”

“Well, you can get the drama from the person the drama is about,” I rolled my eyes and sat myself down in an empty spot in their kinda-sorta-a-circle circle of people. “But anyways. How does this work?”

“The rules are pretty simple,” Skara started to explain. “It’s like truth or dare, but if you don’t want to either answer the question or do the dare, you have to take a shot.” She shook a bottle with a grin on her face.

“Okay, I’ll play,” I leaned forward. “But do a couple of rounds without me. I wanna watch before I get in on the action.”

“Wow, that would sound really bad out of context,”

I snapped my head to the door to see a tall figure standing silhouetted in the brighter light of the hallway.

“Luz!” Gus exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in a greeting. “Welcome back!”

“How we doing in here?” Luz asked, sitting down directly next to me. “Anybody drunk yet?”

“The bottle’s not even open,” Boscha gestured to the very much closed cap. “So no.”

“Well start asking more intrusive questions,” Luz said with a grin. “Who’s turn?”

“Gus, you just got asked,” Skara pointed to him with a grin. “So pick the next victim.”

He put a finger on his chin in contemplation as his eyes landed on each person in the circle, letting them linger for equal times on everyone.

“Luz,” He pointed to her with a smirk. “Truth or dare.”

“Dare, of course,” Luz scoffed. “Who do you take me for?”

“That’s what I was hoping for,” His grin grew. If I were Luz, there would have been a massive pit in my stomach, but it seemed that she was just as smug as he was.

“Hit me with your best shot, Gustafer,” She rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

“You, Amity, seven minutes in heaven,” My heart dropped. “Go wherever you want, do whatever you want, it just has to last seven minutes.”

“Hold on, Amity didn’t ask for a dare,” Luz pointed out, face hardening.

“It’s okay,” I found myself saying. Wait, it’s okay? “I’m game if you are.” But am I?

“Are you sure?” Luz asked gently, grabbing my hand. “If you don’t want to, you really don’t have to. I can take the shot.”

The implications behind seven minutes in heaven both excited me and scared me, but mostly the latter. I’m well aware that we could simply just sit in there and talk, but I’m also aware of the fact that most people end up making out in a closet, and then get walked in on when the seven minutes are up. And with Luz, who knows what we’d be doing.

Despite all this, I found myself nodding and making a face that I hoped was reassuring. “Yeah. I’m sure,”

“Okay,” Luz smiled and stood, holding out a hand to help me up. “We can just go to my room, if that’s okay with the little game master.”

“Hey! I’m not little!” Gus huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “But that shall suffice.”

Luz chuckled. “Then I guess we’ll go. You can go ahead and start the timer,”

“You sure you don’t want that extra 30 seconds of make out time?” Willow looked directly at Luz, smirking.

“Yes, Willow,” Luz rolled her eyes, but I could see the faint blush on her cheeks. “I’m sure.”

“Suit yourself,” They shrugged as we walked out the door, closing it behind us.

“I’m sorry about them,” Luz sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Don’t be,” I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as we entered her room. “I’m sure Boscha and Skara will be like that at some point too.”

With the shutting of Luz’s bedroom door, a slight tension filled the room. I wouldn’t say it was sexual tension, per se. Rather, it was kind of uncomfortable. This is probably the most uncomfortable silence we’ve had during our duration of knowing each other, and that’s saying something considering how easy it is to talk to her.

“So…” Luz broke the silence, shuffling around nervously. “We don’t, uh, have to do anything. We could just sit here and talk.”

“Well then,” I paused to clear my throat. “What do you suggest that we talk about?”

I didn’t mean for it to come out so formal, but after it did, I cringed internally.

Damn you, mother and your way of making me speak formally in uncomfortable situations.

“I didn’t really think that far ahead,” Luz chuckled, bringing her hand, once again, to the back of her neck.

There was a bout of silence as Luz and I just stood awkwardly there in the middle of the room. It was only broken when I sighed heavily.

“Okay, there is way too much tension in here,” I subconsciously brought my hands together to fidget with my fingers. “Why don’t we just sit down?”

“That is a great idea,” Luz nodded aggressively, plopping herself down onto the edge of the mattress. “Would you like to, uh… sit on my lap?”

“Oh come on, Luz,” I chuckled, sliding myself into her lap. “No need to be so nervous. The only difference about right now compared to anything else we’ve done together is the time limit.”

“And the implications of what we’re doing,” Luz mumbled, bringing her hands to grip mine.

“True, but we’re going to ignore that,” I said confidently, betraying what I actually felt.

“We are?” She brought her head up to look me in the eye, confusion present in her face.

“Yes,” I nodded firmly. “We are. I don’t care what everyone else thinks we may be doing. You know what we’re doing.”

Luz’s face scrunched up, a look of contemplation finding its way onto her face. “W-what if we did what they thought we were doing?” After the words had exited her mouth, she sat up quickly. “Okay wait. Let me rephrase. H-how would you feel about, uh, kissing me?”

“I’ll never say no to that,” I smirked as I began to lean in, but Luz beat me to the punch and met me halfway.

It was soft and slow. Caring and passionate. Tender and beautiful. Unlike some of our previous exchanges, this was comparably much less heated, which was just fine by me. But let me tell you, kissing Luz is the most right feeling I’ve ever had in my life.

Sadly, it doesn’t last very long before someone is knocking on the door.

“Alright, lovebirds,” Boscha barged in, eyeing us with a smirk. “Time’s up.”

“Nah,” Luz turned back to me and reconnected our lips, drawing a squeak out of the back of my throat.

I hummed against her mouth, but quickly pulled back. “As much as I’d love to continue, I really want to see what you’re gonna make someone do,”

“Oh, you’re gonna love it, trust me,” Luz smiled, but my little happy trance was broken by exaggerated gagging sounds from the doorway.

“Can it before I puke,” Boscha eyed me, but there was no bite to her words or sting in her glare.

“Yeah yeah,” I rolled my eyes and stood, offering a hand to Luz as I did. “Let’s just go back.”

After about 30 minutes, the game was interrupted by the arrival of dinner, but after that, the game recommenced.

A few hours and many shots later, we were all dispersed around the room, just talking through the slight buzz.

“Y’know, I still don’t understand why you two started dating,” Skara voiced, turning her head to look at Willow and Boscha on their inflatable bed. “Didn’t you like, hate each other?”

“Well, we did ,” Boscha shrugged, eyes focused on her hand intertwined with Willows. “It was all just middle school drama that we got over once we started hanging out.”

“How did you two start hanging out, anyways?” Gus asked, perking up to hear the answer.

“Softball,” They said in unison.

“It’s where all the gay people go,” Willow shrugged with a smirk.

“You are not wrong,” Luz chuckled. “But what’s the story on how you guys actually got together?”

“Well, after getting over all the middle school shit, we found out that we actually had a lot in common,” Willow explained.

“It kind of just spiraled from there, and they ended up asking me out at our first softball game of our junior year,” Boscha paused. “Well, if you could even consider it at the softball game.”

“Yeah,” Willow nodded, their eyes far away as they presumably recalled the day. “I pulled her away before we started and brought her to that little pond in the woods behind the batting cage and asked her there.”

“Aw that’s so cute!” Skara squealed, holding her hands together in front of her face.

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Willow shook their head and flopped back onto the air mattress. “Why don’t you guys fawn over Luz and Amity now?”

“Nope, definitely not,” I shook my head. “I’m not in the mood to be interrogated.”

“I’m going to ignore that and ask you a question,” Boscha smirked, making me sigh dramatically. “Oh, relax. I was just wondering how you two actually met.”

“Well, she performed at the club on Sunday, and then I just kinda walked up to her at the bar,” Luz explained.

“I gave her my number, saved her from a couple of douchebags…” I recalled, grinning to myself. “Then we got seated next to each other in two classes, and the rest is history.”

“Wow, that’s almost like a fanfiction scenario,” Gus laughed to himself.

“Why do I feel like I’ve read something exactly like it though?” Luz placed a finger on her chin in contemplation. “I can’t remember what fandom it was, but I think it was named after a song…”

“You guys are such nerds,” Willow teased from their spot on the air mattress.

“You say that as if you didn’t write like ten 5+1 fanfictions,” Gus smirked as Willow shot up, their face dusted red with what I assumed was embarrassment.

“I did not!” They snapped.

“Wow, babe, I’m learning a lot about you today,” Boscha chuckled and placed a kiss to the side of her partner’s head, making their blush darken.

“Okay okay! I think that’s enough!”

*le gay time skip*

The next morning, I woke up to an emptiness where someone had once been. For some reason, Luz wasn’t in bed anymore.

I checked the time on my phone to see that it was just after seven, and judging by the general sound of soft breathing in the room, the rest of the band was still asleep. So I decided to quietly make my way out of the room to find Luz.

After navigating the maze of bodies and sleeping places and quietly exiting the room, I decided to go and check out the bathroom. It’s very possible that she just had to get up to use the restroom, but knowing what she had planned for today led me to think she was out contemplating her life decisions.

It turned out that I was right. I found Luz sitting in the loft of the shed, with her phone in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other.

“Hey,” I said after I reached the top of the stairs, startling her.

“Oh. Hi,” She looked up at me with a little smile. “I didn’t hear you come up.”

“Because you’re lost in your little world of overthinking,” I booped her nose, sitting myself down on the couch next to her. “Now spill it. What’s bothering you?”

She let out a long sigh and flipped her phone to show me the screen. “He added something this morning,”

I felt my eyebrows furrow as I read the message. “He wants you to come alone?”

“Yeah,” Luz nodded solemnly.

“Do you have read receipts turned on?” I asked, voice getting more serious.

“No?” She raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Then he doesn’t know you’ve read it,” I shrugged.

“And that’s good because…?”

“You can just pretend you didn’t see it, and bring me anyways,”

“But what if he just sees right through me?” Luz looked down at her hands, growing less and less confident as time passed.

“Luz, from what I can tell, he’s probably an addict, and there’s no way he could tell up from down 90% of the time,” I rolled my eyes. “And if he does see through you, I’ll deal with him. Okay?”

A little smile graced Luz’s face. “Okay,”

“Now,” I grabbed her hand. “Come back to bed, please.” I froze with the realization of what I’d just said. “Ew… that sounded so domestic.”

Luz barked out a laugh. “No, that was adorable,”

“Whatever,” I shook my head, but I was sure that Luz could see my grin. “Just get back upstairs.”

Little did we know, that would be one of the last times we got to relax that morning.

Chapter Text

Luz P.O.V.

11:00 was nearing a lot faster than I hoped that it would. It was already 10, and I still hadn’t told the rest of the band what the situation was.

As we ate breakfast, I tuned out the conversation in favor of spiraling into my own thoughts.

“I know you like sugar, but is that bottle of syrup really that interesting?” Willow’s light tease snapped me out of my haze. When I didn’t respond, their amused smirk morphed to a look of concern. “Hey, are you alright?”

“Yeah, you haven’t said anything all morning,” Gus chimed in, a matching expression present on his face. “It’s not like you to be this quiet.”

“Okay… I have something to tell you guys, and I’m not sure of the full picture yet, but I figured that this would be a good time to give you a run-down of what’s going on,” I took a deep breath before continuing, and my hands started fidgeting under the table. Before they could get too antsy, Amity linked our fingers together and gave me a reassuring squeeze. It gave me the confidence to continue. “As you guys know, I don’t live with my biological parents. It’s not because I was adopted. Well, I am adopted, but that wasn’t how it started off.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Boscha asked.

“My mom died when I was 14,” I explained bluntly. “Car crash coming home from work. After that, Eda took me in, and eventually adopted me.”

“But what about your dad?” Gus asked innocently. “Couldn’t he have just taken care of you?”

“There’s a reason you haven’t heard me talk about him, Gus. He was, no is , an asshole, and I’m sure he’d make a horrible parent,” I rolled my eyes. “He was never in my life. Up until now.”

“Do I need to bring out the poisonous plants?” Willow’s eyes darkened.

“We’ll see, I guess,” I shrugged. “I’m meeting with him in an hour.”

“What?!”

“Woah, that was very unanimous,” My eyes widened in shock at the way everyone shouted in unison. “And before you all lose your heads, Amity’s coming with me.”

“How does that make it any better?” Skara spoke up for the first time, and she was probably about as serious as I’ve ever seen her.

“It’s in a public place, and he claims that he just wants to talk,” Amity cut in. “We’re well aware that he could be lying, but I think Luz deserves closure.”

“I’m giving him this one chance because he at least deserves to try and explain all the sketchy shit he’s done to me and all the horrible things he’s done to my mom,”

“Wait what did he do to your mom?” Skara asked.

“I mean, I don’t really want to go into all the details, but to sum it up, he used her,” I spat bitterly. “He used her for attention, and that’s how I came to be. My mom left when she found out she was pregnant, but he tried to break into her parents’ house to get her back.”

“He broke in ?” Boscha leaned forward, face hardening. “Damn…” She shook her head when she received a nod from me. “He is an asshole. Go tell him to fuck off.”

“That’s what I’m planning on,” I said with a shrug. “But you guys will have to entertain yourselves for a bit.”

“Why don’t we just come to town with you and just do some shopping or something,” Skara suggested. “We won’t come anywhere near where you guys will be at.”

“I make no promises,” Boscha leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

“Boscha, you will not interfere,” Willow leveled her with a stern look. “It’s not your business, so you’re gonna stay with me.”

“Ugh, fine,” She rolled her eyes. “But I expect the full story when you get back.”

I just chuckled in response. “That’s a given,”

“We should go get ready,” Amity said to me, starting to stand up to put her plate away.

“Yeah, okay,” I followed her actions, and we excused ourselves to go upstairs. As soon as we were out of earshot of the others, I spoke up again. “Are you sure you’re okay with doing this? You don’t have to.”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to be there for you,” She gave me a little smile that eased my worries a bit. “I also want to be there if things go to shit. My parents made me take martial arts classes as a kid, and I’ve been waiting for a good time to put them to use.”

“That’s hot,” I muttered, knowing it would get a good reaction out of her.

“Luz!” She lightly slapped me on the arm, face flushing a deep red.

“What?” I raised my hands, playing innocent. “I’m just stating facts!”

Amity just rolled her eyes fondly and shoved me lightly towards my bedroom door. “Go get changed, you dork,”

About 15 minutes later, the whole band was getting ready to head to town. It was a bit hectic in the guest room, with everyone digging around their things for what they’d need to be out for most of the day.

“How about we plan on meeting up outside the Starbucks at around 11:45 and we can all head to lunch?” I proposed to the group, standing with Amity in the doorway. “That gives us 45 minutes, which seems like plenty of time, don’t you think?”

There were distracted murmurs of agreement, which was good enough confirmation for me.

“Has anyone seen my other shoe?” Gus asked, looking around the room.

“Here,” Willow threw it at him. “Now where the hell did I put my wallet?”

“Oh, I have it,” Boscha produced the item from her duffel bag. “You told me to hold onto it, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Willow took it and placed a kiss to Boscha’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“You guys almost ready to go?” Amity spoke up impatiently.

“Yep!” Skara chirped happily. “I’m good!”

The rest of the band followed soon thereafter, and we were out the door within minutes. Amity and I headed straight for my car, while the rest of them piled into Willow’s SUV. (To save on gas, they reasoned)

Once we were on the road, I was happy to feel Amity’s hand make its way comfortably into mine. Despite this being normal, I could tell something was off with Amity. She fidgeted around a bit more than usual, and she kept giving me worried glances when she thought I wasn’t paying attention.

“Okay, spill it,” I eventually said as we pulled up to a red light.

“Spill what?” She immediately halted her fidgeting and stared straight out the passenger-side window.

“You obviously have something to say,” I pointed to her hands, which had subconsciously started messing with a hair tie that was previously around her wrist. “You only do that when you’re nervous.”

She let out a long sigh. “Okay, okay,” Her hands went up in surrender, the hair tie still held between her fingers. “You got me. I just… wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“No, not in general,” She shook her head. “We’re literally going to see your father, who we know isn’t a great person, and he’s already creeped you out. I dunno… I just figured I’d check in on you.”

A warmth filled my chest and the corners of my lips twitched up into a smile. “You’re cute,”

“That doesn’t answer any of what I just said,” Amity chuckled, her eyes lighting up like they always did when she smiled.

It’s distracting.

And cute.

But mostly cute.

“I’m sorry you’re too adorable for me to be completely focused,” I turned my attention back to the road as the light changed to green. “But like I said, I’m fine.”

“Are you just saying that because you don’t want to worry me, or do you actually mean it?”

That question brought my thoughts to a screeching halt.

“Oh,” Was all I could manage to say.

“Oh?”

“Yeah…” I blinked rapidly to try and arrange some sort of coherent sentence in my head. “N-no one has ever asked me that before. I-I don’t really know how to answer it.”

“It’s a fairly simple question,” Amity reasoned.

“In theory,” I chuckled to myself and glanced over to her for a moment. “But that’s like asking me if water is wet.”

“Why’s that?” Her thumb started tracing little circles on my finger.

“I dunno…” I paused to gather my words. “I guess it’s just because I’ve been telling people that I’m fine my whole life, but not meaning it all the time. Like after my mom died, people would constantly ask me how I was, and the immediate answer was just fine.”

“And you weren’t fine?” Amity guessed, giving my hand a little squeeze.

“Oh, god no,” I shook my head with a little laugh. “It was just the immediate response to get people to stop worrying about me. I just don’t want to be a burden, I guess. And I’ve been saying that for so long now that I’m starting to fool myself.”

“Well then how about I rephrase the question. How does it make you feel to be meeting your father?”

“Well, in all honesty, I’m really nervous,” I admitted breathily.

“Which is totally normal,” She reassured me.

“But I’m also kind of… relieved? I don’t know if that’s exactly how I’d put it, but it’s kind of like a weight off my shoulders for the time being, knowing that he’s not gonna show up all maliciously tomorrow, or anything,” I explained with a little shrug.

We’re not gonna talk about how wrong that assumption was.

“Yeah, I get it,” Amity nodded, voice laden with sympathy. “I mean, I don’t know exactly how you feel, but I can sympathize. What I can tell you is that it’s all gonna work out, one way or another.”

“Thank you,” I smiled over at her for a second before turning my attention back to the road. “I’m glad I had the courage to walk up to you a week ago.”

“I’m glad you did too,”

That, unfortunately, was when we pulled up to Starbucks. If I was nervous before, that was nothing compared to the way my anxiety spiked as I parked my car. I could feel, as well as hear, my heart pounding in my chest. I’m sure Amity could as well.

“Hey,” I didn’t even realize I’d started hyperventilating until she squeezed my hand and brought my mind back out of the clouds. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Just breathe.” She let go of my hand, but trailed her own to rest calmingly on the back of my neck. “There you go…” She whispered, messing with my hair. “Do you want to go inside or just sit here for a minute?”

Upon checking the time, I realized that we did have a few minutes to spare. “Do you mind staying here for a bit?”

“Of course not,” Amity said softly. “Anything you want me to do? Y’know, to relax a bit?”

I contemplated it for a very short amount of time before arriving at my answer. “Just… keep messing with my hair, if you don’t mind,”

“I don’t mind,” Amity quickly said, running her hand up onto the back of my head. “I love your hair.” There was a moment of silence. “Hey, I’ve always wondered. Why did you cut your hair this short?”

“Well, I had it long for like, all of my childhood, but I’d always have it put up. For a while it was just a ponytail, but then when I hit like, 7th grade, I started putting it up in a bun,” I explained. “Around that time was when I started to get more exposed to queer media, and I slowly figured myself out.”

“Like, sexuality stuff?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed with a nod. “At first it was figuring out I was bi, and then came the question of gender…”

“Ooh, I remember that mental struggle,” Amity sympathized with a little wince.

“And mental struggle it was. I knew I wasn’t trans or anything, and I was fine with my pronouns, but I knew I didn’t present like a girl, and I didn’t feel feminine, so I came to the conclusion of gender non-conforming,” I glanced over at Amity to see that she was paying very close attention to what I was saying. “I know it’s not like, super different, but it’s kinda what pushed me to do this.” I gestured to my hair. “I’d been toying with the idea for a while, so one day, I just decided, fuck it, let’s chop it all off.”

“Was your mom okay with it?” She asked quietly, looking down at her hand fiddling with her hair tie in her lap.

“Well, she was the one to book me the appointment, so yeah,” I shrugged.

“Huh,” Her shoulders shook with the small laugh she let out. “That sounds nice.”

“What about it?” I turned my head to the side slightly.

“That your mom was so okay with it,” Amity mumbled. “I don’t mean to like, take the spotlight away from you or anything, but I’ve never really known what it’s like to have an accepting mother.” She paused a moment, but quickly shook her head. “Anyways,  I think your hair fits you perfectly.”

“I’m glad you think so,” I smiled softly, but my face quickly hardened to a stern expression. “And don’t expect to get out of that accepting mother conversation later.”

“Yeah, I saw that coming,” Amity chuckled to herself. “But I believe it’s time to go inside.”

I glanced at the clock embedded in my dashboard and swallowed thickly.

10:58

“Well, here goes nothing,” I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car, Amity quickly following suit. “If he starts to make you uncomfortable, just say the word and we’ll leave.”

“What word, though?” Amity raised an eyebrow as she linked her fingers with mine. The comforting gesture didn’t go unnoticed.

“I dunno… maybe just say that you have to go to the bathroom?”

“That wouldn’t warrant you to leave as well,” Amity rolled her eyes, playfully nudging my shoulder. “How about either of us can say that we have to take a call, or something?”

“Okay, yeah,” I nodded, taking a deep, grounding breath as we reached the doors. “Sounds good.” I made no move to enter the building. I simply stood there, staring at the handle, and I could see how Amity shot me a confused look out of the corner of my eye. “You’re going to have to open the door… my arms aren’t listening.”

Amity shook her head with a little laugh and pulled the door open, letting me walk inside first. When we were both standing directly inside the doorway, I glanced around, looking for the man we were supposed to be meeting.

“Is he here?” Amity whispered to me, also looking around but not knowing what he looked like.

That’s when I spotted him. In the back corner, sipping on some sort of hot coffee while making direct eye contact with me. “Yeah…” I breathed out, gripping tighter onto Amity’s hand.

“Well then, let’s go over there,” She nudged me forwards, and I stumbled in the direction of the table.

For fuck’s sake, get it together, Luz! I mentally scolded myself. If you want him to fuck off, you gotta be tougher than this pathetic performance!

With that thought, I squared my shoulders and hardened my expression right as we reached the table. “Hey,” I said tersely, giving him a small wave.

“Luz! Welcome!” He stood and held out a hand to shake. “It’s good to see you again!”

I held up a hand, politely declining his offer, and I smiled tensely. I watched his face carefully as he glanced over at the girl beside me.

His expression turned the slightest bit sour at the sight of her. “And who might this be?”

“I’m Amity,” She shook his hand, but I figured it was just out of habit.

“And is this your friend, or…?” He questioned, glancing down at our intertwined fingers.

“The status of our relationship is none of your concern,” I smiled with a false sweetness as I pulled out a chair for Amity, sitting down next to her after I’d pushed her closer to the table. “Now let’s get to the point, shall we?”

His smile dropped and he leveled me with a look of complete seriousness. “First of all, I’m not here to fight you, and I have no ill intent, so I would really appreciate it if you’d not be so short with me,”

I didn’t even grace him with a response. I just raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to continue.

He took a breath, closing his eyes in a way that appeared to be an attempt to ground himself. “Yes, to the point of this meeting,” His smile returned, but with a noticeable bitterness hidden beneath the mask of friendliness. “I wanted to… apologize… for some things that I’ve done in the past.”

“Then why don’t you sound sorry?” I gave him a questioning glare.

His facade flickered for a moment, letting a split second of annoyance shine through. “I sincerely apologize. From the bottom of my heart, I am sorry for what I’ve done to you in the past,” 

I chose not to reply to that, simply leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms. I raised my eyebrow in a silent question: is that all?

“Do you accept my apology?” He asked innocently, eyes pleading as if he were a toddler asking for another cookie.

“We’ll see,” Is all I said, going silent again soon after.

“Well, I would like to make you an offer,” He smiled, and I swear he looked like an entrepreneur with the way he was presenting himself. “An exchange, if you will.”

I narrowed my eyes. His expressions and emotions were too all over the place for me to be taking any of this seriously. Even without everything that I know about Tyler-James Waters, I would be suspicious of this interaction.

“Here’s my deal,” He paused. “You let me back into your life, the whole father-daughter relationship included, and you get unlimited access to my bank account. And trust me when I say it isn’t lacking whatsoever.”

“And what would you gain from all of this?” Amity piped up from beside me.

I could barely hear the growl he let out under his breath. And when he spoke, it was directly to Amity through gritted teeth. “The only thing I seek is my daughter,”

“Is that so?” I cocked my head to the side, receiving a nod from him in return. “If that’s the case, why now? Why not four years ago when my mom passed away? Why not when I was a kid and my mom was still alive? You’ve had ample opportunity to come out and present yourself like this, and yet, you chose now. What’s that all about?”

That, apparently, wasn’t a question he had been expecting. He stumbled, and I watched as his facade crumbled before me. “Listen, kid,” He sighed, voice dropping all false elegance it had carried before. “You’re important to me. I know I haven’t been in your life, but I want that to change. I know your mother didn’t trust me, and she had every reason not to, but I’ve changed.” 

His voice almost sounded sincere. The thing that sealed the deal on this guy was the edge of annoyance in his voice as he spoke; I could tell he didn’t just want to be in my life to be the dad I never had. What he wanted me for in reality, I still wasn’t entirely sure, but there was no way I was going to accept that deal.

“I’m hearing what you’re saying…” I put my hand under my chin and felt as a smile played at the corner of my lips. “But here’s my offer . You stop trying to get to me, and stay out of my life. In return, you don’t get hurt.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Why don’t you find out?” I challenged.

His expression hardened, and with the proverbial mask completely removed, you could see the malicious glint in his eye. We were stuck, staring at each other as if breaking eye contact was admitting defeat; and in a way, it was. But I held my ground, waiting for the moment when he would back down because Luz Noceda does not back down from a challenge.

“Hey, would you look at the time!” Amity spoke up, prompting his gaze to dart away from mine.

That’s a win for Noceda. I smirked to myself.

“Oh yeah, look at that,” I glanced at my watch. It’d been around 20 minutes since we’d entered the coffee shop, and even though the band wasn’t going to show up here for another 25 minutes, there was no way I was going to sit with this guy for that long. “We’re gonna have to get going.”

“What a shame,” Just like that, the facade was back up, but this time, I could see all of the cracks in it. The way he slightly furrowed his brows. The way the corner of his lips was turned up ever so slightly in a snarl. The way his eyes were cold and dead. “Think about my offer, won’t you?”

“I won’t, but thanks,” I shot him a very obviously fake and tense smile. “But hey! You got mine to think about. You can do all the thinking for me. How’s that sound?”

I didn’t give him the liberty to respond; I simply left before he even had the chance to completely comprehend what I’d said. I did, however, make sure that Amity was with me before I totally bolted out the door.

It wasn’t long before I was collapsed in the front seat of my car, with Amity softly drawing patterns on my arm as I tried to get myself together.

“Hey,” Amity called to me softly, prompting me to tilt my head over to look at her. “You were amazing in there.”

“Thanks,” A small, warm smile tugged at my lips. “You were pretty great too, y’know.”

“I didn’t do much, but I’m glad you think so,” She leaned over to place a peck on my cheek. “Now I hate to ruin the moment here, but we should probably drive somewhere else.”

“Oh,” I shook myself from my haze and quickly buckled my seatbelt. “Yeah, good idea.” As soon as I heard the *click* from beside me, I threw my car into gear and backed out of my parking space.

For a moment, the only thing to be heard was the steady hum of the engine and the woosh as other cars passed. As usual, our hands were linked over the center console, but I felt as that steady warmth left.

“What are you-” I started to protest but was quickly cut off.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back,” She told me, reaching down to grab something out of her over the shoulder bag. “I’m just gonna text the group chat and tell them to meet us somewhere else.”

I nodded, and, with nothing else to do with my hand, I brought it up to rest on the steering wheel.

That’s when I came to the shocking realization of how quickly Amity has changed my life. It was only seven days ago when I was only driving by myself; I’d never been at a loss for what to do with my hands in the car. But it only took six days with this girl to get me used to having my fingers interlocked with hers in between us.

The situation was quickly remedied by a quick tap on my shoulder and the now familiar feeling of warmth.

“Go to the back of the Target parking lot,” Amity told me gently. “We’ll figure out what to do from there.”

The only thing I did to acknowledge that was a small nod and a squeeze of her hand.

Within 10 minutes, we were sitting in silence at the far back of the local Target’s parking lot. I was leaned back against my seat with my eyes closed, contemplating every word I’d said back at Starbucks.

“I can practically hear you thinking,” Amity spoke up from beside me. “Don’t worry so much. You’re okay, I’m okay, everyone’s okay. Okay?”

“For now…” I mumbled, looking to my left to avoid meeting her eyes.

“Hey, none of that,” She slapped me lightly on the arm. “From now on, you’re not gonna think about it. We’re gonna have an amazing day with our friends and then get super drunk after I perform.”

“I don’t know that I wanna be super drunk, but I get the point,” I chuckled and leaned over, putting my lips just close enough to her cheek that they brushed up against her skin when I talked, but not actually close enough to kiss her. “Thank you for that, cariño.”

Amity let out a giggle, dropping her head down to rest on my shoulder. “That’s a new one. What does it mean?”

“Oh, cariño? It basically translates to sweetheart,” I felt my face warm up. “Sorry, that’s probably really cheesy.”

“In English, yeah, it’s cheesy,” Amity shrugged and brought her head up to look me dead in the eye, lowering her voice to a whisper. “But I think it’s very romantic in Spanish.”

“Yeah?” My eyes darted subconsciously down to her lips.

“Yeah,” She leaned forwards ever so slightly.

We were mere centimeters apart. Breathing each other’s air. Drinking each other in. Growing subconsciously closer as each moment passed. And just as we were about to meet in the middle, a car horn sounded off from my left.

We both snapped backwards with a little gasp.

“Damn, they really have a way of ruining the moment,” I sighed out in exasperation.

“They do, don’t they?” Amity chuckled, but it sounded a bit more sad than humerous.

I rolled my window down just as I saw Willow doing the same with their SUV.

“What’s up, bitches?” Willow leaned forwards with a grin on their face.

“Nothing much. What’s up with you?” I shot back, a grin making its way onto my face at the sight of one of my best friends.

“We went on a little shopping spree,” Boscha piped up from the front seat.

The back window rolled down, revealing Gus’s beaming face. “And Willow got some of their produce for tonight!”

“You know I don’t care for it, but good for you,” I chuckled at his excitement. 

“What produce?” Amity asked from beside me.

“I’ll explain when we’re not in a parking lot with cameras,” I told her with a little chuckle.

“You guys ready to get lunch?” Boscha shouted over.

“Yeah,” I turned back to the other car. “Where do you wanna go?”

They didn’t reply for a second, and I could see as Boscha and Willow were talking about something in the front, with little interjections from Gus and Skara in the back.

Eventually, Willow leaned forward into my line of sight with a shit eating grin. “Just follow me and you’ll figure it out,”

“Um, okay?”

*le bi time skip*

Willow, as it turns out, had been leading us to Chick fil A, which was honestly not that surprising. We ate together at the tables next to the play area so we could laugh at the stupid things kids did, and it wasn’t long before we were all back at the Owl House and chilling together in the loft of the band room.

No one had spoken since we got back a few hours ago, so I jolted in surprise when Gus spoke up.

“Does anyone wanna practice instead of just sitting here like a bunch of teenagers with no social skills?”

Immediately, there were murmurs of agreement, and in no time, we were down on the first floor with our instruments ready to go.

“Hey, Luz,” Willow walked up to me with Boscha following close behind. “We finished our song, if you wanna see it.”

“ If I wanna see it?” I asked incredulously. “Of course I wanna see it!”

It only took one time reading it over to decide that I definitely wanted us to play it at the gig. It took even less time to get the rest of the band on the same page. And before I knew it, everyone was getting ready to play Willow and Boscha’s song.

“Okay,” I took one more look at my ques and chords and such. “Whenever you’re ready, Ams.”

I saw her take a breath before singing out,

“I don’t really give a damn about-” Gus started his drumming. “the way you touch me,”

The rest of us joined in with our parts.

“When we’re alone.”

“You can hold my hand if no one’s home.”

“Do you like it when I’m away?”

“If I went and hurt my body baby would you love me the same?”

“I can feel all my bones coming back, and I’m craving motion.”

“Mama never really learned how to live by herself.”

Amity dropped her voice down lower for the next line.

“It’s a curse, and it’s growing.”

“You’re a pond and I’m an ocean, oh~!”

She started singing louder and with a lot more emphasis.

“All my emotions feel like explosions when you are around.”

“And I’ve found,” She took a breath. “A way to kill the sound, oh…”

“Oh baby I am a wreck when I’m without you.”

“I need you here to stay.”

“I broke all my bones that day I found you.”

“Crying at the lake!”

“Was it something I said to make you feel like you’re a burden?”

“Oh, and if I could take it all back, I swear that I,” She paused for a moment. “Would pull you from the tide.”

At this point in the song, there was a short musical interlude where Boscha’s bass and Willow’s piano shone through, with the rest of us resting. As that was coming to a close, Amity and I came back in with the vocals, and Gus started up with the drumming again.

“Oh, woah, woah, woah!”

“I said no!”

“I said no.”

“Listen close, it’s a no.”

“The wind is a-pounding on my back.”

“And I’ve found hope in a heart attack!”

“Oh at last, it is past.”

“Now I’ve got it, and you can’t have it!”

Amity lowered her voice, making it much softer as the drumming quieted in the background.

“Oh baby, I am a wreck when I’m without you.”

“I need you here to stay.”

“I broke all my bones that day I found you.”

“Crying at the lake!”

“Was it something I said to make you feel like you’re a burden?”

“Oh, and if I could take it all back, I swear that I,” She took another breath. “Would pull you from the tide!” The last syllable of ‘tide’ was held out, and she sang a little vocal riff.

“Darling when I’m fast asleep, I’ve seen this person watching me.”

“Saying, ‘Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Tell me is it worth it?’” She held out the last high note before dropping back down. “Oh~.”

Everyone’s instruments came down to play at piano (for non-musical folks, that just means quietly), and Amity sang softer than ever before in this song.

“Cause there is something and there is nothing.”

“There is nothing in between.”

“And in my eyes, there is a tiny dancer.”

“Watching over me.”

Gus started to tap on his drums more consistently, creating a building effect that carried throughout the next few lines.

“He’s singing, ‘She’s a, she’s a lady, and I am not a boy.’”

“He’s singing, ‘She’s a, she’s a lady, and I am just a line without a-’”

That’s when the musical explosion finally happened and the melody returned more intensely than it had prior.

“Oh baby, I am a wreck when I’m without you.”

“I need you here to stay!”

“Broke all my bones that day I found you!”

“Crying at the lake!”

“Was it something I said to make you-” Amity brought her voice up an octave for the next note. “-feel like you’re a burden?”

“Oh, and if I could take it all back, I swear that I…” The tempo slowed as the song came to a close. “Would pull you from the tide.”

With the final note having been sung, the song faded out to nothingness.

No one spoke for a moment, and I wasn’t going to be the one to break it.

Eventually, Skara piped up softly from the corner where she was controlling the sound board. “Wow… that was incredible, guys,”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Willow and Boscha were staring directly at each other, and I was a bit shocked to see the slight red on Willow, of all people’s, face.

“All the credit goes to those two,” I pointed at them with a grin making its way onto my face. “They were the masterminds behind it.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised you turned it around that fast,” Gus remarked from behind the drum set. “How’d you do it?”

“I guess we just had a lot to get out,” Boscha shrugged, and she had the softest, most lovesick smile on her face while never taking her eyes off of Willow.

“And I’ve had the melody for this rolling around in my brain for a while,” Willow brought up. “Just had to put it to paper.”

In most other circumstances, I would have made fake barfing noises at the looks on both of their faces, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it when both of them were reveling in the song they’d created—presumably—about each other.

“Well, I think it was fantastic,” Amity piped up from beside me. “It’ll definitely be a hit.”

Boscha turned her soft smile over towards her teal-haired best friend. “Thanks, Amity,”

“Well well well,” A voice from the doorway snapped our attention away from the couple. King was here, for whatever reason. “Take a look at this band! A fantastic performance by the… wait what’s your guys’ band called again?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Purple Inferno, King,”

“A fantastic performance by the Purple Inferno!” He exclaimed, holding his hand in front of his face as a faux microphone.

Amity had a hand on her chin in contemplation, and she was looking my brother up and down. “Hey, King…”

“What’s up, Luz’s girlfriend?” King smirked at his own word choice.

Amity, it seemed, chose to ignore what he said. “How would you feel about getting a job?”

King’s smirk dropped. “What kind of job are we talking?”

“It’s pretty simple. You get paid to say a few lines once a weekend,” Amity started counting on her fingers. “You get free admission to a super sick night club, and you can work for Eda’s ex slash crush.”

King contemplated it for a moment, eyes locked with the floor as he presumably weighed the pros and cons in his head. Then, a wide grin spread onto his face. “You’re speaking my language! I’m in!”

“Fantastic,” Amity smiled as well and pulled out her phone. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to make a quick call.” With that, she slipped outside.

Willow cleared their throat. “Anyways… we should probably eat something and get ready to go to the club soon,”

“Anything you guys want food-wise?” I asked, pulling out my phone to write down orders if needed.

“Any good Mexican take-out restaurants around here?” Gus asked.

Skara answered quickly. “There’s the one out by the mall, I think,”

“Oh yeah!” I nodded. “Somebody wanna look up the menu and see what they got?”

“I gotchu, Luz!” Gus shot me finger guns and whipped his phone out of his pocket, but hesitated in typing anything. “Hey, uh, what’s it called again?”

“I’ll just do it,” Willow rolled their eyes and pulled out their own phone. “I’ve got the app, so I’ll just order here.”

“Okay, sweet,” I shrugged off my guitar and put it back in the case before walking over to Willow. “So, what does everybody want?”

*le bi time skip*

It wasn’t long until we were all piled in Willow’s SUV and on our way to the club. Unfortunately, by some strange design error, it only seated six. (Don’t ask me how that happened because I have no idea) And with the addition of King, there were seven of us trying to fit into one vehicle that mysteriously only had room for six.

That’s how I ended up with a hot girl in my lap.

“Are you sure I’m not hurting you?” Amity whispered, forgoing the conversation that the rest of them were engaging in.

“Positive, hermosa,” I smiled and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

She chuckled. “Been a while since I’ve heard that one,”

“What can I say?” I shrugged with a little smirk. “You look beautiful in that dress.”

She was wearing a silver, tight fitting, sleeveless, sequined dress that went down to about her mid-thigh. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and slightly curled, and she’d thrown on a pair of high-topped converse, which I questioned when she first laid out her outfit, but it actually fit quite well. I will never understand fashion.

“I wish I knew enough nicknames in French to call you something cute,” She leaned back into me and rested her head on my shoulder, probably to hide her blushing.

“Didn’t you have one a couple of days ago?”

“I did, but it just… didn’t feel right, I guess,” She paused in contemplation. “All the Spanish ones just sound so… romantic.”

“It is a Romance language,” I raised my eyebrows up and down teasingly.

“I know you know that’s not what that means,” She giggled and leaned up to place a kiss on my cheek. “But you are very cute.”

“I’m glad you think so,” I smiled down at her, and I could wager that I was probably wearing a very similar lovesick smile as Willow and Boscha were earlier.

Involuntarily and quite suddenly, the idea of calling Amity my girlfriend entered my mind. It made my face heat up as I tried to banish the thought from my brain, but I couldn’t manage to shake it.

Damn, how awesome would it be to introduce her as my girlfriend?

“You okay up there?” The voice of the very girl that was plaguing my mind is what snapped me out of that little trance.

“Y-yeah!” I nodded fiercely. “Totally! All good!”

“You don’t sound all good…” Amity eyed me suspiciously.

“I’ll tell you when we’re not in the car with five other people,”

“What’s going on back there?” Willow glanced at me in the rear view mirror. “You two are being suspiciously quiet.”

“Just talking,” I answered bluntly.

“About?” They prodded with a raised brow.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” I told them.

“You better not be dirty talking to each other in my back seat,” They warned with a little glare. That got a barking laugh from my brother.

I fought the blush that tried to creep onto my cheeks, but Amity wasn’t so lucky. “Of course we’re not, Willow,” I snapped bluntly. “That would be so depraved.”

“Yeah, we’ll save that for the club bathroom,” Amity grinned, drawing a chuckle out of Willow.

“I really hope that you’re joking,” Gus cringed. “I wouldn’t get in with all the crackheads in there.”

“Ohhhhh,” I drew the word out as it dawned on me. “So that’s why Eda didn’t want me going in the bathrooms.”

“If you guys ever need to go to the bathroom while we’re there, I’ll bring you to the staff bathrooms backstage,” Amity said. “If anyone asks, I’m showing you what it’s like back there so you know your way around for when we perform.”

“Noted,” Boscha nodded.

That was the moment we pulled into the convenience store parking lot.

“Alright, gang,” Willow put their car into park and turned so that they were facing all of us. “You got money?” When there were words and nods of affirmation, they continued. “Good. Now, for those of you who haven’t been here before-” They threw a quick glance at their girlfriend, Skara, and King. “-stick with the rest of the group. And under any circumstances, do not go in the bathrooms.”

“I gathered that much,” Boscha snorted and shook her head.

“It’s always good to reaffirm,” Willow shrugged. “And Luz, please don’t wander off with any girls this time.”

“Hold up, you wandered off with a girl?” King turned to me with wide eyes and a massive grin.

“Well, excuse me,” I drew out sarcastically. “But I’m not making any promises.”

“Hey!” Amity smacked me on the arm.

“I meant wandering off with you, princesa,” I chuckled and watched as her face flushed red.

“Oh,” She leaned down to bury her head in between my neck and shoulder.

King gagged. “Okay, that’s enough sappy, lovey-dovey things…”

Willow chuckled and rolled their eyes. “Now who’s ready to party?”

Chapter Text

Amity P.O.V.

It was honestly hilarious watching Boscha and Skara’s faces as they walked into the club for the first time. They both kind of raised their eyebrows at the price of admission and then their expressions morphed into a look of mild disgust at the smell of the place.

King was indifferent to that, and he mostly just seemed excited.

“Not exactly your mom’s air freshener, is it?” I joked, elbowing Boscha in the side.

“Not exactly…” She muttered, eyes darting all around and taking in the whole place.

“Raine’s working on something to fix that, but it’s still in the early stages,” I told her with a little nod.

“Ooh, really?” Willow piped up from Boscha’s other side. “How’d you know that?”

“I work here, Willow. I know about all the things going on,”

“So does that mean I’ll get the scoop when we start performing?” Their eyes lit up with that mischief I vividly remember from our childhood. 

They really haven’t changed all that much.

“I guess so, yeah,” I shrugged.

“Wait hold on,” Gus interrupted, holding up a hand. “Do you get a discount on drinks and stuff?”

“Ooh yeah!” King looked at me eagerly. “Do you?”

“Not through working here, I don’t,” At that, both of their shoulders sagged. “But I do because one of the bartenders is dating my sister.”

“Wait, really?” Gus’s eyes widened. “Which one?”

“Viney,”

“Oh my god, I love her!” Gus beamed. “She makes my drink perfectly .”

“She is pretty good at what she does,” I nodded and started walking off, dragging Luz behind my be our connected hands. “But let’s go grab a table.”

Everyone followed me as I made my way towards a table in the corner by one of the backstage doors. It was far enough away from both the dance floor and the bar that we shouldn’t get bothered by any drunk idiots, and it also had a pretty good view of the stage.

There were only six chairs at the table, so I took the liberty of grabbing one more from one of the stacks in the corner, prompting everyone to pick a spot.

“So, Amity,” Boscha caught my attention from across the table. “What time do you go on?”

I glanced at the time on my phone screen. “In about 20 minutes,”

“So are you gonna go soon?” Luz looked up to me with puppy-dog eyes, latching back onto my hand.

“I’ll be back,” I brought my other hand up to the side of her head and ran my thumb along her cheek soothingly.

“Damn, Noceda,” Willow whistled and shook their head. “How soft has she made you?”

“Shut it, Willow,” Luz glared at them before turning back to me. “Break a leg, princesa.”

“Thank you,” I smiled and gently let go of Luz’s face and hand. “Okay, King. Come with me, and I’ll show you what you’re gonna be doing.”

“Hell yeah!” He shot up from his seat to follow me through the backstage door.

“Okay, I’m gonna bring you to Raine’s office, and you’re gonna be on your own from there,” I told him. “That okay?”

“For sure,” He nodded seriously. “How many of these will I have to do again?”

“You’ll only have to introduce like six acts before they just throw on generic club music for the rest of the night,” I informed as we reached Raine’s office door. “Good luck. You’ll do great.”

“Thanks,” He smiled a bit, and I left him to do his own thing.

It was time to put on my last solo show.

After making my way to the storage room where I kept my guitar, I spent about five minutes making sure it was tuned perfectly. For some reason, this show had me a heck of a lot more nervous than any show I’ve done before. The only thing I could chalk it up to was the fact that I knew Luz was in the audience. Sure, she was there last time, but I didn’t know it. Combine that with the fact that my two best friends were here for the first time, and my anxiety was running on an all-time high.

Just as I was starting to overthink everything, a timid voice sounded from the doorway.

“Hey, Amity?”

I snapped my head up to see the tall, lanky figure of Jerbo standing there. “What’s up, Jerbo?”

“Just your ten minute warning!” He chirped with a little smile. “And, you know, making sure you’re all set for your last show.”

“You heard about that?”

“Yeah,” He nodded. “Raine told us. But they also told us that you were just joining a band instead! Barcus and I were happy to hear that you weren’t leaving for good.”

“You guys would still see me,” I chuckled. “Your best friend is dating my sister, and you have a massive crush on my brother. There’s no way I’d never see you again.”

“You didn’t have to call me out like that,” He laughed nervously, and I definitely didn’t miss the fact that his cheeks were dusted with red. “But yeah, I guess you’re right.” We just sat there in silence for a second before he shook his head. “A-anyways, you should probably walk up to the stage.”

“Yeah,” I stood, slinging my guitar behind my back and pocketing my pick. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Jerbo scurried off to do whatever he needed to before the show started, and I just sauntered up to the stage entrance, where I saw King waiting.

Well, waiting isn’t the exact word I would use. More like panicking. He was panicking.

“King?” I gently put my hand on his shoulder, snapping his attention away from the notecard clutched in his hand. “You okay?”

“Ha ha! Yeah!” He laughed nervously. “Totally fine! Ready to speak in front of a hundred people and not make a fool of myself! Ha…”

“Yeah, you’re totally freaking out,” I turned him to face me completely. “Look, I know that it’s really scary to put yourself out there in front of so many strangers.”

“Scary is an understatement…” He mumbled, not meeting my eyes.

“Hey, just look at me, okay?” He reluctantly brought his gaze up to meet mine. “Think about it this way…” I was really hoping that my read on King was correct; otherwise, what I was about to say was not going to help in the slightest. “You’re the one they’re waiting for. You’re the star, and it only takes one word out of your mouth for them to be applauding and fawning over you like the king you are.”

His eyes slowly lit up and his stance started to look a lot more confident. “Yeah… yeah! I’m the one they’re waiting for! I don’t have to do anything special because they already love me!”

“That’s the spirit!” I turned him around and slapped him on the back. “Now go get ‘em tiger!”

Coincidentally, that was when Barcus started waving him out onstage, so he trotted out there with a smile.

“Hey hey hey, and welcome to Club Bard!” He didn’t even glance at the notecard. “I know you were all definitely waiting for me-” he winked out towards the crowd, and I was very relieved to hear the sound of their laughter. “-but I have the pleasure of announcing the first act. Now, unfortunately, this will be her last solo performance.” At that, there were some boos in the crowd from people who I knew were regulars. “But don’t get too upset, because she’ll be back with the brand new band, Purple Inferno!” That got some cheers. “Now introducing none other than the guitar-playing cover artist legend… Amity Blight!”

He ducked offstage and the lights dimmed, letting me walk out to my place behind the mic. I thought over the song in my head and put my left hand in the position of the first chord.

My plan was always to play one specific song for my last act, so I could leave everyone with one last little piece of information about me before I left. Never would I have thought my last solo act would be so soon, but I wasn’t going to abandon my plan.

The lights came on and I started my last performance.

“Oh Hannah, I wanna feel you close.”

“Oh Hannah, come lie with my bones.”

“Oh Hannah, don’t look away.”

“Oh Hannah, just look at me the same.”

There was a pause in the lyrics for a moment.

“I don’t-” I stopped playing, leaving just my voice to ring out through the speakers. “-wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips.”

That’s where I started the guitar up again.

“I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath.”

Another short pause.

“I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips.”

“I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath.”

This was where I had a little musical interlude to show off my guitar prowess to the audience. Their reaction never disappoints.

Especially Luz. When I looked over to where she was, I was met with a lovesick look of admiration. I couldn’t help the way it made a smile come to my face and my heart swell.

“Oh, Hannah, oh, Hannah, oh, Hannah, oh Hannah.”

I finished up the musical interlude and jumped back into the lyrics.

“Oh Hannah, tell me something nice.”

“Like flowers and blue skies.”

“Oh Hannah, I will follow you home.”

“Although my lips are blue, and I’m cold.”

“I don’t-” Once again, I stopped playing. “-wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips.”

“I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath.”

“I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips.”

“I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath.”

“Oh, Hannah, oh, Hannah, oh, Hannah, oh, Hannah.”

“I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath.”

“I don’t wanna be your friend.”

The next line is where I started playing repeatedly in a sort of building rhythm throughout the bridge.

“I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna be your bitch.”

“And I wanna touch you, but not like this.”

The building intensified.

“The look in your eyes.”

“My hand between your thighs.”

“Oh, this can’t be real.”

“It’s all just a dream.”

The building finally exploded as the song started drawing to a close.

“I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips.”

“I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath.”

“I don’t wanna be your friend.”

“Lose my breath.”

“I don’t wanna be your friend.”

“Lose my breath.”

The last guitar chord faded out into silence, and the audience broke out into applause. I let them go on for a minute while I just sat there smiling before I dove into the next song.

And once I’d run through two more, I waved goodbye and did a little jog off of the stage. Once I got there, I was met by smiles and applause from the stage crew and, for whatever reason, Raine.

“Fantastic final performance, Amity,” They smiled at me and patted me on the back. “And great job with the announcing, King. Now you get to do it again.”

King didn’t even have the chance to respond to that before he was being waved on stage again.

Raine and I shared a laugh at his slightly panicked face before they turned their attention back to me. “Anyways, here’s your cut from last week,” They handed me an envelope. “I’ll bring tonight’s over to Eda’s sometime in the next few days. I figure you’ll either be there or Luz can pass it on.”

“Thank you,” I smiled at them warmly, but we were soon gently shoved out of the way to make room for the next performers.

We chatted for a few minutes more, but they eventually had to get back to all the stuff they had to do as the owner. I, having realized how long I’d been away from everybody else, skillfully avoided talking to any more people and put my guitar away and back in its spot behind the crate.

When I got back to our group’s table, everyone was happily chatting away with drinks in hand. Willow and Boscha were smoking, passing what I assumed was some variety of weed—which I suppose must have been their “produce” that Luz had mentioned earlier—back and forth, and they were the first to see me.

“Well, hello there, performing star!” Boscha grinned as she waved me over to the table.

“Girl in red?” Willow asked teasingly. “Really?”

“Hey, I wanted to go out with a bang,” I shrugged with a little grin.

“You sure did, hermosa,” Luz pulled me over to her by my hand and proceeded to wrap her arms around my waist. Since I was standing and she was sitting, her head ended up pressed against my stomach. “Shoulda added Sweater Weather, though.”

“Missed opportunities,” Skara shook her head dramatically. “But good job, Am!”

“Yeah, you did great!” Gus echoed.

“Thanks, guys,” The smile on my face was completely involuntary, but also completely genuine. I gently tapped Luz’s arm, signaling her to let go so that I could sit down.

“Here,” Luz handed me a glass. “I just asked Viney to make something you’d like.”

I gave her a quick peck on the cheek as a show of my gratitude, and we all settled into comfortable conversation.

It didn’t stay like that long, however, before Boscha was standing up and dragging Willow onto the dance floor with a mischievous little smirk.

I heard Luz chuckle as the two stumbled away from our table. “Yeah, they’re really high already,”

“Willow?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, but I meant both of them,” Luz clarified. “That’ll be fun to deal with later.”

I laughed lightly. “With Boscha? Hell yeah it will,”

“I have a feeling that you’re speaking from experience,”

“Well, see, there was the one time in junior year,” I started, leaning forwards in my chair so that Luz could hear me better. “We were both pretty mad at our parents, so we decided to break the rules a little.”

Luz’s right eyebrow rose. “A little?”

“Okay, maybe more than a little,” We shared a laugh before I continued. “Boscha got weed from Willow, I got a couple of beers from the twins, and Skara just got dragged along for the hell of it.”

When I glanced over at Luz, she was leaned forwards, one elbow on the table supporting her head. I don’t think I could’ve told you another time that anyone has been that totally invested in what I was saying, my siblings included. Yeah, they’ve probably been as into it as Luz was then, but at the time, all my brain could supply was, Wow. She’s so cute like that.

Shaking that thought as best as I could, I went on with the story. “But to keep it short and sweet, I ended up chickening out of everything but a sip of beer. Boscha was totally stoned by the end, and Skara was drunk out of her mind,” I grimaced at the memory. “It was not fun to deal with that. Not to mention that I had to sneak them back into their own houses.”

Luz whistled lowly. “Damn, that sounds awful. And that was your first experience with alcohol?”

“Unfortunately yes,” I nodded solemnly. “The memory usually keeps me from going too far off the deep end.”

“Y’know that’s very smart. ‘Specially considering that Willow definitely isn’t going to be able to drive us home,” Luz glanced out onto the dance floor and snorted. “Case and point.” She pointed out into the crowd.

My eyes followed her finger and landed on two slightly silhouetted forms dancing like no one was watching. Except people were watching, and they didn’t seem to give a shit. I could make out Boscha easily—the pink hair makes her hard to miss—and finding her lead me to identify the other figure as Willow. Without the knowledge of their relationship, I wouldn’t have guessed that the person dancing with Boscha was Willow. What they were doing was so extremely out of character, but also somehow very fitting.

Their arms were going back and forth between gripping onto Boscha’s hips and waving sporadically in the air, and they were gyrating their hips in a way that would’ve been great for hula-hooping. That was a sight to behold.

I couldn’t help the laugh that fell out of my mouth. “That’s a show all in itself,”

“This happens occasionally,” Luz’s gaze stayed locked on her dancing friend, but mine were now focused solely on her face. “Usually at some sort of big event.”

“Maybe Boscha’s just a bad influence on them,” That was just the first thing that came to my mind, so it came out of my mouth. I was sort of on autopilot while getting caught up in the way the lights of the place reflected out of Luz’s hazel eyes.

“If anything, it’d be the other way around,” Luz chuckled a bit, finally turning away from the couple and looking directly at me. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

I was snapped out of my little trance, shaking my head with a little blush on my cheeks. “N-no. You’re all good,”

“Then what are you looking at, Blight?” She smirked mischievously.

I looked away, unable to hold eye contact any longer.

“Aww, are you getting shy?” She gently grabbed my chin and turned my head towards her. “There’s no shame in admiring a work of art.”

I almost choked on my own spit with the way that made me laugh. “Way to flatter yourself, Noceda,”

“Well, how else would you describe me?” 

She was prodding for compliments. I took the bait.

“Well, I don’t know that work of art would be the first thing that came to mind…” Her eyes narrowed teasingly. “But I think you’re very handsome.”

The way her entire face lit up was a dead giveaway that she liked that one.

“Especially in this getup you got here,” I brought my hand up to the collar of her flannel and pulled her slightly closer to me. “I’d even wager that you’re the best looking person here.”

Her eyes were darting between my own eyes and mouth, her lips were ever so slightly parted, and her cheeks were a vibrant red that I could even make out in the dim lighting.

“Not to mention the fact that you’re one of the kindest, most empathetic people I’ve ever met,” I could feel myself getting lost in the memories of the past week, so I just let the words flow. “I don’t think that anyone else could match the way you just instinctually care for other people.”

Her face morphed into a soft smile.

“And you’re like, insanely attractive,” I laughed at my own bluntness. “Everything I feel when I’m with you is so shockingly real and strong that I don’t know what to do. You’re one of the best things to ever happen to me, and I know I’ve only known you for seven days, but every one has made me realize just how amazing you are.”

When I looked back over to meet her gaze, I saw that her eyes had darkened; she was laser focused on my lips, and her hands were twitching at her sides.

“Can I take you up on that bathroom offer?”

I glanced around the table and noticed that we were the only two left. Gus and Skara must have slipped away at some point during our conversation without us noticing. This also meant that no one would know where we were going.

Perfect.

I wordlessly stood and offered my hand to Luz.

“Wait, are you seriously taking me to the staff bathrooms?” Her eyebrows shot up with shock.

“Well, yeah. When you gotta go, you gotta go,” I shrugged, but I was smirking.

Luz picked up on the fact that I was joking and just stood, taking my hand and following me without hesitation. I led us through the backstage door, down a few hallways, and into one of the bathrooms.

Raine, being the person they are, knows the massive flaws in having two traditionally divided bathrooms. So in an effort to make all performers as comfortable as possible, they had eight single bathrooms—that were basically the equivalent of a “family restroom” in any other establishment—installed instead of the alternative. This was also their plan for the public bathrooms, but they were currently stuck trying to find a way to get the drug dealers out of there without drawing too much attention to the other things happening at Club Bard.

It was one of these bathrooms that I brought Luz to.

As soon as the door closed behind us, she was all over me. Her hands were alternating between running up and down my sides and across my back, but most importantly, she was kissing me. And she was kissing me hard .

Pressed together, gliding oh-so naturally, we lost ourselves to the sensations.

I couldn’t even tell you how long it had been when she pulled back, but it had to have been a while, judging by the way the two of us were gulping down air like we’d been stranded underwater.

“Damn,” I laughed breathily. “If this is the reaction I get, I should call you handsome more often.”

She didn’t even respond with words. She was kissing me again, and I was engulfed in heat.

The heat of her lips against mine. The heat of her hands dipping under the hem of my shirt. The heat of the room that was slowly but surely rising.

There wasn’t a coherent thought in my brain to begin with, but it absolutely would have been gone when Luz gently slipped her tongue into my mouth. Involuntarily, I let out a little squeak, which, in all honesty, would have embarrassed me if it weren’t for the total bliss of it all.

Luz, I suppose, felt the need to check in after hearing my little involuntary noise that could have been interpreted as one of discomfort.

“You all good?” She asked with a little grin.

“Very good,” My eyes were locked with her slightly swollen lips.

“Want me to keep going?”

“More than anything,”

I don’t know that either of us could tell you how long we were in that bathroom. I don’t even know that I could tell you what the room looked like. But I do know that after that undetermined amount of time, Luz’s phone went off in her pocket.

Reluctantly, she pulled away to look at it. Upon seeing whatever notification she got, she sighed and started quickly typing something out.

“What is it?” I asked quietly.

“Just Gus wondering where we went,” Luz clicked send on whatever she’d texted her friend and pocketed her phone again. “He said that Willow and Boscha came back for round two of drinks, and he asked if we wanted to join.”

“Oh,” I looked down at my subconsciously fidgeting hands. “Do you want to?”

Luz simply shrugged. “Only if you want to, hermosa,”

“I think they can wait a few minutes more,” I decided quickly, reaching my hand up to pull Luz in by the back of her neck.

She was stopped mere inches from my face, so I got to see the way she grinned in very good detail. “I like the way you think, Blight,”

This kiss was different. It was less heated and more… loving, but it made my heart flutter all the same. It was also marginally shorter than the other exchanges we’d had earlier in this venture.

When Luz gently separated her lips from mine with a movie-worthy smooching noise, she was instantly wearing the dorkiest, yet most adorable smile.

I just raised a confused eyebrow at her. “What?”

“You’re just really good at this,” Her voice lowered, and that gave it this huskiness that made my stomach squirm.

“That’s it?”

She visibly hesitated. “Well…”

“What is it?” My look of confusion morphed to one of concern. “Is something wrong?”

“No no!” She waved her hands back and forth quickly. “Nothing’s wrong, I promise! I’ve just been thinking…”

After a few seconds of silence, I decided to prompt her to continue since it didn’t seem like she was going to do it herself. “Thinking?”

“Thinking,” She nodded in affirmative.

“About..?”

“Us,”

Again, she paused, but this time, I could feel my heart drop to my stomach.

Is she about to break up with me?

Wait, that’s not even possible. We’re not dating.

Does she not want to date me?

“Wait, sorry, that sounded bad,” She shook her head and whispered something to herself that I didn’t catch. “I’ve been thinking about us being more .”

In an instant, the butterflies exploded in my stomach. I’m sure my face was redder than a literal tomato.

I could only get out one coherent word: “Oh,”

“It’s probably stupid,” She laughed nervously. “We’ve only known each other for like a week, right? But it crossed my mind earlier today and I haven’t been able to shake it. This whole night, every time I look at you, the word just pops into my head. A-and what you said before we came in here just made me think… I dunno, that you might feel the same?”

“It’s not stupid,” I found myself saying without really thinking about it. “It’s not stupid at all. I totally agree with you.”

Her face flushed dramatically. “A-agree with me?”

“Well, I assume that you mean that you want us to be more,” I smiled, loving the reaction I got out of her. “Unless I misinterpreted what you were insinuating.”

“No, you interpreted it perfectly,” She paused, took a deep breath, and turned to face me. “So uh, in that case…”

I didn’t give her the chance to finish what she was saying. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

The look on her face was priceless. “D’awww, I was so ready!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I laughed, waving my hands apologetically. “You can ask.”

“Okay,” She let out a breath she’d been evidently holding in. “Amity Blight, will you be my girlfriend?”

“Of course I will,” A stupid, lovestruck smile was plastered on my face, and for once, I didn’t care what other people would say if they saw me looking like that. I had a girlfriend, and that girlfriend was Luz Noceda.

Holy shit, I have a girlfriend.

“Can I, uh, kiss you?” She asked timidly.

“Luz, you realize we were literally making out like a minute ago,” I deadpanned, but I couldn’t help the little smile on my face. I have a girlfriend!

“Well, yeah, but I wanted to ask first,” She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Come here, dork,” I grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her into yet another kiss.

“Holy shit, we’re actually dating,” Luz blurted out after we pulled apart.

I just laughed and dropped my head down to rest on her chest, wrapping my arms around her waist as I did. “Yeah, we are,”

We stood like that for a moment; simply embracing each other in the bathroom of a night club.

That’ll make a good story later on.

Eventually, Luz sighed. “We should probably get back,”

“Yeah,” I nodded in agreement.

“They’re gonna think we had sex in the bathroom or something,” Luz chuckled.

“Wait a second… do we tell them?” I looked up at her.

She paused, looking as if she was thinking. “I mean, we don’t have to. We could just go on and do girlfriend things as if everything were normal and see if anyone figures it out on their own,”

“Oh my god, that would be hilarious,”

“Wouldn’t it?”

“Then let’s not tell them,” I grinned excitedly.

“Willow’s gonna figure it out anyways,” Luz rolled her eyes.

“That may be true, but I’d like to see how long it takes them,”

“Heh… yeah,” She smiled, and grabbed my hand. “But let’s get back.”

I nodded, and led her back out to where the rest of our group was. By a stroke of luck, we didn’t run into anyone on the way out either, and it wasn’t long until we were walking back up to everyone else.

“Hey! There you are!” Gus waved from his seat.

“What took you so long?” Willow raised an eyebrow curiously, and I could tell that they were inspecting us closely.

“I told you I wasn’t making any promises,” Luz shrugged and sat down.

“Well, judging by the fact that you both have awfully applied lipstick on now, you were making out somewhere,” Boscha said bluntly.

I felt the heat rushing to my face despite my attempts to stop it. I just mumbled out my response as I reached into my bag to grab my handheld mirror and lipstick. “I mean, you’re not wrong…”

“Okay moving on!” Luz slapped her hands down on the table. “Gus said something about more drinks?”

“Oh, we’ve changed it up a little bit,” Willow smirked.

“You may notice that Skara is gone,” Boscha matched Willow’s energy, and that made me nervous. “We sent her to get shots.”

“Are we gonna have a repeat of last time?” This time, Luz was the one to smirk, looking at Willow smugly.

“First of all, that was a one-time fluke,” Their eyes narrowed. “But that’s not what we’re doing.”

“Then what’s the game plan?” Now Luz just looked confused.

“Ooh! Can I tell them?” Gus asked, practically vibrating in his seat. 

“Go ahead,” Willow nodded.

“We’re gonna do a nice, friendly game of truth or drink,” Gus’s expression was the most malicious I’d ever seen from him, and I’m not gonna lie, it made me a little bit nervous.

“Why do you make that sound more menacing than it should be?” I voiced, glaring suspiciously.

“There’s no warming up here,” Luz explained, already getting excited. “We jump straight-” She paused at Willow’s barking laugh. “Well, not straight , but we go right into the juicy questions.”

“And trust me when I say that no one holds back,” Willow looked right at me with the most smug grin I’ve ever seen.

If it weren’t for the alcohol already in my system, I’m sure that I would have been a lot more anxious about the game that was about to happen. But liquid courage helped me to be a lot more excited about where this could go instead of the sad alternative. So I went along with it without a second thought.

Soon after, Skara came back with a tray of what I assumed to be 12 shots, but that was quickly disproven when King came back and slid into his seat.

“Alright!” He rubbed his hands together in excitement. “Who’s ready for the shit that’s about to go down?”

There were cheers from around our table, and soon, there were two shot glasses distributed to every person at the table.

“Okay, here are the ground rules,” Willow started explaining it to everyone. “Nothing, and I mean nothing, is off the table. If you don’t wanna answer, take a shot. But keep in mind, you only have two shots in front of you. You run out, you have to answer anything thrown at you.”

“So you really have to think about what you choose here,” Gus finished.

“Wait, hold on,” King held up a hand, effectively stopping everyone. “Who’s paying for all this?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head,” Willow, who was coincidentally seated right next to him, ruffled his hair. “I got us covered for as many rounds of this as we feel like.”

He seemed miffed, and whether it was about being called pretty or the way Willow messed up his hair, I’m not sure. But he only looked even more confused by their vague answer.

“Trust me, they’ve got it,” Luz told her brother.

“But how?” He turned to look at Luz.

She leaned over to whisper something in his ear, and his face lit up with recognition. “Oh, yeah!”

Luz nodded. “Yep. Now can we start?”

“Well since you’re so eager, I’ll ask you first,” Boscha smirked, making Luz’s excited expression falter. “What exactly were you and Amity doing while you were gone?”

“Okay then,” Luz blushed, but only enough for me to see, considering that I was the one right next to her. “Like you guessed, we were making out.”

“What else?” She prodded.

“I mean… we talked?” Luz shrugged, and it appeared that she wasn’t going into any more details.

“About what?” Boscha leaned forwards, evidently trying to get something out of her, but I couldn’t really tell what.

“That, my friend, is a completely separate question,” Luz smirked at the loophole she found.

“No, I asked exactly what you were doing,”

“Well, that’s exactly what we were doing. We talked. Your question has nothing to do with what we said,” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “That means, by the unspoken rules of truth or drink, it is my turn to ask someone else a question.”

Boscha looked kind of frustrated, but she complied and sat back into Willow’s arm.

“Alright, Willow,” Luz looked at her friend. “What all were you and Boscha doing yesterday when you left to, and I quote, ‘Go get snacks’?”

Willow didn’t answer immediately, and they just sat there with a hand on their chin in contemplation. “How do you feel about me parting with that information?” They asked their girlfriend. “I’ll take a shot if you don’t want me to say.”

“I mean they probably already know,” Boscha shrugged. “Or at least suspect.”

“True,” Willow nodded and looked back at Luz. “We fucked in the back seat of my car.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” She shook her head with a little chuckle. “Now… who’s next?”

The game progressed for a while, with very few questions going unanswered. Eventually, we’d all run out of shots, and we decided to call it quits on the game.

“Hey, hermosa,” Luz nudged my shoulder. She was standing there, one hand behind her back and the other held out as if she were a prince in a Disney movie. “May I have this dance?”

I couldn’t have stopped the little laugh if I tried. “You may,” I took her hand and followed her out onto the dance floor.

At this point, all of the performers had finished, so there were a lot more people dancing instead of watching. This meant the floor was crowded, but all that melted away when I found myself in Luz’s arms; the rest of the world was gone as we moved together along with the beat of the song.

“You’re pretty good at this,” Luz yelled over the pounding music.

“I’ve had a bit of practice,” I replied with a little shrug. “My mom made me take dance lessons as a kid. Didn’t really do much for me, but this is fun.”

“It sure is,” Luz took my hand and spun me around in a circle, drawing a giggle out of me.

When I was turned back around to face her, she was staring at my face with a soft smile and even softer eyes, and it seemed as though she didn’t even notice it.

“What?” I raised an eyebrow and adopted a teasing smirk.

Nothing about her expression changed when she shook her head lightly. “Just admiring a work of art,”

The compliment hit me like a truck, and several things happened at once: I started blushing aggressively, Luz grabbed my face—which only made the butterflies worse, I might add—and she pulled me into a quick kiss.

For a moment, I just sat there, processing. After a handful of seconds, a laugh fell from my lips as my head fell to rest on Luz’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to pretend that I’m a work of art,” I was smiling giddily, and I’m sure that Luz could tell, despite her inability to see my face at the moment.

“As good as I was at playing pretend as a kid, I don’t have to when I’m with you,”

If the last compliment hit me like a truck, that one sentence hit me like a full-on fighter jet going Mach 3.

From someone who’s spent her whole life acting like someone she’s not, the realization of finding someone to be real with was, to say the least, relieving. In more flowery words, it was like a captured bird finally being let back into the wild. My heart felt lighter, and the constant weight on my shoulders let up—if only for that moment.

I must have been zoned out for too long, judging by how Luz’s soft smile fell in favor of forming a thin line of concern.

“I-I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” She stuttered, faltering in our dance moves, which—upon recollection—I seem to have stopped.

“No! No, no, no!” I waved my hands back and forth to further my denial of the question. “It’s just… I really like you.”

That was all I could manage to say. What? Do you expect me to explain all of that in the middle of a dance floor in a literal night club? 

Yeah, that’s a conversation for later.

“I really like you too, cariño,” She placed a light kiss on my head.

That’s when I heard a low whistle from off to my right.

“Well, if it isn’t Luz Noceda!”

Chapter Text

Luz P.O.V.

Now, if you were to have told me that I would end up in the bathroom at a nightclub with Amity Blight, not once, but twice in one day, I would have told you that you were off your rocker.

Yet, there I was. In a bathroom with Amity Blight—who is my girlfriend , for the record—for the second time in one night. Honestly, it was getting to be excessive, but this time was totally reasonable! I mean, so was the first time since she looked so pretty, and she was being so nice, and all I could think about was pinning her up against a wall and-

Yeah okay, not the point.

My second venture to the bathroom was also completely reasonable because I had to escape.

We were just dancing, as one couple does at a club, when he walked up.

It didn’t even take me a second of contemplation before I grabbed Amity’s hand and literally dragged her away, leaving him with a hand in the air and a cocky smile on his face.

So then we were in the bathroom again. Amity was confused, and rightfully so.

“Okay, I am totally on board with this running away and hiding thing, but who was that?” She asked.

“Mattholomule,” I spat bitterly. “He’s an overall bitch, and I don’t want to deal with him right now. Chances are, he was gonna try to piss me off, and I’m enjoying tonight and would rather not have him ruin that for me.”

“Wow, I thought you were all for proving jerks wrong,” She chuckled. “What’d he do to get you to avoid him?”

“Well, he got Gus, me, and himself thrown into detention and then he proceeded to try and take over Gus’s robotics club,” I scowled at the memory. “I hear that he’s not all bad, but I have yet to see him confirm that.”

She hummed in understanding and put her chin on my shoulder. “We could just go back out the stage door by our table and hang with the rest of the group. No offense to your master plan, but I’m kind of tired of being in the bathrooms,”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Amity seemed to have that effect on me. “Yeah, we can go back. They’re probably wondering where we ran off to,”

After quickly exiting the backstage area again, we slid back into our seats at the table, finding that Willow and Gus were the only two there.

“Hey, guys,” I grinned and ruffled Gus’s curly hair. “Where’d Boscha and Skara go?”

“They’re out dancing,” Willow waved in the direction of the dance floor. “Or are they getting drinks?” They put a finger on their chin, looking very intoxicated. “I don’t know anymore.”

“Yeah, they’re out dancing,” Gus confirmed with a little chuckle. “And if you can’t tell, Willow’s gone all Fourth of July part two.”

I laughed and nodded, but Amity just looked confused. “Do I get to know the story behind that?”

“The short answer is they smoked and drank nonstop for roughly three hours, and ended up streaking through a family’s Fourth of July party and jumping straight into the pool,” Gus explained, getting a betrayed gasp out of Willow.

“I thought you swore that to secrecy!” They slurred out, glaring daggers at Gus.

He just laughed and pat them on the back. “First of all, you were the one to say that word of that incident never leaves our circle. I never agreed,” Willow grumbled under their breath and turned away from him with their arms crossed. “And secondly, you’re not going to remember any of this tomorrow.”

“He has a point,” I chuckled. “Just don’t tell them that we told you, Ams.”

“Noted,” Amity laughed, but it was abruptly stopped when we heard someone clear their throat from behind me.

“Hey! Luz!”

“Aye, dios mio,” I mumbled under my breath and turned around, scowl already aimed at the person interrupting our conversation. “What do you want?”

Mattholomule was standing there with a shit-eating grin, hands in his jacket pockets in a way that I would think was an attempt at being cool.

For the record, he was failing.

“Damn, can a guy not just say hi these days?” He chuckled and shook his head.

“Get to the point already,” I rolled my eyes. “I was having a great night until you showed up, and I’d like to get back to that.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Jeez, calm down, Luzer. No need to get riled up over nothing,”

Quicker than my brain could process, Amity had stood up and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “Call her that again,” She practically growled, glaring at him with such fury that I would have probably combusted on the spot. “I dare you.”

“What the fuck?” He shoved her by the shoulders in an attempt to get her off of him.

“Don’t touch her,” I snapped, shoving him back. “Since you obviously didn’t hear me, what the fuck do you want?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He slowly backed up, hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry…” His voice dropped to a tone of regret and sadness. “I really just… ugh, I feel like an idiot… I just wanted to, like, hang out with you guys?”

“Well you’ve done a pretty shitty job of showing that you’re someone worth hanging out with,” I eyed him with apprehension. “First, you get me and my best friend thrown into detention, then you overthrow Gus as the leader of robotics club. What next? Come to steal my girlfriend?”

I heard choking noises from behind me, but I ignored those in favor of glaring at Mattholomule.

“Look, I know what I did was really shitty,” He sighed and kept avoiding eye contact. “Like, really shitty. And I don’t have an excuse. I have a hard time making good relationships, and I guess all that was just my way of getting your attention. Not that it excuses what I did… but if you’re willing, I’d like to start over?”

I looked him up and down, scanning for any deceit.

“I think he’s telling the truth,” Amity whispered to me. “Not that I know him all that well…”

“I trust your judgement,” I whispered back. “Okay, Mattholomule. I’ll give you another chance. But don’t expect me to be all buddy buddy before you prove yourself to be trustworthy. Got it?”

“Yes! Thank you!” He beamed.

“But that doesn’t start tonight,” I tacked on with a little smirk. “Go back to whatever you were doing before.”

His face fell slightly, but he shook it off and nodded, scampering away from our table.

“Well that was weird,” I turned back around, and Amity and I sat back down at the table, where Gus and Willow, along with Boscha and Skara who seemed to have materialized out of thin air while we were talking to Mattholomule, were gaping at us. “What?”

They just continued staring, eyes wide and jaws dropped.

“Seriously, what are you guys staring at?” I glanced between all of them, and it seemed that Boscha was the first to break out of her trance.

“Did you just fucking call her your girlfriend?” She shouted, leaning forward with a massive grin.

“Oh,” I felt my face heat up, and I looked over at Amity, silently asking her if she wanted me to confirm that question. She just nodded. “Y-yeah. I guess I did.”

“Holy shit!” She looked between us, wide-eyed. “When the hell were you going to tell us?”

“Well, uh, you see, um…” I stammered, grasping for something to say.

“We were going to see how long it would take you to figure it out,” Amity, it seems, took pity on me and told everyone else what I was struggling to get out. “But I guess that’s out the window.”

“Heh, sorry,” I chuckled nervously.

“It’s fine,” Amity waved it off rather quickly. “But anyways, what are we doing now?”

“Uh, freaking out!” Skara exclaimed. “You two are dating now! Like, girlfriends dating! We have to celebrate!”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing all night?” I asked with a little laugh. 

“Maybe, but now we have something else to celebrate!” She clapped her hands excitedly.

“Whatever you say, Skara,” Amity rolled her eyes fondly and reached over to grab my hand. “Celebrate away.”

*le bi time skip*

By about 1:30 in the morning, most of the band was drunk and high out of their minds. After midnight, Amity and I had decided to call it quits on the drinks so we had at least two fully functioning minds to get everyone back to the Owl House safely.

Gus, as it turns out, also kept fairly sober, but he was adamant about not being the one to drive them all back.

“I’m not completely drunk, but I’m definitely not sober enough to be driving,” He told me.

So between Amity and I, it was decided that I would be the one behind the wheel since I was more familiar with Willow’s car.

Getting everyone in the car was an experience all in itself. As one would imagine, drunk Willow and Boscha were hard to handle to begin with, but when you put them together, things just got worse. Since they were the only other couple in the group, they were the two forced into the one seat where Amity and I had been on the drive over. I chose to ignore most of the things they whispered—or at least attempted to whisper—to each other.

Skara, on the other hand, seemed like she was on the verge of passing out. She wasn’t all that drunk, but the night of partying had gotten to her. She was easy to get in, and as soon as she was in the seat, she was knocked out with her head on Willow’s shoulder.

King, for his part, was fairly cooperative, but he decidedly did not want to be in the middle seat. This wasn’t a problem on the way over, but with the alcohol in his system, he seemed to become much more opinionated and much more vocal.

This turned out to be fine because Gus was still in his right mind, and he didn’t fuss over being the one to be sandwiched between Skara and King.

But once that was all dealt with, Amity and I situated ourselves in the front seat, hands subconsciously interlocking over the center console as I started the drive home.

“Hey, no being gay in my car,” Willow slurred out, sending an obviously fake glare towards me.

“Well, if that’s your rule, I’d say you’re failing pretty badly,” I glanced in the rear view mirror at Willow and their girlfriend, who had their hands strategically placed on the other’s body. Again, I was trying to ignore most of what was going on.

Willow looked down at their predicament, and they just simply shrugged before turning back to Luz. “It’s my car,”

“And it’s my girlfriend,” I shot back, heart fluttering a little at the word. Sure, it wasn’t the most logical reasoning, but it’s not like Willow’s absolutely hammered brain could comprehend it either. “So I get to hold her hand while I’m driving.”

Willow simply grumbled under their breath, and I couldn’t catch what it was over the noise of the road beneath the tires.

“I can’t wait to see how much they’re all going to regret this tomorrow,” Gus said suddenly. “If Willow is getting like this, they’re definitely going to hate themself in the morning.”

“I’ll pick up some more ibuprofen tomorrow,” I chuckled as we turned onto the backroads. “Maybe grab some breakfast for everyone while I’m out so Eda doesn’t have to cook anything.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan,” Amity piped up from beside me, giving my hand a little squeeze. “And if you don’t mind, could you wake me up, if I’m not up already, so I can come with you?”

“Of course I don’t mind, cariño,” I lifted our conjoined hands and pressed my lips to the back of hers. Ignoring the gagging noises from behind me, I turned my full attention to the road.

It wasn’t too much longer before we were pulling up to the Owl House and getting everyone inside. Fortunately, it wasn’t too hard to get everyone in their respective beds, and even more fortunately, they all passed out rather quickly.

That left Amity and I to get ready ourselves.

“Hey, Luz?” Amity called from where she was looking through her bag.

“Yeah?” I turned away from my dresser.

“Do you happen to have anything I could sleep in?” She asked timidly. “I left my crewneck that I usually sleep in at home.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” I walked over to my closet, where I kept my sweatshirts, as a devious plan formed in my head.

Okay, devious is not the word I would use, but it was a plan! A plan that involved a very important article of clothing. The hardest part of this plan was actually finding this sweatshirt, but once I did, I turned around to face Amity, hiding it behind my back as I did.

“Why is it behind your back?” Amity asked, eyeing me suspiciously. “What kind of obnoxious thing are you going to have me wear?”

“Oh, it’s not obnoxious, I promise,” I told her, smiling smugly as I brought it around to show her. “It’s just an ordinary basketball sweatshirt with a conveniently placed name and number on the back.”

“N-name and number?” She stuttered, face getting red. “L-like your name and number?”

“Well, duh,” I rolled my eyes with a little laugh. “Here. You can keep it, hermosa.”

She was blushing fiercely, but she accepted the sweatshirt and slipped it over her head. “Thank you,”

“No es un problema, amor,”

Amity froze. “What did you just call me?”

My face reddened at the realization of what I’d just said. “O-oh. Right. T-that wasn’t on purpose…”

“You mean you didn’t mean to just call me love in Spanish?” Amity turned to me with one eyebrow raised and a smirk playing on her lips.

“Well, no…” I shook my head and cleared my throat. “But I’m not exactly mad about it either.”

She laughed lightly and strutted up to me to place a kiss on my lips. “Yeah, me either. Do it more often,”

“Sure thing, amor,” I smiled, reveling in the way it brought a small blush to her face. “Now go change so we can sleep.”

*le bi time skip*

After a very eventful night, it was not surprising that everyone was still asleep by the time my brain woke me up at 8:30. I know, I know, that’s so early for a weekend, but it’s not entirely my fault. I was conditioned by school, and at this point, there’s not much I can do to fix it.

On the plus side, it seemed like Amity was broken the same way I was because as soon as I blinked the blurriness from my vision, I saw her smiling down at me fondly from where she was sitting up, leaning against the headboard.

“Good morning,” She whispered, reaching down to put a hand in my hair.

“Hi,” I whispered back, nuzzling my face into her stomach. “How long have you been up?”

“Not too long,” I could feel the vibrations of her voice as she spoke. “I’m just an early riser.”

“I am too, but not by choice,” I mumbled. “Waking up early for school broke me.”

At that, she laughed lightly. Quiet enough that no one else could have heard. “I’m sorry, baby,”

“…did you just call me baby?”

There was a pause in which Amity seemed frozen. “Maybe. Is that… okay?”

The butterflies in my stomach told me that, yes, it was absolutely okay. More than okay, in fact. So okay, that all I could do was nod profusely, as my voice seemed to be temporarily out of commission.

“You’re very cute,” She leaned down and pressed a kiss onto my temple. “And as cute at this is, we should really get up if we want to go out and get back before they all wake up.’

I sighed as dramatically, and quietly, as possible before dragging myself up out of bed. “Okay, let’s go get dressed,” I waved for her to follow me.

One trip out to the convenience store and breakfast place later, Amity and I were bringing a few bags into the house. Upon entering, we found the rest of the band in the living room talking with Eda.

“Oh, there you guys are!” Eda grinned from her chair. “We were over here thinking you bailed.”

“We definitely didn’t bail, and we got you breakfast,” I held up the plastic bags of food. “Specifically picked to fit your taste!”

“Nice commercial voice,” Willow chuckled. “Now gimme.”

“Nuh uh!” Eda glared at them. “I don’t care if you’re all Luz’s friends, no one is eating in my living room!”

“Right,” Willow nodded and stood, walking into the kitchen without a fight.

“Why so adamant?” Boscha asked.

“The ant incident…” I shivered at the memory.

Skara just looked at me, confused. “What was that?”

“You don’t want to know,” Gus shook his head, eyes vacant.

“Well, anyways!” Eda clapped her hands, effectively getting everyone’s attention. “Let’s go eat, rugrats!”

The beginning of breakfast was actually quite tame; with everyone either hung over or sleep deprived, there wasn’t much in the way of obnoxious conversation or over the top arguments. That was completely fine by me, in all honesty.

But around the time that everyone was finishing up, the sound of banging sounded from the front of the house.

“What the hell..?” Eda craned her neck to see through the kitchen door and into the living room.

“Did you invite Raine over or something?” I asked her, hoping that that was the case.

When she shook her head, worry blossomed in my chest. “I’ll go check it out. It’s probably some salesman, but if it sounds like shit’s going bad, get me back up. If shit goes really bad, call 911,”

The atmosphere had drastically shifted from the chill, sleepy breakfast of a minute ago as everyone nodded seriously.

Once she’d left, Gus spoke up. “Who do you think it is?”

“I have a guess, but I really hope that I’m wrong,” Amity reached over and grabbed my hand.

“You really think..?” I looked over to her, meeting her gaze with concern.

She simply shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but it would make sense,”

“Who are you talking about?” Skara piped up.

“Do you mean..?” Boscha asked, trailing off at the end as she pointed at me.

Amity nodded.

“That fucker,” Willow hissed under their breath. “I swear to God, if he so much as shows his face, I’ll beat him to a pulp.”

“I second that,” I could see Gus’s fists clenched on his lap.

I laughed dryly. “As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I’d rather you two not go to jail for assault,”

Just then, we heard Eda’s shout. “And go fuck yourself while you’re at it!” The door slammed shut, and she stomped into the kitchen a couple of seconds later. With an aggressive exhale, she sat back down.

“So?” Gus prodded. “What happened?”

She turned to me, a scowl plastered on her face. “Your sorry excuse for a father showed up again,” My breath caught in my throat, but she continued. “Claimed that you’d planned to catch up with him.”

Amity scoffed. “Yeah, that sounds about right,”

“After I called him out, he got all pissy. Kept saying something about wanting his daughter back,” Eda rolled her eyes. “Load of bullshit, by the look of him.”

“You sent him away, I assume?” Boscha asked.

“Sure did,” Eda took a long sip of her drink. “Funny thing was, the guy didn’t even have a car. Unless he parked on the road, he walked here.”

“Huh…” I furrowed my eyebrows, remembering part of our conversation from the day prior. “He said that he had a lot of money, so maybe he parked on the street?”

“Unless he lied about that,” Willow pointed out. “It doesn’t seem all that out of character from what I’ve heard.”

“Very true,” Amity nodded, and it looked like she was going to continue, but before she could, there was a rattling from the back door.

My head snapped over to look at the handle. “Was King out?”

“No, he’s still in his room,” Eda shook her head and stood up.

Willow also stood, a look of determination on their face. “If that son of a bitch tries to break in through the back door, I’m gonna throw hands,”

“Oh, trust me, kid, me too,” Eda huffed. “Goops, get over here. You’ve got muscles. If he gets past us, you got him.”

“Are you not going to call 911?” Skara asked from her seat, sounding very afraid.

“Not if I don’t have to,” Eda shook her head. “I’m not exactly the most legal person in the world, and I’d rather not get them involved unless I have to.”

“That being said, if things start to get too bad, someone make the call,” I said. “I’d rather us get fined for some minor inconvenience than have him breaking and entering with no repercussions.”

“What she said,” Eda pointed to me before turning back around to face the door, which was still rattling, I might add. “Now, let’s get this motherfucker off my property.”

Eda was usually cautious in confronting people, but I found that when it came to King and I, she tended to just meet the confrontation head on with her fists— figurative or literal—swinging.

And, whether fortunately or unfortunately, that’s exactly what she did when she opened the door.

“Was I unclear before?” She shouted, towering over Tyler-James Waters with her usually tall figure. “You’re not welcome here.”

“And was I unclear? I’m here for my daughter,” He stood his ground, glaring daggers at Eda.

“ My daughter doesn’t want to see you,” Eda snapped back.

“If I have to use force, then so be it,”

There was a tense moment of silence as they both were staring each other down, fists clenched at sides and eyes narrowed. Then, all hell broke loose.

There were grunts of pain and angered screams as my paternal DNA contributor charged at Eda. To no one’s surprise, she didn’t hesitate to retaliate.

My eyes were locked on the scene, and I was so caught up in it that I didn’t even register the increased rate of my breathing and the way my hands started gripping far too tightly to the hem of my shorts until Amity gently laid her hand over mine and pulled it away.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” She started to pull me up. “It’s alright, I promise. Come with me. It’s okay, it’s okay.”

The next few minutes were a blur, but I distinctly remember the warmth around me, the softness beneath me, and the shouts from downstairs. I later figured out that Amity had brought me up to my room while everyone else was occupied dealing with the man trying to break into our house. There, in my bed, I’d curled up into a ball and was rocking back and forth as Amity held me and whispered words of comfort into my ear.

And eventually, when the shouting had stopped, my consciousness started to come back to me. That’s when I realized where I had been brought.

“Ami?” My voice came out in a whisper. “I-is everyone okay?”

“Yeah,” She nodded. “They’re okay.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Skara and Boscha have been keeping me updated,” She said gently, running her hand through my hair.

Wait, when did my beanie come off?

I probably knew the answer to my next question, but I wanted to make sure. “He’s gone?”

“He’s gone, baby,” She pressed a kiss to my temple. “He’s gone.”

“I hate that he scares me so much. I’m fucking Luz Noceda ! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run some jackass off, but all it takes is my dad to make me freeze up? It’s honestly pathetic!”

“It’s not pathetic,” She told me firmly. “It’s normal to be scared of someone like him, trust me.”

“Yeah,” My head snapped to the doorway, where six people were looking in with concern written on their faces. Willow was the one who had spoken. “You didn’t talk about him much, but from the stories you’ve told us from your mom, it makes sense that you’re so afraid of him.”

King broke through the group from the back and walked right up to sit down next to me. We locked eyes for a moment before he pulled me into a hug. I latched onto him without hesitation.

He didn’t speak at first, but his actions spoke louder than anything he could have said. And when he did finally open his mouth, it was in such a way that I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

“Do you want me to go find him and beat him up again?”

Despite myself, I was laughing, and that seemed to be the appropriate response judging by how he laughed along with me.

“As much as I would love that, I don’t want you going to jail,” I released him from the hug and looked back to everyone standing at the entrance to my room. “So, uh, you all okay?”

“We should be asking you that,” Gus shook his head with a little laugh. “But yes, we’re fine.”

“For how much muscle it looks like the guy has, he doesn’t use it,” Willow snorted. “And he has zero aim. Most of his punches hit the door.”

“…did you at least get a couple hits on him?” I found myself asking, which got some laughs from everyone.

“Yes, Luz,” Eda nodded. “His face won’t be looking too pretty for a while.”

With a sigh of relief, I fell backwards onto my bed. “Thanks, guys,”

“It’s nothing,” Gus waved in dismissal. “You would do the same for any of us.”

“But moving on from whatever the fuck just happened, how about we go to an arcade to blow some steam off?” Willow suggested with a shrug.

“Oh, that sounds fun!” Skara exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Gus agreed enthusiastically.

“If you’re doing that, King and I are coming along,” Eda said with her signature grin. “We’ll call it band plus managing team bonding time.”

I thought it over for a moment, but it wasn’t long before I came to my decision.

“Yeah, let’s go,”

Chapter Text

Amity’s P.O.V.

It had almost been a week since my last show.

The Monday after our band weekend was like stepping out of a warm, cozy house and into the biting cold outside with shorts and a t-shirt on. With the way Hunter seems to be watching my every move, there was no way for me to keep hanging around Luz, especially in a way that would hint at more than just a professional relationship that you would usually expect from a tutor and a student.

But like we always seem to do, we meet up in the bathrooms during lunch (which I’m honestly surprised no one has picked up on), and after school, she drives me to the Owl House for practice. And some bonus cuddles. Often, I’d be at her house longer than I’m at my own, but, per usual, my mom didn’t really care as long as I kept my grades up, which, of course, I did. 

But, thankfully, it was Friday, and I was planning on asking my dad to cover for me for the weekend. It wasn’t going to be another whole-band event, but I’d much rather spend the weekend with Luz than being in a house with my obnoxious siblings—who were actually making a lot of progress on their father-repelling plans for The Owl House—and my overbearing mother.

Luz was immediately on board with the plan. She gave me some moral support via text before I went into my dad’s office and asked him about it.

“Hey, dad?” I knocked on the already cracked door.

His head snapped up from his laptop. “Oh, hello, Amity,” He closed the computer and gestured for me to come in. “What can I do for you, Mittens?”

I smiled at the nickname, closing the door behind me as I entered. “I was just going to ask you about something,” I paused, sitting myself down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Well, more like ask you to do something for me. Kind of a favor.”

“A favor?” He inquired, looking at me curiously.

“Yes,” I nodded in affirmative, but hesitated in continuing with my question. “I can… trust you not to tell mom about this, right?”

“Of course,” His eyes told me of nothing but sincerity, and I knew from just that that he was telling the truth. “Not a word will leave this room.”

“Thank you,” I breathed out, relaxing more into the chair, but keeping my eyes locked on a fraying edge of his rug. “So, I don’t know how much you’ve heard, but I, uh… I got a girlfriend a week ago-” I flickered my gaze up to his face to see his surprise, but I looked back down before I could see what happened next. “-and I was hoping to spend more time with her this weekend? Like, at her house. Staying the night. For the weekend. Since I can’t exactly talk to her at school. You know… people talk.”

He was silent for a moment, and that made me glance back up. And what I saw was a look that I had longed for from my parents for so long, but had long ago accepted that I would never receive.

He looked proud.

“Mittens got a girlfriend… wow,” He muttered almost reverently, his smile widening as the words sunk in. “I’m proud of you, Amity.”

That one sentence made me feel like I could float out of my chair. The look was one thing, but having it confirmed verbally was everything my affirmation-seeking little heart could have wanted.

“Is this girlfriend that Noceda girl you’ve been seeing so much?” He asked, raising a teasing eyebrow.

I felt myself blush as I nodded.

“Good,” He nodded, mostly to himself, it seemed. “She’s a good egg.” What a dad thing to say , I thought. “Yes, Amity, you can spend the weekend at her house. I’ll tell your mother -” He spat the word out almost bitterly. “-that you’re doing another one of those ‘study weekends’ with Boscha.”

“Thank you, dad,” I smiled, fidgeting with the hair tie on my wrist. “And, uh, you can meet her at some point… if you want to.”

“I do,” He smiled right back, that look of pride still there on his face. “We’ll arrange something for the next time Odalia goes on a business trip.”

I stood then, and unlike previous times I was in that office, I walked around the desk and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “You’re the best, dad,”

He seemed stiff for a moment before he slowly brought his arms up to return the gesture. “Just don’t tell your mother,”

“Not a word will leave this room,” I parroted his words from earlier, letting him go and making my way towards the door. “I’ll be leaving sometime soon, just so you know.”

“Okay,” He smiled again and gave me a little wave. “I’ll see you Monday, Mittens.”

“Bye, dad,” With that, I closed his office door behind me.

“So,” I jumped at the voice of my older sister right in my ear. “What were you talking to dad about?”

“Nothing important,” I shrugged and tried to escape between the twins.

“You know we don’t believe that,” Edric grinned. “Now come on, sis.”

“Spill the beans,” Emira finished, leaning even closer to my face.

“Ugh, just come with me,” I pushed through them to go towards my room.

“Ooh, this’ll be good,” Ed rubbed his hands together and followed me.

As soon as my bedroom door had shut behind me, they were sitting on my bed with their eyes trained on me, waiting for me to speak.

With a sigh, I complied with their silent demands. “I was asking him to cover for me this weekend,”

“What?” They nearly shouted in unison.

“I thought we were the ones to cover for you!” Edric pouted, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, what happened to us helping out?” Emira, unlike her twin brother, looked a lot more open to hear my reasoning.

“Well, as good as you guys are at covering for me, I figured you couldn’t pull that off for a whole weekend,” I explained with a shrug. “Mom is more likely to listen to dad, especially if I’m not going to be here for that long.”

“Are you staying at Luz’s house again?” Em asked with a little tilt of her head.

“Yeah,” I nodded, unable to stop the little smile that came onto my face. “It’s the only time we can really spend with each other, especially with Hunter breathing down my neck 24/7.”

“Do we need to talk to him again?” Ed offered.

The last time the twins had to talk to Hunter was in my sophomore year. It was during a time where I was overworked, stressed, and burnt out, and with Hunter constantly flirting and asking me to date him, it just exacerbated the situation. Ed and Em were seniors at the time, and with their well-renowned reputation of being both pranksters and trouble makers, Hunter was quick to tone it down. He’s smart enough to tell that they absolutely would have acted on their threats.

“Not yet,” I shook my head. “After I told him I was seeing someone, he backed off a bit. But now he’s just watching my every move. I think he’s trying to find out who I’m with so he can out me to mom.”

“Well that’s still not okay,” Em narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah,” Ed agreed. “Just tell us if it gets worse. We won’t hesitate to skip a lecture.”

“Oh, I know you would skip a lecture for a lot less than that, but thank you,” I chuckled to myself. “I’ll let you know if he gets unbearable again.”

“Great,” Em smiled and stood. “Now we’ll let you get ready to leave. And when Luz gets here, just tell us so we can distract mom.”

“I will,” I smiled back at her. “Thank you guys.”

“No problem, Mittens,” Ed followed Em out the door, but ruffled my hair on the way out.

I would have scolded him for that, but I was in a good mood. So I just let them leave so I could get packed for the weekend.

*le gay time skip*

Thankfully, it wasn’t all that hard to get away from my house. Like they said, the twins distracted my mom while I snuck out into the driveway, where Luz was waiting. How they distracted her, I don’t actually know, but it worked! I did hear a commotion from the kitchen, though.

I really hope they didn’t just get themselves grounded so I could leave the house…

I pushed that thought out of my mind as I walked up to Luz’s car. It would be useless to worry over the twins. They knew what they were doing. Mostly.

“Hey, hermosa!” Luz greeted enthusiastically once I’d opened the door. “You get out okay?”

“Yeah, we’re all good,” I confirmed as I threw my bag into the back seat. I turned to Luz with a smile. “And my dad’s covering for me, so we should be clear for the whole weekend.”

“Sweet!” Luz beamed and started backing out of my driveway, taking my hand once she’d put the car into drive. “You know, it’s kind of funny how quickly I got used to this.”

“To what?”

“Being with you,” She said simply, glancing quickly down at our intertwined hands. “I don’t know why, but this just all feels so right, you know?”

“Yeah…” I smiled softly. “It does.”

“Sorry, I totally made this really cheesy,” She laughed. “But are you ready for practice? I got that new song I’ve been working on all week.”

“I can’t wait,”

And I didn’t have to wait long, as it turns out. When we got to the Owl House, the rest of the band was already there, warming up in the shed. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the practice for that day had been pushed back by a few hours, meaning that everyone was in causal clothes instead of their school uniforms. And, unlike usual, there wasn’t a pile of book bags in the corner.

“Hey, look who finally showed up!” Willow grinned from behind their keyboard.

“Ams! What took you so long?” Boscha asked. “Did your mom cause issues?”

“Not this time, no,” I shook my head. “I just had to talk to my dad.”

“And that’s a good thing now, right?” Skara clarified, looking up from her soundboard.

“Yes, that’s a good thing now,” I confirmed with a nod as I walked over to grab one of Luz’s guitars.

“Okay, let’s get this practice rolling, shall we?” Luz clapped her hands and picked up a small stack of papers on the stairs. “I have a new song for you guys, which I’ve decided to call Zombie. This one is a product of last weekend’s… experiences, and it’ll bring our set list up to a whopping four songs!” There was some excited cheering and clapping from around the room as Luz passed out everyone’s music. “It’s a lot more on the rock side of things than anything else we’ve done, but I think it totally fits our ‘do whatever the fuck we want cause we can’ vibe.”

Once she’d passed them out, everyone took a minute to look over what they’d have to do before Gus started counting us in with the tapping of his sticks together.

The song started with Willow playing a somber piano part that led into my first line.

“Another head hands lowly.”

“Child is slowly taken.”

“And the violence causes silence.”

“Who are we mistaken?”

There was a pause for a moment where Gus started up with his drumming, and Luz and I came in with a guitar part over the piano.

“But you see, it’s not me.”

“It’s not my family.”

“In your head, in your head they are fighting.”

“With their tanks, and their bombs.”

“And their bombs, and their drones.”

“In your head, in your head, they are crying.”

We all paused for a couple beats of silence before everyone came in at the same time.

“What’s in your head, in your head?”

“Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie.”

“What’s in your head, in your head?”

“Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie-ie, oh.”

The intensity came back down as we went into the second verse.

“Another mother’s breaking heart is taking over.”

“When the violence causes silence.”

“We must be mistaken.”

“It’s the same old theme in 2018.”

“In your head, in your head, they’re still fighting.”

“With thier tanks, and their bombs.”

“And their guns, and their drones.”

“In your head, in your head, they are dying.”

It all came to a crescendo again going into the chorus.

“What’s in your head, in your head?”

“Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie.”

“What’s in your head, in your head?”

“Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie-ie, oh.”

At this point, Gus and I kept up the things we’d been doing while Luz went off on a very impressive guitar solo. After a couple of measures, everything went quieter as she finished off the solo and I came back in with the vocals.

“It’s the same old theme, in 2018.”

“In your head, in your head, they are dying.”

Gus built the tempo back up with repetitive hits to the bass drum, and just like that, we were back at the full intensity for the final run of the chorus.

“What’s in your head, in your head?”

“Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie.”

“What’s in your head, in your head?”

“Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie-ie, oh.”

“Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ya~!”

The drums cut off except for the occasional hit of one of the cymbals, leaving Willow to end the song off with their piano part and one last little guitar riff from Luz. Once the final note had tapered off, my head snapped up at the sound of clapping in the doorway.

“Damn!” Eda wolf whistled and continued with the clapping. “You guys are pretty good.”

“Why do you sound so shocked?” Luz asked with a little grin.

“Not shocked,” Eda corrected quickly. “Pleasantly surprised. I know you guys are all good individually, but it’s a different thing to play together. I’m impressed.”

“Well, thank you, Eda,” Luz smiled widely.

“But that’s not why I came here,” Eda’s smile dropped, and I saw as Luz’s did too. “Due to some scheduling issues, Raine is short a band tomorrow, and they were wondering if you guys were ready to fill the spot.” She paused for a moment to let it sink in. “Now, it’s only if you guys are ready. They’ve got a couple other people that they could call, but they did say you guys have the first pick.”

Luz shrugged and looked around at everyone. “What do you all think?”

“I’m good to go for tomorrow,” Skara announced. “But I know that’s not saying much from the sound director…”

“Like I’ve said before, your opinion is still important,” Luz said firmly. “You’re just as much a part of the band as everyone else.”

Skara nodded profusely and looked down at her shoes.

I’ve known Skara since the beginning of middle school, but I didn’t even need that long to figure out that she can be a bit insecure when it comes to being a part of teams. Due to her innate skill sets, she’s never been in the spotlight of any team, and that gets to her head sometimes. So to say the least, I was very grateful for Luz’s repetitive insisting that Skara was important, despite what her insecurities tried to tell her.

“I’ll be fine, for the most part,” Boscha, this time, commented. “I think we may need to iron out Therefore I Am a bit, though.”

“Yeah, I agree there,” Willow piped up. “But everything else is fine.”

“Gus?” Luz looked over to him expectantly. “What about you? And don’t feel pressured to go along with everyone else. If you’re not ready, we won’t do it.”

He stayed silent for a moment, a look of contemplation on his face. “Let’s do it,” He finally declared, looking up from his drum set. “I’m ready!”

“Awesome,” Luz grinned and looked over to me. “How about you, hermosa?”

That’s when I realized that I’d not said a word the whole time, and I jumped a bit when everyone’s attention was suddenly on me. “Oh, right. I’ll be fine. I think we should do it,”

“Then let’s do it!” Luz turned to Eda with a wide smile. “Tell Raine that we’re in.”

“Sure thing,” Eda shot Luz finger guns and left without another word.