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Despite the seven people that were all in the backyard at the same time, it was a quiet and peaceful day at the Noceda household. It was a weekday afternoon, which meant that it was a day for the Demon Realm inhabitants to visit the Human Realm instead of the other way around. This was the routine the friend group of five had quickly settled on after they were able to reopen a portal to allow free access between the two realms. Luz would usually spend her weekends and days off from school in the Demon Realm, and most of her other days in the Human Realm. Occasionally she disobeyed this agreement she had made with her mother and Eda, impulsively sneaking off to Hexside to hang out if her friends baited her with an interesting enough motivation.
Today was going to be a date night for Eda and Raine, the sickeningly sweet newlyweds that they were, and so there were less guests around than usual; Luz had heard something about King being babysitted by Lilith and Hooty for the day, an amusing arrangement she would’ve paid good money to see. Camila and her two daughters, one human and one basilisk, had a very open door policy for visitors from the Demon Realm. Amity, Eda, and King showing up every day was almost a guarantee, but occasionally Luz’s other friends would be too busy to visit. It was quite common for all four of her closest friends to come as a group together, sometimes with mutual big plans for the day and sometimes just to quietly linger in Luz’s presence.
This was one of the latter types of days. Amity had spent the past hour lying on the grass with her head on Luz’s lap, staring up at her with a goofily fond expression as her girlfriend chattered on and on about funny new stories from Human Realm school. Gus, on the other hand, was here to continue tutoring Vee in the ways of illusion magic. She seemed to take great excitement in practicing with glyphs and the two friends had been experimenting with different combinations of symbols recently. Willow, the master florist that she was growing into becoming, was helping Camila tend to the Noceda family’s garden. They had been taking care of it together for several months now, planning every detail of where and when everything should be planted.
Hunter, however, was the odd one out — as usual. Wherever Willow or Gus went, he simply followed them like a puppy terrified of being alone. He was rarely seen without his girlfriend or best friend, and the two of them were rarely seen without each other either. They were a trio practically joined at the hip, as Camila often joked. Whenever Willow or Gus were busy in the Human Realm, he would usually join them just to quietly observe what they were doing. People who didn’t know him well frequently asked him if he wanted to join in with their activities, but he almost always refused. His friends had long learned by now that one of his main ideas of fun was just sharing a space with the people he loved as they did separate things, and so the staring had become very unremarkable and expected by this point.
He had spent the afternoon hovering around Willow and Camila as they gardened, always watching carefully to take mental note of the techniques they were using but rarely commenting on them. His clear happiness was given away by how gently he was stroking the fluffy feathers of Flapjack, who was peacefully napping in his owner’s arms. Willow had been teaching Hunter about plant magic for a long time; they were the ultimate combination of a talented teacher and an enthusiastic student. This time, however, he was being quieter than usual as he looked up at the two gardeners from his spot under a tree.
Willow eventually stretched and yawned. “Phew, I’m beat!” Taking off her dirty gloves, she looked towards Camila. “I think I’m going to quit for tonight, if that’s alright.”
“Of course, of course.” Camila’s answer was understanding and warm, accompanied with a smile, just like how her conversations with Willow always went. The two got along very well, something Luz had been relieved by ever since they were first introduced to one another. “We’ve planted a lot of new seeds today, you should go take a rest. Bending over for so long isn’t good for your back, remember?”
“I know, I know.”
Willow giggled as Camila gently pinched at her cheek, the lectures about her health all too familiar by this point. Even though it had been over a year since they first met, Luz’s mother probably still viewed her daughter’s friends with the same maternal instincts she had immediately developed for them the rainy night they all showed up at her doorstep.
Hunter, always observant, was quick to notice Willow being freed of her duties for the day. After slowly placing Flapjack into the red fanny pack he frequently wore for this specific purpose, careful not to wake his beloved palisman, he was by his girlfriend’s side in the blink of an eye.
“Hi, Hunter.” Willow beamed at him, and his heart thumped the same way it did the first time he saw this expression — the same way it always did when he saw this expression. She was more radiant than the setting sun in the sky. If the earth orbited around that, then he orbited around her.
He automatically brushed a finger against her face. “Dirt. On your nose.” Him wiping it off made her smile grow larger. “How’d you even get it up there…?”
“Oh! Thanks.” Willow reached down to rub Flapjack’s head, but pulled her hand back up once she noticed he was asleep. “Cute as always, huh?”
Hunter’s cheeks were already beginning to heat up. “I-I, uh…you too?”
Willow laughed. “I was talking about Flapjack , you goof.” She cupped his cheek for a moment, looking as if she was in deep thought about something unspoken. Her hand slowly drifted up closer to his ear before she reconsidered and stopped touching his face. “You are too, though.”
And now the tips of his ears were getting red too. “Y-yeah, of course! Flapjack! I knew that!” She always saw right through his forced awkward grins, but she was merciful enough to rarely mention it.
The two began walking in the direction of the backyard doorway of Luz’s house. Willow was the one who led the way, as always, and Hunter rubbed at the scar she had just touched as he followed her. It felt more delicate somehow when her hand was on it, like it wasn’t just a reminder of his past pain anymore. Moments like this one made him glad it was there.
Amity had once told Hunter that the butterflies someone gets in their stomach around their girlfriend never entirely go away, with firm agreement from Luz. At times like this, he absolutely understood what they were referring to.
******
One of Willow’s favorite things to do in the Human Realm was hang out with Gus and Hunter in the public park. It was stressful to go places in the past before humans learned about the Demon Realm and witches had to be constantly disguised, but now that their existence was open knowledge things were much more fun. There usually weren't very many people here, and all of her friends were grateful that Luz happened to live in such a quiet small town.
On this particular day, Hunter had come fully equipped with his birdwatching gear and books. His dorkier side was something that Willow always cherished seeing, and it was heartwarming to watch him scribble intently in his notebook every time he put his binoculars down. He always got so absorbed into his hobbies.
Gus eventually nudged her with his elbow and whispered, “Hey, check this out.”
With a mischievous glimmer in his eyes and a grin dancing on his lips, he snapped his fingers and colorful birds that certainly didn’t belong in the Human Realm suddenly appeared in the part of the sky Hunter had been focusing on.
“Wow, wow, fascinating…” he mumbled under his breath. “I’ve never seen species like these ones here before.” His sloppy pencil sketches continued at rapid speeds and he flipped to a new page for more room.
Ah, it’s an illusion , Willow immediately realized. She wasn’t about to spoil an innocent prank, though, so she gave a thumbs-up to Gus and held back her amusement. Being able to conceal her emotions so well most of the time had many advantages, especially around a boyfriend who was this fun to tease.
Willow, laying on her side on the trio’s picnic blanket, looked down at his messy papers. “Your art’s improving,” she commented. “Those have been starting to look more realistic recently.”
“Oh, you think so? Thanks!” Hunter’s gaze didn’t leave his work. “I’ve actually been getting tips from Luz, but…I’ll never understand why she draws eyes so big and sparkly.” He mindlessly shoved the eraser of his pencil in his mouth, chewing on it as he evaluated his own art.
This got a knowing reaction from Gus, a frequent victim to Luz’s attempts to get better at drawing anatomically accurate humans using her friends as her models. He was the only one who was willing to sit still for long enough besides Amity — or rather, he was the only one who could make an illusion of himself last long enough while he was off doing other things.
“I don’t think those Japanese comic books she’s always reading are the right way to learn how to draw birds.”
Hunter, slightly offended, finally broke out of the trace he always seemed to be in whenever he was drawing. “Flapjack thinks they look great . He always chirps the loudest when I use him as my model.”
“You’re listening to him and not me?” Gus feigned shock and dramatically brought a hand to his heart. “Not your best witch friend in the whole world? I’m hurt.”
Willow laughed. “To be fair, I think the best bird friend might deserve more input when it comes to how to draw his own species.”
“Aww, boo. So mean.” Gus snapped his fingers again and the illusions he had created disappeared. Hunter flinched from their sudden absence, and he whipped his head in Gus’s direction. “By the way, the newest ones you were looking at weren’t real.”
“Agh, are you kidding me?!” Hunter groaned and flipped back to his previous page, quickly scribbling over some of his sketches. He rarely used his eraser for anything more than satisfying his urge to chew on something.
“Well…” Gus smiled, plucking the pencil out of his hand and holding it out of reach. “It’s not bad to draw things that aren’t real sometimes too, right? It’s fun to try new things. I think it’d be cool to see you make something that isn’t themed around birds for once.”
Hunter sheepishly nodded and he leaned back in his spot on the blanket. “Yeah, you’re right. Developing new skills is good for you. I’ll ask Luz about those Azura characters she’s got doodles of all over her schoolwork when we get back home.”
Willow tapped his arm to get his attention and did a little wave at him once he shifted to face her. “I’ve got something for you. Close your eyes.”
Gus and Willow were still the only people he was willing to do that around so easily. It wasn’t rare for Luz and Amity to surprise him by force — a pair of giggly girls could be quite powerful — but he always liked the ones Willow and Gus gave him more. He obeyed, placing his hands over his eyes for good measure.
It still felt a little odd for the scars and cuts covering his hands to be exposed so openly like this. Ever since he had taken up gardening with Willow, he had decided that the only times he would ever let himself wear gloves again would be when he was holding plants or snow. Change was hard but necessary.
While he wasn’t looking, Willow sat up, pointed her fingers down at the ground surrounding them, and lifted them up over her head. With a twirl of her wrists, several new flowers burst out of the grass and she was able to direct them into forming a specific shape with her magic.
“Ooh, so pretty~!” Gus exclaimed. She giggled and shushed him, not wanting her secret gift to get spoiled, and made the finishing touches on it.
She hummed in delight at her own quick craftsmanship after she placed it on Hunter’s head. “Okay, you can open them now!”
He was clearly confused and he looked around himself for any type of hints. “I don’t see anything…?” He raised an eyebrow at Gus, immediately suspicious. “You’re doing some type of illusion trick again. Confess!”
Gus smirked and crossed his legs. “Wow, is that really how you wanna talk about your girlfriend’s hard work?” He stuck his tongue out; he could be affectionately cheeky with Hunter in ways nobody else was allowed to. “Try touching your hair.”
Hunter patted at the top of his own head and froze from surprise at the unexpected new texture on it. It wasn’t a bad one, though — not at all.
“Ta-da, a flower crown~!” Willow clapped her hands together. “I didn’t have many options for the specific species I could make it out of, but-”
Gus did a lecturing “tut-tut” noise in her direction. “No self-deprecating allowed, not even a little bit. That doesn’t matter! Your flower arrangements are always beautiful, Willow.”
Willow blushed. She wasn’t usually the type to do it from romantic gestures; general compliments caught her off guard much more. “Ah, Gus, you’re just too sweet!” She wrapped her arms around him and dragged him into a hug that he immediately reciprocated. The two best friends had a habit of frequent casual affection, and Hunter was never quite sure what to do with himself whenever they hugged each other in front of him.
This time though, he gained more courage than usual. The soft sensation of flower petals under his ungloved hands was a soothing reminder of all the new things in his life. He decided to give Willow a surprise of his own and scooted closer to the two after they had disconnected from each other.
“Can I, uh…” A glance down at his slightly shaking hands was all it took for Willow to realize what he was trying to say. She nodded, and with the careful slowness of an animal in an unfamiliar environment, he leaned in to wrap his arms around her.
He had intended for Gus to be a part of this too, but the other boy had quickly stood up once he noticed what was going on. “I’m gonna go…check out some stuff over there! Yeah! I’ll be back later!”
It was a clumsy and obvious lie, blurted out as a spur-of-the-moment decision, but Gus was an experienced master of detecting when he should leave the two of them alone together. Having a couple for his two best friends wasn’t as much of a challenge as one may expect, considering how shy both of them always were about doing anything romantic.
Willow was skilled at hiding her feelings on her face, but her heart still thumped frantically against her chest as she let herself sink into a hug that was probably lasting longer than it should. She never admitted it to anyone, but she could really be such a flustered mess inside around Hunter sometimes. He was the only person who had ever been able to make butterflies erupt in her stomach like this.
“I had fun today,” she said into his chest, suddenly feeling more shy than usual now that Gus had walked off. “Dates like this are all I could ask for, really.”
Hunter tensed under her arms and the pitch of his voice rose. Unlike his girlfriend, he was notoriously bad at hiding his own emotions.
“D-date…?” he squeaked out.
Willow was the one to break the hug, but she could already feel some kind of aching absence when their bodies disconnected. He was strong and sturdy, a nearly full-grown boy with a lifetime of intense athletic training, but he was also warm and comfortable. She hated when other people treated her like some type of delicate, fragile object that could break at any second…but being held gently like this by her boyfriend wasn’t bad. Not at all.
“Do you really think Gus being here makes it less of a date?”
It was a genuine question. His reaction was somewhat puzzling. She knew he was clueless about romance, but she figured they were usually on the same page most of the time by now. He subconsciously tilted his head to the side a bit, one of his habits that she had always thought was particularly cute. He wasn’t good with eye contact, but getting the opportunity to be alone with a boy she was so attracted to was more than enough to make her heart pound embarrassingly fast sometimes.
“Willow, I…”
He trailed off.
“Yes?”
“Someday…” he tightened his hands into nervous fists, digging his nails into his palms. “Someday, when I get a little braver, and when you’re okay with it too, I want to try doing some of the things Luz and Amity do to each other with you!”
The determination in his voice was unexpected. Willow’s heart thumped faster.
“Like what?”
“Uhh…” He wrung his hands together, not daring to meet her gaze after she had responded. “That stuff they do with their faces. You know, this stuff.” He gestured vaguely at his own face and then poked his cheek a few times for emphasis.
Oh.
“You mean…kissing?”
His nod was shy and silent, as if no words could escape his mouth.
They had been dating for several months now, but they had never even kissed on the cheek before, much less on the lips. It wasn’t something either of them thought much of. They weren’t exactly a traditional couple. Hunter was still terrified of most physical contact and Willow was overly aware of her own physical strength, so they were the type of couple that focused more on doing things for each other rather than to each other. Neither of them had ever expressed being bothered by the way their unconventional relationship worked. It had always been the most comfortable option for both of them.
Hearing the skittish boy who still jumped like a startled cat if people approached him too unexpectedly, even over a year after escaping his abuser, talk about wanting to kiss her was unbelievable.
The other unbelievable thing was how badly she wanted it to happen now that the idea of it had finally crossed her mind for the first time.
She brought her knees to her chest and hid most of her face in them, burning red in a way she rarely ever did. It was humiliating to get this embarrassed over just the mere mental image of doing something so simple that other couples did all the time. She knew she had been weak for this boy ever since the day they first met, but she hadn’t realized just how intense it could get.
“I…I think I need a little more time for that,” she finally replied.
Hunter frantically waved his hands back and forth in front of him, instantly apologetic. “Sorry, sorry! Don’t worry about it! If it’s a stupid idea or if it makes you uncomfortable we don’t have to try it! I’m okay with how things are now, I promise!”
“Hunter.” She sighed, unsure how to word herself. Half-a-Witch Willow had never viewed herself as someone anyone would want to kiss. She had never thought she could be viewed as lovable, as beautiful, as someone a handsome boy would do anything to make happy. It was all so overwhelming and surreal…but not in a way that she disliked. Not at all.
Two half-witches combined made a pretty powerful full one.
“Sorry, sorry, I just-”
“You don’t have to apologize,” she interrupted. “I never said I don’t want to do that. I just…want it to be when it feels right.”
Hunter calmed himself with a few deep breaths, just like how Gus and Willow had taught him, and put his hands back down. “I understand that, yeah. I agree.”
“Well, if you want…” Willow began. She held out a hand in his direction. “We can still try something new today.”
He stared down at her open palm with curiosity. “What’s this all about?” He was completely lost.
“Is it okay if we try to hold hands? We don’t do that very much.”
Hunter had always had remarkably sensitive hands. It was partially the result of the scars covering them, reminders of his harsh upbringing, but he had been this way even before he got most of those. He hated being touched by most people, especially when it involved his hands.
But for Willow, he could try to make more progress. Little by little, slow and steady, they could try new things together.
“...Sure.”
He reached out one of his hands and, after a moment of hesitation, placed it in Willow’s outstretched one. He let her tighten her grip and intertwine their fingers together.
It was almost like an awkward handshake at first until they moved their hands into the right positions. They were both clumsy and clueless, and very willing to accommodate for each other’s needs.
“Your hands are so cold…” Willow commented, almost sounding worried. She gently ran her fingers over some of his scars.
“And yours are so warm,” Hunter said. Her secret flustered emotions were revealed in an instant thanks to the physical contact.
“Is this bad?”
He paused to think before deciding. “I don’t…think so.”
Willow’s smile resembled the sun once more, and both of them were immensely grateful that nobody else could see them right now.
“Me neither.”
How did Luz and Amity ever get used to doing this kind of stuff?
******
The answer to Willow and Hunter’s shared question came sooner than either of them had expected.
Amity and Luz were a cheesy and very publicly affectionate couple. This was something everyone was exposed to whenever they visited the Noceda household, whether they wanted to put up with hearing cutesy nicknames or not. Their relationship was incredibly innocent and sweet, and also painfully awkward for their friends to witness sometimes.
While the two girls would shower each other with compliments, Hunter and Willow would spend their time together more quietly. It was a miracle if they ever called each other anything resembling a pet name — it had already taken weeks to work Hunter out of calling her “Captain” all the time. She had dropped her old “Caleb” nickname for him completely once they learned more about the original owner of the name.
Honestly, it made both of them a little bit envious. Being able to be completely honest and open about their feelings would be a dream. The two of them always told each other everything, but they still kept holding certain things back. Hunter’s attempts at flirting were consistently a total disaster (one that Willow luckily found to be cute) and Willow worried that she would look like a fool if she ever got too blatant about her more romantic feelings, even though she knew her boyfriend never judged her.
Luz, however, was always thrilled by any opportunities to help make romance happen. She thought of herself as an expert matchmaker, which was ironic for someone who had taken as long to notice someone had a crush on her as she did. And so, joined by her eternally loyal girlfriend, she had been working on a plan for the sake of her friends. They were in secret agreement to push the two in the same direction of vulnerability if either of them ever brought up concerns related to love.
If anyone knew a thing or two about clumsy teenage romance, it was Amity. She viewed the fact that she even managed to get a girlfriend in the first place as a complete miracle, so Willow and Hunter already being a couple was a strong starting point.
Amity was also one of the people who was the most enthusiastic about Willow and Hunter’s relationship. Her friendship with Willow still had rocky moments; a lifetime of tension couldn’t be fixed in a day, after all. But after everything they had been through together, she had become determined to make up for her past actions as much as possible. Things had become easier between them after the Boiling Isles were saved a year ago, an improvement they credited to many late-night conversations in the Noceda home from when they were trapped in the Human Realm. That didn’t mean that everything was simple, however.
Working together was still a struggle sometimes. Amity was very aware of how capable and strong Willow was by now, but she still had a bad habit of trying to swoop in whenever things went wrong. This was even evident in moments that were nowhere near as high-stakes as many of their previous experiences together were.
A few days after her afternoon at the park, Willow was spending her night in the Human Realm. The entire friend group had decided to do an impromptu sleepover together and Willow had been given the duty of preparing snacks for everyone to share.
However, this was also a duty that she shared with Amity.
Luz had a habit of pushing the two of them together whenever possible, trying to encourage them to spend more time as a duo. She wasn’t just a romantic matchmaker — she was a platonic one as well. She had always been determined for Amity and Willow, two of her favorite people in any world, to get along better. Willow’s relationship with Hunter wasn’t the only one that was making slow progress.
“Do you want me to carry any of that for you?” Willow asked, gesturing at the stack of plates precariously balancing in Amity’s arms. In the past, Amity would have been the one to ask that question to Willow. Their dynamic had been shifting into something more balanced and equal as time went on, which was a major relief to both of them and everyone around them.
Willow was so grateful that people weren’t doubting her all the time anymore. Even simple little moments like this one were a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Amity considered this offer before nodding. Willow took half of the plates from her and brought them to the kitchen table. “What do you think we should put out?” Amity asked, dropping off her own set of plates and setting them down next to Willow’s.
“Hmm…” The two girls poked through kitchen cabinets, startled by the realization that tomorrow was supposed to be the day the Noceda family went grocery shopping. There weren’t nearly as many options available in the house tonight as they had anticipated. Willow eyed a bag on one of the higher shelves. “Oh, these are those chips Gus really likes! Mrs. Noceda hadn’t bought them in a while, I didn’t realize there were still some here.”
“I can get that if you want.”
“Sure. They’re too high up to reach normally.”
Taking some of her abominations goo out of the locket she carried it in, Amity twirled her hands around to form it into the shape of some type of grabbing tool. She reached it upwards and was easily able to nudge the bag from the top shelf down into Willow’s hands.
Willow caught it and thanked her, then smiled in amusement as she set the food down on a counter. “You probablyyy shouldn’t be doing that in the house, though. It makes a bit of a mess in the Human Realm.”
Amity, who somehow hadn’t remembered this fact until it was too late, rushed to scrub at the piles of abomination slime that were dripping into the cabinet. “If nobody can see a mess on the highest shelf, then it’s like it doesn’t exist.”
“Jeez, is that the kind of stuff your dad’s been teaching you ever since he’s been in charge of the cleaning?” Willow asked, her smile turning into a laugh. “He sure isn’t the neat freak parent.”
“Oh, trust me, Darius has a fit every time he visits. I think they spend more time bugging each other about cleaning when he comes over than they do on dates.” Both girls laughed at this mental image. Willow definitely took some joy in seeing Amity let herself do things she wouldn’t normally do now that her mother was no longer in her life.
“Hey, speaking of couples,” Willow began. Her voice was determined and clear despite her potentially risky question. “I wanted to ask you for some relationship advice, if you don’t mind.”
Willow would have never imagined having a boyfriend a year ago, especially not one that she’d be asking Amity for help with. Everything about her life had radically shifted ever since she first met Luz. It was nice to have more people to go to for help — on her own terms. Growing closer to Amity again was a lot of fun during the good moments. She was sure their child selves who spent so much time reading garbage romance novels together would be ecstatic if they knew how things would turn out for the two of them a decade later.
“Oh? Sure, if that’s what you want,” Amity answered. “But! Just know that there are several things Hunter’s made me promise not to talk to you about. It’s like our…almost-step-siblings agreement.”
Willow’s boyfriend being the adoptive son of the person her former best friend’s father was dating had both pros and cons. Darius and Hunter still lived together in their own separate home from the Blight family, but she knew it was only a matter of time before she would start having to deal with three overwhelming Blight siblings at once whenever she wanted to visit her boyfriend. On the other hand, this laughably complicated arrangement also meant that spending time with Amity was easier now. It was less awkward whenever they knew that Hunter would be there too. Willow and Amity were genuinely friends again by now, that was true, but they were both aware that things would never be exactly the same way as they were when they were children.
“That’s fine.” Willow was always the type to carefully think over the things she said, so she had already planned out how she wanted this conversation to go. She was hoping to learn how Amity, who had always been an easily flustered person, was able to be so open with her romantic feelings. It wasn’t that Willow bottled things up — not usually, at least. She was just afraid of pushing too hard and accidentally making Hunter uncomfortable.
Maybe, deep down, there was also still a part of her insecure inner child that lived on in her. She knew Hunter cared about her deeply, she never doubted someone who was a known terrible liar, but their relationship still felt like uncharted territory in some ways. Letting herself be loved was hard, even if she knew it was all genuine. This was the first romantic relationship either of them had ever been in, and sometimes it really showed.
She finally found the right words for what she wanted to ask. “You were the one who initiated your first kiss with Luz, weren’t you?”
Amity’s cheeks dusted with pink at the memory. “Yeah. It was really impulsive, but I’m glad it happened the way it did.”
“Well, I was wondering how you managed to let yourself do that.”
It was clear that Amity was unsurprised by the revelation that her two friends still hadn’t kissed each other yet despite how many months they had been dating. Hunter was incredibly bad at keeping his thoughts in his head, so all of his friends overheard far too many of his private worries whenever he rambled to himself too loudly.
“Hmm…well, we weren’t even dating yet when the first one happened, if you want to count kisses on the cheek.” Amity let out one of her embarrassingly cheesy sighs at the memory. “I think that one just happened because I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for everything she’s done for me that my body acted faster than my brain.”
Willow laughed and nudged her with an elbow. “You’re talking just like the characters from those dumb love stories we used to read at the library when we were kids!”
This teasing didn’t get to Amity because she knew that it was accurate. “Aw, shush!”
The plan Willow and Amity had for preparing snacks seemed to have been abandoned for the moment. Both of them were too distracted by their conversation, and the bags of food they had already taken out were left sitting on the counters the girls were leaning against.
“The first time we had a real kiss, though…” Amity’s blush never faded. “That was because I just got suddenly hit by how much I care about her, I guess.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Willow said. “I wasn’t only curious about kissing, though. I just brought it up as an example because Hunter said he wanted to try it the other day.”
If Amity was drinking something at that moment, she would have spit it out. She was clearly in complete disbelief, and her golden eyes grew huge in shock.
“He said what?!”
“Yeah, he was pretty cute about it.” Willow lips turned up with a hint of a fond smile at the memory. “We aren’t ready for that yet, but I still want to get…braver about letting myself act on my feelings…if that makes sense.”
“I see, I see.” Amity leaned back and her gaze rose to the ceiling of the kitchen, deep in thought. “Well, I think you’re already making pretty good progress with being brave. The old Willow would’ve never told anyone about this stuff.”
“You think so?” The response had surprised Willow. “You’re probably right. I just really don’t want to accidentally do anything that would freak him out.”
“Willowwww …” Amity said, her eyes redirected back to her friend once more. She was using the same tone of voice she had to use whenever she lightly lectured rambunctious children at her library job; Willow rarely ever had it directed towards her. “You’re stuck in your own head too much about this. If the sweet boy you’re dating is telling you he wants to do romantic things with you, I’m pretty sure he actually means it.”
“I guess so…” Willow’s voice trailed off and so did her mind. “He’s just…I know he’s really strong, both emotionally and physically, but he still has those moments where he snaps back into his old self. He gets nervous about even just holding hands. I don’t want to trigger any sort of bad memories for him, so I end up choosing my words really carefully around him sometimes.”
“Ah, Luz is sort of similar. I know how capable she is, but sometimes she’s just too self-reliant for her own good. It’s hard for some people to let themselves be vulnerable with others,” Amity explained. “If he’s the one trying to initiate things with you, you should probably believe that he’s being honest. Hunter is a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them.”
Willow nodded slowly, taking in her words. “You’re right, but what if-”
“He really likes you, you know. And I can tell that you really like him too.” Amity left her position against the counter that was across from Willow and walked towards her. She placed a hand on Willow’s shoulder and offered her a reassuring smile. “You just have to let yourself believe it. That’s all you need to do to make things work.”
Willow accepted this touch and stood there silently for a moment. Amity’s hand was light on her shoulder, but the meaning behind her words was firm and confident.
“I’m…gonna go ask Gus which type of soda we should get out for tonight,” Willow said. She wasn’t sure how to respond to the kind of thing Amity had just said, but she knew it was true.
“Sounds good to me. I’ll try to see if there’s still enough clean silverware for anyone who needs some.”
Amity leaned down to dig through a nearby drawer and Willow made her way out of the kitchen to find Gus. But when she was about to leave the room, she spoke up again.
“Thanks, Amity.”
“Any time, Willow.”
It was so nice to be friends again.
******
Hunter was always a mess around Luz even though she was very much one of his closest friends. She was unpredictable and loud and excitable — traits that usually didn’t mesh very well with him. But she was also deeply loving, and was gentle with him when he needed her to be.
This night had Luz show a mix of both sides of her personality. Luz was letting everyone stay over for a sleepover at her house. While Amity and Willow were on snack duty, Gus was in charge of setting up the blankets and pillows everyone would be using in the living room. Even though Luz and Vee normally shared the bunkbed in their bedroom, both of them always insisted on joining the others on the floor whenever sleepovers occurred.
The Noceda girls and Hunter were the ones assigned the important job of picking out the movie for tonight. Every option was new and exciting to the Demon Realm inhabitants, and Vee hadn’t lived in the Human Realm for long enough to see much outside of the nature documentaries Camila adored. And so, everyone’s faith was always placed in Luz to figure out something all six very different teenagers would enjoy.
Vee and Hunter were simply there to shut down any blatantly bad ideas, but that didn’t always go smoothly when one of them was a complete pushover and the other one was a far too harsh critic.
“Looks too unrealistically optimistic,” Hunter said, rejecting the newest DVD Luz was holding up.
Luz groaned. This definitely wasn’t her first suggestion, and she was starting to feel a little worn out. “This one is a tragedy, Hunter!”
“My point still stands.”
“Okay, so what about this one?” Luz held up a Halloween movie with a goofy-looking monster on the box art. “This one’s about a witch who-”
“Definitely too full of outdated stereotypes, plus it’s seasonally inappropriate. Next.”
Vee leaned over Luz’s shoulder to stare at the DVD case. Both girls were sitting on the bottom bunk of their shared bed while Hunter was laying down on the floor in front of them. “This one’s PG-13, Gus isn’t old enough. Camila wouldn’t want us to be irresponsible.”
“Vee, he’s almost 14 by now!” Luz exclaimed.
“It’s the principle of the thing. Human Realm children mature differently than Demon Realm ones do,” Vee countered.
“Aren’t you just afraid of horror movies?” Hunter asked, barely even bothering to glance at the object an offended Luz was clutching tightly in her hands.
Vee’s tail swished in embarrassment. “ Am not! ”
“I seem to recall you waking me up just to walk you to the bathroom the last time we watched one, all because you didn’t want to be alone.”
“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone about that!”
Luz laughed and set the DVD back down. “Aw, really? Cuteee.” She dug through the pile of films on her bed before picking up another one and waving it around in her hands. “Ooh la la, this one’s a romance movie~! What a classic!” The case was sparkly and pink, and the graphic design on it made it obvious that its target demographic was young girls.
Hunter grimaced. “Do I not already have enough problems with my love life for you?”
Luz’s tone immediately shifted, and she leaned down to look at him more directly. “You’re having problems with Willow?! What happened?”
He hadn't intended to say that. Hunter batted a hand at her, trying to stop her from getting too close. “It’s nothing! Seriously, we’re fine!”
But Luz was never the type to give up once she set her mind on something, and so she refused to back down. “You two never fight, so what could-”
“We aren’t fighting at all. It’s more like…the opposite of that.”
“Oh Titan, I’ve been third-wheeling you guys so much recently, haven’t I? I’m so sorry!” Luz draped her arms over the side of the bed in defeat and she stared at Hunter. Her brown eyes were big with worry. “I can stop asking for everything to be a double date, I swear! It’s just so much more fun that way!”
“You’re not the problem, seriously.” Hunter refused to meet her gaze. “I am.”
Vee swished her tail again, this time from concern. “You’re not allowed to talk about yourself that way, remember? Don’t be mean to yourself!”
Things were just getting more and more awkward for Hunter. He was never sure what to do when people acted so worried about him. It still wasn’t an entirely familiar experience for him yet.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” His palisman nuzzled against his cheek and he was comforted by how soft Flapjack's feathers were. He reached out a finger to scratch the bird’s head. Hunter hated eye contact, but animals were easier to focus on than people were. “I just feel like I screwed up big time the other day.”
“Did something happen?” Vee asked.
The only thing keeping Hunter from dragging his hands across his face in frustration was Flapjack sitting in his way. That bird could detect Hunter being upset on a level nobody else would ever be able to.
“Kinda.”
Luz pointed down at him. “Spill the beans! She’s the only person you never get into drama with. This must be something big!”
“Maaaaybe it is…”
Vee urgently shook Luz’s arm. “Luz, he’s hesitating! Plan B!”
“Plan wha-”
Hunter almost jumped when Luz plopped down on the floor next to him. She had slid off of the bed in the blink of an eye. She dragged one of the blankets down with her and tossed it over both of their bodies, and then she leaned against him. She propped her arms up on her elbows and rested her face on her palms.
The texture of the soft blanket was comforting, and Flapjack was quick to snuggle himself closer to Hunter underneath it. Hunter personally preferred Luz’s prized weighted blanket that she kept on the top bunk of the bed, but Vee’s normal one would do well enough for now.
Luz didn’t take her eyes off of him, and she flashed him a reassuring smile. “What’s up?”
“Fine, you got me.” Hunter would always admit defeat eventually if he was physically comfortable. He wrapped one of his hands in the blanket and rubbed the soft fabric together between two of his fingers. “I told Willow that I want us to be more like you and Amity are with each other, but I think it might’ve been the wrong time…or maybe I worded it badly? I dunno.”
“Aww, Hunter!” Luz squealed. “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for! You’re finally trying to get better at flirting!”
Hunter lightly shoved her and a slight smile crossed his lips. “You really think I’m that much of a hopeless case, huh?”
Luz shoved him right back. “You’ve gotta tell me everything. I need the details! Your goals! Your mission plan!”
“That’s the problem, doofus. I don’t have a plan.”
Vee made her way off of the bed too and awkwardly looked down at them. “I’m…gonna go hang out somewhere else for now. You better make sure she picks a good movie, Hunter.”
Even though the entire group was friends with Vee too, Hunter was grateful when she left the room. She was one of the sweetest people he had ever met, but he really didn’t want more people than necessary to hear about such embarrassing problems.
Once Vee had closed the door behind her, Hunter let himself speak up again. “I’m just so…scared.” He reached back down to Flapjack’s soothing feathers and ran his fingers through them as he spoke. “What if I make a fool of myself and end up upsetting her somehow? Or what if I make her mad? I’m still so new to all of this…”
“And so is she , Hunter,” Luz reminded him. “Willow would never get mad at you for doing something with good intentions. You know that. Not everyone is mean, and Willow definitely isn’t.”
“Ugh, how do you do it?” Hunter asked. “You and Amity are always so bold about being affectionate, but I can barely even do something as simple as holding Willow’s hand…”
“We’ve been dating for way longer than you two have, y’know. Early on, we were even more awkward than you two are!” Luz laughed at the memory. She loved thinking about the beginning stages of her relationship — Amity had been so cute about everything. Young love was messy and full of silly mistakes, but that was the charming thing about it. “In my opinion, you two are doing great! You just need to be honest with her and tell her your feelings, gushy and embarrassing ones included! Bear your heart and soul to her!”
“You’re so dramatic.” Hunter stuck out his tongue at her. “Ew, that’s a gross idea. I’m not Amity .”
“Hey! Amity is super sweet!”
Both of them burst into shared laughter as they elbowed each other, and the previous tension in the air faded into nothing. One of Luz’s greatest talents was the fact that she was a pro at putting the anxieties of her friends at ease. She was right, Hunter realized. He was worrying more than he needed to.
He lowered his voice, always shy about being too honest. “But yeah, thanks. I’ll keep what you said in mind.”
“Ooh, Hunter, Hunter!” Luz rapidly tapped his arm in excitement. “Look at which DVD fell off of the bed! It must be a sign! That’s gotta be the one we watch!”
He scooted over to it to pick it up and Luz patted him on the back as he leaned over. “No problem, by the way. Whatever you want to try doing will go great, I guarantee it!”
Somehow he was actually able to believe that.
******
Willow was much more of a morning person than a night one, so it was weird that she was having so much trouble sleeping tonight. She kept sitting up every few minutes and putting her glasses back on to mindlessly scroll through her Penstagram feed, hoping that something on it could help calm her racing mind. Her thoughts had been so noisy all night, to the point where she barely laughed at the comedy movie the group had watched together a few hours prior.
Maybe a midnight snack could help. There were plenty of leftovers from the things she had prepared with Amity. Carefully stepping around all the blankets of her sleeping friends, she made her way from the living room to the kitchen. She rubbed her glasses against her pajama shirt as she entered the room, not bothering to turn the lights on as she walked in. She was only planning on being in there for a brief moment, but it seemed the universe had different plans.
The fridge door slammed shut and she realized she wasn’t alone. She jumped a bit and scrambled to put her glasses back on. Her heart didn’t stop racing even after her vision focused enough for her to figure out who her mysterious companion was — if anything, their identity only made it worse.
“Hunter! Hi. You’re up late.”
“You surprised me…” Hunter said, standing against the fridge as if he was subconsciously guarding it. His attempt to look cool and casual was very clumsy. “You should be asleep.”
“You should be too,” Willow countered, walking closer to him. She didn’t dare to fully break the distance between them by touching his arm, as much as she wanted to. “Did you have a nightmare again? Your sleeping schedule has been getting better lately. Those bags under your eyes aren’t as dark as they used to be.”
Hunter took a step back when Willow stepped closer. He was clearly on edge for some reason. “No, no, I’m all good! Completely and totally fine. Yep!”
“You’re terrible at lying.” Willow stood in front of him with the same type of worried eyes as the ones Luz had looked at him with earlier that night. “I want to know the truth. You were all fidgety when we were watching that movie with everyone. It was like you didn’t even want to sit next to me or something.”
“Of course I wanted to! I just…I don’t know...felt all messed up inside.”
“Something is making you anxious,” Willow said. After reminding herself of Amity’s words from earlier, she decided to step a little closer to him. “Is it okay to touch you?”
He silently nodded, and she reached up to place a hand on his scarred cheek. He immediately started blushing, which was always a good sign. If he was still doing that, that meant his mind was still fully connected to the things going on around him. She rubbed a finger back and forth against his skin, slowly and carefully, and frowned. “I want to help you.”
“And I want to help you!” Hunter blurted out. “But I don’t know how, and it’s killing me!”
Willow’s hand paused against his scar. She was taken aback.
Being so openly cared for like this, in a way that wasn’t demeaning or infantilizing, was so surreal. She truly had no idea how to react.
“Help me with what?” she asked.
The heavy concern in his gaze was clear despite the lights in the room being off. The fact that Grimwalker eyes slightly glowed in the dark always startled her, but it also made him easier to spot. He looked surprisingly determined.
“I know that face, Captain,” he said. His voice was quiet yet firm, and she knew he must be especially worried if he was bringing out his old nickname for her. He only still used it whenever he was trying to be especially affectionate. “You have something on your mind, and I don’t want you to struggle alone.”
Accepting love was hard. It wasn’t that Willow thought she didn’t deserve it; she didn’t dislike herself anymore, not really. But she was terrified of losing her new reputation of being strong and independent. She had worked so hard for so many years to be seen the way she wanted to be viewed, and she absolutely didn’t want to lose it.
A large part of why she initially fell for Hunter so quickly was because he was the first person to ever fully and truly look at her and see the Willow Park she was trying to become instead of Half-a-Witch Willow. It was thrilling — and also a little bit scary — to be understood so clearly by someone she had only just met.
Her problem wasn’t lacking faith in herself anymore — it was lacking faith in other people. The idea of anyone changing how they viewed her in a way that she didn’t want them to was awful. But if she could rebuild her broken friendship with the first person who ever abandoned her, she could be honest with her boyfriend.
Willow’s hand left Hunter’s face, shy and nervous. She wrung her hands together in front of her pajama pants, relieved that it was too dark for Hunter to clearly see the expression she was making. “For some reason, I just keep thinking about that thing you asked me the other day. You know, that stuff about our relationship?”
“What about it?”
“I do believe that you love me, this isn’t your fault, but…” She looked down at the tiles on the kitchen floor. “There’s a little part of me that still wonders if you’re okay with all of this. With me.”
“Willow…” Hunter stepped forward and brought his arms around her in a hug. He rarely initiated these, and it made her heart flutter as fast as her palisman Clover’s wings whenever he did. “Why would I not be?”
Hesitating, she didn’t allow herself to fully lean into his embrace. “I feel like I never even let us act like a normal couple. I hold us back too much.”
Hunter let out a quiet laugh and tightened his hug. “You think you hold us back? How do you think I feel about my own role in this? There’s no one right way to be a couple.” His arms were reassuring and gentle despite his strength; he had learned exactly how much was too much by now. “I could never find someone more willing to be patient with me than you are. I’m sure of that, and I appreciate everything you do for me a lot. More than you probably know.”
Willow blinked rapidly, and to her surprise, she could feel the beginnings of tiny tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “You’re not some kind of burden, Hunter. You never have been, and you never will be.”
“Hey,” he said, loosening his grip and moving his hands up to her shoulders. “That’s true for you too. If you ever need anything, I’m always willing to do it. Take all of the time you need with everything. This relationship doesn’t need to be rushed.”
With a thumping heart, Willow finally met his gaze.
Hunter’s collected expression faded in an instant and his face twisted into one full of worry. “Are you crying? Is everything okay?”
“I’m just…really happy, I think,” she said. “I’m not used to being treated like this.” She had finally found the word she had been searching for: respect. A healthy dose of it was all she had ever wanted, but now that she finally had it, it was hard to comprehend.
He put his hands on the sides of her face and wiped the tears away from her eyes. “It’s how everyone should be treating you.”
She was suddenly very, very aware of how little physical distance there was between them. And then, her heart made a decision faster than her brain.
“I think I…want to try doing something that I can’t do with anyone else, though.”
Clueless as ever, Hunter didn’t get the hint. “What do you mean?”
Willow sighed to steady her nerves and, without a word, pointed at her own cheek the same way Hunter had done to himself when he first proposed the idea of kissing. “...If you’re okay with it, I mean. You can say no, of course.”
Glowing magenta flashed before her in the dark room as he rapidly blinked in shock. “I…uh…” His hands fell from her face, and he dug his nails into his palms. Now it was his turn to be grateful for the lack of light — he was sure the tips of his ears were a dead giveaway for his thoughts on that idea.
“Take your time to decide. It’s okay.”
“I think…I want to try doing the same thing, if you’re okay with it too.”
Willow smiled and brought a hand to the side of his face. “Of course I am, silly.”
And with that, she leaned up on her tiptoes to place a quick kiss to his scarred cheek.
It was a brief and fleeting moment, but it was one that made Hunter nearly fall over from nerves nonetheless. He stumbled with shaky legs and stepped back. “W-woah!”
“Your voice cracked,” Willow pointed out, and she couldn’t help but giggle. He’s so cute.
“...Thank you for being patient with me,” he said, stepping back towards her again.
The birds and bees of an innocently blooming romance were fluttering in Willow’s stomach again, and she didn’t take her gaze off of him. “Thank you for being patient with me too.”
Slowly, very slowly, Hunter put his hands back up to the side of her face. He froze, clearly thinking over his next words carefully, and she didn’t dare to interrupt him. His voice was quiet, but confident and unwavering. “Would it…be okay if I tried something else too?”
And finally, Willow was able to be truly and utterly honest “...Please do.”
He leaned down, just as shy and excited as she was, and Willow and Hunter had their first kiss in the comfortingly dark kitchen of the Noceda home.
Taking things at their own pace really was the right choice.