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Luz anxiously tapped her pencil against her desk, unable to stop herself from the inevitable fidgeting that came with her Frightday afternoon hexonomics course. Why she had to have the most boring class at Hexside be her last one before the weekend was beyond her. Was this the universe’s punishment for all those snakes in that book report when she was in high school? The teacher droned on and on about the balance between the increasing witches’ demand to see their neighbors suffer and the ever decreasing supply of wild witches willing to place a curse on them (this was followed up, of course, with the professor reminding the class how lucky they were to live in a time where the Emperor protected the people of the Isles).
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the class ended. Luz was quick to bolt out of the class, shoving herself past some of the other witches, nearly losing her beanie in the process. The halls of Hexside University of Magic and Demonics were crowded, and Luz had to weave her way around several other witches and demons before she made it to the small common area where she and her friends always liked to meet up after all their classes got out.
As usual, the hexonomics professor’s insistence on droning on for five minutes after class was supposed to let out meant that she was the last person to arrive. And sure enough, sitting there at their usual table were Gus, Willow, and Amity. Luz had come in from the far side, meaning that Amity had her back to Luz, and so, with a mischievous smile, Luz crept towards the table. She made eye contact with Willow and quickly pressed a finger to her lips. Willow gave a knowing smirk and nodded, before grabbing Amity’s attention to ask how her abomination classes were going.
Amity explained how she was finally starting to get into some of the more advanced applications of abomination magic, and she got so lost in talking about it that she didn’t even notice Luz sneaking up behind her until the human nearly jumped into the seat next to her and exclaimed, “Hey Amity!” Startled, Amity flew back with a yelp. She was just about to give a piece of her mind when Luz started laughing her absolutely adorable laugh, and all of Amity’s annoyance was washed away seeing Luz’s beautiful smile framed between those two locks of hair.
Amity was down bad, and she knew it. She had tried not to let things get to this point; when she first realized her feelings, she told herself that it just couldn’t happen and tried to force herself to move on. But every time Amity saw Luz, the feelings just came rushing back to her. And there was no way she was just going to stop being friends with Luz, especially over a silly little crush. No, Amity had resigned herself to just bearing through her unrequited feelings until they eventually went away.
“So… Willow, Amity,” Luz spoke up, seemingly unaware of the way Amity had been trying not to stare at her, “You two still up for a girls’ night at the bar tonight?”
“Of course,” Amity said, “I need at least one night off from all the constant studying, or I’m actually gonna lose it!” She gave a small, nervous laugh, and Luz beamed. She hadn’t even realized until now, but she’d been strangely nervous that Amity wouldn’t be able to make it, and she wasn’t sure why. After all, she’d be sad if any of her friends couldn’t come, right?
“Sorry Luz, but my dads are in town this weekend, and I wanna see them, so I’m not gonna be able to make it,” Willow apologized. Wait, why did Luz feel the slightest twinge of excitement knowing they weren’t going to be there? Willow was one of her best friends; she shouldn’t be excited that they weren’t going to be at the bar with her and Amity.
But this really wasn’t the time to be trying to figure out her thoughts. Luz shrugged off both Willow’s comment and her own thoughts on the matter. “No worries, I get that. I hope you guys have fun this weekend!” Then she turned to Amity. “Well, since Gus isn’t old enough to go to the bar with us,” she said, which earned an annoyed but futile protest from Gus, “It looks like it’s gonna just be you and me tonight!”
Amity blinked a few times as she let that fact process in her brain. Oh. Fuck. Oh fuck. She needed to say something. She knew she needed to make something come out of her mouth, preferably a coherent string of words that Luz would recognize as a “sentence,” but her gay little heart was making that incredibly difficult. The best she could come up with was an awkward chuckle followed by, “Oh, wow. The bar!”
If Luz had been put off by her words, she gave no sign of it. Instead, she wrapped an arm around Amity’s shoulder and pulled her in close, exclaiming, “You know it, we’re going to have so much fun tonight!” Amity was tucked right into Luz’s shoulders and she wasn’t trying to smell Luz, she’d swear, but she was so close that she couldn’t help but notice the sweet scent of lemon and… something else that she couldn’t quite place. It wafted over her, and between that and the warm comfort of Luz’s arm wrapped around her it took every ounce of self control not to just snuggle up to her friend.
Even still, Amity could feel her face turning beet red. I’m in Hell. I’m in lesbian Hell, she thought to herself, before shooting a glance at Willow and pleading with her eyes to rescue her from the prison of having such overwhelmingly homosexual thoughts about someone that she just couldn’t be with. Willow sent back a devilish smirk and piped up, “Yeah, I’m sure you two will have lots of fun together. Just you and Amity with nobody else around to get in the way of you two.”
Karma really could be a bitch, and so could Willow, Amity realized. Though after everything that she had put Willow through when they were younger, she supposed she did deserve to get a little bit of shit from them. Luz remained oblivious as ever, saying “That’s a weird way to put it, but yeah, I can’t wait for tonight! Especially since all the hard apple blood at the Owl House is terrible. Eda is convinced that they’re all the same and refuses to get anything other than the cheapest kind. And don’t even get her started on apple butchers…” she carried on, ranting animatedly about her mentor’s taste in alcohol.
At some point, one of her wild gestures required both hands and she pulled her arm away from Amity’s shoulder. Amity was sad to lose that physical contact with Luz at first, and then upset at herself for letting her be sad about it. She knew she needed to stop letting herself fall harder with every little thing that Luz did, and Titan was Amity trying, but there was something just so irresistible about Luz that made it damn near impossible for Amity to move on.
They all continued their conversation for a while longer before eventually personal responsibilities got in the way of their hangout. Willow needed to go meet up with their dads, and Luz was the poor wretched soul stuck with Cleaning Hooty Duty. That left Amity alone with Gus, which, all things considered, was a relief to Amity.
Between him being on track to be the youngest person to ever join the Illusionist’s coven and Amity’s parents pushing her to, if not join the Emperor’s Coven, then at least become head of the Abominations Coven, the two were much more acutely aware of the pressures that came with academic excellence than Luz or Willow. When Amity started hanging out with Luz and her friends, she and Gus hit it off almost immediately, and they each quickly found a close confidant in the other.
Once he was certain their other friends were out of earshot, Gus leaned in towards Amity with a knowing waggle of his eyebrows. “So, you excited to get some alone time with Luz tonight?” he asked.
“Ugh, it’s not like that, so don’t even start with all of… that,” Amity replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.
“Okay, so what is it like then?” Gus asked. “Because every time you two are in a room together I keep seeing you making lovey dovey eyes at her and I don’t think even you realize how often you do it.”
“I know, but there isn’t anything that I can actually do about it. It doesn’t matter how I feel if I know that she isn’t going to feel the same way back,” Amity answered with a defeated sigh
“And how do you know she isn’t going to feel the same way back?” Gus pressed.
“You know damn well why!” Amity snapped. “She won’t feel that way about me because she already does about someone else.”
“I mean, things can change,” Gus shrugged. He was quick to clarify when he saw Amity’s death glare pointed directly at him. “Look, I know I’m giving you shit, but you two are adorable together. And honestly, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but she looks really happy when she’s around you too. I’d even say she looks happier than when she’s with-”
“Gus, please,” Amity interrupted with a low, pleading voice, “I know you’re trying to help, and I appreciate it. I really do. But please don’t tell me she’d be happier with me. This is all already hard enough; the last thing I need is to have hope that we might actually work out.” Tears threatened to fall, and she did her best to hold them in, clenching her fists on the table. She was caught off guard, then, when she felt Gus gently lay his hands on hers.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I hadn’t thought of it like that. But is having hope really so bad? Relationship or not, you two do make each other happy. And she talks about you almost nonstop when you’re not here.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I still missed my shot before I even got the chance. Getting my hopes up would just be a waste of time.”
“Okay, well then think of it this way. You two are best friends right?” Gus asked
“Yeah, obviously,” Amity said.
“You’ve told each other a lot of personal shit you might not tell anyone else?”
“Yeah, we have…” Amity had a feeling she knew where this was going.
“So then why not just tell her how you feel? Luz is the kind of person to care about things that are important to her friends, and this is definitely something really important to you,” Gus said. Amity wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that, and Gus must have been able to tell, because he added, “I’m not telling you to ask her out, but just… tell her your feelings. Get them out there.”
“But what if she hates me for it? What if I ruin our friendship? Titan, Gus, I don’t wanna fuck up what we have!”
“Amity, this is Luz we’re talking about,” Gus deadpanned. “You know, the person who still wanted to be your friend even after you tried to get her killed on multiple occasions? There’s no way that she would hate you for something that’s out of your control. She cares about you a lot; the last thing she’d want is to hurt you when you just opened up to her like that.”
There was a long pause before Amity spoke up again. “Thanks, Gus. You’ve given me a lot to think about, and… I’ll consider telling her how I feel. You can give some solid advice, you know that?”
“Of course I know that! It’s one of my best qualities,” Gus exclaimed, which earned a small laugh from Amity. The two chattered for a little while longer, going into much more lighthearted topics. Gus was certain that the twins were up to something; they’d been strangely quiet in his Advanced Animations of Illusions class. Almost… too quiet. He was sure they were coming up with some sort of plot for some incredible prank or something until Amity shattered his dreams by telling him that they were just playing Hookie and didn’t want to deal with coming up with an excuse to their mother, so they sent illusions to school in their place.
“Damn, I should have guessed that! I’ve been doing that for years!” he said. Amity rolled her eyes; of course he had. The part of her that had been drilled to always perform at her best no matter the toll it took wanted to chastise him for it, but she bit her tongue. Ever since she started talking to Luz, she’d slowly started loosening up around people, and she realized that she really didn’t like the person that she had been beforehand. But this new Amity? The one that was allowed to make her own friends and have a life outside her studies? She loved that.
Unfortunately, she did need to get going soon, if nothing else to drop her backpack off at the manor because she was not lugging that thing to the bar tonight. She bid Gus farewell, and he gave her a cheery wave goodbye before taking on a more serious tone and saying, “And don’t forget what I told you. You can never go wrong with the truth.”
“Thanks Gus,” She said, “I don’t know if I’m ready to do it, but if anything happens I’ll let you know.”
“Take your time, girl,” Gus replied, “But we’re rooting for you. Me and Willow both!”
“Wait, do you and Willow just casually talk about my crush on Luz when I’m not around?” Amity asked with a glare.
“Uhhh…” Gus quickly started looking at anything in the room that wasn’t Amity, “I’vesaidtomuchohwouldyoulookatthetimegottagobye!” And then he was gone, leaving only a fuming red Amity in his wake.
Amity arrived at the bar a little bit earlier than she and Luz had planned on, as usual, and took it upon herself to order two apple bloods, reaching into the very deep pockets of the Blight Family to get some of the nicer stuff. When they came out, she took a small sip of it. She was really more of a social drinker, and was hoping that the one drink could last her through the evening.
It was only maybe a minute or two past when Luz was supposed to show up when she heard the most beautiful voice in the world call out her name. “Amity! There you are! You ready for some fun tonight?” Amity turned around (probably a bit faster than she would have for anyone else, but she could never get tired of seeing Luz) with a wide smile on her face that was thoroughly obliterated when she saw who was standing next to Luz.
“Wait, I thought this was a girl’s night? What is he doing here?” Amity asked, trying (and failing horribly) to hide her frustration. A tall, muscular man with slicked back hair and a wispy goatee and an even more pathetic mustache stood next to Luz with his arm around her shoulder. Her boyfriend .
“Oh, well I told Nevareth I was going out tonight and he said he wanted to come along with us,” Luz answered.
“Oh. Great. Glad you could join us, Nevareth,” Amity said through gritted teeth.
“Of course, Luz’s friend,” he said. Amity was about to remind him that they’d met several times now and that he probably should know her name by now, but he cut her off right as she began to open her mouth. “Such places as this remind me of the tavern that I spent my days sulking in after my parents were petrified by Belos.”
“I thought you said you had to go see them last week?” Luz asked.
“They were petrified in my heart when they told me that I couldn’t join the shirt ripping coven and that I needed to choose a ‘real, respectable’ coven,” was his response. Amity rolled her eyes so hard she was worried for a second they were going to roll back into her head, but Luz was completely enraptured.
“Babe, don’t worry. I would never dissuade you from joining the shirt ripping coven. In fact, you can do that any time you want,” She said.
“Uh, maybe not in public though!” Amity piped up from behind, “Or… like… anytime I’m around.”
Luz looked back to Amity, about to say something, but she was distracted by the tall pint of apple blood standing next to the one that Amity was nursing. “Oh, hey, you already got me an apple blood! Thanks Ams, you’re the best,” She said with a wink, and Amity damn near burst from the conflicted feelings she felt between her absolute adoration of Luz and her near infinite frustration for this man who seemed incapable of going more than two sentences without talking about himself. Turning back to Nevareth, Luz asked, “You gonna want one?”
“No thanks, My Light in the Darkness, I need something much stronger to erase the pain brought on by the sheer torture of existence itself,” Nevareth replied.
“Oh, I feel that!” Luz exclaimed. “Especially after today. You know that project I was talking about in my compositions class?” she asked, looking up to Nevareth
“Uhhhh… sure?” He said.
“Oh, that one you’re working on with Skara?” Amity asked after a second.
“Yeah, that one!” Luz beamed. “It was going so well for a while. Skara’s actually really cool to work with, and we were planning this super cool duet where she would play a gui-scar and I would play a guitar, the human realm equivalent of one.” She took a swig of her apple blood.
“So what went wrong?” Amity pressed. Meanwhile, Nevareth was trying to get the bartender’s attention. But Luz was sure he would tune in to what she was saying once he had it. He cared about her, she knew it. But with all of the troubles of being the Crown Prince of Angstmore (a place she still had yet to find on a map), of course he would seem distant from time to time. But Luz knew the real him. The side that was sweet and kind, that told her how lucky he was to know her, that thought her weird and cheesy lines were romantic. Sure, things weren’t always perfect, but he had been the first person outside of her family that ever made her feel like she was wanted, and that alone made him special.
Coming back to reality, Luz noticed that Amity had raised an eyebrow at her and quickly stammered out, “Oh, sorry, just got lost in my thoughts there for a second. So yeah, the duet. Well, the professor for that course is a hardcore traditionalist, and very fond of the emperor, and even though we had planned out the whole thing, including having already gone back to the Human Realm with Eda so she could ‘buy’ me a guitar, he still said no! Apparently Human Realm instruments are tools of Wild Magic and are forbidden with no exceptions,” she pouted. “And now that’s like… two weeks of planning and an entire song right down the drain!”
“That’s awful, I’m so sorry, “ Amity said, gently placing a hand on top of Luz’s own. “If you want I could clog up some of his instruments in abomination goop. I’m sure I could get the twins to help with that,” and that earned a chuckle out of Luz.
Meanwhile, Nevareth had gotten his drink, a small shot of something dark and strong smelling. His contribution to the conversation was, “Wow babe, that sucks. Anyways, we should go play some ghool… to take your mind off of it, y’know.”
Amity couldn’t believe him. She was just about to say something and tell him just how much of a self absorbed asshole he was being, but before she could, Luz answered, “Yeah, sure! That sounds like fun! Thanks for the idea, Nevvy.” She then turned back to Amity and asked, “You wanna play too?”
“Yeah, sure, I guess,” Amity replied, stifling a grumble.
The three made their way towards the back of the bar, where three ghool tables stood. Luz was continually surprised by how often things on the Boiling Isles were just more demonic versions of things back home. Case in point: ghool was just pool, but each pocket was the mouth of a hungry demon. As such, any time she pocketed a ball, she was subject to the disturbing sounds of the table demon trying fruitlessly to chew on the ball before eventually giving up and swallowing the thing whole. And Titan help you if you sunk the cue ball: the poor mouth forced to eat it would violently gag on it before spitting the thing back up and onto the table.
Nevareth grabbed a few cues and handed two to Luz and Amity, keeping one for himself. He then turned to Amity and asked, “You wanna play two on one? You against me and my humana hermana taking turns?”
Before Amity could even try to answer, Luz burst out laughing. “Babe,” she said between laughs, “I really hope you didn’t mean to say that!”
“What?” He asked, suddenly on the defensive. “All I did was say that you’re beautiful, why are you laughing at me?” There was a hint of aggression in his voice.
“Oh, you mean humana hermosa! You just called me your human sister is all!” And then Amity, finally understanding what was going on, started laughing alongside Luz, and that only served to make Nevareth even more upset.
“Alright, fine! If you two think it’s so funny, then maybe I’ll just show both of you up? Me against you two!” Luz was a bit stunned by his outburst but she knew it was best to just roll with it, lest he get even more upset and go find somewhere to sulk. She looked to Amity, who nodded. Luz then grabbed her hand and lifted it up, announcing, “Alright, we accept your challenge! For Amity and I are bonded by something stronger than mere ghool skill. We’re also…” She paused for dramatic effect, “Very good friends.”
Amity blubbered out something in agreement, though her brain had completely stopped processing anything beyond Oh Titan Luz is holding my hand it’s so soft and her hands are so much bigger than mine I’m not going to survive tonight am I? She knew she must be blushing like crazy, so she quickly raised her apple blood to her lips to hide behind it. She also tried not to think too much about the tiny little heartbreak she felt at Luz calling Amity just her good friend, or the much less tiny one when Luz wrapped herself back around Nevareth’s arm.
“I should have enough snails on me to cover a few games,” Amity said, trying to find something, anything to distract her. She fished around in her bag and pulled out a few snails, then placed them on the ghool table. From one of the pockets, a hand sprung up and grabbed them before slinking back in with a quick and disturbingly gruff, “Thanks.” A moment later, it began hawking up balls with coughs that sounded like ones from a dying witch.
Meanwhile, Luz had grabbed the rack and begun organizing the balls, making an offhanded comment about how they had picked the right table, as these balls weren’t all slimy for once. Amity shuddered at the memory of the night that they weren’t so lucky in the slime department; it was the reason Willow was no longer allowed to pick where they went when they hung out.
When the table was ready, Nevareth made his way to the far side, boasting, “Watch and learn, babe… and babe’s friend. I’m gonna show you how a real man breaks.”
As he leaned forward to take his shot, Amity leaned in to Luz and said, “Why did he say real man like that? He knows neither of us are men, right?” But Luz was a little more focused on his impressive ghool form than her friend’s snarky remark. Nevareth struck the cue ball, and to his credit, it was an impressive break. He even sank one of the balls on it.
“Well, it looks like I’m solids. It only makes sense though. After all, my aim and my form are completely solid,” He said, throwing a wink at Luz, who couldn’t help but swoon. Amity, however, just rolled her eyes, and the table seemed to be on the same page as her, as it loudly gagged.
Nevareth took another shot, but there was no good angle for him and all he ended up doing was send one of his balls to the far end of the table. Luz was up next, and though Amity was pretty sure there was no chance of making the shot, she managed to sink a stripped ball. When it plopped into the hole, she jumped up in celebration and gave Amity an excited hi-five. Nevareth seemed thoroughly unenthused, pointing out that he would take the lead back soon enough.
As he looked over the table, trying to find an angle he wanted to work with, Amity whispered to Luz, “Is he always like that to you?”
“Oh no, he just gets really competitive sometimes. It’s just kinda something I’ve learned to deal with,” Luz replied offhandedly. She didn’t notice the raised eyebrow that Amity gave her or the defeated sigh the witch gave when Luz took a sip of her apple blood and walked back over to Nevareth.
The two managed to keep pace with Nevareth for most of the game, with neither team ever getting a lead of more than a ball or two. The trend of Nevareth taking the game way more seriously than Luz and Amity also continued. Eventually, they were all shooting at the hate ball - Luz had learned the hard way once that the main difference between it and an eight ball in the human realm was that if you sunk it early, not only did you lose, but it would cause the table to shout a string of the most obscene profanities imaginable at you - and it was Amity’s turn. She had a shot, but it was going to be difficult, so as she lined up, Luz decided to take it upon herself to help out.
Amity was completely focused on lining up, and she didn’t even seem to notice as Luz came up behind her and bent down over the witch. “Your form is kinda off. I’m gonna help you make sure you get the right shot and then we’re gonna win.”
“Thanks?” Amity squeaked out. She knew Luz was trying to help, but this was certainly not the way, because now she was completely panicking over just how much of Luz was pressed up against her. She desperately wanted to believe there was something more to this; that Luz was actively flirting with her and wanted this as much as Amity did. But she knew Luz well enough to know that that probably wasn’t the case. Luz was just a naturally flirty person: she did all the things that always made Amity flustered to Willow and Gus too.
Besides, as much as she hated the fact, Luz did have a boyfriend, and he was right there across the table. Even if Amity wanted to believe there was something more to all this, there wasn’t a chance she’d act on it and risk hurting her friendship with Luz. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t quietly enjoy the moment while it lasted. Besides, Luz was right. Her form was off, especially now that she’d been startled by her crush bending down over her and almost accidentally pressing her against the table.
Luz carefully adjusted her stance and Amity did the best to cooperate; as much as she’d love to spend all night feeling Luz’s gentle touch as she nudged her into a proper form, she also really wanted to win. Eventually, she was pretty confident that she had the shot and told Luz as much, who quickly backed off to let her take it. Amity struck true, and there were two satisfying clacks as cue met ball and ball met hate ball. All three people at the table watched in suspense as it rolled towards a corner pocket and right into the hole.
Amity turned towards Luz, whose eyes were full of excitement and pride, and the human wrapped her up in a tight hug before exclaiming, “We did it! Great job Ams!”
“Whatever,” Nevareth scoffed, “You had a lucky shot. I want a rematch so I can prove my skills.”
This time, Luz wasn’t content to let things slide. “Dude, Amity worked hard to make that shot. That was really impressive of her! Not everything has to be about you winning.”
“Fine, if you’re going to attack me over it, then yeah, it was a good shot,” Nevareth conceded.
“I wasn’t atta-”
“Let’s just play another game,” He interrupted. Luz let out a frustrated huff but agreed to it, if nothing else to keep things from escalating. She looked to Amity, who had a concerned look on her face, but a simple look from Luz was all it took for her to convey to Amity that she was gonna be fine. Amity gave back an expression that said, “Alright, if you say so,” and fished out another couple of snails. The ghool demon happily accepted them, and the second game was underway.
Nevareth had been showing off in the first game, sure, but now he had taken things to a whole nother level. Even Luz found herself starting to get irritated at him. She tried to excuse it at first to the fact that he’d already knocked back quite a few shots while she was still just finishing off her first apple blood. But by the end of the game, when Luz and Amity had a narrow lead over him, he started being openly antagonistic to both of them, and Luz wasn’t having it anymore.
“This is the shot that’s gonna beat both of you, and then you’ll both see how much better I am than you two,” He said with a slight slur. Amity seemed to have fully checked out on things, and even Luz was feeling her interest in the game wane with each passing shot. What really upset her was that it was largely due to Nevareth’s behavior. She had thought he was better than this.
“Look, maybe we should just call this game now,” Luz said. “I just wanted to have some fun with you two, but it’s just… not fun anymore.”
“What, you so afraid of losing that you can’t handle seeing me show you all up?”
“No, Amity and I are both just kind of sick of having to have this be about you beating us. You’re being really rude to both of us, and I really don’t like it,” She said. She never liked having to confront Nevareth like this, and it felt like it had been happening more and more often lately. In truth, she was getting tired of it.
“You don’t understand, Luz! This isn’t just some game. It’s an exorcism of the infinite darkness within me!” Nevareth proclaimed.
“What does that even mean!?” Luz asked, throwing her hands up in the air.
“It means that you can’t even begin to understand the struggle of my life,” He explained. “And it’s even harder when you start attacking me like this. I thought you were supposed to be there to support me, but you’re just making me out to be the bad guy in this!”
Luz’s jaw hung open for a second. When she finally closed it, she clenched her jaw for a moment, thinking of precisely the way she wanted to word what was going on in her mind. Eventually, with a low, stern voice, she spoke up. “I’m my own person, not some prop in your life to support you. You aren’t the center of everything, and until you can recognize that, then I don’t think this is going to work out.”
Nevareth just stared at her with a blank and almost confused expression. “Are you… leaving me? Over this? Seriously? Do you even know what I’m going through?” He asked. Luz had really been hoping that he’d say pretty much anything else, but his response was all but confirmation to her that she wasn’t as important to him as he was to her. She could feel tears forming at the corners of her eyes, and Luz quickly turned and stormed off toward the bar.
Amity was utterly speechless at the exchange. She felt like it wasn’t her place to be involved in this, but she also couldn’t get out of the situation. She wasn’t used to being a wallflower in these kinds of situations and for most of it, she had been at a loss. But as Luz left the room muffling her sobs, Amity knew exactly what to do. She glared at Nevareth, who meekly asked “What did I even do?” before she rushed off to catch up with Luz, leaving the tall man standing there alone by the ghool tables.
It wasn’t hard to find Luz. Her dark green jacket and scruffed beanie stood out pretty well among the other witches and demons at the bar, and Amity quietly approached her. Luz’s head was slumped over on the bartop, and she had a fresh apple blood in her hands. Tapping the open seat next to her, Amity asked, “Can I… sit here?”
Luz gave a small nod and Amity sat down. She didn’t press Luz to speak, just sat next to her. She knew that Luz would speak up when she felt comfortable doing so. Luz stayed quiet for a bit, but eventually leaned into Amity’s shoulder and said in a voice so faint Amity almost missed it, “Thanks.”
“For what?” Amity asked.
“For being here,” Luz answered. “For showing even the tiniest bit that you care.”
“Of course I care,” Amity said. “I… you’re my best friend.” She trepidatiously wrapped her arm around Luz’s shoulder and held her tight. “Are you gonna be okay?”
“I don’t… I don’t know,” Luz replied honestly. “When we first started dating, everything seemed so nice. He was so nice to me, but now I feel like he just ignores me unless I give him attention first, and I’m just getting so sick of it. I hate feeling like I only matter if I have something to give him, and he just makes me feel like none of my problems matter because he is ‘a well of endless suffering’ or whatever.”
“Yeah, what’s the deal with that?” Amity asked.
“I really don’t know. I thought it was kinda cute at first, but he just keeps on doing it,” Luz groaned. And once she got on that, she just couldn’t stop bringing up all the other things that he did that had just been getting on her nerves. Luz felt she must have spent a good ten minutes talking Amity’s ear off about all of the stuff he did that bothered her that she’d just had to bottle up before the finally ran out of things to vent about.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry things had to turn out like this. It sucks to go through all of this, but if things are that bad, maybe it’s for the better that you broke up with him,” Amity said, rubbing Luz’s shoulder.
“Wait, broke up!?” Luz suddenly yelped, jumping away from Amity.
“Uh, yeah, isn’t that what ‘this isn’t gonna work out’ means?” Amity asked.
“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that! I don’t even know what I meant it like! Oh fuck, I ruined all of this! I need to go fix things with him and make it up to him,” Luz said, hurriedly getting up from her barstool and beginning to make her way back to the pool table. She was stopped almost immediately by Amity, who had a hand on her wrist and wasn’t going anywhere.
“Okay, hold up there,” Amity said. “I’m not going to stop you if that’s what you really want, but before you go off to apologize to him or whatever, can you just answer something for me?”
“Sure, what is it?” Luz said impatiently.
“Okay, I want you to know that I mean this in the nicest way possible, but what do you even see in him?”
Luz’s immediate response was to say, “Well, duh, he is super hot. I mean, have you seen those abs? The dude is ripped. You telling me you didn’t notice that, Blight?”
“I mean, I’ve definitely seen them. It’s not like he hides them… or wears any kind of shirt at all. But I can’t say I ever really got the appeal,” Amity said.
“Huh, I guess I just thought you were into muscles or something. Skara and I were talking last week and she said that when Boscha joined the grudgby team you were practically drooling over her at practice,” Luz mentioned. She tried her best to feign innocence, but when she saw Amity’s face turn several shades redder, she couldn’t hold back a smug smirk any longer.
“Okay, there are a number of issues I have with what you just said,” Amity said sternly. “First, Nevareth is a man. Boscha is a woman. I am a lesbian. It’s pretty simple. Second, I stopped ‘drooling over’ Boscha pretty quickly when I realized what an absolute bitch she usually is. And third, Skara better watch her mouth if she doesn’t want me telling everyone how unbearably awkward she was around Boscha before they got together.”
“Those are all fair points,” Luz said with a small laugh. There wasn’t really anything else she could say to that after all.
“But seriously, I know you think he’s attractive, but is that all there is? Is there anything about him as a person that you admire?” Amity prodded. Was she going too far? Maybe. But Amity was also genuinely curious. Maybe there was something about Nevareth that nobody else saw that made him actually a perfect match for Luz. Or maybe, and Amity felt guilty for hoping this was the case, she was getting through to Luz and showing her what everyone else saw; that she could do so much better than him ( like me, her intrusive thoughts kept saying)
“Well, he’s got that ‘bad boy with a dark past’ vibe going on, that’s pretty cool,” Luz shrugged.
“Okay, but that’s still just something you think is hot about him,” Amity reasoned. “I meant like, what’s something about him that you truly admire? Something that makes you really go, ‘wow, this person is really special?’ and makes you want to spend time with them?”
Luz was silent for a moment. And then another. And then for several more moments she stood there thinking. What did she actually like about Nevareth? The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she actually thought he was really annoying to be around. But any time she started to pull away from him, he always did something to pull her back in. It was like he gave her just enough affection to keep her from leaving, but little enough that she was always craving more from him.
In fact, thinking on it, she couldn’t think of a single time that he had shown genuine interest in her life. Any time he had asked about how she was doing, the topic seemed to segue into something related to him as soon as he was able to get a word in. She was so sick of feeling like she didn’t matter to him most of the time, and she wished that just once, he would have been as engaged in her life as Amity was right now. Actually, come to think of it…
“Why do you care about what’s going on in my life so much anyways Amity?” Luz asked. “Why are you suddenly so invested in my love life?”
Amity let out a deep sigh and braced herself before answering. “I wasn’t sure when, or even if I was ever going to say this, but here goes,” She said, fidgeting with the hem of her dress. “I care so much because I care about you, Luz. A lot. And like, not as a friend.” Luz’s eyes went wide, and Amity was so afraid that she was going to tell her off, or storm away, or something horrible, but Luz was silent, so she continued.
“I am absolutely crazy about you, and I have been for a long time. My life became so much better the day you came into it, and you mean so, so much to me, Luz. I didn’t want to say anything because you were with Nevareth, and I didn’t wanna get between you two and mess things up between us, but it always tore me up to see how little he actually cared about you, because you are such a wonderful person, and you deserve someone who sees that and cherishes that. Even if that person isn’t me, you deserve to be happy, and I want that for you.”
Truthfully, Luz wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It was a lot to take in, especially because it seemed to flip a switch in Luz’s brain. Amity was always there for Luz, and she was always doing anything to support her. And like, she really was Luz’s best friend. She liked hanging out with Willow and Gus, sure, but she was never giddy with excitement to see them like she was in the hours before every meeting of the Azura Book Club.
And that wasn’t all. Luz had always known, in an almost academic sense, that Amity was pretty. But now, staring at her, Luz realized that Amity was absolutely beautiful. Everything about her, from her winged eyeliner to the way her roots were starting to grow back to just the shape of her face had suddenly completely captivated Luz. And that look that she could get when she was angry? Just the thought of it sent a sudden shiver down Luz’s spine. But it wasn’t one of fear. No, this time it was because Luz had realized just how hot Amity could be when she was angry (preferably at someone else though.)
“Luz?” Amity asked timidly. Oh shit. Luz must have been sitting there staring for too long. Amity looked… terrified? Oh no! She probably thought Luz didn’t feel the same way. Luz tried to say something, she really did, but before she realized what had even happened, her lips were pressed against Amity’s.
Amity was shocked at first, but once she realized what was happening, she reciprocated the kiss, pressing herself against Luz. Her lips were so soft, and so warm, and Amity was all too happy to lose herself in Luz’s embrace. Her hand crept up to capture the back of Luz’s head, and she took great pleasure in getting to run her fingers through the short hair under her beanie. She could also feel Luz’s arms wrapping around her and pulling her in tight against her. How long had Amity dreamed of being safe in her lithe, yet surprisingly strong arms?
The moment was utterly perfect, right up until the moment that Amity remembered they were at a bar. Reluctantly, she pulled away from Luz, but when she looked in the human’s eyes, she nearly melted all over again at the look of warm adoration Luz was giving her. Titan, how had she been so lucky. Amity felt like she should say something, but her brain was completely fried and she had no idea what she could possibly say at a moment like this. Instead, she just blurted the first thing to come to mind.
“Thanks,” she said.
It was only when Luz began to snicker that Amity realized what she’d said. “Oh Titan, I can’t believe I just said that,” She panicked.
“Don’t worry, I can’t believe I just did that,” Luz consoled. Wait, no, that sounded like she hadn’t wanted it, and she definitely did! “Like, here in the bar and everything! That’s what I mean.” She reached out to place a hand on Amity’s jaw, her thumb rubbing ever so slightly against her cheek. “I’m really glad I kissed you though.”
That must have been the right thing to say, because Amity turned beet red. How had Luz never noticed how incredibly adorable Amity was before now? Her blush made Luz want to kiss her all over again, and it took her sternly reminding herself that they were in a public place to keep her from going through with it.
“I’m… really glad you did too,” Amity responded a little sheepishly. “But I just want to know, are you sure about this? You did just break up with your boyfriend like… twenty minutes ago. I understand if this was just like a thing where emotions were high and-”
“No, I’m sure about this. I don’t know how I never noticed this before, but I’m crazy about you too Amity. When you asked me what I saw in Nevareth, I realized that there wasn’t anything that I really liked about him, and I thought I wished that he was more like you. But now, I realize that I don’t want that. I only want to be with you , Amity.”
Amity blinked a few times. Had she heard that right? She knew they had just kissed, but this still all felt so completely unreal. Luz liked her back? Luz liked her back! Her heart felt like it was ready to burst, and Luz must have seen how flustered she suddenly was, because she wrapped Amity in another tight hug.
“So, what are we, then?” Amity asked into Luz’s shoulder. “I totally get it if you need some time to… process everything with Nevareth.”
“...I think I do,” Luz answered after thinking it over for a moment. “But I do want us to be a thing, if you’re willing to wait a little bit while I get my head back on straight. I’m feeling okay right now, but I’m probably not gonna be doing as well in the next few days, and I want to be the kind of person that someone as awesome as you deserves.”
“Of course, take all the time you need,” Amity said. “And if there’s anything I can help with, you know I’m always here for you.”
“Thanks Amity,” Luz said in the sweetest, most adorable voice that Amity had ever heard. “I can’t wait to get to be your girlfriend.”
“And I can’t wait to be your girlfriend,” Amity giggled. The two shared a few more happy moments in each other’s arms before once again, the fact that they were still at a bar settled in on them.
“I hope you don’t mind, but tonight has been kind of a long night,” Luz said after they parted, “I think I’m probably gonna head back home now.”
“Can I at least walk you home?” Amity asked.
“I’d really like that,” Luz smiled.
As they got up and began walking out of the bar, they caught a glimpse of the ghool tables, where Nevareth seemed to have inserted himself into the group at the table next to where they’d been. Luz could tell from his posture that he was boasting about something to do with overcoming the darkness within him, but as she watched from across the bar, something dawned on Luz. She realized that she truly did not care what he was doing. Between the way he’d been treating her all evening and everything that had just happened between her and Amity, she found that he wasn’t even all that attractive to her anymore.
All Luz saw when she looked at Nevareth was a mistake.
But then she looked back to Amity as their hands found each other and interlocked, and instead, she saw hope. She saw someone who cared about her immensely, and who she cared just as much about. Someone who she could spend literal hours with doing pretty much anything and still enjoy herself. And most importantly, she saw a bright future.
As Luz and Amity stepped out of the bar together, hand in hand, all either of them could think about was how excited they were to see where that bright future would lead them.