Note: If anybody wants to skip ahead, the completed version can be found on my Ao3
Some time has passed since they've agreed to keep Luz's identity a secret, Amity's notifications on her blog, her Instagram, and her Twitter have been blowing up. Ever since she started her Youtube channel a few days ago, she's been receiving comments there too.
Keeping them on their toes, Amity posts little pictures and sayings, going in a roundabout and watching her viewers dig through the internet to try and locate her possible girlfriend. Several people claimed that they knew it was Boscha, Amity's former-friend-now-rival, saying that they had managed to renew their friendship and 'fell in love'.
The named girl was making no moves to deny this ridiculous theory, despite Amity stating several times that it was not Boscha.
But, the internet was full of wild and preposterous theories. One person even had the gall to say that Amity had a boyfriend that she was keeping from the world, because she's 'not really a lesbian'.
That comment enraged the brunette. It took prying the phone out of her hand, dragging her down onto the couch and trapping her in a cuddle for her to calm down. Well, actually, she fell asleep, but the point stands.
Luz, on the other hand, is enjoying the mystery. She's offered to participate in some of the pictures.
One of her favorites was when they got coffee only days prior, Luz was wearing gloves (don't ask why, that's not important, she was just helping Willow with something), and Amity snapped a picture of their drinks.
She'd captioned the photo with a sweet message saying 'you got my heart, don't know how you did it, but I love that you did'.
It was scheduled to be posted in only a few days, and Luz couldn't wait to see everybody's reactions to it. This one would prove that the secret girlfriend was definitely not Boscha, but then again, Luz has never met the girl.
They had a plan. Only one or two pictures that hint toward Luz's identity before circling back towards Amity's regular content; today's post will be some of the clothes that a new fashion brand that Emira suggested to them. The company was more than happy to collaborate.
Except, some of the samples they sent didn't exactly sit right with Luz.
"Are you sure you want this picture to be scheduled to post?"
Luz glares at the picture on the screen with a look of jealousy and discomfort, she shifts her weight to her other leg and clicks the phone off to look at her girlfriend. Amity gives an affirmative noise, pulling her old, black t-shirt over her head.
They'd just finished taking a photoshoot in Amity's bedroom at her new apartment, there were several boxes stacked up around the little place, untouched. The bedroom was the only room that was fully furnished.
"What's wrong with it?" Amity asks, folding a pink t-shirt and laying it inside an open dresser drawer. She nudges an unopened box aside, revealing a wall outlet behind it, strolling over and taking her phone from her girlfriend, repositioning the picture on her schedule and setting a date.
"They said this outfit should be one of the best, and you said you liked it?"
Under her breath, Amity whispers that her phone is dying. The phone is set down next to her while she searches for her charger.
"Oh I do like it," Luz confirms with a soft smile, strolling over and delicately embracing the brunette from behind and resting her chin on her shoulder. Amity glances over her shoulder. "It's just that…" She trails off, glaring down at the fading screen as a notification comes in. "What if they like it a little too much…?"
Amity grits her teeth in momentary disgust before closing her eyes, accepting the situation. "Well, there's always going to be those kinds of people, Luz. There's nothing we can do. Besides, the picture isn't even explicit."
Amity carefully slides her arms from around her waist, and she picks up her phone charger with a blank expression. There's no light in her eyes, there's nothing, just completely devoid of anything. She's moody. That's not okay. Luz needs to make her smile somehow.
With Amity momentarily caught off guard, Luz swiftly moves forward and wraps her arms around the other girl again, giggling when she yelps in surprise and tilting themselves back onto the queen-sized bed behind them.
She releases her and Amity twists around to hover over her, she's wearing an unreadable glare on her face. "No." She says harshly, pushing herself up and off of her. "I'm not in the mood."
Yep, that didn't work. If a cuddle attack wouldn't achieve anything, nothing will.
"Psch," Luz scoffs, "yes, you've been moody all day. It's like talking to a brick wall that bites when you touch it."
Amity sighs heavily, she puts her phone on charge and turns around to lay next to Luz, crossing her arms beneath her chin. Luz rolls over on her side to look at her, but Amity doesn't make eye contact. Something is bothering her.
"I'm sorry," she apologizes sincerely, voice cracking. She's quiet for another second, regaining her composure. "Something's been weighing on my mind recently, this month has never been easy for me. It hasn't been for the last few years."
"Why is that?" Luz asks curiously, setting her own grief aside and focusing on her stressed girlfriend. She reaches out to touch Amity's arm, but she doesn't react. It's like she doesn't even remember that she's there. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
There's a minute or two of complete silence, Luz can hear the clock ticking as it's the only sound in the room.
Finally, Amity speaks.
"Something bad happened to someone I care about."
Oh, the irony…
Luz sits up, "Do you wanna talk about it?" She inquiries in hope that it'll relieve whatever has been bothering her. She can only fake that smile for so long until the world around her begins to crumble, Luz knows from experience.
Amity shakes her head and pushes herself up to sit on her knees. "Not right now," she answers, sliding off the bed, "you should probably head home. My Mother and Father are coming by later… I don't want them knowing who you are."
Well, that's curious. She doesn't mention her parents often.
"Are they racist?" Luz questions.
"No…" She's partially lying. "They're homophobic, and they would rather have a dead-" She cuts herself off, choking on her own words. Amity's hand turns into a fist and she becomes tense, nails digging into her palms. "Just go home, Luz, please."
She was pleading…
Luz nods silently, "Okay." She agrees reluctantly. "See you tomorrow?"
"Maybe." Amity replies, not bothering to look at Luz as she exits the room. Luz pauses at the entryway to look at the pale girl, whose arms are tight around her sides as if trying to offer herself some sort of consolation.
"I'm here if you wanna talk, okay?" Luz whispers, hoping Amity would hear her. "I just wanna help…"
Amity doesn't answer. Luz sighs and heads outside, stepping into the apartment building hallway and heading towards the lobby.
Something was bothering Amity, and Luz was going to find out what it was, whether she spoke to her or not. What if it was something involving her parents? She could be in danger, judging by the way she spoke of them.
No, maybe she shouldn't pry into this. It seems rather personal… Although, she couldn't help but to worry.
She hears the lobby door bell sounding off as she approaches, and glances up before moving out of the couple's path. As they brush past her, Luz withdraws her phone to call her mother, wanting to let her know that she'll be coming home early.
"You!" A woman practically shrieks.
Luz stops in her tracks and looks over her shoulder, coming eye-to-eye with a pale-green haired woman. She raised a brow, noticing that the elder was looking straight at her with an expression of pure, unadulterated rage.
"How are you alive?! You should be dead! Killed for what you did!"
She was speaking to her, the words of the woman cut deep into her soul, despite being unaware of the meaning behind them. She had a pretty good idea, though. "Ma'am, I- I don't even-"
"Odalia." The woman's husband places himself between them, shielding Luz from his wife's ire. "She isn't The Girl, the one you speak of isn't among us anymore. The police made sure of that." That seems to calm the fire in the woman's eyes, but she still glares at Luz. "Come on, let's go." He gives her a nudge and she finally looks away from Luz, seeming to deem her unworthy of her time.
Whomever the woman saw in her, she must bear a heavy resemblance to them.
The ride home was tense and quiet, driving through the neighborhood where the incident occurred was never easy, but it was always like a breath of fresh air when she returned home.
Her mother should be getting up to head to work now, she'd taken up night shifts after what happened.
Luz swings the front door shut with the edge of her foot and slides her jacket off, hanging it haphazardly on the coat rack. Smelling something cooking in the kitchen, she strolls towards the room and smiles in greeting when her mother tiredly looks up at her, she'd just woken up to get ready for work.
But, apparently she insisted on wanting to make supper first. Which was needless considering Luz could cook something for herself.
"What're you making?" She asks, leaning over the countertop.
"La Bandera." Camila answers, "Your sister's favorite."
Luz's heart tightens upon the mention of her sibling, she was trying her best to forget that the anniversary of her death was just around the corner. She still hasn't fully accepted that she's gone, it just doesn't feel real.
Luz breathes in a shaky breath and she sits down, her legs are unstable.
"Do you think they were telling the truth? About Lucia?" She asks quietly, Camila looks up at her through a glare. The teenager holds up her hands in defense and continues. "She would never do such a thing, but, what if she did…?"
"Luz."
She looks up at her mother. "Do you really believe that Lucia would kidnap someone?"
"No." Luz answers honestly.
Three years ago, Luz and her mother had been woken up in the middle of the night by someone knocking on the door. Camila answered it while Luz listened from around the corner, she wasn't supposed to be out of bed and her mother would've been furious to see that she was.
Standing outside their house had been a group of policemen, their faces wearing a practiced look of sympathy. Luz had immediately felt the dread when they addressed her mother, asking her a few questions, but she hadn't been prepared to hear what she did.
The story they were given is that her older sister, Lucia, had kidnapped a white girl and was preventing the police from rescuing her. They claimed that she became violent when they attempted to help the other girl. But, they never revealed the name of her supposed victim.
Her sister may have had some temper issues, and she had a troubled past due to their father, but she wasn't a bad person in general. She only became violent when someone she cares about was at risk, and she would never kidnap anybody. Lucia had known what it was like to be forcibly taken away from her family…
The story they were given doesn't add up… The authorities insist that she was killed out of self defense, but their only evidence was their words. Apparently the other girl was killed, too, because she'd attacked moments after Lucia was shot down.
Wait a minute.
Luz's eyes widen and she slams her hands down onto the table. "Why would the girl attack them if Lucia had put her in danger?!"
Camila is pulling a plate down now, there's hidden grief in her dark eyes. "I'm not saying she did kidnap the girl," Camila slides the plate over to Luz and moves to leave the room, "but consider that she did do it, perhaps the authorities misjudged and girl just wanted Lucia to be punished by the law, not killed…"
That doesn't make the story any less clear.
"Now, I'm heading to work. Call me if you need anything." Camila tells her, grabbing her bag and kissing the teenager's head.
She leaves the room and Luz grabs her plate, approaching the stove. She waits until the front door has shut before withdrawing her phone. If she couldn't figure this out on her own, she would need some help.
"Hey, Willow, I need a favor."
Amity knew that things would become unreasonably stressful the moment her parents walked through the door, but she was not prepared to have been sat down in her own lounge and lectured. She only expected complaining about her apartment, the size of it, her decorations, and especially the banner in her studio.
They haven't even walked out of the lounge yet.
Her parents had learned about her girlfriend through her blog and were demanding to meet her, but when she informed them that she was not here, they insisted that she call her and invite her over. Managing to talk herself out of that, not wanting Luz to meet them, they shifted to attempting to convince her to find a boyfriend. They used her twin siblings as examples, unaware that they were dating a partner of the same gender.
They could help each other. Emira's girlfriend pretends to be Edric's partner, and Edric's boyfriend fakes being Emira's lover.
The snapping of fingers pulls her attention back to her mother standing next to her with a hand on her hips. Her lime colored eyes glare down at the young woman in disapproval.
"Your sister dated a girl, a lowlife. Do you recall what happened to her?" Her mother raises a brow. "Your sister came out as homosexual, she ran away with a girl, and that resulted in her death because she fought back when the police tried to bring her home."
Amity scowls at her mother, rage bubbling inside of her. The woman didn't deserve to mention her sister, she didn't even have the right to think about her. She didn't grieve for their family's loss, she was only thankful that the embarrassment was taken care of.
Amity's father, on the other hand, mourned on his own, away from everybody.
"She didn't like boys, mother." She reminds her in annoyance, standing up to meet her gaze with a sturdy
stance. "And, neither do I. You can accept it, or you can get out of my home and never mention my sister, or speak to me, ever again."
"Amity," her father addresses her and she turns her head to look at him, "you don't speak to your mother that way. We simply do not want a repeat of what happened with your sister." He sounds genuine, but she can't bring herself to believe him.
She shakes her head. "That's not going to happen." She promises. A chime comes from somewhere in the room.
"How can you be so sure?" Odalia demands, raising her voice. "Why can't you be more like your brother and your sister, Amity? They have a stable future and-"
Alador quietly approaches his wife's side and holds his phone in front of her, the woman looks down and her lip curls in distaste.
"We will be back next week. By then, you better have dumped that girlfriend of yours…"
With that said, she spins on her heel and stalks towards the door with her head held high. Alador exchanges a silent look with Amity before following his wife out, bidding her farewell and shutting the door.
Amity releases a shaky breath that she didn't realize she'd been holding. The sound of her phone ringing drags her attention towards the coffee table, she swipes the green button. "Hey, Luz." She greets, not bothering to hide the irritation and exhaustion in her voice.
"Hey," Luz answers, sounding just as tired as herself, "do you mind if I come over and stay the night?"
Maybe it would help to have Luz here, she needed to talk about the weight on her shoulders.
"Yeah, sure. Come on over."