If you want to read ahead, go ahead and check my Ao3. It's complete on there.Even though she was with Amity now, Luz still couldn't sleep. She stares up at the ceiling almost unblinking, the blankets draped across her waist as Amity had stolen most of the blankets, curled up at the side of the bed.
She doesn't seem to be sleeping very well either, if constant movement was anything to consider.
A light illuminates the other side of the bed and Luz turns her head, sighing when she sees that Amity was scrolling through her notifications. Luz rolls over and shifts her rests her head on Amity's side, the girl's spare hand descends and delicate fingers run through her short, messy hair affectionately.
"I thought you were asleep." The brunette murmurs to the tanned girl, "Did I wake you?" Judging by the tiredness in her voice, she didn't get a wink of sleep.
"I was awake," Luz tells her sleepily, she reaches up to take Amity's hand and curls her fingers around her own, pulling it back down to lay across her abdomen. "Why aren't you asleep…?"
Amity sighs and sits up, Luz moves so that she can fold her legs beneath her.
"My parents came over earlier," she tells her as she shuts off her phone, laying it in her lap, "they just made the whole situation worse." She knows that Amity's parents are terrible, but something seems to be really bothering her. It was blatantly obvious that it wasn't her parents, judging by the faraway look in her eyes.
She needs to change the subject.
"Hey, Amity?" Golden eyes glance at Luz as she moves to sit next to the other girl, "What made you want to become internet famous?"
Amity visibly hesitates, tensing up and gritting her teeth. Luz can see the tears in her eyes through the illuminated light, her heart tightens and she reaches up to cup the woman's cheek. Amity pulls away and Luz retracts her hand, the brunette's words are nearly inaudible.
"My sister…"
Luz tilts her head in confusion, "Emira?"
Amity shakes her head, a tiny, sad smile coming to her lips. "No, Amelia."
She's never heard that name before. Matter of fact, she didn't even know Amity had another sister. "How come I've never heard of Amelia?" Luz questions cautiously, knowing that she was treading on thin ice.
Amity's response lets her know that she was in the clear.
"She was my oldest sibling. I don't really remember much about how she was when I was younger, but Emira and Edric tell me that she was formerly Mother and Father's Golden Child."
That must mean she was their favorite, there really wasn't any other meaning that it could have.
"She was basically Little Miss Perfect, but there was a flaw that completely changed Mother and Father's opinion on her…"
Luz's chest tightens as realization settles in. Amity told her that her parents are anti-lgbt. The oldest, most gifted child of a wealthy family, there's only one thing that could change how they viewed her.
"She was gay?"
The brunette nods quietly. "Actually, all of us are… But, while the other three of us hid in fear of Mother and Father, Amelia wore it with pride."
The tanned girl grins, "Hey, I already like her!"
Amity lets loose a restrained laugh and starts fumbling with her thumbs, "Anyway, I was nine and she was thirteen, I hardly remember what happened," she hesitates for a moment, gritting her teeth, "but word got out to our parents that she had a crush on one of her classmates. Her crush was a girl a grade or two above her." Amity scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Well, to be fair, it was more of an admiration, but that girl told our parents."
Luz frowns. "I hate her. What a bitch."
"She discovered that one thing changed her parent's opinion on her, learned that her sexuality defines whether or not they love her," Amity's fists tightens, "so she broke away from the 'Perfect Child' behavior, rebelled." Amity laughs a little bit, "During her freshman year at Hexide, she walked into the office while the Seniors were doing morning announcements, she grabbed the microphone, and I'm going to let you guess what she said."
Luz raises a brow, "She told the school she's gay?"
"Sort of." Amity chuckles, "The principal tells me that she confidently grabbed the mic from the Seniors, and said: 'I'm gay, so if all you boys could kindly fuck off, that would be great."
She rubs her forehead in exasperation, "Then she said: 'If you don't, I will tear your eyeballs out and shove them down your throat so you can see me making you eat your own nasty'..." Amity trails off, "You know…"
"Oh god." Luz flinches, her hands shooting down to shield her own crotch, shivering as the thought formulates an image in her head. "I'm not a boy and that hurts to think about!"
Amity giggles, "Yeah, Amelia was a sweet girl, but she also was one to be feared."
"What… happened to her?" Luz asks, shuddering the picture away and refocusing on the problem at hand.
Amity sighs.
"A few days before she disappeared, the Twins found her sneaking around with another girl, and so they reported what they'd found to our parents. Mother and Father were not happy, and the moment Amelia got home, things spiraled downhill quicker than any of us could've expected…"
Amity did say that her parents were homophobic, so Luz has a pretty good idea of what happened.
"They insulted her, called her names, crushed her spirit, and to finalize it all, they were going to betroth her to the son of another wealthy family." Amity tenses and her hands turn into fists, clutching the bedsheets. "They said they would rather have a dead daughter than a gay daughter."
The air around them becomes tense.
"I found her sneaking out of the manor one night, the day she disappeared," Amity starts pulling at the sheets with trembling fingers, "she wasn't herself… She was broken, I could see it in her eyes when she looked at me… Amelia told me that she was leaving, but she promised that she would come back for me as soon as she could."
Amity's voice is now devoid of emotion, "I didn't tell anybody. I keep thinking, maybe if I had told someone, she wouldn't've been killed that day…"
Luz rests her hand on Amity's leg, "That's not your fault, though… It was her decision to run away."
The internet star sighs, "I sometimes wish I'd gone with her… I looked up to her."
Luz rolls over on her back, resting her head in her girlfriend's lap, and she reaches up to playfully poke Amity's nose. The girl blinks several times, returning to her senses and snapping her out of her stupor, Luz giggles at the cute sight. "Aww, does Amity wanna be a bad girl?"
Amity thumps her in the forehead and Luz squeaks in protest. "Shush, you."
"Do not shush me, I shall shush you." Luz answers, poking her in the nose again. "You have been shushed."
The girl stares down at her with one brow raised and her lips pulled back into an amused smile.
Luz grins. "Never underestimate the power of the Shush!"
Amity laughs again, this time genuinely. A kaleidoscope of butterflies erupts through Luz's chest. "Oh, you're so easy to keep happy." She murmurs, brushing the tanned girl's dark bangs out of her face, "I like it when you smile."
Luz giggles and softens her voice, "Well, anyway, did you at least see what the girl looked like? The one she left with?"
"Yeah," her girlfriend responds quietly, "I mean, kind of? I didn't really get a good look at her, but I think I'd recognize her if I ever see her again." Her brows crease together in thought, as if reliving the moment. "She was tall, lanky, but strong… She had dark skin, I think, and she was wearing an old, green jacket with a bright red beanie on her head."
The description hits Luz like a ton of bricks, creating an image in her head that replicated her sister. The light-hearted joy she'd been feeling over moments ago is replaced by an empty, hollowness inside. "By any chance, did the jacket have the bi flag on the shoulder?"
Amity nods, "Now that you mention it, yeah, I think so…" She shifts and slides off the bed, stretching her arms above her head, she leans down and kisses Luz's forehead. "Anyway, thank you for listening… But, it's five in the morning. I have a long drive, so I'll be in the shower."
Luz's gaze drops down to the sheets as Amity walks away, struggling to comprehend the story she was told.
'Lucia?'
Due to not having a ride, Luz was forced to walk to school. Her mother had the vehicle today and she would've taken the bus; Amity's apartment was in the opposite direction, putting another fifteen minutes between herself and school.
In all truthfulness, walking home from school didn't sound so bad now.
When she arrived, everybody had already gone inside. She was only tardy by five minutes, so that wasn't so bad.
Thankfully, school would be coming to a close for the summer in a week or so, and the seniors, Luz and her grade, would be graduating soon afterwards if it wasn't rescheduled. It shouldn't matter too much if it's a one time thing.
Or at least, she hopes that it doesn't.
The cool air of the building was relaxing, like a breath of fresh air against her dark, overheated skin. It was only a few minutes until the bell rang for classes, so she would have time to stop by her locker first to fetch her textbooks for the first two classes.
Ascending the staircase with the muscles in her legs aching for relief, she quickly strolls towards her locker at the end of the hall. Her first class was on the right from the staircase, thankfully. Hopefully she will be able to focus on her classes today, but with her groggy mind at the moment, she has a hunch that she'll be struggling not to fall asleep.
Luz stops at her locker and clicks the combination in, swinging it open and sliding her backpack to her shoulder. With one hand, she holds it open and uses the other to retrieve her Social Studies and English textbooks. Moving her sketchbook aside, she carelessly drops them inside and zips her bag closed. Luz shuts her locker with a quick fwip of her fingers-
"You're late."
She swears her soul left her body as a cold feeling of shock sweeps over her, startled by her friend's sudden appearance behind the locker door. Relaxing, she secures her locker and faces the dark-haired girl.
"Hey, Willow… Yeah, I slept in." Luz answers, but the other girl doesn't seem convinced. "Did you get what I asked?"
"Of course." Willow smiles, extending an object in a ziplock bag. Luz reaches to grab it and the girl snatches it away before Luz can get her fingers on her, hiding it behind her back. "But first," green eyes look up and down the tanned girl, examining her, "what happened to it?"
She knows exactly what she's referring to, but she dodges the question. She has a secret to keep, after all. Luz raises a questioning brow, "You mean the cat-eared hoodie? I outgrew-"
Willow gives her an exasperated look. "The black jacket with your initials on the back." Willow interrupts, unbelievingly. "The one you're always wearing to school, but you're not wearing it today."
She could easily lie, but she has a feeling that her friend would be able to detect the truth no matter how good the bluff is. Besides, she wouldn't confront her about this if she didn't already know. Willow is her best friend, she has to tell her…
But, she also doesn't want word to get out to everybody.
"What do you know?"
Her friend smiles knowingly and she unlocks her phone one-handedly, revealing the screen to Luz and causing butterflies to erupt inside of her chest. It was a picture on Emira's IG page, showing Amity strolling in the background behind her, wearing a familiar black jacket with her hands in the pockets and her attention focused on something off camera.
She could make any sort of clothing work, couldn't she?
"I want you to tell me," Willow begins, "why Amity is wearing your jacket."
Luz's jaw sets firm. "That's not my jacket." Exactly why had she chosen to lie?
Willow scoffs. "Okay, why is it not your jacket?"
A feigned look of confusion forms on Luz's face, having already decided on her response. "Why would Amity be wearing my jacket?" Yeah, that was a good comeback. She mentally gives herself a pat on the back.
"Because, maybe," she turns around to see Gus stepping into a view with a grin that matches Willow's, "maybe you're the secret girlfriend."
Her mind was screaming at her bail, begging the bell to ring so she could run to class and think up a believable answer. Unfortunately, the universe was not on her side today and left her stranded. She would have to come up with a decent excuse on the spot, and she was not good at that. It doesn't help that Willow can see right through her lies more than half of the time.
"Fine…" She relents. "You got me."
Gus's jaw falls out, as if he hadn't expected her to confirm anything.
Willow chuckles and she retracts the bag from her bag and extends it to Luz, who takes it and carefully stores it away in her backpack.
"How'd you score that?" Willow asks, elbowing Gus and reeling him back to reality. "Last time I checked, you're not exactly…" She trails off, rubbing her chin in thought as she examines the tanned girl, "Don't take this the wrong way," Willow places a reassuring hand on Luz's shoulder, "but you're Luz. And she's… Amity."
Gus speaks up in agreement, "You're not afraid that she might be using you? Not tryna intrude or anything, we just wanna look out for you."
Luz smiles in relief, unhurt by her friends' words. She knew that they didn't mean any real harm by it, and that they would have her back shall anything go wrong. "I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about," she informs them with a grateful, but confident grin, "I had my doubts at first, too. She proved me wrong."
Willow exchanges an unsure look with Gus.
"Guys. You can trust her, I promise."
Her friends sigh and Willow nods, seemingly trusting Luz's word. "I hope you're right, Luz," she whispers solemnly, "because that thing I gave you… What you told me to find? It might have something to do with Amity's family."
"What do you mean?"
"I am not one-hundred percent sure, but you can discuss that with Amity, she might know. Perhaps it'll clear some things up."
Luz looks at her. "I think I might already know."