The next few days after Grom were a rush. Lots of new couples were popping out of thin air, some couples broke up, and Luz and Mittens are now the most sickening sweet couple I know. Now that they're not dancing around each other's feelings anymore, they can't seem to be apart. It's like they're joined at the hip! And when they aren't together all Mittens does is either sigh like a love-struck idiot (which she is), or talk about Luz all the time.

One good thing did come out of this though. I now have Willow's rune sequence and we have been talking to each other, either through the Scroll or the crystal ball, to complain about how annoying those two are. This is exactly what I'm doing right now. At three in the morning. With a dumb smile on my face. Way to be productive Val.

Flowers: I'm starting to get sick of them. Don't get me wrong though! I'm really happy they finally got together. 3:15 a.m.

Honestly… me too. I'm sick of them rubbing in my face how happy they are together! They could at least not be that affectionate in public. 3:15 a.m. :Me

Wanna change to the crystal ball? Cus I know for a fact that you won't go back to sleep right now. 3:16 a.m. :Me

Flowers: Sure. And how do you know that, huh? 3:16 a.m.

As soon as she agreed to it I sled off my bed, made sure I looked at least presentable, grabbed the crystal ball, and called Willow. I waited for a bit until she accepted the call and I smiled. She had her glasses on, her hair was a bit messy, and she was wearing a simple, white tank top. Sadly (or thankfully since my weak, gay heart wouldn't be able to take it) I couldn't see more of Willow past her shoulders.

"Intuition." I said to her with a smirk once the image was clear enough.

"Says you." She said with a chuckle while fixing her hair a bit with her hand. So that means no more bed hair… she looked cute like that. "But you're not wrong. Not when I've got something else to distract me."

Ah, this is something that also changed after Grom: apparently Willow has decided that I'm interesting and has been flirting with me… or at least I think she is. It's been subtle things like a smile here, a hug a bit longer than usual, or a slight brush of our hands. She also decided to sit next to me during our joined lectures and lunch, and I swear to the Titan that she's sitting closer to me each time it happens… during lunch, since we can't move the desks during class.

"Something? Don't you mean someone?" Let's test the waters…

Before answering she giggles (ahh!) and then smirks. "I'll let you figure that one on your own, Miss Perceptive."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "You will never let me live that one down, will you?" The only answer I got from the (cute) Plant witch was a giggle and a shake of her head. "I said that as a joke, Wills."

"And I will use it against you every chance I have. It's perfect teasing material."

"Ohh… so you admit you're teasing me?" I asked her while raising one eyebrow.

And what's her reaction? She feigns ignorance! The nerve!

After that small round of banter, we kept talking about everything and nothing, complaining about things (mostly about the pair of dorks each calls its best friend), and other stuff that you talk with your crush at three… no, wait, five in the morning.

I looked up from the crystal ball and, thanks to a quick spell, opened the curtains of my window, only to almost blind myself with the rays of the morning sun.

"Gah! Fucking…" And I closed them again. Genius idea, Val.

"Umm, everything okay over there?" Willow asked me, her voice filled with concern.

Meanwhile, I was rubbing my eyes and trying to blink the black spots away. "Yeap! Everything's fine just, almost blinded me with the sun."

"Sun? Is it morning already?" I heard some movement coming from the ball, so that must mean that Willow went to check if what I said was true. A second later she came back and her gorgeous face popped back into the picture. "Well would you look at that… it is morning."

"Yeap, which means that we won't be getting any sleep today." I opened the curtains again, this time ready for the flash of light, and leaned back a bit. When I focused again on Willow, she was looking at me with a confused face. "What? Got something on my face?"

"Your shirt… is that a Royal Witches tee-shirt?"

I had to look down at my shirt to see what she was talking about, mostly because I don't remember what shirt I grabbed last night. The shirt in question was a plain black shirt with the band's logo on it: a big, golden R superimposed over a silver W so that it looks like the golden letter has silver wings, and over them is an intricate crown made with gold and silver.

"What, this thing? I bought it a couple of years back. Skara got me into them like… five years ago and been a fan ever since."

"Huh… can't believe someone else knows about them."

"Well, they are a small band." Suddenly an idea popped into my head. It might not work, but I guess it's worth a shot. "Speaking off, they're going to give a concert in a couple of weeks and I was wondering if you'd like to co-"

"I'd love to!" Well that was fast. "I-I mean… that would be nice."

And now for the true test. "Want me to tell the others? Make this a group thing?"

Willow stayed silent for a while. She's probably thinking it over, right? And it's not like she'll think I'm weird and…

"I mean… I think I'd enjoy it more if it were just the two of us." Wait, am I hearing this correctly? She actually said what she just said? "Because Luz and Amity will be over each other, probably making out in a dark corner; you and I will be geeking over them and enjoying the concert, and Gus is too young to even be admitted into the concert so… I think it would be best if it was just you and me."

"Good, good." What kind of response is that?! "It's a date then?"

"Sure thing." She said while smiling at me. "Umm, I think I'm gonna go now… have to get ready for school and all that, probably wash my face so I don't look like a dead person at school."

There's no way you could ever look bad. "Same here." After a small, awkward silence I cleared my throat and smiled. "Guess I'll be seeing you at school."

"Yeah, see ya." And the call ended, but it took me a couple of seconds before my body responded. And what did I do? Slam my face against my pillow and squeal like a little girl.

I've got a date with Willow! Ahhhhhhhh!

After my internal (and not so silent) freak out, I washed my face, changed into the school uniform, and dashed out of my home with one destination in mind: Blight Manor.

-o-

The next day (or the same day, whatever makes you happy) went by like usual. This means that I broke into Blight Manor, woke Mittens up, dodged a couple of fireballs, and then waited for Amity to get ready. After that, it was just a boring school day of lectures and spells we've already practiced a hundred times.

I decided to keep the date with Willow a secret for now, don't need to burden Mittens with my stuff when she has so much to deal with right now. Speaking of things she has to deal with…

"Girlfriend spotted." I whispered to Mittens while pointing at where Luz and her squad were sitting in the cafeteria. When she saw them Amity began to walk faster, almost jogging, until she practically jumped to tackle her girlfriend in a hug.

While they were doing their sweet, and gross, couple stuff, I sat next to Willow because, apparently, that's my spot now. "Hey there, Flowers. What were you guys talking about earlier?"

"A new café opened in town and Luz here was talking about how we should all go and check it out." She said with a smile.

"I already went there with my dad." Gus said while he checked that one of his clones had everything he needed for his next class. "The place is good, and their cakes are really tasty."

"Which is why we should all go after school!" Luz took the chance to jump into the conversation. She had an arm thrown over Amity's shoulder while the witch in question was leaning against her with a book in her hands. When did she even have the time to take it out? "If you're all free, that is."

"You know I'm free today." Amity said without lifting her eyes from the book she was reading.

"I think I can make it." Gus said while finishing her lunch.

"Well, I could go there after taking care of the plants at the greenhouse." She said while turning to look at me, just like everyone else.

Minus Mittens, because she still has her nose stuck inside that book.

"Well I have Grubgy practice. But…" I quickly said when I saw the disappointed look everyone was giving me. "I could drop by after. But one of you is going to have to text me how to get there because I have zero idea how to get there."

"Maybe I could wait for you until your practice is over." Well that's a surprise. And it seems like I'm not the only one surprised by that if the look Luz is giving to Willow is anything to go by, "What? I know how to get there. Plus I already need to stay behind, so I don't mind waiting for a bit longer."

Now that's… really sweet of her. And now I'm staring like an idiot. Say something, you dumb fuck!

I was about to thank Willow when Luz beat me to it, saying that it was "so sweet of her" while giving her best friend a look that made Willow's cheeks flush. Then she simply used a spell to steal the human's beanie and toss it through the open window as revenge.

The rest of the day went normal, or as normal as it should, and once school was over I went to my Grubgy practice with a weird feeling that things wouldn't be so simple with this friend's outing.