The efforts of the previous day were going to waste. Amity's world was slowly falling apart around her. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking, making trying to focus on the impossibly tiny font professors insist on using much harder to click on. But she managed, and her heart leaped up from her chest into her throat.
She had failed her most recent exam.
She was failing a class.
Amity Blight was failing a class.
Amity Blight was failing.
The girl's breath quickly grew rapid, her heart ready to jump out of her throat and go running off on its own little adventure. She refreshed the page, again, a third time, and every time it didn't go away Amity felt herself coming closer to crying outright and never leaving her apartment again.
She wasn't independent. She wasn't strong. She couldn't handle herself. The walls were closing in on her, and she couldn't do anything, because she was not a smart, well behaved, perfect and straight A Blight. She was a failure, who couldn't stand on her own two feet with a written guide.
That aside, she still needed to breathe, so she went back to the years of therapy that never really helped, and tried to remember the only thing that her therapist suggested that she knew worked.
Focus on something else.
Amity's arm darted around her room...Not her computer, no, bad idea. Wall? Too boring. Clock? No, time passing was scary, she would much rather time didn't exist right now, and that's what she was going to pretend was the case.
Perhaps the lava lamp Edric had gotten for her birthday two years ago. Lava lamps were always interesting. When they worked.
Her pillow? One stained well beyond recovery a deep mint green from all the time she had spent with her hair being very green.
Nothing. She could tell that wasn't working, nothing in her else.
Boscha! Boscha is nice. She's always caring and protective. She's offered to kick so many peoples asses I've lost count. And there was that time she skipped class and brought in a-
Amity's train of thought stopped there as she remembered that was also the day she got her first ever A minus and had to be sent home early from school because she wouldn't stop crying.
Willow! Willow is always so supportive, she's always been there for me. And Gus too! They've always been there to help me when things are going haywire...And I've been there for them! At least I think I have...Yeah!...Yeah?
Amity then reconsidered how much time she spent with Willow and Gus talking with them rather than asking for help, and decided that guilty is another emotion she didn't want to be feeling right now.
She tried to think of something, anything. She even tried giving her siblings a moment of thought. She didn't manage more than 2 seconds without gagging, but she tried! But eventually, after her brain had roll-o-dex'ed its way through everyone she had met at college, then highschool, then elementary school, even that one summer "magic camp" that she swore never to think about ever again, her brain did manage to settle on someone.
"Luz…"
Luz. She was supposed to hang out with her today. While normally the thought of that would send her stomach up into her throat, it was comparatively calm and easy to think about right now. She might even go so far as to say it was a pleasant thought. Which was probably severely unhealthy in many, many ways, but Amity wasn't focusing on how the fact that someone who had spent the last week or so truly tormenting her was grounding her and what that says about her current mental state. She was just focused on Luz, because thinking about Luz made her breathe easier.
There was a lot about Luz she could think about. The way her smile was always beaming and brilliant, how her teeth bounced the sun around like mirrors, the way she laughed when they were together. The way she gets into her music when she's driving, even when Amity can't understand a word of what's being said. The way that Luz was seriously, seriously strong. And fit.
Amity could think about the way the sun danced around Luz's figure that one evening. How she swore she saw Luz smile at the ground and how she was very sure she even saw Luz Fucking Noceda blush. Amity could think about if she wasn't such a pussy, and if she had just stepped forward that evening, put her arms around Luz's waist, and leaned in and could've…
Or Amity could splash some cold water in her face and think about how she has to go and get dressed for the day.
Deep breath….and out...
The day belonged to her, and Amity planned to make the most of it before meeting up with Luz for their da- Before meeting up with Luz. She had errands she could run and stuff she could do, you know, like a responsible adult who's becoming independent. Amity took a step outside her door, and took in the bright California morning sun as it lit the sky a deep royal blue and set the ground alive with color, light bouncing from the smooth pavement and dazzling her eyes a bit.
And just as she was about to set off for the day, she noticed something at her feet. It was a milk crate, with a small black tarp over top of it and a note from none other than Luz. A handwritten note from Luz, for once. Bless the girl, her handwriting showed how hard she was trying to make it legible. After deciphering that the note said to "keep this safe for tonight", Amity lugged the surprisingly heavy mystery crate up to her apartment. She shoved it past the door with her shoe, and then finally, triumphantly, set foot outside.
Her walk was pleasant, and surprisingly not that thoughtful. Whereas normally Amity's mind would be scrolling through random bullshit throughout the day on her walks, debating various things in various ways and trying to calm her anxiety about it all, her brain stayed quiet today. A welcome change. And that is when she heard the familiar clicks of plastic wheels.
"Morning," Luz said, voice sandy and groggy. She popped her skateboard up into her fingertips as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"Well aren't you bright eyed and bushy tailed!" Amity laughed, Luz groaning as a smile snuck onto her face despite her demeanor.
"This is how I wake up," She said, giving her board a rap with her knuckles, "So sue me."
Amity stretched a little bit, "Well I can't say I blame you."
Luz nodded, yawning. Amity let her shoulders fall. She could do this.
"I appreciate you stopping on your way but...I'm kinda wanting to have this morning to myself," Amity said, shyly taking hold of her arm.
Luz smiled, giving Amity a surprisingly friendly pat on the back, "No worries, Blight. We're still on for tonight, though, right?"
Amity nodded, smile creeping back, "Yep. Your place. Nine-ish."
Luz beamed, jogging ahead. Her board hit the ground and she rode off, quickly turning back to call out to Amity, "See you then!"
"See you then, babe," Amity said quietly, before touching her fingers to her lips. She really, really hoped Luz hadn't heard that. Or was still looking at her, because she was probably looking like a very dumb tomato with green hair. A dumb, green haired tomato, going on a date with a dominican beauty tonight. If it even is a date. Which it probably isn't.
Deep breath. Take a deep breath, Amity thought, you just stood your ground and set a boundary, and she respected it. You have the day to yourself.
Amity took a slow breath in, the smell of the outdoors filling her lungs and waking her senses up just a bit more. She stretched a bit, and kept walking. That's when she caught a glimpse of Gus and Willow. Okay, yes, she had the day to herself, but she owed some quality time with them to them. Gus smiled as Amity made her way over, quickly retying her hair and brushing the rest behind her shoulders.
"Morning, Amity!" Gus said, raising a coffee cup.
"Morning, you two," Amity said, sitting down with the others.
Willow put a hand on Amity's shoulder, "You feeling better?"
Amity took a deep breath, "Yeah. I'm doing better," she said, straightening her back, "I set some pretty healthy boundaries with Luz just now, I think. And she respected them."
Willow smiled, "That's a good sign!"
As Gus gave Amity a look, Amity nodded, "I know," She said, "but...Right now? I just wanna relax."
Gus raised his cup again, "I'll drink to that."
"You? Drinking?" Amity laughed.
"Drink coffee," Gus sneered, laughing back, "Sorry, Amity, Queen of Semantics."
"I think you have her mixed up with her mother," Willow chimed in, prompting a good natured laugh from them all. As well as a few less good natured impersonations of the aforementioned parental figure.
"How's the workload, Gus?" Amity asked, "I constantly forget you should still be, like, in high school."
Gus shrugged, "It's not too bad. Sometimes I wish I had a clone of myself I could threaten with death to do some of it for me," he mused.
"What, like some sorta magical cartoon?" Willow asked.
"I guess," Gus chuckled, "But either way, I handle it fine. Nothing too terrible."
"What about you, Amity?" Willow asked.
Suddenly, Amity remembered why she wanted to go on a walk.
"I'm...I'm actually failing a class right now."
Willow immediately pulled out a thermometer, sticking it under Amity's tongue while Gus grabbed his phone, shining the flashlight into Amity's eyes. Amity gagged a little, quickly taking the thermometer out and pushing them both back, "Jesus, I swear you too are always a little too prepared."
Gus quickly started Boogling any illnesses that could cause failing grades, "Do you think it's the Luz stuff?"
"For sure," Amity sighed, "So I think the sooner she and I stabilize things, the sooner I can get back to being a decent student."
Gus squinted, and kept Boogling, just to be sure. Willow rested a hand on Amity's back, rubbing in small circles. It was a small gesture but it took a lot of weight out of the green haired disaster's shoulders.
"You've got this. You said she respected the boundary you just set. So you're gonna be fine!" Willow, ever the encouraging, reassured Amity, "Just take it slowly, and figure things out bit by bit. You're smart, you've got this."
"She might also have postsenioritumgraduatioroitis," Gus chimed in, catching a boot to the shin in response.
Amity giggled, "Thank you. Both. I really appreciate everything."
It was a while before Amity got up to leave. The sun had crept its way up into the sky, beaming down from above, the day was well and truly on its way, and Amity felt like she was on top of the world. If only she remembered to wear her My Remical Chodemance t-shirt. She waved her friends goodbye and set off, heading out into the city proper, through the detour that was the local park.
Amity smiled and stretched out her arms, the afternoon sun bringing a cozy warmth with just enough breeze to keep it from being hot. The birds sang, the air smelled fresh, clean, invigorating. Amity smiled, and closed her eyes for a moment, the sounds of the leaves rustling with the wind and the sounds of people milling about quietly, enjoying the day enveloping her. When she opened her eyes, she quickly popped her earbuds in, flicking to her favorite playlist. She was Amity Fucking Blight, and this day belonged to her.
The evening rolled in quickly. Far quicker than Amity had expected it to. Is that a symptom of enjoying yourself? Not noticing how quickly time is passing you by? It felt nice. Amity was almost back to her apartment, The sun getting ready to kiss the horizon with warm cotton candy beams stretching out across the sky. Amity made her way up the steps, and felt her heart sink into her feet when she saw her apartment door was open. Ready to immediately call the cops, then her siblings, then a mental ward, she took a timid step closer and felt the tension fall off of her. The familiar smell of Luz's perfume (or was it cologne?) wafted out through the door, and Amity walked inside with some new vigor.
Luz was strewn across one of the large, plush couches in the main space of the apartment, feet kicked up onto a coffee table, "You're back!"
"Yeah, how did you get in here? Why are you in here?"
Luz held up a finger, "First: You guys suck at hiding your backup key," a few crunches of potato chips, and a second finger, "Second: I missed you and wanted to surprise you.
Amity smiled a little bit, shutting the door behind her before taking a seat, just a bit away from Luz, "You coulda closed the door. Or asked to come over. Or something."
"Yeah but you've got rich people apartment shit goin on here," Luz said, "I wanted some time to check it out myself."
Amity groaned and gave Luz a playful shove.
"You've got some kinky shit in there, Blight."
Amity nearly did a spit take on thin air, "Why did you go in my room?!"
Luz slapped her thigh, laughing like an idiot, that infectious, stupid, shit eating, beautiful, entrancing, boardering on perfect smile taking over her stupid pretty face.
"I was just fuckin with you!" She laughed, "But now the cats are out of the bag! What's in your room, huh?"
"Nothing!" Amity whined.
"Suuure," Luz snickered, sitting up straight to scoot awfully close to Amity, "I bet you have like handcuffs or something," she leaned even closer, "I bet they're bare metal, too."
Amity decided the best course of action was changing the subject, right now.
"What was it you said? You missed me?" Amity asked, getting up to find the milk crate her home invader had requested she kept safe.
"I did!" Luz said, flopping back down where Amity was sitting, "I've been enjoying spending time with you, and ya know I know you wanted the day to yourself but...I dunno, I couldn't stop thinking about you."
"That's...Awfully sincere of you, Luz." Amity blushed.
"So," Luz continued, "I figured if we were already going out tonight, why not just crash at your place for a bit until you get back?"
Amity shook her head and smiled, "How long have you been here exactly?"
Luz glanced up at the clock on the wall, before groaning, "Not even like 30 minutes, so when can we talk about what shit you've got in your room."
Amity blushed again, setting the surprisingly heavy milk crate down on the table in front of them, "How about a deal?"
"I like where this is going, Blight."
"If you tell me, right now, what we're doing tonight and why it involves whatever is in here? I'll Show you one of the things I keep in my room."
"Ohh, no, Blight. Not on those terms," Luz chuckled, sitting up straight, "Nah, not just 'one of the things', no. I think I know you pretty well, Blight."
"Is that so?" Amity asked, crossing her arms.
"Mhm. And I'm willing to bet," Luz said, starting to lean closer to Amity, pointing a finger at her, "That you own a dog collar," Luz smirked, finger pressing into Amity's chest.
Amity kept a deadpan stare.
"And if I'm right, I wanna see you with it on. And if I'm wrong," She trailed off, slowly running her finger up Amity's chest. Luz's finger traced its way past Amity's collar bone, along her throat and up her neck, tilting the green haired tomato's face up to meet the Dominican's, "You've gotta let me get you one."
Amity couldn't stop her blush, but it wouldn't matter because Luz is right there, staring down at her, making Amity feel small, vulnerable, but yet still safe because she's close and this is Luz and for some godforsaken reason a part of Amity trusts Luz.
"Deal," she said, quietly, never breaking eye contact.
Luz moved away, carefully tugging the crate closer to her. She pulled the top off of it, revealing quite a few cans of spray paint. Cans that had seen plenty of use, with splotches of paint all over them and some showing a few dents and scrapes.
Amity immediately snapped her head to Luz, "What the fuck."
"Okay, this is gonna sound strange but...I wanna take you to do graffiti with me."
Amity scoffed, "What, because I'm not cool enough?"
"No!" Luz said, "Because...Because this is something I really like. And I want to...I want to share it with you, Blight."
Amity cocked a brow, but kept her arms folded.
"I know it's not your speed but I really want to just have this experience with you," Luz explained, carefully taking one of the cans and inspecting it, running a finger over a long since scratched off logo, "If you don't like it, you never have to do it again. But I just...I wanna give it a go with you."
"How do I know you're not setting me up to get arrested or some shit?" Amity said, sitting up taller, and scooting away from Luz just a tad.
"Well," Luz said, "One: I've been doing this for so many years that I've lost count, and two," she trailed off, setting the can back into the crate, "I only invite people who are smart enough to not get busted."
Amity gave Luz one more once over, and eventually sighed, letting her arms fall, "Fine. But if you try and pull any," she stood up, and pressed her finger into Luz's forehead, "and I mean any bullshit, I'm telling Boscha."
"Sí, señora," Luz said, "Como desées."
Amity let her finger fall, "Good…"
Luz's smile turned into a devilish little smirk, "So about that collar?"
The glare Amity gave Luz could cut diamonds. It bore into Luz's sassy little soul as Amity grumbled, heading off to the hallway to her room. It took a few minutes of rummaging around, but Luz's patience was rewarded with quite the visual. Amity's face was beet red, the green and brown tiger stripes that made up her hair falling down around her shoulders, either side of a solid, thick, black collar.
The collar itself was lined on the inside with faux fur, gently resting against Amity's neck, complimenting it in a way that Luz couldn't quite put her finger on. The collar itself had a surprising lack of studs or spikes (surprising to Luz, that is), and sported a small loop at the front. The perfect size for a leash. Or a lock. Or both.
Luz gave Amity a cat calling whistle, standing up and beginning to orbit the girl, "I gotta say, Blight," she chuckled, "I thought this was gonna look good in my head but…Seeing the real thing? Oh my god this is a treat and a half…"
"Sh-Shut up," Amity whispered.
Luz took a step dangerously close to Amity, lifting the girls chin to meet her eyes again.
"Oh, my...That is a nice look on you…"
Amity tried averting her eyes, "What is?"
"Oh, I think you know…" Luz trailed off, stepping even closer as she put a hand around Amity's waist, "A cute girl like you looking up at me with this pretty little thing on?" The other girl's hand trailed up a bit, fingers gently taking hold of the loop at the front of the collar, a gesture that elicited a quiet gasp from Amity.
"It looks good on you, Blight," Luz whispered, giving the collar an experimental tug, "Very good on you."
"Thank you, Luz," Amity said, barely audible as she tried to fight all the other noises that wanted to escape her throat.
Luz smirked, leaning down to get her mouth right up into Amity's ear, "What was that?" she asked, "I couldn't hear you…"
"Thank you..!" Amity gasped, arms finally clinging to Luz like she was about to fall to her death and Luz was the only thing keeping her safe, fingertips trembling and knees shaking, just about to give. Luz's hand left the collar's loop, fully embracing Amity and pulling her close. It didn't take long for the shaking to stop, Amity's hands and knees returning to being at least seventy percent solid.
"You okay?" Luz asked, listening as Amity took a very shaky breath in, and let out one that was a little more steady as her breathing started to stabilize again.
Amity nodded, "I'm okay," she said, resting her head into the crook of Luz's neck, "Promise."
"Good...Did it...feel…?"
"Good...It felt good," Amity finished.
"That's good." Luz said, swaying a little as a comfortable silence settled around them, "Do you want to take it off?"
Amity nodded, "For now, yes please."
"Alright, go ahead," Luz said.
Amity headed off to her room, undoing the buckle as her heart raced in her skull. Ignoring the fact that it had been a very long time since anyone had done that to her, or made her feel quite like that (maybe not ignoring, it did feel very good), her brain was laser focused on what had just happened in context. That was something Luz did. Luz Fucking Noceda did that. And right when she could've kicked Amity into a brand new all time low, sent Amity spiraling down into her final pit, because Amity was well and truly convinced Luz Noceda could've ended her future then and there, she didn't.
She didn't do that. Luz saw what was happening, and not only did she not take advantage, she respected the situation.
It was roughly just after Amity had tucked the collar back into her side drawer that a tiny Gus clad in a clearly fake halo, dingy foam wings, and an off white gown appeared on her shoulder.
"Remember," tiny fake angel Gus said, "Keep your guard up."
"Yes, I know the plan. I promise," Amity said, looking down at the Gus that probably wasnt even there, "I'll keep my guard up."
Tiny fake angel Gus gave Amity a thumbs up, before it hit Amity, "Wait, if you're the angel wouldn't that make Willow the Devil?"
On cue, a tiny Willow clad in an admittedly very nice looking latex bodysuit with clearly fake tail and horns (but very well done makeup) appeared on Amity's opposite shoulder.
Tiny fake devil Willow chimed, "It does!" she sheepishly reached for the back of her head, "But I'm in agreement with Gus on this one. You should be careful, Am."
"That doesn't sound like devil-ish advice…"
Willow shrugged, "Just promise me you will!"
Amity smiled down at tiny fake devil Willow, "I promise, Willow. She's not gonna hurt me again."
"And if she does?" Gus rang out.
"We tell Boscha and we never speak to her again, ever," Amity said, taking a glance at the mirror to strike a confident pose.
"You've got this," Willow cheered, before she and tiny fake angel Gus disappeared.
Amity strolled back into her living room, feeling a tad more refreshed and less flustered than before. Luz was flipping through her phone, hunched over the spray cans and mumbling to herself.
"So...What exactly are you doing?"
"I've got a drawing in mind," Luz said, lifting up a can and hefting it, "Gotta see what I have and what I have to substitute."
"I see," Amity said, setting herself down on the couch, taking a moment to appreciate the way the setting sun made Luz glow, "Are you planning on proposing or something?"
Luz scoffed, smiling and flashing a middle finger to Amity.
"That's not a no!"
Luz laughed, before finally seeming to be satisfied with what she had in stock. With a sigh she plopped herself down next to Amity, an act that admittedly probably shouldn't have made Amity blush as much as it did. She lay there for a moment, the silence sitting and settling down with them.
"Do you wanna see the sketch?" Luz asked, popping her head up.
"...Sure."
Amity leaned forwards as Luz pulled out her phone, flicking through multiple sketches before landing on a rather interesting looking one. It was a very toony owl, big round eyes and very squishy, expressive features. It looked like it was holding its head, eyes looking like big blobs of paint with tiny, frantic pupils, and a large rain cloud over top of it all.
Amity glanced at Luz "...Is it an owl having a bad day?"
"I guess you could say that."
Amity looked down at her hands for a moment, carefully interlacing her fingers.
"Is the owl supposed to be you?"
Luz smiled, tucking her phone away, "How could you tell?"
Amity shrugged, "Lucky guess."
"Well, yeah, it is," Luz said, "It's...I dunno, I've been thinking too much for my own liking, ya know?"
Amity nodded, turning to face Luz a bit more.
"I like just not having to think about a lot, I like being able to just...I dunno, focus on the task at hand and worry about what happens later."
"I understand that," Amity said softly.
Luz sighed, but flashed that infectious smile, "But hey, art is a way to express and handle feelings and all that shit, right? So...This is how I'm handling it."
Amity placed a hand on Luz's shoulder, "I'm proud of you."
Luz, for the smallest fragment of time, looked like she was about to shed a tear, "Thanks."
For people about to do something that should really be done without drawing attention to yourself, they were being pretty obvious. Luz's music was blaring, bass shaking Amity's skeleton out of her ass and shifting every car they passed three inches to the right. But Luz was enjoying herself, singing and bopping along. And, if Amity was to trust Luz's words, this was what got her calm.
It was when the music stopped that Amity really started to feel the nervousness build in her chest. The car got parked, and Luz walked around to the back. She grabbed a couple of cans out of the crate, tossing one to Amity, before slamming the trunk shut.
"Let's get goin, Blight."
Amity looked down at the spray can in her hands, the fancy Grontana logo somehow intimidating her more than Luz ever had. As she started to walk along with Luz, she immediately coughed, covering her nose with her shirt. Luz had already started spraying, talking a walk along one of the storefronts, hand effortlessly tracing out a very specific pattern in a way that told Amity that she had done it a thousand times.
Luz looked back and laughed, "Yeah, it stinks, you get used to it though."
Amity carefully turned the can over in her fingers as she walked along, taking a look at the paint stained cap that had been carefully cleaned out with a pin just a few hours ago. Luz took a look behind her, quickly taking hold of Amity's hand. She guided the girl into a small alley, just enough light from the street leaking in to let them see each other.
"What's the matter? Is it clogged?" Luz asked, stretching out a hand.
"No it's…" Amity sighed, looking up at Luz, "I don't know what to paint."
Luz slapped her own forehead, chuckling, "I didn't think of that. Uhh….Well, just don't do your actual name."
Amity laughed, giving Luz a playful push, "I'm a newbie, not a dumbass."
Luz smirked, pushing Amity back. Amity eventually stared at the wall behind Luz, an idea forming in her head. She reached out her hand, and pressed down her finger. The brick wall was gently spat upon by a pitiful sputtering of paint, the hiss of propellant being the only notable thing to come out of the attempt.
"Shit, okay, yeah, you're a goody two shoes," Luz giggled, turning to face the wall, "Test it first," she said, pointing her can off to the side and giving it a small spritz.
Amity let her hand fall, shaking the can and trying to get a decent spray, to be met with disappointment again.
"Here, lemme…" Luz carefully stepped behind Amity, placing a hand on the girls shoulder, wrapping the other directly around Amity's hand.
Amity could feel the heat immediately rush to her face, as well as her IQ drop to the center of the Earth.
"Just follow what I do," Luz whispered, shaping her grip around Amity's hand, the paler girl mimicking it under Luz's guidance. Their fingers pressed down, and a large circle of paint spontaneously redecorated the wall. Luz carefully moved Amity's hand to a new spot, and held it up high. She pressed down, and guided Amity's hand down, creating a nice, straight line of inky black. And another. And another, and one more after that, before she let Amity's hand go (much to Amity's silent protest).
Amity's hand carried on like it was on autopilot, giving the wall a few new streaks of black paint. She looked over at Luz with a bright beaming smile, the adrenaline rushing up her feet, up through her legs, sparking in her chest and making her brain tingle a little bit. Luz grinned back, tossing Amity a can of white paint.
The girl quickly sprayed a circle, pausing for a moment with a moment of "Okay, what now, bitch?" A pair of x's quickly made up a pair of eyes, and was finished off with a small smile. She let her hand fall finally, before looking over at Luz, who looked like a mother who had just seen her kid take its first steps.
"My little nerd is becoming a rebel!" Luz said, clasping her hands and tilting her head, stepping forward to get a better look at the surprise logo Amity had left, "I like it. It's simple."
Amity pumped a fist, Luz and her stepping out of the alley and continuing down the street. It didn't take long for the next few blocks around their car to be filled with various black signatures and the occasional white, dead, smiling face. By the time they had circled back around, Luz had burned through a can, and was almost done with a second. They tossed the cans into the back of her car, before heading off once more.
Amity couldn't stop smiling.
"So are you seeing why this is fun?" Luz smirked.
Amity groaned, rolling her eyes and playfully shoving the taller girl, "Yes, okay, I do! But I'm not gonna be tagging along every time you know. I need to be somewhat...Somewhat…"
"You gotta stay somewhat nerdy."
"Fuck you," Amity laughed.
Luz smirked, "You wish!"
Amity crossed her arms, "What if I did wish?"
"You did look really good in that collar," Luz said, trailing off.
"Shut uuuuup!" Amity groaned.
Eventually they pulled up to a new spot, this time a little bit further out of the city that Amity was used to being in. Luz grabbed the crate, locked the car, and started walking along, with Amity not far behind as she ducked into a back street. Following Luz through revealed a small, slightly decrepit courtyard. Not quite abandoned, not yet anyways. In one corner was the wall of the building that presumably once used this courtyard, creating a nice comfortable nook to work in with a large wall to paint.
At the opposite corner, the courtyard opened up into one of the local parks, at an entry to one of the thicker tree lines past a broken fence. And finally across from the wall was another just like it, the stub end of each making up the alleyway they just came in through.
Luz set the crate down and grabbed her phone, pulling out her sketch and quickly getting to work. Amity quickly left a small dead smiley on the wall next to Luz, before electing to just sit back and watch Luz work. They didn't talk much, but they didn't have to. The gentle hiss of spray cans, the careful steps of Luz as she stood back and studied her work. The silence was enough that Amity could swear she could hear Luz's brain working.
Amity sighed, taking a deep breath, "This has been….Really fun."
Luz smiled, glancing back at Amity, "I'm glad," She said, voice hushed.
"I can see what you mean by it being a bit…"
"Addicting?" Luz finished.
"Yeah, that." Amity giggled, "Brain is still a bit fuzzy."
"Adrenaline and propellant fumes will do that to you," Luz chuckled, "I'm glad you've been enjoying yourse-"
A flashlight blinded Amity, the girl practically jumping out of her own skin. Luz snapped her head back, covering her eyes as fast as she could.
"Freeze! Both of you, freeze!" A voice shouted at them from behind the light, with another light joining it from the other corner of the alley way, "Hands where we can fuckin' see 'em!"
Before Amity had a chance to process her fear, she snapped her head back as Luz tossed what she could into the crate. One hand hoisted the crate up over her shoulder, the other grabbing Amity by the arm.
"Run!" Luz shouted, dragging Amity along with her before she could protest.
Amity stumbled but her legs eventually did their job. The world was a blur around her, lots of shouting, lots of branches barely missing her face, lots of loud heavy breathing, feet and head pounding in sync as she and Luz booked it through the woods. At some point, Luz gave Amity a forward shove, before cutting a corner, and tossing the crate out under a tree.
Amity turned after she got ahead, trying to protest, but was yet again grabbed by Luz and yanked along.
It was around this point where Amity's stomach began to churn, and her vision got much tighter. She felt like a crushing weight was coming down onto her and she was just having to stare it in the face and watch it take her life out. Amity felt like the world was collapsing around her and she was already too late to jump to safety, that the world as she knew it: her life, her future, they were both over, sealed away in a coffin along with her soul.
Her vision came rushing back as Luz pulled Amity into a bathroom in the middle of the park picnic area.
Amity was rambling. Her life was over, she was going to be arrested, she was never going to get a good job.
"Blight, calm the fuck down," Luz whsiper-shouted,
Calm down? Amity couldn't calm down. She was about to die and she was going to have to stare death in the face because they were going to be caught, Amity was going to jail, Amity was never going to recover.
"Blight!" Luz hissed, grabbing the girl by the shoulders, giving her a quick shake, "Snap out of it and shut up!"
The world was coming to an end for Amity Blight. She couldn't get out of this one. She was done. This was it. She was fucked. She was going to never, ever see the end of this day. She did her best and now she was heading face first for a game over screen.
"Amity!"
The voice shot through to Amity's brain like a bullet, clearing the clouds, the static and the ringing. Amity quickly realized Luz was hugging her close, the both of them curled up on the floor of the park bathroom. The door was locked, and outside in the vent slots enough moonlight creeped in for Amity to be able to see the look of concern on Luz's face.
"It is okay, Amity," Luz said, having said her name for the first and second times ever, "I promise you, it is okay."
"Luz," Amity whispered.
"But," Luz whispered while she caught her breath, "You gotta be quiet, okay?"
Amity nodded, and with perfect timing. From the slats above them that leaked out to the outside, they could see a few beams of light dazzling around, occasionally filling the bathroom with a sharp beam of light. Footsteps grew closer, and Luz quickly put a hand over Amity's mouth, an act that made Amity curse her dirty, filthy mind.
They held their breath as footsteps reached the pavement outside the bathroom, but once the footsteps returned to the grass, and only after they couldn't hear anything but the sound of each other's heartbeats did they breathe a sigh of relief.
"We're staying in here for a bit longer," Luz whispered, carefully scooting Amity a bit closer to her, "Are you okay, Blight?"
"I-Im fine…" Amity said, checking herself for cuts or bruises, "Th...Thank you, Luz."
"Anything for you," Luz sighed, carefully inspecting her own body, licking her thumb to wipe at a cut on her forearm.
"You...You said my name." Amity whispered after a beat.
Luz looked down at her, her smile beaming bright enough to be seen by moonlight, "I did, didn't I?"
"Why...Why have you never called me that before?" Amity asked, sitting up a bit.
"Can we...Can we save this conversation for when we're out of a public bathroom?"
Amity couldn't help but grin, "Are you blushing?"
"Shut up, Amity," Luz mumbled, before realizing, "B-Blight."
"That is my name," the green haired girl giggled, turning to face Luz, "Amity Blight."
"And it's a really nice name to finally fucking say," Luz sighed.
Before Amity could quip any further, Luz took her by the hand, gave a quick peek out of the vent slats above them. Once she was sure the coast was clear, Luz guided the other girl out of the bathroom, making her way out to the street through the trees and bushes. They began a speed walk to the car, when Amity spoke back up.
"What about the paint?"
Luz shrugged, "I know where I hid it, I'll grab it tomorrow."
"Alright," Amity trailed off, "So...I guess you really weren't setting me up, were you?"
"Would someone setting you up for a sting be the one to help you get away from the cops?"
Amity laughed as she hopped into Luz's car, "I guess not. But what about saying my name and all that?"
"Lets," Luz paused for a moment, starting the car, "Let's go to a park...A different park. And I promise I'll tell you everything."
Once they had reached the nicer side of town, close to their university, Luz parked up, taking a walk along one of the fancily paved walkways into the park Amity had made her way through that same morning. She led Amity to a tree, slightly off the park's central fountain feature, and took a seat under it. Amity joined her, and Luz took a deep breath.
"I never said your name because I was scared to," Luz said.
"What...What do you mean scared to?"
"I mean that I…" Luz gestured in the air as she searched for her words, "When I first saw you I was…I had never felt that way about anyone. Ever. I looked at you and you," she paused, "stole the breath from my lungs and knocked me off my feet without even trying."
Amity felt the heat rush to her cheeks, quickly starting to creep elsewhere.
Luz sighed as she hung her head, "And I knew from like...Just looking at you I was fucking….I was fucking head over heels."
"You...You…?" Amity stammered, the blush also apparently denying her ability to think, because was this really happening?
"I've been in love with you since I fucking saw you. And that scared the shit out of me." Luz said.
"So...All that bullying?" Amity asked sheepishly.
"It was because I wanted to feel like I was in control," Luz explained, "When I fell for you I immediately felt like I didn't know what was going to happen next, and I took one look at you and immediately thought 'There's no way she could love me back.'"
"Luz…"
"I mean it," Luz said, looking at Amity, "Have you met yourself, Amity? Seriously? You're talented, you're smart, you care about people, you know how to share experiences with people and be kind, and courteous, and you care about the people you love. You're fucking...Drop dead gorgeous and you've got a future that people would write fantasy novels about."
Amity blushed and looked down at her feet.
"And so all that bullying, all the shit I did to you was because it made me feel like...Like I was in control. Like I knew what was going to happen next. Like I wasn't just hopelessly in love."
"But the love never went away, did it?" Amity whispered.
Luz sighed and stared off into the night, "Nope."
"You know, Luz," Amity said, a mixture of justified pissed off-ed-ness and pain in her voice, "Doing all of what you did to me because you couldn't handle or understand some emotions is...It's pretty shitty."
Luz turned her head to look Amity in the eye, "It's very shitty."
"It's immature too," Amity said, turning her body to Luz, "You're not a 3rd grader anymore."
"You're right," Luz said, "And I know that...That nothing I can ever do for you can really...Ever make up for what I put you through. I played games with your head because I couldn't get out of mine. I hurt you because I was afraid to be hurt."
Amity scooted closer to Luz.
"Even though I know damn well someone like you doesn't have the capacity to hurt someone, not that you care about," Luz sighed, "But...I'm sorry," she said.
Amity let the statement hang for a moment.
"I'm sorry. For everything. For what I put you through, for my shortcomings, for my...Inability to handle my own confusion," Luz said, copper meeting gold, "you didn't deserve any of it. And I understand if you want me to leave you alone. But I just want you to know that I'm sorry."
Amity scooted even closer, taking hold of Luz's hand.
"You're lucky I love you so damn much," Amity said.
Luz's face went blank for a moment, before she managed a chuckle, "Excuse me?"
"I love you. I have for a while now but I guess I didn't know what it was until recently," Amity said.
"Are you trying to say that me treating you like shit woke you up to being in love with me?" Luz laughed.
"I mean...yeah? I guess. It woke me up to me being way kinkier than I ever fucking thought I was," Amity smiled, resting her head on Luz's shoulder.
Luz wrapped an arm around her, "Are you sure that's not like...Stockholm syndrome or some shit?"
"How about we both agree to get some therapy and work on our shit for the sake of each other rather than trying to figure out the solutions to both of our mental health problems here in the middle of a park?" Amity suggested.
"God, you're smart, that sounds like a great idea," Luz laughed.
Amity sighed, interlacing her fingers with Luz's. The silence was comforting, the air felt cool, like it was wicking away the blush that was well and truly stuck to both of their faces. She was in love with Luz. And Luz was in love with her. And now they both knew that. And they spoke about it. Healthily. Shocking what words can do when you just up and fucking say them.
"So…" Amity whispered.
Luz giggled, "...So…"
"I'm in love with you," Amity said.
"Mmm.. Yep." Luz agreed.
"And you're in love with me."
"Sounds correct so far, yeah." Luz nodded.
"And we both know that now," Amity said, gesturing.
"Yep!" Luz smiled.
"And we both don't know what to do next."
Luz shot a finger gun at Amity and clicked her tongue, prompting a small laugh from the other girl. Amity let herself snuggle into Luz a little bit more, the anticlimactic nature of what just happened playing into a nice, good natured feel to the air.
"Can I kiss you?" Amity asked.
For the first time in seventy billion years, Luz was struck speechless, comeback-less, and with a blush so furiously raging on her cheeks and neck that you could boil water off her face.
"Are you," Luz gulped, adjusting her jacket, "Are you...sure that's something you want to do?"
"For as much as you treated me like shit," Amity said, "I always felt for some reason there was a part of you I could trust. And that confession you made to me just now? That, in my opinion, takes a strong, intelligent, trustworthy person to be able to look inside of themselves and accept their wrongdoing and the fact that they let it happen."
Luz smiled like an idiot as Amity crossed her legs, turning to face her, and she did the same.
"It also takes someone who knows that they want to change, that they want to get better to do something like that," Amity continued, "Which makes me feel like I knew there was a reason I felt I could trust you. So right now, I trust you more than anything."
"Amity, you're a nerd."
"And I can be your nerd if you just shut up and kiss me already. Because I am more sure that I want to kiss you than I've ever been sure about anything." Amity said.
Luz's lips tasted like the sun. They tasted like warm days on the beach, sand on your feet, sea breeze in your face, like cozy nights out under the stars. They melted Amity into a puddle, as she leaned into Luz. Their lips pressed together carefully, and Amity's hands naturally found themselves holding onto the side of Luz's face, pulling her just that little bit closer.
It wasn't particularly long, it wasn't particularly steamy. It was just kind of perfect. As they parted, Amity couldn't help but stare into Luz's eyes, and watch the world around them disappear. That stupid, lovely, brain disabiling, thought flodding, perfect smile was glued to Luz's face, accented at each end of her lips by a rosy blush on her cheeks.
"That...That felt great," Amity whispered.
"Good, Im...Glad," Luz giggled.
Amity scratched the back of her head, "How long have you...Have you wanted to do that?"
"Years…" Luz trailed off.
"So," Amity said, leaning closer, "You wouldn't mind doing it again?"
Luz moved forward and let her eyes drift shut, pressing her lips to Amity's again. Her arm snuck its way around Amity's waist, pulling the girl closer to her and eventually into her lap, the other hand cupping Amity's cheek in her palm. The second kiss lasted a little bit longer, giving Luz time to lean back into the tree and let Amity settle in her lap, but more importantly it flowed seamlessly into the third kiss.
And the fourth.
Each kiss was like the previous times ten, each one couldn't stop making Amity feel beyond electric, her hands carefully working their way around Luz's neck and keeping her close, keeping her just within range of another kiss whenever she wanted.
When she felt Luz's tongue she shivered. Amity buckled, falling into Luz as she straddled her, parting her lips. Her fingertips pressed into Luz, pulling her closer at the chest and letting her other fingers explore her hair. A small noise slipped out of Amity, and that was all the encouragement Luz needed to run a hand up the girls back and up into the mess of tiger striped green.
There was a period that Amity was certain she didn't actually need to breathe. That she could just keep doing this until she passed out, wake up, and repeat. Each little movement, each breath, each noise, it was driving her mind wild, her heart was racing and the adrenaline from before came rushing back to her, fogging up her brain and making everything feel dreamy and blissful and god she really didn't want to stop.
So she didn't. Because she was in love with Luz Fucking Noceda, and Luz Noceda was in love with Amity Blight.