Back with a new chapter, finally!
Sorry it took so long, I had some difficulties writing because of some confidence issues...
And self-worth stuff. Anyway, enough of that, have this fluffy self indulgent piece of chapter xD
Enjoy!
They remained comfortably quiet for a while until Luz noticed Amity was constantly slipping around on her seat, changing her seating, and squirming. Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked at her.
"Are you okay?", she asked and Amity grimaced.
"These pants aren't exactly adapting.", she explained and Luz furrowed her eyebrows.
"You're meaning to tell me you worked all morning long in pants that aren't comfortable?", she asked and Amity shrugged.
"I don't really have work clothes.", she mumbled and Luz grinned at that.
"You know, I could also teach you how much some work pants cost.", she joked and Amity looked over to her.
"Actually?", she asked, making Luz catch her gaze questioningly. She looked down to her feet, something she had noticed all morning already, and pulled up an eyebrow.
"You need safety shoes anyways, to be on a construction site.", Luz remarked and Amity looked at her expectantly, "And there's a work gear store in town…"
Amity immediately caught her trailing off as an invitation.
"Absolutely! Meeting with customer, proceeds!", she exclaimed and Luz laughed, "We have a whole hour. We can make the trip to the workwear store and the supermarket and return with lunch for everyone in time!"
Luz nodded and leaned back, finally feeling a bit more accustomed to the car now that she had indeed felt it was just a car, as Amity had said, even if it was worth more than her entire life income.
"You really think having one and a half hours of lunch break is okay?", Luz asked suddenly, her eyebrows furrowed, and Amity shrugged.
"You're with me, of course, that's okay.", she shrugged off but Luz merely shook her head.
"Just because you get a free pass doesn't mean I do."
Lifting her eyebrows, Amity looked over, before looking back to the road, humming.
"As I said, you're in a meeting with the customer. I'll take the responsibility.", she said and Luz looked over to her.
"Why are you like this?", she asked, causing another quizzical look from Amity.
"Like what?", she asked and Luz shrugged.
"Well… Talking to the small folks like me. Taking the brunt.", she shrugged again, this time rubbing the back of my head, "I don't know, just, no customer ever cared for us workers. I admire that you wanna work with us, and actually talk to us, contrary to every other customer I ever met."
Amity remained silent for a while, only reacting after Luz spoke up again.
"Especially considering your upbri-"
"Do you like sticking both your feet in your mouth and chewing on them?", Amity snapped and Luz shrunk, when the other girl immediately apologized, "Sorry, I'm sorry. Just-… I don't like being compared to my parents. We don't have a very-… Loving relationship."
Luz nodded mutely, before mumbling.
"Sorry.", but Amity shook her head.
"I'm sorry for snapping.", she pedaled back and Luz nodded, before chiming up again sometime later, pointing down a street and grinning.
"There's the workwear store! We can stop there first if you'd like.", she said and Amity nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh yes, that'd be amazing! I won't have to squat in these weird pants anymore. Seriously, why are designer clothes so expensive but so uncomfortable?!", she asked and Luz giggled, "What?"
"You're wearing designer clothes to a construction site?", she asked and Amity grumbled something under her breath which Luz couldn't exactly make out, "What was that?"
Amity turned into the parking lot for the store and rolled her eyes.
"My mom picks out my wardrobe.", she finally said, trying to wave it off but Luz had understood what she had meant.
"You only have designer clothes."
Getting up from her seat after parking, Amity tried hiding her crimson face by turning away, exclaiming to distract from the fact Luz had been right.
"Alright, going in! Come on!", she called and Luz followed with a snort, following her inside and doing her best not to laugh at Amity's mad blush, probably from embarrassment or frustration, then they sobered up when entering the pants section.
"Alright, you don't need any fancy pants, but some with pockets and maybe strengthened knees would be nice. I recommend these, these and maybe…", pointing to two racks of clothes and looking out for a third already told Amity that Luz probably spent some time here, "These here!"
Picking out her size from the first stack, Amity then moved to the second and Luz spied over her shoulder, leaning in so close she could smell her.
"What size…?", she mumbled, then she hopped to the third stack and grabbed the size Amity had taken as well, making her giggle, "There we go!"
She had to laugh as she accepted the pants thrust into her already full hands, before being pushed towards the changing rooms and having the curtain close behind her.
"I'm gonna go search for shirts! What's your size?", Amity laughed as she told her and earned a surprised hum in return, "So small?! Bro, you're tiny."
"You're not that tall yourself!", she shot back as she already opened her pants, hearing Luz yelling back from a few paces away, across the store with zero to no sense of humility.
"Still taller than most girls!", she called and Amity had to laugh heartily at that.
She quickly changed through the first two pants and found all of them comfortably fitting, before Luz returned while she put on the third.
"I got some shirts you might like!", she called and opened the curtain just enough to hand them in, and when Amity peeked through the narrow slit, she saw that Luz had turned away to let her keep her privacy. Laughing, she accepted them.
"Alright, thank you!", she called and took the shirts, trying not to mind the brief touch of their hands, before pulling back the curtain and presenting herself with her shirt pulled up a little to show off the pants.
"How's it look?", she asked and turned once, looking down on herself, "Good?"
Luz thought she had to die right at this moment.
The pants weren't really form-fitting or beautiful, they were for working and had to be functional, but somehow, Amity made them work. Her hips were mesmerizing and Luz had to gulp dryly not to stare at the slim bit of pale skin she could see on her flat stomach.
Grimacing, she gave herself exactly one moment to swallow down any gayness she felt, then she smiled at Amity who was just turning back towards her.
"Looks like you can work in it!", she announced and Amity grinned, "What about the shirts?"
Chuckling, Amity went back into the changing room, and, much to Luz's surprise, she just pulled off her shirt. The Latina spluttered when she turned away and pulled the curtain close, then she tried rubbing away her growing blush.
"¡Dios mío! Amity, you can't just-...", she groaned and a giggle sounded from the changing room.
"Sorry, I'll be quick!", and sure enough, a second later, Amity emerged with the shirt on. Admittedly, without the designer clothes, Amity looked like a completely normal girl.
"That-... That looks nice.", Luz managed and Amity grinned widely.
"Shoes?", she asked and Luz nodded quickly, before taking off again, trying so hard not to blush too much. Amity yelled her size after the retreating girl and Luz waved shortly, before vanishing behind some shelves. Laughing, she shook her head. Luz was too endearing not to like.
Smirking to herself, she waited for her to come back, and when she did, Amity had already taken off the clothes and put back on the clothes she had worn before, folding the others neatly.
"Here you go! I found some that are comfortable, Gus wears them. I, uh, I hope you're good with stylish shoes.", she mumbled, stuttering a bit, and Amity grinned at the shoes she was presented with.
"Those look like sneakers.", she commented, and Luz smiled, knocking on the toe cap.
"But safe ones!"
After putting them on and immediately loving them, Amity packed up all the stuff and went to the checkout. Luz pulled up her eyebrows and followed her.
"What-... What are you doing?", she asked and Amity turned back to her.
"What? Paying?", she asked and a cheeky grin stole itself on her lips, "Should I steal the stuff instead?"
Her eyes blown wide, Luz gestured to the pants, shirts, and shoes Amity had collected on the counter, just as they were grabbed by the cashier and registered.
"That's-... That's a lot of stuff, and a lot of money.", she argued, but the other girl wouldn't hear it, shrugging.
"I'll want to spend a lot of time on the construction site. Better be safe, no?"
Luz couldn't even argue with that logic. And she knew Amity had more money than she could ever hope to make, so she just shut her mouth. Except... Teasing was her only way to remain some sort of dignity.
"You plan to spend a lot of time with me?"
Spluttering, Amity turned back to her and tried not to blush too much, at which she desperately failed. Luz slowly began grinning smugly and she heard her beating heart in her ears when she turned back to the cashier again to pay whatever price was displayed.
"Well, maybe.", she finally relented and Luz's head whipped back to her.
"Wh-What did you just say?", she asked and Amity shrugged.
"Well, I haven't had a lot of opportunities to get to know some normal people in my life...", Amity mumbled, taking the bag from the cashier and walking out to the parking lot, "Everyone so far was privileged and full of themselves. Not much room for friendship or relationships."
Even after she had said, the realization of what had left her lips hadn't struck her until they were already at the car, when Luz had already been staring at her for a while.
"You've-... Never had a partner?", she asked and Amity immediately listened up.
Normally, she was asked if she never had a boyfriend. People immediately assumed she was straight unless they were...
Making eye contact with Luz, she slowly shook her head, pronouncing the words slowly and carefully, ready to pull back at any time should Luz show any sign of, disgust? Repulsion?
"No... I've never had a girlfriend."
Luz's demeanor immediately changed. She became crimson red despite her brown skin, and Amity almost had to laugh at the small, shaky smile that formed on her lips.
It wasn't easy, finding fellow queers, but when they did, they usually responded like Golden Retriever puppies, wagging their tails and immediately ready to party.
"Huh...", Luz responded, and she grinned, "... I had a girlfriend before. I'm single now, though."
Sharing a gaze, they finally got in the car and Amity put away the bags.
"Oh? How long did it hold?"
Luz waved that off and shook her head, the tension having dissipated between them as soon as she chuckled.
"Oh, not that long. Three months or something. I've had longer relationships.", she mumbled and Amity listened up at that.
"How long?", she asked interestedly and Luz grinned at that, shrugging.
"I've been with my ex-boyfriend for, like, six months. But I haven't had anything longer than that yet.", she explained and Amity nodded.
"Ah, okay. Cool.", before humming, starting the engine, and rolling out of the parking lot, "I've never been in love before, so, I wouldn't know how it is."
That was half a lie.
She did feel butterflies talking to Luz, but she wouldn't call that love. At least not yet, maybe. It was more like, attraction, infatuation.
Not love. Yet?
"Oh, I fall quickly and easily, but usually it doesn't last.", Luz explained and Amity tried not to be affected by her words.
"Quickly and easily?", she tried making light conversation while letting Luz navigate her to the nearest supermarket, "Anything happen lately?"
At that, Luz decided to be vague.
"Recently, yeah. Maybe. Let's see.", she said, quieter than she had spoken before, and looked back to Amity. She didn't know much about flirting, but if she had learned something from the internet, it was that lesbian flirting was usually painfully obvious and yet still so incredibly awkward.
"Well, maybe something could grow from it.", she replied and Luz hummed again, smiling and nodding. She was surprisingly suave for attempting to flirt with her right now.
"I sure hope that I'll see her more often now.", she finally commented and Amity had to hold onto the wheel really hard not to outright ask who it was. Even if she desperately hoped it could be her.
Well, why couldn't she ask outright, actually?
Because her fingers were shaking, her stomach was churning and she wasn't sure what would happen to her if Luz said a different name. Or if she even dared to talk about it.
Breathing through, Amity finally nodded and they turned into the parking lot for the supermarket that was on the other side of town before she turned off the engine and put the car in park.
They both sat there for a moment, seemingly collecting their thoughts before Luz finally spoke up.
"Alright then! Ready to buy some butter?", she managed to loosen up the tension once again and clapped in her hands, making Amity grumble.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's buy a stick of butter.", she mumbled defeated, and got out after Luz, following her to the supermarket after locking her car, only barely catching up to Luz's longer strides, "What will we be buying here, anyway? Wouldn't it be easier to just, order a bunch of pizza and bring it?"
Luz let out a barking laugh.
"You think we only eat junk food?", she poked fun at her and Amity pouted at the obvious jab at her understanding so little about social circles outside of hers.
"No, of course not, but who doesn't like pizza?", she argued, making Luz nod and shrug.
"True, but I was thinking something more along the lines of, vegetables, fruits, bread, and some cheese. That's easier to eat for the lunch break and we still wanna be able to move after eating, after all, we'll be at the job for longer, still."
Amity couldn't help but be impressed. She hadn't taken Luz as a mature eater, but she supposed that came with her upbringing. After seeing her mother's homemade stuff, she was sure Luz had grown up with healthy food and cooking something nutritious.
It took them a good twenty minutes to pick all the stuff they needed, and quite some time of that was lost during Luz teasing her by making her find all the things they needed, laughing heartily when most times, Amity just walked by the most products. Especially, when she made her fetch the butter.
For some reason, Amity couldn't be mad, though. Luz had her fun with that and she wasn't mean.
Plus, it was really helpful to be taught to find her way around a supermarket that way, if she had just trailed after Luz grabbing all the stuff she probably would've forgotten most again.
It was also very interesting to do some people watching around her.
Sure, she had been in malls and in her school, there had been trips to museums and other public places, but she had never been to a supermarket, where people didn't exactly come for fun in their free time.
There were elderly couples, well into their retirement, having trouble reading the labels of most products. Once, Luz had even stepped in to help an older gentleman make out what the ingredients were for some food, and he had immediately thanked her and told her that he couldn't eat some stuff he was allergic to.
There were workers, due to the time mostly night shifters, nurses, and bus or train drivers, as well as some other people Amity couldn't quite put a finger on.
Some mothers went grocery shopping with their children, babies strapped to their chest as they sorted through the products, little toddlers clinging to their legs looking around curiously.
An older man who looked ruffled and was swaying a bit was also one of them. Before Amity could wonder what he was doing for a living, Luz had already pulled her out of sight behind a shelf, and when she had shot her a questioning look, she had just shaken her head.
That made her realize how little she actually knew about the world, how much street smarts were part of everyday life, especially the lower the income was, and how Luz moved in all this so confidently and naturally.
When they finally approached the checkout, Amity found herself being incredibly lost in thought. So much so that Luz had begun directing her through the shelves by tapping her arm, otherwise walking on autopilot.
Humming, they came to a stop and started unloading the cart Luz had grabbed before they had entered, putting everything they had on the conveyor belt.
Softly nudging her, Luz finally caught her attention.
"You okay?", she quietly asked and Amity nodded, but willed her not to prod. Not here, at least. They still had the drive, and they could talk then, without the prying ears around them. Turning to the front, Amity found herself looking directly at the face of a pretty small baby, just old enough to focus on things around them. The mother was watching the young father stashing their stuff back in their cart while the cashier pulled it through.
Amity managed a little smile when the baby looked at her, apparently fascinated by her green hair. It eyed her for a moment before starting to squirm and keep its eyes locked on Amity, the mother adjusting her child. Giggling, Amity waved, eliciting a small smile from the baby, or so she thought. A presence next to her let her look over. Luz was leaning over her shoulder and obviously flirting with the little baby. She pulled grimaces and did little waves and everything to get the baby's attention and make it smile.
Lifting an eyebrow, Amity grinned at her, until she noticed and shrugged, imitating her grin.
"What?", she whispered and she laughed, softly jabbing her side.
"The poor thing is overwhelmed, look at it.", she pointed to the baby that was still fixated on them, and Luz began pulling grimaces again, the baby starting to laugh.
"Babies cry when they're overwhelmed.", Luz explained and grabbed Amity's hand to wave back to it as an uncoordinated little arm flung over its mother's shoulder, making both girls laugh.
"This one's amused."
The queue moved on and the baby shortly lost sight of them, before the mother turned once more, and Amity leaned in, pulling a grimace now, too.
The baby giggled in delight and reached out for her hair, but Amity leaned back, having heard enough stories of babies loving to pull on hair. In an instant, the little chin began quivering, but Luz had it covered. She quickly pulled a grimace and the baby was distracted until the young family had paid and walked out of the market and it was Luz's and Amity's turn to check out.
Glancing to her side, Amity caught sight of Luz's upper arms while she loaded their stuff into the bags in their cart again, and she pulled her card to get ready to pay.
"Where did you get so good with kids?", she nonchalantly asked and Luz shrugged.
"Oh, I live in an area where there are many kids.", she mumbled, then she smiled, "And I often babysit Eda's son, King."
That immediately drew Amity's attention.
"King?", she asked while the cashier asked her to put in her card and pay.
"Yeah, that's his name. Or, the name he gave himself when Eda adopted him.", Luz explained and Amity had to laugh at that.
"Alright, if you say so?", she mumbled, focused on typing in her correct number, before letting out a breath of relief when the card got accepted. She had multiple cards and sometimes, remembering the right number was embarrassingly hard.
"Yeah. Eda and mom are practically neighbors so it wasn't exactly that far-fetched that I went for babysitting after school.", she told her and Amity listened with great interest. It was always great to know more about Luz, especially about where she came from, "We live in a pretty tightly knit neighborhood because it's not the best location. We actually have quite a bit of criminality there, which is why the neighbors are close."
Amity stared at her and furrowed her eyebrows.
"You come from-... A bad environment?", she carefully asked and Luz gave nothing more than a shrug, thankfully not taking offense to Amity's rather open, but genuine, questions.
"Well, I wouldn't say bad. Just-... Challenging, maybe. We've always managed to stay out of the way and out of trouble. And we've got our community, we're good. The gangs left civilians out of it if they could help it."
At that, Amity openly stared, her eyes widened.
"Gangs as in, street gangs?!", she questioned and Luz shrugged, loading the bags they had taken from checkout into the trunk of Amity's car.
"Well. Yeah.", she admitted but didn't say more about it. That topic was apparently not something she wanted to talk about.
"You, you said there's a lot of children where you live.", Amity slowly asked, a terrible suspicion already forming in her mind.
"Yeah. Up and down the street, all year round. The generations kind of mix where I live, and the older kids look after the younger ones. That's why I'm kind of good with kids.", she explained, smiling about something, "Well, back home that saying, that it needs a village to raise a child, is actually the main rule."
Getting back into the car, Amity squirmed a little, before letting on the motor again.
"... Tell me about your mom?", she asked, the suspicion only manifesting, but with Luz's next words, she could breathe through.
"Oh, she's the best. After dad left us she was always there for me, maybe not timewise but when I needed her and when I had problems, I could always tell her. She really wanted me and never regretted having me, was what she told me. I'm glad I've got a mom like her.", Luz explained and Amity nodded. Not from an orphanage, then. She couldn't blame herself for assuming, after all, Luz had made it sound like one before.
Challenging environment, criminality, street gangs, lots of kids looking out for each other... Internally she could've slapped herself. Okay, admittedly, that was shallow to assume Luz had been talking about an orphanage.
"That sounds amazing...", she trailed off and Luz tilted her head at her when they got going again, the car turning into the busy street while Amity was checking the traffic and driving carefully.
"You said you and your parents don't exactly have the best relations?", she asked and Amity grimaced.
"I told you. They're not exactly... Well, they're not really nice. Or, uh, natural, I'd almost say. I've always had my differences with them after being admitted to the private school, one because I didn't want to go, two because I always suffered under them pressuring me to strive for the best, and three because I learned about other behavior than what my parents were displaying.", she huffed and shrugged, "They always pretend they're better than everyone else. I always hated that but only realized what exactly it was that set me off about them."
Luz nodded at that very well-put-together reply from Amity, and she couldn't help but think that she must've thought a lot about that.
"... Ah... That was very well put.", she began and Amity nodded.
"I have a therapist. She helped me give orders to some thoughts in my head.", she explained, and again, Luz gave an understanding nod. Now, everything made sense.
"Yeah, okay, that makes it much clearer.", she said and Amity shot her a smirk.
"Clearer? You mean, my behavior?", she asked pointedly but Luz could make out a little bit of amused undertone in her voice, making her grin back.
"Makes it easier to understand for me.", Luz clarified, yet the smirk didn't slip from Amity's lips. She couldn't help but smile at that, "What?"
The girl shrugged at that and Luz laughed, shaking her head.
"Nothing, nothing. It's just funny to me how differently we live. Like, in that supermarket that was your range, that was what you feel comfortable with and what you can handle with ease. On the other hand, I was actually kind of terrified. This was so different from what I knew until now because my parents never let me go to a normal place like this.", she began and Luz hummed, agreeing.
"Okay, true. I noticed you kind of, observed everyone, and got a little quiet."
A comfortable silence spread between them until they left the city limits behind them.
"But the baby was adorable.", Amity finally concluded and Luz chuckled.
"The baby was indeed adorable.", she repeated and they fell back into the silence again.
The rest of the ride up the mountain was relaxed and quiet, just the radio was talking a little in the background until they halted in front of the mansion where Luz already ducked in her seat. Amity followed her gaze and noticed Lilith standing in front of the main entrance, looking towards them.
Slanting her lips, Amity put the car in park and shrugged at Luz.
"I mean, she already saw us.", she awkwardly pointed out and Luz nodded, "Want me to handle her and you bring in the lunch stuff?"
After another quiet nod, she laughed and placed a hand on Luz's.
"You're not that scared of Lilith.", she stated and the girl in the passenger's seat shook her head, but still didn't get out of the car.
"Not that much, yes. But she can still be mean sometimes.", she mumbled, before sighing, "Alright then, into the dragon's den I suppose."
Amity chuckled as she watched Luz getting out of the car and grabbing the bags from the trunk while Lilith already made her way towards them, but before she could say anything, Amity jumped between them and smiled nonchalantly, cutting off Lilith's way to Luz.
"Thank you for letting me lend one of your employees for a moment, Ms. Clawthorne.", she said sweetly and patted Luz on the shoulder as she was just trying to walk past, "I had trouble finding my way around and figured she could help me."
Lying to Lilith Clawthorne was as easy as lying to her parents.
She merely pulled up an eyebrow and nodded at her, eyeing Luz as she made her way past them with the bags of groceries in her hands. It was obvious Lilith had looked right through her, but it wasn't exactly a thing for her to talk back to the customer, except if it was about construction details that were necessary to be executed the way they had to be, to be safe and sound and in sync with regulations.
Amity grinned and took the helmet she had taken the times before, following Luz inside and helping her prepare the stuff they had bought. It was obvious Luz had some more practice with cooking and handling food than Amity, judging by the way she immediately began making sandwiches in a practiced manner.
Amity didn't suppose making sandwiches was witchcraft, and she shouldn't be as impressed as she was with Luz's speed to make such a thing, but she couldn't help but stare.
She knew sandwiches were the easiest thing to make. Spread butter on some bread, slap something on it, put another bread on top, be done with it. She could do it, she had, in fact, done it before.
But Luz had obviously done it quite a few times more often than her, and obviously in a hurry as well.
Before she had even started on one, the young woman next to her had already finished the second, glancing over to her as she pulled up her eyebrows.
"You good?", she asked and Amity shook off her stupor, grimacing and nodding.
"Yes, yes. Sorry. I was just lost in thought."
Luz grinned at that, somewhat knowingly, and Amity immediately felt reminded of her high school times with Boscha, a classmate of hers she had kind of gotten close with.
Well, what was close supposed to mean?
Their parents were working together and they knew their parents had a net worth bigger than the rest of the students and their families combined.
That's why they had been forced to be together in a room as well because their parents had demanded they be friends.
Boscha had also always worn this knowing smirk, as if she was standing over Amity, looking down on her.
"What?", she asked and Luz shook her head, her knowing grin that hurt Amity so much by reminding her of a less pleasurable period in her life, suddenly turning a lot softer.
"Nothing, nothing. You were just, you know, staring.", she sang and Amity realized that Luz's grin hadn't been arrogant at all. It had been amused, teasing. Maybe even kind of flirty.
Turning beet red, Amity scowled before turning to her plate where she began preparing the first sandwich.
Luz had finished her fourth at the same time, her hands flying because she probably did that every morning.
Let me know if you enjoyed it!