*inhales deeply and prepares*

Y'all ain't ready. I'm barely ready. If you're on the Huntlow Discord, I posted an early version of a specific scene from this chapter last week and y'all who are on there were hype, so I hope you enjoy the completed (and rewritten) version of said scene when it does arrive.

Also, just for reference, Luz's birthday is December 6. I chose this date because I found out Dana Terrace's birthday is December 8 and mine is on December 4, so I picked that halfway mark!

The morning of Luz's birthday brought much anxiety for Amity Blight.

She dug through every dress her mother had bought her over the past few months for various events, several of which she'd never even worn because Odalia Blight 'wanted Amity to have plenty of options'. Excessive, yes, but at least she had those options now for an event she actually wanted to attend. And her heart was racing a mile a minute as she reread the texts she'd exchanged with Luz the day before.

Hey

I know you said Hunter was your escort, but I'd love to maybe be your date

If you don't mind

Pressing send on that last text had led to two agonizing minutes of waiting, two minutes in which the three dots indicating Luz was texting back kept appearing and disappearing. Finally, there was a text message not from Luz but from Hunter.

She says yes

She keeps panic-typing her responses and deleting them

You'll hear from her soon but I figured you were pacing

Amity had let out a snicker. And as Hunter had promised, there was a response from Luz a few minutes later.

YES YES YES YES YES

You can be my date and I will proudly dance with you

And that had been it.

Now she was staring at the options of dresses on her bed, trying to figure out which one would best suit the party. It was a formal event, she knew, and she had to choose wisely or look bad in front of Luz's entire family. Her mother and siblings wouldn't care, and maybe a couple of her other relatives, but Amity was pretty sure looking bad here wasn't an option if she wanted to have any semblance of a chance to be in a relationship with Luz Noceda.

"You should go with the pink, it suits you."

She nearly jumped a foot as she whirled around to see Emira in the doorway.

"What are you doing in my room?"

"Helping you get ready, duh. This is prime big-sister stuff. Right?"

"Aren't you going, too?"

"Of course. But I'm not the one who's the birthday girl's date. I'll just hit on her brother or something."

"Her brother has his eye on someone."

"I'm well aware. Doesn't mean I can't mess with him or any of her relatives." Emira entered the room properly and crossed over to the bed, pulling out a magenta ballgown-type dress that had been purchased just a few weeks earlier. "This one's perfect. Trust me."

"Oh. Uh… thanks, I guess."

"And we've got to get started on your hair and makeup if you're going to blow Luz away. I mean, obviously, she's smitten with you, but we wanna leave her speechless!"

"I got the stuff!" announced Edric, poking his head into the room.

"Perfect." Emira's grin was evil and matched the one Edric had on his face.

Sometimes Amity missed the days where they ignored her.

This was one of those times. But she was still grateful for the help.

"Oh, mija…"

Camila couldn't help the breathless tone of her voice as she looked at her oldest daughter. Luz looked so grown-up in her dress, one that they'd spent several hours looking for before deciding on this purple one. Isabel had spent the past hour doing Luz's hair (which had grown a few inches since moving to Bonesborough). Now her baby sister was doing Luz's makeup and Camila had walked in to check on their progress.

"Not too much, sobrina," Isabel stated, brushing some light powder on Luz's face. "You're too young to cake it on like Ramona."

"Oh, is that what's wrong with her face?" Luz questioned.

"Isa!" barked Camila.

"What, Mila? You know she looks like her face is made of clay!" Isabel stuck out her tongue. "Makeup is about subtlety when you're younger like Luz. When you're an old lady like Ramona it's okay to cake it on."

"Ramona is only a few years older than you."

"I'm twenty-four. She's an old lady."

"What does that make me, then?"

"That's different. You have class."

Luz started giggling.

"Hold still, querida. I still have to finish. You wanna look your best, right?"

"I have to! I have a date!"

Isabel's hand froze. Camila saw her little sister's eyes widen and let out a snort. She knew Amity had asked Luz out and that Luz had accepted, she'd found out the day before when she found Luz begging Hunter for advice on how to respond.

"Okay. Details. Dish."

"Her name is Amity and she's so pretty." Luz's eyes were shining. "She's also super smart and super cool and just this cotton-candy-haired goddess and I can't believe she asked me out."

"Yes!" Isabel pumped her fist excitedly. "That's my niece!"

"So as soon as Hunter's done with me, she's my date for the party."

"And he can go off with his girlfriend."

"Willow's not his girlfriend yet," Camila responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, so that's her name. He just told me he liked her and he fucked everything up."

"Isa."

"His words, Mila, not mine, jeez!" She rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud. I'm sure Luz hears worse from him on a daily basis."

"I do!" Luz confirmed. "He only watches his language in front of Vee. And even then he slips up."

Camila muttered darkly under her breath about having a talk with her son before Isabel set down the makeup brush and picked up a bottle of setting spray that she spritzed over Luz's face.

"And… done! I have done the impossible and made my niece more beautiful! You're welcome, hermana!"

"Thank you, hermanita."

Luz stared at herself in the mirror and touched her face.

"Wow… you really work miracles."

Camila came over and placed a kiss on Luz's forehead.

"It's not a miracle, honey. It's just a little bit of magic."

"Yeah, just call me a witch." Isabel swept her products back into her bag. "You're gonna knock this Amity girl's socks off. And she probably won't even be wearing socks."

Luz's cheeks flushed red and Camila chuckled.

"I'm gonna get Luz's doll!"

Vee glanced down at Gabriella, who was staring up at her with a smug grin that she'd certainly inherited from her mother.

"Okay. Good for you."

"You're her sister and you don't get the doll. I'm more specialer. That's what Mama says."

"You're also younger than me."

"So? Luz got Tía Isa's doll at her quince and now I'm getting Luz's."

Vee inhaled deeply, trying not to go off on this small child.

Okay, so Gabriela was eight. That wasn't that much younger than Vee. But Vee also knew better than to brag like that to someone at a party that wasn't about them. So what if Gabriela was getting the symbolic 'last doll'? That didn't mean anything when Vee was pretty sure Luz was going to keep buying dolls for herself.

It was also weird to think that had this been Luz's last birthday (where she'd unwrapped a pair of bi-flag patterned skates from Hunter and a flag of her own), Vee would've stayed quiet. She would've mumbled 'okay' and kept her head down. But now she was just more annoyed by it than anything, and that felt strangely good. Still annoying, but good.

"Vee!"

Gus came running up to her and she was grateful for the interruption as Gabriela glared at Gus for disrupting her gloating over her older cousin.

"Hey, what's up? Gabby, can you give us a minute?"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"No," she and Gus answered in unison, and she rolled her eyes.

"Ew. He's boring then."

She wandered off, presumably to go bother somebody else. Gus watched her go with a mildly amused expression before turning back to Vee.

"So about all those quince traditions—"

"Luz said no to most of them, but Abuela wouldn't budge on a few. Like the dress and stuff. She's gonna get her shoes soon, and give Gabby the doll, but other than her first dance being with Hunter there's not much else."

"Doll?"

"Last doll. It's supposed to be symbolic of her moving onto adulthood and leaving her childhood behind. But I know she's still gonna buy all the toys she wants. She's supposed to give it to a younger female relative, hence why Gabby's getting it."

"Huh."

"Yeah, a lot of traditions I don't entirely get. It's great and my turn's up in less than four years. I'll be giving mine to Mira."

"That's nice of you." He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "So… has Hunter said anything about Willow?"

"All he said is something about just needing twenty seconds to talk to her and that's it. I'm pretty sure he's finally gonna ask her out."

"She's been looking for him. I thinks she's about to ask him out."

Vee started giggling and Gus couldn't hide his own grin.

"Well. At least it won't be boring."

"I think any possibility of that went out the window when your sister became the birthday girl."

"True. Shall we go find Hunter and Willow before they miss each other all night?"

"We shall." He nodded and they went in different directions.

"So you must be Willow!"

Willow glanced up at the woman speaking to her and her eyes widened.

This woman looked like a younger version of Camila. Her hair was shoulder-length and streaked with pink, matching the dress she wore perfectly. She was also carrying a glass of wine and beaming at Willow.

"I am. Um… are you Luz's aunt?"

"Luz, Vee, and Hunter. I'm Isabel, their cool aunt. I've heard a lot about you."

"I didn't know they mentioned me." She fidgeted slightly and Isabel set down her glass on a nearby table.

"You're cute, of course they did. And I know for a fact my sobrino is head-over-heels for you."

"Sobrino?"

"Nephew. Hunter."

"He is?!" She couldn't hide the squeak her voice rose to and her cheeks flushed red. "He told you that?"

"On Thanksgiving he was beating himself up because he thought he fucked up his chances with you with that 'I wouldn't mind being your boyfriend' thing. Which, by the way, was a supreme dumbass move on his part, so I don't blame you for being confused."

"I didn't realize he was serious about it."

"Sometimes you send a text you don't mean late at night. And sometimes you send what you wanna say but shouldn't. Hunter was the latter."

"Okay. So what should I do?"

"Hm." Isabel looked pensive for a moment before nodding. "I got some good advice for you. Just go for it. Give yourself twenty seconds to say and do whatever you need to."

"Why twenty seconds?"

"Otherwise you overthink everything and back down."

Her eyes darted across the room.

"Oh, we're in luck! There he is!"

Willow whipped her head around to see Hunter glancing around the room and his wine-red eyes met hers. She felt her breathing hitch as his gaze softened and he started making his way towards her. Her heart thumped and Isabel gave her a nudge.

"Go get him, tiger."

She nearly stumbled in her heels as she reached him and he caught her with a certain level of ease that she'd become accustomed to. With a nervous smile she looked back up at him and his cheeks were pink. The blush even reached his ears, which only served to make him that much more adorable.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Hi," he echoed back.

They just stood there for a moment, and she was about to work up those twenty seconds of courage Isabel had told her about when he cleared his throat.

"Do… do you wanna dance? With me?"

"S-sure!"

He was so close as the music shifted, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Luz and Amity dancing together, too. Her stomach flip-flopped. She knew this song, and she knew Luz had to have picked it on purpose.

'You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you…'

She looked absolutely stunning tonight.

Willow had always had this uncanny ability to render his motormouth silent, and tonight was no exception. Her green dress with the gold accents suited her so well, and the heels she was wearing allowed her to be much closer to his height than she normally was. Which meant their faces were closer than ever before. Tonight was supposed to be about his sister but for some reason it wasn't quite registering in his brain when he was dancing with her like this. Holding her close, looking into her smiling face as she laughed at his attempt to twirl her around. His heart was thumping a mile a minute as he stared into her eyes.

"You're beautiful," he whispered before he could stop himself, and those emerald-green eyes that he'd so often admired widened with surprise as they come to a stop alongside the music.

Somewhere in his head a voice that sounded identical to his aunt's whispered.

Just take the twenty seconds! Do something!

Another voice.

Don't just stand there, man, kiss her!

Hunter hesitated for a moment, but Willow made the choice for him.

She leaned upwards and kissed him.

Hunter's eyes widened in surprise before he returned the kiss with as much enthusiasm. Behind him he heard his sister screaming with excitement and Amity laughing and then all too quickly, Willow pulled away from him.

"Wow," he breathed.

"I like you," she blurted. "A lot. And I know you're way out of my league—"

What the actual fuck are you saying

"—but I just wanted to tell you and I'd really like to be your girlfriend if you'll let me."

He pulled her off the dancefloor, off into a somewhat private corner.

"What do you mean I'm out of your league? You're out of mine."

"I-I mean, you're just…"

"You're drop-dead gorgeous, Will. You didn't know that?"

Her face turned bright red.

"Hunter—"

"I've liked you since the first time you slammed me into the ground while we were practicing for roller-derby. You're smart and funny and strong and so pretty and it makes me stupid around you. I just…"

She cut him off and kissed him again. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her against him as she draped her arms around his neck. They were both breathless when they broke apart, and Willow let out a chuckle.

"What took us so long, sunshine?"

"Guess we just needed to get out of our own heads… Captain." She let out a snort and buried her face in his shoulder. "You wanna dance some more?"

"Yeah." She looked up at him with a smile and he couldn't resist giving her a quick kiss on the forehead that made her face turn bright red before they headed back out onto the floor.

Luz couldn't believe how well tonight had gone.

The only thing that had gone wrong was that Tío Angelo had kicked up a fuss about her having a girlfriend (never mind the fact she hadn't actually asked Amity to go out with her yet at that point in the evening) before Isabel and Camila had yanked him out of the party. She was pretty sure she'd seen Isa throw a punch at his head in the way little sisters did to their older brothers when they did something stupid on the way out. Ramona had gone after them, yelling about how they needed to keep their hands off her husband and leaving her kids to cause chaos.

Thankfully Abuela hadn't taken offense, she merely muttered something about her son being a grown man who needed to accept that the world had changed.

Right now she was sitting on the steps of the stage, rubbing her heels where her new shoes hadn't quite been broken in yet. As tradition dictated, she'd been given her first pair of heels that she was still amazed she hadn't broken an ankle in yet. Most of the guests had left for the night with only a few stragglers remaining.

"Hey," Hunter greeted her, coming to sit beside her. "Where's Blight?"

"She had to run home. Something about a curfew."

"Yeah, Willow, too." His cheeks were slightly red.

"Smooth move, by the way. I didn't know my brother was such a Casanova."

"I'm not and you know it." She elbowed him with a chuckle.

"Good thing Willow doesn't mind."

"Yeah, good thing." He fidgeted slightly and she could tell something was wrong.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing, just… I was so stressed about talking to her tonight, and I kinda forgot it was supposed to be about you. I suck."

"No, you don't. You did your job. You walked me in and you did the first dance. That's all you needed to do as far as I'm concerned. And to be clear, you getting with Willow is a fantastic birthday gift. That's a story for your wedding."

"We're just going to a movie, dumbass. Not getting engaged."

"Yet."

"What about you?"

"Oh, we're still figuring out what to do for our first date. I can't decide between a movie or dinner or—"

"Did you actually ask her or did you chicken out again?"

"She asked me, actually, thank you very much. I was literally about to ask her and she said it first. You're one to talk, you've chickened out of asking Willow how many times?"

"Watch it."

"I did. It was pathetic."

He stuck out his tongue and she stuck hers out right back before they both started laughing.

"You know, it's been kinda sucky for the past couple months. Since I found out about my parents," he confessed. "Tonight's just reminded me that I wouldn't have had all this if I'd stayed here as a kid. I would probably be a completely different person."

"Oh, yeah, you'd probably put on some cocky bad-boy persona to try and hide the fact that you're all sad deep down."

"And you'd be all lost without me."

"Pfft. No. I'd still make friends with Willow and you'd try and corrupt her to turn her to the dark side." She let out a sigh. "Actually, um… now that we've mentioned your birth family, I… need to tell you something."

"How deep did you dig?" He didn't sound surprised or annoyed, more… mildly curious.

"As deep as I could." She ran a hand through her hair. "Your mom was a Clawthorne by birth, let's start with that."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah. Eda and Lilith's cousin."

"Huh. Weird."

"Yeah. And there's not a lot of information on the investigation past the first year. I'm surprised you didn't do any digging."

"I found out my birth parents were murdered. That was as far as I needed to go."

"They didn't have any suspects, in case you were wondering. Darius said there wasn't enough evidence to point anywhere but he's pretty sure he knows who did it."

"I'm gonna guess his suspect is Phillip Wittebane."

"Yeah. It is. Apparently he had a grudge against your mom for a long time."

"That checks out as to why he would murder her. And my dad if he tried to protect her, I guess." He sighed. "I don't wanna think about this anymore tonight."

"Okay."

They sat there for a minute in silence, watching as a few of the stragglers found their way to the door.

"Hunter, I'm really glad I have you for a brother."

"And you're not as annoying as I like to say you are."

"What slander is this?!"

"The kind of slander an older brother spreads." He flicked her forehead slightly and she shoved him.

Honestly, it really was hard to imagine her life without him as a brother.

He'd always been there for her, defending her from bullies when she was too little to do it herself and providing hugs and comfort when their mom had to work late. Hunter had been the first person she'd come out to and he'd bought her a pride flag in response to help her come out to their mother and sister. Sure, he drove her crazy sometimes and she loved to mess with him, but she wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.

She let out a yawn.

Yeah, it was probably time to head home.

All in all, though, she'd consider it a successful birthday.

I DID IT IT'S DONE I'M NOT LOOKING AT IT ANYMORE IT'S DONE

This was such a hard chapter to write and it's probably lower quality but I'm putting it out. I can't write it better than this. I'm sorry.

So long and thanks for all the fish!