It carries on like this for a while. Eventually they did get the scene and the episode released. But it didn't help Amity's case either. People went mad with their shipping after that episode. And Amity thought to herself every day, I'm never coming back here. But the humiliating truth was that she craved Luz. She craved their bicker, the hatred, the dynamic. It gave her a reason to wake up every morning, to come on set and try to one-up her. That was their normal. That was their thing.
One morning, Amity woke up alone in her house. She had overslept. Everyone had already gone out to work and that meant she had no way to get to work.
Amity weighed out all of her options. She could walk, but it was starting to be so cold out and it's not like the studio was close or anything. She could call a ride but she had already spent most of her money on her half of the rent and food. She was literally out of time so that meant she had to take drastic measures. Scrolling through her contacts list, all the way at the bottom was a forbidden number.
Noceda
They'd only texted a few times, Luz mostly being the initiator of her one sided conversations. They'd only exchanged numbers simply for business reasons. They were co-workers after all. And Luz had a car. And Amity was late to work and…
With shaky hands, she typed out a message.
'Can you pick me up ? I'll pay you'
Sent.
Not even a minute passed before her reply came. And it was only a thumbs up emoji. Then, ' send me your address'.
Amity was hesitant at first. Why would she send Noceda her address? She could be a murderer for all she knew. But...this was only drastic measures. Drastic measures made for drastic decisions. So with a nervous rush, she shared her location. Luz replied with another thumbs up emoji and ' be there in 20' .
Amity sighed, sinking into her sheets. What has she done? Now she's going to know where she lives and she probably—wait! Amity jumped out of bed because- she wasn't even dressed yet and Luz was going to be here in twenty minutes! Half of that twenty minutes was just her trying to decide on what to wear, even though she was just going to change into costume anyways. And usually, she didn't give getting dressed this much thought. But…
Ultimately, she decided on a pink, sleeveless dress with a white trim, black knee high socks for the cold and white sneakers. Even though it was freezing outside and she probably should have worn her boots and her puffy jacket but a loud car horn sounded in front of the house and that meant it was time to go, probably. Grabbing her phone off her bed, another text from Luz popped up, ' I'm here' .
'Coming' , she quickly texted back, biting back a smile from the thrill of this. She's going to be getting in Luz Noceda's car. She squealed to herself. She grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs. When she came out, she was met with that same black Honda. It looked much less impressive in the light of the day but— it was still a way for her to get to work.
She walked behind the car to the passenger side, just so she could gain her composure for a moment before getting in. She tugged on the handle and Luz unlocked it. When she opened the door, she was blasted by the scent of that cheap gas station air freshener and an obnoxiously sweet smelling perfume. Well, at least it wasn't a bad smell. "Hey," is all Luz says.
"Hey," Amity shoots back calmly. She climbs in the seat, reaching over to buckle her seatbelt. Luz reaches over to turn on the heater and she stops to look at Amity and her incredible outfit, she assumes. This is the only reason she did it, even if she was freezing her toes off.
"Aren't you cold in that?" Luz asks, the heater kicking in and the scent of burnt air fills the car.
"No." Amity says simply. It's incredibly awkward now. Luz clears her throat awkwardly and pulls out of the driveway and onto the main road.
They drive mostly in silence until Luz says, "You can turn on the radio if you want,"
"No thanks. I'd rather not touch anything in this car more than necessary." She says. Luz blinks but keeps her eyes on the road and Amity relishes in it. First hit of the day and she's off to a great start. She peers over to the ceiling pocket on Luz's side and sees a picture.
From here it's distorted and a bit hard to make out but she's pretty sure it's a picture of Luz and her mom. Luz is wearing her usual beanie and beside her is a shorter woman in nurse scrubs. It's kind of weird to Amity and she realizes that Luz is actually a person too. She has family and other things about her that no one knows. She's not just her rival, the person she loves to hate. She sort of grows fond of her in that way.
They make it to the studio and do only a few things that take up the whole day. For this episode, they're playing some made up version on rugby. Amity's character breaks her foot and Luz has to carry her. At first, Amity thinks it's just another throw away thing and even though no one said anything about it, she's starting to see it now. She was told to act flustered around Luz for the past few episodes and she couldn't really imagine why. But this, she got it now.
Willow and Gus were there too. She was told Eda and another guest star were also appearing in this episode but they'd film their segment separately. She didn't really see Eda much but when she did, she usually had a lot of scenes with Luz. Sometimes, she got to sit in and watch. Those two together were oddly charming. They have a bond onscreen and off it seemed. Amity wishes she had that. Maybe it's her fault she doesn't.
And after another long day, Amity finds herself in the cafe again. She's sitting in the nicer area, separated from the cafeteria with carpeted floor and warm lighting. She sat by herself at a booth table, on her laptop trying to get a few assignments done. She was rudely distracted however, by Luz, Gus and Willow's loud laughter as they entered the cafeteria. They were talking and joking around like they were best friends. She guesses they were. How was she supposed to know when she distanced herself from everyone all the time?
Luz got them a table and Willow and Gus sat down while she headed to the breakfast bar. Amity was immediately reminded of her previous...breakfast endeavors from the night before. She comes back with three cups of coffee perfectly balanced in her hands. She slides them across the table to her two co-stars and she winks. "Just how you guys like it," Amity hears her say.
They all sit there, laughing and talking and sipping their coffee. Amity wishes she could just go right over there and join them. She felt so left out. She couldn't help but stare. Luz looks up and catches her and she raises her eyebrows. She waves over at Amity and Willow and Gus turn to look at her. She isn't really on the best of terms with them either.
Amity quickly looks back down at her computer screen. Then they burst out in laughter and she can't help but wonder what they're laughing about. She wants to laugh too. Her eyes drift back up and she meets Luz's gaze again. She flicks her eyes back down. It continues on like this in an agonizing cycle until Willow and Gus pack up to leave about an hour later. She looks up and sees their table empty.
That's odd, she thinks. She never seen Luz leave and she usually hangs around here for a bit longer. Amity twists around to see if Luz maybe went towards the back of the cafe but she sees nothing as she peers over the booth.
Amity sighs, turning back to her computer. At least now maybe she could focus on her work. "Hey Blight," she hears her voice and Amity nearly jumps out of her skin. Then Luz jumps over the booth and plops down next to her instead of just walking in like a normal person.
Amity takes a deep breath to compose herself. "Noceda."
" Noceda," Luz says mockingly. "So serious. Are you a lawyer?"
Amity blinks. "What?"
"Nothing," she says quickly. She folds her arms behind her head and leans back against the booth, her eyes closed. Amity shakes her head, trying to get herself back in focus. She was on a good workflow up until now and she was not going to let Noceda be the reason she's missing credits at the end of the school year. She clicks away on her laptop, trying to ignore the warmth from the girl beside her.
"What'cha working on?" Luz suddenly leans closer and Amity flinches.
"Homework."
"Ah, okay," she says and leans back again. Amity is confused but she keeps trying to work either way. What was the point of these needless interactions? "Hey, good work today by the way."
Amity stiffens. She can't even remember what she did today, it's been such a long one. "You know you'd be lying if you said you were just acting though," she says vaguely and Amity waits for the next part that never comes.
She pinches the bridge of her nose, just trying to relieve some of the stress. Being around her can be so exhausting. "What are you talking about, Noceda?"
"...I'm talking about how it wasn't hard for you to pretend that you're in love with me." She opens one eye to grin at Amity.
"It's been my greatest challenge," she shoots back after the initial shock had cleared up, turning back to face her computer again. Luz just hums to herself. It's quiet for a few more minutes. Amity gets exactly three sentences into her essay because she's on fire with how close they are right now. But they've been closer before and it's not like this is romantic in any way shape or form. She's just tired and annoyed, that's all.
"You wanted to sit with us so bad," Luz says suddenly, laughing quietly. Amity knows right away what she's talking about. She doesn't have any feasible excuse in her defense so she stays quiet. "You know, maybe you'd have some friends if you weren't such a—" she pauses when Amity glares at her— daring her. Luz giggles again and holds up her hands in defense.
Amity sighs and slams her laptop shut. Pulling her bag open she shoves it in and shuffles out of the booth, leaving Luz without exchange. She heads out the cafe exit, into the back parking lot just like last night. She pulls out her phone and starts to dial her mother but Luz comes out and walks over to her car. They make eye contact for a brief moment and then—"I could...give you a ride if you want."
"Okay," Amity agrees faster than she cares to admit. She comes to the passenger side where Luz is holding the door open for her which— bothers her. They briefly make eye contact again and this time Luz gives her a bright, oblivious smile and in turn, Amity rolls her eyes. After she's in, Luz passively slams the door shut and walks over to the drivers side. She unlocks her phone and hands it over to Amity.
"What?"
"Put in your address," Luz says.
"—But you picked me up from there just this morning," Amity says in disbelief. Luz groans.
"C'mon Blight. I can't remember everything. Just do it!"
Amity scoffs, taking the phone and quickly types in her address. She can just feel the Luz cooties crawling into her skin and she shivers. She doesn't even have a phone case. What kind of delinquent didn't have a phone case? She all but drops it back into the cup holder after she's done. The ride is quiet and Amity is glad for it— she doesn't have anything to say and she doesn't want to hear her stupid voice right now anyways. They're almost there when Luz makes a wrong turn.
"What are you doing?" Amity asks suspiciously.
Luz laughs. "Relax. I'm getting something to eat," she says. They pull into a McDonald's drive-thru, of all things. Amity's jaw drops in pure horror. She can't believe anyone would even bother coming here considering all of the nasty rumors about them online. It's severely unhealthy and not good for someone like Luz who has to look good for her job.
"Want something?" Luz asks her as they pull up to order. Amity scoffs and nods her head, turning to look out the window instead. She watches as cars zoom past on the highway.
They wait an annoyingly long time just for what— a cheeseburger and some fries? Whatever it is she ordered, it smells like immediate death in a bag. How did she have such bad eating habits and manage to keep her figure? Not that she's looking anyways but—" Now I'll take you home," she says after stuffing her hand in the bag and dropping a handful of fries into her mouth, putting her greasy hand back on the wheel. All Amity can do is gag.
They pull up to her house at around eleven fifty, she's still got a few minutes to spare before curfew. Luz leans forward to peer up at her two story house, a terrace overlooking the porch. "Nice place," she says casually, then, "Are you guys rich or something?"
Amity lets out a bitter laugh. " I'm not rich. They are. I can barely afford food sometimes."
"That's tough." Is all she says even though Amity knows she's dying to ask more questions. At least she's got morals. Luz drums her fingers on the steering wheel. They sit there in an awkward silence before Amity can't take it anymore and she practically jumps out of the car.
She thinks about just leaving it like this. And she really appreciated the ride but she'd rather die than say thank you to her. But...she isn't that mean. So before she shuts the door she leans in and sweetly says, "Night."
"Night." Luz says back. Amity is halfway to the door when Luz rolls the window down and calls after her, "Hey!"
Amity whirls around and her heart flutters at all of the possibilities, the things she could say. "Don't even think about asking me for another ride."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Amity calls back albeit a little disappointed. Luz leans out the window and gives her an obnoxiously toothy smile before rolling the window up and pulling off.
She forgot to pay her.
