Chapter 28: To Old Friends and New Bonds

It was 9pm on a weekend. Willow stood outside the Porter residence, with a bag of extra clothes, snacks, and her brand new companion, Clover. A large round bee palisman with extra white fluff where her neck would be. But don't be fooled by her fluffy exterior, as this palisman has two ferocious stingers on both her back and face.

Tender, yet tenacious.

A perfect companion for Willow Park.

And so far, Willow and Clover have been getting along well.

As for the others though…

Willow knocks loudly enough for Clover to wake, offering a humble buzz to her new owner. Willow giggles in response.

"Sorry for waking you," she whispers. But really, she's not that sorry. Because the little thing is adorable when she's angry.

Reminds her of a certain three-eyed witch…

"No! Bad Willow…" she scolds herself. "Ignore the feelings for now. Out of sight. Out of mind."

It's been days since their 'date'. And ever since Boscha had thanked her for giving her space, she couldn't help but give her more.

Well, it was more for herself, really. Titan knows if she tries to pretend to just be silly buddy girl pals with her crush she would combust into flames.

So for now, she copes the best way she knows how.

By completely ignoring her feelings.

As Willow is scolding herself, Perry Porter opens the door. In his hand, he wields a crow, who Willow assumes is connected to Gus as he exclaims with his usual reporter voice, "Breaking News: Willow has just arrived at the Porter residence."

Willow laughs, thanking Perry as he lets her in.

She already knows Gus's house like the back of her hand. She makes her way up the steps, in front of Gus's door. It's decorated like those bedroom doors you would see in coming-of-age (human) movies. With a bunch of stickers and a small sign that says "Get Out!"

Luckily for Willow, that sign can't stop her because she can't read! She swings the door open and is immediately greeted by Luz, Gus, Amity and… Mattholomule?

The kids are scattered—along with their palismen—around a crystal ball projecting a list of movies on Gus's wall. Amity and Luz lay politely on the foot of Gus's bed with Ghost laying right on top of Luz as cats do. Meanwhile the boys are on the floor with Emmiline-Bailey-Marcostomo. The chameleon whose name Willow can't be bothered to remember.

Willow makes a mental note that Matt doesn't have a palisman yet, because he just turned 14 this year.

"Hey Willow!" Gus waves with a grin on his face.

"Hi!" She sits down beside Gus—but away from Mattholomule—and whispers, "I thought you said this was just going to be us?"

She glances at Mattholomule.

"Oh well… I invited him." Gus whispers back. "I wanted him to see what our human sleepovers were like."

Willow nods. "I see."

"Anyways—" Gus swings his head back to the crystal ball. "We were just about to start the movie!"

"IF we could actually decide on which one to watch… That is," Matt adds. "So far it's two vs two." He holds up 'Azura and the Wizard's Wand' and 'Fear the Killer Clowns'.

"We wanted to watch Azura—" Amity gestures to her and Luz. "And they wanted to watch a horror movie."

"Pleaaase! Come on Luz! It's a human horror movie." Gus argues. "Don't you want to have a taste of home? It's not too late to change your vote!"

The four kids bicker back and forth, throwing various reasons as to why their preferred movie is the superior one—before finally coming to a unanimous decision.

"Well since clearly we're not going to be able to agree, let's have Willow decide. She is the last vote."

All eyes are cast upon Willow.

"Uhm uhh… Well I do agree that watching horror at night might be a bad idea…"

Gus huffs, disappointed at what Willow is trying to imply. But unbeknownst to him Willow also doesn't want to watch some cheesy fantasy movie with probably some romantic side plot with Azura and Hecate. For… lots of reasons.

"Buttt… Since we're at Gus's sleepover, I'm going to side with him and watch spooky clowns tonight."

Matt and Gus cheer as the two older kids sigh at their loss. But there's always the next sleepover, and it's always fun seeing the boys happy.

Willow happily lays down on the pile of blankets laid out, right beside Gus. As always, Gus is quick to plop his head down with her, using her shoulder as a pillow.

The movie starts, and it's about as cheesy as you can get with horror movies. But of course, Gus is frightened and clinging onto Willow's arm for dear life at the sight of any clowns. To the point she breaks out into a lovely peal of laughter right in the middle of the movie. Amity and Luz follow soon after. Watching Gus freak out is infinitely more entertaining than the movie.

"THE PEOPLE ARE DYING WILLOW. AND YOU'RE LAUGHING?!"

"Hehehehe! Sorry I'll—" Willow wheezes and snorts. She's almost running out of breath at this point. "I'll stop I promise!"

"Don't worry Gus, we'll protect you!" Luz jokingly 'throws' tomatoes at the projection on the wall. "Boooo! Tomato tomato!"

And just as quick as the words are spoken…

"AAAAGH!"

The lights shut, with the flicker of a clown's face being the last thing they see before sudden darkness.

Gus lets out a dry sob, clinging to Willow and burying his face into her arm.

"Woah woah hey," she whispers as she gently rubs Gus's back. "We're here, it's just a movie."

"I know I know it's fake but… but…"

His eye glows a bright blue, and Willow can already tell he's having thoughts again. "It's okay, this isn't your fault. You're not overreacting."

She already knows everything. Gus's worries. Everything. It's sorta what happens when you feel the need to protect.

She holds Gus by the shoulders. She looks at him in the eye with a firm but gentle look, like that of a loving father. She raises her hand to her face, and counts. "Breathe. One… Two…"

Gus sighs. "Three…"

The bright blue light simmers down, replaced with the gentle glow of Luz's light glyphs. "You okay, Gus?"

"Sorry…"

Matt had been quiet for most of the night. He was already out of his element for the most part, as he was never used to having actual… friends. But of course in your typical Matt fashion, he ruins what was supposed to be a fun night between a few friends. All because he wanted to be friends with them too.

"None of this would've happened if I hadn't brought the movie."

Willow quickly wrangles up the little squirt into her arm. "No. This isn't your fault either!"

"But—"

"NO. No buts!"

"Yeah, Matt," Amity says. "We're all just trying to have fun."

"Plus—" Luz waves her light glyphs in the air to further emphasize her point, "we still have a lot of fun stuff we can do even without power! Like…"

Luz grabs a small empty bottle from Gus's bedside table. She gently pushes Ghost (and Amity's arm) off her and sits down, placing the bottle in between all of them. "A human game, mayhaps?"

"Spin the bottle?" Matt groans. From his knowledge of human movies, isn't that a kissing game? Gross.

"Sorta… I was talking about truth or dare! My mom and I used to play it with rock paper scissors, but since there's a lot of us we'll use the bottle to decide our fate."

Luz explains the rules. No lying, no backing out, no cheesing dares, etc. And off they went. And as most truth or dare games go, it starts off relatively silly and light.

"Since it's the first round, the person who gets to ask truth or dare will be on the other end of the bottle. But after that it will be the person who got asked. Seem fair?"

"Yeah!" The crew agrees.

"Cool! Let's start!"

The two ends of the bottle point at Matt and Amity.

"Uh oh! Amity," Luz says. "Truth or dare?"

"Hmmm. Truth?"

"Okay so hold your hands like this…" Luz grabs her girlfriend's hands and clasps them between hers so that the joints of her fingers line up. Amity blushes at Luz, which earns a small giggle from Willow and rolling eyes from Gus. "Alright, Matt. Hold her hands."

Luz leads Mattholomule to Amity's clasped hands, so that his hands would be able to squeeze Amity's fingers.

"What's that for?" Willow asks.

"It's to make sure she doesn't lie," Luz says. "If Matt can tell she's lying he can just squeeze down. And yeah it'll hurt."

"Oh that seems pretty tame. On the Isles you usually get swallowed alive by a demon if you lie," says Amity.

Luz blinks. "What."

"Just kidding!"

Willow laughs. "Okay Matt, ask away!"

"Hmmm…"

While Matt wasn't looking to cause trouble that night, some residual part of him wanted to pry just a little bit. But he decides it's probably best to save the juicy questions for later.

"Have you ever dated anyone before Luz?"

Amity's face flashes a bright red. Already with the embarrassing questions! But sure she'll bite. "No…"

Matt squeezes.

"HEY! I'M TELLING THE TRUTH!"

After some bickering, laughter, spins, lies, and stories told—frankly there were more truths than dares, because let's face it dares get old or corny really quickly—the bottle lands on Willow, with the asker being Matt once again.

"Dare."

"I dare you to yell outside the window."

"What?! I'm not doing that! The neighbors are sleeping!"

"Uh oh. Well since there's no backing out… Guess you have to go for truth then."

At this point, Matt was already feeling a lot more comfortable around them. He's having a blast getting to know them. And they're a lot less judgmental than his last friends. So much so… he feels like teasing a bit.

"Hmph! Fine," Willow says. "Truth it is."

"Do you…"

And now part of him really wants to pry.

"Have a crush on anyone?"

Willow blushes, the tip of her ears now wiggling up and down, completely giving her away. If she lies and says she doesn't, it's guaranteed he'll see through her. So she sighs, defeated.

Luz raises her hand. "Wait. You don't need to answer that if it makes you uncomfortable."

"It's just a yes or no."

"Actually…" Willow sighs, she's defeated. (And totally not because part of her has been itching to talk about Boscha the whole night) "Yeah… Kinda."

The kids do a collective "Ooooh~!" They huddle around closer, as if people will somehow hear, and Luz whispers:

"Wanna share who?"

That's the part Willow's dreading. She shuffles in her seat, sweat now dripping down her forehead. "It's… Boscha."

She can practically hear her own heartbeat fluttering now.

"That makes sense, you two have been hanging out a lot," Matt says.

"…And how do you know that?"

"She told me."

"She tells you? You're friends?" Willow did not mean to come off as judgmental but her curiosity got the better of her, and it just slipped out.

"We're cousins."

Gasp!

"WHAT?!"

"Okay—this seems like a shock but let's rewind." Gus shuffles even closer to Willow. "I thought you guys were already… Y'know?"

"Well the thing is…"

No… She was already trying to avoid thinking about her. And now they're talking about her!

Willow slumps down, hugging her knees to her chest and stuffing her cheeks into her knees. She grumbles, "I'd prefer… Not to talk about it."

"Oh," Luz says. "It's okay."

Meanwhile, Gus and Amity look like they're ready to send a witch into the sun after the night is over.

They continue playing, with more snacks opening, and all the while their palismen get to know each other and play on Gus's bed.

Soon enough Gus gets to ask Matt a question.

"So uh… Matt."

Willow may have terrible eyesight but even she can see the blush on Gus's face as he holds Matt's hands.

"I haven't even said truth yet."

"AH. RIGHT."

"B-but it's fine. I was going to say truth anyways."

"Cool cool…Do you—I mean you know just to make it fair we can't put all the pressure on Willow—do you like anyone…?"

"Ahem." Amity coughs. "And just to make it as fair, you're also allowed to back out of this question."

Mattholomule blushes. He covers his face with the hood of his pajamas but musters up the courage to squeak out, "Kinda."

The girls lose their minds. They squeal and giggle and dote over their friends being flustered messes. But ultimately don't force them to outright confess.

Just some light teasing!

The night passes by swiftly. Filled with laughs, shoves, and a lack of sleep despite it being a sleepover.

"Ooh, I actually brought nail polish!" Amity says as she reaches for her kitty bag. "I dare you to paint your nails black!"

"Ew!" Matt says. "But… Fine. But I can't guarantee it'll look nice."

It did in fact look awful. So much so, that Amity offered to just paint them for him. Gus even asks too.

"You know so we match, and you don't feel so embarrassed."

"I was just planning on taking it off after but…"

As the three talk over while painting their nails, Willow sleepily lays her head on Luz's shoulder.

"Tired already sleepyhead?" Luz says.

"Hehe! Kinda…" Willow murmurs. "Aren't you? You've been keeping these light glyphs up for hours."

Luz dons a curt smile. She is tired. But the last thing she wants is to ruin the other's fun.

"I can manage," she says with a heavy sigh. "Probably just a few more."

But Willow can hear the tiredness in her voice.

"Don't push yourself, human."

She stuffs Luz into a surprise hug. "We've already had so much fun since you're here."

Willow doesn't know it, but Luz is blushing beneath her strong arms. Willow has always been the protective and caring friend, but since when was she this bold? The utter confidence in her voice was enough to completely convince Luz…

And she falls asleep instantly.

"Huh?" Gus quirks up from laughing. "What happened to the light?"

The power is still out, and the light of Luz's glyphs now fade.

And after all is said and done. The kids have to sleep eventually.

"Shh." Willow hushes and gestures at Luz. "She's asleep."

"Oh." Amity looks at the time. It's already very incredibly late. She must've been having so much fun that she hadn't noticed her grogginess. "Well, I'm sure your nails are already dry."

Gus holds up his hands just to prove her point. "Yep!"

"Then I'm sure it's time to sleep."

The kids snuggle up on the floor with mountains of blankets and pillows, along with their new palismen. Because they can't all fit on the bed, and it would be unfair to these youth to not sleep together.

Willow is right in the center, placing two sapphics and the two boys beside her. Luz and Gus are snuggled up right underneath Willow's arms. While Mattholomule still chooses to distance himself quite a bit from them, opting to hug the giraffe plushie he had managed to steal off of Gus's shelf. And Amity… using her girlfriend's arm as a pillow.

And Ghost… using Amity as her pillow.

All the while Emmiline and Clover snuggled up right in between Gus and Willow, respectively.

And just as fast as she said goodnight, they're already out like a lamp.

Well, most of them anyways.

As Willow stares up at the ceiling in darkness—and frankly there wasn't a lot to be seen considering her poor vision—she notices that Amity has yet to sleep.

Yes she is cuddled up against Luz, but it's almost like she's trying to reach for Willow too, as she gently places her palm on Willow's stomach.

"Hey," she whispers.

"Mhm?" Willow hums.

"Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You and Boscha… Is she bothering you? You can tell me anything…"

Willow sighs. "No she's… Actually really wonderful," she says, her voice tinted with a lovesick tune to it. "Really smart, pretty, confident… For the most part." she chuckles at the last bit.

"Hmm… I see." Amity laughs. "I would've started claiming she hexed you with a love spell if you had said nice anywhere."

That was an oddly hypocritical thing to say coming from Amity. But Willow waves it off. Amity is still a bit quick to judge others, but nobody's perfect instantly. She will bring it up later, when she's not exhausted. But for now…

"I'm really glad we can do stuff like this again," Willow says. Brushing off what Amity said as if it were just girl talk.

"Me too…"

So as she drifts to sleep, she sleeps content knowing the friends she made today, and the friends she has.

Author's Note:

Sorry this is very late our wifi kinda went out and I got a little sick. Still I hope you enjoyed! See ya next week 3