A/N:

Happy New Year, everyone! Er… month…into new year….

Sorry. Burnout, college, et cetera.

Anyway. I come with another chapter!

I generally don't like to try and over-think my previous chapters. What's written is written, and I don't intend to go back and rewrite massive chunks of the story.

But, I will admit - one thing I do regret is how I shunted Amity out of the spotlight and replaced her with Luz, since she was better with emotional junk. But, I feel like Phillip and Amity is a very good sort of odd pairing that works really well.

So, I'm going to try and bring her back into the spotlight. I'm sorry 'bout that.

It essentially took Luz dragging Phillip by the hand to get him to go back to Blight Manor. Thankfully, the building had fallen largely silent in their absence. Samuel had managed to fall asleep on the couch, and as to not disturb him - each of the house's residents had retreated to their quarters.

Well, aside from Amity - who stood outside the front door waiting for them to return. As soon as they were close enough, she stepped forward. "Can I talk to you, Phillip? One on one?"

"Yes, of course." Phillip replied.

"Luz, I think - you should go keep an eye on Sam for a bit." Amity squeaked.

"Alrighty. Let me know if you need anything, hermosa." Replied Luz, placing a loving kiss on Amity's cheek before stepping back inside.

After a minute of awkward silence, Amity and Phillip's eyes once again met. He stammered - "I'm…sorry for running off, it was a…A kneejerk reaction. A cowardly one, though." Unsure of what the 'right' thing to say would be, so he just ran his mouth and hoped he landed somewhere close.

Amity sharply cut through that, "I don't care about that. I… wanted to talk to you, about- Hunter, tell you something about him."

"What is it?" Phillip asked, half expecting to be served a not undeserved restraining order.

Taking a deep breath, Amity just spat it out. "I- don't think you should give up on him!"

There was a brief, heavy pause in the air. Before Phillip once again spoke up, "As much as I hope we can reconcile…I don't plausibly see it in our future."

Even at this dower reaction, Amity wasn't dissuaded - she had this whole thing plotted out in her head. "Phillip…Do you remember my mom?"

"Your mother?" Phillip repeated, ambiently tapping his chin. "Wasn't she an assistant to the collector?"

"Yea…" Wowww, was that all Emperor Belos remembered about Odalia? Whatever - Amity faked a smile and rubbed her chin. "She- really believed in the whole…day of unity, to the point of harming her family on the faith that it'd secure us a better spot in that 'utopia.'"

Phillip said nothing, but suspiciously narrowed his eyes. Half thinking she was mocking him.

"Sorry." Amity chuckled, at that mildly sour facial expression. "Anyway- she was just - the worst. For a long part of my life. I hated her. She forced me to drive away my best friend, Willow- and…as a result, I was so…awful, that I initially hated Luz! Like- can you believe that?"

In response, Phillip said nothing. Confused, more than anything else at where this could possibly be going. But, evidently Odalia was a large influence in her daughter's life…

Caleb was the biggest influence on Phillip.

Could? Caleb… Have been a bad influence? Was that what Amity was getting at?

No, no! Preposterous! Caleb was a man of virtue, one that…Phillip strived to be more like.

But he failed.

There was an old phrase in the Boiling Isles, 'Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll still end up among the stars.'

Phillip, on the other hand, ended up falling into a black hole. Titan forgive him.

What he actually needed to do was to just keep listening and not jump to conclusions.

"I thought there'd never be a day in my adult life where we were even on the most base speaking terms! But, then, after the Day of Unity… She saw the error of her ways, and she worked really hard…And while I haven't forgotten the…garbage she's done to me, I've largely forgiven her. We're friends now."

What she was trying to say finally clicked, and - the moral she was getting at hit him like a stake through the heart. While their situations weren't directly comparable, it-

Just gave her that little push to keep going. It gave him a twinkle in his eye and a spark of hope in his heart.

He trusted Amity. Something he wrote long ago rung in his ears. 'A good friend is hard to find.'

But, as much as he wanted to pull the witch into a hug, he resisted. In fact, he purposely changed the subject to not face the horrid reality staring into his eyes.

"Amity… I do humbly request, if it is agreeable, to move out as soon as possible…And for my space be given to Samuel."

To which, she just stared at him for a minute. "What? No! Look, the manor is gigantic. We can set up another room for him."

"But- I'm not sure, I don't know if he would even want me to be anywhere near him." Phillip replied.

"Look…I know, how tempting it is. To just, run away. But please, you can't. If you do, then…you'll never be able to make anything better. Not with Samuel, not with Hunter, Or- with, the isles as a whole."

Without another word, Phillip took a deep breath. "Thank you, Amity…thank you, for, just… not. Giving up on this lost cause."

To which - she just pulled him into a tight hug. To which, he had to choke back a tear.

But, Phillip, still as hesitant as ever - wormed his way out. But his voice was clearly strained as he said, "I… need some time alone."

"My fault…i'm sorry if I've been pushing boundaries." Replied Amity, with a shrug

"No, no, maybe…I don't know. I don't… know my boundaries, myself anymore…" Phillip replied with a fist dramatically clenched.

"You…Wanna talk about that?" Amity asked, a concerned eyebrow of her own.

Phillip brushed this aside. "Not tonight. I think I need a bit of rest before delving further."

"Well…Goodnight. See you in the morning, eh?" Asked Amity, turning around.

"See you in the morning." Phillip affirmed.

With that, he once again returned to his bedroom. Sitting down in his bed, he found himself… too tired after the day he's had to do anything further.

So, he just got cozy under a blanket, with Currant nestling up against his neck.