Chapter Text
Amity shut the door behind her, letting out a long sigh that eventually turned to her yelling into her hands. She leaned back on the door, letting herself slide down, her hands still covering her face. After letting the previous moment (that being kissing Luz on the cheek and running away completely embarrassed) sink in, she removed her hands to find a familiar but not always comforting sight.
That sight was Emira and Edric smirking down at her, but this time there was a tinge of sympathy behind it. But after a moment the smirks faded after they realized just how shaken Amity was. Edric tried to save the silence.
“I’d say that turned out well, all things considered.”
“What are you talking about! I just kissed her and then just ran away!... Wait, were you watching us!?”
Edric scratched the back of his head. Instead of answering the question, he decided to dodge it.
“I mean, it could have been worse….”
“How could it have been worse?!”
Edric took a moment to think
“You could have missed her cheek, stepped on your own shoelaces, I don’t know…..”
Emira gave him a piercing stare as he began to drag on. She was usually fine with Edric’s antics but now wasn’t really an appropriate time. He took the hint and stopped. Then Emira took a knee, bringing herself down to Amity’s level.
“Honestly, you did good out there. You might not feel it right now but that was really brave.”
“You're right, I don’t feel it.”
Emira only chuckled at the comment, then ruffled Amity’s new hair a bit.
“Oh, you're just being dramatic.”
“No I’m not!” said Amity slowly scrunching up into a ball. “Luz is probably just weirded out by me now.”
“I mean, you could ask her if she is” pointed out Edric.
Emira nodded along in agreement, smirking a little wider.
“Yeah, I mean she IS right outside.”
Amity’s worry shifted completely into confusion.
“Wait, what do you mean she's still outside?”
Emira makes a little hand motion to follow her up the stairs. She walks up the staircase and Amity begrudgingly follows, finding her sister standing next to an open window in her room. Emira pointed out the window, her smile widening. Amity slowly approached the window and eventually looked out. It took her a second for her confusion to go even further.
Luz was just…..sitting there. Completely motionless, with the same expression as before frozen on her face. She was still sitting. And sitting. And sitting…...
Amity turned back to her siblings, both of them raising their eyebrows mischievously, practically in unison. She didn’t know what to say at first, so Edric interjected.
“It was a bold move you pulled out there, maybe a bit too bold. I think you might have broke her!”
It didn’t take long for Amity to return to her routine of covering her face in her hands and exhaling out all her embarrassment.
“Oh gosh, she really does think I’m weird now!”
Emira puts a hand on her shoulder
“Oh come on, no she doesn’t.”
“Yes, she does….” Amity says half-heartedly.
Emira moved Amity’s hands away from her face, taking a moment to speak honestly with her.
“Don’t you think this might be new for her too?”
It took Amity a moment to realize what she was saying. She remembered Luz had mentioned how back in the human realm she didn’t have much of any friends. There weren’t many people that really liked her. So a gesture that bold, a small gesture of love from a close friend showing how they really feel, it probably was completely new to her.
“You know what it was like for you to realize that you liked her, just imagine what's going on for her knowing that you see her as more than just a friend.”
Amity looked down, it helped her to understand Luz’s situation but it didn’t really make her more sure of her feelings.
“And that doesn't mean she won’t accept your feelings.”
Emira looks down at Luz, who is still sitting, from the window. She taps her fingers on the wooden frame.
“Give her some time, once she's back on her feet I think you might see how she really feels.”
With that, Emira turned back around to Amity. She ruffled her hair again for a moment before walking away.
Amity was still unsure, but the idea gave her some hope. But it would also be excruciating if Luz didn’t do anything at all and just left. It was a lot to handle, so she opted for resting her head on the open window sill.
Part of her wanted to turn away and not face what might happen when Luz comes back to her senses. But she also didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of her doing something cute, or something that might validate her hopes. But mostly, she just liked a moment to just look at her for a while as she tried to bring herself down from that manic episode she just experienced.
Time passed, a whole lot of nothing took place. Amity watched out the window waiting for Luz to get up, and Luz continued to sit for almost an hour. After a while, the Echo Mouse that was in Luz’s hands decided to take shelter on top of her head. At some point Emira came back into her room, replacing her comforting sibling talk with genuine surprise at Luz still sitting in front of their house. She even mentioned how sitting like that “wasn’t good for her knees.”
At some point, Amity was just out to give up. She had been out there for more than an hour and it was already nighttime. In her mind, she just convinced herself that this was Luz’s way of being freaked out. She solemnly got up but as she moved, so did Luz. Amity froze up. She gripped the window frame tightly, waiting for some kind of sign, any sign. Luz stood for a moment, just as motionless as she was before. And then……
“YEEEEEEEEEES!!!”
Luz jumped, raising her fist up into the air. She almost fell over once coming back to the ground, her legs were still wobbly from sitting for so long. Her face was bright red, not from embarrassment it seemed, but more as if she had just let out something that she had been keeping inside for quite a while. She did a couple of quick little fist bumps before beginning to just run around in circles. The running in circles soon turned to spinning around in place, smiling so wide it probably hurt. Then after a moment, she dropped down on her back, lying on the dirt for a moment looking up at the sky.
Amity didn’t know it then, but her smile was massive. Little wet drops formed at the ends of her eyes as she watched it all unfold. It was probably the cutest thing she had ever seen Luz do. She tried to contain her joy so Luz wouldn’t see her, but she was in a state of euphoria and relief. But most of all, after hearing that elongated “yes” ring out of Luz, all her fears had washed away. All that was there now was love, the love she had given to Luz. A love that was accepted. A love that was shared. It made all of her worries seem silly in retrospect. She knew now, Luz likes her too.
Amity noticed the Echo Mouse wriggle itself out of Luz’s hair. She could hear a distant chuckle after realizing it had made a home up in there while she was flinging herself about. Hearing that laugh again was just music to her ears. She also noticed Luz saying something to the Echo Mouse, but she couldn’t make it out.
Luz eventually got off the ground and started making her way back home. She had a new kind of skip in her step, the kind that someone who was as disheveled and torn up as she was wouldn’t normally be. She had a new kind of glow to her, one that was filled with optimism.
Thinking on her bruises and tattered clothes, Amity did feel a bit guilty about all the trials Luz probably had to go through in order to get her job back. She might have been the one that got caught, but Amity was more adamant about finding that book than she might have realized. Luz looked real torn up, her clothes looked like a mess covered in dirt and parts that looked slightly burned. She thought about one day coming over and mending them back together, mostly with the help of a sewing abomination.
She caught the thought, doing a small thing like that for Luz. Now it didn’t have the connotation of “that's what friends do” anymore. It was an act of love, the silly things they would be willing to do for each other. She began to swim in these thoughts for quite a while.
Soon she dropped down on her bed, letting the comfort of the moment and the mattress envelop her. She was still smiling, so much so that it felt like her face was getting sore. For once she let out an air of relief.
Emira slowly opened the door to Amity’s room. Her face was unsure at first, but after seeing Amity on the bed with a wide grin, her face changed to a smug knowing glance.
“See? What did I tell ya?”
Amity snickered.
“Fine, you were right.”
The smugness grew across Emira’s face.
“When am I not?”
Amity rolled her eyes at the comment, she looked at the ceiling still lost in thought. Emira took the hint she needed some space, for once not for worrying reasons.
“I’ll leave you alone then….”
Emira began to close the door but stopped halfway.
“Oh, one more thing!”
Amity darted her eyes towards the door.
“I’m really happy for you, both of you. Let's just hope Edric has the same luck tonight.”