Amity stirred from sleep like a forest creature, gently and warily. She was… exhausted. She let out a low groan and blinked her eyes a few times before realizing that she wasn’t in her room. She recognized the place; she’d been here once already. The Owl House. Right. After the Grudgby game, her, Willow, Augustus, and…
“Luz!” Amity yelped, sitting up straight. She hadn’t realized she’d been resting her head on Luz’s shoulder.
“Amity?” said Luz, glancing up from the book she was reading.
“I’m sorry!”
“Amity, hey, it’s okay—”
“I just, didn’t mean to!”
“Amity, whoa. It’s really alright,” Luz said.
Amity moved to get up, but then she remembered her leg. There it was, cast and all, propped up on Eda’s coffee table. She sat back.
“What happened?” Amity said. She avoided looking at Luz.
Luz shrugged.
“You dozed off here. Willow and Gus went home a little while ago.”
Amity rubbed the back of her neck.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Luz said. “You have nothing to worry about.”
Amity could hear the smile in Luz’s voice. She finally turned to her. She met Luz’s genuine brown eyes, and her heart started to pound. They shared a long, silent, comfortable look. And then Amity’s brain decided she’d been staring too long. She looked back down, blushing, and cleared her throat.
“I should probably go.”
Luz frowned.
“Are you sure?” she said.
“Yeah. Ed and Em are probably looking for me by now,” Amity said, glancing out the window, where the sun was already starting to set.
“Oh!” said Luz. “They came to check on you earlier, while you were asleep. They know you’re here.”
Amity felt her cheeks warm up again. So they’d seen her… ugh. She’d be hearing about this later, she knew.
“I… see,” she said, doing her best to play it cool.
There was a pause where Amity didn’t know what else to say. Luz shifted her feet like she wanted to say something, and then, after a few more seconds, she said it.
“You could stay the night if you want.”
Amity tensed up. She was not expecting that.
“Are you sure?” she said.
“Yeah. Eda said it was alright. And, I mean…” Luz hesitated, and then placed her hand on top of Amity’s. “... it’s late, you know?”
Amity thought her heart was going to explode. How could she say no? Her mind went to her parents, and then she brushed them off. Ed and Em would probably tell them she was at Boscha’s anyway. She drew in a breath and then squeaked,
“Okay.”
“Cool!” Luz blurted, and then she widened her eyes. “Um, cool,” she said again, more quietly. “That’s cool. I’m cool. We’re cool.”
Amity exhaled a laugh through her nose. Luz was always so eager to spend time with her friends. Nothing could be more adorable. She motioned to the open book in Luz’s lap.
“What were you reading?”
“Oh,” Luz started, picking the book back up, “I was rereading Good Witch Azura 5. It’s probably silly, but I was thinking about Hecate again.”
Amity shook her head.
“It’s not silly,” she said. Amity stared at the book for another second, and then an idea crossed her mind. “Hey, Luz?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you… read to me?”
Luz looked surprised, and then gave a bashful smile.
“I’d love to,” she said.
Luz pulled the book back up to chest level and Amity craned her neck over to see. Luz opened her mouth to start reading, and then noticed how Amity was positioned. She furrowed her brow.
“You can get closer, you know,” said Luz.
“O-Okay,” said Amity. She leaned over and pressed the side of her face against Luz’s shoulder, training her eyes on the book. She was doing her best to ignore her heart, still beating like the wings of a hummingbird.
“Alright,” Luz whispered, psyching herself up. She started reading from the page she was on: “‘Azura,’ Hecate began. ‘Our paths have crossed only in battle. But today, I stand before you seeking… an ally.’”
Amity let herself get lost in Luz’s voice. She was tense before—being around Luz always made her nervous that she would mess something up—but now, she felt calm. Comfortable. There weren’t many people who could make her feel that way.
Maybe Luz didn’t return her feelings. At least she could still be close to her. At least they could still share moments like this. Thinking this, Amity smiled, a little bittersweet, and then closed her eyes again.
It wasn’t long before Luz noticed that Amity had fallen asleep. She trailed off where she was reading, and watched Amity’s chest rise and fall with the deep breaths that meandered in and out of her half-open mouth. Luz smiled warmly. She liked feeling Amity’s weight on her shoulder. She kind of got the impression that Amity couldn’t get this comfortable around her other friends.
“Amity,” she whispered, checking if she was awake. “Amity?”
No response. Luz sighed. She had a lot on her mind today. Maybe now was her chance to get it all out. When there could be no consequences.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice how you saved my butt out there today,” said Luz. “You really are soft, you know that? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” A little chuckle escaped her mouth. “Seriously, though, you’re a very kind person, Amity. I had a feeling, since that day at the Covention, but… you’re sweeter than I ever could have known.”
Luz inched her hand a bit closer to Amity’s, but didn’t touch it. She stared at their hands next to each other.
“I don’t know who you were going to ask to Grom the other night, but I do know that, whoever it is, they’re a very, very lucky person. And if they don’t like you back, well… well, they just don’t know what they’re missing. I—I really hope you know how amazing you are, Amity.”
She bit her lip. Luz Noceda, you are not about to cry, she thought to herself.
“Eventually, I’m going to have to go home. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to see you after that. I really hope so, but… I don’t know what’s going to happen then. No matter what, though, I just… I’m really glad that I get to spend time with you. I’m so glad that I met you, Amity. That’s all I’m really trying to say.”
A teardrop fell and hit the open book in Luz’s lap. Her shoulders shook as she let out a small sob. Amity groaned lightly in response to the sudden movement.
“Mm, Luz?” she said, her eyes still closed.
Luz wiped her eyes with her sleeve and took a deep breath.
“Yeah?”
Amity only gave a soft sigh and nuzzled closer to Luz, wrapping her arms around her.
She would have loved to tell Amity how she felt for real. But Amity clearly liked someone else, and Luz wanted to respect that. At the very least, she was glad that Amity seemed so comfortable around her. She deserved to feel comfortable. Luz smiled, a little bittersweet. She closed her eyes, too.