Chapter Text
Luz always had the “pre-concert jitters”, as Willow called them. Personally, she thought it was just anxiety, but Willow insisted on the cute little name. The band's concerts always went well, but Luz always worried about otherwise. What if her voice cracked while singing? What if she fell off the stage? What if an attack helicopter decided they were its next target? Of course, her fears were always irrational, but that didn’t stop her mind from racing. Sometimes, to calm down before the show, she’d scroll through her phone. Sure, it wasn’t always effective, but why not try.
As usual, she found herself on the Instagram page of Amity Blight, staring at the little blue check-mark next to her name. Rumor has it her parents bought her verification, but Luz knew better. She had a big following, promoting her parents' tech company and showing off the luxuries of her life. Luz kind of understood. Like, Amity was pretty attractive… Still, she didn’t understand why she visited her account so often. She hardly even liked Amity. She was a complete bitch to Luz when they were kids stuck in church. Pretty little miss perfect seemed to think she was the ideal target for her bullying. She said small things at first.
“God, Luz, seriously wearing that shitty beanie again?”
“Gee, obsessing over childish shows again, are we?”
“Shit, god must actually have his favorites, huh?”
Half the time, Luz was too busy hyper-fixating on her anime to care. Still, some comments stuck. Sometimes she’d even find notes in her little church cubby. Ass attempts to get to Luz, honestly. You’re fat. Thanks, she was literally a twig. Stop eating. Still a twig. Fucking die already. Oh…
Okay, some of the bullying was actually really fucked up. But she knew if she ignored it, it’d go away. Besides, it wasn’t all Amity. She had her own bitchy little friends who were probably a big part of the problem. Maybe she was going through a lot herself. The church was hard on them both. Luz was glad she got out. The homophobia was so present you could almost touch it.
God, Luz didn’t know why she tried so hard to defend Amity. She was terrible to her. But there was just something about her… Luz just knew it couldn’t have all been her.
Even now, things must be hard for Amity, especially when having an online presence. Luz knew it was hard for her at first too, especially since she’s openly bi on all of her accounts.
There was no way that girl was straight.
But maybe she really was just looking for reasons to clear Amity’s name in her mind.
“Luz, come on!” Willow yelled, excited, “it’s time!”
Luz snapped back to reality. She shut off her phone, Amity’s face being the last thing on the screen. Time to lose those pre-concert jitters.
•••
Amity didn’t even remember how she got herself into this situation, but it seemed fun now. All she could really remember is her mom yelling about some shit she hardly cared about and then her getting pissed because she noticed that Amity hardly cared. And then Amity got pissed and then the next thing she knew she was getting offered some drinks by Ed and Em. They’re of drinking age, so of course, they get drunk whenever the opportunity comes to them. Naturally, where there are drinks, there’s Boscha. And her boyfriend. So they all decided, “hey, we drink responsibly, we should take these to that concert we bought very expensive tickets to”. Then there they were, carrying around three cases of beers they managed to obscure from the security, right into concert grounds.
Amity wasn’t the biggest fan of drinking, but she was pissed, so why not. All rationality left her.
So now, there they were, stationing themselves as far away from the main crowd as they could. Couldn’t possibly let them see their outrageous amount of definitely legally acquired alcohol, now could they?
Why was she even here in the first place? Looking down at the beer case in her hands she felt a rush of anger. She was only here to get away from her parents, concerts were never tolerated. ‘They’re too messy, not fit for a blight.’
“I can’t believe we got away with this shit!” Boscha laughed.
Amity jumped at the sudden annoying laughter. Spurring her from her thoughts.
Her boyfriend, Barnelby, high-fived her. Amity didn’t know why Boscha got the high five since she was the one who actually hid all the beers.
“Thanks for hooking us up, Amity,” Barny said, holding up a case of the beer.
“Yeah, yeah, no problem,” she waved him off.
She didn’t even know why she agreed to take the couple with her, she knew all they were going to do is make out the whole time anyway. But, she did love the band and didn’t really want to go alone. Ed and Em refused to come, they said it was stupid. So good ol’ Boscha and Barny were the only other options. She couldn't deny the band had talent, and Luz’s vocal range was something you couldn't ignore.
The group settled in the far back right corner of the venue, barely in sight to the blind eye. It was an outdoor concert, so the fresh air was nice. It was dark and a little annoying, but Amity wanted to drink her thoughts away, and this was the way to do it. Besides, who would care about a few 18-year-olds chugging cheap beers in a concert corner?
Amity sat down on the blanket the couple set out for them all and grabbed a bottle. She hated the taste of beer if she was honest. Not to mention the lukewarm kind. Still, she flicked open the cap and began to drink.
“Really going for it tonight, aren’t you Amity?” Boscha snickered, “some shit happen at home?”
Amity rolled her eyes. “Fuck off, Boscha, it literally doesn’t matter.”
“Just don't let your followers see, we can't have your ‘pristine’ reputation getting spoiled, now can we?” Boscha sneered at the Blight making her blood boil.
She hated when Boscha did that, making snarky comments like that. Of course “some shit” happened. It always does. Maybe if she cared, Amity wouldn’t mind. But no, Boscha just wanted to mock her. She’d always been a shit friend anyway. There’s a reason she and her little boyfriend were a last resort for the concert.
Flipping off Bocha she downed more of her beer. Its tangy gross flavor coating her mouth and making her cringe. Lights, fireworks, drums…. Luz. Her stomach seemed to explode and her chest felt warm. Shaking with chills Amity just trailed her eyes on the girl. She didn’t look like the perfect little church girl anymore. She’s loud, obnoxious, and stupidly confident. Quite different from the spunky, outgoing and weird little girl who never shut the fuck up about anime.
Amity watched as the band paraded around on stage, though she couldn’t see much. She kept going in and out of focus as time passed. Her vision blurred and then focused, blurred then focused… It was an unending cycle. Her head kind of hurt. Her stomach churned unhappily. And now she felt sick.
How much had she drunk?
Empty bottles pooled around her feet.
‘I’ve drunk at least one,’ she thought drunkenly to herself.
Boscha and Barnelby had already wandered off, hiccuping and giggling and flirting with each other, being as charming as ever. They were probably going to go make out in some bush.
Thoughts from earlier in the day tried to fight their way into Amity’s head, but thankfully for her, the drunken fog in her mind kept them out. She wanted to go home, that sick feeling was rising in her stomach again. The flashing lights and banging of the drums throbbed in her mind. Was she going to pass out?
Fuck.
And then she did.
She did pass out.
•••
“Great performance today guys! Shouldn't be long before you’re on the radio!”
Luz waved to their producer as he left the stage. Turning back she saw Willow wrapping up cords and Gus taking apart his drum set. Luz felt a surge of pride as she saw her band-mates packing up their instruments. It was late, Around 1:20 am. They were all exhausted.
“One more concert to go!” Luz smiled and stretched her arms above her head. Gus only chuckled and Luz grabbed her guitar case. Putting it on her back luz started to walk away
“Are you going out?” Willow slung her case over her shoulder and fixed her yellow jacket.
Going out, was something Luz always did after a performance. To calm her nerves and to just chill out. Walking around a bit always made her feel better.
“Yeah don't wait up, I'll be a minute. I'm taking the car home though. ” Luz did a two-finger salute and walked off towards the entrance. She could hear Willow's protests about having to walk home and Luz just flashed her keys at her. Willow in response flipped her off.
Trash was littered everywhere. As per usual. Lightly kicking an empty beer bottle she cracked her knuckles. A habit she's always had. Her mom hated when she did, but Luz liked the sound.
Taking a deep breath she breathed out. She could see her breath in the cold winter air. Taking her hands in her pockets she shivered slightly.
A soft sniffling noise made Luz perk up. It sounded like a person crying. Turning her head, she trailed her eyes in the darkness to look for the source of the sound. A person, probably female, was curled up in the corner with trash all around her.
Walking towards the girl she spoke softly, “Hey.. are you okay?” She didn't want to freak them out. That would be the last thing Luz needed right now.
Silence…
Okay so maybe they weren't fine. As she got closer she could see it was a woman. Maybe her age with her hair in her face. Her clothes were tattered and actually quite expensive looking. Luz turned behind her noticing the stage lights were off. Willow and Gus had left already.
Luz groaned, she couldn't just leave her there. Well, she could…. Shaking her head to dispose of the intrusive thought Luz stared at the girl in front of her. Said girl was practically tripping balls in a fetal position on the grass. It would've been comical if it wasn't for the sobbing coming from her. Luz weighed her options, she could leave her here to be kidnapped or some shit; or take her back to the apartment. She could already practically hear Willow's bitching already. So she did what any person would do if you found someone on the street drunk as a sack of bricks would do.
Reaching for the sobbing girl her heart practically dropped as she saw her flinch away,
“Hey, no no, it's okay, I'm just trying to help.” Luz wiped some hair out of the girl's face and froze. The unruly mane of hair…. Golden eyes…. Obnoxiously pink clothing. This wasn't some girl.
This was Amity Blight. Amity Blight from church when they were like 14. Shuddering at the memories of church and memories of Amity bullying her. Luz groaned. Okay so maybe she could leave her here. No one would know…. Wait, why was she even here?
“Just l- leeavee me” Amity slurred on her words and sniffled uncomfortably loud.
A soft pang in her chest made her crumble, she had to help her. Curse being a decent human being.
“No can do, boo” Luz scooped up the girl into a bridal style carry. Amity only stuck her head in the juncture of Luz’s neck. The girl weighed almost nothing… Making Luz wonder if she even ate.
What would she even do, it was 1 am. No one was open. Luz, being the smart cookie she is, decides to take her home with her.
Amity had seemed to have passed out. Making Luz fumble with her dead weight. Walking out of the venue Luz made her way to her car. Spotting her red Honda Civic she tried to fish her keys out of her jacket pocket. Turns out holding a person with one arm was very difficult, who knew?
Clicking her unlock button she opened her passenger door, as best she could. Softly setting Amity in her seat and buckling her in.
Getting into her car, she threw on her seatbelt and turned the keys. She turned, looking at Amity to make sure she was secure. She was passed out in the passenger seat, her head lulled to the side. Her fluffy hair covered her pale, yet flushed, face. She was tolerable when she was asleep and not bullying Luz.
She placed her hand on the passenger seat, looking back so that she could back out of the parking place. And then just like that, she drove off in the direction of the apartment. Willow was not going to be happy that she took the car just to come back with a drunk Amity Blight.
Almost as soon as they left, they were at the apartment. Luz had loved how close the venue was to home, but now it was also just convenient. She parked in the parking garage and then tried to decide how she would tackle getting Amity out of the car. Luz got out of the car and walked to the passenger side. She opened the door, unbuckled Amity, and once again, picked up Amity bridal style. Thankfully, she made it easy by weighing next to nothing.
She carried her to the elevator and then proceeded to struggle to press the button for the 3rd floor. She stood in the elevator, readjusting Amity in her arms as needed. Her hand rested on her arm. It was soft and warm, Luz noticed. Did she have a fever? The elevator dinged, snapping Luz back to the present.
She stumbled to their room. Amity was starting to get a little heavy now. She arrived at the door and fumbled for her keys. She unlocked the door, and it swung open to reveal Willow sitting disappointed on the couch. As if she was an annoyed mom waiting for her disobedient child to come home.
Her look of disappointment then promptly turned to shock, and then confusion.
“What the fuck Luz???” Willow yelled, dumbfounded.
“Listen, I can explain!” Luz responded, “I have a good explanation I swear.”
She walked as fast as she could to her room, plopped Amity on her bed, shut the door, and ran back to Willow.
“Is that fucking Amity Blight in your bed? What did you do!?”
“What?! What did I do? I didn't do anything! Willow, what the hell else was I supposed to do?” Luz yelled back, “she was crying on the floor of the concert! She wouldn't tell me what was wrong, and then she passed out! I couldn’t let her get kidnapped.”
“Luz, you did kidnap her!” Willow dramatically motioned towards Luz’s bedroom, “you’re the kidnapper!”
“God dammit,” Luz facepalmed, “not actually though! I plan on taking her home when she wakes up.”
Willow rubbed her temple. “Alright okay, maybe if I ignore it it never happened.”
Luz nodded, and bid her goodnight. She knew Willow wasn’t actually mad. Willow didn’t really ever get mad. She was probably just concerned, if anything. Luz snuck back into her room, grabbed a blanket, and then threw herself onto the couch. She’d miss her bed, but Amity needed it more. At least Luz would be nice to her.
•••
Amity woke up with a start.
Her head hurt like a motherfucker, and her stomach ached.
Wait.
Where the hell was she???
She sat up and looked around. Immediately she was hit with a purple haze of color. This room wasn’t hers. Panic started to set in. She tried to stand but as soon as she did, her head began to pound. She fell back into the purple sheated bed. Her face planted into a pillow. It smelled like lavender and old spice. Where in the fuck was she?
Amity looked for her phone. It wasn’t in her pocket, where she usually kept it. Shit. Where had she left it? Was it back at the concert? Oh, yeah, she was at a concert. She patted down her clothes. Ah, there it was, in her bra. Typical of her. She checked the time.
9:00 fucking A.M.
Shit shit shit. Now she was in trouble. Amity had so many missed calls from her family. Like 20 from her mom, 17 from her dad, and like 2 from Ed. Typical. She knew she’d get shit as soon as she got home. But first, she needed to figure out where the hell she was.
Suddenly, there was yelling from the next room over.
“Dammit, Willow!” a male voice yelled, “your socks are in my room again!”
“Shit, sorry Gus!” a female voice yelled back, probably Willow, “I’ll get them!”
There were other people here, Amity realized.
And then just like that, there were footsteps outside the closed door of the room she was in.
Oh shit.
She impulsively hid under the covers, as if she was a child again. What else was she supposed to do? Not like she could get up without passing out.
The door opened, and she heard someone walk in. She peeked out from beneath the covers. It was a girl… long brown hair, a red beanie…
Holy shit.
It was fucking Luz Noceda.
Amity was so much closer to losing her shit now.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Luz said, rather nonchalantly, “How are you feeling?”
“Where the fuck am I?” Amity hissed. She couldn’t believe she ended up here. Of course, this was Luz’s room. Was she in her bed???
“Jeez, calm down,” Luz looked a little discouraged at how Amity snapped. Did that make her feel bad? Why did she feel bad? “You’re in our apartment.”
Our apartment? As in her bandmates are here too?
“You kidnapped me???”
“What?? No!” Luz held up her hands, “well, maybe? Listen, what was I supposed to do??? You were curled in a ball sobbing on the floor. Did you want me to leave you there?”
“Yeah, maybe I did,” Amity snapped. She tried to get up again, but once again failed, plopping right back down to sit on the bed. She crossed her arms and turned her head, away from Luz.
“Well better me, than some gross 50 year old man, right??” Luz snapped back. She seemed to be losing her patience with Amity. “Anyways, I brought you some water,” she said, holding a glass in her hand, “do you want it? Or do you want to stay bedridden.”
Amity stared, and then nodded shortly, feeling stubborn. Luz walked towards her, stopping right in front of the bed, and then handed her the glass. Amity reached for it, their fingers touching for a moment as she did. She drew away as soon as the drink was in her hand.
She drank the water, keeping her eyes away from Luz’s. This was so embarrassing, and she didn’t even know what happened for her to get here. Stubbornly, she let her eyes wander back. Luz was just staring at her drink, her brown eyes intently on her own.
“Do you mind?” Amity coughed. The water went down the wrong pipe.
“I’m just waiting for you to drink the whole thing,” Luz shrugged, “you clearly need it.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” She drew the glass away from her lips, “did you spike it or some shit?”
“Wait, fuck, that’s not what I meant,” Luz scrambled for something to say, panicked, “I’m just not the best with my words. Listen, you just need to drink water. You’re obviously hung over. I mean, look at you.”
Amity knew what she meant, but she enjoyed giving her a hard time anyway. “Fine,” she said smugly, “maybe I will.” She chugged the water. “There, are you happy?”
Luz took the empty glass. “You know, I never pegged you as the type to drink,” she addressed.
“It’s none of your business,” Amity sniffed, “I do what I want anyway.”
Luz shrugged. “Fine then.” She looked away for a moment to put down the cup. “You uh… want a ride home?”
Amity thought for a moment. There’s no way she can go home like this. She shook her head.
“Oh, okay um,” Luz looked for words, “want to freshen up then? You can use my bathroom. I’ll leave the room and everything and then when you’re ready I can take you home?”
Amity hated this. She hated when people tried to help her. But, right now, if her parents saw her like this, they’d kill her.
“Yeah, thanks,” she replied stubbornly.
“Do you uh,” Luz asked awkwardly, “need help to get there?”
Amity sighed. “Yes, please.” God, she hated this.
Luz stepped forward and offered her arm to Amity. Wow, such a gentleman, Amity thought. She reluctantly took her arm and stumbled to stand. She almost tripped, but Luz caught her, hands gripping her shoulders. God, ew. Luz walked her to the bathroom.
“Okay, so,” Luz began, “this is shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. You can use whatever, I don’t care.”
“Gee, thanks,” Amity snapped, “I can read labels.”
Luz rolled her eyes. “Cool then, I’ll leave you to it.” She left, shutting the door behind her.
Before Amity could do anything a soft knocking came from the shut door.
“Uh yes?” She asked
“I just realized that you might wanna wash your clothes… Do you wanna hand them to me or put them in front of the bathroom door? You can...” A light cough could be heard from the other side of the door. “You can wear my clothes in the meantime.”
Oh. Yeah, her clothes. Looking down at her outfit she shuddered. It was dirty, of course, but Amity had never been ‘Dirty’. Not to mention the unidentifiable goo on her shirt.
“Right. Yeah, I'll… uh Set them out for you.”
God, she hated this. She hated depending on other people. Especially people like Luz.
“Kay’” came Luz’s muffled reply.
Amity observed the bathroom. It was small, very small, compared to her own. The shower was a bathtub combo, and also pretty tiny. Not to mention it had a hideous shower curtain, yellow with white spots. Amity cringed. There was a “Live, Laugh, Love” sign above the bathroom mirror. What the fuck? Amity moved on, turning on the shower water to hot. She undressed and stepped in, taking out her hair tie and throwing it on the bathroom counter.
She stepped in, spending time dwelling in the hot water. It felt nice on her head and almost felt as if it were melting her headache away. It was here she realized how tired she was, and it set in how much trouble she would be in when she got home. She sighed, and looked over to the toiletries. Old Spice body wash, she fucking knew it. Amity felt disgusted at the fact of smelling like Luz, but then again, she did smell kind of nice…
She shook her head and the thoughts away, moving on to shampooing her unruly hair and conditioning the knots away. And then she washed her body. She’d never admit it to Luz, but she appreciated being able to clean up. When she was done, she turned off the water and stepped out. Drying off she reached her arm out to feel for Luz’s clothes. Finding them she started to get dressed. She prepared herself to walk out, back into the awkward situation she was in.
•••
Luz waited for a moment for Amity’s clothes before setting a pair of old sweat pants and an old ACDC tee shirt down in front of the door. Amity reached her arm out with a wad of clothing and her hand, setting them down. Luz could hear her mumbled thanks.
Grabbing Amity’s Clothes she noted that she probably wasn't physically able to not wear pink. Watching the bathroom door close, She grabbed the cup she had previously set down. Luz made her way towards the kitchen. Shutting her bedroom door, she hummed softly. A tune from a new song they had been writing. Maybe Amity Would like some medicine, do they even have any?
Turning to the laundry room she ran into Willow
“Oh so you have her clothes now? Just what are you two doing in there?” Willow asked inquisitively
“What? No! Nothing like that.” Luz flared at the short-haired girl before she put Amity's clothes in the wash. Luckily they all invested in a washer dryer combo. There had been a dispute between Willow and Luz. So they decided it was faster if they just got both in one.
“Like what? I didn't say anything.” She said tilting her head to the side like a puppy.
Oh this bitch, she knew the game she was playing. “You really know how to twist words don't you?” Luz asked, a small smile forming on her face. Looking away for a sec she pushed a button and tossed a laundry pod in.
“I learned from the best.” She started with a toothy smile and she walked into her room.
Turning on the washer Luz made her way down the hall. She arrived in the kitchen, noticing Gus sitting at the little bar that was attached to the counter. They made eye contact and Luz said good morning, and then moved on to scrounge the cabinets for Ibuprofen.
“So,” Gus started, “I heard that you kidnapped Amity Blight last night.”
Luz sighed. “I literally didn’t,” Luz responded, filling her cup with tap water, “I just put an unconscious girl in my car and drove her here.” That did, in fact, sound like kidnapping. But Luz refused to acknowledge that.
Gus shrugged. “Why is she here again? Her parents will probably show up at our doorstep. I hear they’re insane.”
“Oh god, I hope not.” Luz didn’t remember much about Amity’s parents from church, but from what she did remember, they were extremely strict and overbearing. And a little scary.
Luz found the Ibuprofen, looked at the milligrams, and then just decided to take the whole bottle. Amity should know her dosage, anyway.
Walking back to her room she read the instructions on the label of the Ibuprofen, eh it'll probably be fine.
Opening her bedroom door she saw Amity looking at the various band posters on her wall.
“I brought you ibuprofen and refilled your water.” Luz stated
Amity seemed to have jumped ten feet in the air. “You scared me, holy-’’
Straightened herself, she spoke once again.
Whatever she said Luz didn't hear it, so was too focused on the fact that Amity had her clothes on and the thought made Luz’s body malfunction.
“Luz? Hey, Noceda!”
Amity’s shout spurred her from her thoughts, making her jump.
“Ah! What!? Huh?’’ Luz panicked and waved her hands in front of her.
“You’re so weird… Anyway I didn't know you listened to Girl in Red.” She pointed at her poster of one of her album covers.
Oh right.
“Oh yeah! I love her music!” Luz fiddled with her shirt in an attempt to calm her nerves. “I've gone to one of her concerts, She's one of my main inspirations for music!”
Amity just nodded dumbly. Seeming uninterested.
Oh, she was rambling…. Rubbing her arm awkwardly Luz shifted her weight slightly.
“Right, well uh… Your clothes are in the wash.”
The awkward silence in the room was so loud it made Luz’s skin tingle.