Human Hugs ch4

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS

Oh my gosh I'm so sorry... I wrote this chapter like a day after ch3 but then just totally forgot to post it for months... oops.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Owl House.

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						Chapter 4.

By the time everyone has eaten dinner and left the ordeal of the Fog (mostly) behind them, it's nearly midnight.

Luz pops up from her seat on the couch and starts gathering up the used plates and utensils. Feeling guilty for having been bandaged up and served dinner here, Amity makes a move to get up as well.

"Here, let me help you with-"

"Ohhh no ya don't." Luz had pretty much been ready for this kind of response from her, and so she's already ready to put a hand on Amity's shoulder and have her sit back down. "Guests don't get to do the dishes. Especially injured guests."

"But I-"

"Ah-pup-pup! No buts!"

"She's right, kid," Eda says. "Here at the Owl House we may be a bit unorthodox in other ways, but at least we excel in hospitality. Most of the time."

"Yeah!" King agrees. "Except that one time with that guy-"

"Hey, he was asking for it."

Amity directs her attention back to the kitchen where Luz is just heading to while humming softly. She sighs, glancing down at the bandages beneath her boot and giving an experimental shake. Instantly there's a pang that makes her flinch, but she bites it down. With a bit of effort, she pushes herself up onto her good foot.

"Well, I'm very grateful to you for everything tonight, Miss Eda. But I don't want to overstay my welcome, so I'll be heading back now."

In response, three voices chorus from around the house.

"What-?!" A plate shatters somewhere in the kitchen as Luz mumbles and quickly picks up the pieces before hurrying back into the main room. "Amity, you're leaving? Now? In the middle of the night? But you can't even walk!"

"I'd offer you my staff," Eda says. "But it isn't exactly magical at the moment."

"That's okay. I can make it back on my own." Amity takes a step toward the door, but Luz tramples in front of her and blockades her way.

"Amity, wait! There is no way we're letting you walk all the way home alone when you're hurt. And might I remind you it's the middle of the night!"

"But-"

"Ah-ah! No buts!" Luz whirls around to face her mentor. "I think Eda and I would both agree there's only one appropriate response to this~"

Eda, who had not really been paying attention and ruffling through her hair to pull out various random objects, looks up again now.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure. Whatever you want, kiddo."

"Yes!" Luz jumps back around to face Amity with her arms spread wide in glee. "You know what that means~!"

"I… do…?"

"Yep!" Luz sucks in a huge breath and then announces loudly. "Sleepover!"

Amity doesn't connect the dots right away.

"Huh…?"

Eda pauses in her treasure hunting for a moment to jump into the conversation again.

"Just one thing. None of the other guest rooms have really been cleaned in a few decades, so you'll have to use Luz's room."

It's a good thing Amity was already sitting on the couch, because if she had been standing she'd definitely be on the floor right now. Pink starts to fill in across her face as she looks from Luz to Eda and back again.

"I… y-your-"

"Heck yeah! This is gonna be soooo awesome! My first-ever sleepover with a friend from the Boiling Isles! Well, a normal sleepover, anyway. No seances this time, and we're not gonna make the whole house move! Oh, we're gonna have so much fun! I can show you all my Azura merch! I got some new stuff since the last time you were over!"

"Just don't stay up too late," Eda advises, trying to be an at-least-somewhat-responsible adult. "After all, you two did just have a pretty harrowing experience out in the woods, right?"

"Pssh, harrowing experiences are nothin'!" Luz declares. "Amity and I are used to those by now. Right?"

"I-"

"Okay, so let's go up to my room! Luckily I'd packed a spare toothbrush for camp before I ended up here, so you can use that!"

Luz takes Amity by the hand, and if Amity's mind hadn't been blank with panic about the prospect of staying the night in Luz's room, she might've gotten flustered about the hand-holding. But as things are she's more or less just a soulless husk of a body at the moment as Luz pulls her arm across her shoulders and helps her up.

Amity barely feels any of her senses other than touch in the places Luz is making contact with her and the dull ache in her foot as they head for the stairs. Luz is gabbing away about a million different things as she helps her up one step at a time, and Amity follows like a confused newborn puppy.

Eda watches them fondly for a moment and smiles.

"Cute kids. All right, c'mon, King. Who wants a bedtime story?"

King jumps up to scamper after her.

"Oh! Me! Me! Can we do the one about the knight who goes to save the princess only to discover it's her long-lost childhood friend?"

"Sure, sure."

"Oh boy, I love that one!"

By this point, Luz and Amity are halfway up the stairs, but as Amity starts to realize that each and every step is bringing her closer and closer to spending a night alone together with Luz in her room-

She comes to a dead halt, causing Luz to cut off from whatever she was rambling about.

"Whoa! Don't just stop in the middle, Amity! Unless- Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I was so excited about having you stay over I forgot about your ankle for a sec! Does it still hurt?"

"H-Huh? No. Maybe?"

"Sorry! Let's slow down a bit, 'kay?" Luz walks onto the next step with her, shifting her weight to support Amity's unsteady balance.

And right away Amity realizes she liked the giddy nonstop talking much more, because now when it's quiet and Luz's attention is focused completely on her like this-

"Hey, Amity? You okay? Don't fall asleep on me yet, girl! We've got so much to do! U-Unless you're really tired, which is totally understandable, in which case we can just go straight to bed! That's fine too!"

Truth be told, Amity had thought that would be the case; even after she'd heard she'd be spending the night here, she'd assumed she would be so tried she'd just fall asleep instantly wherever they put her.

But this sudden alertness isn't just because she's nervous about staying in Luz's room (though that is a very big part of it).

But there's also a part that's genuinely… excited.

She draws in a breath slowly, leaning just a little more closely onto Luz.

"No… I'm actually not as tired as I thought I'd be."

Luz grins back, and with how close they are right now Amity feels like she can feel the brightness radiating off her toothy smile.

"Same here! I don't even feel like we just spent hours aimlessly wandering around the woods! Weird, huh?"

"Yeah…"

There's a beat of silence, and then another, until Amity realizes it's the sound of her heart backflipping. But just before she can get too much more embarrassed about it, Luz finally talks again.

"Okay. You ready to keep going? We're halfway there!"

Amity takes in one more breath and nods.

"Yeah."

"Okay! Just tell me if you need a rest."

Together, they hobble up the rest of the stairs to the top. Amity breathes a sigh of relief, but although the most difficult thing she'll have to do tonight in a physical sense is over, there's still a lot more on the emotional scale for sure.

"Safe!" Luz declares. "My room's this way!" She starts them off down the hallway, and Amity feels the urge to keep filling the silence with her voice to drown out her racing pulse.

"It's kinda funny," she says, trying to sound as normal as possible. "This is the first time I've actually gone to your room the normal way. The last time was through the window…"

"Hah, you're right! I never expected to see you flying out there, Amity! Though I gotta admit, that was pretty cool!"

"Cool…?" Amity gets hung-up on the word and blushes even harder until they finally make it to Luz's room.

It's the same as the last time she'd been here, with a bunch of her random belongings on the desk and tables, a few books on the shelves and some clothes hanging up on the wall or draped over the foot of the bed. As they enter, Luz pulls out a light spell paper and lets it illuminate the room.

"Sorry it's a bit messy. I didn't expect to have company tonight."

Amity can't think of anything to say, and even if she did she wouldn't be able to say it anyway because her throat temporarily closes up.

Luz helps her over to the bed and carefully helps her sit.

"There. Thank goodness for this at least," she says, patting the mattress. "Until a few weeks ago I was sleeping on a blanket on the floor. But Eda recently got me this! I'm glad I have it now so we don't have to sleep on the floor."

And there's still so much going through her mind and so much swirling around in her chest that Amity doesn't register the word "we" at that time, nor does she comprehend the implied meaning of the statement Luz had just made. She just smiles and gives a tiny nod.

"Miss Eda's a really good person, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is. Which is why I'm gonna do everything I can to help her and Lillith break their curse and get Eda her magics back." Luz's features harden a little then and turn very serious.

Amity is a bit taken aback at first, but that is quickly exchanged for a feeling of admiration. She really loves this side of Luz, too. This righteous, pure-hearted determination of hers to try and set right every wrong that's ever been done.

"I'll help."

"…Huh?" Luz blinks and looks back up to her.

Amity hadn't even thought about the words she'd just spoken, but she knows she meant them from the bottom of her heart.

"I'll help," she says again. "I'll help you and Miss Eda however I can Luz. And you know I'm not the only one. I'm sure Willow and Gus wanna help too. So don't try to do everyone on your own, okay?" She reaches out and places her hand over Luz's in her lap.

Luz blinks and raises her head, giving her a solemn but honest kind of smile.

"Thanks, Amity."

Again the silence ensues, and again Amity can only handle it for a few seconds before she starts to feel her face catching on fire. But luckily for her, Luz shakes herself off and jumps up to her feet.

"Okay! Enough of the gloomy stuff for now; tonight's our first-ever sleepover together and I want us to have some fun! So just sit tight and I'll go find you something to wear!"

With this, Luz scurries across the room to start digging through her dresser. Amity blinks.

"Wear…?"

When she looks down at her current outfit though, she can see that her black dress is covered in little burrs and patches of dirt and dried mud, and her leggings are torn in a few places. She hadn't even realized what a mess she was until now.

As she waits, she casts a fire spell to light a few of the candles around the room. A moment later, Luz comes dashing back to her with a bundle of clothes in her arms.

"Okay! I don't have any spare pajamas, but we're the same size so I think these should fit you!" Luz deposits a long purple sweater and a pair of black leggings into her lap.

Amity blinks at the clothes, then up at Luz.

"Don't worry!" Luz grins. "They're clean! Just washed the other day!"

As usual when it comes to things involving Luz, Amity's brain takes a moment to process the words.

We're the same size… and she got these from her dresser…

When it finally hits her, it nearly knocks her clean over onto the bed.

"Y-You're giving me your clothes to wear?!"

"Huh? Well yeah. I can't let you sleep in that," she says, motioning to Amity's current dress. "Plus, the sweater is gonna be so much warmer and comfier, don't cha think?"

"I…" Think? Thinking was a lot to ask of her right now.

After Amity still can't think of a response for a minute, Luz puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Well, try them on and if it's no good I'll find you something else, kay? I'm gonna get changed."

Amity keeps her eyes fixated on the clothes in her lap.

Luz's clothes.

Clothes Luz has worn.

Clothes she's letting Amity borrow tonight when she's going to be spending the night in her room-

Amity isn't exactly sure what she was about to say next, but whatever it was drifts off into oblivion when she looks up to find Luz already undressing with her shirt halfway off.

The shriek that comes from Amity's lips is neither human, witch, nor demon.

Luz is so startled she drops her shirt back down and whirls around to face her.

"Amity?! What's wrong?!"

It's really a miracle Amity hasn't passed out already, but she does have to struggle very hard not to fall back onto the bed. Clutching the clothes to her chest, she half-buries her face into them as she feels her entire face burning.

"I-! You-!"

"What is it?" Luz frowns, then gasps. "Is there a spider on me again?"

Amity shakes her head vigorously and hides her face a little more.

"You… You're getting changed… h-here? Right now…?"

Luz tilts her head at first, but then smiles in what she thinks is understanding Amity's point.

"Oh, you're right! I gotta brush my teeth! Thanks, Amity!" And with this, Luz takes her pajamas with her and hurries out of the room and down the hallway.

Amity is left reeling with her stomach upside-down and her heart in her throat. She finally loses the last shred of her composure and flops backward onto the bed, squishing Luz's clothes over her face.

"I can't do this- I absolutely can not do this-"

She needs to sneak out. But with her foot like it is she wouldn't even make it halfway across the room on her own before Luz came back.

The window? No, she'd just break her leg all over again. If only she had a Palisman or a staff of her own… but if she did then she and Luz never would've gotten stuck in the fog for as long as they had anyway, and they likely would've been free in five minutes flat and never would have reached the point of a sleepover. And even if she did leave now, it would only make Luz worry and come after her anyway. Which was really sweet of her-

"Amity?"

"Wah-!" Amity flies back up to her previous position, sitting up rigidly with Luz's clothes clutched to her chest. Luz had returned, dressed now in her blue pajamas which had Azura's logo on the shirt and little brooms and witch hats printed on the pants.

Amity realizes she's seeing Luz in her pajamas for the first time. And she's really, really cute-

"Oh!" Luz smiles. "So you were still awake! I thought you fell asleep already."

Amity's mouth hangs open uselessly, and all she can manage to do is shake her head. She doesn't think she'll be able to sleep at all tonight, not even for a second.

Luz just grins at her.

"Well, the bathroom's free. I already set up my spare toothbrush for you. Here, lemme take you there."

Luz takes the clothes from her and slings them over her elbow, then brings Amity's arm scross her shoulders again.

Amity feels like a rag doll just being moved however Luz has her move, and her mind feels just as empty. But she desperately clings onto some shred of conscience until she can find her voice again, thin as it may be.

"S-Sure. Thanks, Luz."

"Don't mention it!"

Luz brings her to the bathroom and hands Amity her change of clothes.

"I'll wait out here," she says. "I'll help you back to the room when you're done."

Amity just nods, then quickly slams the door. She slouches back against it and tries to breathe enough to get her blush under control, though at this point it might as well just become her new skin tone.

"Get it together, Blight. What are you, some kind of-"

"Amity?"

"Gyah!"

"Who are you talking to?"

"Huh? N-Nothing! It's nothing!"

Exhaling with a wheeze, Amity just picks up the clothes Luz had given her and limps her way over to the sink. After brushing her teeth with the spare brush, she splashes some warm water onto her face, and then takes her time getting changed.

The leggings Luz had given her are much more comfortable than the tattered ones she'd braved the forest in, but the sweater is by far her favorite thing she's ever worn. It's a perfect fit, the perfect color, and the perfect softness.

But most importantly, it was Luz's.

Amity has to forcibly sop herself from doing anything weird like trying to smell it.

"Besides, it's been washed… And the rest of her room already smells like her-"

"Amity?"

"Y-Yes?!"

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay!"

Amity wheezes out another breath. If this was 'okay' then she didn't want to know what anything less than that would look like.

"I-I'm fine!" she calls. "Just finishing up." She leaves her dirty clothes on the sink to collect and bring back home with her tomorrow, then slowly staggers back to the door. And even though she mentally braces herself before opening it, she still isn't ready for just how cute Luz still looks in her pajamas.

"Wow!" Luz exclaims. "Amity, that looks so good on you!"

"R-Really?"

"Yeah! You look like a million bucks!"

"I do?"

"Yeah! Well, not literally. It's an expression."

"Of course."

They share a smile as Luz offers her support once again. Amity leans on her all the way back to the room, and once they arrive Luz cancels her light spell so all that's left are the candles Amity had lit. The two witches sit down on the bed together before Luz's exuberance starts becoming palpable again.

"Sooo~?" she coos. "What kinda sleepovery stuff do you wanna do?"

Amity blinks.

"Uh-"

"And don't just say 'sleep'!" Luz says. "U-Unless you're really tired," she adds.

Amity giggles.

"No. I could stay up a little."

"Really? Great! So whadda you wanna do?"

"Well, like you said, no seances."

"Definitely not."

"But other than that…" Amity trails off, looking to the window and the moon outside. "Actually… I'm not really sure what we can do. I've never really… had a sleepover before."

"You haven't?!" Luz cries. "But what about with Boscha and Skara?"

"Well, technically, I guess," Amity shrugs. "But I doubt those were really the kind you're thinking of. Whenever we weren't doing seances we were saying horrible things about our classmates or planning out ways to prank people. I won't lie, I did all of those things too…" She sighs, hanging her head. "But even when all the rest of them were laughing and having fun with all that stuff… it never really felt fun to me…"

"Well there's an obvious reason why!" Luz proclaims. "That's cuz you're a good person, Amity!"

The sudden compliment catches her way off guard, and another blush springs up to Amity's cheeks.

"I am? B-But I used to-"

"People change, Amity! And you've definitely changed in all the best ways! In fact, I don't think you ever meant to be mean to anyone. I don't think you have it in you."

Amity almost smiles, but it fades before it can manifest.

"But… I was a bully to you, and to Willow."

But somehow, Luz has a heartfelt answer for her.

"I think there's a difference between being a bully and being scared about letting people get close to you."

Amity doesn't know what to say, but she feels a sudden sting behind her eyes.

"I…"

"I know I'm right," Luz says. "Even when you were little, you were only trying to protect Willow, and that's the only reason why you cut ties with her and distanced yourself. You weren't trying to hurt her, but with the circumstances at the time… it was just unfortunate that things happened that way."

Amity feels a tightness gripping her chest. It's the same sensation that arose every time she thought about what she'd done to Willow, only this time it's even more powerful.

Because she's never thought about it this way before. No one else has ever recognized the true emotions behind her actions.

Hiccups start jumping up in her chest, and her eyes get so blurry she has to look down, only to watch tears fall into her lap.

Luz yelps.

"Wah! A-Amity? I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to make you-!"

"No… it's okay, Luz…"

"It's not okay! We're supposed to be having a sleepover not a… cry-over!"

Luz can't help but go to her natural reflexive response at seeing someone - especially Amity - cry. She slides in close and pulls her into a hug, giving her a good squeeze.

Amity doesn't have the energy to be bashful this time, but she does manage to return the embrace, hoping to convey her appreciation as much as she can.

Luz keeps hugging her until she hears Amity's sobs fading, and her chest stops jolting with hiccups.

"Sorry," she says again, patting her back. "Let's talk about more fun things, okay? Did you ever have sleepovers with Willow when you guys were kids?"

"Not really," Amity admits as they ease apart. "My parents wouldn't allow it. The closest we ever had to a sleepover was Lake Lacuna, but that was a camp, so it really wasn't the same."

"Yeah, definitely not."

"What are sleepovers like in the human world?"

"Oh! Well I've never had that many myself, but I've heard about 'em! You do all kinds of things like watch movies and eat snacks and do each others' nails or something. You play board games or card games- Oh! And Truth or Dare!"

"What's that?"

"Just what it sounds like!" Luz says. "One person will ask you "Truth or Dare?" and depending on which one you choose they'll give you some kind of command. Usually if you say "Truth" they ask you who your crush is, and if you say "Dare" they dare you to tell them who your crush is."

Amity freezes up at the mention of crushes. She'd rather avoid games like those if at all possible.

"Oh I-I see… are there any other games…?"

"Hm… oh! There's Spin the Bottle!"

"And what's that?"

"Well, everyone sits in a circle and one person will spin a bottle, and the spinner has to kiss whoever it lands on!"

Amity nearly falls over again.

"K-Kiss-?"

"Yeah! Or usually you just have pillow fights and talk about your crushes and stuff."

Amity clutches her chest as if struck by yet another intangible blow.

Why are all these human games about crushes and kissing?!

"Ah, y'know on second thought… maybe we don't need to play any games…"

"I guess you're right. Usually there's more than two people in a sleepover." Luz puts a hand to her chin in contemplation. "Hmm, but it's our first sleepover together! We've gotta do something fun! Do you wanna just talk about our crushes like this?"

"Crush?" Amity wheezes. "Wh-What crush? Who has a crush?"

"Awww, c'mon," Luz purrs, nudging her with her elbow. "I haven't forgotten Grom. You wanted to ask somebody out, right?"

"I mean, s-sort of-"

"So who was it? Or are you over them now?"

Amity leans farther and farther back the more Luz leans in while asking her questions.

"Uh, I wouldn't exactly say that, but-"

"Is it someone I know?"

"Uh, sort of? I-I mean, it's not important!"

"But it is!" Luz insists. "Friends gotta tell friends about their crushes! It's what we do!"

Amity is all but laying flat on her back now with how much Luz is leaning in over her. She still isn't that used to Luz calling her a friend, let alone everything else that's going on right now. She takes a second to inhale and try to slow down all the things racing around inside of her.

During that time, Luz realizes how up in Amity's personal space she was, so she quickly sits back and pulls her up straight again.

"Whoops, sorry. This is just so exciting! I can't remember the last time I had a sleepover and talked about this sorta stuff!"

Remembering to breathe, Amity takes a moment to admire Luz's cute excited face, which just makes her start to blush again, which makes her frantic again, so she just looks down at her lap instead.

"It's okay. I'm glad you're having fun."

"Yeah! This is great! We should have sleepovers more often! If we did them on nights when we didn't just get lost in an ominous fog, I'm sure we'd have a lot more fun and energy!"

"Right…" Amity smiles, trailing off a little as she dares another glance up at Luz. Her heart jumps again, reminding her of just how hopelessly far she's fallen. So she owes her at least some kind of answer. "Listen, Luz…"

Luz perks up, very clearly trying not to look too excited.

"Yeah? Yeah?"

Amity closes her eyes for a second and gets her bearings, then exhales.

"About the person that letter was for… I'll… tell you some day. I promise. Just… not tonight."

She feels a warm hand over hers and looks up, blushing even harder now that Luz is looking at her with such understanding eyes.

"Hey, that's fine by me! Just makes it all the more exciting to wait for it! Sorry if I was pressuring you."

Amity shakes her head.

"No. It actually… made me happy just to think about it." She can't help but smile, and in turn Luz grins even wider.

"Are you thinkin' about 'em right now?"

Amity just gives her an honest answer.

"All the time."

Luz squeals softly.

"Amity, that's so cute! You really are a big softie, huh?"

By some miracle, Amity has somehow managed to survive this ordeal for this long, but now she's seriously starting to feel like her heart is going to give out from happiness, so she's forced to change the subject. Or at least, redirect it.

"What about you, Luz? Do you… have anyone you like…?"

Only after she's said it does Amity realize she wants to take it back. Maybe she'd just be better off not knowing so she could continue fantasizing on her own.

She looks up at Luz a bit nervously now, and her chest begins to feel all tight and unpleasant.

"Me?" Luz parrots. "Do I have a crush on anyone?" She blinks and looks around the room for a minute, humming. Amity doesn't breathe the entire time as she waits for a response. In the end, Luz just looks back at her and gives a small smile.

"Y'know… I'm really not sure."

Amity isn't sure how she feels to hear that. Her heart doesn't exactly sink, but it doesn't exactly soar either.

Of course she'd partially been hoping to hear Luz confess to her right here and now, but her more honest side knows that could never be the case.

...Right?

It's a little worrisome, though, to think of the possibility that maybe Luz could be interested in someone else, or that she might not be interested in anyone at all.

Unless she was just saying she wasn't sure because, in truth, she actually likes Amity back but was too shy to say that.

Or maybe Luz is just a total bone-head and hasn't figured herself out yet.

When she realizes that all of those options are entirely plausible, it puts Amity at ease in an odd sort of way. She smiles just a little bit while watching Luz scratch her head and mutter to herself.

"Man, I don't even have a straight answer for you. I feel bad about asking you about your crush now."

"Don't worry about it," Amity says. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough…"

"Really? Ooooh I can't wait!"

Amity chuckles, and all the weird feelings that had been gnarled up in her stomach come undone just to be near her and see her smile. She only frowns a little bit a moment later when Luz suddenly yawns.

"Oh man. It's getting kinda late, huh?"

"Yeah. Maybe we should head to bed." Just in saying it, Amity becomes tense all over again, so she quickly adds on. "Do you have a spare blanket? I'll take the floor."

"What-?!" Luz blurts out the word so loudly that Amity is taken aback.

"Wh-What's the matter?"

Luz shakes her head vigorously and holds up her hands to flail them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait just a second there, missy! You think I'm gonna let you sleep on the floor?"

"But, this is your room, and it's your bed-"

"Eeeexactly!" Luz agrees. "It is my bed. And therefore it's my right to offer it to you, my lady." She makes a sweeping motion across the mattress as though revealing some grand prize. Amity's breath catches.

"O-Oh no, Luz, I couldn't-"

"Listen," Luz stops her. "First of all you're my guest, and second of all you're injured. Conclusion: you are not sleeping on the floor while I get to enjoy a real bed, Amity!"

Amity opens her mouth to protest, but even though Luz had so little evidence to support her claim, her points were actually very fair. Even so, Amity won't accept the alternative.

"Well, you can't sleep on the floor either," she says firmly.

"And why not? It's my room. I used to sleep on the floor for weeks until just recently when Eda got me this bed!"

"That may be so," Amity says. "However, as your injured guest, it would make me upset to know you were sleeping on the floor while I took your bed, Luz. And you wouldn't want to upset and injured guest, now would you?"

This time it's Luz who opens her mouth to speak, then clamps it shut again. Amity gives her a smug look of triumph. That is, until Luz proposes the next logical idea in this conversation.

"Okay… so then we'll both sleep on the bed."

"Right," Amity replies without thinking. "We'll both- wait what-?"

"Though it might be a little small," Luz says, looking across the mattress. "We'll have to snuggle up real good."

"Wh… snu…"

Amity loses her ability to both speak and think at the same time, and instead it just feels like a static radio wave buzzes through her head.

Completely unaware of her plight, Luz continues mumbling to herself.

"I mean, we both should be able to fit if we just stay close enough. But I don't want you to roll off by accident in the middle of the night…"

Amity is still floundering in her panicked thoughts, so pleasantly distressed that she can't even fathom the concept of curling up with Luz to sleep in her bed. Just considering it makes it feel like the world isn't real.

But just then, Luz is struck by a sudden inspiration.

"Oh hey! I have an idea!"

Amity isn't sure if she remembers how to speak, but she does her best to snap out of her trance and give it a try.

"…Like… Like what?"

"Here!"

Luz offers Amity her hand, and once Amity is both mentally and physically capable of reaching out to accept, Luz hops off the bed with her. She makes sure Amity is stable on her own, then proceeds to start pulling off the blankets and sheets from the bed, tucking the pillow under her arm.

Amity blinks, going from a state of the utmost thoughtlessness in the utmost confusion.

"Sooo your idea is to demolish your mattress?"

"What? No, you silly goose!"

"I'm not a-"

"It's an expression!"

Luz finishes tearing off the last of the blankets and holds the huge bundle of them in her arms. She then drops them all onto the floor.

Amity just blinks again.

"Uh-"

"A fort!" Luz exclaims. "We're gonna make a blanket fort!"

Amity tilts her head.

"A what? Is this another human thing?"

"Yeah! And this how our problems are solved! We'll both sleep on the floor, but it'll be like a bed!"

Luz gets started on laying out the blankets and comforters on the floor and dropping the pillows onto them. She then picks up the sheet and looks around.

"Hm… the idea is that we're gonna have to make this arch over us, like a cave! But how can we get it to stay up? Oh wait! I can bring that chair over and-"

"Or, how about this?" Amity points her finger at the sheet and gives a wave of her hand. Right away, the sheet levitates out of Luz's hands and creates a perfect arc over the blanketed area on the floor.

Luz blinks.

"Huh. Yeah, I guess that works too! The perks of magic! C'mon, let's go in!"

She grabs Amity by the hand and crouches down to dive into the fort with her while Amity hastily tries to keep up. Luz flops down laughing into the pile of blankets and pillows, rolling around several times.

"This is awesome! Magic fort, magic fort!"

Amity kneels and watches her quietly, and just sinks deeper and deeper into her feelings by the second. When Luz finally sits up, her laughs turn into a yawn.

"Hoo boy! Now I'm startin' to feel all the crazy stuff that happened…" She looks up at Amity with a smile. "Whaddaya say we call it a night, Blight? Oh, look at that! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. Hah!"

Amity rolls her eyes, unsure of how exactly she'd fallen for such an adorable simpleton. But then Luz flops down into the blankets again and looks up at her with her stupidly-pretty brown human eyes and Amity remembers.

"Well?" Luz says, patting the pillow beside her. "Care to join me?"

Amity gulps a little, but at the same time has a yawn coming on, so the combination just results in her choking slightly. She coughs into her elbow a few times, but when she looks down again, Luz is still giving her that look and she almost chokes all over again. Amity sucks in a sharp breath and steels herself at last.

"Okay…"

Luz excitedly wiggles over to make plenty of room for her, and Amity lies down slowly. Luz gives her space for about ten seconds before schooching in super close and putting her face right in front of hers on the pillow.

"See? Aren't forts the best?! Oh! How's your ankle? Is it okay if you lie down like this?"

Amity holds her breath again for as long as possible and answers with a wheezed whisper.

"It's fine…"

"You sure?"

Amity can only nod in response this time.

"Okay," Luz says. "But if it hurts just let me know! But for now… woosh!" Luz grabs a handful of blankets and throws them over the two of them. They flutter down over Amity and herself, and Luz hugs them close. "Ahh… sleeping on the floor isn't bad every now and then. Especially with friends!"

"Yeah…" Amity pulls the blankets to her chest a little more tentatively. She's never slept on the floor before, let alone in a blanket fort, and let alone with friends, and let alone with her crush.

Even though it's almost completely dark here beneath the fort, there's still a bit of candlelight leaking through, and she doesn't want Luz to see her blushing. So she pulls the blankets up to her nose to hide it.

As Luz settles down and gets comfortable, Amity knows she won't be able to survive the night facing her. It just wasn't feasible. Plus, she'd probably just stay awake the entire night watching Luz's sleeping face, which she felt would be way too creepy of her.

She considers turning over onto her other side to face away from her, but that would put her bad ankle underneath, so she decides against it. And Luz seems perfectly comfortable facing her, so that only leaves Amity with the option of lying on her back.

She stares up at the levitating sheets and is made very aware of the speed of her pulse.

Luz continues making cute little tired noises for a moment beside her before she finally grows still.

"Welp," she mumbles. "This was a great first sleepover, Amity. I'll be sure to plan out a lot of better stuff next time!"

"Sure…"

"Did you have fun?"

Amity inhales, exhales, then lets herself smile as she turns her face to meet Luz's eyes.

"Yeah, Luz. I had a lot of fun, actually."

"I'm glad!"

The little smile Luz gives back sends an arrow through Amity's heart.

Luz lets out another big yawn, then finally closes her eyes.

"Well… see you in the morning… night, Amity."

"Yeah… Goodnight, Luz."

For the first time all night, silence begins to seep in.

Amity is frozen stiff, worried that she's breathing too much or too little or that her heart is pounding too loudly. But in spite of all her concerns, Luz doesn't seem to mind any of that. In fact she inches closer, until Amity can feel her warmth right next to her.

She has the urge to reach out her arm, so she acts on it before she can change her mind.

She curls her arm above Luz's head on the pillow, slowly and lightly resting her hand on her back. Luz makes a tired but happy hum, and before Amity can panic and pull away, Luz inches closer. She lays her head on Amity's shoulder and drapes one arm across her stomach.

Amity doesn't breathe for another minute or so as her mind screams unintelligible things.

But then she realizes something.

She realizes… there's no need to be so absurdly tense.

Luz is already snoring softly and half-asleep, and when Amity actually takes a second to appreciate all of this, she realizes just how warm and soft and… comfortable it all is.

It all feels… really nice.

Carefully, she moves her head just a little so she can glance down at Luz, who's sleeping soundly tucked in against her side. Amity's heart flutters for what must be the millionth time today, and she dares to pull her a little closer. She exhales, then closes her eyes as she gently presses her lips into Luz's hair.

"Thank you, Luz… I'll tell you soon. I promise."

But for now, Amity just settles down and finally lets sleep come to her on her first-ever sleepover with Luz.

And it ends up being the warmest, softest, and most restful night she's ever slept.

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A/N: I hope it was worth the long wait (sorry again). This'll be it for now, at least until the show comes back!