Amity frowned a little as she made a circle and dismissed her barrier spell. Normally she’d never go out in the rain, and Edric and Emira tried to tie her back so she didn’t, but even they had relented when she explained. After all, both Eda and Lilith had given her calls to ask her to come over because Luz hadn’t left her room since this morning. They thought at first it was just her being tired or lazy and Eda had decided that she could use a day off. But then she didn’t come down for lunch. Or dinner. And then the rains began.

And then supposedly, Luz began sobbing loud enough to be heard through the door. None of them could get her to respond though so they were hoping Amity could maybe get her to open up. Or, failing that, make an abomination on the other side of the door to unlock it. Amity didn’t have any plans to do that though, not if Luz was in pain from something.

Lilith gave her a nervous smile and wave as she walked in. She then took a sip of the apple blood her and Eda had made before offering it to the girl. “Eda is upstairs like she has been ever since she started hearing Luz breaking down.”

Amity nodded before taking a sip. She hated how tart it was but the energy boost was useful sometimes and depending on how long Luz needed her, she might be having a long night. “Do you have any idea as to why Luz is upset?”

Lilith shook her head as she took the cup back. “We heard a gasp when the rain began and thought it might be her being worried that the house might get burned, but we’d already commissioned someone to coat the house in some protective get against the rains like most do. Eda told her that she shouldn’t freak out and that Luz should understand that it was simply a part of the Isles already and she hasn’t stopped crying since.”

Amity sucked in her lips before slowly breathing in and out. Luz didn’t need her in a panic about all of this. Her crush needed her to be strong. “Alright. I hope I can help her then.”

She then made her way up the stairs until she saw Eda. The older witch was growling at this point before she began slamming her fist against the door. Amity didn’t know that this was perhaps the fifth time in an hour that Eda had tried to get to Luz but still got the idea that Eda must have been freaking out for a bit as the older witch yelled, “Look, I will make an explosive potion or something pretty soon here if you don’t come out and tell me what’s going on!”

“Eda, you can calm down. Hopefully.”

Eda turned to Amity with a scowl before running her hand through her hair as an obvious attempt to calm herself. “Oh, that’s easy for you to say, isn’t it?”

Amity turned away like she’d been struck before letting it go. She knew that if Luz had locked her out for an entire day, she’d probably be lashing out at everyone around her. “Eda, I’m trying to be like this for Luz. If I panic, she’s going to panic. You and I know that.”

Eda narrowed her eyes before sighing. “Sorry. Ever since I lost my magic I’ve become… touchy about her. I can’t just swoop in at the last minute like I used to.”

Amity nodded as she squeezed past Eda. “Well, I might not have magic that can help, but I’ll try some words. Okay?”

The older witch stared at Amity for a few moments before turning away. She saw Amity having taken over an hour to get here as her being lazy when she could have ordered a cab or something. It was unreasonable as the Isles effectively stopped on a dime for the rains, but that didn’t matter to Eda right now.

Amity sighed as she stepped in front of the door. They weren’t kidding when they’d said that you could hear her, even through the door. Luz was wailing right now. It was the worst she thought she’d ever heard her crush be and it did make her pause about what she might see. Was she ready to help Luz if she was in crises? She was only fourteen. And Luz, putting it mildly, wasn’t the best at this and she got emotions better than her. She wasn’t trained to close herself off.

None of that changed the fact that Amity’s heart broke at hearing Luz like this. So, after another moment’s hesitation, she knocked. “Luz, it’s Amity.”

There was the barest minimum of a pause in the wailing at the statement before Luz screamed, “Go away! You’re part of the problem!”

Amity’s eyes widened before she caught her breath. Luz needed her in control. She couldn’t shake. She couldn’t tear up. But what had she done? She hadn’t come by today or even bothered Luz when she didn’t show up at school. Her crush had other things to do after all, often with some adventure she got caught up in without her. That was okay, but did Luz want her checking in on her like that? Wasn’t that too clingy?

She let out a slow breath before keeping her tone even. “If it would help for you to yell at me, I can take-”

“No!” There was a crash from within before Luz kept shouting. “No! No, it’s not your fault! It’s my fault! It’s all my fault! I should have just left that stupid book in the trash!”

Stupid book? What was Luz talking about? “Luz, please, I just want to help. I… I know everyone else has probably been telling you that, but we mean it.” She then paused before adding, “Isn’t that what friends do for each other?”

That seemed to stop the sobbing for a moment before the door’s lock clicked. Slowly, Luz opened it just enough for Amity to see one of her bloodshot eyes. The human then swallowed and her voice trembled as she said, “I know. And I’m happy for that. But… But it hurts right now. I wish… I wish you all would just tell me to go. That you didn’t want me to be here.” Tears began to start flowing back down her face as she babbled out, “That if I left I could!”

Oh. This was about her world. It took everything Amity had to hide how much that hurt. How much all of this hurt her. She never liked Luz bringing up her world. Not when it constantly threatened to take the idiot away from her. But part of it wasn’t just that. It was one thought that constantly ran through Amity’s head that apparently Luz wanted to hear.

And she wished it wasn’t so much easier to say than saying she wanted Luz to never leave because she loved her. “If… If it would make you happier to go, then I wouldn’t stop you.”

Luz’s eyes widened right before she threw the door open and tackled Amity. “No! No, I don’t want to. I don’t want to. I-I know I just asked, but… But…”

Amity hugged her crush tightly back before intertwining her fingers with Luz’s and looking her in the eyes. “Please, just tell me.”

Luz hung her head before looking outside. “I… I was supposed to go to Summer camp for three months. Today marks me having been here for three months. M-My mom is probably at the bus station as we speak, still waiting for me. And she’ll wait for me day after day. Even if it rains. And she’ll put up flyers. And she’ll think I ran away because she pushed me away. And that I hate her. Or that I’m dead. And she’ll never forgive herself. And… And…”

Amity hugged Luz again before the two slipped back into Luz’s room where the serious girl listened to story after story about Luz’s mom. How much they liked the rain. How her mom would take her to things like an Azura cosplay meetup and help her with her costume. How she kept letting her mom down when she took it a step far every single time. About what led to her coming to her Isles. And how Azura, the character that helped bring her and Amity closer together, was something she had told her mom didn’t matter before it led her right here.

To Eda. To Gus and Willow. To people who got her. Who accepted her. Who made her feel at home. “Even someone as smart and pretty as you can like a dumb freak like me so why do I want to go home? Why can’t I say goodbye? Why does the rain hurt so much just because I can’t run into it like I did at home?”

But Amity had no answers. She could only be there as a shoulder for Luz to cry on. To push her own pain down so she could smile and nod for Luz when she needed her to. So her crush thought she liked the things about her world. The things the human missed about being… human.

While Amity just wanted Luz to keep wanting to be a witch.