The following day is Sunday, so Amity has her usual shift at the library. Her heart's not in it, and she strongly considers calling in. Then she recalls her impending financial doom, and with a sad grunt drags herself out of bed to go.

Amity's appreciative to be put on the check-out counter upon arrival, she doesn't have the mental power today to restock books. Even so, her mind travels elsewhere as she scans books and IDs for the students. She can't stop thinking about the situation she's gotten herself into.

Amity has two big problems to tackle. The first is figuring out how she can earn enough money to pay for school, her apartment, and food. She'd given herself a head start on saving money, but didn't think she'd be cut off for at least another two years. The second is telling Luz that Amity's parents hate her. Luz probably hasn't had people hate her before. Amity winces internally as she imagines Luz's expression drooping in sadness at the news.

Both are large hurdles, ones Amity simply doesn't want to deal with. But she has to, for the sake of her future as a librarian and her future with Luz. She's not willing to sacrifice either. A little pain now for a lifetime of happiness.

Luz had texted her a friendly "good morning!" earlier in the day, but Amity had yet to respond. She pulls her phone out now and stares at the message. She wonders if she inadvertently made Luz worry by not replying. She types out a response when there's a lull in the line.

Can you come over after work today?

Amity only waits a couple minutes before she's rewarded with a response.

yes I can! everything ok?

She did make her worry… Amity feels a rush of affection towards her girlfriend, Luz always is looking out for her. She types back.

I just want to see you.


Amity spends the rest of her shift practicing what she's going to say to Luz. She rolls through the dialogue in her head, then imagines Luz's response. It's hard for her to imagine her girlfriend being anything but sad and supportive, but what if this really upsets her? What if Luz doesn't want to be with someone who has homophobic parents?

She pushes the negativity from her mind. Regardless of Luz's reaction, she has the right to know. She messages Luz once her shift is over and lets her know she'll be home shortly. Luz agrees to head her way, so she departs from the library.

Amity arrives at her apartment a few minutes before Luz. Normally she'd straighten up a little in anticipation of company, but today she doesn't have the strength. Instead, she slips off her shoes and collapses onto the couch.

Her doorbell rings a few minutes later and she gathers her composure before rising and going to open the door. She greets Luz with the best smile she can muster, and for at least that moment everything is normal.

Luz is pretty dense, but it only takes her a few seconds to notice something is off. She enters and removes her shoes, but her eyes are still locked on Amity. "Is everything okay?"

Despite Amity's own worry, the care and concern brings a small genuine smile to Amity's face. She gingerly draws Luz's hand in her own and guides her over to the couch so they can sit. Once settled she takes a deep breath before speaking. "I'd like to say everything is okay, but that wouldn't be the truth." She gives Luz's hand a gentle squeeze. "As you know, I had dinner with my parents last night. I didn't think it would go well, but it somehow went worse than expected. Far worse"

Luz frowns at her, concern etched on her face. "What happened?" She squeezes Amity's hand back. "I can fight them! If need be."

"I don't think fighting them would get us anywhere, but I appreciate it." Imagining Luz punching her mother in the face does calm Amity's frazzled nerves. "Anyway, there are two parts of it, the first is that they want me to drop English as my dual major."

"But you want to be a librarian!" Luz says, her voice rising in volume. "That's so unfair!"

"Yes, but they want me to be a lawyer." Amity clenches her free fist, "I always thought they'd let me finish my undergrad degrees before trying to force me further down that path. I guess I was wrong…"

Luz frowns at her, "and that's only half of it? What's the second part?" Luz runs her thumb along the back of Amity's hand, trailing it in slow methodical circles.

Though comforting, it doesn't make the next part any easier. Amity gulps and looks down at their joined hands. "Well… they found out about you from my brother, and they want us to break up."

"What!?" Luz leaps up from the couch, releasing Amity's hand as she does so. "They haven't even met me!" She crosses her arms with a loud huff. "I am a gem!"

Amity nods in agreement, "My parents don't want to meet you, no matter who you are. They have no intention of letting me be happy, not with a girl."

Luz still has some fire in her eyes, but it's faded slightly. She sits down with a sad sigh and pulls Amity into a tight bear hug. "I'm sorry."

Amity hugs her back and cherishes the warmth, Luz's head nuzzled against her shoulder. "You haven't even heard the best part yet."

Luz releases her from the hug, her eyes curious. "What's the best part?"

"I hope you know that was sarcasm." Amity waits for Luz to nod in confirmation before she continues. "They said that if I don't do both of these things they will not pay for my schooling, apartment, or food next year."

Luz is back on her feet in an instant, fire re-ignited. "No way! Isn't that a bit of an overreaction?"

Amity shakes her head sadly, "No, not for a Blight."

Luz plops back down with a big huff, "This is so ridiculous…" She picks up Amity's hand again and takes a deep breath. "Okay, what do you want to do? What's our plan? Should I get the giant paper?"

"Plan?" Amity's surprised to hear the word from Luz's lips. "Honestly, I haven't decided yet. I was just going to lie to them for now."

Luz is hesitant to agree, "Are you sure that's the best thing to do?"

"I don't see what other choice we have." Amity shrugs, "This way, as long as I can keep up the lie I can keep collecting funds from them, and then yeah when they eventually find out hopefully I'll be in a better spot financially."

"I didn't think you were one to give up so easily Blight." Despite Amity bringing down the mood in the room, Luz tries to return it to normalcy with a tint of humor in her voice. "Surely we can think of something, you always have a plan!"

Amity's mood can't be improved so easily. She eyes Luz critically and asks, "Do you have any ideas?"

Luz stands up again and starts to pace slowly in front of the couch. "Okay, don't shoot me down right away. What if next year we lived together?" Surprisingly, Luz's cheeks light up pink as soon as the suggestion comes out of her mouth. "Obviously we'd find somewhere cheaper, since I'm sure this place is ridiculously expensive. A-anyway, I know we haven't been dating for long, but it'll be longer by time summer is over! I can use my dorm money to help, and I can get a job! If you pick up a few more hours at the library over the summer we should be able to save up enough." Luz pauses mid pace, "Actually, I have no idea if that's true we'd have to crunch the numbers. You're probably better at that than I am." Luz continues to pace, "Together we can do anything though, so I'm sure we'll figure it out."

Amity's heart soars as she listens to Luz's idea. Luz's support and warmth overwhelms her. This is the exact opposite of what Amity was expecting and she feels a strong urge to be closer to her. She rises from the couch and steps in front of Luz to stop her pacing, pulling her in for a searing kiss. She can hear her pulse pounding in her ears as she pours her emotions into the kiss. Her left hand sneaks up to cradle Luz's cheek as they separate. She's not ready to break contact quite yet and leans her forehead against Luz's so they're gently touching. "I love you so much." Amity breathes out.

Okay, that was not what she was planning to say, but she means every word. Butterflies flutter nervously in her stomach for a moment, but Luz's eyes shine warmly at her and the Spanish teen leans in for another quick kiss. "I love you too." She giggles, "So, you like my idea?"

Amity releases Luz's cheek and nudges her shoulder playfully, "Yes, you're amazing and your idea is also amazing. There's just one thing we need to figure out first though, and that's your major."

"And a job!" Luz chimes in with another giggle, "Don't forget about that."

Amity smiles, "Of course, we'll find you a job too, but let's put that off until tomorrow?"

"Put that off, you don't want to do it tod… woah!" Luz starts to ask follow up questions, but she's caught off guard as Amity places her hands on Luz's shoulders and pushes her back to the couch, forcing her to sit down.

Amity leans down to steal another kiss, this time snaring Luz's bottom lip and sucking hard, one hand cupping Luz's face and the other tangling in her hair, drawing a quiet moan from the sitting teen. She places her right knee flat on the couch in the space between Luz's legs to lessen the distance between them. When they separate, scorching desire dances in Luz's eyes. Amity's sure she looks similar.

"Tomorrow is fine."