Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The crisp morning air filled Willow's lungs as she took in a deep breath. She stared at the big white building that used to intimate her so much. It didn't seem so scary now.

For the first time in what could have been forever, Willow wasn't nervous for the first day of school. She didn't need to make a beeline to the bushes on the edge of the path leading to the front stairs of Hexside. She didn't want to run all the way back to her house and hide under the blanket in her room until one of her dads came in and found her. Her heart wasn't racing and her blood wasn't ice.

Infact for the first time in what could have been forever, Willow was -crossing her fingers- actually, excited for the first day of school. She was excited for new beginnings and studying magic in a track she genuinely loved. She was ready to enjoy the next few years she had left of highschool, with all her friends by her side, and no more battles to be fought. It was all of their turns to breathe, to actually live, and Titan was she ready for it.

"Willow!" She heard a familiar voice call her name from behind. A smile spread across her face before she even turned around to see who it was. She didn't need to. She'd recognize the voice of her old faithful friend anywhere.

"Gus!" She called back, spinning around to be ambushed by a bear hug. Despite Gus being significantly shorter than her, Willow was stumbling back with her arms out to catch her balance. Once she had both feet steady on the ground she wrapped him up and held him back.

"Are you ready for school to start?" He asked once they had let go of each other, and started walking towards the school's huge front doors that students were starting to pile in through.

"Surprisingly?" She replied, leaning in so Gus could hear her over the business of students talking about their new classes, and teachers greeting each other after a long summer off, "I actually think I am."

"Ya?" Gus looked up at her, smiling. "Good. This is gonna be your year, girl, I can feel it." He winked at her with finger guns for added emphasis. She didn't bother trying to hide the giggle that escaped her.

"Hey Gus!" Matthomule called. They turned to see him hurrying up the path towards them, hand waving in the air, with a cautious smile spread over his face.

Willow glanced at Gus with a raised eyebrow, but didn't say anything when he waved back, eyes trained on the boy approaching them. Whether Gus was avoiding Willow's eyes on purpose was up for debate, but the slight pink in his cheeks and glint in his eyes was undeniable. Interesting.

"Willow," Matt greeted with a friendly nod, that was definitely supposed to look nonchalant. He didn't quite pull it off, but she wouldn't mention it.

"Hey Matt," she said back and tried to give him the most positive smile she could muster. He looked really nervous.

"Do you know where room 213 is?" Matt asked turning his attention back to Gus.

"Oh ya! Is that with Madam Garcia?"

"Ya, I heard she's a wicked hard ass."

"Definitely," Guess agreed with a solemn nod. "I had her two years ago. You want to be on her good side or she'll make every class awful for you. Do not be late and always do your homework. The class is just down that hall, 3rd door on the left." Gus pointed down the second hallway as they walked in through the main doors.

"Noted. Do you mind showing me? I know it's my second year here but I still get lost so easily," Matt replied, as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh ya, of course!" Gus turned to look at Willow, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Do you mind if I go-"

"Ya go!" Willow cut him off, being the intuitive wing women she was. "I'm gonna go find my locker and then see if I can track down Hunter. We were talking about our schedules last night over penstagram, and I think we have sixth period together."

"Ok, I'll see you at lunch then?" Gus confirmed.

"Yup. If your the first one to get to the cafeteria, save our table from last year. We don't need any freshman taking our spot again."

Gus beamed at her. "Preaching to the choir." He said, before waving her goodbye and walking off towards Madam Garcia's classroom. Matt offered her a small wave, before running off to walk in step beside Gus.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Willow smiled to herself, then made her way to the hallway her new locker was in. The lockers were sorted by grade, so when she saw old classmates lining the hall, chattering and clanging, filling the air with noise, she started mentally counting down the row. 311...312...313...314 Finally she found the locker with the number 321 engraved in it, and popped it open. She hung her bag on the inside hook, and unzipped the front pouch, pulling out a few pictures of her and her friends and magnets. She organized it, so her selfie of the Emerald Entrails was in the center. She smiled at the pictures, each holding a different moment frozen perfectly in time for her.

"Willow!" Amity called from a few lockers down, pulling her from her thoughts, waving to her with a wide smile. Willow waved back, shut her locker, and crossed the hall over to Amity. It felt good to be her friend again.

"Hey Amity. You excited for school?"

Amity shrugged, "not really, but I'm glad I get to see you guys everyday, and I don't have to sit around bored all the time. My dad's been big on "chilling" ever since things have gone back to normal." She lifted her fingers to do air quotes around chilling, rolling her eyes.

"I know what you mean. My papa has gone full helicopter parent on me. It's nice that he cares though?" Willow said trying to put a positive spin on it for her friend. Amity smiled to herself, looking to the ground as she said, "ya, he's trying to be more present."

"Good." Willow remarked, and then to try and find a lighter topic for 7:00 on a Monday morning, she asked, "Where's Luz?"

"With Hunter. She took him to go find his classes. He's got sixth period with us, but other than that his schedule is totally different and he's new so she wanted to make sure he didn't get lost on his first day. She really wants this to work out for him." Amity offered her a small knowing smile. Luz, always looking out for her friends.

"Me too," Willow agreed in a small voice. "He needs this."

"After the year we've had, we all do." Amity nodded. "Hey where's Gus?"

"With Matthomule. He asked him to show him where his class was."

A mischievous glint sparkled in Amity's eyes, as a grin spread across her face. "Matthomule isn't new." It wasn't a question.

"Nope," Willow said returning the smile. "He's not."

"Amity! Willow!" Luz yelled from across the hall, hand flying into the air, as she came barreling towards Willow, wrapping her up in one of her patented Luz hugs. "Ahh! I missed you!"

"Luz I saw you like three days ago," Willow laughed, returning a hug to the ray of sunshine in front of her.

"I know. I know. But it was a long three days. I'm so excited for this year. It's gonna be the best one yet. And Darius got Hunter into Hexside so he's gonna come to school with us!"

"I know! Hunter told me."

"He did?" A confused look etched itself across Luz's face. "When?"

"The day he found out. He texted me about it."

Amity and Luz gave each other a look, wearing matching shit eating grins.

"What?" Willow squeaked. "Why are you looking at each other like that."

Smile still in tact, Amity said, "nothing. You guys just seem to be texting a lot lately."

"And calling!" Luz added. "And hanging out! And you guys always stand close next to each other!"

"Really close ," Amity filled in, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Whatever," Willow said feeling the heat in her face grow, and the smile she was fighting win its battle as it split open her face. "We're friends."

"Mhm friends." Luz narrowed her eyes.

"We'll see." Amity chirped.

The smile on Willow's face grew half an inch. "We'll see." She offered.

They were interrupted by the scream of the bell, letting them know they had five minutes before class started.

"Saved by the bell," Amity quipped quietly, winking.

"C'mon guys! We don't want to be late on our first day. We all have homeroom together first period right?" Luz said excitedly, grabbing her girlfriend's hand as the three headed to class together.

Chapter Text

When Willow walked into the cafeteria, she found her friends already sitting in their claimed seats from last year in the corner by the window. Suck dick, freshman. She smiled to herself as she went over, and put her tray of food down next to Hunter.

"Hey guys!" She greeted, turning to Hunter as she sat down. "Hey, I haven't seen you all day. You avoiding me."

"Never," he replied with that same toothy smirk that made her heart stop everytime. "How was class?"

"It was good. The class I just came from is boring, but first period I have homeroom with Luz and Amity, and then the two classes in between are fun. How about you?"

He shrugged, taking a bite out of his sandwich as he thought. "Homeroom is kinda boring. I don't know anyone in there. Then I have a potions which I think is gonna be fun. I have beast keeping after that and a history class right before lunch."

"Which one was your favorite?" Willow asked, delighted that Hunter's first day seemed to be going well.

"Probably history. The teacher has these ridiculous like green glasses that take up half his face, but he seemed nice," he paused for moment, thinking, "And smart."

" Mr. Mosey?" Hunter nodded. "Oh I had him last year. I loved him. He is really smart but not like stuck up about it, you know. You can tell he really enjoys teaching."

"He seemed really nice," Hunter said thoughtfully. "So did you like your teachers?"

Willow nodded excitedly. "I actually love my classes so far. All the teachers I have this year, I had last year after I switched tracks. They are all super nice. Even Mrs Garland, except she gets cranky sometimes, but she's noot awful like some of the teacher I had in abominations track. And class is so much more fun in this track. I hated abominations, but plants is something I'm actually good at."

She looked up to see Hunter listening to her intently, eyes fixed on her face with a gentle smile tugging at his lips. "What?" She asked cautiously, not being able to help the smile growing from her mouth as well. If smiles were contagious, Hunter's gave Willow an immune deficiency.

"Nothing, it's just nice to listen to you talking about stuff your passionate about," he said. "It's cute when you're excited."

Willows face flushed red, and hot embarrassment flooded her body. "Cute?" She squeaked. Hunter blushed as well, and nodded quietly. "Oh!" Willow said playing with her braided hair, willing herself to calm down, as she internally panicked.

They were too busy staring at the table with a new and scary air between them, to notice that Matt had taken the open seat next to Gus.

"How long till they start dating?" Matt whispered, nudging Gus's arm to get his attention and nodding toward the pair.

"I give it a month," Gus shrugged.

"A month? C'mon it's gonna be longer than that."

Gus shook his head, watching as his two friends scrambled for words. "I don't think so. This has been building for awhile."

"Id put money on two months at least."

"Two?" Gus said shocked. "How much money?"

Matt lifted an eyebrow, with a mischievous smile. "Fifteen."

"Ok bet," Gus said putting out his hand, feeling a swell of excitement when Matt took it. At first he was feeling victorious, confident that in less than two months he would be fifteen snails richer, but suddenly he became aware of how warm Matt's hand was, how his skin was rough from working with construction magic, how they were still holding hands, and suddenly Gus’s heart was beating just a little faster than before.

Matt dropped his hand and crossed his arms with a smirk plastered on his face and Gus had to stuff down the strange dissapointment he felt at the loss of contact.

"When you loose, I'm going spend my snails on some eye-scream. There's this new shop that opened up down the street from my house and it has all these cool crazy flavors," Matt told him, the glint in his eyes letting Gus know he just wanted a reaction.

"Oh ya? Well when Iwin I'm gonna spend my snails on..." Gus tried to focus, but Matt looked down at him with a smile that made his eyes crinkle and his eyebrows raised expectantly, like he knew Gus wouldn't come up with anything to say, and every conscious thought in his head went flying out the cafeteria's second story window. "..whatever! It doesn't matter what I spend it on because it will be mine and not yours cause your gonna lose and be a big loser."

Gus threw his hands up in defeat, and Matt threw his head back in laughter. Gus watched as his friend laughed with a small endeared smile on his face, but when Matt opened his eyes, he crossed his hands across his chest and turned his head away defiantly. "You got me there, Gus. Always a comeback, huh?" Matt snickered.

"Fuck off. I'm not talking to you," Gus said, turning his head just a little farther, simply for shows because both of them knew there wasn't a hint of malice on his voice.

"Alright, alright I'm sorry." Matt said, not sorry in the least. "So what are you doing after school today?"

"We're all going to the owl house to watch a movie. You should come."

Matt froze. "Oh I uh- I think I'm busy."

"Matt." Gus said with a lopsided frown. "You asked me what I was doing after school."

"Well I was making sure you were just as busy as me. And you are."

Gus stared at him with an eyebrow raised and a "don't fuck with me" expression on his face. Matt sighed in defeat.

"I don't think your friends would want me to go," he whispered, leaning in close to Gus so no one else could hear him. Gus felt the warmth coming off his friend’s body as he moved closer.

"Why wouldn't they want you to go?"

"Gus..." Matt trailed off, while Gus shot him a confused look. "I know me and you are chill now, but I just don't want to intrude." Gus stared at him, searching his face for something. "I don't think they like me."

"Matt, of course they like you." Matt gave him a weary look. "Yes, they do. My friends aren't like that. They don't hold grudges. If they did, our group would be about half the size it is now."

"I just..." Matt sucked in a nervous breath, looking up at the cafeteria ceiling like the script he was looking for was written on it. "I don't want to push it."

"You're not pushing shit. You're coming. We are all walking over after school, and don't even try to sneak off," Gus said with a determined tone, as the lunch bell screamed. He stood up with his tray and looked around at his friends. "Hey, do you guys mind if Matt comes tonight, too?"

"Ya of course!" Luz said excitedly, "the more the merrier."

"See," Gus whispered, walking away. "I told you."

Matt sighed as he picked up his tray, shaking his head at the boy walking two steps ahead of him. There was no escape now. Once Gus had his mind set on something, there was no fighting him, not that Matt would even bother trying. If Gus asked, he didn't know how to say no.

Chapter Text

Luz could barely stay in her chair during her last class of the day. She was bubbling with excitement, hardly able to wait for tonight when all her friends were coming over.

When the last bell finally screamed, she grabbed all her books up with one swipe and rushed past classmates packing up for the day. She dropped her stuff off at her locker, collecting everything she needed for the night, and hurried to find Amity.

She turned into the hallway with Amity's and Willow's lockers and found the two chatting as Amity put her books away neatly, unlike Luz who shoved everything in her locker and kicked the door shut to make sure it all fit. When her eyes landed on her girlfriend, Luz felt a smile spread across her face and her heart jumped a beat. And when Amity looked up from her books and locked eyes with Luz from across the hall, with a smile creeping across her own face and a small wave, Luz just about stopped breathing.

"Hey guys!" She called, waving back as she walked over to them. "I'm so excited for tonight!”

"Me too!" Willow shrieked. "Do we need to go find everyone?"

"Ya," Luz said, waving for her friends to follow her as she started to make her way through the crowd of students. "Hunter's locker is this way. I think Gus and Matt are by the front door so we should wait for them outside."

"I'm glad Gus invited him," Willow added. "I think it's nice that they are friends."

“Ya me too,” Amity said catching up to walk in step with Luz, arm slipping between them to grab her hand gently. “He better not hurt Gus, though.”

“Matt’s not gonna hurt Gus. He’s not gonna hurt anyone. He just wants to live a normal life like the rest of us,” Luz said, searching her girlfriends face with curious eyes. Matt wasn’t a bad guy and didn’t want Amity to treat him like he was. /p>

“Not what I meant, Luz,” she said gently. A small smile spread over Amity’s face and she looked over at Willow, the two sharing a knowing look. Luz looked at them both, stopped walking, and stared for a few more seconds eyebrows furrowed together.

“I don’t get it,” she finally said. Willow and Amity looked at eachother again. Willow couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped her.

“It’s alright, luz. You’ll put it together,” she told her, starting to walk again. Luz clutched Amity’s hand, picking up after Willow.

“No, cmon guys tell me.” Willow just kept walking, straight over to Hunter’s locker where he was standing. Luz looked at Amity expectantly, only given a shrug in response. “Please,” she begged as they joined Willow and Hunter.

“What’s wrong?” Hunter asked, looking between the girls, as the group started walking towards the main entrance.

“Luz wants to know what’s up with Gus and Matt,” Willow answered with a smile.

“C’mon, Luz, you can’t be that oblivious.” Hunter groaned.

“Oh, but I am so can someone just tell me.”

“They obviously like each other,” Hunter said with an eye roll.

“WHAT!” Luz shrieked. “He told you that?” She lowered her voice to a whisper, putting her hand in front of her face. He shook his head before saying, “no, Luz I just figured it out. I don’t know if Gus knows yet.”

Willow laughed softly, “I don’t think he does. He’s never really liked anyone before this, at least not that I know of.”

As they walked, they found Gus and Matt talking right by the doors, and everyone’s mouths clamped shut.

“Hey guys!” Gus called waving excitedly. Matt lifted his hand in a small wave and plastered a nervous smile on his face, pointedly not looking at any of them in particular. He hoped he didn’t look as small as he felt.

Feeling insecure was not new for him. He had bent over backwards, till his spine cracked, to make himself fit into a group easier. He’d acted and played his part, reciting lines like he memorized them, to force people to see him the way he wanted to be seen. But it didn’t work. So he tired to ignore it, shove down the feelings of doubt and paint a confident smirk over it. He tried to use a firm, sure voice, that left no room for disagreement, that made people listen. He put others down, in order to look higher in comparison. That didn’t work either.

No matter what he tried, he felt lonely. It didn’t matter how much he overcompensated, or how hard he tried to people please, no one ever saw him. Until Gus.

Gus looked at him when he was talking, and didn’t brush him away or shush him. Gus didn’t roll his eyes, but smiled and told him to keep talking. It almost made him uncomfortable. He squirmed under the attention he had been begging for as long as he could remember. The spot light felt good though, even if it made him sweat. And as time passed, and he became more comfortable with Gus, he learned to love it, and absorb it. He felt like a plant that someone shoved in a closet and forget about, but then Gus found him all droopy and his leaves brown, and put him by a window, always remembering to water him.

And he didn’t want to fuck that up.

Gus’s friends were important to him. They made him laugh, and they held him when he was crying, they walked him to class. They took care of him. They shared their lunch with him and he always remembered their birthdays.

It wasn’t just Gus though, it was their whole group. They were all so close. They had been through so much together. This group was a family, a family that Matt desperately wanted to adopt him. He wanted them to like him, and he didn’t want to have to change himself to get it. He didn’t want to feel like he was living on a set, with a director pointing out every mistake. He didn’t want to feel like he had to earn his existence. He didn’t want to be someone he wasn’t just to be included.

But he would.

To be here, walking to Luz’s house after school, listening quietly from the back of the train they had formed, he’d do it. He looked down at Gus, who was walking beside him, smiling like a little kid. His heart jumped as Gus laughed at something Willow. He’d do it. He’d sell his soul to stay next to this kid.

He could do it too. He was good at it. He already knew how. He just needed to watch them for a little, find where he fit easiest, and stitch himself there seamlessly even if the needle pricked him.

He felt Gus slow down a step, and followed mindlessly. Gus stopped and crouched down, tying his shoe. Matt stood beside him, with his hands in his pockets, staring out at nothing.

“You alright?”

Matt looked down at him to see Gus raising an eyebrow, watching him cautiously. He nodded, putting on his most convincing smile, trying to ignore the way that his heart sped up at the question. Gus noticed. He noticed that something was wrong and he cared enough to ask. Gus noticed, and while it didn’t mean Matt was actually gonna tell him, it wrapped him in some sort of comfort.

“Ya, why?”

Gus shrugged, still eyeing him doubtingly. “You seem kinda out of it.” He stood up and kept walking, but made sure to keep a few paces between them in the group, and lowered his voice so the others couldn’t hear.

“I’m all good,” he replied with a signature smile. He didn’t want to talk about this right now, and pester Gus with all this ridiculous anxiety when he was trying to have fun with his friends. No. He was fine.

They finally got close enough to see the owl house peeking out at the around the trees. Matt crouched to whisper into Gus' ear. "Is that freaky bird gonna be there."

Gus laughed, and a smile tugged at Matt's lips. "Yes, he's a part of the house and he's not so freaky when you get to know him."

"No, I think he stays freaky and you just become desensitized to it."

Gus laughed again, but his smile looked kinda sad now. "Maybe, but we missed him so much when we were in the human realm. I mean, I thought he was so gross before, but when we were trapped at Luz's house we painted a little hooty on the shack door. I guess it made that place feel a little more like home."

Matt listened intently, watching as Gus' eyes trailed over to Luz who was laughing with Amity.

"It makes me think about how hard everything must have been for Luz. Getting thrown into the human realm was hard, really hard, and we all missed our families, but we had each other. We weren't alone, even if it felt like that sometimes. But when Luz first came it was only supposed to be for a little while, and then she got trapped here. She was probably so scared."

"Luz wasn't alone either. She had you guys." Matt said. "And you guys all love each other so much. You guys are inseparable. She's lucky to have friends like this."

Gus gave Matt a look he couldn't quite read. "You have friends like this too," he said quietly, looking down at the dirt road.

"Maybe," Math said grateful that they made it to the owl house so he wouldn't have to continue this conversation.

"Hi guys!" Hooty screeched. A chorus of "hi hooty" was said in return as Luz held the door and everyone filed in. Eda was standing in the kitchen, with apple blood in her hand and King standing at her feet.

"Hey kiddos," she put her arms out as Luz wrapped her in a hug, and used her free hand to scruff up her hair. "I made snacks." There were bowls of everything some from the boiling isles and some from the human realm. Everyone grabbed a plate from the stack on the counter and started filling up their plate. "How was school everybody?"

Chapter Text

Luz looked around at all her friends, sitting and laughing in the kitchen of the owl house, telling Eda about their days, and felt a tug at her heart. She realized that this is what good feels like. She'd almost forgotten, it had been so long. But recently she was feeling it all the time. Maybe missing it for so long is what made her grateful to have it back now.

She felt an arm snake around her waist and didn't have to look over to know it was Amity. She leaned to rest her head on her shoulder, and it put a dull ache in the lower part of her back but she loved it more than anything in the world.

"You ok?" She heard Amity whisper as she planted a kiss into her hair, her thumb rubbing up and down where it was hugging Luz at her side. She nodded, looking up at her to prove it with a smile.

"Just thinking," she answered.

"Good thinking or bad thinking?"

"Good." She said feeling a swell of warmth at the honesty of it. Good. That was her reality now.

"Tell me about it later?"

"Ya," she nodded putting her head back on Amity's shoulder. "I love you." She said after a pause.

"I love you too." Luz felt Amity pull her a little closer.

When everyone had filled their plates up with enough junk food to feed an army, they headed into the living room.

"Oh my Titan!" Willow screamed, as everyone found a spot by the couch. "Eda has a Nintendo??"

"Ya," Luz laughed at her excitement, sitting on a throw pillow on the floor next to Amity, with their back against the couch. "She came over for dinner one time and I played it with King and he loved it. She had me bring one here for him to play, but I think she uses it more than him now."

"She hogs it!" King yelled throwing his hands up, walking in from the kitchen and curling up on Luz's lap, where he promptly fell asleep.

"I do not!" Eda yelled from the kitchen.

"Can we please play MarioKart?" Gus begged from his perch on the arm chair next to couch. Matt was sitting on the floor with a pillow under him, head leaning subtly against Gus' knee.

"Sure but only 4 can play at a time," Luz answered as Willow grabbed the controls and handed one to Gus.

"That's fine, we can take turns," she said, "who wants to go first?"

"I'll play next, I don't mind waiting," Amity said.

Willow turned to hand Matt a controller but he shook his head. "I've never heard of this so I'll see how you guys play first."

Willow handed Luz her controller, and then brought two over to the couch where Hunter was sitting on one end. She handed him one and sat on the other end. She put her legs up, facing sideways so her back was to the arm rest, and draped her calves over Hunter's lap. She watched him very carefully for a second, waiting for a sign to take her legs off. When he smiled at her, his cheeks turning a little pink but looking comfortable, her face switched into a proud smile. "Are you ready to loose?" She asked him, making him throw his head back laughing. "We'll see," he challenged with a smile.

Luz threw an arm around Amity's neck, holding the controller between them, as Amity laid her head in the crook of Luz's shoulder, and they started the game.

--

"NOOO!," Willow screamed, throwing her hands up as Hunter passed her to the finish line on the last lap.

"Oh it's alright Willow. You tried your best," Hunter said teasingly.

"Oh fuck you," Willow yelled, a huge smile on her face as she shoved him.

"Hey," he said putting a hand over his heart, faking an appalled look. "No one likes a soar loser."

"You cheated."

"How could I have cheated?" He asked laughing, as Willow crossed her arms and turned away.

“Whatever,” Willow grumbled with a frown forced onto her face, trying to resist laughing with everyone else. “Who wants my remote?” Amity put her hand up to grab the controller from behind her.

“Here, Matt,” Hunter called, tossing the controller lightly over to him. “One win is enough for me.” That earned him a middle finger from Willow, as he chuckled to himself.

“This one is to go forward,” Gus said pointing to a button on the controller, learning forward so his face was close to Matt’s. A light pink spread across Matt's cheeks that everyone but Gus seemed to notice. “That one is to steer. This one shoot the traps.”

“From the glowing boxes?” Gus nodded.

“Don’t worry Matt, we’ll go easy on you the first round,” Luz said lightheartedly.

“Like hell we will. I’m here to win,” Amity said laughing, but only kinda kidding. Matt laughed at that. He seemed to be warming up to everyone.

After they played a few rounds of MarioKart, they decided to start a movie so they would have time to finish it before everyone had to go home. Usually they would have slept over, but since it was a school night, everyone’s parents wanted them to be home.

Amity and Luz were sitting on the floor, somehow they had four more pillows, and a blanket thrown over them as Luz wrapped an arm around Amity pulling the two in closely. Luz’s wide eyes were fixed on the screen in front of them as she stuffed her face full of popcorn from the bowl in her lap. Amity had her eyes half open, as she leaned her head against her girlfriends shoulder. She yawned, and quietly let her eyes slip shut. Later Luz would say she slept through the whole movie and they had to rewatch it but that was no use. One day Luz would learn she would just sleep through the rewatching as well.

Behind them Hunter and Willow sat close next to each other with a blanket shared between them. Hunter scooted a little closer, pretending to be searching for a comfortable position. When he stilled, Willow slid in a little more, so their sides were against each other. Hunter sucked in a quiet breath and held it as he draped an arm around Willow, letting his hand fall loosely off her shoulder. He felt Willow stiffen, before relaxing into it.

“Is this ok?” He whispered into her ear. His words were warm against the side of her face , and it made her skin tingle at the proximity. She nodded, smiling to herself, as she rest her head against his side. She felt his shoulder tense, before dropping as he let out a breath of air.

“Is this ok?” She asked in a hushed voice. He nodded, muttering a quiet “definitely” before using the hand around her shoulder to brush his fingers through her thick black hair.

Matt sat on the floor in front of Gus’s chair, with a popcorn bucket in his lap that Gus leaned forward to grab out of every so often. Gus had a blanket wrapped around him, sitting criss cross apple sauce, letting his arm brush against Matt’s shoulder and chest every time he reached for some popcorn.

After the movie finished, it was time for everyone to leave. They all headed outside, Luz saying goodbye to each of them before kissing Amity goodnight. She said bye to everyone else and jumped onto her staff, flying off towards Blight Manor. Hunter, Willow, Gus and Matt walked towards town together, joking and enjoying eachother’s company as they went, until they made it to where they had to split up. Gus and Matt headed off to the southern half of town where they lived relatively close to each other, as Hunter and Willow started walking the other direction.

Since hunter moved in with Darius, his house was on the outskirts of town. Walking to Willows house first might have been the long way home, adding about ten minutes to his trip, but it was early fall and the night was still warm enough to be out with a sweatshirt. Not that it mattered, because Hunter had every intention of walking her home in the dead of winter.

“Ok so thoughts?” Willow asked, looking at Hunter through the dark night.

“On..?”

“Gus and Matt.” She watched him carefully trying to gauge his reaction.

“Well,” Hunter said thoughtfully, putting his hands into his sweatshirt pocket to keep them warm. “I think it’s nice. I don’t know why, I just have a good gut feeling about it.”

Willow nodded, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she looked at the rocky road. “Your gut has a good track record.”

“Does it?” Hunter asked smiling at her curiously. Willow shrugged.

“I guess so.” She looked up to meet his eyes, returning the smile with a grin. “I trust your gut.”

“Well my gut is flattered.”

A laugh bubbled out from her stomach, making Hunter’s smile just a little bit wider. The late air, sent a chill up her spine as an autumn breeze blew through the town. She shivered a little, pulling the sleeves of her shirt down past her wrist and crossing her arms around her chest.

“You cold?”

She nodded, staring out at the empty street. “A little. We’re almost at my house though. I’ll be alright.” She chuckled to herself, “I miss summer.”

Hunter stopped walking, wrapping his hands around the bottom hem of his hoodie and pulling it over his head. “Here,” he said holding it out to her.

“Are you sure? Won't you be cold-“

“Just put the damn thing on,” he cut her off, a chuckle mixed into his words.

She stared at the hoodie in front of her for a second, then up at his face, searching to make sure he really wanted her to take it. He nodded, holding it out farther to wordlessly insist. She took it, mumbling a flustered “thank you” as she pulled it over her head and sliding her arms through the sleeves, already feeling warmer.

He took a step forward, standing so close he had to tilt his head to look down at her. He’d grown so much over the last few months. Turns out the castle wasn’t the best place for a growth spurt, and the second he was out of there he shot up lile a beanstalk. The air between them stilled, as they watched each other, neither moving an inch. Finally after what felt like years,Hunter leaned forward, brushing her hair out from around her neck so it wasn’t stuck in the hoodie. He tucked a piece behind her ear, letting it fall over her shoulder.

“It looks good on you,” he said in a low voice, before gently clearing his throat, and stepping back, a pink blush crawling up his neck and into his face. Willow tried not to think about being how her heart dropped in disappointment.

They continued walking, in perfect step with each other, until they got to Willow’s street. It wasn’t till they made it to the end of her driveway that she decided to break the silence.

“Do you want to come in?”

“No, thanks. Darius will be worried about me.”

She nodded, “Alright- oh!” She started to slip the hoodie off, “here.” She felt his hand claps around hers at the hem of shirt.

“Keep it,” he said gently.

“But it’s your-“

“Give it to me some other time.”

She nodded. “Ok. Text me when you get home.”

“Will do.” He said as she started walking up the path to her door. She had her hand around the door handle when he called her name. She turned to find him standing right where he was a second ago at the end of the street.

“Ya?”

A beat of silence passed between them as he stared at her, mouth open like he wanted to say something.

“Good night,” is what he finally breathed out with a small smile. She mirrored it.

“Good night.”

She knew that’s not all he wanted to say, but he didn’t make the move to speak, so she nodded at him, waiting till he nodded back with that same expression on his face. She turned and went inside, waiting at the door and peeping through the window at him. He waved to her and she waved back. He stared at the door for a second longer, like he was battling himself over something, but ultimately walked down the road toward his house.

She waited till he was out of view before running up the stairs to her bedroom, grabbing her scroll of her bed and clicking on Gus’s picture in her contacts. It rang twice before he picked up.

“Oh my titan, I have to tell you something!” They both screamed at the same time.

Chapter Text

"Oh my Titan I have to tell you something!" They both screamed at the same time.

"Wait, what's your thing?" Gus asked frantically.

"No you first," Willow said bubbling with energy, "mine is gonna take a while."

"Mine is gonna take longer."

"Are you sure?"

"Ya, mine might need research."

"Research?" Gus nodded solemnly. "Ok I'll go first then."

Willow told Gus everything from Luz's house to the walk home, telling him about the hoodie and showing him how she was still wearing it. She even renacted the part where he fixed her hair. Gus went ballistic over that.

"Holy fuck did you guys kiss??" He screamed, practically blowing out the speaker on her scroll.

"Damn, say it a little louder. I don't think the human realm heard you."

"Well did you?" He asked, looking like he was about to burst.

"No we didn't, but I thought we were going to. For a second there he looked at me and I really thought that was it."

Gus let out a disappointed sigh.

"I know right? And then when he dropped me off, he looked like he wanted to say something, but he never did. And he let me keep the hoodie. He said "give it to me some other time"'

"What other time!" Gus cried throwing his hands up in distress.

"I know! I feel like he likes me-"

"Oh sweetheart he does."

"-but I don't want to push him you know? He needs to do stuff in his own time. You know how he is. I don't want him to feel pressured if he's not ready, but at the same time I'm like ..ugh!"

"At the same time you really like him," Gus filled in for her.

"Yes!" She shouted getting up from her bed to pace the room as her scroll floated at face level. "And I want us to be together, or at least know what's going on. Like are we friends? Are we more than friends? What are we? Because we haven't kissed and I'm not his girlfriend, so that means friends, right? But he had his arm around me during the movie? And he was playing with my hair? And I mean I loved it but friends don't do that, do they?"

"Friends that need to fuck each other do."

"Gus!"

He laughed to himself. "And don't think I missed the whole leg thing during MarioKart. That was smooth, Willow."

"Thanks. I just don't know what to do. Like should I just go for it? Or do I wait? And am I waiting for nothing? Maybe we're just friends and I'm reading into it too much because I want him to like me back."

"Well heres my opinion. He definitely likes you, that's for sure, but I think you should wait for him to come to you. I mean, you're right about him needing time. He's never done anything like this before, maybe it's just taking him awhile to test the waters."

"Ya," Willow agreed nodding "Its not like my feelings are going away any time soon." She let out a sigh. "Alright my thing is over now. What were you gonna say?"

"I think I like Matt!" He yelled throwing his hands out over his face like he just swore in front of his grandma.

Willow's head snapped up too look at him, her mouth wide open and her eyes bulging. "Since when?"

"Since today! As we were walking home!" He shrieked. "But I'm not sure." Now it was his turn to stand up, throwing his arms for emphasis, as Willow sat on her bed, pulling her scroll into her lap to listen. "I've never had a crush on anyone before. If this is what it is then it's really fucking stressful." Willow laughed at that. "So that's why I need your help. I need you to tell me if I have a crush on Matt."

"Gus you have to decide that on your own. I can't tell you," she said with a lopsided frown.

"Well how am I supposed to know if I've never had a crush on someone before?"

"Well what does it feel like?"

"Well I get nervous around him a lot, but I also have this need to be with him. And I do stupid stuff to make him laugh, and I like when he smiles at me. And when we're accidentally touching it makes my heart hammer in my chest."

"That sounds like a crush to me," Willow said with a thoughtful nod.

"What does it feel like to have a crush on Hunter?"

"Well," she trailed off thinking for a second, "it's different. I've had crushes before, but not like this. This is deeper. I think because we were friends first. I mean I always thought he was cute, but as I got to know him it became more than that. I want him to be happy. I want him to laugh and smile but more than that. I want him to be satisfied, and content. He's been through so much that I want him to find the peace he deserves. I want to be near him all the time. It's like he's all I can think about. It's paralyzing almost."

"But what does it feel like, you know, physically," he asked, sitting onto the edge of his bed with his eyes fixed on her, hanging onto her every word.

"Well I get nervous. Like my heart is really fast and my lungs hurt. And when we touch I don't want to move because I don't want it to stop. But when he looks at me, like at me," she pointed to her both her eyes for emphasis, "it's like I freeze. I don't know what to do. My heart drops, like when you get to the top of a rollercoaster," she motioned with her hands a rollercoaster climbing to its peak and then falling quickly. "That's the feeling I get when he's laughing and he looks right at me, or when I seem upset and he asks what's wrong and he gives me this look."

"Look? What kinda look?"

"I don't know, it's just a look. It's like he's genuinely worried about me, like if I don't tell him what's wrong, if he can't fix it, then he's gonna just die right there."

Gus rolled his eyes. "Die is a little dramatic."

"No! No, it's the look."

"The look." Gus repeated suspiciously. "Whatever you say, your the love expert."

"I'm not in love with him." Gus raised his eye brow at her, mouth pressed into a thick line. "Oh my Titan am I in love with him?" She gasped putting a hand to her chest.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I can't even figure out if I have a crush or not. Don't ask me about falling in love."

"Well fuck," Willow muttered under her breath.

"Ya," Gus let out a dry laugh. "No shit."

Chapter Text

Soo I decided to make this fic into a series. I cut two of the chapters off and made them there own separate things and then the chapter that I was gonna post later I’m just gonna make that another’s fic in the series. I feel like this gives me more freedom to write spontaneously and also makes it a little easier to tag. I hope you guys enjoy this series because I’m having a lot of fun writing it. I have a lot of ideas for this series and I’m really excited to continue it. Thanks for reading it ❤️