The Heart of Camilo (A Camilo Madrigal x Reader Fem Y/N Story)

Dance With Me

*Camilo*

"You should be careful," Mirabel whispered to me as we got off the horse, back near the village square. Dusk had made its way over the town and it was lit festively with lights that illuminated all the decorations put up in honour of the family and their new baby. Music was playing and everyone was laughing and having a good time. Through the crowd, I could see Abuela holding the baby and laughing with the new parents. My heart sank. How could she be so different with me than everyone else? Isn't your own family supposed to be the ones you treat with the most love?

"Camilo, are you listening to me?" Mirabel asked, prodding me in the chest. I tore my eyes away from Abuela and back to her. Y/N was giving us some space, understanding Mirabel was trying to talk to me alone, hanging onto the horse's reins for Mirabel.

"Yes, I know, I know, stop misbehaving," I rolled my eyes. If I had to hear that from one more person today... anger rose in my chest.

"No... I don't mean like that. I mean, I do, but I just ... I know what you are feeling. Imagine not even having a power to offer ..." she trailed off.

I looked at her. Mirabel was always my closest cousin. I was older than her by just a few months. I still remember how devastated she was to not get a gift like me, to be stuck in the nursery while I moved out into my own room, got to explore this whole new part of me. I remember always inviting her into my room for sleepovers and shifting the room to whatever she would like - let her pretend it was her own room for the night. Those days felt like a long time ago now. Had I naturally let her and I grow apart because I knew that she was different? The thought hit me like a ton of bricks and I felt like I was punched in the stomach. "Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. I've just ... had a day."

"Yeah, I heard..." Mirabel trailed off. She seemed to want to say more, but unable to find the words.

"CAMILO!! MY TURN, MY TURN!!"

The kids had spotted me. I grinned and ran towards them, hoisting them up and twirling them around one by one by shifting into tall people from the village. They squealed with delight and I was grateful for the distraction. I span them and shifted and shifted, entertaining everyone who made a circle around me with impressions and jokes. The kids roared with laughter and the adults joined in, encouraging their kids to ask me for a turn. I caught Y/N's eyes in the crowd and she smiled at me. I glowed inside, still thinking about her hand on my face, how it felt to hold her... I took a deep breath. What the hell was happening with us? Her dress was still all wet, and reading my mind, she held up the skirt lamely and shrugged, as if to say, 'what can you do?' I laughed and turned my attention back to the kids. 

Sometime later, I noticed Abuela and my parents watching me. Did she tell them what she had done? I frowned, and then turned when I felt someone tugging on my arm.

It was Julieta, Mirabel's mother, my aunt. I pretended to be very surprised to see her and shifted into her husband, my uncle, which got a laugh from the crowd. "Camilo, please, come here..." she trailed off, reaching into her pocket to pull out an arepa. "Please, eat it," she insisted, pushing it into my hands.

"Why?" I asked, although I knew. I guess the bruise was becoming more and more noticeable. But I wanted her to say it, to know that she knew where it came from.

"Camilo... people are asking how you hurt yourself... the bruise on your face...we told them you fell down in the river... Mirabel said you had an accident there?" Julieta asked, in a tone that implored me to go along with the story.

"I fell in the river, but I didn't hit my eye there. I don't need it," I said stubbornly, and started to turn away from her, grinning nonchalantly. She pulled my arm to stop me.