No Llores - Camilo Madrigal

2

Stepping into the new room with everyone else, (y/n) took in everything that's inside. It looked absolutely massive compared to the original foundation of La Casa Madrigal.

She knew the room would be bigger inside because she had been in most of the Madrigals' rooms, but it still never failed to amaze her.

Antonio's room looked like a jungle with an enormous tree in the middle. It suit him and his gift very well, an animal whisperer.

Soon, everybody was dancing to the music, or drinking as they chatted about the latest gossip—one cannot stop talking about how her goldfish died the next day Bruno gave her a prophecy, the people scolded her not to talk about Bruno.

Kids, including Mateo, were running around and playing with the animals. Some of them used a large leaf as a slide and a boy was visibly shaking as he held a... cup of coffee?

Though, (y/n) had something else in mind. And that was her Tía Julieta's arepas con queso.

She sauntered to the table on the side of the room where foods and drinks sat atop of. There, she spotted Dolores and was about to greet her until she noticed the insanely tall mountain of food on her plate.

She raised her brow in suspicion, "Camilo?"

Dolores- well, Camilo flinched beside the girl before shape-shifting back to himself.

"You got me." He chuckled.

"I can't believe you still do that." (y/n) laughed with him.

"Hm? Do what?"

"Shape-shift into Dolores so you can have seconds." She softly smiled.

"Well, I can't believe you still remember."

"Of course. It was... a really cute habit of yours." The young Sanchez cleared her throat as she proceeded to take a good amount of arepas.

Camilo felt his heart quicken at her words. He huffed, a grin showing on his face as he shook his head.

"Come on, let's sit somewhere less crowded." The young Madrigal offered his hand out to her, his other hand still effortlessly balancing the tall tower of arepas on his plate.

She took his hand and eventually sat down on a big branch where the noise from the party was not that loud and they carefully placed their food down.

"So..." Camilo started, "it's been six years? To be honest, when I saw you at the entrance, I almost didn't recognize you. You look so different now."

"Oh, is that a bad thing?" She bit into her food.

"No, no! You look very beautiful." He mumbled.

"You're not so bad yourself, hermoso." (y/n) smirked at the boy beside her.

Funny how they switched personalities when they were together.

"That just sounds like you have a crush on me, princesa." He retorted with a smug look.

"You wish!" They both laughed lightheartedly before sighing.

"(y/n), you're not still mad at me, are you?"

"Of course, not. It happened years ago, Camilo. I'm sorry I didn't come visit since then. I got really busy with stuff and-"

"Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong. I'm the one who should be sorry. I felt so guilty about what happened and thought you hated me so..." He averted his gaze to the grass floor. "I really didn't mean to hurt you."

(y/n) split her arepa in half and held it in front of his face, causing him to look back at her with widened eyes.

She sweetly smiled. "Remember? We used to share our arepas whenever we forgave each other."

Camilo's mouth curved up, warmth erupting in his heart. He gently took the food from her hand, an electrifying feeling graced them as their skins touched momentarily.

"Well, I do want to know what happened after..."

"Mamá died?"

He hummed in response.

"Hmm, Mamá died giving birth to Mateo. I had to help take care of my little brother because Papá needs to work to provide for us.

Tía Pepa and Tía Julieta did their best to help as well whether it be babysitting or cooking because they thought I was too young to be doing that much. Nevertheless, I still did what I could with the chores. That's why I'm grateful for the Madrigal's. Gift or not, you and everyone in this family are just very kind people."

"Little Teo is such a sweet and outgoing kid. You and Tío Sanchez raised him well." Camilo motioned to Mateo who was telling a story to his friends. He turned to (y/n), "I'm proud of you."

The girl smiled proudly at his remark. "Thank you, Camilo."

"The house is in danger! The house is in danger!" Mirabel came in frantically yelling. The two shared a worried glance as everyone turned to her. "The tiles were falling and there were cracks everywhere... and the candle almost went out."

Murmurs filled the room, some looked at Mirabel as if she was crazy.

"Show me." Abuela demanded.

People filed out of the room to see the said cracks outside. (y/n) stayed beside Camilo as they followed, concerned for the family she treasured almost as much as her own.

"The cracks were there... they were everywhere. The house was in trouble, the- the candle was..." Mirabel tried to explain herself when the house looked completely fine. Isabela only rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Abuela, I promise-"

"That's enough," Abuela turned around to the people gathered upstairs and smiled. "There is nothing wrong with La Casa Madrigal. The magic is strong! And so are the drinks."

Everyone soon got back to partying like nothing happened while Mirabel remained downstairs, looking crestfallen.

"Come on, hermosa." Camilo invited (y/n) but the girl shook her head no.

"You go on ahead."

The boy looked over to Mirabel before turning back to (y/n) and nodding his head. With a sigh, he walked back inside to finish his deserted mountain of food.

Julieta placed her hand on (y/n)'s shoulder and they both went down to where her daughter was. The young Sanchez immediately gave a sympathetic embrace to the disheartened girl.

(y/n) and Mirabel were not as close as the inseparable pair, but they still spent a good amount of time together during their childhood.

"I believe you." She whispered. (y/n) knew Mirabel and she would never try to hurt her family or ruin things for Antonio. She loved the family so much, all she wanted was to make them proud.

After her gift ceremony, Mirabel spent everyday trying to prove herself useful to her family.

Mirabel hugged her back, feeling somewhat happy that someone was on her side. She just wanted to feel as special as everyone else in the Madrigal family. She always thought of things she can do that the gifted Madrigal's cannot and majority of the time, nothing.

Smiling against the fabric of (y/n)'s dress, she sighed. "Thank you, (y/n)."