Camilo x Reader -Broken Reflection

Chapter 13 (Bringing on the heat)

Y/N's POV

Antonio was a lot like Julio. He held my hand with tender care. He wiped the tears that fell from my eyes as I started to cry.

My baby brother's face was still clear in my mind even months after him being gone. I had a single picture of him which I left in my aunt's house- all I had left of him was my memory.

But Antonio was there. He looked at me with tender eyes as if I were his big sister, and I knew that I wasn't but I didn't care. He was my treasure. By no means was I replacing him, but knowing Antonio felt like all was not lost. He still thought of me as a friend and even a sister. He spoke on my brother's behalf and told me that he'd forgive me- that he wouldn't have blamed me for what happened to him.

I knew it wasn't my fault, but when I was told that almost every day, the thought engraved into my mind and I'd never forget it. Just like his face.

Antonio was the one who brought me to his family. He saved me. He knew that I was coming even before I did. I owed everything to him and his family.

The little boy stretched his arms out and I welcomed him with a hug. He smelled like grass and sunshine. His clothes were dirty and his pants ripped at the knee from playing on the ground. He was such an innocent little boy with not a care in the world. I hoped that he'd never have to deal with any more atrocities- losing his home once was enough.

Before I knew it, Mirabel and Camilo were hugging me too and I laughed through my tears, pulling Antonio's face close and pressing kisses to his cheeks. He giggled and did it back, and then somehow I was kissing Mirabel's cheeks too. She did the same to me and our glasses collided and fell off. I laughed as Mirabel picked them up.

I reached over to hold Camilo's face just as I did with his cousin and brother. The kisses were fun and playful- a sign of gratitude and friendship- so why were his cheeks bright red as my hands held them? Why did mine burn as I hesitated?

I let my hands fall as Mirabel handed me my glasses. The teenage boy's eyes fell to the ground and I slid on my frames. No one else seemed to notice the awkward exchange. Antonio was too busy gathering his things and taking Mirabel's hand.

"I wanna get a snack," He told her.

They were gone before I could turn to glance at them. Camilo and I laid on the grass next to each other for another hour.

+++

We knew that the house would be too hot so we stayed outside. When simply laying in the grass got borning, we stood up and walked around the village. I stopped in the dressmaker shop to bring home one of my dress projects: I was trying to make my own dress in time for my birthday which wasn't too far away.

Camilo asked if I'd let him take a peek and see how it was progressing, but I refused to let him. I'd barely finished the blouse, and wanted it to be a surprise. He settled with teasing me about how young I was even though we were born only a few months apart.

"Here, let me hold it," Camilo said to me as we walked.

"Just so you can search the bag and look at my blouse?" I scoffed and shook my head. "In your dreams," I said.

"Bold of you to assume I think of you at night."

"Camilo!"

The shapeshifter looked at me with a wide toothy smile. When I asked what was so damn funny, he only shook his head and slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"I love the way you say my name," He replied after a few moments. I snuck a surprised glance at him only to see him watching my reaction. When I was too baffled to reply, he wordlessly plucked a flower from a bush and slipped it behind my year. It was milky white with a few orange petals and a purple center. The soft petals tickled my cheek but I didn't pull it out.

+++

Bruno had a girlfriend. It was a new relationship, but something I came to learn about the Madrigals was that they were 'extra'. They did things they didn't have to do for seemingly no reason, and meeting significant others before having a real date was one of them.

Her name was Anita. She was a beautiful woman with full lips and bright brown eyes to match her deep expresso skin. Her hair was weaved into thin braids and decorated with colourful beads and a red headwrap similar to Dolores's. Her similarities to Dolores were a little surprising. They wore almost the same clothes and seemed to become quite friendly as soon as they met.

I sat at the dinner table beside Mirabel and ate quietly as Agustín asked the new couple how they met.

"He told me my fish would die," She said with a bright smile. I furrowed my brows at the complete contrast of their personalities. I hadn't spoken to Bruno all that many times, but I knew him well enough to observe that he was always tired, didn't take very good care of himself even though he was back at the house, and was very, very superstitious. Anita was like a ray of walking sunshine like Pepa next to him.

"The next day, it was dead," Bruno said with a pained chuckle. I watched as Abuela smiled at the two of them. I wondered if she was forcing it. I looked over to Camilo who sat across from me with a piece of fish in between his teeth. He rolled his eyes and chuckled with the rest of the Madrigals.

"He bought me a new fish," Anita said after it was quiet again. There were a series of 'Awww's exchanged and then we moved on with the meal.

Mirabel had told me about how Bruno used to live in the walls. I wondered how the family didn't know. I wondered why they didn't look for him. I wondered how they got over knowing that he ran away and it was partly their fault.

Bruno was a lot like Mirabel and I knew that was why they had such a good relationship. She always helped him out and called him for the meals. She was the person who talked to him the most and made him feel included. It was obvious that Mirabel knew what it was like to be the one left out- the one that everyone thought was useless and didn't need to be there.

All of the Madrigals had their own problems. They were all strong and put on facades, but I could see through them. I wondered why they pretended to be so strong in front of me and the rest of the village- after all, it's okay to take breaks and time for yourself every once in a while.