21. a butterfly

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"I hear someone walking." Dolores whispers. She was still more careful of her surroundings than you.

"Think it's Mirabel ?" You murmur back, not wanting to alert the other person. What if it was Mirabel, and she ran from you ?

You were still walking, and it has been hours. You were starting to grow even more worried and tired, and of course your arm hurt, you had forgotten you sprained your muscle a while ago and tried to move it.

"I don't think it's her." Dolores answers, pushing aside some branches that were in your way. A tall figure suddenly stood before you.

"AAH !" Agustín screams, startled.

"WAH !" Isabela yells from behind him, not knowing what was happening.

"DON'T KILL ME PLEASE !" you shout, not recognizing Agustín as you were too busy getting the branches Dolores had shoved in your face, out of your hair.

"Hi !" Dolores greets them with a small smile.

"Hello, Dolores, (Y/n)." Agustín acts as if nothing happened, and, behind him, Isabela smiles at you. You slightly wave with your good arm. She frowns, suddenly remembering you were hurt.

"(Y/n), what are you doing ? You should be resting your arm." she gently pushed her father aside so she can get closer to you, observing your shoulder.

"I'm on a cure. You know, fresh air is good for a sprained muscle." You try.

"Not really." Agustín speaks up, before getting nudged by Dolores. "Ah, yes, it is very helpful."

"Come on," you continue. "I want to help searching for Mirabel. I can't just be sitting at home."

Isabela sighs, looking back at her father and Dolores. She knew the more people were looking for her sister, the quicker she'd be found.

"Let's switch. I need to talk with (Y/n)." She question Dolores with a pleading gaze, and her cousin nods. You agree as well. Agustín and Dolores quickly walk away, calling for Mirabel.

Isabela stands still until they are out of sight, watching them leave. Then, she collapses on her knees, letting out a sharp breath. You stand there, agape, wondering what the fuck is going on, until you remember how to move your body.

"Hey ! Isa, what's going on ?" You wrap your good arm around her shoulder, lifting your other hand to get her hair out of her face with a wince at your aching muscle.

"Sorry." She breathes out, taking your hand to bring it back down and not letting it go. "I feel terrible. The house fell because I went out of control. Abuela wouldn't have gotten so mad at Mirabel if everything stayed the same."

You search for her shifty gaze. She couldn't dare to look at you.

"That's bullshit."

Your words make her head snap up in shock. You glare at her with a frown.

"The house was already cracking before you 'went out of control'. It would have continued if you didn't. The key to fixing it was for Mirabel to discover who you really were, Isa, and she did so beautifully. Everything was fixed the moment you two hugged, it's when Alma got angry that it all went down."

"But-"

"No buts ! Your family was breaking apart because of the pressure she put on everyone's shoulders ! Luisa was always working because she felt worthless without her gift ! Dolores hears everything people say without any filter ! Camilo doesn't know who he is anymore, Pepa can't get upset, Julieta has seen so many hurt people, Bruno left because of her and I was honestly scared for Antonio's future ! And let's not even talk about Mirabel, I think the current situation clearly sums it up. Her intentions may have been the best, but your Abuela caused all this. You didn't."

You stop when she finally lets it all out, sobbing. Uh oh. You made Isabela cry.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry. Isa, I crossed th-"

She hugs your waist tightly, and it feels so warm you don't even think about your arm. You wrap it around her, stroking her beautiful hair. A blue strand catches your attention, and you smile knowing at least she doesn't have to hide her true self anymore.

"You see everything." She murmurs in your shoulder.

"Uh ?"

"You see everyone's struggle. You understand everything. You always help as best as you can. Thank you, (Y/n)."

Your laugh stays stuck in your throat. You felt like crying. So you don't answer, instead leaning your head on Isabela's and resuming on stroking her hair. You both stay like that for a few minutes, in a comfortable silence. Isabela feels warm against your cold figure. You feel surprised of the facility you have not you be shy around her, when you just realized you were crushing on her. Well, maybe you knew it way before, but didn't want to admit it.

A few yellow butterflies fly above the trees, making you smile. One of them lands on Isabela's hair, climbing on your finger when you approach it. You lift your arm as high as you can, and it gracefully flies away, joining the others that seem to all be going the same direction. It feels magical.

"Thanks to you, Isa." You finally say. She pulls away a bit to look at you with questioning eyes. "For letting me be a bad influence."

She giggles, flicking your forehead. "My personal bad influence."

"Yup." You joke as the both of you slowly stand up again, brushing a few leaves off your skirt. "Working 24/7 hours a day."

"Now, now, you don't need to work that much. Especially with your arm like this."

"My arm," You argue. "is perfectly fine. I can annoy you as much as I want."

"Please don't." She rolls her eyes with a playful smirk.

"Alright, I'll give you a break right now because we're busy looking for Mirabel. But as soon as we find her, it's over for you."

"ISABELA ! (Y/N) !" You turn when you hear Camilo's voice not far from you. You yell his name to indicate your position. Soon enough, the boy is running towards you, leaves in his hair and a big smile on his face.

"Mirabel is back !"

You slowly turn back to Isabela, who looks at you with a half smile. At the same time terrified you would be annoying her non-stop starting from now, and relieved Mirabel was safe.

Of course, it didn't last long. Camilo, Isabela and you broke in a mix of squeals, laughs of relief and gibberish of questions, hugging each other before running back to collapsed Casita.

On the way back, Isabela happily reveals she told her father she didn't want to marry Mariano, making Camilo trip hearing the news. Of course, Agustín felt bad he couldn't see it, and showed suffocating support to Isabela, even threatening to break the innocent guy's nose if he ever mentioned it again.

Poor Mariano would have gotten his nose broken twice if Agustín wasn't so clumsy, immediately slipping after proposing this solution to Isabela.

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words : 1168

note : busy with homework but will try to post again today or tomorrow. see ya then! hope you liked the chapter!

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