°•.˜"*°•𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓲𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓭 •°*"˜.•° (C. Madrigal X Reader)

Chapter ninety four: Growing up

Camilo and I walked home together, holding hands through the streets of Encanto as we have done many times before. Our fingers intertwined with each other, the warmth of the other person soothing us, a small gesture. But this time was different than all of the other times that we had done it. This time, it felt like so much more. 

It wasn’t like the countless times that Camilo and I had held hands before because now, there were undeniable feelings between us. There was some kind of sweetness, but it’s more subtle and cautious. 

When we held hands before, it was just something that we did as friends to not separate in the busy streets of Encanto. Of course, the real reason was because we really wanted to deep down but now…This was our first time holding hands for reasons that were blatantly romantic. 

As the two of us approached Casita, a huge, grey cloud began to grow over the roof of it. Camilo’s eyes widened at the dark cloud looming over Casita and he immediately knew what it meant. I could see the worry in his eyes, the concern for his mother. 

“We have to go” Camilo said, turning to look me in the eye. “Now.”

I nodded at him. As soon as he had confirmation that I understood, he charged ahead of me, still gripping my hand tightly. I nearly tripped as I tried to keep up with him as he ran towards Casita. He turned the doorknob realizing that it was locked. He banged on the door harshly. 

“Casita! Let me in!” Camilo exclaimed. 

The tiles underneath us moved and carried us into Casita as the door opened. We saw Pepa sitting at the bottom of the stairs as she wept, Felix comforting her and doing his best to fan away at the mini cloud over her head. Dolores was standing on the opposite side of her father, giving Camilo and I a quick glance before turning back to her mother. Antonio was sitting next to his mother, hugging her waist.

“It’s not that bad, mi vida” Felix said softly “I understand it must be hard for you to accept but-”

Camilo pulled me towards Pepa and once we got close enough, he immediately knelt down in front of her. He tried to get her to look at him directly. 

“Mami? What’s wrong?” Camilo asked, slightly panicked “What happened? Why is the cloud so big?”

“Camilo?” Pepa asked, looking up at him, her crying stopping for a moment. 

She then turned her attention to me. Her eyes darted from me to Camilo, back and forth. Then she began bawling, tears streaming from her eyes and down her cheeks, ruining her makeup a bit. The cloud above Casita started spitting out hail. 

“Mami!” Camilo exclaimed, his voice cracking. 

I couldn’t decide whether or not to comfort Pepa as well. Their family just seemed so close and it didn’t feel right to intrude. On the other hand, it felt rude and awkward to just stand and watch as everyone else tried to comfort her. The cloud above us was only getting worse. 

‘Wait, the cloud…’ I thought. 

Then I thought for a moment. The cloud above us was pouring hail. Not lightning or rain or snow. It was hail. 

“Hail?” Camilo muttered under his breath, probably having the same realization that I was having. 

“Oh, thank goodness” Felix sighed, wiping the sweat off of his brow “These are happy tears.”

“Mami? What happened?” Camilo asked. 

“No! It’s nothing, mijo!” Pepa replied “It’s just another one of my moods!”

“Mami, your ‘moods’ don’t create clouds that big” Camilo said, displaying how well he knew his mother “What happened?”

Pepa went back to crying softly. Camilo got knocked right in the head by a piece of hail.