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

Chapter ninety eight: Persona

Camilo and I stayed put for a moment. Camilo was obviously tense because he was in Hugo's house and as he told me before, he hated him.

"Y/n, I...I don't feel comfortable talking to Hugo right now" Camilo told me, his voice trembling.

He was fidgeting with the hem of his ruana and staring down at his shoes.

"Camilo, I'm inviting Hugo so that he can make amends with you" I told him, trying to calm him down "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to but I really want to try and get you two to...at least be able to tolerate each other."

"That's gonna be pretty difficult," Camilo replied.

"I know, but I want to try" I said "Do you trust me?"

Camilo paused for a moment, deep in thought.

"With my life" Camilo answered, looking up from the ground with a soft smile on his face.

"I'm gonna go invite him" I said "You can stay out here, okay?"

Camilo nodded as he took a seat on one of the couches. I walked over to the room that Rayan said that Hugo was in. The closer I got, the louder the sound of the piano got. The music was beautiful and complex. I had a hard time believing that it was Hugo playing such an intricate melody. It was one of those songs that you just knew had to be extremely difficult to play.

I considered just entering the room but I ended up doing the polite thing and knocking on the door. The music stopped and I heard footsteps growing closer to the door. Then a boy in a salmon coloured blouse with a black blazer with a coattail over it. He was wearing dark grey gloves, Hugo's gloves. His long, curly, black hair was tied neatly in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. His deep brown eyes were widened and staring at me.

"H-Hugo?" I mumbled.

The door immediately shut in my face. A few moments later the door opened again but Hugo had reverted back into the version of him that I recognized. His hair was let loose and fell messily over his shoulders and the black blazer was discarded somewhere. The top two buttons of the salmon blouse were unbuttoned and his posture was less proper.

Hugo pulled me inside the room and shut the door.

"What are you doing here?!" Hugo asked, running his hand through his hair frustratedly.

"No need to yell, Hugo" I said in a serious tone "Why did you look so...different just now?"

"I- Well, I just- I have to, okay? I'm just different at home, I can't pull the shit I do at school in front of my mother and Rayan so I-" Hugo tried to explain "Why the fuck am I trying to explain to you? What are you doing in my damn house, Y/n!?"

"Hugo!" I exclaimed "Stop yelling at me."

"Shit, right- Sorry, I just-" Hugo stammered. "This is really weird for me, okay? Really, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to invite you to a pool party at Casita," I answered.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Hugo replied "I said some pretty bad shit to Camilo yesterday, he doesn't want me there. Sorry, I can't, just go home plea-"

"Hugo" I said, interrupting him, "I'm inviting you so that you have the chance to explain yourself and apologize to Camilo."

Hugo thought for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Shit..." Hugo swore, pinching the bridge of his nose "I know I messed up, okay? I don't even know why I let myself say all that nasty shit to Camilo."

"Do you mind explaining?" I asked.

Hugo looked at me, his face softening.

"I...I'm surprised you're even talking to me anymore" Hugo said "And now you're...trying to see my side of things. That's...new."

I nodded at him, still waiting for him to answer my question.

"Uh...Sure, I'll explain" Hugo said, leading me to a seat in the room "Take a seat. Or not. Do what you want, I guess."

I sat down on the couch which was clearly made out of expensive fabric. Hugo took a seat next to me.

"I was...really pissed. Not at Camilo but I needed someone to yell at and Camilo was just there so..." Hugo told me "Um...Not a lot of people know this but my dad is a famous opera singer and he leaves the Encanto a lot."

I wasn't sure what his father had to do with the conversation but at least now I knew why he was so wealthy. I waited for him to continue.

"He's never home" Hugo said, fiddling with the tooth necklace around his neck "He said- Fuck...He promised he would come home on Valentine's Day but he fucking bailed on us again."

I connected the dots in my head. It must've been hard for him to have a father that was barely present. It must've hurt to have that promise broken after missing his father for so long.

"He promised..." Hugo mumbled "Shit, whatever. I was pissed and I took it out on Camilo. I know I shouldn't have but I did. It's not an excuse, I just...that's my explanation."

I stared at him for a moment but he didn't dare look me in the eye.

"Are you mad?" he asked after a moment.

"No, just a bit disappointed" I answered "You said you were going to try and be friends but then you pull this kind of thing."

"I know, I-I'm sorry" Hugo said.

"It's not me who you should be apologizing to," I told him.

"You're right" Hugo agreed quietly "I don't really know how to...Apologize to him. He's not even gonna talk to me."

"You can start by coming to the pool party" I said, giving Hugo a soft smile.

Hugo thought for a moment.

"Okay..." Hugo replied "Can I ask you something?"

I nodded.

"How did you get here?" Hugo asked "Who told you where I lived? Who let you in?"

"That's three questions," I said, jokingly.

Hugo laughed at that. It was somewhat forced and a bit tense but I had never heard him laugh before so it was interesting.

"Well, your older brother Rayan let me in" I answered "And I didn't know where you lived so I had Camilo take me here."

Hugo froze for a moment before turning to look at me.

"Camilo's here?" he asked.

"Mhm, he's waiting on a couch just outside" I replied "I suggest that you don't try to talk to him right now, we can save that for the party."

Hugo nodded in agreement.

"So...Rayan, huh?" Hugo asked "Um, what did you think of him?"

"Odd question but I think he's very polite and he has a voice that I think would be fit for singing" I replied.

"No shit, he's got like a hundred different awards for singing" Hugo said bitterly "He's better than me at everything, he doesn't even try to be good, he just is."

"You're really worked up about singing, huh?" I said, jokingly "Why? Do you sing?"

"Of course I-" Hugo said before stopping himself "Shit...Don't go around telling people that, okay?"

I laughed a little at that and pretended to zip my lips. It wasn't necessarily an embarrassing hobby but it surely didn't fit his rough, stone cold, school persona. Speaking of his school persona...

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Oof, this chapter was not it, I'm brain dead rn. Whatever, it's not that bad but it's definitely not as good as it could be. I might make adjustments when I'm no longer brain dead lol.

Anyway yeah, Hugo's got them daddy issues lol.

-Kolour