Despite his desperately trying to explain why he was dressed so differently when he first opened the door, I still didn't know why. He was spitting out broken sentences and mentioned his mother and Rayan but other than that, I didn't understand much.
"Why did you look so different when you first opened the door?" I asked.
Hugo's breath hitched for a moment.
"Uhh...You can't make fun of me for this, okay?" Hugo asked.
I nodded and gave him a soft smile.
"This might sound really weird but I can't really...Express myself at home. At all" Hugo explained "I always have to try and be as perfect and amazing as Rayan so I can't really do anything until I get to school. I have to be perfect for my mother, she would never allow me to be anything less."
That made sense. It also explains why Camilo said that Hugo seemed to disappear after school. He wasn't disappearing, he simply changed into the version of him that pleased his mother.
"I don't know why I'm telling you any of this..." Hugo said.
"I understand," I said "I can't really put myself in your shoes but...I can assume that it's hard to have to change back and forth between you and the version of you that your mother wants you to be."
"I've never told anyone this shit before, you know?" Hugo asked, "I guess only Rafael knows."
"He's your best friend, right?" I asked.
Hugo chuckled softly and shifted to look at me.
"He's my younger brother," Hugo corrected.
"What? Really?" I asked in disbelief "You don't look alike at all."
"Yeah, he looks a lot like mom" Hugo said with a soft laugh "Yeah, not a lot of people know that we're related."
"Well, it's nice that you trust me then" I said "We can start there with the whole 'being friends' thing."
Hugo nodded with a soft smile that I don't think I've ever seen him make before. I noticed that Hugo and I were talking for quite a while and Camilo was still outside, waiting for me.
"I should go home now" I said, getting up from the couch "You're coming to the party, right?"
"I...I'll try to" Hugo replied quietly.
I smiled at his reply as I made my way to the door. I grabbed the doorknob.
"Good" I said, not even turning to look at Hugo "I'll see you at Casita, okay?"
Hugo nodded.
"If I can make it, I promise I'll try to make amends with Camilo" Hugo said "For you."
"Oh and uhm...Maybe you can come over again" Hugo said "I'd love to play a song for you."
I nodded after he gestured towards the piano. Then I opened the door and I left the room. As I walked away, the intricate piano music started again. I saw Camilo, inspecting a specific picture hanging on the wall. I put my hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump a bit.
"Oh, you're back!" Camilo chirped happily "Did he say he would go?"
"Mhm" I replied "What are you looking at?"
He pointed towards a picture of Hugo's family that was hung in an ornate, golden picture frame. Rayan was sitting in a chair in the middle and their parents were standing behind him, the father's hand on Rayan's shoulder. Rafael was sitting on the ground in front of Rayan smiling softly into the camera. Hugo was standing off to the side, somewhat hidden behind his mother's dress.
"I had no idea that Hugo's father was famous!" Camilo exclaimed "I mean, it's Rodrigo Conejero Galvez! He literally sang my favourite song."
"Yeah, his father is never home" I told him "Apparently, his father promised to come home for Valentine's day but...He broke the promise."
Camilo looked at me in a quiet shock. Then he nodded in acknowledgement.
"His older brother Rayan is the person who won about two-thirds of the awards displayed," Camilo said, clearly having explored the living room a bit "It...must be hard living in these guys' shadows."
I gave Camilo a soft smile as I took his hand.
"Let's start heading back to Casita, okay?" I said "We've got to change for the pool party."
Camilo smiled brightly at me before pulling me out of the house. We were running so fast that the dogs didn't even have time to bark at us. We pushed open the gate and made sure to close it before we rushed back to Casita.
-----
Oh my god, the 100th chapter is going to be a pool party chapter, I'm crying-
-Kolour

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°•.˜"*°•𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓲𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓭 •°*"˜.•° (C. Madrigal X Reader)
Fanfiction(Camilo Madrigal x g/n reader) ----- A story about another family with a miracle going to live in the Encanto and by some magical accident, are now living with the famous Madrigal family. This isn't good news to a certain shapeshifter in a yellow r...