Ｎ Ｏ Ｔ Ｉ Ｏ Ｎ | ᴄᴀᴍɪʟᴏ ᴍᴀᴅʀɪɢᴀʟ |

chapter four - just breakdowns and comfortings

TW: minor anxiety attack, overthinking, emotional besties

after the party, camila decided to stay the night, saying goodbye to her family at the door. dolores was talking to camilo at the table, luisa was upstairs helping isabel move her bedroom around, mirabel was in her room, antonio was in his room with his animals, the parents were either in the kitchen or getting ready for bed, and abuela was in her room. camila decided to go pay julieta a visit in the kitchen.

meanwhile, dolores was trying to convince camilo of something. "no, I am not!" he said grudgingly, crossing his arms with furrowed brows. "you're trying to tell me you aren't in love with your best friend of 9 years? bull. shit. I call bullshit." dolores said, raising her eyebrow at her little brother. "why are you looking at me like that? you may be able to hear anything, but you can't read minds." camilo said, trying to change the subject. "as your older sister," dolores started, putting a hand to her chest, getting a 'oh my god' from camilo, "I know what's best for you and what you think. you are 100% in love with her!!" she said.

"please, what if I am? no one knows or cares." camilo shrugs. "mami and papi have literally made a vision board for your wedding with her." dolores deadpanned. "seriously? how do you know?" camilo. "please, they gossip about you two all the time. all of our parents, aunts and uncles, have a bet pool on when you two will get together." dolores said casually, looking at her nails. "what?" "yeah. and, uh, i personally think you should get with her in the uh, next month would maybe be good." "why." "n-no particular reason, just a hunch."

"ya know, though you hear everything, you still don't know shit about lying."

<3

camila walked into her room to see camilo in one of the 7 stacked hammocks, just laying there and staring up at the ceiling where the constellations were painted. "hey," camila greeted, jumping on one foot as she put on a sock, her pajamas already on. "huh- oh, uh, hi." camilo greeted. camila gave him a weird look for a second before shrugging it off and walking over to the closet, opening it to see ruanas and other articles of clothing. "ruanas, ruanas," she mumbles, flipping through the articles of clothing, until she found one of the four hoodies camilo owned. "yo, 'milo, can I borrow your hoodie?" she asked, poking her head out from the closet to make eye contact with camilo.

"uh, sure, i mean, if you want." camilo shrugged. scrunching her brows, camila slipped on the oversized hoodie and waking over to the hammocks, quickly climbing them up until she reached the top one, laying beside camilo as the hammock swung a bit from the new presence. "you ok? you seem to be thinking. and you never do that." she asked. "I just... I don't know. with how strict abuela alma to be and how much she has damaged the family, I just hope it doesn't hurt antonio as much." camilo said, starting to tear up. "she's just... hurt all of us so much. I mean, dolores is scared to stand up for what she feels is right, mirabel doesn't feel good enough because she doesn't have a gift, damn, isabel is having to fake being in love with somebody just to make abuela happy. then me... I... I don't even know who I am anymore." camilo's eyes filled with tears as his voice cracked. "hey, hey, c'mere." without hesitation, camilo threw his arms around the girls frame, hiding his head in the crook of her neck and starting to sob. camila rubbed his back gently, drawing little patterns on his back and rocking the hammock. "it's ok, 'milo... shhh..."

they held each other until all camila could hear were small snores and mumbles in sleep.

<3

in the morning, camila shook camilo awake gently after she got dressed. she wore a warm yellow crop top and a orange skirt that ruffled to her knees. her hair was down in fresh braids now. "camilo... camilo... mi amor.." camila gently shook him awake. camilo opened his eyes and stretched groggily. "how ya feelin' today?" she asked him, starting to grab a glass of water from her vanity and rushing over to the hammock. he drank the whole glass on two big gulps, before nodding. "I'm doing better, 'mila... thank you for last night." he thanked. "no problem. it's what I'm here for. now get dressed, breakfast is in 10." at that, camilo instantly jumped out of the hammock, landing on the floor, giving camila the empty glass and quickly thanking her again, kissing her cheek, before running off.