Like Emeralds [Bruno Madrigal x Reader]

Ch. 4

It had been a month since that day that you asked Bruno for the vision, and to say the least- you were not doing so well. Pouring every ounce of energy to your mother's care (despite her protest), you found yourself too scared to even sleep in fear that that would be the moment when she takes her last breath. You were not in the vision, after all. So now you had dark circles under your eyes that rivaled Bruno's, it was a miracle you had not collapsed from exhaust yet. But you could slightly thank Juliete's food keeping you as refreshed as it could.

Bruno visited you often, helping you around the house if you were in the middle of chores- or keeping you company and trying to ease your worry. Though he.. wasn't the best at it, you still apprenticed the effort. He has never been out of his house this much, not in a long time at least. You felt a bit bad, feeling as though he was forcing himself to go out to make up for the vision he gave you. Even if you lived practically at the base of the hill of the Casita, people will always find a way to stare- especially when the Madrigal black sheep visited your residence so often. When he was not there, your other neighbors would catch you outside of your home to ask what he was there for, or to advise to keep him away to not make your mother in worse condition with his 'voodoo'.

You'd had to hold back rolling your eyes so many times for the sake of being polite, you were sure if you hadn't your eyes would have just popped out on one occasion. Giving a small smile and defending your friend in the nicest way you could, but it didn't matter how nice you were- you always got the same look of disgust and worry each time. Rumors began to spread of Bruno brainwashing you, using you as a little puppet for his own amusement. His little puppet... it made you laugh at the thought. But also want to make you kick yourself for the fact that if it were true, you wouldn't mind it all too much. So long as you were the only puppet- sTOP. You shouldn't be thinking like that.

You quickly shook your head, stepping back from the boiling pot of pasta. You held your cheeks with your hands, feeling them burning and feeling fuzzy. With a sigh, you closed your eyes- rubbing your cheeks to try and calm down before your cheeks grew sore from all the blood rushing to it. You weren't sure why the thought made you so flustered, but for that reason you tried your best to avoid it for the sake of your feelings. Whatever feelings you were trying to save. Besides, he was your friend. It wasn't fair for him to be thinking such thoughts.

A moment or two of standing like that, the sound of soft knocking interrupted your internal scolding. You paused, taking your hands off of your cheeks as you turned to the direction of the knock- where your front door was. Giving a look to the boiling pot, you made sure you could leave it for a couple minutes without any issue before heading to the door. Opening it up, a familiar figure in a green ruana met you. It was Bruno, his hood up to conceal himself- and so he didn't have to look at the staring from the town. The hood covered his eyes for the most part, a shadow gracing the rest of his face. He had his hands together, picking at his fingernails just before you opened the door.

So when he noticed you had opened the door, he paused and gave a sheepish smile. You returned the smile, and stepped aside to let him in. Bruno came in, taking off his hood once fully inside. His curls fell back to their rightful place, bouncing as they framed the sides of his face. You shut the door, giving into a small stretch, "Good timing, I was just preparing dinner. Would you want some?" Beginning to walk back towards the kitchen, Bruno followed, "I may not be as good as a cook as Juliete, but-" "Dinner sounds nice," Bruno hummed, "If it isn't any trouble." You nudged his arm gently, "It never is any trouble, I could use the company." He smiled once more, nodding.

Once reaching the kitchen, you went back to the stove to check on the pasta; Bruno leaning in the doorway. He carefully looked around the room, even if he has seen it many times already. He liked to see if anything has changed since his last visit. He wasn't sure if that was a creepy thing to do, even if he did it with every place he goes too. You began to stir the pot, some water dripping down to the stove and sizzling once touching the metal. The noise made Bruno's eyes fall to you, your back turned to him. His lips parted slightly, head racing with some things to say- but nothing formed into words. He wanted to ask how your mother was doing but feared it may be a touchy subject. No matter how he could think of wording the question, so he just closed his mouth.