𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗦

i

"Funny how he landed a girl like her."

"Mi Princesa!" Camilo dropped the box on his hands and opened his arms as wide as the grin that formed on his face allowing the approaching figure to jump into his arms, giggling as he spun her around in the air. "What are you doing here?" He pecked her cheek.

"No reason, I just wanted to hang out." Elena shrugged. "And uh, papa wants to meet you." Camilo stiffened at the latter, Elena giggling when he transformed into a bunch of other people each second before back to himself. She did not recognise anyone from the series of people except her best friend, Mirabel and a few other members of the Madrigal family.

"Bebé, don't worry, my papa isn't too strict. I'll be with you if it goes bad, which it won't." Although both Camilo and Elena knew that the sentence was nothing but a small little lie to make him feel better. Did it work? No. But did Camila's heart flutter at her caring, gentle tone of voice? Absolutely.

A bit of a backstory required? Sure! To put it simply, Elena Gomez was the 15 year old daughter of Karina and Andrew Gomez who owned a rather popular bakery in town which she often helped at. The two teens had met when Mirabel introduced them to one another, the shapeshifter curious about his cousin's best friend she never stopped talking about. If you asked anyone else, they would have simply said that the two instantly clicked in their first meeting. But if you asked the couple themselves, their answer would most probably be that they had felt the butterflies soar through their stomach within the first hour of meeting. As cliché and cringe as it sounded, if magic could exist in the Madrigal family, why couldn't soulmates too?

"You've both been dating for a month only! How dare you steal my bestie?" Mirabel said in a playful tone as she pulled Elena to her side releasing a small yelp from the girl. The light blush deepened further and the two chuckled awkwardly with a shrug.

Camilo opened his mouth to reply either a snarky or a teasing comment but he was cut off when a shrilly, "ELENA!" erupted from within the house, followed by a short boy leaping up on her. Elena gasped but giggled nevertheless, patting the small boy's head while Camilo playfully rolled his eyes and ruffled his younger brother's head.

"Ay, ay, you're getting overexcited for next week." He said.

Antonio bopped his head vigorously, so much so that Elena feared it would pop off any second.

"Why wouldn't he be, Camilo? It's a big day for him." Elena put Antonio down, pressing his nose slightly which released another loud guffaw from him before Camilo playfully shooed him away to annoy Isabel which overjoyed Mirabel. "Still hate her?" Elena whispered to her best friend who formed a sheepish grin and nodded.

"Hate is a strong word, don't you think so, my younger sister?" Camilo's voice sounded smooth and prideful like Isabel while his entire body had contorted to look like the 'perfect' member of the Madrigal family. "Mutual dislike is a better word to describe it."

Elena slapped her hand to her mouth to prevent herself from laughing at both her boyfriend and her best friend's face which was turning redder by the second. It wasn't either sister's fault that they had a mutual 'dislike' of one another, they were too different to have a decent conversation.

The brown haired girl sighed and patted the laughing Isabel's shoulder, "Okay, bebé, that's enough." At his groan of reluctance, she sternly narrowed her eyes at him knowing that Mirabel was both annoyed and uncomfortable. Without wasting a second, Camilo transformed back to himself and offered his girlfriend a peck on the cheek which brought back her radiant smile he adored so much.

From behind the pillars, a glow emitted from the shadows. It was a tiny rounded glow resembling the sun and below it were two figures standing with a snort. "Aw, our little boy is a romantic!" A lady squealed, the glow shining more.

"Ay, ay, poor boy. His fate is exactly like me, his father." The dark-skinned, stout and short Felix with yellow clothing remarked.

As soon as the words left his mouth, a crackle of thunder echoed the large bricked house followed by a tall, yellow haired woman glaring at her frightened husband. "What. Did. You. Say?"

"I'm sorry, Mi Vida. I only meant to say that our son has got himself an amazing woman like me!" Felix saved himself, sighing in relief when he noticed his wife's lips curling upwards, the thunder diapering to clear clouds. "My son, Camilo, Elena is a nice, cheerful young woman. But, every woman is never not scary when she's mad." He chuckled nervously.

"Bebé, are you coming to help me at the bakery?" Elena asked, glancing at the clock on the wall and remembering that her shift was soon. She didn't want to brag, but, her baking skills were something to awe at. "Yeah?" Her smiled widened at her boyfriend's excited nod and giggling, she waved her byes to Mirbal and the rest.

"Bye bye! I won't see any of you till evening!"

Camilo's exclamation was met with either a few chuckles or a playful eye rolls and sighs. He snorted and clasped Elena's hands within his, the warmth emitting through their bodies again as it always did. The two teenagers laughed loudly, running through the village surprising a few others with Camilo's constant change of his appearance and Elena's contagious laughter which loudened.

"He's happy." Dolores came beside Mirabel who intently stared at the two, still suspicious as to why her amazing best friend liked her goofy cousin. A high-pitched hoot came right after her words and Mirabel snorted with a nod.

"I know, I know, but I still always wonder......" the spectacled girl trailed off with an amused grin, "Funny how he landed a girl like her." The two girls chuckled joined by Pepe and Felix who finally got out of their hiding which wasn't really considered one since everyone knew of them already.

"Everyone in the family wonders that."