A Slow Burning Candle *Main story completed, additional scenes to be added*

Chapter 14: Collapse

The next few times that Luz came to the house for café, she was surprised when she didn't even catch a glimpse of Bruno. Even if they weren't meeting up, he would usually come out to greet her or make a bit of small talk before the village women arrived and he hide himself away.

Neither Julieta nor Pepa seemed to know what was going on, with Julieta being the most concerned, but she was certain that when the appointed day rolled around, he would reappear as he always had. Right now, she was more than a little caught up in ordering party supplies and preparing the various decorations for Mirabel's ceremony.

So, she swallowed her disappointment and waited.

That day, she showed up and walked into the house, but found Julieta standing in the main room instead of her brother.

The eldest triplet approached Luz, "Bruno wants to talk to you in the kitchen, he asked me to stay out here though." Concern was etched into her features, "I don't know what's going on."

"Oh, okay?" Luz clutched the strap on her bag protectively and gave a worried look to Julieta, "Something's wrong?"

The woman shrugged with confusion and walked a few steps away. Luz went to the kitchen and stepped inside.

Bruno was standing at the counter, and as much as she wanted to smile at him, the look of sadness that he greeted her with made her almost break out in a cold sweat.

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I have to talk to you," He couldn't seem to figure out what to do with his hands. His fingers itched, and he fidgeted.

Luz tightened her grip on her bag, "Sí?"

"I had a vision," He put his hands down on the tabletop to stop them from shaking, "And you were in it."

She opened her mouth to speak but stopped. Luz wished there was a chair she could sit down in, the sinking feeling she'd had since he had ceased to meet with her was only growing, "I take it, it wasn't good?"

"No." He looked at her from across the counter, "It wasn't."

A million thoughts began to race through her head as to what this could mean. He looked so visibly shaken.

"What happened?"

"It wasn't anything specific," He didn't know how much he really wanted to reveal, he would give anything so that she wouldn't hate him when this was all over with.

"You were hurt." Her eyes narrowed and he came around to her side of the table, "Not physically, you were crying."

Luz breathed out a sigh of relief, "I thought you were going to tell me that you saw me die or something."

"No, nothing like that." He continued, "But it was my fault."

She shook her head, "No, Bruno, just because you can see the future doesn't mean you caused it."

His fidgeting started again, and she reached out and took his hand, holding him steady, "This idea that you're cursed isn't right."

"No, Luz," Bruno wanted to pull away, but couldn't bring himself to quite yet, "It is my fault though."

The maestra shook her head, "I wish you wouldn't think of yourself so meanly." She squeezed his hand, but he didn't return the gesture.

Instead, he turned away from her, letting his fingers slide from her grasp, "In my vision, I don't know why you are upset, but I know that it's something that is my fault. Something I'm going to do in the future."