The Heart of Camilo (A Camilo Madrigal x Reader Fem Y/N Story)

Exposed

*Y/N*

After Camilo's mother took him upstairs to make sure he rested, I grabbed Mirabel and practically dragged her to our room, shutting the door quickly behind us.

"This is getting completely out of hand!" I cried hysterically. "We have to tell them!"

"Shhh!" Mirabel said. "What if Dolores is listening??"

"She's not, Abuela sent her over with Isabela to Mariano's house to pick up something for Antonio's gift ceremony, I'm sure she'll be distracted enough," I said, wringing my hands and pacing the room. 

Mirabel looked miserable. "I take it they don't just want your blood?" she said, wincing as if bracing for impact.

"No, they don't just want my blood! They want the candle, the whole candle this time, not just the flame of it that we stole before to be able to control our gifts!" I cried. "They killed him right in front of me, Mirabel! If Javier hadn't reversed it, Camilo would be gone. I can't do this anymore! What the hell have we done?"

Mirabel looked sick. "I know," she agreed miserably, her hand clasped over her mouth like she was going to throw up. "But we can't take the candle! That's where my family's magic comes from! We don't know what will happen if we give it to someone else. Everyone could lose their gifts!"

"What are we supposed to do, let them come back and actually kill someone?" I choked out. "I can't do this anymore - we have to tell Camilo, tell everyone. They need to know what's coming so that they can protect themselves."

"We can't tell my family what we did!" Mirabel cried. "They already think I'm worthless! If they know that we did this - I'll be pushed out like Bruno. They'll never forgive us!"

"Isabela is not stupid," I cried back. "So, what, we steal the candle - she's already suspicious, and they know everything else! Who do you think the first people she will point the finger at will be? Us!"

"Maybe not!" Mirabel said. "We could say that Gabriella and them stole it!"

"Are you seriously suggesting we actually take the candle?" I asked hopelessly.

"What is the other choice?!" Mirabel said hysterically. "It's like you said, they already tried to kill Camilo. None of our gifts can withstand what they can do! What is Camilo supposed to do, turn into someone else and get turned to gold or burned to death that way? Luisa is supposed to use her super strength for, what, one second before Javier turns her into a statue for the rest of her life? And don't even get me started on Isabela." She paused, taking a breath, trying to calm herself. "And we still don't even know what Amalia's gift is yet! It could be even scarier! It is better that they take the candle and no one gets hurt."

"Your family will never forgive us if they figure out we took it and not Gabriella and them," I said, tears streaming down my face.

"Better hating us and ending up like Bruno than them dead," Mirabel said, sitting down on the bed and putting her face in her hands.

I knew she was right. The choice was only to take the candle and own up to everything we had done and explain we had done it to save them, or take the candle and attempt to blame Gabriella for the entire theft. I groaned miserably, just wanting all of this to go away.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Julieta poked her head in. "Girls, can you help us with a few things before you go to sleep?"

Mirabel and I nodded, glancing nervously at each other, and followed her downstairs. Some gifts in anticipation for Antonio's gift ceremony had arrived and we needed to sort through them and put them away. I wasn't even processing what people were saying around us while we worked, in a complete haze of disbelief about how all of this had come to be. I had just wanted to be good enough, to be special, to be able to protect myself, and now I might lose everything because of all the lies and my own greed and insecurities.