Harana: Camilo x Reader

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

𝖆𝖗𝖙: by yours truly

𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥

♫

    Y/N wrapped a handkerchief around her hair, tucking a stray strand behind her ear. She patted down her brown trousers, tucking her blouse in. "Do you need anything? More sandwiches?" Francisco fussed, thrusting a lunch bag into her arms. Y/N clumsily caught it, "Pa, you're not feeding the whole village, this is more than enough." 

    Francisco sniffled, "I know, I'm just-" Y/N giggled as her father's eyes had gone watery. "You're seriously crying over this?" She asked in amusement. "Yes, I am crying over this!" He hauled her tool bag off the ground and handed it to her, "It's my baby's first job, I'm feeling very old." She's no longer the little girl who would hide behind him, she was blooming into her own person.

    "You're just feeling old now? Papa, you were old yesterday as well and I didn't see you sobbing about it." She joked, glancing at the sky through the window, "I have to go now, remember to water junior!" 

     There was a skip on her walk and throughout the whole journey, her smile never faltered. She dropped her toolbag on the ground and faced the wilting garden with her hands on her hip; most of the shrubs had turned golden and prickly, the dirt was dry, and lastly, there was a dead tree that she might need Luisa's help on removing.

    She pulled the zipper open and slipped her gloves on. Drawing out the shovel that stuck out of her bag, she approached the bushes. She stuck the cutting edge on the ground, pushing it deeper with her foot and pulling it up along with its roots. One down and a hundred more to go.

     It wasn't for long until all her energy drained. Her arms ached and she was dripping with sweat. Hair clinging on her skin, she heaved a breathe and dropped to the ground. It had been hours and she had only dug less than half of the garden. As she was about to get up to do more, her stomach grumbled in protest. 

    She placed her lunch box on her lap, unwrapping the foil. She sighed happily, the sandwich was still warm to touch. However, she covered it up as soon as her ears tingled— something rustled under the pile of shrubs she had dug out. Her right hand blindly patted the ground until she felt a broken branch. She grabbed it, ready to swing it at whatever would spring out of the pile.

     A snout stuck out, its nose wiggling as it sniffed. Slowly, a furry creature emerged from the shadows. Its long and slender head bopped as it snuffled at the smell of food. Y/N dropped the branch and watched the little thing in wonder, she had never seen an animal like this before. 

    The animal approached her but when it looked up, it flinched and stepped back. "Hola Hermosa!" Her body acted on its own, grabbing the branch and chucking it to wherever the noise came from. She turned around and saw Camilo narrowly dodging the branch. She exhaled through her nose and glared, "Camilo, don't sneak up on me like that!" He didn't respond, instead, he pointed at the animal and paled. "Dios mio, It's a chupacabra!" He picked up the branch that she had thrown at him, poking the air to scare it off.

    The furry animal squeaked, hiding her lunch box. Camilo squinted before chuckling awkwardly, "Ay, sorry, it's just a coati." Y/N tilted her head to the side as the little thing tried to pry her bag open, "I think I have some fruit in there." She dug her hand in the bag and took out an orange. Camilo cautiously sat beside her, "Just my opinion, maybe don't feed it." She ignored him, peeling the orange's skin and giving the coati a single pulp. 

    "What's the worse that could happen?"

    Unfortunately, Camilo was right— the next morning, they were both greeted by a large group of coatis waiting to be fed. A thousand of their beady little eyes could send a grown man shivering. "Yeesh, I'll go get Toñito." Camilo managed to say throughout the loud chittering, "By the way, I told you so." He ruffled her hair before leaving her behind.

    For the time being, Y/N used the rake to gather mulch although the job was ruthless with the ground covered up by the raccoon-like animals. They watched her every move and as silly as it was, she was beginning to feel pressured. The constant squeaking never stopped, there were was no room for silence and it was hair pulling, teeth-gritting, shoe kicking— she sighed in defeat, waving the rake a bit to shoo a group of coatis.

    This went on for a long time, somewhere along the lines, she learned to tune out the noise. Soon enough, Camilo arrived with Antonio holding onto his hand. "Alright, Toñito, do your thing." Camilo nodded towards the coatis. Antonio let go of his brother's hand and smiled at Y/N, "Don't worry, Ms. Y/N, I'll handle it." He dropped to his knee and let one of the coatis sniff his finger.

    Y/N watched as Antonio conversed with the animal, half of the time, she couldn't guess what they were talking about. A few minutes later, the leader of the bunch made some clicking noise. And to her surprise, they began working in batches; gathering branches, wood chips, and fallen leaves.

    "This made my job a whole lot easier." She watched as the mulch she gathered doubled in size in less than a minute. Y/N kneeled down to Antonio's height and pecked the top of his head, "Thank you, Antonio." The boy beamed at her, his little grin was enough to make her coo. Camilo scoffed, sputtering, "I- I helped too!" 

     He loves his little brother, he really does— what he doesn't appreciate was becoming the third wheel. Y/N and Antonio were wrapped in their own world with her teaching him the basics of gardening. She would pick a random tool from her bag and show him what they were used for. Hell, they even started having inside jokes of their own like hyping each other up by saying "Rooting for you." Did he find it cute? Yes, but he wanted in on it too.

    By the end of the day, Antonio was fast asleep as Camilo carried him on his back. It was finally just him and Y/N. She packed up her stuff and jogged over to his side. "You're sulking." Her lips curled into a teasing smirk. The moon was nowhere in sight yet the stars were in her eyes; Camilo looked away, clearing his throat. "Yeah well, he got a kiss on the forehead and I got nothing." 

    He puffed up his cheeks in annoyance but what he didn't expect was for her to hold his shoulder, stopping him in place and pressing her lips on his cheek. She pulled away, "Happy now?" It was too quick... and yet, it left him dizzy in a daydream.

     To see her skin flushed as well, he was breathless. And for a moment, it felt like the sun was rising once again and the world was just a blur of pinks and blues. He could spend hours or even just a second with her and it would have been enough to make him smile. He was burning for her and her alone. It was then he realized that this was more than just a silly crush.