Beautiful Bruises ~ Camilo Madrigal x Reader

Broken Promises

"Jude?"

You clamped your hand over your mouth, snatching the vision and clutching it to your chest. You sneakily look back up at Camilo, who is squinting at you in confusion.

"What? Who's Jude? What are you doing with that?" He reaches for it, but you dodge him and scramble to your feet, quickly racing into the closest room. When you looked at your surroundings, you mentally facepalmed.

Camilo's room.

You sprinted for his bedroom, slipping inside and looking around for a hiding place desperately.

Nobody can know. I need to protect Jude, you thought, finally sliding under the bed, holding your breath in order to fit. Dust swirled around you, making your eyes water as you heard the door slam back open.

"(Y/N)!" Camilo called, storming into the room. "What the heck is going on? Come on, you can trust me, remember? I just want to fucking help!"

You watched as his feet walked around his room, heading to his closet on the wall farthest from you. The doors slid open easily, revealing a few clothing items, mainly raunas and undershirts along with a few pairs of pants and one fancy suit you had never seen him wear. You mentally reminded yourself to ask him to wear that if he ever forgave you for running from him.

You hadn't been paying attention, lost in your thoughts, and suddenly his head was upside down in your face, his curly hair dangling behind him. His hazel-green eyes widened as you made eye contact, his lips twisting into his trademark smirk.

"Boo," he breathed as you struggled not to wince in surprise. "Thought I wouldn't find you in my own room, Cariño? Come on out."

You sighed, dragging yourself out but clinging to the emerald slab, digging your fingers into the ridges until they went white.

"Whoa, there," he said, eyeing your hands as you stood up. "Take it easy - I'm not gonna take it from you." He settled down on the bed, patting the spot next to him. "I'm gonna let you show it to me, right?"

You hesitated, eyeing the door, but in a flash he was in front of it, shutting the door and locking it with a key, which he slid back under the crack of the door.

"What the heck?!" you cried, sprinting over and slamming your free hand against the door. "How are we going to get out?" 

He simply shrugged, infuriatingly calm.

"I'll get us out of here just as soon as you tell me what's going on," he said as he sat back down.

You refused to sit, glaring at him and pressing the vision closer to your chest.

"What do you want to know, Mr. Officer?"

"Haha," he said dryly, rolling his eyes. "I'm just trying to help. Come on - I thought we were friends." His eyes glinted as his lips turned up slightly, hinting at something you refused to think about.

"Yeah, mhm, friends," you said quickly, your palms going sweaty. "If I tell you anything, you can't tell anyone," you added, looking him straight in the eye. He nodded, holding out his pinky.

"Promise."

You tentatively held yours out, linking it with his, smiling at him as you felt his warmth spread up your hand. You blushed, taking your pinky out of his but sitting on the bed next to him, leaving your legs only a few inches apart.

Don't get distracted, you chided yourself, slowly lowering the vision into your lap. Camilo scooted closer, making your heart race as he lined the side of his body up with yours.

"Who is that?" he questioned, his eyebrows scrunched together as he pointed at your green brother standing behind Mirabel in front of the cracked Casita.

You took a deep breath.

"Please don't tell anyone."

He nodded quickly, holding up his pinky to remind you of his promise.

"Remember?" he asked, leaning in and smiling at you, his eyes tracing your lips briefly as his grin  grew. "I'm always true to my word."

You nodded, smiling nervously at him.

"Ok... that's... Jude. My - my brother."

He stiffened beside you, and you quickly looked up at him, reaching over to grab his hand.

"Camilo?" you questioned anxiously, your eyes darting around his face, which had gone cold.

"Ah, sorry," he said after a moment, chuckling without humor. "That's all I needed to know. You should probably... go home now."

He slid his hand out of yours, heading for the door with a quick pace. He slipped an extra key out of his pocket, making you raise an eyebrow, but he simply kept walking. You followed him, jogging to keep up. He went all the way to the front door, opening it just as flowers bloomed throughout the house.

"Bye," he said simply, smiling fakely as you stepped out, confused and worried.

"Camilo-" you started, but he shut the door in your face, leaving you shocked and hurt. You started to walk home, but suddenly you saw your papa sneaking through the shadows. You narrowed your eyes, considering following him. Eventually you decided to run back and grab your pocketknife.

Just in case, you told yourself, even as you began thinking up a way to disengage your papa while not hurting him. No matter how much he might have harmed you, you still held a little bit of love for him deep within your heart. He was your papa, after all.

Finally, you burst into your room and ran to your drawers, digging through them to find your knife. Just as you grabbed it, smiling softly to yourself, you heard a knock at your door. You froze before creeping to the door, easing it open to discover Felix and Pepa standing there awkwardly.

"Heyyy," Felix said, chuckling nervously. "Nice to see you, (Y/N). Is Jude at home?"

You froze, your heart breaking as you stared at them.

"No, sorry," you finally whispered before shutting the door. You could hear Pepa ask about the bruise on your face, but you ignored her, leaning your back against the wall and slowly sliding into a sitting position, your knees against your chest. You buried your face in your hands, trying not to cry.

You had trusted him.

You had been stupid.

Finally, regaining what was left of your composure, you stood back up and walked out, standing as tall as you could. Mirabel was still your friend, and you were going to help her no matter what her cousin did to you.

You couldn't believe you had almost fallen in love with him.

When you got there, you saw Casita shaking slightly. You raced inside to see Mirabel scrambling for the candle. Camilo was rushing after her, and you bit your tongue so you didn't scream when he fell. 

Don't worry about him.

Suddenly Casita was sending people out in waves, and you dashed for a hole in the wall so you didn't have to run into the Madrigals and explain why you were there.

And then, when you finally made it out, you saw Camilo sprinting for the door. He tripped only a few feet away, falling onto his back. You saw the exact moment when he realized a large chunk of rock was falling straight for him, and it reminded you of the time in Bruno's tower that you realized the exact same thing.

You cursed under your breath, diving for the foolish, unmoving boy. You yanked him out of the way, breathing a sigh of relief as he landed safely on the grass outside of Casita. He looked up from the ground at you, breathing hard, and his eyes widened when he realized who you were, even daring to smile slightly.

And then his eyes grew even wider as he looked above your head. He lunged forward, his mouth twisted into a shout.

"(Y/N)!" he yelled, reaching his arm out desperately for you.

When you looked up, confused, you realized the rubble was heading straight for your head. The last thing you saw was Camilo's horrified face as he gazed at you, his eyebrows pressed together.

And then darkness set in.