Beautiful Bruises ~ Camilo Madrigal x Reader

Funeral on a Hill

Her funeral was held the next day, right after Casita was finally rebuilt.

While everyone was waiting for a proper grave to be dug and a coffin to be made, the Madrigal's put (Y/N) in the coldest house they could find - one that didn't have trees near it and the wind was constantly bettering it. They laid her down on a cot so that the family didn't have to have a dead girl on one of their beds.

It rained all day, causing the people rebuilding Casita to grumble, but they didn't say anything, knowing Pepa was mourning. Camilo hadn't spoken to anyone since Mirabel, but Pepa knew what was going on when she helped Julieta change (Y/N) into her funeral clothes. The sisters had exchanged a sorrowful glance when the saw the lash-marks on her back and the fading bruises on her hand, plus the black eye... it all added up.

"She saved my boy," Pepa whispered before they left, carefully pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "I didn't even know it, but... Camilo was in love with her. And she loved him, too. You saw what happened when she... passed."

Julieta struggled to hold in tears.

"Mirabel feels awful. It's hard for her to accept there's nothing she can do - you can't save a skeleton." And Pepa knew that Julieta was struggling, too... her power had been inches away, such a simple fix for the girl who had sacrificed herself to save the Madrigal family. But she hadn't been able to save her, and never would be able to. "Poor girl had to grow up too fast."

"I suppose we're alike in that way," Pepa whispered as they left the room, leaving (Y/N) with her arms crossed over her chest and a peaceful look on her face.

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A few hours later, Jude was sitting on a chair by her cot, his eyes never leaving her face - he couldn't tear them away from the bruise.

He had seen it that night, in the street.

And he had ignored it, instead running off to spend the night with Isabela. It was always Isabela, whom he'd met hardly a few months ago, and never his baby sister. 

He hadn't even said he loved her.

"You know how much she cared about you, right?" Jude looked up, startled to hear Camilo's voice, rough and low from crying. "She kept your secret, or tried her best to. Even when she was about to die she was looking out for you. She tried to save you by stopping your blood flow, but nothing could have worked. Except Mirabel's gift." He didn't even have the strength to sneer when he said it, too exhausted by sorrow and raw pain. There were dark circles under his eyes, a silent testimony to the long, tear-filled night before. There surely were many to come.

"My secret?" Jude whispered. "You mean the vision Bruno had with me?"

Camilo nodded, disinterested. His eyes found (Y/N)'s body and then quickly flew away again, focusing on the wall, the ceiling, anything but her.

He couldn't fathom living without her. It seemed cliche, but... never seeing her again. Never holding her hand, never laughing at stupid jokes together, never gazing into her eyes, once so full of life and now cold and empty. Soon, she would be separated by six feet that felt like a million, worms crawling through her mouth, eating her from the inside out. Camilo would never hear another word from her perfect lips, never hold her fragile body safely in his arms. He may as well have killed her himself - she died to protect him, to SAVE him. And now he would forever be alone, that empty feeling replacing the place in his chest where (Y/N) used to be.

"I just thought you might want to know. You were everything to her. I ruined her life, betrayed her trust..." He paused, leaning against the doorframe heavily, his shoulders drooping. "I never deserved her love."

He walked out after that, leaving Jude staring at the empty doorway.

The night before, even though Isabela had held him in her arms, his night had been plagued with nightmares - memories of his papa hurting him when he was younger, and (Y/N), too. And most of all, the moment he saw her crumpled body.

Camilo had nightmares too - but they were worse than Jude's. They weren't horrific flashbacks to (Y/N)'s death, they were memories of her. Knocking on her window and walking along the street to Casita, sharing deep thoughts they had never told anyone else. Falling in the hole in the floor of Bruno's passageway, and the butterflies he had felt when he saw her perfectly imperfect face beneath his.

When he woke up, he wished he hadn't.

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The funeral was horrible. Rain poured on the procession as the priest mournfully read the required verses, with Isabela prying Jude's hands away from his face whenever he started to cry. (Y/N) was buried on a small hill near the stream. Camilo tried to leave, but Pepa didn't let him, insisting it was only fair to (Y/N). But he didn't want to see her calm face, when she had been anything but calm in death. Dying wasn't easy.

But maybe being dead was.

Mirabel stood in the back, clutching her dress and refusing to look at the girl she hadn't saved.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to nobody in particular, the thunder drowning out her words.

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One Year Later

Mirabel pasted on a smile as she walked down the stairs to the dinner table, where everyone sat except for Camilo. Like always.

He had sat in his room for days, never coming out even for food. Julieta practically had to force-feed it to him.

"Hey, Mariano," she said to her soon-to-be brother in law. "Joining us for dinner tonight?"

Delores nodded happily.

"Yup. Thought I'd get him a little more used to the family before he's actually a part of it."

Everyone laughed, but it soon died out. Like always.

The rest of dinner passed in relative silence, and when it was over, Mirabel trudged up to her room, lying in bed. A few hours later, she woke up to Jude shouting because of a nightmare from Isabela's room. Like always.

But this time, something was different.

A soft glow emanated from outside her window, down by the stream. She crept out of bed and slid her slippers on, quietly making her way outside and walking to the stream by lantern-light. She had an idea where the glow was coming from, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

And yet, there it was. On the hill by the stream, (Y/N)'s small headstone glowed amongst the many flowers Isabela had grown around it. Mirabel crept closer.

It was the one-year anniversary of (Y/N)'s death. Everyone had known it, but nobody said it, not wanting to upset Mirabel.

She set the lantern down, desperately tearing through the damp earth to get to the coffin. It rained a lot - Pepa was finding it increasingly hard to control her emotions with Camilo, who everyone knew didn't want to be alive. Not after he had "caused" (Y/N)'s death.

She finally reached the wood, dirt casing her fingernails, and continued peeling away the soil and grass until the lid was easily accessible. The glow was strong now, and was slowly creeping up Mirabel's arms. It exploded into a burst of light when she finally pried the lid open, and revealed (Y/N).

Who sat straight up, gasping for air, completely whole.