Worth The Shot

Hide and Seek (M)

"It's Luisa. She's gone."

"Tell me what happened." Camilo intently watched Antonio, still crouched down to his eye level.

"Today was Luisa's turn to watch me." Antonio whimpered, his eyes widely focused on Camilo. "She fell down all of a sudden. She was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake up," Antonio's voice rose to a wail. "I left to get help, but then I thought that I could ask my animal friends to bring her home. When I turned around, she was gone."

"We'll find her, Tonito," Camilo assured Antonio, pulling him into a hug. "I'm good at finding things, remember?"

"I remember. You always win at hide and seek," Antonio sniffled, relaxing his head onto Camilo's shoulder. Camilo exchanged a worried glance with you.

"Let's start looking."

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The search parties returned fruitless. The Madrigals crashed back at casita, long after the pale gray light of a half-moon sky shone on the village. At least your father hadn't tampered with the village memories; everyone was concerned about Luisa. Exhausted, Alma had reluctantly conceded that you could stay in the nursery under one condition: you could never be alone in casita.

"I can't hear her," Dolores worried, upset. She straightened her back as if hopelessly straining to hear her cousin. "She is out of my range. She is not in the Encanto."

"She must have run away." Alma whirled around and accusingly pointed at Mirabel. "What did you say to her?"

"Nothing!" Mirabel apologetically fumbled, her hands extended as if imploring her abuela to believe her. "I just told her to not overwork herself, but that was days ago!"

"Mirabel," Alma sighed, closing her eyes. "I know you're trying to help. But don't interfere with something you know nothing about."

Mirabel flinched as if Alma had hit her. "What do you mean by that?"

"I didn't want to say it explicitly," Alma sternly explained, "But you will never understand our gifts. Or the family obligation that comes with them."

Your jaw softly dropped open. Hurt tears sprung to Mirabel's eyes, but she defenselessly stared at the floor. A spidery crack crawled across the tiles. I shouldn't say anything. Alma's already hesitant about letting me stay. It's not my place.

"Mirabel loves this family," You indignantly burst anyway. You refused to allow Alma's cold words dominate the silence unchallenged. "She understands the gifts just as well as you do."

"Camilo," Alma stiffly barked, not even glancing at you. "Control her or she will not be welcome."

"Yes, Abuela," Camilo tensely nodded, his eyes pinning an unspoken warning on you. "(Y/n), come upstairs."

Really, Camilo? You irritably thought. It stung that he hadn't backed you up.

"Don't tell me what to do," you mumbled, snatching your arm away from his. Annoyed, you climbed the stairs and retreated to the nursery.

"I can tell you what to do if you're in my house," Camilo argued, propping his arm against the nursery door frame. "Abuela could've kicked you out. Do you want to be homeless?"

Flames flashed in your eyes, and you drew in a breath to retaliate.

"Wait, I'm sorry," Camilo guiltily retracted his words, holding up his hands in surrender. "You're right, I shouldn't tell you what to do." He frowned. "I just really want this to work out. For you to be able to stay here."

"Me too," you sighed, your anger slowly sizzling away. "It's okay. We're both tired right now."

Mirabel shouldered Camilo out of the nursery doorframe as she walked in. She smirked. "You heard Abuela. You and (y/n) aren't allowed to sleep in the same room. Go away."

"Fine," Camilo groaned, rolling his eyes. "See you tomorrow, (y/n). I'll introduce you to my parents at breakfast."

Camilo hovered by the open door, reluctant about leaving you. Mirabel forcefully closed it and tossed her bag onto her bed. Casita's shutters rattled as if remembering something, and a second bed popped up next to Mirabel's.

"Thanks, Casita." Exhausted, you collapsed into the sheets.

"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me," Mirabel suddenly said as you both lay in the darkness.

"Of course. Your abuela was wrong, by the way," You firmly pointed out.

"I know how I can make it up to you." A mischievous smile crept into Mirabel's voice. "You're officially meeting Camilo's parents tomorrow as his girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh, boy. You're going to need all the luck you can get. My Tio Felix..."

She struggled for the words, then just laughed,

"I hope you brought running shoes."