Beautiful Bruises ~ Camilo Madrigal x Reader

The Window

You awoke to bright light hitting your eyes through slits in the shades of your bedroom window.

You yawned, sitting up and stretching your arms above your head.

"Camilo?" you asked sleepily, rubbing your eyes.

"Camilo isn't here to save you."

You gasped, your heart thundering as you leapt out of bed, eyes opening wide at the sight of your papa.

"But... you're gone! Over the mountains!"

He laughed, expertly spinning a knife between his deft fingers.

"That's what the Madrigals told you. You really think they wouldn't let me finish the job, daughter mine? Believe me - they won't mind learning of your demise." He started to approach you, backing you in between the wall and your bed. The shadows seemed to close in, choking you.

"Camilo wouldn't let you!" you cried, throwing your hands out to stop him.

"He laughed again, but this time it was twice as unsettling - because it was so familiar.

"But he would," he snarled, leaping on top of you and raising the knife above your chest. His eyes flickered from their usual dark brown to hateful forest green, dark curls hanging in your face. "He would."

And then he plunged the knife into your chest.

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You sat up with a gasp, Camilo frantically hovering over you, his hands gripping your shoulders.

"Thank God you're awake," he breathed, burying his face in the crook of your neck. "You scared me."

"What's going on?" Pepa cried, bursting into the room with wild hair, Felix following behind her looking bewildered and still half-asleep. She floated over in her pretty yellow nightgown, kneeling by your side and shooing Camilo back to the couch he had been sleeping on.

Whoops, you thought sheepishly. Didn't mean to kick him out of his own bed.

"Are you all right, Mija? Me and Felix could hear you shouting. We know how Jude has had nightmares - you, too?"

You nodded, struggling to hold your tears in.

She called me Mija. Like Mama.

"Yeah, I... it wasn't that bad. I've had nightmares before. It's nothing I can't handle." One of the tears slid down your cheek, but you hastily tried to wipe it away.

"Oh, (Y/N)," Pepa murmured, tucking you to her chest. You shook your head even as her arms wrapped around you securely, bringing warmth and love you had missed so much.

Because no matter how much you loved Camilo, he could never patch up the hole in your heart that your mama had left. Your papa hadn't had a place there to begin with, so it wasn't hard to forget him.

Until that dream.

You stiffened again, the memory returning all too vividly. Pepa pulled away, smoothing your hair down.

"What was it about?" she asked softly, as Felix settled his son down behind her, refusing to let him come to your side.

It was probably for the better - you didn't want him to see you like this, supposedly crying over a nightmare. Not to mention, you couldn't help but be a little frightened of him now.

"Just... my papa. Nothing bad," you lied, not wanting to make her think her son unsettled you. "It shouldn't have made me scream. Nightmares never have."

She nodded understandingly.

"That's what Jude said. He-"

"What is going on?!" Abuela cried, bursting into the room clutching a lamp. Her eyes were wild and she looked half-crazy. 

Everyone spun to face her.

"Mama, (Y/N) had a nightmare," Pepa explained, quickly standing up as Abuela frowned.

"Well, that's no excuse to wake up the whole house. I thought we were finished with that when that boy finally got his under control."

"'That boy' has a name," Pepa said angrily, a cloud floating over her head even as Felix tried to wave it away. Camilo took the chance to race to your side, causing you to flinch away when your eyes met. He backed up, confused and hurt, as Felix spoke.

"He is your granddaughter's fiancé, Abuela. And (Y/N) saved Camilo's life!"

"From her own father," she spit, her beady eyes focusing on you. "And her grandfather was likely one of the men that killed my Pedro."

You shrank away from her gaze, embarrassment and shame ripping through you. Camilo lunged at her, his interaction with you forgotten. You ignored the shouting match they were having and slipped open the window behind you as quietly as possible, carefully stepping onto the roof. You shut it once you were through, sliding down the tiles and dangling from the edge. When you dropped onto the grass below you landed sideways on your right ankle, gritting your teeth so you didn't scream. From there, you scampered to the only house you could think to go to.

Knock knock knock.

You rapped on your best friends window, relaxing when she slid it open, bleary-eyed and confused.

"(Y/N)?" Lucía mumbled, confused. "I haven't seen you for a year! You were dead! This is one weird dream." She peered at the clock. "Wow. It's 3 AM. Am I imagining all this?"

You pushed her aside, slipping into her room and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I'm alive," you told her when you pulled away. "Mirabel brought me back. But... there's just so much going on right now, and I could really use my best friend. Could I maybe stay here for the night? I promise I'll explain it all when you wake up."

She blinked at you mistrustfully, clearly still believing she was in a dream, but shrugged anyway.

"All right. Hop in," she said, patting the bed as she settled back under the covers, not even bothering to shut the window. You decided to leave it open, welcoming the gentle night breeze, but shut the curtains so nobody walking by would see you.

You didn't want the family to find you quite yet.

You hopped into bed beside her, snuggling against her side. She was different now, with shorter cropped hair and her pictures of Carlos that used to be strung around the room nonexistent. She also wore more feminine clothes, a soft nightgown rather than her usual silk pants and pajama shirt.

"I missed you," you whispered to the sleeping girl as you tucked your head into her shoulder. She didn't hear you.

But the person outside the window did.