Luz (camilo madrigal x oc)

XVI. TAMED FIRE

i walked in, there in front of me stood a huge victorian styled room painted in this sort of dark red aesthetic. a nice leather couch with black lining, some small portraits of carlos and camilo as kids, a nice little bird clock shaped like a nice square and an amazing crystal chandelier that hung on the ceiling.
the soft smell of cinnamon and burnt paper would travel in the room.

i looked around and spotted a metal door on one of the walls right next to another fancy door tinted in bloody red, i frowned and walked closer to the metal door, it kind of reminded me of those scary doors from asylum cells.
once i opened it i was instantly met with a small room made out of boulders, with nothing but silence and a sort of water system that reminded me of rain.

"carlos?" i asked in a low whisper, his hair of flames couldn't seem to die out no matter how much water fell on it.
he boy didn't budge, he continued to knelt on the floor with his head bowed.
"what are you doing here?"he asked darkly.
"are you ok?" i asked, carlos let out a scoff.
"señor chiquito sent you didn't he?" he said while leaning his forehead against the wall in front of him.

"who?" i crossed my arms with a frown.
"camilo of course, who else but the golden prodigy." he mumbled.
i stood under the roof of the door as the little rain system drowned his clothes.
"is that why you're mad?" i frowned.

"wow you're so smart!" he responded sarcastically, i sighed.
"just tell me what's going on carlos" i told him, the boy let out another scoff.
"as if you actually cared, just go back to camilo and tell him how great he is." he waved me off.

"really?" i asked him with a cocked brow.
"what?" he growled coldly, i chuckled.
"you're bitchy because you think camilo's better than you?" i asked, the boy went quiet, the flame of his hair budged a little by the water.
"maybe." he mumbled.

"why? you're literally the guy who controls fire!" i said, carlos shock his head.
"and you think people like that?" he then looked over his shoulder, his eyes showing guilt and sorrow, he seemed truly hurt inside.
i frowned "what do you mean?" i asked, carlos let out a sigh before sitting down, i then decided to do the same under the door frame of the metal door, only a couple of feet away from him.

"camilo has this way of making everyone happy, everything's so much better when he's around." said carlos while hugging his knees close to his chest.
"oh." i mumbled, it made sense now.
"but when i try being friendly and charming all they do is call me a freak!" carlos groaned, the flame of his hair grew a few inches more.

"i'm so sorry for that." i responded, carlos let out a sarcastic chuckle.
"even when i try to make friends, girls talk to me and end up just throwing me away once they're able to get close with camilo." he said, his chin chilling on top of his arm.

"one time i tried helping out this old woman," he began "but then i got scared by her pet chicken and ended up burning it by accident, she started hating me since then." he said before giving me a forced chuckle "and then when i tried helping out with some of the decorations camilo jumped in front of me and scared me," he then looked over at me for a reaction "i almost burned down the village with that." he said, i frowned with my mouth opening slightly.

"now everyone in town is scared of me, hoping that i don't hurt them with my stupid gift." he looked away , hiding his face.
i looked down at my feet trying to find anything to respond him with.

"mi mama and mi papa always praise camilo and how he 'helps' the community." he said looking up towards my direction.
"but then they get angry at me even though they purposely asked me not to do anything to harm those malditos perros!" he sighed, the flames of his hair then slowly began to die out, letting his hair be replaced back to his reddish brown curls.

"i'm not even sure why i'm still here at this point." he said, his hair hiding one one of his eyes as it slowly got soaked by the water "no matter what i do i'll never be good enough, i'll just continue being alone." he said, i could notice some water start to form inside of his eyes.
"you're not alone." i blurted out, carlos frowned and looked over at me with a glare.

"you're just saying that to be nice," he said "at least you're actually trying to be nice." he mumbled, guilt began to wrap itself around my chest, how could i even help him?
"you don't have to stay here you know, i'll be fine." he shrugged "you can just go hang out with camilo like everyone else, at least you won't feel as depressed with me." he forced out another chuckle.

"no." i responded, carlos frowned, i got up and slowly made my way towards him ignoring the way my body slowly got soaked by the fake rain, carlos leaned against the wall looking confused as ever.
i knelt down in front of him and stared into his eyes for a while before wrapping my arms around him, giving him a tight hug, i breathed in his scent of burnt wood and cinnamon, some quiet sniffling was all i got in return.

"what are you doing?" he asked, his voice slightly breaking.
"you're not alone carlos."i whispered "you're not worthless or even dangerous," i sighed "you matter... at least to me." i told him.
"stop lying," he said in a much quieter voice.
"i'm not." i let out a quiet chuckle.

we stood in silence for a while before carlos finally decided to hug me back, tightening the hug, he hid face against the crook of my neck. his skin letting out this sort of warmth like a furnace.
"thank you..." he whispered, his soft breath slightly tickling my neck, his voice continued slightly broken.
"hey..." i chuckled as we broke the hug, his arms still wrapped around me "at least you have a friend now." i smiled as i wiped some of the tears off.

carlos blinked in shock "really?" he asked with a smile quietly creeping onto his expression.
"yup," i shrugged and stood up, letting out my hand for him "so cheer up." i said, carlos looked over at my hand.
"ok." he said with a smile, letting me pull him back onto his feet.