Stuck With You ⇁ Carlos Madrigal

11

Mariano chuckled. "If things keep up like that - there's going to be another engagement party soon."

You resisted the urge to gag.

Dolores smiled warmly at his comment, shaking her head slightly. She placed a hand on his arm, muttering something only he could hear, before she took a step away from him and towards you.

You pushed up a smile, readying the congratulations you had planned, but was caught off guard when she leaned  closer -- "Are you okay? I've been hearing your heartbeat race for a while now." She whispered into your ear, voice soft and gentle. 

"Uh, I – yeah. I'm fine." Your heart probably quickened just from that alone. You're surprised that's all she could hear - but then again she couldn't hear through the rooms, thank god for magic, a lot of misunderstandings can be taken just from the whole shirtless debacle alone. 

Change the subject. "Oh, and, um, congratulations!" You pull her to a hug. "I'm so happy for you, Dolores." She gives you a small pat on the back, muttering a small but heartfelt thank you. 

The two of you pull away, and you almost burst into laughter at the look Mariano was giving you, he let out a sigh, disappointed and defeated. "Why doesn't anyone hug me? 

Dolores let out a small chuckle. 

You rolled your eyes and walked towards him, giving him a hug. The man wastes no time and returns it, enveloping you in a bear hug, almost squeezing you. "Con-  congratulations, Mariano!" You said, mid squeeze. "You're a very lucky man." 

He pulled away, grinning. "The luckiest." He looked back towards Dolores, who beamed with happiness, of course, hearing everything.

You found yourself glancing back towards the shapeshifter, who seemed to be in a worse mood than before, eyes narrowed in a glare.

You looked at the big dump hunk beside you – "Mariano."

"Hmm?" 

You couldn't resist the grin that wormed its way to your lips. "I think Carlos wants a hug too." 

Mariano gasped, eyes lighting up as he  opened  up his arms wide – "Cuñado!" Carlos' eyes widened slightly, he shook his head and took a step back but was too late, and was  pulled into a tight hug. 

Carlos peeked over the larger man's shoulder, almost engulfed, a look between 'help me' and 'you are so paying for this'. 

You stuck out your tongue at him and laughed. 

"I think you two should head down and enjoy the party." Dolores brought up. "Nicolas is taking pictures . . . maybe you two want to take one together?" 

"Well, I don't–"

"I think that's a great idea, Hermana." His arm was already wrapped around your shoulder. Carlos looked towards you - inches away. "Don't you think so, mi llave?" 

Darn it. He managed to escape, ugh. Your eyes drifted back towards Dolores, who looked at the two of you with a bright smile. Can't say no to her. "Uh, sure, why not?" 

Dolores smiled wider, seemingly happy with your response. With that said you pried the shapeshifter's arm off, and stepped towards Dolores, she raised an eyebrow, curious. You gently pulled her off into a corner, a few steps away from the boys. 

"I, uh, wanted to ask you this for a while now. . . " You whispered, a little hesitant. "You hear me talk about. . . home and stuff a lot, right?" Your mind was already trying to come up with ways on how you might be able to excuse your other world ramblings; 'I'm practicing a play', 'discussing a book idea' - none seemed at all believable. 

"Oh." Dolores muttered. "Home? No, actually, am I supposed to? You're honestly pretty quiet, I don't hear a lot from you." She smiled. "Anyways, enjoy the party, me and Mariano will be taking a break for a bit, the noises are getting a bit much. I'll see you two again later." 

You stared, dumbfounded.

How could she not have heard any of it? 

___

"Come on, smile!" Senor Nicolas urged, tugging at his own lips, gesturing for you to smile. 

Carlos stood beside you, and nudged you slightly. "Don't want to seem unhappy in front of everyone, now do we?" 

You rolled your eyes, but forced up a smile, looking back towards the camera. The shapeshifter scooched closer, wrapping his around you, wanting to get this over with, you merely continued to smile. 

With a snap, it was over. 

The smile fades away from your face, you shrug away from his grip, and make a b-line towards the door, and like clockwork, he follows. 

The cold wind hits you as soon as you step out of the door , unlike before, most of the party was now inside, only a few lingered outside of the house. 

You halted, hearing your name be called, glancing off to the side. You see familiar faces - Mirabel waved to you with a wide smile, gesturing for you to come over - beside her was Isabela and oddly enough, Alfonso.

You hesitated, but walked towards the strange trio, as soon as you were close enough, Mirabel threw her arms around you in a hug. "Hey!" 

"H-hey." You greeted back, hearing the grass crunch behind you, a sign that he was still here. "What's up?"

"We're going to the forest tomorrow, do you wanna come?" Mirabel asked, taking a step back. 

"Uh, what for?" 

"For an expedition."  Alfonso brought up, with a smile. 

Isabela chuckled, crossing her arms. "That's a big word, it's uh, more like a trip." Sensing the confusion you held - she continued. "We're going to be looking for a place to grow some more trees, there's a shortage of usable wood in town."

"Can't you just plant some over there?" You tilted your head to the side, gesturing to the land below the hill.

Isabela shook her head. "Can't, I don't want to cause overcrowding  or exhaust the nutrients in the soil, it's going to be hard to grow crops if the soil close to us degrades." Give it up for plant mom Isabela.

You nodded. "Alright, so a journey through the forest? Count me in." Not that you had anything better to do, plus you'd get to hang out with Mirabel and Isabela. "What kind of trees are you planning to grow?" 

With  that   question   asked, Mirabel sighed, shoulders slumping, Alfonso's eyes brightened, he stepped forward - but was stopped by a hand in the air. 

"Oh,   please   don't." Isabela muttered. "We just finished an hour-long session on  Al  here,  telling  us  which  type  of trees   were   better suited for this and that."  She ran her fingers through her hair, sighing. 

Alfonso   smiled,  eyes  glancing  down towards her.  "Right, sorry about that, Isa." 

Isabela rolled her eyes, smiling.  "It's alright, but  next  time lessen it to ten minutes, or I will grow a miconia just to slap you."

The man laughed, and nodded. "Understood." He looked over your shoulders. "What about you, Carlos – you coming with?"

The shapeshifter walked past you, your shoulders brushing together – his eyes looked over at you, grinning widely. "Of course." 

Meirda.

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Thank you for reading!!♡

Next chapter is going to be a real doozy, hopefully, but Isa  ahhhh, love you (๑♡⌓♡๑)