Bittersweet (Isabela x Reader)

Chapter 4

"C'mon, Rico!" The little colt whinnied and scurried off. You grumpily looked at Flora, who simply stood there and watched. "Why don't you get your son?! It's been two weeks and he found a way to wreak havoc in the town!"

She snorted lazily and you groaned before running off to find him. It was the day after Casita has been fixed and you were back to doing your normal morning routine of taking care of your horses. Rico suddenly crashed into a basket and you took the chance to wrap the ropes around him, though you barely wrangled him as he tried to fight against your rope.

You sighed and pulled him away. "Ay. Gracias. Rico would've been all over the town if it weren't for your basket... of colors?"

You looked up to get a better look at the person, surprised to see Isabela. You stared at her for a good second before scooping up the runaway foal and speedwalking away.

"H-Hey! Where are you going?" She started following you to the barn, somewhere you thought she would leave you alone, but she didn't. Isabela frowned when you didn't answer so she changed the subject. "So you weren't at the celebration yesterday. How come?"

And you continued to ignore her, but she was determined! Now that she didn't have to follow certain expectations, she made it her goal to try and reforge your bond. She may or may not have asked her cousin for some advice.

"I don't like people, Isabela," you mumbled. "Besides, juggling between work and horse wrangling keeps me busy." You closed the door to the barn but Isa opened it to follow you. "Alright, Rico. Off you go."

You took the rope off and he darted over to his pen. When you went to close the gate, you noticed the petals that Isabela excitedly produce. Luckily, they weren't toxic.

"Is this... the horse we saved?" she asked. Her smile grew as she noticed how affectionate the horse was.

You nodded and chuckled. "Sí. Flora is... around ten years. Since she's producing milk, we found a match and now she's got a son. But Rico here is a bit of a rascal!... He takes after you, Flora." You raised your voice, sort of startling Isa and the colt. Isabela shared a look with Flora as you hung up the rope and started to walk.

Isabela gave Flora a soft pat on the neck before hurrying to catch up to you.

"You really care for the horses," she commented.

"Ay. It's a good distraction for me. It gets me tired." You glanced at her and then you frowned. "What's with the change of pace? Doña Alma gave you the day off?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, she's starting to relax now. With Dolores and Mariano going out together, she stopped working us to the bone. No more dates!"

To see Isabela in a new light was a bit relieving, she wore more colors instead of her usual light purple and pink shades. A long streak of yellow was in her black hair and it complimented her new nature. When she stared back at you, she smiled. Not that proud grin that she would normally put on. Isa would usually have that when she was in public trying to appease others.

The smile she gave you was radiating, and she seemed genuinely happy. It made your heart skip a beat and you clutched your chest in an attempt to calm it down.

Isabela frowned as she noticed how rough you were with yourself. "Hey. You're being too rough with yourself. Por favor sé gentil." She took your hand and gently sandwiched them between her own hands, interlacing your fingers and fluttering her eyelashes at you.

She was sweet.

Sickeningly sweet.

It scared you.

"I-I..." You hesitated to talk and you shook, pulling yourself away. You turned your back to try and calm yourself down.

Your heart pounded in your ears as you felt your hands get clammy. You were sweating bullets. You avoided her gaze. All your suppressed emotions began to cave in and you felt dizzy.

"H-Have a good day." You suddenly ran away from her before Isabela could say or do anything.

You darted between the houses so she wouldn't see you. You slammed the door to your shop and locked it before closing the blinds. You took deep breaths in and shakily let them out. Out of instinct, you went to your fridge and got your bottle of alcohol. You knew this was bad. You knew that your addiction was getting out of hand, but what was the point in letting your dread not sink in?

---

"We're both eighteen now, Princesa," you purred in her ear.

It was the day after Isabela's birthday. Now that you were both of age, you thought it would be fun to drink together. Abuela even gave her an extra day off and you felt blessed that she would spend it on you. She rolled her eyes and playfully shoved you away.

"Aren't your parents home?" she asked. "It's the middle of the day."

"So? They won't be back for a couple of weeks." You put your arm around her shoulders and pouted as you whined. "Come on, Princesa! At least hang out at mi casa. How long has it been since your last day off?"

Your puppy-dog eyes were irresistible for her and you managed to persuade her to your house. You weren't planning on doing anything else. Just stay for a couple of drinks and talk a bit. A couple became several and several became a few, which turned into a dozen. It was summer, a suiting season for Señorita Perfecta. You were both in your room, being the coldest place in the house other than the fridge. Your blankets and pillows were shoved at the head of the bed and the two of you laid on it to sit on the mattress. Isabela was getting a bit more giggly as the hours passed. It felt good to get loose without anyone else around. Normally her grandmother would keep her best friend away but she wasn't here. You made a joke about 'the old hag' and Isabela covered her mouth to hide her smile.

You clumsily pulled her hand away and whined, "Princesaaaa... Don't do that. I wanna see you smile. Princesa tímida..."

You didn't notice how close you were to each other. Not after so many shots. When your eyes went back up at her, you saw her nibble her lip, which sprouted a curious thought in your head. You wondered what they felt like. A dangerous thought but you didn't seem to care. You were oblivious to Isa leaning closer into you until your noses rubbed against each other. Yet you giggled at that. Intoxicated breaths lingered on each other's faces.

"Did I do something to make you laugh, Parce?" She raised her brow as she frowned. You couldn't tell if she was trying to be intimidating but you sputtered at her expression. She looked like a spoiled child.

You pulled away to laugh. "Parce?! Since when did mi Princesa use parce?"

You clearly weren't taking her seriously and she got upset. So she only did the next thing that came to her tipsy mind. She kissed you right on the mouth so you would shut up and look at her. Isabela was gonna pull back and look at you, but something kept her in and she kept your lips sealed with her own.

And you kissed her back with your eyes closed.