Crushing On A Madrigal | 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜

·25·

"Spending the Night"

"How nice of you to join us for dinner, Estella," Alma says, smiling at the girl as they all got seated by the table.

"How nice of you to have me," Estella bashfully said, sitting in between her best friend, Camilo, and on the other side was Enrique. While Mirabel was seated across from her, smiling reassuringly, knowing how Estella gets nervous and embarrassed easily.

Talk about anxiety.

The dinner started out smoothly. She managed to stay solid all throughout the questions and the conversations she had with everyone, regardless of the fact that she felt like she was gonna pee where she sat.

"Want some more water?" Enrique asked her, holding up a pitcher. "Oh, okay," Estella murmured shyly, holding on to her glass as her friend filled up her half-empty glass of water. "Gracias," She smiled while the boy on her other side, however, started feeling sour again as he notices how much she smiles so much around him.

"How's your mother doing, Estella?" Pepa asked the girl, the corner of her eye noticing her eldest son try hiding his frowning face.

"She's doing pretty well. Mami and Papi say we're having twins," She answered, smiling, happily spreading the exciting news.

"That's wonderful news," Alma exclaimed, feeling happy for the Cortezs, especially since Estella's Late Abuela used to be close friends with her. Although it's not like they didn't know they were expecting twins. 

They do have Dolores after all.

Excited chatter surrounded their table – everyone seemed to be just as happy as Estella after hearing about the news. Though everyone fell silent as soon as they heard murmuring come from both Camilo and Estella.

"Woah, you never share." They could hear Estella whisper playfully.

"What?" They heard Camilo laugh softly, "Yes I do."

The two noticed how the table suddenly became quiet and as they looked up they immediately notice how everyone was looking at them very amusedly.

"That was most likely the most awkward 5 minutes of my life so far," The girl groaned, covering her face with her hands, walking with Mirabel.

"It wasn't that bad," Mirabel tries to say, "I thought it was kind of cute." She smiles, only making the girl feel more embarrassed as she stops in her tracks to freeze up and crouch.

"Anddd, now you've melted." Mirabel sighed, seeing how Estella slowly became smaller and smaller until she ended up crouching embarrassedly on the floor like an ice cube in the summer heat.

"Maybe I should just go home now," Estella grumbled before suddenly jolting up at the sound of the nearing footsteps, not wanting anyone to see her in her fetal crouching position.

"Why don't you sleep over for the night?" Isabela suggested, peeking from the side while Mirabel turns her head at her friend with a hopeful expression which she soon contained and buried underneath her "serious face".

Surprised, Estella started moving her arms frantically as she said, "No, no, no, it's okay. I live nearby– which you already know! A-and you're already housing another guest." She continued blabbering, looking like she was going to fall apart soon which made Isabela and Mirabel look at each other and back at her in a concerned way.

"And my parents might get worried if I don't come back," She finally finished, almost panting as words finally stopped overflowing from her mouth. 

"Actually, we got the idea from your parents," Dolores piped in, popping up from behind Estella which catches her off guard, making her jump a little.

"Boy, aren't you jumpy," Luisa also chimed in, the crowd surrounding the girl growing by the minute along with her chances of fainting. One unfamiliar Madrigal already makes her nervous, now there are three.

Everyone exclaimed as the tiles started moving away from the girl, placing her next to Mirabel.

Even Casita knows how anxious Estella can be since it's had its fair share of her malfunctioning state.

★ ★ ★

"I'm not surprised it fits," The girl sighed, looking in the mirror, wearing one of Mirabel's nightgowns, and ending up agreeing for sleeping over.

But it's not like she never wanted to sleep over it's just the fear of embarrassing herself that keeps popping up in her head.

"I'm not surprised we both look good in it," Mirabel grinned, wrapping her arm around her friend's shoulder. "Besides, when was the last time we spent this much time together?"

"About a long time ago," Estella answered, smiling back.

The two exit Mirabel's room to go to Isabela's, where they're going to spend half the night. Sort of.

"Hola, Tio," Mirabel greeted as they cross paths with Bruno who was just about to go back to his room after a long time without needing to hide from anyone.

"Oh, Hola, Mirabel," Bruno greeted back, looking at Estella and waving at her awkwardly along with a shy smile and so did she.

"Well, uh, have fun at your sleepover," He tells them, almost tripping down the stairs up to his door due to his clumsiness. Only let out a nervous chuckle as he even struggled to find his own doorknob.

"He seems nice," The girl said to Mirabel, making her smile, before getting dragged towards Isabela's room. "Whoo! Let's go!"

Entering the room, they were met with an unexpected scenario.

Dolores, Luisa, and Antonio were doing each other's hair, while Isabela was helping the other two boys with their facial masks. Not to mention how they had ribbons on to keep their hair away from their face.

Mirabel and Estella turned their backs and started stifling their laughter, though everyone could still hear their snickering. Eventually, the two ended up laughing aloud, clutching their stomachs, and lying down on the floor.

"Where's a camera when you need one?" Mirabel cried, making her friend laugh even harder as everyone else sighed and shook their heads at them hopelessly.

This is going to take a while.