Title from the song "Rewrite the Stars" from the movie "The Greatest Showman" sung by Zac Efron and Zendaya.

Please enjoy!

Bruno was always in his tower. Except for the meals and times he had to go to the village with his Mama and sisters, the family rarely saw him.

Which was why Julieta was confused when he sat in the kitchen, staring at the window. His smaller body leaned on the window frame as he stared outside, his seventeen year old mind likely wandering, Julieta assumed.

She smiled at the awe that filled his eyes as she walked across the room and set down the dirty plates she had collected from breakfast, joining him beside the window.

"What's up, Bruno? See anything interesting?"

Bruno shrugged, and Julieta wasn't surprised. Her brother didn't talk very much. She glanced out the window herself and saw a couple of girls braiding each other's hair, all of them beaming. Bruno smiled when the one with black hair laughed.

"Ooh. I see." Julieta said with a mischievous grin. Bruno's eyes widened and he whipped around to face her.

"It's not what it looks like!" He exclaimed, but she shushed him.

"It looks like you have a crush on her. I can see why, she looks nice."

Bruno blushed, playing with his ruana. "It's stupid, but she's so pretty. I…I think I like her."

"It's not stupid. I've been dating Agustín for a year now. And Pepa is seeing that guy…Félix? She totally has a crush on him."

"Yes, but this is different! The village hates me! She'll hate me! There is no way that she'll like me back!"

"You don't know that."

Bruno sighed. "I'm a curse, Julieta. No one would fall in love with a curse."

She took his hands gently, placing an arepa in his palm. "You're not a curse, and you need to go and talk to her if you want to know how she feels. You should just go for it."

He ate the food slowly, considering. She could feel the fear radiating off of him in waves, but knew that he had to come out of his shell. And, if he needed to do that, falling in love with a village girl might just be the trick.

Bruno's fingers broke off a piece of the arepa and fed it to a rat hiding in his clothes, Julieta frowning at the realization that the animal was there the whole time. She gripped his shoulders eagerly.

"Bruno. Go wash your face, maybe fix your hair, and go talk to her."

Bruno nodded hesitantly and began to walk away, but she pulled him back.

"And leave the rats at home."

His eyes met hers, and she gestured to his ruana. With a sigh, he took the rat carefully from his clothes and placed it on the counter, grabbing another one from the other side, and two that were hiding on his back.

"I'll see you guys later." He mumbled, petting one lovingly before heading towards his tower. Julieta watched him walk away, proud that he was getting out of his comfort zone for the first time in a long time. The rats sniffed the air around them, until they fixed their eyes on Julieta, and she crossed her arms in defiance.

"Did you really think that clinging to Bruno when he tried to talk to a girl was a good idea?"

"Bruno's going to talk to a girl?" Pepa asked, walking in with a rainbow over her head. "And, why are you talking to his rats?"

"They seem confused. Or angry, I can't tell. And, Bruno's just getting cleaned up and then he's going to talk to her."

"Finally." Pepa said, grabbing some food and shoving it into her mouth. "He hasn't stopped staring at her for days."

"Really? I didn't notice." Julieta observed, looking at the girl from out the window. "What's her name?"

"Abigail. She's the shoemaker's daughter. Very popular, tons of the town likes her. Mama does too."

"Why does Mama like her? I've never even met her. At least, I don't think I have"

Pepa lowered her voice. " Of course you met her, you just might not remember. She's great with children. There's no doubt that she's going to be a mother of like 5 kids. Mama thinks that she would be a good addition to the family Madrigal."

Julieta's eyes widened. "Wait. Mama wants her to marry Bruno?"

"I think so. At least, that's what I've heard."

The room seemed to get a bit colder, and a cloud formed over Pepa's head.

"Pepa…"

"I hate her." She said, her hands balled into fists and small raindrops falling over her head. "She's a jerk, I wouldn't be able to have her as a step sister."

"I don't think it's up to us. And, if Mama thinks it's a good match…"

"I know, I know." Pepa said, trying to clear the cloud with a composed smile. The cloud soon faded, and she sighed happily. "Anyway, I was going to see Félix. Do you want to find Agustín and come with?"

Julieta nodded. "Sure. But, I do want to see what Bruno does, too. And maybe come to his assistance if he needs it."

It was at that moment that Bruno walked in, his face and hair clean and wearing a newer green ruana. He held his hands nervously in front of him, and Julieta gave him a comforting smile.

"Ready?"

Bruno shook his head no. "Should…should I get a flower, or something? I really want her to like me."

"Anyone would be a fool not to like you." Julieta replied, and Pepa rolled her eyes. Julieta ignored her. "And, yes, a flower would be great. I think we have some in the backyard."

Pepa stayed in the kitchen as the other two headed out to the garden, where a vast array of colorful flowers were planted. Bruno stared down at them with a distant expression on his face.

"I can't do this." He said softly, and Julieta wrapped him in a hug.

"You can, Bruno. You're so special, any girl would be lucky to have you."

"But…I just can't do this ."

"Bruno…" Julieta felt the words catch in her throat. How was she supposed to comfort him? Was this even a good idea, if Abigail was a bad of a girl as Pepa made her out to be? But, if Mama liked this girl so much, maybe it was best that Bruno made the first move.

She wouldn't want Mama to talk to her before Bruno did.

Her brother looked at her expectantly, his green eyes filled with anticipation.

"Be yourself." She eventually settled on, picking up a purple and yellow flower. "Give this to her and tell her how you feel."

Bruno took the flower and touched the petals carefully, contemplating. He took a deep breath and composed himself.

"Okay."

Julieta smiled. "Good luck."

Bruno grinned and bolted towards the village, his sister following him at a slower pace. She noticed Pepa creep out of the house, too, and they both stood a fair distance away as Bruno approached Abigail.

Abigail was a girl with black hair tied into a braid, a bright complexion, like she was glowing, and was wearing a simple gray and purple dress. Now that Julieta saw her closer, she instantly recognized her as the most popular girl in all of Encanto, other than the Madrigal girls themselves. Everyone wanted to be her, or be seen by her. She was the one who always babysat the children, and there was no question why Mama liked her. She was as close to perfection as someone could get. Well, other than her snobby attitude around people her age. The adults saw her as an angel, but the fellow teens knew that she could be as rude as ever.

Julieta noticed that she watched Bruno walk up to her, Abigail's usual happiness dying at the sight. Her friends around her paused and whispered in each other's ears pointedly, no doubt talking about Bruno.

Pepa moved to go to the girls, a cloud forming, but Julieta stopped her.

"He has to do this." She said, her voice hushed. "If Bruno doesn't go through with this he'll still love her and not know how bad she really is. We can't save him this time." Even though I really want to, she added in her head.

Bruno sheepishly smiled as he came up to Abigail, his hands shaking as he held the flower.

"Hey…hey, Abigail." He stuttered, and she turned her nose up at him.

"What do you want, Curse-boy?"

"I…um…I like you?" He said in question. "Like…a lot?"

Her friends giggled, and Abigail sighed.

"Get in line, loser."

"I…would you want to have a picnic or something…sometime?"

"No. Absolutely not. You're such a weirdo. Don't you dare ask me again, or even talk to me. I don't like talking with walking curses" With that said, she flicked her braid and turned in the other direction, her friends following her with loud laughter. Abigail joined in on the laughter, leaving Bruno alone, the flower still in hand.

His body crumpled in on itself, his arms wrapping around his chest, and he ducked his head, his black hair falling in front of his face. Julieta and Pepa made their way to him, but he didn't respond. All he did was drop the flower, throwing his hood above his face.

"Bruno?" Julieta asked softly, going to wrap him in a hug, but he flinched away at her touch, cowering away from her. He then looked up at them, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Why? Why did you make me do this?" He yelled, and Julieta backed away.

"Bruno, I'm sorry, I didn't knowー"

"You told me that…" Bruno shook his head, cheeks flushed and went red.

"Bruno, she's a jerk." Pepa said, rain falling on her steadily at the sight of her heartbroken brother. "Don't let it get to your head."

"Don't listen to what she says." Julieta urged. "You're going to love someone else one day, I'm sure of it."

"Leave me alone!" He cried, and fisted his ruana in his hands, running away from them at a pace only he could accomplish. The two sisters watched him go, knowing that he needed to be alone. He would probably hide in his tower for days, Julieta would have to bring him food later. And they would have to tell Mama about what happened.

"We should probably go meet Félix and Agusín." Pepa finally said, the cloud above her slowly fading. Julieta nodded.

"Let's go. There's nothing that we can do for him now."

"I could make lightning strike her house, but Mama wouldn't like that."

"We should just not do anything about it." Julieta said. "Let's find the boys."

Bruno sat in his tower, sobbing. The sand around his feet got wet because of his tears, and his rats hovered anxiously by him, some of them crawling up his ruana. Bruno held his face in his hands as he cried.

He didn't understand. Everyone hated him, all because of his gift. And the one person, the one person that he wanted to be loved by hated him. What was wrong with him? What did he do to deserve this? Why does this always happen to him?

Bruno picked up one of the rats and let it climb into his hood, sniffling, trying to find joy in his friends around him.

"At least you guys don't think I'm a curse." He said softly, and one of the rats sniffed his hand, licking it after a moment. Bruno gave a small laugh, until he remembered that Julieta had instructed him to leave his rats when he went to talk to Abigail.

He knew that Julieta had the best for him in mind, but she was completely wrong. Abigail didn't like him. He shouldn't have done it. He should've just hid in his room and let his feelings for her pass.

It was so stupid. He was only seventeen, he knew that he would have a lot more time to find the special someone that he would marry. It wasn't going to be Abigail. He knew that. But, when he saw Pepa with Félix and Julieta with Agusín, he felt…lonely. Really lonely.

He didn't have any friends. He didn't have someone he loved to be around, and looked forward to seeing everyday. He knew that in a matter of years his sisters would get married, and Bruno would get left behind. Single and alone.

His mama would hate him. He would be a bigger disappointment than he already was. He would be a failure.

Bruno's forehead ached, and more tears came, and this time the rats couldn't comfort him.

This will be a multi-chapter story, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading!