Note: Posted on archive of our own as a separate fic 'Little Talks" but I figured I'd just combine them here.
Anyways, I love Luisa. So much. So here's some Luisa content.
"I was so worried about you!" Luisa bawls, holding him close. "Do you have any idea?"
Camilo grunts, slightly worried that she might accidentally suffocate him, and attempts to extricate himself, even if he knows better at this point.
No one escapes from Luisa's hugs.
So instead he resigns himself to his fate and tries to hug her back. "I'm okay, Luisa," he assures her, for what must be the tenth time, patting her shoulder.
On the one hand, he really does appreciate her looking out for him and he feels genuinely terrible for making her this worried. On the other hand, he likes being able to breathe.
She holds him at arm length then. "Don't you ever do anything like that again," she orders. This is accompanied by a shake.
This does not rattle his brain in his skull, but he's tempted to pretend it does for the sake of theatrics.
He opts not to, sparing his cousin any further trauma on his behalf.
She already feels bad enough.
Not that she should when she had literally nothing to do with it.
"I… think he gets it, Luisa." Mirabel pats her sister on the back.
Luisa spins to face her, jabbing a finger at her face.
"Oh no, don't you start on me," she growls. "You weren't there and… and…" Her face crumples.
Camilo jumps in before she starts crying- he hates when any of his cousins cries, regardless of how annoyed he might be feeling with them at that particular moment in time. "Hey, hey, hey, I'm okay!"
He should know what to do- this sort of situation- making people smile and laugh- is where he thrives- but he genuinely has no idea what to do. He's not comforting his mother after she's had one of her thunder and rainstorms.
This is his cousin who almost saw him get murdered.
He wants to make her feel better- wants to make them both feel better- he just doesn't know how when he himself is still feeling very much shaken up after everything that's happened.
His father has already had to stop his mother from rushing out the door and making a beeline straight to town in order to deliver her own brand of justice.
This whole thing has left his entire family in upheaval and Abuela has her work cut out for her, trying hard to restore some semblance of normalcy.
Even if half the time that means acting like the entire thing never happened.
They must be strong. They must be reliable.
They're the Madrigals, after all.
Just once, Camilo wishes he didn't have to be strong or reliable.
"Come on!" Mirabel squeezes between them, looping her arms through theirs, before Camilo's thoughts can spiral further. "I know what we can do! How about a slumber party?"
"Slumber party?" Camilo must be stupid because it takes his brain several seconds to catch up. They haven't done one of those in… years.
He can't remember when the last time was.
And suddenly his throat feels thick and he realizes he wants to have this.
He wants things to go back to the way they were.
Even if it's just for a night.
"You know?" Mirabel bumps him with her hip when he hasn't responded yet. "Like we used to do?"
"I remember," Camilo says and has no explanation for why his eyes start to water or why he's feeling so choked up.
"Camilo?"
"I'm fine."
There's a flash of color on the balcony above them and he sees Isabela standing above them. There's something indiscernible in her expression.
Camilo tries to place what he sees.
Worry? Sorrow?
Longing?
It's hard to tell with Isabela.
With the expectations Abuela sets for her, she feels so far removed from the rest of them sometimes.
She meets his eyes and her brows furrow. She looks like she wants to say something and he wishes she would.
She used to be a part of those slumber parties, after all.
But then she's gone in another flash of color and it's like she had never been there in the first place.
For a moment, his ribs feel too tight, constricting his breath, and he doesn't understand why he should feel so disappointed.
But then the feeling is gone again when Mirabel is knocked into him, giggling, while Luisa finishes up some joke he didn't catch and he's just grateful for the rest of his cousins.
His eyes land on Mirabel, smiling and laughing with her sister, and he makes up his mind.
He's not going to tell her what he was doing out there in the first place. Knowing her, she'll take it far too deeply to heart, probably blaming herself in the process, as if she somehow had control of the circumstances that led to this.
"You thinking about something?" Mirabel nudges his shoulder. While she's smiling, it doesn't quite reach her eyes anymore. Instead, worry slowly spreads across her face.
Camilo shakes off his morose thoughts and smiles to reassure her. "Just thinking about how awesome it is to have a cousin like you…"
She frowns, recognizing that as a deflection immediately, and now that he has both her and Luisa studying him, he feels heat creeping up his neck.
"Camilo…" Mirabel's hand finds its way to his shoulder, giving him a little squeeze. "You don't have to pretend to be okay. You know that, right?"
"I…" His voice wobbles. To his horror, his vision blurs and he hastily wipes the back of his hand across his eyes. "Yeah. I know."
"Hey," Luisa slips in between both of them, throwing her arms around their shoulders and pulling them in close like they're all conspiring. "Think Mamá will make some of her polvorosas if we ask?"
Camilo's stomach rumbles, mouth watering, at the thought of his tía's cooking.
"We can ask." Mirabel sounds just as eager as he feels. "Let's see if she'll let us help. We'll get Dolores and Antonio and…"
She's interrupted when Luisa hoists them both over her shoulder, ignoring twin shrieks from both of them.
"Luisa!" Mirabel gasps, voice breathy with the force of giggles she's trying hard not to give in to. "Put us down!"
"No can do, sis."
And Camilo, hanging upside down over his cousin's shoulder with his dignity less intact than he might like, smiles.