Author's Note: Alright. I lied. I couldn't stop myself from writing this quick before doing my other waiting tasks, so here you go!

CAMILO

It's been three days since my 'conversation' with my family.

Mirabel's finished her lessons, and Sofia and Al are both set to leave this morning.

None of us have really spoken since that night. Whenever I've tried, I end up not being able to look at them. So, instead, I've just spent most of our remaining time thinking. Dreading. Watching the others get so excited about Mirabel's progress, while I feel dead inside.

I don't want to be like this, I don't. I should be enjoying their last moments here to the fullest. But it hurts.

They're both leaving, and with their departure, a part of me is going, too. Never to come back. All hope of a future I'd dreamt of: gone. Lost forever. Along with the undiscovered me. Whoever it may be.

I sigh and bend forward in my seat to bury my face in my hands. I'm sitting on the edge of the bed now, waiting for the inevitable, a heavy gloom looming over my shoulders like a darkness ready to swallow me up.

Three slow knocks come at my door. The start of the end, and I know it.

I don't even look.

I can't.

Whoever they belong to, they step in and walk up beside me. "Hey. It's time," Al says, unmoving. Of course it's him. "You going to even bother coming to say goodbye?"

I close my eyes and sigh. "I'll be there in a minute."

Al pauses, but then exits out into the hall. In the distance, I hear Casita creating something with a cluster of clatters. My guess: to create a stairway for him down to the lower floor.

Barely holding myself together, I force myself up and clench my fists.

Let's get this over with once and for all.

I march out into the hall, my arms and legs dragging, slumping, feeling heavier than lead—my stomach aching, too.

Everyone's already waiting downstairs. They're all gathered at the foot of the staircase I predicted. I start to walk down it to approach them, but suddenly stop, halfway. There's something . . . off about them.

Why are they all smiling at me?

Al crosses his arms and scans me over, up and down. Scowling as if I've done something stupid. "Where's your pack?" He asks with a dramatic hand pointed at me. "You don't think you can leave without that, do you?"

"Wha-What are you-" I tilt my head at him.

His words click.

Jaw dropping, and heart racing, I turn to Mami, Papi, and Abuela.

Mami steps forward out of the bunch and clears her throat. "We're allowing you to go on two conditions," she says. "One," she raises an index finger, "you three won't be going without a chaperone. And two," she holds up another finger on the same hand, her eyes getting teary eyed, a fluffy, grey cloud forming over her head, "you have to come back to visit soon. At least for the holidays. Do you understand?"

My chest squeezes and soars. "I-I understand," I grin, struggling to hold back tears myself. "But . . . Who's going to be coming with?" I glance around at everyone, who all beams at each other.

Bruno makes his way forward from the back. A brown backpack's slung over his left shoulder. "Hope you don't mind, kid. I thought I'd tag along." He shrugs.

I gawk at him, not believing it.

"You have your sister and your tio Bruno to thank for this by the way," Papi glances at them. "They both spoke up on your behalf."

I shift focus between him and Dolores. Both of whom just smile at me, kindly, Dolores also giving me a double thumbs up. "Thank you." I blink at them. The weight on my shoulders that have been haunting me, lifting and disappearing into oblivion.

"Ah, it's-it's no big deal." Bruno waves a dismissive hand at me. "After spending the past ten years living in the walls, I figured it might be best to go out and see the world a little." He rubs the back of his neck at that.

"Right." I chuckle and push back my curls.

A part of me feels even guiltier now, for exaggerating those mean tales about him to tease Mirabel. But with this . . . well, I definitely plan on making it up to him. The only question is: how?

Before I can even try to come up with ideas, the stairs beneath me flatten.

My stomach drops.

In a blur of motion, Casita slides me down to the lower floor, right into Bruno. We hold onto each other for a moment, struggling to regain our balance, Casita's tiles still pushing up under our feet, keeping us together.

I laugh and roll my eyes at their insistence.

"Okay! Okay, Casita! I get the hint!" I hug him tight.

Bruno hesitates at first, his arms hovering lightly over me, not touching, but then he gives in and wraps his arms around me softly.

We pull away after a second, with Mirabel ooh-ing and aw-ing, and smile awkwardly at each other.

Abuela claps her hands. "Alright. With that settled, you better go pack." She directs a tender look at both of us. The warmth behind it reassures me I was wrong—that she does care and wants what's best for me. Just like the rest of the family.

Still smiling, she glimpses over everyone with both of her hands raised. "Everyone, let's help prepare them all a snack for their travels," she insists, turning on her heels.

Casita clacks some rooftiles overhead in agreement and possible celebration. I chuckle up at them and watch as everyone starts to filter out of the foyer into the kitchen.

"Try not to have too much fun adventuring with your girlfriend." Isabella pats me on the shoulder as she passes, Mirabel giggling while tagging along beside her.

I roll my eyes and shake my head at them.

The comment's deserved. I guess. And since they probably played a part in this decision as well, I'll give it to them, this time.

When they're almost all gone, I notice only Sofia remains.

She treads over to me slowly, both of her hands clasped behind her back.

I smile at her, a spreading blush tingling across my cheeks. A smile she returns back.

"Soooo," she says, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"So," I repeat and pivot to face her more. "Seems you can't get rid of me that easily, mi querida."

I wiggle my eyebrows at her, hoping to rise a reaction out of her from it with the nickname.

But Sofia doesn't waver. Or stutter.

Instead, her eyes only twinkle.

She grabs onto my ruana. "Wouldn't dream of it," she whispers, and then she steps close and presses her lips against mine.

A thousand fireworks explode inside my head, my heart racing, its fluttery tingling sensation numbing the rest of reality out.

I close my eyes and hold onto her arms, melting into the soft, warm caresses.

When Sofia finally pulls away, I stare at her in a hot, half-lidded daze.

She giggles, that same mischievous giggle that's driven me up the wall so many times before. And—beaming at her—I cup both hands firm around her cheeks and pull her to me to kiss her again. This time taking the lead. Intent on making it last. Regardless of anyone walking in or watching.

Everything feeling right in the world, with a brighter future, full of exciting adventures and discoveries yet to come.

Author's note #2: So, I originally was going to end this story here. BUTTTT . . . . I've come up with a handful of cute shorts, showing their adventures and growth afterwards that I feel I have to share (because they are honestly too adorable not to). I have two options for how I can go about uploading them. Option 1: I post them in snippets; this means more uploads, quicker. Option 2: I write them as one chapter each, but this means it'll take more time between uploads since some chapters are going to be quite long. If you have a preference, sound off in the comments or my PMs. Otherwise, we'll just have to see which I pick.

Update: it's looking like people for the most part are preferring full chapter posts over me breaking them up into sections. I'll try that for the next chapter, and we'll see how that goes. I'll be swamped this weekend, so next update will probably be sometime middle of next week. If you have any requests for a short, let me know! I already have a handful planned out, but I'm happy to add more! Thank you for all of your support!