Author's note: Surprise! I ended up writing this faster than expected, again. Be prepared for some fluff and angst, typical of first love. You've been warned. ;)

CAMILO

"Why don't we go this way?" I point at another dotted trail on our unfurled map. The four of us stand circled around the massive paper, sweat dripping down our foreheads from the sweltering sun scorching hot on our backs.

"That cuts through the mountains," Sofia says. "The path looks shorter, but . . ."

"Would it get us there faster?"

She rolls her eyes and huffs. "Probably? But it'll take a lot more energy and-"

"I'm for the mountain road!" Al straightens up.

"Seconded," I add, mimicking his stance.

Sofia scowls at both of us, then whips her head to the left to focus on Bruno.

He jolts and fidgets with his fingers. "I'm-I'm going to have to agree with them on this one," he mutters, lowering his head to hide his eyes behind his curls. "The sooner we get out of this heat, the better—for all of us."

Sofia's eyelids lower in disappointment. With a dramatic pinch of her nose, she heaves out an elongated sigh. "Fine," she whispers. "Looks like I'm outnumbered here."

"Great!" Al rolls up the map in a hurry. "Then, lets get a move on!"

"Hold it!" Sofia snatches onto his ruana. He almost falls back from the sudden hold.

We all look at her, and she waves a hand to the sun, visible in the blue western sky.

"We can't start climbing now. The sun's going to set soon, and it's too dangerous to take that path so close to night! We should wait to start again in the morning."

I throw my head back and groan internally.

Ah, Dios.

So, we have to camp out, again? That marks the second day in a row, without a room or bed, stuck in this heat.

"Fine. I guess you're right." Al's shoulders also slump. "Let's just setup camp then, over there." He points at an area up ahead, closer to the river. A small bunch of clustered trees and bushes offer shade there.

Sofia and Bruno immediately start heading in that direction—Bruno leading our donkey cart, as usual. I reluctantly trudge after them, feet dragging through the dirt and grass, one slow, unenthusiastic step at a time.

It doesn't take long for the twins to set up their bedrolls and tent, their experience obvious to any wandering eye from the ease of their cooperation and movements. Bruno and I, on the other hand, are a different story. We're not even halfway through ours by the time they finish and move on to gathering leaves and twigs for our fire.

Bruno's barely hammered the stakes in, and now, we're both fumbling to set up the two main pitching poles in unison.

"Tio, move yours a little to the left." I glance back at him when the tent shifts too much on his side again.

He does what I say, peeking over at me uncertainly the whole time. "Here?"

"There! There! Perfect!" I quickly work on tying my pole down. Once I'm done, and I'm sure tio Bruno's finished with his and not needing my help, I collapse flat onto our bedrolls, arms spread out wide. Completely and utterly exhausted.

Sweat covers me from head to toe. I can feel it in clinging to my scalp, between my curls. Even in the shade like this, the heat seems to bear down on me from every direction. A heavy weight, consuming any bit of energy it can from everything.

What I'd give for some of tia Julieta's refreshing lulada right now to fight it.

"Hey, you alright?" Sofia peeps down at me from our tent's entrance.

I smirk and roll over onto my side, one hand propping up my chin so I can better look at her. "Of course! Why wouldn't I be, preciosa?"

Sofia smiles at me, skepticism and tease clear in her gorgeous, hazel eyes.

Snickering quietly, she points with her thumb at something to her right.

"You want to go take a dip in the river to cool off?" she offers with a tilt of her head in the same direction.

I purse my lips and glimpse at her thumb a second to process. "Sure. Why not?" I hop up, scrambling out of the tent.

A quick dip might be just what I need.

We both start walking over to the river, side by side. Near the shore, however, Sofia halts. She tugs at the base of her shirt and lifts it over her head, revealing a white and blue striped, strapless bathing suit underneath.

My heart skips.

I quickly turn to look away and work on removing my own shirt and ruana. A task that suddenly feels stranger and more difficult than usual. When I finish, I peek over at Sofia again. She's just dropped her skirt also, unveiling a matching pair of shorts.

A penetrating heat blooms across my cheeks. Fills my chest.

"What?" Sofia raises an eyebrow at me, noticing my dumb staring.

"Nothing!" I hurry to untie and remove my pants.

I nervously kick my way out of them, almost stumbling twice, leaving only my checkered swim shorts on, afterwards.

Sofia saunters into the river, unfazed, and I rush to follow, pulse racing.

The river's refreshing coolness instantly washes through me, a pleasant shiver running up my spine. It sweeps away all the accumulated heat and sweat, clinging onto my body, gifting my stiff, aching limbs revived energy the further we go, until we pause, waist deep.

Its miracle touch, however, still does nothing for the warmth on my face.

I struggle to try to control it myself, fixating on the glistening beams of sunlight, squiggling across the surface of the water. Trying to clear my mind of anything. Most of all those sights at the beach.

"Why are you so quiet and out of it?" Sofia takes a step closer.

I flinch and look up at her. "Wha . . . Can't a man think to himself, hermosa?" I give her my most calm, flirtatious smile.

"Of course. But are you actually thinking?"

"Oh, what? You think I can't think?" I splash some water at her.

"I never said that!" She splashes back, the drops sprinkling me all over my chest and cheeks.

"It was written all over your face!" I splash her more, faster.

She tries to do so back, so I rush forward, getting closer and closer, water flying between us everywhere, until I wrap her into a tight hug and throw us back fully into the water. The muted, underwater world surrounds us—envelops us in its crisp, soothing chill. Soaking into the skin across my face, between my curls.

Sofia pushes herself out of my grasp. She jumps back up above the surface, and I hurry after her.

Grinning, I wipe my dripping front curls out of my face. Sofia's struggling to reorganize her own, only her hair's now completely straight, making it way more of a struggle for her. I laugh at her shocked, sputtering expression.

Next second, a massive wall of water hits me in my entirety.

I blink open my eyes again.

Sofia smirks at me, while pretending to inspect her nails—a person-sized hand made of water sprouts out of the river beside her, copying the action. "Payback." She dismisses it with a haughty sneer.

"Oh, so that's how you want to play, is it? Using magic?" I raise both eyebrows at her.

Sofia beams at me, a mischievous glimmer sparkling in her eyes. Daring me.

So be it.

"Hate to interrupt," Al's voice suddenly calls out from the shore, stopping me from shifting in my tracks.

We both pivot to focus on him. He's staring at us, frowning, his arms crossed firm across his chest.

"Really, I do," he emphasizes with a languid twirl of his hand. "But Sofia, we need you to start the fire to get dinner started."

"Right." Sofia nods and starts walking back to shore.

I hesitate but do so as well. Seeing no other point in remaining if I'm the only one out here.

Sofia continues on into camp. As I'm about to pass Al to pickup my stuff, he grabs me by the arm. "Wait," he whispers.

I stop and meet his serious stare.

"Mind telling me what you guys are exactly?" He glances back over at Sofia, his expression harshening, brow furrowing deeper into a scrunched up scowl.

My heart races. The heat I'd only just gotten rid of returns. "W-what do you mean?" I stutter, a lump forming in the back of my throat.

"What are you guys? Officially?" he persists.

My mind runs blank.

I just gape at him, eyes wide, completely speechless.

Alejandro frowns. "Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" he raises his voice slightly, containing it still in a hushes whisper.

"I-I uh . . ."

Yes.

That's what I want to say, immediately. As weird as it feels and sounds.

But then, a thought occurs to me.

Are we?

I've never asked her.

She's never asked me.

Nothing's ever actually been said.

So . . . are we?

My stomach sinks at the uncertainty.

While I struggle for an answer, Sofia calls out to Alejandro, to confirm the fire's been set—the flames now dancing between the rocks circled at her feet.

Alejandro nods to her. "We're not done talking on this yet." He pokes me in the chest. "I've got my eye on you."

With that, Alejandro walks away, back into camp. And I'm left to drown in my own thoughts, wondering the state of my relationship, if there's one to begin with.

Our group moves out early the next morning, not long after breakfast. The sun's yet to rise very far in the sky, its dim, golden light painting pastel hues across the land. Because of the steepness of the mountain path we're taking now, none of us ride in the cart. Otherwise, we might overwhelm the donkey from the added weight. So, we're all now walking on foot. Bruno leads everyone up the ascending path, gaze straight ahead, one hand clutching onto the donkey's reins. Al struts casually behind him, hands clasped behind the back of his head. Meanwhile, Sofia and I stroll next to each other in the back.

I glimpse over at her, all my nerves tingling inside my body.

Alright.

Now's my chance—to fix this, to get an answer. Once and for all.

All I have to do is ask to make it official. Right? Right. I can do this. I can do this. Be confident.

"Soooo," I drawl out and peer off to the side, out beyond the road's ledge to our right. "Crazy weather out here, isn't it?"

I internally cringe the second the words come out, the statement definitely not what I'd intended.

Sofia snickers. "Wait until you see what it's like during the summer," she says.

"It gets worse than this?" My eyes widen at her.

"Oh, yes." Sofia grins, straight at me.

My heart flutters.

I gulp.

Get yourself together, Camilo, I chide inside my head.

Just say it.

Don't dance around the subject.

"A-Anyways," I ruffle up my curls, summoning up all the willpower I can manage, and focus straight ahead, "Um . . . I-I wanted to talk to you about s-something."

Okay. Good. Good. That's a good start.

Sofia watches me. Her gaze squints the longer I wait. "Go on," she says, seeming to realize I was sort of waiting on her permission.

Now that I have it, though, I tense.

My power suddenly acts up, making me shift between a few different people, before finally resettling on me.

"Uh, ah, well . . . I um . . . Uh." I try to clear my throat, the prickling nerves only getting worse. Just as I do, something lands on my forehead, smack dab in the center, in the space between my eyes. "Ah!" I yelp with a jolt, and try to bat it away, stumbling off to the side.

The Giant Butterfly Moth flies away.

Sofia reaches out and grabs onto my arm. "Camilo!" she shouts.

Then, the ground beneath us shakes.

There's a loud crack before a large portion of the road's hillside crumbles, sinking with me, Sofia, and Al still on it.

I hold onto Sofia as we fall, a swift breeze rustling up my curls. Chilling me to the core. My stomach flops. The flat ground, lying far below, becomes my sole perspective.

Sofia holds one hand out behind us. A second later, something pushes quick into my back, forcing us to fly straight into Al. He immediately latches onto us, closes his eyes, and teleports us in mid-air.

The three of us fall into a heap on the ground at our new location.

"Oof!" I grumble from its center, pain shooting up like a burst of lightning from my tailbone.

"Ay, ay, ay, that hurt," Sofia whimpers, sitting up from where she's sprawled across my stomach.

Al sits up to my side as well, rubbing at his side.

"H-hey! Are you guys okay?" Bruno's voice calls from . . . overhead?

We all look up at him.

We're now at the foot of the hillside, just ahead of the collapse. Bruno and the donkey wagon stand on the remaining road high above—Bruno now kneeling, wide-eyed, near the edge. His whole face slackened with panic.

"We're-We're fine," Sofia shouts back.

I sit up fully and wince at a stinging sensation along my arm. I lift up my ruana's sleeve to check it. Blood trickles out of a rough, scratched-up graze that trails the entire length of my elbow, and then some. I must've gotten it at the start of the fall with the first slip with the debris.

Sofia notices and scowls down at it. "That's a bad scrape," she whispers.

Al looks over and stiffens. "Hehe . . . Is that . . . Is that blood?" He tilts his head slightly, pointing at it, then suddenly, wavers. His eyes roll into the back of his head, and he collapses beside us.

"Al!" I gawk at his unconscious, crumpled form.

"He'll be fine." Sofia grabs my injured arm's wrist. "Don't worry about him. Right now we need to clean you up."

Sofia reaches into her skirt pocket, pulling out a white handkerchief with flower and butterfly designs embroidered along the corners. Mirabel's handiwork, if I had a guess.

"I-I'll look for a way down!" Bruno calls.

"Okay!" Sofia offers back. She then lifts her free hand into the air and summons a blob of water she uses to dampen her cloth. I watch fixated as she dabs it at the scrape.

A renewed stinging rips through me at the touch, making me curl inward, close my eyes, and grimace with a hissed gasp.

"Does it sting a lot?" She pauses.

"N-No. It's fine," I mutter and try to ignore it.

Sofia starts dabbing at it again, and I have to bite at my lip to contain myself. To keep myself fixed in place.

The two of us sit in a tense silence like this, with her wiping up all the blood and applying almost soul-crushing pressure.

When I see just how dirty her handkerchief gets through the process, stained with my blood, guilt churns in my stomach. "S-Sorry about this," I whisper, trying to stop gritting my teeth.

"It's not your fault. The road collapsed," she insists, not looking up from her work for a second.

"Still . . . "

Sofia stops.

She stares up at me, her hand wrapped loose around my wrist.

"I'm just glad you're alright, okay?" she says. Her gaze remains steady, locked with mine. Oozing with confidence, certainty. But then, her cheeks flush a little. She blinks and lowers her head. "T-that we're all alright," she clarifies, going back to her work.

I chuckle and look off to the side, my cheeks now burning a bit, recognizing her own fluster. "Y-Yeah. Of course."

More silence passes between us.

Sofia's pats lessen, instead lingering longer and longer in one place. The blood flow probably slowing or stopping entirely.

I watch her, unable to tear my eyes away. Admiring her focus. Her care. The way how her dark-brown waves elegantly frame the sides of her face, not a strand seemingly out of place. Even after what could and should be considered a traumatic fall.

She's just . . . perfect.

So much that it takes my breath away. Forces my mouth to run dry. Heart to race.

But am I content to leave it at that?

To leave us, like that?

No.

I swallow. Hard. "Hey . . . about earlier . . . before the fall—"

"I made it!" Bruno bursts through the nearby bushes.

I nearly jump out of my skin, heart threatening to leap right out of my chest, between my ribs. Sofia visibly does so, too, eyes now wide, and for a second grasping my wrist tighter.

"How are you guys? Do you need anything? I uh-" Bruno fumbles to pull off the pack slung over his shoulders, tugging it out in front of him in a hurry, to where he almost drops it. Twice. "I brought our supply pack!" He offers it out as soon as it's secure. "And uh-"

"Thank you, Bruno." Sofia takes it from him, and he gives a loud sigh of relief, his shoulders quickly relaxing. "You didn't get hurt coming down, did you?" She scans him over, up and down, while opening the pack. That's when I notice there's some twigs and leaves in his hair and sticking to parts of his green ruana.

"No! Believe it or not, there's actually a pretty decent path leading down here just a little ways ahead." He points back behind him, beyond the bushes.

"That's good." Sofia smiles.

"Yes. Fantastic," I grumble, rolling my eyes.

Bruno glances at Al, oblivious to my cues, like always. "What happened to Alejandro?"

"He's just passed out. He'll wake up soon enough." Sofia takes some bandages out and sets them beside me. "Let's rest here a bit until then, and afterwards, we can get moving again."

"Sounds good." Bruno sits down, cross-legged, right beside us.

All I can do is lean back and groan.

So much for privacy.

SOFIA

At the end of the mountain path, our group sets up camp in a small grassy clearing, surrounded by trees. Fireflies and mosquitoes buzz around us now, the former blinking their lights on and off throughout the night's unending darkness. Al and Bruno have already gone to bed. Camilo and I, though, sit next to each other by the dwindling fire.

I've just finished rubbing some citronela oil along my arms, to try to keep the mosquitoes away. Any more bites and my skin will start to feel like it is its own little mountain range. Which is preferably avoidable. Especially with how much the current ones already itch.

I glance up at Camilo afterwards.

He's frowning. Lowered gaze directed solely at the crackling campfire.

I quirk an eyebrow at him. "Hey. What's wrong?" I ask. "You've been acting strange all day."

Camilo jolts. He looks at me and shapeshifts once into his dad, then to Bruno, and then lastly to Al before going back to himself. "I-I uh." He purses his lips. Eyes wide. If I didn't know any better, I'd wonder if he saw a ghost.

He sits there frozen for a second. Not moving or saying anything.

I just stare at him, waiting. Giving him whatever space he may need, like he's always done for me before.

Seeming to snap out it, he looks away and puts a fist to his mouth while he clears his throat. "I um . . . I just . . . realized something," he whispers.

A slight blush appears on his cheeks.

"Realized what?" I ask, tilting my head at him.

He fidgets with his hands. "I . . . We . . ." He waves between the two of us. Stops. Mouth agape. And then, in a flustered flurry, lowers his head, and ruffles up his dark curls.

I watch him, stun struck.

Just what has gotten into him?

Camilo inhales a deep breath after a moment. Suddenly calm, relaxed, he grabs my hand on my lap and looks back up at me with a newfound seriousness. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asks.

I gawk at him. Speechless.

When the words finally click, and everything makes sense, I can't help but laugh. "I thought I already was!" I squeeze his hand between giggles. "Don't tell me you were leading me on until now, Camilo Madrigal?"

I put my free hand on my hip and give him a teasing look.

Camilo stiffens. "No! No, never! I-" He holds his free palm up in front of him and chuckles nervously, a wide smile now starting to tug at the corners of his lips. "I just . . ."

His blush gets even darker. He grins at me, happiness shining in his stunning hazel eyes' depths. The bouncing firelight next to us casts dancing shadows across his adorably freckled face.

My heart flutters at the handsome sight. Leaning forward more, I give him a quick peck on the lips.

"Yes, I'll be your girlfriend," I whisper, pulling away, just barely.

Camilo gawps at me.

And then, with the biggest beam I've ever seen from him, he lifts a soft hand to my cheek and kisses me again.