This chapter is heavily based on "The Moment I Knew" by Taylor Swift. Hope you enjoy!

Nothing got better over the next 2 weeks. Javi got more and more distant. He held her hand less. He kissed her less and when he did kiss her, he seemed a million miles away. He talked to her and asked her about her day less. Mirabel tried to ask him about it, but he just said things were fine. She knew that was a lie. It was like he was pulling away from her and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She'd go to bed every night thinking she did something wrong.

They were hanging out at his house the evening before Mirabel's 21st birthday. Mirabel grabbed his hand and said, "Don't forget about my party at Casita tomorrow. It will start at 7."

He smiled at her and nodded. "I'll be there."

She stayed for a little while longer before heading back to Casita. He didn't walk her home anymore like he used to.

The next day was spent getting everything ready for the party. Birthday parties were obviously a big deal in the Madrigal household. Mirabel had a hard time enjoying the day. All she could think about were how things were going with Javi. She knew the moment it all changed was when they had their one and only fight after the dinner with his friends. He was the one who acted different that night first. He was the one who wouldn't talk to her and didn't defend her in front of his friends. Even so, she couldn't help but blame herself. She secretly wished she had kept her feelings to herself that night. She thought that maybe if she had, he wouldn't be so upset with her still.

Mirabel took a deep breath in the mirror and said, "Party time. Let's go." She had on her favorite dress and had pulled all of her hair to one side and braided it. She had grown her hair out and loved being able to do more styles to it.

It was 6:55 as she headed down the stairs and there were already a lot of people there. Of course, everyone in her family was there. She also had a lot of her friends from the Encanto at the party. She walked around and chatted with everyone.

She was chatting with a friend when she looked up and saw the time on the wall: 7:20. Her heart started beating fast when she realized something: Javi wasn't there yet. She excused herself from her friend and walked to the door. She opened it and looked outside. She looked as far ahead of herself as she could, hoping to spot him. She didn't.

She closed the door and put her back to the door. She took a few deep breaths to stop herself from crying. "No, don't freak out," she said to herself. "It's still early. He probably got busy with something. He said he'd be here."

"Mirabel!" Mirabel turned to the side to see Antonio running towards her. "Come on, you're missing your own party. Let's go!"

Mirabel let out a little giggle. "Coming, Tonito," She looked back towards the door, took a deep breath, and walked with her little cousin back to the party.

She continued talking to everyone, but while at the same time, continuing to look towards the door. All of her friends were keeping up the small talk, asking her how she'd been and if she felt any different being 21. They were also asking how things were going with Javi. Her friends didn't know about any of the problems the couple was having. All she could think about was Javi and how he said he'd be here.

It was 8:00 when she started opening presents. She had told everyone she didn't need any gifts, but she still got a few. Mostly stuff that she could sew and more embroidery material. That was honestly all she needed, so she was very grateful for it. While opening presents, she kept looking towards the door.

She had a brief thought that maybe he got held up with something or maybe a family emergency came up. She got sad as she thought that if that had been the case, he would have still come by and explained her the situation or even sent one of his friends over to explain. She knows that, because that's what he said he'd do if ever got busy with something. Up until this point, if he told her he was going to do something or show up at a certain time, he did it.

Before she knew it, it was 8:30. He still wasn't here. It was taking everything in her not to burst into tears. It was her birthday party and he didn't think it was important enough to show up. She excused herself and walked down the hall to the bathroom. She wanted to be alone, but she was followed by Dolores, Camilo, Isabela, and Luisa. They had been watching her all night and could see that look of hopelessness on her face getting worse by the minute. Her family did know about the problems she had been having with him. They didn't know what to think of it either.

They all piled into the bathroom and Mirabel paced around for a few moments while everyone just watched her with sad expressions. She took a few deep breaths and sat down on the closed toilet seat. She looked up and said with a shaky voice, "He said he'd be here." As soon as she said those words, a few sobs escaped and tears started to roll down her face.

Everyone looked at each other, speechless. They couldn't believe Javi didn't show up. They knew how madly in love Mirabel was and they hated to see how heartbroken she was now. They knew that nothing they could say would make her feel better.

Still not really know what he was going to say, Camilo stepped forward and bent down in front of Mirabel. He put his hand on her wrist and squeezed it. "What do you want us to do, Mira? Do you want us to tell everyone to go home? If that's what you want, we'll do it."

"Yeah, whatever you need, sis," said Isabela. "We'll do it."

Mirabel took a few deep breaths to try and compose herself. She stood up and said, "No. I just need to get through the rest of the party. Not much longer now." She smiled at Camilo. "Thank you,"

"Of course,"

They all walked out of the bathroom and joined in the party.

Mirabel kept a smile on her face as everyone sang happy birthday to her and she blew out the candles on her cake. She didn't even bother to make a wish. The only thing she wanted was clearly not going to happen. She desperately wanted the night to end. Everything was going in slow motion.

She stood off to the side a little bit as her mom and Abuela started to cut the cake. Her dad walked up next to her and put his arm around her. He whispered in her ear, "I'm so sorry, mija. Your 21st birthday party is supposed to be fun." The only emotion Agustin felt was anger. He was so angry at Javi for not showing up. He was ready to tear him limb from limb.

"I know," said Mirabel with a shrug.

Everyone got cake and continued to chat with each other. Mirabel really didn't want any, but she still got a small piece. All she wanted to do was cry. It was taking everything in her not to just start crying right there. As hard as she was trying, a tear still managed to slide down her cheek. She looked around the room and could see a lot of eyes on her. Her cheeks felt hot as she wiped the tear away. "Great," she thought to herself. "Crying in front of everyone I know." There was nothing she could say or do.

After what felt like hours later, the last person that didn't live in Casita left the party. Mirabel stood on the porch and watched as they left. She finally set down on the porch and just looked out in front of her. She thought back to the night when Casita had finished being rebuilt. She was so happy that night. She was so happy, and shocked, when she placed the doorknob in the hole and the magic came back. She wanted to go back to how happy she felt that night, because on this night, she was devastated.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and let all of her emotions out. She started to cry. The tears just rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed. The pain was unbearable. She wanted to crawl in a hole and disappear forever. She thought back to the night when she went with Javi to his sister's house. It was in this moment that she remembered the scarf she left at her house.

It felt like hours later when someone opened the door and stepped on the porch. They sat next to Mirabel and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I…I know there is nothing I can say to make you feel better." said Bruno. "All I know is…I'm just so sorry. You don't deserve this."

Mirabel couldn't get her tears under control. She was shaking and felt about an inch tall. She tried to say something, anything, to let him know she heard his words and appreciated them. But her throat kept closing up. She scooted herself closer to him and leaned against his shoulder. He proceeded to wrap his arms around her. She wrapped her arms around him and continued to sob uncontrollably in his shoulder.

Before too long, someone else came to sit by Mirabel. The person put their hand on her back and Mirabel turned briefly to look at whoever it was. Her vision was blurry due to the tears, but she could see her mom watching her with sad eyes. "Mama," said Mirabel sadly and she slowly pulled away from Bruno and collapsed against her mom. She was still shaking and crying and just could not get herself under control.

Julieta felt so helpless and heartbroken for her daughter. Her other 2 daughters had not experienced heartbreak this bad before, so this was new to her. Julieta had a boy break up with her many years before, but it didn't affect her as badly. She wanted to help Mirabel, but she just didn't know how.

Julieta looked past Mirabel and at Bruno. He was still sitting there and looking at Mirabel with sad eyes, but then he looked up at his sister. They didn't have to say anything; their eyes conveyed the message perfectly: "How could he do this to her?"

"Oh, my baby girl…I am so sorry, mi amor," Julieta rubbed her daughter's back and kissed the top of her head. "I wish you didn't have to go through this. It's not fair. You don't deserve this at all."

Mirabel suddenly had an immense amount of guilt take over and she started to cry even harder. She mumbled to her mom, "I'm sorry,"

"What?"

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

Julieta was shocked, to say the least. "Mirabel, what are you talking about? Hey, look at me," Julieta pulled away and grabbed her daughter's face. She wiped the tears away. "You do not need to be apologizing for this. There is no way this is your fault. How could you think that?"

"Well…I'm just going off of what you told me when I first started dating him." Mirabel sniffed and a let a few more sobs escape. "You told me to be careful and to not move so fast. But I wasn't careful and I did move too fast. I fell so hard for him." Mirabel's voice was shaking and she was close to crying again. "I should have listened to you. Maybe if I had, this wouldn't have happened."

"Oh, my sweet girl," said Julieta and pulled Mirabel in for a hug. "I know I said those things, but he made his own choices. He is the one that chose to not show up after he told you he would. He is the one who owes you an explanation, okay?"

Mirabel nodded.

"There is no use in dwelling on the past. I had the same talk with Tia Pepa when I could see she was falling in love with Tio Felix so quickly. She had the same reaction as you and ignored me." Julieta giggled. "And as you know, that turned out just fine. 3 kids, 2 grandkids, and many years later, and they are happier than ever. So, please, don't blame yourself. You did nothing wrong." She shrugged. "You fell in love. What's to blame in that?"

Mirabel nodded again and looked at the ground. "I just hate feeling like this. And I really don't know if I should go talk to him or not. Should I go to his house? Should I wait for him to come my mine?" She groaned and rubbed her face and eyes under her glasses. "I hate the unknown rules of relationships."

"You do whatever you want to do. If you want to go talk to him, you do that. If you want to stay here, you can do that, too. It's whatever you want to do."

Mirabel nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Mama," She gave her mom a hug and then turned to Bruno. "And thank you, Tio Bruno," She gave him a hug.

"Anytime, kiddo,"

Mirabel hopped up off the porch and headed inside and up to her room.

Julieta and Bruno looked at each other. Julieta sighed and hugged Bruno. While still hugging, she said, "I wish my food could heal a broken heart."

"I do too,"