Chapter 22:

(Camilo POV)

We all made our way to Casita as the party was starting to die down. As we walked through the front door Abuela looked over at all of us, "Where did you all go?" I looked around at everyone and to Liv before taking a breath, "Abuela this is my girlfriend Olivia." She smiled at Liv, before looking back at me "I didn't know you were seeing anyone?" Abuela started. She then looked back at Liv, "I don't recognize you from town." Liv took a breath, "I'm Olivia Santiago Señora Madrigal." Her expression froze. The last few of the guests were leaving and we made our way to the dinning room. I took a seat next to Olivia and watched as the entire family was making their way through and Padre Sanchez was standing in the corner.

"Camilo Madrigal you have some explaining to do," Mama said as her and Papa looked over at us. I looked around at my family, "Well first I'd like you all to meet my girlfriend Olivia Santiago." I looked around at my cousins as their jaws dropped, "You're dating someone?" "You are dating a Santiago?" "When did this happen?" I looked over to Liv as she shrunk under all the gazes and questioning. I held her hand under the table as I looked over at her, "You ok?" I whispered. She nodded her head, "We both knew this was coming."

I began to explain everything that happened from the day her Mama died, to the day she went blind, when we met in the church, when we started dating and what happened in the church this afternoon. There were a lot of questions as I told them everything and I answered them all giving Liv's hand a squeeze every now and then. As I finished the attention turned to her because there were parts of the story only she could share.


(Olivia POV)

I listened along with everyone else as Camilo spoke and as he finished all eyes were on me, "Señorita Santiago?" I knew I had to tell them about what happened but I could feel myself shaking as I thought about it. I decided not to tell them more than Camilo did about my childhood but I would fill them in on the last 3 days, "When the mountain fell Papa saw his opportunity to leave. He wanted me to come with him and leave here behind but, I didn't want to. When I told him that he tied me up with his belts and put me in the back of the cart to drive away. I had something over my mouth too and I was rolling back and forth with each bump in the path. At one point I rolled back hard into a wall and the buckle broke around my hands and it loosened a plank on the cart. I managed to make a whole and jump out of the cart while Papa continued to drive. I was trying to make my way back to Encanto, but I was blind and had no way of knowing if I was going the right way. I found the river and remembered Camilo telling me that it ran through into town and started following it. I was really tired though I don't know exactly when but I crawled up on the grass and laid down. Next thing I knew I was in the church and I could see everything."

No one knew what to say. When Camilo spoke they all had question after question but as I spoke there was dead silence. Camilo just kept squeezing my hand gently as I spoke. I didn't want to go into the details of it and I think they all understood that.

Señora Madrigal took a breath, "What is your Papa going to do now?" "He left," I said looking at Camilo as he nodded his head and said, "He isn't going to bother any of us ever again." I hated all the eyes that were on me like they were waiting for what I was going to say or do next. I cleared my throat, "I just want to state for the record that I never blamed any of you for what happened to my Mama." I made eye contact with Julieta Madrigal, "I have always wanted to tell you that but never could before." She nodded her head, "Thank you."

I let out a long yawn and turned to Padre Sanchez. He nodded his head, "Olivia is going to be staying with me for the time being until we figure out what is next. I think we all need to take a minute to absorb everything. Maybe we should go?" Everyone seemed to nod in agreement and I left with Padre as we started walking towards town. "Liv," I turned and saw Camilo coming over. "Is everything alright?" I asked. He nodded his head, "Yeah." He planted his lips on mine and pulled me in for a deep kiss, "I just didn't want to do that in front of my family." I smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow." "See you tomorrow" he said walking back to his home. I turned and saw Padre Sanchez, "Please don't do that in front of me again." I nodded my head, "Sorry Padre." He smiled and nodded his head and we walked through town and for the first time I was able to see everything. It was amazing. All the buildings were so tall and bright and colorful. It was dark but the stars were shining in the sky. I had forgotten what it all looked like.


(Camilo POV)

I walked back to Casita after saying goodnight to Liv. My family handled all of this better than I thought they would. Mama and Tía were waiting for me by the door and I knew my night was not over. I walked into the living room and sat on the couch as they both sat to the sides of me, "Camilo..." Mama started and it was clear she wasn't sure what to say. She took a breath, "Olivia seems like a very sweet girl." I nodded my head, "She is." Tía took a breath, "It also seems like she has been through a lot in her life. I mean her Papa hit her in that church and she didn't even flinch, she wasn't surprised. He used belts to tie her up. She just got her vision back after 10 years..." I nodded my head. I knew all of this.

"We are worried that now might not be the time for her to be in a relationship," Mama finally said. No, they couldn't be serious, "Are you kidding me? You want me to abandon her." "No, Camilo that isn't what we are saying..." Tía started but I wasn't hearing it, "I'm not leaving her. I promised her I would never leave her." "Camilo, that is not what we are saying," Mama said. "Then what are you saying?" I asked looking at both of them, "All we are saying is that she is going through a major adjustment and it might be best for both of you if you give her the space to figure it out. You said she let you find out who you really were, right? Without being a Madrigal?" I nodded my head, "Maybe she needs the space to figure out who she is when she doesn't need to be dependent on someone else."

I stood up and looked back at them, "You think that she is dependent on me? You have known her for a few hours and spoken to her for less of that." They didn't say anything they just shared a look, "We are not going to tell you what to do. Just please think about it." I nodded my head and went up to my room. Suddenly it was all I could think about. I analyzed every time I was with her. Was she dependent on me? Was I controlling her like her Papa did? I never did give her Tía's food. I always told myself I wanted to give her the choice but, was I really just keeping it away from her?


(Olivia POV)

I woke up on the couch as the sun was shining in from all different directions. I wasn't used to opening my eyes and seeing the world around me. Granted I wasn't used to seeing much of anything. I went up and into the kitchen but I wasn't really sure what to do. Papa always made all the food for the both of us and would just bring me a plate when he was done. I wasn't even sure where the food was.

I heard someone coming downstairs and saw Padre Sanchez coming down, "Morning Olivia. Are you hungry?" I nodded my head, "Yeah I-" I didn't know what to do. Padre Sanchez seemed to see this coming and opened a cabinet and handed me a banana, "You got your sight back yesterday, give yourself some time, ok?" I nodded my head. I then heard a banging sound and looked around to see where it was coming from. Padre Sanchez went to the door and opened it as Camilo walked inside, "Hi Liv." "I will give you two a moment, Olivia I will be upstairs," Padre said as he left us alone. I smiled at Camilo and walked over to him. He had something in his hand, "I found this in your house when I went to look for you." He said but, he still wasn't making eye contact with me. I took the paper in my hand and ran my fingers over it when a piece of it ripped and I saw another paper inside.

I ripped the outside paper a little more become I could take the piece of paper out. I opened it up and saw that there was something on it, but I had no idea what it meant. I handed it to Camilo but he pushed my hand back towards me, "It's yours Liv read it." I bit my lip as I looked down at it before sighing, "I don't know how to." He seemed surprised as he looked back up at me, "But you love reading." I shook my head, "I only just started learning to read when I went blind. Before that I was read to by my Mama. I never actually learned how to..." He sighed and I felt like an idiot for not being able to do that. He took the note and glanced at it quickly, "It is from your Mama." I took his hand, "Please read it to me." He nodded his head and we went to the couch.


(Camilo POV)

Their concerns were echoing in my mind and seeing Liv right now... I sat down on the couch next to her and she looked at me waiting to hear what the letter said"

"Dear Olivia,

My wonderful, beautiful little girl. You were the only thing that kept me here as long as I was and I am so sorry that I am leaving you now.
I have been trapped in a life that I never wanted. You see my family promised me to your Papa when I was 15. I had never been in love before and to everyone in town now I was off limits and belonged to your Papa. I was moved from my parents house to your Papa's house with no time to find myself in between. Your Papa was not a good man. At least not to me. He almost immediately found fault with the friends that I had, me leaving the house, really anything I did that I did differently from Martina. My sister was a great person but, I was not her and I liked the fact that I wasn't her.
When you were born, I did everything I could to shield you from your Papa. I really wanted you to be free and to do whatever your heart desired, but I couldn't protect you. It started when you were 3 and I couldn't stop him after it happened. I tried to talk to my family, to see if anyone would believe me, but no one did. They all thought your Papa would never be so horrible. I mean they saw how much he loved Martina.
A week before I died I found out that I was pregnant. That was the point that I snapped. I was already watching my one daughter suffering because of her Papa, I couldn't do that to another child so I made a plan. Your Papa was supposed to be out all night and I was going to take you and we were going to leave his house. There was an abandoned shack on the edge of town near the fields that I was going to take you to and we were going to be our own little family. I was packing my bags when the door burst open. Your Papa came home and saw what I was doing.
He was furious and would never let me leave. He started locking all the doors and windows whenever he left. He was the only one with the key and you and I were trapped inside.
I couldn't do it anymore. I wasn't strong enough.
I hope that you are stronger than me Olivia. I hope that you live a long and happy life and that you will get out from your Papa. I hope that you get to be free and independent and learn everything you will ever need.
I'm sorry I wasn't enough. I hope that you can forgive me one day.

I love you mija,

Mamí"

I put the note down and thought over what her Mama said and what my Mama and Tia said. I took a breath, "Olivia we need to talk." I said looking at her. She was looking over at me wide-eyed as she wrapped her arms around me, "Thank you for that. I never would have seen this if you hadn't found it." Why was this so hard? I let out a breath, "Olivia maybe we need to take some space." My voice was cracking at the end of the sentence. Her eyes were tearing, "What? What did I do wrong?" I took a breath, "You have been through so much and this is a big change in your life. I don't want to stop you from figuring out who you are by-by being with me..."


(Olivia POV)

As I listened to Camilo I felt myself getting mad, "So you think you know what is best for me and are breaking up with me for my own good?" I asked. He leaned back and started stuttering, "N-n-no. That isn't what I was... I just think that you need some time to figure out who you are." I don't know why but after everything I couldn't believe that he was doing this, "You think that I need the time to figure out who I am? I know who I am."

I took a breath, " I make blankets for needy kids and donate them to the church. I love to be in town. I love listening to the choir practice and going on walks along the fields or the river. My Mama killed herself because she couldn't handle my Papa, but that wasn't my fault. My Papa was a bad, abusive man but, that wasn't my fault. I have a lot I need to learn now that I can see and there is a lot of things I want to do, but I will figure it out." He went to say something but I shook my head, "I am your girlfriend that loves you or at least I was before this, but that wasn't my identity. I had a life, a terrible one but still a life, before you and I will have one after this." I stood up and walked to the door, "Olivia?" He started but I shook my head, "Just go."


(Camilo POV)

She loves me? What have I done?


Author's Note:

Thank you for reading my story and I promise that this isn't the end just yet. I am also going to be working on a few more stories with Encanto characters and am currently looking at doing Isabella, Felix and Pepa or even Bruno. Thank you for reading and if you haven't please read Encanto: Accidentally in Love or Encanto: Dolores's Story Listening without Communicating.