Summary:

Gabriela reels when her former lover returns. Bruno places his heart on the line.

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Written in Gabriela's POV.

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I blink. I'm seeing things. ¡Dios mío, me he vuelto loca!

He isn't real. He isn't real. He isn't real. My mind is playing cruel tricks on me. Why am I seeing an older version of him this time? I squeeze my eyes shut and count to ten, and when I open them again, he's still standing there.

Estoy más que loca. ¡Estoy alucinando!

I scream and he jumps in surprise. "Gabriela, querida, it's me! It's me!" He tries to calm me down, but I back away. How can he see me? He isn't supposed to be able to see…me! No one could!

"I…I'm sorry, you've got the wrong person!" I flail to grab something, anything, to shoo the phantom in front of me. If he's real, I can't let him know. "Who are you? Stay back!"

"Gabriela, it's me. Don't tell me you don't remember me…" He approaches me cautiously. I check my reflection in the water. Oh. No. "Lo siento mucho, mi vida, I've been gone for too long…" He says before I throw a pebble I picked up. It hits him square in the forehead and he blinks at me, stunned. He immediately checks if he's bleeding and sighs in relief when he's not. "Okay, I deserved that, but can you please let me explain?"

My eyes grow wide. I feel faint like the wind got knocked out of me. He's here. He found me. But how? "Bru…Bruno?" I breathe. "Is that really you?"

"Yes, it's me. Gabriela, mi vida…I'm…I'm finally here," He murmurs as he walks over to me with arms wide open.

The shock at seeing my former lover in the flesh sends a shiver down my spine. My anger gets the best of me and I begin throwing rocks at him. Now he finally decides to show his face after putting me through hell! "¡Puta madre!" I screech at him. "Tienes cojones, tu hijo de puta, to see me after TEN YEARS?"

He proceeds further despite all of my attacks. "Ow. Ow. Ow. Gabriela, mi vida, lo siento…¡Ay! I can explain!"

"Explain? EXPLAIN? YOU LEFT ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!" I fume. "You took my ring, you broke my heart, betrayed my trust…" I choke but force the last words out of my mouth. "...And I lost my baby! WHAT KIND OF EXPLANATION WOULD YOU GIVE ME FOR ALL THE PAIN YOU CAUSED? TEN YEARS, BRUNO MADRIGAL! TEN, PAINFUL YEARS!"

"I made a mistake! I didn't mean to hurt you, mi amor, believe me!"

I'm seeing red at this point. I run up and slap him as hard as I can. "¡Que te folle un pez!" My finger stabs him in the chest with emphasis as I grit my teeth. "I don't believe you. Go back to where you came from. I never want to see you EVER AGAIN!"

He clutches his cheek. "You don't mean that, do you?"

I turn to leave and he grabs my wrist. His grip is strong. Desperate. I feel my resolve weaken, but I refuse to give in. "Let go, Bruno! I have nothing else to say to you!"

"Gabriela, por favor, let me explain…"

I prepare to hit him again but he catches my hand. "Please. Just…listen to me…" Bruno reasoned. "I didn't mean to walk out on you like that. It wasn't because of you that I left…it was because…"

"...of your family. I know." I forcefully shake him off. "You don't need to explain that to me, Bruno. Now leave me alone."

"It's not just my family, querida…"

"Don't call me THAT," I hiss. "I'm not your lover." I don't dare look behind me as I walk away from the river, heading this time even deeper into the mountains.

"But you are…" Bruno says as he follows me. "I still love you."

"And I'm saying I don't, so don't call me your querida."

"Don't lie to me, mi amor." His voice is sweet. Really desperate. "Can we please just talk?"

"I don't want to talk to you." I harden, but inside, I'm a wreck. He ignores my steely tone and presses on.

"Why did you leave everyone?" He asks. "Dolores tried to look for you for ten years, and you avoided her each time. How did you manage…"

I remain silent. He doesn't need to know. I listen to the rhythm his chanclas make. "Eres un tonto del culo, Bruno Madrigal." I growl.

"Cuss at me all you want, Gabriela, but I'm not leaving without you. Come back home with me, please."

"Here's the thing. I don't want to go back home, especially with YOU." I retaliate as we finally reach a clearing. A small hut stands in the center. "I'm perfectly content living alone here." I gesture to my humble abode. "I don't need other people."

"But what about your family?"

"Don't you dare bring up my family in this conversation."

"So you're agreeing you're talking to me right now?"

I throw my hands in exasperation. He's got me. "You're impossible! I don't know why I fell in love with you in the first place, even agreed to marry you!"

"Because you saw me." Bruno grasps my arm, turning me to look at him. I bump into his chest and I blush, hard. Why am I so weak for this man? I hate this. "I came face to face with your family last night." He whispers. "Señor Mauricio gave me quite a beating."

"What?" I force myself not to fall headfirst into his green eyes when I finally notice his bruises.

"I don't have my gift anymore if that's what you're thinking." He makes a pained smile. "The whole family doesn't. We…lost the miracle. Julián also landed a few blows of his own. We got into a fight. Don't worry, your brother's fine."

I blink up at him as he continues. "Why does this place…have an air of magic? I feel it. Have you been hiding in plain sight all this time?"

"What are you talking about?" I pretend to not know what he's saying. "If this is some tactic to get me to come with you, you're crazy."

He shakes his head as he tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. My heart is beating so fast that it's threatening to escape my ribcage. "No wonder Julián told me I would know where to go. You said it to him yourself."

Ugh, Julián!

"Ese bribón," I mutter under my breath. "Tiene suerte de ser familia…"

"Hm?"

"It doesn't concern you!" I huff and try to push him away. "Now please go."

He doesn't budge, refusing to let me leave. My eyes turn into dangerous slits. "I'm warning you, Bruno Madrigal. I don't want to argue with you anymore."

"You still have feelings for me, don't you, Gabriela?" He asks, hopeful.

I look away. I do. But it doesn't change anything. Bruno cups my face and goosebumps rise from my arms at his touch. "I was afraid, Gabriela. Terrified. A coward." He confesses. "I didn't have the answers and that's why I left. I couldn't face my family. I couldn't face…you. And…and my disappearance broke everyone…I broke you."

"You didn't break me." I pry his fingers away from my cheek. "You DESTROYED me."

Bruno winces, feeling the sharp sting of my words. "I know. I know. And I don't deserve you. Not anymore." His hands fall to his sides and a part of me starts to miss the warmth.

I tramp down the emotions bubbling up my throat.

"The truth is," He rubs his arm, trying to calm himself. He's on the verge of breaking down, too. "I never left the Encanto. I lived in Casita's walls for ten years, in solitude, to protect Mirabel."

A piercing pain twinges in my chest. No. No. I can't…I can't just forgive him. Not this easily. "I know. You know I can read your thoughts. It doesn't…" I wave a hand between us. "Make…whatever happened to the both of us…right again."

His eyes implore me to look at him and I make the mistake. He's much older now, his black hair with streaks of grey. His eyes have even darker circles around them and soft lines appear on his face when he speaks. But he's still handsome. So beautiful, even if he looks a whole lot thinner than I remember. "I'm not saying what I've done is right, leaving like that with no explanation," My breath catches when I see the love in his eyes. "And maybe, it will never be right again. But…all those times I've been in those walls, I thought about you constantly. I dreamt about you. Every day. All this time we've been apart, I've never stopped loving you."

I recall the past. I'm back in the room where it all began.

I didn't even know I was expecting until I woke up in Julieta's bed and she told me the news with a heavy heart.

I couldn't take it. I refused to accept the truth. But it was true. My future was broken. The love of my life was gone, and so was our miracle.

She left me alone to contemplate. It was a mistake.

I wrote them a letter, telling them to not look for me.

Everyone was too busy to notice and I ran away. I was in a daze, wondering where I could go when I ended up by Mamá's grave.

I asked for her guidance. I begged for her forgiveness.

Then something strange happened. An answer came clear. A different kind of magic came to life that day.

Something shifts and the air becomes electric. Hot tears start to spring from my eyes.

"Please," Bruno pleads as he leans forward, closing the gap between us. "Please let me make it right with you." I stand there unmoving as his lips touch mine…and all of the years, the memories, come rushing back. My mouth parts and everything feels right…and so wrong at the same time. He pulls me closer and all of the pain becomes too much to bear.

It hurts. My heart hurts. It shouldn't hurt like this.

I push him away and he looks at me in confusion. "I can't. I…I just can't." I sob.

"Gabriela…mi vida…wait…" He reaches out for me as I retreat. I want to tear out my heart from my chest. I just want this pain to go away. Why won't it ever go away?

I tried so hard. I told myself I was fine. I made a new life for myself in the ten years he's been gone. My family knows about the gift Mamá gave me, but only Julián understood it.

I changed. But Bruno still found me.

Why can't I forget you, Bruno Madrigal? Why do I…still love you?

"Gabriela…" His eyes are filled with tears. "Can we…try again?"

"Why should we?" I whisper. "Everything has changed. I'm…I'm not the same person anymore. I don't…I can't…trust you."

"Do you still love me?"

I stare at him incredulously. "The nerve of you, Bruno Madrigal! Does it matter?"

"It matters. Because if you'd be happier without me, I'll leave you alone. For good."

My throat goes dry when I realize what he's telling me. "What?"

"I broke a promise, Gabriela. You never asked me to leave you, but I did. I left you alone for ten years. Your future didn't happen the moment I walked out the door. So now I'm asking, putting my heart on the line. Can I still stay by your side, or will you turn me away? I won't take it against you if you do. I deserve it. For everything."

I don't have an answer. "Can I…can I think about it? I...I don't…know how I feel about you anymore."

"Is that the truth?"

I nod. He hesitates for a quick moment. "If…you're not coming back home with me…can I come to visit you here again?"

"Why?"

Bruno gives me a dampened smile. "Julián told me to let you know…that your family misses you. He asked me for something. I'll work hard for it to come true."

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Glossary of terms (in order of appearance in-text):
Dios mío, me he vuelto loca - Oh my God, I've gone crazy
Estoy más que loca - I am more than crazy
Estoy alucinando - I'm hallucinating
Chanclas - Flipflops/Slippers
Eres un tonto del culo - You're a dumba**
Tiene suerte de ser familia - He's lucky he's family