The Real You (Camilo x Reader)

(3) Revelation

I quickly turn around and start shoving the glass shards into Mirabel's bag.

Camilo's mom kneels down to begin packing up Antonio's things when Mirabel speaks up. "Tía Pepa? if...bru-" I grab Mirabel's shoulder and furiously shake my head. Mirabel stops. "If he had a vision about someone, what would it mean for them?"

"We don't talk about Bruno." Pepa responds flatly.

"I know...it's just...hypothetically if he-"

"Mirabel, please, we need to get ready for the Guzmáns."

I pipe in. "Ma'am...if you don't mind me asking...why don't you guys talk about Bruno? What could he have possibly done?"

"That man is bad news!" Camilo's father (Félix) exclaims, bursting into the room.

"FÉLIX!" Pepa scolds.

"Hey, they need to know, Pepa, they need to know." Félix closes the door behind him.

Pepa puts her finger over his mouth. "We don't talk about Bruno!"

Félix ignores her. "He would see something terrible. And then...BOOM! It would happen!"

I gasp.

"We don't talk about Bruno!" Pepa hisses.

"What if you didn't understand what he saw?" Mirabel asks, nervously clutching the strap of her bag.

"Then you'd better figure it out because it was coming for you." Félix warns.

My eyes widen in fear.

"We don't talk about Bruno~" Pepa sings. "No no no.

P: We don't talk about Bruno...But! It was my wedding day~"

F: "It was our wedding day~"

P: "We were getting ready and there wasn't a cloud in the sky!"

F: "No clouds allowed in the sky~" Félix wags his finger

P: "Bruno walks in with a mischievous grin~"

F: "THUNDER!"

P: "You tellin' the story, or am I?!"

Pepa scolds Félix as they dance along to the beat

F: "I'm sorry, mi vida go oooonnnnn~"

P: "Bruno said 'it looks like rain~'"

F: "Why did he tell us?"

P: "In doing so he floods my brain!"

F: "Abuela, get the umbrellas!"

P: "Married in a hurricane!"

P+F: "What a joyous day but anyway~

We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no

We don't talk about Bruno~"

While Félix and Pepa dance together Mirabel grabs my hand and pulls me out into the hallway so we could try to put the glass puzzle pieces together in peace. Before we could make it very far, Dolores steps into the middle of our path.

D: "Hey.

grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering and stumbling,

I can always hear his sort of muttering and mumbling.

I associate him with the sound of falling sand."

Dolores leads us into a sidestep dance and continues singing.

D: "It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling~

Always left Aubela and the family fumbling,

Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand.

Do you understand?"

Mirabel and I dart off into a stone hallway lit by a candle. Camilo leaps out at us with a mischievous smile and shapeshifts into a man who I'm assuming is Bruno.

C: "Seven-foot frame, rats along his back~

When he calls your name it all fades to black~"

Camilo casts shadows along the walls as he shapeshifts between Bruno and himself. He shifts into Camilo and grabs my hand, twirling me in a circle. I can feel my cheeks growing warm as Camilo smirks at me. I have to admit, he knows how to sing.

C: "Yeah, he sees your dreams and feasts on your screams~"

He dips me backward and then Camilo pulls me close to him. I can feel his heartbeat against my own.

C:  "We don't talk about Bruno~"

Camilo winks at me before letting me go, and I feel a little disappointed. The rest of the family joins back in and all sing.

All: "No, no, no~

We don't talk about Bruno~"

"He told me my fish would die, the next day, DEAD!"

"He told me I'd grow a gut and just like he said!"

"He said that all my hair would disappear, now looks at my head~"

"Your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read~"

Everyone goes hushed as a pink light shimmers down on us and Mirabel's older sister Isabela is slowly lowered down on a swing made of vines. I notice Mirabel roll her eyes.

I: "he told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine~

He told me that my power would grow like the grapes that thrive on a vine~"

I hear another voice from behind me. I spin around and see Dolores looking out at the horizon.

D: "He told me that the man of my dreams would be just out of reach~

Betrothed to another~"

Was Dolores in love with Isabela's boyfriend?

Mirabel begins singing.

M: "Um Bruno...?"

(Yn): "Yeah about that Bruno~"

M: "I really need to know about Bruno~

Give me the truth and the whole truth, Bruno~"

I hear Camilo calling from the front door.

C: "Isabela, your boyfriend's here!"

All: "Time for dinner!"

Mirabel and I run back to the nursery and begin placing the glass shards together. I can hear the Madrigal family still singing outside. Mirabel and I gasp in horror as we place the final shard in its rightful spot. The image was of Mirabel, standing in front of Casa Madrigal. From one angle, the house was full of cracks, and from the other it was normal.

M: "Why did I talk about Bruno?!"

(Yn): "Not a word about Bruno~"

M: "I never should've brought up Bruno!"