Camilo x Reader -Broken Reflection

Chapter 21 (The World of Nightmares)

Julio's sadness and pain were mine. I could feel it just as much as he did, maybe even more so as we quietly slipped through the front door to our house just as rain began to softly hit the dirt we stood on. My parents were still holed up in their room and but I could smell the stench of alcohol wafting into the hall from behind the door. We weaved our way through the trash that had been tossed onto the stained carpet as I led Julio to our bedroom.

"I'll fill a bath," I told him.

He nodded silently and disappeared behind the wooden door that led to our room and I turned, getting ready to slip into the bathroom on my toes. Just as my hand reached the door handle, I pulled my hand back with a yelp when I felt a small shock from the static.

I shook the pain away just as the door to my parent's room across the hall slowly creaked open. I swallowed and turned to look at my mother who stood with her hand pressed to the doorframe. She watched me straighten and swallow. I avoided her eyes and stared at her feet as she spoke to me.

"Where'd you lot go?" She asked.

"We went for a walk."

"I see dirt on yer clothes."

"We were in the forest."

There was a short pause and I heard the sound of her slippers connecting with the cracked linoleum. Her long nails dug into my skin as she tugged on my jaw and jerked my face upwards. She forced me to meet her eyes which were deep red slits.

"Look at me when I'm talkin' to you, do ya hear?" She demanded. Her hot breath brushed against my face and I wanted to recoil.

I nodded slowly, feeling sweat build up at the back of my neck and under my arms. She reeked of must and alcohol but I knew that wasn't her addiction. She simply hung around my father too much.

"Clean up yer brother n' fix us some dinner," she instructed. I nodded again, unable to speak due to the lump that had formed in my throat. It ached but I didn't dare move. I was lucky enough that it was my mother that caught me.

"I- we don't have any money," I began, but she shook her head. I watched as the whisps of hair that escaped her bun seemed to float as she moved her head. For a split second, I saw the beautiful woman that I used to look up to. The image was gone as soon as I saw it.

"Of course we do," she said as if she were the one who oversaw our finances.

I felt her thumb brush my cheek tenderly and I flinched as it pressed onto the bruise that had started to form.

"Ah- such a pretty girl," she purred. She let her hand drop and soon she was back in her room and slamming the door shut without another word. I jumped at the sudden noise and turned to the bathroom door. While I ran the bath, I also scrubbed hot water over my skin where she had touched me.

There was no point in giving my little brother a bath when our house was so dirty. Mold coated the walls in thin bunches and the air was thick with dust and dampness. It was no wonder Julio always got sick.

As I tucked him into our bed that night, he held onto my arm just as I used to do to my mother when I was a little younger than him. Times were different then. I slid into the sheets next to him and laid awake that night.

Julio pretended to sleep. Sooner than later, he stopped pretending and faded to the world of nightmares. 

Camilo's POV

She was crying in her sleep. Tears dripped down her eyes like translucent salty crystals and I'd never thought it was possible until then. Her body was curled into a ball next to me and for a few moments, I wasn't sure what to do.

I was already awake and out of bed because it was almost breakfast time. Whenever she slept in my room, she was always gone before I could wake. Naturally, I was surprised to see her disheveled figure on my stage when I'd climbed down from the area in which I'd slept. She still rested on my stage with one of my blankets slung around her shoulders. She wore one of my extra shirts and a pair of trousers that I'd lent her.

As I crouched to run a gentle finger under her eyes, I wondered how someone could look so beautiful and miserable at the same time. I whispered her name and she slowly faded out of sleep. She slowly opened her eyes and peered up at me. Her eyes were swollen, puffy, and red. Her nose ran. Her hair stuck out in every imaginable direction.

I wanted to kiss her.

"Camilo?" She asked. She ran her wrist over her eyes and then under her nose. My shirt hung from her shoulder. I looked away.

"Goodmorning," I said in my most cheerful voice. I knew that her morning was, in fact, shit, but she didn't need to deal with other people making her day worse, especially with all that had happened the night before.

It was the day after her birthday. Orchid received a gift. She was an Empath, yet somehow I could feel a whisper of her emotions as if they were my own. Maybe it went both ways. Maybe she could feel our emotions and we could feel hers. Maybe we could only feel them when she wanted us to.

I stuck out my hand and watched her stare at it for a few moments. She took it gently. "Bad dream?" I asked. She nodded. "Wanna talk about it?" She shook her head. I helped her to her feet.

She'd stayed in my room because she didn't want to go into her new one. Guilt still overtook her and she explained that her new room should have been Mirabel's. I supposed she was right but I wondered when she'd get over it. Maybe their friendship just mattered that much to her. It was precious.

I was surprised to hear her knock on my door the night before. The family had finished cleaning up the remains of the party. It was late at night, somewhere between 2 and 4 am. I was already heading to bed but opened the door anyway when I recognized her rhythmic knock.

"Can I... stay over?" She asked. Her eyes were glued to her toes but I let her inside my room without any questions. I handed her my folded clothes and let her change into them while I left my room to use the bathroom. I lent her a blanket and offered to let her sleep in my bed while I laid on the floor if she wanted. She simply shook her head and curled up on my stage. I didn't blame her. The wood was weirdly comfortable and I could lay on it for hours.

I wondered what had happened in her dream. Was it a nightmare? A distant memory? Whatever it was, I knew it felt real. Too real. We went downstairs together to join my family for breakfast.