"What are you doing here, anyways?" I frowned, glancing at Camilo. We were halfway to the city limits, walking in between the tall buildings. The guards were nowhere in sight, thankfully, and I hoped that they were still searching for 'suspicious activity' on the South border.
"Someone stole the candle," Camilo said, looking down at his feet. He rubbed his wrists where the handcuffs had bit into them, shoving his hands in his pockets. "And I thought..."
"You thought I did it," I finished, bobbing my head up and down. "Oh." Camilo gave me a sheepish grin, his brown eyes lighting up slightly. "Breaking news, I didn't." I looked back towards the city, noticing how far away I was from what I used to call home.
"I didn't think you did," Camilo admitted. "I just wondered, maybe you knew something about it?" He shrugged. "Either way, Abuela and the others are freaking out." Camilo scratched the back of his neck. "The magic is still working—I can still shapeshift." He turned into me to prove his point.
"So does that mean whoever has the candle hasn't let it burn out?" I asked.
"Right," He shook his head. "I don't know how someone managed to take it. I mean, we were all at home, so.." Camilo gave me a side glance. "Abuela, she uh-she thinks it was you."
"But the candle was still there when I left," I reasoned, tugging at my braids. "There's no way I could've managed.."
"I know," Camilo said. "I told her that it wasn't possible but.." He trailed off, chewing on his lip. "The whole being a 'Temprestian' came up and brought back all of those memories for her, I guess."
"Yeah, I don't blame her," I said. "But I don't have anything to do with my family anymore. My dad kicked me out. So much for being a Meliac."
"Oh," Camilo stopped, turning to look at me. "I'm sorry, Ave."
"No, don't be," I said. "It was my own choice. He asked me to do something and I backed out; obviously he didn't like that very much. After Mom died, it's like—"
"Like he's become a whole different person?"
"Yeah. Exactly."
We walked in silence for a few more minutes. I wondered if he could also feel the strange tension between us, or if that was just me.
"You know I can't go back to Encanto, right?" I raised my eyebrows, forcing a smile.
"I figured that," Camilo said slowly, nodding. "We don't have to go back." He grinned. "We could be runaways."
"You'd leave your family?" I looked at him like he was crazy, which he was. "I can't—you can't—you shouldn't do that."
"Relax, it's only until I find the candle," Camilo said, which sounded even more crazy than his last statement. "I'll find the candle, prove you didn't steal it, and bring it back to Encanto so that everything can go back to normal. Once Abuela realizes you're completely and 100% innocent, she'll accept you, which is really good because I—" He cut himself off, blushing slightly. He shapeshifted into someone random to hide it, turning back into himself and clearing his throat.
"Harder than it sounds," I replied. "You—we don't even know who took the candle. And unless you have some kind of lead.."
"I don't," Camilo admitted. "But I was hoping we could figure it out together? Unless you have somewhere better to be."
"Very funny," I said dryly. "Yeah, I've got a whole other agenda that I should get to."
"I guess I'm on my own then," Camilo said dramatically, sighing. "That's okay. I'll probably make it without dying. But...I might get picked up by some more guards and have no way to get out of it...it would be really great to have like a side-kick."
"Fine," I said, smiling reluctantly. "I'll help you. But let's get one thing straight, Madrigal."
"Hmm?"
"You're the sidekick."