Christmas is getting close, making the town busy for the upcoming event. Camilo, who's been stressed about his stack of chores, people keep needing another extra hand, making him do multiple things at once. Taking care of a baby, cooking, making decorations, cleaning the mess they made after it. Some of his chores are passed to his sister or cousin since he's taking forever to do them.
He wants to take a break but he can't. 'Cause people need him, even Isabella is stressed. He just wants a hug, a small comfort from his lovable lover. Soothing him, cuddle him, leaving him little peaks on the head, temple, cheeks, and his lips— oh, a big kiss on the lips, just the thought of it makes him smile.
Though the thought only stayed in his head, the reality is much worse than he thought it would.
"Look, mi Amor, I'm sorry but I really need to finish this.." the [hair. color] is picking up grapes on their farm, many people are buying fruits to make desserts out of them, they were in a rush. Camilo stood behind her, still holding the baby he need to take care of, whose playing with his ruana and hair, cooing softly.
"Can't you take a little break? I just need a hug or two, the farm is not going anywhere-"
"[Name]! darse prisa! Are you slacking off again?! You still need to pick the oranges and apples!" A call from the [last name] residence interrupted.
"I'm almost done here tia! I'll hurry up and do the oranges next!" She knew lying about hurrying up will make the woman angry but the pout on Camilo's face is enough to make her stop doing her chore.
She quickly stood up from her spot, hugging her boyfriend, embracing the baby in the process. The Madrigal snuggle into her hair, relaxing at her scent, closing his eyes, and just melting. The girl gave him a few peaks on the cheek, before snuggling into his body.
Now, this is heaven...
Her warmth then suddenly banished, making him open his eyes, seeing that [name] went back to her chores, picking the grapes as fast as she can.
"That's it???"
"Yes, mi Vida, that's it."
"That's not even a minute!" Pouting once again, "more."
"Cami' please," looking back at her significant other, gesturing the plants, "I really need to finish this. After, okay? I promise."
"[NAME] HURRY UP! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" The older [last name] peak her head on the back window of their house, "Oh! Camilo, Pepa's searching for you a little while ago! You better find her before it rains!"
"Si señora! I'll take my leave!" Once he made sure that the woman was gone, he turn his attention back to the [eye. color]-eyed, "you owe me so many hugs and kisses." Playfully kicking her, receiving a laugh from the girl, before leaving.
~~
Camilo's tired, he can't move anymore. All of his energy is used from the town, the decorations, the cooking, all of it—now he just wants to sleep, and not get bothered by anyone, sleep his tiredness away.
That was until he was interrupted by a knock on his door, a frown made its way to his face. He made it clear to everyone not to bother him since he's really tired.
"Antonio, I told you before, I'll play with you tomorr-" his words stopped, surprised to see the person in front of him.
"I told you 'after' didn't I?" [Name] grinned at him, before embracing him. The shape-shifter sighed, clearly tired and wanting to be alone for now.
"[Name] please, not now." Pulling away from her grasp. She was taken aback by the sudden call of her name, he always use a bunch of nicknames, but she brushed it off.
"But I owe you many hugs and kisses, you told me that," tugging the end of his sleeves, putting the same pout look he had earlier, "and I'm really tired too, I want some of your embraces!"
The curly-haired boy sighed for the nth time today, he was getting frustrated, can't she see he just wanted some alone time??
"[name], I'm tired too, my body hurts, I just want sleep."
"Can't we sleep together? We do it all the tim—"
"No, okay?! I want some time alone! Why can't you understand that?! You can push me away when I need you, but I can't?! I'm tired okay? Not just you. The world doesn't revolve around you."
Silence. All that was heard was silence, it's like the world stopped for a moment. [Name]'s body can be seen trembling lightly, not used to being yelled at by the person she loved dearly. Camilo's once angered face is immediately replaced with guilt and regret, registering what he had said brings tears in his eyes.
"M‐mi Vida, please I didn't mean.."
"It's alright, Camilo.." he winced at the sound of his name, no sweet nicknames she always gave him, "I understand, you want some time alone, so I better get goin—"
"No! No, wait, amor.." he took a step forward but halted when she took a step back. He nearly broke down with just the movement, he was supposed to protect her, not get feared by her.
The [hair. color] realized what she just did and panicked, "no, I didn't mean to step back!" Strolling forward, she held his arms like a fragile glass, she have a few tears in her eyes, his words cut like a knife, and he knows it, that's why he's crying. "Hey, it's okay, I'm not mad! I know you didn't mean it."
She hesitantly embraced him, not sure if he wanted to be hugged right now, considering that it's the reason the fight started, heart, beating fast, still shaken from what happened. The girl felt her boyfriend shakingly hug back, afraid that he will hurt her physically since he already hurt her emotionally.
The world doesn't revolve around you. Trying to be selfless all your life, but still, get called for being selfish? Words hurt.
"I should probably help my Tia with the house chores, she's gonna go nuts if she realizes I snuck out again" his grip got tighter once he heard her utter those words, she snuck out just for him, so she can fulfill her promise, but her reward was getting yelled at. "It's not your fault, cariño, my Tia just needs a helping hand, that's all." Pulling away from the embrace, she held his face caressing his cheek, connecting his freckles, before giving him a big forehead kiss.
"We're not—ending our.. please tell me we're not..."
"No! Why would you think that? We just had a little disagreement earlier, it's nothing, alright? I would never end our relationship because of a stupid fight."
"You're gonna come back, right? I'm sorry, I really don't mean it. It—It just come out like that,"
"I know mi Vida, I know." She hugged him once again, giving him an extra squeeze at the end before pulling away, "you should take a rest, a nap will be good since you're gonna have dinner later."
~~
"Mama, Papa... " Pepa, who picked up the plates with the leftovers with her husband, perk up at the sound of her son.
"Hey, mijo! Do you need help with anything?" Smiling sweetly at her son.
"If you want some leftovers, ask your Tia first." Felix chuckled, but his playful expression fell when he saw his son's troubled one, his wife noticed it too. "What's wrong hijo? Did something happen?"
"Me and—" taking a deep breath before continuing, "me and [nickname] got into a fight, and..." Camilo started to tear up again, recalling the terrible things he said to her. The red-head was quick to get on his side, pulling him in an embrace, the boy melting into it. "I said mean things to her, I didn't—"
"My baby, don't cry.. did you apologize to her?" The mother asked, receiving a nod.
"Did you mean anything you said?" He shook his head. He would never, the tiredness got the best of him, making him say such horrible things. Even though she said that it was okay, guilt is eating him.
"Then it's okay, fights happen, it's normal."
"I and your Mama had our disagreements throughout the years, we still made up." His father also attempted to comfort him, though their words didn't help.
It's normal? That means I'll say some more terrible things to her in the future. I don't want that, I don't want to hurt her, I don't want to be the person she hates, the person she feels unsafe..
Morning came, then afternoon. He didn't see [name], no sign of her whatsoever. He passed her house, multiple times actually, but still no sign of her. He doesn't want to go and barge in and disturb her, she probably doesn't want to see him right now.
On the [hair. color]'s side, she hasn't seen him all day, she's worried but still won't be the first one to talk to him, not wanting another fight to occur. She understood that yesterday was an incident, she know he didn't mean any of it. The hurt in his eyes tells her everything.
It was almost evening, he still haven't talked to her, nor seen her. His anxiety increases as a second go by, wondering if she's doing all right if she doesn't need help with her chores today if she gets a good night's rest last night if she—
"She's alright, she's selling apples at the market with her cousin." The shape-shifter turned to the owner of the voice, seeing his sister holding a basket full of presents, smiling sweetly at him. "She's worried about you too, you don't have to be too hard on yourself."
Dolores put down the basket, approaching her little brother by the railings of the second-floor house. She settled beside him, making the curly-haired boy lean his head on her shoulder, shrinking himself a little to be comfortable.
"Even if it's normal to fight with your significant other. I don't want it to be normal, Dolores... I don't want to hurt her feelings again, what if next time I've gone too far and ended our relationship because of it..."
The girl listened carefully at her brother's words, rubbing a soothing hand on his shoulder. "Not everything is perfect, you have difficulties coming your way, it's either you face it or ignore it, but if you two really love each other, you will face it, together. you'll learn about each other's differences, and similarities." She paused, "we're not saying it's normal to fight every now and then, we're saying it's normal to have your first fight, this way you will know which to avoid and which to approach."
"...have you ever fought with Mariano?"
"Oh, yea, I won the argument." She proudly exclaimed, making the boy laugh. "I think it's about eggs?"
"Eggs? Seriously?"
"He was trying to prove his point that sunny-side-up is better than the scrambled one!"
"But it is better!"
"No it's not, scrambled it better, and you know it!"
"Um.."
The two turned to the new sound voice, seeing that it was Antonio holding something on his back, and hummingbird sat comfortably on his curly hair.
"A bird told me that you're sad, so I bought you this chameleon since you've told me before that it was your favorite animal." The youngest madrigal pulled out his hand, revealing a chameleon behind him, handing it to his older brother. "You can keep him if you want, but if he's too much work, I can keep him in my room and you can visit him every once and a while." Offering him a bright smile.
Camilo beams, patting his little brother on the head once the bird got off, before shapeshifting into his 5-year-old self, hugging his brother, the chameleon clinging at the back of his Ruana. "Thank you, Antonio, I feel much better now." Shifting back to his old self bringing his brother with him, spinning him around. The three siblings laughed together, while their parents watch from the bottom side of la casita.
~~
[Name] sat on a blanket under the stars, she was a little away from her home, but she was okay with it. This was her and Camilo's hiding place, away from everything.
"Is this seat taken?" Flinching a bit to the sound of her boyfriend, seeing him emphasizing the spot next to her on the blanket, with a small but still noticeable smile.
"Yes, well, by you." Once he sat down, she wants to hold his hand, like every time they go here. Snuggled up to each other, talking about each other's day, or talking about the constellations in the sky.
But her anxiety won't let her do that, what if he doesn't like it? What if she makes him uncomfortable? What if he hates it when she touches hi—
A warm feeling stopped her thoughts to flood in, looking down at their now intertwined hands, makes her nerves at ease. The boy brought her hand up to his lips, kissing her palm, her knuckles, before trying to lightly pull her against him, encouraging her to cuddle up to him, like they do all the time.
Finally giving in, the [eye. color]-eyed hugged him, burying her face between his shoulder and neck, resulting in the boy running his fingers through her hair. They both leaned back until they were laying on the blanket below them.
Only the sound of nature is heard, the breeze blowing, the sound of crickets near them, Camilo's steady heartbeat. "I like it when you're snuggled up to me like this." The girl's ears perk up at his voice, "hugging me, holding my hand, heck even when you tug my sleeve is enough to get me on my knees!" Kissing her on the forehead before continuing, "I'm sorry about yesterday. Tired got the best of me and I just slash out on you, though it's still not an excuse for me to hurt you like that. You mean everything to me, mi Amor."
He felt her hug tighter, "I'm sorry too, I didn't realize that you wanted a time alone and I kept on pushing you into it, I'm really sorry Cariño."
"Hey, it's okay! I didn't really make it clear that I wanted to be alone, you were just fulfilling your promise earlier that day."
"But still, I shouldn't have pushed myself into you..."
"It's not your fault but I know you won't let it go so I will say I forgive you, 'cause I love you."
"I love you too."
The couple fell into another comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company.
"Cariño?" Camilo called, receiving a hum from the girl. "My family told me that it's normal to have a fight like this, but I don't want it to be normal between us, I hate fighting with you.."
"My mama told me the same thing, let's agreed not to fight again."
"Yea, we'll speak out what's troubling us so we can keep our misunderstandings away, and if we still have a disagreement in the future, at least we know what to avoid."
"That's a smart idea, mi Vida."
"Anything for you, mi amor."
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word count: 2468 words :<