The hot air balloon began slowly floating upwards. My heart was pounding so fast as I peered over the basket's edge to watch the ground get farther and farther away from me as Camilo and I floated closer to the sky.
"This must be how Adelita feels when she flies," I whispered to myself.
The hot air balloon got high enough in the air for me to see Casita all the way from the other side of the forest on the edge of town. I could see the whole town from up there. Then the balloon stopped going up. I looked around to try and figure out why to see that the basket still had one very long rope tying it to the ground.
"What's this for?" I asked, pointing to the rope keeping us from going any higher.
"It's so that we don't float too high or too far away from the Encanto" Camilo answered "I don't know how to steer this thing or anything so the American man told me to do this as a compromise."
I nodded to acknowledge that I understood. It was silent for a moment but the silence was comfortable. I rested my elbows on the edge of the basket and stared at the sky, still a calming colour of blue with just the right amount of clouds to make the sky look like a painting.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I asked, staring on to the Encanto.
"This is...The best view of the Encanto that I've ever seen" Camilo sighs "I'm glad that I get to share it with you."
"Thank you for this, Camilo" I said, turning to look at him "This is so wonderful!"
Camilo gave me a soft smile followed by a happy sigh.
"There's more where that came from," Camilo said before sitting down criss-cross style on the petal covered floor of the basket "Here, sit with me!"
Camilo patted on the empty space on the basket's ground right beside him. I took his offer and sat next to him, the petals flying up a bit when I plopped down. Camilo giggled at that.
"What's with the strawberries?" I asked, pointing to the basket full of them that he had brought with us "Are these more of the ones that you grew?"
"Mhm!" Camilo replied "Since you liked them so much, I decided to make more! Besides, it's fun to grow them."
I laughed softly at that.
"That's sweet, Cami" I said "So can I eat them now?"
I reached for a strawberry that was at the very top of the little pile sitting in the little woven basket. But before I could actually touch it, Camilo snatched the strawberries away.
"Nope, not yet" Camilo exclaimed "I had an idea for how we could eat them!"
Camilo searched the little woven basket for a moment. I didn't know what he was looking for, I thought that there were only strawberries inside. Apparently not because he pulled out three small ceramic cups with lids on them.
"What are those?" I asked.
"They're dips!" Camilo replied, plucking the lids off of each cup and placing them gently off to the side.
I took a small peek inside of each of the small cups. One of them had chocolate in it, another had what I think was honey and the other had...cheese?
"Hm, for the strawberries?" I asked, squinting at the cups.
"Yeah!" Camilo answered cheerfully "We can try which one tastes best with the strawberries!"
I reached towards the basket full of strawberries and looked at Camilo before I could officially grab one. He gave me a nod, signalling that it was okay for me to take one. I picked up the one at the very top of the pile. I thought that I should eat it on its own first before I try it with any dips and such. I popped it into my mouth and immediately smiled.
"I seriously don't understand how you make these taste that good" I said as I covered my mouth since I was still chewing.
Camilo had a dopey smile on his face.
"I'm really glad that you like them" Camilo said softly "Oh! Here, try with the chocolate!"
"Won't these clash?" I asked, hesitating before dipping a strawberry in the chocolate dip "I mean, I'm pretty sure that chocolate ice cream and strawberry ice cream don't mix so why would I mix the real things?"
"C'mon, it's really good!" Camilo said encouragingly "Would I lie to you on our first date?"
I thought for a moment before sighing. Then I dipped the strawberry in the chocolate and bit off the part that had chocolate on it. I felt my eyes widen and I stared at Camilo in disbelief.
"Mm!" I hummed excitedly.
"I know, right?" Camilo said, the look on his face clearly saying something along the lines of "I told you so."
"This is so good!" I exclaimed "Why don't more people do that?"
"I know, right?" Camilo repeated.
We spent a bit of time relaxing on the hot air balloon. We tried the rest of the dips and Camilo and I concluded that melted chocolate was the best dip for strawberries. We also concluded that even if it wasn't the best, cheese wasn't actually that bad of a dip for strawberries.
Now, we were staring down at the river from high above it, my elbows resting on the edge of the hot air balloon's basket.
"I just...wanna thank you for all of this" I said, trying to keep my voice soft so that it doesn't ruin the serenity of the whole moment "This is like...the best date that I've ever been on. Not that I've been to many others."
"Well, of course!" Camilo exclaimed "I wanted this to be special for both of us. I mean, I finally get to go on a date with you! I've wanted this for a pretty long time..."
"Me too, Cami" I said, softly.
"It could be better though," Camilo said.
"Hm?" I hummed "What could be better?"
"The date," Camilo replied without hesitation.
"Oh...I'm sorry" I said.
"What?" Camilo said, perking up a bit "Oh, no! I didn't mean it as in I'm not having a great time, this has been amazing! It's not you, it's just..."
"Just?" I urged.
"Okay, this is gonna sound lame" Camilo said with a slight chuckle in his voice "Don't judge me, okay?"
"I won't!" I answered, now curious as to what he meant.
"Okay, well...." Camilo began "This is probably gonna sound really dumb but... Aren't people usually supposed to kiss on the first date?"
I perked up a bit at that and let out an awkward nervous laugh.
"Oh! I shouldn't have told you!" Camilo exclaimed, slumping over and causing the hot air balloon's basket to tip over a bit.
"No, no!" I replied "You're fine! I swear! It was...cute."
"Really?" Camilo asked quietly.
"Yeah" I said softly.
I ripped my eyes off of the glistening river below me and turned to stare at Camilo. I was surprised to find that he was already looking at me. My breath hitched and I closed my eyes. The next thing I knew, Camilo had leaned in and now his lips were on mine.
His lips felt soft and warm against my own. He tasted like the tea that I saw him drinking with his mother earlier today. I remember him mentioning during that sleepover that we had that he had never kissed anyone before but he wasn't being awfully awkward or jerky about it.
It wasn't perfect but it was wonderful.
"That was-" I began to say once we had parted.
"You taste like strawberries and chocolate!" Camilo exclaimed, interrupting me.
"Phht-" I sputtered in response "I wonder why."
"Okay, yeah" Camilo replied "I guess I should've guessed that you would."
We laughed at it a bit today. We spent the rest of the date cuddling and having fun on the hot air balloon. Admiring the Encanto from above and watching the water glistening below us. Eventually, Camilo asked me what time I thought that it was and I gave him my best estimate.
"Oh, then it's just about time for us to start heading back down to Earth" Camilo said, peering down over the basket.
"Yeah, I guess so" I responded "How are we supposed to get down?"
"Well, if you're right about the time then they should be here soon" Camilo answered.
"Who should be here soon?" I asked.
Just then, I heard the sound of people chatting and the rustling of the forest leaves as people made their way towards us. I squinted down at where the sounds were coming from and realized that the sounds were coming from Mirabel, Luisa, and Isabela.
"Them," Camilo said smugly.
"Hey, you guys!" Mirabel yelled up towards us "C'mon, we'll get you guys down!"
"Yeah, then you can tell us about the date!" Isabela yelled cheekily "You owe me for the flowers, Camilo!"
"I know, I know!" Camilo yelled down before sighing "Ugh..."
"You didn't have to do all of this for me, you know?" I asked.
"Yes, I did," Camilo answered. "I have to help clean up her room which is gonna take about a million years. But..."
"For you, I'd do worse" Camilo said softly, turning to look at me "I'd do anything for you, really."
-----
This chapter was a bit of a longer one, about 300 words more than my usual. Well, then again, it is a date episode in a Camilo x Reader. I apologize for the way I wrote the kiss scene, it's my first time ever writing one. I hope it wasn't too much of a cringefest to read lmao.
I'm planning on pumping out more chapters soon so stay tuned for that. I'd like to thank everyone who's reading this chapter for making it this far and supporting me this whole time. Thank you for all the reads and the votes!
-Kolour