𝐕

                                    

                                          
"Carlos." 
   The boy tuned out his brother's voice. He was focused on cleaning up after the party that had just taken place. All the guests left and all there was now was cleanup. The faster Carlos can get this done, the faster he can get ready for bed and relax. Yet... he still slacked.
   "Carlos!" Camilo was persistent. He grabbed the other boy's shoulder, causing him to drop the broomstick. The two were the only ones left to clean up. Their siblings and cousins have already done their part. 
   "What?" He barked back, swatting Camilo's hand off his shoulder. 
   "Don't act so oblivious! What's going on?" Camilo shifted his weight onto one leg, popping a hip out as he looked at his brother keenly. "You convinced Y/n to sneak out? Do you realize how much trouble you could've gotten them into if they got caught?"
   "All I did was lay out an option. It was their choice to do it." Carlos didn't hesitate to roll his eyes and sigh. He picked up the broomstick once more, sweeping up any flower petals and confetti on the floor. "Tell me: did they get caught?"
   "I don't know, Carlos. We find out tomorrow morning. If they do, who knows what their parents will do! Their parents aren't there half the time and yet still manage to--"
   "Control their life. I know. you've told me so many times. Y/n this, Y/n that, it's always about Y/n. If you love them so much why not just ask them out? I'm sick of your repetitive pining, Camilo. You're nothing but a loser in love." Carlos didn't mean what he said. He didn't want Camilo to ask you out, because he knows if he does, you'll say yes.
   Camilo was perfect. No one denied that. If he asked anyone out, they'd say yes in a heartbeat.
   "Maybe I will." 
   "What?" 
   Carlos was shocked by how quickly he responded; with confidence too. Camilo has been planning this for a few days. He didn't want to ruin your friendship with this new idea of love. He spent the last few days figuring out whether it was worth it or not, and yes. Yes, it was. 
   "What's wrong?" Camilo's interest peaked. Carlos's soft tone in his single-word response was an instant indicator that something was wrong. 
   "Nothing.." Carlos scoffed, shaking his head to ruffle up his bangs, turning away from him and getting back to sweeping the floor. Camilo noted how his persona faltered. A part of his jealousy slipped through his shell and he knew that it wouldn't go unnoticed. 
   "Oh, that wasn't nothing, Hermano." Camilo grabbed the broomstick and tossed it over to the side. "Tell me." His kind and joyful aura was replaced with something even Carlos has never seen before. It was unusual and uneasy.
   "Camilo, it's nothing." He pushed him aside, grabbing the broomstick once more and trying to finish his task as quick as he could. He wanted to be left alone. He wanted to be in his sweet room where no one could bother him or talk to him; somewhere he can have privacy. 
   Camilo knew that he wouldn't get anything out of that boy. "Fine," he began to finish with his chores, glancing over at him every once in a while. The rest of the time was spent in complete utter silence. Everyone was already getting ready for bed while these two boys were left to do the cleaning.
   Blame it on Carlos. If something goes wrong, always blame it on Carlos. That's how it always went, growing up. He refused to do his part and even made a bigger mess after Mirabel was finished cleaning her share. 
   Once he was finished, he left the broom leaning on a wall. Not where it belonged, but it was better than the middle of the room. 
   "Carlos!" 
   The boy rolled his eyes for the millionth time today, not bothering to respond or spare his twin brother any attention as he sped up the stairs.  
   "Carlos, I know you heard me!"
   He ran. The quick footsteps behind him let him know that Camilo was so desperate that he was willing to run after him. Carlos was tired. He didn't want to talk about you, he didn't want to talk to his brother. He didn't want to talk about you to his brother. 
   Carlos ran to his room, shutting the door the moment he stepped foot into the room. "Casita! Lock the door." He sighed as he took his slippers off, walking over to his closet and looking for comfortable clothing to change into. A smirk made its way to his face as he heard his doorknob rattle. 
   "Carlos, this isn't funny!" 
   "Yes, it is." The mischievous twin couldn't help but laugh at Camilo's feeble attempts to reach out to him. He was happy that he was unbothered.
   "Carlos!"
   Finally alone without his brother in his face. He could tune out his voice easily, he's done it too many times before. Living with such a large family made it easy for him to tune out certain voices or conversations when he didn't want to be involved.  Tuning out his brother? It's as simple as breathing. 
   Camilo's blood was boiling. He didn't know what Carlos was thinking and he didn't know if he wanted to find out or not. It may have been best if he didn't, but curiosity was killing him. He hit the door with his fist. "Carlos, open the door!" The lack of response made him assume that his thoughts were right. The fact that Carlos refused to talk about it made him assume that his thoughts were right. Everything about Carlos's behaviour proved his thoughts to be right. "Dios mío..." he growled through gritted teeth.
   Carlos turned out his course yet still manages to hear the sound of footsteps getting softer. "I win." He grinned as he spoke to himself, walking over to one of the many mirrors in his room. He shape-shifted into you, looking into the mirror and leaning closer. His grin altered from being egotistical and sharp to something a little more soft and possessive. He then shape-shifted into his brother, taking a step back from the mirror. 
   "Y/n, my sweet amor. May I have the pleasure of taking you to a place we can be alone? Let me kiss your face and claim you as mine and I'll rub it in my brother's face and let him know that I won." Carlos impersonated Camilo to the best of his abilities, yet still managed to mock him.
   He shape-shifted into you once more, taking a step to the other side of the mirror. "Oh, Camilo. I'd love to but... we're just friends. I've seen you as nothing but my best friend and my feelings won't ever reciprocate. I'm not yours. I don't belong to you and you don't own me. We're nothing but friends." 
   Carlos laughed at his small little scene, transforming back to himself as he jumped onto his mattress. His worry of you accepting his brother's proposal seemed to be absent. It was almost as if he was confident that you'd reject him. Put him in the friend zone where Carlos thought was belonged. 
   But that didn't mindset last long. 
   That mindset left as quick as it came. 
   "Y/n finally got time to hang out today. We went to look for geckos." Carlos remembered the way Camilo talked about you. It became a weekly thing. 
   "Then after that, we went to get ice cream. We got to sing in the village square with a few musicians, too!" Weekly turned into daily, and Carlos was fed up with all of his talk of you. So he finally approached you.
   You were nothing like Camilo said you were. You were fiesty, you bit back at his snarky comments and unnecessary remarks. It was a new experience, it was an episode he thought would never happen. 
   He hated this feeling.
   Carlos hated how you made him feel special even though you had just met the day before. Carlos hated how you him feel special. You out of all people, it just had to be you. 
   You; the one who held Camilo's heart without even knowing about it. You knew Camilo as a friend, and you were lucky! You knew the Madrigals didn't have much time for friendships but you were so happy Camilo made time for you. You knew it to never catch feelings for him. You knew that in the end, you'd both be too busy to see each other and it might fall apart instantaneously. You knew that you were meant to stay friends. You were happy with where you were. You thought it was foolish to fall head over heels for a boy you saw every few days for only a few hours. You had responsibilities, you don't have the time to think of love. 
   Camilo thinks differently.