𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

                                    

                                          
"You asshole.." Carlos muttered under his breath, glaring at his brother. "Get out." 
   "No." 
   "What do you mean, no?" Everything was piling up on him, nothing was going his way. "This is my room! What I say goes!"
   "Carlos!" The sound of his mother's voice booming through the door shocked him. He heard a clap of thunder, knowing that keeping his mother waiting was something he didn't want to do. 
   "Coming!" Carlos opened the door, eyes glued to the floor. He didn't know what Camilo told her. He was sure that Camilo must've said something to exaggerate it or maybe even lie. He was assuming the worst. 
   Why did panic rise in his chest? Carlos should've seen this coming. Did he really expect to do all those things and get away with it? 
   "Let's sit." Pepa took slow breaths, getting rid of the cloud above her head as she walked into the room, ushering both boys inside and closing the door. 
   "Camilo doesn't have to be here." Carlos's tone was softer as his vulnerability increased. Every movement his mother made caused fear. He thought he'd get hit any time soon and he was trying to prepare for it. 
   "Yes, he does." Her tone was stone cold, bringing the two over to the couch and sitting in the chair across from them. "Okay, we're going to take this slow and steady." Pepa did her best to keep her emotions in, though her gift couldn't lie. She knew Carlos was trouble but she didn't think it'd go this far. 
   "Ma, the cloud," Carlos stated the obvious. 
   "You think I can keep calm?!" She boomed, frightening both boys as thunder struck. "You make me feel like I have to watch you every hour of the day! You should be ashamed of having the Madrigal name. You don't deserve any of this, not if you keep taking it all for granted and do what you want!" 
   Carlos grew used to all of this scolding. He grew used to it, yet it still hurt somewhere deep down. "Well too bad." He thought that if he just kept pushing and if he kept acting as if he didn't care at all, then maybe he wouldn't. 
   Fake it 'til you make it. 
   "I am sick and tired of having to deal with you. Why can't you be more like your brother?" Pepa was already stressed. Every single day she had to bottle up any negative emotion to keep the encanto a happy place. She didn't have time to deal with things that can be avoided. It's the worst times that her bottled-up emotions can erupt. She ends up taking it out on those she loves. 
   "Because I'm not him," Carlos spoke through gritted teeth. "Now if you're just going to scold me, can you leave? There's no point. We've gone over this too many times." 
   "Carlos!" 
   He flinched, "sorry.." 
   Pepa looked at her children. Both of them looked frightened and yet Camilo had no reason to be. He did nothing wrong. She saw how Carlos's fists were clenched, how his body shook with every breath he took. The last thing she wanted to do was scare her children to the point where they didn't want to speak with her. 
   She knows she's a bad mother. She has told herself every day and kept telling herself to get better. 
   "Mijo." Pepa reached out to cup his face, only to frown when he flinched away. "Look at me." She couldn't tell if she was disappointed or if she was angry, maybe a mix of both, maybe neither. Instead, a completely different emotion. "Tell me what happened." 
   Carlos slowly looked up. He tensed, moving away from her touch and leaning back on the couch. "Why do I have to tell you if Camilo already did?" 
   Why was he being so difficult? Everything could've gone by smoother if he had just listened and complied. Maybe then his mother wouldn't have such a hard time trying to keep it in. 
   "It's not that hard, is it? It only happened two days ago! It's fresh in your mind!" She snapped, the cloud from earlier beginning to form once again. 
   "Y/n came over," was all he said. He didn't want to say any more than that. He looked at his mom, expecting her to say something, but no. Her patience was thin but she waited. Carlos knew that she wanted to hear more, so he began to think; recalling what happened. 
   The longer he thought and the more he remembered, he finally realized what he did to you. He finally realized that what he did was wrong. 
   But does he want to accept the fact that it was wrong?
   No, no he didn't. 
   "When they came over, we had a talk that ended up being an argument of some sorts, blah blah. They went to Camilo and..." Carlos trailed off, not wanting to say what he did. Now that he was saying it out loud, he realize how messed up the episode was. 
   "And?" Pepa said, leaning forward. 
   Camilo gave him a nudge, earning a keen glare in return. "Come on." 
   "I can't!" Carlos whisper-shouted, as if his mother wasn't sitting directly in front of him. 
   She smacked the side of his face. "Carlos." 
   He flinched. It wasn't hard, but it certainly wasn't pleasant. He was used to it. A smack to the face, or the butt with a slipper, a pull from the ear followed by a shout. He's had it all, he should expect anything and everything. 
   "I may have said and done things that I shouldn't have. Both to Y/n and my brother." He admitted, being as brief as he possibly could. 
   "I want detail, Mijo." Pepa wasn't having it. She slipped her foot out of her slipper and Carlos saw. His eyes instantly averted to look at the slipper when he saw some sort of movement. 
   "I'm not giving you detail!" 
   "If you don't give me detail I won't give you a sixteenth birthday!" 
   "Ma!" Camilo called out, "Carlos." He gave him a piercing stare, "let's just have this over with." He too was tired of all the fighting going on. First between you and Carlos, then Carlos and his mom... Camilo just wanted to rest and relax without any drama. 
   Camilo wanted to see you again. 
   He wanted to come over and help you make dinner. He wanted to take care of your siblings like an older brother they didn't have but needed. He wanted to sit on the couch and spoon-feed you as you refused to eat. 
   He wanted whatever you two had. 
   He wanted what you two don't have. 
   Not anymore. 
   "Fine!" Carlos finally cracked, ruffling his hair and messing it up out of frustration. He regret what he had done, but there was no turning back. Though he didn't believe in apologies and regret. What stays in the past stays in the past, never to be brought up again. He didn't want to say 'I'm sorry', he saw weakness and flaws in apologies. 
   Carlos took a deep breath, "so maybe I violated and disregarded their feelings but it's fine." 
   "Carlos, it's far from fine." Camilo managed to remain calm, yet his tone was low and salient. 
   "Fine," the boy rolled his eyes, resting his elbows on his knees and he leaned forwards. "I pinned them down, bruised their wrists. It's not a big deal, everyone gets hurt. I get it, I shouldn't have done it and I won't do it again." 
   "It's not not a big deal, Mijo." Pepa's calm nature was proven wrong by the thunder that clapped behind her. "Sometimes I wonder where you get this behaviour. You assaulted another teenager and this is all you have to say?" 
   Carlos looked at her, shrugging. "I mean... yeah."