·42·

"Stay the Night"

⚠︎ᴄʀɪɴɢᴇ⚠︎

"..."Haven't of the faintest ideas"? No one even talks like this here and we know everyone," Estella says, dramatically letting herself fall and lying on the ground with a piece of paper in her hands.

"Pal's letters sound like he lived during the Medieval times, how're we ever gonna find out who you're secret admirer is?" The girl said, looking at her best friend, Mirabel, sitting beside her on the grass somewhere in the forest.

"Pal's not my secret admirer," Mirabel said shyly, making Estella arch a brow. "Yeah, the poetic and romantic talkin' is really doing the opposite of giving it out," She said, shaking her head as she let out a grunt, trying to sit back up.

Ever since Mirabel started getting letters, she and Estella have been referring to the person who's been sending them as "Pal"; it's short for "Pen Pal". And although Mirabel doesn't know how to send letters back due to not knowing if they would be able to get them, and if they really are the person she's talking to, it doesn't really stop her from getting giddier each time a new letter suddenly appears.

It's something Estella caught on to and was told about by Mirabel, herself, giving birth to their two-man investigation in trying to find out who she's r̶o̶m̶a̶n̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ associating with.

"Tsk," Estella let out, reading the letter. "Pal's words really make your heart flutter, doesn't it? They sound so dreamy it's irritating how we don't know who they are."

Mirabel laughed, taking back the piece of paper, saying "Pal would probably tell me their identity when they're ready, all we gotta do is wait."

"I'm impatient," Estella simply said, the two of them looking at each other for a long moment before she lets out a sigh. "Alright fine, we'll wait."

"Actually, you know what? Maybe there is a way for us to find out," Mirabel grinned, leaning to the side towards Estella while still maintaining eye contact.

"And what exactly are you trying to say?" Estella asked, squinting her eyes at Mirabel who kept looking at her eagerly.

★ ★ ★

"It just appears out of nowhere! All you gotta do is pretend to be me for long enough so Pal would send you the letter, thinking you're me," Mirabel explained, looking at Estella as she continues what they were planning.

"While we watch from afar, spotting them in the crowd or wherever. Besides, it's just for three days – Pal always sends letters only every Sunday for some reason..." The girl said, taking note of the fact that it was already Thursday today.

"You do know three days is three days, right, and not anything less?" Camilo asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back on the chair he was sitting on, the amount of time he'll have to sacrifice lowering his interest in their idea.

"Aw c'mon, primo! If you can't do it for me, your most favorite youngest cousin, then do it for your girlfriend," Mirabel pouted, putting her hand out to where Estella is before placing two of them on her chest and saying, "I just happen to be her bestest friend too, so..."

Raising his brows, Camilo looked at Mirabel in disbelief.

How dare you play that card on me, He told her in his mind, the two of them eyeing each other intensely before Camilo broke their eye contact and glanced at Estella who was just smiling at him innocently on the side.

"Would it help if we say 'please' at the same time?" Mirabel asked, a faint teasing tone present in her voice, knowing how she already won him over when he looked away.

"Alright, fine!" The boy said reluctantly, sighing in defeat while the other two giggled at each other, cheerfully giving out high fives in victory.

"Alright, now that that's over, I need to go. I promised Mama I'd help her with the Tamales," Mirabel says, standing up and dusting her skirt. She fixes her glasses and looks at Camilo again, giving him a playful wink before taking her to leave right, waving at Estella once and flashing her a thankful smile.

"And here I thought you came here for a friendly visit," Camilo frowned, looking at his girlfriend who also stands up from her seat.

"Don't be so bummed out, I did it for Mirabel," She says, chuckling softly. "Sad to say that I have to go too, Mama has a lot of sewing to do and heaven knows Papa would just end up sobbing with the twins if he can't manage to calm them down."

Camilo laughed a bit at the last part, imagining her dad crying with two infants. "Si, si. Go on, amor," He said, also standing up, deciding to finally do the other chores he's been avoiding since earlier.

"I'll stop by later," He added, seeing her nod once at him before turning her back.

Camilo expected that she'd already start walking away right after saying that so he fixes up his ruana a bit when all of a sudden he felt Estella's soft lips peck his cheek.

Eyes wide from surprise, Camilo jolts his head up to look at her. Only to find that she's already running away, yelling; "See ya, bye!"

It took a while to load, but it was only for a few seconds until his head started working again. "Oh no, you didn't," He muttered under his breath, a playful grin creeping up his face as he started chasing her.

Estella went out to Casita's halls, trying to make a run for it before Camilo gets too affectionate. She passed by Luisa and Antonio – greeting both of them as she ran and having a spare few seconds in time to even pet Parce.

Bolting down the stairs, she makes eye contact with Camilo and squeaks in surprise, spotting Mirabel in the distance just heading towards the kitchen.

"Mirabel, Mirabel, hide me!" She said, laughing as she grabbed the innocent girl by the shoulders and turned her around, hiding behind her back.

"What? Why what's wrong?" She asked, in a state of shock from the sudden grabbing and confusion from the rest.

"Aha!" Camilo exclaimed, at the end of the stairs, spotting the two of them.

"Casita...?" Mirabel said, trying to ask for some backup when the tiles helped them move towards the exit and made sure Camilo wasn't going to catch up to them for a while.

"Sorry, Señora Julieta, I'll bring Mira back right after!" Estella yelled, seeing Julieta Madrigal peeking from the kitchen while they starts to skedaddle away, laughing hysterically at each other.

Right after the girls got about another minute's head start, Casita let Camilo go after them, the three teens' commotion catching the attention of literally everyone present in the household.

From the Casa Madrigal, you could see the three of them running around, making their way to the town. Pepa stood next to her sister, Julieta who was by the door, watching them from afar, saying, "They never change, do they?"

"Haven't we heard that line before?" Bruno asked, piping in, making his older sisters laugh slightly while they locked their arms together as they recalled memories of their youth, hearing other people ask the exact same question them.

"You know, I don't think I'll need a vision to see who that little prankster would end up with," Bruno mentioned, looking at Pepa, the three of them know who exactly he was talking about.

The woman rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You just figured that out now? Seriously, hermanito, try keeping up, hm?"

"Now, now, no need to rush with those two, let them have a little fun," Julieta adds, making Bruno and Pepa look at her with raised brows.

"Says the one who got married first," Bruno muttered loudly, nudging Pepa who just nodded as they eye their older sister.

"Ayy! Alright, you two...!"

Seeing everything happen from the second floor, in front of her own door, the head of the Madrigals herself, Alma couldn't help but smile to see her children having fun all together again, just like how they used to.

It was a bitter-sweet smile, feeling the regret of putting everyone through so much still looming around in her heart. But thanks to Mirabel's words, Alma is now finally content with what she has and continues to move forward to become a much better mother and grandmother to both her children and grandchildren.

"Woah!" Mirabel lets out, being used as a human shield again. She looks at her cousin and laughs awkwardly, "I think it's safe to say we're already too old for kisses."

Mirabel lets her friend run away first before stepping to the side and letting Camilo go. "Sorry, 'Stel!" She yelled.

"No, wait–, Ack!" Estella tried to turn around to plead but Camilo was already on his way crashing into her. The two of them fall down on the ground, the boy managing to swiftly exchange positions with her, cushioning her fall with his own body.

Yeah, it was pretty painful, but he was mostly distracted by how Estella's face was inches away from his while she was on top of him to even give a care.

"Ooh," Mirabel mumbled, looking away and blocking them out of their side using her hand as she notices the familiar look in her cousin's eyes. Slightly blushing to even catch sight of their very unfortunate positioning.

Camilo smiled mischievously at Estella, her face as red as a ripe juicy tomato, ready for picking. "Gotcha," He said, almost in a seductive whisper kind of way.

"Stop."

The two heard someone say in a stern voice before they immediately feel something wrap around their ankles, separating the two of them in an instant.

"Ugh, Isa," Camilo groaned, dangling from her vines.

"Too much affection makes my eyes roll voluntarily," Isabela said, rolling her eyes on cue as she moves her plants around, letting Estella land gently on the ground.

"Just get a boyfriend already – or girlfriend,  no one's stopping you," Camilo bitterly said, struggling to get out of Isabela's vines.

"Oh, quiet," Isabela said, furrowing her brows at Camilo before telling Estella that she heard her siblings wake up. Which is another way of saying that she heard their cries.

"Oh, right! I better go," Estella says, her big sister switch turning on, as she tries jogging back home, waving goodbye to Mirabel and thanking Isabela for the heads up. And of course, she smiled at Camilo – can't forget about the boyfie, am I right?

"Aw, don't pout, primo," Isabela smirked, letting him go. "Gotta have a little space if you want to keep things interesting," She said teasingly, walking home.

"Then should I say 'thank you'?" Camilo asked sarcastically.

"You're welcome."

★ ★ ★

Thud

Estella placed down the book she was reading by her bedside table and stood up from her bed, knowing how there are probably only two things that'll ever make that sound in this hour; A wild animal or Camilo.

Although sometimes she admits that she doesn't see much of a difference between the two.

Opening the door to her balcony, she looks at Camilo who was hopefully standing there, already dressed in his pajamas like her.

"Again?" She asked, letting him in, not bothering to ask why he was visiting at an hour like this since his response would always either be a nightmare or an "i missed you", even though they literally see each other every day.

"Y'know we're bound to get scolded about this someday," Estella says, plopping onto the bed, her back resting on her headboard as she sat comfortably.

"Why? It's not like we're doing anything scandalous," Camilo jokingly said with a grin, casually sitting next to her as she reached out for her book.

The girl chuckled at his words, shaking her head. "You know that's not what I meant."

"And you know I was just joking," He tells her as he leaned his face close to hers. "But you know, if you're up for it we could always," Camilo trailed, making her look away from the page she was reading and turn to him in shock.

"What? I was going to say sneak out and do something fun!" He said raising his arms in surrender as he backed off a bit, laughing.

Estella grumbled, turning to continue her reading but it was no use. She's basically just reading the same paragraph over and over again since she can't focus on her book properly.

"Don't tell me you were thinking of something perverse. . ." Camilo put a hand over his mouth, pretending to be in shock as a way to tease her. "Oh, Estella, I didn't know this side of you existed," He trailed, chuckling as she blushed embarrassedly, closing her book in defeat with a sigh as she put it down on the table again.

Estella narrowed her eyes at Camilo, who was clearly having way too much fun teasing her. "Listen here, Camilo," She said, placing a finger on his chest, catching his attention – thinking she got annoyed. "Let's just say, right now, you're not ready to learn about "that" side of me. So let's be patient until we are, hm?"

Camilo blushed, his brain trying to process what she just said. "W-Wait a minute, what?" He stuttered, taken aback while Estella scoffed amusedly at his embarrassing behavior.

He looks so cute just now.

 ★ Told ya she's learned a few tricks  ★

Enjoying the moment of silence, Estella rested her head on her headboard along with her back and waited for Camilo to come back to earth, finding it cute how his head is slightly down but his eyes are looking so far away while his one hand is covering his mouth, quite literally, half of his face, as he blushed a bright red with a confused expression, being given off by his furrowed brows.

"Aren't you gonna go home yet?" Estella asked, flipping a page from her book which she had just picked up a few moments ago.

"Aren't you gonna get some sleep yet?" The boy asked her a question back, knowing how she was aware that he mostly only goes whenever she's going to bed already.

The girl hummed for a prolonged period of time, her eyes continuously moving from left to right as she reads what was written on the page she was currently at. "...Maybe just one more chapter," She finally answered.

★ L I E S  ★

Pretty much three chapters more later, Estella realized how quiet Camilo has been the past few minutes. Or at least to her, it only felt like it's just been minutes when in reality it's been an hour and a half since he last talked.

She takes a peek at the boy whose head has been comfortably resting on her lap since earlier and lets out a soft chuckle.

He's completely passed out.

How on earth is he gonna go home now? I can't possibly wake him up when he looks this peaceful, Estella thought, brushing some of his hair off his face.

Hopefully, neither of us don't get stiff necks in the morning.