Chapter 27

Camilo drank in the feeling of every inch of her body he's allowed to venture on, fingers fluttering on her skin —ingraining on his mind every second of it.

"You've gotten thinner." He noted, his voice in a small murmur as he rested his head on her shoulder. He felt absolutely drained from crying, being apart from her for so long took a huge toll on his mental state.

"I did?"

"Yeah, and I don't like it. I'd rather have you looking plump than skin and bones." He closed his eyes, nuzzling on her neck once more —his hands resting on the small of her back, drawing little circles ever so often.

"Too much of one thing can be unhealthy."

He knows, he learned.

"I know, but that it doesn't stop me from worrying." He replied, begrudgingly pulling away from her touch. He could feel his heart scream to not let go, yet he did not heed its calls.

He finally got the chance to take a good look at his surroundings, and , he was astounded at what he saw, so astounded that he rubbed his eyes a little more just to check if he's hallucinating.

"That's, uh, nice trees I guess?"

"I appreciate it if you don't insult my paintings of trees, thank you very much."

"Hey! I didn't insult them, I infact complemented them." He replied in a matter-of-factly, crossing his arms to further emphasize his point. "The tone of your voice says otherwise."

A small knock on the door interrupted their little banter, to which Camilo groaned upon seeing Ignacio's face —still slightly bruised from their little brawl from before. He claimed to be a ‘’ to Julieta who insisted on healing the man.

"Camilo, yo."

"Yo."

The Camilo begrudgingly apologized to the man, despite his heart's protests. They were able to clear up any misunderstandings between the two of them and now are in talking terms with each other, but that still doesn't stop each other from throwing half-hearted insults at each other though.

"I know I'm probably interrupting something—"

"Yeah, you did." Camilo butted-in, half-heartedly glaring at the man in the front door

"—but you said I can get the painting by this time..." Ignacio continued through gritted teeth, giving the woman a strained smile. One could almost see the pulsing vein popping out from his neck from irritation.

"Oh, of course, I'll be right back. For now, be on your best behavior you two."

A few waves of silence filled the air around the two, Ignacio is currently looking everywhere but Camilo at the moment as his stare has gotten a tad bit uncomfortable. "Are you trying to intimidate me by your stare? Because I do not feel intimidated by the slightest bit. Infact, I feel more uncomfortable than anything else."

"You're not going to get them to notice you with that ugly bruise on your nose." Camilo pointed out, crossing his arms and finally looking away from him —much to Ignacio's relief. "And your hair looks like a rat's nest. No offense."

"You're just jealous that I can rock a man-bun better than you. Besides, your hair looks like a wet mop."

First off, Rude. Secondly, where has he heard that insult before? And lastly, he looks quite good with a man-bun, his girlfriend said so. Thank you very much. Her validation is the only thing he needs. (.)

He watched Ignacio huffed in triumph, with his teasing smirk adorning his —according to Camilo, face.

"The two of you argue like little children." The woman spoke, holding the canvas, to which Camilo's eyes widened at. . (.)

"Are you open to suggestions?" Ignacio asked with a charming smile so bright that Camilo and the woman was almost blinded by it. He was very happy with his little painting it seems, seeing as he can't stop looking at it.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Put your boyfriend over there on a leash. He looks like he 'bouta bite the hell outta me." He said with a playful sneer.

Definitely not good for business if a feral guard dog scaring them off, Ignacio would also like to add. However, Camilo would like to argue that he is the best guard dog thank very much,

"Duly noted."

"Oi!"

With a pep on his step Camilo happily returned to the Casita, his heart light as every burden —every weight he was previously carrying was now lifted. But his moment of respite didn't really last long as Bruno, Julieta, and his sister, Dolores dragged him away into a very secluded area in the to corner him.

"Hi...?" Camilo asked with a nervous smile, he felt like a baby lamb in front of hungry predators with the weird smile they gave at him.

"Camilo, you know we love you right?"

"Usually, I would say yes. But in this situation... I don't know if I should." Eyes nervously shifted between the three of them, the cogs in his mind twisting and turning as it searched for what shenanigans they had happen to get themselves into, whilst he's busy begging his sweet girlfriend for forgiveness.

"Well you see..." Julieta started, letting out a nervous laugh before getting cut off by the one and only man himself who put themselves into this situation to begin with.

"I kinda—well, not really kinda— I actually told Pepa that you're going to propose to— y'know, your , just so she wouldn't know that you went out and threw fists on someone, you know what she's like when she's angry—"

Bruno continued to ramble and Camilo stared at him, flabbergasted at the amount of info that spilled from that mouth of his.

"But you love your , right? So it wouldn't be a problem if you proposed to her, unless you're not ready, or she's not ready —which I doubt seeing as she didn't really react when I said that—"

"Wait, wait, wait." Hang on a hot second, did he hear his correctly? Or was he just hearing things?

"She knew?"

The three people in front of him slowly nodded, a bit scared at how he might react.

"She knew, and she didn't tell me?"

"In her defense, she probably thought might forget about it in a few days so she didn't take Bruno's words seriously..." Dolores butted in, both of her hands clasped tightly together.

Camilo looked outside, it has been very sunny these past few days and not a single drizzle dare drop from the sky. No wonder.

Also his mother would totally not forget about something as big as a proposal?! Speaking of proposal, don't tell him that he's going to plan to propose to her this year!?

"Don't tell me," he turned to the three once more, eyes blown wide as it suddenly dawned upon him the reason they dragged him here.

"You want me... To propose to her?" The young man finally asked, another new wave of stress came flowing through his being.

"Yeah."

"Mhm."

"Pretty much."

The three chorused, nodding in confirmation.

With a loud groan he shifted into a young boy and laid flat on the floor, rubbing his face in frustration and combing his curly hair with his fingers.

"Do you think we broke him?"

"I swear to God, Bruno..."