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“You can do this [Y/N]. This is not going to stop you from seeing Bruno again!”, was all you could think of as you knocked on the door of Casa Madrigal.
The moment you heard from the local baker that he had returned, you ran towards the Casita. It couldn’t be true. Surely, she was just getting old, confusing someone else with the oldest Madrigal son and your childhood best friend. Well, not just childhood, really. Even as you two grew from young adults into adults, you tried to spend as much time as possible with one another. While others might have feared the young seer, to you he was the funniest dork in town. His puns were to die for, and he always made sure that no matter how horrible your day was, that you went home with a smile.
However, the weeks before his disappearance, things changed. At first, he started to make less and less jokes. His eyes constantly fixed on the ground as the two of you met. Then slowly, he started to make weird remarks about how it was getting harder and harder to use his gift. How it took a heavy toll on his mental health yet that no one wanted to hear any of it. You tried your best, of course, to make sure he knows that you care, that you heard him, and asked if you could do anything. That was all it took to get him to look at you with those kind eyes, so dark green that most confused them to be brown. Like always he would go back on his previous statement and say that all was okay, after all he had someone to confine in. You.
The day you came to the Casita, hidden in your basket Flan de Coco – a treat you made for him whenever you felt like he needed a little pick-me-up – only to be greeted by the sobbing family changed your whole life.
He was gone.
Disappeared without a trace.
Bruno just left a short letter saying that he needed to leave his family behind. That he was only bringing them and the town pain and suffering. His visions were the root of all evil in the town. That he could not look any of them in the eye without feeling deep shame, as he was only a disappointment. That his powers were a curse that they needed to get rid of.
As his best friend, you were asked multiple times if you had seen him. How he could have gotten this ludicrous idea. If he mentioned where he would be going.
But alas, you had no answers. And while the family was grieving together, you were left alone. No family left to go to and now, now there was no Bruno left in your life. For weeks you were crying your eyes out at night, often wandering to the house but never knocking on the door. There was no one waiting there for you anymore…
Every year you would spend his birthday alone. Lighting a candle in remembrance, hoping and praying that he was okay. That he had enough to eat and was safe from all harm. Not one did you lose hope, for deep in your heart you knew that he was somewhere out there and one day… One day he would return. No matter what others said. No matter how often you were called insane for wishing him to be back. You just knew he would return to you.
So it was to no surprise that you dropped everything. Yet… why could you not bring yourself to knock on the door? The door you have been standing in front of for over 10 minutes. As it turned out, it was not just you getting fed up with your own anxiety, as the Casita opened its doors for you, as if to say Hurry up!
Entering the house you once thought of as your second home, a chill went down your spine. You knew it was demolished before, yet it looked and felt just like it did back then. Even the smell was the same! It was once you heard the voice of Mirabel that you faced towards the hallway leading to the dining room. All the noise was coming from there…. Without question, they would tell you how naïve you must have been for believing that he would return. That rumors are just that – rumors.
But as you were about to enter the room, you heard a familiar voice… Weaker, as if it had not been used in a long time, but so familiar. Tears were already dripping down your cheeks. You would recognize this voice out of a million. It was the voice you still heard in your dreams, telling you that all will be okay.
Bruno Madrigal. Sitting at the dinner table being doted on by his family. Sure, the years changed his looks. He was thinner than before, the years away must have been rough for him. His hair was slightly unkept and so much longer. A dark shadow was ever so present underneath his dark green eyes, causing you to worry even more about his journey.
A soft sob left your lips as you looked at him. This small noise of yours was all it took for Dolores to at you, and with her the whole family. At this point you were practically shaking with tears.
“B-…Bru-“, you were unable to even say his name out loud before you found yourself in the rough embrace of Luisa, and soon after her the entire group was hugging you. Touching you and telling you all about how they found him and what had happened. It was all getting too much for you far too quickly. Never before were they this affectionate with you, and to be quite frank it was not something you wanted. Getting touched by people, even those as close to you as the Madrigal family, made you uncomfortable. The fact that they didn’t even give you any time to talk to Bruno himself made it all just worse. In fact, you could barely see him! Only able to hear his soft voice mumbling behind Mirabel who was babbling on and on about how he lived in the walls all along? Surely, she must be mistaken…
It was when Félix tried to go for another hug, that Bruno spoke up.
“Guys, you are suffocating her. Give her some space, please. She doesn’t like being touched”, he pleaded, looking at you with those kind eyes… Looking at you! Not at the floor but you!
The moment you were let go from the tight grasp of Félix, who was very apologetic, you made your way to Bruno.
“Is all of this true?… You were here all along?”, you asked, your voice barely more than a whisper. Yet he would not answer in words. Bruno was very much aware how much hurt his choice to leave – more or less – brought to his family, but he knew that it hurt you just as much. All he could do was anxiously picking at his fingers before nodding ever so slightly.
“I am sorry [Y/N]-“, he tried to apologize, but this time it was you who interrupted him. While you were not keen on physical touch, you just had to hug this idiot of a man at least once. The fact that you could make sure this way that he wasn’t just a figment of your imagination was just an added bonus.
“You absolute dork! How could you ever think you were a burden! You are the best part about this town!”, you began to sob, pulling him into a tight embrace before adding, “I missed you so much…”. His warm hand was tapping gently against your back, trying to soothe you, yet you could also feel that he himself was getting emotional.
Slowly you pulled yourself out of the comforting embrace, placing your hands on his shoulders, as you looked him in the eyes, which were as watery as yours.
“Don’t you ever dare doing this again! Come to me instead, cariño, and we can talk about everything”. You didn’t even register your choice of words, calling him cariño, darling, was clearly a heavy implication of your feelings for the older man. It did, however, not go over his, nor the rest of the family’s head. Anyone could see him go through multiple stages of emotions in mere seconds: shock, confusion, realization, embarrassed, nervous, ending with enamored.
“I won’t leave you again… I promise” he whispered, taking your hands into his before whispering, “I missed you too”. Both of you were very much hesitant to show any signs of physical affection in public. This was your first hug in many years and not because of a lack of offers but just because it never felt right. Not until this moment. No matter where he touched you, it never made you feel uneasy. No. Instead it made your skin feel as if it was ignited by a multitude of fireworks, and a pleasant tingling sensation spread through your stomach like butterflies.
Both of you were very much unaware of the spectacle this turned into. After all, until now they all very much though of the two of you as just friends. While you were aware of your feelings for a long time, you never acted out on them, fearing rejection from the one person who owned your heart, oblivious to the fact that it was mutual.
“Ehm, is anyone going to address this situation? Tio Bruno, you never told us you had a girlfriend before you left”, Camilo baffled, pointing at the two of you while looking at the rest of the family. All of them seemed as perplexed as the cheeky middle child of Pepa and Félix. That was everyone but Dolores, who heard you mumble about her uncle for many years now. Having put two and two together, she just knew that there was something between the two.
Letting go of another, Bruno and you bashfully looked at the rest of the family. Lost in the moment, neither of you knew what to say now.
“I guess I didn’t know until now either… “, said, the deep affection clearly present in his voice “… I think we have a lot of catching up to do…”, he added with a slightly loving yet mischievous smile.
“But that can wait for later, let’s eat for now you lovebirds”, Julieta teased while handing you a plate of dinner, rightfully assuming that you would now be joining them more often from now on.
And as the two of you sat side by side, stealing the occasional glances, the whole family celebrated his return alongside of you, the newest addition to the family Madrigal. None aware that this would be changing sooner rather than later.