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"Notice me goddamn it", you look at your best friend Zo with a frown. They had just elbowed your side and gaddam did it hurt.
"What do you want", you ask, gently massaging the place they hit.
You go back to what you were doing before. Your elbows rest on the edge as you scan the crowd with purpose.
You're with your best friend Zo, on the roof of their house. Lately, you've been hanging out here more. There's a clear view of town and everything happening.
"I've been trying to talk to you and you're not listening! What are you looking for anyways?", Zo asks, their voice is clear with irritation but, you hardly paid attention to that.
Where is..
You rest your chin on your hand, feeling tired and a bit spiritless. You scan the crowd filled with familiar faces.
Ah yes, the girl whose fish died, a priest, a kid with- is that coffee in his hands? Camilo was making some kids laugh, Luisa had some donkeys on her shoulder. Everything seemed to be in place.
Everything but one
"Dolores! There you are! Where have you been?", you hear Alma shout.
You quickly turn to where you thought you heard Alma's voice. Perhaps a bit too quickly as you immediately feel pain in your neck.
"Ahh shit", you groan in a whisper as you massage the part that aches.
"Sorry Abuela, I was helping Isa with her cacti", at the sound of her voice you immediately sit straight, trying to look for the owner, still massaging at your neck.
There
Beautiful. She's in the usual white and yellow shirt and long red dress. Her hair is pulled up in a bun with a big red ribbon, matching the red choker on her neck. Her eyes are wide and brown, listening to Alma with intent.
Unconsciously, your mouth turns up in a smile. Your stomach does a little flip. You practically melt, and you hear yourself release a small sigh.
You also hear Zo groan, and you can practically feel them roll their eyes beside you
"What now", you face them with a glare
"You do this every fucking day, you look so stupid"
Instead of replying you ignore them, and turn back to watch Dolores as she carries on with her chores
"Are you seriously gonna stay here and do nothing?", Zo asks crossing their arms, shaking their head
You mock the way they crossed their arms, "Yes", shaking your head in a similar manner
"You're gonna lose your mariposa if you don't make a move soon", Zo emphasizes butterfly with sarcasm. It was a code name you had for Dolores, in fear that she would hear you and Zo talk about your huge crush on her.
"Why do you hate that name so much? It's cute", you ask in disbelief
"Because, it's corny, cliche, and disgusting", they pause, "And it's starting to get annoying cos she's all you talk about. Mariposa this, butterfly that. Why won't you make a move already?"
You simply stick out your tongue at them and face away. You rest your chin on your arms, trying to find Dolores in the crowd again.
A moment of silence passes
"I don't think I have a chance man", you sigh, "She probably doesn't even know I exist", you finally admit
It feels a bit lighter but it doesn't change anything. You can feel Zo pause, thinking of what to say next.
They put their arm on your back, gently caressing, a gesture of an attempt at comforting. "That's not true"
They move closer and mess with your hair lightly, "You had all those butterfly moments remember", their voice is playful and you can't help but laugh lightly
You smile and shake your head lightly at the memory of said moments. You look at Zo
They're smiling at you reassuringly, "Let's get tu mariposa yea?"
"Not yea", you groan
Lately, you and Zo have been planning to get Dolores to notice you while she was in town.
Of course, with her being busy a lot and you being socially anxious, you very much failed. The very best you did this week was wave at her and get a smile. You counted that as a huge win though, and Zo simply rolled their eyes at you.
Being the supportive and loving friend they are, Zo decided you'd have to step it up. "Be more vocal about your feelings!"
"I don't do good with words, you know that", you run your hands through your hair in frustration.
You were back in your little haven in the forest. Now you and Zo were laying on some hammocks you had recently set up. You were trying to come up with a way to express your feelings.
One thing was sure: words were a huge no.
It took so much courage to compliment Dolores last week, and you doubt she would've heard you without the super hearing. She had thanked you in response but before she could say anything more, her Abuela had called onto her. Something about finding donkeys?
You let out a deep sigh.
"What about gifts and acts?", Zo suggested
Suddenly, they sat up, "I got it!"
You look at them, waiting to hear this new idea of theirs.
Two days had passed since Zo had explained their plan to you. It was now evening and you were standing outside Casita.
"Hola Casita", you wave at the house silently, a bunch of tiles on the ground wave back at you
"Could you point me to Dolores's room? I bring gifts", you show the bouquet in your hands
The ground moves you towards the side of the house. Once it stops you look up to what you assume is the window to Dolores's room.
"Could you ask her to look out?", you ask Casita
Instead of doing as you asked, a bunch of wood from who knows which part in the house forms a ladder in front of you.
Still unsure, you stay in place and look up at the window, then down the ladder. The tiles on the ground push you forward and, hesitantly, you begin to climb up.
The trip up feels like forever. It was now that you realized that Casita was bigger than you thought.
When you reach her window, it opens before you can even knock. You flinch in surprise.
When you see Dolores, you're reminded of why you called her mariposa in the first place.
She's in her usual wear, you think she must've just gotten finished with dinner. Her eyes are wide, her lips are pouted, and her head tilts at you. Your heart explodes and your stomach rolls. Your chest hurts, your heart is beating too quickly. All of a sudden you're starting to sweat.
Dolores smiles at you and you think you could die on the spot, "Hola y/n"
You clear your throat. It's now or never
"Hola Dolores", you smile in return. You're surprised your voice didn't crack, especially since your throat was feeling pretty dry.
"And what brings you here?", she asks and you wonder if that's amusement or excitement in her voice.
"I bring", you dramatically bring out the flowers behind you, "flowers", you present proudly
Dolores giggles lightly, thanking you and accepting the flowers, bringing them into her room. She places them by a table and returns to you.
She raises her eyebrows lightly, asking, hoping, there's more to your visit than just flowers.
You take a deep breath to calm your nerves, "I was wondering if you wanted to go on a walk with me?"
She looks at you for a moment and you wonder if you talked too quickly. You question the meaning of your words. Maybe you pronounced something wrong?
"I'm not sure my parents will let me", she explains, "it's late after all"
You frown at her words. You knew this was a possibility yet you still went for it.
You sigh in defeat and nod to show understanding. "That's alright, I suppose I should go now", you say in defeat
Before you can take a step you feel a hand on yours. You look back at Dolores
"Wait", so you wait
"I'll sneak out", she says
Though it's wrong you can't help but grin, "Are you sure? You don't have to", you ask just to be sure
But what if
"Maybe you feel guilty- you really don't have to, we can always go some other time and maybe-", you start to ramble
"Y/n it's okay", her voice cuts you off, "I want to"
You struggle to remain composure. Your face heats up and even in the dark, you worry Dolores can see how red you are. You try, and fail, to fight the big smile forming on your face.
You turn away from Dolores and guide her to the edge of the roof. Casita helps you two and you use the ladder provided recently.
"Follow me", you offer your hand once Dolores is done climbing down.
She immediately takes it and you thank the universe you're facing away. You'd die of embarrassment if she saw how red your face was.
As you take her through a path hidden by the forest near Casita a part of you worries your hands are sweaty and if it bothers Dolores. Another bigger part of you can hardly focus on anything because oh my god she's holding my hand oh my god it's so soft and smooth and small and oh my god
Once you reach your destination you tell Dolores to wait and run off to who knows where.
Dolores looks around. You've brought her to a clearing in the woods. She looks up to see a clear view of the stars.
All of a sudden she hears movement in the woods. You step outside the dark with a nervous smile and something in your hands
You take a deep breath, okay it'll be okay
"Dolores when I'm around you I can feel my stomach twist and heart leap. I get really nervous and I can't help but want to impress you. You're a really pretty person, beautiful in every way. I can't explain it but I know I really like you. Please give me a chance"
It takes everything in you to get those words out your throat.
You look her in the eye and smile, "Ser mia, mariposa?"
You open your hands and a single glowing butterfly flies out.
A thousand other butterflies fly out from seemingly out of nowhere. They surround Dolores before flying out into the sky and dispersing to show the stars.
You look down and see Dolores still looking up.
When your eyes meet you swear you felt your heart jump. It's beating painfully at your chest as you await her answer.
Instead of saying anything, she runs up to you and hugs you tight. You stumble a bit but you catch her and hug back.
"Is this a yes?", you ask reluctantly
She gently pushes away from your body to look at your face. Her hands are still around you as she laughs
"Yes", she nods and again, "Yes"
You grin widely, pulling her by the waist and hugging her again.
After a moment you decide you should bring her home. You didn't want to get on her family's wrong side after all.
As you're walking back to Casita hand in hand, Dolores laughs to herself. You look at her questioning what was funny
"So mariposa huh?", she emphasizes butterfly the same way Zo does.
It's teasing and endearing at the same time. Your eyes widen and you feel your face flush.
"Nye nye", you answer childishly
"Is it that bad? I really thought it was cute", you frown to yourself
Dolores laughs, "It is, but it's also really cheesy"
You groan out in embarrassment.
The rest of the trip back is spent in comfortable silence. Unlike a while ago, you weren't nervous. Your heart still raced and your stomach still jumped whenever Dolores did something especially cute but, you felt at ease.
After greeting Casita who had prepared another makeshift ladder, you turn to look at Dolores.
You share a smile, "I'll see you tomorrow?", you ask
"You should come down and actually talk to me instead of just watching me from that rooftop", she smiles
Your eyebrows raise in surprise, "You knew?"
Dolores laughed and kissed your cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow amor"
You stood rooted to the spot for a good minute before slowly touching the cheek Dolores had just kissed. A huge grin formed on your face as you let out a sigh.
You jumped up and down, whispering small exclaims of victory.
Dolores's window was left open. She could hear all your little victory celebrations.
She was a bit concerned when she heard you trip on something before she heard you whisper to no one in particular, "I'm okay, I'm more than okay"
That night both of you went to sleep with aching cheeks and huge grins.