Chapter Text
Julieta took the book next, giving Bruno suspicious looks as he internally panicked.
“Chapter Sixteen. Tio.”
Bruno let out a pathetic whine.
“Camilo watched Dolores curiously as she pulled him along. She seemed really excited about this and he was curious over what the secret was.
When they reached a big portrait on the wall, she looked back at him with a secretive smile before pulling on the frame.
Camilo let out a soft gasp of surprise when a hole in the wall was revealed.
Was that always there?”
“Behind a painting? That’s cliche,” Pepa huffed. She was still clinging to her hermano though, thinking of him literally hiding right under their noses.
In the walls.
In the fucking walls.
“His hermana helped him through the hole before taking his hand again and leading him through the passages.
"We're inside the walls?" He asked Dolores in a whisper.
"Sí," she answered just as quietly. "Don't worry. It's safe. I've been back here a few times."”
Heads snapped in Dolores’ direction and she ducked her head in embarrassment. Even Bruno hadn’t known she’d been in the walls.
“I had to get the food to his room somehow,” she mumbled.
“Oh…” Bruno whispered. He’d thought that was the rats stealing food again.
Pepa felt her heart ache. Her hija had been doing her best to help her Tio. That pressure should never have fallen on her shoulders.
“Camilo thought it was silly that she had to reassure him like that. She'd never take him somewhere dangerous.”
That made a few of them coo. Camilo was adorable and Dolores smiled a little at the clear trust.
“They reached what looked like a giant hole, but Dolores hopped into it and showed that the dust just made it look really deep.
She helped him back up the other side and they continued going.
Finally, they arrived at a door.”
Pepa held her breath as Julieta seemed to brace herself as well.
“Dolores looked down at Camilo and gave him a mischievous grin before knocking on the door.
There was a surprised yelp from the other side and Camilo cocked his head. Someone was in the walls?”
“Your idiot Tio,” Pepa muttered, getting an offended yelp from Bruno.
“"I'm coming in," Dolores called, opening the door and not waiting to be let in.”
“...she’s definitely your hija,” Bruno said to Pepa who snorted.
“Camilo stared as he followed her.
There was a figure in a ratty green ruana trying to right himself, having fallen off an old armchair and gotten tangled up in a threadbare blanket.”
Bruno wheezed when Pepa tightened her hold on him. And there it was. Overprotective mode activated in both his hermanas.
But please not the blanket burrito.
Anything but the blanket burrito.
“But that was…
"Tio Bruno?" Camilo asked in shock.
The man froze and stared at him in equal disbelief.
"Dolores," he said, sounding panicky.
Camilo didn't hesitate any longer. His voice brought back so many memories. He'd sat in the dark in that basement thinking back on all the stories he could remember to keep himself busy, and his Tio always told the best stories. He'd firmly embedded them in his mind with how often he went over those memories.”
Bruno made an incoherent, pained sound. Camilo had done that? His stories had given him some kind of comfort during that terrible time?
Camilo remembered those stories?
He had to swallow to keep back the mess of emotions he was feeling while Pepa hugged him tighter.
“Cami…” she whispered.
Bruno couldn’t imagine the agony she was going through right now.
“It had made him miss his Tio even more. But he'd remembered some things that he'd forgotten. Apparently not talking about someone meant that it was pretty easy to start forgetting about them when you were little.”
Pepa shot a glare at her mamá at that. They should never have stopped talking about Bruno. No matter how much it hurt, the younger members of the family deserved to know about him. They shouldn’t have started forgetting like that.
“The ten-year-old threw himself forward at the man and hugged him tightly.
"He was worried that someone took you like they took him," Dolores explained quietly.
"Oh. Oh Cami no," Tio Bruno carefully wrapped his arms around him.
Camilo buried his face in the man's ruana.”
Bruno looked down, twisting his hands into his ruana. He hadn’t thought Camilo would have such a positive reaction to seeing him again. It made his heart ache.
“"I'm fine Cami," he reassured. "I promise. Mi sobrino, I'm fine."
Camilo noticed that his hands were shaky as his Tio held him.
The man let out a shuddering breath.
"I'm so glad you're okay Cami," he whispered.”
Bruno closed his eyes. He couldn’t imagine how he would have felt, finding out about Camilo being alive while he was still in the walls.
Finding out here had been a shock already, but he’d had his hermanas with him.
Finding out alone? It made him shudder to think of processing the truth of what happened to his sobrino when he was by himself.
“"Dolores found me," Camilo told him, voice muffled by his ruana.
"Your hermana is very good at that," his Tio agreed.”
Dolores smiled slightly. She never wanted to lose either of them again.
Once she got Camilo back, she wasn’t letting him out of her sight.
Or hearing range. Either worked.
“Camilo pulled back enough to look up at his Tio. Now that the initial joy at finding him was fading, he was confused.
"Why are you in the walls Tio?"
The man grimaced and shot a vaguely annoyed look at Dolores who just raised an eyebrow in response.”
“Oh that’s Pepa’s look,” Felix chuckled while Bruno grimaced.
Dolores just smirked. Of course she picked things up from her mamá. And she was proud of it.
“"Cami," he sighed when Camilo kept staring at him. "I wasn't helping the family. I was only hurting it. But I couldn't just… leave. I love all of you too much. So Casita made this space between the walls for me. So I can watch you all grow up but stay out of the way and not cause problems."”
Pepa made a pained sound while Julieta looked up from the book with agony in her eyes.
“Bruno…” she whispered and he ducked his head. He didn’t want to see the pain on their faces.
He’d only been telling the truth…
When it seemed like his hermanas were going to push to talk about it, he shook his head.
“Not now,” he mumbled. “We don’t have time now.”
They reluctantly subsided. But he knew they weren’t going to forget.
He dreaded that future conversation.
“Camilo was even more confused by that but Dolores did say that people didn't treat him very well. Was it about that?
He was distracted from his thoughts when his Tio reached up to cup his cheeks and tilted his face up.
His eyes were watery like his mami's got when she was emotional.
"I'm so glad you're okay Cami," he whispered. "I couldn't … I couldn't see you. In my visions. I tried and then your papá came home with your ruana and I thought… I was too late."”
Pepa choked on a sob as she pulled her hermano closer. He’d been looking, even after everything. When he didn’t even want to have visions anymore.
He’d still looked for Camilo.
She knew that her hermano adored all his sobrinos. It must have devastated him to hear what had happened.
And he’d gone through it alone.
“Camilo leaned into his touch with a hum.
"It's not your fault Tio."
He didn't look like he believed Camilo so the boy hugged him again.
His Tio sighed and dropped a kiss into his curly hair.
"I'm glad you're home Cami."
"Me too. And I'm glad you're still here Tio."
He tightened his hug on Camilo a little at those words.”
And in that moment, Bruno knew that he couldn’t leave again. It didn’t matter what happened next, he’d never be able to leave knowing that Camilo wanted him to stay, that he’d missed him while kidnapped and been so happy to see him again.
Bruno couldn’t hurt his sobrino like that.
“"Are you going to keep hiding?" Camilo asked after a moment.
His Tio sighed. "Sí, it's better if I do."”
Pepa made a noise that could have been a whimper or a growl. Or a combination of the two. Bruno wasn’t sure. And he wasn’t looking to see her expression either.
“Camilo pouted a bit. "Can I come visit you?" He asked hopefully.
His Tio hesitated and looked at Dolores.
"He's good at being sneaky," she pointed out. "He's our camaleón. Our Cami."
Camilo grinned at her, feeling warm as always when they said his name.”
It still hurt that he was so happy just to hear his own name. His own nicknames.
He was going to get sick of hearing it when he got home. They weren’t going to shut up.
“Tio Bruno sighed. "Alright. As long as you're careful."
"We'll bring food," Dolores added. "You're not eating enough again Tio."
Now that she mentioned it, his Tio did feel pretty thin under the ruana.”
Bruno was not surprised in the least when Pepa promptly dragged his ruana up to get at his shirt.
“Pepa!” he yelped, vision obscured by the material she shoved into his face as she checked his current state of health.
Which wasn’t… great…
“Do you even eat?!” she shrieked.
“Not enough,” Dolores snitched on him remorselessly.
“Casita,” Julieta’s voice was stern and when Bruno finally got his ruana righted again, he found food dropping onto a nearby table.
“Eat,” Julieta ordered with that especially scary glint in her eyes.
Bruno wasn’t an idiot. He grabbed the nearest piece of food and shoved it into his mouth.
“"You gotta eat Tio," he said worriedly as the man opened his mouth to argue. "Being hungry all the time feels awful."”
And that was just another arrow through all their hearts. Pepa was muttering curses under her breath while blinking back tears and they all had to take a few deep breaths before Julieta continued.
“His Tio just seemed to deflate at his words and reached up to cup his cheek again, rubbing his thumb over his cheekbone.
"We'll get better together with that hmm?" He suggested gently and Camilo grinned up at him.
"Deal!" He agreed.”
“I think that works out well here too,” Pepa said lightly, giving Bruno a glare that dared him to argue.
Again, he wasn’t actually an idiot, so he just kept eating.
“Dolores smiled at them. "How about I go get some arepas while you catch up hmm?" She offered, already heading to the door.
"Wha-hey!" Tio called but she was already gone.”
“Menace,” Bruno muttered.
Dolores just smiled back at him.
“Camilo didn't mind though. Tio Bruno was safe too.”
Okay, this book wasn’t done breaking his heart yet. Bruno had to blink back tears at that simple statement.
“He made himself comfortable in his lap and looked up at him.
"Will you tell me a story?"”
Pepa leaned her head against Bruno’s shoulder, feeling wistful. Camilo had always adored Bruno’s stories. He’d follow his Tio around for ages until he gave in. Not that he actually had any problem with spending time with any of his sobrinos.
She looked forward to seeing Camilo and Bruno together again.
“His Tio let out another sigh but he was smiling slightly.
"Okay sobrino. What kind of story do you want?"
"Tell me about the queen who controlled the weather and stopped the dragon," he said immediately. It was his favourite.”
Pepa turned her head to look at her hermano with an unimpressed expression.
“It’s his favourite!” he defended himself. “And I made you a queen.”
She huffed and shook her head, a smile quirking her lips.
“I am surprised he remembered it though,” Bruno admitted.
“His Tio looked surprised for a moment.
"You remember that?"
Camilo nodded, leaning against the man's chest. "I was alone a lot. So I remembered your stories so I didn't get bored. They made me feel better."”
Bruno leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling. Ay Camilo…
“His Tio swallowed hard. "I'm glad they could help Cami," he whispered.
"You tell the best stories Tio."
He hugged Camilo again before settling back and starting the story.
Camilo listened closely, happy to have his weird Tio back. He'd missed him.”
“So you can’t leave,” Pepa said a little sharply.
“Wasn’t planning to,” Bruno gave her a slight smile.
He couldn’t after that. And besides… he wanted to be able to hug his sobrino again and tell him stories. He wanted to see Camilo’s face light up as he listened.
He couldn’t wait until they were done.