Chapter Text
“Scene 7, Take 2 of ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’. Action!”
Dolores sang her part, longingly staring at Mariano as the Guzmans followed the path to Casita. “He told me that the man of my dreams would be just out of reach… betrothed to another!”
“It’s like I hear him now…” She sang in the background, rolling her eyes.
“Hey, sis!” Isabela piped up, glaring at Mirabel.
Dolores sang through gritted teeth. “It’s like I hear him now… ”
Isabela continued, ignoring how seethed her cousin was sounding. “I want not a sound out of you-”
“I CAN HEAR HIM NOW!” Dolores yelled at the top of her lungs, flailing her arms around.
“Cut!” The director called. “Dolores… what. was. that ?”
“I’ve been talking about how I’ve heard Tio Bruno everyday for this entire movie!” Dolores complained. She stomped down the stairs and stood in front of her prima’s . “How is it that no one in this family is picking up on this?” She put her hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation.
Isabela and Mirabel glanced at each other and gave looks of sympathy to Dolores.
Mirabel put a hand on her shoulder. “I know, I miss him too, It’s like he’s still here…” She went to hug her grumpy prima .
“I hate this family.” Dolores deadpanned, her eyes half-lidded.
“Okay, okay,” The director sighed. “Dolores, since you feel so strongly about this, we can just add a line to ‘All of You’ allll about you hearing Bruno, okay?”
“That song is pretty long already…” Dolores contemplated. She eventually agreed with a shrug. “Sounds good to me. Hm!”
The Guzmans and Abuela finally made it to Casita, finishing the weird choreographed dance with their feet.
“...Did we miss something?” Abuela pondered. She did a double-take when her gaze fell upon Camilo, who fell asleep since his cue was yet to be called out. Dolores walked over to her brother with an amused expression, shaking him awake.
Camilo groaned and rubbed his eyes. “What?... oh… OH -” His eyes widened in realization. He stood up and did a sloppy spin, tripping several times, then shifted into Mariano. “Y-YOUR BOYFRIEND’S HERE!”
Dolores snickered. “You should have sang ‘Isabela, your primo’s awake!’ instead. It would probably be more convincing.”
“Shut up.” Camilo grumbled.
- - -
In her defense, Dolores’s anger flared up again once she saw everyone’s reaction of seeing Bruno again after 10 years when they were shooting ‘All of You’. They didn’t listen to her the whole time, after all. She strongly believes she is not accountable for what happened next.
“Scene 3, Take 1 of ‘All of You’. Action!”
“Yo I knew he never left, I heard him everyday!” She meant to just give her perplexed brother a light playful jab on the ribs, not send him flying a few feet away and leave him curled up on the ground.
“ Dolores! ” Pepa shrieked. She ran to Camio’s side. “Are you okay hijo ?”
“Oh, I’m totally fine, Mami .” Camilo wheezed out. He glared at Dolores. “Dolores probably just broke a few ribs of mine, but it’s all good!”
Dolores let out a squeak, just realizing how hard she made that ‘light playful jab’. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I was angry!”
Pepa gently rubbed her son where he’d been hit. “It’s nothing an arepa can’t fix. Julieta!” She called her sister.
“But…” Julieta scratched her head. “We just ‘lost our gifts’, I can’t-”
“Forget method acting, just do it!” Pepa ordered. She scowled when she turned to Camilo. “ Sobrinas , don’t put that over him!”
Isabela and Mirabel ceased their laughter and immediately froze. Luisa found a big white cloth in the rubble to put over Camilo’s ‘dead body’, but they only managed to cover him halfway until they were stopped.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me Dolores would jab me in the ribs?” He questioned, kicking away the white cloth over his legs. “I don’t remember that being in the script…” He said with suspicion.
“They… said it had to look more natural, so they told me to take you by… surprise?” Dolores admitted, giving him a sheepish grin.
“...I’m so getting you back for this.” Camilo grumbled.
“That’ll teach you to stay awake when you’re on set.” Dolores smirked. “You were looking a little drowsy there, so I thought I’d wake you up again-”
“ First of all, I wasn’t drowsy , I was confused-” He interjected.
“You tend to get confused easily.” Dolores quipped. She was quite literally adding insult to injury at this point, but she couldn’t help it.
“And second of all, that was one time!” Camilo defended himself. “It’s not my fault you went on a whole monologue- ”
“ Mono logue?” She scoffed. “You fell asleep when that conversation was only a few minutes long , it’s not my fault you have the brain cells and attention span of a rock .”
“Rocks are very patient creatures!”
“Rocks aren’t even alive .”
“But if they were, they’d be very patient creatures!”
“Alright, that’s enough!” The director ordered. “Why don’t we just shoot the rest of this song tomorrow? Everyone go home!” They made a shooing gesture to everyone as the Madrigals looked at the rubbles of their home.
“B-but-” Bruno stuttered. He was silenced as everyone left the Madrigals to deal with their broken home themselves.
Camilo found a chunk of rubble and laid his head on it like a pillow, using the white cloth he kicked away as a blanket. “Find a good, patient rock, we’re sleeping here tonight!”
Dolores massaged her temples. “Camilo, for the last time, rocks are not … you know what? Whatever. I don’t care anymore.”