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Carla knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Mateo answered from the other side.
She pushed the door with her shoulder, securing the book pile she was holding, with both hands, and walked into his chambers.
"Hi, Mateo, I just wanted to drop by and..." Suddenly she noticed an object, enveloped in a magical orange gleam, fly her way.
"Boquato!" In a glimpse she pulled out her tamborita and instinctively casted the spell, not even thinking about the books she dropped because of that.
"Sorry!" Two voices called out at the same time.
Only then Carla looked at what she actually hit. It was a Christmas wreath.
"Geeze," She put a hand to her heart. "Next time maybe give a warning before you chuck Navidad decorations at people."
"Sorry," she heard Olivia say as Mateo walked over to help her gather her things.
"We were just trying to add a little more of the holiday spirit to this place... Are those my books?" Mateo asked, holding one up.
"Yeah," Carla nodded, putting another one in his hands. "I wanted to give them back before the new year, you know, leaving no business unfinished and the like."
Mateo gave her a confused look.
"Oh, so it must be a Cordoban thing then..." She chuckled. "Basically it's a superstition that if you have some unfinished matters by the end of the year, you'll have bad luck in the next one."
"Unfinished matters like what?" If Carla wasn't so distracted by Mateo's hands so close to hers, she would've definitely noticed a sneaky tone in Olivia's voice, but as she was too focused on keeping herself from blushing, every time they accidentally touched, she answered her question completely oblivious to any ulterior motives.
"You know, the basics, like giving back things you've borrowed, paying back loans, getting rid of unnecessary stuff," she said, keeping her eyes on the books. "But I mean it also applies to people, like letting go of grudges or confronting someone if you have a problem with them. Though only when that would solve a problem, not cause it, for example I could tell Doña Paloma that her prizes are a scam - I would know, I've been a scam artist my whole life," she put a hand to her chest, perfectly mocking Doña's proud expression and causing Mateo to snort in laughter. "But I doubt it would really solve any problems."
"Uh-huh," Olivia hummed in response, clearly distracted with something. "So you should probably also confess if you have feelings for someone?"
"I- I suppose," Carla stuttered in surprise. Something finally struck her in Olivia's behavior and she snapped her head up to look at her, but instead her gaze was caught by a small object enveloped in a magical aura over their heads.
"I'm not looking!" Olivia squealed and turned around.
"Is that..." Mateo stopped mid sentence.
They both now saw it. A mistletoe.
Carla felt the blush winning and overtaking her whole face with a pink bloom. The only thing that made it slightly better, was that when she looked at Mateo, she realized he was blushing just as hard.
She knew it was just a tradition, a superstition, and it's not like she really believed in bad luck either way... But willingly or not she found herself leaning towards Mateo and she couldn't keep her gaze off of his sparkling hazel eyes, so she had to close hers...
And that's when he kissed her.
For a moment the whole world disappeared as she leaned in and could only feel the touch of his lips on hers.
Until she realized what she was doing.
With a gasp she pushed away.
"No, no, no," she muttered to herself. Her eyes grew in panic.
"Carla?" Mateo asked, confused.
But she barely heard him, already running out of the room.
***
"Carla!" Mateo cried after her.
"Uh oh," he heard Olivia behind him and immediately turned around.
"What were you even thinking?!" He snapped at her but seeing how Olivia cowered under his voice, he took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"It's just." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You can't mess with people's relationships like that. Not with magic, not in any way." He shot another glance at Olivia to make sure she understood.
The way she was looking down at the ground and fidgeting with her tamborita were enough of the signs that he got his message across. Maybe he was a little too harsh? He shook his head and sighed.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I just thought that…"
"Well, then next time think twice." He couldn't help the bitterness in his voice. He took a deep breath. "Clean everything up here. We'll talk later." He put his tamborita in its holster and rushed out of the workshop.
***
Only two thoughts rang in his head as he ran down the palace corridors - What did I do?! and Where is Carla?
He was mentally hitting himself through the head for his stupidity. How could he read her signals so wrong? Of course he got his hopes up for nothing. So what if they have gotten closer in the past months that Carla was his apprentice? So what if they have been spending more time together outside of their lessons? And why did he even think that all those chats late at night even meant something.
He knew he was bad at reading social cues, but Carla was pretty open about her feelings... At least not when she was misleading someone or purpose. Or had something to hide. Or something to gain. Oh who was he kidding he had no idea if she was feeling the same way about him... and apparently she wasn't.
Still, the horror with which she reacted to their kiss hurt him more than he had expected.
***
Subconsciously he had walked out of the residential wing of the castle and found himself on the way to the kitchen. He stopped before the door. He could hear quick pacing coming from the inside.
Of course he thought with a soft smile sneaking on his face.
For a moment he thought if maybe he should give her a little more time, but then he remembered that Carla was supposed to leave Avalor City soon, and he knew he couldn't wait in the uncertainty. He knocked gently on the doorframe.
"Carla?" He asked, walking in.
Carla stopped in her tracks when she saw him.
"Are you alright?" he asked hesitantly.
"I'm fine," she answered, turning her back to him.
He felt a pang in his chest.
"Look I just- I just wanted to say I'm sorry," he stuttered rubbing his arm. "I didn't mean to... I mean this kiss... I..." He felt his face flush red.
Carla gritted his teeth, but he couldn't see it when she still refused to face him. After a moment Mateo gathered his strength to push through with his apology.
"I thought you were feeling the same but if you don't..."
"I do," Carla whispered quietly.
Mateo fell silent. He stared at her back for a good moment and finally decided to come closer.
"Y-you... You do?" He asked, facing her.
Carla nodded, her gaze still fixed on the floor.
"But then why did you run away?" Mateo asked quietly and all the hurt he felt seeped into his voice.
Carla didn't answer for a long moment. Finally she took a shaky breath and spoke up.
"Because we can't be together."
Mateo raised his brows.
"Carla, I don't care what other people may think," he said softly. "You've changed and if anyone can't see that..."
"It's not because of that" she cut him off mid sentence. "I just... What if I hurt you again?"
"Again?" Mateo asked, confused.
"As Rita." Carla frowned. "I only pretended to be interested in you back then so I could use you and I didn't even care how that made you feel, but know that I realize that..."
"But you're not pretending this time, are you?" Mateo interrupted her avalanche of words.
"Of course not!" Carla perked up and looked at him.
"Then it doesn't matter anymore." Mateo smiled. "I know you've changed and I trust you, Carla, I lo-"
"Don't say that!" Carla interrupted him. "I can't... I've never been in a relationship before." She offered boldly.
"Me neither." Mateo raised his shoulders as he cringed a little.
"I'm terrible at expressing my emotions," Carla continued to barter.
"Me too," Mateo chuckled.
"Well what if I don't... What if it turns out I don't feel the same? What if I leave you? And break your heart. You know I'm capable of it..." she added more quietly and dropped her eyes to the ground.
Mateo gently took her hands.
"And what if I was made for you?" He said softly and Carla looked up at him, not able to hide her surprise. "We could worry about the 'what ifs' until the end of the world, but what if this is it? What if..." a bright red blush crept onto his cheeks. "What if I loved all these 'what ifs' away?"
Carla looked at him with wide eyes, her own blush just as bright and red as his. Finally a little smile moved the corners of her lips upwards.
Slowly she reached for his shoulders and he for her cheek. Their lips got closer.
And no mistletoe or sneaky apprentices were needed this time.