"She has to stay with the us. Her... gift is too dangerous. We never know when she will lose control and burn some of the houses in the town. At least here, we can keep an eye on her."

This is what abuela told your parents after it was revealed that you, a non-Madrigal, has a gift. Everyone already left the house and only asked for your parents to stay.

It wasn't a peaceful gift where you could fly above the skies or even levitate objects in the air with a single touch. If it was, you would've been more accepting or less depressed about it.

No, out of all the gifts you could've gotten and instead of Mirabel actually getting one, you had the ability to control and create fire. Arguably one of the worst gifts one could've gotten if it wasn't used properly.

And see, you are a five year old child. Obviously, you'd be going out of control and possibly hurt the people around you if you weren't careful enough with your abilities. What if you hurt Mirabel? What if you hurt your parents? What if you hurt any of the Madrigals?

What if you hurt Camilo?

You couldn't bear the thought of hurting someone because you can't control fire. The problem is; literally the first thing you did when it was revealed you can create fire is lose control. If it wasn't for Bruno stepping in and knowing how to calm you down, you probably would've already burned Casita down to the ground.

Mirabel's night was ruined because of you.

It's not like things got better after you got your gift. Your parents refused to let you stay with the Madrigals. Heck, they even prohibited you from talking to any of them after what happened. They were just afraid of something else bad happening to you if you continued to associate with them.

Because of this, you greatly missed talking to Mirabel. She always talked about wanting to have a gift when she knew about it. You wondered what she would've thought about you getting a gift instead of her. The more you thought about it, the more you felt worse.

You also missed talking to everyone else. When you peeked outside of your bedroom window, the Madrigals still go to town, but they just acted as if nothing happened on Mirabel's ceremony. You felt sad that it seems like they're not even making the effort of trying to talk to you, but also understood why.

The only Madrigal who tried to talk to you was Camilo. Knowing him, he wouldn't stay still if his best friend was troubled. Abuela told everyone else to not pay any attention to you or even pay you a visit since things might just get worse, but if Camilo just ignored you, what kind of a best friend would he be?

He tried his best to comfort Mirabel too. He always loved his cousin and wanted her to cheer up, even if there was a possibility that they couldn't see you anymore. He tried making funny faces or cracking up some jokes to make Mirabel smile, and while she did appreciate them, she immediately frowns when remembering how scared and confused you were.

It didn't even matter if she didn't get a gift. She just wanted you to be alright.

When Camilo got the message that Mirabel wanted to be alone for a while, he hesitatingly obliged and went to town with everyone else. Pepa and Felix tried to cheer their son up after he was just told to not communicate with his best friend anymore. He wasn't even smiling as much or shapeshifting as much to help the other villagers. When he smiled, it looked incredibly forced and pained.

Camilo's green eyes would always drift over to the closed window where your bedroom was with a frown. Every morning, they would always be open with you leaning your head against the palms of your hand, comfortably watching the Madrigals help the town with an admiring look on your face. It didn't sit right with him that those windows were just closed now,

and he couldn't take it anymore.

So when nighttime came, Camilo snuck out of the house and ran over to yours. He told Dolores to keep quiet about it because she'd obviously know that he snuck out of the house at night, on the condition that he'd stop shapeshifting as her for the rest of the week.

He stopped when he finally reached the front of your house, his gaze staring right up to the closed window of your bedroom. With a determined look, he looked around your house to see if there were things he could use to climb up.

He consistently shapeshifted into Bruno when he was too short to reach the ledges, but eventually, he reached your window and took a deep breath. Camilo thinned his lips before raising his hand and knocking on the wooden window of your bedroom.

It took you five seconds to open the window, the hinges creaking as you peeked through the gaps to see who or what it was. Since you didn't expect anyone from the Madrigals to come to you ever since Mirabel's ceremony, it was genuinely surprising to see Camilo right there, crouching with his hands on the tiles of your roof in case he was going to fall down.

"Camilo?" You gasped and slowly opened the windows wide enough to get a full glimpse of the boy. Camilo gulped and felt nervous; he hasn't talked to you for quite a while now and considering about what happened during Mirabel's ceremony, he was also anxious that you would go out of control again.

"Uh... hey." He said sheepishly and rubbed the nape of his neck. Now that it's been a while since he's seen you, he did notice the slight change in your appearance. For starters, you looked extremely tired.

Dark circles were under your eyes like you haven't slept for days. Your clothes were disheveled and your lips were pale. Even with the small light that came from the moon, Camilo noticed that your hands had odd marks around them. They looked like it hurt.

He tried looking around your room, but the only thing he could see was your bedroom door. You didn't have any lights on.

You stared at him for a moment, surprised that he actually came to talk to you. But once you remembered that the others must've been told by abuela to not talk to you anymore, you gave him a skeptical look. "W-What are you doing here?" You asked, your voice small. "If anyone sees you..."

You instinctively turned your head over towards your door. Once you realized it was locked, you let out a small sigh of relief. If your parents knew that a Madrigal was on your bedroom window during the night, they would riot.

"I know. I just..." Camilo paused and sadly stared at you for a moment. "I just wanted to see if you're okay..."

You almost wanted to sob when Camilo said those words. You knew that he must've been worried about you. You can't say the same for Mirabel since you still think that she might hate you for getting a gift instead of her.

But you knew you should stay away from them from now on. You should just stay away from everyone. The last thing you wanted was someone getting hurt over your 'gift'.

"I'm... I'm fine, Camilo." You said and forced a smile so he would be reassured. "See? I just... I just need to stay home for a while."

The boy frowned. He knows you're lying; you definitely weren't fine. If you were, you wouldn't look like a mess right now.

For the first time, Camilo didn't know how to cheer someone up. He always did it with ease when it came to others. However, when it came to a situation that was as disastrous as this one, he didn't know how to make you smile.

He always loved seeing you and the others happy. As long as they were fine, he was fine.

Shapeshifting into Mirabel wouldn't make you happy either. He already gets the feeling that you'd feel worse if you saw Mirabel since you technically just stole her gift.

"Are you..."

"Hm?"

"Are you really okay?"

You couldn't reply to him when he asked that. No, you definitely weren't okay but you  don't want to tell him the truth. If he just forgot about you, you could protect him and not have to worry about hurting him too.

You already managed to hurt your father when fire suddenly started to dance around your palm one evening. You don't want the same thing to happen to Camilo.

"(Y/N), can I come in?" Camilo asked before you could even answer his previous question. Your lips trembled and you immediately shook your head. You don't want him to see the state of your room right now.

Not because you were embarrassed, but because you were scared of what he would say if he saw it.

"I-I'm sorry, Camilo. But you really should go... Please don't come back here again..." You said and hastily closed the windows of your bedroom, shutting Camilo out.

You felt so bad.

So bad that you wanted to scream.

Meanwhile, Camilo just sadly stared at the closed windows. He knows that you were still standing there on the other side, and while he wanted to just open the window and hug you tightly to know that things would be okay, he knew that he would probably just make things worse if he did.

You didn't want others to be with you for a reason. He understood that you needed to be alone.

Was leaving you the really the best thing to do?

Is giving up... the only choice he has left?

Camilo placed a hand on the wooden window and leaned closer towards the gaps. He was about to say something, but held himself back and leaned away with a frown before climbing down from your house.

As he was about to return home, he looked at your window one more time. He hoped that you would be alright. Feeling saddened, Camilo ran back home to wonder about what he could do to make sure you and Mirabel were alright again.

Just as Camilo began to run, you opened your windows and watched as he ran towards his house. You felt guilty that you shut him out, but it was probably for the best.

Gulping, you closed the windows again and turned your back against it, your back sliding down as you curled yourself into a ball and gently cried.

Despite your tears hitting your hands, the ominous heat that came from your palms didn't seem to lessen. It was still hot.

Just like how you almost burned your room down.

After a month, things didn't really get better for you. Your father left the house because he accused your mother of being unfaithful. He said that you must've been a Madrigal, hence the reason why you managed to get a gift.

Whispers and rumors around the town about you possibly being a Madrigal spread. It's gotten to the point where you just wished that you didn't have ears so you wouldn't have to hear them anymore.

Many people thought you were Bruno's daughter, which was ridiculous. You've never met him just until you were four years old when you became friends with Mirabel and Camilo. Plus, you were sure that he never left the house anyway due to his unpopularity.

Your mother doesn't even talk to him.

You did still think that he was a good person and you almost felt bad about the thought of him having to hear these rumors from his family.

Now that your own family was broken, you never loathed something before until your 'gift' came. You can't even consider it as a gift anymore, you just thought it was a curse.

'No...' You shook your head. This gift was supposed to be Mirabel's. You shouldn't think that the gift your best friend was going to get is a curse. That's like saying she's also a curse in association.

Your own mother, who was once a kind and loving person, suddenly looked very depressed. Upon seeing her own husband leave her and having to deal with her daughter get a destructive power that she wasn't even supposed to get in the first place made her feel worse.

She knows that you're struggling everyday so she didn't want to blame you. She still loves you since you're her daughter and wanted to stay by your side to support her, even if there was a chance that you could potentially hurt her too.

It pained her heart to see you stay awake during the night sometimes. You always feared going to sleep ever since you always wake up in the middle of the night with your hands just letting out fire and almost burning the house. Your room was a charred mess at this point, but you knew you had to stay inside.

You had to stay up just to know that you won't go out of control when you're going to sleep.

The only time where you feel safe is when you're taking a bath, which is why you do it as often as you can. If you could stay in the bathroom, you could. But obviously, that's impossible.

You thought you were going to live as if you're a ticking time bomb that's about to blow any moment for the rest of your life. You were scared of yourself.

That was until your mother sat you down for a talk.

"(Y/N)," she began. "I need you to listen to me, alright?"

You only looked at her and hoped that you weren't getting a bad news. The last thing you wanted were things getting bad for the both of you.

"I... I thought about what abuela Alma told us after the night when you got your... gift." She said slowly. Your stomach dropped. She couldn't mean...

"And... maybe it's for the best that you stay with them after all. You have a door of your own there and they'll know exactly how to take care of you." She said and you gave her a surprised yet scared look.

Living with the Madrigals? That's one of the worse things you could do, especially with your gift. You don't want to hurt any of them. It's exactly why you wanted Camilo to not come back in your house anymore - you knew he was going to be safe if he wasn't around you.

"M-Mama, please..." You began to plead. "If I stay with them, I'll hurt them. Just like what I did to you and papa. I don't want to hurt any of them...!"

"We don't have a choice, honey. You'll be more... understood there." She said, tearing up as well and bringing you into a gentle hug. "I already told abuela Alma to come get you tomorrow."

"But, mama...!"

"(Y/N), just please promise me one thing." Your mother retracted away from the hug and looked deeply into your eyes. "Promise me that you'll only use this power to help everyone. Do not use it to hurt other people intentionally."

You sniffled and wiped your tears. How could you promise her something that you can't control? You already hurt yourself, your father, and your mother multiple times because of your gift. Sure, they were accidents but it still came from you. You still felt responsible.

However, seeing the look on your mother's face made you think before saying that you can't do it. She had faith in you - she knows that you can control it and do wonderful things with it one day. Even if it seems like your fire can only be used to hurt people, she knows that you can use it to help people eventually.

You didn't want her to lose her faith in you, especially since you're her daughter.

Nodding hesitatingly, you showed her a small smile. "I promise."

Your mother smiled at you and pulled you into a hug once more. "Don't worry, my child. I'll come visit you from time to time. We can still see each other."

"Really...?"

"Yes, really." She nodded then kissed your forehead. "I could never leave you behind, (Y/N). You're my daughter and I'll always love you, even if you're different from everyone else."

You began to cry again. Those reaffirming words from your mother was enough to make you feel safe around her. She still loved you for who you are. She still loved you, even if you messed things up for your family.

You didn't want to leave her. In fact, you even wanted to suggest that the both of you leave Encanto and live in another village in Colombia. She often travelled in different towns so you figured that she'd know a place where the two of you can stay.

However, you knew she'd refuse. Besides, when you really thought about it, leaving Encanto behind would leave a bad taste in your mouth. It would mean that you wouldn't see the Madrigals again, especially Camilo and Mirabel.

Despite not being able to talk to them for a month, you still loved them. If you could just strut up to their home and hang out with them normally like before, you would've already done it.

But of course, with the things going on for you right now, it obviously wouldn't be that easy.

The following day, you already packed the clothes that remained safe from the fire you often started inside your room. You specifically kept the long-sleeved shirts safe since they're the only clothes that hid the harsh burn marks that trailed up to your arms. You wished they were longer so you can also hide your hands, but we can't always have what we want.

Slinging your backpack over your shoulder, you look up to your mother anxiously. She only gave you an encouraging smile as knocks on the front door echoed around the living room.

Gulping, you watched as your mother walked over and opened the door, revealing Pepa and Felix standing there. You missed seeing them.

"Buenas dias, Hermina." Pepa greeted your mother with a soft bow along with Felix. "Is (Y/N)...?"

"Oh yes, she's right here..." Your mother beckoned for you to come over. Taking a small deep breath, your grip around your backpack tightened as you walked over towards Pepa and Felix.

You tried to avoid their gaze since you felt more scared and anxious when you know they're just looking at you. You can even feel Pepa's clouds forming since everything just got darker.

"Mi amor, your clouds..." You heard Felix whisper to his wife.

"O-Oh right. Sorry." After that, everything looked bright again.

"Please take care of her." You heard your mother say to the two of them. Pepa and Felix looked at each other before giving your mother a comforting smile.

"Of course." said Felix.

When the adults stopped talking, you gently lifted your head up to see Pepa extending her hand out towards you. Her small smile seemed to tell you that there was nothing for you to be scared about. With Felix beside her, you had a feeling that they weren't as scared of you as your father was.

The only one who was scared is you.

What if your hands suddenly started burning and hurt Pepa? 

You turned your head towards your mother, who only gave you an encouraging nod. "You'll be okay, dear." Without saying anything else, you hesitatingly lift your hand up to Pepa's hand.

Your eyes widened. It's been a while since you've touched someone else's skin before, other than your mother's. The thing that amazed you the most was that your hand didn't feel hot at all. It just felt a bit cold and soothing.

When you knew you weren't going to set Camilo's mother on fire, you finally gazed up to Pepa's green eyes, which looked the same as they were since you last saw her - kind and full of life. They looked a lot like Camilo's too.

Saying goodbye to your mother with a wave, you followed Pepa and Felix to the Madrigal household. When you walked out to the town for the first time in a month, your eyes immediately got stung by the bright light that came from the sun.

You felt your skin being warmed up by the rays of the sun, yet it didn't feel harsh at all. It was like the miracle candle that abuela always held - calming. But you thought that maybe it's because you just haven't seen the sun in a very long time.

When everyone saw a glimpse of your small figure, you can hear murmurs and whispers being carried by the people of the town.

"Is that her? The little girl who got a gift even though she's not a Madrigal?"

"I haven't seen (Y/N) since Mirabel's ceremony."

"Don't you think she looks a bit like Bruno?"

"Stop that. I don't think Hermina would cheat on her husband."

"But how else would she get a gift then? Everyone knows that the Madrigals are only the ones who get gifts in Encanto."

You tried to shut them all out of your eyes, but your eyes still narrowed anxiously and your lips thinned angrily when they were accusing your own mother for cheating on your father. She would never do that. You know she wouldn't.

"Don't listen to them, (Y/N)." said Felix, who also took your available hand, which you definitely didn't expect at all. "Just keep walking, alright?" He gave you a small smile, making you nod and kept your gaze down to the ground.

"They're all ridiculous." said Pepa in an annoyed voice. Because of her annoyance, dark clouds started forming around her head once more with bits of thunder crackling dangerously. "Sometimes, people can't really just mind their own business."

"It's probably all what Dolores hears right now." said Felix as he waved the dark clouds away. "When there are rumors, you know that people can't stop talking about it until the next month."

"Felix." Pepa shot her husband a warning look and aggressively moved her eyes down to you, who was looking a bit depressed already. Felix immediately shut his mouth and dropped the subject.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Did you know that Camilo and Mirabel are excited to have you in the house starting today?"

Felix said that in an excited tone of voice, however, you didn't seem to match his enthusiasm when those words left his mouth. After all, there's nothing good about you staying with the Madrigals.

Sure, as much as you want to hang out with Camilo and Mirabel everyday, you know you can't do that. You're still capable of hurting them with your gift. The last thing you want is hurting any of them, especially since you promised your mother too.

"I um..." You said and tried to come up with words that didn't seem like you weren't excited to see your two best friends. "I'm glad to see them too." You pulled up a weak smile.

Felix knew that you weren't very enthusiastic, but dropped the subject of meeting his son and niece. He didn't know about you telling Camilo to not come back in your house anymore last month, but he did know that you must've felt guilty knowing that you got a gift instead of Mirabel.

Silently, the three of you walked towards the Madrigal household hand in hand. Meanwhile, Camilo was already jumping up and down in front of his older sister, grinning from ear to ear.

"Come on, Dolores! When are they going to get here?" exclaimed Camilo as he continued to pester Dolores. The eleven year old girl sighed and focused for a brief moment to figure out where you, Pepa, and Felix are.

"Just a little longer, Camilo." She responds quietly. "They'll be here in about five minutes."

"Five minutes!?" He screeched happily. "I've got to tell Mirabel to wait with me by the door then! I'm sure she'll be happy to welcome (Y/N) first!" Camilo then rushed off to the nursery to bring Mirabel out to the front of the house to welcome their best friend when she arrives.

Dolores watched and heard as Camilo ran off, a small smile eventually curling up on her lips. These past few weeks, she knew that her brother didn't seem to be very happy or smiling very often after Mirabel's ceremony happened. She does know that he, Mirabel, and (Y/N) were very close friends so when Camilo heard that they weren't allowed to communicate with (Y/N)'s family anymore, it might've struck him hard.

Sometimes, Camilo would even ask her to hear (Y/N) to see if she's alright or at least, doing well. While Dolores is aware of what's happening to (Y/N) in her home, she couldn't find it in herself to tell Camilo that she was slowly getting worse everyday. If she did, she knows that he'd immediately rush over to her home just to make sure she's really okay.

And knowing abuela, Camilo would face serious consequences if he got caught doing that. So, Dolores could only tell him that she was okay.

Not fine, just okay.

If it was a really bad day for (Y/N), she'd just say that she's sleeping or taking a nap so she can't hear anything. Lying is something Dolores doesn't want to do, but she needed to do it.

As Mirabel and Camilo anxiously waited outside for (Y/N), they couldn't help but wonder what she looked like after a month. That's not a very long time, but for children like these two, a day of not communicating with your friend is already bad enough.

Mirabel was especially anxious. After her disastrous ceremony, she hasn't seen her since. The door that (Y/N) should've been occupying was just right there, faintly giving off an orange glow. Sometimes, the lights on the door even flickers like the candle of a flame.

It didn't sit right with Mirabel to see an image of (Y/N) summoning fire around her. It just looked... evil and she was the complete opposite of that.

"Hey, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you." said Camilo as he gave his cousin a reassuring smile. Mirabel's nerves didn't calm down, but it somehow only became worse.

It didn't help that the two of them finally saw three figures approaching the house from the distance. As the figures got closer, Mirabel and Camilo's eyes immediately drifted over towards you.

When your widened eyes caught sight of your two best friends, you almost wanted to cry and hug the two of them. You haven't seen them in forever and you wanted to talk to them so badly. But you stopped yourself.

You didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt by you. You even had to let go of Pepa and Felix's hand halfway through the walk because you started getting paranoid that fire would suddenly burst from your hands.

You took a step forward but took a step back immediately and turned your head away from Camilo and Mirabel.

Mirabel frowned at this. The change of your appearance almost took her back. You had dark circles under your eyes, your lips were pale, you don't even look like you're eating at all because you lost weight.

Camilo was especially concerned. You look worse than when he visited you a while ago. Dolores said you were okay, so he never actually went out of his way to sneak out of the house again to come and see you. Was this really what she meant by 'okay'?

Nonetheless, the two children Madrigals were pained when you acted as if they weren't even there. Like they were just strangers to you.

"(Y/N)?' Mirabel even called out to you to get your attention, but you instantly walked inside the house to see abuela, as Felix and Pepa told you to go to her room once you arrived.

'It's for the best...' You thought. 'They know that I can hurt them if I lose control. I don't want to do that. Not my friends. Not anyone from this family.'

None of them had the courage to run after you. They were just shocked and glued to the spot. It got to the point where Mirabel started crying and Camilo had to try and calm her down. Pepa and Felix only beckoned for the two of them to come follow them inside the house, but they knew that they wouldn't be following (Y/N) to abuela's room.

Now, Camilo was lost. What was he going to do? You can't just ignore them like that for the rest of your stay here, can you?

When he put it like that, he almost felt hopeful. Yeah, you wouldn't be able to ignore him since you already live in the same roof as them. He can be friends with you again.

Only, there was one problem;

As you started talking to abuela about what you were going to do inside the house and for the town, since having a gift obviously means you have to contribute somehow, it shocked you when the older woman gently raised her hand to stop you from talking.

"You won't be going to town."

It was brief, but you knew exactly what she was talking about. Of course - she wouldn't let you go to town in case you lose control and start burning people with your gift.

"Um... Should I go help with the chores then?" You asked, your palms already sweaty from the intimidating gaze abuela targeted towards you.

"No, (Y/N)." She said and walked over towards the door like she was about to leave.

"You are prohibited from leaving your room unless you are being called." She said, which took you by surprise. Your heart dropped and you could've sworn your hands immediately started getting cold as ice. "Hermina told me that you could not control your ability very well. The burn marks on your hands seem to be the indication of that." She glanced down at the painful burn marks across your hands.

"I do not want to risk anyone from the town and from my family to get hurt by your ability. You've already caused enough trouble on Mirabel's ceremony, I do not want any more of that." She said, her stern tone of voice almost making you cry. Not even your own mother talked to you like this. It's really clear that abuela's personality towards you greatly changed after Mirabel's ceremony.

"Do you understand, (Y/N)?"

You can't do anything but nod. "Yes, abuela." You tried your hardest to keep your voice calm and steady, otherwise she'd know that you were already crying.

"Good. Now, head on to your room. I have some things I need to discuss to the others." She said, leading you out of her room.

Walking through the hall with your gaze kept on the floor, you thought about how at least this way, you won't be able to hurt anyone with your gift. You weren't allowed to leave your room unless you were being called, which is a bad living situation since it means you won't be able to socialize with people, but if it meant that everyone was safe, you'd take it.

When you arrived at your door, you lifted your head and stared at it for a moment. The feeling of loathing emerged from deep inside you and you started to think why it had to be you who got this gift. Why didn't Mirabel just get it instead?

Why you?

You weren't a Madrigal; there was absolutely no reason for you to even have one in the first place.

Before you could go deeper inside your thoughts, Camilo's voice snapped you back to reality. "(Y/N)?" He gently called out to you.

Your shoulders jumped at the sudden mention of your name, but you turned around to look at him and you never realized how much you missed looking at his green eyes, his curly hair, and the yellow poncho everyone almost knows him for.

The two of you stared for almost ten seconds before you realized what you were doing and immediately turned the doorknob to your room open, slipping yourself inside as fast as possible before Camilo could say anything else.

"(Y/N)!" The young boy, who wanted to catch up with you and talk to you after a month of having no conversations, almost ran up to your door before he heard abuela clearing her throat behind his back.

"Camilo," she called for his attention.

Camilo then silently and slowly turned around nervously to face his abuela. "Yes, abuela?" He asked as politely as he could.

"You and the others are not allowed to enter (Y/N)'s room as long as she's staying here with us." said abuela, making Camilo's shoulders loosen hopelessly as he stared up at her with a look of disbelief on his face. "You must know that her ability to control fire is dangerous and could potentially hurt anyone in this family. Until she manages to control it, no one can enter her room, understood?"

Camilo didn't know what to say. He was so happy when he learned that you were going to stay with them. He wanted you two to be good friends again, along with Mirabel, who hasn't seen you for quite a while.

He didn't expect his abuela to say things like this. She was always nice to (Y/N) too when she visited the house.

"Understood, Camilo?" She repeated, her voice slightly raising. The young Madrigal defeatedly nodded, a frown now visible on his face.

The complete opposite of what she wanted him to be.

"Camilo, always have a smile on your face." She said while bringing her fingers on his chin to gently lift his head up. "You make everyone happy with your gift. If you weren't smiling, the people around you would become more sad."

Camilo began to rub his arm. Abuela told him to always keep the villagers happy ever since he got his gift. Since he wasn't as physically strong like Luisa, or can heal people with food like his tia Julieta, he had to make his ability useful to some degree.

So, he used his shapeshifting ability to transform into people and make them laugh and smile for a day. He doesn't mind it that much, of course - making people smile and laugh is something he loved doing but...

But having to force yourself to smile even if you're sad? Camilo didn't understand why he had to keep smiling even if he didn't felt like it. Were people really satisfied that he was only faking his smile and making lackluster jokes that no one would actually laugh at?

However, it was useless to question abuela. If you asked her why, she'd most likely give you an answer you wouldn't want to hear. So instead, Camilo just gave her a convincing, forced smile. "Yes, abuela."

"That's better." She said before walking away to tell the others about (Y/N), leaving Camilo in the hall to think about what he was going to do now.

He looked at (Y/N)'s door and frowned sadly before walking away to his own room. If abuela had to restrict everyone from going near (Y/N), there was almost no chance of him being friends with her again.

Maybe...

Maybe giving up was just a good choice after all.

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