Chapter 21

Beautiful morning ray of the sun kissed her skin, awoken was she by the annoying shifting and shuffling she felt nuzzling on the crook of her neck. Her hands slowly moved to touch whoever was sharing her bed, only to feel familiar curly locks that she oh-so love to run her hands through. .

She had almost forgotten that they both passed out in her room, they spent the rest of midnight just talking about random things 'till they just fell asleep. Though, did Camilo carry her to bed? No, that's not quite probable, Camilo fell asleep first before her. . ()

She wanted to stand up and get ready for the day, however, Camilo's grip on her was like an anchor in the bottom of the ocean. Heavy and strong. But she'll feel so bad just waking him up from his peaceful slumber, it's probably the first time he's been able to sleep in.

With a soft sigh, she let herself melt into his warm embrace, a comforting blanket of warmth and security lulled her back into dreamland. Like a siren's song in the seven seas, it was alluring, and she, the unsuspecting sailor, the ever so curious being, followed the heavenly sound to the depths of the sea.

Camilo, who woke up much later, felt as if he was in heaven —waking up next to the girl of his dreams. .

Never in his wildest dreams that he'll wake up to the sight of her. . He shifted slowly, as to not wake the girl up. He wanted to get a better view of her face, he cherished every impurity she had, every imperfection, he found it so cute, so perfect.

Hands leaving feathered touches on her skin, brushing her hair every so often. Thumb gently rubbing little circles on her cheek, eyes lovingly staring at her sleeping figure, he couldn't help but leave a small kiss on her forehead, care, and sincerity, an act of adoration.

He visibly stiffened when the girl stirred in her sleep, he fears that he might get caught. He definitely does not want to see that angry look on her face again from last time.

"Please stop staring at me, it's weird." The girl spoke, her eyes still half-lidded as she met Camilo's emerald ones. Since when was she awake? And how come he didn't notice until now? ()

"... I'll, I'll stand up now..."

.

Just the simple realization of that made Camilo's face turn embarrassingly red.

"Oho, ho, ho~ it seems that the two lovebirds have finally woken up!" The girl's mother called, a teasing tone laced upon her sugary voice.

"Did you wrestle like all the adult couples do?"

"No we didn't ‘’ Niko, we just talked. And besides, we're not even adults." She groaned, slowly getting up from her bed and rubbing the sleep away from her face.

"Pshh, boooring!"

Camilo choked on his spit when he heard that spill from Niko's mouth, he'd rather not want to know where and how did the child came to the conclusion that every adult couple would "wrestle".

"Niko! We'll be talking about that later —don't you think about sneaking out to play with your Papí after this." The mother scolded, ushering away her child in a hurry before glaring at her husband who was shrinking away at the sight of his wife's piercing glare. "You're not safe either."

"Come! We just finished eating breakfast, you two should eat as well!" Her mother beamed, her smile still ever so bright as she rushed back to the dinner table, presumably to prepare their plates when they arrived.

"Your family is... Something alright."

"Mmhm, never a dull moment in this house with them around."

Camilo could feel the somewhat scalding gaze the girl's father shot at him, slowly and discreetly, he turned his head to face the man, despite knowing how practically harmless her father is, he can't help but feel very intimidated at how the man unknowingly projects himself.

"You..."

"Me...?"

"You... Look like a seahorse."

"Uh... ..?" Camilo stammered, giving the father a big confused smile. Quite unsure if that was meant to be a complement or an insult.

"Good job , you did it." The girl said, softly patting her father's back. "You've successfully complemented someone." Her father's huffed in triumph at the praise his daughter gave him, a new milestone has been reached.

"Hay~ Camilo, isn't he so romantic?" The mother cooed, fawning at her own husband like a teenager, you could almost see the hearts forming in her eyes as she spoke. "Ay, no —I'm supposed to be mad at him!" She grumbled immediately after, setting up the table with a pout.

"Seahorses are so cool! Right, hermana? They're like birds in the water! It's also so cool and weird that the dad poops out the babies."

"You have to admit, seahorses are pretty cute. They look like tiny dragons swimming in the sea."

"I guess, seeing as I got called one."

"Now that I think about it, you do kinda look like one."

"Is that a complement or an insult?" Camilo deadpanned, he did not miss the mischievous glint in her eyes when she spoke.

...

"Oi!"

A beautiful rainbow overhead formed on top of the , vibrant and beautiful for everyone in Encanto to see. Pepa elated at the events last midnight, Camilo's —and technically also the girl's confession was a success! Albeit a few, maybe a lot of tears were shed but it turned alright in the end.

Camilo should prepare himself for some good ol' sermons and probably a tiny butt whooping from his dear old Mamá and Papá for making the girl cry. Obviously from Dolores, who has religiously listening to the whole thing.