camilo came here to get away from anyone and everything he’s ever known. this was one of the easiest places he could go to. he didn’t have to worry about buying or remodeling a house since his parents owned a ( pretty basic ) mansion near the coast. he was telling himself that living in a place where no one knew him and vice versa was a good thing, but with his luck, of course he’d run into dani of all people. why does this happen to him? camilo was convinced he would never see him again, yet here they were, face to face after many, many years. honestly? he doesn’t know what to say. he doesn’t know how to react, whether he should look him in the eyes or point his gaze towards another direction. a part of him wants to tell him many things. scream at him for doing what he did, shove him and tell him just how much he hurt his feelings, even flick him off, but the other part of camilo? the other part of him feels like he doesn’t deserve any of that. he doesn’t deserve any reaction on his end, just nonchalance and ignorance, the same kind camilo received from him when he just disappeared, left him as if he was nothing. the younger male swears he had forgotten about it, built a bridge and gotten over it, but how can he ignore it all when he’s standing right in front of him? his heart suddenly hurts, his insides growing cold and his mind racing with a million thoughts per second. he wants to reply, but he doesn’t know how to. what does he say to him? why are the odds never in his favor? it all just feels like a kick to the face, coming here to leave all the bullshit behind, just to be greeted by someone who played a significant role in his life, someone he’s cried over, someone who left him wondering – what is it about me that makes me so unlovable? camilo thought he would surely be worthy of at least a talk, a call, shit, even a text would have sufficed, but the way they ended? it doesn’t settle well with him, even after all this time. he can’t help but notice how much he’s changed – more tattoos, dyed hair, piercings that weren’t there before, even the way he was dressed seemed to be different. camilo on the other hand, remained with no tattoos, no piercings, and his natural hair color in tact, baby face still prominent on his features even with how long its been. they were polar opposites, and maybe… maybe that’s why they didn’t work out. it takes him a moment to realize that he hasn’t replied back to the other, he just doesn’t know what to say. right when he’s about to give him a meek answer, roberto appears beside dani. his crystal like eyes break away from his ex and turn towards his worker. “lleva el equipaje a mi habitación.” he tells him, spanish accent thick as ever. he nods, grabs the luggage from dani’s hand, and makes his way towards the house, leaving them alone once again. he forces a smile across his lips, despite how badly he wants to tell him off. “he’s got it.” he replies, slamming the car door shut, and walking past him.
dani can’t help but feel sick to his stomach. he feels as if his insides are somersaulting, and he feels feint. he wants to be weak, to crumble on his knees at camilo’s feet; to beg for forgiveness. to try his best to explain the nightmare he’d been through, the fear he’d felt that one, awful night. but he doesn’t think the other man would care at this point, maybe he’d even think daniyal deserved it. it’s a risk he doesn’t want to take but knows he should. the thought brings back a flood of memories, & he feels the same kind of fear he did that night when everything went to shit. he can hear the same screams, & it’s almost as if his wrist is throbbing with the same kind of pain. instinctively, he grabs at it, massaging the area that’s been since covered up in an attempt to do the same to the awful memory. he knows why he couldn’t go to camilo, or at least he did once. didn’t want any looks of pity or even possibly for the other to turn on him, or for the other to somehow think he was to blame. dani could barely admit that what had happened had happened to himself. he still struggles with the concept: that the people who are supposed to love you in the most compensatory manner could just as easily turn on you when you least expected it. he feels like making a scene, a trait so unlike dani at his core. he hates not being chill or laid back; hates the feeling of fire deep inside of him. it’s something that he put out so long ago. he couldn’t afford to let the flames engulf his mind, to make him see red. he learned to turn the other cheek so long ago that standing up felt like torture. but he knows he needs to make things right, to try to turn back the hands of time. it’s an impossibility, but what else can he do besides give up like a coward? he wonders if the other has thought of him or if he remembers what it felt like to support one another. he doubts there’s any fondness left in camilo’s heart for him. it’s probably like it had been before, when the younger man had treated him with disdain & as though he knew he was better than dani. it had been an arrogance that daniyal had chalked up to snobbery before he’d really gotten to know camilo & just how sweet he could be. all the late nights spent talking about nothing & everything, making each other laugh & sharing about their wildest dreams. dani can’t even for the life of him remember what he’d wanted to do before the incident, before he had to settle for scraping by with dead end jobs & couch surfing. maybe it’d been a family before his own had turned on him.. if that’s the case, he has that in his friends. he feels enriched by the people in his life, but camilo had been like a diamond in the rough. now, it feels as though the man is a ghost from his past, back to haunt him in a place so far from where they’d first met. he looks exactly the same to daniyal, & it feels like everything has changed about him. he realizes he’s been eaten alive from the inside out, that something is still eating at him & leaving him bare to the bones. he feels as though he’s choking, & he has to take a deep, shaking breath to keep himself from falling. he can feel himself sway, & he squeezes his eyes shut a moment, suddenly grabbing camilo’s wrist without thinking. “please... can we talk somewhere?” he questions in a pleading tone, unable to open his eyes.
