Chapter Text
A young woman awakes in her bedroom, the warm bright morning sun gently brushed against her skin. With a yawn she hops out of her bed and gets dressed. Afterwards she heads downstairs where the bakery her parents had ran for years. Passing a portrait of her mother, she greets her with- "Buenos dias mama" before heading to the front of the shop. She tugged at the string hanging from the large windows, opening the blinds and letting more sunlight in.
She then flipped the sign from closed to open before getting to work. An hour later, she heard a bell ring from within the kitchen. Her focused expression turned warm as she smiled brightly before stepping to the front counter. "Buenos dias senora! How can I help you?" She asks politely. "Buenos dias Y/n." The woman from the other side of the counter greets. "Do you happen to have any garullas today?"
Y/n nods. "Of course. How many would you like?" She crouches down to the display under the counter for the garullas. "Four please." Y/n grabs the amount needed before bagging them and setting them on the counter. The woman paid for the treat. "Thank you, Y/n. I've always loved coming here for these."
"Aw, I love to hear it senora!" Y/n chuckles. "Though, I'm sure I can't compete with Julieta. She is the town's go-to for delicious foods." The woman shakes her head. "While I agree, her food is really good. But, I do like coming here still. It's a lot less crowded for one..." She trailed off. "Oh! Um, not to say that's a bad thing!"
"It's ok." Y/n hands the woman the bag. "I know what you meant. And honestly, I'm glad I don't get a lot of people in too. I don't think I could handle a crowd of people anyway." It was true, what the woman said before. Even before your parents passed down ownership of the shop to you, there wasn't a lot of people that came by. However, that never bothered them, and it didn't bother you. There could be a hundred people or just one, and you would still be appreciative.
However, due to the lack of people as of lately, money began to become more of a problem. But that never bothered her, at least, not while her mother were still alive. She was the one who really ran things around here. She got the attention of so many people, convinced them to come by the baker just by being so charming and kind. Her father, worked just as hard, but never had that special touch her mother did.
After she passed, her father would look for a second job. To bring in any money that he could to support his daughter and the bakery. Because of this, he would be working harder at the second job, rather than the bakery. So it was pretty much only Y/n.
Now that she was on her own, she worked twice as hard to earn a decent living. And she would never give up, not once did she ever consider quitting and leaving behind the livelihood of her late mother. Even at her lowest of times, she would always try to look on the bright side, and find a solution. And what else, she had someone who only made it easier to carry on. She and him had been close ever since childhood.
He made her life brighter, just by being around. Speaking of, he should be showing up any second now...
The doorbell rang, causing Y/n's attention to drift from the woman. Y/n's smile grew wider. Ah, there he was. "Bruno!"
The woman at the counter flinched when she heard that name. "Um, yes, well nice seeing again Y/n! Goodbye!" She quickly grabbed her things scrambled to leave the shop, avoiding making any eye contact with Bruno. The tall and slender male walked over to the counter, he looked tired. "Buenos dias Bruno. How are you doing?" Y/n asks, far more casual than she would say to a costumer or a stranger. Bruno smiled lightly before answering. "Good? Uh, just little tired I guess."
"I can tell." Y/n giggled. "I'll be right back." Y/n hurried back to the kitchen and brought out the family's coffee maker. "Can you believe this old thing still works?" Y/n pats the machine. "This was around when I was like three!" She turns it on and stars making the coffee. "Now how about you tell me," She turns around to face him and crosses her arms like a disappointed mother. "Why you haven't been sleeping Bruno."
Bruno looks away from her, a little ashamed. "W-well...it's uh...it's n-not anything to worry yourself over Y/n. Really-"
"Nope! Don't give me none of that Bruno!" She places her hands on the counter and leans closer to him, Bruno leans the other away, eyes wide glued to her own. "Tell me!" Bruno hesitates once again. "Um..." Y/n leans in again, nose scrunched up in frustration. Bruno's cheeks began to heat up, he puts his hands up and takes a step back. "Ok! Ok! Ok! I'll tell you..." Y/n waits for his explanation. But from the way Bruno's hands was fidgeting and shaking, she had a feeling she already knew.
"It's the nightmares again...they're getting worse." He finally admits with a heavy sigh. Y/n walks out from the counter and wraps her arms around Bruno, hugging him close to her. Bruno, unsure of what to do, just let it happen. He prayed you couldn't hear or feel his rapid heartbeat. "I'm so sorry Bruno." Bruno had told her about the nightmares he would have as a teen, about his gift, to give others visions of the future. At first he thought he would be doing the town of Encanto a goodness, just like his sisters, but with every bad vision...the worse his reputation became.
It was so bad, people would actively go out of their way to avoid him at any cost. Some were so upset with the visions he gave them, that they would lash out at him. Calling him harsh names, ridiculing him, even going as far to physically harm him...
It all made Y/n sick. How could people be so cruel? Bruno just wanted to do his part and help others. He never meant to disturb people and cause anguish. Even knowing all this, people would still come to him for visions.
"What was it about this time?" Y/n speaks softly, gently combing her hand through his mess of curls. "You don't have to tell me if you really don't want to, but it might help if you talk about." She suggests. Bruno takes a minute to form the words in his mind, just remembering the horrid dreams he would have recently. So many visions slowly took a toll on his mentality, he lost sleep, he became paranoid, more fidgety and anxious. Always wondering, who's day/life would he be ruining next, because of how much of a screwup he was?
Because that's how it always is, and always was. It would be a miracle itself if when he did give a fairly decent vision for someone. But that was a rarity, and almost never guaranteed.
All of his nightmares would be similar in certain ways, but last night...his nightmares shook him awake worse than any he's had before. His heart was pounding in his ears, he couldn't find his breathing, and he felt like his chest was so tight, that he thought he would suffocate under the pressure.
Bruno looked back at Y/n, who was still waiting patiently. His heart ached, with another deep sigh he finally answered.
"It...it was about you."
"Me?" Y/n tilts her head. Bruno nods. "You um...you got hurt. B-because...of uh, of me." Just thinking about it made him want to jump off a cliff. Y/n placed her hand on his cheek, she managed to give a a understanding grin. "Oh Bruno, you're loosing sleep over that? You and I know you would never do something like that, right?"
"I-I know that but, it felt so real Y/n!" Bruno placed his hand over hers. "I didn't even know what was going on until it was too late! I almost didn't come here because I was so afraid of what might have happened I were around you!"
"Bruno..." Y/n's voice dripped with sadness. She was always aware of his paranoia, it hurt her deeply whenever she had to see him like this. She never knew just what to say or do, and it made her feel so useless. Like she was being a terrible friend, like she wasn't doing enough for him. "You're not a bad person Bruno. You don't cause bad things to happen. You didn't cause all those people their pain whenever they saw their futures." She continued, making sure she was as serious and sincere as she could possibly be.
"It's like you told me before, you don't control the future. You can only read it. I guess...some people are just looking for someone to blame for their own misfortunes. And it's not fair, and it's so very wrong for that blame to be placed on you. All you've ever done, was try to help. I'm so sorry you have to go through this Bruno..." Y/n hugs him again. "I wish I could do more to help you." Tears pricked at her eyes, but this wasn't the time to start feeling sorry for herself, so she held them back.
Y/n was a little shocked to feel Bruno returning the hug. "You just talking me down from my dumb thoughts is more than enough. I..." Bruno trailed off, his hold became tighter. "I'm so glad you stuck with me all these years Y/n." A small smile forms on Y/n's lips. "What can I say? I'm too stubborn to give up on pretty much anything."
"I'll say. How do you do it?" He asks. Y/n only shrugs. "No idea." Y/n pulls back and walks back to the coffee maker. "But I'm grateful for it." She hands him the cup. Bruno looked down at the cup of coffee, with a smile of his own.
"So am I, Y/n."