the moon [h.s.] - EDITING

forty-nine.

"She's sick, Harry. She has a disease. A disease she could explain better than I can."

Harry is frowning again. "Do you mean her asthma?"

"No, Harry. That's only a small part of it. It's an autoimmune disease. It's been controlled over the last year, but I don't think she's following her treatment anymore. She's not seeing a doctor and she might get sicker. So, I need your help. I need you to tell her-" Santi stops talking. He takes in a deep breath as he looks over at the sliding door.

Luna had pulled it open. She steps in, walking towards her brother. "Santi," she whispers and she looks directly at him. "What are you doing? What did you say?"

Harry's in the middle of processing what Santiago had said to him. He's looking at Luna and he's deeply confused. She's sick. He doesn't understand why she didn't tell him sooner. "Luna, you're sick?" He then asks, wanting to remain in disbelief. He steps closer to her and reaches for her arm. He just wants to hold her and hug her tightly.

But she jerks her arm away. She has tears forming in her eyes. "Don't," she tells Harry. She doesn't want to be touched, let alone be sympathized with. Luna takes in a deep breath and then looks at her brother. She shakes her head at him. "I can't believe you... This wasn't yours to tell! You shouldn't have come at all. You should've stayed with mom and leave me the hell alone!"

She's upset and Harry understands that, but Santiago was only doing what he thought was best. She's about to storm off. Harry stands in front of the sliding door to keep her from doing so. He can't let her walk out. Not without knowing more. "Baby, don't go. We can talk about this. Tell me what's wrong? You can talk to me, you know. I'll be here and your brother is here. We're here for you," he tells her. He watches her as she's breathing in and out slowly. He reaches for her cheek just as he thinks she's calming down.

"Stop," she lets out and sniffles. She moves her face away from his touch. "I'm not your baby. Listen, thanks for dinner, but can you move out of my way? Santiago and I are leaving now."

Harry frowns. He doesn't move from where he's standing and he sees the pain in her eyes. "What? Luna, if we could just talk then-"

"Harry! Please," she says. She sniffles again and quickly wipes at the tears on her cheeks. She then takes in another deep breath to recollect herself. "It's none of your business, alright?"

Harry could almost feel the force of her pushing him away. It was as if a giant wave from her ocean washed him towards the shore and now he's laying there. Soaked in her tears under purple skies. All he wants to do is dive back in. She won't let him.

He looks at her brother who is looking down at the ground and then he looks at Luna. He steps aside after she manages to squeeze past him. Her brother follows her out and Harry is left on the balcony. He suddenly feels cold and sad.

She's just scared, he tells himself. Maybe she just needs some time to herself. He just found out something big. Something he wishes he knew about sooner. How bad could it be? He's wondering. How sick could she be? He's absolutely terrified.

Should he have persisted? Push for her to tell him what her mother and Santiago tried to tell him back in Iowa? He doesn't know. It's not like he hadn't been left wondering. He thought her mother was only exaggerating, making Luna out to be as irresponsible to get her to go back home. When Harry discovered she had asthma, he figured that maybe that's what they were referring to. He didn't suspect anything worse.

She loves him, according to Santiago. Harry loves her, too. He's been keeping it all inside, trying to find the right time to bring it up and finally tell her that he's insanely in love with her.

He tells himself it'll be alright, but he can't control the ache he feels in his chest. He can't stop the emotions from forming into anxious tears over the number of questions he continues to have unanswered. He finds himself taking a seat on a little bench on his balcony.

"Harry?" Zavier steps in. He puts his bottle of beer down on the ground then slides the door close behind him. He walks over to Harry and sits next to him. He puts a hand on his back. "Is everything alright?"

Harry sniffles and looks up. He squints from the golden sun as it's beginning to set. He then looks over at Zavier. He forgot he had guests. "Um," he wipes at his cheeks. "Did you all hear any of that?"

Zavier presses his lips together and begins to rub at Harry's back. "Just... a little. When she raised her voice at Santi and... what happened?"

"She's scared," Harry answers and sighs. He sits up and pushes back his styled hair. "Her brother told me something about her that she was too scared to tell me herself... Fuck, why does this keep happening to me?"

"Harry..."

"This always happens to me, Zavier! All the people I've ever been with keeps something from me, it feels like. Do I have 'chew me up, spit me out' written on my forehead? They lie or cheat or avoid the fact that we have something so good. Luna and I have something so fucking good. So why is it so easy for her to push me away like that? She said that it's none of my business before she left... but it is. Now it is, at least. I want to be there for her so badly, but she won't let me!" He takes in a sharp breath when it pains him to talk about it. He's upset.

Zavier pulls Harry into a hug when it looks like he's about to breakdown. He takes his friend into his chest as he begins to silently cry. "I don't think it's easy for her, Harry. I know what you guys have. I've seen it. As you said, she's scared. She's been through enough shit so she's terrified of what could be, I think. So, show her she has nothing to be afraid of."