The Moment | hs au

Twin Skeletons (Hotel in NYC)

The ease with which Harry, completely drenched, walked around Margo's loft was beautiful to watch. His shoes squeaked on the wooden floor, so Margo could hear each step he took even from her bathroom. He glanced from decoration to picture frame, taking in everything about the loft.

Margo emerged from the bathroom, her short brown hair up in a towel. She put on a fresh t-shirt and shorts considering what she was wearing earlier was soaked through with rain.

"Do you want a towel?" Margo asked then added, "Well, of course you do. It looks like you just jumped in the goddamn river." Harry smiled and nodded.

"I am quite wet." He admits, looking down at the puddle he's leaving wherever he goes, "Oops, I'll clean that up then."

Margo comes back with a stack of towels. She gave Harry a couple then used the rest of them to dry up the floor.

"If I get a cold I'm gonna kick your ass." Margo says. She took the towel off her head then proceeded to pat her hair with it, shaking the brown locks a bit here and there to try and dry it faster.

"Why me?"

"Because," Margo then imitates his English accent, "'It won't rain, we'll be fine, we don't need a bloody taxi.'" Harry laughs at her impression. Egged on, she adds, "'God save the Queen.'"

"Do I honestly sound like that?" Harry's still laughing, he even holds his stomach amidst the sound.

"Yes, you do."

"Bloody hell that." He laughs again.

"What brought you to New York?" Margo asks, out of the blue. Harry looks taken aback momentarily.

"My mom wasn't great," he ventures, looking more at the floor than Margo's gaze.

"I'm sorry."

"I had a little sister before I moved to America." He says.

Had?

"She died, though." Harry's says, clearing the look of shock and confusion on Margo's face. He stops there, no more details.

"Who's this?" Harry asks, on a different note. He's pointing to an old picture frame. Two girls, one is obviously Margo, the other has light brown skin and shiny chocolate hair. They're laughing.

"That's my friend Taylor." Margo says, looking fondly at the photograph in Harry's hand.

"Yesterday was her birthday." Margo adds, a somber note in her voice.

"Did you celebrate?"

"She died a few years ago. Drunk driving accident." Margo says, looking away.

Harry puts the picture frame down, feeling like he intruded.

"It's not your fault, some people just make bad decisions and-"

"I was driving."

The air in the room grows cold and intensifies. Harry stops his sentence, wishing he'd never started it.

"I was drunk and I was driving. I haven't drank since." Margo says. She turns and walks away from Harry, into the bathroom. She closes the door louder than she wished she had. Looking into the mirror, she's mad at herself. It's all her fault Taylor died. They were so stupid. Young and stupid.

Harry tentatively knocks on the door, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

The sodden door squeaks open, revealing a very sorry face.

"I apologize." Harry's says, "For what I said and what I asked and I'm quite sorry for bringing it up."

"It happened, it's in the past. It just hurts to be reminded." Margo says.

"My sister, she—ah committed suicide." Harry says, looking uncomfortable at the words.

"Harry..." Margo acts before she thinks. She wraps her inked arms around Harry, giving him a seemingly much-needed hug. His body is still wet and cold from the pounding rain they encountered. Harry, after a moment's hesitation, hugs back.

"We've both seen some real shit." Margo says. She lets go of the hug.

"Yeah."

Margo laughs bitterly, "My boyfriend of the past year was cheating on me most of the time."

"I was wondering why he didn't seem to be in the picture anymore. I'm sorry, Margo."

"Yeah, he was a dick."

"Sorry."

"I'm gonna try and find you a big shirt. You're shivering." Margo says, walking past Harry out of the bathroom. He watches after her as she digs in her drawers and closet.

Returning, she hands him a grey tee. He stripes off his wet shirt and Margo can't help but stare. Hidden under his shirt are even more beautiful tattoos. She questions the butterfly on his abdomen but says nothing. She glances away when he catches her staring.

"It's for my sister." He says, seeing the way she had looked at the butterfly.

"That's lovely." Margo says.

She lifts up her shirt to reveal a small tattoo under her breast. Friendship never dies.

"Friendship never dies, I got it after the accident. For Taylor." Margo says. She thinks about all the things she's revealed about herself today. Harry knows more about her than most anyone else. She doesn't know how she feels about that quite yet.

"Beautiful." Harry says but in that moment she can't tell if he's referring to the tattoo or Margo herself.

The sinking sun outside reminds Margo to feed Peanut. She purrs delightfully when Harry picks her up and scratches at her neck.

"What's her name?"

"That's Peanut." Margo chuckles.

"She's cute." He sets her down and she starts at her bowl.

The city hums out the window with excitement.

"How'd you end up in New York?" Harry asks, casually.

But alas, that is a question Margo does not wish to delve into quite yet.