skinny || h.s. au [Rewrite Now Up!]

fiftyone

Marley has no idea what to do. She doesn't believe that her father is alive. Why wouldn't he have found her sooner?

She used to lie awake at night wondering what he was like. Did he have crystal blue eyes like her? Or hazel, like her brother? She would wonder if he looked a lot like Jax when he was little.

But most of all, she wondered where he was.  Why he wasn't there with them.

Eventually, Marley got up enough courage to ask her mother. And she told her that he died a long time ago.

Marley was only thirteen at the time. And she cried for over two hours. She cried over a man she never knew.

"Hey." Harry's groggy voice pulls her back to reality. And Marley is still standing with her back to the door from when she closed it in that lady's face. "Wha'er ya doing way over there?"

"Nothing." Marley says. Pushes off the door. And sits down on the edge of the couch next to Harry.

The blanket is bunched around his waist. And when he shifts to lay on his back, his bare chest looks so inviting. And all she wants to do is curl up next to him like before.

Or maybe a bit more than that.

"You're staring, baby." He smiles. Takes her hand from her lap. And pulls her closer.

"Was I?" She says. Trying to be lighthearted.

But she can't stop thinking about the possibility that her father is alive. So she lays beside Harry. And rests her head on his chest so he can't see her expression.

He's gotten quite good at that. And he would pry the news out of her with a single look.

Your father probably hasn't come forward because he never wanted you. He's only doing it now because he has to.

And Marley can't help but think that Maria is right. Why else would her father miss out on her entire life?

He probably left because of you. I mean he stayed around after Jax was born, right? What changed? A second child, maybe?

That's a bit harsh. And Marley disregards it. Maria just loves to get a reaction from her. And Marley is starting to think she shouldn't always listen to her.

And who is to say that he won't come back into your life just to leave again? Everyone always leaves, dear. Never forget it.

But sometimes Maria knows exactly where to cut.

Even your little love fest with Harry will end. And he'll leave you, too.

There it is. The twist of the knife. A killer with words for weapons. And with Harry's fingers trailing in her hair and the sound of his heartbeat under her ear, she realizes that losing him would be the worst thing of all.

She's lost her mother, her brother, never knew her father. But without Harry she might crumble.

Marley doesn't feel the tears in her eyes until one slides down the tip of her nose and drops onto Harry's skin.

His hand freezes in her hair. "Babe, are you crying?"

She sniffs. And lifts her head to look at him. His eyes are creased with so much worry that it nearly pains her. And his eyes looks so green with the light from the window shinning across his face.