the moon [h.s.] - EDITING

fifty-two.

Harry's gone mad. As if he thinks he would be able to find her in this packed, huge, city of New York. He's wrong. He gives up and goes back home.

He tosses himself back against his mattress and he groans. Pick up the phone, Luna. Please. He has his phone pressed against his ear. He hears the ringing and just when he thinks he's about to go to voicemail again, he doesn't.

"Hey."

"Luna," he says then sits up. "Luna, you answered. I've been calling and calling. Are you alright?"

"Harry, I'm... Can I drop by your place?"

"Of course you can. Come over. I'm here," he says and he wants to smile at the thought of seeing her. Though his bursting anxiety is high and he cannot smile.

"Okay, good. I'll see you in a bit then."

"Okay... I'll see you-"

She hangs up and Harry looks down at his phone. He feels nervous. His stomach is turning because he doesn't know what to prepare for. He gets up to clean around his room since it was a mess from the night before.

For thirty minutes, Harry sat on his bed patiently. He went over what to say during his time waiting. He doesn't know when to ask about her health. Should he dive right in? Or, should he wait for her to tell him. If she tells him. She's done an excellent job of telling him things. He sighs when he can't decide.

He hears a knock coming from the front door. He panics for a moment and doesn't get up. It's like he's paralyzed from the rapid beating in his chest. By the second knock, he's able to stand. He leaves his bedroom to answer the door.

She's standing at the doorway looking as pretty as ever. Her hair is curled into loose waves. She has on baggy jeans with a red cropped sweater. Red is definitely her color. It brings out her pretty brown skin. "Hey," she says.

"Hi," he says back. "Come in."

She steps in the moment Harry steps aside. She crosses her arms together and takes a look around. "Is it just you here?" She asks.

"Yeah, Levi is out with Jade and Gia."

She nods and starts walking to the couch. She looks at Harry before she takes a seat. "Sit with me," she tells him.

Why doesn't it sound good? Harry nervously walks over and sits beside her. He licks his lips and then he finds her brown eyes to look into. The two end up saying each other's names at the same time after a moment. Then they pause.

"Sorry, you go," Harry says. He lets her have the floor.

She nods slowly. She looks away from his eyes for just a moment as she's figuring out how to start. She then does, "I'm sorry for walking out in the middle of your Thanksgiving party. I'm sorry that you had to find out something about me from my brother. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Harry nods slowly, but he doesn't say anything. He just listens, because she's not done talking. She's only taking a breather, he sees.

"But I have a chance to tell you now, so I will... So I have this disease. It's common around women my age, but it's so misunderstood. It's complicated. Maybe I should start from the beginning," she says.

She's having difficulty, Harry notices. He scoots closer after she stays silent for another moment. He touches her hand and he feels better when she lets him hold it.

"It all started a few days after I turned sixteen. One moment, I was fine! Perfectly healthy. Active. Every day I would go to school, then dance practice, then I'd go back home and everything would be fine. Then, all of a sudden, I just started to feel tired. Nothing could get me out of bed. I was drained and I thought, maybe it's just dance practice. I was working hard and so it made sense as to why I was tired. Then came the pain. It was mild at first. My knees would hurt, my ankles... Again, I thought it was dance. But it didn't make sense when the rest of my body and every joint began to ache. I woke up one morning and I couldn't move. I was so stiff. Every movement hurt like hell. I screamed so loud and my mom rushed inside. She even called for help and the paramedics arrived. I was fine again by the time they arrived. I could move and it didn't hurt as much. They took me to the hospital anyway, but then the hospital sent me home after a few hours. They thought I was fine. They didn't bother to run any tests," she explains. She's nowhere near done, but she needs another moment.