Archive of Our Own

    “About fucking time,” Joe murmured to himself as he turned off the ‘ OPEN ’ LED-light that hung on the front glass. He didn’t hesitate to lock the front doors.  Looking around, there was only one other person still in the building. Mopping the tiled floor, Harry kept his black phone head low, staring at the black and white tiles. He might’ve been lost in thought as he rhythmically twirled the mop on the floor. It was so shocking how the floor had become so filthy within one day. “Harry,” Joe called out. He wasn’t sure if saying his name would evoke a reaction or not. 

    Joe was merely testing the waters. Everytime he called Harry’s name - his head would usually turn. Yet, anytime Joe brought up the past, Harry would merely stare at him with utter confusion. He seemed to lack any memories, aside from his own name, but even then, he would still claim his name was Scott.

Rather suddenly, Harry’s head tilted, looking directly at Joe’s - it was the closest thing to eye contact that two phones could have. “Hello, Joe,” Harry awkwardly acknowledged as he finished up the floors. He was always so stiff . Yet, it wasn’t far from what he was before the springlock failure. Unfortunately, Joe didn’t have much time to talk to Harry as they hosted three birthday parties in one day. “...long day, huh?”

    “Yeah, you can say that,” Joe chuckled to himself. Truthfully, he was glad it was over. “I’m looking forward to going home and unwinding. I’m tired of seeing this shithole.” He paused, noticing how lonely Harry looked - standing in the hallway holding a cheap mop. “Actually - would you like to go out and see a movie, Harry?” 

    Perhaps a movie would help jog Harry’s memory - especially if there was one about Vietnam. Although, as far as Joe’s knowledge, there weren't any films like it that had come out recently. To add to that, the last thing Joe would want to do was trigger his best friend.

    Harry opened the supply closet door and gently placed the mop away. There was an odd hesitation, but he ended up agreeing. “Sure.”

    Joe led Harry to the back exit and held the door open for him. “I think if we hurry, we can catch a movie before the theater closes,” he said as he locked the door behind them. “Do you remember the movie theaters?” Joe asked as they walked down the street together. It was uncomfortable as they were both still wearing their suits.

    “I’ve never been to a movie theater,” Harry told him.

    “Harry, you once told me that you watched The Aristocats with your family in theaters,” Joe corrected him as they kept walking. “You’ve been to a movie theater before - even if it wasn’t this one.”

    “I…I don’t remember ever saying that.” Harry muttered as he followed Joe down to an intersection. Harry reached out and pressed the button on the crosswalk. Joe was originally going to simply bolt across the street, but he was willing to wait for the white crossing light to turn on if it meant Harry would feel safer. 

    “Harry…”

    “Truthfully - I don’t have any memories of my parents to begin with,” Harry let out a sigh as he waited at the crossing light. He placed his hands in his pockets and stared at Joe. “...is that wrong?”

    “No,” Joe reassured him. Although deep down, he was pissed. He was absolutely livid with what they did to Harry. He was merely a victim of circumstance. “Harry…”

    The crosslight switched from a red hand to a white walking symbol. The two of them speed walked down the crosswalk, as within seconds - it changed back to the red stop hand. Joe led Harry around the corner to the old cinema. As they approached the doors, an employee quickly walked up. At first, Joe thought the employee was there to greet the two of them - but his face said otherwise. 

Angry blue eyes stared at the two of them. “You guys can’t come in unless you take off those ridiculous hats,” he snarled as his fingers tightly gripped the doors. “I don’t care if your dumb fast food restraunt allows it, but our movie theater isn’t down with that. Take them off or you need to leave.”

“First of all,” Joe growled, throwing back the same attitude he was handed. “This isn’t a fucking hat,” he snapped as he pointed to his head. “I know this shit might be weird, but this is my actual, real fucking head. Second of all, there’s no reason to act like such a fucking little bitch about it.”

    “Joe,” Harry whispered quietly. “Let’s just go.”

    “No, this is bullshit,” Joe hissed as his hands clenched themself into fists. “Now I can’t enjoy something as simple as a movie theater just because my head is a fucking phone? I never wanted any of this shit!”

“I wasn’t born yesterday.” The employee crossed his arms and rolled his eyes before blowing some of his bangs out of his face. “You’re wearing a stupid mask. As long as you’re wearing it - you can’t enter the theater. Understand? Cool. You can leave now.” He promptly slammed the door shut. Joe and Harry could both hear the sound of the doors locking. Clearly, the theater staff wanted nothing to do with them.

Joe let out a defeated sigh. “Harry, I’m sorry I lost my cool there.”

“It’s alright. We all do sometimes.” Surprisingly, Harry had yet to mention anything about the fact that Joe was using his real name. Joe had to assume that deep down, Harry knew or maybe he simply liked the name Harry more than Scott.

Joe chuckled to himself. “I’ve never seen you snap at anyone before, Harry.” The two of them walked away from the theater entrance and made their way downtown. Joe recognized the area - he walked that way to his apartment on a daily basis. “Would you like to spend the night at my apartment?” He offered. It actually wouldn’t be the first time that Harry had been there, but it would likely be his first memory of it.

Harry seemed a little caught off guard. “I could visit,” he replied. “I think I’d rather sleep in my own bed tonight though.”

“You could always sleep in mine,” Joe offered. He immediately realized he was being too straightforward as Harry simply didn’t respond. “I can sleep on the couch,” Joe told him as they kept walking. As they entered the apartment complex, another idea dawned upon Joe. “Hang on, there’s something I want to show you.”

He led Harry straight to the elevator. Once Harry came in, Joe pressed the button for the top floor. Once the doors opened, they continued to walk to a flight of stairs. Harry seemed a little confused, but didn’t ask any questions, he simply followed. Joe opened the door to the roof. It was a wonderful view of the stars above, beside a glowing full moon. Joe walked over to a small mattress covered in a waterproof mattress. He sat upright on it and tapped the space beside him, signaling Harry to come over. Within seconds, Joe found himself sitting right beside Harry - staring at the wonderful starry sky above them.

“I’ve told you this before, but - sometimes I come up here to think,” Joe purred as his hand brushed beside Harry’s. He leaned in closer, allowing their shoulders to touch. “It’s serene up here. There’s no bullshit that could follow me here.”

Harry placed his phone head against Joe’s shoulder. “I don’t remember you…” He stopped himself. “I agree, Joe. It’s lovely up here.” He sighed softly. “I like it up here.”

“Does it feel familiar?” Joe asked.

“No.”

Joe was disappointed by his answer, but didn’t say anything more. He simply stargazed with Harry, enjoying the atmosphere. “I’m really glad to finally spend time outside work with you again,” Joe affectionately told the other phone.

“Joe - did we ever spend time together before…?” Harry left the ending of his question open, but Joe knew exactly what he was asking. It was odd, because Harry always seemed to disbelieve what Joe had told him.

Joe nodded. “Harry, we’ve spent many nights together at my apartment.”

There was an awkward silence. Clearly, Harry didn’t believe him. Joe was used to it. It wasn’t that Harry didn’t want to believe him - he simply didn’t have any of the memories. Joe knew deep down, Harry just wanted to feel wanted and loved. Wrapping a reassuring arm around Harry, Joe turned his head to the bright full moon. 

“Joe, I-”

Suddenly, the relentless back pain kicked in. Joe groaned as he pushed Harry away. The agonizing sharp pain ran down his whole back as he fell backwards onto the mattress, clenching tightly to the trap. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Joe growled as every inch of his body curled in pain.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked with great concern.

“Yeah,” Joe lied as the intense affliction ran down every inch of his spine. “Fuck me… It’s the back pain again.” He had no idea what was causing the pain. He didn’t lift anything heavy all day - yet it was back again. It seemed as if every time he felt the pain, it only became more severe. He could almost feel tears coming out of him as he struggled to cope with the excessive pain that refused to leave.

“Joe…”

“Harry - don’t fucking worry about it,” Joe lightly growled. The pain was beginning to become more bearable again. He took a deep breath and slowly sat up. It was still there, but it was starting to become manageable. He reached out to Harry. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on with my back, but it doesn’t matter.”

“Joe, are you sure you’re okay?” The stiff black phone questioned as he awkwardly wrapped his arms around Joe. The feeling was nice - even if it didn’t help relieve the ache in his back. 

“Harry, as long as I’m with you, I’m fine.” Joe reassured him as he leaned into him. “How else should I put this -? I fucking love you, Harry. I’m not going to let random back pains get in the way of me finally confessing it.”

“Joe, I love you too,” Harry purred back. “Are you sure you shouldn’t get those back pains looked at?”

“It’ll go away… eventually .” Joe said, knowing full well that the pain would come back. It always did. “Anyways, I think I’d have a hard time seeing a doctor if I can’t even go into a fucking movie theater without some dickheaded cocksucker pointing out I have a fucking phone for a head.” He took a deep breath. “Harry, I don’t care about the pain in my spine. I care about you. I wish I could help you remember .”

Harry silently massaged Joe’s back. It didn’t help at all. The agony wasn’t coming from his muscles, or at least it didn’t feel like it was. Yet Joe played along - pretending that it was making him feel better. He cuddled close to the other black phone. Looking up, he could see a shooting star. Silently, in his head, he thought to himself: I wish Harry would see his happiest day .