She had been standing in front of the door for at least two minutes, and now it was time to get it. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had to. She took a deep breath and knocked twice.

"Who is it?" a silken voice asked from behind the door.

"It's Marge" she answered, nervously, "can I come in?"

"Yes"

She quickly walked in and closed the door behind her.

"How.. how are you?" she murmured, knowing how useless that question was.

Her brother's eyes looked sad and empty, his long brown hair hung loose on his shoulders, and he seemed to have been sitting on the edge of his bed for hours. Margaery walked towards him and sat down next to him. She had never felt so cheerless and tense before.

"Loras?"

"Yes?" he asked, absent-minded.

"I'm sorry" she whispered, gently stroking his arm, "I really am.. I didn't know him as well as you did, but I know he was a very good man"

"Yes.." he said, looking away.

It seemed to be the only word he remembered. Margaery couldn't think of anything that could make him smile, or at least distract him, so she just kept quiet and sweetly caressed his shoulders.
It should have been the other way around. Loras should have been the one trying to cheer her up, wiping her tears away and comforting her after her husband's death.

"I have lost my bedmate" she thought, "he has lost his soulmate. He must be devastated"

The room was silent, and the sun was shining through the window.
After Renly's death, Loras and his family had returned to Bitterbridge, where they had been given the most magnificent guest-rooms Margaery had ever seen. Though, she hadn't left Highgarden that often, so she knew very few about how guest-rooms should be.

"This is a really nice fabric" she commented, grabbing a piece of blanket from her side, "don't you think?"

"I beg your pardon?" replied Loras, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, so you can talk" Margaery said, smiling a little, "I thought you had forgotten how to speak"

Loras ignored her, playing with the blanket.

"So, what do you think about it?"

"About what?"

"The fabric" answered Margaery, eloquently. "It's nice, isn't it? Look at this Valencienne decorations.."

Loras suddenly stood up, staring at her with his mouth opened in the shape of an 'o'.

"What's wrong?" she asked, surprised.

"You are not talking about that!" he exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. "Seriously!"

"About the blanket?"

"Yes, about the blanket!"

"I just.." she hesitated, shaking her head, "I wanted to chat a little bit"

"And you went for the blanket's fabric?" Loras shouted, indignated.

For a moment, Margaery thought that he was going to ask her "How gay do you think I am?", but thankfully he didn't. He wouldn't have appreciated her answer.

"Well, I will not talk about my defunct husband, if that's what you want!" she yelled, standing up as well.

"You are so insensitive!"

"And you, selfish!"

"Me?" he replied, his voice shrill and shocked. "Did you hear yourself? The fabric looks nice!"

"I-just-wanted-to-have-a-little-chat!" said Margaery, stamping her foot on the ground. "You looked like a walking corpse, no, a sitting one.."

"I don't care!" screamed Loras, pushing her away with both hands. "I don't give a damn about it, or about you, or about the stupid blanket.."

"But I.."

"Leave me alone!"

He pushed her away once again, then turned around and walked to the window. She stared at his back, speechless. He had never hit her, or rejected her before. She felt hurt, desolate, but most of all guilty. Loras was right, she was insensitive. She had lacked tact with her brother and respect to her husband's memory.

"I'm sorry" she said in a whisper, "I am incredibly sorry, Loras. Please, don't be mad at me, I was a fool, forgive me. I should have known how you must be feeling.."

"Really?" he said, looking out the window. "You would like to know how I feel?"

"That's not what I said"

"But would you?"

"Of course I wouldn't" replied Margaery, taking a step forward, "no one should ever feel like that, and it's unfair that this has happened to you, but you can't hate me for trying to cheer you up"

"The blanket's fabric wasn't your best idea" observed Loras, turning around, "you have to admit it"

"Alright, it wasn't" she said, glad that he had calmed down, "that was the first thing that came to my mind.."

"Besides" added her brother, "those Valenciennes are hideous"

Margaery stood still for a while, hesitating. Then she gave him a huge smile and ran towards him.

"Oh, Loras!" she whined, tiptoeing to put her arms around his neck. "I really am sorry!"

"Enough" he hissed, but he hugged her back, "you've apologied already. It is not your fault if he's.. if things have gone like this"

"It's just that I didn't even get to know him better!"

"I know"

"And you were always talking about how he was a good man.."

"It was the truth"

"..and what a great wife he would have made of me!"

"I never said that" Loras said, letting go of her. "I said 'queen', not wife"

"Yes, well, I was both" replied Margaery, her eyes filled with tears. "Not for long, though.."

"Right, but I said 'queen', not 'wife', never" he repeated coldly.

"What's the difference?" sobbed Margaery, hugging him again. "I am none of it now!"

Loras didn't reply, but she could feel that he wasn't holding her as tight as before.

"Oh, no!" she thought, desperate. "I did it again, I hurt his feelings! How daft can you get?"

"Come on" he said, sounding a bit annoyed, "it's alright"

"Are you still mad at me?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"I'm not mad at you"

"But you're mad"

"Marge, I.." Loras grabbed her hands and looked right into her eyes, "I can't say that I'm fine right now. I know that you can't understand this because you didn't love him, so I need you to give me some time to get over it"

"Of course" Margaery nodded, "of course.. I'll give you all the time you need, I just need to know that you're not angry because of all those stupid things I said about the blanket's fabric, I only wanted to make you feel better"

"I know"

"You do?"

"Yes" answered her brother, with a small forced smile on his face, "I do"

"And you don't hate me for trying to cheer you up?" she replied, hopeful.

"I don't hate you for trying to cheer me up" said Loras, squeezing her hands before letting go of them and walking away.

Margaery stood still for a moment, his words echoing in her head, and she wondered why he couldn't have simply said that he didn't hate her aught.