is it too late? h.s.

6- boys and girls

As Lorna drove to distract herself, her mind couldn't help but wander to a specific memory she has of her daughter.
She remembers the day so vividly when her daughter had come home on the train after she had helped Harry move into his new apartment.
Her husband had bought tickets for the family to go see a theatre show. However Lorna had to stay behind to finish a painting and Ashley had gone to help Harry. Which meant her husband could only take their other two daughters on this family outing. This meant Lorna had the whole house to herself to finish up a painting of the new garden.

Lorna had been in the kitchen, she had just finished her painting when she heard Ashley walk in, sat on the bottom of the stairs and began to cry. She heard the muffled sobs that sounded so heartbreaking for any mother to hear. She immediately put down her paintbrush and went to see her daughter. Ashley was crouched down on the bottom step her knees brought up to her chest and her head leant against the white banister as giant tears rolled down her face. The golden sunlight that creeped in from the window shone on Ashley's face. The sun was just about to creep away yet it somehow managed to illuminate Ashley's face. Highlighting the purple circles under Ashley's eye, the slight pink puffiness that was starting to swell up from how constant she rubbed her hazel eyes. Her red lips swelled and trembled as sobs crept out. It was obvious Ashley was in agony, a tired, sad agony. Lorna sat down next to Ashley, unsure of what to do or say, scared that the wrong thing might upset her even more. She instead chose to put her arms around her and stroke her hair gently as Ashely cried out. The pink floral top Ashley had on dampened and darkened from the flood of tears. Lorna had never experienced Ashley to be so broken. Although the silence made Lorna feel useless, it comforted Ashley, as her sobs soon quietened and she then stopped. She wiped her tears away and let out a sigh.

For years Ashley had kept her and Harry a secret but in the comfort of her mum and the outburst of sadness she knew she had to let it all out.
'Harry.... Harry and I... we... I' Ashley spoke in broken sentences. She had wanted to be confident to tell her mum, but the mention of his name caused a wave of sadness to flood over her again.
Lorna knew immediately what Ashley was going to say. She always had her suspicions about Ashley and Harry. But never wanted to pressure her daughter into telling her incase she seemed over bearing and nosey. She had hoped for many years for her to daughter to tell her, but she never expected for her to daughter to tell her now. She knew why Ashely chose now, so that she could relive the moments out loud and for someone else to see the beauty of their love. 

After a while Lorna moved Ashely from the stairs to the living room, where she sat next to her on the black leather sofa with the blanket wrapped around them. Ashely told her mum everything about her and Harry. She finally felt free that night. Although she knew she had lost Harry, she felt more relaxed having told her mum. Lorna was mostly shocked at how Ashley had kept this to herself for so long, she was so sure she must have told someone. It must have been awful for Ashley to keep something like this bottled up for so long. She understood why her daughter had exploded so suddenly. It was all built up from years of heart break. The constant ending and restarting mustn't have been easy. Plus the secrecy of their relationship only added to the torment. Lorna became heartbroken at the story her daughter had just told, she knew there was nothing she could do. The two had made up their minds. Yet they could have faced much less complications had they been honest, she knew this wasn't the time to lecture her daughter.
Since that night, Lorna and Ashley became closer than before, as there were no secrets between them. Ashley had only ever told her mum about her and Harry. She never told anyone else.

Lorna always tried to reunite them in hope they might bring happiness to each other's lives again. She knew that since they both left each other's lives, neither of them have truly been happy. She could tell her daughter lost that wave of youthful, playful, child fullness, that is needed to fully survive adult life.

Soon many years passed and Lorna knew better than to bring up Harry Styles to Ashley. In fear it might spark that fire of sadness.
That was until Lorna had bumped into Harry and noticed that similar to Ashely, he had also lost a part of him. The two so unaware of how much they need each other in order to be who they really are. As they bring out the best in one another. These two might have been lovers, but Lorna knew that they were friends first. Friends who had known each other when they were just boys and girls. Friends who knew each other better than they knew themselves.

As Lorna continued to drive she tried to focus on the positive of the two reuniting. They would be happy again. Friends again. She really hoped it would turn out like this. But there was a part of her that thought maybe too many years had passed between them. Perhaps too much time. Maybe they have outgrown each other. She was rather worried that it wouldn't end well, especially with the secret Harry had to tell her. Six years is a long time. She couldn't help but think, is it too late?