Gill had only been through the door thirty seconds; put her bag and keys on the hall table and taken her coat off, before her son's girlfriend, Orla had come running down the stairs in floods of tears. Sammy and Orla had met at college two years ago, and had been going out ever since. Gill approved of her son's choice of girlfriend; usually most mothers didn't, but this time she did. Orla was a bright girl who wasn't leading Sammy astray. So when she came charging down the stairs crying, Gill was naturally concerned. Orla ran straight for the door, trying to hide her face with her hands, but Gill wasn't about to let her just walk out.

"Orla?" she called, grabbing hold of the girls arm, turning her around to face her. "What's happened?"

"He's...finished...with...me" Orla stammered through sobs.

"Why?"Gill asked in disbelief.

Orla only cried harder. Gill walked toward the girl with arms outstretched and gently leant her body against Orla's, signalling for her to cuddle into her. It was a soft, gentle embrace that Orla melted into, feeling safe and secure.

"Come on, it's alright" Gill soothed. Gill stepped back, stretching her arms out to still hold onto the girl, but to see her face clearly. She turned to stand beside her and walked her into the living room. Orla followed without much of a fight.

As the pair sat on the settee, Orla nestled back into Gill's chest, almost as if she were cuddling into her own mother. It was so natural. Gill's cheek rested on Orla's head and whispered soothing noises into her fair hair. One arm held the girl close and the other wiped her falling tears away.

After half an hour the girl began to calm down, but was still very upset. Gill spoke hesitantly, unsure of how to ask her son's girlfriend what had happened.

"Orla, love, what happened?"

"He said he wasn't going to uni, which I thought was sort of a good thing so we could spend more time together, even though he should have got a degree. But he said even though he is staying in Manchester, he won't have time for me anymore and that he doesn't love me, and his job comes first" Orla began to cry again.

"Sssshhh" Gill soothed again. "I don't think he is deliberately being a twat, I do think he is just trying to do the right thing. I told him that he needs to focus on his job and not mess it up, if he is serious about not going to university. I think he may have taken it a bit too seriously though; I never meant to finish with you"

"So what do I do?" Orla asked, looking vulnerable and child-like.

"Let me talk to the little sod!"

"Thank you Ms Murray, I appreciate that" Orla smiled a faint smile, for the first time that day.

"It's Gill, and anytime" Gill replied with a bigger smile.

"I really love him" Orla cried again.

"I know you do sweetheart, I know. Look, he's not his dad, he isn't cold and calculating, it's just...right ethos, wrong methods I guess" Gill reassured.

"Do you miss him?" Orla asked, sitting back down beside Gill.

"I miss him like I'd miss breathing, but if you tell anyone that I'll leg you" Gill admitted in a light-hearted way; it kept her sane. Orla smiled at the woman next to her; realising how 'normal' she was underneath all the pretence. "I still love him and I miss him, and I hate him for what he done to me and Sammy"

"I'm sorry" Orla replied, reaching forward to take hold of Gill's clasped hands. Gill looked up, biting back her tears and smiled through her recurring heartache. "If you ever need to talk"

"Thanks" Gill answered, not wanting to divulge anything else.

"Really, I won't tell anyone anything at all, I'll just be here as and when" Orla continued.

"Am I a fool to still love him?" Gill asked, amazed at how she was asking an eighteen year old girl for relationship advice.

"No, you're human, switching your feelings off isn't possible!"

"Exactly!" Gill shot back. "Sammy won't have stopped loving you overnight"

"Well sometimes I wonder. They say men are married to the job don't they?"

"That's rubbish! Go and put the kettle on, give me five minutes" Gill smiled, standing up and watching the girl walk into the kitchen before heading up the stairs.

-X-

Gill sat back down on the settee next to Orla after talking to her son. She smiled at the girl and picked up the hot cup from the table. She didn't say anything; that was best left for Sammy to do.

And with that, Sammy entered the room. He bent down in front of Orla and took hold of her hands. Their eyes met and locked, just as they had two years ago in college. He smiled lovingly. She couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, not knowing what to say or how to make it up to her. He was terrified of losing her; terrified of becoming his dad. "I was just trying to get this right, the job, and ended up losing you, I'm an idiot, what else can I say, I'm sorry"

"Who said you've lost me?" Orla asked rhetorically.

"I just thought..."

"Well you thought wrong" she shot back.

"I love you"

She silenced his pitiful pleas with a kiss. An endless kiss. Gill pulled a face and groaned, turning to the side, as to not have to watch them. The moment was killed at the point and the two broke apart.

Orla turned to Gill. "Thank you so much Gill"

"I'm always here kid, anytime, for both of you"

Orla hugged Gill tightly, taking her by surprise. "Today you've been more of a mum to me than mine ever has"

Gill was lost for words. "Well, I'm sure it won't be long before I'm your mother-in-law!" she joked. Orla replied more seriously.

"I love you"