"Let me know if you need help." Mary turned away and wandered over to the windows. She looked down at the ground below and gave half-serious consideration to how best to reach it. Jumping, maybe?
"That's our-" Mary's voice caught and she leaned against the glass. "That's our mother." Her throat felt tight and her eyes were burning with tears. She would not cry in front of Nell. She wouldn't. "Eight bloody years and now she's back. Fuck." Mary tried not to curse, but if anything deserved it, her mother did.
"When you go down, there are rules, Nell." She wiped her cheeks furiously as tears started to fall. "You forget them, you let them slip even for a moment and you'll be lost. Understand?"