It's never too late to be happy

I'll try again, I promise.

Rachel: Can we meet tonight?

Harper reads Rachel's text for the fourth time.

-"Is it her?" Jo asks and Harper nods without taking her eyes from her phone. "Harper, please channel the inner Harpy you have in you and see the world a little brighter."

-"What does that mean?" Harper looks at her sister confused by her words.

-"It means that you perceive the world much darker than it actually is." Jo chuckles, amused by the confused look on Harper's face. "You always think the worst. You always think people won't understand you, that they don't want to deal with your shit, that they are not trustworthy, that their intentions are not good, that they are not accepting or forgiving...whatever. You think you know everything they are and what they're gonna do, but you don't."

-"Or maybe I'm right."

-"How do you know? Did you ever open up to someone long enough to see if they actually run away as you say they will?" Jo asks, already knowing the answer.

-"Jo, I don't know how to!" Harper says, frustrated. "How do I tell someone that I barely know that my father died four years ago and that changed me into someone I hate? How do I tell them that I pushed everyone I love away and almost completely cut ties with the only family I have, because I couldn't cope with it? How do I say that even though I regretted it daily, I was never brave enough to do something about it? How do I say that I lost friends because of it? Or my dreams? How do I say that I gave up completely? How do I say this and still expect them to stay?"

"You say it just like it is, Harper! And make sure you add that although it happened like that, here you are, willing to do better, to be better. And then you see what happens. Maybe they stay, maybe they go...but at least you try and at least you know!" Jo groans in frustration. "Take what happened to us as a lesson. You pushed us away because you thought we wouldn't forgive you, and we were never able to forgive you because you pushed us away. You let time pass you by, thinking it was too late, and now you can see that it wasn't. Can you learn something from that? Not always what you predict is going to happen."

-"Okay...I get it!" Harper surrenders, although not 100% convinced.

-"It's not that you don't know how to open up. You do. We've been working on that. You're just scared of what happens next. You were so scared that we would turn our backs on you that you never wanted to see if that was true or not."

-"You are right." Harper says almost whispering. "I don't really know how to do it, but I want to open up more. I'll try again, I promise."

-"I'm happy to hear that." Jo smiles at her sister.

-"You know...you were right, before." Harper says.

-"What part? I mean, I was right in everything I said so far."

-"I meant the other night, when you said you are older and wiser."

-"Oh...thanks." They both smile.

-"No, Turtle. Thank you!" Harper hugs her sister.

-"Is she nice?" Jo asks, to light up the mood.

-"She seemed to be, but I didn't stick around long enough to find out for sure." Harper shrugs.

-"Well, then do something about it."

Harper picks up her found and replies to Rachel's text.

They agree to meet after dinner for a drink at a bar near Harper's apartment, and both of them are happy and nervous about it.

Harper decided to stop predicting what's going to happen and Rachel decided to trust her instinct and give them both another chance to get to know each other.