Chapter 15

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Live right now, just be yourself, it doesn't matter if it's good enough for someone else

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| Bailey |

"Please, mom?" Arden and I state up at our mother with pleading eyes and pouty lips, hoping to convince her to agree.

Mom sighs, focusing her gaze out the window. "I don't know. Bailey, you were just released from the hospital," she sighs again, worry lines creasing her forehead.

"Pleeeaaseee?" I whine.

"Mom, I promise to take perfect care of her," Arden coaxes. We both stick out our lower lips and give her big, puppy dog eyes, making her worried expression soften slightly.

"C'mon, mom, I could be dying of cancer and you're going to deny me the right to spend some quality time with my sister?"

Pulling the cancer card on mom probably wasn't the best idea.

"Bailey," she snaps, making me flinch, "Don't say that. And I was about to agree anyway," she sighs.

"Oops?"

Mom rolls her eyes and gently pushes me away, "Go have some fun, but be careful," she advises. We both give her a tight squeeze and I happily follow Arden outside and into her car; we decided to get ready before asking mom if we could go out in hopes we'd be able to convince her. Luckily for us, she complied.

"So, where are we going?" I ask eagerly.

Arden backs out of the driveway and flashes a grin. "We're going on a good old fashioned shopping spree," she grins. I smile contently as I look out the window and observe the scenery that rushes by as we drive into town. I hope I'll be strong enough to stay out.

It doesn't take long for us to get into the main part of town since we live just outside of it. Arden parks her car at the edge of the town square and I follow her along the sidewalk. I stop abruptly, however, as I watch my sister approach a small wheelchair rental kiosk.

"Come on," Arden motions me to follow, but I stand still and fold my thinning arms over my chest.

"I don't need a wheelchair," I scoff, suddenly feeling self-conscious. I didn't think I was that sick yet. Am I?

Arden gives me a sympathetic smile. "Bailey, you can barely make it up the stairs without having an asthma attack, let alone walking around town all day. No offense," she quickly adds. I huff and roll my eyes, "Offense taken anyway," I mutter, chewing the inside of my cheek. I hate when she's right.

"I know it sucks, but it'll be fun. I can push you around and you won't be as tired," Arden assures me. I stare harshly at the lines of wheelchairs and let out a loud sigh. "Fine," I drag out the syllables dramatically and let my sister drag me to the rental kiosk. A few minutes later, I'm seated in the wheelchair with a blanket I didn't even know Arden brought draped over my lap and we're ready to go.

"Where to first?" Arden questions. I cross my left leg over my right and skim the different shops we could go into. An old record station catches my eye and I point to it. "We should get Ashton a homecoming present for when he comes back," I suggest. Arden smiles at the mention of our brother and nods in agreement. "Good idea! Let's do it."

Once in the shop, we skim through all the records and when one catches my eye, we agree to buy it before going on to the next shop. I snap a picture of Arden and I and out it on Snapchat with the caption, "Day out with the sis:)" and also send it to Ashton.

After a while of shopping we decide to get some food. Arden's been complaining about how hungry she is, while I on the other hand still feel stuffed from breakfast. She pushes me into a little cafe and stands off to the side to decide what she wants.

"What are you getting?" She questions as she skims the menu. I shrug, "I'm not really hungry," I state casually. I can immediately feel her eyes on me, "Bailey, you know you have to eat. You have to reserve what strength you have left."

More like what little strength I have left.

I shrug again. "I blame chemo," I say, trying to lighten the mood. Arden stares at me sadly, but the hint of a smile appears on her face. I giggle and poke her cheek until she joins in on my laughter.

"At least get soup or something. A milkshake, even, just something," Arden pleads. I sigh and agree to settle for some soup. I don't eat much of it though, so Arden makes me bring it with us while we continue shopping. I don't last much longer after that though, which I also blame on chemo.

"See, I bet if you'd eaten you'd have more energy," Arden scolds as we pull into the driveway. I roll my eyes, "And I bet that if I ate anymore, I would've been sick to my stomach," I sass back. She grabs the few things we bought on our little excursion and hands the record bag to me as we go inside, "The many things I can blame chemo on," I sigh sarcastically. Now Arden rolls her eyes, tossing her keys on the table by the door.

"We're home!" I announce as I attempt to skip down the hallway, but fail horrendously.

"Would ya look at that, so am I," an all to familiar voice choruses. I stop dead in my tracks and look into the living room to see one of my favorite people ever getting up from the couch.

"Ashton!" I squeal, running into his arms. He catches me just as easily as he always has, though this time I can almost feel his eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the weight I've already lost. Thankfully, he doesn't mention it and just twirls me around lightly before setting me on my feet and hugging me again.

"Surprise!" He flails his arms out on either side of him as Arden tackles him in a hug. Mom is just grinning from ear to ear on the couch; I didn't even notice she was sitting with him.

"We missed you!" Arden and I chorus together happily. Ashton smirks and throws one arm around Arden and the other around me, "I missed you two more."

A/N - woop woop, Ashton's back in town, hooray! I have another playoff game today, woo!

What do y'all think will happen? Thoughts?
Predictions?

Ily all! Stay fabulous:) Xoxo - Em:)

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