Unbroken | Ashton Irwin's Little Sister (COMPLETED)

Chapter 5

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low, only miss the sun when it starts to snow

***

| Bailey |

I'm rudely awoken in the middle of the night as my stomach churns in protest to the chemo that was pumped into my body just yesterday. My throat burns and cheeks pucker as I rip the covers off of myself and run across the hall to the bathroom. I drop to my knees and hurl what little contents in my stomach into the toilet, gagging as tears run down my cheeks from the strain on my body. A few minutes later, I feel the comfort of mom rubbing my back and tucking stray strands of hair behind my ears. I'm glad I had it in a ponytail tonight. I lean back against her side and sigh tiredly, letting out a whimper.

"I'm sorry my love. I wish I could make it go away, but hopefully it'll get better." Mom strokes my hair soothingly, making my eyelids feel heavy. "Come on, you should get some rest," she says, helping me to my feet. I rub my eyes and nod as I trudge back to my room and climb into bed. Mom tucks me in, kisses my forehead, and turns the light off on her way out. I make myself comfortable under my blankets and am fast asleep within minutes.

***

I wake up around ten am and am thankful we're not doing anything today. It's a weekday though, so mom has to work. This means that Arden will be watching me for the day. She had planned on moving out but still going to a local college, however she changed her mind when she learned of my cancer. Now she's staying here with us, and I feel terrible. I'm ruining her independence, even though she claims she doesn't mind and that taking online college classes is better and easier anyway. This is one of the many reasons I've claimed as an excuse for not telling Ashton. I quickly push that guilt trip aside; I'm too sick and tired to deal with that mental battle at the moment.

I wrap myself in a blanket burrito and shimmy my way down the stairs and into the living room where Arden is laying on the couch. I carefully make my way over and plop myself on top of her, making her groan and attempt to shove me off. I can tell she's being extremely careful given my condition, as she barely even pushes me and gives up on doing so very easily. After one or two lame attempts, she slides out from under me and readjusts herself into an upright position, unraveling me from my blanket burrito and covering her legs with some of it. I pout and lay my head in her lap, feeling tired again. Arden runs her hands through my thinning, brittle hair as she watches what's on the tv.

"I take it chemo didn't go very well?" She questions, glancing down at me with a slight frown. I shake my head and sigh dramatically. "It's making me throw up now," I whine. She sticks her lower lip out in a fake pout, making me smile slightly.

"When you're feeling better, we should have a sister's day out," Arden says enthusiastically. I smile up at her, "Yeah, I like that idea," I say.

I remember when we used to have those when we were younger. Ashton would take us out for "quality brother-sister time" too, and we always argued over who would get to go with him first. I sigh loudly, still perplexed on the entire situation.

"What's on your mind Bai?" Arden asks, turning her attention to me again. I cover my face with my hands, "I think I should tell Ashton about all . . . this," I mumble, "But I'm scared to death he'll be angry." I already had this conversation with Melia, but I feel the need to have it again. Maybe it'd be more bearable if Arden was with me when I told him? I don't even know anymore.

Arden sighs. "I know you were trying to protect him, but honestly, I'd be angry too if you didn't tell me." I let out another whine. "I know," I sigh. Let's face it; he's going to be angry anyway, so I might as well tell him sooner rather than later.

"Will you stay with me when I tell him?" I ask Arden. She gives me a genuine smile and squeezes my hand.
"Of course. When do you want to do this?" I take a deep breath and bite my lip, my heart starting to beat faster, "Now?" Arden raises her eyebrows, clearly surprised. I am too.

"Alright," she agrees. "Let's do this."

My stomach starts to churn again and I hold my finger as a signal for her to wait. I quickly get up and run to the bathroom, repeating the actions from last night as my stomach continues making me gag. Unfortunately, I haven't eaten anything yet this morning, so there's hardly anything other than my stomach acid to throw up. This isn't very pleasant. My throat burns and now my mouth tastes awful. I sit back against the wall and press my hand to my pounding and burning forehead. Arden comes in and helps me to my feet, which I'm grateful for.

"Let's get you some food first," she says. I nod and lay down on the couch while Arden goes to the kitchen to make us some pancakes. While I wait, I check my phone and see several texts from Ashton, who's going on and on about how amazing their tour is. I notice a Twitter notification saying Ashton posted a video (yes, I have his Twitter notifications on), so I decide to watch it. It's more babbling about how happy he is and how great life is going. I sigh and toss my phone onto the coffee table, "Hey A, can we maybe call Ashton a different day? I don't really feel good," I whisper. Arden gives me a sympathetic smile, "Yeah. Just don't wait too long, okay? C'mere, the pancakes are ready." "Okay," I say as I make my way to the table. I force myself to eat half of the pancake, telling myself that as soon as I feel up to it I'll tell Ashton what I'm hiding.

A/N - aw Bailey c'mon just tell the poor guy already what are you doing? Anyway, summa is officially here! I'm so excited and I hope you all have amazing summers too! Xoxo - Em :)