Silver Clouds [COMPLETE]

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The next few weeks came and went so fast, I barely had time to blink. I was extra busy because Trainer had decided to book the band at a different venue than the hotel with twice as many people as normal. Which meant we practiced twice as long and twice as much. And my mom texted me twice as often, asking me over and over if I could come a day earlier than planned. But every time I told her I had a show, it was like it went through one ear and out the other.

But even though I was busy, I made sure to at least text Jordan every day. And when he found out that I was stressed out or exhausted, he'd bring me a late night snack or a movie for us to watch together to help me relax. It felt like after the day I had asked him to come with me to my mom's wedding, we were different. A really good different. We had a few more disagreements, but we easily talked them out and it wasn't like when he had been sick and he had snapped at me.

And that was another thing; with each doctor's visit, the news was better and better. The larger tumors in Jordan's stomach had shrunk even more. While twelve percent from their original size didn't seem like a lot, it was the world to Jordan. And to me.

I was scrambling Thursday night to pack since I hadn't had time previously in the week. I had less than an hour before our flight, so Jordan would be by any minute now to come pick me up.

As I shoved a pair of jeans that were mostly clean into my suitcase, a knock came on my door. "It's open!"

I pulled my wet hair from the towel that was wrapped on top of my head, drying it as much as I could before Jordan came in. I threw it in my bathroom and right as I came back into my room, Jordan appeared around the corner.

"I promise I'm almost done," I said, shuffling as fast as I could to grab the remaining things I needed to pack.

"We have a few minutes, so don't rush," he reassured me. But I didn't slow down.

"Oh, I forgot my hairbrush in the bathroom. Could you grab my sneakers from the closet while I get it?" I was out of the room before he could respond.

I paused to look at myself in the bathroom mirror and cringed. Dragging my brush through my dripping, flattened hair, I tried to make it a little less wild. It barely did anything but it made me feel a little bit better.

When I ran back to my room, Jordan was coming out of my closet with a pair of shoes in hand. "Oh, I should have specified the white ones." I walked past him, peering into my closet. But my white tennis shoes weren't there.

"Where are they?" I mumbled to myself. I rummaged through my shoe organizer but still didn't find them. After searching my laundry hamper and the dark corners of my closet with no luck, I felt irritation starting to bubble in my chest. "Of course today of all days..."

Turning back to my room, I scoured every place I could: under my bed, behind my bean bag, under my desk, behind the door...

I huffed, running my hands over my hair.

"El?"

"Yeah?" I sighed.

When Jordan didn't say anything, I spun around to see him still standing in the door of my closet, holding up a pair of white sneakers.

I took a breath of relief, though I was slightly embarrassed. "Wow, I can be blind sometimes."

He didn't laugh at my attempted joke.

Setting the shoes at the foot of my bed, he turned to me and gently held my shoulders. "What's going on?"

I swallowed. "Nothing. Everything's fine."

He raised his brow. "Don't lie to me."

I cringed, remembering how those were always my words to him when he wouldn't tell me what was bothering him. With another sigh, I looked over at my suitcase. "It's just..."