Approximately 3 months later...

Alex moves the big carton of goldfish behind the box of assorted granola bars. I can't remember how many times she's rearranged the snack table.

"Alex," I say. She doesn't acknowledge me. "You need to relax."

"Don't," she snaps sharply with a glare. The rest of her words are dangerously low. "Tell me to relax." She takes a deep breath and huffs. She spins to face me and if I didn't already know she was losing hair from worry, I'd be able to read it all over her face anyway. "How can you just sit there and, and read?"

I sigh and stick my bookmark in the crease of the book's binding and close it. "It's a cancelled flight, Lex. Not much we can do about that."

She groans and paces across the room. Back and forth. Back and forth. "She's only fifteen. She is all alone in an airport filled with thousands of strangers and . . ." She continues to rant incoherently.

I take off my glasses and rub the sting out of my eyes. I have been reading for so long. The book has done a good job distracting me from the less than ideal circumstances. But of course, Alex just has to worry. "She's not alone," I remind her. "She has—"

Alex cuts me off. "I haven't seen her in a whole month!" She belly flops onto her bed.

"Neither have I," I point out.

Her muffled response is, "You could have while you were in Jersey for the holidays."

I roll my eyes. "She didn't want me to."

Alex picks her head up and looks at me incredulously. "She didn't want you to?" She asks, and I pick up a little more judgement than I would have liked. And it wasn't judgment aimed at the girl stuck on the delayed flight. "You know she pushes everybody away, but you can't let her. She needs people who care about her."

"Don't give me that, Alexandra. I wanted to, but I'm not going to force her to spend time with me," I say with a cocked eyebrow, challenging her to say anything else condescending. "I love her just as much as you do. I don't want her to hate us, to hate me. We have to go at a pace that's comfortable with her."

Alex sighs. "She won't ask us to be there for her. Some kids need to be pushed."

"And some of them will push back harder," I murmur softly. "I understand what you're saying Lex. I do. But we have to be careful. It's obvious things at home aren't . . ." She pauses, looking for the right word. "Right."

A sad silence fills the room. Alex suddenly sits up and reaches to pull her phone out of it's charger.

I glare at her. "What do you think you're doing?" I ask as her thumbs start to fly across her screen. That girl spends too much time on her phone.

"Seeing if she's still up."

"Alex! No, don't text her. We said goodnight. She shouldn't be up," I reason.

Alex's phone dings, and she smiles brightly. "Come on, she's with Mal Pal. Did you really think she was sleeping?"

"Ideally, yeah."

She looks at me. "Realistically?"

I just open my book and go back to reading. The familiar tone of an incoming FaceTime call rings through the room.

"Hi, Alex!"

I can't help but smile at Alex's relieved and elated expression. She gives me an "I told you so" look, and I roll my eyes. "Hi, sweetie!" She says to her phone. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"Nope. I was up."

I slide off my bed and jump next to Alex.

Eleanor Mae smiles at me shyly from what looks like the airport bathroom. She has her standard Apple issued earbuds. I laugh when I see what she's wearing. "Is that my sweatshirt?"

She blushes and pokes out her bottom lip. Lex was a sucker for that pout. "It doesn't smell like you anymore," the teenager whines putting her nose to the fabric. "Not as much."

I smile. She's come a long way from being the shy, awestruck kid wandering around with no sense of direction. "I'll tell you what. When you get here, I'll trade you one."

Her face lights up, and her smile manages to get even bigger. Alex asks gently, "Are you tired? I think Toby's right. Some sleep is way overdue."

Eleanor Mae looks through the phone curiously. "When did she say that?"

Alex looks at me with an amused smile. "Right before you called me."

"You guys were talking about me?" She asks brightly. Any type of attention, good or bad, makes her happy. It concerns Alex but then again, everything concerns Alex.

"We're always talking about you," I tease and look at my watch. "Your flight doesn't leave for another five hours. Why don't you get some sleep?"

Eleanor Mae pouts and nibbles on her hoodie string. Alex and I keep trying to break that habit, but it hasn't proven too successful. She opens and closes her mouth before saying, "Okay." She pauses, and I can see a thousand words fly through her brain. She hesitates. "Bye!" She finally says.

"Bye!" Alex and I recite but by then, the ended call tone is already sounding through the room.

"And you wonder why I worry," Alex says quietly.

15 votes for the next chapter! Gonna challenge you guys a little ;)