Jiley Oneshots

Sisterly instinct

not proof-read.

Season 6

Riley's POV:

"That's not how you cut onions, babe," I chuckle, watching my fiancé whilst sitting at the kitchen island, fiddling with a plastic drinks bottle. James stood by the counter wearing one of his mother's red and white aprons that read 'World's Best Chef' on it in black cursive font, making me smirk at his appearance every time he turned around to look at me. Deborah was stood towards the side, swirling a sauce around in the pan while she cooked, but my eyes remained fixed on my soon-to-be husband entirely.

"Tell me about it, love," Deborah responds with wit, making me crack another violent titter. "He's never been able to cook well. I'm glad he's marrying you. It means you'll get to take over from being his cooking mentor," she implies. James turns around at that and winks at me, making me roll my eyes and impulsively place my hand over my stomach when Deborah recalls our engagement.

"Okay, in all fairness, though," James begins, "I'm glad to be marrying you, too, Riles." His eyes shortly become drawn to my belly and his lips break into a luminously bright smile, but he doesn't risk saying anything out loud. Instead, he washes his hands under the tap with soapy water and then dries them and walks towards me. His arms drape around and down the front of my neck as his chin rests over the top of my head before he leans down to kiss my cheek. "I love you," he whispers warmly with his soft breath tickling my skin. I smile up at him and repeat the same words back:

"I love you, too."

Deborah turns around and smiles at us both briefly, without any words, until a set of footsteps is heard trudging down the stairs. I look in that specific direction and watch James's sister as she fails to acknowledge my presence despite the clear eye contact she makes with me. She walks straight in the direction of the cupboard beside her mom and reaches onto her tiptoes to open it. I bite my lip at her lack of regard towards me, but pull my teeth away when James's arms loosen around my body and he stands up straight.

"Piper," he says, his voice hoarse and thick, "Haven't you realised Ri's here?" he asks. "You're meant to say hello when you see her, not walk straight past."

"It's okay, Jay. She's a growing teenager. We've all had our moments," I say playfully. Piper looks at me but remains silent, not bothering to take in my attempts of laughter or communication. Instead, she takes out a packet of salted potato chips from the snack box along with a pack of flapjacks. Then, without further ado, she makes her exit and clambers up the stairs taking two steps at a time. James tuts his teeth and moves around the table so that he was stood in front of me.

"Sorry, Ri, she shouldn't disrespect you like that," he says. "I don't know what's been going on with her lately."

"James, she's a girl, hon," I answer him, reaching across the table so that I was holding his hands lightly once he does the same. "Most of the time there's nothing wrong with us but we make it seem like there is because of our hormones. Come on, you should know that by now," I say, making him chuckle. 

He cups my cheek in his hand and uses his thumb to caress the side of my face. His index finger skims past my bottom lip but he stops to wipe off a biscuit crumb that remained there. I blush when he scrapes it off onto the table and then presses a loving kiss to my lips, despite the fact his parent was watching us. No matter how much of a maternal figure she is to me, I will never find kissing my partner in front of her any less daunting and uncomfortable, but James always claims my blush to be cute - and Deborah never seems to mind anyway. She's seen us kiss multiple times in the past, and that was when we had just got together.

"Maybe I should go and talk to her," I think aloud, squeezing James's one remaining hand. He sighs and looks reluctant, but eventually nods.

"Okay. You understand her most. She might open up to you," he agrees. I smile a scant smile and push the stool back so the chair legs scraped against the marble. I get up and let go of James's hand before making my way upstairs, though I remember to immediately take my hand off from resting over my lower stomach.