Lean on Me || Jill Roord

10. Waffles

I woke up to a tingling sensation on my arm; upset that whatever it was woke me up, I shoved my head into my pillow. Though that's when I heard a soft laughter in my ear. Confused, I opened my eyes and was met with Jill's bare neck. At some point in the night I had turned around to face Jill, and my head laid in the crook of her neck. Obviously Jill had woken up first as she was slowly trailing her fingers up and down my arm. I also realised my hand was laid across her stomach, making my eyes widen.

I removed myself back to my side of the bed out of pure embarrassment, as I hadn't meant to cross boundaries like that. Though Jill quickly frowned at the movement, "Terugkomen." She whined.

I furrowed my eyebrows and closed my eyes. I was too tired to try and understand what she was saying. I think I knew what she said though, and I wasn't sure if I believed it. Sometimes the way Jill would slip into her native language would make me laugh, especially when she would mix English and Dutch together. That always threw me for a loop.

"Come back." Jill spoke again, this time in English, which caught my attention. I opened my eyes to find Jill's already on mine, her gorgeous green eyes. There was something lingering in her eyes, something I couldn't exactly read. "What?" mumbled.

Jill sighed before propping her head up with her hand to better meet my eyes. "I said come back in hopes that we could still cuddle on this lazy morning." My eyes widened at her directness so early in the morning. There was no way I was going to turn down this offer, but what did it mean?

I hummed before scooting back into Jill's comforting embrace as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders and another across my back. As I leaned into her, she began running her hand up and down my back, in return leaving trails of fire but also lulling me to sleep.

When I woke up again, the smell of waffles lingered in my bedroom. I felt around, realising the bed was cold and Jill had left, placing a small frown on my face. I had missed waking up next to her, and the way it brought stability and comfort into my life. The last two weeks without her hadn't been fun at all.

I rolled onto my back before finally opening my eyes and scanning the dim room, taking note the sun wasn't coming out today due to the thick cloud cover; rain was imminent. I wouldn't mind though; it's not like I would be spending too much time outside today at my physical therapy appointment.

Through the cracks around my bedroom door, I could see a warm light peeking through and very soft music coming from the bigger room. With this, I realised Jill was probably making breakfast, so I'd better get up if I wanted some. Plus, it was already ten, and we needed to leave around twelve thirty for training. Well, she did. I had a physical therapy appointment at two.

Leaving my room, I made my way towards the kitchen, where I found Jill hovering over the stove and waffle maker she had brought over from her flat the moment she found out I didn't have one. It was a whole fiasco Jill would not let me forget. She said it was absolutely heartbreaking that I didn't have some sort of waffle maker in my flat. Personally, I thought waffles were more of a Belgian thing; guess the Dutch like them just as much. Or maybe that's just Jill.

Jill was humming lightly to one of my playlists I'd shared with her; it put a thoughtful smile on my face since she had enjoyed the music I shared with her. I approached Jill from behind and peaked my head over her should, "Goedemorgen." I mumbled into her ear with a smirk.

"Holy shit Caroline! Je maakte me bang!" Jill jumped backwards, holding a hand over her heart and a spatula in the other. I couldn't help but laugh at her; the way she was genuinely terrified made it so much better. I couldn't not tease her about how easily it was to scare the woman.

"Awe, did I scare you, Jilly?" I let the nickname slip without a second thought; I don't even think I caught myself.

Jill's look quickly morphed into something else as she stood up straight and lowered her spatula. "You know," she began. "The last time you called me that you were drugged up from after your surgery." Without a second thought, she walked towards me with a smirk on her face and went back to cooking eggs and waffles. I stood next to her, not entirely sure what to say, so I chose to say nothing at all. I leaned with my back against the counter beside her watching Jill cook almost methodically. Her actions were effortless, as if she were incapable of error.