Lean on Me || Jill Roord

28. Birthdays & Goals

A buzzing phone is what interrupted my slumber early in the morning when the sun wasn't even up yet. I groaned, shifting underneath the weight of Jill's body on top of mine as I carefully untangled myself from her. Grabbing my phone, I quietly made my way into my living room, my body cold due to the lack of warmth.

'Happy Birthday, Fleura!" My mum's voice filled the quietness of my apartment and put a soft smile on my face.

'Thank you, mum.'

'You sound like you just woke up; is it early?' She seemed to be worried about accidentally mixing up time zones, as she did from time to time.

'It's six, but I'm usually getting up about now anyways. Though sleeping in sounded like a nice option today,' I said with an amused voice.

'Ah, I see. Well, you spend the day how you want to spend it. Mathias and I wish you the absolute best, and we love you so much Fleura. Happy 25th.' My heart swollen with the love I had for my parents. I wished I could be with them to celebrate my birthday; they had always been core memories growing up in Australia.

My mum and I continued to talk for a little while longer as I sat in the darkness of my living room, only the glow from the kitchen nightlights illuminating the living room. As our call came to a close, I stretched my arms out behind the couch to stretch my back and legs, just as I heard a door click open. "Caro?" A quiet voice called out, "Waarom ben je wakker?" Jill tiredly mumbled as I got up from the couch, making my way towards her.

A soft smile found its way onto my lips as she mumbled tiredly in Dutch; she was lucky I'd picked up on a majority of the language through her. Especially when she spoke to me in Dutch and I responded in German, it never failed to make us give each other funny looks when words didn't overlap in the right ways.

"My mum called me," I replied simply. "Let's go back to bed, hm?" I wrapped my arms around her torso as she rested her head on my shoulder for a moment before we eventually went back to bed. I wrapped my arms tightly around her as she interlocked our hands; I fell asleep soon after.

Before I could fall asleep completely though, my phone pinged once more, causing me to groan and Jill to press her head further into my neck, her breath tickling me in the process. I reached for my phone yet again, squinting at the bright light.

Kyra
Happy Birthday bitch
you're old now

I rolled my eyes and let out a breathless laugh at Kyra's dig before setting my phone back down and wrapping my arm around Jill. She hadn't moved a muscle, and that's how I knew she was still asleep; a soft smile formed when I realised this as I quickly fell back asleep for real this time.

When I awoke for the third time, the daylight had begun peaking through my bedroom window, and I could feel nails gently tracing up and down my arm. I opened one eye to see Jill already looking at me with nothing but love in her eyes. It was cast across her face, making her green eyes sparkle, something I always loved.

She caught me peaking and finally spoke, her voice still raspy from sleep. "Goedemorgen, birthday girl." I didn't fight the blush that rose in my cheeks, and Jill's smile grew when she realised as she leaned in for a gentle kiss. One that I melted into the longer it went on; eventually I pulled away, and Jill placed a kiss on my nose, making me giggle.

"Are you ready to celebrate your 25th birthday today?" She asked, leaning back onto her elbow and analysing me. I'd be lying if I didn't say I could feel the heat rising within me the longer she stared. I hummed in response before rolling over onto my back and stretching my limbs as Jill watched in a comfortable silence. The next thing I knew, Jill was slipping her hand across my bare stomach and trailing a line of kisses from my shoulder towards my neck, making my breath hitch. "How about we start it off right?" She whispered when she reached my ear, and I had to stop myself from going into cardiac arrest. I took her jaw in my left hand and placed her lips back on mine, our lips moving in sync as the minutes ticked on.