A Typical Love Story

Chapter Twenty-One: Being Sick

Penelope massaged her temples as she stared at her computer screen, she grumbled to herself annoyed as Max rested his head on her lap; she had a horrible headache and the chapter she was writing was becoming a nightmare.

It had been a long day and Penelope couldn’t bring herself to write another word, her head was aching and she couldn’t stand to stare at her laptop for any longer.

Saving her work and closing down her laptop, Penelope rubbed her eyes and grumbled to herself; she felt off and she was due to start her time of the month.

Penelope sniffled as she got to her feet, she felt horrible and wanted nothing more than to curl up somewhere warm and sleep for as long as possible.

Slowly making her way into the kitchen, Penelope blinked surprised to see Cesc leaning against the counter eating a bowl of cereal; he looked up as she closed her office door and frowned.

“Penny, are you okay?” Cesc asked eyeing his girlfriend while he set down his bowl of cereal and walked over to her; she looked a little pale and he couldn’t help but be worried about her.

Penelope closed her eyes as Cesc brushed his fingers gently against her face, she swallowed wanting nothing more than to go back to bed; she whimpered a little as Cesc pulled her into his arms.

“You feel warm amor,” Cesc whispered pressing a kiss to her head, they had been dating for eight weeks now and he felt bad that she might be sick.

Penelope cuddled into Cesc’s arms, she buried her head into Cesc’s shoulder trying to relieve her headache; she ached all over and she felt tired, she smiled a little as he ran his hands up and down her back.

“Why don’t you go back to bed? I’ll make you so soup,” Cesc murmured pulling back and looking down at Penelope, she was clearly ill and he hoped that she would get better quickly.

***

“You didn’t need to do all of this,” Penelope said looking at Cesc, he had insisted on sitting with her while she was ill in bed; she sneezed making Cesc chuckle as he passed her a tissue.

Penelope sniffled, she couldn’t believe that she was coming down with something and she hoped that she would be better for when his mother and sisters came to visit next week.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Cesc said smiling at Penelope, he had made her some soup and insisted that she changed out of her clothes and into her grey fleece polar bear long sleeve pyjama top and bottoms.

Penelope snuffled looking at Cesc, she hadn’t expected him to want to sit with her while she was sick; she didn’t want him getting sick by catching what she had.

Cesc sighed, he felt bad that Penelope had a cold and he hoped that she would felt better soon; he wished that he would have realised that she was ill earlier when he had left for training.

Penelope was important to him and the past two months had been amazing between them, she was so supportive of him and he was a little nervous about how his parents would take the news that he was dating his best friend.

“I made you some chicken noodle soup,” Cesc said knowing that it was her favourite, he smiled moving to pick up the bowl of soup; he wanted her better and he didn’t care how long it took.

Penelope smiled a little before she sneezed again, she was surprised that she had managed to catch a cold and had hoped that it was just her period; sadly she had gotten sick instead.

Cesc chuckled as he picked up the spoon and started to spoon feed his girlfriend, he wanted to look after her like she had done with him when Daniella had ditched him at the altar.

“You don’t need to feed me Cesc,” Penelope said with a smile, she couldn’t believe how sweet he was being about this; she had never seen him like this before and she couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked after her while she was ill.

Cesc grinned making sure that Penelope had some soup, he didn’t care that she was able to do it herself; he wanted to look after her and that was it.

“Just let me do this,” Cesc said spooning more of the soup, he smiled as he continued to feed Penelope; he had ensured that she was comfortable in bed and he had brought some DVDs up to the bedroom so that she would have something to do.

Cesc didn’t know what he would ever have done if Penelope hadn’t taken him and Lia in when he had come to London, he had needed her and she had always been there for him.

Penelope was the one woman that he had always been able to count on; she stood beside him no matter what he decided and she didn’t judge him for anything.

***

Penelope smiled cuddling into Cesc as he lay in bed with her, she nibbled on her lip as she rested her head on his chest; she was surprised how attentive he had been while she was sick.

“How are you feeling?” Cesc asked looking down at Penelope, they were watching the latest episode of Doctor Who and he was glad that he’d been able to spend all day with her.

Penelope peeked up at her boyfriend, she was surprised that he had been so quiet while the episode was on; he had never liked Doctor who and she didn’t know why he had been so quiet.

“I feel a little better,” Penelope said softly, she cuddled further into Cesc’s side and rested her head on his shoulder; his hands were rubbing up and down her back in a comforting matter. P

enelope nibbled on her lip as she thought for a moment, she had been thinking about confessing how she felt to Cesc for a while now and she felt like now would be a good time to tell.

“Cesc… I want to tell you something but I don’t want you to feel like you have to say it back,” Penelope said sitting up a little and looking at her boyfriend, she was a little frightened that she would scare him off and she didn’t want to pressure him saying anything that he wasn’t ready for.

Cesc nodded his head curiously looking at Penelope, he wondered what she could want to say to him; his stomach twisted a little making him nervous about what the brunette could drop on him.

“I love you,” Penelope said carefully, she eyed Cesc knowing that it was a big step and she felt like now was a good time for her to tell him; she didn’t want him to say it back because she had said it.

Cesc stared at Penelope, his heart pounded in his chest at the three simple words and he felt bad that he wasn’t ready to say them back to her; he swallowed thickly wishing that he could say them back.

“It’s okay… I don’t expect you to say anything back,” Penelope said trying to reassure Cesc, she hoped that she hadn’t made things awkward between them with wanting to share that with him.

Cesc swallowed and looked away from Penelope, she was everything that he wanted but he couldn’t say that he loved her yet; he wanted to be sure that he felt the same way.

“Cesc… it’s okay, just tell me when you are ready to no rush,” Penelope said trying to ease the tension that filled the rooms, she watched her boyfriend hoping that she hadn’t ruined things between them.