Chapter Text
Epilogue
---
“So Shelby and Toni’s story started with a bet! Like, how 90s, right? Straight out of fanfiction, I shit you not.”
Everyone laughs, turning to the couple in question. They all see Toni blush and Shelby smile, a smug grin on her face.
“I was there when it all went down. Honestly, if it weren’t for me, I’m not sure how long it would’ve taken for us to get here.”
Toni rolls her eyes but when Shelby kisses her cheek, her annoyance disappears.
“Alright, alright Shalifoe I’ll back off, but seriously. On separate occasions, both Shelby and Toni said that they both knew at the end of their first date that it’d be their last first date ever.”
___________
Toni thinks long and hard about where she wants to take Shelby out for their first date.
The blonde came into the coffee house a few times after she gave Toni her number. During those times, there had been an influx of customers so Toni hadn’t been able to talk to her as much as she wanted to.
But, they texted a lot.
It’s through their text conversation that Toni was able to narrow down a few choices.
- Shelby works a lot of nights because her bosses schedule a lot of open houses at that time.
- Shelby is allergic to shellfish so Toni cannot take her to that amazing sushi place downtown.
- Shelby is a health fiend and goes to the gym regularly but she is also a huge foodie.
- Shelby isn’t a fan of horror stuff, not because she’s scared but because she’s always bored. (Toni may have admitted to the blonde that she’s lowkey afraid of all things scary so they have nothing to worry about).
- Shelby moved to Boston right after she graduated high school but she still hasn’t explored a lot of the area.
Toni decides to take Shelby on a chocolate factory tour then go to the BU Coit Observatory for the following Wednesday night.
When Toni tells the blonde her plans, she has to move the phone away from her ear because of the yelling.
“Oh my gosh!” Shelby’s voice shouts.
Toni smiles but winces at the volume. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I was going to have it be a surprise but then I wasn’t sure if you wanted to grab a later dinner or if you wanted-”
Shelby interrupts Toni’s ramble.“Toni- Toni, it’s perfect.”
Toni can’t see the blonde but she can tell the blonde is probably smiling just as wide as she is.
Then Shelby adds, “Who would ever say no to chocolate?”
Toni laughs fondly through the phone.
“Alright, it’s a date.”
___________
When Wednesday comes, Toni is almost done getting ready when she hears a knock on her bedroom door. She turns her head and finds Martha and Fatin at her door.
“Oh fuck, why is Jadmani here?” Toni asks with a raise of her eyebrow.
Fatin flips her off and scoffs. “Uh, bitch try again. What kind of greeting was that?”
Toni rolls her eyes. “The kind you get when you never mentioned Shelby to me and then proceeded to watch me make a fool of myself in front of her.”
Fatin laughs. “Shalifoe, let’s be real. You would’ve done that even if I had set you up from the get go.”
The shorter brunette glares at Fatin in the mirror then looks to her best friend. “Back me up Marty!”
Martha holds up her hands. “Sorry, T.” She smiles. “I agree with Fatin.”
“Oh come on!”
Martha walks over to Toni. “How are you feeling?”
“Nervous as hell.” Toni says in one breath. Then she smiles and adds, “but also really excited.”
Fatin and Martha can’t help but smile at Toni’s genuine enthusiasm.
“Are you picking her up or is she picking you up?”
Toni turns around to face them. “She’s picking me up because she has a car.”
Fatin smirks. “Are you going to put out?”
Both Martha and Toni glare at the taller brunette. She shrugs. “What? It’s a fair question.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Toni asks.
Fatin laughs. “What? I can’t mess with you before your date?”
Martha shakes her head. “That’s specifically what I said not to do before I knocked on her door.”
“I made no promises Martha.” Fatin says to defend herself. “You know I can't help myself.”
Toni rolls her eyes. “Just shut up and tell me I look ok.”
Martha smiles. “You look beautiful T.” She nudges her arm. “Now really, how are you feeling?”
“What do you mean?” Toni asks.
Her best friend shrugs. “It’s just been a bit since you were so serious about a first date.” She thinks for a moment before adding. “Honestly, part of me feels like you weren’t even this nervous or excited to go on a date with Regan.”
Toni nods. “I don’t know.” She sighs. “It just feels different I guess.”
Fatin cuts in. “What do you mean?”
“Like, have you ever met a person who at first glance you didn’t think anything of it? Maybe you thought they were hot or some shit but then you moved on with your life.” Toni tries to explain before stopping herself for a moment.
Martha and Fatin nod and wait patiently as Toni gathers her thoughts.
“Well I thought Shelby was that for me. But then seeing her slowly started to be one of the highlights of my day.” She shakes her head. “I guess it’s just weird to me that I’m not freaking out about that. I should be but I’m not.”
Martha smiles. “I’m so happy to hear that Toni.” She gives her a side hug. “Never freak out about feeling like that.”
“We’ve texted a lot and I don’t-” Toni shrugs, a smile forming on her face as she thinks back. “I think she’s something good for sure.”
Fatin nods. “That’s awesome, Shalifoe.” Then she points a finger at her. “Don’t go screwing it up by getting in your own head, got it?”
Toni rolls her eyes. “And the moment is completely shattered. Thanks Fatin.”
“I try.” Fatin winks. “But I am serious though. You’re good. Don’t psych yourself out thinking you aren’t or that you don’t deserve a little good back.”
Martha agrees. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Toni nods. “Thanks dude.”
Fatin shrugs. “It’s what I live for Shalifoe.”
Toni rolls her eyes.
“Are you going to tell blondie about the bet?” Fatin asks bluntly, out of nowhere.
Martha winces. “Ooh that might not go over well.” She warns.
Toni raises an eyebrow. “You think?”
Her best friend shrugs. “I could see it going either honestly but you should definitely be upfront.”
Fatin agrees. “It means literally nothing but being honest from the get go is better than blondie finding out later. Or finding out from someone else.”
Toni nods. “I was going to tell her.” She shrugs. “I just gotta figure out how.”
Fatin stands. “Well since that’s now dealt with, I’m off.”
“Wait, you're not staying to see Shelby?” Martha asks, standing up.
“Nah, I’ve got shit to do but I’m rooting for ya.” She winks again and walks out.
Toni raises an eyebrow and turns to Martha. “That was weird, right?”
Martha shrugs. “It’s Fatin.”
“Fair.”
___________
Unbeknownst to the brunette pair at the time, Fatin walks out of the apartment complex and runs into Shelby in the parking lot.
“Oh hi Fatin.” Shelby chirps out, a wide smile on her face. “What a nice surprise to see you.”
Fatin smiles. “Yes, thank you, that is how you greet a friend.” She hugs the blonde. “How are you into gloom and doom when you’re the embodiment of sunshine and rainbows?”
Shelby scrunches her eyebrows. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She tilts her head. “Gloom and doom?”
“Shalifoe.” Fatin says and she shrugs her shoulders.
“Toni is not gloom and doom.” Shelby defends the brunette. “She’s real sweet.”
Fatin shakes her head. “Yeah I’ll try to take your word on that.” She nods. “You picking her up for your first date?”
Shelby smiles. “Yep! I’m real excited.”
“You sure?” Fatin asks. “Not gonna lie blondie, but your smile seems a little more strained than usual.”
Shelby sighs. “Fine, I’m a little nervous.” She quickly adds. “I’m still excited, really I am.”
“Then why are you nervous?”
The blonde takes a moment to formulate a response. She takes a deep breath in and out before answering.
“Have you ever heard the phrase, if you’ve met the right person, you just know?” Shelby asks.
Fatin nods. “Yeah, some variation of that.”
Shelby scoffs. “Well I always thought that phrase was just complete and utter nonsense.”
Fatin laughs. “Really, you?”
“Yeah I know. Everything about me says I’m into all of that corny, cliche, love at first sight stuff but I’m not.” Shelby says with a slightly exasperated tone. “For all that I’ve been through, how could I believe that?”
The brunette doesn’t say anything. She waits for Shelby to continue because it looks like the blonde needs to get all of this off her chest.
“I completely brushed off that ‘when you know, you know’ phrase. I thought it was just this condescending response from people who had it all together.” The blondes let out a small laugh. “But, and I hate to admit it, they weren’t wrong.”
Fatin raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“When I saw Toni for the first time, my vision - blurry and all, I saw her and I knew.” Shelby says wistfully. “I knew she was going to be something-” She sighs. “Just something. It was simultaneously the most exhilarating and terrifying thing to feel but I didn’t want it to go away.”
“Wait, wait so you love her already?” Fatin asks, slightly confused.
Shelby laughs. “No, it’s not like that. Love at first sight is definitely still hogwash.”
“Whoa, whoa there Goodkind, watch the language, there are kids around.” Fatin says with a smirk.
The blonde rolls her eyes, though a smile still on her face. “What I’m saying is that the second I saw Toni, I knew she was going to be something in my life. Whether it was something terrifying or good or bad or just completely life altering. I had no idea what but there was no chance in hell that I was going to ignore it.”
Fatin doesn’t say anything but there is a small smile on her face.
“So, knowing that, I am nervous but it’s a good kind of nervous.” Shelby admits. “I think Toni could actually be something amazing.”
Fatin nods. “Me too.” She smiles. “You got this Goodkind. I’m rooting for you both.”
“Thanks Fatin.”
___________
Back with Toni and Martha, Toni is just grabbing her keys when they hear a knock on the door.
“I got it!” Martha shouts.
Before Toni can even register what’s going on, Martha opens the door and reveals Shelby on the other side.
“Hi there.” Shelby says, a wide smile on her face. She turns her head. “Hi, Toni.”
Toni smiles. “Hey.”
There’s a moment where neither girl says anything else. Martha moves her head back and forth between the two as they take each other in.
When Martha realizes Toni is too caught up in Shelby to introduce her, she introduces herself.
“Not to interrupt whatever this is, but I’m Martha.” She says as she sticks her hand out. “Toni’s sister.”
Shelby speaks first. “Hi there.” She holds out her arms. “I’m more of a hugger.”
Martha laughs. “My kind of person.” She says as the blonde wraps her up in a big bear hug.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Martha.” Shelby says as she pulls back. Then she tilts her head. “Did anyone ever tell you, you have the most drop dead gorgeous eyes.”
Martha blushes.
Toni shakes her head. “Wow, I see you’re more into my sister than me princess.” She smirks. “Nothing nice to say to me?”
Shelby looks Toni up and down. She raises an eyebrow and matches Toni’s smirk. “I mean I don’t think the words I have for you are entirely appropriate when your sister is right there.”
Both Toni and Martha blush at that.
Martha speaks for the both of them since Toni is still bright red.
“I really like you Shelby. I have not met anyone who could keep Toni on her toes like that.” Martha says with a smug grin. She looks from Toni to Shelby and back again.
Shelby laughs, very proud of her comeback. “Toni, are you still with us?”
Toni clears her throat. “Yes, I am.”
“In all seriousness though, you look beautiful.” Shelby smiles. She holds out the flowers that were forgotten in her hands. “I got you these.”
Toni smiles and takes the flowers. “How did you know I like orchids?”
Shelby smiles. “I’d like to say I’m just that good but I asked Fatin, who said she covertly asked Martha.”
Martha’s mouth forms an ‘o’. “That makes so much sense.” When Toni looks at her, she expands. “Fatin texted me randomly ‘what kind of flowers does Shalifoe like?’ and I just thought nothing of it.”
Toni shakes her head. “Wow Marty.” She looks at Shelby. “But thank you princess.”
Martha smiles. “Before another staring contest starts, I’m going to take the flowers and put them in a vase. You two go have fun. If you stay any longer, you’ll miss the tour.”
Shelby laughs. “And we can’t have that.” She looks at Toni. “Are you ready?”
Toni nods. “Absolutely.”
Just as Shelby walks out the door, Martha grabs Toni’s arm and stops her for a moment.
Toni raises an eyebrow. “All good Marty?”
Martha smirks. “I get it now.” She winks. “I see why you were so charmed.”
Toni blushes and mutters a ‘shut up’ before she rushes to catch up to Shelby.
___________
Once the duo climb into Shelby’s car, Shelby has Toni connect her phone to get the directions up.
The place is only 12 minutes away from where Toni lives so they should make their 7 o’clock tour with time to spare since it’s 6:45pm.
“So have you ever been to Taza Chocolate?” Toni asks a few minutes after Shelby heads onto the road.
Shelby shakes her head. “No I have not but I’ve always wanted to go on a chocolate factory tour.” She briefly looks at Toni. “Have you been?”
“I have not.” Toni answers. “I was asking Martha about good ideas while we were texting and this came up.”
Shelby smiles but doesn’t take her eyes off the road. “I know we’ve been texting a lot but how have you been? How did your physics exam go?”
Toni laughs. “Aced it!” She winks. “Not that I was worried.” Then, she shrugs. “What about you? How did the open house tonight go?”
“It was pretty uneventful to be honest.” She pauses to make a left turn. “We had a few interested clients come in but no one has made an offer yet.” She shrugs. “The sellers aren’t in any rush so that's good.”
Toni nods. “Yeah I don’t really get all that stuff but I’m glad it’s not stressful.”
Shelby smiles. “Thanks but what about you? Physics being easy? No thank you.” She says as she shudders. “I took physics in high school and I still have nightmares sometimes.”
Toni laughs. “Let’s agree to disagree.”
“Fair enough.” Shelby amends. “Off topic though.” She prefaces. “I’m really glad we could finally go out on our first date.” She smiles. “I appreciate your patience with my busy schedule.”
Toni shrugs. “It’s whatever.” Then she adds, without thinking, “You’re worth it.”
The second she realizes what she said, her face turns red yet again. She looks at Shelby who has a genuine smile on her face.
“You’re worth it too, Toni.” Shelby adds.
Before Toni can say anything else, Shelby is parking the car.
“Ready?” Shelby asks with a big smile.
Toni laughs. “Hell yeah!”
___________
When Toni and Shelby join their tour, there’s a few other people already there. A family with two kids, an older couple and two couples who seem to be around their age.
The tour guide checks everyone in and leads them into the back to where the workers make the chocolate.
“Again, let me say welcome to Taza Chocolate Factory." The tour guide says. "We craft stone ground chocolate from bean to bar. Our passion for Mexican chocolate traditions have inspired us to use hand-carved granite millstones to grind cacao into rustic, organic dark chocolate. It bursts with bright, bold flavor and texture.”
Toni and Shelby look around at the different machines. They watch as some of the workers load in the cacao beans, while a few others take those beans and transfer them to another machine that chops the beans into chocolate nibs.
Those chocolate nibs are then ground up by stone wheels to create a powder. The powder is mixed with cane sugar. It’s carefully melted into different forms such as the staple chocolate wheels, traditional chocolate bars, a variety of chocolate covered treats, and the chocolate bark.
As they continue the tour, Toni has an internal debate with herself on whether or not she should try and hold Shelby’s hand. She sees the blonde mindlessly pay attention to the tour guide.
Just as she’s about to go for it, Shelby turns to look at her.
“You ok?” The Texan whispers.
Toni wordlessly nods.
Before Shelby turns around, she sends the brunette another smile, grabs her closest hand and intertwines their fingers. She winks at Toni before turning back to the tour guide.
The brunette finds herself simultaneously loving and hating the fact that the blonde can make her feel so flustered.
___________
The rest of the tour goes pretty well and each guest is given a jar of cleaned and smoked cacao beans, with directions on how they could make their own chocolate at home.
There’s a moment after the tour when the pair break off, doing their own thing and looking around.
“Shelby, can I tell you something?” Toni asks. She’d been thinking about how to bring up the stupid bed to Shelby since Fatin had mentioned it earlier.
They’re seated on a bench near the gift shop but haven’t gone in yet.
“Everything ok Toni?” Shelby tilts her head. She can see that the brunette is biting her lower lip and that she looks a little nervous. “Are you alright?"
“Before this date continues, I have to confess something.” Toni says in one breath, worried about how the blonde will react.
“You can tell me anything.” Shelby says, putting a hand over Toni’s to comfort her.
Toni clears her throat. “Just to preface, I’ve pretty much been interested in you since you came into the coffee house.
Shelby nods but doesn’t say anything else.
“Kane and I made a stupid bet about who could get your number, me or him. Loser had to take morning shifts for two weeks.” Toni confesses. She doesn’t meet Shelby's gaze as she says everything.
It’s not until she feels a hand on her cheek that she looks Shelby in the eyes. There’s no anger on the blonde’s face, just mild amusement.
“Toni, first off, I'm not mad.” Shelby explains, a small smile on her face.
Toni tilts her head. “You’re not?”
Shelby laughs. “No, mildly embarrassed, slightly flattered but nonetheless, not mad.” She shrugs. “Plus the odds were in your favor, Kane is decidedly not my type as I said.”
Toni laughs.
“I appreciate the honesty.” Shelby says. Her eyebrows scrunch up for a moment. “Just to be clear though, you didn’t make the bet just to prove him wrong, right? Like you were definitely interested in getting to know me more? He didn’t force-”
Toni cuts her off. “Absolutely not princess.” She shakes her head. “If anything, that stupid bet was just the kick in the ass I needed to find some semblance of courage and put myself out there.”
Shelby smiles. “Well ok then.”
“So just to be clear, we’re good?” Toni asks.
The blonde laughs. “We’re good.” She stands and holds out her hand. “Now come on, we should get something at the gift shop. If not for ourselves, for our friends.”
Toni laughs and takes the blonde’s outstretched hand.
Shelby drags Toni around to the gift shop and they both buy bars for their friends and a few for themselves.
“This chocolate is really good.” Toni says in between chews of the coffee chocolate wheels.
Shelby laughs, nodding in agreement as she chews on her own chocolate.
Toni’s watch starts beeping, which lets them know that their tour at the Coit Observatory starts in about 20 minutes.
“Oh, we better go if we want to make it on time.” Toni says, guiding Shelby back to her car by their joined hands.
___________
In the car, Toni fills the silence with random fun facts about stars, planets, and space. She feels relieved to have gotten that secret off her chest. Now, she just wants to fully enjoy the rest of her date with the blonde. And also to share her love of astronomy.
“Did you know that there are more trees on earth than stars in the milky way?” Toni asks.
Shelby smiles. “Are you serious?”
Toni nods. “Yeah, there are three trillion trees on Planet Earth, but between 100-400 billion stars in the galaxy. Isn’t that crazy?”
“Incredibly.” Shelby agrees.
Toni smiles, getting more and more excited to arrive at the observatory. “Also, did you know that all of the planets in our solar system can fit in between the Earth and the moon, with about 2,700 miles to spare?”
Shelby shakes her head. “I had no idea.”
“And a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.”
Shelby raises an eyebrow. “What?”
Toni nods, a wide smile forming on her face. “Yeah, it takes Venus 243 Earth years to do a full rotation on its axis but 225 Earth days to do an orbit of the sun.”
Shelby parks the car and turns to Toni who is staring up excitedly at the observatory. When Toni looks back at the blonde, she finds the Texan looking at her fondly.
“What?” Toni asks, starting to blush again when she registers all the fun facts she just word vomited to Shelby.
Shelby laughs softly. “You’re so cute when you talk about space.”
And to think Toni wasn’t sure if her cheeks could get any redder; she was wrong.
Toni moves a few strands of her hair behind her ear and asks softly, “Really?”
Shelby nods. “Yeah really.”
“One more fun fact and I’ll stop.” Toni says.
The blonde shakes her head. “One more fun fact before we go in but don’t you dare stop with the fun facts when we get inside.”
Toni smiles. “Did you know that Russia is bigger than Pluto?”
Shelby shakes her head. “It is?”
“Yeah, Russia’s surface area takes up about 6.6 million square miles while Pluto’s surface area is only 6.4 million square miles.” Toni recounts from an article she read recently.
Shelby is still smiling fondly at her. “So, I'm guessing you really like space, huh?”
Toni blushes again. “Kind of.”
“Come on Galileo, teach me more.” Shelby says, winking at Toni before exiting the car.
Toni hastily follows the blonde, making sure to link their hands as they go in.
___________
“Are you able to see it?” Toni asks as Shelby looks through one of the telescopes.
The pair arrive at the College of Arts & Sciences on the fifth floor above the astronomy department.
After listening to the standard introduction and guidelines, as well as the welcome to the observatory speech, everyone present was given access to Schmidt–Cassegrain telescopes and binoculars to gaze into the night sky.
“It’s hard to see Saturn clearly but I zoomed in as much as I could and you can kind of make out the rings.” Toni explains. “Right?”
Shelby steps back and smiles at Toni. “Yeah I see it.” She tilts her head. “Is Saturn your favorite planet?”
Toni smiles. “I do like Saturn but Neptune is my favorite.”
“Really, why?” Shelby asks, very curious to hear her explanation.
The brunette shrugs. “There’s so many reasons but just to name a few, it is named after the Roman god of the sea, which is pretty badass. Then, it’s almost 3 million miles away from the sun so we’ve only visited once since it’s been discovered. Like, it’d take like 12 years to get to Neptune. Also, it has 14 moons and a Neptune day is 16 hours but a year on that planet equates to 165 Earth years.”
Toni lists these facts off the top of her head. “My favorite is the fact that it also has rings; Saturn isn’t the only one!”
Throughout Toni’s entire spiel, Shelby continued to smile fondly at her through it all.
Admittedly, Shelby loses focus for a moment, just getting wrapped up in Toni’s enthusiasm. She can’t get over how adorable Toni is as she talks about something she is so passionate about.
“Shelby!” Toni interrupts her thoughts. “Are you still with me?” Toni asks, a small smirk on her face.
Shelby blushes but shrugs, unperturbed by the fact that she was just caught daydreaming.
“I’m still with you.” The blonde answers.
Toni raises an eyebrow. “Mhmm.” She nods to the empty room. “The rest of the group went downstairs.” She shrugs, a little self-conscious about nerding-out. “I hope I didn’t bore you because you could’ve stopped me at-”
Shelby doesn’t let Toni continue rambling, finally doing what she’s been wanting to do since she first picked up Toni for their date. The blonde places her hands on Toni’s cheeks and pulls her in for a kiss.
At first, the brunette is too stunned but soon she starts to kiss back just as ardently. She pulls back way too early for her liking, but her need for air wins out in the end. Toni rests her forehead against Shelby’s.
“I hope that was ok.” Shelby whispers.
Toni nods. “More than ok.”
“I've wanted to do that since I picked you up.” Shelby admits.
Toni smiles. “Again, I am not complaining.”
Shelby smiles in return.
Before she can say anything else, Toni crashes their lips together. The brunette subconsciously pushes the blonde against the closest wall, getting lost in the kiss.
Toni kisses the blonde eagerly, trying to convey how she was feeling without words.
Their bodies were pressed together so firmly that Shelby was a hundred percent positive that Toni could feel her heartbeat hammering in her chest. (What she didn’t know was that Toni was thinking the same thing.)
The blonde ran her fingers through Toni’s hair, pulling slightly and making Toni moan into the kiss.
As a result, Toni felt herself deepen the kiss more, her tongue exploring Shelby’s mouth.
They kiss like this for a few moments. When they finally pull apart, it’s again because needing air unfortunately wins out.
Their breathing is labored but they don’t stray far from each other. They both smile softly, the only sound between them is their heavy breathing.
Shelby is the first to break the silence as she laughs softly.
Toni smiles at the blonde. “What?” She asks.
“I’m sorry that was way more than I was originally planning.” Shelby admits, but she doesn’t look remotely sorry. Toni isn’t sorry either.
The brunette laughs. She quickly kisses the blonde’s cheek before answering. “You definitely don’t have to apologize, princess.”
“I-”
Before Shelby can continue, someone clears their throat. They jump away from each other very quickly, turning to the noise and finding the same man who showed them up to the observatory, staring at them.
The man looks completely unamused. “Not to interrupt this but the observatory is closing.”
Shelby nods. “Of course sir, sorry about that.” She quickly drags them out of the observatory and back to her car.
Once they’re inside her car, both girls burst out laughing.
Toni collects herself first. “I had a really good time tonight princess.”
Shelby smiles and puts a hand over Toni’s. “Me too, Toni.”
The brunette leans in and kisses the blonde softly.
“Would you want to do this again sometime?” Toni whispers.
Shelby closes the gap between them one more time and gives Toni a quick kiss before answering.
“I’d love that.” Shelby says. “Only catch is that it’s my turn to plan a date.”
Toni smiles. “I’m more than ok with that.” She says as Shelby starts driving out of the parking lot.
____________
After a few more kisses, Shelby walks Toni to her door before having to retreat back to her care and drive to her own place.
When Toni walks into her apartment, she is surprised to find Martha sitting with Fatin on the couch.
“What the fuck are you doing back?” Toni asks.
Fatin sighs dramatically. “Bitch what the fuck is with these horrible greetings.” She shakes her head. “You should be honored that I’m gracing you with my presence.”
Toni rolls her eyes. “Yeah ok, whatever.” She says as she falls onto the couch in between the other brunettes.
Martha can’t contain her excitement any longer. “Oh my gosh T, spill! How was the date?”
Toni smiles.
Fatin smirks. “Oh the bitch is smiling, did you get laid?”
“Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Toni glares at her.
Fatin holds her hands up. “That’s a no.”
Martha throws popcorn at the taller brunette. “Fatin, shush!” She looks back at Toni. “Spill!”
Toni laughs and stands up. “I’m tired and going to bed.”
Just as she turns to go into her room, Martha shouts and stops her. “Toni, come on, give us something!”
The brunette turns around, a small smile on her face. “Fine.” She looks away, smiling wistfully.
“Let’s just say, I think that was the last first date I’ll ever have to plan.” She winks and rushes into her room, leaving the two shocked brunettes in her wake.
“What did she say?” Martha asks as she whips her head to look at Fatin.
___________
The following morning, Shelby finds herself walking into the coffee house and seeing Fatin working the morning shift with Kane and Cate.
“Hi Fatin!” Shelby says. “Hey Cate. Hi Kane.”
Both of Fatin's coworkers say hi back to the blonde. Kane’s cheeks turn slightly red and when Cate notices, she teases him relentlessly as they continue making drinks.
Fatin shakes her head at the pair and then looks back at Shelby. “Hey blondie.” She tilts her head. “I don’t need to guess as to why you’re so chipper this morning.”
Shelby blushes. “I guess you’ve talked to Toni already?”
“Yep, she’s smitten like the simp I knew she was.” Fatin winks. “What about you blondie?” She tilts her head. “You feel the same way?”
“Of course, I had an amazing time.” Shelby assures the brunette. “It was the best first date I’ve ever been on.”
Fatin smiles. “Go on.”
Shelby shrugs, her cheeks turning red again. “Honestly, I hope it’s the last first date I ever go on.”
Fatin nods. “I knew you’d be a simp too.”
The blonde rolls her eyes. “Gee thanks.”
Fatin smirks. “You’re welcome.” Then she adds, “Promise I get to speak at your wedding?”
Shelby just rolls her eyes in response.
___________
“And here we are. Just a few years later and I’m speaking at their wedding.” The brunette smirks. “How right they were!”
Fatin looks around the large backyard. She smiles at the two brides who are sitting at the head of the table.
“Now, let’s raise a glass to the happy couple.” The brunette holds up a flute, waiting for the waiters and waitresses to pass out every glass.
“A toast to the brides.” Fatin takes a deep breath. “May the journey you’re about to embark on together be filled with love, happiness and prosperity.” She turns to look at Dot, Shelby’s best friend and maid of honor. “You happy Campbell, the end of my toast was cliche and boring.”
Dot rolls her eyes and flips her off. More laughter fills the entire crowd, including the brides.
“Ah there it is! Love you too!” Fatin shouts. “Anyway, to Toni and Shelby.”
“To Toni and Shelby!”
Everyone clinks their glasses together.
“And to that life changing bet!” Fatin can't help but add.
Toni sends Fatin a dirty look while Shelby laughs.
After Toni and Shelby share a quick kiss, they clink their glasses together. Then, Toni turns to Martha and hugs her while Shelby does the same with Dot.
Once Fatin sits down, everyone gets back to their food, making idle conversation with the people around them.
Toni takes another sip of her drink before she feels Shelby’s hand on the back of her neck. She looks at the blonde. She watches as Shelby takes a quick sip of her drink before pulling Toni close and kissing her.
It takes Toni a moment to catch up but when she does she kisses her wife back just as passionately.
Her wife. Wow.
Shelby separates from their kiss but doesn’t stray too far. She rests her forehead against Toni’s.
They both turn their gaze into the crowd of loved ones, friends, coworkers, and anyone else who decided to join in and celebrate their special day.
At one of the tables, they see Kane.
“Guess we should write Kane a huge thank you note too, huh?” Shelby says, a fond smirk on her face.
Toni rolls her eyes but there’s no denying that she’s never been this happy before in her entire life.
The two see that Kane sits with his girlfriend Beth. His face is slightly red, probably blushing at the memory of him losing the bet. His girlfriend laughs as he buries his head in his crossed arms. She rubs her hand up and down his back to comfort him but continues to laugh with the rest of the crowd.
“Probably.” Toni says jokingly.
The brunette continues to stare into those emerald eyes she fell in love with the second she looked into them.
“I love you.” Toni whispers.
Shelby’s entire face brightens the same way it always does when Toni says those words. She never gets tired of hearing them.
The blonde kisses Toni’s forehead before whispering, “I love you, Toni.”
Toni kisses her wife again.
Who knew one lousy bet taken from an annoyingly kind-hearted friend would change their lives for the better.