Chapter Text
The car ride is mostly silent other than the sound of their ragged breath as they drive away from the convent. The adrenaline is still pumping in their ears and Veronica looks back every few miles to see if anyone is following them even as they get farther away. Cheryl is holding onto Toni with all her strength and Toni is doing the same as they sit in the backseat. Kevin makes eye contact with her through the mirror and she nods silently answering the question on his mind. She’s okay.
“Okay where are we taking her? She can’t go back to her house her mother will just send her back to that horrible place. Or worse!”
”The Southside. Her mother wants to hurt her she’ll have to come and get her from the place she hates so much. I’ll give you the directions Kevin.”
“You sure? I can get her a room at the Pembrooke for a couple of days until we figure out something permanent.”
”We’ll let her decide, but right now she needs a shower and some real clothes. And maybe some food too and the Southside is closer.”
”Okay, okay we’ll wait for Cheryl to decide.”
Toni puts her focus back on Cheryl for the rest of the drive to her uncle’s trailer. She’s prepared for the chance that he locked her out again, she didn’t just have a crowbar in her bag of tools. She feels Cheryl curl into her and Toni instinctively pulls her closer to protect her. She wasn’t expecting to feel this much for Cheryl Blossom, but then again she wasn't expecting Cheryl Blossom either.
This red headed bombshell of a woman stormed into her life with enough drama and extra-ness to catch her attention and she's had her ever since. Toni waited for the perfect moment since the drag race to approach the Northside royalty. She didn't want her moment to be when was in an emotional crisis but Cheryl needed someone so she stepped up.
There's a reason Toni was the leader of the Serpents for so long, she's smart and calculating when she needs to be. She knows when to take action and when to cool off, unlike Jughead where he's all action and passion. Toni waited for Cheryl, and she will wait for however long it takes to prove her worth to her. Until Cheryl is ready for her.
Toni looks out the window periodically to see where they are, and the rest of the time watching Cheryl. She doesn't want to take her eyes off of her, but she has to because she's the only one who knows where they're going. They pull up to her uncle’s trailer and thankfully the door isn’t locked, she didn’t want to have to use force to open it. She ushers everyone in and directs Cheryl to the bathroom to shower. It’s not like what the red head is used to but they both are technically homeless now so she has to get used to the lesser things in life.
Veronica and Kevin are waiting in the living room for her to talk about what to do next. She looks at them from the back of the trailer and waits. The thing is she doesn’t know, this is one instance where she’s has no plan of action. They can’t stay at here, Toni doesn’t even stay here, and no offense to Veronica but she doesn’t want Cheryl living in the same house as her mother. She has no other options unless...
Toni reaches into the back pocket of her phone and scrolls through her contacts until she finds what she’s looking for. She absentmindedly walks into the main area where the others are as she waits for them to pick up. Kevin and Veronica watch her quietly as she paces around waiting.
”Do you have any idea what time it is little snake? Please don’t tell me I have to bail you out of jail?”
”Nope, but I do need your help. I’m calling in that favor you owe me Paz. Get decent I’m coming to you and I’m not going to be alone.”
Toni hears a sigh on the other end of the phone and holds her breath for Paz’s reply. It’s a gutsy move to call a year old favor but Toni doesn’t have anything else. This is literally a last resort for her.
”You are so lucky I am not a vengeful god. Fine. Favor called, no questions asked. You are in charge of your own transpo tho. Text when you’re outside.”
”Thank you Paz. So much.”
“Like I said you’re a lucky one snake eyes. Later.”
Toni sighs to herself when the phone call goes dead. One problem solved two more to go, and one she can deal with later. She ignores the other two and goes into the other room and grabs the bags she’s had packed for almost a month and the one she put there this afternoon. It’s sad to think that all of her things can fit in three duffel bags but there’s no time to think about that right now.
”Toni what are you doing?”
She looks up at Veronica, who looks at her confused and worried at the same time.
“I’m getting my things, Kevin can you put these in your truck?”
“Sure.”
Kevin walks out before Veronica speaks again. She’s confused and doesn’t know how to ask without looking like a privileged rich girl.
”Your stuff? I thought you lived here?”
”Only according to the state, and not anymore. I have a better option than this and I’m taking it.”
”Is Cheryl going to be going with you or is she going with me after Kevin drops you off?”
”No offense to you Ronnie, but I would rather be with Toni right now.”
The two black clad young women turn to look at a slightly fresh faced Cheryl Blossom, dressed in a few pieces of Toni”s clothes, and hair still slightly wet. There are tear tracks on her face and her eyes are puffy, if the other two girls noticed they didn’t dare make a comment on it in order to not hurt their friend.
“I am grateful that you helped in the rescue, but I don’t think I should live with you. Maybe if whatever TT has planned doesn’t pan out I’ll change my mind, but for now let’s wait and see.”
”Okay. I think that is best. Besides I don’t want my parents to get a hold of you and try to use you for political gain. I just wanted you to be sure of your decision.”
”Only if it gets that terrible place closed. Why doesn’t your father just build his prison there? It already feels like one on the inside.”
”I’ll run the idea by him in the morning. I’ll wait outside for the both of you.”
For the first time there is an awkward silence between her and Cheryl as they wait for Veronica to leave. She wants to ask her if she’s okay or if she’s has to go beat some nun ass, but Cheryl moves first pulling her into a kiss. Cheryl hands grip her tightly, as if she’s not really there, as if if she lets go Toni will disappear and all of this will have been a dream in between her waking nightmare.
“Please tell me I’m not dreaming, that this is real.”
”I’m real. We rescued you from that catholic hellhole. This is real.”
“You were in my dreams when I actually slept, you came to save me in every one of them. Every morning I woke up in that terrible place I lost hope that anyone would find me.
”Glad to know I made your dreams come true bombshell.”
”You ARE a dream come true. My knight in a shining studded leather jacket. You said you would protect me and you did. No ones ever did that before.”
”Protect you?”
”Keep their word.”
"I will continue to protect you, even when you don't need it because I care about you."
"I know you do it feels good to have someone care this much."
"We can't stay here, but I have a place you can stay at least for a little while."
"As long as I'm not going back to my horrid mother I don't care where we go. How did you even find me?"
"Your Nana Blossom called the school and told me where they took you. Nice to know that the only other good Blossom likes me too."
"I'm not good."
"You are to me. Come on let's go."
Cheryl intertwines their fingers with a soft smile and Toni smiles back. They walk out of the trailer together hand in hand to Kevin's truck to go to Paz’s place. Toni enters the address into her phone and they drive off in that direction.
They pull up to the Paz’s apartment building and Toni sends a text to them like they told her to. She watches as one of the lights in the apartment comes on and the window opens up. Toni gets out of the car and climbs into the truck bed to be seen better, and Paz speaks.
"How many?"
"Four."
"You leave the bike?"
"Yeah."
"You tell them who I am?"
"No, I know how much you like to make an entrance and introduction."
It's silent for a moment before Paz shines a large flashlight down, flashes it twice in the same spot, and then throws something out the window. Toni knows it's the keys to the building so she turns on her own flashlight and gets them from that spot they pointed out to her. This is not the first time she’s done this. Paz has given her a safe haven when her boys couldn’t, because that’s what family does. She gets the keys and they all make it into the building and to Paz’s door no problem. Before Toni can knock, the door swings open wide to see a smiling Paz wearing black sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt with a rip on the right shoulder.
“Snake eyes nice to see you, and these three white people. Come on in!”
”I’m Latina.”
”Two white people my mistake, you just have an air of privilege about you so I assumed.”
They give Paz a wide berth as they enter the room, wary of their strong personality at such a late hour. Toni stays close to Cheryl as they sit on the fairly nice couches in the living room. Paz flutters around the apartment humming quietly under their breath as she does. They set a tray of food and water bottles on the coffee table before sitting down and putting their head in their hand so and facing the four of them.
”So...I was the last resort wasn’t I?”
”Why ask a question you already know the answer to?”
”Touché lil snake. Do you think they want to know?”
”Of course they do, they’re just weirded out by your positive attitude at two in the morning.”
“Yeah I’ve been told that I’m off putting at first meeting. Hello I’m Paz, my pronouns are they/them, and I’m Toni’s cousin.”
”Is Paz short for something?”
”Topaz. It’s like right there. What do you need snake eyes?”
”A place to stay. For me and...my girlfriend. She can’t go home, not after tonight.”
”You’ve always had a room here Toni, no matter what my terrible father did. The favor was called and I have to say yes no questions asked. The room is yours to share.”
Cheryl breathes a sigh in relief. She doesn’t have to go home, at least not yet. She has time to figure out what she does next. She does worry about Nana Blossom but she has her own safety to think about right now.
“Paz can I ask a question.”
”Only if I can ask one after?”
”Okay. What did Toni do to have you owing a favor?”
”She and the serpents beat up a bunch of homophobic jerks that were harassing me because I was flirting with the wrong girl at the White Wyrm. I’ve owed her ever since, and that was a year ago. My question is is for the girlfriend, why are you running away?”
"My horrible mother turned out to also be homophobic, she sent me to Conversion therapy.”
”Sorry to hear that, the fact that we live in a town that still does it is terrible in its own right let alone that people use it. Feels like we’re still in the fifties. Anyway I’ll let you get sorted out for the night. Are you two staying as well?”
”Uh no we just wanted to make sure Cheryl was staying in an okay place before we left. Come on Kevin let’s go.”
“It was nice meeting you Paz.”
”You know where I live now, don’t be a stranger.”
Veronica and Kevin leave and Paz watches from the window until they can’t see the truck anymore. They turn back to the other two still sitting on the couch and nods again.
“Turn everything off when you’re done T, I’m going to bed.”
”Night Paz.”
”Goodnight Cheryl.”
”Goodnight Paz.”
The two teens watch as Paz walks into their room for the rest of the night. Both of them turn off all the lights and Toni leads her to the back bedroom that was her bedroom up until this point. Toni gave Cheryl comfortable clothes to change into at the trailer so she could go right to sleep, but Toni still needs to change. She does so quickly, living with her uncle made her good at that. She slides in the bed and holds Cheryl close until she falls asleep and then Toni does too.