Chapter Text
i.
Toni’s never been a big fan of rain.
Shitty trailers leak and sink into mud, her bike offers no source of protection when she’s caught while on it, and trying to find a couch to crash on is even less fun when you’re soaked through to the bone.
But now, as she listens to the rain patter against her bedroom window from the comfort and safety of Thistlehouse, she finds she doesn’t mind it so much anymore. Especially when it’s accompanied by the endearing rambling of her dramatic girlfriend, recapping the meeting she had to sit in on after school this afternoon.
“Prom is in just over three weeks,” Toni comments as she watches Cheryl look through her side of the closet for tomorrow’s outfit. “How is it possible that they haven’t picked a theme yet?”
“They did, remember?” Cheryl replies with a sigh, considering the checkered, long sleeve black shirt in her hands before looking over at the girl sprawled out on their bed. “But Honey promptly vetoed it before it could truly gain legs.”
Ah, yes, Toni remembers that hard fought battle well. “Of course, how could I forget the big Euphoria letdown?”
“It was just ridiculous!” Cheryl complains, distractedly putting the shirt away and practically stomping back into the room and towards her girlfriend. “That Machiavellian killjoy acted as if the prom committee was requesting to hand out fentanyl to students at the door! All they wanted was neon lighting and intricate eye makeup.”
She crawls onto the bed and collapses beside Toni with a huff, ever the drama queen. Because she’s into that, Toni immediately shifts closer and looks down at her fondly.
“Maybe it was for the best,” she tries, brushing red hair out of Cheryl’s face, then carefully smoothing an eyebrow out with her thumb. “You know we would’ve been the only ones that could’ve pulled off that look, anyways.”
Cheryl’s pout lingers for a moment longer before her eyes flash and a smile falls into it’s place. “You make an excellent point, T.T.,” she concedes, her fingers curling around Toni’s belt loops. “All the more reason to push for it again now that Principal Buzzkill has been vanquished to the pits of prep school.” She pulls the smaller girl even closer, until she’s practically laying on top of her. “We’ll be the belles of the ball, and all my wildest prom dreams will finally come true.”
“Speaking of, that crown is definitely yours this year, babe,” Toni promises her surely, fully prepared to force Fangs, Reggie and Kevin to stuff the ballot box for her if she has to.
“I believe you mean those crowns are ours,” Cheryl corrects her with a softening grin, that hunger for the title not quite as strong as it was last year, at least not yet.
She’s been so focused on making sure prom even happens at all — and that they can both go — that winning the prom queen title hasn’t been as much of a priority this year.
“Ours,” Toni amends with a smile of her own, but before she can press it against Cheryl’s, the buzzing of her phone pulls her attention, and body, away. “Hold that thought, that might be Betty about the yearbook.”
Cheryl’s pout reforms quickly as Toni rolls across the bed to grab her phone from her nightstand, and she must notice the look of confusion on her face, because instead of insulting her cousin, she asks, “Who is it, my love?”
“I don’t know,” Toni answers with a furrowed brow, turning her phone to show her girlfriend the somewhat ominous Unknown Caller I.D. on the screen. “Should I answer it?”
“If you dare,” she laughs humorlessly, running her fingers through her hair as she sits up. “We do live in Riverdale, after all.”
And as good of a point as that is, Toni taps her screen without giving it much more thought and brings the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, baby!” an enthusiastic and all too familiar voice rings through the speaker, making Toni tense immediately.
“Mom?” the pink haired girl questions in bewilderment, glancing over at Cheryl to find her face mirroring her surprise. “Why are you calling now? How are you calling now? And from what phone?”
All very valid questions, considering Toni only speaks to her mother once a month, and always on the same day — which most definitely isn’t today.
“I’m out!” is the only explanation her mother gives her, the pure joy in her voice making it obvious to Toni that she’s for real, somehow. “I’m finally a free woman, baby, and I’m coming to see you.”
Toni’s eyes widen, all of her other questions of how and why immediately going on the backburner as she processes what her mother’s saying.
She glances back at Cheryl’s very curious face again before she pushes herself off the bed, as if putting some distance between them right now is going to do anything to solve this sudden freight train of a problem that’s now barreling straight towards her at high speed.
“What, what do you mean?” Toni asks cautiously, stepping further away. “You’re on your way to Riverdale?”
“Sure am,” her mother confirms, her grin obvious even through the phone. “Your brother picked me up so we could come straight there. So I sure hope that uncle of yours has got room for two more in that trailer.”
Toni cringes, eyes sweeping over the view of the Blossom property she can see from the foggy, rain soaked window of her and Cheryl’s bedroom. “Don’t go to Sunnyside,” she tells her firmly. “It’s a long story, but we don’t live there anymore.”
“Did you know your sister moved?” Toni hears her mother ask her brother, and she doesn’t need to hear the older boy’s reply to know the answer: he didn’t. “Well, you can tell me all about that later,” she says, talking to Toni again. “Just tell me where the heck we’re supposed to go now then.”
Thinking on her feet, Toni blurts out the first place she can think of that’s not Thistlehouse. “Pop’s,” she suggests, trying to keep her voice level so neither her mother or girlfriend pick up on anything. “You remember that place, right?”
“On the northside?” her mother clarifies, already sounding suspicious.
But Toni brushes right past it. “That’s the one. Text me when you’re in town and I’ll meet you guys there.”
“Alright,” the older woman agrees, even though she sounds very skeptical. “We’ll see you soon, baby. I love you.”
Toni shuts her eyes, takes a deep breath and says, “Yeah, you too,” before she hangs up with a sigh.
“That was your mother?” Cheryl asks before she has a chance to get lost in her head, worrying about the sudden turn this afternoon — and her life — has just taken. “She’s been released?”
She nods dumbly, holding up her phone. “She’s out,” Toni affirms, her mind running a mile a minute, too fast for any one thought to settle for too long. “And she’s coming here.”
“But you told her to convene at Pop’s?” Cheryl wonders, the real question of why going unsaid. “You could have invited her here. Thistlehouse is your home, too, mon amour; any family of yours is more than welcome, you must know that.”
Cheryl’s words are obviously sincere, and so is the worry lacing them; Toni’s sure she’s thinking of their issues from the year before, that have long been resolved.
“I know that, babe,” she reassures her, moving back towards the other girl. She slips her phone into her back pocket, keeping it close for when her mother texts later, and climbs back onto the bed. “It’s just, it’s complicated with my mom, and I need to talk to her about some things first.”
“Whatever about?” Cheryl questions with a scrunched face and a slight tilt of her head. “You two speak fairly often.”
And while it’s true, it’s not entirely so; they talk, but not about everything.
Not about Cheryl.
“I haven’t actually told her about us,” Toni reluctantly reveals, forcing herself not to look away from her girlfriend’s reaction.
Which, turns out, ends up being a lot more understanding than she was expecting. “Oh, T.T.,” Cheryl sighs sympathetically, reaching out for her hand. “That’s okay. I realize I’ve been shortsighted in the past, but you could have told me that. Surely you know I, more than anyone, would be empathetic to the plight of having a homophobic mother.”
Toni groans at her girlfriend’s sweet words and even sweeter touch, wondering why she ever thought hiding this from her was a good idea.
The truth was always going to come out eventually, and the wait will just make this sting worse.
“It’s not about that,” Toni admits with more than a little hesitation, trying to find the words and the courage to say them. “It’s not me dating a girl she’s gonna have a problem with. It’s about me dating a Blossom.”
And even though there’s plenty of reasons the Blossoms are hated by many residents of Riverdale, Toni knows she doesn’t have to go into specifics when it only takes a few moments for recognition to flash in Cheryl’s brown, wide eyes.
“Great-great-great-great grandpappy Blossom,” she guesses correctly in one, her shoulders slumping and her eyes immediately filling with guilt that’s not her responsibility to bear. “Oh, she’s going to absolutely hate me,” she cries, sounding distressed at the possibility.
The tragic history between the Topaz and Blossom families is something they’ve both been aware of since before they even started dating, but it’s not something they’ve ever discussed.
For Toni, Cheryl said all she needed to that afternoon she stood with the Serpents in protest of Pickens Day, but she knows her mother won’t be as easily won over.
“Even if she does,” Toni starts firmly, not wanting to sugarcoat the truth for the other girl. “I love you, and that’s all that matters.”
Her words do little to ease the obvious worry written across Cheryl’s face. “But—”
“No buts,” she cuts her off, forcing a smile she hopes looks carefree onto her face. She doesn’t want Cheryl stressing herself out about something she has no control over; Toni’s already worried about this enough for the both of them. “Your mother hates me, and that’s never stopped you from being with me, has it?”
“That’s entirely different,” Cheryl protests, and she’s right.
Penelope had an irrational need to control her daughter’s life and would have hated any girl Cheryl dated just for the mere fact that they were a girl, while her own mother has a much more logical reason to not approve of her girlfriend.
But still, Toni shakes her head.
“Not to me.” Toni cups pale cheeks and pulls her girlfriend closer, pressing a firm kiss to her lips. “It’s gonna be fine, baby. Just let me talk to her first, okay?”
Cheryl doesn’t look at all convinced, but Toni kisses her again before she can give any more of her worries a voice.
ii.
It’s still raining by the time Toni arrives at Pop’s, a heavy downpour filled with vengeance.
For a brief moment, she regrets asking Cheryl to let her do this alone, because now, as she stands outside of the welcoming and familiar diner she’s come to love in recent years, Toni doesn’t feel anything but terrified.
She hasn’t seen her mother in over six years.
And it’s not her fault, not at all; she was just a kid with a mother that chose a shitty boyfriend over her, and they both ended up paying the price for it.
It’s a messy, depressing, complicated story, just like all of the other stories Toni has to tell, but just as she’s beginning to get lost in the memories of what she wishes had happened (and what she wishes hadn’t), a clap of thunder echoes throughout the parking lot, and the previously light drizzle accelerates into bullets of rain.
Toni takes a deep breath, tightens her jacket around herself, and steps through the door.
It’s relatively empty inside, save for a middle-aged woman working her way through a slice of pie; Toni settles into a booth tucked into the corner, far away from anyone else.
With the place so quiet, there’s nothing to distract her from getting lost in her thoughts.
She feels herself beginning to feel overwhelmed by all of the possible scenarios that could happen as soon as her mother walks in, when the buzzing of her phone catches her attention, and her eyes settle upon the words, You got this, T.T.. Message me if you need anything, xx, from Cheryl.
Toni feels the corners of her lips twitch up into a smile, even if she still feels too anxious to respond.
A rogue crack of thunder sounds somewhere, and the rain rattles against the window like it’s seeking out the warmth of the diner, too. Pop flashes her a questioning glance, as if offering her her usual, but Toni politely declines; she doesn’t think she’d be able to stomach any food right now.
Time passes, and Toni begins to wonder if her mother is even coming at all, but then the door swings open and the bell attached to it rings, and in walks a figure that, despite having not seen in a long time, she’d recognize anywhere.
Karla Topaz does a quick scan of the place, and when her eyes settle upon her daughter, her lips spread into a smile that’s bright enough to light up the entire diner.
“Oh, what a sight for sore eyes you are,” she murmurs, immediately rushing over to the girl and encompassing her in a tight hug. Toni can’t deny the flood of warmth that seems to fill her body at the sight of her mother; at the feeling of her mother hugging her. “It is so good to see you again, baby.”
And despite the fact that she still harbours bitter feelings towards Karla because of everything that went wrong all those years ago, Toni closes her eyes, and hugs her back just as tightly.
“You too,” she mumbles into her wet coat.
“God, look how much you’ve grown!” Karla exclaims after pulling away, a hand still on Toni’s shoulder as she scans her up and down with that same smile still on her face, while Toni takes in the way her mother looks now with less enthusiasm. “You look so different! And your hair!” Karla moves her hand so that a couple of strands of pink lay flat in her palm. “You’re absolutely gorgeous.” She pulls Toni back into a hug. “I missed you so much.”
“Yeah,” Toni mutters out after a pregnant pause; a small smile of her own finally takes residency upon her own face. “I missed you, too.”
(It’s not as simple as that, but it’s true.)
A few more words of greeting are exchanged and then they eventually sit down in the booth Toni had claimed for them; Karla orders a salad when their waiter asks her if he can get them anything, and Toni just orders herself a small chocolate shake.
“Thomas refused to stop on the way over here, so I’m starving,” Karla explains once the waiter walks away. Toni turns her attention from the angry droplets on the windows to her mother’s face at the mention of her brother; he’s the only family Toni never had a problem with. “You’re not hungry?”
Toni shakes her head. “I ate before I came,” she says, which isn’t a complete lie — Cheryl had made them sandwiches for lunch, and even though that was more than a few hours ago, Toni still can’t find it in herself to feel very hungry. “Where is he, anyway? Tommy?”
Karla looks amused at the obvious eagerness of her question. “He went to go visit your grandpa, something about giving us time to catch up by ourselves,” she waves her hand. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you tomorrow.”
Toni nods her head at the thought; although it hasn’t been as long since she last saw her brother, she still misses him just as much, even if they talked more often than Toni did with her mom. “I think that can be rearranged.”
There’s a heavy pause as Karla crosses her arms over the table, brown eyes tracing over Toni’s face and hair, the lull of the rain against the window the only other noise.
“So, first things first,” she smiles, and it must be infectious, because Toni finds herself smiling a little bit, too. “When did you decide to change your hair?”
Admittedly, that’s not what Toni expected Karla to be the most curious about; it’s certainly not what she’s most eager to share, not when the questions of why and how her mother is here in the first place are lingering over them, but after a moment of thinking, she figures her mother just might be trying to keep the conversation light to start.
And well, Toni can work with that.
“The summer before my freshman year,” she answers, as honest as she can. “It was only a few weeks after I moved here.” The matter of why she moved goes unspoken, even though they both know the reason. “I just wanted a fresh start, you know? For high school.”
Karla nods her head, brown eyes filled with curiosity, as if she really does just want to catch up with her daughter. “And why pink?”
Toni’s eyes flash down to the pink curls that lay over her shoulders, pinned back so that they’re out of her face. “I think it was the only color left in the store,” she admits. “As you know, the southside was never really supplied all that often, so when I went to one of the drugstores and there was actually a box of hair dye, I just grabbed it without really paying attention to the color. I got one of the Serpents to help me out, and when it actually turned out alright, I just decided to keep it.”
Her mother just listens patiently and attentively, but at Toni’s unintentional mention of the Serpents, she narrows her eyes.
“The Serpents?” she echoes, and Toni stiffens, having not realized her slip up until now. “So you ended up fitting in with the ones in Riverdale?”
Toni clenches her jaw; the Serpents mean everything to Karla, she is legacy after all. The problem is that she doesn’t know that her daughter was exiled from the gang because of a stupid mistake, and Toni does not want to get into any of that right now.
So she just nods instead of verbalizing an answer, and just as she’s about to try and say something to diverge the conversation from where she knows it’s heading, she’s saved by the reappearance of their waiter.
There’s a pause in the conversation as he sets down Karla’s salad and drink and Toni’s chocolate milkshake, and as her mother takes a bite, Toni takes a moment to think, and then decides to just go on and ask the inevitable.
“Can I ask you a question?” she begins, just because she isn’t really sure how else to start. Karla nods her head, taking a quick sip of her water, and Toni forces herself to continue before she can overthink anything. “What are you… doing here?” It’s quiet for a beat. Karla raises a brow, and Toni stumbles. “I just mean, last I heard from you, you weren’t up for parole for at least another few months,” she explains, her words kind of jumbled and fast.
There’s a very awkward moment of silence, at least to Toni, but then her mother smiles.
“It’s a long story,” she admits after she’s swallowed down another bite of food. “But to make it short, the place was getting a little crowded, so there was a new hearing, and the judge granted me an early release. I was able to give your brother a call since he was in town, and he was available to come pick me up.” Toni nods along, playing with the straw of her drink as she carefully takes in the words. “Then I got in the car, called you, and now I’m here, sitting in a booth at Pop’s and trying to catch up with my daughter.”
Toni risks a glance up from the milkshake she's only taken a single sip of to look at her mother, who’s watching her with a lighthearted smile that Toni hasn’t seen in a long time.
“So… that’s it?” she asks. “Just like that? You’re a free woman now?”
Karla grins. “You betcha.”
It’d be a lie if Toni said she didn’t feel some sort of relief at the thought; she’s missed her mother, a lot, and she had come to accept that she would probably miss plenty of big moments in her life, but to have her here now with the knowledge that she won’t be going away again any time soon—
“Wait,” Toni says, furrowing her brows. “Are you going to stay here? In Riverdale?” she asks, genuinely curious to hear what her mother’s plan is.
“Of course,” Karla says, as if it were obvious. “I’m gonna try and see if I can get a job, if anyone’s hiring around here. Maybe move in with your grandpa or uncle for a bit so I can get myself back on my feet.” Toni smiles at the thought, fears suddenly forgotten, but of course it’s short lived, as her mother continues. “Speaking of your uncle, why am I here, and not at the trailer?”
Toni takes a second to gather her wits and decide how exactly she’s going to respond to that. She had gone over it more than a few times in her head on the drive over, but as her mother stares at her with brown eyes that resemble her own, filled with just a bit of suspicion, Toni finds herself blanking.
“We, uh,” she starts, taking a long sip of her milkshake to stall for time. “We don’t… live there anymore.”
Karla tilts her head. “Yeah, you mentioned that. Did you two move?”
Toni shrugs sort of helplessly. “Um, yeah. There was like, a big showdown with the Ghoulies and this megalomaniac mob boss, and we lost the trailer park, so everyone had to move to Uktena land; the Serpents are still all camped out there in tents and stuff.”
The furrow of her mother’s brow deepens. “So why aren’t we there?”
Here comes the hard part, Toni thinks.
“Because, the Serpents may live there, but I don’t live with them,” she says a bit pointedly, using her straw to swirl her milkshake around. Karla opens her mouth to speak, but Toni doesn’t have to wait to know what she’s going to ask, so she answers first. “I live with my girlfriend.”
A faint smile appears on her mother's lips at the words. “Your girlfriend?” she asks, her smile only growing. “You didn’t tell me you were dating anyone.”
Toni brings her hand up to her neck. “It just never came up in conversation, I guess.”
Karla doesn’t seem too bothered by it; instead, she simply pushes her now empty salad bowl aside, and looks back up at Toni. “Well, tell me about her. How long have you two been dating? It must be serious if you’re shackin’ up.”
Toni tries to bury her internal panic and settles on just being honest.
“Just over two years,” she answers, as a small smile of her own forms. “We’re polar opposites; I didn’t think we’d really get along at first, but it’s like we really compliment each other, balance each other out. Other people don’t get her, but she’s just—she’s amazing.”
Karla’s grin only grows. “Well, I’d love to meet her. Why aren’t we over there right now?”
Toni wrings her fingers together underneath the table. “Because it’s deeper into the northside, and I didn’t think you’d… approve. Pop’s is a bit more of a neutral place.”
Her mother looks confused. “You thought I wouldn’t approve of it just because it’s on the northside?” she asks. “I mean, sure, you dating a northsider is a little surprising, especially if they’re the same as I’ve always remembered, but it’s not that big of a deal.”
Trust me, Toni thinks, this is going to be a big deal.
“Well, it’s… it’s more than that,” she sighs. “It’s more of where it is on the northside.”
Karla raises a brow. “Well, where do you live then?”
“Thistlehouse.”
“Your house has a name?”
Toni swallows thickly. “Well… the Blossom estate is pretty big, and it’s hard to keep track of them all…”
Karla is suddenly staring at her with wide eyes. “Did I— did I hear that correctly?” she asks, seemingly more puzzled than anything else. “Did you say the Blossom estate? You live on the Blossom estate?” Toni only gives a small nod. “As in, the Blossom Maple company?”
“Yes.”
“Clifford and Penelope Blossom.”
“Well, they don’t exactly live there anymore—”
“Wait, you’re dating a Blossom? You’re dating Clifford and Penelope Blossom’s daughter?”
“Yes, but—”
“Oh my God,” her mother cuts her off, and Toni’s frown deepens. Her mother doesn’t look angry, or anything like she thought she would be, but more shocked and upset than anything else. “You’re dating a Blossom.”
“She’s not like them,” Toni snaps, feeling herself beginning to grow impatient. “I know our history with them, I wouldn’t just date her if I knew she was like the rest. She’s different, Mom. You can’t just judge her without at least giving her a chance.”
Her mother narrows her eyes and opens her mouth to say something else, just as the waiter sets their bill down on the table. Toni startles, and sits up in her seat.
“Have a nice day,” he says, a bit too sardonic for Toni’s taste, and then heads over to clean off another table.
It’s quiet for a moment, the air suddenly filled with tension, and Toni stares down at her milkshake with a frown.
“Fine,” Karla finally says, voice lower. “Fine. Are you planning on letting me give her a chance, then?”
“I— I guess, yeah,” Toni says, a little surprised that her mother jumped on board so quickly, even if she still looks opposed.
“Great,” the older woman sighs, before fishing a ten dollar bill that Tommy probably gave her out of the pocket of her jacket and laying in on the table. Toni watches her movements in silence as Karla begins to button up her jacket. “Tomorrow?”
So soon? Toni thinks, surprised at the apparent eagerness.
Her mother raises a brow the longer Toni remains unresponsive, and eventually the pink haired girl just nods her head, for lack of any other real option.
“Yeah,” she says, standing up. “Okay, yeah. I’ll… I’ll text you directions.”
Karla gives her own small nod, and then stands up as well. She looks a little conflicted as she stares at her daughter, but then eventually reaches forward to pull her into a hug.
Toni inhales sharply, but still hugs her mother back. It’s not quite as warm as the previous one, but it's still a hug, nonetheless.
“Tomorrow,” her mother repeats after she’s pulled away, collecting her things. Toni doesn’t say anything in response; she just watches her mother walk away, the chime of the bells signaling her exit.
And as if on cue, thunder strikes and rattles the small diner, and Toni’s left wondering what kind of storm her mother might cause tomorrow.
iii.
Miraculously, the storm that’s been raging all day eventually comes to an end, and Toni manages to make it home without having to deal with an onslaught of rain.
The light in the foyer is still on when she arrives, but aside from that, Thistlehouse is dark and silent.
A heavy, almost distressful, feeling still lingers in her chest, and yet, as she draws closer to their room, where a dim lamp is on and her girlfriend is curled up in nothing but Toni’s flannel and a pair of pajama pants, the feeling slowly begins to dissipate.
“T.T.,” Cheryl greets with a smile, peering over the book she had been previously reading, and then sitting up against the pillows. Toni just sort of stands at the door, feeling herself relax at the comfort and familiarity of the sight — and room — as Cheryl tilts her head in question. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah,” Toni nods, sliding off her jacket and setting it down. “I told you that you didn’t have to wait up for me,” she adds, even though she’s grateful.
Cheryl sets her book on the nightstand, and then waves her hand. “Nonsense. It’s not even late, and you know I’d rather fall asleep knowing you’re here with me.”
Toni would typically respond with something along the lines of right, you always insist on falling asleep on top of me, even though you have more than enough space on your own side of the bed, but with more important thoughts lingering in the back of her mind, she finds that she’s not as focused on teasing her girlfriend.
So much has happened in the past couple of hours — and today, in general — that she’s not exactly sure how to process it all.
It's quiet for a short while as Toni gets ready for bed, all while attempting to get her thoughts in order. She’s just come back after brushing her teeth when Cheryl speaks again, a small frown on her face.
“Are you sure you’re alright, my love?” she asks. “How did it go with your mother?”
Toni licks her lips as she plugs her phone in and sets it on the nightstand, and then finally sits down on their bed, crossing her legs together.
“It went okay, I guess,” she says, and it’s not a lie; it could’ve gone much worse. “We caught up a little bit.” Cheryl smiles at that, at least. “She asked about my hair. It was... nice.”
Without thinking, Toni reaches for Cheryl’s hand and intertwines their fingers; Cheryl gives an encouraging squeeze. “And then?”
Toni sighs. “And then I told her about us.”
There’s no immediate response — when Toni finally lifts her gaze so that she can meet Cheryl’s, her eyes are patient and warm, like she’ll wait forever if she has to for Toni to work up the nerve to continue.
But still, the longer they go without speaking, Toni can see the worry from before beginning to replant itself in her eyes. “And?”
“She wasn’t exactly happy with the idea,” Toni eventually admits after some amount of time, wincing when she sees the worry seemingly double in Cheryl’s eyes. “But she’s not — she wasn’t mad, like I thought she would be,” she murmurs, honestly. “At least I don’t think so. She was more surprised, and probably a little upset, but that’s all.”
Cheryl takes her lip between her teeth, brows furrowed, and Toni knows she’s lost in thought.
With a small sigh, the smaller girl pulls her girlfriend up and into her arms, and rests her chin on a flannel clothed shoulder.
“That’s something, at least,” Cheryl reasons quietly, not sounding so sure.
“But ultimately, it doesn’t matter what she thinks,” Toni reiterates, because even if she said something along these lines a few hours ago, it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. “I love you, so much, and nothing could ever change that, okay?”
Toni eventually feels Cheryl relax against her, wrapping pale lithe arms around her tiny frame and releasing a small sigh.
“I know that, T.T.,” she murmurs, and it makes Toni’s heart swell, because a year ago, Cheryl wouldn’t have been able to respond to that as confidently as she just did. “But that doesn’t matter right now; what matters is you, and how you feel.” Toni opens her mouth to object, but Cheryl hushes her with a small smile. “You’ve listened to me countless amounts of times; let me listen to you tonight, even if it’s just you recounting the rest of your evening.”
Toni’s eyes find Cheryl’s in the dim red lighting of their room, before she eventually nods.
“Okay.” It’s quiet for a while, Cheryl settling them amongst the pillows, pulling the blankets up to protect them from the slight chill of their room as Toni attempts to unscramble her thoughts, before she starts once again. “It just — it felt weird, you know?” she asks, mindlessly twirling a red curl around her finger. “Like, she expected everything to be the same now that she’s gotten out of prison. But it’s just not; not to me, at least. Not after what she did to land herself in there in the first place.”
There’s a pause, and Toni feels a puff of warm air against her forehead. “You’ve never actually disclosed what exactly happened,” Cheryl murmurs, voice softer than before. Toni frowns at that, even though her girlfriend is right. She’s told Cheryl bits and pieces about her mother; why she wasn’t around and where she used to be, but never the full story. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” Cheryl quickly reassures her after she doesn’t respond, fingers moving up and down along her back. “I was just curious.”
“No, it’s okay,” Toni eventually sighs, abandoning the strands of red she had been playing with to look up and meet Cheryl’s eyes. “I should probably tell you at least more than what you know. I mean, it has to happen at some point, right?” Cheryl opens her mouth to protest, but Toni continues. “I want to, Cher.”
Cheryl looks back at her steadily, before she gives in. “Okay.”
“My mom’s been in prison for nearly ten years, as you already know,” Toni starts, averting her gaze. “But everything she got charged for was just bullshit.” Cheryl knits her brows together in confusion, and Toni sighs. “The police caught her with drugs, but they weren’t hers. They were her boyfriend’s, and instead of letting him go down for it, my mom decided to take the fall because somehow, she’d managed to keep her record clean; I guess she just figured that would make up for the color of her skin.”
The dim lamp light illuminates Cheryl’s expression, the way her eyes immediately sadden. “I’m sorry,” she whispers, probably because she doesn’t know what else to say, but Toni doesn’t linger on the thought for long.
“She may not have been the best mother in the world, but she was still a good one, up until that point.” She shrugs, and she knows there are tears beginning to form in her eyes by the way Cheryl’s frown deepens. “It just… it just felt like she chose him over me. She chose her garbage boyfriend over her own daughter, and as much as I wish everything between us could just go back to how it was, I just feel like it can’t.”
Cheryl uses the pad of her thumb to wipe at Toni’s cheeks, even though no tears have fallen yet. “And that’s completely valid and understandable, Toni.”
That manages to put a small smile on Toni’s face, at least.
“I’ve barely talked about it with anyone,” she adds, voice water-clogged. “So that’s — that’s why I didn’t ever really tell you about it. At least not the whole thing.”
Cheryl frowns. “You don’t have to justify your actions, babe. I’m quite sure you had your reasons,” she reassures her, then pushes a few strands of pink hair out of her face with the back of her hand. “And I’m so sorry you had to experience that.”
Toni simply shrugs again, leaning into the hand stroking her cheek.
“Anyway,” she finally says after wiping her eyes, “I don’t really think my mother feels the same way, if how she was acting at Pop’s is anything to go by.” Her gaze settles back on Cheryl, the way her girlfriend shows that she’s listening intently to whatever Toni is saying, and it leads her to the next thing. “Which reminds me, she insisted on coming over tomorrow, after she got over the initial shock of us being together,” Toni reveals, watching Cheryl’s face for any clues on what she’s thinking. “So I said yes.”
Cheryl’s eyes widen, her voice a bit of a higher pitch than before. “Tomorrow?”
Toni swallows heavily. “Yeah. Is that not—?”
“No, of course it’s alright,” Cheryl interrupts before Toni can even finish. “This is your home too, T.T., you don’t have to ask for permission. I just… I guess I’m just a little apprehensive to meet someone who’s so important to you, especially since there’s a variety of things that could go wrong.”
And although Toni doesn’t want to say it aloud, she’s incredibly nervous, too.
“I don’t really know how it’s going to go,” she admits. “She kind of left pretty quickly after that, so we didn’t really talk about it.”
Cheryl takes her lip between her teeth. “Well, if she’s anywhere near as delightful as you are, then perhaps this will go just fine,” she teases, intertwining both of their hands together and using that as a leverage to pull the other girl closer to herself.
Toni smiles, even though there’s still a bit of anxiety stirring in her chest. Cheryl’s right; this could go well, but Toni knows her mother well enough to know that it could just as easily go badly.
“Okay, sweet talker,” Toni chuckles anyway, burying the remainder of her stress to lean forward and kiss her girlfriend. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Cheryl cups the back of Toni’s neck with her hand. “Guess we will,” she echos, and then leans back in.
iv.
Toni sleeps better than she thought she would, thanks to the arms wrapped around her all night and the girl they belong to, but the anxiety finds her again the next day and only gets worse the closer it gets to her mother’s visit.
But as bad as it is for her, she knows it’s Cheryl who’s suffering from it even more; she’s trying to hide it for Toni’s sake, but the pink haired girl knows her girlfriend well enough to see through any mask she tries to wear, and it’s painfully obvious that whatever confidence she felt — or feigned — last night has dissipated in the light of day.
She also knows that no amount of reassurance is going to get through to Cheryl right now, so she just lets the girl fret over everything and nothing all morning, until she gets a text from Karla a little after noon, telling her she’s on her way over.
“Oh God,” Cheryl groans when Toni informs her of the news, finally letting the transparent brave face she’s been attempting to sport slip a bit. “Do you think the twins will behave? Should we have sent them to the Coopers for the day?”
Toni exhales, glad to push her own nerves aside for a few minutes to focus on calming Cheryl’s.
“They’ll be fine, babe,” she assures her, pulling her girl down onto the couch beside her. “We just put them down for their nap, and Nana can handle them for a couple hours if they wake up. Just chill.”
“I cannot chill right now,” Cheryl replies through gritted teeth, sounding like she’s teetering the edge of hysterics before she catches herself and takes a deep breath instead. “You know very well that I don’t make good first impressions, least of all with someone that already has a preconceived notion of me due to my notorious last name. And normally, that doesn’t bother me much, but I want more than anything to get this right.”
Toni presses her lips together and winces in sympathy, because she does know her girlfriend’s track record of first impressions isn’t favorable, but still asserts, “That doesn’t matter to me.”
“Yes, well, it matters a great deal to me, Toni,” Cheryl retorts, already sounding way too defeated for Toni’s liking; the mask is completely off now. “What your mother thinks of me, that may not affect our relationship, but it will surely affect your relationship with her, and I would hate to negatively impact that. I know how much family means to you.”
If only her mother could see this version of Cheryl, Toni thinks, as she curls her fingers around the other girl’s knee and shuffles closer; if only everyone could see this version of her.
Cheryl Blossom is one of the most selfless people Toni has ever met, and she hates that she’s the only person that knows it, let alone appreciates it.
“Baby,” she sighs fondly, touched by Cheryl’s concern. “It’s unbelievably sweet of you to be so worried about this, but I promise you that whatever goes down isn’t on you. Just like you and your mom, the issues I have with mine are a lot bigger than just us, okay?” Toni reaches up to cup her girlfriend’s cheek. “Please try not to stress yourself out so much.”
“I’ll try,” Cheryl promises, and even though they both know she won’t succeed, Toni still smiles and leans in for a kiss, anyways. “But first, I’m going to go check on Nana and the babies once more,” she declares as soon as they part, Toni’s words only able to do so much. “Be back in a jiffy.”
With a quick peck to the cheek, Cheryl’s shooting to her feet and rushing out of the living room and towards the stairs, giving Toni some time alone to prepare for her mother’s arrival before the doorbell rings ominously a few minutes later.
She doesn’t quite know how to describe the feeling in the pit of her stomach as she makes her way to the front door, but she tries to keep up that confidence she had with Cheryl when she opens it and finds not only her mother on the other side, but her brother, too.
“Tommy?” is the first thing she says, nerves momentarily forgotten as a grin spreads across her face and she’s pulled into her big brother’s arms.
“Hey, Little T,” he laughs into her hair, easily lifting her off the ground.
Toni’s heart swells at the old childhood nickname, and her smile only grows when she’s back on her feet. “I didn’t know you were coming over, too.”
“Please, when I heard you were shacking up with your girlfriend on the northside, I had to come see it for myself,” Tommy teases, and unlike with her mother, Toni can immediately gauge his feelings on the subject — he’s happy for her and nothing else. “This place is legit,” he adds, gaze moving past his sister to the rest of the house.
“Yes, it’s certainly something,” Karla adds from behind them, standing stiffly in front of the closed door and eyeing the place a lot more critically.
Toni’s smile falters as her attention shifts from her brother to her mother. “H-Hey, Mom,” she greets her belatedly, tone much more unsure. She steps around Tommy to hug the older woman less enthusiastically than she hugged him.
“Hi, honey,” Karla replies with a bit more warmth, returning the hug fully until Toni pulls back and gives her a strained smile.
“Well, welcome to Thistlehouse,” she says with faux cheeriness, gesturing awkwardly to the hallway behind her. “Do you guys want a tour? Or do you just want to sit down and catch up? We were just in the living room.”
“I want a tour,” Tommy predictably answers, right as their mother voices her equally expected desire to avoid it.
Toni smiles at her brother, despite the tension she can feel coming from Karla. “Maybe later,” she appeases him, bumping his shoulder before leading her guests down the short hallway to the living room.
“Interesting decor,” her mother remarks as they enter, taking in the dark room.
And even though Toni can hear the judgment in her tone, she decides to ignore it. “Yeah, Cheryl’s got her brand, and it’s black and red,” she replies, though she’s pretty sure the interior design of any room outside of theirs is more Nana Rose’s doing than Cheryl’s.
“Where is your girlfriend, anyways?” her mother is quick to ask, taking a seat in one of the leather chairs. “I thought today was about getting to know her.”
This time, the judgment is accompanied by a hint of accusation, but Toni is too busy debating whether or not to mention the twins to give it too much thought.
“Uh, she’s just, she’s—”
“I’m right here,” Cheryl’s voice carries into the living room before she appears in the doorway, a faux, shaky smile plastered on her face. “Hello, Mrs—” she starts and then stops herself, remembering that Toni’s father was never in the picture. “—Ms. Topaz. It’s so nice to meet you. My apologies for my tardiness, I was just upstairs peeking in on my niece and nephew.”
Toni bites her lip as she watches the exchange, understanding why Cheryl is acting put on, but also knowing her mother will just see her as fake because of it.
“Toni didn’t mention you were babysitting today,” Karla replies, shaking Cheryl’s offered hand but not making a move to stand up to greet her. She glances over at her daughter. “We could have done this another time.”
“Oh, not to worry,” Cheryl cuts in before Toni can. “My nana is watching over them. Besides, as their legal guardians, they live here with us, so no time like the present.”
Toni flinches under her mother’s questioning gaze, just itching to correct her girlfriend’s words; she’s not technically a legal guardian to the twins herself, but she takes care of them and loves them like she is — just the same as Cheryl — and denying that for the sake of appeasing her mother feels disingenuous.
So instead of refuting Cheryl’s claims, Toni swiftly changes the subject before her mother can say anything in front of Cheryl. “Babe, why don’t you go get that lemonade and all those snacks you made this morning?”
Cheryl looks momentarily surprised by the suggestion, realizing there’s obviously some kind of issue she hasn’t picked up on, but then nods, widening her smile further.
“Excellent idea, T.T.,” she agrees, clasping her hands together in front of herself. “Please excuse me for just a moment.”
The three Topazes watch as Cheryl spins on her heel and leaves the room as quickly as she entered it, but it’s Tommy that breaks the silence first.
“Damn, you must have better game than me, Teeny,” he jokes with a low whistle, hoping to break the tension that’s only increased without Cheryl’s presence.
Toni rolls her eyes. “Shut up,” she mumbles, shooting her older brother a playful glare before turning her attention to her silent mother apprehensively. “Mom?”
She knows the woman only got to see and talk to Cheryl very briefly, but she also knows that’s usually all she needs to get an impression and decide how she feels about someone, if she hadn’t already decided even before then — not that Toni would ever call her a good judge of character.
And when Karla sighs before replying, Toni already knows this one is going to be a miss, too.
“Your brother is right, she’s a very beautiful girl,” she begins. “And I understand that you’re a teenager and hormones rule over brains in matters of the heart—” Her daughter scoffs. “—but the blood in that girl’s veins is ugly, baby.”
“Come on, Ma,” Tommy chastises, like he’s already heard this before.
“Nothing about Cheryl is ugly,” Toni contends steadfastly, all too aware that the girl in question could come back at any minute, so she tries to keep her cool. “If you would just give her a chance, you’d see that she’s not like her family at all — that she’s fought to be better than them and that she’s raising Juniper and Dagwood to be better, too; that we are.” This time, she takes her mother’s silence as a good sign. “Please, Mom. Just give Cheryl a chance. I love her.”
The tension in the room is at an all time high, but before Karla can reply, Cheryl’s announcing her arrival as she reenters the living room, carefully balancing a tray of four glasses of lemonade and various baked goods she made earlier in an attempt to quell her anxiety.
“I hope you both enjoy cherry as much as my Toni does,” Cheryl says cheerily as she places the tray on the coffee table and takes a seat on the couch beside her girlfriend. “She assured me you’d like them.”
“I’ll eat anything,” Tommy promises her, getting out of the chair he’d settled into to grab a glass and a snack. He hums his approval after shoving some of it into his mouth. “They’re great, thanks, Red.”
Toni’s not sure she’s ever been more thankful for her big brother than she is right now, sending him a grateful smile when she feels Cheryl relax a little at her side.
Karla, of course, makes no move to do the same, but she does manage to keep her tone neutral when she asks, “So, how long have you two been together?”
Cheryl looks to Toni, as if asking permission to answer, and when she gets it, she smiles proudly when she answers. “A little over two years now.”
It comes off as an attempt to play nice and start a safe conversation, considering Toni already told her as such the day before, but her mother still almost looks impressed at the reminder, like maybe she’d forgotten that detail after everything else she learned about Cheryl.
“That’s a good deal of time for girls your age,” she acknowledges reluctantly. “And how long have you been living together?”
“A year and a half, I think,” Cheryl guesses, which Toni doesn’t dispute, despite slowly picking up on what her mother’s angle actually is — so much for giving her a chance.
Karla predictably looks much less impressed by that answer. “Living together after less than a year together? And in high school?”
Toni rolls her eyes, her patience already wearing thin as her defenses rise. “I was living in a tent, Mom.”
“Yes, and since I had this big house all to myself and my nana, it seemed silly not to open my home to my amazing girlfriend,” Cheryl adds on eagerly, so obviously desperate for Karla to like her.
“You mean your poor girlfriend,” the older woman accuses, swiftly stomping all over that hope.
“Mom,” both Toni and Tommy scold her at once, but Cheryl responds before they can say anything else.
“What?” she frowns, her eyes widening in confusion. “No! I mean, yes, Toni is obviously less well-to-do than I, but I don’t think of her as— that’s not at all what it was about. I just wanted her safe and with me. I love your daughter, Ms. Topaz. More than anything.”
Karla hums, not moved. “Do you?” she wonders rhetorically. “Or do you love what she means for you?” Off Cheryl’s continued look of confusion, she expands on her ridiculous hypothesis. “Toni tells me you’re trying to distance yourself from your family, to be better than them; what better way to do that than to date a poor girl from the southside? To make a statement against everything your family destroyed to build themselves up? To take on a charity project?”
And just like that, Toni loses what was left of her poise.
Because she understands her mother’s reservations about her dating a Blossom, she really does, but if her mind is already made up and she just came here to berate Cheryl, or to find more reasons to add to her list of disapproval, then what’s the point?
“Okay, that’s enough,” she declares, standing up. “This was a bad idea. You clearly didn’t come here with an open mind, and I’m not just gonna sit here and let you talk to my girlfriend like that.”
Her mother raises an eyebrow, as if surprised her daughter is talking back to her, but doesn’t back down. “Like what?”
“Like you know anything about her, or us,” Toni explains, gripping Cheryl’s shoulder in an effort to restrain and calm herself. “You have no idea what Cheryl’s gone through — what she’s risked — for me, for us, so we could be together; you have no idea how she loves me. And until you’re ready to actually listen to any of it — to listen to me and what I want — then I don’t see why either of us should even bother trying to tell you.”
Toni’s voice stays level, despite her spike in heart rate, and her gaze stays on her mother’s, too, until the other woman stands herself.
“Fine,” Karla concedes, far too easily, though not from the kindness of her heart. “Thomas, let’s go.”
She leaves without another word or waiting for her son, who gives Cheryl a friendly smile and Toni a quick hug on his way out. “I’m sorry about her, and I’m coming back tomorrow for that tour, okay?”
It’s enough to make Toni smile, just a little. “Okay,” she agrees, shoving him away lightly.
“It was nice to meet you, Cheryl,” he makes sure to tell the girl before he disappears to catch up with his mother, leaving the girls alone to recover.
Toni waits until she hears the front door close before she even lets herself take a breath, and then she lets out a hollow laugh.
“Well, I guess that could’ve gone worse,” she sighs, and though she’s trying to make a joke, it’s not untrue — it obviously didn’t go well, but considering she didn’t yell everything she’s been holding in at her mother, it wasn’t the worst, either. “I’m sorry about her, babe.”
“No, please, don’t be,” Cheryl is quick to admonish her, gently gripping her wrist and lightly tugging her back down to the couch. “Please don’t worry about me, my love. How are you feeling?”
If only Toni knew.
Her relationship with her mother has always been complicated — she thinks she has more negative emotions towards her than positive ones at this point — but a small part of her also thinks that can change, even if this has only made it worse.
“I honestly don’t know,” she admits with another sigh, running a hand down the side of her face in frustration, before leaning into her girlfriend’s embrace. “I get why she has issues with it. I mean, I didn’t tell her about us for a reason; her issues aren’t totally irrational.”
Cheryl swallows and nods her head, slipping her hand into Toni’s. “No, they’re not.”
“But it’s not your fault,” Toni is quick to add. “And we both had judgments about each other before we really got to know each other; they weren’t entirely irrational, either. But we looked past that and gave each other a chance and look at us now.” Cheryl’s smile is shaky and pained, but there. “I just know that if she did the same, she’d see you like I do.”
“Perhaps she just needs time,” Cheryl offers gently, a far cry from the girl that needed reassurance less than thirty minutes ago. “She’s hated my family her whole life, yet just found out last night that you’re dating me. It took us a few times before we got it right as well, if I remember correctly.”
Toni can’t stop the laugh that bubbles up as their first few encounters play out in her memory. “Only because you were such a bitch.”
Cheryl wears the title proudly, flipping her hair as she admits to it with ease. “Guilty, but clearly that’s your type.”
“Clearly,” Toni agrees with a growing smile, leaning in to press a kiss to her girl’s lips. “But I guess you’re right,” she cedes as she pulls back. “I’ll give her a few days to cool off and open her mind and hopefully we can try again.”
“Okay,” Cheryl nods, pecking her lips once more, ready to do whatever it is Toni wants to do. “And now that we have that settled, what else are you feeling? Because contrary to popular belief, I am aware that not everything is about moi, and I know that your issues with your mother stretch far beyond me.”
She’s right, of course, but that doesn’t mean Toni has an answer to give her. “I don’t know,” she says again, dropping her head on Cheryl’s shoulder.
Because maybe Toni needs some time to figure things out, too.
v.
The air is chilly and nips at Toni’s skin as she rides along the back roads that lead to Thistlehouse, the pale arms wrapped around her waist and the head resting against her back being her only source of warmth. The motorcycle’s juddering vibrates throughout her body even after she kills the engine, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath upon arrival.
Part of her wants to start the bike back up and just take a meaningless drive in a futile attempt to clear her head; the other part of her knows that she’s already spent all of yesterday and today organizing her thoughts as much as possible, and this is the best it’s going to get.
And it’s worked — she isn’t nearly as stressed as she had been a couple of days ago, waiting for her mother to meet her girlfriend despite already knowing deep down how it would play out.
She’d been honest with Cheryl afterwards: what had happened wasn’t her fault, and Cheryl seemed to understand that, or at least not dwell on it for too long.
How Karla feels about all of this isn’t either of their faults, and if what she needs is a few days to cool off, then why not give it to her?
Yesterday they had discussed it only a little bit further, but not by much. Toni was content on spending all day wrapped up in the confines of Thistlehouse, politely declining Fangs and Kevin’s invitation to accompany them for a lunch at Pop’s and choosing instead to lay around and finish any homework they hadn’t done the previous day.
The air inside is considerably warmer than it was outside, but still slightly chilled as Toni sets down her own backpack in their room, along with Cheryl’s much smaller one. She sends a quick text to Tommy — We’re home now — and then, after a few moments of uselessly staring at her phone, heads into the bathroom.
Tommy has responded by the time she gets out of the shower. Can’t wait to see you!, the message reads, and a brief smile forms on Toni’s lips.
She gets dressed, pulling on denim shorts and a simple t-shirt, and then accompanies it with the purple flannel Cheryl has a habit of stealing.
The girl in question is already dressed and ready by the time Toni gets downstairs, having already showered and changed back at school after Vixen’s practice. She’s perched at the table, scrolling through her phone and snacking on a bag of saltines when Toni’s movements catch her attention, and a smile lights up her face.
“Would I be correct to assume that you’re ready?” she asks, voice surprisingly steady.
Toni knows that Cheryl is still a little anxious, but more than anything, she’s excited to meet her brother — genuinely meet him, not just briefly speak to him like she did a few days ago — and her excitement makes Toni excited, too.
One hand rubbing up and down her shorts, Toni nods her head. “I’m ready,” she confirms after taking a bite of the cracker Cheryl offers her.
Her hopes for this are much higher than they had been for Karla to meet Cheryl.
She may have been stressed for her mother to meet Cheryl, but this — her brother, who’s far more open minded, coming over by himself — is something else.
He’s going to come over, they’re going to give him a tour as promised, and then see where it takes them. Toni imagines they’ll take a walk along the Blossom property, not just Thistlehouse, but she’ll leave those details to Cheryl.
Tommy messages her again a little less than half an hour later to let her know he’s outside.
“Is that him?” Cheryl asks almost immediately, nervously rubbing her hands together. Toni nods, turning toward her girlfriend and then separating her hands and pulling her to her feet.
“You don’t have to be nervous, babe,” she says, hoping her smile offers at least a little bit of reassurance. “I know he’ll like you. Unlike our mother, he’s a lot easier to impress.”
“He did seem like he had a sweet personality for the brief moment I got to talk to him,” Cheryl admits, and then smiles cheekily. “I could easily tell you two were related by that alone.”
Toni fondly rolls her eyes, noting the irony of the fact that they must get it from their mother, but before she can reply, the sound of the doorbell echoes throughout the foyer, and Cheryl’s pulling her into a kiss.
“What was that for?” Toni asks with a smile after Cheryl pulls away, following her toward the door.
“I don’t know,” she admits. “For good luck. For confidence.”
Toni chuckles, and rubs the small of Cheryl’s back. “You’ll be fine, Cher.”
The first thing that Toni takes note of when she opens the door to greet her brother is that the air is already far less tense than it had been on Saturday. Tommy gives her a big smile and pulls her into a hug, just as before, and then looks at Cheryl with an eager grin.
“Cheryl, right?” he asks, offering his hand to shake. Cheryl still looks a little nervous when she nods and shakes his hand, but Toni can tell that she’s trying. “I’m Thomas, but I’m sure Little T here refers to me exclusively as Tommy,” he says, giving Toni a little nudge.
“Bold of you to assume you’re talked about,” Toni jokes, and her brother feigns offense.
“I’ve heard a bit about you,” Cheryl confirms with a slight smile.
Tommy raises a brow. “All good things, I hope,” he replies, looking pointedly at his sister. Toni gives a playful shrug, but Tommy’s attention has clearly shifted from them to his surroundings, if the look on his face is anything to go by. “So, will I finally be getting that tour I was promised?”
Any worries Toni previously felt just seem to melt away as Cheryl visibly relaxes. “Yes,” she smiles, and then looks at her girlfriend. “Shall we get started, T.T.?”
Toni easily returns the smile. “We shall.”
The tour of Thistlehouse is, objectively, great.
Cheryl guides Tommy through all of the rooms while Toni throws a word in every once in a while. Tommy remains patient and undisruptive, keeps a friendly smile on his face, and Toni feels a huge surge of affection for him the whole time. Their conversation remains brief, barely diverging from the cottage and its inhabitants.
It’s when they’ve finished that things get a little more interesting.
“This place is… insane,” Tommy says with a look of awe in his eyes after they finally arrive back in the living room.
“My nana really outdid herself with the decorations and aesthetic of it all,” Cheryl agrees, looking around. There’s a pause in the conversation, and then Cheryl glances back at Tommy with an even wider smile. “We can give you a tour of some more of the property, if you’d like?” she offers, looking over at Toni to see what she thinks of the idea.
And considering Toni figured this would happen, since Tommy seemed interested in it all, she quickly agrees. “That sounds good to me.”
“Count me in,” Tommy eagerly nods. “I’d love to see more of it all.”
Cheryl clasps her hands together, and then excuses herself to go to the restroom ‘for just a moment before we make our departure’, leaving Toni and Tommy alone in the foyer.
“Does she always talk like that?” is the first thing Tommy asks as soon as Cheryl is gone, and Toni can tell by the tone of his voice and the smile on his face that he’s just teasing.
It is, of course, not the first time someone’s mentioned the way Cheryl speaks; whether she’s being teased by Fangs or Jughead is rolling his eyes at it.
Toni absolutely loves it.
“Pretty much,” she answers fondly, and Tommy must be able to read her tone of voice too, because he raises a brow, his eyes suddenly full of amusement.
“I like her,” he predictably decides. “And I can tell that you love her.”
And although it’s obviously not a lie, and definitely not anything Toni’s ashamed of, she still can’t help the blood that rushes to her cheeks at the comment.
She hasn’t had that many friends to tease her about her relationship with Cheryl — not since the Serpents, anyway — and Tommy’s always had a knack for teasing her about anything.
“You managed to figure that out in the fifteen minute tour she’s given you?” she tries to play it off.
“Not just that,” Tommy replies. “The way you defended her against Mom kind of let me know that you’re serious about this girl; I figured that you wouldn’t have gotten so worked about it otherwise.”
His tone has shifted so that Toni knows he’s no longer teasing her, he’s just stating what he observed.
“I am serious about her,” she murmurs, voice softer than before as she glances in the direction that Cheryl disappeared. “I’m in love with her.”
“Clearly,” he says, voice not as serious as before as he nudges her shoulder. “You’re getting all sappy and shit.”
Toni gives a fond roll of her eyes, just as Cheryl announces her return with the heeled boots she’s decided to wear today.
“What were you two chatting about in there?” she asks as they head outside, clearly more comfortable than she was less than half an hour ago.
Toni isn’t exactly sure on where they’re going, but when her girlfriend chooses the long road that leads to Thornhill, where the pines are thick and huddled close together, she’s able to venture a guess.
“You,” Tommy responds before Toni’s able to, causing her to wince when her girlfriend’s demeanor visibly changes from relaxed to apprehension. Fortunately, like herself, Tommy is also able to read other people’s emotions fairly easily, so after wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a slight side hug, he says, “Don’t worry, Red. It was nothing bad.”
Cheryl looks momentarily surprised at the show of affection, but manages to cover it up once Tommy pulls away.
She’s quiet for a moment, like she’s hesitant on what she’s going to say, but eventually grins. “I am a topic of many conversations.”
Toni smiles to herself as they begin to walk in silence. The weather outside is nice; perfect for walking in, the late afternoon breeze only slightly chilly. She figures they still have a good fifteen minutes before they reach Thornhill, or wherever Cheryl plans on showing Tommy.
“The landscape here must be really different from New York, huh?” she asks just to fill the silence, but also because she’s curious about her brother’s life. “You must be too good for this little old town.”
“I barely miss it,” Tommy nods after a beat, and Toni can’t blame him. She doesn’t think she’ll miss this town herself when her and Cheryl finally get out of here.
Cheryl seems to be thinking the same thing, because her next words are Toni’s thoughts. “I don’t think I'll miss this town, either.”
Tommy must sense there’s something else there, because he opens his mouth to respond, hesitates and seems to recalibrate his thoughts, then says, “New York is so much better, anyway.”
Toni raises a brow. “Care to elaborate?”
And that’s how they spend the next ten minutes listening to Tommy paint the picture of his life in New York; about the stray cat that he occasionally feeds when he sees it; the girl he’s been talking to for a few weeks; the way the sunset looks from the window of his apartment; the job he was able to acquire right out of college.
It’s not hard for Toni to listen to everything her brother says, and when she looks at Cheryl, of course her girlfriend is listening intently as well.
They reach their destination only a few minutes later; the sun hangs low in the sky, and as Cheryl pushes the gates of Thornhill open, Tommy stands with his jaw hung open as he takes in the land.
“Is that Thornhill?” he asks, taking a couple of steps closer.
Toni furrows her brows together and shares a look of confusion with Cheryl, and when no answer comes, Tommy turns around to look at the pair in confusion.
“I wasn’t aware you knew of the name,” Cheryl eventually says, tilting her head and looking back over at Toni, who shrugs; she didn’t know he knew about it, either.
Tommy laughs. “I spent a good part of my childhood in Riverdale before our mom moved us a couple of years after Toni was born,” he reminds them, looking back and forth between both girls. “I’ve heard plenty of stories about this place; about the Blossoms in general. We used to dare each other to climb the gates and get close to the graveyard, see who was the bravest. Everyone told stories about how this place was haunted.”
Toni feels silly for her surprise, especially considering they were just talking about him not missing Riverdale. Her brother is eight years older than her, and she knows Karla packed them up only a couple of years after she was born.
“I burned it down,” Cheryl suddenly says, stepping further away from the gates and closer to where Tommy and Toni are standing. Her arms are crossed together, and her eyes are focused on what remains of Thornhill.
Tommy’s visibly shocked. “Really?” Cheryl nods. “Was there anyone inside?”
Cheryl shakes her head, and simply answers, “No.”
Tommy turns to look back at his sister, an impressed look in his eyes, and Toni releases a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding.
It’s quiet for a few moments, until Tommy turns back around to face Thornhill — or, what’s left of it, anyways — and then grins. “I also heard there was a pool.”
Toni lifts her head and glances at Cheryl, who looks like she’s feeling just about as relieved as Toni is.
“Fortunately, the fire didn’t touch that,” the red haired girl smiles, and then leads the way down the long driveway.
Cheryl takes them through a variety of different places; through the overgrown garden that hasn’t been touched since the fire; around the tennis courts, where the pavement is old and cracked; even near the graveyard, although they don’t get too close.
Toni doesn’t question it, of course, and Tommy seems content on not getting too close, either.
His favorite part, predictably, does turn out to be the pool, which has managed to stay relatively clean since the last time they used it during the summer.
“I’m definitely coming back when it’s warmer,” Tommy tells them as he teeters toward the edge. Toni grins, tightening her flannel around herself and coming to stand by her girlfriend, who still has a smile of her own on her face.
“What are you smiling about?” she asks, as Tommy heads toward the other side of the pool to look around.
“He’s already inviting himself over again,” Cheryl points out, sounding a little giddy. “Do you think that means he likes me?”
Toni chuckles and can’t resist pecking her girlfriend’s smiling lips.
“He definitely likes you, babe,” she reassures her, thinking about their words from earlier, when Tommy had confirmed it himself. “And there will be plenty of time for you to visit in the future,” she adds, raising her voice to make sure she’s heard from across the pool, where Tommy is standing.
“There will be?” he asks, looking hopeful. Toni grins, looking over to her girlfriend.
“Yeah,” Cheryl says, and it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for Toni to know that the smile on her face is the most genuine one yet. “There will be.”
They make it back to Thistlehouse just before the sun finishes setting, the sky having progressively gotten darker on their walk.
“I should probably get going,” Tommy tells them only a few minutes after they get back, pulling out his phone to look at the time. “Ma will probably be wondering where I’ve run off to, since we’re both staying with Grandpa for a while.”
Toni winces at the mention of her mother; they’d been doing so well.
“Uh, yeah,” she agrees, as Tommy slides on his jacket. “How is she? Did she say anything about what happened on Saturday?”
Tommy let’s out a chuckle at Toni’s words. “You better believe she had a lot to talk about after that,” he says. “I think she’s calmed down now, though, and probably knows how she acted was pretty uncalled for.” Toni nods her head, vaguely familiar with how her mother tends to work. “You could give her a call, you know.”
“I probably will,” Toni sighs, crossing her arms.
“I’ll try to talk to her, though,” he makes sure to tell them, glancing at Cheryl. “Try to convince her to give Red a chance, despite the fact that her own daughter went off on her,” he adds, glancing back at Toni with a grin.
“I didn’t go off on her,” Toni grumbles.
Tommy chuckles. “You kind of went off on her.”
Toni rolls her eyes at her brother’s antics, glancing back over at Cheryl, who’s staring at them both with a smile. When Toni raises a questioning eyebrow, Cheryl simply shrugs, shaking her head.
“You two remind me of Jason and myself,” she offers. “That’s all.”
Toni’s suddenly overcome with a feeling of intense guilt; she was so anxious about Cheryl meeting her mother and brother that she didn’t really stop to think about how it might make her girlfriend feel — other than anxious.
But before she can even begin to start formulating the words to express how sorry she is, Tommy swoops in.
“Who’s Jason?” he asks, looking between both Cheryl and Toni for an answer, before he begins to piece a little of it together himself. “Is that the guy in all of the pictures around here?”
Toni’s breath hitches, and she looks back at her girlfriend to gauge what she’s feeling, but it seems like she’s not upset at all, like Toni thought she would be.
“Yes. He’s my— he was my twin brother, but he passed a few years ago,” she explains, voice unwavering. “My niece and nephew are his.”
Tommy’s surprise is shown by the way his lips part ever so slightly. Toni swallows the lump in her throat, turning back to look at Cheryl.
“I’m so sorry, Cher,” she apologizes, taking a few steps closer to her girlfriend, even though she still doesn’t look all that miserable, or even anything close to it. “I didn’t even think about how hard this would be for you—”
“Toni,” Cheryl quickly cuts her off, reaching for the shorter girl’s hand. “It’s fine, babe. I’m fine, so don’t you dare apologize.” When Toni’s expression remains the same, Cheryl squeezes her hand. “I’m happy for you, T.T.. I promise.”
The thing is, Toni’s been with Cheryl for long enough to know when she’s putting up a facade, or when she’s masking her emotions and holding everything in only for her to explode later, and yet, now, as she searches Cheryl’s face for any signs of cracks, she can’t seem to find anything.
So she nods her head, giving Cheryl’s hand a squeeze as well, but still makes a mental note to ask her about it later when they’re alone. “Okay.”
It’s quiet for just a brief moment, before Tommy’s taking a step closer to them as he finishes buttoning his jacket together.
“Well, with the direction you two are heading in, it seems like you’ll have a brother-in-law soon, anyways,” he cheekily smiles.
Toni’s heart grows for her brother and his ability to make practically anyone feel welcomed and loved; especially when Cheryl’s smile widens, and she looks touched.
”Oh hush, we’re still in high school,” Toni laughs, easily accepting the parting hug Tommy offers her.
“And yet, you two already live together, and are raising babies,” he teases as they pull away.
Toni rolls her eyes once more, but doesn’t say anything else as Tommy turns to face Cheryl. They sort of both awkwardly stand there for a moment, until Cheryl gives him her hand to shake, only for Tommy to open his arms.
“Come on,” he smiles. “I think we’re already past the shaking hands stage.”
Cheryl suddenly looks like she’s about five seconds away from bursting into tears, and she accepts the hug Tommy offers her.
“I’ll make sure to see you two again before I head back to New York, okay?” he asks after pulling out of the hug. Toni nods, nudging him with her shoulder.
“Sounds good, Big T,” she says, and finds that she really means it; dumb childhood nickname and all.
Tommy smiles, offering them both one last wave, and then makes his exit.
vi.
Cheryl and Toni have a late dinner after Tommy leaves, and they discuss how they felt his visit went and how they’re feeling about it.
(Good, they decide, is the answer to both.)
It isn’t until they’re tucked into bed hours later that Toni brings up the one moment near the end that she still has doubts about.
“I’m sorry again for not thinking to check in with you about how you might be feeling with Tommy around,” she reiterates her earlier apology, settling her head on her pillow and looking at her girlfriend laying across from her. “After everything with Jason earlier this year, I should’ve realized how hard it might be for you to see me with my brother.”
But just like before, Cheryl shakes her head and reaches out for Toni’s hand, this time bringing it up to her lips so she can kiss her knuckles.
“Don’t be silly, my love,” she assures her, same as before. “I very much meant what I said; I’m so happy for you.”
And while Toni doesn’t doubt that, she finds it hard to believe that there’s no part of Cheryl that can see Toni reuniting with her brother and not feel a pang of something — hurt, sadness, envy, or even all of the above.
How could she not?
“But, baby—”
“No buts,” Cheryl interrupts her sternly, but softly. “Seeing you happy makes me happy.” She kisses Toni’s palm and then places her hand on her cheek. “I’m fully aware of how off the rails I went this year, but in the end, I think it finally brought me peace. Of course I will always miss my brother, but never so much that I begrudge you yours, ever.”
Toni chews on her lip, trying to believe her girlfriend’s words. They certainly sound sincere, and she doesn’t doubt Cheryl’s love for her, but still.
“Are you sure?” she has to ask, shuffling a little closer to get a better look at brown eyes.
Cheryl just smiles, soft and kind, and nods as she leans into the hand still cupping her face. “As much as I wish you could have met Jay Jay, I’m just as glad to have met Tommy.”
“I’m glad he got to meet you, too,” Toni agrees fondly, as it registers just how much. She’s been so fine with keeping Cheryl and the life she’s built with her separate from her family, that she never realized how good it could feel to bring those worlds together. “He really liked you.”
“You’re sure?” the other girl asks this time, still a little unsure herself.
Toni had already told her as much and Tommy didn’t do or say anything that would suggest otherwise, but Toni knows how her girl’s mind works.
“Obviously, what’s not to like?” she wonders rhetorically, narrowing her eyes when she sees Cheryl open her mouth to answer. “Don’t you dare,” she warns before she can even try, brushing her thumb over her bottom lip.
It makes Cheryl giggle softly, and easily drop that line of thought. “Well, that’s good to hear, if he’s going to be my brother-in-law one day,” she not so subtly says, reminding her of that last thing her brother left them with before leaving.
“Ugh, I’m sorry about that,” Toni responds with a groan, because for some reason, her first instinct is to apologize, even though his comments hadn’t been met with anything that requires one.
“Why for?” Cheryl wonders, smile dimming, but not falling completely.
Toni shrugs, feeling dumb. “I don’t know,” she admits. “I just didn’t know if you felt weird about him saying that; we’ve never talked about it before.”
Cheryl’s features settle into understanding and her lips curve up again. “No, we haven’t,” she agrees, shimmying towards the smaller girl so she can wrap an arm around her waist. “But if you’re wondering, it’s certainly something I’ve thought about.”
“Yeah?” Toni breathes out, pressing her forehead to Cheryl’s.
“Very much so,” she confirms. “There is no version of the rest of my life that does not include you, mon coeur.”
Chest and stomach fluttering, Toni closes the last little bit of distance between them and kisses Cheryl firmly, promising her the same.
“Me neither,” she says when she pulls away, just in case Cheryl needs to hear the words, too.
And as Toni just gazes at her girl, eyes soft and open, she sees her future clearly, even in the dim red light.