Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun was low, and the air was crisp but slightly warm, on a late spring morning, and despite the fact that it wasn’t even seven o’clock yet, the weather should have been energizing enough. The only problem was that to Toni Topaz, it was getting close to time for bed. She was finally understanding the feeling of jetlag, after essentially a sixteen-hour flight—her first airfare experience of such a length. Almost seven in the morning in Rome, Italy meant almost nine at night in Los Angeles, and considering that she’d been awake for the past sixteen hours… well, Toni was ready for bed.

Unfortunately, bed was not in the cards for her, because she was also starving, and wasn’t able to check into her hotel until two in the afternoon. Perhaps her planning could’ve been a bit better, but she wasn’t ever known for being the best with planning ahead.

Thankfully, the hotel that she was planning on staying at, which she’d gotten an amazing deal at, had a restaurant that was open for lunch, and that’s what her mind was focused on as she stepped out of the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport—otherwise known as Fiumicino Airport, she’d learned upon arrival. The airport was not really close to where she was staying, which meant she would need to sit on a train for half an hour to get to Termini Station, at which point she would only be about a fifteen minute walk or so away from her hotel—Grand Hotel Palatino.

As she navigated her way to the train station, she grabbed her phone out of her satchel style purse. She looked at her reflection in the blank screen, her magenta dyed hair looking a bit of a mess, and then unlocked it and looked at the little cell symbol in the top corner. She’d spent an annoying extra fee to her cellular provider in order to get cell service out of the country, but she had a feeling it would be worth it, since she was here alone.

She opened up the phone app and hit the most recent entry in her call history, and her phone immediately dialed her best friend—Veronica Lodge. Her call was answered almost immediately.

“Toni! You finally made it?”

“Finally,” Toni answered, adjusting her hold on her carry-on suitcase. The carry-on held all of her clothes and toiletries, and the backpack she was also sporting had everything else she needed for her trip. “I’m so exhausted. Technically, the time here is like, twenty-six hours since when I left LA. Time zones are so confusing. I need sleep.”

“Well, have you reached your hotel?” Veronica asked.

“Um, no, I just got off the plane,” Toni answered with an eyeroll, “and I can’t check in until the afternoon.”

“Right,” Veronica said thoughtfully, “I forgot. We always used to have our chauffeur get to hotels the day before to check in and make sure everything was ready for us when we arrived.”

Toni rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I don’t have a chauffeur, now do I?”

“Well, I’m honored that I was your first call! How’s Italy?”

“So far? An airport.” Veronica laughed at that. “Except in Italian. I mean, there’s English signs and stuff, but everyone speaks Italian.”

“Um, yeah that’s how Italy works,” Veronica insisted. “I so wish I could’ve come with you. It’s been too long since I got to go to Italy.”

“I wish you could’ve come too,” Toni agreed with a sigh. “But I couldn’t push it, I already spent a shit ton of money on this trip.”

“I know,” Veronica said, and Toni was glad that she didn’t mention the fact that she’d offered to pay the fees to move everything. Toni had saved up for this trip since she first started working, and she wasn’t about to have someone else pay for it. So here she was, in Rome, alone. “So, you’re headed to the train?”

“Yeah. I hope it’s as fast and comfortable as you said, because it was way more expensive than the regular trains,” Toni muttered.

“It doesn’t compare to having a chauffeur, but it was pretty comfortable and fast the one time I took it,” Veronica assured her, with a joking tone of voice. “So what’s your morning plan?”

“Get to the hotel, sit in the lobby and then the restaurant and stuff my face until I can check in, check in, and sleep for the rest of the day.”

“Really? That’s how you’re going to spend your first day in Italy?” Veronica demanded.

“Don’t judge me. It’s not like I have as much to take up my time as I originally thought.”

“But you didn’t really change your itinerary, did you?” Veronica asked.

“I canceled some reservations,” Toni admitted, “there wasn’t any point if I’m going to be alone. And now I have some extra spending money. It’s fine.”

Veronica sighed. “Okay, well extra spending money is good. But… how are you actually, with being there alone?”

“Fine,” Toni insisted. “It sucks that you couldn’t make it work to join me last minute, but I’m going to have a good trip, and I’m going to take a lot of great pictures, and it’s going to be great. Okay?”

“Okay,” Veronica responded, and Toni could just imagine her proud smile. She was always trying to get Toni to be more positive, and considering how much money Toni had spent on this trip… yeah, she was trying her best to be positive.

“Well, I think I’m almost to the train station, and I might take a nap on the way into the city. I’ll call you tonight—or, tomorrow for you.”

“Right,” Veronica said with a laugh, “okay. Talk later! Be safe!”

“I will, V. Bye.”

She hung up the phone and shoved it back into her little purse. She wasn’t usually a fan of purses, but she had decided it was better than a small backpack when it came to holding her wallet full of Euros, her phone, and her passport. She wasn’t accustomed to train stations, and Veronica had warned her that there were often pickpockets, so she was trying to be careful.

Toni finally reached her train, and when she was able to settle into the seat, she almost immediately dozed off.

She didn’t sleep very deeply, and she woke up a good few minutes before the train reached Termini Station. When it came to a stop, she grabbed all of her things and climbed off the train onto platform twenty-three of Termini Station.

Toni very quickly discovered that Termini Station was not only huge, but it was busy. There were people everywhere, talking loudly on phones and to their companions, all looking determined to get to where they were supposed to be. Toni felt out of her element. She had lived in LA for a number of years, but she wasn’t ever a big fan of public transportation, and yesterday had been only her second time to step foot in LAX. To her, this was ridiculous.

Thankfully, she’d had the foresight to look up the map of the station on her phone ahead of time, so she opened up her recent tabs and located it, and then she was off. When she finally made it out of the station, she started on her fifteen minute walk to her hotel.

She really should’ve planned better, she realized, because she arrived at her hotel at just about eight in the morning, and the restaurant didn’t open until noon. There was free breakfast, but she was sure that she wasn’t able to get it until she had checked in, so she found herself walking near the hotel, trying to find something to occupy her time.

She came across a little pastries place, that was going to open soon, so she hung around the entrance until it finally opened, and then she went in and ordered the strongest coffee she could get, as well as a few breakfast pastries and a cannoli for good measure.

They didn’t have any seating, so she walked back over to the hotel, sat herself in the lobby, and ate.

She wanted to take a nap, but she knew that would look bad, so instead, she tried to look busy on her phone for most of the morning. She people watched a little bit, and overall just spent her first morning in Italy doing nothing. It was honestly not surprising at all that her planning had been so poor.

Her people watching experience was actually interesting, though. She saw a number of fancy looking people checking out of the hotel, and it made her feel a little bit out of place. She had managed to get a great deal on this hotel, but most of the people here looked like they made a lot more money than she did.

The highlight of her people watching, though, was when she saw a gorgeous redhead strut out of the elevator and go up to the front desk of the hotel. She was wearing black slacks that were surprisingly fitted, and a thin, white blouse. She also had a red decorative scarf—which it seemed too warm for, in Toni’s opinion—and bold red lipstick. She also wore a red beret, which Toni had to remind herself was a French thing and not an Italian thing, and thick rimmed red sunglasses. In her ridiculously high red heels, she walked with confidence and some blend of elegance and intimidation. The poor young man who happened to be working the desk when she approached him looked scared shitless at whatever she said to him, and Toni enjoyed watching him squirm. She couldn’t say she blamed him, the woman would probably have terrified her too, if she hadn’t spent her early college years becoming absolutely fearless when it came to wooing anybody—man or woman.

Toni enjoyed the view when the woman finally left the hotel, wanting to think that if she’d actually slept recently, she would’ve tried to intercept her.

When it was finally lunch time, Toni made her way over to the hotel’s restaurant, where she got a table for one and her bags. Ordering a big bowl of pasta seemed like a good decision, since it was her first lunch in Italy, and like she told Veronica, she had some extra spending money, so she wasn’t super concerned about prices. So she ordered her pasta, gobbled it all up, and then, finally, was able to go check in to her room.

Toni woke up about five hours later. None of her stuff was unpacked, she had basically passed out as soon as she checked in, but she wasn’t about to start unpacking now. She may have basically wasted her first day in Italy, but she wouldn’t waste her first night.

She quickly did some makeup to make herself feel less like she had been traveling and sleeping for the past twenty-four hours, and then grabbed her camera bag out of her backpack. Time to take some pictures.

Italy was the first place of many that Toni had on her bucket list to take pictures at. She had been dreaming of traveling the world taking photographs since she was a little kid, and she had been planning and saving for this trip for years. And now that she was here, she didn’t know where to start. She already had some tickets for touristy places—like the Colosseum—but tonight, she just wanted to take pictures of Rome. Not necessarily the tourist attractions, but just Rome as a city.

She loved to take pictures at night, because there were some really cool effects that her camera could catch with the contrast in lighting. She found herself walking down Via Cavour, just photographing the buildings and the pedestrians out in the evening. One of the things Toni found herself loving in Rome so far was the architecture. Old, stone buildings were definitely not commonplace in most of the United States, especially not in Los Angeles. Toni was already excited to come back out during the day and take more pictures.

When she started to get hungry, she turned off her camera and headed back to the hotel, not feeling like trying to find somewhere to go tonight. She found herself at the bar in the hotel restaurant, a small dinner in front of her and a massive glass of wine—just what she needed.

She was finished with her meal and on her second glass of wine, thinking about when she would go back up to her room and call Veronica, when she heard heels clicking behind her, and then a pale hand, significantly lighter than the dark color of Toni’s skin, holding red sunglasses in them landed a foot away or so from her on the bar. Toni glanced up at the woman who had just appeared, and it was the same redhead from earlier. She had her phone up against her ear, and as the bartender came up to her, she said something briefly in Italian before saying into her phone, “Cela ne fonctionnera pas, vous ne pouvez pas simplement changer l’heure du rendez-vous!” Although Toni didn’t understand her, she wasn’t clueless, and she could tell that the woman was now speaking French. Whatever she was saying, she did not sound happy. “Peu importe, contactez mon assistant demain. Oui. Bonne nuit.” She hung up her phone just as a glass of some kind of liquor was set in front of her. “Grazie,” she said to the bartender.

Toni didn’t realize she was staring until the woman suddenly made eye contact with her—dark, intense brown eyes meeting hers, and a perfectly shaped eyebrow lifted slightly. Toni realized that she needed to say something. “So, what’s your native language?” Toni asked curiously. “French, or Italian?”

The woman’s expression didn’t change, except that her eyebrow lifted even more, as she asked, “Est-ce que tu parles français?”

“Only as much as I learned in two years of high school French, taught by someone who grew up in Alabama,” Toni answered, smirking a little. The corner of the woman’s mouth turned up a little bit at that.

“English is my native language,” she said, her voice smooth and warm sounding. “Are you from Alabama?”

Toni snickered. “No. I grew up in sorta upstate New York.”

That seemed to pique the woman’s interest. “Really. I’m from NYC.”

“Small world,” Toni said with a slight smile. “You are clearly fluent in French and Italian, though.”

“Oui,” the woman answered, before smirking a little and adding, “and sì.”

“Cute,” Toni teased.

The redhead took a sip of her liquor, looking away from Toni as she did so, but then turned so that her whole body was facing her. “And what’s your name, Miss Sorta Upstate New York?”

“Toni Topaz,” Toni answered with a half-smile.

The woman tilted her head curiously. “Is that short for something?”

“Antoinette,” Toni admitted.

“You would fit right in in France, then.”

“Do I get to know your name?” Toni asked, before taking a drink of her wine—which was really good—thankfully, considering how expensive it was.

“Cheryl,” the woman—Cheryl—answered, “Blossom.”

“So where would you fit in? England?” Toni teased.

Cheryl’s lips turned into a smile at the joke, and her smile practically took Toni’s breath away. “Perhaps,” she answered, “although the origins are most likely Welsh or French. In my case, French, because my grandmother was born in Corbeil-Essonnes.”

“Okay, fair enough, I don’t know enough about the origin of names,” Toni ceded, and Cheryl brought her glass up to her lips. “So… what’s a gorgeous woman like you doing alone in Rome?”

Cheryl’s eyebrow raised again, and Toni could tell she’d taken her off guard with the question or, more likely, the compliment. At this point, Toni was prepared to be turned down and if that happened, she would be respectful. But Cheryl just replied with, “Who says I’m alone?”

“Well, I swear I’m not a stalker, but I was in the lobby this morning when you left the hotel alone, and now you’re here at the bar, drinking liquor… alone.”

The redhead looked amused. “I’m here on business, Miss Topaz.”

“Business with someone French, in Rome?” Toni inquired.

“I was supposed to go to Paris at the end of next week,” Cheryl answered, “but unfortunately, my meeting was pushed back basically indefinitely.”

“Wow, you just have business all over Europe, huh?”

Cheryl just took another sip of her drink, and glanced behind her to see if there was a barstool, and then she sat down, which told Toni that she wasn’t bored of the conversation, and that was enough to please Toni. “Well what about you? What brings you to Rome, all alone?”

“Business,” Toni joked with a smirk.

“What business?”

Toni nudged her camera bag, which she hadn’t bothered to bring up to her room before getting food, that was slung over the back of the barstool. “I’m a photographer.”

Cheryl looked interested, but also skeptical. “A well-paid photographer.”

“No,” Toni denied with a laugh, “no, I’m just here to take pictures. It’s sort of like, been my lifelong dream to travel the world just to take pictures. I’ve been saving for a week in Italy for about seven years, ever since I got my first job in high school.”

“That’s a lot of time to plan ahead only to end up here alone,” Cheryl commented.

Toni shrugged, not wanting to get into that. “Well, I’m not alone right now, am I?”

Cheryl smirked. She lifted her glass and finished her drink. “Well, unfortunately, Miss Topaz, it’s getting late, and I have business very early in the morning.”

“Oh yeah no, please don’t let me keep you,” Toni insisted, and it got a smile from Cheryl. The woman stood up, reaching into a purse that Toni hadn’t noticed before and pulling out a few bills, which she slid across the bar to the bartender, who was walking by to pick up her empty glass.

“Grazie, buona notte,” she said to the bartender, before looking back at Toni. After a brief moment of some sort of consideration, Cheryl reached back into her purse, and pulled out a little red card. “I may have early business tomorrow, but thankfully, I’m done in the afternoon. If you’re not busy… give me a call.” Toni lifted an eyebrow, but took the card. “Bonne nuit, Antoinette.”

Toni felt herself blush—the exact opposite effect of any other time that someone had referred to Toni by her full name. “Goodnight,” she said back, and then Cheryl started out of the restaurant. Toni looked down at the little card Cheryl had handed her—a business card. It was red with white lettering, and it read: Cheryl Blossom – K&B Design – For Business Inquiries, followed by a phone number. Toni wasn’t quite sure that her calling would count as a business inquiry, and she wasn’t really sure if she would take Cheryl up on the offer anyway.

Now alone, and finished with her second glass of wine, Toni decided to call it a night. She paid her tab and then headed back up to her room. Once she got there, she grabbed her phone and called her best friend for the second time that day.

Despite it being the middle of the day on a Monday for her, Veronica answered pretty much right away—which was one of Toni’s favorite things about her best friend. “Hey, T! You caught me just as I’m off to my lunch break. How was day one in Rome?”

“Good,” Toni answered, “I went to a pastry shop and got a cannoli. I also ate pasta and other fancy food. Slept for about five hours during the day, but I got to go out and take some pictures tonight.”

“Cool,” Veronica chimed brightly, “so nothing too interesting for day one?”

“Not unless you include the fact that I met a gorgeous redhead tonight and she gave me her number,” Toni said with a grin, falling onto her bed.

“An Italian?” Veronica asked curiously.

“No, she’s actually from NYC,” Toni answered, “but this woman literally speaks French and Italian.”

“Well, she sounds like a dream,” Veronica teased.

“Yeah, but the number she gave me was actually her business card,” Toni said with a chuckle, “and… I don’t know, she said to call her tomorrow if I have time, but you know what tomorrow is.”

“I do know what tomorrow is, but maybe it would help if you met up with this business woman,” Veronica said, and Toni could practically see her wiggling her eyebrows as she said it.

Toni smirked. “She is hot.”

“That’s the spirt, T!” Veronica agreed. “Speaking of hot people—Sweets is very offended that you haven’t called him yet. This morning he asked if you called me and when I said yes, he got very butthurt.”

Toni smiled. It was convenient that her two best friends were dating each other, because she usually only had to update one of them on a situation, and they would tell the other. But sometimes, it did make it hard to remember to talk to the other one. “Well what’s he up to right now?”

“Working,” Veronica answered. “He only gets a half hour lunch break, so he’ll be back on his shift by now. Looks like you’re going to have to call him first thing in the morning for you, when the only thing he’s busy with is his Xbox.”

“Whoa, trouble in paradise?” Toni asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

“No,” Veronica insisted, “he just got a new game last week and he’s been addicted. But then I pretend to be upset and he feels bad and then he’s super sweet and then he treats me right all night and even makes me breakfast first thing.”

Toni faked a gag. “Okay, TMI, V.”

“You asked!” Veronica exclaimed. “Anyway, he misses you. Keeps going on about how you’re off in another country by yourself.”

“He’s sweet, but I’m fine,” Toni insisted.

“We know,” Veronica assured her, “but we just care about you, and I know he especially does. He thinks of you like a sister.”

“I know,” Toni answered, a smile coming to her face. “Well, I’ll call him first thing tomorrow.”

“Good,” Veronica chimed, “well, I’m meeting one of my team members for a work lunch. Have a good night, talk to Sweet Pea in the morning, and then go hook up with the redhead!”

Toni snickered. “Have a good day, V.”

“Goodnight, T!”

The call ended, and Toni let out a breath. Day one in Italy, done. Four more to go—and hopefully they would be a little more exciting than today had been.

Chapter Text

Toni knew that the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day” was a reference to the massive empire that had once spanned from Spain to the Middle East, and from southern England to northern Africa, but it was obviously just as much referencing Rome, the city, itself. It was a huge city, and the old, beautiful stone architecture must have taken a long time to create back when a lot of it was created.

Toni had tickets for three tourist attractions for the week, including some at The Vatican. Toni wasn’t really religious, but she was super excited to go inside St. Peter’s Basilica. She wanted to see the beautiful domes from the inside, as well as Michelangelo’s Pieta.

And that was why she spent about two hours standing in line outside, a line that seemed like it would eventually completely surround the massive obelisk in the center of the plaza in front of the Basilica. Toni was just lucky she had a ticket for early in the day, because it was getting warm, and she couldn’t wear shorts.

Now, it was late spring, and it couldn’t be warmer than seventy degrees Fahrenheit, but when she was forced to wear jeans a shirt that covered her shoulders, it felt a lot warmer. She had read that it was recommended that women bring long pants and shoulder coverings when visiting Rome, but she hadn’t realize that it was an enforced rule for churches and, especially, St. Peter’s Basilica. She was also pretty sure that, for similar reasons, multiple people had been giving her weird looks because of her magenta hair—she’d freshly dyed it before her trip, so there wasn’t much brown showing through at all.

As she approached the front of the line, her phone buzzed with a text from Veronica.

Veronica – Thanks for calling Sweet Pea earlier, it got his head out of his stupid game and guess who’s about to get laid!

Toni – I can’t believe you texted me to tell me that. Don’t you know I’m about to be stepping foot in The Vatican?

Veronica – There’s holy water in there, you’ll be fine!

Toni smirked, and pocketed her phone. She had called Sweet Pea first thing when she’d woken up, while she was getting ready, and the conversation had been pretty short, but nice. He had asked how she was doing, and how Italy was, and had checked in with her emotional state. It was sweet.

Not too long later, Toni finally got inside the Basilica, and it was even more incredible than she could’ve imagined. She hadn’t ever been in such a huge, old structure before, and it absolutely took her breath away.

She spent a good couple of hours taking as many pictures as she could inside the Basilica. She took pictures of the Pieta, of the pews where some people sat praying, of the huge columns and domes. She couldn’t imagine this huge, amazing structure being built so long ago, and that made it all the more impressive.

She took a few pictures on her phone as well, and sent them to Veronica and Sweet Pea, in a group chat she had with the two of them. Neither of them responded, so she assumed they were busy doing the deed, and she rolled her eyes as she continued to take photos.

The thing that finally got her to leave was her stomach growling angrily, demanding food. She found herself trekking through the streets of Rome, wishing she was wearing shorts and sandals, until she found a pasta and pizza place that didn’t seem too expensive. She was able to get takeout, and she leaned on the stone wall outside and gobbled up some true Italian pizza, which was different enough from its American imitation that it felt way fancier.

She hadn’t thought about what day it was all day—she’d been too in awe by Rome and Vatican City—but as she finished up her pizza, realizing how unfortunate it was that she was here alone, she couldn’t not remember. It was supposed to be her three year anniversary with her ex, who she’d broken up with about two months ago.

Three years was a long time to be with someone only to have it come to an abrupt end, but Toni thought she’d been taking it pretty well. Yes, she’d been the one to break it off, but only after the relationship had really taken a negative turn, so it was still something she had to cope with. And she felt like she’d mostly gotten over it by now, but it was hard to not remember that today would’ve marked three years together.

Huffing at herself, she finished up her pizza, threw away her trash, and started walking away from The Vatican. She took out her camera again—her best distraction for now—and started to take pictures of the streets of Rome.

Unfortunately, about mid-afternoon, her SD card was full of photos, and she found herself getting a cab back to her hotel.

She went up to her room to change out her SD card and plugged the full one into her laptop to get the pictures off of it. As she set it up to transfer, she relaxed into the pillows on her bed, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her day. She had started the day early, because sleeping during the day yesterday had made her not be able to sleep long overnight. She glanced at her nightstand, her eyes landing on the one thing that could provide her a decent distraction today. The little red business card, with curvy white lettering on it.

She picked up the business card, turning it over in her hand for a moment, and wondering what exactly K&B Design was. She thought about looking it up, but then she decided that she would find out from Cheryl herself, and she grabbed her phone, punched in the number, and hit call.

She was already alone in Italy, after all, it wasn’t a time to have high inhibitions.

The phone rung three times, and she was pretty sure it was going to go to voicemail, but then someone picked up, and a gentle, male voice said, “Good afternoon, this is Cheryl Blossom’s personal assistant, how can I help you?”

Toni blinked in surprise—personal assistant? “Oh, um… sorry, I didn’t realize…” She was going to say that she didn’t realize it was a business number, but she’d literally read it off of a business card. Nice going, Toni. She cleared her throat. “This is going to sound weird, but I met Cheryl yesterday at the hotel she’s staying at. She gave me her card and said to give her a call…”

“Miss Topaz?” the guy asked, and Toni was more than surprised to hear that he knew who she was.

“Yes,” she answered, her eyebrows knit close together.

“Miss Blossom told me to expect your call. Do you have something you can write on? I have instructions to give you her personal number.”

Perfect. She glanced at her nightstand and saw a pen and pad of paper, which she grabbed quickly. “Yep.” He read off the number for her, and she wrote it down happily. “Cool, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Have a great day, Miss Topaz.”

“You too,” Toni responded, realizing that she never caught the guy’s name. The line went dead, and she bit down on her lower lip, opening up a new contact field on her phone for Cheryl Blossom, with her personal number.

Then, feeling more confident now, she called the new number. It also rung a few times, and she wondered if Cheryl wasn’t done with her business for the day yet, but then she finally heard it pick up.

“Hello?” Now, it was Cheryl’s smooth voice.

“Miss Blossom?” Toni asked, biting down on her lip to keep herself from laughing.

“Yes, who is this?” Cheryl asked, sounding very confused.

“I spoke to your personal assistant,” Toni said, not answering the question, “and he gave me this number…”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment, and then Cheryl finally answered, “Mademoiselle Topaz. You almost got me.”

Toni couldn’t help but grin. “I didn’t interrupt your business activities, did I?”

“Actually, I just got out of a meeting—you caught me at the perfect time,” Cheryl answered. “I guess you aren’t busy.”

“I had a busy day,” Toni answered, “but it turns out that I am a bad planner, and I don’t have any plans for the evening.” That was only partially true—her original itinerary had a very organized plan for tonight, but that itinerary had been switched around a couple of months ago.

“Well, if you are calling because you would like to have plans for the evening,” Cheryl started, “I happen to have a reservation tonight at La Pergola. I have a Uber Black coming to pick me up at the hotel at six-thirty. Table for two in outdoor seating. Would you like to join me?”

“You have a reservation for two, but you don’t already have someone you’re going with?” Toni asked, skeptical.

“If you really want to know, it was supposed to be a business dinner, but the woman I was supposed to be meeting had a delayed flight, and we pushed our meeting to tomorrow,” Cheryl admitted. “So, would you like to join me, or not?”

“Definitely,” Toni answered, biting down on the inside of her lip. “So how fancy is this place? Do I need to dress up?”

Cheryl laughed a little, but it wasn’t harsh sounding—more just amused. “Sì, Signora Topaz. La Pergola è molto elegante.”

“Okay, I get it, I’ll dress nice,” Toni said with a chuckle, the words sounding understandable enough without actually knowing what exactly they meant. “Dude, did you know that to go into The Vatican, you have to cover your shoulders and your knees?”

Another laugh, and Toni blushed. Something about Cheryl’s laugh just lifted Toni’s spirits. “I did know that, Toni. Did you go to The Vatican today?”

“I did,” Toni answered, “and then I got really sweaty and gross in my jeans and shirt, so I should probably go and clean up so that I can be nice and presentable for our fancy dinner tonight.”

“Okay,” Cheryl said. “I’ll meet you in the lobby at six-thirty?”

“Sharp,” Toni answered with a grin.

“Great. Addio, Miss Topaz.”

“Bye, Miss Blossom.”

Toni hung up the call with a smirk on her face. She figured that Veronica would still be asleep right now, but she decided to text her anyway.

Toni – Guess who’s going to “La Pergola” tonight with the hot redhead! Moi! Apparently it’s fancy.

She put looked at the time. It was a little after three, so she had a few hours before she needed to meet Cheryl. Although she wanted to start getting ready, she had had a long morning, and decided that an hour nap would be best. She plugged her phone in to get it to a full charge, after setting an alarm, put her laptop—which was still transferring pictures—on the desk in the room, and then curled up in her bed.

When she woke up an hour later, she had a text back from her best friend.

Veronica – Um, yeah, that restaurant is hella fancy. You need like at least a month to make a reservation there, and it’s got like, four dollar signs on Google Maps, girl! Not to mention, the food there is delish! She’s buying?

Toni – I assume so, and if not, I guess I have to try and get refunds on the rest of my trip LOL.

Veronica – How did she get you both in so short notice??

Toni – She already had a reservation, with some business person she was supposed to meet who’s late? I don’t know.

Veronica – Sounds like she’s successful as hell.

Toni – Seems like it.

Veronica – Gorgeous and successful… aww, T! I didn’t know I was your type!

Toni – Oh shut up, I don’t have a type.

Toni – Why are you awake, what time is it there??

Veronica – It’s almost seven-thirty. A normal time for us business people to be awake.

Toni – Right, right, my bad Miss Professional.

Toni – Anyway, I gotta get ready for my date. Have a good day, and tell Sweets that I miss you guys!

Veronica – I will! Love you, Toni!

Toni – Love you, V!

Feeling the slightly nervous excitement about her upcoming date—at least, what she was interpreting as a date—Toni got out of bed and stripped off her clothes before going into the bathroom to shower. She took her time, knowing that she still had a while before she needed to meet Cheryl in the lobby. After getting all cleaned up, she lightly curled her magenta hair using the hotel blow dryer and her round brunch, and did a bold makeup look. She hadn’t been wearing much makeup when she’d met Cheryl, but she may as well try to impress.

Once she was all made up and her hair was done, she went to her suitcase and pulled out a black, fitted dress—almost a tube dress but it had a halter neck. She put on the nicest black bralette that she’d brought, and her matching lacy thong, and then stepped into the dress, wiggling as she pulled it up and onto her, adjusting the halter neck and the bottom of the dress to make sure it was all even. The last step was jewelry, which she hadn’t brought a lot of, but she had some. Fake, dangly diamond earrings and a matching bracelet on her right wrist, and then her favorite snake arm cuff on her left arm, were the finishing touches to her look.

It was almost six thirty by now, so Toni slipped on her strappy black heels and grabbed a small black clutch purse out of her suitcase. Other than what she was now wearing, she had one other dress that she’d brought, and a few more pieces of jewelry. She had not been anticipating a strong need for fancy outfits, and it felt kind of funny that she was using her fanciest ensemble on her second day in Rome, but based on what Veronica had said, she knew she needed to go all out for this restaurant—and Cheryl, for that matter.

Her clutch in hand, with her wallet and phone inside, Toni made her way out of her hotel room and down to the lobby. When she reached it, she saw Cheryl standing by the lounge area. She was wearing red pumps, and a ruby red dress, which was fitted tightly to her curves. The hems and edges had a silver sheen to them, and it gave the impression that Cheryl was sparkling, without it being very in-your-face. Her lips were stained a dark red, and her makeup was dark around her eyes, contrasting boldly with her very pale skin.

She was on the phone as Toni approached her—clearly, she was a very busy woman. This time, though, she was speaking in English. “Yes, well, it’s not like I canceled the meeting, Katy. Maybe he’s just busy. I told him to have someone contact Kevin, but Kevin hasn’t mentioned anything, so maybe he found someone else to do it. I know that’s not ideal, but there’s only so much I can do. Yeah, I’m still in Rome.” At this point, Cheryl noticed Toni, and her gaze darkened a little as she looked Toni up and down. “No, it got moved to tomorrow, her flight isn’t landing until late tonight.”

“Hey,” Toni said softly, now standing next to Cheryl, who gave her an apologetic smile and a nod, before holding up one finger. Toni just nodded in response.

“Katy, the way you’re reacting right now is exactly why I handle all of this. You have enough on your plate, okay? Let me do my job, and everything will work out,” Cheryl insisted. “Okay, well we can talk about that after I meet with her in the morning, because I have reservations to get to. Of course not. Okay, sounds good. Yes, have a good day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Mmhmm. Bye.”

Cheryl finally hung up, and slipped her phone into the silver purse she was carrying.

“Hi, I’m so sorry,” Cheryl apologized, “we should go, the Uber is probably here.”

“Yeah,” Toni agreed, following as Cheryl led her out of the hotel and to a nice, black car that was waiting in front of it. The passenger window rolled down as they approached it, and a man smiled out at them.

“Miss Blossom?” he asked in a strong Italian accent.

“Sì,” Cheryl answered, and he unlocked the doors. Cheryl opened the back seat door and gestured for Toni to get in first.

“Thanks,” Toni said sheepishly, climbing in and scooting over to the other side. Cheryl got in as well, and they buckled their seatbelts before the man started driving. “So, more business, I take it?”

“Yes,” Cheryl answered with a little laugh. “That was Katy, my business partner.”

“So, what exactly is this business you’re always doing?” Toni asked curiously.

“I gave you my card. You don’t know how to use Google?” Cheryl asked with a smirk.

Toni shrugged. “I knew I was going to see you again, so I figured it would be more fun as a real conversation.”

Cheryl smiled. “K&B Design is a fashion company that me and my business partner, Katy Keene, started a few years ago.”

“Keene and Blossom.” Toni said, understanding the letters now.

“Yes. So, Katy’s passion has always been for fashion design and, well, I grew up in the business industry. My parents own a nationwide maple syrup company—Blossom Maple Farms.”

“Oh shit,” Toni said, impressed, “I’ve totally seen that stuff on shelves.”

“You’ve never tried it?” Cheryl asked curiously.

Shyly, Toni admitted, “I really like Hungry Jack…” Cheryl scoffed.

“You’d rather than flavored corn syrup than real maple syrup?” Toni shrugged, unable to fight a smile at Cheryl’s reaction. “Anyway. I grew up around business, so it comes naturally to me by now. I’m currently the CEO of the business, and we are still sort of small in terms of staff, so I also handle most business deals. Katy does all of the actual designing.”

“Wow,” Toni said, impressed. “That’s really cool.”

Cheryl smiled. “What about you, Miss Topaz? What do you do?”

“Oh you know, I run a world-renown photography business…” Toni said sarcastically, a smirk coming to her lips as Cheryl rolled her eyes. “I do photography for the social media sect of a local nonprofit—in Los Angeles—and to supplement that not so great income, I bartend on weekends. And, occasionally, I manage to get a good photography gig on the side.”

“Three jobs,” Cheryl said with a nod, “I admire your work ethic.”

“Gotta pay the rent somehow,” Toni said with a chuckle, “not to mention, I’m still finishing my degree.”

Cheryl knit her eyebrows. “Oh, interesting. In what?”

“Fine Arts, at USC,” Toni answered.

“How much do you have left?” Cheryl wondered.

“I think no more than like, ten credit hours,” Toni admitted. “I got a lot of financial aid my first year, but since then I’ve had to pay a lot more out of pocket than I was hoping, so I decide to just take longer. Hence why I’m about to turn twenty-four, and I’m still finishing.”

“Mm,” Cheryl hummed, “well, another sign of your work ethic. I admire that.”

Toni felt a little put on the spot all of the sudden, and she cleared her throat before saying, “Well, Miss CEO, you seem to have pretty good work ethic too.”

“Well, yes, I would agree with that,” Cheryl said with a little chuckle, “but I have never had to worry so much about money, so I imagine that makes it a lot harder.”

Admittedly, Toni was impressed by Cheryl’s acknowledgement of that, because Toni typically found that wealthy people wouldn’t usually. Veronica, of course, was an exception, which was largely in part to her having known Toni and Sweet Pea for so long. Before Toni got a chance to response, though, Cheryl was speaking again.

“So, how have you enjoyed Rome so far?”

“I love it,” Toni answered, “it’s beautiful here. I love the architecture. And I went to the Vatican, and saw the Pieta and everything.”

Cheryl smiled fondly. “This is your first time outside of the US?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered with a nod.

“Why Rome?”

“I don’t know. There’s just so much history here, and so many beautiful structures.” It wasn’t the whole answer. Her ex had been a big reason that they’d decided on Rome as their first vacation. But Toni was trying to not think about her today. “And I’ve always wanted to come to Italy, so it just felt fitting.”

Cheryl nodded in understanding. “Well, you made an excellent choice. Rome is a beautiful city.” Toni smiled, glancing out the window at the buildings they were passing, and silence settled in the car. They sat in silence for most of the rest of the car ride, which wasn’t that much longer. When the car was pulling up to the restaurant, Cheryl sat up straighter. “Grazie,” she said with a smile to the driver, who blushed a little when he saw her smile. Toni smirked a little as she and Cheryl got out of the car.

The restaurant was very visibly high end, and as Toni followed Cheryl inside and to the host, she suddenly felt like she didn’t fit in. The people dining in where dressed so elegantly, in suits and long dresses. She and Cheryl looked a bit more risqué, with their slightly shorter dresses.

“Cheryl Blossom, tavolo per due,” Cheryl said to the hostess, who said something in Italian back to Cheryl, before guiding them through the restaurant. Toni tried not to stare at the décor as she followed, and then they stepped out onto the outdoor seating area, and Toni’s breath was absolutely taken away.

The balcony they were on overlooked an expanse of gorgeous outer Rome—trees and Roman style architecture. The sky was a deep blue, since it was getting late, but it wasn’t completely dark. The view was incredible, and Toni couldn’t believe that she was here.

They sat at a small table set with gold and white plates, wine glasses, and a decorative plant at the far end. The table was angled diagonally from the edge of the balcony, so Cheryl and Toni were sat on two adjacent sides of the little square table, so that they both could see the view.

The hostess handed them a few different, pretty thick, menus, said something in Italian that Cheryl acknowledged, and then walked off. “Oh my god,” Toni finally said, “this is beautiful.”

“Isn’t it?” Cheryl agreed. “Every time I come to Rome, I try to come here. But sometimes I make the trip plans with too short notice. So when I have plans in advance, I always make a reservation.”

Toni looked down at the menu, and immediately noticed the crazy prices. Veronica had mentioned that it had four dollar signs online, and that was evident by the entrée prices of about twenty-five Euros and up. “Damn,” she muttered.

“I’ll cover your food of course,” Cheryl said, and Toni wondered if she’d noticed that Toni was reacting to the prices. “Since I invited you out. I was going to be paying this evening anyway, if my business dinner hadn’t gotten canceled.”

“Thank you,” Toni said, knowing that this wasn’t the time to argue about paying. “So, what have you tried here?”

“The menu changes fairly often,” Cheryl admitted, “but their homemade pasta is delicious. And their seafood is always very fresh.”

A waiter suddenly came up to them, and greeted them in English, probably since he had heard them speaking in English. “Good evening, ladies. May I interested you in some drinks this evening?”

Cheryl turned her gaze to Toni. “Are you a fan of white wine?” Toni nodded, content to let Cheryl order whatever drinks for them. The redhead looked back at the waiter. “I was hoping to get a bottle of Falanghina…”

“Of course,” the waiter said, “and do you have a preference from our water menu?”

“Um, water menu?” Toni heard herself ask. It was then that she discovered that among her menus was a booklet of over twenty-five different waters. Her eyes widened, and Cheryl must have noticed.

“We will just take whatever is most standard,” Cheryl insisted, “grazie, Signore.”

“Of course,” he said with a smile, before turning around and going off to retrieve their drinks.

“Water menu?” Toni asked, looking through the twelve page booklet. “Okay, that’s excessive.”

Cheryl looked amused, and she was smiling as she said, “This is the only restaurant in Rome with three Michelin stars. They are allowed to be excessive. Don’t worry, we aren’t buying the most expensive bottle of water.” Toni furrowed her eyebrows, flipping to the back of the water menu and seeing a bottle for three hundred and fifty Euros.

“Okay, that’s not only excessive, that’s absolutely ridiculous.”

“I agree with you,” Cheryl assured her, “but I promise, the food here really is delicious.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Toni insisted. “I would never normally come to a place like this. I’m just… very shocked.”

Toni kept looking through the menu, and decided that she would get something on the cheaper end. She mentally decided on the grilled salmon, because it was under thirty Euros, and then set her menu down, glancing over at Cheryl.

“So,” she heard herself saying, “I totally wasn’t eavesdropping when you were on the phone earlier… but you’re in Rome all week?”

“Mm, yes,” Cheryl answered, “and I have to be in Greece early next week.”

“And then Paris was supposed to be next?” Toni recalled.

“Yes,” Cheryl answered, “but I will probably not be going there now that that meeting was canceled. So it will probably be back to New York for me.”

“Your life sounds pretty exciting.”

Cheryl gave her a smile, but Toni wasn’t sure that the smile reached her eyes. Toni wanted to mention it, but she decided not to—they barely knew each other, after all. “Yes, well, it is very busy, at least.”

Their conversation switched gears then, and Toni asked Cheryl about if she went to school for business. Cheryl told her that she did, in New York, and graduated four years ago—she was twenty-six, a little over two years older than Toni.

Their wine and water came out shortly, and Toni found herself loving the Falanghina. At that point, they also ordered their dinners—grilled salmon for Toni, and pan seared Tuna for Cheryl.

When they got their food, Toni was beyond pleased with the taste. She found herself practically moaning as she took a bite, and she noticed Cheryl almost laughing at her. They didn’t talk much as they ate their food, and then they ordered two desserts—tiramisu for Toni and vanilla panna cotta for Cheryl.

They finished up their meal, and Cheryl paid their bill, and when they left the restaurant to meet the car that Cheryl had schedule in advance, it was about nine-thirty. They got into the car, and Toni let out a happy sigh as the driver started them back to the hotel. It was hard not to feel pretty good, after having such delicious food and wine.

“This is pretty,” Cheryl said suddenly, and Toni inhaled sharply as she felt Cheryl’s cold, gentle fingers touch her snake arm cuff and, partly, her skin.

“Oh, thanks,” Toni said with small smile. “My dad got it for me when I graduated high school. It’s probably the nicest thing he ever purchased.”

Cheryl ran her fingers on the silver metal of the cuff, and then let her hand fall. It brushed against Toni’s upper thigh as it landed, and Toni couldn’t not notice it. “So, how long are you in Rome for?”

“Until Friday,” Toni answered. “My flight leaves Friday afternoon.”

“What else are you doing this week? I assume more sightseeing.”

“I’m seeing the Colosseum tomorrow. Thursday… is sort of just a sightseeing day. Probably I’ll go look at the Trevi Fountain and some other places,” Toni replied.

“The fountain is beautiful,” Cheryl said softly, “you’ll love it. You should also look at Piazza Navona. Simple, but so beautiful.”

“I’m excited to see more of the city for sure, the pictures I’ve seen have been incredible and… well, I’m here to take pictures.”

“I’m sorry if it seems like I’m prying, but… why are you here, in Rome, alone?” Cheryl wondered, tilting her head.

“Well, that wasn’t really planned,” Toni answered with a sad chuckle, “I was supposed to be here with someone, but… it didn’t work out.”

Cheryl nodded slowly. “I see.”

Toni had a thought all of the sudden, and she bit down on the inside of her lower lip as she debated whether or not to say anything. Finally, though, she asked, “How busy are you with business this week?”

“I have a meeting tomorrow, like I mentioned before. And one more Friday afternoon.”

“You know, it might be nice to have someone with show me around a little bit… to help me pick the best spots for pictures.”

Cheryl’s eyes lit up. “Oh?”

“You want to join me on Thursday?”

“I would love to, Toni.”

“Cool,” Toni said, blushing a little at the way that Cheryl was looking at her, with such intensity. Toni’s gaze got stuck on Cheryl’s plump, red lips, and she bit down on her lower lip unconsciously. She would’ve kissed her right then and there, if they weren’t in a car with someone driving them back to the hotel. She forced her gaze back up to meet Cheryl’s.

They sat in silence for the rest of the drive, a palpable tension between them. When the car finally pulled up to the hotel, they both thanked the driver and got out, the tension dissolving only slightly now that they were out in the open.

They walked inside, and Toni glanced at the elevator, wondering if she should say goodnight, or try to make the night last longer. Before she could make up her mind, Cheryl was saying, “I have a bottle of Dolcetto in my room, if you’re interested.”

“I’ve never tried Dolcetto,” Toni heard herself say.

Cheryl smiled. “Would you like to come up?”

“Sure.”

And with that, Toni was going up the elevator with Cheryl, to the top floor. Cheryl guided her through the hallway to her room, unlocking it and pushing the door open. It was much nicer and bigger than Toni’s room, and she knew she shouldn’t be surprised. “Come on in,” Cheryl said, and Toni followed her into the suite. As Cheryl went to her minibar and grabbed out a bottle of wine and two glasses, Toni drifted to the window, looking at the view of Rome. “So Dolcetto,” Cheryl started suddenly, “it’s pretty dry, but it’s got fruity tones to it.”

“I’m not picky with wine,” Toni assured her. Cheryl poured two glasses, and handed one off to Toni, who took it with a smile, before tasting it. “Mm… that’s really good.”

“I love Italian wine,” Cheryl said with a smile, taking a sip herself.

“So, you do a lot of traveling for work,” Toni stated, “do you always travel alone?”

“I’m not really alone,” Cheryl insisted. “My assistant, Kevin, usually comes with me. He’s staying in another room.”

“Oh,” Toni said in surprise.

“But he and I are usually very busy, and it does often feel like I’m alone,” Cheryl admitted.

“And do you usually solve that by taking strangers out?” Toni teased, taking another drink of her wine.

Cheryl’s eyes narrowed slightly as the corner of her lips turned up. “No, Miss Topaz, I don’t. But I’ll admit that most strangers don’t typically try and start conversations with me while I’m traveling.”

“Because you’re intimidating,” Toni informed her.

“Clearly not to you.”

Toni smiled, taking a drink of her wine and then setting the now half full glass down on the desk in the room. “It’s pretty hard to intimidate me.” Toni took a step closer to Cheryl, feeling bold all of the sudden.

“Oh, is it?” Cheryl asked, quirking her eyebrow up slightly.

“Mmhmm.”

Cheryl set down her wine glass as well, and approached Toni, her hand coming up to run her finger in between the rows of Toni’s arm cuff, against Toni’s skin. “It’s difficult to intimidate me as well. It is also difficult to intrigue me, but you, Antoinette, you intrigue me.”

Toni’s eyes were locked with Cheryl, goosebumps covering her skin from Cheryl’s gentle touch. Suddenly, Cheryl’s right hand came to Toni’s cheek, resting there as she closed the distance between their lips with a soft kiss. Toni sighed into it, kissing Cheryl back and pressing into the other woman. Her hands wrapped around to Cheryl’s back, and she pressed the pads of her fingers against the material of the red dress. The kiss got more intense as Cheryl parted her lips a little, and Toni took it as an invitation for her tongue to explore. She was pleased by the little noise of pleasure that Cheryl made as she pushed her tongue into her mouth.

In that moment, the universe tried to remind Toni of what day it was, but she pushed the thought from her mind and pressed closer to Cheryl. Cheryl pulled her lips away for just long enough to gasp in some air, and then Toni was pushing her toward the large bed in the suite. Cheryl’s hands gripped Toni’s waist, and she moaned into Toni’s mouth. When Cheryl’s legs bumped back against the bed, Toni brought her hands to the straps of Cheryl’s dress. “Can I take this off?” she murmured against Cheryl’s lips.

“Take it off,” Cheryl instructed, and Toni didn’t hesitate, pulling the straps down and pushing the dress downward. Cheryl wiggled a little to make it easier for the dress to fall into a pool around her legs, and Toni leaned back a little to look down at the woman’s body, now clad only in a matching, ruby red lingerie set. Toni moaned a little at the sight.

Cheryl’s arms were suddenly draped over Toni’s shoulders, her hands going to the halter top of Toni’s dress. She unclasped the little hook, disconnecting the strap, and then she and Toni both pulled the dress off of her. “Oh mon dieu, tu es si belle,” Cheryl murmured, and Toni wasn’t quite sure what she said, but she felt wetness in between her thighs when she heard it.

Toni gently placed her hands on Cheryl’s shoulders and pushed her down onto a sitting position at the end of her bed, before straddling her and sitting down onto her lap. She brought their lips together again and kissed her hard. Cheryl kissed her back eagerly, her hands on Toni’s waist and the pads of her fingers pressing into her skin. Her touches burned like fire, and Toni’s entire body was awake.

It was Cheryl who started to lean backward, practically pulling Toni up the bed as she laid back into the pillows. Toni pulled her lips away from Cheryl, grinding her center down against Cheryl’s. Since Toni was wearing a thong, there was practically nothing protecting her sensitive areas, but Cheryl was wearing more covering, lacy panties. By the way the woman moaned desperately, though, Toni had a feeling that she was wishing that she had no underwear on at all.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” Toni murmured, her hands cupping Cheryl’s barely covered breasts and squeezing firmly. Cheryl whimpered, her hips bucking upwards and her hands coming to Toni’s thighs. Her nailed, short but manicured, dug into Toni’s skin.

Toni finally lowered her lips back down, landing them on Cheryl’s neck and kissing and sucking on the skin there. Cheryl let out a sigh, and Toni suddenly felt Cheryl grabbing her hand and pushing it down toward her center.

Toni grinned, moving her lips to Cheryl’s ear. “I like a woman who knows what she wants,” she whispered hotly, and Cheryl moaned.

“I like a woman who gives me what I want,” Cheryl countered, her voice low.

Toni actually chuckled at that, and she finally slid her hand down into Cheryl’s panties, feeling the wet mess that was waiting for her.

“Oh god,” Cheryl moaned, and Toni propped herself up so she could look at Cheryl’s face—her eyes practically rolling up into her head as Toni slid her fingers through her folds, teasing her clit and her opening. Her breathing was becoming more erratic, and she was biting down on her lower lip. Toni felt her center begging for touch as well, but it seemed like Cheryl was already close, so she focused her efforts on letting Cheryl finish first.

She pushed two fingers inside of Cheryl firmly, getting only a slight resistance, and pressed her thumb into Cheryl’s clit. Cheryl gasped, her back arching. “Does that feel good?” Toni heard herself ask, and Cheryl nodded insistently.

“Don’t stop,” Cheryl pleaded, and Toni had no intention of stopping. She pressed her fingers deep inside Cheryl and began to pulse them in and out. Cheryl’s breathing was sporadic and shallow as she got close, and Toni kept up her movements, watching Cheryl get visibly closer to her climax. “Please, Toni, please, pl—” Toni curled her fingers inside Cheryl and rubbed on her clit, and Cheryl clenched her thighs around Toni’s hand, her back arching as she hit her orgasm. She let out a guttural noise as she came, followed by a long, somewhat shaky sigh, and she relaxed onto the bed.

“Good?” Toni asked, smirking a little.

Cheryl’s dark eyes flickered open, and she met Toni’s gaze above her. “Mm. Mademoiselle Topaz, you sure know what you’re doing, n'est-ce pas?”

“Keep speaking French, and I’ll be sure you just how much I know what I’m doing,” Toni said with a chuckle.

Cheryl smirked. “Je pense que c'est votre tour, non?”

“I have no idea what you just said,” Toni murmured. Cheryl grinned, sitting up a little and bringing her hand around to Toni’s ass, squeezing it purposefully.

“Je vais te faire sentir si bien,” Cheryl whispered. She gripped firmly on Toni’s upper thigh and then lifted herself off of the bed, suddenly rising up and pushing down into the bed. Toni felt her breath leave her throat, and she bit down on her lower lip to suppress a moan. Yeah, she was pretty sure whatever Cheryl was saying, it had to do with her topping, and Toni was ready for it.

Cheryl was suddenly kissing around Toni’s bralette, leaving red lipstick marks around the edges of her boobs, and then, through the thin fabric of the bralette, gently bit down on Toni’s nipple. Toni let out a gasp, and then Cheryl continued to surprise her by grabbing the sides of Toni’s thong, and pulling it straight down off of her. Toni helped kick it away, and then Cheryl began to trail her lips down Toni’s midsection, leaving a trail of red lipstick, no doubt, until her lips were level with Toni’s center.

Suddenly, Cheryl froze and tilted her head so that she was looking up at Toni. “May I?” she asked, her hands gripping Toni’s thighs. Toni bit down on her lower lip and nodded, desperate for any sort of contact and extremely turned on by the fact that Cheryl was going straight for eating her out. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised by Cheryl’s confidence, but it was extremely attractive.

When Cheryl’s tongue pressed into her folds, Toni was practically undone already. Everything after that was practically a blur. She remembered her fingers tangling into long, red hair as Cheryl gripped her thighs and ate her out, boldly and without any hesitance. Her body reacted to every touch by Cheryl with extreme sensitivity, and she kept biting on her lip to keep from making too loud of noises, but when she finally hit her climax, she couldn’t help it as she cried out in pleasure. She felt Cheryl licking the insides of her thighs clean, and Toni’s breaths were still fast and erratic as she relaxed into the hotel bed. “Damn.”

Cheryl pulled away from Toni’s center, licking her lips—which were barely still covered in lipstick. Toni was going to have to take care to clean up in between her thighs later, she knew that they must be covered in lipstick. “Bien?”

“Very,” Toni answered. “Wow. You really know how to take a girl out in Rome, huh?”

Cheryl smiled, laying out next to Toni and propping her head up on her hand. “Well, Miss Topaz, I can’t say that I have a lot of experience doing so.”

“Then it must come naturally,” Toni said with a grin.

Toni thought she saw a blush appear on Cheryl’s cheeks, but she couldn’t quite tell. “I must say, you have been a very pleasant date.”

Toni smiled, and then she, for the second time that evening, suddenly remembered what night it was, and she bit down on the inside of her lip. “Well… I don’t want to overstay my welcome…”

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow. “Oh. Well, if you want to leave, of course you can, but…”

“But?”

“We still have a lot of wine left… and I may have a meeting tomorrow morning, but let’s just say, I am nowhere near tired.” Cheryl tilted her head a up a little. “Of course, it’s up to you, Toni, but if you’d like to stay a little longer…”

How could Toni say no to that? Like she’d told Cheryl before, she did like a woman who knew—and said—what she wanted. “Hmm, well it couldn’t hurt…”

Cheryl’s lips broke out into a smile, and she then pressed them to Toni’s, and the magenta haired girl forgot anything about what today was.

Chapter Text

Toni woke up in the morning with a slight headache, and her mouth felt dry. She could feel the texture of the hotel sheets all across her body, making her realize that she was naked. Furrowing her eyebrows slightly, she forced her eyes open, and blinked a few times to clear what she realized was dried mascara out of her eyes. Letting out a little groan, she rolled onto her back and wiped the makeup out of her eyes, looking up at the ceiling and realizing all of the sudden that this was not her hotel room.

She was in Cheryl’s room—she’d never gone back down to her own the previous night. But Cheryl wasn’t in the bed, she realized, and she listened for the sound of someone in the bathroom, but it was silent. She sat up, concerned, and then noticed a little note on the nightstand. Next to it was her phone, plugged into a charger, and a water bottle.

She picked up the note and saw the curvy handwriting that must belong to Cheryl.

Good morning, Toni. I’m so sorry I am not here this morning, but my appointment got moved up about an hour and I had to leave a lot faster than anticipated this morning. You were so deeply asleep that I couldn’t bear to wake you up. Feel free to order in from my room, I will gladly cover your breakfast, or not. Regardless, please text me details regarding your itinerary for tomorrow so that I can join you… if you would still like me to. Sincerely, Cheryl.

Toni couldn’t help but smile at the note. She sat up a little straighter and grabbed her phone, unplugging it and then taking a drink from the water bottle as she unlocked it. She had a few messages from Veronica.

Veronica – Girl, you haven’t texted me since my lunch break, and I’m dying to hear about your date! Also, I need to make sure you’re still alive, so please text me before you go to sleep tonight!

Veronica – Okay, it’s so late there so you must be asleep by now. You better call me in the morning.

Veronica – Good morning! If you haven’t called me before I go to sleep, I will call your hotel, and if I can’t get ahold of you that way, I will no joke call Roman police.

As well as a text from Sweet Pea.

Sweets – Uh you should probably call Ronnie soon. I swear, she’s about to call the Roman police or something?

Both of the last texts were from about half an hour ago. It was close to ten in the morning in Rome, which meant that it was after midnight in Los Angeles. Knowing her best friends, though, they were still awake, so she instantly hit the call button for Veronica’s contact. She answered it immediately.

“Good morning,” Veronica chimed brightly, “you better have some juicy details about that date of yours, Antoinette, otherwise I will spend the entirety of this phone call reminding you of the deal we made over the weekend, before you left, about how you need to text me before you go to bed so I know that you are alive, all alone in fucking Italy, literally thousands of miles away!”

“Good morning to you too,” Toni said, aware of how her voice was a little croaky still. There had been quite a bit of crying out the previous night. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think about texting you last night. Let’s just say, I was way too distracted up until the moment that I finally passed out to remember to look at my phone.”

“Uh no, let’s not just say that, let’s tell Veronica the juicy details,” Veronica insisted.

Toni chuckled. “Um, well I’m in her hotel room…”

“Oh shit! Is she there?”

“No,” Toni answered, “she had a meeting this morning, so she left and wrote me a note. She told me I could order breakfast on her, but that seems like pushing it. She literally spent over a hundred Euros on dinner for us last night.”

“Well, she’s loaded right?” Veronica asked.

“Well I don’t want to take advantage of that,” Toni insisted.

“When in Rome, am I right?” Toni heard a distant voice through the phone—Sweet Pea—say.

Toni rolled her eyes. “Do as the Romans do? Which is what? Mooch off of rich women who hook up with them?”

“If she offered, I’d take it,” Sweet Pea exclaimed.

“I’m with him,” Veronica agreed. “Anyway, so… you had a good night then.”

“Uh, hell yes,” Toni answered with a chuckle.

“Good. I was worried you would let what day it was yesterday affect your night,” Veronica admitted.

“Me too,” Toni admitted, “but damn, if you guys saw this girl… Yeah, I don’t care what anniversary it is, you don’t pass up a night with her.”

“The fact that you’re in Rome definitely makes it a once in a lifetime opportunity, too,” Veronica said thoughtfully, and Toni smirked.

“Maybe twice in a lifetime?” Toni asked. “I asked her if she wants to come with me around Rome tomorrow, and she’s free so she’s going to come with.”

“Holy shit,” Veronica exclaimed. “Toni! How are you so fucking smooth?”

“I’m not, I just don’t get nervous very easily,” Toni insisted with a laugh. “But yeah. It’ll be nice to not go alone.”

“Yeah, I’m glad you’ve found someone who can go with you to at least one of the things you had planned. I know you’re having a good time taking pictures, but you designed that trip to be with Sara.” Sara. Toni’s ex, who she’d been trying so hard not to think about.

“Yeah,” Toni agreed, sighing a little. “Okay, well I’ll let you two go to bed—or go do all the nasty shit you guys do before bed.”

“You mean like the nasty shit that you were doing all night instead of texting me that you were okay?” Veronica bit back.

Toni chuckled. “Goodnight, V! I love you guys; I’ll text you both later.”

“Have a good day, Tiny!” Sweet Pea called, and Toni smiled.

“Bye, T. Be safe—enjoy your fancy room service breakfast!”

Toni hung up the phone, a smile still on her face. She looked back at the little note that Cheryl had left her and debated whether or not to call up room service. She really wanted to take Cheryl up on the offer, but she also wanted to go get cleaned up so she could get ready for the day, so she ended up not calling room service. She slipped her underwear and dress back on, and grabbed her clutch, tossed her phone and Cheryl’s little note into it, and then left Cheryl’s suite.

She made her way down a couple floors and then to her hotel room, where she stripped naked once again and stepped into a hot shower, cleaning off of her makeup thoroughly and scrubbing her body down.

It was about forty-five minutes later that she was finally all cleaned up, dressed, and made up for the day. Despite how late she and Cheryl were up the previous night, tiring each other out, she felt very well rested. She grabbed her camera bag, made sure her room key and wallet were in it, and left for the day.

As she left the hotel, she decided to text Cheryl.

Toni – Good morning! Thank you for charging my phone this morning. I didn’t end up taking your offer of breakfast, because I decided to go and explore Rome a bit more and find some little café to stop at for breakfast and coffee instead. I will send you details on my plans for tomorrow when I get back to my hotel room tonight. I don’t have much planned, though, to be honest. Hope your meeting is going well.

She reread the message before hitting send, and then pocketed her phone. Now, it was time to find somewhere to get breakfast.

Toni ended up at a small café where she ordered herself a double shot of espresso and some freshly baked bread and jam. It was exactly what she needed to kick off her day. Breakfast and coffee taken care of, Toni started off on her walk through the surrounding areas. She wasn’t even a ten minute walk from the Colosseum, but she wasn’t going to see the Colosseum until later in the afternoon, so she headed off in a different direction, coming to an old basilica that she found herself stopping to take pictures of.

That’s how the early afternoon was spent—wandering the streets of Rome, near the Colosseum, taking pictures. When it was about time for her to go to the Colosseum, she made the walk there and got in line, her ticket on her phone.

Toni felt like she’d seen a lot of pictures of the Colosseum, but nothing had prepared her for how big and impressive it actually was. It was hard for her to imagine how anyone from hundreds of years ago had constructed anything in Rome, but the Colosseum—having stood for almost two thousand years—was really incredible. Sure, a lot of it had broken down, but still.

Toni found herself wanting to take pictures of everything—from the exhibits in the oval around the amphitheater, to the center of it, which had long since started collapsing. At some point, a staff member noticed her taking so many pictures, and she heard him say, in a not so deep Italian accent, “Miss, would you like me to take a picture of you?”

“Oh,” Toni said in surprise, “um, I guess, sure.” She didn’t hand over her camera, though, instead grabbing her phone and handing it to him. She stood so that the view behind her was of the whole amphitheater, and the man took her picture with a smile on his face, before handing over her phone.

“What has brought you to our Colosseum alone?” he asked curiously.

Toni almost laughed, trying to think of what exactly to say. “Hard to focus on pictures when someone’s following you around,” she decided on.

“You are a photographer, then?” he asked, still smiling.

“Yes,” Toni answered with a nod, “I am.”

“You seem very focused. I guess I can understand why you’d come alone.”

Toni just nodded, even though it hadn’t really been her intention to come alone. “Anyway… thanks for the picture.”

“Of course,” he said, “if you have any questions, I’ll be around.”

She could’ve sworn he winked when he said it, and Toni tried not to smirk. Getting hit on at the Colosseum? She would have a good laugh at that eventually.

As she went to put her phone back in her bag, she felt it buzz, and she saw that she had a text from Cheryl—the first one since Toni had messaged her this morning.

Cheryl – Good afternoon, Toni. I hope you are having a good time out and about in Rome and seeing the Colosseum. My meeting turned into a daylong event, and I’m finally getting to go back to the hotel. Looking forward to getting the details on tomorrow, I’m excited to have a work free day tomorrow.

Toni – Damn, that’s one long meeting! I’m at the Colosseum right now. It’s amazing.

Cheryl – Don’t let me distract you from enjoying it.

Toni smiled a little, finally slipping her phone back into her bag and resuming her photographing.

She made it back to the hotel a while later, realizing that she’d skipped lunch and feeling in desperate need for food.

After going up to her room and dropping off her camera, Toni went back down to the main floor and to the restaurant. She got a seat at the bar and ordered a simple pasta dinner, as well as a large glass of some sort of Italian red wine, winding down for the evening.

When she was done shoveling down her food and was finishing off her wine, she decided to update her best friends, opening a group chat with Veronica and Sweet Pea.

Toni – Saw the Colosseum today!

She attached the picture of her in the Colosseum to the text, sent the message, and got a response within a few seconds.

Veronica – Ooh Rome looks good on you! How was it?

Sweets – I can’t believe you actually got someone to take a picture of you, that’s really un-Toni-like.

Toni – It was good! And yeah, this guy who worked there saw me and offered to take a picture of me—before also hitting on me lowkey.

Veronica – Damn, Toni! Everyone in Rome is all over you huh?

Toni – Hardly.

Sweets – So how much do you miss us?

Toni – Eh, I guess a little bit.

Veronica – I mean, if I was in Italy with a hot redhead, I’d probably feel the same way…

Sweets – Whoa, whoa, not cool babe

Veronica – Love you <3333

Toni – I have a feeling someone isn’t getting laid tonight…

Toni smirked at her phone, and then she suddenly she felt a familiar presence next to her, and she glanced up to see the redhead, standing only a few inches from Toni, and looking down at the magenta haired girl. “Fancy seeing you here,” Cheryl said somewhat softly, but with a raised eyebrow. “How was your day in Rome, Signora Topaz?”

“It was good,” Toni answered with a small smile. “I got hit on in the Colosseum, so I’m going to add that to my travel bucket list so that I can cross it off.”

Cheryl smirked a little. “May I join you?”

“Please,” Toni answered with a nod, and Cheryl took a seat next to Toni, and when the bartender looked to her for her order, she answered him in Italian. “Seemed like you had plenty of wine up in your room, what brings you down to the bar?”

A glass of some sort of liquor was set in front of Cheryl, who lifted an eyebrow. “Does this look like wine, Toni?”

Toni chuckled. “Fair point. How was your day-long meeting?”

“It was with this woman, a chief editor for a fashion magazine, who really loves small talk,” Cheryl answered, “and I’ve never been one to discuss the weather five times.”

“How much is there to be said about weather?” Toni asked, surprised.

“Well, there’s weather in Rome. She just flew from San Diego, I was in New York last weekend, and I’m going to Greece this weekend—and I was supposed to go to France next week. Any mention of a new place, and she decided its weather needed some discussion,” Cheryl answered with an eyeroll. “But I ended the day with a deal for some of Katy’s pieces to show up in next month’s edition, so I call that a success.”

“I can’t really picture you talking business, but I imagine that you can be quite persuasive,” Toni said with a smirk, intentionally sounding as flirty as she could.

“Business, Miss Topaz, is my middle name,” Cheryl assured her, lifting her glass to her lips as she kept her eyes locked with Toni’s. Toni felt warmth in between her legs, and she pressed them together slightly. “However, I am grateful to have a reprieve tomorrow. What time were you planning on going sightseeing?”

“Probably late morning,” Toni answered. “I’m pretty worn out from today, and I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of walking tomorrow.”

Cheryl smiled. “Rome is a big city.” Toni’s phone buzzed suddenly, and she glanced down to see that she had a couple more texts from Veronica and Sweet Pea. “Do you need to get that?”

“Oh, no,” Toni answered, looking back up at Cheryl, “it’s just my dumb friends. But… I probably should go up for the night. Like I said, lots of walking tomorrow.”

“Mm yes,” Cheryl said with a nod, “well, have a good night. How about you just text me in the morning when you have an idea of when you’ll be ready to go?”

“Definitely,” Toni agreed, grabbing her wallet and pulling out the cash to pay for her meal and drink. The bartender noticed her getting ready to leave, and he came over to her to receive the money. “Grazi,” Toni said pointedly, noticing the corner of Cheryl’s lips lifting slightly.

“Buona note, signora,” the bartender said with a slight nod, and Toni stood up from her seat, finding herself very close to Cheryl where she was sitting.

“Goodnight, Toni,” Cheryl said, the words coming out slow, Toni watching her lips.

“Goodnight, Cheryl,” Toni returned, before grabbing her bag and forcing herself to head back to her room. The truth was that if she stayed in Cheryl’s vicinity any longer, she wouldn’t be able to help herself if Cheryl invited her up to her room again, and she really did need some rest tonight.

Before she got ready for bed, she checked her texts from her friends one more time.

Veronica – I always get what I want, actually.

Sweets – Not when you brag about it.

Veronica – Oh come on babyyyyy

Sweets – …

Sweets – Whatever

Veronica – See you tonight ;)

Toni – I am so offended that I had to witness this exchange. I’m going to bed you horny losers.

Veronica – Love you T! Talk to you tomorrow!

Sweets – Goodnight, Tiny!

Toni chuckled at her friends and started to get ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day—one spent with Cheryl as well—so she definitely needed her rest.

Chapter Text

The minute Toni woke up on Thursday, she could feel an unusual energy running through her, and she could tell it was going to be a good day. She found herself getting out of bed almost immediately, a pep in her step, so to speak, and she got dressed and made up for the day. Her camera battery had been charging overnight, and she’d been sure to transfer all of the photos from her SD card to her computer, so she was ready to go. While she was getting ready, though, she made sure to text Cheryl.

Toni – Good morning. I should be ready to head out in about forty-five minutes—if we can stop and get breakfast somewhere.

Cheryl – I know a good place. I’ll meet you in the lobby in forty-five minutes.

Cheryl was very punctual it seemed, because Toni got down to the lobby pretty much exactly forty-five minutes later, and Cheryl was already there. She was dressed the most comfortably Toni had yet to see her in, with capris length black leggings and a somewhat loose white top. She had a thin, red scarf—clearly a fashion accessory and not for the weather by any means—around her neck, and her usual red lipstick painted on those plump, inviting lips. Her hair was up in a bun, and Toni was absolutely loving this look on her—casual, yet still predictable.

“Good morning,” Toni chimed, drawing Cheryl’s attention.

“Buongiorno,” Cheryl replied, and Toni could practically see a sparkle in her eyes as she looked to Toni. “You ready to see some more of Rome?”

“Ready as ever,” Toni answered, gesturing to her camera. “I hope you’re prepared for the completely not exciting part of this day that is going to be spent with me silently taking pictures.”

Cheryl smiled. “I’m sure I will find a way to entertain myself, Toni.” They ended up getting a cab to cover about a twenty-minute walk, since neither of them had eaten yet, to a restaurant that was already open and bustling with patrons. “They have delicious brunch,” Cheryl informed Toni. They had to wait about fifteen minutes to get seated, and Toni was a little surprised that Cheryl didn’t mind waiting.

When they were seated, they ordered cappuccinos, omelets, and fresh croissants, and when the food was brought out, Toni was in love. She’d never had freshly baked croissants, and she decided she was going to have to figure out how to get them more often.

During their meal, they discussed where they would go today. It was a little before noon at this point, and they were a short walk from Trevi Fountain. They would then walk to the Pantheon and then Piazza Navona, and then they would decide at that point what else they would want to do. Neither of them knew how long they would spend at any of the destinations, since Toni would be wanting to take a lot of pictures.

When they finished up their brunch, and Cheryl graciously paid for it, they started their walk to the fountain.

Toni found herself instantly entranced by the water feature. She was already entranced by the statues and art she’d seen in the city so far, and the Trevi Fountain combined the beautiful art and architecture with an almost fanciful scene. Plus, the building behind the fountain was equally magnificent, and she found herself taking pictures from practically every angle, making her way around the entire half circle of the fountain.

Cheryl didn’t seem to be bothered by the time Toni spent taking pictures. She followed Toni around and pointed out noteworthy things, and sometimes Toni was pretty sure that the redhead was just staring at her, but she didn’t comment on it.

When Toni had decided that she’d taken enough pictures, the two of them started their walk to the Pantheon. Toni stopped them multiple times to take pictures of casual Rome—she found that they were sometimes more interesting than pictures of the tourist attractions, because they were the parts that felt, somehow, the most mysterious.

The Pantheon was something that Toni didn’t really know anything about, so when they walked up to the huge columns at the entrance, she said, “So… this is a temple, right?”

“It was a Roman temple,” Cheryl confirmed, “although now it’s a Catholic church. Pantheon comes from a Greek word that means the temple of all gods.”

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Toni said with a slow nod, lifting her camera and taking a few pictures of the huge columns.

“The inside is far more interesting,” Cheryl informed her, and she felt the girl’s soft, pale hand touch hers. Toni lowered her camera, glancing at Cheryl and letting her take her hand, and then Cheryl guided her into the building.

Inside was a huge dome, with coffers in five rows all the way around it. In the top of the dome, there was a hole, opening the structure to the sky. Below the dome, there were columns around the huge, open circular interior, behind which were statues of different gods were in different zones, all of which had their matching theme in their zone. Toni was mesmerized.

“Damn, this is beautiful,” she murmured, taking few steps further in. Cheryl released her hand as she did so. Toni looked down at the floor, which was almost in a sort of checkerboard pattern, and then back up and around the structure. Somehow, it was cohesive and discordant at the same time. Immediately, she lifted her camera to eye level and began taking pictures.

It was about fifteen minutes later that Toni felt Cheryl touch her arm gently. “You’re going to run out of space for your pictures before we even get to our third spot.” Toni glanced up at Cheryl, her skin burning slightly at Cheryl’s touch.

“Sorry,” Toni apologized, “I just really love all of the architecture here. Like, I knew it was impressive, but it’s way more striking than I thought it would be in person.”

Cheryl smiled. “Too bad you aren’t going to Florence. The Cinque Terre is near there, and you would love it.”

“It’s on my bucket list,” Toni told Cheryl, smiling a little and putting her camera back in its bag. “Come on, let’s go to Piazza Navona.”

They left the Pantheon and continued their walk to the piazza, and Cheryl told Cheryl about Florence, including the statue of David in the Accademia Gallery, the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral—which Cheryl insisted that Toni would love to photograph—and of course, Cinque Terre—the five little villages on the coast of Italy that had become major tourist attractions over the years. Toni found herself wishing that she could’ve had a week longer on this trip. That had been her original want—to tackle a few cities in Italy in a few weeks, but when she and Sara had been planning it, they’d realized they didn’t have the money for multiple hotels and the train ride between cities, so they’d agreed upon Rome.

Toni found herself quietly nodding along as Cheryl told her about Florence, and then they finally came up to the piazza, and Toni immediately felt her longing to go to Florence disappear for a moment as she got distracted by the beautiful fountains. The piazza was huge, and at either end was an intricate fountain, and between them was a third fountain, with a beautiful obelisk topping it. “Wow…”

“That one in the middle is Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. Fountain of the Four Rivers,” Cheryl told her. “This one at this end is the Fountain of Neptune, and on the other end, Fontana del Moro.”

Toni went to the northern fountain first—the Fountain of Neptune, and admired the intricate statues on the fountain, her camera coming out of her bag. Cheryl followed her quietly as Toni went from fountain to fountain, taking pictures. It was quite a while later that she finally decided she was done—noticing that she was actually running out of space on her SD card. She lowered her camera and glanced at Cheryl. “We should sit. I feel like I spend so much time taking pictures… sometimes I need to remember to just enjoy being here.”

So she and Cheryl sat at a bench near Fontana del Moro, and Toni let herself relax. It was hot out, but there was a nice breeze, and it felt good to sit for a few minutes after walking and taking so many pictures. She glanced at Cheryl, whose bun was a little messy, although the rest of her look was still flawless. She was looking over at the fountain, not noticing that Toni was staring at her, and Toni bit down on her lower lip, raising her camera, pointing it right at the redhead, and taking a picture. It made a little noise as it took, and Cheryl immediately turned in surprise.

“Toni!” she exclaimed. Toni grinned, looking at Cheryl through the camera. “Don’t waste your camera space on pictures of me.”

“It’s definitely not a waste,” Toni insisted, “you look gorgeous.”

Cheryl laughed a little, but Toni caught the blush on her cheeks. “Put it down.”

“Oh, come on, let me get another one. Look away again, like you were before, like you’re not paying attention.” Cheryl rolled her eyes—which was incredibly endearing—but then followed Toni’s instructions. She looked back toward the fountain, but now the ends of her lips were turned up in a small smile, and Toni grinned as she took the second photo. Immediately after, Cheryl was looking back at her.

“That’s enough,” Cheryl insisted, “I’m not camera ready today.”

“Oh, no way, come on,” Toni insisted, but she turned her camera off and put it away. “You always look camera ready.”

Cheryl smiled a little—almost a smirk really—but rolled her eyes. “We’ve been out and about in the heat for a couple hours, Toni. I’m sweaty and gross.”

“And gorgeous,” Toni insisted, winking at the woman. “So. Should we think about late lunch?”

“Definitely,” Cheryl agreed, but before she could say anything else, her phone rang. She knit her eyebrows and pulled it out of her little purse. “Oh. I need to take this, hold on.” Toni nodded, and Cheryl answered the call. Toni had a feeling that whoever was calling was about to end their day early, so she was bracing herself. “Buon pomeriggio, Alessia. Oh. Sono così dispiaciuto. va bene. Sì, lo faremo un'altra volta. Spero che ti sentirai presto meglio. Mm. Sì. Il mio assistente ti contatterà il mese prossimo. Ovviamente. Addio, Alessia.”

Cheryl hung up the phone, and Toni wanted to ask what it was about, but then Cheryl was telling her before she got the chance.

“My meeting for tomorrow afternoon was canceled. Alessia—a designer we were hoping to do a collaboration with—was injured and is in the hospital,” Cheryl told Toni. “Do you mind, I need to call Katy and let her know?”

“Oh no, go ahead.”

Cheryl dialed a number and raised her phone to her ear, and the call seemed to be answered almost immediately. “Good morning,” Cheryl greeted, “sorry, I know you’re probably not at the office yet. I wanted to let you know that Alessia had an accident, and she can’t meet me tomorrow. I told her we’d reach out to her in about a month. I know, but it can wait, and on the phone before she did sound interested, so I think once we can make it happen, it will go well. No, it’s not worth it, I have to be in Athens on Monday anyway, and the plan was to leave Saturday, so I’ll just enjoy my time abroad, I suppose. Okay. Yeah, talk to you later. Bye.”

Cheryl hung up the phone again and put it away pointedly, before looking to Toni.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“No that’s okay,” Toni insisted, “you’re a businesswoman—you have business to attend to.”

“Yes,” Cheryl agreed with a light laugh, “but apparently not until Monday. Anyway. Lunch?”

They ended up at an Italian café not too long later, and Toni decided to finally branch out and not order spaghetti. Instead, she ordered some seafood, knowing that she would regret it if she didn’t take time to appreciate the fresh seafood of Italy. Cheryl ordered a fancy salad, and their conversation drifted to their experiences in university. Toni told Cheryl about her experience so far, and how she really was almost done, but it was easier on her bank account to take a few classes a semester instead of a full load. Cheryl told Toni about her degree in business at NYU, and how she wanted to minor in some sort of art program, but she had decided not to. She had taken a few classes in drawing and painting, though, and Toni found that very interesting.

After their late lunch, they spent some more time walking around the streets of Rome, Toni occasionally taking pictures, until her SD card was full. At that point, Cheryl called them a cab, and they headed back to the hotel.

The day wasn’t over, though, because as soon as they stepped into the hotel, Cheryl gave Toni an interested look and asked, “In the mood for a drink?” It was hardly even past five, but they went up to Cheryl’s suite and Cheryl poured them each a very full glass of wine. They lounged around, drinking and talking even more, and Toni was honestly very surprised at how easy it was to talk with Cheryl.

They were seated on the loveseat size couch that was in Cheryl’s suite, as she felt some of the effects from the wine, she felt herself gravitating slightly closer to Cheryl with every minute that passed. At some point, their conversation had dwindled a little, and then Cheryl asked, “So when do I get to see those pictures that you took of me to make sure that I didn’t look ridiculous.”

“Oh, come on, Cheryl,” Toni said with a smirk, “you have to know that you are absolutely flawless, right? I can’t imagine that someone could take bad picture of you.”

“Mm. It’s been done, trust me,” Cheryl insisted, but Toni was sure that the redhead leaned in slightly closer to her. “But thank you for the compliment. I’ll admit… it’s not that I’m self-conscious about how I look, per-se, just… I don’t take photographs lightly. To me… they need to mean something.”

“Every photograph means something,” Toni insisted. “The ones I took of you today were of a businesswoman who took a day off, relaxed and simply enjoying Rome. With a practical stranger… if we’re being specific.”

That got a chuckle out of Cheryl. “I see your point.”

“Plus, as I’ve mentioned quite a few times now… you, Cheryl Blossom, are gorgeous. It’d be a shame to not let people take pictures of you every now and then,” Toni insisted, and now she rested her hand on Cheryl’s upper arm. She could see Cheryl suck in a quick breath, and then suddenly their lips were joining in an abrupt kiss. Toni sighed into it, feeling her body wake up as Cheryl kissed her hard.

All of the sudden, Toni was being pressed back into the cushions of the loveseat, Cheryl on top of her, their tongues tangled together and soft hands creeping underneath her shirt. Toni let out soft moan as Cheryl touched her midsection and started to suck gently on her lower lip. Toni usually had the urge to fight to be on top in situations like this, but with Cheryl, it was somehow so easy to let the other woman control what was going on. She got the feeling that Cheryl just liked to have control sometimes.

Despite them still both being fully clothed, Cheryl was suddenly sliding her hand down into Toni’s pants, and Toni let out a surprised gasp. “In a hurry?” she heard herself asked breathily.

“You are just so tempting, Mademoiselle Topaz,” Cheryl whispered against her lips, “and I think you know that.”

Toni would’ve smirked at that if it weren’t for Cheryl’s fingers surprising her clit, eliciting a surprised gasp from her. Toni found her arms wrapped around Cheryl, her fingers digging slightly into the back of Cheryl’s white top, as her body tensed, feeling herself get close. She was surprised at how quickly she came to her orgasm, lying there on the loveseat, still fully clothed. “Damn, Cheryl,” Toni gasped out, her breathing fast, “you really do mean business.”

“You can’t say all of those compliments with that flirtatious look and not expect a girl to do something in response,” Cheryl husked, running her hand through Toni’s magenta hair.

“Good to know that my seduction skills are still good,” Toni said jokingly, and Cheryl lifted a curious eyebrow.

“Still?”

Toni blinked, realizing that she still hadn’t told Cheryl who she was originally supposed to be here with, and why she wasn’t, and she didn’t think now was a good time. She just shook her head. “It’s been a while since complimenting a woman got me into bed with her, let’s just say that.”

Cheryl laughed a little, playing with some of Toni’s hair. “I was thinking, since my meeting tomorrow is canceled, that I could take you out to one more restaurant for dinner to end your trip in Rome.”

Toni suddenly felt her heart clench, as she had to force herself to say, “Oh. Actually, I’m leaving in the early afternoon tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Cheryl said with a nod, “okay. Sorry. You must have mentioned that before, I just forgot.”

“That’s okay,” Toni insisted. “I would’ve totally taken you up on it otherwise.”

Cheryl nodded, and Toni couldn’t read her expression as she continued to play with Toni’s hair for a moment. Toni was about to ask if she was okay, or suggest that they get breakfast instead, or literally anything to get a smile back on Cheryl’s face, but then the woman was speaking. “Questo sembrerà pazzo... Ma non posso resistere.”

“What?” Toni asked, furrowing her eyebrows. She could tell it was Italian and not French, but that meant that she had no clue what the words meant.

“What if we did something crazy?” Cheryl asked, her voice oddly hushed, like she was worried that someone was listening.

“Crazy like what?”

“Let me take you to Florence.”

“Huh?” Toni asked, really surprised at the proposal.

“I don’t need to be in Athens until Monday, and my meeting tomorrow got canceled.”

“I would need to move my flight,” Toni said. Part of her felt crazy for considering what Cheryl was suggesting, but another part of her was feeling… excited at the spontaneity. “I don’t really know how to do that.”

“I could take care of that for you—or help you, at least,” Cheryl insisted, her voice still quiet. “I can get us a hotel room in Florence and show you Cinque Terre on Saturday.” Toni felt her heart racing, and she didn’t know what to say. “I know, it’s a crazy idea. Maybe we shouldn’t…”

“Let’s do it,” Toni heard herself blurt all of the sudden. Cheryl blinked, looking surprised. “Fuck it, right? No one said I needed to be back in LA tomorrow.”

Cheryl broke out into a grin, and Toni felt her heart skip a beat. “Really?”

“Yeah. Let’s go to Florence.”

Cheryl brought her lips back to Toni’s, and Toni kissed her back fervently. She wasn’t sure what this woman was doing to her, but she loved it, and as crazy as it was, she was beyond excited to go to Florence with her. The logistics were definitely stressful, but she would think about that later. Right now, she wanted to lay Cheryl out on the hotel bed.

This trip alone to Rome had definitely taken a turn, and Toni wasn’t even a little upset about it.

Chapter Text

Friday morning, Toni Topaz was packing her bags, getting ready to leave Rome. But not Italy. No, she had agreed to go with Cheryl to Florence, on a whim, for the weekend. The following night, Cheryl had helped her move her flight to one leaving Florence on Sunday, and had bought them train tickets to Florence. They were boarding the train at ten, and since it was a high-speed train, they would be in Florence before noon. Cheryl had taken it upon herself to plan their itinerary, which Toni was grateful for, because she had no idea how to plan anything so last minute.

As Toni packed up her things, just after eight in the morning, she got a text from her best friend.

Veronica – Hey babe! Call me if you have time, I know I’ll be sleeping when you take off, so I want to wish you a good flight!

Toni let out a shaky breath. She didn’t know how to tell Veronica about her change of plans. She felt like her friend would say it was reckless, stupid… that said, Veronica was known to be a bit on the wild side, so maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe Toni just felt like she was being reckless… but she liked it. She liked this feeling of adrenaline she was getting, as she thought about spending the next three days with Cheryl Blossom, a woman she had met literally four days ago.

But she couldn’t not tell Veronica, obviously, so she picked up her phone and called her friend, completely unsure of how she was going to phrase it.

“Hey girl!” Veronica chimed. “Good morning! You’re up early. Taking in your last morning in Rome?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered, realizing how sketch she sounded, “yep, basically doing that.”

“Okay, why do you sound so weird?” Veronica asked.

“So, don’t freak out…”

“What?” Veronica demanded. “What happened? Are you okay? Are you in the hospital? Did you get arrested? Talk to me Toni!”

“Dude, I just said not to freak out,” Toni exclaimed. “Listen, I’m leaving Rome today… but I’m not coming back to LA yet.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. “What? Where are you going?”

Toni let out a sigh. “Um, Florence.”

“Oh,” Veronica said, sounding relieved, “okay, cool. I don’t know why I thought you were going to say something ridiculous, like San Fran or something.” San Francisco was where Sara had moved last month, after Toni had broken up with her. “Why the sudden change of plans? You had some extra cash to burn?”

“Not exactly,” Toni answered, as her phone buzzed. She pulled it away from her face for a second and saw a text from Cheryl.

Cheryl – Good morning, Toni. I will be in the lobby in about half an hour, so we can get breakfast before we head to the train station.

“Toni?”

“Yeah, one sec,” Toni muttered, quickly texting Cheryl back to say she’d meet her down there. “Yeah, um, so… you remember that hot redhead, who I spent the day with yesterday? And who took me out on Tuesday?”

“Uh obviously?”

“So… she offered to take me to Florence for the weekend,” Toni admitted.

“She what?” Veronica exclaimed. “T! That’s… awesome and also terrifying? You sure she’s not trying to kidnap you, right? That’s so crazy!”

“I know, I know it is,” Toni said, “but… it just feels good to say fuck it and do it, you know? I planned this trip for so fucking long, and so much of it was influenced by Sara, and I was worried about how good it would be, but it turned out great and… I have the opportunity for it to last a little longer, and I can’t pass that up.”

Veronica let out a breath. “I get it, Toni… Damn. Sweets and I will definitely miss seeing you tomorrow. Also… we sort of invited the whole gang over tomorrow so we could all hang out. So… I guess we’ll cancel.”

“Shit, sorry,” Toni apologized.

“No, it’s fine.”

“Um, V? You can tell Sweet Pea of course but… do you mind keeping this sort of under wraps? I don’t want Fangs to know, he’ll tell everyone at work and I just don’t need that kind of drama when I get back.”

“Well, you’re not going to miss any work, are you?”

“No, my new flight is on Sunday, and I took the weekend off at the bar already, because I’d assumed that I’d be too jetlagged to work,” Toni insisted, “but I just… I know this is really spontaneous and kinda reckless… and I just don’t want people at work to think of me that way. You know, I try to seem really professional when I’m there and… not to mention, some of them were really thrown by me and Sara breaking up, and I just don’t need to deal with people asking me about my decisions, okay?”

“Okay, got it. I’ll tell Sweet Pea and I’ll swear him to secrecy while I’m at it.”

“Thanks, V.”

“Of course. So… I guess I’ll let you get packing so you can head to Florence. I can’t wait to see all of the pictures. Love you girl, be safe.”

“I will, love you, V.”

She hung up the phone and let out a breath. Of course, she needed to tell Veronica and Sweet Pea, but she didn’t want the rest of her friends to question her judgment. Some of them really had when she broke up with her ex, and she didn’t need them to bring that up now.

Refocusing her thoughts on packing, Toni got all of her toiletries together and started stuffing her suitcase and backpack full. It wasn’t too much later that she was all packed up. Even though she knew that cleaning staff would be through her room after she checked out, she straightened it out a bit anyway, and then double checked that she didn’t forget anything.

And with that, it was time to go and meet Cheryl downstairs, and to do probably the most spontaneous thing she’d ever done. It felt up there with her decision to move to California, although that was maybe less spontaneous than this, considering she was sort of following Veronica when she did that. Regardless, though, this felt like something that she needed to do, she realized while standing in the elevator. As much as she’d wanted to be able to feel like this trip was truly hers, part of her had been thinking about how alone she’d been—except for while she’d been with Cheryl, which had been unarguably the highlights of her time in Rome. How a stranger had made her trip so much better, she had no idea, but Cheryl really was unlike anyone she’d ever met.

When the elevator doors slid open, and Toni started walking out into the lobby, her backpack on and rolling her carry on behind her, she immediately saw Cheryl standing at the front desk. Checking out, Toni presumed, although she was standing next to a man with fair skin and slicked down brown hair, who was talking to the desk people while Cheryl nodded long. Toni furrowed her eyebrows a little as she approached them, wondering who the man was.

“Good morning,” Toni said to Cheryl, who looked at her in slight surprise, clearly having not seen Toni approach. Cheryl was dressed in black, high-waisted, capris length leggings and a red crop top. Her hair was falling in gentle curls, and her makeup was no less than perfect, despite how early it was.

“Toni,” she said brightly, “Buongiorno.” The guy standing next to her finished speaking to the people at the desk, and then turned to look at Toni. “Toni, this is my assistant, Kevin Keller. Kevin, this is Toni Topaz.”

“Good morning, Miss Topaz,” Kevin said with a respectful smile.

“Morning,” Toni said surprised, “sorry, I just… forgot that you mentioned you were here with, um, Kevin.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Kevin insisted, “I won’t be joining you two in Florence, I’m getting on a flight to Athens.”

“I can’t travel on business without Kevin,” Cheryl told Toni, “he’s honestly a lifesaver when plans go awry.”

Kevin grinned. “Happy to help. Okay, well, you’re all checked out. I’ll just be headed to the airport now. You two have a wonderful weekend.”

“Thank you, Kevin,” Cheryl said with a fond smile and a nod, and then Kevin headed out of the hotel with his bags. Next to Cheryl was her luggage—red, unsurprisingly. “You ready to check out?” Toni nodded, and then walked up to the desk staff. It only took her a few minutes to complete the checkout process, and then she and Cheryl headed out of the hotel. “I know this magnifique breakfast place near the train station. Shall we walk?”

They walked in silence for a few moments, before Toni finally said something, “So, your assistant—Kevin—was here with you all week, right?”

“Yes,” Cheryl answered. “It’s a busy job, handling all of my appointments and schedules. But he gets a lot of time to go and explore. He’s done his fair share of traveling. And honestly, Kevin and I are friends, he’s been my assistant for years, and that doesn’t happen without two people becoming friends. Plus, I hired him because he’s good friends with a friend of mine.”

“That’s cool,” Toni commented. “Sorry, I guess I was just caught off guard.”

“My apologies,” Cheryl said, glancing at the magenta haired girl.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Toni assured her. “You even told me that he was here, I just… I guess I forgot. He’s the one who picked up the phone when I called the number on your card.”

“Sì. Anyway. Since I’ve canceled my flight to Athens on Saturday, he moved his up, and he is going there early. I have a feeling he’ll spend the next couple of nights at a bar, flirting with hot French guys,” Cheryl said with a smirk.

Toni smiled at that a little. They walked in mostly silence to the café, ordered a quick breakfast and coffees, and sat outside to eat. Toni took the opportunity to soak in the atmosphere of Rome one last time. “I can’t believe this place.”

“You picked a pretty amazing city for your first traveling experience,” Cheryl assured her.

“I did,” Toni agreed, “but… I am glad that I’ll get to see one more city. Florence was one of the cities I considered, but Rome… it seemed like there would be more to do here.”

“Well, that’s probably true,” Cheryl agreed, “it’s a much bigger city, after all. From a photographer’s perspective though, I have to say, Cinque Terre is really a dream.”

Toni smiled. “Well, I’m very excited that I’ll be able to see them then.”

“I called first thing this morning to set up a day tour for us tomorrow morning. I wanted us to be able to spend all day there, because otherwise it’s hard to see most of the towns,” Cheryl told Toni, and Toni could tell that she was excited—it was adorable, and somewhat out of character for Cheryl, from what Toni knew of her. “I thought that maybe this afternoon, we can go to the Galleria dell'Accademia and see the statue of David, and we can walk through Florence.”

“Sounds good to me,” Toni said, feeling excitement run through her body. “So… do you ever get to travel just for fun, or is it usually for business?”

“I’m traveling for fun this weekend,” Cheryl said, quirking up an eyebrow.

“Yeah, obviously,” Toni said with an eyeroll, “I mean… usually.”

“Occasionally,” Cheryl answered, looking down at her breakfast. “My family often visited France when I was young, and we went to neighboring countries… the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain. The first time I came to Italy was after I graduated high school. This girl I was dating at the time came with me. We went to Venice—another place that you would love to photograph, I’m sure.” Toni smiled a little. “Once I was in college, I traveled a little less, but then I did a study abroad year in Madrid in my second to last semester. After college, there was a time period where I traveled a lot, and then a period where I just… didn’t have it in me, I guess. Not to mention, while Katy and I started our company and label, I was far too busy to travel, but when it became part of the job, I was thrilled to finally do it again. In that time, the past few years, I’ve traveled to only one place without a business motive—Vianden, Luxembourg.”

“What’s in Vianden?” Toni wondered.

“A beautiful, old castle,” Cheryl answered with a smile, “and a peaceful river. It’s so calm—unlike New York City and most of the cities I visit with work.”

“So, did you go there with somebody?” Toni wondered.

Cheryl smiled, but Toni could sense sadness in it. “Yes, with a woman I was dating.”

“The same one you went to Italy with?”

“No,” Cheryl answered with a little laugh, “no, unfortunately, I haven’t had long term luck in terms of relationships.” Toni nodded slowly, wondering if she should finally admit to Cheryl who she was supposed to be in Rome with. They sat in silence for a good few minutes, eating their food. Toni was just about convinced that she should tell her, when Cheryl let out a breath and suddenly said, “We should probably get going?”

Toni just nodded, and they headed for the train station.

Termini Station was just as insane as Toni remembered it from Monday, packed full of people looking determined to get to their platform. It made Toni feel a bit timid—out of character for her—but it seemed to bring even more confidence out of Cheryl, who had no problem leading Toni through the busy station to their correct platform. They made it a bit early, and when the train pulled up, they boarded and took their seats, on either side of a little table—like a booth. Being on the train felt like being in first class, but Toni kept herself from asking if they were in a higher class than what was typical.

Cheryl seemed to get preoccupied on her phone for a moment, so Toni just settled into her side of the booth and prepared herself for the hour and a half train ride. It was nothing compared to the flight she was supposed to be on today.

When the train started to move finally, Cheryl looked up with her eyes a little wide, she hadn’t realized she’d been preoccupied for so long. “Sorry,” she apologized, “I had a few messages from Katy.”

“That’s okay,” Toni insisted. “So… you and Katy are pretty good friends? Must be nice to work with a good friend.”

“Yes,” Cheryl said with a nod and a small smile, “yeah it’s good. In high school, it was three of us—Katy, my friend Josie, and me. Katy and I both went to school at New York University, Josie went to Julliard. That’s where she met Kevin, actually. But Katy and I roomed together for a lot of college. There were ups and downs for sure, but it helped that we were in different programs, so we only really saw each other in our apartment. When she decided she wanted to start her own fashion line, she had no idea what she was doing from a business perspective, so naturally, she came to me.”

“That’s so cool,” Toni said with a smile. “My best friend majored in business too, at USC. She could’ve gone somewhere better, but I think she wanted to keep an eye on me—and also my other best friend, who she’s now dating.”

“Your two best friends are dating each other?” Cheryl asked in amusement.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Toni insisted, “it’s actually pretty great. Except for, if I tell one something important, I’ll just let them tell the other, and then the other gets offended I didn’t tell them first.”

Cheryl chuckled. “USC is a good school, though.”

“Yeah,” Toni agreed.

“So… you’re from New York, though, right?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered. “From Kingston.”

“Oh,” Cheryl said with a familiar nod, “small town.”

“Yeah, living in LA was a huge change. I mean, of course I’d been to New York City once or twice, and Albany a few times, but actually living in a city is way different than visiting one.”

“Definitely,” Cheryl agreed. “My family owns a lot of land north of NYC, and we lived outside of the city for most of my childhood. The high school I was zoned to was not too great, though, so once I was a teenager, my parents bought a condo a little closer to the city so we could go to a nice private school.”

“Nice,” Toni said, although she could barely wrap her ahead around buying a whole other place to live so your kids could go to a better school. “Uh, and you said we? You have siblings?”

Cheryl blinked. “Oh. Um, yes. Actually… well, I did. But I’d rather not talk about that.”

Toni frowned, understanding that there were very few reasons Cheryl would say that she did have siblings, like she didn’t anymore. She wasn’t about to push Cheryl on that. “I always wanted a little sister,” Toni admitted, “but I guess it wasn’t in the cards. But my best friend has a little brother, and I used to babysit him sometimes, but when he got into high school he started crushing on me, and it was weird. My other best friend has a half-sister, but she’s a bitch.”

Cheryl smiled a little, and Toni was glad she hadn’t upset her by mentioning them. “It would be easier to keep track of your two best friends if they had names.”

“There’s Veronica,” Toni said, “the one with the bitch half-sister, and the one who majored in business. Then there’s Sweet Pea, and he’s the one with the little brother. They’re great friends, even though it is pretty weird that they ended up dating. They’ve been dating for like, four years I think.”

“Wow,” Cheryl said with an impressed nod.

They sat for a little while in silence after that, the conversation having felt like it ended naturally. Toni was wondering about Cheryl’s sibling, who she didn’t have anymore, but knew better than to ask. She’d known Cheryl for all of five days, anyway.

Toni looked out the window, soaking in the view. The Tuscan countryside was absolutely gorgeous. Toni soaked in the beautiful scenery and found herself reaching for her backpack and pulling out her camera back, and out came her camera. She aimed it out the huge window, and despite how fast the train was going, she managed to get a few good shots.

When she lowered the camera, she noticed Cheryl was looking at her. “So, you really planned your trip to Rome for seven years?”

“No,” Toni answered, “I just saved up for it for seven years. I didn’t know I was going to pick Rome until end of last year, when I finally bought tickets and everything. Actually, I considered Florence and Rome, but it would’ve been tight.”

“So, you picked Rome because of all of the tourist attractions,” Cheryl assumed.

Toni let out a breath, wondering how much she should admit. She was so close to just telling Cheryl about Sara, but as she opened her mouth to say it, something stopped her. Cheryl was such a perfect distraction from everything, and maybe Toni didn’t want that to end just yet. So, instead, she just said, “Yeah, basically.”

The rest of the train ride was filled with more lighthearted conversation—Cheryl told Toni some fun facts about Florence and Michelangelo, and Toni got the feeling that Cheryl was a bit of an art nerd.

When the train pulled into Santa Maria Novella Station, Toni was feeling quite hungry, so their first stop upon leaving the train station with their bags in tow was a restaurant. Toni felt a little weird having her bags with her, but the restaurant staff didn’t seem to mind, and they sat and ordered lunch. Cheryl ordered some smoked salmon, but Toni saw the homemade pasta on the menu and couldn’t resist. She was starting to fall for authentic, Italian pasta.

When they were finished with lunch, they went back out onto the streets of Florence, and Toni finally took in the beautiful city. Colorful buildings with old, stone architecture. Although Florence was a pretty decent sized city, it had a much smaller feel than Rome, and Toni found herself getting lost in staring at the beautiful buildings as she followed Cheryl to their hotel, which was apparently in walking distance from the train station.

It was actually pretty close, and as they entered the huge hotel, Toni immediately knew that this was beyond what she could’ve possibly afforded. “Um, this place is really fancy,” Toni said softly to Cheryl, who glanced at her.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t go overboard,” Cheryl insisted, although Toni wasn’t sure what that meant exactly.

Cheryl went up to the front desk and started speaking in beautiful Italian, and Toni just stood next to her, looking around at the fancy interior of the building. She felt so out of her league.

Cheryl received two room keys from the woman at the desk, and then faced Toni. “Alright, Signora Topaz,” Cheryl said with a smile, “we’re ready to go on up.”

And up they went, to the third floor, where Cheryl then led her to their room. Upon entering, Toni was actually relieved to see that it was a pretty standard hotel room, with one room and a big bed, as well as a bathroom. “This is nice,” she said, glancing into the bathroom and noticing the beautiful walk in shower. Her eyes widened a little.

“I always stay here when I come to Florence,” Cheryl told Toni, “it’s beautiful, and there are so many little things about the building that I love.”

Toni set her backpack down next to one side of the bed, and Cheryl went to the other. “I can’t believe we’re here.”

Cheryl glanced back at Toni. “Not having second thoughts?”

“Definitely not,” Toni assured her. “No, I’m… so excited.”

“Good,” Cheryl said softly. “Now, we don’t have much time to settle in, we need to go to Galleria dell'Accademia before it gets too late.”

So Toni grabbed her camera bag, and Cheryl grabbed one of her little purses, and they headed out. They didn’t walk straight to the Accademia Gallery, though, first Cheryl guided Toni through the streets—which Toni kept photographing—to the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. Toni was in awe when she saw it up close and was immediately absorbed in taking pictures off the massive dome.

“It’s beautiful, right?” Cheryl finally said, after a few minutes of Toni taking pictures.

“It is,” Toni agreed, lowering her camera and turning to look at Cheryl.

“You should get your picture in front of it,” Cheryl insisted. “Do you have any pictures of yourself in Italy?”

“One,” Toni admitted, “from the Colosseum.”

Cheryl extended her hand for Toni’s camera, which the magenta haired girl handed over somewhat reluctantly, before going to stand a few feet in front of Cheryl. She ran her hands through her messy hair, but then smiled. Cheryl lifted the camera in front of her face and snapped a few pictures, and then Toni went over to look at them. She took the camera back and looked at her smiling face in front of the massive dome of the cathedral.

“Your turn,” Toni said suddenly, looking back at Cheryl and nodding toward where she’d just been standing.

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow. “You already got pictures of me yesterday.”

“Not here,” Toni insisted, holding her camera up a little. “Come on, pose for me or I’ll be forced to take candid pictures of you arguing about getting pictures taken.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes a little, but Toni saw the corners of her red lips turn up. She went and stood where Toni had been, tilting her head a little as she smiled, and Toni felt her heart skip a beat. This woman was beyond beautiful. She quickly took some photos, knowing that Cheryl wouldn’t allow her to take pictures of her for long. In fact, after about thirty seconds, Cheryl was walking back toward her. “Satisfied?”

“Yes,” Toni assured her with a grin. “Now… David?”

They took off in the direction of the Accademia Gallery, and Toni took pictures here and there as they walked, and if she stopped for more than a few seconds, Cheryl would touch her hand gently to Toni’s upper arm, and wait patiently for her to be done.

When they were finally inside the gallery, Toni felt her heart rate pick up as she saw all of the beautiful sculptures, and at the end of a long hall, the statue of David stood on a pedestal. “Wow.”

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Cheryl asked, looking at Toni with a small smile. “I always thought Michelangelo’s work was so beautiful.”

“It’s awesome,” Toni agreed.

Toni took a few pictures in the gallery, but she spent most of the time just looking at the amazing sculptures. There were many groups of people being guided by tour guides, by Toni definitely didn’t need one, because Cheryl had all of the fun facts and information about pretty much everything. She sounded like she was in such awe when she spoke about it too, and Toni found it absolutely adorable. And, when Cheryl was too absorbed in talking and looking at the art to notice, Toni would raise her camera up and take a picture of the beautiful redhead.

When they left the gallery, Toni wasn’t sure how the day could get any better. It was late afternoon by now, and it was a nice, warm temperature outside. “What’s next?” Toni wondered.

“I thought we could go back to the hotel for a little bit before dinner. Then, I want to show you something,” Cheryl said. “Sound good?” Toni nodded, and put her camera away for their walk back to the hotel. As they walked, her hand bumped against Cheryl’s, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Then, biting on the inside of her lip, she grabbed Cheryl’s hand. Cheryl immediately intertwined their fingers, and Toni had no idea how this could possibly feel so… normal. How did she feel so comfortable with this woman she’d known for a handful of days?

They walked in a comfortable silence back to the hotel, and once they were in the room, Toni felt tiredness wash over her, and she fell overdramatically onto the bed. Cheryl laughed a little.

“Tired?” she asked.

“It’s been a long day,” Toni answered, “aren’t you tired?”

“Mm.” Cheryl sat on the other side of the bed next to Toni and ran her soft fingers through Toni’s magenta waves of hair. “How do you like Florence so far?”

“It’s amazing.” Toni let her eyes flicker closed for a moment as she enjoyed the feeling of Cheryl playing with her hair.

Cheryl smiled. “Good. I am glad that you’re not…”

“Not what?” Toni asked, looking up at Cheryl’s soft features.

“Regretting changing your plan,” Cheryl answered softly. “I know that this… was sort of a crazy idea.”

“Crazy or not,” Toni insisted, “I’m not having any regrets. This… this is what I’ve needed, I think.” She didn’t want to explain what she meant, and Cheryl didn’t ask.

“Well, how about you take a nap. I need to call Katy, she’s texted me a couple of times, and I should check in on Kevin, too. In about an hour, we should leave though. We have a reservation.”

“We do?” Toni asked curiously.

“Mmhmm. It’s a cute little Italian bistro. You’ll like it.”

“Okay,” Toni agreed, feeling to sleepy to disagree with the plan—not that any of it sounded bad. She really could use a nap, especially since she didn’t know how late their night would go. Slipping off her shoes, she slid under the blankets of the bed, and curled up. As she started to drift off, she heard Cheryl get on the phone with Katy. She tried not to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help it.

“Good morning,” Cheryl said, her voice soft. She was standing over by the window, talking as hushed as she could, Toni figured. “You did? Well, then I guess he told you I’m stopping in Florence for the weekend before I head to Athens. No, he’s already there. Who says I can’t enjoy a vacation? This whole few weeks of travel hasn’t even gone to plan. No. Oh, hey Josie. That’s—I shouldn’t—no, just let me call you another time about that, okay? No, just, it’s not a good time. I need to call Kevin, and I also need to get off my feet for a little while. I’ll call you both Sunday night, okay? Yeah. Love you guys, too. Have a good day.”

Toni finally closed her eyes as Cheryl’s call came to an end, pulling the blankets up to her chin and finally letting sleep take her over.

Toni was awoken some amount of time later, by the feeling of fingers dragging through her hair, and a soft voice saying, “Toni?”

“Mm?” Toni rolled over, forcing her eyes open. Cheryl was sitting above her, a soft smile on her face.

“You should get up and get ready to go to dinner,” Cheryl told her. “It’s not a far walk, but we should leave soon.”

“Mm, right,” Toni said sleepily, sitting up and blinking a few times. “Yeah, let me just… touch up my makeup and put on something nicer.” Cheryl nodded, and Toni got out of bed.

They were out of the hotel not too long later, Toni wearing the same black dress she had earlier in the week, with her snake arm band and some other jewelry, and Cheryl wearing a white dress with red embellishments on it. Toni was wearing her black heels, but Cheryl was wearing even taller red heels, and since Cheryl was taller to begin with, she was quite taller than Toni tonight. Toni thought it was hot.

The restaurant they were going to was definitely on the nicer side, and Toni was beginning to get used to that. As much as she didn’t really love that she couldn’t really contribute monetarily, she was beginning to understand how money was just not an object to Cheryl. It wasn’t super weird for her, because Veronica was pretty much the same way, but growing up without much money at all, Toni couldn’t help but be a little shocked when she walked into really nice places.

They had a small table for two up against a wall, and menus were brought out to them. “Have whatever you like,” Cheryl told her with a smile.

“What’s good?” Toni wondered, although everything listed on the menu sounded delicious.

“The menu is usually seasonal, and I don’t know if I’ve had any of these things before, actually,” Cheryl admitted. “But I would like a bottle of Rosso Toscano, it’s a fruity red wine. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah, sounds delicious.”

When the waiter came back, Cheryl ordered them the bottle of wine, and then they both ordered their meals. Cheryl ordered a seafood soup, and Toni ordered one of their signature pizzas. Their wine came out pretty quickly, and Toni was immediately in love with it, and Cheryl told her that it was one of her favorites.

Then their food came out, and Toni loved the pizza. Cheryl offered to let her try some of the seafood soup, and Toni loved that too. She’d always loved Italian food she’d tried in the states, but it was different eating such fresh seafood and authentically made Italian dishes.

They also decided to split a dessert, even though Toni felt pretty stuffed from dinner, and ordered a tiramisu. They barely managed to stuff themselves full of it as they finished their bottle of wine. They’d been carrying a light conversation through the entirety of their meal, and Toni found herself still surprised at how easily they could talk to each other.

After Cheryl paid for their meal, they left the restaurant, and Cheryl firmly took Toni’s hand, leading her down the path between buildings and then around a corner, and suddenly they were walking onto a bridge over a river, the sun setting to the west. “Oh my goodness,” Toni breathed out, as they walked up to the railing of the bridge. There were numerous other bridges far ahead of them crossing the river, but the light from the setting sun was reflecting beautifully off of the water.

“Ponte Santa Trinita,” Cheryl said, “Saint Trinity’s Bridge. And the river Arno. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Toni agreed, “damn, I wish I had my camera.”

“Your phone has a camera, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, but I have a shitty phone,” Toni answered with a chuckle, looking at the sunset longingly.

Cheryl suddenly reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. Toni glanced down at it, and it was easy to see by the multiple camera lenses that it was the newest model iPhone. Cheryl handed her phone over to Toni, who smiled and took it carefully. She opened the camera and held it up in front of her, admiring how well the lens could capture the beauty of the sunset and the water. She took multiple pictures, and then lowered the phone to look through them. “They look so good,” Cheryl said softly.

“Well, these new phones have amazing cameras.”

“An amazing camera is nothing without a great photographer.” Toni smiled, and then opened the camera again. She turned it into selfie mode, and saw her face looking back at her. “Oh no, no I don’t do selfies.”

“Why not?” Toni asked with a chuckle, holding up the phone. Cheryl immediately pulled away, but Toni reached her left arm out and around Cheryl’s waist, pulling her back closer, and she could hear Cheryl’s breath hitch at the sudden action. “Come on, just one? It’s on your phone, you could delete it after if you hate it.”

Cheryl let out a small sigh, and Toni knew she’d won. “Fine.” Toni grinned, and pointed the selfie camera at them. Their faces were lit enough by the sunset, and since the camera took such good lowlight photos, it was easy to get a good picture of them. Toni took only one, and then immediately handed it over to Cheryl. “I guess it’s not terrible.”

“Come on, Cheryl,” Toni said with a chuckle, “you’re ridiculously beautiful, no picture of you could be terrible.”

Cheryl smiled softly and put her phone away. “How about we go back to the hotel? I have a surprise for you.”

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “A surprise? Can I get a hint?”

“Spero che tu abbia portato un costume da bagno,” Cheryl answered with a grin, taking Toni’s hand and starting to pull her back toward their hotel.

“Um, how about a hint in a language I can understand?” Toni whined, which got a laugh from the redhead. Toni couldn’t help but smile at the sound, and she didn’t even care what the surprise was. Today was shaping up to really be a perfect day.

When they got back to the hotel, Cheryl immediately went over to her suitcase, and asked, “Did you bring a swimsuit?”

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “Actually yes, Veronica convinced me that I should, because ‘you never know.’”

“Great, put it on,” Cheryl instructed. Toni went to her luggage and opened it up to look for her swimsuit, and Cheryl went and locked herself in the bathroom. Toni found her white bikini, and she pulled off her clothes quickly before putting it on. A minute later, Cheryl opened the bathroom door to reveal herself in her red bikini, her hair up in a bun. “You need to use the bathroom?”

Toni nodded, but she was immensely distracted by Cheryl’s almost entirely exposed body. She bit down on her bottom lip, looking Cheryl up and down for a second, before Cheryl sidestepped her, and Toni blinked, realizing she’d been staring. She quickly went into the bathroom, and when she was done, Cheryl guided her out of the hotel room and to the elevator. She hit the up button, and Toni furrowed her eyebrows, but she didn’t ask questions as they stepped in the elevator, and Cheryl hit the button to the roof.

When they stepped out, though, Toni was instantly in awe of what was laid out before her. A beautiful rooftop pool, with chairs and tables around, and a full bar. “Wow.”

“Surprise,” Cheryl said, her voice low. There were very few people on the roof—one person at the bar, and a couple at one of the tables. “Let’s get a drink, shall we?”

They walked over to the bar, and each ordered a big glass of wine. They went and sat on the edge of the pool, their feet in the water—which was heated to the perfect temperature. “This is so nice,” Toni said softly. There were some noises from the city, but the night was surprisingly quiet and peaceful.

“Isn’t it?” Cheryl agreed, bumping her foot against Toni’s as she took a long drink of wine. “I hope this whole night wasn’t too… over the top. I get the feeling that isn’t really your thing.”

Toni smiled. “It’s been perfect, Cheryl, really. But you’re right, I’m not used to it. My family didn’t have much money, which I’m sure you’ve gathered from the fact that I work like, three jobs and I saved for this trip for literally seven years.”

Cheryl smiled softly. “Are you close with your family?”

“No,” Toni admitted. “I don’t really have a relationship with my dad anymore… we haven’t talked since my freshman year of college. So, we aren’t close, but.... we never have been. He’s… always had a drug problem. But there were some good years, when he tried to get clean, and we were close sometimes.”

“And your mom?” Cheryl asked, her voice really quiet.

Toni let out a sad laugh. “She had a drug and alcohol problem. Mixed them all of the time, somehow managed to not OD. But one night, she was wasted and high, and my dad had been calling her all night, trying to get her to come home and help him take care of me—I was like, barely two years old. And, um… well, she didn’t stop at a stop sign, and she got t-boned by a mail truck coming from her left.”

“Oh my god, Toni,” Cheryl whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Toni insisted, “I barely remember her. She was barely around. My dad did a lot of the raising me, and he didn’t actually turn to drugs until I was a little older, and it got to be too much for him to take care of me, or something. He wasn’t cut out to be a dad… and definitely not a single dad.”

“Still, I’m sorry,” Cheryl said, “it must have been hard to grow up with only one parent.” Toni shrugged. “I’m not close with mine either. Their expectations of me were always unattainable, so I was never enough for them. I had to learn to be enough for myself, and when I finally did, I realized that I deserved better than them. And I haven’t talked to them in… well, in quite a few years.”

“That sucks,” Toni said with a frown, taking a long drink of her wine, which was almost gone now.

“Yeah,” Cheryl agreed, “but it’s okay. Technically, I’ve cut them off, but they can’t cut me off. I’m the heir to all of their stuff and their business. If they cut me off, they would have to give the business to someone else in the extended family, and they have too much pride to surrender it.”

“Wow,” Toni breathed out. “Family politics. My friend Veronica has some of that. Her parents are businesspeople, and they weren’t always the most ethical, I guess you could say. King and queen of loopholes, she’d always say. She’s not close with them either, she wanted to be free of all of that, but she doesn’t have the heart to fully cut ties, and I can’t blame her.”

“Of course not,” Cheryl agreed, “cutting off family is… almost impossible sometimes. Especially when you know that you’re lucky for even having them, even if they are horrible.”

Toni gave Cheryl a sad smile. She finished her wine and saw that Cheryl’s glass was also empty. “Should we get in?” The corners of Cheryl’s lips turned upward, and she set her wine glass on the side of the pool, before pushing off of the side of the pool and into the warm water. Toni followed suit, enjoying the feeling of the heated pool. “It feels so nice.”

“Mm, can’t go wrong with a heated pool so late in the evening,” Cheryl agreed, reaching a wet hand up to Toni’s face and pushing some of her hair out of the way of her face. Toni hadn’t bothered to put her hair up because she needed to shower tonight anyway. “Have I mentioned how much I love the color of your hair?”

Toni felt a slight blush come to her cheeks. “Thanks. I’ve been dying it different shades of pink since I was in high school—once I tried blue. But this magenta has been my favorite.”

“I love it,” Cheryl whispered, “it’s so unique. You are unique, Mademoiselle Topaz.”

Toni bit down on her lower lip, as Cheryl lowered the hand from her hair down onto her shoulder, dragging her fingers into the water along Toni’s arm. Somehow, despite the warm water, Toni felt goosebumps appearing on her skin. “I would say that you’re pretty unique too, Miss Blossom.”

Cheryl’s lips spread into a smile, as she took a step backwards suddenly. Toni’s gaze immediately dropped down, looking over Cheryl’s gorgeous body through the water. When she looked back up to Cheryl’s eyes, she noticed Cheryl looking over her body too, and her eyes were darker than before. “Da dove vieni?”

Toni tilted her head, not understanding the Italian. She waded through the water, but Cheryl stepped backwards again, a smirk coming to her lips. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Je ne vais nulle part,” Cheryl breathed out.

Toni chuckled. “You can’t decide on one language?” Toni kept moving toward Cheryl, whose breathing sounded heavy as she continued to back up.

“I like to keep you on your toes,” Cheryl whispered, “plus, you said you took French in high school.”

“So… what, you speak Italian if you don’t want me to know what you’re saying?” Toni asked with a chuckle, taking another step forward, and noticing that Cheryl was awfully close to the other side of the pool now.

Cheryl bit down on her lower lip. “Peut être…”

“Wow, maybe I should start using google translate every time you say something in Italian, then no language will be safe,” Toni teased. She took one more step forward, and Cheryl attempted to back up, but bumped against the wall of the pool, and Toni landed both hands on the woman’s hips. “Unless you speak a fourth language?”

Cheryl shook her head, but no words came out of her mouth. Her breathing was heavy, and her eyes were dark, and Toni felt a pull between their lips. She resisted it for as long as she could, but somehow, they drifted together, and Toni pressed her lips firmly against Cheryl’s, their bodies melding together under the water. Cheryl let out a pleased sigh, her hands coming to Toni’s hair.

They were there making out for a good few minutes, until Toni finally pulled away a little and whispered, “Let’s go back down?”

“Yes,” Cheryl agreed, and they quickly climbed out of the pool, forgetting about their abandoned glasses. They grabbed some of the supplied towels and hastily tried to dry off before hurrying back down to the third floor. When they finally stumbled back into their room, Cheryl pushed Toni against the wall and brought their lips together again.

“We’re still wet,” Toni mumbled into their kiss.

“Je m’en fiche,” Cheryl muttered, and Toni didn’t really know what that meant.

“What?”

“I don’t care,” Cheryl repeated.

“I—” Toni was cut off by Cheryl’s tongue, and she let out a deep moan. A moment later, she was able to say, “I just meant, we shouldn’t get in the bed.”

“How about the shower?” Cheryl whispered.

So they went into the bathroom and into the walk-in shower, and as Cheryl turned on the water, Toni stripped off her wet bikini, letting it fall to the floor. When Cheryl turned around, her eyes were immediately soaking in Toni’s body. “Well?” Toni asked lowly. Cheryl peeled off her bikini as well, and then they entered the walk-in shower, feeling the smooth, hot stream of water. Toni reached up to Cheryl’s bun and pulled the hair tie out, causing her red waves to fall loose.

Toni pressed Cheryl against the stone wall of the shower, the water still hitting both of them just slightly, and kissed Cheryl deeply. Her hands traced the sides of Cheryl’s body, taking in her perfect curves.

“Touch me, Toni,” Cheryl whispered, and Toni moaned at the instruction. She lowered her lips down to Cheryl’s neck, and then lowered down so she was on her knees on the tile, but she didn’t care, her lips coming to Cheryl’s center. Cheryl let out a deep moan, and her hands tangled into Toni’s wet hair. Toni’s fingers joined her tongue, giving Cheryl the touch that she needed. Toni reveled in the moans that Cheryl kept releasing, and at how wet she was.

Toni got lost in the taste of Cheryl Blossom, her left hand clenching at Cheryl’s thigh as her tongue and her right hand’s fingers made Cheryl slowly but surely rise to her climax.

As Cheryl got close, her breathing became so short. “Holy fuck, Toni,” she was whispering, “fuck me, Toni, please, make me come, please…”

It was so hot, and Toni could barely hold herself together as she finally made Cheryl come, the woman releasing a cry of pleasure as her hands clenching Toni’s hair. Toni felt the area between her legs pulsating desperately as she clambered to her feet, careful not to slip. “You are so fucking sexy,” Toni murmured, as Cheryl’s breathing started to slow down.

Cheryl bit down on her lower lip. “Let’s wash our hair,” she suggested, “and dry off, so we can get in that bed and I can return the favor. Sound good?”

Toni smirked. “That sounds perfect.”

Chapter Text

Toni woke up early on Saturday morning, the noise of her phone ringing piercing her ears. She groaned, rubbing at her eyes and then forcing them open. Early morning light was peeking in through the hotel window, but the room was mostly still dark. Cheryl was still completely passed out, it seemed, her naked body half covered by the comforter, and her hair tied up in a still damp bun. Toni smiled a little, and then she refocused on her ringing phone, and turned to look at her nightstand, where it was charging. Veronica was calling her.

“Fuck,” she muttered, grabbing her phone quickly and answering the call as she got out of bed and slipped in the bathroom, hoping to not wake Cheryl.

“Good morning, Miss I-Promise-To-Call-Or-Text-Every-Night,” Veronica said sharply as soon as Toni picked up.

“I’m so sorry,” Toni promised.

“You didn’t even tell me if you got to Florence okay!” Veronica exclaimed.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Toni insisted, “I totally spaced, okay?”

“If you don’t want me to worry, you either need to text me or tell me to stop worrying,” Veronica insisted. “You’re not alone anymore, which is slightly comforting and also a little weird, but if you don’t want me to wait up for you, that’s fine, just you didn’t really say that yesterday and I just need to know you’re okay, babes.”

“I know,” Toni said with a sigh, “I know, I’m sorry. Yeah, I’m fine. Honestly.”

“Good. So, with that out of the way… tell me about Florence!”

Toni smiled, leaning against the cold wall of the bathroom, completely naked still. “It’s been amazing so far. We saw the Santa Maria Cathedral, and the statue of David. We stood on this beautiful bridge and looked out over this gorgeous river. Had some really good food and wine. Swam on a rooftop pool…”

“Are you guys staying at the Grand Hotel Minerva?” Veronica asked. “I love that place!”

“I don’t know,” Toni admitted, “I didn’t pay attention. But it’s beautiful, and there’s a rooftop pool and bar.”

“Sounds like you’re having the vacation of a lifetime,” Veronica said happily. “So, this girl’s really treating you, huh?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered with a chuckle.

“Did you ever even tell me her name?” Veronica asked.

“Cheryl,” Toni told her.

“Cheryl. Right. So, did you find out what her business is that’s got her to be so loaded?” Veronica asked. “I mean, I’m just curious.”

“She is the CEO of a fashion company, or label, or whatever you call it,” Toni answered.

“Ooh, what company?”

“K&B Design,” Toni replied.

“Shit, really? I wear some of their stuff, that’s so cool,” Veronica said. “Wow. Did you learn what the K and B stand for?”

“Their last names,” Toni answered with a chuckle, “Katy Keene, I think, and Cheryl Blossom. They’re friends who started the company together, but Cheryl is the CEO.”

“Wow. What a dream,” Veronica said, “and you get to hook up with the CEO in Florence for not a single dime.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely… kind of crazy. But… I’m having literally the best time. I can’t remember the last time I felt so carefree, V.”

“I’m so glad you’re having a good time. Sweets and I miss you, though, we can’t wait to hear all about it and see all of your pictures,” Veronica told her, and Toni got a sinking feeling in her stomach when she thought about leaving Italy.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to show them to you guys,” Toni agreed, trying to still sound chipper. “So, you managed to cancel the hangout that was supposed to be today? Or, tomorrow for you, sorry.”

“Yeah,” Veronica answered, “I just told the guys that your plane got majorly delayed, and they bought it. But everyone misses you, T. Who knew LA would get so boring when you left it?”

“Hey, I heard that!” Toni heard Sweet Pea yell from somewhere in the background.

“He’ll get over himself,” Veronica said with a laugh. “Anyway. What’s the plan for today?”

“We are going to see Cinque Terre!”

“Shit, you’re going to have so much fun. Those towns are so quaint and beautiful.”

“Yeah, it should be a lot of fun,” Toni agreed.

“So, you and Cheryl, are things like, romantic? Or is it all like, good company and sex?”

Toni chewed a little on the inside of her lip. She didn’t want to admit that things did feel romantic, and that she was feeling so drawn to this woman. That they could talk for hours and not get bored, and that she felt like she’d known her so much longer than a few days. She knew she would sound crazy. “I guess a little,” she said instead.

“Well, don’t let her steal you away from us,” Veronica teased, “money and sex is a good reason to go, but we’d miss you.”

Toni rolled her eyes. “You guys couldn’t keep me away if you tried.”

“I know. Alright, well, Sweet Pea keeps wiggling his eyebrows at me, which I think means he wants to fuck so he can prove that he’s not boring, so I should probably go.”

“Ronnie!” Sweet Pea exclaimed, as Toni let out a laugh.

“Uh, way too much information, V. I love you guys, have a good night. I’ll text you when we’re back from Cinque Terre, okay?”

“Sounds good. Have a good day, T!”

The line ended, and Toni finally looked at the time. It was barely after six in the morning, and Toni yawned suddenly. Shaking her head, she left the bathroom and went back to sit on her side of the bed, plugging her phone back in. She looked down at Cheryl fondly, and then climbed back under the covers.

Toni woke up some amount of time later, to Cheryl moving a bit next to her. The redhead was propped up on one arm, facing away from Toni, and must’ve been doing something on her phone. Toni let out a little groan, and asked, “What time is it?”

“A little before seven,” Cheryl answered, setting her phone back down on the nightstand and then laying down and facing Toni again. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good, except I woke up an hour ago to my phone ringing,” Toni answered. “I forgot to text Veronica last night, so she wanted to make sure that I was okay.”

“That’s sweet that she was checking in on you,” Cheryl said softly.

“Yeah,” Toni agreed. “So… I guess we probably need to get up, huh? We have a long day ahead of us, right?”

“That’s right,” Cheryl confirmed, her left hand coming up to brush some hair out of Toni’s face. Her magenta hair had been braided since last night, but overnight, some of it had come loose. “You are beautiful.”

Toni couldn’t even fight her smile. “Thank you.”

Cheryl smiled back, and then sat up. “Well, shall we get up?”

So they did, and they dressed relatively comfortably for their long day ahead of them, and once they were all dressed and made up, they went downstairs for a quick breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant. Then, at exactly eight-fifteen in the morning, a car pulled up outside the hotel for them, to take them on part of their day tour. When they got in the car, Toni armed with her camera, it became apparent that this was some sort of private tour, with a lot of wiggle room depending on what Toni and Cheryl wanted to do with their time, so they could see any number of the five little towns that made up the Cinque Terre.

The car ride, though, was going to be fairly long. The car they were in had a little separator from the front, and after Cheryl exchanged pleasantries with the driver, she leaned forward and quietly slid it closed. “We could have had him pick us up earlier, but I figured we’d rather sleep in a little.”

Toni chuckled. “Yeah, no, I’m glad we didn't have to wake up at like, five in the morning. We were up pretty late…”

Cheryl smiled. “Usually these tours start at seven. So, ours might have to be cut a bit short, but we should still have plenty of time to see everything you would want to.”

“I’m just happy to be here at all,” Toni insisted. “So… how long is this drive?”

Cheryl gave Toni an apologetic smile. “Unfortunately, it’s about two and a half hours. We’ll be there probably around eleven.” Toni nodded. “We’ll just have to figure out a way to pass the time, I suppose.”

“Twenty questions?” Toni asked, smirking.

“What kind of twenty questions?” Cheryl asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We go back and forth asking each other questions,” Toni answered with a shrug.

“I’m not sure that’ll occupy us for over two hours,” Cheryl said with a little laugh, “but okay, fine. You can go first.”

“Okay. Did you always think you’d end up starting a business?”

“Not at all,” Cheryl answered, “no, honestly, I planned to never really work much at all. Now my turn… how old were you when you had your first kiss?”

“Eleven,” Toni admitted. “It was with this boy in my class, Zack. He asked me to skip class with him, and I’d never skipped class before, so I agreed, and then he took me to the back of the school—literally by the dumpster—and told me he liked me, and then he kissed me.”

“By a dumpster,” Cheryl repeated, clearly amused.

“Yes, and it was gross, and then I punched him in the face,” Toni answered with a smirk. “We both got suspended, but he had a huge black eye, so I took that as a win.”

“Wow.” Cheryl was clearly trying not to laugh. “Okay. Your turn.”

“Well now I’m curious… what was your first kiss like?”

Cheryl let out a breath. “Not enjoyable either. It was during the time when I was realizing that I may not like boys, and so naturally, I decided to throw myself at any boy who would look my way. The first one who agreed to go out with me, well, we kissed at the end of the date, and I could not stand the way he tasted and the way his lips felt. I was wholly revolted.”

“Did that get you to realize you didn’t like guys?”

“Somehow, it didn’t convince me,” Cheryl admitted with a little chuckle. “Okay. What’s your favorite type of dog?”

“I’ve always wanted a Boxer,” Toni replied with a grin. “They’re so adorable but they also look tough.” Cheryl smiled softly. “Do you have any pets?”

“I’ve never had one,” Cheryl answered, “my parents did not want any animals in the house. Once, I brought a kitten home, and they didn’t even let me keep it for a night. I had to bring it to the local shelter. I’ve always wanted a little kitten though, and a dog. I always thought it would be cool to have a little Cocker Spaniel.”

“Those are adorable,” Toni agreed with a grin. “I never had any pets either, but Sweet Pea did for a while, he had a Pitbull named Misty and she was adorable, I loved her. Okay, um… what are you most scared of?”

Cheryl shuddered suddenly as she answered, “Cockroaches. Got, they’re disgusting, and terrifying.” Toni couldn’t help but snicker. Cockroaches were gross, but growing up in a crappy, old trailer, she’d learned to get over gross bugs. “What? They’re abhorrent.”

“You’re right, you’re right. Okay. Your turn.”

“What are you most scared of, Toni?” Cheryl asked back, quirking up an eyebrow.

“There’s honestly not much that I’m scared of. Maybe like, my friends dying,” Toni answered with a shrug.

“Not you dying?” Cheryl wondered.

“No,” Toni answered with a shrug, “I don’t know. I grew up a little on the wild side. I think I kind of lost that self-preservation thing a little bit for a while, and now that just doesn’t really scare me, I guess.” Cheryl hummed thoughtfully. “What’s somewhere you’ve never traveled to, but that you really want to go to?”

“Brazil,” Cheryl answered. “I don’t even know why; I just have always wanted to. What’s a place outside of Italy that you really want to visit someday?”

“Uh, everywhere?” Toni said incredulously, before laughing a little and answering seriously, “Maybe… Switzerland? Like, the Swiss Alps.”

“That’s awfully close to Italy,” Cheryl teased.

“Honestly, I really do just want to go everywhere. I’ve always dreamed of traveling. I used to read books and watch movies about traveling, and I wanted it so bad.”

“And now you’re living it,” Cheryl pointed out with a small smile.

Toni couldn’t help but smile too. “Okay, um… guilty pleasure food?”

“Chicago style pizza,” Cheryl admitted, “don’t tell any of my friends in New York.” Toni laughed at that. “What’s your favorite movie?”

“Oh god, I seriously can’t pick,” Toni insisted. “Even if we broke it down by genre, I would have like, four way ties. No, I can’t pick.”

“Big movie buff?”

“Movies are like, the only thing that got me through high school. Any extra cash I had—that didn’t go into my future travel jar—was spent on renting movies. They were my escape. I almost went to film school instead of photography school, but Veronica bought me a really nice camera for my eighteenth birthday, and I fell in love, so.”

Cheryl smiled softly. “That’s cool. My parents hated me watching movies and trying to have that escape. So, I read a lot of books instead, because that at least made me look scholarly.”

“Mm,” Toni hummed. “Okay… what’s a food that you hate?”

“Bacon,” Cheryl admitted, frowning. “It’s about the only food I hate, and people are always on my case about it.”

Toni shook her head. “Bacon? Come on, bacon is delicious.”

“I know everyone says that, but I just cannot get behind it. What about you? A food that you hate?”

“Mustard,” Toni answered, “I don’t understand why mustard even exists.”

“Even like, honey Dijon mustard?” Cheryl asked.

“Yeah, it literally doesn’t matter what kind, I just hate mustard.” Cheryl chuckled. “Hmm… okay, so, your friend Katy designs all the clothes for K&B Design.” Cheryl nodded. “Do you ever wear her stuff?”

“All the time,” Cheryl answered. “Almost all of my dresses are K&B Design.”

“I guess it’s good self-promotion.”

“It is, and she makes really good clothes. I would never had agreed to partner with her if she wasn’t great at designing. So... where do you see yourself in ten years?”

“Ten years? I have no fucking clue. I guess as a full time photographer with a livable income, and a decent place to live? I’ve never been able to think that far ahead. The furthest ahead I’ve ever thought was when I started saving money to travel.”

“Well, full time photographer with a place to live seems like a decent goal,” Cheryl told her with amusement.

Toni just rolled her eyes. “If you had to work a different job than what you do now, what would you do?”

“Maybe I’d be an artist,” Cheryl answered with a shrug. “I’ve always enjoyed drawing, and I find art fascinating.”

“What kind of stuff do you draw?”

“Anything,” Cheryl admitted. “People, places… but it’s always more like sketching. I’m okay at it, but I’ve never honed my skill. What about you? If you couldn’t be a photographer?”

“Filmmaker, like I mentioned before,” Toni answered. “If not that, then I have no clue. I wasn’t really raised to have aspirations. Most people from the neighborhood I lived in were lucky if they graduated high school. The fact that two of us, me and Sweet Pea, both made it to college in Los Angeles? That was a huge deal. I don’t know hardly anyone else who went that far away for school if they left at all.”

“I can’t imagine that,” Cheryl said softly.

“Yeah, it was crazy,” Toni agreed. “So… what are you most excited about for today?”

“Watching you take pictures,” Cheryl answered, a smile coming to her lips.

“Oh really?”

“You get so excited and focused. I find it quite endearing.” Toni felt a blush come to her cheeks. “So, what do you like better, living in a small town, or in a big city?”

“Honestly?” Toni asked. “I like the city. I like things always moving and there’s always things to do. But… I don’t like that it’s never completely quiet. You can’t go out at night and just hear nothing.”

“I get that.”

“If you could live anywhere, where would it be?” Toni wondered.

“I love New York City,” Cheryl admitted, “and New York is the only place I’ve ever lived… but to be honest, I think I could be happy in most big cities.”

“Okay, your turn, and I think this is the last question.”

Cheryl hummed thoughtfully, looking carefully at Toni, who couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. “I’m curious, but you don’t have to answer… are you going to tell me who you were supposed to be in Rome with?”

Toni let out a breath. She knew this was going to come up eventually. “I’m sure you could guess.”

“An ex?”

“Yeah,” Toni confirmed, “yeah.”

“A serious ex, I guess, if you two were going traveling together.”

“Yes. We were together for almost three years,” Toni admitted, “and we ended things a little over two months before the trip was supposed to start.”

“Do you mind if I ask… why things ended?”

“I broke up with her,” Toni answered. “She was… she wasn’t happy, and neither was I. We fought all the time. We wanted to make things work, because we’d been in love for so long and we thought that it would be worth it, but it just got worse. She would get jealous if I was out with my friends, because she thought that I would get bored and cheat on her, but I wouldn’t have ever done that. But after we started fighting so much, it was like the trust was just gone. We would have about one or two good days a week, when we wouldn’t fight, but the other five days?”

“Yeah that doesn’t sound healthy.”

Toni laughed a little, but it wasn’t funny. “No, it wasn’t healthy. The thing was, no one knew about all of it, you know? We’d been together for long enough that our friends just… thought everything was fine, you know? So, when I finally ended things, some of my friends and coworkers… just didn’t get it. Sweets and Veronica, of course, they wouldn’t have ever doubted me or anything. But some of my friends thought that I was making a huge mistake. Before Sara—that was her name—I never really had serious relationships, so they thought I was just, throwing away this great thing in my life, when really, we hadn’t been happy together for like five months. I’m still surprised we even managed to plan this vacation.”

“I think it’s really brave that you ended things,” Cheryl told Toni, suddenly moving her hand to rest on top of Toni’s. “It’s easy to just sit in a bad situation and tell yourself that that’s how life is. I’ve been there, honestly. It takes a lot of courage to pull yourself out, especially when other people can’t understand what you’re saving yourself from.”

Toni smiled at that. “Thanks. Yeah, I’ve been a lot happier since we broke up, mostly just because I don’t feel like I’m constantly under attack. But for this vacation… I tried to see if Veronica could come with me, but she wasn’t able to move around her work schedule enough, so I just decided to come by myself. And… the real reason I chose Rome over Florence is because that’s what Sara wanted. And… Tuesday would’ve been our three year anniversary. She thought Rome would be perfect, so that’s what I picked. And it was kind of hard to get through that day.”

“Tuesday,” Cheryl repeated, “well, you got a good distraction that night.”

Toni smirked. “Yes, I did. Yeah, you have no idea how much I appreciated you taking me to dinner that night. I’d had a reservation somewhere, but I canceled it in advance, obviously, so I probably would’ve spent that whole night cooped up alone.”

“Well that would have been a tragic way to spend your second night in Rome,” Cheryl said with a slight smile, rubbing her thumb over Toni’s hand. “And I’m glad that you’re able to be in Florence now.”

“Me too,” Toni said with a smile.

After their game of twenty questions was done, their conversation carried on smoothly. At some point, Toni flipped her hand over, and she and Cheryl played with each other’s fingers the whole time they talked. Before they knew it, they were pulling up to their first stop—Manarola. They had to drive up along a mountain to get to it, and Toni scrambled to grab out her camera, to take pictures overlooking the beautiful ocean and the city that rested on the side of the mountain. The driver actually stopped to allow them a change to take pictures from the side of the mountain, and Toni definitely took the opportunity.

When their driver offered to take a picture of them together in front of the view, Toni didn’t let Cheryl get the chance to say now, and she handed her camera to the man and pulled Cheryl up against the stone wall. She instinctively wrapped her arm around the woman’s waist, and she felt Cheryl relax against her, one of her soft hands on Toni’s lower back. It felt like they were frozen in that moment for longer than it took the driver to click the button on the camera, but then it was over, and they clambered back into the car.

Soon, though, they were dropped off outside the little town. Their driver told them, in accented English, that when they were ready, there would be a ferry they could get on to Riomaggiore, and that he would be meeting them at the next point that he would be driving them, which Cheryl had saved on her phone in case she didn’t remember—although it seemed like she did know already.

And with that, the two of them were left to explore Manarola.

Toni was obsessed with the pastel colored buildings and could hardly take a moment to stop taking pictures, until Cheryl gently reminded her that they still had many stops. Toni had remembered to bring her spare SD card, but Cheryl still had a point.

“So, we take a ferry from here to the next town?”

“Yes, Riomaggiore,” Cheryl answered. “Actually, there’s a path that you used to be able to walk between here and there, called Lovers Lane. It was only about a twenty minute walk, is what I hear, but it’s been under renovation for years.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm,” Cheryl answered, “I really want to come back one day and explore it. I’ve always wanted to see what exactly earned it its name, you know?” Toni nodded, feeling her heart rate pick up. She bit on the inside of her lip and then reached for Cheryl’s hand.

“Let’s head down to the ferry?”

Toni would’ve stayed in Manarola longer, but she was finding herself feel motivated to see as many of the five villages as she could. They made their way down to the tiny harbor to wait for the next ferry. In the meantime, Toni took some more pictures of the coast, and the town from below.

The ferry came pretty soon after they arrived, and Cheryl showed some proof of their tickets on her phone, and they boarded. A few other people came down and boarded as well, and Cheryl and Toni sat along the side of the small ferry so that Toni could take pictures as they rode it to Riomaggiore.

And take pictures Toni did, for almost the entire the time they were on the boat. When the boat pulled up to Riomaggiore, Toni felt her excitement swell, immediately continuing to take pictures.

When they got off of the boat, and the other tourists dispersed, it became clear just how quiet this little village was. “This is so peaceful,” Toni said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Isn’t it?” Cheryl agreed, and Toni suddenly felt the woman’s hand on her lower back. The harbor they stood in was basically carved out between the rocks, and the multi-colored houses ahead of them were beautifully scattered on the side of the mountain.

They walked through the quiet streets, Toni snapping pictures every now and then and mostly just staring in awe.

That’s how the day continued. They eventually got on a train that took them to Corniglia, the middle of the five villages. It wasn’t nestled right by the water, but rather it was perched up on the cliffs. Despite the fact that all of the buildings in all of the little towns were similarly colorful and styled, each town felt unique in its own way.

Of course, Toni did spend plenty of time taking pictures, but she found herself putting the camera down in favor of talking to Cheryl. Cheryl told her about the architecture of the towns, and Toni wasn’t sure how she knew so much about it, but it wouldn’t have mattered what Cheryl was saying—Toni was learning that she really loved listening to Cheryl talk.

They took one more train to a fourth town, and it was well into the afternoon by that point. When they stepped out into Vernazza, Toni once again fell in love. Nestled in the middle of the colorful town was a lovely little beach, which was relatively full of people. After Toni took her obligatory pictures, she realized just how hungry she was when they walked past a little restaurant, and her stomach growled angrily.

They got a little table at one of the restaurants and ordered some late lunch, and ate outside, the smell of the sea and the gentle breeze giving the whole area such a calm atmosphere. “This is amazing,” Toni said, as she finished up her food. “I can’t believe this is real—that I’m here right now.”

Cheryl smiled softly. “I’m so glad you got to see it. It would’ve been a shame, having been so close and not being able to come.” Toni smirked at the wording, and Cheryl scoffed and rolled her eyes when she realized. “You know what I mean.”

“Thank you, Cheryl,” Toni said, bumping the toe of her shoe against the redhead’s underneath the table, “for this. I don’t even know how to thank you.”

“No need, Signora Topaz,” Cheryl assured her, her voice smooth. She picked up her glass of ice water and took a small sip, before adding, “It’s really been my pleasure. I don’t want you to think you need to pay me back or anything like that.”

After Cheryl paid for their lunch, they walked through Vernazza some more, Toni’s camera put away. Her hand was intertwined with Cheryl’s the whole time. Finally, they walked up to the road, where their driver was parked and waiting for them. They got in the car, and Cheryl said something to the man in Italian before closing the partition between the front of the car and the back.

“Back to Florence we go,” Toni said, and Cheryl gave her a small smile. “You should teach me something in Italian.”

Cheryl tilted her head. “Like what?”

“I don’t know, something I can say to my friends and confuse the fuck out of them when I get back,” Toni said with a chuckle.

“Mm. Sono la donna più bella di sempre,” Cheryl suggested, and Toni had no idea what it meant.

“Sono la donna… what was the rest?”

“Più bella di sempre,” Cheryl repeated.

“Sono la donna più bella di sempre,” Toni said. “Okay, what does that mean?”

“It means ‘I am the most beautiful woman ever,’” Cheryl answered, her red lips turning up into a smile.

Toni felt her cheeks warm up. “Damn, Blossom. You trying to smooth talk me or something?”

Cheryl let out a little laugh, and then changed the topic. “Is there anything here in Italy that you’re sad you haven’t gotten to see?”

“Venice,” Toni answered. “That’s another dream, that I’ll hopefully fulfill one day. And also, Naples.”

“Amalfi,” Cheryl said, “you should definitely go there someday.”

“Will do,” Toni assured her, although knowing how long it took her to just get to Rome, she didn’t really have much faith that she would be making it out of LA for a while after this trip.

They talked off and on for the next hour and a half or so, at which point Cheryl cleared her throat and said, “I have another surprise for you, Toni.” Toni lifted an eyebrow.

“A surprise better than that rooftop pool last night?”

“I guess that depends on how you’re rating it,” Cheryl answered with a smirk. “We’re almost there.”

“There? Where?” Toni asked, furrowing her eyebrows. She looked out the window and tried to determine where they were. That’s when she saw it up ahead—the Leaning Tower of Pisa. As they drove up to it, and the driver parked and the two of them got out, Toni realized that the tower was surrounded by walls, which also enclosed a huge church.

“Cattedrale di Pisa,” Cheryl told Toni, nodding toward the cathedral.

“It’s beautiful.” Toni got her camera out and the pictures began, and then Cheryl led her away from the tower, along the sidewalk that led around a huge expanse of nicely maintained grass. Toni started to realize that people around them were climbing up on the posts of the fence that surrounded the greens, and taking pictures with their hands up. “Oh shit, we can take pictures like we’re holding up the tower!”

Cheryl smirked. “Yes. Would you like to?”

“Hell yeah!” Toni exclaimed, handing her camera to Cheryl and climbing up on one of the posts. “Okay, tell me where to move.”

Cheryl lifted the camera, and crouched a little, which Toni found adorable. “Okay, lift up your hand… move it a little to the right, okay now up a little. Tilt your palm…” She snapped a few pictures, and then Toni hopped down excitedly. She looked at the pictures Cheryl took and was immediately obsessed with them.

“Okay, your turn,” Toni insisted.

Cheryl let out a breath. “Toni, do you really want me to climb up there and take a ridiculous picture like that?”

“Yes!” Toni exclaimed. “Have you already done it before?”

“No…”

“You’ve been here before and haven’t done it?” Toni demanded. “Yeah, okay, you need to get up there and pose for me, babe.” She didn’t mean for the word to slip out, but Cheryl either didn’t notice or didn’t mind, because she just rolled her eyes and then followed Toni’s instruction. She climbed up on top of the post, put one hand on her hip, and the other she held up reluctantly. Toni told her how to move so it looked like she was actually supporting the tower, and then she snapped a few great pictures.

“Okay,” Cheryl said, “that’s enough pictures of me. Come on.”

Cheryl climbed down, and grabbed Toni’s hand, pulling her away from where they’d come into the plaza. “Where are we going?”

“There’s souvenirs over here. Don’t you want something?”

“Oh,” Toni said, “yeah, I guess.”

“Did you get anything from Rome?”

“No,” Toni realized, deflating a little. “I guess I got too caught up in pictures.”

“Sometimes pictures are the best souvenirs,” Cheryl assured her, her thumb brushing over the back of Toni’s hand. “But I’ll get you something here, if you’d like.”

“No, no, I can get it myself,” Toni insisted, and Cheryl nodded.

They walked out the back end of the walls and explored all of the booths set up around the area. Toni found herself a cute tank top with the leaning tower on it, and then she grabbed a few little leaning tower keychains for her best friends. The handful of items put her out close to thirty Euros, but it wasn’t a huge expense, all things considered.

After that, they really did have to head back to the car, and it was officially back to Florence for them. Toni’s stomach was growling again when they finally pulled up to the hotel, and when Cheryl revealed that she’d made them a reservation at the hotel’s restaurant, Toni was relieved.

They went up to the hotel room and got cleaned up for dinner, and then went down to enjoy their last dinner in Florence—Toni’s last dinner in Italy. She couldn’t believe that she would be heading home tomorrow. It didn’t feel real, and she didn’t want it to be real. She could hardly imagine going back to her life after this past week—and she was sure that large part of that feeling came simply from the fact that she’d been on vacation. But she knew that at least part of it came from the fact that she would no longer be with Cheryl. And she wasn’t ready for that yet.

They ate a delicious Italian dinner as they talked, and Toni tried to not think about the fact that she would be leaving tomorrow. Cheryl offered Toni dessert, and they ordered some kind of chocolate mousse, which was absolutely delicious. And after the amazing evening, they headed back up to their hotel room.

“I can’t even believe that today was real,” Toni said to Cheryl, as they both sat on the end of the bed. “Seriously, Cheryl… I don’t know how to thank you.”

“I can think of one way,” Cheryl said lowly, her hand coming up and brushing some of Toni’s hair out of her face.

Toni bit down on her lip, and then Cheryl abruptly closed the distance between them, their lips coming together desperately. Toni was about to let herself get lost in Cheryl, and then she remembered that she needed to call Veronica, or else she would forget. Groaning, she pulled herself away from Cheryl. “I’m sorry, I really should call Veronica first.”

“Go ahead,” Cheryl said with a soft smile. “I’m going to use the bathroom.”

Cheryl disappeared into the bathroom while Toni grabbed her phone and dialed her best friend. It was early afternoon in LA right now, so she expected her to answer, and she did. “Toni! So happy to see your name popping up on my phone at a reasonable time! How are you?”

“Great,” Toni answered, “today was a dream, honestly.”

“Cinque Terre was everything you imagined?”

“More,” Toni replied.

“And how’s Cheryl?”

“Good,” Toni answered, “we just had dinner at the hotel and got back up to the room. I can’t believe it’s actually going to be over tomorrow.”

“I know, it’s always so hard to come back after a vacation. But just think about it this way—you’ll get to see me and Sweets! And Fangs, and Joaquin, and everyone else. Even Betty stopped by this morning and said it felt weird that she hadn’t seen you in passing at work last night.”

“I barely even see her at work,” Toni said with a chuckle.

“I know,” Veronica replied.

Cheryl came out of the bathroom, and Toni’s gaze was immediately stuck on the gorgeous woman, who was going over to one of her bags.

“So what time is your flight tomorrow?”

“Noon,” Toni answered, “gives me just enough time to check out and eat breakfast, I guess.”

“So, what time should you land at LAX?”

“Um, I think sometime between six and eight. I’m actually grateful to be traveling back in time this time around.” Cheryl was pulling a hairbrush out of her bag, and started running it through her long, red waves of hair. Toni couldn’t believe how beautiful she was.

“Toni? Did you hear me?”

“Sorry—what?”

“I asked if you have any layovers on your new flight.”

“I think so. I can’t remember,” Toni answered, “but I have all the info on my phone. I’ll look first thing in the morning and let you know everything before I take off.”

“Okay. Have you called Sweet Pea?”

“No, I’ve been a little busy,” Toni answered with a chuckle.

“Fair enough. I’m glad you’ve been enjoying your trip, T. Seems like Sara has barely even been on your mind.”

“Trust me, V, coming on this trip didn’t make me miss her,” Toni insisted, looking away from Cheryl as she spoke about her ex. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Cheryl glance her way. “I mean, Tuesday was hard just because I spent half of the day alone, but yeah, I’ve barely even though about her since then.”

“Did you tell Cheryl about her?”

“Yeah.”

“So, you and the CEO of K&B Design are getting pretty close, huh?”

“I guess.”

“Wait… is she in the room with you right now?” Veronica asked, and Toni tried not to blush.

“Um, obviously?”

“So, I guess I shouldn’t ask you how the sex is?”

“Oh, it’s good, V, I promise you that.”

“God, you have no shame.”

Toni snickered, and Cheryl glanced back at her, one of her eyebrows quirked up just slightly, like she was wondering what exactly Toni was talking about. “Anyway. I mean, things are… good.”

“So, it’s been mostly like, friends with benefits or something?” Veronica asked. “Seriously trying to wrap my head around the fact that you got a stranger in Italy to take you to a whole other city to add on to your vacation.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, V.”

“Fine, we’ll talk about it more when you get here. I seriously want all of the juicy details.”

Toni let out a breath. “Okay, yeah. You’ll get them. I should probably let you go, though.”

“Aww, okay. Well, give me your flight information tomorrow morning so I can keep track of you and pick you up, okay? That is—if you still want me to?”

“Yeah, that’ll be perfect.”

“Cool. Love you, T. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“See you tomorrow, love you,” Toni agreed, and then she hung up the phone. “Sorry, I just felt bad that I forgot to call her last night.”

“Don’t apologize,” Cheryl insisted, sitting on the edge of the bed again. Toni nodded, feeling a bit faraway. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Toni answered, “I guess… I just can’t believe this week is ending. I don’t feel ready to go home.” Cheryl nodded, but didn’t say anything. Toni didn’t know what she expected her to say, but it wasn’t nothing. Sighing, Toni reached for Cheryl’s hand. “Come on, distract me.”

“Oh, I can do that,” Cheryl assured her, climbing on top of the magenta haired woman and pushing her down into the bed. “I am well trained in the art of distraction.”

“I believe it,” Toni whispered lowly. “So come on, Signora Blossom, are you going to fuck me, or what?”

“Oh sì, Toni, ho intenzione di fare esattamente questo…”

Chapter Text

Toni woke up in a good mood, all things considered. She was naked, her legs tangled with long, soft, pale legs that belonged to none other than Cheryl Blossom. Cheryl had provided an excellent distraction the night before, but as Toni completely woke up, rubbing at her sleepy eyes, she remembered the truth of today. It was time for her Italian vacation to come to an end.

Cheryl stirred next to her, and Toni blinked, looking at the beautiful woman lying next to her. “Cheryl?”

Cheryl’s dark brown eyes flickered open, centering their gaze on Toni. “Buongiorno, Toni.”

Toni lifted her hand and rested it gently against Cheryl’s cheek. “You’re so beautiful.” Cheryl smiled, and Toni felt her heart skip a beat.

“Potrei abituarmi a questo…”

“Huh?”

Cheryl let out a sigh. “Nothing.” Toni tilted her head, furrowing her eyebrows a little. “Are you ready for your travel day?”

Toni frowned. “I am not at all mentally prepared.”

“I’m sure it will be fine.”

“I’m not worried about the traveling,” Toni insisted, “I’m just… I don’t feel ready to go home.” Toni looked at Cheryl, directly into her eyes, and tried to read them, but it was nearly impossible to tell what the other woman was thinking. “The past few days have been… amazing. I’m not ready to let it go.”

“I know the feeling.”

“But… I have work tomorrow.”

“Me too.”

Toni sighed. “We should get packed so we can get breakfast before we go to the airport.” Cheryl nodded, and with that, they got up and started to ready themselves for their travel days.

Toni couldn’t get out of her head all morning, unable to think of anything other than how badly she didn’t want to leave. And it wasn’t even Italy at this point, she couldn’t convince herself of that. No, she wasn’t ready to leave Cheryl. She couldn’t remember ever having a connection like this with anyone. Maybe it was similar to when she first met Sara, but there was something even more different about Cheryl. And Toni wanted to know everything there was to know about her. She wanted to find out about that sibling Cheryl didn’t have anymore. She wanted to hear more about her life in New York—when she wasn’t traveling. She wanted to know everything. And sure, she had Cheryl’s phone number, but she was about to be on the other side of the world. Cheryl would probably go on with her life and completely forget her. Toni wanted more time… any amount of time. But she didn’t have it. Her time was up.

They were walking into the airport, Toni mentally preparing herself to say goodbye to Cheryl, when Toni heard her phone ding. Furrowing her eyebrows, she pulled it out, expecting a text from Veronica maybe, but seeing that she had an alert from her airline app. Her flight was canceled. Not delayed, canceled. “Shit,” she said, and Cheryl looked over her shoulder at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“My flight got canceled.”

Cheryl looked concerned. “Oh… well when’s the next one to LAX?”

“Let me see,” Toni muttered, opening the app and trying to figure out her options. “Fuck, not until tomorrow night. Even if I figured out somewhere to stay tonight, and left tomorrow night, I’d have to call out of work Monday and Tuesday.”

Cheryl frowned, grabbing Toni’s hand and squeezing it. “Is there a flight to anywhere in California close enough to LA that someone could get you?”

“No,” Toni answered, “none that are showing up.” Cheryl squeezed Toni’s hand again, but this time she didn’t loosen her grip, and Toni looked at her with concern. “What?”

“How about out of Athens?” Cheryl asked quietly.

“Athens?”

“Just check.”

Toni bit down on the inside of her lip and went through the app to find flights from Athens to LAX. “Uh, yeah looks like I could get on one on Tuesday midday. Super freaking expensive to get on it, though.”

“Let me cover it,” Cheryl said softly, “you can come with me to Athens today, and I’ll cover your airfare.” Toni looked at Cheryl, wanting to accept and not seeing any other option, but feeling bad that Cheryl would be spending so much money on her. “Please, Toni. I already have a hotel in Athens. And I could probably get you a seat with me on the flight, first class doesn’t always fill up on these flights.”

“I mean, I don’t really have any other options,” Toni said, squeezing Cheryl’s hand back finally, “and... I mean, going with you to Athens doesn’t sound all that bad…”

Cheryl’s face broke into a grin, and she released Toni’s hand. “Let me go speak with someone about getting you a ticket on my flight, okay? You should probably call your friends.”

“Yeah,” Toni agreed, letting out a breath as Cheryl turned around and headed for a ticket sales desk.

It was the middle of the night in Los Angeles, but Toni knew there was a good chance that Veronica and Sweet Pea were still up, considering that it was Saturday night for them. She dialed Veronica first, since she was the one who would have been picking Toni up from the airport.

“Toni?” Veronica asked as she picked up. “Sorry, I just laid down to go to bed about fifteen minutes ago, everything okay? You’re about to get on the plane?”

“Not exactly,” Toni answered, biting down on her lower lip. “Um, my flight got canceled, V.”

“Oh, shit. When’s the next one out?” Veronica asked.

“Tomorrow night.”

“So, you won’t be back until Tuesday morning?”

“Yeah, but I can’t afford to get a hotel tonight in Florence,” Toni admitted.

“So… what are you going to do? Camp at the airport?”

“Um… please don’t call me crazy…”

“Oh no. What?”

Toni let out a breath. “Cheryl is flying to Athens. She thinks she can get me on her flight, and she already has a hotel room. I can fly out of Athens on Tuesday morning—I’d have to miss Monday and Tuesday at work regardless at this point, so that would work.”

“How much is that going to cost you?”

“Not much,” Toni muttered.

“Is she covering it for you?”

Toni sighed. “Maybe. I mean, what choice do I have, V? I’m not going to camp in an airport for thirty-six hours!”

“No, of course not,” Veronica agreed with a deep exhale. “I mean, it is what it is. I’ll make time to pick you up on Tuesday, so don’t worry about that. Just send me your new flight information as soon as you have it, okay?”

“I will,” Toni promised. “You don’t think I’m crazy, right?”

“No,” Veronica assured her, “but I do think that you’re happy about this, whether you’ll admit it to me or not.”

“I mean… all things considered, it’s sort of a win-win, right?” Toni asked, chuckling a little.

“I had been joking when I said not to let Cheryl steal you away from us, but I feel like I need to reiterate that sentiment with more seriousness,” Veronica said, and Toni could tell she was mostly joking, but that there was some concern in her tone.

“I have to come back, V, obviously. But… I just can’t explain it, V. This is… the freest I’ve ever felt. I think I’ve needed this.”

Toni suddenly noticed Cheryl walking back toward her, a new piece of paper in her hand. “Well, I guess that’s good. You know I’m always going to support you, T. I love you.”

“I know. I love you too,” Toni said with a smile. “Okay, I need to go, the flight to Athens boards soon, and we need to go through security.”

“Stay safe, babes. Text me when you land.”

“I will. Bye, V.”

The line ended and Cheryl came up to Toni, handing her the ticket. “One first class ticket added to my flight to Athens,” Cheryl said brightly. “Have you ever flown first class, Mademoiselle Topaz?”

“I can’t say that I have, Miss Blossom,” Toni said back with a laugh. She had never been so grateful for something to be canceled as she was in this moment. It was like the universe had heard her wishing she didn’t have to leave Cheryl yet, and then had answered her by canceling the flight.

“Well come on. We have an exciting day ahead of us.”

Toni followed Cheryl through the airport. They went through security and navigated to their gate. Toni was being unusually quiet, she knew, but it wasn’t because she was uncomfortable or nervous about her change of travel plans. No, actually, she didn’t feel the slightest bit of nerves or anything. She felt excitement, and happiness, and that was it. And that is what actually made her concerned.

She tried to disconnect from her thoughts as she and Cheryl sat down near where they were going to board soon, and she zoned out a little as Cheryl began tapping away at her phone. After a few minutes, though, Cheryl looked up at her and asked, “Toni? Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered absentmindedly.

“Are you sure?” Cheryl asked, and Toni blinked, meeting the woman’s eyes.

“Yes,” she repeated more firmly, and then she put on her best smile. “Um, I should email my boss…” She grabbed her phone and opened her email app. She knew that it was the middle of the night for her boss, but she figured the sooner she told her she’d be gone Monday and Tuesday, the better. She quickly typed up the email, and then sent it, and then looked back at Cheryl, who was refocused on her phone.

Cheryl looked up immediately, though, as if she could feel Toni’s eyes on her. “Sorry,” Cheryl apologized, “I’m just going over my schedule for the next couple of days.”

“Is it busy?” Toni wondered.

“Not so busy that I won’t get to at least show you a little bit of what Athens has to offer…”

Toni smiled a little. “Cheryl, you don’t have to do that. I appreciate you helping me with this flight and letting me stay with you at your hotel, but you don’t need to spend your time and money on showing me a good time in Greece.”

“I know I don’t need to,” Cheryl said, “but I want to. You’re telling me that you’d rather spend two days in Greece and not at least see some of the sights?”

Toni couldn’t fight her smile. “Okay, you make a good point.”

“I’ll admit, Toni,” Cheryl said, her voice quiet all of the sudden, “I’m… not unhappy that your flight got canceled.”

Toni bit down on the inside of her lip, feeling her heart rate skip a beat. “Same.” Cheryl lifted a hand and brushed some of Toni’s hair out of her face, and Toni felt time slow down. Without her permission, she felt a whisper escape her lips, “I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to you yet.”

Cheryl’s lips turned up into a small smile, and Toni thought she saw a pink blush appear on her cheeks. “Neither was I.”

Suddenly, a voice came over the intercom calling for first class passengers on the flight to Athens, and Toni felt strange as she stood up with Cheryl to get in line. She’d only flown a handful of times in her life—to get to Los Angeles way back before college, and then to get to Rome—and so she had never even imagined flying first class. She almost felt like she would be called out as an imposter as she handed her ticket and passport to the airport staff member who was checking them, and when she was handed back a scanned ticket and her little passport book, she almost felt surprised that she was being allowed on.

“Come on, la mignonne,” Cheryl said, nudging Toni as she started through the airbridge. Toni followed suit, wondering what Cheryl had just called her in French. Yeah, a couple years of French in high school had definitely not resulting in her actually learning all that much.

When they got to the plane, a flight attendant greeted them, and directed them into the first class cabin. It wasn’t anything ridiculously fancy—it was a short flight, after all—but the seats were further apart and looked nicer at least. When they got to their seat, Toni lifted both of their bags up into the overhead bin, and Cheryl gave her a sweet thank you, and then they took their seats. “So much leg room,” Toni commented with a chuckle.

“As if you need it,” Cheryl teased, “you are very petite.”

“Pft. Whatever.”

Cheryl chuckled. “So, how do you do on flights?”

“Fine,” Toni answered with a shrug. “I feel like after flying from LA to Rome, no flight will ever faze me again. And I’m assuming that you’re a pro, Miss I’ve-Traveled-Pretty-Much-Everywhere.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “You could say that.”

“So, any tips for a third time flyer?”

Cheryl grabbed her purse, and started to rummage through it, finally pulling out a pack of cherry flavored gum. She took out a stick and passed it to Toni. “To keep your ears from popping.”

“Thanks,” Toni said with a smile. “Hey, Cheryl… seriously, thank you for letting me come with you and stay with you until Tuesday.”

“There’s no need to thank me, Toni,” Cheryl assured her.

“If you say so.”

“I do say so.”

A lot more people started to board pretty soon after that, and Toni felt super weird sitting in first class and watching the economy class passengers coming onto the plane. She wasn’t sure she loved how it felt.

When the plane was full boarded, and the flight attendants had everyone put on their seatbelts and all that, the plane took off, and Toni was officially headed for Athens, Greece with Cheryl Blossom.

Toni found herself dozing off during the flight, which was a lot easier in the comfier seat, and without someone occasionally knocking into the back of it. She was woken by Cheryl, who lightly touched her arm and rubbed it, easing her awake. “We’re landing soon,” Cheryl told her softly.

As Toni was waking up, blinking to get the sleep out of her eyes, the captain came over the intercom for the plane and welcomed them to Athens in Greek, Italian, and English. Toni glanced at Cheryl. “You’re not fluent in Greek too, right?”

Cheryl smiled, shaking her head. “No, I don’t know much Greek at all. But I don’t know why you’re happy about that, life is so much easier when you can speak the language of people around you.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong, but you already have multiple ways to confuse me while talking,” Toni teased.

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow. “What would you like to know?”

“What did you call me before we boarded the plane?”

“La mignonne.”

“Yeah. What’s that mean?”

Cheryl’s lips turned up into a half smile, half smirk. “It means that I find you to be adorable, Miss Topaz.”

Toni felt redness come to her cheeks. “So, what, like cutie?” Cheryl just smirked a little more, and Toni knew she was blushing now. “You are really something else, Blossom.”

“Tu l'es aussi.”

Toni rolled her eyes. “I’m going to start having Google Translate out every time you’re talking.”

Cheryl smiled, her eyes almost sparkling, and for the first time, Toni felt like she was looking into Cheryl through her eyes. She could see her happiness, and Toni felt her heart swell.

Some turbulence from the plane broke their moment, and Cheryl blinked. “Sorry,” she apologized needlessly. Toni just shook her head, and leaned toward the redhead, lightly pressing her lips to Cheryl’s, which were painted red, as per usual. Cheryl froze for a moment, and then kissed Toni back a little.

Toni pulled away a second later, though, and smiled sheepishly. “No need to apologize.”

They sat in a comfortable silence as the plane landed, and when they could finally get off the plane, Toni pulled down their bags and they left the plane. “So,” Cheryl said as they walked through the airbridge, “Kevin is meeting us, and a car is picking us up. Forewarning, I forgot to let him know you were coming before we left, so he’ll probably be surprised.”

“Okay,” Toni said, feeling bad that she had once again practically forgotten about Cheryl’s assistant. Maybe it was just hard for her to get used to the fact that Cheryl literally had a personal assistant.

They made their way through customs, and when they finally walked out into the main area of the airport, Cheryl glanced around the crowd of people standing around, as did Toni, and eventually they spotted Kevin waving at them. As they approached him, Toni tried to gauge his reaction to seeing her with Cheryl. “Good afternoon, Cheryl. Miss Topaz,” he said, and Toni could hear the surprise in his voice.

“Afternoon, Kevin,” Cheryl returned. “Toni’s flight was canceled, so she’ll be staying with me until her new flight on Tuesday.”

“Great,” Kevin said with a smile. “Let me help you guys with the bags.”

Kevin took Cheryl’s rolling bag, and extended his hand to take Toni’s, but she shook her head. “I’ve got it, thanks, though.” He nodded and started to lead them toward the car pickup area, and to a sleek black car that was waiting for them. Kevin offered to put Toni’s bag in the back, but Toni insisted that she do it herself, and then she and Cheryl got into the back of the car, and Kevin got into the passenger’s seat.

As the car headed out from the airport, Cheryl said, “So Kevin, how’s your weekend been?”

“Great. And how was your weekend, ladies?” Kevin asked, looking over his shoulder at them with a knowing smile.

“It was great,” Cheryl answered. “Toni saw Cinque Terre for the first time.”

“Yeah, it was beautiful,” Toni said with a nod.

“Toni is a photographer,” Cheryl told Kevin, and Toni felt her cheeks warm up as he looked at her, impressed.

“More like aspiring photographer,” Toni said quietly.

“You work as a photographer, don’t you?” Cheryl asked, lifting an eyebrow. “You said for a social media sector at a nonprofit.”

Toni blinked, actually surprised that Cheryl remembered her mentioning that on their way to the restaurant last Tuesday. It felt simultaneously like so long ago, and like it was yesterday, but Toni didn’t know why she was so surprised that Cheryl remembered. “Okay yeah, that’s true.”

“Oh, that’s awesome,” Kevin said with a grin. “What’s the nonprofit?”

“Multiracial Residents of Southern California,” Toni answered, “they advocate for and support multiracial and biracial people, transracially adopted people and children, and interracial couples. And I get to take a ton of the pictures that they use for advocacy.”

“That is so cool,” Kevin said with a grin.

“It is,” Toni agreed.

Cheryl was looking at Toni with an expression that Toni couldn’t quite pinpoint for a second, and then she realized that maybe it was impressed. In all honesty, that wasn’t really what she expected to see from a very wealthy white woman, but she was happy to see the response from Cheryl, considering how drawn to her she was.

“Cheryl knows all about interracial relationships,” Kevin said teasingly, “from what I’ve heard, I’m not sure she’s ever even kissed another white person.”

Cheryl furrowed her eyebrows at her assistant. “Thank you, Kevin, for your input.”

Toni chuckled, looking Cheryl up and down. “It’s okay, Blossom. Everyone has a type.” She couldn’t help but smirk as Cheryl’s cheeks burned red.

“I am starting to regret this,” Cheryl muttered, but the corners of her lips were turned up enough for Toni to know she was joking. She cleared her throat. “Anyway. Kevin, I looked at my schedule for the next few days, but would you mind just giving me the rundown? And did we completely cancel Paris?”

“Of course,” Kevin said, grabbing his phone quickly. “You have the lunch with Mrs. Anastas tomorrow, but expect that to go long, because her assistant said something about a walk and talk afterward? And after that, I set up a call for you with Mr. Dubuc.”

“I thought that was completely canceled?” Cheryl asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

“His assistant reached out to me yesterday and said they could do a phone call at least. They’re really interested in one of Katy’s recent designs, and they’re hoping she’d do something custom. But physically going to Paris, yes I cancelled that.”

“Hm. Okay. What time is that call at?”

“Four.”

“Alright. Anything else tomorrow?”

“Nope.”

“Great.” Cheryl looked at Toni. “Should we make a reservation for somewhere tomorrow night?”

Toni bit down on the inside of her lip a little, and then she said, “What if we don’t, and we just find somewhere tomorrow?”

Cheryl nodded. “Okay. Would you want to go to the Acropolis Museum this evening?”

“Sure,” Toni said, feeling a little awkward. Thankfully, an excuse to grab her phone popped into her head. “Oh, I should text Veronica.”

She pulled out her phone as Cheryl said something to Kevin about buying tickets to the museum, and she noticed that it was later than expected—it was just after five. She blinked, and then realized that Athens was an hour ahead of Italy, and she was no longer concerned. She pulled her texts with Veronica up.

Toni – Hey, just got to Athens!

She wasn’t expecting a response yet from her friend, since it wasn’t even eight in the morning in Los Angeles yet, and she didn’t get one either.

When she looked up from her phone though, Kevin was suddenly taking a phone call, and Cheryl had focused her attention on Toni. “Toni,” she said firmly, but quietly, “are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered.

Cheryl tilted her head. “We don’t need to go to the Acropolis Museum, Toni.”

“It’s just…” Toni glanced at Kevin, who was plenty occupied on the phone. “This all just feels… so different. I’m not used to it.”

Cheryl placed her hand on top of Toni’s. “I’m sorry, Toni. I didn’t mean to overwhelm you.”

“It’s fine.”

Cheryl shook her head. “No, please. What would you like to do today?”

“We’d barely even have time to go to a museum, right? Maybe we can just… explore the city?” Toni suggested.

“That sounds perfect,” Cheryl said softly.

So when Kevin got off of the phone, Cheryl told him not to bother with the tickets, and the car was filled with mostly silence, and the occasional back and forth between Kevin and Cheryl, for the next twenty or so minutes that it took them to get to the hotel.

Toni knew she shouldn’t be surprised by how nice to hotel was, and she was actually better prepared this time, keeping herself from staring as much as the last time. To be fair though, she at least recognized the name of this one—it was a Hilton. Kevin checked Cheryl in, and then handed Cheryl’s room key to her. “I guess I’ll see you ladies in the morning?”

“Definitely,” Cheryl answered, “thank you so much, Kevin.”

“Of course. You two have a good evening,” Kevin said to both of them.

“Yeah, you too, Kevin, it was nice to see you,” Toni said with a smile, and he gave her one in return, before they split up. Kevin headed out of the hotel, and Cheryl led Toni to the elevator.

They went up to the room in silence, and when Cheryl unlocked the door and they entered, Toni was very impressed by the room. There was a huge, king sized bed in the room, as well as a wide screen TV and a desk. There were sliding glass doors out to a balcony, with a direct view to the Acropolis. “Wow,” Toni breathed out. She peeked into the bathroom and noticed that there was a huge tub with a marble wall.

“You like it?” Cheryl asked, glancing at Toni.

“It’s awesome. I can’t believe you get to travel like this all the time.”

Cheryl gave her a small smile. “You know, staying in a big room like this alone isn’t really the pinnacle of traveling.” Toni’s smile fell a little. “Trust me, I’m not saying that I’m not grateful—I know I’m privileged to be able to enjoy this so often. Just… it’s much nicer to have someone… you, here with me.”

Toni smiled. “I’m happy to be here, Cheryl.”

“Toni,” Cheryl said softly, as she set her bags down. Toni quirked up an eyebrow, setting her bags down as well, “I want to apologize for earlier, in the car. I wasn’t thinking, and—”

“Cheryl,” Toni interrupted, “you don’t need to apologize. It’s just…”

“What?” Cheryl wondered. “What is it?”

“We are really different people,” Toni said with a little laugh.

“Maybe,” Cheryl agreed, sitting on the end of the king sized bed and extending a hand to Toni. Toni took it, and Cheryl gently pulled her toward the bed, and Toni took a seat next to her. “But I think we have more in common than appearances would show.”

“Yeah?”

“We are both passionate about what we do and driven. We both haven’t had the best experience with parents. We both have…”

“What?” Toni asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Well, let’s just say, I have my history of bad relationships,” Cheryl answered with a sad laugh, “and you opened up to me about your long term relationship that didn’t end so well.”

“Yeah.”

“And Toni,” Cheryl said softly, “I know that we are from different worlds, and that it’s only happenstance that we even met in Rome… but I hope you know that I have never changed my travel plans like that for anyone. You, Toni, are unlike anyone I have ever known. Both in how absolutely beautiful you are, and also in how good of a person you are… and how fun and funny…”

Toni felt her heart pounding in her chest as Cheryl rattled off these things. “Cheryl,” Toni whispered, no more words coming to her. She felt speechless in this moment.

“D'où viens-tu?” Cheryl whispered.

“Where am I?” Toni asked, in confusion.

Cheryl chuckled a little. “Where did you come from?”

“I would ask you the same question,” Toni said with a small smile. They stared at each other’s eyes for a few moments, and Toni could absolutely get lost in Cheryl’s dark eyes.

Suddenly, Cheryl’s phone was ringing, and the redhead blinked, leaning away from Toni as she grabbed her phone out of her bag. “It’s Katy. I should take this. Then we can go out and explore, sound good?”

“Sounds perfect,” Toni answered. “I’m just gonna freshen up.”

Toni opened up her suitcase to grab her makeup, and then slipped into the bathroom. She left the door propped open, without thinking about it, and therefore she heard when Cheryl got on the phone with Katy.

“Hey,” Cheryl greeted. Toni wondered if she should close the door—she felt a little bad for eavesdropping—but she decided that if Cheryl didn’t want her to hear, she would probably have stepped out onto the balcony. “Yes, I just got to the hotel. Mmhmm. It was good, yeah. Actually… um, her flight was canceled.” Toni felt her cheeks warm for a second, realizing that Cheryl was talking about her. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised—of course Cheryl would’ve mentioned to Katy why she was changing her travel plans. “Yes. God, Katy, could you be anymore nosy?”

Toni tried not to laugh when she heard that, and simply continued to touch up her makeup.

“Tell Josie thanks, but no thanks,” Cheryl deadpanned a moment later. “Oh, did Kevin get a chance to tell you about Dubuc? Apparently, I have a call with him tomorrow, he’s still interested, despite canceling our meeting. Yes well, I’ll survive. We really should.”

Toni was finished with her makeup, so she closed the bathroom door quietly and then used the restroom quickly, now unable to hear what Cheryl was saying. After washing her hands and going back into the room, Cheryl was still on the phone, and Toni saw that she was sitting on the balcony, with the sliding door open.

Cheryl flashed Toni a smile and gestured for her to join her out on the balcony. “Mostly just exploring, I think,” Cheryl said into the phone, as Toni sat across from her. Cheryl bumped her foot into Toni’s softly, and Toni smiled. “Of course I deserve it, it’s usually all work and no play, thank you very much. No. Oh—tell him I say hi. Sure, yeah. Well, looks like I’ll be home after Athens, so you both can expect to see me by Thursday. Sounds good. Okay, yes, I should go. Mmhmm. God, TMI. Sure. Yep. Bye.”

Cheryl hung up the phone and immediately rolled her eyes. “She was with her boyfriend, and trust me, I like him, he’s actually good to her, but I don’t know why she feels the need to talk to me about her sex life. It’s not even noon in New York!”

Toni smirked. “But it’s Sunday, day of worship, and haven’t you heard the news? God is a woman.”

Cheryl quirked an eyebrow up at Toni. “Are you quoting an Ariana Grande song to me?”

“There’s a King Princess song that also fits this if you’d rather I quote that…”

“I know exactly the song you mean, so no, you don’t need to go there,” Cheryl answered. “Come on, are we going exploring, or what?”

With that, they left the hotel room and then the hotel, and then Toni grabbed Cheryl’s hand and started to lead her off in a random direction. “Um, how do you know where you’re going?”

“I don’t,” Toni said, “but if we’re really going to explore, then it’s no fun to know where we’re going.”

“I guess that’s a… valid point,” Cheryl responded. “I guess I’ve just never really done that.”

“That is because you have never been broke and desperate for entertainment,” Toni teased. “Traveling on a budget.”

“Ah yes, and all of your traveling experience means that you are absolutely the right person to advocate for that,” Cheryl deadpanned, and Toni couldn’t fight her grin. She was noticing Cheryl sounding a lot more carefree ever since their conversation after they got to the hotel, and she was liking it.

They walked along sidewalks for a few minutes, crossed a road, and suddenly came to a park. Toni squeezed Cheryl’s hand, and then they walked onto the path into the park—it was pretty standard as parks went, but it felt nice to be around the greenery after traveling all day.

“This is nice,” Cheryl said, and Toni flashed her a smile.

“It is.”

“Toni,” Cheryl continued, drawing a look of concern from the magenta haired girl, “about everything I said earlier, before Katy called… I meant it. And… I hope you aren’t regretting this.”

“This?”

“Coming here, I guess. With me.”

“I’m not, Cheryl.”

“Okay.”

Toni let out a breath. “I think Veronica may think that I’m crazy, though.” Cheryl looked at Toni with concern. “I mean, she won’t admit it, but I feel like she thinks I’m just fucking around. Most of my friends already think I went off the fucking rails when I broke up with Sara, which is why I don’t even want them to know where I am right now.”

Cheryl released Toni’s hand, brought hers instead to Toni’s upper arm, stroking it calmingly. “I’m sorry. It sounds like they just don’t understand.”

“I’m not in the habit of explaining myself to people,” Toni continued. “You know? I grew up having to fend for myself a lot of the time. When my dad tried to parent, we always got into a huge fight, and nothing ever stuck—not because I was a bad kid, but because he was a bad parent. So, I answered to myself, and I never had many people questioning my decisions. I mean, sure, a few of them, like moving to LA. But besides that.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone,” Cheryl insisted, “they’ll all either get over it, and if they don’t, it’s not your problem.”

“That’s not what it feels like,” Toni said with a sigh. “Sorry, I didn’t want to just unload all that on you.”

“It’s okay,” Cheryl reassured her, “I don’t mind listening.”

A strangely comfortable silence settled in the air between them, and they wandered out of the park and further into the city—at least, that’s what it felt like. “Let’s find somewhere to eat?” Toni suggested.

“Agreed.”

They wandered until they found a seafood restaurant that looked good and didn’t have much of a wait. Toni might’ve even picked it if she’d been alone, which meant that it was probably somewhere Cheryl never would have picked, but the woman didn’t seem bothered by the fact that it was a pretty standard restaurant.

They were sat at a table and were asked for their drink orders, and each of them ordered a glass of wine along with water, and the waitress disappeared to get their drinks.

“So, are you an expert on Athens, like you apparently are for Rome and Florence?”

Cheryl chuckled. “No, unfortunately. I feel like no one ever introduced me to Greek history—other than mythology, I suppose—and so I never really considered learning much about it. I suppose it’s because Italy is so romanticized in the states.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Plus, when I decided I was going to learn Italian, I started challenging myself to read Italian history books—in Italian.”

“Wow, so dedicated,” Toni said with a grin.

“Mm.”

“You wanna know something?” Toni asked, lifting an eyebrow and fighting her smirk. Cheryl looked at her suspiciously and nodded. “It is so hot that you can speak Italian and French.”

Cheryl smirked at that. “Dimmi qualcosa che non conosco…”

“See, the problem is, you could’ve just told me to go fuck off, and I would still think it’s hot.” Cheryl laughed at that, and Toni felt her heart jump happily at the sound. “Come on, though, what did you say?”

“I said, Toni, tell me something I don’t know,” Cheryl answered slowly, her smirk still very much present on her face. Toni felt her body wake up from how Cheryl was speaking. They hadn’t even gotten their drinks yet, and Toni was already a horny mess.

The waitress returned suddenly with their wine and water and asked if they were ready to order. Feeling too hungry to ask for more time, Toni and Cheryl both just picked something that sounded good at first glance, and the waitress gave them a smile before disappearing off into the rest of the restaurant.

Their conversation resumed, no longer about how hot it was that Cheryl spoke multiple languages, but instead about Katy—Cheryl told Toni about Katy and her boyfriend, and their friend group in New York. Katy, the fashion designer. Josie, the singer. Cheryl, the businesswoman. Katy’s boyfriend—Reed—owned an agency for New York based actors. Then, of course, there was Kevin, who was really close with Josie, and spent his free time performing in a musical theater group, and sometimes doing drag at gay clubs. They sounded like a fun group.

“So,” Cheryl said, after she finished telling Toni about Kevin’s drag persona, “what about your other friends? I’ve heard about Veronica and Sweet Pea, your best friends.”

“Well, there’s Fangs. He works with me at the nonprofit—he does campaigning,” Toni explained. “He’s actually from Kingston, he followed Sweets and Veronica and I a couple years after us, once he could afford to travel, and he lived with Sweet Pea for a while. Then here’s Joaquin—he and Fangs hook up sometimes, but mostly they’re just friends, and he and Sweet Pea are pretty good friends too. There’s also Betty. Actually, I only really ever got to know her because she and Veronica had a, like, sex-only thing for a while, right before Veronica and Sweet Pea finally admitted their feelings for each other, but now they’re really good friends. She does accounting at the bar I work at on weekends, and technically she’s the one who helped get me the job there. Other than that, there’s Fangs’ friend Peaches, and her girlfriend Storm. They both also work with us, but they just started about a year ago.”

“Sounds like an interesting group,” Cheryl said in amusement.

Toni chuckled. “Yeah. It feels kind of small listing it all out, though. I mean, for three years, I basically had two friend groups, you know?”

“Yours, and your ex’s.”

“Right. And I mean, we all sort of integrated pretty well, too, and I think that’s another reason why some of my friends were so shocked by us breaking up. It’s like, to them we’d just melded our lives perfectly, when really, everything was shattering.”

Cheryl nodded in understanding.

“Fuck, sorry,” Toni apologized. “God, after I broke up with her, I really told myself I wasn’t going to be that girl who always brought up her fucking ex.”

“You don’t always do that,” Cheryl insisted, “we’ve only talked about her a few times.”

“Well, still. I don’t want anyone… I don’t want you to think that I’m hung up on her.”

“I believe you when you say you aren’t, Toni,” Cheryl assured her, “and three years is a long time. Even if you aren’t hung up on her romantically, it’s hard to adjust to a life without someone you were so used to.”

Toni nodded, recognizing that Cheryl was clearly speaking from experience, but she also recalled Cheryl mentioning that she didn’t have much luck in having long term relationships. But then, she remembered the ominous sibling that Cheryl no longer had. She wanted to ask about them, but she didn’t think it was the right time.

As if the universe was agreeing that it wasn’t the right time, their seafood dinners were brought out almost immediately afterward, and dinner was a sufficient distraction from their previous conversation.

After dinner, they wandered the streets a little longer, until they decided it was getting too dark, and they started the walk back to the Hilton, hand in hand. When they got back to the hotel room, Chery took off her shoes and went to open the sliding door on the balcony. “By the way,” she started, “don’t feel like you need to stay here when I’m gone tomorrow. I know you are probably dying to take some pictures.”

“I am,” Toni agreed, “so yeah, I’ll probably go out while you’re working.”

Cheryl went over to the hotel room’s minifridge and pulled out a bottle of some kind of white wine. “Would you like a drink, mademoiselle?”

“Oui,” Toni answered, getting a smile out of Cheryl. There were some wine glasses sitting on the desk, and the redhead poured them two very full glasses, before handing one to Toni. “Merci, Mademoiselle Blossom.”

Cheryl smiled again, reaching for Toni’s hand and grabbing it firmly. She guided her out onto the balcony, and they sat in the chairs, looking out to a clear view of the beautiful evening sky and the Acropolis.

“This is so beautiful,” Toni said quietly.

“Isn’t it?”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping their wine. Toni’s thoughts wandered to earlier in the day. “So,” she heard herself say suddenly, “earlier, when you were on the phone with Katy… she asked about me?”

Cheryl blushed almost instantly. “Oh, you heard that?”

“Just your half.”

“Katy is nosy. All of my friends are, actually. But, for the record, it’s… been a while, since a woman has… caught my attention,” Cheryl admitted, taking a sip of her wine while keeping her dark gaze focused directly on Toni, who instantly felt her skin warm up and her heart rate spike.

“Oh?” Toni asked, not even sure how else to respond.

“When you work in industries like mine, you meet a lot of people, Toni. A lot of people who are willing to do anything to further their career, who put on a mask to show other people exactly what they want to see. But no one can keep a mask on forever,” Cheryl stated, her voice oddly firm. “And eventually, the fake people make themselves known.”

“Cheryl…”

“But you, Toni? You are… perhaps the realest person that I have ever met,” Cheryl said softly, taking another long drink from her wine, her gaze unrelenting. “You don’t try to seem perfect. You live in the moment. I admire that, and… I find that all very, very attractive.”

Toni bit down on her lower lip, and she noticed Cheryl’s eyes look down just slightly. Toni firmly gripped the stem of her wine glass, brought the glass to her lips, and chugged down the last few sips of her wine. When she met Cheryl’s gaze again, the woman’s eyebrow was quirked up. Toni stood up, and took a step over next to Cheryl, crouching down so that her lips were level with Cheryl’s ear. “Would you like me to take you to bed, Miss Blossom?” She heard Cheryl’s breath hitch for a moment.

Suddenly they were back inside, their lips attached hungrily, and Toni wasn’t sure what had happened to their wine glasses. Toni’s hands found Cheryl’s waist, gripping her blouse and pulling it toward her, guiding Cheryl backwards to the hotel bed. When she felt her legs run into the bed, she turned them around and gently pushed Cheryl down into it.

The redhead laid back and practically pulled Toni on top of her, and Toni was not about to object. She hastily removed Cheryl’s top, finding that she was wearing a lacy red bra underneath. Moaning, Toni squeezed Cheryl’s full breasts in her palms, and brought their lips back together.

Cheryl’s hand were in Toni’s hair, gripping and pulling it, turning Toni on even more than she already was. She reached down to her own waist and started to pull off her top, and they broke their kiss in order to rid Toni of the piece of clothing. Toni looked down at Cheryl, lying in front of her in her lacy bra, her lipstick smeared and her hair a mess, her pupils blown and looking so ready for Toni. “God, you’re so fucking sexy,” Toni groaned, bringing her lips down to Cheryl’s neck. She found herself sucking on the skin there, biting a little.

“Toni,” Cheryl murmured, “I have to work tomorrow, you can’t leave any marks.”

Toni pulled her lips away from Cheryl’s neck, and started to trail her lips and tongue down her body instead. She bit at Cheryl’s nipples through the lace of her bra, and Cheryl let out a deep moan, fueling Toni to explore even lower. She grabbed the waistband of Cheryl’s pants and located the button, undoing it and tugging the pants off of her.

“Toni,” Cheryl gasped, as Toni leveled her face with Cheryl’s lacy, red panties.

“You really wore a matching set of lacy underwear on a travel day?” Toni asked, looking up at the beautiful woman.

“Let me tell you, it does a lot for your confidence,” Cheryl whispered.

“You are so hot,” Toni murmured, grabbing the sides of Cheryl’s panties and pulling them off before tossing them off of the bed. She moaned as she looked at Cheryl’s wet and waiting center. She could hardly contain herself as she brought her tongue directly against Cheryl’s wetness. Cheryl let out a whimper at the contact, and that just made Toni press further into Cheryl, her tongue circling Cheryl’s clit and then sliding down near her opening.

“God, Toni,” Cheryl gasped out. Toni brought her fingers down to join her tongue, and Cheryl seemed practically undone already, arching her back and grasping at Toni’s hair, deep moans escaping her throat. “Fuck, Toni—oh my—Toni!”

Cheryl hit her orgasm and let out a loud moan, her thighs tightening around Toni’s face for a moment. When she relaxed into the bed, Toni gently pulled her fingers out of the beautiful redhead and wiped them lazily on the sheets as she licked her lips clean. Cheryl’s breathing was heavy as Toni straddled her waist, looking down at the redhead.

“I am so glad your flight got canceled,” Cheryl said breathlessly.

Toni couldn’t even fight her grin. She had a feeling tonight was going to be a good night.

Chapter Text

Toni woke up on Monday morning to absolute silence. She thought for a second that it was the middle of the night because of how quiet it was, but when she forced her eyes open, she saw that the windows were letting in a decent amount of light.

Focusing her attention closer to her, Toni realized that she was spooning Cheryl, their legs tangled together. Smiling a little, Toni held Cheryl tighter, and then the redhead stirred a little. “Mm, Toni?” Cheryl whispered sleepily.

“Mmhmm.”

“What time is it?”

“I dunno.”

Cheryl groaned, and pulled out of Toni’s grasp. Toni let out a whine, but she released her hold on Cheryl so that the woman could check the time. “Okay, it’s still early. Almost nine.”

“What time do you have to leave?”

“I have to be at the lunch at twelve-thirty,” Cheryl answered, “so I should leave here at noon.”

“Which means you have plenty of time to stay in bed with me,” Toni murmured, pulling Cheryl back down into the bed. The woman laughed lightly, and let Toni cuddle up to her. She wrapped her arms around Toni, who couldn’t fight her smile. “Let’s go back to sleep.”

Cheryl chuckled, her hand stroking Toni’s hair. Toni thought back to the previous night—they had spent a good few hours fucking each other, and Toni honestly couldn’t remember the last time she had such a carefree night. Afterward, Cheryl had realized that their balcony door had been open the entire time they’d been rolling around in bed, but neither of them even cared.

Toni had remembered to text Veronica before getting they’d lazily gotten ready for bed, and then they had climbed into bed naked and passed out. It had truly been a perfect night.

“Je pourrais m'y habituer,” Cheryl whispered very quietly—so quietly that Toni could barely even hear her.

“Huh?” Toni murmured, feeling half asleep.

“This is nice,” Cheryl said, but Toni knew that hadn’t been what she said in French.

“But what did you say?” Toni asked again, burying her face into Cheryl’s neck. Before Cheryl could answer, her phone was suddenly ringing. “Don’t answer it,” Toni whined.

“I’m sure it’ll be quick,” Cheryl assured her, reaching over to her nightstand and grabbing her phone. “It’s Kevin.” She answered the call. “Good morning, Kevin.”

Toni could hear Kevin’s voice on the other end of the line since she was so close to Cheryl and the phone. “Good morning, Cher! I just wanted to let you know that a car will be here for you at noon sharp, and also give you a heads up that Simone’s agent reached out to me last night.”

Toni could feel Cheryl as she tensed, and the magenta haired woman furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “What about?”

“I guess she’s hoping to wear K&B at her red carpet that’s next month. I tried to redirect her to Carrie, but her agent seemed to think that if she went through you, she could get some kind of special? Or exclusive look? I finally told her I would talk to you, because I remember last time, and she never stopped calling.”

“Of course. Simone is nothing if not predictable. Tell her agent that I told her to talk to Carrie. I’m too busy to entertain her ridiculous games, just like I was last time,” Cheryl said, her voice harsh. Toni wasn’t used to hearing Cheryl talk in such a way, so she knew that there must be some sort of history there.

“Alright, I’ll call her back later today and let her know. I’m sorry, Cher, I just didn’t want to assume anything…”

“It’s okay, Kevin,” Cheryl insisted, letting out a sigh and relaxing a little again. “And thanks for letting me know about the car.”

“Yep. If you need anything, shoot me a text.”

“Will do. Thanks.” Cheryl pulled the phone away from her ear as she ended the call and set the device down on her nightstand. She then let out another sigh, and Toni pulled away from her slightly.

“What was that about?” Toni asked softly.

“Simone Michaels, she’s a C-list actress,” Cheryl answered, “and, one of those fake people I was telling you about yesterday.”

“What happened?” Toni whispered.

Cheryl shook her head, pulling Toni a little closer to her. “We had a fling, I guess. For a couple of months. At the end of it, it became clear that she was only with me because of K&B, and it turned out that she had a boyfriend who was in on her attempts to seduce me. When I found out, I instantly cut all ties with her, of course, but this isn’t the first time that she has expressed interest in wanting to wear Katy’s designs since then. I actually don’t know if she’s ever actually worn any. I try to stay out of those deals.”

“Cheryl… I’m so sorry that happened.”

“It’s okay,” Cheryl insisted. “That was a couple years ago. Just… that was maybe one of the worse experiences I’ve had with women.”

“Yeah, that does sound pretty awful,” Toni agreed. “You deserve so much better than that.” Toni pressed a kiss to Cheryl’s neck softly, and felt the woman sigh a little.

They laid like that for maybe fifteen minutes, and Toni dozed off a little, before Cheryl shifted and murmured, “Breakfast. We need breakfast, Toni.”

“Or we could skip it,” Toni murmured, which Cheryl answered with a quiet laugh.

“How about room service? Limited effort.”

“I guess that’s acceptable.”

Cheryl pulled away from Toni and sat up to reach for the phone on the nightstand, as well as the provided room service menu. “What would you like, belle?” Toni blushed at Cheryl calling her beautiful in French. She took the menu from Cheryl and her gaze immediately went to the eggs benedict—a fancy breakfast she would never buy herself—and looked up at Cheryl.

“Eggs benedict?”

Cheryl took the menu from Toni, smiling down at her, and then dialed room service on the hotel phone. “Good morning,” she said formally into the phone, “yes. Could I please get an eggs benedict and a turkey hash? And a bottle of champagne? No, that’s fine. Yes, and orange juice. That’s it. Thank you.” She hung up the phone, and Toni lifted an eyebrow.

“Mimosas?”

Cheryl smiled a little. “It’s getting a bit late in the morning, so I figured why not make it brunch?” She leaned down and surprised Toni as she pressed her lips against the magenta haired girl’s. Toni kissed her back gingerly, but Cheryl pulled away just a second late. “I’ll be in the bathroom.”

Toni nodded as Cheryl got up, and then reached for her phone. She had an email from her boss, telling her that they would manage at work without her, and to have a safe flight back on Tuesday, as well as a text from her friend Fangs, asking why she wasn’t coming to work on Monday, saying that he heard it from their boss.

Rolling her eyes, Toni quickly texted him back.

Toni – Flight home got canceled. Flying back Tuesday.

Because he was for some reason still awake and checking his phone, Fangs replied in a matter of seconds.

Fangs – So your flight got delayed and then canceled?

Toni blinked, having forgotten that she’d told Veronica to just tell her friends that her flight was delayed. Rolling her eyes at herself, she typed out another response.

Toni – When it got delayed, I basically said fuck it and went to Florence and scheduled a flight out of Florence on Sunday, that one got canceled. Apparently, the universe wants me to stay in Italia.

Fangs – Dude, I’m so jealous

Fangs – I’d like to be chilling on an Italian beach today or some shit

Fangs – So you’re still in Florence?

Toni – Yup

She felt a little bad lying, but she didn’t want shit from Fangs right now, and she definitely didn’t want him telling her boss or coworkers anything about where she was.

Toni – But I’ll be back by Wednesday. Try not to miss me too much at work.

Fangs – Lmao I’ll try. Later, T.

Toni let out a breath and forced herself to sit up, stretching her arms out over her head. She turned and looked out the glass sliding doors, at the Acropolis, resting atop its giant hill. Smiling a little, she wondered what she should spend her time doing today. It'd be weird, roaming a city she hadn’t planned to see in advance without Cheryl. But she wasn’t about to spend the whole day sitting in a hotel room, so she would figure it out.

Cheryl came out of the bathroom a moment later, and Toni got up to go get ready as well. Fifteen minutes later found them at least clothed and washed up, and then there was a knock on their door. Cheryl answered it with a polite smile on her face, and accepted the cart of food that was rolled in. The man dropping it off gave them both a smile and bid them a good day before leaving the room.

Toni started uncovering the plates to determine which was whose, while Cheryl started to make two mimosas.

They then sat out on the balcony to have their brunch, and Toni felt beyond relaxed as she enjoyed her breakfast and sipped on boozy orange juice. “Thank you for brunch,” she said after a few peacefully silent minutes.

“Of course,” Cheryl returned. “So, what do you think you will do today?”

“No idea,” Toni answered, “but I think I’m happy that I don’t know. The truth is, I’m not a big fan of making plans. I’ve never been good at making them, I think because I’ve never been used to being able to actually predict how something will be a certain time. As for last week, let’s just say I did not do much of the ticket booking myself.”

Cheryl smirked at that. “So, you’d rather keep things spontaneous?”

“Yeah,” Toni confirmed, “I mean, to an extent, at least. Of course, for things that I want to see that need to be booked in advance, that’s fine. But I don’t like to plan my time to the T, you know?”

“Mm. I used to be a bit obsessed with meticulously planning my time, but actually, having an assistant manage my schedule has made it so much easier to stop doing that. Half of the time, I don’t even know what I’m doing any given day until the day of, and when I’m between appointments, I just do whatever else there is to do or that I want to do. And it’s definitely been good for me.”

“A little spontaneity never hurt anyone,” Toni insisted. She took another bite of her food, and after swallowing it a moment later, said, “But I am glad that I had a somewhat structured week last week, because I actually got to see most of what I wanted, and I still got to have a few spontaneous moments.”

“A few?” Cheryl asked, smirking.

“Maybe more than a few.” Cheryl smiled, and Toni felt the woman’s foot bounce softly against hers under the table. They finished their brunch in a comfortable silence, their feet playing a game of footsie under the table, and then Cheryl let out a contented sigh. “Alright. I need to shower and do my makeup.”

Toni looked at the beautiful woman sitting across the table, the morning light shining on her. She was wearing a tank top and red sweatpants—clearly a look meant for sleeping—and her hair was a bit of a mess, but she looked absolutely gorgeous. “Wait, really quick,” Toni said suddenly, before hopping up and rushing into the room.

“Um, what?” Cheryl asked.

“Don’t move,” Toni insisted, grabbing her camera and then coming back out onto the balcony. Cheryl was looking at her skeptically. When Toni turned on the camera and pointed it toward Cheryl, the redhead frowned.

“Toni,” she said, almost in a whine, “I am in no way ready for a photoshoot.”

“You look beautiful,” Toni insisted, “come on, what’s the harm?”

Cheryl sighed. “You have twenty seconds.” She then relaxed her expression and wore a small smile instead a frown, and Toni immediately began snapping a few perfectly positioned pictures. The light was hitting Cheryl perfectly, and she couldn’t believe she’d managed to get such perfectly composed photos on a whim. “Okay, your twenty second window is up.”

“Those might be some of the best photos I’ve ever taken in the span of twenty seconds, mostly due to the beautiful subject.” Toni swore that Cheryl blushed at that, but the woman was standing and heading back into the hotel room before Toni could be sure.

“Okay, now I really need to shower and actually get myself to looking presentable.”

“Whatever you say!”

By ten minutes till noon, Cheryl and Toni were both showered, dressed for the day, and made up, and they left the hotel room together. When they reached the lobby, Toni immediately noticed Kevin standing a few yards away from the elevators, on the phone. He lifted his eyebrows when he saw them, waving them over.

“No, I explicitly said—wait, excuse me a moment,” Kevin said into the phone, before pulling it away from his ear. “Cheryl! Your car should be here any minute. And Toni—give me a minute.”

Toni lifted an eyebrow, confused, but was distracted by Cheryl gently touching her upper arm. “I will see you this evening?” Cheryl asked, and Toni nodded. “If you find somewhere that you’d like to have dinner at… just let me know. Or we can wander around like we did yesterday.”

Toni couldn’t even fight her smile. “Yeah, I’ll let you know. Have a good lunch.” Cheryl leaned toward Toni and pressed a soft kiss to her check, surprising the shorter woman.

“Have a good day exploring, Toni.” With that, Cheryl turned and headed for the door to the hotel.

Blinking, Toni tuned back into Kevin, who was still talking on the phone. “Right, okay. Yes, that’ll be fine. I don’t know Miss Keene’s schedule, unfortunately, but if you—no, that’s—okay, fine. Yes. Okay. Goodbye.” He hung up the call and rolled his eyes. “God, I hate agents. Usually mornings abroad aren’t so bad since it’s so late in the states, but this one is in London.”

Toni gave him a sympathetic smile. “Your job seems… pretty wild.”

“Trust me, I love my job,” Kevin insisted. “First of all, working with friends is the best. Second of all, I have no problem handling the phones, because most of the time, if I ever meet the people in person, they don’t put two and two together and never realize I’m the one who made it so hard to get in touch with Cher.”

“I don’t think I’d have the patience to be anyone’s personal assistance, even if I were friends with the person. In fact, I think that would make it harder,” Toni admitted with a chuckle.

“Honestly, I’m just glad Cheryl hired me to be hers after all of the drama. Our friend Josie told me that working with her used to be a nightmare,” Kevin said, shaking his head.

Toni furrowed her eyebrows. “What drama?”

Kevin just shook his head. “Way too long of a story to get into. Let’s just say, Cheryl Blossom used to be known for her temper being a short one.” Toni frowned at that. “But, she’s totally not like that now. Some… things really changed her. And now people like you are lucky enough to get to see the good side of her.”

“People like me,” Toni repeated.

“I just mean, people she meets now,” Kevin answered, shaking his head. “Anyway! I totally got off track there. Cheryl told me that—if you wanted—I could call you a car to take you around the city today. Totally up to you.”

“How does that work; you can just spin up a car whenever?” Toni asked, laughing a little to hide her discomfort.

“Well, there’s this professional car service, and when you have enough money, you can get as many cars as you want, whenever you want,” Kevin answered with a laugh. “Anyway, if you’d rather walk or get your own Uber or anything, go ahead. She just wanted you to know that it was an option.”

Toni nodded. “Thanks. Um, I think I’m just going to get a taxi or an Uber or something.”

“Cool, cool yeah,” Kevin said with a nod. “Well, if you need anything, you have number!”

“Do I?” Toni asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Well, you have Cheryl’s professional number, right? From her card? You called it last week, and I picked up?”

“Right, right. Yeah.”

“Yeah, so let me know if you need anything at any point,” Kevin told her.

“Yeah, will do.”

Toni headed out after that, getting an Uber despite the price and how much easier it would be to get a car called for her. She didn’t really mind the fancy stuff with Cheryl, but without Cheryl, it would just feel really weird.

She spent the day wandering Athens. Not wanting to spend money, she didn’t go to any museums, and she didn’t get to go see the Acropolis and the Parthenon up close. Instead, she took pictures of the beautiful architecture throughout the city, and the guards that patrolled around certain sites. She walked through the Zappion Gardens and took pictures of the Temple of Zeus from afar. She stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant that served traditional Greek food, and she tried traditional Tzatziki and some traditional Greek sausage. As late afternoon arrived, she started walking vaguely in the direction of the Hilton, although she would need to get an Uber all the way back, as she grabbed her phone and dialed Veronica.

Her best friend picked up after a couple of rings. “Babe,” Veronica said instantly, “it is not even seven yet.”

“Oh, shit,” Toni said, blinking. “Sorry, I totally forgot that Greece is ahead of Italy. I guess I woke you up?”

“Yeah, but it’s fine,” Veronica insisted with a sigh. “I needed to get up soon anyway. So. How is Athens?”

“It’s great,” Toni answered, “I mostly just wandered a lot today and took pictures. Didn’t feel like splurging to do any one thing for hours.”

“So you were on your own today?”

“Yeah, well starting at noon. Cheryl had some work things—hence the reason she came to Athens,” Toni admitted. “But I think she’s almost done. We were going to get dinner somewhere, so I was just wrapping up and figured I should give you a call.”

“How are you feeling about flying out tomorrow morning?”

“Honestly? Really weird,” Toni admitted. “I don’t know how to describe it, V, but… this past week… has been beyond incredible. I can’t even imagine going back and losing… all of this.”

“All of this?”

“Yeah.”

“So, do you mean Italy and Greece, or do you mean Cheryl?”

Toni let out a long sigh. “Yeah okay, Cheryl. I just… V, you don’t understand. She’s… unlike anyone I’ve ever met before.”

“Yeah, not every day you meet someone who gets the chance to woo you in one of the most romantic countries in the world,” Veronica said somewhat sarcastically.

“Veronica,” Toni tutted, “I’m being serious.”

Veronica let out a short sigh. “I know, babe, it’s just… you just met her. And… I know this trip was hard for you because you went without Sara, after ending things with her not that long ago, and she also just moved away and… I don’t want you rushing into something and getting hurt.”

Toni scowled. “That’s not what I’m doing. And that’s not—I’m not some kicked puppy. I broke up with Sara because I wasn’t happy. I’m trying to say that this woman, Cheryl… she makes me happy.”

“And I’m just trying to say that it’s a lot easier to be happy when you’re vacationing, and real life can’t get in the way.” Toni frowned. “Look, she’s probably great, but do you know her shitty past? Does she know yours? Everyone has one, and being abroad, when there’s really no one around to judge or give input or anything… it can make people seem way different than they really are, you know?”

“We have talked about our pasts,” Toni insisted, although she thought back to the drama that Kevin had mentioned. “I mean, some of it, of course.” She remembered Cheryl mentioning the sibling that she used to have. “We’ve only known each other a week, V.”

“Exactly!” Veronica exclaimed. “You’ve known her a week, and you’ve only known her while she’s been whisking you from city to city and showing you the beauty of Italy and Greece. Take it in with a grain of salt, T.”

Toni frowned. “I see your point, but Veronica, please don’t act like I’m being stupid because of Sara.”

“I never said you’re being stupid.”

“Yeah, but I can tell that you’re thinking it. Just like everyone else. And this is why I don’t want Fangs to find out why I stayed in Italy an extra two days. I don’t need this from my friends, V.”

“Toni—”

“I’ll text you before I fly out tomorrow.”

She hung up the phone and let out a huff. She could see Veronica’s point, but Veronica hadn’t met Cheryl. She hadn’t been there for their conversations. And maybe there was more that Toni needed to find out, but she didn’t take that as Cheryl lying to her or anything like that. Toni had been through the toxic games and having her girlfriend assume she was doing things that she wasn’t. She wasn’t going to be that girl to Cheryl.

After calling an Uber and sitting through the ride back to the Hilton, Toni felt a little calmer, but she didn’t really feel like going out to eat. She had a feeling that Cheryl would not be excited to hear that, but before she left tomorrow morning, Toni just needed to really talk to Cheryl about some things.

When she got back to the hotel room, Cheryl looked like she had just walked in, still wearing her heels and sitting on the end of the bed, doing something on her phone. She looked up as soon as Toni walked in. “Toni!” she chimed happily. “I was just about to text you. How was your day?”

“It was pretty good,” Toni answered, feeling a little more relaxed all of the sudden. “Yeah, I took a lot of pictures.” She shrugged her shoulder, which her camera bag was slung over.

“Good,” Cheryl said with a smile. “Did you find anywhere you’d like to eat?”

“Um, I know it’s totally lame, but do you think we could just… order room service again and stay in? I’m just… not feeling like going out.”

Cheryl immediately looked concerned. “Of course. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, let’s just… let’s order?”

They ordered a platter of hummus with pita and olives, and a large pork entrée, with the intention of splitting both, along with a bottle of red wine. When the food got up, and they settled on the patio with the plates set between them, Cheryl finally asked, “Toni… what’s going on? Did something happen today?”

“I talked to Veronica,” Toni admitted, “and she just said some things that frustrated me. You know how I told you that some of my friends seem to think that I’m going off the rails after I ended things with my ex?”

“I thought Veronica didn’t think that.”

“I don’t think she did. Maybe she does now.”

“I doubt that, Toni. She’s your best friend, if anyone can understand, it would be her, right?” Cheryl asked, frowning.

Toni sighed, not knowing the best way to try and further explain it. “Cheryl… please, um… please don’t get pissed at Kevin about this, but I was talking to him earlier, and he mentioned… I don’t know, some kind of drama you when through some time ago? That you used to be like… not great to work with, or something?”

Cheryl frowned. “Oh, Kevin. He has always been such a gossip. Him and Josie both. Between the two of them, it is impossible to keep a secret.”

“I’m sorry,” Toni apologized instantly, “for bringing it up, it’s none of my business—”

“No,” Cheryl interrupted, “it totally is. Let me explain?” Toni nodded. “Toni, I was raised in a family where business came first, and all else second. My household was not loving. My mother was not kind, and my father was often absent. I had about fifteen different nannies as a kid. Also… I was a twin.”

Toni blinked, not expecting that at all.

“I had a twin brother, Jason. He was such a mama’s boy, not to mention that everyone loved him. I mean… he was so loveable. He was my favorite person in the universe,” Cheryl told Toni, who could hear the pain in her voice. “We were inseparable growing up. But… I had a lot of anger, Toni. Pent up, suppressed anger. At my parents, at my life… and sometimes at him. All I wanted was attention, but he got all of it without hardly even trying. I took that out on everyone around me. I was a stone cold bitch to everyone, sometimes even to Katy and Josie, my two best friends. The people I dated… they were immune, because when I was receiving attention, I got better, in a sense.”

Toni nodded slowly, understanding so far, but waiting for the part where something happened to Jason, because she knew it must be coming.

“You remember I told you that after college, I traveled a lot, and then I just stopped… for a while?” Toni nodded. “The reason was because… Jason got in a car accident. There wasn’t anyone else involved… we don’t know what happened exactly. Maybe there was something in the road that made him swerve, or… I don’t know, but he went off the road and his car was totaled, and he didn’t make it. He was… the one constant my whole life, the one person who could always make me feel better—even if it was him I was mad at. It was like losing a piece of me, Toni, it was… it was just excruciating pain. I couldn’t bear to let myself enjoy anything, especially not traveling, which we used to do all the time together.”

“Cheryl…” Toni whispered, reaching over to place her hand gently on Cheryl’s knee.

“It took me a while to get through that grief and… it’s still hard a lot of the time,” Cheryl told her, “but when I started to get through it, I realized that I spent my whole life pushing people away, and being horrible to any and every one. I did it because it made me feel better about my horrid relationships with my parents and myself. And I realized that life was too short to be living so carelessly, so… I tried to make a change. And all of my friendships are better for it, and so am I. I’ve done a lot of healing, Toni. Kevin… he doesn’t know all of it. He and I weren’t close when it happened. He knows the bits and pieces Josie would’ve told him, but no one understands what really happened with me, Toni, because no one can understand what that change really stemmed from.”

“Wow,” Toni whispered, “wow, that’s a lot, Cheryl. I’m… I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Cheryl insisted, “really. And I understand why you were concerned when you heard Kevin mention it, but… I hope you can understand what I’m saying.”

“I understand, Cheryl,” Toni assured her. She knew what it was like to have people not understand a change and how it affected her, and then make false assumptions about you afterward. “And I am so sorry about your brother.”

“Thank you,” Cheryl said with a small smile. She sniffed a little, looking down at the still mostly full plates between them. “I think we got a little distracted from dinner.”

They sat in silence as they finished eating, and then they brought the plates inside and piled them back onto the room service cart. It was still early, but Toni just wanted to get into pajamas and curl up in the bit hotel room bed. Just as she was about to mention that desire to Cheryl, the redhead’s phone was ringing.

“Ugh, it’s Katy,” Cheryl said. “I think this is work related, so I’m going to step out into the hallway.”

“Okay,” Toni agreed, and then Cheryl left the room.

Toni took off her makeup and changed into pajamas before crawling right into the big bed. She was really appreciative of Cheryl opening up to her, but she didn’t know what to do now. Cheryl was unlike anyone she had ever known, and she didn’t want to lose her, but part of her wished she could listen to Veronica—to acknowledge that this was probably just some vacation fling. Cheryl had a rocky history with relationships, so the chances that she was looking for one now seemed slim. Perhaps it would be easier to just cut ties when Toni went home tomorrow. She could delete Cheryl’s number from her phone and ignore all unknown callers for a couple of weeks. It would suck, but it would be a clean break.

But she didn’t want to do that. When she thought about doing it, so many things flashed through her head. Cheryl gently touching her snake armlet in the car last Tuesday night. Cheryl gently reminding her not to fill her whole camera with pictures of one scene. Her asking Toni if she wanted to do something crazy—to go to Florence. All of the sweet words, the deep conversations, the lighthearted joking and flirting. That night in the rooftop pool, that day wandering through the Cinque Terre.

Maybe they had met in this ideal scenario, without work or friends to interrupt them too much, but that didn’t mean it had to end when the scenario ended, did it?

Cheryl came in a little while later, looking at Toni fondly. “Tired?”

“I guess so.”

“Toni,” Cheryl said softly, coming and sitting on the bed next to her, “what’s wrong? I something else bothering you?”

“You mean besides the fact that I’m leaving in the morning?”

Cheryl let out a sigh. “I meant besides the fact that whatever Veronica and Kevin said upset you, but…”

“Sorry,” Toni said, rolling onto her back and sitting up a little. “It’s just… Cheryl, this has been like, the most amazing week of my life, and I don’t know what happens when it ends.”

“It’s always hard to go back to real life after a vacation…”

Toni’s eyes were locked with Cheryl’s. “This isn’t about a vacation, Cheryl.” Cheryl bit down on her lower lip.

“I know.”

They stared at each other in silence for a few, long moments.

“What is it that you want to hear, Toni?” Cheryl whispered. “What can I say?” Toni pursed her lips, lowering her gaze. “I would love to spend more time with you, Toni, but we can’t stay floating in this bubble forever. You have work and your friends to get back to, and even if you didn’t have to leave, I’m flying home on Wednesday. To New York.”

Toni frowned. This was not what she wanted to hear. “So what? We just forget that this happened?”

“No, of course not,” Cheryl insisted, scooting closer to Toni. “Toni… even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I don’t know what happens next, but I know that much.”

Cheryl had seemed to have all of the answers the past week. She made plans when Toni had none, she rearranged flights and came up with new agendas, and adapted when Toni wanted something different. And now, she didn’t know what to do, and neither did Toni. “Okay.”

“Let’s just… enjoy our last night in Athens together?” Cheryl suggested, reaching for Toni’s hand. “However you want.”

Toni wanted to ask Cheryl to just lay with her, but she looked down at Cheryl’s perfect, plump, red lips, and down at her tight pants and blouse, accentuating her curves, and decided that if they were going to not think about tomorrow, they may as well pick the best distraction. Toni leaned forward, so that her face was just a couple of inches away from Cheryl’s. “Make me forget about tomorrow.”

Cheryl’s hand came up to Toni’s hair, pushing it out of the way gently. “I can do that.”

Chapter Text

“Ma chérie,” Cheryl was whispering quietly, while gently dragging her fingers through Toni’s hair, pulling Toni out of sleep on Tuesday morning. “Toni, you need to wake up.”

Toni forced her eyes open and rolled over, facing Cheryl. “Why?”

Cheryl smiled. “You have your flight soon.”

Toni reached her hand to her face and rubbed her eyes. Her body was a little sore from the night before—it was safe to say that Cheryl had provided every distraction Toni could have wanted the night before. Still, this morning had to eventually arrive, and it was here. “Right,” she murmured.

“How did you sleep?”

Toni smiled a little, probably one of the few smiles she would be giving out today. “After last night? Great.”

Cheryl smirked. “I’m glad to hear that my distraction was successful.”

“I never doubted you for a second.”

There were a few moments that they just laid there, pretending that there was nothing else in the world. Toni let her eyelids fall closed, and Cheryl kept playing with Toni’s hair, gently scratching her scalp every few seconds.

And then, the moment was broken.

“I told Kevin to arrange a car for you, to the airport,” Cheryl said softly. “It’ll be here in about an hour.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Toni whispered, feeling her chest tighten.

“I would have come with you to the airport if I didn’t have another lunch to get to today,” Cheryl admitted, “and this was the best I could do.”

Toni let out a sigh. Her heart ached, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever felt this way about a woman she’d known for a month, let alone a week. “You’re so sweet.”

“Mm. Come on, belle, let’s get you ready to go.”

Toni went through the motions, got up, dressed in appropriately comfy clothes for long plane rides, and did a bit of makeup. She packed up all of her things, and then was surprised by room service arriving with a small breakfast of eggs and toast, courtesy of Cheryl, of course. “I didn’t want you to worry about getting food at the airport,” was the reason Cheryl gave. But despite physically getting ready to go, Toni wasn’t there emotionally, and she didn’t know what to say to Cheryl before leaving.

Cheryl walked Toni downstairs to the lobby, and all the way up to the lobby doors. She pointed out a black car waiting along the curb. “That’s yours.”

Toni felt the tightness in her chest again, her heart aching and pounding somehow at the same time. “Cheryl,” she said, panicked, “I don’t… I—”

“Shh, ma chérie,” Cheryl whispered, her hand grasping Toni’s and squeezing tightly. “We are on the same page, oui?”

Toni pursed her lips. “Could we clarify what that page is?”

“Toni, you’re going to be late for your flight,” Cheryl insisted. “Look… call me when you land in LA.”

“What time will it even be here?”

“I don’t care,” Cheryl insisted. “Just… I need to get ready and you need to catch your flight, okay? We’ll talk on the phone, okay?”

“Okay,” Toni said, swallowing thickly. Cheryl ran her hand through Toni’s hair gently, and then pulled her face in for a firm kiss. It was filled with promise, and it lightened up Toni’s mood a little. When they pulled apart, she took in a deep breath. “I’ll call you when I land. Have a good business lunch.”

“I will. Have a safe flight, Toni.”

Toni nodded with a smile and then, before she could stop herself, she quickly turned on her heel and started out of the hotel, her bags in hand. The driver of the car saw her coming and immediately got out to help her get her bags in the back, and then she climbed into the back seat and buckled in for the half hour ride to the airport.

Just over a week ago, she had sat on some long ass flights to get to Rome, wondering what her trip would be like on her own. Then, unexpectedly, she’d spent over half of her week with Cheryl Blossom, someone from a completely different world than her, and it had been no less than magical. And now it was over, and she was somehow going to have to get through even longer flights, alone.

She texted Veronica and Cheryl before she got on the plane, but only Veronica responded—because Cheryl was busy working, probably.

During her flights, Toni did her best to edit her favorite pictures from the past week, and she organized all of her photos by specific location. It put her mind at ease, having something monotonous to do.

Occasionally, though, she would get to the pictures she’d taken of Cheryl. At Piazza Navona, Santa Maria de Fiore Cathedral, a few candid shots in the Academia Gallery, the one of the two of them with Manarola in the background, some from the leaning tower of Pisa, and the ones from the balcony Monday morning. She was missing the selfie of them on the bridge in Florence—that one was on Cheryl’s phone. She found herself staring at those photos, thinking about how happy she had been this past week, especially in compared to the last stretch of her previous relationship. She had forgotten what it was like for one person to make you so happy.

When she was done with photos, she slept through the rest of her time in the air. She woke up a few times to the sound of flight attendants handing out meals or drinks, and then eventually, she awoke to find that they were landing in LAX.

Despite being in the air for about sixteen hours, and Toni feeling like it should be around three in the morning, it was five in the evening in Los Angeles. Toni just hoped that this jet lag wouldn’t make it impossible to get to work the next day.

Toni grabbed her bags and started off of the plane along with everyone else, went through the airbridge, and made her way through customs. After over half an hour of waiting in lines, she finally made it out to baggage claim, which she continued through since she didn’t have any checked bags.

When she stepped into the huge lobby of the terminal, she immediately saw her two best friends standing amongst the crowd of people waiting around, waving like maniacs. “Toni!” Sweet Pea exclaimed, and Toni rolled her eyes—he could definitely tell that she’d already seen him.

She walked up to them and was immediately engulfed in a group hug. “Oh my goodness!” Veronica exclaimed. “We missed you, babes! Come on, you’re probably starving, let’s get you in a car and through a Taco Bell drive through stat.”

Toni couldn’t help but laugh at that, and she started following them to the parking garage. “You guys could’ve waited out at pickup; you didn’t have to come in.”

“Well, we missed you, and we both left work early to be here, so we figured why not?” Veronica insisted. “So! How was the flight?”

“Not too bad. I slept a lot, which is probably for the best, because to me, it should be like, four in the morning by now.”

“God, time zones are so weird,” Sweet Pea said. “I had like, no idea what time it was for you any of the times we talked. Somehow Veronica just knew off of the top of her head every time.”

“Geography, babe,” Veronica insisted to her boyfriend, “it’s not that hard.”

“Yeah, the last time I took a geography class was freshman year of high school, and we all know that Mr. Harrison was not a good teacher.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“So,” Veronica chimed, “when do we get to see all of the pictures?”

“Probably this weekend. Honestly, V, I probably just need to eat, go home, and sleep off this jet lag. I need to be back at work tomorrow, and that is not going to happen if I feel this shitty.”

“We get it,” Sweet Pea assured her, as they made it to their car, “which is why, we already picked up Taco Bell for you.”

Toni’s jaw dropped, and she clamped her hand to her chest overdramatically. “Oh my god, you two are the best. Seriously, what would I do without you?”

“Starve? Be stuck at the airport forever?” Veronica asked, grinning. “Of course, we got you covered, T.”

Toni couldn’t help but notice, on their whole drive from LAX to Toni’s apartment, that Veronica did not once ask about Cheryl. She knew it was probably due to the tension they’d had in their conversation the previous day, but she was surprised that she didn’t even mention the woman Toni had spent over half of a week with.

Toni ate her Taco Bell on the drive back to her place, and then she bid her friends a good evening when they dropped her off. She dug her keys out of her bag and unlocked the door to her boring apartment and let out a long sigh. She was back home, but she felt no sense of relief. She figured there should be some sense of joy at returning to normalcy, to her normal bed and routine, but she felt nothing.

Feeling unmotivated, Toni left her bags sitting in her small living room before making her way to her bedroom, collapsing into her full sized bed. She looked at the time on her phone. It was after seven now, thanks to customs and LA traffic. She closed her eyes to do the math, and she determined that it was five in the morning in Athens. She couldn’t call Cheryl at five in the morning.

Toni – Hey. I just got to my apartment. I would call you, but I figure you’re probably asleep. I hope you had a good day yesterday… so weird saying that since it’s technically still the same day for me.

She sent the message, not expecting a reply, but then immediately her phone started ringing with a call from Cheryl. She furrowed her eyebrows, answering it. “Hey,” she said, aware that her voice was very tired sounding.

“Hi,” Cheryl said, sounding like she’d just woken up.

“Did my text wake you up?”

“Only because I turned my phone volume up so I wouldn’t miss it,” Cheryl insisted, “how was your flight?”

“Long,” Toni answered, taking off her shoes and curling up into her bed, “I’m exhausted.”

“Did you sleep at all on the plane?”

“Yes, but I don’t think it really counts.”

“Mm. So. Veronica picked you up?”

“Yeah, she and Sweet Pea did,” Toni answered. “They were really excited to see me, it was adorable actually.”

“You have good friends,” Cheryl said. “Hey, Toni… I’m sorry I shut you down yesterday morning—I mean, this morning for you… um, before you left the hotel.” Toni smiled at the confusion. “I know you just wanted to check in, and the truth is Toni… I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Cheryl…”

“I want to look put together, Toni, like I know what I want and need. I try. But Toni, no one has ever captivated my attention like you have. Especially not recently. You… you take my breath away, and I… I was terrified of you leaving, and I knew that if we got too deep into this conversation, it was either going to hurt like hell, or I wasn’t going to let you leave.”

Toni laughed at that, feeling tears come to her eyes. She knew they were there mostly because she was tired, but they were also definitely there in preparation for what she was worried Cheryl might say. “I don’t want it to hurt, Cheryl. I really like you.”

“I do too, Toni, I really like you. But… I don’t have the answer for what to do next. I’m in New York, you’re in LA, and I just…”

“I get it,” Toni assured her, “yeah, I get it. I just wish we had more time.”

Cheryl sighed. “Me too, Toni. I wish that too.” They sat on the phone in silence for a few minutes, before Cheryl hummed softly and said, “I think you probably need to get to sleep.”

“Yeah,” Toni agreed. She wanted this conversation to end on a good note, to know what was going to happen between her and Cheryl, but she knew that this was not the time to talk details. Toni was exhausted, and Cheryl had just woken up from an inadequate night’s sleep. They were both too tired, but she needed Cheryl to at least know that this wasn’t ending here. “Cheryl. I don’t want this to end between us. Whatever this is, I… I know we don’t have the time we wanted, but… I’m not ready for this to end.”

“Me neither, Toni. Don’t worry.”

Toni let out a sigh of relief. “Okay. Well, get some more sleep.”

“You too, ma chérie,” Cheryl whispered, and Toni closed her eyes, imagining that Cheryl was lying next to her. “And I’ll call you when it’s a better time for both of us.”

“Okay,” Toni agreed. “Um, have a safe flight today.”

“Thank you. I’ll talk to you later, Toni.”

“Mmhmm.”

Toni ended the call and dropped her phone next to her on the bed. She felt relieved that Cheryl didn’t want to end things, but she still felt some of that chest tightness. If only she had more time with Cheryl. She wanted to make this work, whatever this was, but she didn’t know how to do that if they didn’t have any more time together.

Feeling her hot tears suddenly escape her eyes, Toni sniffed and rubbed vigorously at her face. It was only when she realized that she was completely alone, and that no one would see her cry, that she finally let all of the tears out, sobbing into her pillow and curling up into her blankets until her exhaustion finally pulled her into sleep.

Chapter Text

“Oh my god, look who’s finally back!” Fangs exclaimed, as Toni practically dragged herself into work on Wednesday morning. Not only was she still totally feeling jetlagged, she was also exhausted from crying for an embarrassingly long amount of time the night before. She wasn’t sure what exactly was happening to her, but everything just felt so overwhelming, and she had no idea why this seemed to be affecting her so badly.

“Yep, it’s your favorite photographer,” Toni answered with the best smile she could muster.

“Dude, you’re basically radiating the post-vacation blues.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “I think we’re going to need to get you drunk Friday night.” Normally, Toni would completely disagree, but she had to admit, that sounded pretty good about now.

“You know what? Sure, let’s get wasted on Friday,” she agreed. “Just make sure and invite V and Sweets, otherwise they will flip shit.”

“They’re so needy.”

“Morning, Topaz!” The voice was Toni’s boss, Kiera, who had just walked into the room. “Glad to see you made it back to LA in one piece. I’ve got some things to go over with you in my office before you get started today.”

“Got it,” Toni said, quickly setting her bag down at her desk and then following Kiera to her office.

The things Kiera had to go over with Toni were pretty much just a bunch of photos that were taken over the weekend by some of the less experienced photographers that needed some major editing, which Toni was more than happy to help with.

Work kept her mind off of what was bothering her, which was nice. She’d had a text from Cheryl when she woke up this morning, from hours earlier just letting her know that she was getting on the plane, but the flight was long, and Cheryl probably wouldn’t be back in New York until the evening.

Not that Toni even knew what they would do when Cheryl was back in New York. She had never done long distance before, and she had never met anyone she’d even considered doing it for. She was a very sexual being and being apart from her significant other had never been at all appealing to her. In fact, it had never seemed worth it at all. But after spending a week with Cheryl in Italy and Greece… somehow, she was finding herself considering the option. After all, if she didn’t consider it, the only other option was to call whatever they were off.

Toni was grateful that during her lunch break, Fangs, Peaches, and Storm were having a huge discussion about politics, which meant that none of them asked about her vacation. She chimed into the conversation a few times, but mostly she just ate and let their words continue to keep her distracted.

When work finally ended in the evening, Toni found herself intercepted by Fangs as she headed out of the building. “Hey, T! So, Friday night, how about that one gay club that Joaquin took us to that one time? I bet getting some action could bust you out of the post-vacation blues.”

Toni tried not to frown. “I don’t think I’m in the mood for some action, but that club is fine. At least I won’t have to spend the whole night getting hit on by pervy guys.”

“You can just get hit on by hot girls instead,” Fangs said with a grin, and Toni laughed at that. Friday couldn’t come fast enough.

When Toni got home on Wednesday, she made herself a quick dinner from some frozen food in her freezer, and she then found herself perusing her social media. Over the past week, she had basically not checked any of it, so there was a lot to catch up on. By the time she was finishing up her dinner, though, she found herself getting bored, and then a thought popped up into her head.

She typed “Cheryl Blossom” into her Instagram search bar, and immediately found the redhead’s account. She had hundreds of thousands of followers, which Toni probably shouldn’t have been surprised about, considering that she was the CEO of an up and coming fashion company, even if Toni had never heard of it before. Her pictures were few and far between, but in all of them, she seemed to be wearing something designed by Katy, and there were a few pictures of the two of them together. Smiling, Toni decided to click the follow button.

She got up from where she’d been eating on her couch and washed her dishes, and when she returned to her phone, she saw that she had two follow requests on Instagram. One from Cheryl’s Instagram account that she’d just been looking at, and the other from another account, with the username “CherryXOXBlossom.” The profile picture was of Cheryl, and the account was private. Biting back a grin, Toni approved the follow requests and followed Cheryl’s private account back—her request being approved in a matter of seconds.

Immediately, she began stalking the woman’s account. There were lots of pictures of different destinations around the world, and a good number of pictures of Cheryl’s friends. The most recent picture surprised Toni, though. It was a picture from Cinque Terre, posted Saturday. It looked like just a picture of the view, with a few tourists scattered around, but there was Toni, crouched down a few meters in front of Cheryl, her camera up to her face as she took a picture facing away from Cheryl. Anyone who didn’t know that Cheryl had been there with Toni would probably have just thought the magenta haired girl was just another tourist, but Toni couldn’t help but blush when she realized that she’d been featured on Cheryl’s private Instagram. The caption read: “Enjoying the view,” and Toni felt her cheeks burning.

She scrolled back some and noticed that there were very few photos of Cheryl herself. Occasionally she would be pictured in a group picture, but other than her profile picture, none of them were just her. Furrowing her eyebrows, she scrolled back even further, until she was a few years back. She knew she was being super creepy, but she couldn’t help herself.

Then, Toni saw a selfie of two redheads, Cheryl, wearing a huge grin on her face, and a boy, with similarly fair skin and the exact same shade of red hair. He was making a super goofy face, and it looked like Cheryl was in the middle of laughing. Toni smiled sadly, realizing immediately that this must be Jason, her brother. She scrolled back a little more and saw that there were tons of pictures of the two of them together. Posing in front of famous sites around Europe, silly selfies, and some just casual photos. There were also a lot of pictures of Cheryl posing, all with photo credits to Jason. There were so many pictures of Cheryl, and they all stopped when the pictures of Jason stopped.

Before Toni could think much about it, her phone started ringing with a call from Cheryl. Smiling a little, she answered and flopped back down on her couch. “Hey,” she said happily, pretty much forgetting about all of her worries from earlier in the day.

“Good evening,” Cheryl said back, “I was very interested to see that you were looking me up on Instagram when I got off the plane.”

Toni blushed. “Well, I was bored, what can I say? So. You’re back in New York.”

“Yes. I landed about an hour ago, customs was absolute hell. I just got in a taxi back to my place. Thankfully, I don’t have much work to get done this week, since I was supposed to be abroad, so I can recover from the jetlag a little.”

“I’m glad one of us gets time to do that,” Toni said with a laugh.

“Today was hard?”

“It started pretty rough, but I guess it got better,” Toni answered, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “I had a bunch of work thrown at me, so I kinda got lost in it and forgot to be tired.”

Cheryl laughed at that, and Toni smiled—she loved Cheryl’s laugh, and it was just as vibrant over the phone. “Well, I’m glad that you were distracted.”

“Mmhmm. My friend Fangs thinks that I need to get wasted to get over my, and I quote, post-vacation blues.”

“I’m not sure that would help combat the jet lag, though.”

“No, probably not. I mean, his advice isn’t all bad, but he did also suggest that I should try and get laid to also get over it, so,” Toni said with a chuckle.

“Mm. And are you?”

Toni frowned, not expecting Cheryl to ask that. She thought she’d made it clear that she was interested in some kind of relationship with Cheryl, but she also could concede that open relationships were a thing. Regardless, she bit down on her lip and answered, “Not unless you’re planning on being in my bed this weekend.”

Cheryl let out a quiet laugh again, and Toni wished she could see if the woman had blushed. “Mm,” she hummed afterwards, “that’s good to know.”

“I don’t suppose your business takes you to LA all that often?” Toni asked with a smile.

“Sometimes,” Cheryl answered, “but I rarely know all that much in advance where I’m going for work.”

“Lame.”

“Your Instagram is cute, by the way.” Toni couldn’t believe that she blushed when Cheryl said that to her, as if she had been officially turned to mush. “Do you have a photography Instagram, too?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered, “it’s tagged in some of my recent photos.”

“Oh, yeah I see it.”

Toni smiled. “So… what’s life like for you when you’re in NYC?”

“A lot like it is any other time. I keep pretty busy during business hours, sometimes I even have work things outside of business hours—dinners and events and whatnot. During a lot of my free time I spend time with Katy or Josie. When I’m truly not doing anything, I mean, I watch Netflix.”

Toni grinned. “Sounds pretty similar to my life then,” she admitted. “Although, the past couple of months, I’ve been trying to get used to being alone after work and when I’m not with friends. It’s pretty weird after coming home to someone for so long.”

“I know what you mean,” Cheryl said, her voice level. “Sounds like you’ll be partying with Fangs this weekend, though.”

Toni chuckled. “Yeah maybe. And I have to show Veronica and Sweet Pea all my pictures and tell them all the cool stories.”

“You do have some good stories to tell about last week,” Cheryl said, amused.

Toni smirked. “Yep. I’ve got funny stories, exciting stories, adventurous stories, and even quite a few sexy stories, but I won’t be sharing those.”

“I’d like to hear the sexy stories,” Cheryl said, her voice low.

“Aren’t you in a cab?” Toni asked, biting on the inside of her lip.

“Only for a few more minutes.”

“You don’t even need to hear the sexy stories; I’d like to think you remember them as good as I do.”

“I definitely do,” Cheryl insisted. The woman let out a sigh, and Toni tilted her head a little, wondering what the sigh was for. “I’ll admit, Toni. It was really weird going from spending so much time with you to just… not.”

“Yeah,” Toni agreed with a frown.

“Oh—shit,” Cheryl said, surprising Toni with the curse word, since she’d only heard Cheryl curse during sex, “Sorry, Josie is outside my building. I didn’t realize she would be here. I have to let you go.”

“Okay, no problem,” Toni said. “Have a good night with Josie, Cheryl.”

“Thank you,” Cheryl said sweetly. “You have a good night, too.”

The phone call ended, and Toni sighed, going back to Instagram. She noticed that her photography account had a new follower—Cheryl—and smiled. Maybe this long distance thing… whatever it was that they were doing… maybe it could work. At the very least, Toni had to try, because talking to Cheryl, although not the same as being around her, was intoxicating, and she was not ready to give that up.

Thursday went about as well as Wednesday, only a little better, because since Cheryl was no longer in transit and was only three hours ahead of Toni, they were able to text throughout the day. Cheryl had never come off as much of a texter to Toni, but she was happy that the woman didn’t seem to mind texting her. They didn’t talk about much, just checked in throughout the day. Cheryl would ask what kind of things Toni was working on, and asked questions about her friends. It was sweet, but it felt so different, and it was sort of hard to get used to this probably being their new normal.

They talked on the phone that night, too, before Cheryl went to bed. Cheryl told her about Josie and Katy interrogating her the night before, asking about Toni. Toni decided not to mention that neither she, nor either of her friends who knew about Cheryl, had mentioned her at all since Toni got back. Toni was afraid of her friends thinking that she was being stupid, even though she knew that she wasn’t, and it was making her afraid to mention her. She knew that was dumb, and she should trust that Veronica and Sweet Pea, at least, would understand, but she was just worried that they wouldn’t get it, that they would judge her, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Friday, though, did not start off as well. Cheryl had some work to take care of, making her unavailable most of the day, and when Toni got off work, expecting Cheryl to be free, the woman didn’t answer her texts. She was hoping to talk to Cheryl early that evening, because in a couple of hours, she was going out with her friends, and she wouldn’t have the chance. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

Once she was home, Toni darkened her makeup for her clubbing look, and changing into a skintight, deep purple dress. She slipped on her favorite black heels and clasped on a Topaz gemstone necklace. She topped the look off with a number of rings on her fingers, and her snake arm ring, and then grabbed her purse, with her phone, wallet, and keys, and headed out for the night.

She got an Uber to the club, and when she got there, she realized that she’d forgotten to have dinner. Rolling her eyes at herself, she decided that she was going to have to order some snacks at the bar to supplement the alcohol she was going to be practically funneling into her system tonight. She needed it.

When Toni walked into the gay club, she immediately felt her mind wipe itself of all of the thoughts that had been stuck there for the past few days, and it was if she was thrown back into her old life. She and Sara used to come out to clubs all the time with their friends, and they’d all get wasted and then the two of them would fuck in the bathroom, unable to wait until they got home. Their friends would call them out when they came stumbling out afterward, and they’d just deny it.

The last time that had happened had been almost a year ago, before things between the two of them started to get difficult. It was a time of Toni’s life that she didn’t really miss, but she did miss how spontaneous she had felt. She hadn’t felt so spontaneous since then until deciding on a whim to go with Cheryl to Florence.

“Toni!” Fangs was exclaiming all of the sudden, having somehow seen her from where he’d been at the bar, with Joaquin. “Girl, let’s get some shots in you before Veronica and Sweet Pea get here with their hetero-ness.”

Toni laughed at that, and let Fangs drag her over to the bar. He ordered two shots of tequila, both for her, and Toni exclaimed, “Fuck it!” before taking both of them back. She then ordered some chips and guac—something that she was so grateful that this club served—and made sure to eat a lot of them as Joaquin started talking to her over the loud music.

“So how was your trip, dude?”

“It was awesome,” Toni said back, also loudly over the sounds of the club. “I took so many awesome pictures and saw so many awesome places.”

“Not to mention, you got to add a whole other destination to your trip,” Fangs noted.

“Oh yeah, because your flight got delayed right?” Joaquin asked, and Toni just nodded.

“Hey, losers!” Sweet Pea’s voice said suddenly, and Toni turned to see him and Veronica coming up to them. “What are we drinking?”

“We just started Toni on her first two shots of the night,” Fangs answered, “but I’m three in, and Joaquin’s had like two glasses of whatever shit he drinks.”

“It’s not shit,” Joaquin defended, rolling his eyes.

Veronica grinned, leaning over the bar to the bartender. “Excuse me? Can I get a couple of tequila shots and two whiskeys, on the rocks?” Veronica turned back to the group. “So, has Toni started spilling the tea about her trip yet?”

“The only tea I’ve heard is that her flight got canceled,” Joaquin answered.

Toni glared at her best friend. “There’s no tea to tell, other than that.”

“Wasn’t this trip supposed to fall on your anniversary with Sara?” Fangs asked. “How was that?”

“It sucked at first,” Toni admitted, “but honestly, I had a great time on the trip without her. Plus, she was most of the reason we didn’t book Florence into the trip, and I ended up getting to see it anyway, so I’m happy.”

“So that’s what that was about?” Fangs wondered.

Toni frowned. Of course he would go there, trying to attribute her actions to her breakup. “I mean, no, but it was a plus.”

“Leave her alone, dude,” Sweet Pea said, nudging Fangs. “Come on, Toni, what drink do you want? This one’s on me.”

“By that, he means it’s on me,” Veronica corrected with an eyeroll. “What would you like, babes?”

“You know, maybe Fangs is right, and I really should get wasted,” Toni said, feeling frustrated all of the sudden, and knowing that alcohol would be the perfect distraction.

“Does that mean…?” Joaquin asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Adios, Mother Fucker!” Sweet Pea exclaimed, grinning.

That’s how the candy blue colored drink ended up in Toni’s hand, as she tried to dance with her friends and drink at the same time. She would’ve chugged it so she could set the glass down, but she wasn’t that stupid. Still, by the time she finished the drink, she was definitely drunk. One of her friends handed her another drink, but she couldn’t even tell what kind of alcohol it was when she took a sip—it just tasted like water to her. She danced with her friends, forgetting anything else. The strobe lights and loud music were disorienting, and she almost tripped a few times, but her friends kept her up, and eventually, someone did hand her a glass of actual water.

It was much later when Toni and her friends found themselves parked back at the bar, laughing about some joke Sweet Pea said that Toni had already forgotten. She was definitely the most drunk out of her friends right now.

Suddenly, Toni’s phone started to ring, and she struggled to open her purse and grab it. She had to blink a few times to read the name on the screen, and just as she was able to read it, she heard Fangs say, “Who’s Cheryl Blossom?”

Toni answered the call immediately, a grin on her face as she said, “Hey, sexy!” She stretched out the word “sexy” for a good few seconds.

Cheryl laughed on the other end of the phone. “Bonjour, Mademoiselle. Something tells me I picked a poor time to call you.”

“No, no,” Toni denied, “no, it’s totally a great time, I’m totally not doing anything at all.”

“Toni. There is nothing you could say right now to convince me that you aren’t completely drunk.”

“Okay, so maybe I’m like, a little bit sorta wasted?”

“Who is that?” Toni heard Fangs asking Sweet Pea and Veronica, who were both waving him off and trying to distract them with some other conversation.

“Well, it seems that I picked a bad night to do this, then.”

“No, no, it’s totally fine,” Toni insisted, “I can go outside the club and we can talk!”

“That’s not what I meant, Toni.”

Toni furrowed her eyebrows. “Huh?”

“So… you know how we talked about spontaneity?”

“Spontaneity,” Toni repeated, not sure if she said the word correctly, “that is such a funny word.”

“Toni.”

“Yes, yes, I remember,” Toni answered, mentally berating herself.

“Well. I’m standing in baggage claim in LAX.”

Toni’s eyes widened. “Shit—you’re—wait, what?”

“I guess I probably should’ve told you. Truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to go through with it until I stepped on the plane,” Cheryl admitted. “Don’t worry about tonight, though, I’ll get a hotel and I can see you tomorrow.”

“Wait, no, no,” Toni argued, “no, you should come over.”

Veronica now looked at Toni with raised eyebrows—clearly, she was eavesdropping, despite trying to keep Fangs distracted from Toni’s drunken conversation. “Come over?” Veronica asked. “She’s here?”

“Who is she?” Fangs asked again.

“Would you two shut up?” Toni asked, unable to focus. “Sorry, ugh, I’m like, really drunk. But seriously, don’t get a hotel. Let me give you my address and I’ll meet you there, okay?”

“Are you sure, Toni? I don’t want to interrupt your night with your friends.”

“I’m sure,” Toni insisted, “yeah. Yeah. Let me text it to you, okay? It should be like, a half hour from LAX at this time of night, I think. I’ll get a coffee on my way back and actually eat some real food, and maybe I’ll sound like less of an idiot.”

Cheryl laughed a little. “Okay, ma chérie. I will see you there.”

“Cool,” Toni responded, biting on her lower lip, and then hanging up the phone and immediately texting Cheryl her address and then going on the Uber app to order her ride home.

“So, who was that?” Fangs asked.

Toni let out a breath. “Look, please just let me explain that when I’m not so fucking drunk?” He nodded. “Cool, thanks. Yeah, so. I’m gonna go. I’ll see you guys tomorrow probably.”

Toni started out of the club, but she very quickly realized that Veronica was following her. “Cheryl came here?” Veronica asked. “I figured you’d ended things with her?”

“Why?” Toni demanded.

“Because you didn’t mention her.”

“Yeah, I didn’t mention her because you were being so fucking weird about her and I didn’t want judgment from my best friend,” Toni snapped at Veronica.

“Whoa, babe, I’m not judging you for anything!” Veronica exclaimed. “Definitely not wanting to hook up and distract yourself on a trip you were meant to go with your ex on. I just want to make sure that you aren’t rushing into something that’s going to get you hurt. A vacation fling is one thing, but… you don’t even really know her outside of that idealistic setting you were in all week!”

“I don’t care, Veronica,” Toni snapped, “I just don’t care, okay? Look, if she’s here tonight, she’s probably going to be staying the weekend. So, you’re going to meet her tomorrow, and you’re going to shut the fuck up about all of this ‘you barely know her’ crap until you’ve met her, okay?”

“Okay, that seems reasonable,” Veronica agreed. Toni finally reached the exit and busted open the door, gasping in the fresh air outside. “But hey, Toni.” Toni turned around to look at her friend, who was holding the door open. “I swear, I’m not judging you. And I am excited to meet the woman you managed to seduce in a matter of days, practically across the entire world.”

Toni grinned. “Honestly, Ronnie, you’re gonna love her. See you tomorrow.”

“Get home safe!”

Toni only had to wait a few minutes for her Uber, and she had the driver take her to a McDonald’s a short walk from her apartment building. There, she ordered a large, black coffee and a Big Mac. She basically shoveled down the burger and chased it with the coffee on her walk back to her apartment, hoping that the food and caffeine would sober her up a little bit.

She made it back to her place and texted Veronica to let her know she had, and then she made sure that the place was relatively clean and straightened out. She knew that Cheryl must be used to glamorous apartments and homes, and her place was basically a shoebox, with a tiny living room and kitchen, and a bedroom that consisted of literally just a full sized bed and dresser. To be fair, she’d had to move on a whim after breaking up with Sara, and this had been the cheapest place she could get to herself, and it was only so cheap because of how long she signed the lease for, and she hadn’t really been able to afford to buy a lot of new things to fill it up.

It wasn’t too long later that there was a soft knock on her door, and Toni sucked in a deep breath, hoping that she wasn’t drunker than she thought she was. She wobbled a little as she reached for the door handle, but successfully opened the door without falling over, and there in front of her was Cheryl Blossom. She was wearing tight black skinny jeans that were high rise, and a very loose, red crop top that showed off her midsection. Her hair was falling in gorgeous waves, and her lips were stained their usual red. She had a carryon bag with her and a purse, and that was it.

“Hey,” she said with a small smile, “Toni, I am so sorry I didn’t tell you I was coming.”

“No, please don’t be sorry,” Toni insisted, “come in.” She stepped back and let the beautiful woman into her apartment. “I’m sorry that my place basically sucks.”

“It doesn’t,” Cheryl insisted, but Toni knew she must be lying. Toni closed the door and locked it behind Cheryl, and then took in a breath and turned to face the redhead, who was looking around the small space. “I think it’s cute.”

“Right,” Toni said with a chuckle. “So… what brings you to the city of angels, Miss Blossom?”

Cheryl smiled, turning around to look at Toni. “Well… we said we wished we had some more time… and I am notorious for being free on weekends.”

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “Well, unfortunately, I’m not. I work both tomorrow and Sunday night.”

“I figured,” Cheryl said, “but I also figured that any time was better than no more time, right?” Cheryl let out a deep breath. “Je veux juste te connaître…”

Usually, Toni had no problem at least determining whether Cheryl was speaking French or Italian, but wasted? She had no clue. “Huh?”

Cheryl took a step closer to Toni, bringing a hand up to her face and rubbing her thumb on Toni’s cheek gently. “I just… I want to know you, Toni. And you said you wished we had more time, and I wished that too, so I wanted to give us some more time… as much as I could spare.”

“That’s… really sweet, Cheryl,” Toni whispered, leaning into the woman. “The truth is… it’s embarrassing as much I kept wishing that I was back with you since I came back here. You just… understand me, somehow, even if we are from two totally different worlds. It’s like you said on Sunday… we have a lot more in common than it seems like.” A smile spread across Cheryl’s lips. “But since I’m drunk, and forming coherent sentences is feeling really hard right now, how about we do something other than talk?”

“I would like that,” Cheryl whispered, joining her lips suddenly with Toni’s. Toni moaned instantly, feeling her whole body catch fire as Cheryl’s hands touched her waist, even over her dress. “This dress,” Cheryl whispered into her lips, “is absolutely gorgeous on you.”

Toni moaned, kissing Cheryl harder and biting down slightly on her plump bottom lip. “Come on,” Toni murmured, “my bedroom…” She pulled away from Cheryl for a moment to pull her into the bedroom, and as soon as they were there, Toni pushed the redhead down into the bed. Cheryl gasped a little, but then was pulling Toni on top of her.

“Toni,” she moaned, her hands coming to the backs of Toni’s thighs and squeezing firmly.

“Mmhmm?” Toni hummed, grabbing the hem of Cheryl’s crop top. Before Cheryl could answer her, she was pulling the top off of Cheryl, and then brought her lips to Cheryl’s neck and started sucking on her skin. Cheryl just let out a little grunt, and Toni bit down on the soft skin on her neck.

“Toni,” Cheryl said, “please don’t leave any marks.”

“But you don’t have to work tomorrow,” Toni murmured, pressing a soft kiss over where she had just bit down, and reaching around Cheryl’s back to unclasp the nude colored bra she was wearing.

“No, but have you seen my skin? If you mark it, it’ll be there for at least a week.”

Toni moaned, tossing Chery’s bra away. “That’s so hot.” She scooted down the bed a little, leveling her head with Cheryl’s boobs, and sucked her nipple in between her lips. Cheryl let out a noise of pleasure, and Toni moved her lips to the top of Cheryl’s boob. Then, without warning, she sucked hard on the skin there, biting down a little. Cheryl gasped, and then Toni licked soothingly over the spot she’d marked. “Is that acceptable?” Toni whispered.

Cheryl just nodded, biting down on her lower lip. “Fuck me, Toni.”

Toni was surprised at how sober she felt as she crawled all the way down Cheryl’s body, her fingers coming to the button of Cheryl’s pants. She tried to undo it, but her fingers fumbling with it was just another reminder that she wasn’t sober. Cheryl laughed a little. “Let me do that.” She reached down and unbuttoned her pants, and then Toni grabbed the waistband and pulled them straight down, catching Cheryl’s underwear with her thumbs and pulling that off as well. As she dropped them onto the floor, she looked up at Cheryl to see her pupils were blown, her eyes looking much darker than normal. She was so sexy and beautiful, and Toni couldn’t believe she was here right now.

“I can’t believe you came to LA to see me,” Toni murmured, dropping her hands down onto Cheryl’s thighs and gently pushing them apart.

“What can I say?” Cheryl asked breathily. “You intrigue me, Toni… I couldn’t let one week be all the time we had together.”

Toni grinned, ducking down and settling herself between Cheryl’s thighs. “Well babe, I promise that you will not be regretting your trip.”

“I—” Toni interrupted whatever Cheryl was going to say by pressing her tongue between her folds, causing Cheryl to immediately gasp, her thighs clamping inward slightly. “Fuck, Toni.” Toni licked through Cheryl’s folds slowly, teasing her clit, and Cheryl’s breathing quickened with each passing second. Her body started to quiver slightly. “Toni, I need you, please…”

“What do you need?” Toni whispered against Cheryl’s core, her tongue stilling.

Cheryl let out a whimper. “I need you inside of me, please, Toni, please fuck me, please…” Toni quickly shook her rings off of her fingers, hearing them hit the carpet of her bedroom, and then brought her fingers to Cheryl’s opening, gently sliding inside as her tongue flicked Cheryl’s clit. “Oh god, Toni, oh—” She gasped as Toni’s fingers began to move at a steady rhythm inside of her.

“Does that feel good, baby?” Toni whispered, and Cheryl nodded erratically. “God, you’re so fucking sexy, Cheryl.”

“Toni,” Cheryl whimpered, “please…”

Toni hastened her pace and began to curl her fingers every time they were deep inside Cheryl. The woman was teetering on the edge, Toni could tell, and when she knew that Cheryl was just about ready, she gave Cheryl’s clit careful attention with her tongue as she purposefully curled her fingers to where she knew Cheryl’s spot must be, and Cheryl let out a loud cry of pleasure, her thighs tightening around Toni’s head. Toni made sure to lengthen Cheryl’s orgasm by continuing her movements, and when Cheryl’s body finally relaxed into the sheets, she carefully pulled her fingers out of the woman and licked her lips. “I hope that was good even though I’m totally drunk and couldn’t even unbutton your pants.”

“You are a fairly coherent drunk, I’ll admit,” Cheryl breathed out.

“Maybe the food and coffee helped,” Toni whispered. She sat up and realized that she was still wearing her dress. “I should probably take this off…”

“You definitely should,” Cheryl agreed. “And then get over here, belle, so I can fuck you, too.”

Toni bit down on her lower lip—yeah, she was not about to pass up on Cheryl Blossom, the woman who had just flown across the country to just have a bit more time together, fucking her in her own bed. They may be in Toni’s tiny, boring apartment, and not some five start hotel across the world, but Toni couldn’t care less, and she could tell that Cheryl felt the same way. In this moment, it was just the two of them, and nothing else, and that was what Toni needed right now. Just Cheryl Blossom, and nothing else.

Chapter Text

Toni woke up with a horrible headache, pain pounding in every part of her skull. She groaned at the feeling, trying to bury her head into her pillow, but finding that there was someone next to her. Her eyes shot open, and then she saw that soft, red hair cascading down in front of her, covering the smooth, pale skin on Cheryl Blossom’s back. The covers were bunched up around their waists, leaving their upper bodies completely exposed.

The previous night was a little fuzzy, starting about halfway through her AMF. She remembered dancing with her friends and getting the call from Cheryl. Her whole trip home, stopping for coffee and whatever she ate at McDonald’s, she barely remembered. She did remember Cheryl getting to her apartment, and that they talked. She vaguely remembered Cheryl saying that she had come so they could have more time, but she couldn’t remember all of the specifics. As far as what came after the conversation—she remembered enough to know that she’d had an amazing night.

A piercing pain went through her head, eliciting another groan from Toni, and she knew she needed to get up and pain meds. Trying not to stir Cheryl, she rolled over and sat up at the edge of her bed. She felt her stomach flip, so she sat there for about a minute, breathing slowly and willing herself not to vomit. When she felt a little more stable, she carefully got out of the bed, completely naked, and went to her bathroom. She poured four Advil pills into her hand and took them all down at once with some sink water, and then brushed her teeth, trying to be a little less disgusting when Cheryl woke up. She washed her face and braided her messy hair, and then she felt a little more put together, so she slipped back into her bedroom, where Cheryl was still completely passed out.

Toni climbed back in bed behind her, wrapping her arms around the redhead, and dozed back off.

When she woke up the second time, her head was much less painful, thanks to the Advil and more sleep, and Cheryl was already awake. They had somehow changed positions, and Toni was lying on her stomach, Cheryl on her side facing the magenta haired girl. Her soft, pale hands were dragging their fingers along Toni’s back, occasionally stopping to play with a strand of her hair. Toni smiled at the feeling, closing her eyes again—wanting to pretend to be asleep so as not to interrupt Cheryl.

Cheryl caught her smile, though, and said, “Good morning, Toni.”

“Morning,” Toni murmured, opening her eyes. She stared at Cheryl’s beautiful, dark eyes, contrasting sharply with her fair skin. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I am happy to be here,” Cheryl whispered.

Toni let out a sigh. “I feel crazy.”

“Why?” Cheryl asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“We met not even two weeks ago. How does it feel like it’s been so much longer than that?” Toni wondered.

“I’ve been asking myself the same question,” Cheryl admitted, “but you’re not crazy, chérie. This isn’t crazy.”

“Even if it is,” Toni whispered, “I don’t think I mind it.”

Cheryl smiled, scratching her short nails soothingly along Toni’s back. “Me neither.”

Toni’s mind wandered to the past few days, when she was holding on to every text and phone call with Cheryl, wondering if everything between them would just end at any moment, and felt relief at knowing that Cheryl felt the same way she did. It was abundantly clear, if her flying across the country was any indication.

She thought about their conversations the past few days, talking about what their day to day lives were like, and about their friends. She thought about her perusal through Cheryl’s Instagram, and suddenly remembered the pictures of Jason. She frowned, remembering that as soon as they stopped, so did the pictures of Cheryl.

She rolled over suddenly, surprising Cheryl, whose hand retracted. “Everything okay?” Cheryl asked softly.

“Can I show you something?” Toni asked, and Cheryl nodded. Toni climbed off her bed and went over to her work bag, which was set on the floor by her dresser. She pulled out her laptop, and brought it back to the bed, opening it up. She navigated to her folder of pictures from the past week.

“Your photos,” Cheryl said, looking at the screen. “Wow, there’re so many.”

“Yeah.” Toni clicked to the folder she had named after Cheryl, and she heard Cheryl let out a slight sigh. “These are all the pictures I got of you.”

“Toni…” Cheryl trailed off as Toni clicked through the pictures, letting each one sit on her screen for a few seconds. “They’re beautiful.”

“Can I… ask you a question?”

Cheryl met Toni’s gaze, and Toni thought that she probably knew what Toni wanted to ask. “Of course.”

Toni opened her mouth to ask, and then her phone rang loudly, stopping her before she could get any words out. Sighing, she grabbed the device and saw that it was a phone call from Veronica—probably to check on her, and to ask about Cheryl. “It’s V. I should answer it.”

“Go ahead,” Cheryl said, “I’m going to slip into the bathroom.”

Toni nodded and answered the call as Cheryl stood up, completely naked, and headed for Toni’s bathroom. “Hey, V,” Toni greeted.

“Morning!” Veronica chimed. “Okay, look, first of all, I’m so sorry for how I’ve been acting the past few days.”

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “Okay, unsolicited apology, that’s weird. What did you do?”

“Nothing! Just… look, I thought about what you said last night after I woke up this morning, and now that I’m sober, I really heard you. I am not trying to judge you. And honestly? The reason I didn’t even bring up your Mediterranean fling was because I really thought it was a fling—you didn’t mention it, so I figured it was over. You know you can talk to me about anything, T.”

Toni sighed. “I know. Look, we really need to have a conversation about this, because… it’s not just about Europe. I’ve been feeling like I’m on defense with everyone ever since I broke up with Sara. And I know that you and Sweet Pea both haven’t judged me for that, but I don’t know if you guys think the same things that Fangs and everyone else does—that I threw away the one good thing I had going for me, or some shit like that.”

“Toni…”

“Look, I don’t want to hear what you have to say about it right now,” Toni said with a sigh. “Just…  I did a lot of thinking while I was gone, and we should talk about it. But not today, because—”

“Because Cheryl’s here,” Veronica interrupted, “yes, that was the other reason I was calling. So, remember when you said you would hang out with Sweets and I today, and we would get to see your pictures? Well, Fangs and Joaquin invited themselves, and they were planning on coming over to our place. And I talked to Betty yesterday and she also sort of invited herself? And this new guy she’s dating—Jughead, I think his name was? I’m so sorry, I really hadn’t thought it was a big deal, since we’d planned to have everyone over last weekend, but I had no idea that Cheryl was going to be here.”

Toni let out a breath. “Well… I told you that you could meet her, I guess. I remember that much from last night.”

“Yeah, your AMF really fucked you up,” Veronica said with a laugh. “So… you’ll come over and bring your hot redhead?”

Toni smirked. “Assuming she’s up for it, which I have a feeling she will be. What time is everyone coming over?”

“Noon,” Veronica answered, “I was hoping to have plenty of time before you and Betty have to be at the bar. Oh, and don’t forget to bring your laptop, because I really do want to see those pictures.”

“Okay,” Toni agreed. “Yeah, I’ll text you to confirm, but I’m sure we’ll be there.”

“Great! Love you, babes, see you soon!”

Toni sighed as she hung up the call, looking at the time for the first time that morning and seeing that it was nearing eleven. She stood up and went to her dresser, knowing that she wouldn’t have time for a shower, and grabbed some ripped skinny jeans and a tight fitted, white tank top. As she was pulling the clothes on, her bathroom door opened, and Cheryl walked back in. “In a hurry?” she asked.

“So, funny story,” Toni answered, turning around. “I was supposed to hang out with Veronica and Sweet Pea today, and apparently, at least four other people are going to be there also. They’re all meeting up at V and Sweets’ place at noon.”

“And we’re going,” Cheryl stated—it wasn’t a question.

“I mean, I kind of have to,” Toni said with a laugh, “and… of course, you are more than welcome to come also. Just… you should know… only Veronica and Sweet Pea know who you are.”

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow a little. “Okay.”

“It’s just… I know your friends were wanting to talk to you about me, but my friends are… well, you’ve heard me talk about this before,” Toni said with a sigh.

“It’s really fine, Toni,” Cheryl insisted, “and if you don’t want me to go—”

“No,” Toni interrupted, “no, you should come. I, um… kinda told Veronica that she could meet you, so you may as well come.”

Cheryl’s lips turned up into a smile. “Well, then, I guess I better get dressed.” Toni bit down on her lower lip, glancing up and down Cheryl’s naked body one more time as the woman turned around to go to her suitcase and get some clothes.

Forty-five minutes later found them rushing out of Toni’s apartment. “We should probably grab something to eat,” Toni said, as they walked out of her apartment building. “Um, there’s a McDonald’s like a couple minutes from here, and there’s a Starbucks by V’s place.”

Cheryl didn’t look thrilled about the options, but she just said, “Let’s do Starbucks. I could go for a latte.”

They called an Uber to bring them to the Starbucks that was on the same block at Veronica and Sweet Pea’s apartment building—which was far more high-end than Toni’s and was probably a lot more like what Cheryl was used to.

They each got a drink from Starbucks, as well as breakfast sandwiches that they ate on the short walk from there to Veronica and Sweet Pea’s place. They were running a few minutes late, but Toni knew that she would beat some, if not all, of her friends.

When they knocked on the apartment door, it swung open immediately to reveal Sweet Pea. “Hey!” he exclaimed, stepping back to let them in. “You must be Cheryl.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Sweet Pea,” Cheryl said formally, extending a hand to him.

“You too,” Sweet Pea said with a laugh, shaking his hand. Cheryl walked past him, glancing around the apartment a little, and Sweet Pea made eye contact with Toni before mouthing “she’s so hot.” Toni just smirked.

She plopped her bag—which held her laptop—down on the couch in the big living room her friends had. “This is a nice apartment,” Cheryl said to Sweet Pea, who nodded.

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed, “totally not anywhere I ever saw myself ending up, but…”

“But then he started dating someone about three socioeconomic classes above him,” Toni joked, drawing Cheryl and Sweet Pea’s gaze to her as she walked back over to them. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks as she realized that she was sort of in the same situation now with Cheryl. “Speaking of, where’s V?”

“She said something about pearls and then ran back into our room a few minutes ago,” Sweet Pea answered with a laugh, and Toni rolled her eyes.

“I’m gonna go talk to her real quick,” Toni said, glancing between her friend and Cheryl, both of whom nodded in response. Toni gave the redhead a small smile, and then headed for the master bedroom of the apartment—which was actually a two bedroom. The second bedroom was used mainly as an office space.

She knocked on the door before opening it immediately after and saw Veronica fussing at her vanity.

“You good?” Toni asked with a smirk.

Veronica looked up and over her shoulder in surprise. “Shit, hey, sorry. I can’t find my goddamn pearls.”

“Why do you need to be wearing pearls?” Toni asked.

“Uh, because, Toni, you are lowkey dating a multi-millionaire who literally runs a fashion company?” Veronica answered.

“Dude, chill out. She likes me, and have you met me? You would never catch me dead in pearls.”

Veronica huffed. “Okay, valid point. Let’s go.”

They left the bedroom, and Toni saw Sweet Pea and Cheryl talking enthusiastically, and she couldn’t help but smile. She got the feeling that Cheryl was good at talking to literally anybody.

“Oh, and there she is,” Sweet Pea said, nodding to Veronica. Cheryl turned around to face Veronica and Toni, smiling brightly at the former.

“Veronica,” Cheryl said, “it’s so nice to meet you.” She extended her hand, and Veronica shook it eagerly.

“You too, Cheryl. I’ve heard a bit about you,” Veronica said with a smile, “but not enough, I think.”

“What were you two talking about?” Toni wondered, wanting to keep Veronica from interrogating Cheryl right off the bat.

“I just asked how long he and Veronica had lived here,” Cheryl answered. “It’s a very nice apartment.”

“Oh yeah, it’s great,” Veronica agreed. “It’s been much better ever since there’s been two of us living here. I hated living here by myself.”

Cheryl smiled softly. “I know the feeling.”

“You live alone? In… New York City, is that right?”

“Right,” Cheryl confirmed. “I have a flat in the West Village.”

“Wow,” Veronica said with an impressed nod.

Sweet Pea glanced at Toni. “Are we supposed to know where that is?” Toni just rolled her eyes at him, taking a sip of her coffee.

“So,” Veronica chimed, “enough small talk, I am dying to hear about Italy, and Greece for that matter, especially now that Cheryl is here.”

“Here, let me hook up my laptop to your TV, Ronnie,” Toni said, grabbing her friend’s wrist and pulling her toward the couch. When they were a few feet from Cheryl and Sweet Pea, she said, more hushed, “V, I swear to god, you need to calm the hell down.”

“What?” Veronica demanded. “I’m not doing anything!”

“Just please don’t make this weird, okay?”

Veronica just rolled her eyes, and Toni grabbed her computer, bringing it over to the TV console that sat against the wall, underneath the huge flatscreen TV mounted to the wall. Veronica helped her hook the laptop up to the screen, and Toni powered her computer on.

Just as she did, there was a knock on the door, and Veronica practically jumped to get it. “B! You made it,” Veronica exclaimed, letting the blonde in, followed by a guy with jet black hair, who was wearing a leather jacket. “And you must be Jughead?”

“That’s right,” he said with a nod. “Most people are more fazed by the nickname.”

“Yes well, this is Sweet Pea, my boyfriend, so not many nicknames faze me anymore,” Veronica said with a laugh.

“Hey, Toni,” Betty greeted, when she noticed Toni in the living room. “How was your trip?”

“Hey, Betty. It was great,” Toni answered, standing up and letting her laptop wake back up. “Nice to meet you, Jughead. And uh, this is Cheryl.”

Betty looked to the redhead and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Cheryl.”

“You too, Betty,” Cheryl said with a smile.

“How do you know Toni?” Betty asked, tilting her head.

Cheryl glanced at Toni, who just quirked an eyebrow and gave her a nod. “Actually, we just met last week.”

“In Rome?” Betty asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Cheryl answered. “I was there on business.”

“Wow. Are you from LA?”

“No, New York,” Cheryl admitted. “But I happened to have some business here, too, so I thought I’d stop by.” Toni was actually relieved that Cheryl lied and said that she had business in Los Angeles, because it would have been way harder to explain and justify the truth to her friends.

There was another knock on the door, and Toni took the liberty of going and opening it, revealing Fangs and Joaquin. “Hey, dude!” Fangs exclaimed.

“Hey, come on in,” Toni said, letting the two of them in.

“Hey, Betty. This your new man?” Fangs asked, glancing at Jughead.

Betty blushed. “Shut up, Fangs. This is Jughead.”

“Nice to meet you, man. I’m Fangs. This is Joaquin.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” Jughead said, nodding.

“And, who’s this?” Fangs asked, lifting an eyebrow at Cheryl.

“This is Cheryl,” Toni answered, “you know, the one who called me last night and I answered like a drunken idiot?”

“Oh right,” Fangs said with a snicker. “Nice to meet you, Cheryl.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Cheryl replied.

Fangs cleared her throat. “No offense, but, uh—how come I have no idea who you are?”

Toni sighed. “We met in Rome.”

“Oh.” He definitely looked surprised to hear that. “Um, that’s cool.”

Veronica cleared her throat. “Anyone feel like having a mimosa?”

“I would love one,” Cheryl answered immediately, and Veronica flashed her a smile.

“B? T? Boys?”

“I’m okay,” Betty answered, “I have work later, after all.”

“Yeah, after last night, I don’t need any alcohol,” Toni answered.

“Well, I’ll take one,” Joaquin said.

Toni glanced back at the TV and saw that her laptop was finally awake, and the TV was now displaying the screen—specifically, the folder she’d had open earlier, filled with her pictures of Cheryl. She blinked in surprise, and she mentally cursed under her breath as she went to go change it.

“Oh, those are pretty,” Betty said.

“Thanks,” Toni muttered, before switching over to a different folder. “Sorry, I have about a million different pictures from whole trip.”

“So, Cheryl,” Fangs said, “where in Rome did you meet Toni?”

“We were staying in the same hotel,” Cheryl answered, taking a sip of the mimosa that she was now holding.

“Nice… so, you guys like, hung out all week?”

Toni sighed, clicking on her pictures from Rome. “Hey losers,” she called, interrupting the conversation, “you guys wanna see pictures from the trip, or not?”

“Ooh, yes! Please tell me you finally got some of you, Toni?” Veronica demanded.

“I got a couple,” Toni answered. “Remember the dude who hit on me at the Colosseum? He took one of me there.”

“Let’s see it, then!”

Toni’s friends all gathered in the living room, sprawling across the couch and loveseat that filled the room, and Cheryl leaned against the armrest of the couch as Toni sat by the TV console on the floor, clicking through pictures. “Ooh, these looks awesome, Toni,” Joaquin said.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Toni joked, “it’s only what I do for a living.”

“Too bad you can’t travel around and take pictures and have that be your actual living,” Fangs said with a laugh.

Toni finished going through the pictures from Rome, and then she moved on to Florence. She got to the picture of her in front of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, and Betty asked, “Who took that one?”

“That would be moi,” Cheryl answered.

“Oh, so you went to Florence with Toni?” Fangs asked curiously.

Toni bit down on the inside of her cheek. “Yes, Fangs.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to put the pieces together. It’s not every day your friend brings home a girl she met in Europe.”

Toni rolled her eyes. She continued showing pictures from Florence, and when she got to Cinque Terre, her friends all gasped. “God, these are beautiful,” Veronica said. “Ugh, I miss Cinque Terre. I can’t believe you got to go!”

Toni smiled. “It was probably the most beautiful place I have ever been.” She glanced at her friends and made eye contact with Cheryl. The woman smiled softly at her, and she felt warmth rise to her cheeks. She finished going through Florence, and then let out a breath. “Well, that was Italy.”

“Okay, now Greece!” Veronica exclaimed.

“Greece?” Joaquin asked. “You went to Greece, too?”

Toni shot Veronica a glare. “Um, yeah.” She switched over to her Athens folder. “When my flight got canceled on Saturday, I tagged along with Cheryl to Greece and she was nice enough to let me stay in her hotel before my flight out. I didn’t really have the budget for a last minute hotel room.”

“Wow,” Fangs said with a nod, “sounds like you were living the dream in Europe.”

“Mmhmm,” Toni hummed, flipping through her pictures from Greece. When she finally finished, she closed her laptop. “And that’s that.”

“What was the coolest thing you got to see?” Sweet Pea asked.

“Cinque Terre for sure,” Toni answered, “but I loved all the little things everywhere too. I’m a total slut for old architecture styles.”

“That’s true,” Veronica said, “in high school in art history, we had a unit on architecture, and Toni couldn’t be bothered with anything else for the entire week.” Cheryl smiled at that, and Toni just rolled her eyes.

“So, Cheryl,” Betty said, turning to look at the redheaded woman, “what business brought you all the way to Europe?”

“I’m the CEO of a fashion company, K&B Design,” Cheryl answered, “and I handle a lot of our business deals with other companies, designers, events, stuff like that. My best friend Katy does all the actual fashion stuff.”

“Oh shit, that’s cool,” Joaquin said. “So, you literally get paid to travel?”

“Sort of,” Cheryl answered with a laugh. “But yes, it is pretty cool.”

Fangs lifted an eyebrow. “CEO, wouldn’t that mean you really pay yourself to travel?”

Cheryl tilted her head a little. “Well, all of our chief officers handle the budget and that sort of thing together, on our board… but I guess you could say that.”

“K&B,” Sweet Pea said, “that sounds familiar to me for some reason?”

“I have some of their dresses,” Veronica told her boyfriend. “They’re really nice. Your friend Katy does a good job.”

Cheryl smiled. “That’s always really good to hear. She’s very talented, I’m lucky to get to work with her.”

“So, I personally wanna hear more about you two,” Fangs said suddenly, gesturing between Cheryl and Toni. “I was going to just assume you two are friends, but when Toni picked up the phone last night, I definitely heard her call you sexy, with a lot of y’s I think.”

“First of all, I was wasted,” Toni told her friend, “but, yeah uh, we went out a few times.”

“Wow,” Betty said with a grin, “what a place for a first date.” Cheryl smiled, and Toni tried to as well, but she felt a pit forming in her stomach.

“So how old are you, Cheryl?” Fangs wondered.

“Dude,” Sweet Pea said, shaking his head.

“Twenty-six,” Cheryl answered without any hesitation, and Toni was honestly just grateful that Cheryl knew how to handle an uncomfortable social situation.

“Do you have a degree?” Joaquin wondered.

“I do, in business. From NYU.”

“You know Toni’s almost done with her degree,” Sweet Pea said quickly, and Toni appreciated him trying to change the topic a little. “This fall is her last semester, right T?”

“Should be,” Toni answered, “as long as I can pay for it, which, hopefully, shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Wasn’t Sara helping you pay for school last year?” Fangs asked, and Toni was immediately done with his shit.

“Dude,” she snapped, “first of all, that’s none of your fucking business, and second of all, it’s definitely no one else’s business either, except mine, so could you drop it?”

“I was just asking,” he bit back.

“Yeah, well, this isn’t the fucking third degree.”

“Okay!” Veronica exclaimed. “I think maybe we should, um, order lunch or something? Is anyone hungry?”

“You know, I think I should probably just go,” Toni muttered. “I’d love to hang out with all of you again some time when you’ve all realized that you aren’t experts on my whole fucking life, sound good?”

She grabbed her laptop and put it back in her bag, standing up. “Toni,” Sweet Pea said, but Toni felt the frustration bubbling up inside of her, and she needed to leave.

“Um, it was great to meet you all,” she heard Cheryl say quickly, and then the sound of heels clicking on the hard floors of the apartment. Toni pushed open the door to the apartment, and Cheryl was right behind her.

“Toni—slow down.” Toni clenched her jaw and stopped at the end of the hallway, and Cheryl appeared next to her. “Maybe you should just talk to them.”

“I already know what they’re going to say.”

“Do you really blame them for asking questions?” Cheryl asked.

“Yes, I do,” Toni snapped, “because they just want to pick apart my life so they can tell me where I’ve fucked up.”

“Chérie,” Cheryl whispered, but she didn’t seem to have any other words.

The door down the hall swung open, and Sweet Pea came out, closing it purposefully behind him. “Toni,” he said, getting a sigh from the magenta haired woman, “look, Fangs was hella out of line talking about your money and Sara, okay?”

“It’s not just that,” Toni said. “Half of the people in that room have been dissecting my life ever since I broke up with Sara!”

“Well, did you ever tell them what happened?” Sweet Pea demanded. “You told me and Ronnie, but did you tell them why it had to end?”

“Not completely, but if they cared about me, they wouldn’t need to know why to know that they should be on my side!”

Sweet Pea crossed his arms over his chest. “Toni, Fangs loves you. Okay? We’ve been each other’s family for years. Just, for someone who doesn’t know any better, it could look like you’re self-sabotaging.” Toni opened her mouth to reject, but he continued before she could get a word in. “Which, for the record, I know that you’re not, okay? When you told me and Ronnie why you broke up with Sara, we never questioned you after that. And did Veronica ever tell you that Sara called her a few days after it happened, asking if you were hooking up with someone else and if that was why you left?”

Toni shook her head, surprised to hear that.

“Well that happened, and Veronica not-so-politely told her to fuck off. The point is that we know that you did what was best for you. Fangs just needs to understand why it was the best for you. Just like… like how we all want to understand whatever it is going on between the two of you.” He gestured to Cheryl. “Because we care about you, T.”

Toni bit down on the inside of her lip. “If I go back in there and explain myself, then that’s that. We aren’t talking about Sara any fucking more after that.”

“Trust me, no one in there would be upset about that,” Sweet Pea insisted.

Toni took in a breath. “Give me a minute, I’ll come back in.” Her best friend nodded and then disappeared into the apartment, and Toni looked at Cheryl. “God, I’m so sorry you have to be here for this.”

“I’m not,” Cheryl insisted, “sorry, that is. You talked to me about this before, and I think it’s a good idea to get everything out in the open with your friends. But if you don’t want me to be in there when you explain everything… I can go wait at that Starbucks.”

“Well, pretty much everything I’m going to say is stuff you’ve heard before. But if you’d rather not come back in…”

“I don’t mind.”

They both went back into Veronica and Sweet Pea’s apartment, and all eyes were immediately on Toni. “Toni,” Fangs said quickly, “look, I’m sorry, I just—”

“No, stop,” Toni snapped, “look, I didn’t tell you all everything that happened with me and Sara. The only people I’ve really completely explained it to is V, Sweets, and Cheryl, so I decided that the rest of you deserve to hear it, and then maybe you’ll get off my ass about breaking up with her. Also, Jughead, I’m so sorry that I just met you and that this is what you have to witness.”

“Oh, no, don’t apologize,” Jughead insisted, “you guys are more entertaining than TV.”

Betty gently smacked the guy on the arm. Jughead just grinned, and Toni rolled her eyes. “Okay, so. Right before Sara and I started planning the Italy trip, things between us started to get… hard. I don’t really know what happened that fucked with her, but she suddenly started worrying that I was going to cheat on her, or something. At first, you know we talked about it and I told her that I would never do that. But she started to get obsessive about it. She would get jealous if I came over here, or went to a work event, or literally anywhere without her. She would make comments about how I was showing too much cleavage at the bar, or even say that I spent too much time with Storm and Peaches—as if I was gonna have a fucking threesome with them or something.”

Toni took in a breath, meeting Cheryl’s gaze for a moment before looking back down at the ground.

“We started to get into fights about it, and we would have good days, and we put on a good face around everyone, but we fought all the fucking time. It was exhausting, and we tried to get past it, because it was the longest either of us had ever dated anyone. Eventually, though, it was too much, and I couldn’t imagine taking a trip to Italy with her or having any sort of future with her. So, I ended things with her. I told her that I didn’t love her anymore, and I didn’t. The love between us died shortly after her trust in me died. But she was convinced that I must have cheated. When I broke up with her, we fought for hours after that. I grabbed my shit and I left, and honestly? It fucking hurt, but I knew that it was for the best for both of us.”

She looked between all of her friends.

“Look, I know that you guys care about me, and I also know that some of you think that I just threw away the best thing I’d ever had… and you know, it really did fucking suck. It was hard as hell to get used to being alone again, after almost three years, but by the time I broke up with her, whatever we had was toxic and unhealthy and just… what I didn’t need was for my friends to act like I had made a huge mistake for finally doing what needed to be done.”

Betty looked down at her lap, and Toni remembered that for a couple of weeks after she’d ended things with Sara, the blonde had kept asking every weekend when they were going to get back together.

Fangs scratched his head, and Toni could see the look of guilt across his face. “T… I’m sorry.”

“Wait really quick… I have one more thing to say.” He nodded. “This trip… I didn’t cancel it because, obviously, it was never about some romantic getaway for me. Italy has been my dream for seven years. I saved up every extra penny since my first job in high school. I wasn’t about to cancel it. And yeah, mine and Sara’s would-be anniversary was that week, and that day, Cheryl happened to invite me out to dinner. She was there for me when I was having a rough day, and… she made me feel less alone, so far away from home. And… my flight on Friday didn’t get delayed. I canceled it and decided to go to Florence with Cheryl. I know that you guys might think that was stupid, but I don’t give a fuck. I wanted to go to Florence, so I did. And… my Sunday flight did actually get cancelled, which is why I went with Cheryl to Athens.” She cleared her throat. “Um, that’s it.”

“Toni,” Betty said, “I am so sorry for not taking you and Sara breaking up seriously. It’s like you said… you both put on a good face around all of us, and I really didn’t see it coming.”

“Same,” Fangs and Joaquin said at the same time. Fangs continued, “And… you seemed so upset after breaking up with her, that I… I don’t know, I thought you’d psyched out or something. I thought it would be best if you went back to her… but obviously, I didn’t know the full story.”

Toni nodded slowly. “Yeah no, you didn’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry, too,” Veronica said firmly. “Toni, I haven’t been the most supportive friend since you left for your trip. But you know that I love you, right?”

Toni smiled. “Yeah, I know. Now… can we all just agree to quit talking to me about Sara?”

“Of course,” Betty said, as Fangs agreed, “Yeah.”

“Cool. Now… V, you said something about lunch?”

The afternoon was a lot better after that conversation, although Toni was sure she could feel some amount of tension between her and her friends and Cheryl, but she didn’t want to think too much about it. She and Cheryl stayed hanging out with Toni’s friends for lunch, and then Toni made up an excuse for them to leave, and they took an Uber back to Toni’s apartment.

“It seems like your friends really care about you,” Cheryl told Toni, when Toni was setting her bag on her bed. “I’m glad things with them got smoothed over.”

“Yeah,” Toni said with a sigh. “I’m… known for getting kind of defensive, though, just so you know… Just, being basically on my own starting so much younger than I should’ve… when people say shit about my life, I get really pissed off.”

“That makes sense,” Cheryl assured Toni, coming over to her and placing a soft hand on her arm. “I think you handled yourself really well.”

Toni sighed. “I’m still so sorry you had to witness all of that.”

“Toni,” Cheryl said firmly, her other hand coming up to move some hair out of Toni’s face, “stop apologizing. I came here this weekend to see you, and to learn more about you… and I am honored that you allowed me to see into your relationship with your friends.”

“Cheryl Blossom,” Toni said with a slight shake of her head, “how on Earth are you real?”

Cheryl smiled very faintly, the palm of her hand landing on the back of Toni’s neck. “Je me suis demandé la même chose... de toi.”

“What?” Toni asked, furrowing her eyebrows a little. Cheryl’s lips just turned into a smirk. “Wow. You think it’s so funny when I don’t know what you just said, huh?”

“It’s mildly amusing,” Cheryl answered, pulling Toni closer to her. Their lips were just centimeters apart, and Toni felt her breath hitch. Suddenly there was no space between them, their lips joining in a deep kiss. Toni felt herself melt into Cheryl, the same way she did the first time they kissed in Cheryl’s hotel room in Rome. A moment later they broke apart just enough to take a breath, and Cheryl whispered, “Je vous aime bien.”

Toni recognized that one, and she couldn’t fight her smile. “I like you, too.”

“You have to work soon?”

“Yeah… but we have time for me to throw you in my bed and fuck you, if that’s what you had in mind…”

“I was thinking,” Cheryl whispered, “that you’ve had a rough afternoon, and maybe I should throw you in your bed, and fuck you… do we have time for that?”

Toni bit down on her lower lip, holding back the moan that wanted to sneak out through her lips as she felt warmth between her legs. “I think so.”

They had barely had time, it turned out, because Toni hardly made it to the bar on time. It felt nice to be behind the bar again, even though it had only been two weeks since her last shift. She wasn’t usually a huge fan of bartending, but she’d been doing it for quite a while now, so she was used to it, and it brought in some great tips.

She’d invited Cheryl to come with her to the bar, but the woman had opted to go get some dinner instead, so Toni had come to the bar alone. As she tied her little apron around her waist and washed her hands, Betty came into the bar from the back room. “Hey,” she greeted.

“Hey, Betty,” Toni answered. “I’m sorry for totally scarring Jughead earlier during his first meeting with everyone.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Betty insisted. “I came out here to ask about Cheryl. She’s gorgeous and loaded!”

Toni smirked. “Yeah, I know.”

“So, did she really have business in LA on a weekend?” Betty asked, quirking up an eyebrow.

“No,” Toni admitted. “We, um… we’re both really into each other, and we thought more time to get to know each other would be nice. I didn’t think it was going to happen, but then she surprised me when she showed up here. But hey, I’m not complaining.”

“Are you sure you’d be up for long distance?” Betty asked. “I mean, no offense, but I didn’t think you were capable of something like that.”

Toni shrugged. “Honestly? I really have no idea, just… this woman… god, I mean, you met her. She’s just…”

“Super fucking charming?” Betty asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Not gonna lie, she’s also a little intimidating.”

"Yeah,” Toni said with a laugh, “but she’s… also so thoughtful and… like, the only rich person I’ve ever known who cared to learn and understand what it’s like to not be rich is Veronica, until Cheryl. She’s from a totally different world, but she doesn’t care, and she still respects me.”

“That’s so good,” Betty said, “honestly, I say go for it. Long distance may be hard, but if she can just fly here whenever she has time? That’s not all that bad of a deal.”

Toni smiled. “Yeah. Well, I should probably get to work.”

“Yeah,” Betty agreed. “I heard that our Saturday regulars missed you last week.”

“I’m sure they did,” Toni said with a laugh, “don’t tell the boss, but I give some of them an extra half a shot, no charge.”

Betty shook her head in amusement and pretended to zip her lips shut and lock it with an imaginary key. “See you, Toni.”

Toni’s night was long—a lot longer than normal, because she kept thinking about Cheryl Blossom, who was just a short distance away. Toni had given her the spare key to her apartment, which had felt a little dangerous, but she definitely trusted Cheryl by now. It was sort of crazy how much she trusted her. Toni felt like she was already falling for this woman she’d known for less than two weeks.

When she finally made it home, late in the night, she found her apartment dark and silent. She quietly made her way into her bedroom, and saw Cheryl curled under her covers, fast asleep. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, and her face was clean from the makeup she’d worn today. She was beautiful and peaceful looking, and Toni felt her heart swell. Yeah, she could get used to this.

Chapter Text

“Ma chérie… wake up, Toni…” Toni groaned, rolling over and burying her face into her pillow. She felt a soft hand rubbing her back soothingly. “Avez-vous faim? I made breakfast…”

Toni furrowed her eyebrows, turning her head and forcing her eyes open. Cheryl was sitting on the edge of her bed, her hand on Toni’s back, wearing a silk, red robe. “You did what?” Toni asked, her voice coming out raspy due to sleep.

“I made breakfast, are you hungry?” Cheryl repeated, smiling softly.

“What did you make?”

“French toast and poached eggs,” Cheryl answered. “I may have gone grocery shopping while you were at work yesterday… I had peeked in your fridge and it was quite lacking.”

“Aw, babe,” Toni murmured, rolling over, “you bought groceries so you could make me breakfast?”

“Maybe.” Cheryl bit down on her lower lip. “And because… well, I want to ask you something crazy.”

“Crazy?” Toni asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Crazy like asking if I’d cancel my flight and go to Florence with you?” The corner of Cheryl’s lips turned up, but then she just stood.

“Come on, get ready and come have breakfast with me, chérie.”

“Okay,” Toni murmured, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

A few minutes later found her dressed—in pajamas—and with her teeth and face clean. She went out into the living area and saw that Cheryl had placed two full plates on the coffee table—each one held two pieces of beautifully golden French toast, with fresh berries and syrup poured over them, as well as two poached eggs. There were also two cups of freshly made coffee. Cheryl was sitting in wait on the couch, looking at her phone.

“Cheryl,” Toni breathed out, drawing the woman’s attention, “you didn’t have to do all of this.”

“I wanted to,” Cheryl insisted, “come, let’s eat.”

Toni took a seat next to Cheryl and started to eat the delicious food—it really tasted as good as it looked. She was about halfway through her meal when she stopped practically inhaling it, taking a pause and looking at Cheryl. “Thank you for this.”

“Of course.”

“So… what’s the crazy thing you want to ask me?”

Cheryl took in a breath. “Can we wait until after breakfast?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sound nervous before…”

“There’s a first for everything.”

Toni bit down on her lower lip, wondering what was making Cheryl nervous. She cleared her throat a little, taking another bite of her food. When she swallowed, she said, “Okay, in the meantime… could I ask you what I was going to ask you yesterday morning? Before Veronica called me and we got dragged into that whole whirlwind of an afternoon?”

Cheryl frowned a little. “Oh, right. Yes, of course.”

“Your Instagram,” Toni said, “I… stalked it a little.” Cheryl didn’t look surprised. “Um… and I went back pretty far… I saw pictures of your, um, your brother.” Cheryl nodded slowly. “Cheryl… was he a photographer?”

Cheryl let out a breath, setting down her almost emptied plate and then looking down at her hands for a moment. When she looked back up at Toni, she nodded. “Yes, he was.”

“He used to take so many pictures of you.”

“He did. Jason blew me away with how he could capture not just a moment in time, but a feeling…” Cheryl let out a shaky breath. “When he took a picture of me laughing, just looking at it would bring back that feeling.”

“When he died,” Toni said quietly, “you stopped letting people take pictures of you.”

Cheryl averted her gaze, picking at her fingernails. “Mostly, yes.”

“You told me that for you, pictures had to have a purpose,” Toni said, and Cheryl nodded. “Can I ask… why you don’t think pictures of you have purpose anymore?”

Cheryl sighed. “It’s not that, Toni. I told you that, and it’s true, but it’s not that I don’t think pictures have purpose… it’s just that Jason was the only one who wanted to capture feelings and moments… everyone else wanted to capture beauty. And also… maybe part of me didn’t want to be photographed without him in it or taking the picture… he’ll never have another photo taken of him, and that is horribly tragic. He loved photography, Toni.”

“I know the feeling,” Toni said with a small smile. “Cheryl…” She trailed off, and then shook her head, getting up suddenly and setting down her plate before going into her bedroom.

“Toni?”

Toni came back with her laptop, opening it up and letting it power back on before navigating back to her Cheryl folder. She clicked on the first one, from Piazza Navona, and turned it so Cheryl could see the screen. The woman looked at it solemnly. “This picture? You look beautiful, but… you also had no idea I was about to take your photo. You’re relaxed, carefree…” She clicked to the pictures from Pisa. “These ones? You were goofing off, enjoying a silly thing just because I asked you to humor me. Yes, you’re gorgeous, but it’s not about that… pictures are never just about capturing beauty.”

“Not when you take them,” Cheryl agreed. “Your photographs are beautiful, Toni, and… you’re right. I can feel these photos. You have a talent like Jason did.”

Toni smiled softly. “Thank you for opening up to me about this, Cheryl. I just… wanted to understand.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, and Toni set her laptop on the table and grabbed her plate, finishing her breakfast. Cheryl seemed done eating, though, not bothering to finish the last few bites on her plate. When Toni was done, she stacked her plate underneath Cheryl’s, and then nudged Cheryl’s leg with her foot.

“You wanna ask me that crazy question now?”

Cheryl turned to look into Toni’s eyes. “I have a flight out tonight, at six,” she said softly. Toni nodded, although it hurt her heart, thinking about Cheryl leaving. “There’s another one I could switch to. It leaves at one in the morning.”

“Why would you do that?” Toni asked, furrowing her eyebrows. “You’d get to New York like, tomorrow morning.”

Cheryl took in a shaky breath, and said, oh so quietly, “So you could join me, after you work tonight.”

Toni’s eyes widened—when she had referenced Cheryl asking her to come to Florence before, she had been joking. “Cheryl… I have to work tomorrow…”

“I know,” Cheryl said, straightening up a little. “I know, and if you don’t want to, or can’t, come with me, I understand. Just… K&B is having our summer season premiere—it’s a runway show—and we are donating a large portion of our proceeds from the event to a number of charities that are dedicated to helping solve racial injustice… and I would love for you to photograph it.”

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “Like a job?”

“If you want to. Or, if you just want to come as my guest, that would be fine, too. I just thought that you might be interested in it,” Cheryl answered. “But trust me, Toni, I know that you can’t just call out of work, so I understand if you can’t come. And that would be completely fine, just… I am so grateful that I’ve gotten to see part of your life here this weekend, and, selfishly, I would love if you came see part of mine.”

Toni let out a breath. “Truthfully? We don’t have anything big going on this week… and I might be able to get my boss to let me work from home. People do it all the time, but I usually would rather just be in the office. But I do have a meeting I need to be at on Thursday.”

“Three days,” Cheryl said. “The event is on Tuesday evening. You could leave on Wednesday some time. I can arrange it, Toni, just say the word.”

Inhaling deeply, Toni questioned whether she was really about to agree to this. “I’ll photograph for you at the event, but I don’t want you to pay me cash for it. Just cover my airfare, and we’ll call it even.”

Cheryl’s face broke out into a wide smile, and Toni felt her heart skip a beat. “Perfect. Let me call Kevin really quick, he will get it all settled.” She leaned forward and surprised Toni with a quick peck on the lips, and then hopped up off of the couch, slipping into Toni’s bedroom as she got on the phone. “Hey, Kevin!” Toni heard her say cheerily.

Toni thought about the three days ahead of her, and felt a rush of adrenaline go through her, and she smiled a little. But she’d just gotten her friends to stop thinking she was being reckless, and now she was about to have to tell them that she was going to New York on a whim for three days. Sighing, she grabbed her phone and texted her three closest friends at once.

Toni – Don’t freak out.

Toni – I’m going to New York for 3 days to take pictures at an event for K&B, Cheryl’s fashion company.

Toni – I’m still going to be working, so no one better say anything to me about money.

She took in a deep breath, and then dialed the number of her boss. She didn’t want to call on the weekend, but she knew that it would be better to give her boss a heads up that she would be working “from home.”

The call was picked up almost immediately. “Toni! To what do I owe this pleasure?” Kiera asked.

“Morning, Kiera! So, trust me, I’m not trying to leave you guys hanging at the office, but I was wondering if it’s a problem if I work from home through Wednesday?” Toni asked, relaxing back into her couch.

“Oh yeah, sure, there’s nothing big happening. I’ll make sure all the ads and pictures get sent your way first thing tomorrow and you can do all your magical editing and things from home. You not feeling well?”

“No yeah, I’m fine. Just… you know, still adjusting after a hella long vacation. You know I’m not the kind of person who takes vacations or even works from home—apparently I’m now that person,” Toni joked.

Kiera laughed a little. “Okay, well yeah that’s fine. You know how I feel about letting my employees work from home.”

“Whatever it takes to get the best from us,” Toni stated Kiera’s favorite mantra.

“Exactly! Yeah that’s totally fine.”

“Cool, thanks.” Toni couldn’t fight her smile—excitement at the prospect of the next three days taking her over.

“Yep, no problem. Enjoy your home time! See you Thursday, Toni.”

“Yep, see you.” She hung up the call and saw that she had texts from her friends.

Veronica – Okay, babes… that’s exciting :)

Sweet Pea – Living the dream, Tiny. Don’t forget about us when you make it big!

Fangs – Yeah consider me jealous! Did you tell Kiera that you need to “work from home” from NYC lmao?

Toni – No, she doesn’t need to know who’s home I’ll be working from. Doesn’t matter as long as I get everything done.

Fangs – Yeah that’s true. Well, we’ll miss you in the office till you’re back!

Veronica – I hope you have some hot sex with that sexy redhead in her fancy ass West Village apartment ;)

Toni – Oh, I’m sure I will.

Cheryl came back into the room as Toni send the last text. “Alright, Kevin is taking care of everything.”

“Cool,” Toni said, fiddling with her phone in her hand.

“Are you okay?” Cheryl asked.

Toni nodded. “Yes, I’m okay, just… excited and feeling kind of… like, an adrenaline rush? I haven’t been this spontaneous in such a short period of time since high school.”

“You were really spontaneous in high school?” Cheryl wondered with a smile, sitting back down next to Toni.

“Yeah, remember when I told you that I lowkey lost my sense of self-preservation? High school was like, prime time for that. I was using this old beat up motorcycle to get around town, and I was super fucking reckless on it. I also got into fights all the time—mostly if I saw a guy messing with a girl or being an asshole… Thankfully I mellowed out in college—I think LA actually helped with that.”

“At least you were righteous,” Cheryl said with a chuckle. “Also, you drive a motorcycle?”

“Not anymore,” Toni admitted. “That thing was super beat up, I left it in the dump before I flew out to LA, and I haven’t really been able to afford the one I really want. I mean, I probably could’ve, but it just hasn’t been a priority.”

Cheryl nodded in response. “I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle.” Toni quirked up an eyebrow.

“Is this you saying you’d like to?” Cheryl just shrugged, and Toni adjusted the way she was sitting so she was completely facing Cheryl. “I can’t believe I’m going to New York with you.”

“I can,” Cheryl said with a smile, “I mean, you literally canceled a flight to come to Florence with me.”

Toni bit back a smile. “You and your crazy questions.”

“Toni,” Cheryl murmured, reaching out and grabbing Toni’s hands, “I am just so insanely enamored by you… and I am very excited for you to come to New York with me.”

“Just don’t forget that I’m going to have to be working, too.”

“I know,” Cheryl insisted with a smile, “and that’s totally fine. I really, really don’t want to disrupt your life too much, I just… really want to know you and… I really want you to know me.”

Toni smiled, nudging Cheryl’s leg with her foot. “I can’t believe you’re such a secret sap.”

Cheryl furrowed her eyebrows, releasing Toni’s hands. “I am not.”

“Are too.”

“You are so childish. Come on, are you going to show me around LA before you go to work, or what?”

“Oh, is that what’s happening?” Toni asked, laughing at the surprise request.

“Most times that I’ve been here, I haven’t gotten to see much.”

“I guess I do owe you for Rome and Florence…” Cheryl smirked, nodding in agreement. “Alright. Let’s get dressed and then let’s go.”

Although Toni lived close to downtown LA, she decided to take Cheryl to the beach after finding out that Cheryl had never been to any Los Angeles beaches. They went to Santa Monica and walked through the pier, stopping for lunch at the Bubba Gump restaurant. Then they split a funnel cake and walked along the beach for a while, and Toni told Cheryl about what it was like when she moved to LA. How she and her best friends accepted their admissions offer at USC and how she and Veronica lived together for the first year, and Sweet Pea lived in a cheap dorm until Fangs decided to follow them, at which point they got an apartment together.

They eventually walked back up from the beach and instead started walking away from the coast, strolling into the city. Cheryl started to tell Toni about how she wished she could travel around the US more often, because she felt like she was missing out. Toni told Cheryl that one of her other travel dreams—a simpler one—was to spend a summer motorcycling across the country, staying in cheap motels and doing whatever the hell she wanted. She admitted that she’d wanted to do with Sara, but her ex had never seen the appeal, and they’d always been too busy with work and school anyway.

When it was getting close to time for Toni to be at work, they called an Uber and took it to the bar Toni worked at, where Cheryl insisted that she would hang out for the evening.

They got to the bar, and it was almost opening time, so Toni just let Cheryl in with her. Betty poked her head out of the back room as Toni was slipping behind the bar. “Hey, Toni! And oh, hey Cheryl.”

“Hi, Betty,” Cheryl greeted with a smile.

“I’m surprised to see you here, I guess I expected you’d be flying out tonight.”

“I am,” Cheryl answered, “but late. And…”

“And I’m going with her,” Toni told Betty. Betty lifted an eyebrow. “Hey—no.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Betty insisted.

The night went by a lot faster than the previous night, because Cheryl stuck around the bar the whole time, nursing a few glasses of wine throughout the night, and Toni would stop and chat with her anytime she had a break. She kept thinking about how she would be flying to New York tonight with Cheryl, and how she would get a glimpse into Cheryl’s life in the city.

And when closing time came around, Toni quickly finished up all of her tasks, said goodnight to Betty, and she and Cheryl rushed back to her apartment. Cheryl was already pretty much ready to go, but Toni had to throw some clothes into her suitcase and grab her laptop and camera equipment. Cheryl had a car come for them, and soon they were in LAX, boarding a late-night flight to New York City.

Toni could hardly believe she was actually doing this.

“You okay?” Cheryl asked her, when they were seated on the plane—first class again, no surprise there.

“Yes,” Toni answered confidently, “just… can barely wrap my mind around this.”

Cheryl grabbed Toni’s hand and squeezed it firmly. “Well, believe it, because in a few hours, we’ll be there.” Toni nodded. “You should probably try and sleep too, since you have to work in the morning, and it’s going to be almost sunrise when we get there.”

“Yeah… yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Toni. You’re okay.”

Toni looked into Cheryl’s dark eyes, and felt her heart skip a beat. She knew she was okay, because she was with Cheryl, someone who maybe shouldn’t make her feel as safe as she did. She’d trusted this woman to whisk her off to Florence after knowing her for all of three days. Cheryl Blossom was quickly stealing bits of her heart and had long since earned her trust. Toni smiled, squeezing Cheryl’s hand back. “I know.”

Chapter Text

Toni woke up to her phone alarm making a horrible noise, and she let out a groan. She forced her eyes open and grabbed her phone, turning the alarm off. Blinking, Toni looked around at the huge bedroom she was in. It had floor to ceiling windows on one far wall, overlooking an expanse of New York City. The apartment was a penthouse—Toni hadn’t surprised to find that out when she and Cheryl had stumbled in a few hours ago.

She had slept for a grand total of two hours, after going in and out of sleep on the plane, and now she needed to be working. Thankfully, Los Angeles was three hours behind New York, which meant that at least she had gotten to sleep at all. It was ten, meaning that it was seven in LA, so she had about an hour to get up and get ready before she had to work.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she sat up all the way and then finally looked down at the sleeping woman next to her. She wasn’t exactly sure how Cheryl had managed to sleep through the alarm, but she appeared to still be completely passed out. Her hair had come out of the bun she’d tied it up in before they’d fallen asleep, and it was a mess now. She was dressed in a tank top and shorts—Toni was in a similar outfit. She looked so peaceful, and Toni figured that the reason she’d slept through the alarm was because she hadn’t slept on the plane.

Wishing she didn’t have to leave the bed, Toni forced herself to do just that. She went to her suitcase and grabbed her toothbrush and other bathroom necessities and went to the door she recalled leading to the bathroom. She flipped on the light and looked around the luxurious room, which had a huge, free standing tub, a walk in, waterfall shower, and two sinks embedded in a long, marble countertop. Toni honestly felt like she was at a spa.

She brushed her teeth and washed her face, deciding that a shower would be in the cards for her later, and quickly did her makeup, before going back into the bedroom to grab an outfit. She decided on skinny jeans and a short sleeved, purple crop top, and added some jewelry to top off her outfit. She didn’t know what the plans were for this evening, but she hoped this would be an acceptable outfit.

She then slipped out of Cheryl’s bedroom and practically gasped when she saw the penthouse—yeah, she’d walked into it a few hours ago, but she had felt half asleep, and had definitely not absorbed what it looked like. Now, fully awake and with daylight streaming in the windows, she could see how incredible it all was. In the hallway she was standing in, there was another door that was cracked open, and it led to an office that seemed to have its own bathroom connected to it—a second bedroom technically, she was sure.

Venturing out of the hallway, she came into the huge, open concept living area, which had a fancy sectional facing a flat screen TV, a sleek dining table and chairs, and then a gorgeous kitchen, with marble countertops and a huge island with barstools. Everything was spotless, and it made Toni wonder how much time Cheryl spent in this apartment. It hardly looked lived in.

Shaking her head at herself, she padded into the kitchen and opened the fridge, wondering what Cheryl had that would be easy for her to make and eat quickly before work. Cheryl’s fridge was surprisingly full considering how unused the kitchen seemed, and Toni scanned the shelves until she spotted a container of yogurt. She grabbed it out of the fridge and began to search the rest of the kitchen for bowls, a spoon, and maybe some granola, and managed to find all three relatively easily. After fixing herself her breakfast, she sat down at the bar and ate in silence, looking around the huge space. There were floor to ceiling windows, like the ones in Cheryl’s room, against the wall in the dining room, and as Toni glanced out at the view, she honestly couldn’t believe she was here.

Upon finishing up her breakfast, Toni handwashed her bowl and spoon and left them on the empty drying rack that was next to the sink, and then padded back to Cheryl’s bedroom. The woman was still sleeping soundly, so Toni just grabbed her backpack and brought it out into Cheryl’s office, which appeared to be another underused space. The desk was empty, so Toni didn’t feel weird about setting her laptop on it and making herself comfortable in the office chair.

She was early to start work, but that didn’t matter much, because Kiera had already had all of her work sent to her email. Toni settled into her seat and started editing pictures.

She was completely in the zone, and not focusing on the time, until the office door opened suddenly, and she looked up in surprise. Cheryl was standing there, wrapped in a red, silk robe, with her hair falling in a mess around her. Despite looking like she’d just gotten out of bed, Toni’s breath was taken away by how gorgeous she was.

“Morning,” Toni chimed, offering a smile to the redhead.

“Good morning,” Cheryl answered, leaning against the doorframe. “I guess you managed to find everything you needed this morning.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to wake you. I had some yogurt and granola for breakfast.”

“Good.” Cheryl smiled sweetly. “You planning to take a lunch break?”

Toni glanced down at the time, and saw that it was nearing noon. “Yeah, probably in like an hour, is that okay?”

“’Course,” Cheryl answered sleepily, “then I’ll wait to eat with you. How long do you need to work today? The full eight hours?”

Toni shrugged. “No, not necessarily. I kind of have a set amount of stuff I need to get done in the next three days, so I’m just gonna do about a third of it today. I think I should finish up by five or so.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll just do my makeup and get dressed and then I’ll start something for lunch.”

“Sounds good,” Toni said with a smile, biting the inside of her lip to keep it from turning into a full on grin. Cheryl returned the smile, and then slipped back out of the room, closing the door behind her.

An hour later, Toni left the office, feeling ready for lunch, to find Cheryl standing in front of the stove.

“What’s cooking, good looking?” Toni asked jokingly, and Cheryl turned her head in slight surprise.

“Oh—I was thinking maybe a strawberry and grilled chicken salad?” Cheryl answered. “I just started the chicken, so we can have something else if you’d rather.”

“No, that sounds good—and fancy,” Toni told her, coming into the kitchen and seated herself at the bar. The ingredients for the salad were already scattered across the island—lettuce and spinach and strawberries, among other things.

“It’s not very fancy.”

“I was honestly impressed at how spotless it was in here this morning. I mean, I know you haven’t been here much the past couple of weeks, but you were here a couple days last week.”

“A day and a half,” Cheryl pointed out. “But regardless, I like to keep things clean. When I was a kid, if my room wasn’t kept clean, there was hell to pay.”

“Mm. Well, I like your place a lot.”

Cheryl smiled. “Thank you. It’s always nice to have people here—it feels quite lonely when it’s just me.”

“Yeah, like what V was saying,” Toni said with a nod of understanding. “I mean, I get lonely in my tiny ass apartment by myself, so I can just imagine that it must be way worse in a place this big.”

“Mmhmm. So. What is it you’re working on today?”

“Editing pictures,” Toni answered. “It’s one of the hidden parts of photography, people always forget about it. But I actually like it. Sometimes the editing of a photo can change the emotion it’s supposed to evoke.” Cheryl nodded along, flashing Toni a curious look. “Like, take pictures of a protest for example. You have a woman screaming for justice. If the lighting is too harsh, she’ll look angry—which she is, of course, but mostly, she’s sad, hurt, feeling betrayed by the system that she’s fighting for change from. So if you darken the tones a little, and make it a little more warm, you can suddenly feel all that, instead of just her anger.”

Cheryl stared at Toni for a moment before nodding. “Wow, Toni, that’s… beautiful.” Toni felt warmth rise to her cheeks, and she laughed embarrassedly.

“Thanks.”

There was a lull in conversation as Cheryl started to assemble the salads, allowing the chicken to cook a little longer, and then the redhead said, “So, would you be up for going out tonight?”

“Out where?” Toni asked curiously. “I mean—yes, that’s fine, I’m just curious.”

“There’s a nightclub that Josie sings at a lot, she’s performing tonight. Kevin and Katy and her boyfriend, Reed, will be there. And they would love to meet you,” Cheryl explained. “If you’re up for it.”

“Yeah for sure,” Toni agreed, feeling a twinge of nervousness in her chest at the idea of meeting Cheryl’s friends. But Cheryl had met her friends, so it made sense for Toni to meet hers next. Plus, she knew that this would happen as soon as she knew she was going to be in New York for three whole days. “Well, as long as you’re going to buy me a drink,” she added with a smirk.

Cheryl flashed her a charming smile. “Of course, ma chérie, what kind of host would I be if I didn’t treat you to at least a drink?” Toni grinned. Cheryl turned back to the stove and got the chicken off of the pan, before slicing it up and tossing it in with the salad. A few minutes later, everything was put away, and Toni and Cheryl sat at the bar of the kitchen next to each other, eating their lunch.

“Thank you for cooking,” Toni said, after having her first bite, “it’s really good.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So, I take it you like to cook? I mean, considering the past two days.”

“I do,” Cheryl answered, pausing to take and chew another bite of her salad. “It’s something that I learned to do um, after Jason died. I found it to be a very healing pastime. And I love that food is able to help bring people together.”

“I don’t know why that surprises me, that you like to cook,” Toni admitted. “I guess I just never really thought about it, since the opportunity for cooking never really arose in Europe.”

“Judging by how empty your kitchen was, I assume that you don’t like to cook?”

“You would be right about that,” Toni confirmed, smirking. “I can make a mean grilled cheese, and I’m not half bad at instructions on boxes or frozen food, but that’s where my cooking skills stop.” After a pause, she continued, “But I mean, I grew up a little food insecure… nothing too terrible, and it hasn’t caused any lasting damage or anything, but I barely even knew if I would have a full meal every night, so actually cooking something never really crossed my mind.”

“That makes sense,” Cheryl said with a nod. “I’m sorry you grew up in that situation.”

“It’s fine.” She shrugged half-heartedly. “I’m just glad that I have a job—or jobs, rather—that make it so that I never have to miss a meal.”

“Well,” Cheryl started, “if you ever want to learn to cook anything, I’ve been told that I am an excellent teacher.”

They continued to talk as they finished up their lunch, and then Toni helped Cheryl clean up the kitchen. When it was all finished, she let out a sigh before saying, “I guess I should get back to work, so I can finish up well before we go out tonight.”

“Sounds good,” Cheryl agreed, but as Toni started to turn around, the redhead grabbed her hand and gently tugged her back. Suddenly, Toni was standing just a few inches from the woman.

“Mm?” Toni heard herself hum, although her mind was suddenly foggy, her only thoughts of Cheryl all of the sudden.

“Kiss me before you go back to work,” Cheryl whispered, and Toni bit down on her lower lip for a moment, before closing the distance between them with a purposeful kiss. She felt Cheryl relax against her as their lips moved against each other’s slowly. As much as Toni wanted to get lost in this woman, she had to get back to work, so she pulled away reluctantly.

“Satisfied?” she asked quietly, her voice low.

“Mm. I guess it will have to hold me over.”

Toni smirked, pressing another kiss to Cheryl’s lips quickly for good measure, before pulled away from the woman. As she headed to the office, she could feel Cheryl’s gaze following her, and she ran her hand through her magenta hair as she swayed her hips intentionally. When she turned to go into the office, she met Cheryl’s dark gaze and winked.

The little bit of fun was nice before having to get back to work, but the nice thing was that once Toni got wrapped up in her task of editing, time flew by. Before she knew it, she was done with everything she’d wanted to finish that day, and it was just a few minutes until five. Smiling proudly, she powered off her laptop and left the office.

She found Cheryl sitting on the sectional in the living room, her legs stretched out, as some show Toni didn’t recognize played on the TV. It was muted, though, because Cheryl was on the phone.

“Mmhmm. Well, I figured he could handle it,” she was saying as Toni entered the room. Cheryl’s gaze immediately jumped up to look at Toni, who sat by Cheryl’s feet on the couch. “That’s clearly an organization issue, and as the person I appointed to organize this event, I think that means that he needs to deal with it. I wasn’t even supposed to be back in NYC until today, so… Okay, you know what—fine. Have him call me, and I will take care of it. Yeah, thanks Kev. Mmhmm. Bye.”

“Everything okay?” Toni wondered.

“It will be,” Cheryl answered, scooting forward a little so she could lay back a bit, and her feet ended up in Toni’s lap. “Just, one of the event organizers ran into an issue with catering, and it’s my problem now. He should be calling—” Cheryl’s phone rang suddenly. “Oh, yep this is him, hold on.”

Toni tried not to laugh as Cheryl answered the phone call.

“Mason, good evening. I did, thank you, but I don’t have time for the pleasantries, please just explain what’s going on? Mm. I see. Well what did they suggest? Okay… that should be fine, I would think. You disagree? Well, sounds like you already have a plan, so why is my assistant calling me about this problem? Right. Good. Great, I’ll see you tomorrow, Mason. I’m sure it will be. Yes. Goodbye.” She hung up the phone and immediately rolled her eyes. “I don’t have patience for people sometimes.”

Toni chuckled, her hands resting on Cheryl’s ankles. The redhead was wearing capris length red pants, a white blouse, and a red scarf that Toni recognized from Rome.

“So, you finished up for the day?”

“Yep,” Toni answered, “and I’m ready for whatever you have in store for me this evening.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes a little, and Toni couldn’t help but find the casualness of it positively endearing. “I already told you what we’ll be doing tonight, Toni.”

“You have a history of surprising me, even when I think I know what we’re doing.”

“Mm. Good point. Well, I hadn’t planned any surprises yet. Except, I was thinking we could go get dinner before we go to the club.”

“With?”

“Just us.”

Toni nodded. “Okay, that sounds fun.”

That’s how they ended up at an upscale Italian restaurant near the club they were going to be at later. Toni felt beyond relaxed as she and Cheryl talked and ate, and she found herself thinking again how crazy it was that it was just so easy to talk to her. Toni wasn’t sure she’d ever had such an easy time talking to anyone before.

When they finished up their meal, it was apparently late enough in the evening for them to head to the club, so Cheryl and Toni walked the short distance from the restaurant to the club. Toni found herself feeling nerves at the prospect of meeting Cheryl’s close friends, and she found herself reaching for the woman’s hand. Cheryl gave her a sideways glance as the redhead folded their fingers together and squeezed.

They entered the club, after showing their IDs to the bouncer, and Toni immediately realized that this was not the kind of club she and her friends would usually be found at. Veronica maybe, but not in recent years. No, this place was far cleaner and more high-end than clubs Toni was used to. Everything—the walls, floor, seats, tables, the bar—were solid black, and there were soft blue and purple lights lighting the room. The floor looked velvety soft, and if she weren’t careful, Toni got the feeling she would trip and fall. Loud music was playing, and Toni could see the dance floor off to her right, and it was pretty packed.

Still holding tightly to Toni’s hand, Cheryl guided the magenta haired woman through to the back of the club. They came to a door that practically blended in with the wall despite the small sign hung on it that read “VIP Only.” Another bouncer stood outside the door. “Names?” he asked them, looking between Cheryl and Toni.

“Blossom,” Cheryl answered, “Cheryl. This is my plus one.”

“Your name, ma’am?”

“Toni Topaz,” Toni answered.

The bouncer checked something on a small tablet he carried, and then nodded. “Go on in.” Cheryl pushed open the door and pulled Toni through it. They walked up a half flight of stairs and entered the VIP room.

It had a very similar vibe to the rest of the club, but it was much emptier. A few groups were scattered around, sitting in couches and sipping on drinks out of fancy glasses, but there was a lot more space. The music was also slightly softer here. The wall that should’ve been between the VIP room and the rest of the club, however, was nonexistent—instead, there was a glass half-wall with couches up against it, overlooking the dance floor.

“Wow,” Toni heard herself say, and Cheryl led Toni over to one section of couches by the glass wall. Toni blinked, focusing on who was sitting there, and immediately recognized Kevin. He was sitting with three other people—two men and a woman, whom Toni recognized from Cheryl’s Instagram as Katy Keene.

“Cheryl!” Katy exclaimed, as soon as she saw the redhead approaching. “Hey girl! Oh my god—is this Toni?”

“That’s me,” Toni confirmed with a chuckle, extending her hand to the girl, “Toni Topaz.”

“Katy Keene,” Katy answered with a grin, “so nice to finally meet you! Oh—and this is my boyfriend, Reed.”

“Hey, how’s it going?” Reed asked with a nod and a half smile. He seemed like a pretty buff guy, with a buzzed head and two ear piercings, but he had a pretty relaxed demeanor about him.

“Honestly? This is the nicest damn club I’ve ever stepped foot in, so pretty great.”

The group laughed at that, and Toni smiled. “Oh, and Toni, this is Moose,” Kevin said, gesturing to the guy sitting close next to him.

“Moose,” Toni repeated, “nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, I know, the name’s a little weird,” Moose said with a chuckle, “but it beats my real name.”

“Hey, I’m not judging. My best friend goes by Sweet Pea, and another friend by Fangs. Plus, another one of my friends just started dating someone who goes by Jughead.”

Katy and Kevin laughed at that. “I wonder how he got that nickname.”

“Yeah, I have no clue,” Toni answered, smirking.

“Well sit down, you two,” Katy said, gesturing to the couch across from them. Cheryl and Toni sat, and Toni felt Cheryl’s hand land on her lower back. Suddenly, a staff person was standing next to them, asking what they would like to drink. Cheryl ordered herself a glass of wine, and Toni lamely asked for the same thing, and the staff person nodded and walked off to get their drinks. Katy looked between Cheryl and Toni. “So! How was LA?”

“It was nice,” Cheryl answered, and Toni watched her as she continued, “Toni took me to Santa Monica Pier.”

“Yeah, I finally got to show her around for once,” Toni teased.

“God, Toni,” Katy exclaimed, “you are so lucky that of all people you had to show you around Italy, it was Cheryl. I don’t think I know anyone who’s been there more than her.”

“What can I say?” Cheryl asked. “It’s a beautiful country, and we know I have a hard time resisting beautiful things.” Her dark eyes landed back on Toni as she said it, and Toni was glad that it was so dimly lit in the club, because she could feel how red her cheeks turned.

“True,” Kevin chimed. Two drinks on a tray, in the hands of another waitress, appeared all of the sudden, and Toni and Cheryl thanked her as they accepted their glasses. “So, what time is Josie singing?”

“Should be any minute now,” Katy answered. “Do you remember what time she said, babe?”

“I don’t think they gave her an exact time,” Reed answered, “or at least, she didn’t mention it.”

“I’m excited to hear her sing,” Moose said, “Kevin is always talking about how good she is.”

“I’m just jealous!” Kevin exclaimed. “If I was half as good as her, I could probably actually be a musical theater star.”

“And then you wouldn’t have to work for Cheryl,” Katy teased, getting an eyeroll from the redhead.

“Kevin doesn’t hate working for me.”

“No, I don’t,” Kevin agreed, “but I mean, I’d pick musical theater star over personal assistant any day, sorry Cher.”

Cheryl shook her head, smiling. “No need to apologize, Kev. I’m just glad you’re actually a good assistant, because I would have hated to have to fire my friend’s best friend.”

“Yeah, Josie would’ve probably been pissed if you did that,” Katy agreed.

“And angry Josie?” Cheryl raised an eyebrow. “Not someone you want to mess with.”

“I think even Reed is scared of her,” Kevin joked, looking over at Katy’s boyfriend.

Reed snickered. “No way.”

“He totally is,” Katy stage whispered to the group. “So, Toni, you’re going to be taking pictures for us tomorrow night?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered with an enthusiastic nod. “I’m super excited. I haven’t had a gig to do, separate from my regular work, in a while.”

“Right, you work for a nonprofit right? Supporting… multiracial people, right?”

“Right,” Toni confirmed, smiling a little. “Yeah, and I love it, but I do love getting to take other kinds of pictures every now and then, you know?”

“I don’t know how much you’ve gotten to see the clothes yet, but I hope you’ll like them. I put my everything in them.”

“My best friend, Veronica, she has some of your things, I found out,” Toni informed the brunette, “so I trust that they must be awesome.”

“Katy is like, the best designer I’ve ever met,” Kevin insisted, “which is saying something, because in the past few years. I actually have met quite a few other designers at events and stuff.”

“How long do we have to hook up before I get to hide in your suitcase when you’re traveling around for work?” Moose asked, looking at Kevin with a raised eyebrow. The group laughed, and Kevin just rolled his eyes.

“Take a page from Cheryl and Toni,” Katy joked, “took them all of three days.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes again, but Toni though she noticed a twinge of red on those page cheeks, although it was hard to tell with the lighting. Toni looked back at Kevin and Moose. “So, you two are dating?”

“Friends hooking up,” Kevin corrected, and Moose nodded in agreement, “I don’t really do the whole dating thing.”

“He’s too much of a free spirit,” Katy piped up, including air quotes with her fingers, “to be tied down.”

“To be fair, I’m not really in the place to be dating anyone either anyway,” Moose said with a laugh, “but it doesn’t suck to be a plus one to places like this.” Toni smirked, wanting to agree with him, but not wanting anyone to think she was agreeing to the first part. Despite how it had only been a couple of months since she ended things with Sara, since meeting Cheryl, Toni was sure that she had completely moved on—emotionally and physically. She was more than ready to be dating—well, dating Cheryl, at least.

Suddenly, the music in the club died down, and Cheryl sat up expectantly, looking past Toni through the glass half-wall. “She’ll be coming out on that stage,” Cheryl told Toni, pointing off to their left. Toni followed where her finger was pointing and saw the stage, which was now lit.

“Does she sing solo?” Toni wondered, noticing that there were instruments on the stage, and wondering if they were going to be played or not.

“No,” Katy answered, “she’s in a band called Josie and the Pussycats. With Valerie and Melody. They’re on keyboard and guitar and do backup vocals, but Josie is the lead singer.”

Just as Katy finished answering, an announcer was suddenly speaking through the club speakers, “Please welcome to the stage, Josie and the Pussycats!” Toni saw three women walk out onto the stage, spotlight on all of them. In the darkness of the club, it was impossible to miss the bright circles of light on them. Front in center, standing up to the microphone, was Josie, who Toni also recognized from some of Cheryl’s Instagram photos.

Applause echoed through the club, and Josie grabbed the neck of the mic. “Thank you! I know it’s Monday night, but I hope the party has been good enough to make you all forget that shit!” Some people on the dancefloor cheered, and Josie grinned. “Well, if not, let’s see if we can get you there. Hit it, Mel!”

Toni didn’t recognize the song that they were suddenly playing, and she guessed that it was an original song, but as soon as Josie started singing, she was taken aback. Toni had never known anyone who was so good at singing—Veronica wasn’t half bad, but Josie blew her out of the water. “Wow,” Toni whispered to Cheryl, “they’re really good.”

“Right?” Cheryl agreed. As Toni watched the Pussycats perform, she suddenly felt Cheryl slipping her hand into hers. Toni bit down on her lower lip to fight a grin and tangled her fingers with Cheryl’s.

Josie and the Pussycats played a full set, and Toni had no idea how long had passed before they said goodnight to the club and disappeared from the stage. “She’s coming up here right?” Toni asked, looking back at Cheryl.

“Yes,” Cheryl answered, “trust me, she would not miss the opportunity to meet you. She’s been hounding me even more than Katy.”

“Excuse me,” Katy said defensively, “the only reason I was asking so many questions was because you wouldn’t stop talking about this mystery girl with pink hair.” Cheryl glared at the brunette as Toni bit back a grin. She then looked at Toni and shook her head.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Cheryl tutted.

“Like what?” Toni asked, not even able to hold back her wide smile anymore.

“That.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Toni.”

“Cheryl.”

“God, you two are adorable,” Katy said with a shake of her head. “Babe, have you ever seen Cheryl look at someone like that?”

“Can’t say that I have,” Reed answered with a smirk, and Toni could now very visibly see Cheryl’s blush.

“You should’ve seen them in Europe,” Kevin teased.

“Kevin,” Cheryl snapped, “it’s not too late for me to fire you.”

“But then you would have to deal with—”

“Josie!” Katy exclaimed, looking behind Cheryl and Toni, who both turned around to see that Josie, and her two bandmates, were headed their way. “Girl, you guys were amazing, as always!”

“Thanks, Katy!” Josie said with a grin. “Hello everybody—and hello, Toni!”

Toni laughed. “Hey, Josie, nice to meet you. And you guys too, Melody and Valerie.”

“You too,” Melody and Valerie chimed together.

“You guys were awesome,” Toni continued, “I haven’t heard such good live music in… literally as long as I can remember.”

“Aww, you really know how to flatter a girl,” Josie teased, winking at Toni. “Watch out, Cher, I think I may be stealing your girl!”

Cheryl just smirked, shaking her head. “Come join us, we were just discussing how I may need to fire Kevin for talking shit.”

“I wasn’t talking shit!” Kevin exclaimed, as Josie, Valerie, and Melody joined them in the little couch area, which was definitely at capacity now. “I was merely recalling how sappy and adorable Cheryl and Toni were in Italy and Greece.”

“Girl!” Josie exclaimed, looking at Toni. “You are so lucky that you had Cheryl to show you around Italy! This girl knows her Italy!”

“So I’ve heard,” Toni said, laughing at how similar Josie and Katy’s statements on the matter were. “Yeah, honestly, I think my trip would’ve been way less exciting without Cheryl having been there. The most exciting it got without her around was when some random ass dude at the Colosseum hit on me.”

“Hey, it’s not every day you get hit on at the Colosseum, though,” Moose said with a snicker.

“Right?”

“Oh god,” Josie said, looking down at the empty glasses that were sat on the table between the couches, in front of Cheryl and Toni, “don’t tell me that both you ladies have only had one drink?”

“We were too busy watching you guys perform to think about getting another one.”

“Okay, well let’s get some better drinks in here so we can get down to that dance floor soon! Toni hasn’t truly seen this group in action until she’s seen us dance!” Josie exclaimed.

“It’s true,” Valerie said, lifting an eyebrow at Toni, “these girls take over the entire dancefloor.”

“Yeah, in the meantime, some of us hide in the back and pretend we don’t know them,” Kevin agreed.

“Oh, come on, we aren’t that bad,” Katy objected.

“You and Josie are, though,” Cheryl agreed. “I’m usually only there because you literally won’t let me leave.”

Toni glanced at Cheryl. “Well, I’m down for drinks and dancing if it means I get to see you dance,” she said, lifting an eyebrow at Cheryl, whose dark gaze met hers.

“Ooh, yes, Toni, you and I are on the same page, girl!” Josie exclaimed. She was then waving down one of the waiters. “Can we get a round of tequila shots, please?”

“Of course,” the waiter replied, before disappearing to go and get the shots.

“God,” Cheryl groaned out, “I hate tequila.”

“Tequila is what got me so fucked up on Friday night,” Toni told Cheryl with a smirk. “I mean, a lot of tequila, but still.”

“I think it would be in your best interest to not get that drunk again,” Cheryl insisted, “considering you have to work tomorrow…”

“You’re telling me, babe, I think it’s in my best interest to literally never get that drunk again, like ever.”

The shots were brought over to the group, and everyone grabbed on. “To Toni being in NYC!” Katy exclaimed, and Toni just laughed and shook her head as everyone cheered and took back the shots.

Before Toni knew it, they were out of the VIP section and were on the dance floor. Within a matter of minutes, Katy and Reed were dancing up against each other, as were Kevin and Moose. Josie was grinding up again both couples, as well as Cheryl, who was laughing at her friends. Toni sidled up next to Cheryl, grabbing her arm and pulling up right up to her.

A remix of the song React, by the Pussycat Dolls, was playing as Toni ran her hands down the sides of Cheryl’s body, pressing into her. Cheryl turned around and pressed her backside into Toni’s front, and Toni’s body woke up completely. She grinded her center against Cheryl’s perfect ass, and Josie cheered them on as they danced. Toni laughed, grabbing Cheryl’s waist. Cheryl suddenly dropped lower, and Toni bit down on her lower lip as she rubbed her body against Toni’s, coming back up slowly.

Suddenly, though, Katy was pulling Cheryl away from Toni, who let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Cheryl laughed as Katy twirled her, and Josie cut between them, dancing closely to them both. A circle of space had cleared around the three women, making Toni understand what Valerie had been saying.

Toni found herself standing next to Reed, both watching the three women dance close together. “Don’t let it bother you, those three girls have been best friends for fucking years.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” Toni said with a laugh.

He shook his head. “Lesbians confuse the hell out of me. Guys would get totally jealous seeing their girl dance with guy friends, so you’d think lesbians could feel the same way when they dance with lady friends.”

Toni smirked. “Well, I’m bisexual, but regardless, I think the difference is that as a woman, we understand friendships between other women. Whereas, straight men can’t fathom their girlfriends being just friends with another guy.” Reed nodded.

“Touché.”

Toni smirked. “Also, because, as a woman, it’s not weird if I go join in.” She gave him a little wave before stalking over to Cheryl, Katy, and Josie, and Jose, who noticed first, reached out a hand and pulled her into their little dance bubble. Toni laughed as she joined in, and she was suddenly being pushed into Cheryl, who grabbed her waist and pulled her impossibly close. Their foreheads touched and their breaths mixed between them, and Toni bit down on her lower lip. Despite having only one shot, she could feel it taking away some of her inhibitions, and she wanted to make out with Cheryl right here and now.

But just as she touched her lips to Cheryl’s, and heard wolf whistles from somewhere around them, she pulled away, rolling her eyes at the stranger. Cheryl just gave her a wink, and they returned to just dancing.

Toni had no idea how long they were on that dance floor, and at this rate, it could’ve been well after midnight and she would have no idea. They finally stumbled over to the bar at some point, and Kevin ordered a bunch of glasses of water, which they all chugged gratefully. “Man, you guys were not kidding about your dancing.”

“Nope,” Katy said with a grin, “we take pride in our ability to own the dance floor, Toni.”

“I gathered.” Toni laughed at the women as they all grinned proudly. Cheryl fumbled with the almost hidden pocket in her pants and pulled out her phone.

“Mm, it’s getting late. Toni and I should probably head out.”

“Lame! Why?” Josie whined.

“Because it’s a Monday night,” Cheryl answered, “and Toni has to work in the morning. Not to mention, we all have somewhere to be tomorrow night, and I have to spend a good portion of the day overseeing setup for the show.”

“This has been so fun, though,” Toni insisted, “and it was so awesome to meet you all.”

“Girl, the pleasure was all ours, seriously! Can’t wait to see you at the runway show tomorrow!” Josie exclaimed. “Did you hear, Val, Mel and I get to be models for a night.”

“I’ll make sure to take extra pictures of you guys then,” Toni assured them with a grin.

“Cheryl, this one is seriously a keeper.”

Cheryl smiled. “We’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, ladies!” Kevin chimed.

As they exited the club, and Toni let out a happy sigh. “Your friends are so much fun. Man, it just felt so good to just let go.”

“You can let go with your friends,” Cheryl assured her.

“Sometimes,” Toni agreed, “but other times, they take the opportunity to try and lecture me about my life.”

“I’m sure that will get better, Toni. You just need to stand up for yourself to them. They love you, if you call them out when they do it, they’ll get better. Like this weekend,” Cheryl reminded her. “You did exactly that, and it’s already a little better, right?”

“Mm, you are right. Anyway, I don’t want to think about LA,” Toni murmured, grabbing Cheryl’s hands and pulling the redhead right up to her. “I just want to think about you and me, right now, in NYC.”

Cheryl’s breath audibly hitched, which was all Toni needed to hear to press her lips firmly into the other woman’s. Cheryl kissed her back fervently, but only for a few moments. “Me too, Toni, but we need to get in a cab.”

“Can we make out in the cab?”

“I’m not sure the driver would appreciate it…”

“Come on, they have to be used to it here?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You like it.”

“Mm.”

Toni grinned as Cheryl looked away to flag down a cab. As they climbed into one of the yellow cars, and Cheryl gave her address, Toni looked at the beautiful woman sitting next to her. She got lost in doing so and hardly even realized when the cab started moving. Cheryl caught her staring.

“What?”

“You just… you’re so goddamn beautiful.”

“Such a sweet talker,” Cheryl murmured, running a hand through some of Toni’s hair. “I think I like you after a shot of tequila.”

“I think you like me regardless.”

Cheryl grinned, and Toni felt her heart swell. “You may be onto something.” Toni smiled, scooting up next to Cheryl and leaning against her. First day in New York City? Complete success.

Chapter Text

When Toni woke up on Tuesday morning, it was once again to the sound of her alarm. She wanted to start work a lot earlier today so that she could finish early and go with Cheryl early to the runway event. Therefore, it was seven in the morning, and she quickly turned off the awful sound of her phone blaring at her, and glanced at Cheryl, who once again did not seem bothered by the sound. Toni wondered how Cheryl managed to wake herself up when she had places to be very early in the morning.

Toni went through the motions as she had the previous day, getting herself some breakfast and readying herself for the day, before settling into Cheryl’s office and starting work. Cheryl popped in to say good morning a couple of hours later, and she came all the way into the office this time to place a firm kiss right on Toni’s lips, followed by one on the top of her head. It felt oddly domestic, and Toni noticed her stomach feeling like it was full of butterflies.

A little before noon, Cheryl had to leave for the venue, and she gave Toni the instructions to call Kevin about half an hour before she was ready to leave so that he could send her a car to pick her up. Toni reluctantly agreed, because she didn’t want to risk being late, and gave Cheryl another kiss before the woman left.

Toni felt super weird, being in Cheryl’s penthouse apartment without the redhead. Not wanting to feel alone, she ended up working through lunch, and so she finished up for the day right around two in the afternoon.

As she scavenged for some easy food in Cheryl’s kitchen—which was unfortunately hard to come by—she dialed Kevin’s phone number.

“Toni,” he chimed, “you going to be joining us soon?”

“That’s the plan,” she answered, “Cheryl said you would call a car for me, or something like that.”

“Yes, I will do that right now. Expect them to be there in about twenty to thirty minutes, but they’ll wait for you, so don’t feel rushed either. Should be a black van. They’ll ask your name when you open the door and then you’ll be on your way. It’s that easy.” Toni laughed at Kevin’s description. “What? I know it’s super weird to get used to, especially if you’re by yourself.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong,” Toni agreed. “Well, cool. I guess I’ll see you all soon.”

“Yes—oh shit, wait, was there any equipment that you needed? Cheryl said that you brought some, but we have some too here if you need any.”

“I brought everything that I would usually use for a shoot, but I may take a look at what you have,” Toni answered. “I mean, I’m not going to lie, but I’ve never shot a runway before.”

“Well, don’t feel too pressured. Even though you’re the K&B photographer, there’s gonna be press here taking pictures, and we’re recording the whole event. Your priority, as I’m sure Cheryl will mention when you get here, is to get good photos of the models and the clothes, for the K&B documentation of the event.”

“Got it,” Toni responded, and it did make her feel more relaxed to hear that.

“Cool. Calling that car for you now, talk later!”

The call ended, and Toni busied herself with eating her late lunch—a sandwich she’d thrown together after finally finding some simple components. She knew she would be hungry later, but she also remembered Cheryl talking on the phone about the catering service for the event, so she planned on sneaking some of the food while on the job.

After her late lunch, she entered the bedroom—where the bed had been neatly made by Cheryl earlier—and decided to dress a little nicer. She grabbed her tight, black dress that she’d brought, along with her heels, and dressed it up with some jewelry. She’d done her full face of makeup that morning, but she quickly touched it up.

It had been nearly half an hour when Toni finally grabbed her camera equipment bag and started to leave Cheryl’s apartment. As she walked into the living area, she panicked for a moment—realizing she didn’t have a key to lock the door on her way out—but then she noticed a note stuck on the inside of the front door. Smiling a little, she went up to it, and saw that it was taped there, along with a key.

The note read:

Toni, you should probably have this so you can lock up when you leave for the event. Can’t wait to see you and your beautiful photos of this evening. Oh, and for now, go ahead and keep the key, in case you need it tomorrow. xx Cheryl

Toni smiled, staring at the beautiful cursive for a moment. It reminded her of that first night she’d spent with Cheryl, when she’d woken up the next morning to an empty hotel room, but a neatly written note on the nightstand waiting for her.

Blinking, she realized that she really needed to leave, and she grabbed the key off of the door, leaving the note on the door for now, and left the apartment, locking it behind her purposefully.

She found the car waiting for her outside, and as Kevin said, the driver immediately asked for her name as soon as she opened the door. She gave it to him, and he then bid her good afternoon and she buckled in.

As she sat in the car on the way to the venue, she decided to text Veronica, since she hadn’t since she’d arrived in New York at such an ungodly hour on Monday morning.

Toni – Hey, V! Guess who’s headed to a K&B runway to take some pictures!

Veronica – Girl, I’m super excited for you!

Veronica – Is Cheryl’s apartment everything I dreamed?

Toni – LMAO. It’s only a little bigger than yours tbh, but it’s a penthouse and the kitchen is HUGE and literally to die for.

Veronica – A PENTHOUSE? In the West Village? Marry that woman, Toni.

Toni smirked down at her phone screen.

Toni – I met her friends last night—Katy Keene included. It was a lot of fun.

Veronica – That’s awesome, T!

Veronica – So what’s the whole deal with this runway event?

Toni – I guess it’s the opening for the summer season or something? But also a charity event. Last night they mentioned that all the models are people of color and they didn’t just stick with size zeros, so that’s pretty cool.

Veronica – Wow, I love K&B even more now.

Veronica – And you get to take photos of what? The whole thing?

Toni – Mostly the models and their outfits. There will be press there and videographers and shit.

Veronica – Still sounds like you got an important job. How much they paying?

Toni – I told Cheryl not to pay me in cash—just the plane tickets.

Veronica – What??

Toni – I know that I never would’ve just randomly gotten this gig without Cheryl, so yeah, it’s a job, but it didn’t feel fair to take a paycheck from it. Plus, I’ve been working, and Cheryl’s covered my club cover and drinks and food and stuff, so this is an expense free trip. Worth it to spend time with her, meet her friends, AND put this gig in my portfolio.

Veronica – Okay, point taken. Well, sounds like you got a great deal regardless. Have you gotten to fuck in every room of her penthouse?

Toni – Actually, no. We got back from the club last night and went to bed because I wanted to wake up at 7 this morning to get to working early so that I could finish well before the event.

Veronica – Ugh, lame!

Toni – You’re too invested all the sudden. Make up your mind lmao.

Veronica – I’ll stay invested for now. I mean, it seems like you’re serious about this girl, and I know I was a shitty best friend for a minute there, but I’m trying to get back on your good side so you don’t run off to New York without me!

Toni – Haha. I love you, V.

Veronica – Love you too, T! Alright, I should get back to work, have a good time at the runway! Take some bomb ass pictures like you always do!

Toni – Have a good day at work!

She looked out the window for the next few minutes of the drive, and then all of the sudden, the car was pulling over in front of a huge building. “This is it,” he said, “have a good evening, Miss Topaz.”

“You too,” Toni answered with a smile, before grabbing her camera equipment and leaving the car. There were huge glass doors into what appeared to be a convention center. Taking in a breath, she started inside.

Before she could even take in the entrance of the building, she was being ambushed by Kevin. “Toni! What a coincidence!”

“Is it? It really seemed like you were waiting for me.”

“No, I literally just stepped out here looking for someone else,” Kevin assured her with a laugh. “Okay, you see that archway there?” He pointed off toward one end of the room. “Straight through there, you’ll see a staircase, go up, and then you’ll just enter into the huge, obvious event room where the runway is. Cheryl may seem a little stressed, but—”

“Kev,” Toni interrupted him, “I got it. Thanks, go find whoever you were looking for.”

He gave her a smile and a nod and then practically bolted off. Laughing to herself, Toni followed his directions, through the archway, up the flight of marble stairs, and into the huge event room. The room appeared to have a permanent stage on the end directly across from her, but there was a runway setup in front of it, stretching out about halfway into the room. Rows of chairs were surrounding the sides and front of the runway. Behind the chairs facing the stage directly was a raised stand with video equipment setup. Off on one side of the room were tables covered in white table clothes and nothing else—probably for food that wasn’t there yet. And on the other side of the room, Toni immediately saw Cheryl in conversation with a young man who looked terrified.

Toni started their way, and overheard Cheryl saying, a sharp edge to her voice, “No, the email was very specific.”

“Well, I didn’t—I mean, I misunderstood it.”

“Yes,” Cheryl agreed, “yes, you did, and now you need to go fix it, okay? We still have a few hours, plenty of time, right?”

“Right,” he answered with a nervous nod, “yes, ma’am. I’m on it.”

“Great. Thank you,” Cheryl said, her voice still strong, and the guy practically scurried off. Toni smirked.

“Is this what stressed Cheryl looks like?” Toni asked, drawing a surprised gaze from the redhead.

“Toni,” she stated, the surprise as evident in her voice as it was in her expression, “I suppose so. How was your day?”

“Oh, pleasantries? I guess you aren’t as stressed as I thought.”

“You would be very surprised to hear how easily I can hide how stressed I am,” Cheryl joked. “Seriously though, your day?”

“It was fine. I accidentally skipped lunch, but I ate a sandwich before coming here,” Toni answered, “but I finished all my work pretty early, which was the goal.”

Cheryl smiled. “Good. Okay, so. If you get up on the stage and head backstage, there’s an access door to the back hallway, and then there’s an equipment closet. I had someone bring all our photography stuff in case there’s anything in there you might want to use. And I’m not trying to underestimate your or anything, just—”

Toni couldn’t help it as she laughed, effectively cutting the redhead off.

“What?”

“Just, you and Kevin both rambling a lot this afternoon.” Cheryl rolled her eyes, just humming in response. “But thank you for the directions. I’ll go check it out.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Cheryl insisted, “or Kevin.”

“Between you and me? Kevin seems like a mess right now. I’ll ask you if I need anything.” Cheryl laughed at that, and Toni reached out to lightly squeeze Cheryl’s upper arm before heading for the stage. She followed the woman’s directions and found the equipment closet easily. Just as she was about to go in, she heard a voice calling out to her.

“Toni!” Toni turned and saw Josie, Valerie, and Melody coming up to her. “Hey, girl! You look hot!”

Toni smiled. “Thanks! How’re you guys?”

“So ready for tonight,” Valerie answered. “It’s not the same as singing, but I’m more than ready to strut my stuff.”

“Cheryl totally should’ve asked you to model too, instead of take pictures,” Josie teased, which Toni responded to with an embarrassed laugh and the shake of her head.

“Oh—no, that’s totally not my thing. But I’m excited to see you guys do it.”

“I can’t wait to see your pictures of us,” Josie said with a grin.

“Could you do me a favor,” Melody started to ask, “and make sure my ass looks big, but the rest of me looks small?”

“Girl,” Josie exclaimed, looking at her fellow Pussycat, “your body is gorgeous—all parts of it—and is gonna look smoking hot on the stage. Am I right, Val? Toni?”

“Definitely,” Toni agreed as Valerie chimed, “Hell yeah!”

Melody rolled her eyes. “Fine, but I’m trusting your pictures of me to look awesome, Toni.”

“My pictures always look awesome,” Toni bragged jokingly. “Seriously, though, they’re not half bad if I do say so myself.”

“And we already know you’re humble, Miss I’m-Not-Model-Material,” Josie teased, “so we can trust that if you say they’re not half bad, they’re probably amazing.”

Toni grinned. “Thanks. Well, I need to look through some equipment, so—”

“Oh yeah, we’ll totally get out of your hair—which by the way, I love the color, it looks so much better under the light too!” Josie exclaimed. “See you out there!”

“See you,” Toni returned, before entering the equipment closet as Josie and the Pussycats headed off to wherever it was they were going.

Toni ended up taking a few of the different flash and light bouncing devices from the equipment closet, since she didn’t know exactly what the lighting was going to be like when the show started, but she concluded that she didn’t need anything other than that. At this point, she was officially in photographer mode, too, so she beelined for the event room to start checking out angles.

She spent quite a while walking throughout the room, checking angles and taking a few sample shots with the way the lighting was now. Conveniently, after about half an hour, the videographer had some tech people turn the lights down to how they would be during the show—for their tests, presumably—so Toni experimented for a while with and without flash. She needed someone up on the runway, though, and just as she thought it, she saw Cheryl walking by and not even looking too busy.

“Babe,” she called, without really thinking about it, and instantly drawing Cheryl’s attention. She looked a little surprised at the term of endearment too. “Um, Cheryl,” Toni corrected awkwardly, “could you hop up on the runway for me for a sec?”

“Um—”

“Quick, before they turn the lights back on, I just need to test the flash.”

“Fine, but please remember that my skin is like, a million times lighter than most people who will be up here tonight,” Cheryl answered, before reluctantly stepping up onto the runway. Toni held her camera back up to her face, experimenting with and without flash, and getting her settings tuned to what she thought was going to be best.

The lights came back on a moment later, and she lowered her camera. “Thanks,” she said with a grin to the redhead, who tried and failed to hide a smile. Toni added a wink for good measure, and definitely saw the blush appear on Chery’s cheeks.

Toni lounged around for a bit after that, letting her camera battery charge back up to full and making sure she had multiple SD cards easily accessible. The videographer let her park her things on the stand where the video camera was, which gave her a much-needed base for the evening. As the evening crept up on them, models started rehearsing their walk down the runway, and Toni found herself engrossed in watching real people strutting up and down proudly. Not that usual runway models weren’t real people, of course, but they usually all looked about the same, but not these models. There were men and women of all shapes and sizes, and all of them were people of color. If young Toni had cared at all about fashion, she would have loved to see something like this.

“What do you think?” she heard a bright voice ask all of the sudden, drawing her attention to Katy, who was walking up to her.

“It’s awesome,” Toni answered. “I like the selection of models.”

“We never have runway models walk our clothes,” Katy admitted, “although we’ve never done a full group of people of color, so I’m glad we are now. But yeah, we usually stray away from having all of our models be the exact same height—which, by the way, is way taller than I could even imagine being—and size proportions. I don’t want my collections to be aimed at any one body shape, you know?”

“Yeah, I love that,” Toni said with a nod of approval. “I’m excited to see your full collection, too.”

Katy beamed at her. “I hope you like it. God, designing was always my dream, and it’s been a while since Cher and I actually started the label, so you’d think I’d be used to this feeling by now, but… every time we are about to release a new line or collection, I just feel like it’s my first one all over again.”

Toni smiled, enjoying that it was easy to talk to Cheryl’s best friends. “I get that. I hope I do them justice with my pictures. I’ve done a lot of photo shoots and gigs, but this is my first runway show.”

“I’m not worried,” Katy insisted. “Cheryl probably didn’t mention this, but she send me your photography Instagram, and then I stalked it enough to find your online portfolio… you take some stunning photographs.”

Toni bit down on the inside of her lip, knowing that she shouldn’t be surprised that Cheryl would have looked to her Instagram for references. She hadn’t actually seen that many of Toni’s photos in person, anyway, except for on her camera right after Toni had taken them. “Thanks,” she replied somewhat shyly. She wasn’t used to getting so many compliments and so much flattery from friends, probably because Veronica was her only close female friend, and as nice as Sweets and Fangs were, the dynamic was totally different. “Melody requested that I make her ass look big, but not the rest of her, so I think if I can at least accomplish that, I’ll have done alright.”

Katy laughed at that. “Definitely. Alright, I’ll see you later, Toni, I just came out to check on everything. I’ve been basically bouncing between helping the stylists in the back and trying to calm down the people Cheryl is terrifying.”

Toni laughed at that. “People? I saw her terrify one guy, but I didn’t realize there were more.”

“Cheryl Blossom is one intimidating lady,” Katy teased, and Toni smirked with a nod.

“I’ll let you get back to it, then.”

“I’ll see you later tonight, Toni!” Katy gave her a little wave and turned around, leaving the event room.

Toni found herself kind of sitting around a little longer, making small talk with the videographer’s assistant, who Toni was pretty sure was lowkey trying to hit on her. She just brushed it off, though, and then excused herself after a while, deciding to find a bathroom before things went fully into swing.

After successfully finding and using the bathroom, she came back into the event room to see that metal serving dishes of food were being lined up on the buffet tables. Her stomach grumbled, the smell of Italian food filling the air, and she had to use all of her willpower to keep herself from going over and asking if she could grab a plate.

The light dimmed after the food was set up, and all of the sudden, the sound of many people walking up the marble staircase could be heard. Toni turned around curiously, wondering if things were starting now, and then saw Cheryl hurrying into the room. “Are people coming in?” Toni asked, drawing the redhead’s attention.

“Yes,” Cheryl answered, “ugh, I’m so sorry I haven’t kept you in the loop, Toni. A few things almost went completely wrong tonight.”

“But they didn’t end up going wrong?”

“No, thankfully they were resolved. I hate that you had to see me being a bit—”

“Of a boss?” Toni finished, lifting her eyebrow. “Cheryl, you’re a CEO, I get it. You gotta get shit done—and make sure that other people get their shit done. Honestly? It’s totally sexy.”

Cheryl blushed. “Well, glad to know you’re not upset,” she said with a shake of her head. Suddenly, guests and viewers were coming into the event room, and Cheryl took in a breath. “I better go and mingle.”

“Hey—do you want me to take some shots of everything going on before the show starts?”

“Sure,” Cheryl agreed with a smile, reaching out and squeezing Toni’s hand for a moment before disappearing.

As the event started to kick into gear, and guests started mingling and getting food from the buffet tables, Toni took pictures, adjusting to the light a little as she pointed away from the runway. People began to fill the seats, chatting and eating and sipping from wine glasses. Toni made sure to look for Katy and Cheryl and took pictures of them interacting with people as well. Katy disappeared after a while—probably to go help get the models ready.

Everyone started to find their seats as the lights in the space dimmed even more, aside from the red lights surrounding the runway, and a spotlight that appeared in the center of the stage.

Toni grabbed her camera and stepped away from the center of the room as Katy walked out onto the stage. She welcomed everyone to the event, explained that a portion of the proceeds were going to a number of charities, which she listed off, and then she went into a brief speech explaining the new K&B collection. Toni made sure to get a few shots of her talking and adjusted her camera settings back to how they were when she was testing with Cheryl earlier.

“Okay, and without further ado,” Katy exclaimed, “I hope you all enjoy the show!”

Applause broke out in the room, and the runway music started.

One by one, for about the next half hour, a number of people—of all genders and shapes—walked the catwalk. They were clad in various outfits, all part of the new K&B collection. Toni got completely in the zone as she bounced around the audience, taking photos of the people. When she saw Josie, and then Melody, and then Valerie all come out one after the other, she couldn’t help but grin as how obviously they were absolutely feeling themselves. She lowered herself a little more than she normally would to take Melody’s picture, feeling like she’d accomplished the woman’s request.

When all of the looks had been shown, all of the models came back out in their final look and lined up on the runway, as the entire room applauded, and Toni made sure to take as many photos as she could of all of them lined up, looking proudly out at the audience as they wore Katy’s designs.

They all filed backstage again, and the music died down as Katy and Cheryl both appeared on the stage. They gave their final remarks and thanks, and encouraged everyone to continue to mingle and eat, and Toni took that as her cue to take a break and get some much-deserved dinner.

Leaving her camera strap slung over her shoulder, she went over to the buffet and scooped herself some kind of fancy pasta and grabbed a piece of garlic bread, as well as an already poured plastic cup of red wine, and then found an empty seat at the end of one of the rows.

She sat there alone for a few minutes, eating her food, before she noticed Cheryl approaching her. “Hey,” she greeted, after quickly swallowing the bite she’d been chewing.

“Bonjour,” Cheryl answered with a smile, stopping in front Toni. “How did you enjoy the show?”

“It was super awesome,” Toni assured her. “I got lots of awesome pictures of everyone and all of the outfits. Pretty sure I did them all justice.”

“I’m sure you did. I wanted to apologize again for sort of leaving you hanging all evening.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Cheryl,” Toni insisted. “I like seeing you in boss ass bitch mode. And it wasn’t all lonely. I got to chat with Josie, Melody, and Valerie, and also Katy. Also, the videographer’s assistant—I think her name was Marissa—she was definitely hitting on me.”

Cheryl quirked up an eyebrow, and Toni fought a smirk. “Well, I’m glad to hear you weren’t left all alone. I may have to have a word with the videographer’s assistant, though.”

“Oh really? And what word is that?” Toni wondered.

Cheryl bent down and suddenly pressed her lips firmly to Toni’s, sucking in her bottom lip and biting down, absolutely surprising Toni with her forwardness in the middle of her company’s event. Toni forgot everything a moment later though, getting lost in the feeling of the kiss, until it ended a few seconds later.

Her voice coming out very breathily, Toni said, “Miss Blossom, you should really take a woman out to dinner first!”

Cheryl smirked. “Looks like you got dinner covered, Mademoiselle Topaz.” Toni just smiled. “But, that actually was the other reason I came over here, Josie suggested that we all go to this, like, twenty-four seven breakfast diner. They have delicious breakfast foods and serve them at literally every hour of the day. We like to go there after big events sometimes. Would you like to join?”

“Of course,” Toni answered, “and don’t worry—I won’t be getting full from this tiny ass portion of food.”

“If it’s not enough food, why’d you get so little of it?” Cheryl asked with a laugh.

“Because, this is like, a big fancy event, and the plates are tiny!” Toni exclaimed. “This is totally not my scene, Cheryl.”

“I think you’re doing amazingly,” Cheryl assured her, reaching down to touch some of Toni’s hair. “Well, it’ll probably be a little while before we can head out—we need to wait until the guests have all left. In the meantime, I should—”

“Get back to mingling, and probably using your businesswoman skills to sell some expensive clothing?” Toni asked. Cheryl smiled fondly at her.

“You catch on quickly. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Mm, and I’ll just go find Marissa in the meantime…” Cheryl narrowed her eyes at Toni, who couldn’t help the stupid grin that appeared on her face as she winked at the redhead, who just shook her head and strutted off.

Toni actually ended up mingling after she finished eating, because she’d been packing up her camera equipment, and a few of the guests had come up to talk to her, surprisingly. She quickly found herself getting bored, though, and she kept checking the time and glancing around the room to see how many people were left. And then, finally, when it was right around eight in the evening, the last guests left the event room, and the main doors were closed.

The group who would be heading to the diner—everyone who had been at the club the night before—met up and then headed out. A car was waiting for them, and they all piled in and chatted amicably about the evening. Toni had her camera equipment with her, and Melody demanded to see the picture of her she had requested. Toni took a few minutes to flip through her photos until she found it, and when she showed it to the woman, she was happy to see that Melody more than approved of it.

They got to the diner and were seated in a huge corner booth. They ordered plates of pancakes and waffles, scrambled eggs and bacon, and mimosas made with various different juices. Toni tried a raspberry peach one and Cheryl got a strawberry one, and they all dug into the food once it was brought out. Toni may as well have been hanging out with her friends, who she had known for years—that’s how comfortable she was with Cheryl and her friends. She had no idea how that was possible, but they were a really great group of people.

When they were all finished eating and were just talking, Toni thought back to the possessive kiss Cheryl had given her after the runway show, and remembered Veronica asking if she’d gotten to have sex with Cheryl in the penthouse yet. Biting on the inside of her lip, Toni slipped her foot out of her heel and bounced her foot on Cheryl’s exposed leg, before rubbing it against her shin a little. Cheryl met her gaze, and Toni hoped that the desire she felt was visible in her eyes.

After a long moment, Cheryl looked back at the group and joined the conversation, and Toni wondered if her attempt had failed. But then after another moment, she let out a tired sounding breath and said, “Well, this has been a lovely evening, and thank you guys for all of your work on tonight. I think Toni and I should be heading out now.”

“Early day tomorrow and all that,” Toni added.

Kevin smirked. “Yeah early day tomorrow, and totally nothing to do with that eye fucking you two were just doing.”

“Leave them alone,” Katy said, playfully shoving Kevin, but Josie, Melody, and Valerie were all smirking.

Cheryl just rolled her eyes as she started to get out of the booth, and Toni swiftly slid her foot back into her shoe and followed suit. “Goodnight you guys,” Cheryl said pointedly to her friends.

“In case we don’t see you tomorrow, have a safe flight, Toni,” Katy chimed enthusiastically.

Toni didn’t want to think about her flight tomorrow, but she returned Katy’s smile anyway. “Thanks. It was so great to get to meet and hang out with all of you guys yesterday and today.”

“You too, girl!” Josie exclaimed. “Now you two better go, so you can resolve the source of that eye fucking Kevin mentioned.”

Cheryl shook her head, grabbing Toni’s hand and tugging her out of the diner.

It only took a short ride in a taxi to get back to Cheryl’s penthouse, and the two of them sat in a sexual tension filled silence until they got there. They got to the elevator to the building and as soon as they were inside and the doors had sealed themselves shut, Cheryl’s hands were on Toni’s waist, pressing her up against the wall and stealing the oxygen from Toni’s lungs.

“Damn, Cheryl,” Toni barely managed to get out before Cheryl’s tongue was taking over her mouth. A moan escaped her throat but died in her mouth as she wrapped her arms around the redhead. Cheryl’s fingers were digging into Toni’s waist through her dress, and Toni felt her center burning. The dinging of the elevator as it went up all of the floors could barely be registered thanks to how intoxicated by Cheryl Toni suddenly was. They had to break for a breath though, and Toni gasped for air when Cheryl finally pulled away. “What was that for?” Toni whispered.

Cheryl bit down on her lower lip, which was looking a bit extra plump after that kiss, and whispered, “Je me sens un peu… possessif…”

Toni quirked up an eyebrow. “Oh, really? Is this about the videographer’s assistant?” Cheryl pressed herself impossibly closer to Toni, completely sandwiching her between her body and the wall of the elevator. “I’ll take that as a yes…”

“You just…” Cheryl trailed off as she stared down at Toni, and then the elevator beeped loudly, and the doors started to slide open. Cheryl pulled away from Toni, loosely grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the penthouse door.

As soon as they were inside Cheryl’s apartment, Toni pulled Cheryl to face her and lifted an eyebrow. “I just what, babe?”

“I don’t know how you do this to me,” Cheryl whispered, “but when I’m around you… you are all I can think about.”

Toni bit down on her lower lip obviously and definitely noticed as Cheryl’s gaze dropped down to it. “The feeling is mutual, Cheryl. And you know, I know you say things in French when you’re nervous to say them in English. Which is totally crazy, because you are like, the most confident woman I have ever seen.”

“It pains me to admit, Toni, but you do make me a bit nervous,” Cheryl whispered.

“You are really fucking good at hiding it,” Toni murmured, “but you totally just brushed over my point about French.”

“But you are correct. It’s easier to say things if I’m not sure if you’ll even understand them.”

“I mean, it’s totally hot,” Toni insisted, pulling Cheryl’s body close to hers, “but… I hope you know that you can those things to me. In English. I promise… I’m sure I would say all of it back to you.”

Cheryl brought her hand to Toni’s hair, pulling her fingers through the soft, curly, magenta strands. “How did I manage to meet you two weeks ago?” Cheryl whispered.

“My question is, how has it only been two weeks. It feels… way longer,” Toni admitted. “Man, no wonder my friends thought I was crazy for a hot second there.”

“It does feel a lot longer.”

“Anyway,” Toni said pointedly, “I believe we were in the middle of you being really fucking hot and possessive? Something about… how the videographer’s assistant totally wanted to get with me tonight, and you weren’t there to stake your claim…”

Cheryl’s hands were suddenly grabbing Toni’s ass, and Toni bit down on her lower lip. “Right. I think it’s time I stake my claim, then, hm?”

“No opposition from me,” Toni whispered out, the statement barely audible.

Cheryl brought their lips back together, reaching down and grabbing Toni’s thighs all of the sudden and lifting Toni up and around her waist. Toni almost squealed—she had never been picked up like this before—and tightened her legs around Cheryl’s waist. Cheryl was way stronger than she looked, it seemed, and Toni suddenly really wanted to see Cheryl in the gym—she had to lift weights if she was lifting Toni so seamlessly.

Cheryl carried Toni all the way to her bedroom, and then lowered Toni into her bed before climbing on top of her. Toni reached around behind herself for her dress zipper, wanting her clothes off now, but Cheryl grabbed her hand and pressed it into the pillows. “You, ma chérie, don’t need to lift a finger tonight. Let me take care of you.”

Toni bit down hard on her lower lip, as Cheryl stood up from the bed and slowly but steadily undressed herself. When she was completely naked, she got back on the bed and started to undress Toni, the pads of her fingers dancing across her back as she unzipped the dress. Toni felt her breath hitch every time Cheryl touched her skin, and when she was completely undressed, and Cheryl looked down to take her all in—despite having seen her like this before—Toni felt heat pooling between her thighs, and she let out a moan as she squirmed under Cheryl’s intense gaze.

“I recall, just over a week ago, you wanting me to make you forget about leaving Athens,” Cheryl whispered, lightly dragging her fingertips down Toni’s chest, in the valley between her boobs, and down to her stomach. Toni nodded a little. “I figured that you may be feeling the same way about tonight… so Toni, I plan on doing just that.”

“Cheryl,” Toni whispered, “fuck me.”

“Mmhmm,” Cheryl hummed, “I will, TT.” Toni was caught off guard by the new nickname, but she didn’t have time to react, because Cheryl had suddenly attached her lips to Toni’s neck, and her short nails were digging into her backside, and she was already forgetting anything that wasn’t Cheryl Blossom. She felt the familiar burn on her neck as Cheryl gave her a hickey, and she moaned deeply at the realization that Cheryl had literally just marked her territory. Cheryl’s lips traveled up to Toni’s ear and whispered, “Now everyone is going to know just who you belong to, aren’t they?”

Toni heard herself whimper more than she felt herself doing it, and she was pretty sure no woman had ever worked her up so much before even touching near her core. “Cheryl,” she whined, “please…”

Cheryl’s lips were back on her body, moving down to Toni’s boobs and giving them ample attention, but Toni felt absolutely desperate for Cheryl to touch her. She wasn’t used to feeling so vulnerable and needy—if there was one thing Toni believed about herself, it was that she was an excellent top. Of course, occasionally, she became a bottom, and apparently that wasn’t all that hard to do with Cheryl.

“Babe,” Toni whispered, “I really need you, Cheryl, I really need to touch me.”

Cheryl dug her fingers into Toni’s thighs, and Toni let out a moan, her hips bucking up, trying to get any friction between her center and Cheryl’s body. Finally, one of Cheryl’s hands came around to Toni’s front, and she very gently slid them through Toni’s soaked center, causing the magenta haired woman to shudder and try to grind downward. “Patience, baby,” Cheryl whispered, and Toni heard herself whimper again. “I’ll take care of you.”

It felt like ages of Cheryl sucking and kissing at the skin on her body and her fingers lightly teasing Toni’s clit before the redhead finally settled down in between Toni’s legs, her tongue mercilessly pressing into Toni’s folds and eliciting a gasp from her. “Fuck, Cheryl!” she exclaimed.

Cheryl slid two fingers inside Toni, who was wetter than she had maybe ever been, as her tongue poked around Toni’s clit. Toni couldn’t focus on anything other than this feeling, and when she felt Cheryl sliding a third finger inside of her, stretching her just slightly, Toni let out a mix between a gasp and a moan. Cheryl pulled her mouth away for a moment to ask, “That okay, baby?”

“God yes,” Toni gasped out, “fuck—Cheryl, yes.”

Cheryl brought her lips to the inside of Toni’s thigh as she started to push her fingers in and out of Toni slowly, and sucked hard on her skin there. Toni was already feeling herself coming undone, and when Cheryl’s lips returned to her clit, Toni was so close.

“Fuck, Cher—fuck, please don’t stop, please—oh—fuck!” Toni squeezed her eyes shut and bit down on her lower lip as she felt herself coming up to her orgasm, and then she hit it, and let out a loud sound that she could barely even hear herself make. Cheryl’s fingers continued to pulse, riding Toni through her orgasm, and then slowly helping her come down.

Toni relaxed into the damp sheets, her breathing hot and heavy, and flickered her eyes open. Cheryl was still laying between her legs, three fingers buried deep inside her, and was looking up at her with those big, brown eyes. Toni smiled lazily.

Then her gaze went to her own body and realized suddenly that there were marks around her boobs, on her stomach, and on the inside of her thigh. “Fuck, Cheryl, you gave me that many hickeys?”

Cheryl pressed a soft kiss over the hickey on Toni’s thigh and looked up innocently at Toni. “You’re the one who kept egging me on about the videographer’s assistant.”

“Oh baby,” Toni breathed out with a chuckle, not really thinking as she said, “you know I’m yours.”

Suddenly, Cheryl was crawling up to lay next to Toni. “Do I know that?” Cheryl asked softly, quirking up an eyebrow. “I mean, I would love for you to be mine, but I wouldn’t want to assume.”

“Cheryl,” Toni whispered, “I followed you to Florence, and then Athens, and now I’m in New York. You think I have time to be with anyone else?” Cheryl rolled her eyes, and Toni chuckled. “I’m kidding, but seriously… if you want me… I’m yours.”

Cheryl bit down on her lower lip, staring deeply into Toni’s eyes, and Toni felt herself practically swoon.

“So, what’ll it be, Blossom?”

“I want you, Toni. To be mine.”

“Well, then I am,” Toni whispered, “which… you have definitely made sure of, with all of the hickeys.” Cheryl grinned. “You really know how to distract a woman.”

“TT, the distraction has only just begun,” Cheryl whispered, lowering her lips to Toni’s in a soft kiss, before pulling away and adding, “one round is not nearly good enough for making my girlfriend forget that tomorrow is coming.”

Toni felt her heart swell at the wording, despite the mention of tomorrow. “Don’t remind me, babe, keep making me forget.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Chapter Text

Toni woke up the next morning before her alarm went off, because she had set it for a bit later this morning, and was impressed at the utter silence in Cheryl’s bedroom. Well, silence except for Cheryl’s soft, sleepy breathing. Smiling to herself, Toni rolled over to face the redhead, who was lying on her stomach with her head facing Toni. Toni rested her hand on the woman’s exposed back, dragging her fingers along her back slowly.

Cheryl stirred slightly, and Toni bit down on her lip. The redhead rolled onto her side slowly, her hair falling over her face. Toni brushed it out of her face as Cheryl’s eyes flickered open slowly. “Morning, beautiful,” Toni whispered.

“Good morning,” Cheryl returned, “what time is it?”

“Dunno, I just woke up… my alarm hasn’t gone off yet.”

“And you decided to wake me up?” Cheryl groaned, burying her face into her pillow. Toni had never seen Cheryl like this, and it was entirely endearing.

“I think you’ll forgive me for wanting to savor a morning in bed with my girlfriend before I have to fly back to Los Angeles,” Toni whispered.

“You don’t fly back until this evening,” Cheryl murmured.

“This is still the last morning before I leave.”

Cheryl’s eyes flickered open again, and her gaze met Toni’s after blinking some sleep from them. “Je pourrais m'y habituer.” Toni tilted her head.

“What’s that mean? You’ve said that to me before, haven’t you?”

“I could get used to this,” Cheryl whispered quietly.

Toni felt her heart skip a beat, and she let out a breath. “Me too, babe. Me too.”

“I wish we could.”

“I know.”

“But you’re right,” Cheryl whispered, “we should savor it.” She suddenly wrapped her arms around Toni and buried her face into magenta hair, and Toni smiled involuntarily at how adorable her girlfriend was. She may be cool, collected, and confident day by day, but Toni was starting to get to see Cheryl when she was vulnerable, and she was absolutely loving it.

“So, how much do you need to work today?” Cheryl whispered against Toni’s skin.

“Not sure,” Toni admitted, “I tried to divide my work in equal thirds, so we’ll just have to see how well I did. My flight isn’t until eight tonight, so we’ll probably have time for dinner or something.”

“Mm. You’ll fly for six hours and then you’ll look at the time and see that it’s actually only been three hours.”

Toni chuckled. “Yeah, honestly, with all the flying I’ve done the past few weeks, calculating the difference in time zones and all that, I feel like I’m just stuck in a perpetual state of jet lag.”

“You get used to it eventually,” Cheryl insisted, pulling a little away from Toni so that Toni could now see her face. “Except, sometimes, getting used to it means sleeping for a full Saturday.”

“If only that were an option for me on literally any day of the week,” Toni joked.

Cheryl ran her right hand through Toni’s long hair. “I admire how hard you work, Toni. To pay your way through school, and to take your dream trip to Italy.”

Toni smiled, but the statement reminded her of something Fangs had said over the weekend, and the smiled disappeared. “Hey, for the record… when Fangs asked on Saturday if Sara had helped me pay for school… she didn’t... She covered part of my rent a few times when I came up short, and that was it.”

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow, tangling her fingers into Toni’s hair and lightly scratching her scalp. “I hadn’t even though about what he said that day, Toni. Firstly, it’s not my place to care about that sort of thing, and secondly, you guys were dating for almost three years. It isn’t that weird if you helped each other out financially a few times. I mean, come on, you let me pay for a trip to Florence and Athens for you.”

Toni blushed, realizing that Cheryl was right. “Shit, yeah. I’m going to pay you back one day.”

“Toni,” Cheryl stated seriously, “no, you’re not.”

“One day,” Toni insisted, “when I’m a world-famous photographer.”

Cheryl smiled warmly and nodded. “Okay, fine.”

“Cheryl,” Toni whispered, “I really don’t know how to thank you for everything.”

“Then don’t, Toni. You don’t need to thank me. I honestly just can’t believe that so many spur of the moment decisions led up to this. You and me.”

Toni let out a happy sigh. “Me neither. When I first saw you, I literally thought I was just going to stare at your ass for a few seconds and never see you again.”

Cheryl furrowed her eyebrows. “At the hotel bar?”

“No, remember?” Toni asked with a laugh. “I saw you that morning. I definitely have mentioned that to you, but basically, I saw you talking to the receptionist—who was terrified of you, by the way—and then I watched you leave the hotel. I was waiting to check in to my room.”

Cheryl hummed in understanding. “I see. That morning I’d had a long day ahead of me, and I’d needed to call the front desk—I called them twice with no answer, so I was a little frustrated when I finally just decided to go down and talk to them.”

“That would explain the terrified receptionist.” Cheryl smiled. “You are way softer than I thought you would be, though.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. I mean, you never intimidated me—it’s pretty hard to do that—but I could tell that you were objectively intimidating as hell. Honestly, I didn’t even really expect you to flirt back when I started talking to you.”

“Well, it’s not every day that a beautiful stranger eavesdrops on my phone calls and then makes a comment about them,” Cheryl teased.

“Hey! I had no idea what you were saying, so it hardly counts as eavesdropping!”

“Mmhmm, okay, whatever you say.” Cheryl smirked, and Toni couldn’t resist suddenly pressing her lips into her girlfriend’s. Cheryl kissed her back eagerly, and Toni felt herself melt. Cheryl’s fingers dug into her scalp, pulling Toni impossibly closer to her.

They broke apart a few long moment later, both of them breathing heavily to recover from the intense kiss for a few seconds, and then Toni groaned. “I have no idea how I’m going to get through my boring ass day-to-day without seeing you.”

“Well, people invented video calls for a reason, you know?”

“Good point…”

“Anyway. We’ll adjust.” Toni wanted to say that she didn’t want to adjust, but she didn’t get the chance as her phone alarm suddenly started going off. “God, that’s so loud, Toni.”

Toni rolled over to grab her phone and turn of the alarm, and then she turned back to look at Cheryl with a raised eyebrow. “I know it is, but somehow you slept through it yesterday and today.”

“I’ve trained myself to sleep through any sounds other than ones that I know mean I need to get up. So only my alarm sounds will wake me up.”

Toni laughed at that, sitting up and then bending down to press a gentle kiss to Cheryl’s cheek, and then her lips. “Well, I should get up and start working, so I can hopefully finish in time for us to get dinner. Are you going into work today?”

“Yes,” Cheryl answered, “I’m going to get up now too and leave soon, and I’ll be back probably around three.”

“I’ll miss you during my lunch break.”

“Liar, you’ll just skip it,” Cheryl said, lifting an eyebrow, “like yesterday.”

“You’re probably right. Now come on, we both have things to do!”

Toni did end up skipping lunch, because she could see the end of the work she’d needed to finish by today and couldn’t bring herself to take a break if it meant possibly less time to spend with Cheryl before flying back to Los Angeles.

She managed to wrap up a few minutes before three thanks to skipping lunch and working as fast as she possibly could, and Cheryl was still not back. She got up from the desk in Cheryl’s office and gathered up her things, packing them up in her backpack. She then decided to pack up her suitcase and everything, so she would be ready to leave tonight. As she was finishing up, her phone beeped with a text from Veronica, and she sat at the end of Cheryl’s neatly made bed and opened the text.

Veronica – You want me to pick you up from the airport tonight, babes?

Toni – If you want to, it’ll be late though. Like, around 11.

Veronica – Fine with me! Sweets and I miss you again, and we wanna hear all about your hot penthouse sex!

Toni – Why do I get the feeling that “we” means just you?

Veronica – Because Sweet Pea isn’t a creep, and I’m too invested. Your feeling is correct. I am going to bring him with me to pick you up, though. Otherwise he’ll start playing one of his stupid shooting games and when I get back he’ll shrug me off when I try and get him to come to sleep with me and he’ll be up till three in the morning screaming at people on the other side of the world who keep getting headshots on him because he sucks at the game.

Toni – Whoa. Got some suppressed feelings you’d like to share, V?

Veronica – Why does he love video games more than me!

Toni – Oh come on, he doesn’t. That boy loves you a ridiculous amount, I promise.

Veronica – I know, I know. I just came home late from work last night and he was all wrapped up in his game and I don’t know, there was some kind of ranked competition or something? I have no idea what the fuck video games are like.

Toni – You could always start playing. If you put on a gamer headset and shot some random assholes in literally any game, I guarantee you that Sweet Pea would want to fuck you like, on the spot.

Veronica – Oh really? You’re an expert on this, then?

Toni – I’m just saying. What do you have to lose?

Veronica – Point taken.

Veronica – So how’s your day been? Still working?

Toni – Nope I just finished and packed up all my stuff. Cheryl should be home soon and then we are going to probably get dinner and hang out until my flight later tonight.

Veronica – Cool. So, how was this trip for you? I know you and Cheryl wanted to get more time with each other.

Toni – It was perfect, V. And we tied the knot!

Veronica – YOU GOT MARRIED?

Toni – SHIT NO I FORGOT THAT WAS WHAT THAT MEANT

Veronica – Dude you scared the fucking crap out of me!

Toni – Sorry! Lmao! We made it official is what I meant. This is what I get for working all day and skipping lunch. My brain feels fried from staring at slightly varying photographs all day.

Veronica – Damn, well at least you finished!

Toni – Yeah, but on the flight home tonight, I’m going to be editing all of the photos from the K&B runway show.

Veronica – Oh yeah, how was that??

Toni – It was awesome. Made me want some of their clothes.

Veronica – Let’s go shopping this weekend!

Toni – Like I could afford any of them lol

Veronica – My gift to you!

Toni – No way, V. We can go and look at them, though.

Veronica – You’ll let Cheryl pay for things for you, but not me, your best friend?

Toni – I told Cheryl that one day, when I’m rich, I’m going to pay her back. And she agreed.

Veronica – I have a feeling that means she thinks you’ll never be rich.

Toni – Well, she’s probably right lmao.

Veronica – Unless you two do actually get married one day ;D

Toni – Veronica! We have literally known each other for 2 weeks and 2 days!

Veronica – People have got married in less time *shrug*

Toni – Man, when you said you were getting fully invested, you really weren’t joking.

Toni heard the apartment door open suddenly, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

Toni – Cheryl is back! I’ll text you when I’m taking off later. See you tonight, V!

Veronica – Have a good time with Cheryl, savor it, babes!

Smiling, Toni slipped her phone into her back pocket as she stood up and left the bedroom, finding Cheryl in the kitchen setting her purse down on the counter. “Hey,” she greeted, drawing the woman’s warm gaze.

“Hey,” Cheryl responded, “it’s awfully clean in the kitchen… let me guess, you—”

“Skipped lunch, yes, I did,” Toni finished, chuckling. “But I figured, since I managed to finish so early, we could go get a late lunch? Early dinner? That kind of thing.”

“Okay,” Cheryl agreed, “anything in specific sound good?”

“I don’t care,” Toni answered, “just, not Italian. We have had Italian food the past two days, and I’m not saying it’s not great, but it’s also like all I ate for a week, so I’m gonna need a break.”

Cheryl shook her head. “No one needs a break from Italian food, Toni. There’s no such thing as too much Italian food.”

“There definitely is.”

“How about Mexican?” Cheryl wondered, tilting her head. “There’s a great Mexican bistro that I love, it’s super authentic and delicious.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Through their entire outing—the car ride, the late lunch slash early dinner, and when they started roaming the streets of New York city with their hands folded together—they didn’t once mention the fact that Toni was going home. It made for a good distraction, but every now and then, Toni would check the time and feel that tightness in her chest that was becoming a thing when she was going to have to leave Cheryl.

It was a little after six when they got back to Cheryl’s apartment, and Cheryl dialed a number on her phone and scheduled a cab to pick Toni up at six-thirty. Toni grabbed her things from Cheryl’s room and brought them to the front door, doing a sweep through the space to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.

As she was coming back into the living area, where Cheryl was seated at one of the barstools, Toni remembered that she had Cheryl’s spare key. “Oh, that key you let me borrow, let me get it—”

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Cheryl insisted. “Keep it.”

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “You sure?”

“Yes, Katy has one, in case I ever lose mine somehow. Plus, it’s not like you’ll be able to just break in here whenever,” Cheryl joked, but Toni could hear the sadness in her voice. “You may as well keep it. For emergencies, I guess.”

“Hmm, okay.” Toni walked up to where Cheryl was sitting, resting her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Hey. You need to stop looking so sad, or I’m not going to feel up to editing your pictures on the plane.”

Cheryl let out a sad laugh, pushing some of her own hair behind her ear as she took in a deep breath. “Right. Sorry. The last time I sent you off on a plane, I was maybe already starting to think of how I had time to fly to LA for the weekend. Now, I’m not sure when the next time I’ll see you is.”

“Well hey, you are welcome literally whenever,” Toni told her girlfriend. “No heads-up needed. Next time some fancy Paris meeting gets canceled and you have a free second half of the week, feel free to stop by.”

Cheryl smiled. “Noted.”

“Seriously, Cheryl. It’s going to be fine. And… you know, I’m sure there will be other times where I can manage to work from home and come see you.”

“Did you ever think you’d be doing a long-distance relationship?” Cheryl asked plainly.

“Honestly?” Toni asked. “No way, but… Cheryl, these past two weeks with you… it’s more than just how free and spontaneous I’ve felt. It’s how comfortable and safe you make me feel. How I just feel like you get me, and I feel like I get you, too. Plus, you just… showed up in my life exactly when I needed you to. I’m not sure I believe in fate, but…” She gave Cheryl a wide smile to indicate that she was mostly joking about the last line and Cheryl answered it with a soft laugh.

“I feel that way about you, too,” Cheryl promised. “And… I’m really glad we’re doing this, even if it will be hard. Kevin was worried that I would visit you in LA and suddenly feel… I don’t know, bored, I guess, without the excitement of traveling. But honestly? Meeting your friends and being there for you while you talked to them about serious stuff… I don’t know, I just became more enamored by you.”

Toni smiled. “You really know how to smooth talk a woman, Cher.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, TT.”

“What’s up with that nickname, by the way?” Toni asked with a chuckle.

Cheryl shrugged. “I don’t know, really. It has a nice ring to it, though.”

Toni smirked and asked, “A certain, je ne sais quoi?” Cheryl let out a bright laugh. “That’s right. I took two years of French in high school, you’re not the only one who can speak it.”

“Je t'aime bien,” Cheryl whispered.

“Me too,” Toni said back, recognizing the French words for 'I like you', “about you.”

“One day I’ll take you to Paris, Toni,” Cheryl said, softly and yet with a strange intensity, like she was making the promise to the universe, “and you will absolutely love it.”

“We can have a date atop the Eiffel Tower?” Toni asked. “I heard you can buy champagne up there.”

“You absolutely can,” Cheryl confirmed with a chuckle. “And look down at the hedge trees and all the tiny people.”

“I’ll finally see what it’s like to be tall.”

Cheryl laughed brightly again, standing up from the barstool and wrapping Toni in a tight hug, surprising the magenta haired woman. “You’ll text me when you land, right? I’ll probably be asleep, but I’ll wake up to respond at least.”

“Of course I will,” Toni promised. “Thank you so much for these past few days, or the past week and a half really.”

“You’re welcome.”

Cheryl’s phone buzzed with an automated text, letting her know that the cab she’d called had arrived. “I guess I should go,” Toni whispered.

“Get home safe, Toni.”

“I will.” Toni pressed her lips firmly to Cheryl’s, in a kiss she hoped felt filled with reassurance and passion. “I’ll text you before we take off, and when I land.”

“Good,” Cheryl said softly. “Ciao, Toni.”

“Switching it up again, I see,” Toni teased, as she grabbed all of her bags. “Ciao, Cher. Buona notte.”

And then Toni left her girlfriend’s apartment, feeling the tightness in her chest as the elevator took her down to the lobby. As she walked out of the elevator and toward the front doors of the building, her phone buzzed, and she checked it quickly.

Cheryl – You catch on quick. I’ll have you speaking French and Italian in no time.

Toni – That would be nice. You better get on it before the next time you get the change to whisk me off somewhere.

Toni smiled, pocketing her phone as she walked out onto the sidewalk, seeing her cab parked in straight ahead. The cabbie was waiting outside and noticed her immediately. “Topaz?”

“That’s me,” she confirmed, and he took her bags and loaded them up in the trunk for her.

She felt a bit like a zombie on the cab ride, and as she checked in to the airport and navigated to her gate. It wasn’t until she was fully settled into her seat on the airplane, the flight attendants guiding the passengers through the use of seatbelts and the emergency oxygen masks, that she really realized that she had no idea when she would next get to see Cheryl in person.

Toni – About to take off. Goodnight, Cher. <3

Toni – About to take off, see you in approximately 6 hours, V!

Cheryl – Have a safe flight, goodnight, TT. <3

Veronica – Have a safe flight! Can’t wait to hear all the details!

Toni let out a breath and put her phone in airplane mode before retrieving her earbuds, plugging them into the internet-less device, and then stuffed the buds into her ears. As the plane started to take off, she popped a piece of chewing gum she’d remembered to bring into her mouth, chewing as she listened to music and sat through the slight turbulence caused by takeoff.

When they reached their desired altitude, and the seatbelt sign turned off, Toni took out her laptop and started to edit the photos from the runway.

She found herself smiling fondly as she saw the pictures of Josie, Valerie, and Melody strutting on the catwalk, as well as all of the other people who looked so proud to be modeling K&B outfits. She also had a number of pictures of Katy and Cheryl mingling during the non-runway portions of the event. It only took her a couple of hours to get through all of the photos from the event, thanks to her lack of other things to distract her, so she found herself clicking through her photos from Italy and Greece, and then on Cheryl’s folder.

She stared at the beautiful redhead in the pictures. Her distracted gaze, sitting by the fountain in Piazza Navona. Her bright smile standing in front of Santa Maria de Fiore Cathedral. Her attempt at hiding her amusement as she pretended to hold up the leaning tower of Pisa. And, of course, those photos of her on the balcony, looking so relaxed, with her mimosa sitting in front of her and the view of the Acropolis behind her.

Toni bit down on the inside of her lip as she started editing the pictures, perfecting the lighting and glare, on each photo. She then started to do the same for some of her favorite photos from the trip—Cinque Terre, the streets of Rome and Athens. She got so focused that another two hours passed her by easily.

When her eyes felt strained from staring at her screen, relaxed back into her chair and grabbed a phone charging cable, connecting her phone and her laptop, and transferred many of the pictures from her hard drive onto her photos app.

Knowing that the text wouldn’t send until she was off of airplane mode, she took all of the edited pictures of Cheryl, her favorite other photos from the trip, and also threw in the test pictures Toni had taken from the runway, with Cheryl looking at the camera begrudgingly as she stood on the catwalk, and compiled them into a message to Cheryl, accompanied by some text:

Cheryl, I know you hate seeing pictures of yourself, but I hope that you think these do you justice. I love taking photos of a lot of different things, but you are by far my favorite subject. Can’t wait to take more pictures of you, baby. Thank you for the best two weeks of my life. Hope I’ll see you soon. <3

(P.S. Send me the email address you want the photos from the runway event sent to. They’re all edited and ready for your viewing pleasure.)

Hitting send and watching the message fail, Toni smiled to herself and closed up her laptop, slipping it into her bag and then allowing herself to doze off until she heard the little ding that accompanied the seatbelt sign lighting up again. A flight attendant spoke out to the passengers that they would be landing at LAX shortly, and Toni blinked the sleep out of her eyes as she rolled her ankles to wake up her body.

Once off of the plane, she flipped her phone off of airplane mode to text Veronica.

Toni – I’m here, where you guys at?

As she sent the message and clicked back out to the message app, she saw that her text to Cheryl had just sent as well. Smiling to herself, she send one more message to her girlfriend.

Toni – Also, I’ve landed, obviously. Hope you’re sleeping well.

Her phone buzzed with a text from her best friend.

Veronica – Waiting for you in the terminal! We just brought the taco bell in this time!

Toni – Oh thank god!

Toni found her friends waiting for her, and greedily snatched the bag of taco bell that was handed to her as she approached them. “You guys are the best.”

“We know,” Sweet Pea and Veronica said at the same time, causing Toni to snicker.

“You guys are getting too adorable, tone it down a notch.”

“Dude, how was New York?” Sweet Pea asked. “How did it feel being back there?”

“It was good. Didn’t feel like being back home since I’ve barely ever been to NYC. Cheryl’s friends are awesome, I got to take pictures at the start of season runway show K&B hosted, spent a lot of time with Cheryl. It was good.”

“And don’t worry, I already informed Sweets that you and Cheryl are officially official—not married,” Veronica teased.

“Ha, yeah. Officially official.”

“You think the long distance is going to be hard?”

“I mean, definitely,” Toni said with a sigh, “but… I don’t know how to explain it guys. It just feels right. Nothing has felt so right in so long, but this…” She shook her head, unable to describe how she felt. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, you know, as time goes on, but I can really see us going somewhere, me and Cheryl. I don’t know exactly where, but just… it’s a feeling, you know?”

Veronica looked at her boyfriend with a sappy smile. “Yeah, I think we get that.”

Sweet Pea blushed, scratching the back of his head embarrassedly. “Come on, you two, let’s get going.”

“Aww, you don’t want to have a big ol’ mushy love session?” Toni teased. Sweet Pea just rolled his eyes, grabbing Veronica’s hand and starting to pull her toward the parking garage. Veronica laughed, looping her arm with Toni’s and pulling her along too.

When they got into the car, and Sweet Pea had put Toni’s things into the trunk for her, Toni saw a text from her girlfriend.

Cheryl – Toni. You are beyond sweet. These photos are absolutely beautiful. If you’re taking them, you’ll never hear me complain about a picture of me ever again. I’m glad you made it back safe. In the morning, I’ll send you Kevin’s email—my work email is way too cluttered.

Cheryl – And Toni. Really. Thank you for the photos.

Toni – Next time, let’s get some more pics together, too, what do you say?

Cheryl – But then you wouldn’t be taking them.

Toni – I have my ways, babe.

Cheryl – In that case, deal.

Toni – I’ll let you get back to sleep.

Cheryl – Goodnight, ma chérie.

Toni – Goodnight, beautiful.

“Cheryl?” Veronica asked curiously.

“Yeah. She wanted me to text her when I landed, even though it woke her up,” Toni answered with a smile.

Toni ate her cheap, greasy taco bell on the drive back to her apartment, and she gave her friends a sincere thank you when they dropped her off and helped her bring her stuff up to her tiny, lonely shoebox of an apartment. Feeling a little more than exhausted, Toni immediately showered and readied herself for bed, and climbed into her covers, alone.

But as alone as she was physically, she surprisingly didn’t feel lonely. It was the feeling that, even if it was almost three thousand miles away, she had a person—her person. And not just anyone, but someone who made her feel more comfortable and understood than anyone had in a long time.

She thought about Cheryl whispering to her this morning how she wanted to get used to this—to waking up in each other’s arms, in bed together—and smiled a little to herself. Even if that wasn’t their reality now, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it would be—that one day, whether curled up in bed in an apartment, or hanging out with their friends, or standing atop the Eiffel Tower sipping champagne, Toni Topaz and Cheryl Blossom would get used to spending each and every one of their spare moments together.