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She remembered it all.
It had been a while now. Days, maybe even a week or more. Cheryl hadn't kept track, because after the breakup, most things had become lifeless and without meaning to her.
She barely ate, was sleeping restlessly and most of all, she was thinking of her love in most moments throughout the days.
They weren't together anymore, because Cheryl had broken up with her right after graduation.
She regretted it ever so deeply, but she also still deemed it necessary. If they were truly meant to be, they would certainly find their way back to each other. Cheryl just needed to atone for the sins of the Blossom family; she had been left with no choice, according to herself.
She thought back to prom night, where in their bliss her and her now ex-girlfriend had been crowned prom co-queens, the first time an openly queer couple had been given that title at their high school. It had been exhilarating and magical.
To the tunes of Mazzy Star's 'Fade Into You', they had danced afterwards, disappearing into each other's eyes as the world seemed to stand still, only for them. In her embrace was when Cheryl felt safest, nothing else ever seemed to matter as long as she was close to her. Together, they were indestructible.
Her name was Toni Topaz. When they first met, she was a Southside Serpent gang member. Cheryl had been wary and even annoyed by her presence at first, but once she had come out to her at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, their connection had been cemented in stone, their love and support for each other undeniable and their destiny written in the stars.
They had shared their first kiss, as if spellbound and in complete fascination of each other, at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, when Toni and Veronica had come to save Cheryl from the hellscape conversion camp that it was. They had become an official couple immediately afterwards, and Cheryl had joined the Serpents; something she herself and everyone at the high school would never have seen coming; the spoiled, mean rich girl; a gang member. Their relationship had been sealed into their hearts at that point, never to break apart, even through their struggles – that was, until now.
Cheryl was, to put it bluntly, a hurricane in human form. She could be ruthless and cruel, a testament to the family she was from, but to Toni she was only loving.
As she laid there in her canopy bed, which was usually her and Toni's ever since she had moved in with her, she was staring at the ceiling. Wondering why she had to suffer such a wicked fate. She wished she could change her destiny, her whole history, anything, just to be with Toni again.
''Don't say it. I don't want to hear you say it.''
''Then you never shall.''
At some point she had fallen asleep and she awoke to the memory of the painful end of their time as a couple; their last exchange had been etched into her soul. The word breakup itself had been left unspoken; which perhaps made it all that much worse. There was no getting over Toni Topaz. She was the love of her life in every sense.
Cheryl heard a loud banging coming from below and though she didn't particularly want to move, she nonetheless got up, put on her cherry-red robe and noticed it had become morning through the blinds.
When she opened the door and saw who it was, she rolled her eyes dramatically and crossed her arms in the same beat.
''Pray tell, whyfor have you come, mumsie?''
''Oh, don't be absurd, Cheryl,'' Penelope said as she squeezed past her daughter, in order to enter Thistlehouse.
As Cheryl followed her mother into the living room, she let out a muffled, slightly condescending laugh.
''Should I be concerned, considering you specifically told me you would admit yourself willingly to Hiram Lodge's insane mobster jail?''
Penelope sat on the sofa and sighed as she stared at Cheryl, and opened her arms for her, something she seldom, if ever, did.
''I was granted leave after I heard.''
Actually, Cheryl couldn't remember her mother ever wanting to hug her.
''Heard... what, exactly?''
''Well, I made one of my former Maple Club associates keep tabs on you and report back to me at the jail, and she told me Toni hasn't been seen here since graduation. You two... are no more... I presume?''
''That's rich,'' Cheryl started as she felt the rage seething inside her already, and exhaled to calm her rising temperament, then started pacing back and forth slowly as she continued, ''you think I'll fall for this... this feigned worry? You've hardly ever cared about me! I've suffered horrible homophobic abuse from you... You SENT me to that torturous conversion camp to get me out of the way... You KILLED Betty's father, even if he was the Black Hood... and that's just for starters.''
There was a slight crack in Cheryl's voice as she finished speaking, and a single tear fell down one of her cheeks. Her face was devoid of any emotion though.
''I have no need for empty words from the likes of you. Now begone from my sight!''
As she turned around to go upstairs, Penelope stood up and grabbed her arm, to pull her into a hug.
''I know I don't deserve your time or trust. I thought we were in a better place after our last meeting at your graduation, though... I want to be a mother for you now, if you'll have me.''
She started brushing Cheryl's hair calmly as she held her tight, in hopes that her daughter could feel her wish to support her.
Cheryl's tears kept falling and in truth, she knew she needed support, but she had hoped it would have been from someone that was not her hideous mother.
''Cheryl dear, you should reach out to your cousin Betty or perhaps Veronica, don't you think?''
''Absolutely not,'' Cheryl muttered through her sobbing, as she pulled away from her mother's arms.
''I wouldn't want them to see me like this. Come summer's end, they'll be off to college anyway, who knows when I'll see them again.''
She glanced outside through the living room window for a moment of reflection.
''All I want is my lovely Tee-Tee back. I wouldn't have been in this mess if not for our horrendous family history.''
...
More days had flown by, and since her mother had chosen to stay at Thistlehouse for a while, much to Cheryl's chagrin, on this particular day Cheryl had driven down to Pop's to pick up some food, or maybe even eat there; she wasn't sure yet.
She walked in and ordered, before choosing to sit by the diner's counter while she waited, in the same exact spot she had been sitting over two years ago, when she had come out to Toni.
Toni had been the first person she had ever come out to, except for her old flame Heather from junior high; a romance her mother had ruined – and another reason, among the many, as to why she was trying to escape her presence in her home at the moment.
Cheryl heard the all too familiar sound from the bells above the door, that meant someone had entered; a sure-fire way to always know when someone came and went at Pop's, without needing to look. Cheryl chose to look this one time though.
It couldn't be true.
But it was.
She had presumed Toni would have left by now; or at least would steer clear of places where they could run in to each other, and yet there she was, staring at her from across the room. She smiled carefully and went over to sit next to her, just like they used to.
''Let me guess... A cherry cola for Cheryl Bombshell?''
Toni's smile widened, though the hurt in her eyes was evident. She tried to hide it, but Cheryl saw right through her; and she felt immensely guilty and responsible for having caused her muse suffering.
To ease the tense situation, Cheryl chuckled.
''We're not at the Bijou. I don't recall Pop's ever selling cherry cola.''
Toni didn't seem to care for the answer, but she did care for Cheryl's wellbeing, and she was thankful to be close to her again.
''Cheryl, I'm not going to Highsmith College without you. You're the reason I was even admitted there. If you'll stay here, I'll stay here.''
Cheryl's eyes nervously focused on the counter, since she felt in her core that she couldn't deny her sweet love a second time.
''Toni... We've been over this. My family... The Blossoms, as much as I wished I wasn't part of their devilish lineage, I am. And they made your family and the Uktena tribe suffer immensely. I... I just can't understand how you would even want to be with me with that knowledge...''
Toni leaned closer and grabbed Cheryl's hands while meeting her gaze.
''You're nothing like them, I know that.''
Toni pressed her lips against Cheryl's and they shared a heartfelt kiss.
''Cheryl, I love you, so much. And I'm not going anywhere. I never could stay away for long.''
''Tee-Tee... I,'' Cheryl said as she pulled away and was finding it a bit difficult to breathe, because she had missed Toni's touch.
''I don't think I can live without you.''
''Could have told you that,'' Toni said teasingly as she kissed Cheryl again, now on the cheek.
''You really thought you could get rid of me that easily?''
Cheryl laughed from the bottom of her stomach in her characteristic way as she got up, with her Pop's order in one hand and Toni's hand in the other.
''Whatever the future holds, all I know is that I want you next to me. All of you, mon petit amour.''
Cheryl pecked Toni on the forehead, ''it would just be tragic for the senior prom queens to break up like that, wouldn't it?''
''Hush. You never said the words, remember?'' Toni mused, as the two walked out of Pop's, hand in hand, together. Towards their future, written in the stars.