Choni One Shots pt: 2

320: The One Where She Stops Forever Part 2

TONI POV:

I look at Josie. "Come on!" She says begging. "I don't perform anymore." I tell her. "I haven't in 6 years." I whisper. "It's a benefit concert. You'll bring in the most people." I take a deep breath. "That's the thing Josie, I don't know if I can handle that." I whisper. She looks at me. "Why not?" She ask quietly. "I don't know, I just can't. I have a kid on the way! I don't want to realize how much I missed touring and go back on tour and miss my baby's life!" I explain. "Cheryl's pregnant?" I sigh in frustration. "You're the only person who knows! Don't tell anyone!" I tell her. "How does no one else know?" She ask quietly. "Because we found out last night and we're just waiting for the doctor's confirmation and to see if it last long enough to not miscarriage because if it does happen than it's our last chance because neither of us can handle losing another one." I tell her. "We don't want to build up excitement just to not have one." She nods. "Makes sense." She whispers. "I don't think I can do this show Josie, I'm sorry. I'll donate as much as you want. I just can't get on stage." I whisper. "It's not a big venue. Only seats about 750, plus the pit so about 800." I take a deep breath. "When is it?" I ask. "March so you'll have time to rehearse." I take a deep breath. "I'll have an answer by Friday night." She smiles. "Thank you."

2 months later

I walk onto the stage. "This place is small." I say looking at Josie and Cheryl. "You think you'll be ok?" Cheryl ask quietly. I nod. I look out at the seats and pit. "This is the first time I've stepped on a stage in almost 7 years." I say quietly. "How does it feel?" Cheryl ask quietly. "It feels like I moved into a new house and all of a sudden the old place doesn't feel like home but I know it once was." I tell her. "That's oddly descriptive." She says quietly. I nod. "Yeah." I smile. "You still want to do this? It's not to late to pull out." Josie says quietly. "I need to do this." I say quietly. They both nod.

1 month later

I sit down in front of the Piano and play it a little. I look at Cheryl. "Can I?" I ask her. She nods. I smile. "Do you want to come on stage for this?" I ask and the crowd starts to go crazy. Cheryl nods. "Ok, give me a second." I smile. I look out at the crowd, grab the mic, stand up and walk to the front of the stage. I put the mic in the mic stand. "So-." I laugh a little from being nervous. "So, my wife and I have been married for quite some time, you know. Tonight is the anniversary of our first date. Well, technically it wasn't an official one, we happened to be a the movie theater in our hometown. It was shortly after Love, Simon came out. I was supposed to see it with my friend but he stood me up, Cheryl was there just to get out of the house." I look at her. "We've been together for, I want to say 12 years." Cheryl nods. I smile. "I knew it!" I say quietly. "Anyways. We've been together so long we're turning into an old Married couple and it's definitely scaring our friends." I look at Cheryl. "So, do you want to come on?" I reach my hand out and she walks on stage. The crowd starts cheering. I pull her into a kiss. I grab the mic. "As you can see. Cheryl is pregnant. We're having twins. Both boys."

I hear a knock on the door. "Come in!" I shout. Veronica walks in. "Hey V." I smile. I look at her. "How did you know it was me?" She ask quietly. "I have a camera so when Cheryl comes down it doesn't startle me." She nods. "All this stuff going on upstairs and you're in your studio." I nod. "I didn't think Josie was gonna invite all these people here." I say quietly. She sits down on the small couch in my studio. "It's nice in here." I nod. "Thanks, I've kept it cleaner than I thought I would." She smiles. "Cheryl sent you didn't she?" She nods. "She just wanted someone to check on you but she didn't want to piss you off with her coming down every 10 minutes." I smile. "Also there's a lot of people drinking up there." She whispers. "You don't drink?" I ask taking a sip of the coffee. "No! I can't." She says quietly. I look at her confused. "Why?" I ask quietly. "I've just been struggling with it, a lot lately. So I've just. Stopped all together." I nod.  "Well, there's an AA meeting every Wednesday that I go to. If you need somewhere to go." I confess. She looks at me. "I have a problem with binge drinking. I'll be sober for a year and then I go and drink myself into rehab. "Why am I just finding out about this?" She ask quietly. "Because, I asked Cheryl not to say anything. So it doesn't get out." I tell her. "Also I've been sober for 3 years so it hasn't been a problem recently." She smiles. "That's good." I nod. "That's also part of the reason I stopped performing. It was becoming worse and I didn't want my fans to see that part of me. I also has so much Anxiety." I tell her. "Are you going to start Performing again?" Veronica ask quietly. "No. I'm gonna have a family. I don't want stress of touring and not being home to mess that up. I might do a few things here and there but nothing to crazy. It was nice being back up there but I don't want to do it forever." I explain. "My last tour, I felt like I was gonna drop dead on stage every night." I whisper. "That's why it was so hard for you to build the courage to perform tonight." I nod. "What are you working on?" She ask quietly. "Ah! Story Boarding." I tell her. She nods. "I'm gonna pretend I know what that means." I smile. "It's for a music video, you sketch out the different shots." I tell her. She smiles. "Sounds fun." I shake my head. "It's stick figures. I can't really draw." I show her. "What kept you going?" Veronica ask out of nowhere. I look at her. "You always talk about how hard it is for you. What kept you from like, throwing yourself off the side of a bridge?" She asks quietly. I take a deep breath. "Ch-Cheryl." I whisper. "The thought of leaving her alone like that, pains me." She nods. "Also therapy." She smiles a little. "Oh! That is nice." She says motioning to the monitor that has the security camera showing. "Right?" I smile. There's a knock on the door. "Come in!" I tell her. Cheryl walks in. "Betty is looking for you." She tells Veronica. She gets up and walks out. "You don't want to join, the party that's pretty much for you?" Cheryl ask quietly. "I didn't want it." I whisper. She nods. "I know..." I look at her. "I'm sorry." She whispers. "It wasn't up to you babe." I smile. "I know, I still feel bad." She tells me. "When can you kick everyone out?" I ask her. "I'm working on it." She whispers. I nod. "You ok?" She ask quietly. I look down. "I don't know." I whisper. "Do you want to talk later?" She ask concerned. I nod. "Ok, it might have to wait until tomorrow morning though." I nod again.