the closest to heaven that i'll ever be

love

With a big yawn, Cheryl stretched out to wake herself up, moaning quietly in relief as her joints popped. She ran a hand through her tousled red hair and slid her stylish black-framed glasses onto her ears, glancing around. "God, what time is it?" she quietly grunted out loud into the empty bedroom, stretching a bit more as she reached for her iPhone.

June 26, 2015 11:03 AM

A bit of a smile crossed her face as she shook her head, glancing down at the goofy photo of herself and her fiancée on her lock screen. Toni must have turned her alarms off this morning before leaving for the airport early this morning. The brunette knew how much Cheryl loved sleeping in, but she also knew how often she didn't allow herself to do so. She must have done it while Cheryl was saying her half-asleep goodbyes to her in bed this morning. She was used to Toni traveling by now. As much as she hated to be away from her, she supported her and her photography career more than anything. She would be back in the semi-gothic comfort of Thornhill in two days.

With one final stretch, Cheryl sighed and climbed out of bed, reaching for Toni's old grey Riverdale High t-shirt that had been carelessly tossed aside last night and pulled it on, inhaling the unique and familiar combination of cucumber melon and Chanel perfume that clung to the worn out fabric. That was Toni. It had been for pretty much as long as Cheryl knew her. And it brought her more comfort than she thought possible.

She pulled on some clean underwear and slipped out of the bedroom. Thornhill had only been her home for a short while when she was a teenager before leaving for college, but it had been her home every summer for the past 20 years. She could find her way around the estate with her eyes closed if she tried. Even after a whole year away, she knew that the seventh and tenth steps creaked loudly on your way down from the second floor. Toni, while she had lived here for just about as many summers as she had, wasn't quite as familiar. The creaking steps still managed to take her by surprise, much to Cheryl's amusement.

"This place is so fucking spooky, Cher, how can you live here?" Toni whispered as they crept out of Cheryl's bedroom. Despite being rather old and senile, Nana Rose was pretty strict on 'lights out' times at Thornhill. And nine at night was just too early for two teenage girls to go to bed during summer vacation. Especially the summer before college. That time was too crucial for a nine pm bedtime.

"Don't tell me you're scared of a couple harmless ghosts, TT," Cheryl turned back to her and giggled quietly as they tip-toed down the red patterned rug towards the stairs, flashlights in hand. Holding onto the railing with her free hand, she started moving slowly down the stairs with her girlfriend behind her. The air was eerily silent, as it always was in the old mansion, until Cheryl's foot gently hit the seventh step down, the creaking wood sounding like a gunshot in the silent house.

"Jesus!" Toni nearly shrieked, but only managed to get through 'Je' before Cheryl whipped around and covered her mouth with one hand.

"I thought you were the master of stealth, Topaz," she whispered and quirked an eyebrow from behind her large glasses as her painted red lips curled into a smirk.

Toni didn't even get a chance to answer before those lips were on her own in a searing kiss. Her eyebrows raised to her hairline in surprise. This bold and reckless side of Cheryl didn't come out often, but it was always fun when it did. She wasn't a total wild child, but sneaking out to go to a bonfire at Sweetwater River may as well have been illegal to the redhead. And here she was, breaking that law with no pressure or persuasion from anyone else. She was proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone, though her rebellions back in junior year were far more risky than this. But that didn't stop Toni from thinking that Cheryl's random bursts of mild teenage defiance were a major turn on.