T O X I C // (Choni - Riverdale)

Chapter 22

Toni's pov

I hear someone scream my name over and over and shake me.
I slowly open my eyes and after realizing I'm lying on the floor, I make out the person in front of me. Cheryl.
"N-no" I say and try to get her hands off me, but then I get a better look at her face.
She's a mess. She's been crying.
"T-Toni! You're okay!" she cries out as she helps me sit up.
"What happened?!" she asks, still trying to calm down.
"W-why are you here?"
"You've been ignoring me for more than a day! I was worried, Toni! I remembered you told em you'd be home alone tonight so I came here but you weren't answering the door, so I came in by the window. I found you on the floor with an empty bottle of vodka, you scared me so much baby!"
"P-please Cheryl, you need to leave"
"What? Why?! What happened?"
"Don't touch me!" I yell.
She looks at me shocked for a few seconds and then she stands up.
I glance up at her.
"C-cher.." I say but all she does is stare at me.
I look down and slowly stand up too.
"Why are you being like this all of a sudden?" she asks.
"L-like what..?"
"You ran away from my house-"
"Cheryl, you locked me in your room!"
"I would've come back, you know! And that's not it. You've been ignoring my texts and calls, I didn't see you at all at school, you got so drunk you passed out and now you're telling me to go away. You won't even let me touch you"
I look in her eyes but they don't look dark or cold as usual, when she's mad. They almost look hurt.
I let a tear slip out my eye without noticing and she carefully takes a step closer.
"Baby...please, tell me what's wrong" she says softly and tries to reach for my cheek.
Her thumb touches my cheekbone and I quiver.
I start crying harder at her touch and I give in, letting her arms wrap around me.
"I-I'm scared" I say sobbing.
"I'm here to protect you babygirl"
"N-no...you don't understand"
She moves away a little to take a look at my face.
"Tell me what happened Toni."
"I can't, Cheryl. You need to leave now...please"
She stays silent for a moment and then leaves.
I didn't think she would but she did and even if it hurts like hell, it was the right thing to do.
I clean up the mess I've made on the floor and then go to bed.

The next day I don't see Cheryl at school. Not even the second day, or the third.
It's been a week now and Cheryl hasn't come to school yet.
"Hey Jughead" I say, seeing him in the hallway.
"Hey"
"Have you seen Cheryl?"
"Nope. She hasn't been around for a while. Maybe she's sick?"
I sigh.
"I don't know...ugh never mind"
It's hard to resist texting her, but I just need to. Eventually I'll get over her.

After nine days, she finally shows up at school. But she is not the usual Cheryl. She's not wearing any makeup, her hair is not done and she's wearing clothes that she'd never wear normally. Actually I think that's her pajamas.
Suddenly a sense of guilt comes over me. What if that's my fault?
I go speak to Jughead.
"Jughead. Did you see Cheryl?"
"Yeah..she looks..terrible"
"Yeah. I think it's my fault, Jughead. What if she cares about m-"
"She's just acting Toni"
"What-Seriously? I mean, look at her. How could she pretend like that?"
"She's just good at it. She's manipulative"
"Whatever" I say and leave.
I don't care if she's acting or not. I can't stand seeing her like this.
I'll go to her house after school and I'll talk to her.

As soon as I leave school I walk to Cheryl's. As I'm walking there, it starts raining and I don't even have an umbrella or a hood. Great.
When I finally get to her house I'm soaking wet.
I stand for a few seconds in front of the door before taking the courage to ring the doorbell.
She opens the door and freezes, caught off guard.
"Hey.." I say.
"H-hi"
"Can I...come in?"
"Um...yeah of course" she says and lets me in.
She leads me to the living room and we sit on the couch.
"So, why are you here?" she asks.
"I...I just wanted to know if you were okay Cher"
She laughs bitterly.
"Okay? Do I seem anything like okay to you?"
I look down as I fiddle with the hem of my shirt.
"You pushes me away Toni, for no reason. You just cut me out of your life out of thin air. You never explained why or what happened, and it really fucked me up. Now you come here and expect me to be okay? I didn't even have the strength to get out of bed and go to school for the past nine days, but you probably didn't even notice."
Her words are hurting me so bad, but I can't talk. It's like I have a lump in my throat.
"But at least I've had plenty of time to think about possible reasons why you left me. Did you do it because you have feelings somebody else? Did you do it for Reggie? Or Jughead?"
Okay, this is too much. I can't stay quiet anymore.
"I did it because I was scared, Cheryl! I know everything! I know about your "deal" with Jughead and I know about your texts, I know about Josie, Betty and Archie, I know about your plan to hurt me just to get back at Jughead! I know everything Cheryl. That's why I pushed you away."
She looks at me speechless and I go on.
"I love you so much, it fucking broke my heart to know that you were just messing with me. It killed me. So congrats Cheryl, you made it."
I stand up to leave but she quickly grips my wrist.
"What?" I say.
"Please, don't leave. Talk to me. Let me explain"
"There's nothing to explain. I saw your text."
"Just let me!"
I sigh and sit back down.
"Toni, that was before I got to know you. Please believe me. Yes, I wanted to hurt you to hurt Jughead. But trust me, as I was trying to do that, I actually fell for you. I hated myself for being so weak and let myself catch feelings for you, but there's nothing I could do. I've never felt this way about anyone. You are my weakness Toni, you know how cold hearted I am but you're the only one who can soften me. I'm a horrible person, but I'm different when it comes to you...please, believe me"
I look at her with teary eyes.
"How can I trust you Cheryl? Reading that text...It really scared me. I had really bad thoughts, I couldn't sleep..."
"Babe, you don't need to be scared of me. I love you, okay? I'm willing to do anything to prove it."
I start shaking.
"Hey, Toni! What's wrong?? Are you having a panic attack??" she says and touches my arms.
"You're soaked!"
"Y-yeah...I'm just cold"
"C'mon, you need to get changed. I'll give you my clothes."
We go to the her bedroom and she helps me change my clothes.
As she's helping me put my arms in the sleeves of her hoodie, our faces end up just a few inches apart.
Her eyes are glued on mine, but I break the tension by looking away after the image of Jughead beat with a black eye comes to my mind, and I'm scared of her again.
"Hey...what's wrong?" she says as she makes me look at her.
"I just...how you beat Jughead two weeks ago..that's scary"
"I have anger issues, as you know... but I would never beat you like that Toni, don't you even dare think I would."
I look at her lips and they're so tempting. She starts stroking the back of my neck and then pulls my hair a little. I tilt my head up a little and then finally give in.
We kiss each other with passion and longing.
"I missed you so much" I say.
"I missed you more babygirl, you have no idea"
She kisses my lips once more and tucks my hair behind my ear.
"But now you're here with me and I'm never letting you go again. I'm never losing you again, ever. You're mine."

———
a/n

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