TONI POV:
I walk over to Cheryl who's looking out the window at the forest behind our house. "I was thinking, after the wedding, since we're going back to your hometown. I know your brother was buried there. I have a feeling you might want to visit him." I say quietly. "Maybe. See how I feel." She whispers looking at me. I nod. "Also I really want to try one of those burgers from that diner you and Veronica wouldn't shut up about when she came to visit last month." I say going into the bathroom. "You're really excited to go to Riverdale aren't you?" She ask smiling and coming into the bathroom with me. "Yeah! Of course! I'm exited to see where you came from." She smiles. "Can you hand me a cup?" I ask motioning the paper cups. She nods as I go into the cabinet to grab my meds. "Make sure you pack them! I don't feel like having you have a panic attack at Betty's wedding!" She says handing me a cup. She looks at me. "Yeah! I don't feel like having that happened too, that's why I already put enough for the trip in my suitcase so I don't forget later." She smiles and kisses me. I fill up the cup and take my meds. "That's smart." She says quietly. "Is there anything I need to know?" I ask quietly. "Um... no you're caught up." I nod. "Cool." She kisses me. "I'm gonna head to bed." I say quietly.
I walk into the speakeasy at Pops. A blonde girl walks up to me. "Hi, you must be Toni." She says reaching her hand out to shake. "Yeah!" I smile shaking her hand. "A-are you Josie?" I ask her. "No! I'm Betty." She says quietly. I nod. "Oh! I'm sorry." I apologize. She shakes her head. "It's ok. Cheryl told me a lot about you." She smiles. "Yeah? She told me a lot about everyone and I'm trying to figure it all out." I say quietly. She looks at me. "Toni!" I feel arms rap around me. I look and see Cheryl. "Hey baby." I smile. "You've met Betty I see." She says quietly. "Yeah, even though I thought she was Josie at first." I say quietly. "No that's Josie." She says pointing at someone else. "Oh! She's from the band!" I say quietly. "Oh god! What's their name?" I ask racking my brain. "Josie and The Pussycats, Toni." I nod. "Right!" I smile. "Do you guys want drinks? They're on me!" Betty ask. "I don't drink, but I'll take a sprite though!" I say quietly. She nods. "Ok! Cher?" I look at Cheryl. "You know what I like." She smiles. Betty nods and walks away. "Cher?" I ask. "You don't have to worry about anything she's my cousin and engaged to Veronica. That's why we're here babe." She says quietly. "Right!" I smile.
I look at Cheryl as we walk by the water of the river. "You ok?" I ask her. She looks at me. "Yeah, it's just weird being here at this stop specifically is a little hard." She says quietly. I look at her. "Can I ask you why?" I ask quietly. "Is it about..." I trail off. She nods. "This is around where I last saw him alive." She says quietly. I take a deep breath and rub her back. "I'm sorry Sweetheart." I say pulling her closer. She sighs. "You ok?" I ask her. "I don't want to talk about it, we've already talked about it enough for now." I nod. "Can we just keep walking?" She ask quietly. "Yeah!" I kiss the top of her head. "Ok!" I smile and we keep walking. "Can I ask you something?" She nods. "Umm... do you think there's an Al-anon meeting around here?" She looks at me. "You think you need one?" I nod. "It's not anyone's fault tonight, but, there was a lot of alcohol going around! I'm not tempted to drink, it smells weird I don't like it. But it just brought back a lot of memories. I can't really call my therapist at the moment and I need to talk about it with someone that isn't you." I tell her honestly. "Not that I don't want to talk about it with you!" I say looking at her. "I just need to talk about it with people who get it." She nods. I look at her. "I'm sorry." I whisper. "Don't be! I get it, you don't really get my stuff with Jason, and I don't really get stuff with your constant battle with alcohol and your uncle." She says quietly. "We'll still talk about it with each other but never truly understand what's going on with each other." She looks at me. "We can go to a meeting if you need it." She says quietly. "Well, we can drive you to one and I can sit in the car awkwardly." I look at her. "We can go together. It'll be a little weird for you to be there but-." She stops me. "It's your thing." She says. "I can drop you off and you can text me when you're done." She says quietly. I look at her. "Ok."
"I'm Toni, none of you are the people I see usually because I live in Maine with my girlfriend. We're here for a friend's wedding."
I tell the group of people. "We were at the rehearsal dinner, I don't really know why they call it that. Anyways, we were at the dinner and there was a lot of alcohol and I can't control what people drink, I don't want to but, umm... it just brought back a lot of memories." I explain. I take a deep breath. "Parents died in a car accident when I was 16, and I had to stay with my uncle who's a raging alcoholic, he abused me when he was drunk! Like thinking I'm his ex wife drunk, even though she was Asian and I look nothing like her." I tell everyone. "This is weird I'm sorry. I like my other group." I say getting up. "I'm sorry." I whisper. "I have no filter when I'm uncomfortable. I'm on some medication for my anxiety and it just amplifies all of my traumatic coping mechanisms." I explain. "Well, Toni. You're doing great. You can stay if you want." The woman who runs this thing tells me. "I'll stay for a few minutes then leave, it's late." She nods. I end up staying for the rest of the meeting and walking to the hotel since it's right down the street, like actually, it's on the same street. I walk into the hotel and go to the room. I realize I don't have my key and knock on the door. "Who is it?" Cheryl ask. "Me, I forgot my key." I say quietly. She opens the door. "I would have picked you up." She says quietly. "It's literally right down the street. I just walked it was nice I was able to clear my head a bit more after the meeting." I say smiling a bit. I look at her. "I'm serious Cher! It's ok." I smile. "I like it here." I say as I actually walk into the hotel room. "It's like Maine, but with a diner and all your friends from high school." Cheryl smiles a little. "I like Maine better though." She says quietly. "We can visit here more if you want. I always feel bad, you picked up your entire life to move to Maine with me. I just had to donate some clothes so you can have your own clothes there. Like, you moved into my place we didn't even get a place together!" I explain. "So?" She ask quietly. "I feel like I should have this like power over you, but I don't want to." I whisper. "How about we move into a new house? Some where for us." She suggest. "It'll be our place, not your parents place! Which I know has some hard memories." She adds. "We can talk about it more in the morning."
I rap my arm around Cheryl. "The wedding was nice." I say smiling. She looks at me. "A little loud." I say quietly. "But good! I had fun!" I say looking at her. "I can't wait for ours!" I say not meaning to. She stops. I feel my arm get pulled back a bit. "Our wedding?" She ask confused. "Oh!" I look down. "I um... I really love you and I want to get married! Not right now, I'm not ready, we're still young!" I tell her honestly. "I was just thinking about our future!" She smiles. "I want to get married too." She whispers cupping my cheeks. "But, not yet, I agree." She adds. "Did I just pre-propose to you?" I ask. She nods. "Yes." She smiles. "Do you want to go to Pop's? Kevin, Fangs and Sweet Pea are gonna be there." She says quietly. "You'd like them. They were at the wedding" I look at her. "Who's Sweet Pea?" I ask quietly. "Veronica's brother." I nod. "Fangs?" I ask. "He's with Kevin. They're together." I nod. "Kevin was nice." I say smiling. "We can go." I smile. She kisses me. "Good! I wasn't going to give you a choice!"