Hey guys!
Here's another update! Probably the last one until the middle of next week. I really hope you like this chapter and as always let me know what you think!
Happy reading!
Nat xx
Abigail and Thomasina had somehow managed to get to Pops with Anthony safely in the brunettes arms.
'Toni? Cheryl? What the hell happened?' Betty said as her eyes landed on them.
'We need help,' Thomasina said as she caught her breath.
Archie and Betty stood up quickly, they helped the women to a booth and sat down across from them.
'Is everything all right?' Tabitha said as she approached the table with Jughead right behind her.
'Do you have somewhere safe where we can talk in private?' Thomasina asked.
Tabitha frowned but nodded, 'my office'.
The group helped Abigail and Thomasina through the back and into the office.
That's when Abigail realised.
These people weren't responsible for what their ancestors did to her, they helped her and Thomasina without question.
And she couldn't deny they needed it.
'Cheryl what's going on?' Betty asked as Tabitha shut the door.
'I... I am not Cheryl. My name is Abigail Blossom and this is my beloved Thomasina. Thomasina Topaz'.
'Wait what?' Tabitha said.
'I know it sounds farfetched but it is the truth'.
'How did you get here?' Jughead asked, after everything that happened recently he had no reason not to believe them.
'Magic,' Thomasina said simply, 'but how we got here is not important'.
'If you are here then where's Cheryl and Toni?' Archie asked.
'Their souls are somewhere else but they are fine. At least for now,' Thomasina said, 'Cheryl's grandmother and Brittania are the ones in immediate danger'.
'Where are they?' Betty asked.
'Roseanne is at Thornhill... locked in her room,' Abigail said as she shifted in her seat, 'but we do not know the whereabouts of Brittania, Fenn has her'.
'Who's Fenn?' Jughead asked.
'He is Fangs ancestor, they inhabit the same body but i am afraid Fenn now has full control. Thomasina saved me and we managed escape but we are not safe'.
'I'll go to Thornhill,' Archie said, 'and then we will find Britta'.
'Wait, we're just going to go along with this?' Tabitha asked.
'Actually yes,' Jughead said, 'strange things have been happening in Riverdale. I don't know why but it's the truth'.
'Okay Archie go,' Betty said, 'and please be careful'.
'I'll go too,' Jughead said before placing a kiss on Tabitha's temple, 'I'll be back soon'.
Thomasina wrapped her arm around Abigail and pulled her close, they needed to fix this mess.
—————
'Cheryl thank god,' Toni said as she entered Pops and found the redhead sitting in the empty diner alone.
Cheryl looked up, 'I thought we agreed to some time apart?'
Toni let out a breath, Cheryl was pissed and she understood why but right now Britta needed them.
'I know but...'
'There are no buts Toni. I need some space,' Cheryl said as she stood up to leave.
'Cheryl come on...' Toni said.
'No Toni. You're giving me whiplash. You don't want me but you don't want me to leave Riverdale. How does that even work?'
'It's not like that'.
'It's exactly like that. I told you I wanted to be with you and you rejected me and instead got into a relationship with Fangs Fogarty'.
'Fine you want to do this now?' Toni said raising her voice slightly, 'I tried with you for months while I was pregnant. I wanted you and you rejected me time after time'.
'Because I wasn't ready Toni! You came to visit me out of the blue and you were pregnant. I was happy for you but it still hurt and when I finally found out who the fathers were that hurt even more'.
'I wanted you to be a part of it Cheryl'.
'Afterwards Toni... I'm not saying you should have put your life on hold for me but you could have at least told me who the fathers were'.
'Why? So you could judge me?'
'No Toni. So I didn't have to watch the love of my life announcing it to me like I was just a work colleague. You don't owe anything to me but you could have lessened the blow'.
'Love of your life?' Toni scoffed, 'you're the one who ended our relationship Cheryl'.
'So I didn't come between you and your family!'
'Cheryl come on. I told you my nana was coming around to the idea of us but you'd already made up your mind. You didn't want to be with me'.
'If you want to believe that then so be it,' Cheryl said as she past Toni, 'I'm sending you home'.
'Like hell you are. I'm seeing this through and getting you home too!'
'It's not going to happen Toni. Why won't you just let it go?'
'Because I still love you,' Toni slipped out before she could stop herself.
'Don't lie,' Cheryl said as tears formed in her eyes, she longed to hear those words for so long but not like this.
Toni ran her hands through her hair, 'I'm not'.
Cheryl just stood there looking at Toni who looked like she had no idea what to do with herself.
'Fuck,' Toni breathed as she leaned against the counter before turning to look at her ex, 'Cheryl please say something'.
But the redhead couldn't speak, if she told Toni how she felt it would only hurt more if she got back to Riverdale and had to watch Toni and Fangs together.
'Cheryl...' Toni said again as she moved away from the counter and towards the redhead.
Cheryl just stood frozen in her spot completely afraid to do anything.
'I'm sorry...' Toni said stopping in front of Cheryl, 'I shouldn't have dropped it on you like that...'
Toni began getting flustered, her words coming out so fast that Cheryl couldn't make sense of it all or maybe that was because her brain was short circuiting.
'Toni...' Cheryl whispered but Toni was still ranting her apology and against her better judgment the redhead said something she might come to regret, 'I still love you too'.
'What?' Toni said, she made eye contact with Cheryl instantly.
'I...' Cheryl hesitated, 'I still love you too'.
Cheryl was terrified, she didn't think she'd been this scared since the day she ended their relationships all those years ago.
'You do?' Toni's eyes dropped to Cheryl's lips before meeting the redheads eyes again.
Cheryl could only nod her head, she'd seemingly forgotten how to form words.
Toni couldn't stop herself from leaning in, she wasn't thinking about anything right now apart from the feeling of Cheryl's lips on hers.
'Wait,' Cheryl whispered, 'we shouldn't do this'.
'No, we really shouldn't,' Toni said her voice low.
Their eyes met again and before either of them could stop it their lips were on each other's.
They shared their first kiss since they were teenagers.
So many feelings were pouring into it, every word they'd left unsaid, all the longing they had for each other was finally coming full circle.
Suddenly the ground rumbled under their feet and before they even had chance to pull away from each other a portal opened up and they were pulled into it by an unknown force.
—————
What sounded like a thunderstorm rumbled so loudly outside it caused Betty and Tabitha to look at each other.
'What was that?' Tabitha asked.
The walls began to shake and Betty quickly reached for Anthony who was in Thomasina's arms.
Something was wrong, the couples eyes were rolling to the back of their head as their bodies shook violently.
'What's happening to them?' Tabitha asked as she bent down beside them.
'I don't know,' Betty said quickly, she had no idea what to do.
Suddenly what could only be described as a portal appeared on the ceiling, Betty couldn't bare to look at it but Tabitha did, suddenly two bodies fell through and two balls of what could only be described as intense energy bounced around the room until they hit Cheryl and Toni's bodies.
As it did their bodies slumped forward as similar energy balls left their bodies and entered the ones laying on the ground.
There was a bright flash of light as the portal closed and disappeared as fast as it came.
Betty stood up when the rumbling sound stopped and looked around.
'What the hell,' the blonde said as she looked at the bodies laying on the ground, they looked eerily similar to Cheryl and Toni who's bodies were sitting lifelessly at the desk.
Their clothing and hairstyles were strange though.
Old fashioned.
All of a sudden all four of the lifeless bodies gasped for breath at the exact same time, their faces full of fear and confusion.
'What's going on?' They asked at the same time.
'Okay, everyone needs to calm down,' Betty said looking around.
'Thomasina?' Abigail gasped as she looked at the woman next to her.
'Abigail,' Thomasina let out a relieved breath before placing her hands on the redheads pale cheeks and leaning in for a soft kiss.
'Whoa whoa whoa,' Betty said holding out her hands, 'if you're Abigail and Thomasina then does that mean...'
Betty turned to look at the redhead and brunette sat at the desk.
'We're back in our bodies,' Cheryl said as if she could barely believe it.
As soon as Betty realised Toni was in her body again she immediately handed over Anthony, relief washed over the brunette as she held her son in her arms.
'I do not understand how,' Abigail said as she stood from the ground guiding Thomasina up with her, 'our bodies should not be here and it is impossible that the two of you are back in your bodies. Fenn cast a spell to remove magic...'
'Unless...' Thomasina said looking between Cheryl and Toni, 'what happened before your souls returned to your bodies?'
The pair shifted uncomfortably in their seats, they didn't even get to finish their kiss never mind talk about it.
'Uh...' Toni stuttered before looking at Cheryl, who also had no idea what to say.
'Betty, Tabitha, would you mind giving us a moment?' Thomasina asked politely.
'Sure,' Tabitha said before leaving the room with Betty.
This moment was pretty bizarre, Cheryl and Toni were looking at their ancestors who were almost completely identical to themselves.
'Did you cast a spell to get back here?' Abigail asked.
'No,' Cheryl shook her head, 'and while we're here how dare you steal my body?'
'I had no other option and just to clarify I was going to switch our souls back,' Abigail said.
'Yeah right. And what pray tell made you suddenly change your mind?' Cheryl asked as she crossed her arms.
'Thomasina,' Abigail said simply, 'and my love for her'.
'We can discuss this later, Brittania is in danger. She needs our help, but we need to establish whether there is magic here or not,' Thomasina said, 'how did you get here?'
'We don't know,' Toni said, 'we were arguing and then some things got said before we...'
'Before you what?' Abigail asked, her patience was running thin.
Toni looked at Cheryl before she answered, 'before we kissed'.
'A kiss? Are you sure there was no spell casting?' Thomasina asked.
'There was no spell casting,' Cheryl confirmed.
'You do not think...' Abigail said looking at Thomasina.
'Actually I do, yes,' Thomasina said.
'You do what?' Toni asked.
'I do not think you are ready to hear it,' Thomasina said, she knew they'd push though.
'Cut the crap and just tell us,' Cheryl snapped.
'True loves kiss, it can break any spell placed on a person,' Thomasina said.
'What are you talking about?' Toni asked.
'What my beloved is trying to say is... the pair of you shared a true loves kiss. It is extremely rare and it broke the protection spell I cast on your body Cheryl. Like Thomasina and I the two of you are soulmates, you are bound together by true love'.
Cheryl and Toni had no idea what to do with that information, it just made everything so much more complicated.
'I have to get out of here,' Cheryl said quickly.
'Cher...' Toni said reaching for the redheads hand as she tried to walk away, 'I know this is scary and we will talk about it when you're ready but right now Britta needs us'.
'Where is she?' Cheryl said ignoring the way Toni's skin felt on hers.
'We don't know,' Abigail said.
'I do,' Toni interrupted, 'Fenn has her at my apartment'.
'Okay let's go,' Thomasina said.