The sky was beginning to fade to black, pinks and purples scattered across it like cotton candy. They had just entered Omaha, and so far Fangs had no trouble getting them there like everyone expected. Kevin had fallen asleep a few hours prior, it evident how exhausted he really was. Toni sat in the middle seat next to Cheryl leaning her head on the older girl's shoulder, savoring the little daylight she had left to watch the redhead draw.
Apparently there wasn't enough, because before the Serpent girl knew it, Cheryl was closing her sketchbook and returning it into her backpack.
"Cher, I'm tired," Toni closed her eyes as she wrapped her arm around Cheryl's waist.
Fangs honked the Vista Cruiser's horn since there was no one else on the road who it could've disturbed, scaring Toni who retreated from her position; sitting upright in the middle seat. "Can't go to sleep yet, Tiny. We're going to the fair."
"Well how long is it gonna take to get there?" She frowned, deciding to lace her fingers with Cheryl's to have some sort of contact with the girl.
Fangs hesitated a moment, checking the map on his phone. The one thing Kevin decided not to go all out on was an actual physical map, scared they'd get lost before they left Riverdale. "Like five minutes."
Toni rested her head back on Cheryl's shoulder, "Enough time for me to take a nap."
"But Toni-"
"Goodnight, Fangs."
Fangs sighed, "There's no arguing with you, is there?"
The boy never got a response from the pink-haired Serpent, considering she had already fallen asleep finding comfort in the Blossom girl.
"Are you at least awake?" Fangs questioned with hope in his voice, the radio not satisfying his boredom.
Cheryl fiddled with the rings on Toni's fingers, "Nope."
The redhead could see a Ferris wheel flashing with various shades of blue in the distance. She was for sure going to get Toni to ride that by the end of the night. Fangs drove towards it, turning left onto a street littered with cars, and people hurrying to be awaited to make memories.
"Wake Toni up, and I'll wake Kevin up?" Fangs parked almost a whole block away from the attractions.
"Sure, Fogarty." Cheryl untangled her fingers from Toni's, gently patting her thigh and whispering her name.
The Serpent girl's eyes blinked open, she buried her head into the crook of Cheryl's neck. "What, Cher?" She groaned.
"Tee-Tee, we're here," Cheryl softly stroked Toni's back.
Fangs had already gotten Kevin up, they were outside sitting on the hood of the car waiting for Cheryl to get Toni up.
"Okay," the Serpent whispered, finally sitting up. Cheryl got out of the car, Toni exiting through the redhead's side.
Kevin and Fangs hopped off the hood of the car, "Took you long enough," Kevin teased.
Cheryl reached for Toni's hand as if it was a ritual by now, intertwining their fingers yet again. "Well we would've been out sooner, but someone didn't want to get up."
"No fair, you can't put all the blame on me. A girl needs her sleep," the group walked down the block towards the fair.
Toni's grip on Cheryl's hand tightened as she saw a guy headed their direction, most likely leaving the fair with his friends, eye Cheryl down.
"You're funny, Tiny," Fangs chuckled, "you slept all day."
"I-fine. You guys win," she pouted.
They finally got to the entrance of the fair, paying for their wristbands and scanning the area for what ride they should go on first.
"Hmm, how about that one?" Fangs pointed to the giant metal that went high in the air, and circled the people in their seats around and upside down.
Seeing the attraction made Cheryl's stomach churn, her hand tightened around Toni's. Amusement parks weren't really her thing, but she'd never admit it out loud that she was afraid of them.
"Hell yeah!" Toni high-fived Fangs, pulling Cheryl in the direction of the ride. Of course she wasn't afraid of something like that, she was in a gang of course.
Fangs sprinted in front of the girls, wanting to not waste anymore time.
The line wasn't too long, by the time they were at the front Cheryl was debating back and forth with herself if she should just bail.
"Come on, Blossom," Toni led Cheryl to a seat, Kevin on the other side of her. Guess there was no getting out of this, the carnival worker had already strapped them in.
"Fuck," the redhead whispered as the ride slowly ascended into the air. Toni noticed how nervous the older girl was, her eyes were clenched shut and she had the seat that strapped over her in a death grip.
Toni pried her fingers off the seat, replacing it with her own. This probably wasn't the best idea because Cheryl squeezed the Serpent's hand just as hard, it didn't bother Toni too much; she'd do anything for Cheryl.
When the ride returned them safely back to the ground Fangs stumbled out of his seat, almost tripping over his own feet. This caused the other three to roar in laughter, Cheryl and Toni leaning on each other as they exited the gate that separated the ride from the rest of the fair. Kevin having nothing to support him since his boyfriend was such a klutz, slowly walked with his arms out balancing him to the group.
"See? Wasn't so bad, scaredy cat," Toni poked Cheryl's side.
They were now headed in the direction of some games, deciding that they needed a break before getting on anything life-threatening again.
"It was..." Cheryl paused truly thinking about her answer, "terrible." She smiled down at the younger girl.
"It wasn't scary at all, you're just a wimp," Kevin chimed in.
Cheryl huffed, crossing her arms, "Fine. I see how it is."
Fangs had ran off to some basketball game, which he had a pretty good chance at winning considering how athletic he truly was. The other three teenagers sprinting to catch up with him.
"You think he can do it?" Cheryl asked Toni after finally meeting up with the boy.
"Nope." Toni took her phone out to record the Serpent, "You've got this, Fangs!" She shouted words of encouragement to him.
The ball bounced off the rim, flying in the direction of the guy working the stand. If he had moved even a split second later, the ball would've hit him and he'd be on the ground. "I'm so sorry!" Fangs ran towards the man.
He didn't seem too upset, it was an accident after all. "It's fine, just be more careful next time."
"Maybe we should try somethin' else," Kevin pushed the three in the direction of the other games. He was embarrassed beyond belief, he just needed to get out the sight of the employee.
"I bet you won't win," Cheryl told Toni as they came to a stop in front of one of those games where you had to knock the milk bottles over with a ball.
Toni gave the man a couple dollars, in return giving her five balls. "Bet me what, Blossom?" She tossed one of the balls up and down.
Cheryl leaned against the stand, "Depends. What do you want, Topaz?"
The small girl hesitated, "Can I kiss you again?"
The redhead took a moment pretending to think about her answer, even though she already knew what is was immediately after Toni asked. "Sure, Tee-Tee."
Toni quickly threw one of the balls in a rush to feel Cheryl Blossom's lips against her own again. Unfortunately it just barely missed the bottom row of the bottles, hitting the counter they stood on. "Dammit," the small girl whispered.
Fangs overheard the deal the two girls made, deciding to stand beside Toni and whisper a few pointers to her. "Okay, don't rush this. Just take it slow, Tiny."
Toni threw the second ball, it hit the bottles but it wasn't enough force to knock them over. "Throw the next one harder," he whispered.
The small Serpent shook her arm trying to loosen it up a bit, she cocked it back and hurdled the ball. It made a whipping noise as it flew through the air. The ball hit the bottom row once again, but this time knocking all of the milk bottles over.
"Yes!" Toni jumped up and down in triumph, giving Fangs a hug, "Thank you," she whispered.
The man working the stand handed Toni a baby blue stuffed bunny after asking her what prize she wanted. "Here," Toni handed Cheryl the bunny, smiling cheekily at the redhead.
"You sure, Tee-Tee?" Cheryl inspected the stuffed toy contemplating on what to call it.
Toni stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jacket as they walked passed more games and food vendors. "Of course I'm sure, I won it for you, silly."
Cheryl pulled the girl into tight hug. "Thank you, Toni," she whispered making the girl forget all about her promised kiss.
•••
Toni stood shaking as they moved up in the line. After way too many horrifying rides for Cheryl's liking, the redhead pushed the other three to the Ferris wheel deciding it was a perfect way to end the night. Toni was fine with crazy rides that flipped her in a kinds of directions, but Ferris wheels certainly weren't her thing. They were way too slow, making the experience painfully frightening.
"Cheryl, I don't think I can do this." Toni wrung her hands together, rapidly tapping her foot over the asphalt.
The redhead held her stuffed rabbit close to her chest, still having not decided on a name. "What do you mean, Tee-Tee?"
"She's scared," a deep laugh escaped Fangs' mouth.
The older girl furrowed her eyebrows together, searching Toni's eyes for any confirmation; realizing the Serpent girl looked absolutely terrified. "We don't have to do this," Cheryl reasoned, feeling sort of let down since she was really planning on going on the ride with Toni.
"No," Toni grew serious, attempting to stuff her fears deep down where she would forget they ever existed. "I want to go on it with you."
"Next," the girl at the front ordered.
All of Toni's fears immediately returned, her stomach flipping over itself as she looked up at the wheel.
Cheryl grabbed Toni's hand, squeezing it to remind her that she wouldn't let anything happen to her. The four teenagers got into the gondola, it swaying when Fangs rocked back and forth as they suspended into the air.
"Fangs, please stop." Toni's teeth were clenched as she clung to Cheryl for dear life, her head tucked into the crook of the redhead's neck.
Seeing that Toni wasn't messing around Fangs quit moving, the capsule slowly but surely coming to a stop.
Like any Ferris wheel, this one would come to a stop periodically allowing new passengers to get on. Soon enough the four were stopped at the top.
Cheryl pulled away from Toni, the younger girl barely giving her room to move. "Toni, open your eyes. Hurry."
The Serpent girl trusted Cheryl, so she did as she said. Her eyes slowly opened, outside of the capsule stars faintly sparkled in the night sky. Below them they could see each and every ride included at the fair, an array of colored lights reflecting off their eyes.
Remembering the sole cliché reason Cheryl wanted to bring Toni up here, the redhead grabbed the younger girl's face crashing their lips together. Cheryl could make out the faint taste of cotton candy on Toni's lips. They pulled away out of breath as the wheel began to rotate again. Toni looked into the redhead's eyes finding comfort within them, she didn't care about the view below them; all she wanted to look at for the rest of her life was Cheryl Blossom.
•••
Kevin was really starting to piss Cheryl off at this point and they weren't even halfway done with this trip. Turns out, he tricked all of them into being on the road with him for two weeks instead of one. It finally dawned on Toni that the week was almost over and they weren't even in California yet, that's when Kevin revealed that it was going to take two weeks altogether to get to California and back.
"Kevin, you seriously want us to sleep in the car?" Cheryl watched Kevin and Fangs move all of their bags to the front seats.
He closed the driver-side door, moving to the back to grab a blanket and pillow for Cheryl and Toni, throwing it over the seat as he sat down. "Yes I do, Cheryl. Full road trip experience, remember?"
Cheryl climbed into the trunk, laying flat on her back next to Toni, looking at the ceiling. "But we're in the middle of nowhere, I hope you're aware that we could get murdered."
"Stop over exaggerating, we're at a rest stop." The boy threw the blanket over him and Fangs once the Serpent boy got in the car.
"A scary rest station full of murderers according to Cheryl," Toni winked at the redhead.
"Whatever, don't be calling me for help when you're getting chased by Jason Vorhees." She huffed as she rolled over facing away from Toni, hoarding most of the blanket.
"Don't be like that, Cher," Toni whined.
"Sorry, can't hear you. Me and Cotton are sleeping." After all night of thinking on a name, the redhead came up with Cotton after they got off the Ferris wheel no matter how generic it may have sounded.
Toni scooted over so her front was pressed against Cheryl's back, wrapping her hand around the redhead's waist. "Come on, Blossom. I'm cold." She nuzzled her head into Cheryl's back.
Cheryl rolled her eyes, "God, you can be so annoying sometimes." The redhead threw some of the blanket on Toni.
"Thanks, Bombshell," the small girl whispered. She kissed Cheryl's temple, causing the redhead to turn around. Toni didn't give her the chance to do anything when she buried her head in the girl's neck holding her close. They stayed like that for a good ten minutes, listening to Fangs' quiet snoring and the passing of cars before they dozed off the sleep.
•••
Cheryl felt something vibrating against her stomach, soon realizing that it was her phone that must've slipped out of her pocket. She struggled to grab it due to the grip Toni had on her. She was asleep, but she held onto Cheryl like the girl would disappear if she let go.
Eventually she got out of Toni's hold and sat up to see the caller ID: Jason.
"Hello?" Her voice came out scratchy as she tried her best to be quiet, not to wake any of her friends up.
"Bombshell, I've missed you!" Jason has always been a morning person, this particular morning being no exception.
Cheryl pulled the phone away from her ear, hissing at how loud her brother was being."I get that you're excited, but calm down. It's too early for this."
"Sorry, Cher." The boy paused probably waiting for the girl to say it was alright, but to Cheryl things certainly were not alright. "So how have things been? I can't wait to see you in a couple days."
The redhead sighed remembering that another week had suddenly been dropped on all of them by none other than Kevin. "Yeah, no. Not coming back in a couple of days, it's too long of a story for me to explain since I don't care; but we have a whole other week of driving."
"Cheryl, what do you-"
"Not explaining," the girl beside her pulled the blanket closer to her chest, as if she knew Cheryl moved.
"How are things going with Toni? Has she been extra annoying?"
The redhead had forgotten she was on the phone until she heard Jason's voice, "No, everything's just fine with Toni." She kept things short obviously not wanting to tell her brother how close they've gotten in the short amount of time.
"Cheryl, why do you even like her? She clearly doesn't care about how you feel based on that date a few years back."
"That's in the past, Jay-Jay. I'm over it, everyone's over it, the only person that seems to care is you." She hung up not wanting to hear anything bad he might've had to say about Toni.
Based on how the morning sky was slowly melting into a light shade of blue, Cheryl knew Kevin would want to get up soon. She laid down next to the Serpent, looking out the window as the sky evolved into the familiar cotton candy colors she was beginning to love. She slowly fell asleep with the words cotton candy repeating in her head.