Betty, Veronica and Cheryl sat in the bar with some drinks waiting for Toni. She was late which was unusual because she was never late usually. "She hasn't forgotten right?" Betty asked as she checked the time. "Well i only spoke to her about it today so i don't think so-" Cheryl started as she saw Toni walk in. "I'm so sorry i'm late i had to wait for...never mind, hi" she said with a smile as she walked over and sat down at the table. Veronica and Betty gave her a friendly smile and said Hi back. "Isn't this a blast from the past" Betty said and they all nodded. It was crazy that after all these years they were back together doing the same thing they used to. "So how have you girls been?" Toni asked intrigued.
Betty and Veronica had been together for five years now. They moved in to their own house when they graduated college about three years ago. Soon after that they got engaged. Their wedding was a summer wedding, which Cheryl planned of course. Betty has graduated with a degree in journalism and has taken over the Riverdale register from her parents. Veronica worked for her father. He was a huge businessman with many companies to his name. She managed a few of them for him. After a year of marriage they decided to extend their family. It took a while but eventually they adopted twins named Heidi and Wren. They were newborns when they adopted them but now they were almost 2 years old. They were so in love and their little family was so cute and perfect. They were so happy and both Cheryl and Toni wished they could have that one day.
They spoke for a long time about everything. They discussed college and jobs and houses and general things like that. Toni was telling the girls about her gallery. "Can you show us?" Cheryl asked with a hopeful smile. Toni nodded straight away. "Yeah let's go now" she said standing up. The girls all smiled and stood up. They walked out of the bar and onto the street. It wasn't very late so it was still quite light outside. They walked a couple of blocks and crossed a few roads until they reached the building. It was a rather large building.
Toni unlocked the door and turned on the lights. The rooms were completely white and the paintings hung on the walls with spotlights lighting them up. "Wow" Veronica said walking in and looking around. The girls walked around the huge rooms looking at all of the paintings on the walls. "This one is great" Cheryl said stopping in front of a painting. "You think?" Toni said standing next to her. "yeah who's the artist?" she asked looking for a plaque. "Me" Toni said quietly. Cheryl quickly turned to look at her and her jaw dropped. "This is so good!!" Cheryl said kind of shocked. She knew Toni was a good artist but she'd forgotten how good. "What's it called?" she asked. Toni paused. "This one belongs to a collection called the haze of a drunken hour" she said. Cheryl raised her eyebrows. "that is a very intriguing name, how did you come to with that?" Cheryl asked. Toni paused again. "Oh just came to me..." Toni replied but not convincingly. "Oh come on" Cheryl replied knowing that she was lying. "Okay. So i started this collection when i was in college. This is the first one that i did" she started pausing and not wanting to carry on. Cheryl waited for her to continue. "This was painted on september 8 2019 which was about two months after our break up. I was a complete mess. I'd started using again and drinking and smoking and my life was falling apart. One day i was in my dorm room and i was sitting on my window ledge drowning my sorrows away when i felt the sudden urge to need to paint or draw or something. So i did and this painting is the result" she said quickly. Cheryl paused and didn't really know how to reply. "Look i whilst we are on the topic of this i just want you to know that i don't take it lightly. I know that i just gave up and i know that it was my fault. That was my biggest regret and i just want to tell you that i'm sorry. Even after all of these years i'm sorry about i dealt with the situation" Toni said getting everything off her chest. Cheryl looked at her and smiled a little. "i'm sorry that you started using again and i'm sorry that you went back to that dark place. I was a mess too. I really fucking hated you you know" she said with a little laugh. "i don't blame you. I really fucking hated me too" Toni replied. "In all seriousness though, you should sell your work" Cheryl replied looking back at the painting. "Nah they are just for show" Toni replied shyly. "T, they are amazing" she said again. It has been the first time Cheryl had called Toni by a nickname since they became friends again. It kind of made her feel all weird inside, but in a good way. She smiled at her.
!!!
Betty and Veronica left in a cab and Cheryl and Toni took a walk. "They are the cutest couple" Cheryl said as they spoke about the girls. "They are so in love with each other and it's so cute" she continued. "Yeah i hope i find that one day" Toni replied. Cheryl looked at her and smiled. She felt all weird inside, but in a good way. Her mind played through a series of scenarios in her head. "Look..." she started surprising herself and Toni. "i know that we said just friends but... we clearly aren't friends. What we had, those feelings, they are never going to go away. I tried so so so hard to get over you, but i've never felt the same way about anyone else. I self destruct in all the relationships i've been in because they aren't with you. I may be totally crossing a line here and please stop me if i am...but how about we give us another shot. Start straight from the beginning, fresh start." Toni looked at her wide eyed not expecting her to say that. Cheryl looked back at her with worried and hopeful eyes. Toni didn't react for a few seconds. "i think i'd like that" she finally said and Cheryl breathed out deeply. "Great. That could've been insanely awkward so i'm glad we are on the same page" the redhead said and they both laughed. "Are you free on friday?" Cheryl asked. "Fridays perfect" Toni replied feeling all fuzzy inside. Cheryl smiled and felt herself blushing a little.
!!!
Cheryl felt very nervous. More nervous than she had ever felt. She overthought everything as she sat in the back of the cab. They were meeting at some fancy restaurant for dinner. As the cab driver pulled up Cheryl saw Toni stood waiting. She looked so pretty and her heart felt all warm when she saw her. Cheryl opened the door and stepped out. As soon as Toni saw her she smiled. Toni was shaky and nervous and also overthinking everything. Cheryl walked up to her and stood in front of her. "Hi" she said softly looking at the ground and smiling. "Hi" Toni replied. "You look beautiful" she continued. Cheryl blushed. "Thank you" she replied. "You look great too" she continued and they both smiled at each other.
They walked in and were shown to their table. The waitress took their drinks order. "It's so crazy that we're doing this" Toni said and Cheryl nodded agreeing. "I know...but i'm so happy that we are" Cheryl replied as she reached over the table and grabbed Toni's hand. She slowly intertwined their fingers as she smiled at her. They disconnected their hands as the waitress put their drinks down and handed them a menu. "Have u ever eaten here before?" Toni asked looking at the menu. "No someone at work suggested it....but erm...i don't even know what any of this means" Cheryl said and they both laughed. "yeah me neither" Toni replied. She suddenly had an idea. "Drink up" she said picking up her wine glass and downing what she had left easily. Cheryl did as she said. "What are we doing?" she asked confused but kind of excited. "I have an idea just trust me" she said standing up and grabbing her hand. They left the cash for their drinks on the table and quickly left but anyone even noticed.
"Wait here" Toni said as she let go of Cheryls hands and ran into a store. "Okay" Cheryl said with a smile as she watched Toni fun inside. About five minutes later she came out with a big bag. She smiled at Cheryl as she grabbed her hand and they walked a little further down the street. It was about 8pm so it was still light outside. "Where are we going?" Cheryl asked confused. Toni didn't reply.
They finally got to where Toni wanted. She pulled a blanket out of the bag and lay it down on the grass. They were in a park and they could see the sunset in the distance. The peaceful sound of the fountain sounded in the background. Toni sat down and Cheryl sat down beside her. She pulled out a bottle of wine and some plastic cups and placed them on the blanket. She also pulled out some strawberries and some ice cream. Cheryl smiled at her as she opened the bottle of wine. "Okay so it's no fancy meal and a fancy restaurant but...here" she said handing her the plastic wine glass. "This is perfect" Cheryl replied smiling at her. They gazed into each other's eyes. Toni's heart started beating faster and faster. She felt nervous and looked away to watch the sunset in the distance.
They sat eating the strawberries and ice cream as they talked about anything they could think of. Cheryl thought about how good she felt to be with her and how she felt genuinely happy. They made eye contact again and smiled at each other. Cheryl slowly moved closer to her and started to lean in to kiss her. Toni gently put her hand on her shoulder to stop her. Cheryl looked at her confused. "I'm scared" Toni whispered. "This is gonna make this so real and i don't wanna fuck up again" she continued as she placed her hand on the side of Cheryl's face. "Toni, we are older now and more mature and we both know what it's like to lose one another. I'm never gonna let that happen again. Let's forget about everything that happened before and start from here. I wanna be with you and i want this to work out this time. I'm all in if you are" she replied smiling at her. Toni leaned in a kissed her softly. She softly traced her hand along the side of her face. Cheryl pulled away and they both smiled at each other. "I've missed kissing you" Toni said quietly. Cheryl smirked and turned away to watch as the sun went down.
Toni stared at her. She couldn't help it.
!!!
Toni raced downstairs when she heard the doorbell ring. She was already running late for work and she was just in a rush to get ready. She opened the door and saw Cheryl stood smiling at her. "oh my god your here" she said shocked only slightly opening the door. "I brought you breakfast" she said smiling at her. "To my house yay" she said but not in a good way. Cheryl was confused. "Well can i come in" she asked frowning. Toni paused and put her head in her hands. "You know what it's fine i'll just go" Cheryl said immediately thinking she was hiding something. "No wait wait" Toni said stepping outside and grabbing her and kissing her. "your gonna find out one day" she said as she grabbed her hand and led her inside. "Please don't freak out" Toni said and Cheryl looked at her nervously. They walked a little way into the house until they got to the kitchen. Cheryl was confused and didn't really know what was going on until she got to the kitchen. Toni looked at her nervously and Cheryl stood with wide eyes.
"Mommy who is that lady?" a little boys voice asked as he sat at the table eating some cereal. "Leo this is Cheryl" she said hesitantly. She looked at Cheryl who just stood frozen. She didn't know how she was going to react. "Cheryl has been mommy's friends for a very long time" she continued. The little boy hoped down from the table and walked over to Cheryl. He looked up at her and smiled as he waved. "Hello" she said waving back at him. He quickly ran over to the couch and sat down to watch some cartoons. Toni looked at Cheryl nervously. Cheryl was in shock and she didn't know what to say. "...wh-...mommy?!" she said with raised eyebrows. Toni paced around her kitchen. She sighed before talking. "yeah. I'm sorry. I was gonna tell you but then i got scared. And i've never introduced him to anyone who i've dated" she said quickly. "How old is he?" she asked. "He's 4" Toni replied looking over at him. "So..."
"Yeah i got pregnant in college. It was the time when i was like spiralling and i was high or drunk or both most of the time and i went to parties every night and slept with a lot of people. I'm not proud of that but that's what happened. Anyways i started feeling sick a lot and i was extra hormonal all the time so i went to see my doctor and found out i was pregnant. It was too late for me to have an abortion. Adoption was the only other option but after how badly the system failed me, i couldn't do that to him. I couldn't let him go through that. So i decided that i was gonna have a baby, and raise a baby on my own. So that's what i did...that's what's i'm doing"
"...i'm sorry this is just a shock" Cheryl replied still abit lost for words. "I know. That's why i didn't want you to meet him so soon i didn't wanna scare you-" Toni started. Cheryl walked over to her and grabbed her hands. "Toni" she said softly. Toni looked up at her. "I can't tour a Mom. And to be honest i didn't really expect to find this out today but...it doesn't scare me. In fact, i'm proud of you. I couldn't have done this alone, but you have and that's amazing" she said smiling at her. Toni smiled back and her and hugged her. "He's so cute" Cheryl said looking over at him. "He's literally perfect. I love him more than i thought i could ever love someone. He's my best friend and we do everything together" she said smiling as she looked at him.
Seeing Toni talk about her son made Cheryl's heart warm. She couldn't quite believe that she was a mom but she kind of loved it. She watched her as she helped him tie he shoe laces and get ready for school. "Come on buddy it's time to go" she said as she put his little back pack on his back. He ran round the corner and raced to the front door. "Do you wanna come?" she said to Cheryl who nodded. They all got in the car and Toni drove until they got to Leo's school. He was in kindergarten.
Toni got out and helped him unclip his seatbelt. "Bye mommy's friend" he said in a sweet voice as he climbed out of the car. "Bye Leo" Cheryl with a smile as he ran down the path. Toni walked behind him up to the school door and made sure he got i safely. She walked back to the car.
Toni breathed out deeply as she started the engine. "I'm ready for breakfast now" Toni said as she drove away. Cheryl smiled at her. "Yeah me too" she replied. "i wanna know more about your son" she said turning to smile at Toni.
That made Toni so happy.