Choni One Shots

Death Bed

If you don't like angst, don't read this one.

*main character death*

Cheryl was sitting in her Los Angeles apartment when her phone started ringing. She didn't recognize the number, but the area code was all too familiar. "Hello?"

"Cheryl?" She heard a man's voice asked, "It's Sweet Pea..."

The redhead felt her heart drop, something was wrong. "Wh-what happened? Is-is she okay?" Her breathing had picked up, thinking the worst had happened. Was she dead? Dying?

"No. She's not," was all the raven haired man had said as he took a deep breath in. Cheryl could hear the trembling in his voice, the tears in his eyes. "There was a gang war with the Ghoulies. She was stabbed multiple times."

Cheryl's free hand went up to cover her mouth, tears falling down her pale cheeks, "Is she...?"

"She's alive. The doc said she's stable, for now." There was a moment of silence before he spoke again, "She's unconscious right now, but I was with her until the ambulance arrived. She told me to call you. Begged me, actually. She needs you here, Red."

With tears still running down her cheeks, she nodded, but quickly realized that Sweet Pea couldn't see her. "Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can." Cheryl hung up her phone, dropping it out of her hand and onto the couch as she broke down.

Finally, after a few minutes, she got up and started packing a suitcase as she checked her phone for the next flight to New York. She hadn't been back to the town with pep in three years, the last time being for Nana Rose's funeral. Cheryl would be damned if she was going back to that god awful town to bury another person she loved.

Two hours later, she was packed and sitting on a plane. A redeye midnight flight to the town she thought she would never be going back to. She texted the number Sweet Pea had called her from to let her know when she would be in town.

Cheryl: I'm on a plane. Should be landing around 5am, and be in Riverdale by 7.

Sweet Pea: We'll see you soon, Red. Archie is getting a hold of everyone else.

Cheryl didn't sleep on the flight, like she normally would have. Her brain was moving too fast with thoughts from the past. She thought of when they were younger, and how her ex-girlfriend always found a way to cheer her up by taking goofy videos while they walked through the park. Or when they would hear a dog bark and Cheryl would jump into her arms.

She thought about the nights in their four poster bed when she would be sang to sleep after having a nightmare, or when her ex-girlfriend would sneak into Thistlehouse at exactly 1:03am every Sunday morning, and they would spend Mondays watching movies after school.

But it had ended all too soon. Cheryl was the one to leave, after promising she wouldn't stay away for too long. Promising she would come visit a few times a year, but she broke her promise. She had only visited once in seven years. Seven goddamn years. Her only reason being that she couldn't deal with the heartache she knew she would feel when it was time to leave.

She had promised the world to her beloved Toni Topaz, only to leave her behind. Or to be the one who was left behind. The redhead wasn't sure which applied to her. Two weeks before their high school graduation, the opportunity of a lifetime came for the pink haired goddess. She was offered the position of Serpent Queen, but that meant she had to stay behind in Riverdale, instead of going to Highsmith with Cheryl, as planned.

"I understand, TT. You need to be with your family. They need a leader," the redhead said with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, babe. This wasn't at all what I thought would happen, but I can't not accept this. It's my birthright."