The Sun and Her Moon | CHONI |

Eleven

Cheryl had taken Toni to drop Tommy off at school, her heart melted as he turned to wave at her before he disappeared into the crowd of children. She waited patiently for Toni to return as she tried to not let her unexpected nerves get the better of her. Her life had seemly done a whole 360 in the span of a week. 'Thank you for that Cheryl' Toni smiled as she got back into the car. 'No problem' Cheryl smiled looking at her before putting her car into drive. The car ride was quiet but comfortable both women glancing at each other but not knowing exactly what to say.  Cheryl pulled the car into Pops parking lot and brought it to a stop. 'Thank you for the ride Cheryl, I really appreciate it' Toni smiled. 'My pleasure Toni, thank you for allowing me to stay at your place' Cheryl returned the smile. Okay now it had gotten awkward. 'Anytime, well I guess I'll see you around' Toni said as she opened the car door and stepped out before turning to face the redhead 'don't be a stranger, bye Cheryl'. 'Goodbye Toni' was all Cheryl managed to get out as Toni shut the car door. The redhead watching as the other woman walked around the corner to the main entrance of the diner. 'You idiot' Cheryl said to herself as she looked into the mirror shaking her head. She grabbed hold of her phone calling Veronica, she needed to talk to her best friend.

'What's the emergency? And where were you last night I tried to call, don't tell me you went back to that psycho Madison!' Veronica said as she sat next to Cheryl on the redheads couch after just letting herself in. 'Of course not!' Cheryl rolled her eyes. 'Then where were you?' Veronica asked with a raised eyebrow. 'I spent the night at Toni's' Cheryl braced herself for Veronicas reaction. 'Wait... what?' Veronicas eyebrows were nearly touching her hairline before she let out a chuckle 'you don't play around Blossom!'. 'No it wasn't like that. I took her home and we both accidentally fell asleep on the couch, we didn't wake up until like 2am and she offered me her bed' Cheryl shrugged. 'Aww this sounds like such a lesbian romcom' Veronica grinned 'but if that's all that happened what was the phone call all about? I thought you was gonna have a panic attack'. Cheryl took a deep breath in 'because V I think I might actually like her'. Even though Veronica sort of knew she still shook her head in shock. 'Wait like you're actually admitting you're crushing on her? I haven't heard you say anything like that since high school'. 'I don't know what to do V' she fell against the back of the couch 'she's got a kid'. 'So? Tommy's a great kid. He really seems to like you too'. 'It's not just that, what if it doesn't work out, I don't want to hurt him' Cheryl mumbled. 'Look Cheryl' Veronica said taking hold of the redheads hand 'this is the first time in a long time you've had any sort of feelings for a woman besides sex, just ask her out, it's worth a shot. If she's not into you that's her loss but something tells me that she won't turn you down. Start slow and get a feel for it, maybe invite her and Tommy to the aquarium at the weekend?'. As much as Veronica teased her she was always there with the best advice. 'I might just try that' Cheryl smiled 'thanks Ronnie'. 'No need to thank me, I really like Toni, I think you guys would look great together'. Cheryl bit her lip and pulled out her phone. Her facial expression soon turned from lovestruck teenager to annoyed though. 'Madison is actually crazy, she's sent me multiple messages again' Cheryl sighed. 'Block her' Veronica rolled her eyes. 'I did after Saturday night but she's just making new accounts to contact me, should I be worried?' Cheryl said glancing at her friend. 'Pass me your phone' Veronica said holding out her hand. Cheryl passed it over expecting her to just read the messages. She should have known better.

Veronica clicked on the video call button. 'Wait? V what are you doing?' Cheryl panicked. Veronica just waved her hand dismissively. The call was accepted. 'Cher...' the woman on the other side of the phone answered hopefully 'oh Veronica. Can I help you?'. 'Actually yes you can, stop messaging my girl Cheryl before she gets a restraining order on your crazy ass'. 'Look I just want to talk to her, straighten things out and make them right' Madison pleaded. Veronica huffed in frustration 'look she told you before anything happened she wasn't looking for anything serious. You agreed so stop bothering her. Plus she's got a new beau'. 'Excuse me?' Madison raised her voice a little. 'Take the hint she's just not that into you. Now don't contact her again, goodbye Madison' Veronica smirked as she hung up the phone.

'Veronica oh my god' Cheryl laughed. 'What? She needs to stop bothering you, it's getting out of control' Veronica shrugged 'so where's Toni now?'. 'I dropped her at work after we took Tommy to school'. 'I see' Veronica smirked. 'What now?' Cheryl said pushing her shoulder. 'I just think it's cute how thee Cheryl Blossom has gone from crazy nights out and hooking up with random girls to... doing school runs'. 'Come on Veronica, I'm trying to be a good friend. It was the least I could do, she stayed on the couch so I could have her bed'. 'If you're just friends why didn't you just share the bed?' Veronica said with a smug face. 'Because we haven't known each other for that long and she probably didn't want to make it weird'. 'Why would it be weird?' Veronica teased. 'V I confided in you, stop'. 'Sorry' Veronica held her hands up in surrender 'I'm just really excited for you'. 'And you show that by teasing me?' Cheryl raised her eyebrow. 'It's just my way of showing you love' she smiled sheepishly. 'Mmm hmm' Cheryl nodded not convinced 'or it's because you like to she me blush'. 'Yeah maybe it's that' Veronica laughed.

Once Veronica had left Cheryl busied herself with cleaning her apartment, although it didn't really need it. These feelings were unfamiliar to her and she wasn't sure if it was too soon, she always believed you know when you meet the right person but she never thought it would happen to her. Plus it's complex, she didn't know Toni's feelings, there's a child involved and Cheryl didn't want to end up getting hurt. She decided on leaving it a couple of days before texting Toni so she could make sure she was positive on the next step she was going to take. She suddenly felt like she had an awful lot of free time on her hands forgetting how she usually filled her days. Sure she'd spend almost every morning at Pops but apart from that she felt kind of empty. Maybe a little retail therapy would do her some good. She grabbed her keys from the counter and went outside to her car so she could take herself to the mall, hoping it would distract her mind.

Toni had just walked home after getting Tommy from school. She was disappointed that she hadn't received a message from Cheryl but she wanted to give her some space, she seemed a little freaked out after saying goodbye earlier, Toni only hoped it wasn't because of her. As busy as she was at work Toni couldn't get the redhead off her mind. She felt stupid, she was a grown woman secretly crushing on her new friend. After kicking off their shoes Tommy grabbed the giant crocodile off the counter, well he tried to, he grabbed its tail and pulled it causing it to land on him and knocking him to the floor. 'Whoops' he shouted as Toni ran and picked him up. 'Are you okay?' she laughed. 'I'm okay Mommy' he said rubbing his butt. 'Where do you want it?' she asked. 'On the couch please' he smiled. Toni picked it up off the floor and put it on the couch. 'Cheryl really got you the biggest thing in the gift shop huh?'. He grinned as he nodded 'she did!'. He climbed to lay on top of the giant plushy 'is Cheryl having a sleep over tonight?'. 'Not tonight bud' Toni said ruffling his hair. She moved over to the kitchen to prepare dinner her mouth curling into a smile as she thought about the redhead. Maybe she'd admit it to Cheryl instantly shaking her head afterwards remembering how weird Cheryl was acting this morning.