The Sun and Her Moon | CHONI |

Forty

When Toni opened her eyes the next morning she hoped the day before was just a bad dream but it wasn't. Her eyelids where slightly stuck together from the tears of the night before and her hand felt more sore today than yesterday as she brought it to her face to inspect it. 'Fuck' she thought as she looked at the swelling and the bruising that went well past her wrist, that's definitely broken. She turned over to the little boy sleeping beside her, no matter what he'd always be her light in the dark. She ran her hand through his curls as his eyelashes twitched as he dreamt. Toni hoped he was dreaming about something nice which was more than she could say for herself. She still couldn't believe that Cheryl, the woman she loved, had done this to her. After Toni's relationship with Tommy's father she promised herself that she wouldn't allow herself to be treat like that again. Cheryl was nothing like Lukas but she hurt her more than he ever could. The only reason she stayed with Lukas was for Tommy's sake, she wanted him to have his father in his life. Yes he hurt her physically when he beat her but Cheryl had hurt her soul, her heart something she had willingly trusted the redhead to keep safe.

She quietly huffed as she creeped out of the bed not to wake Tommy as she headed to the bathroom. 'You look like shit' she said to herself as she looked in the mirror, her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. She splashed some cold water on her face before heading to the kitchen for a quick coffee before she had to get Tommy ready for school. Fangs woke up at the sound of the kettle boiling 'hey T' he whispered. 'Shit Fangs sorry I didn't mean to wake you' she apologised. 'Don't worry it's all good' he said sitting up. 'Do you want a coffee?' she asked. 'Please' he nodded rubbing the sleep from his eyes. With the mugs in her hand she made her way to the couch handing one of the coffees to her brother. 'What happened to your hand?' he asked as he saw the swelling. 'Oh erm I dunno' Toni rambled. 'T, seriously that looks broken'. 'It looks worse than it is, if it doesn't heal I'll see a doctor' she said to shut him up. 'So how are you feeling?' Fangs asked. 'Honestly' she said looking into his eyes 'like shit but I need to be strong for Tommy, he's confused and hurt too'. Fangs nodded 'but you're hurt so you need to look after yourself as well. Are you ready to talk about what happened? Maybe you guys can work it out'. Toni shook her head 'there's no working this out. She cheated on me Fangs with someone who warned me about her' another tear falling from her tired eyes. 'No way T, I saw how that girl looked at you, you two are in love'. 'I thought that too, I guess she's a great actress' Toni cried as she wiped her eyes.

Cheryl had spent the whole night awake tossing and turning while trying not to wake Veronica with her cries. As soon as the sun rose she decided that she would get up and put on a brave face at least to Veronica. She knew her friend meant well but right now she just wanted to be alone. She busied herself downstairs flinching every time she clasped her hand around something too hard due to the cuts and bruises. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she picked up the roses from the table, she would cherish them forever, she placed them in a vase in the middle of the kitchen island. When she heard Veronica moving around upstairs she was even more determined to act as normal as she could. She carried a coffee upstairs for the brunette along with the dustpan and brush to sweep up the mess in the bathroom.

'Good morning bestie' the redhead smiled as she entered the room 'here you go' she said handing Veronica the coffee. 'Uh thanks but I'm suppose to be looking after you' the brunette should have been confused with Cheryl's behaviour but she knew exactly what she was doing. 'Nonsense I was awake first'. 'Cheryl I know what you're doing, you don't need to hide your feelings in front of me' Veronica said gently. 'V, I got all my emotions out yesterday, I have accepted it wasn't meant to be. Now excuse me while I clean up the mess that I made' the redhead said as she turned around cursing herself at the slight crack in her voice towards the end of her sentence. Veronica just sat back against the bed with a huff, as horrible as it was to see Cheryl in the state she was in yesterday at least she wasn't holding in her emotions, the way she was acting now was surely going to end badly.