Living is always better with you by my side | Choni

Jealous Toni

For the umpteenth time that evening, Toni straightened out her dress, shifting and rolled her shoulders so that the dress would at least feel as though it fit her.

She hated these big events that Cheryl always dragged her to, partially because it meant she had to wear clothes she necessarily wouldn't pick out herself and also because it meant that she had to watch her girlfriend charm every living thing in the room.

It wasn't as if she was jealous or anything, it was kind of condescending to think it but she knew that Cheryl loved her and wouldn't cheat on her- that wasn't the problem, The problem was that Cheryl was charming, totally head-over-heels lovable and whenever the redhead is interacting with other people, she waited for Cheryl to realise there was nothing special about the brunette and why was she still with her?

Even after a year, she didn't believe that this was her life again, she was afraid it'd get snatched from her the moment she looked away.

The brunette went to stand awkwardly at the food table, picking at the fancy cheese the caterers had set out. The closest she had come to any sort of thing that resembled the Events she was now attending was her senior prom in high school and even then they haven't had anything fancy like this.

Nibbling on the cheese she scanned the room for Cheryl, she found her standing near the doorway talking to a group of distinguished people, one particular person who was standing way too close to Cheryl and touching her constantly, caught her eye. The brunette was itching to march straight over there and show those people how much she and Cheryl loved each other but something kept her feet glued to the floor.

So she stayed where she was and glanced at the big clock tucked away in the corner of the room. An hour and a half to go...

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"Hey babe, enjoying yourself?" Cheryl finally joined her a few minutes later.

Toni forced a smile and nodded, though the dress didn't stop making her feel itchy and as though everyone around her could tell she didn't belong there, and this was the first time her girlfriend talk to her since they got there a half hour ago.

The redhead narrowed her eyes and Toni could tell she needed to act better at pretending to enjoy herself.

She threw another smile Cheryl's way this one a little nervous but less forward than her first one, hopefully to throw Cheryl off her trail. she might not have wanted to be there but it had meant so much to the redhead to bring her along that she didn't want to put a damper on her significant others satisfaction.

"Come on, I want to introduce you to some people" and Cheryl took the brunettes hand and bragged her toward the group of people she was just talking to.

They came to a halt at the doorway. Feeling like a complete child, like a little kid getting dragged along forcefully behind their parent. Toni smiled anxiously in their general direction, she knew that she should relax more especially since they were more than likely studying her every move. but all she could focus on was how overdressed she felt and how she didn't feel like she belong with all these rich, modern people.

Honestly, what did Cheryl see in her?

"I want you all to meet my girlfriend, Toni" and the redhead looked so relaxed and beaming wildly at her, her knees wanted to buckle underneath her. Toni couldn't stop the goofy grin from adoring her own face and introductions of Cheryl's other friends went by in a blur, everything felt surreal.

Cheryl and her friends got into a discussion then, the same Woman that made Toni see red before, still standing way too close to Cheryl, and smiling at her with Toni right there.

Michelle was the woman's name, she was apparently a lawyer herself, new to the firm, and yada-yada Toni turned her out for the most part, fuming inside to make up for the fact she couldn't stick a fork into the woman's dimpled cheeks.

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They got home, finally, And toni wanted to escape into the bathroom and strip off her unflattering dress and throw them out of the window. Though it was highly unlikely she would go through with it, after all she'd have to come up with an excuse of why her new dress ended up outside.

But before she could make it to the foot of the stairs, she felt a tug. Cheryl had grabbed a fistful of the bottom of her dress and was giving her a weird, calculating, look.

"Hi" Toni said a little bit shyly, bringing herself closer to the redhead, and wrapping her arms around the Cheryl's waist.

"You were jealous" Cheryl stated, matter-of-factly, her hands roamed the back of Toni's dress, pulling down the zipper slowly and looking at the brunette intensely.

Toni snorted, and rolled her eyes. "I was not...you are... so wrong"

"Am I"

And underneath Cheryl's laughter at making fun of her, there was a serious tone to the question.

Toni turned her eyes away from Cheryl, shrugging, trying to be as cool as a cucumber but failing miserably. Warm fingertips come up to her face and turned her head towards the redhead, a questioning look in her eyes.

"I just wonder sometimes... why you're even with me, I mean I'm not rich, and I'm sure as hell not Michelle"

Cheryl frowned, in the cute adorable way of hers when she was confused about something. "What's Michelle got to do with this?"

"Michelle's got a lot to do with this. She's the perfect woman for you, she's the perfect girl next door"

Instantly, Cheryl's fingers dropped away and she stepped back, eyes narrowing in anger and mouth setting into a determined line.

"Don't I get a say in who I think is perfect for me?"

Toni swallowed, she hadn't meant to make Cheryl angry, but she still thought of herself as that awkward, poor girl who self-esteem was so low she had needed a ladder to reach other people's low self-esteem.

The brunette had to make Cheryl realise that this was more about her insecurities than her not really wanting to be with the redhead. But Cheryl was moving away from her, into the kitchen, shoulders tense.

"You're being ridiculous you know. Michelle might be the perfect girl in your eyes but she's nothing compared to you"

Toni reached out to touch her girlfriend. She places one of her hands lightly on the redheads cheek. "I know , you're right, I am being ridiculous. It's just hard to understand sometimes how someone as wonderful as you would ever want to be with me"

Cheryl places her hand onto Toni's own that was on her cheek. Her gaze softened into something warmer. "Well, I still think you're beautiful and I don't want to be with anyone but you"

By now Toni had learned to take a compliment-with the constant compliments Cheryl kept giving her, she either had to learn to take a compliment, or combust from blushing so much. She tired to do a smouldering come-hither look but all it accomplished was making Cheryl laugh really loud.

But the redheads hands were back on Toni's body, so she thought mission accomplished.

"So, you wanna go upstairs and I'll count all the ways you're beautiful?" 

And, really, the only response to that was to kiss Cheryl senseless.

As her scratchy dressed dropped to the floor, the doubt fell too and she was just one woman in love with another.