Snow

One

"Cousin Betty, to what do I owe this honor of a snowy evening phone call?"

Cheryl Blossom was snuggled up in her luxurious sheets, favorite Netflix show on repeat and her sketchbook wide open on her lap. A call from Betty Cooper wasn't unusual but didn't happen every day.. especially not at 8:24 PM.

"Cheryl? I'm outside, please, I need your help." Said redhead rolled her eyes but untangled herself from the warmth of her bed and headed over to her balcony.

"Betty, you can use the front door. We are family, after all."

"Not this time, Cheryl.. it's Toni."

Her heart dropped to her stomach, her muscles freezing and preventing her from making it to the balcony.

"What?" came out more like a hiss and she heard some shuffling through the phone.

The faint chattering of teeth could be heard behind a soft, "Cheryl?"

At the sound of Toni's voice, Cheryl burst through the balcony doors and looked down on her family's side lawn, covered in a few inches of gorgeous white powder. Betty stood, phone to her ear, other arm wrapped around Toni's tiny body, the girl not putting much weight on one of her legs and visibly shaking. Cheryl contemplated jumping, if it meant getting to Toni faster.

"Betty," she barked into the phone, "Get her to the back gate. I'll meet you down there."

She tore threw the large mansion, uncaring if it disturbed her mother. She ripped open the back door and rushed over to the gate, cursing her cold fingers for fumbling with the lock. When the large wooden barrier swung open, Cheryl gasped at the blood on the side of Toni's face and the lack of clothing she wore.

A particularly violent shiver ran down Toni's spine, causing her to whimper in pain and Betty struggled to keep her upright. Cheryl ushered them in, only allowing Toni to rest against her cousin long enough to close and lock the gate before she shed her robe and wrapped it around the Serpent's body, using it to pull her close.

Betty held the back door open wider and whispered, "Hurry, she's been outside for too long already."

The three girls had just entered the warm house when Toni cried out softly, desperately trying not to make too much noise and she almost collapsed, had Cheryl not been holding on so tightly.

"Shh, baby, I've got you. Betty, help me carry her upstairs." The desperation in the redhead's voice scared Betty and she was quick to Toni's other side.

The Blossom-Cooper girls hurried upstairs and into the safety of Cheryl's bedroom, placing Toni on the bed. "Betty, the door."

As the blonde rushed over to close it, Cheryl climbed onto the bed behind Toni, pulling the girl in between her legs and allowing her to lean against her. She wrapped her arms around the serpent and kissed her head. "Cher..." Toni struggled to get her words out as Cheryl stroked her hair. "I know, my love, you're okay now."

Betty appeared in front of them with a damp towel and a first aid kit. "She's too cold. Her body won't stop shaking and her lips are blue!"

The petrified look in Cheryl's eyes was foreign to Betty, accustomed to the heiress's proud and confident attitude.

"Do you have a heated blanket? We should get her into a hot bath then right back in to something warm."

Cheryl nodded and brushed away some of Toni's hair as Betty got to work cleaning the gash on her forehead. Toni's body was almost convulsing at this point and Cheryl worried for her teeth, they were chattering loud enough to be heard on the other side of Thistlehouse.