Something Borrowed [Choni One Shots]

everybody here wants you, my love [E]

Thistlehouse is eerily still as both girls tiptoe inside of it. It's dark, and the air is thick with a foreboding feeling, like something terrible is lurking somewhere, waiting for its cue to spring up and ruin everything. It's probably because Claudius Blossom is expected to return to Riverdale by the end of the month, but what does Toni know - she's currently freaking out at the ambiguity of Cheryl's invitation. Why, after days of silence, is she suddenly pulling Toni by the hand towards her bedroom?

When she closes the door, Cheryl speaks up for the first time since she asked Toni to come over. "These past few days have been hellish to say the least, but if there's one thing I learned it's that the people you love can be torn away from you in an instant and you have to appreciate them while you're still blessed with their presence."

Toni's failing to comprehend where Cheryl is getting all of this from. "When Fangs got shot, I thought about you. I thought about everything you've been going through with your family, with the constant pressure to pay the bills and all of those dumb expectations your uncle keeps putting on you. It got me thinking...if Fangs on the brink of death was scary, how much worse would I be if it was you instead? And then I started thinking about how I'd just shut down if I ever lost you, and-"

There are at least a million things Toni could have said in reply, but she opted to kiss her instead because if she actually did say anything they would probably be standing there for years. Affection, warm and wholesome and pure, blooms in the dead centre of the brunette's chest; she loves this girl, she loves Cheryl, and she can't convey how much she loves her in just a sentence or two. It's just not possible. There aren't enough words in any vocabulary of any existing language that can fully describe how hard Toni Topaz has fallen for Cheryl Blossom.

But when they pull apart she knows she has to say something, so she says, "I shouldn't have flipped out on you. You don't ruin peoples' lives, Cher. It was such a terrible thing for me to say and I want you to know that I'm really sorry. You do the exact opposite of ruin - well, at least for me." She sighs. "It was stupid of me to get jealous."

She closes her eyes as the redhead reaches towards her to stroke the side of her face. "You wouldn't have flipped out if I wasn't all over Archie like Jughead at a buffet." Cheryl bites her lip, and Toni finds herself transfixed on it. "That was totally not cool and very Old Cheryl of me, and I apologize. I swear, it's never happening again." She pauses again, and the bashfulness in her expression is so adorable Toni has to restrain herself from kissing her a second time. "And if we're talking about jealousy, maybe a part of me got upset because I'm a little envious of you and Jughead."

"Jughead?" Well, that was unexpected. "The only Toni he's in love with is the 1935 film."

"I know," Cheryl grumbles, "But I get annoyed anyway, and I have no idea why. You guys spend so much time together, and there's nothing wrong with that - you're allowed to hang out with your friends - but...there's a part of me that wants you all to myself, and sometimes it's hard to get that part of me to stay in her lane."

Cheryl Blossom, jealous? Of Jughead Jones? How much weirder is this night going to get? Since when was it possible for Cheryl to be envious of anyone? "How can you be jealous?" The brunette takes a few steps closer, narrowing the space between them.

"You're a flower in a field of weeds, Toni Topaz - you're smart, impossibly beautiful, kind, a talented photographer, and you always put others before yourself. You have no idea how special you are." Cheryl's laugh is high and silvery, and Toni remembers how much she missed hearing it. "Why wouldn't I be jealous?"

"Because I'm me and you're you." The brunette mumbles as she clumsily weaves their fingers together. "You're a million kinds of amazing and I'm just kind of a mess."