Just Met You | Choni AU

31

It was the best sleep the both of them have had in a while.

Sometime during the night, the window to the trailer had opened and the cold air had made the both of them cuddle closer to each other, embracing in the body warmth.

When they woke up, Toni found herself being protectively wrapped around by Cheryl, who was still sleeping peacefully.

Toni wanted to stretch, but she didn't want to wake Cheryl up, so she just laid there and stared out at the window.

She could also feel that their legs were entwined underneath the covers, and suddenly the thought of being this close to Cheryl, in bed, in a position like this, was making Toni's heart beat a million times faster.

She know they'd been like this the whole night, but both of them were asleep to notice.

Toni awkwardly shifted around, still waiting for Cheryl to wake up.

After a while, Cheryl did.

' Good morning.' Cheryl whispered in Toni's ears, her tone delightful.

' Good morning.' Toni replied in the same way.

Then Cheryl hugged her tighter, which was not good for the thoughts in Toni's mind that she's being trying to not think.

Like what Cheryl would look under those sheets, for example.

' I wish I could stay like this forever.' Cheryl breathed in.

' But we've got school.' Toni replied, awkwardly.

Cheryl laughed then moved to the side, facing the roof of the trailer.

' Since when did Toni Topaz care about school?' She teased.

' Since I realised it was the only place I can actually be with you.'

Cheryl turned her head to face Toni, legs still entwined, bodies still touching.

' You really mean that?'

' Would I lie to you?' Toni smiled.

Then for a minute or two, they said nothing, occasionally staring back at each other.

' Toni? Can I ask you something?'

' Of course.'

' You won't get mad or anything?'

' Okay, now you're making me nervous.'

' Why didn't you want to go to the hospital yesterday?'

Toni  bit her bottom lip, slightly affected by the incoming question.

No one has asked her that, and she hasn't told anyone, except the ones who'd figure it out by themselves.

Cheryl, noticing the uneasiness in Toni's expression, quickly apologised.

' I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -'

' No it's fine. I'm just-'

Toni sighed. She felt tears around her eyes, but blinked them back quickly.

' It's where my mother died.' She said after a while.

Cheryl was expecting something along the lines of that, maybe a friend, since she was in a gang, maybe a relative, but not this.

' I'm sorry.' She said for the second time that morning.

' You don't have to be. I chose to tell you. I haven't told anyone in a long time.'

' What about your father?' Cheryl asked, suddenly realising that she knew nothing about Toni's real family.

Toni, once more, let out a breath.

' He's in jail for shooting the man that murdered my mother.'

Some part of Cheryl regretted asking it, because she could actually feel the hurt in Toni's eyes and the way she'd told her.

It was like she had brought out these painful memories back to her.

But some part of her was glad she did because now she understood her.

They've both lost someone they love.

And Cheryl knows its not easy to accept it.

' I don't really remember much but, my mother was still alive when they brought her to the hospital. I was there. And I was right in front of her when she...'

A few drops of tears managed to get loose, and Toni wiped them away.

Cheryl propped herself on one elbow and gently stroked Toni's head with the other hand.

' Oh TT. ' She managed to say.

Toni cleared her throat.

' So ever since then, whenever I go to hospitals, I keep seeing that scene in my head and I always have a hard time getting over it. One time I had an anxiety attack so bad, they had to admit me, which really didn't do good, because, you know.'

Cheryl nodded.

' I don't like to think about it too much. I've still got the rest of my family.' Toni smiled weakly.

' I wish I could've met her.'

' She would've loved you.' Toni smiled, reassuring Cheryl that she was fine.

' Were you a serpent then?'

' No, I was still kind of young. I joined the day after my dad got sent to prison, when Jug's father took me in.'

After a while, when things got quieter, Cheryl went back to her first position.

' I know what you're wondering.' Toni said.

' What?'

' You don't get over it. You just learn to live with it.'

It was as if Toni had read her mind because that was what Cheryl was thinking.

She was still not over her brother's death. She don't think she ever will be.

Hers was a fresh wound. Toni's was an old one, though Cheryl might have opened it a little just now.

But those wounds hurt the same.

And it never gets better.