capsize me and douse me in your bay

chapter seventeen

The bright sunshine streamed through the curtains of Toni's old bedroom, forcing the pink haired girl out of her slumber. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept in on a Monday. Even as a teenager, if she wasn't getting up early for school, she was working sunrise shifts at Pop's over the summer to make some of her own money since she wasn't allowed access to the money her parents left her until she turned eighteen. She was just glad that even through all the chaos of the weekend, she remembered to email her boss that she wouldn't be going into work today.

Today was her day to work out a plan for herself. She had to go back to the city to get some of her things and start packing. But god forbid Veronica was there, she didn't want to take Cheryl with her and put her through whatever drama was bound to go down at the apartment.

She realized quickly that the redhead was missing. As of lately, Toni was getting used to waking up with the younger girl cuddled up to her side or laying on her chest. But now, she was nowhere to be found.

"Cher?" she say up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, glancing around the bedroom with her eyebrows knit together. She threw the covers off and did a quick stretch before getting up to look for her. It made her a little nervous, considering last time she went looking for Cheryl like this, she had run away without a trace. She couldn't exactly get lost in the city this time, but the ocean was right in the backyard and let's face it, that was her home.

Padding down to the first floor, Toni looked around, not hearing any sign of life even in the house. She knew that F.P. and Jughead were both at work this morning, but where would Cheryl be? "Cheryl, where are you?" she called out, going back upstairs. She checked the bathroom, Jughead's room, even the hall closet. The only place in the house she hadn't looked yet was F.P.'s room. She doubted Cheryl would be in there, but it was worth a shot to look.

She opened the door to the master bedroom, peering in to look around for the head of flaming red hair with no luck. She was starting to panic as she stepped into the room, walking around the dirty clothes on the floor on her way to the en suite, her last hope.

"Oh, shit, sorry," she jumped back and averted her gaze as soon as she walked through the door. She was hoping that if she found Cheryl she would calm down, but walking in on the girl in the jacuzzi tub with her chest bare and her tail out only made her heart rate go up. "I'll, um...I'll leave you alo-"

"It is okay, Toni," the mermaid smiled and moved to lean against the side of the bathtub, folding her arms over the edge as she giggled up at the flustered woman.

"What are you, um...what are you doing in here? This is my uncle's room and there's a bathroom across from my room you could've used," she mumbled awkwardly, trying not to stare at the iridescent tail that, if it had eyes, would be staring right back at her.

"I am sorry. I did not want to wake you," Cheryl bit her lip with a bit of guilt etched on her face, "And the other bath was too small."

"Oh...okay," she nodded, standing with her arms folded over her chest, casting her eyes to the floor. That was the safest option right now. She knew Cheryl was a mermaid, it's not like she was surprised to see her with a tail. But the only other times she'd seen her with a tail before were when she was drowning as a kid and right before she fainted two days ago. Now she had the chance to get a good look at the redhead's truest form, but she just couldn't bring herself to look at it.

"Toni?"

"Hm?"

"I am going to return home," her voice was quiet and meek, like she was afraid of what Toni's reaction would be.

The pink-haired girl's head snapped up and stared straight at her. Suddenly the tail wasn't her biggest concern anymore. "What? Why? I-I mean, I thought you wanted to stay here," she crossed the bathroom to sit on the lid of the toilet seat, "Not that I wanna force you to stay or anything but I-"