Shattered Smiles (A Choni Story)

Chapter 19

Toni's POV
"God," I mutter as I get up from the uncomfortable couch, "It's way too early for this shit."
I look around the living room and next to me I see a sleeping Betty and Sweet Pea. I'm able to check the time on the the microwave from the living room and I see that it's 7:23 in the morning. I decide that in order for us to finish fixing up Thistle House for Cheryl by today, we're gonna need to start moving.
"Betty," I shake the tired blonde next to me.
"Fuck off," she says, half awake.
"Your girlfriend wants you."
"What?" she shoots up, completely awake.
"Nothing, your girlfriend is sleeping but we need to get moving so we can start working on Thistle House."
"That was a shitty move."
"Your fine, c'mon now," I say and walk back to the bedroom to wake up Cheryl and Veronica, trusting that Betty won't just fall asleep again.
"I'm up, god. I'm moving," she calls.
"Go wake up your girlfriend. Do whatever ritual you use to get her up."
"All I do is move her, let her wake up on her own and give her coffee! You guys act like it's the weirdest thing."
"It's cute."
"It's not."
"No it is, you love her."
"Oh my god. Shut up," Betty throws her head back in complaint.
"You're such a baby."
"No I'm not," the girl crosses her arms.
"You are but whatever," I finish and move by Cheryl.
"Morning sleepyhead, you gotta wake up so we can head out," I say rather quietly and shake her shoulders gently.
"But I don't want you to leave me," Cheryl whines and both me and Betty smile when we hear that.
"I'll come back, you're just gonna be with Kevin and Fangs, they miss you too."
"I know," Cheryl sighs and finally gets up off the mattress.
"Hello Grumpy," Betty greets when Cheryl gets up but the redhead just flips her off as she walks to the bathroom.
"Good to see the HBIC slowly coming back," the blonde mumbles.
"It is, it's almost comforting in a sense," I speak with what I assume was a dreamy look because when I finish talking, I see Betty give me a small smile but continue shortly after.
"I don't know, I kinda liked vulnerable Cheryl."
"You're her cousin! You can't just say that."
"I'm her cousin, why can't I say that?"
"Because that was broken Cheryl, that was Cheryl at her worst," I spit at Betty.
"Why are you walking away from me?" I get even angrier as the taller girl walks out of the room with a sleeping Veronica in her arms so I decide to follow her.
"It's like you forgot she was in the room next to us, bozo."
"Shit, I did," I internally curse at myself.
"Yes. Now, I said I liked vulnerable Cheryl. Not because I'm a monster but because the last time I saw her like that was when she was figuring out she was gay and finally came out to me. We were 14, that was years ago. She doesn't allow herself to feel pain but this awful incident just happened to make her. And it forced the two of you to fall even more in love," Betty explains but I scoff when I hear the "love" part.
"Calm down, you already know you love her."
"I can't tell her that."
"Why the hell not? You guys were literally made for each other," the blonde gapes.
I roll my eyes at Betty's statement but follow up with, "She's hurting and I'm not completely sure I'm good for her."
"Ok, you're doing fine. For Cheryl, you're what she needs. Someone to understand her and force her to care for others outside of her little circle."
"Hey," Cheryl says as she peers out of the bedroom, "I'm finished in here. When am I going to Fangs'?"
"Oh, we just need to wake up Pea," I inform her, a little flustered at the thought of her hearing me say I love her but I play the slight blush off as normal.
"Do you think Ava and Amberly will be there?" Betty wonders.
"They live there, I'm sure they will be at their home."
"It is pretty early too on a Sunday, I doubt they have any plans to see people," Cheryl reasons.
"Yeah, I get it, dumb question."
"Ok, I got to go wake up the beast now. Wish me luck," I joke as I walk towards Sweets stretched out on the couch.
"God knows you'll need it," Cheryl almost whispers but I manage to hear it.
"Have fun."
"Thanks Betty," I call, "I wouldn't wanna hog it all though. Care to join me?"
"Hell no. I'll stick with Veronica."
"Chicken."
"You know," Sweet Pea speaks (practically booms with his deep voice, which is most definitely raspier in the morning), "If you wanted to wake me up all you had to do was shake me, right? No need to be so fucking loud."
"Damn, ok. Good morning to you too."
"What are you, hungover? " Betty asks rhetorically.
"It was just one beer."
Betty gasps dramatically which makes Cheryl roll her eyes from behind her, "You are underage. You shouldn't be drinking."
"Shut up. I woke up in the middle of the night, I was bored so I had a smoke and beer while you all were asleep. Nothing too bad."
"What time was this?" Cheryl questions.
"Like 2am. Again, you all were sleeping."
"Oh wow, ok. Can you just go get ready before Betty smacks you upside the head?" I wave my hands towards the bedroom door.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting up," Sweet Pea grumbles as he pushes himself of the couch while Cheryl walks over and takes his space on the couch.
"Good," I nod, "because if we want to get some real work done at all today, we should be dropping Cheryl off soon," I say and glance at the clock in the kitchen.
"I still don't understand why I can't come with you guys," Cheryl rolls her eyes from her seat.
"Because," Sweet Pea begins to explain, "We wanna do something for you and it's a surprise."
"I don't like it."
"We know you don't, that's why you'll be hanging out with Kevin and Fangs. They miss you too ya know," Betty talks.
"Yeah, I miss them too."
"So you get to see them today!" Betty chirps.
"Yay," Sweet Pea says a lot less enthusiastically.
"Joy kill," I mutter.
Sweet Pea scoffs, "I'm going now."
"Hurry up."
"Whatever."
"Leave him alone, cousin," Cheryl responds.
"Fine," the blonde crosses her arms.
"Thank god," I remark, "I thought I would have to be hearing the two of you go back and forth all day."
"Shut up, Toni."
"And you're the one calling people grumpy," I say quieter than before.
"Heard that."
"Why don't you guys play the quiet game?" The three of us in the living room hear a voice say, "Ya know, the game where you don't make so much damn noise."
"Good morning Veronica. How nice of you to join us."
"Good morning to you too, babe."
"So," I start, "we are getting ready to drop Cheryl off."
"Ugh, so this means I have to spend my day working?" Veronica groans.
"Exactly."
"So fun," Veronica grumbles.
"So fun," Sweet Pea repeats as he walks out of the bedroom, "Your turn to get ready Ms. Lodge."
She rolls her eyes when Sweet Pea bows but continues towards the bedroom without commenting.
"So are we having breakfast?" He asks when he makes his way over to the couch, plopping down next to Cheryl, who has arms wrapped around her legs with them tucked under her chin.
"Well, I think you, B, V and I can pick something up on the way to our day job. Cheryl do you wanna eat with us or with Kevin and Fangs?" I ask the girl.
"Just remember," Betty begins with her eyes narrowed, "in the two weeks you were gone, Kevin has been staying with Fangs more often. What I mean is Fangs' trailer probably has a fully stocked pantry."
"Fangs lives with two monsters he calls sisters, his disgustingly large appetite and his mom. He always has a stocked fridge," Sweet Pea reasons.
"His mom is sick, she barely eats," I remind dryly.
"Well I know that but he always carries snacks with him and Amberly can give him a run for his money when it comes to who can eat the most. It only makes sense that his pantry is overflowing."
"A run?" Betty's eyebrows raise, "Hell no. Amberly wins. Literally every single time he challenges her, she wins."
"Interesting," Cheryl speaks up.
"I think Betty meant to say that with Kevin staying over, Fangs is supplied with all the good snacks and not his regular cheap shit," I suggest, waving a hand towards Betty to which she responds with a nod.
"That is true. I went over there not too long ago, this little shit was sitting there eating oreos. Actual oreos, not the generic. He said Kevin gave him 5 whole packages of the double stuffed ones because he briefly metioned they were his favorite on a date," Sweet Pea scoffs.
"That's so cute," Betty beams.
"Yeah," Cheryl slightly smiles.
"Wow, and he didn't tell me?" I cross my arms.
"Babe, let him have his gift to himself," Cheryl adds.
"Fine," I grumble, "what is taking Veronica so long?"
"I'm gonna go rush her."
"Really Betty?"
"Hell yeah Sweet Pea, I love bothering her," she confirms her plan as she walks towards the door.
"How has she not broken up with you yet?" Sweet Pea utters.
"Because she's nice, unlike you, " Betty points an accusing finger at the boy from across the room, "You're a meanie."
"A meanie?" Sweet Pea asks, his voice noticeably deeper with his confusion which makes Cheryl and I chuckle.
"Don't take it to heart, Pea," I reply when I see his face plastered with perfect mixture of genuine perplexity and slight irritation, "Betty uses 5 year old speak, she doesn't mean it."
"No, you're just mean," Betty huffs from her place in front of the bedroom door, when it swings open and nearly hits her.
"Whoa, sorry, I didn't think anyone was gonna be out here," Veronica quickly apologizes.
"You're fine," I answer before Betty can speak, "Let's get going. We'll take the truck."
"Cheryl, you eating at Fangs'?"
"Yeah, I guess he has the good snacks."
"I'll just have to raid his pantry then," Veronica shrugs.
"No, no raiding of any pantries," Betty scolds.
Veronica scoffs but silently agrees.
"Ok, it's almost 8 now. Let's get going because I want to be done with this surprise by today," I announce and start pushing Veronica towards the door.
"Hey!" she yelps and slaps my arm.
"Calm down, go," I order.
Betty, Cheryl, and Sweet Pea all take the hint and walk outside themselves.
"Where's the truck?" Sweet Pea questions me.
"I'll bring it around. Just wait."
I jog around the trailer and spot my truck, I pull out my keys and unlock it.
When I pull up in front of the trailer of Pea's trailer, the four of them jump in. Except Veronica, who was somehow convinced to take Sweet Pea's spot in the very back of the truck.
"You know," Sweet Pea starts, "Fangs lives in this trailer park, too. If you are so worried about being late to start whatever project you want to work on, we could've left earlier and Cheryl would've been able to walk over."
"A teenage girl walking around a southside trailer park alone? Does that sound like a good idea?"
Sweet Pea shakes his head when he realizes the flaw in his statement.
"Exactly."
"I could've just stayed a Pea's trailer alone," Cheryl says.
"True but why spend your day alone when you have two friends who haven't seen you in weeks and their sisters," Sweet Pea points out.
"Unless, you don't want to see them," I add, cautiously, not meaning to pressure Cheryl and realizing I might have been doing that this whole time.
"No, no, it's fine. I think I'll be fine. I should be around good people right now, I guess."
"You are correct in saying that. We're here, anyway."
"That was quick," Betty claims.
"They live like 7 trailers away, of course it was quick," Sweet Pea says.
"So," I turn to Cheryl, "Do you want one of us to walk with you up to the trailer or something?"
"I don't think that's necessary," she snickers.
"What's so funny, Red?"
"Kevin's waiting for me, he looks like a tired mom," Cheryl points to Kevin sitting in a white plastic yard chair in front of the trailer.
Betty, Sweets and I crowd around Cheryl's window and Sweet Pea starts cackling.
Kevin is wearing a fuzzy, maroon colored robe and holding a giant mug which I assume contained tea. Kevin hates coffee with a passion yet he makes jokes about needing coffee often which confuses us all.
"I bought Fangs that robe," I mumble.
"Well it belongs to Mother Kevin now," Betty says which doesn't help Sweet Pea's laughter.
"Ok, we'll pick you up later Cheryl."
"Alright, bye guys," Cheryl responds and hops out of the car, walking towards Kevin.
Sweet Pea moves closer to the window, taking up the space Cheryl previously was and rolls it down.
"Hey Kev!" Sweet Pea yells, startling Kevin but when the boy in a robe realizes that it's just Sweet Pea saying good morning, he smiles and waves.
Betty and I smile back at him then I roll the window back up. Veronica hops out of the back before I continue driving and pushes Sweet Pea out of Cheryl's previous spot.
We all settle in the truck and I start driving out of Sunnyside Trailer Park. We've been on the road for a couple of minutes before I see Betty's hand sneaking towards my radio, trying to turn it on.
"No," I swat her hand away and she snatches it to her chest quickly.
"Ugh," Veronica groans from the right side of Sweet Pea, "You are such a hard ass."
"Yeah, why can't we listen to music?" the black haired boy next to her asks.
"Because, it's too early in the fucking morning to listen to Shakira," I hiss.
"Well you play your music too loud, always," Betty huffs.
"Yeah Toni, some of us didn't wanna listen to Green Day on full blast at 3am," Sweets crosses is arms.
"You lived," I roll my eyes at him.
"Barely, I'm glad you moved in with Cheryl. I failed chemistry because I fell asleep during a test."
"Cheryl isn't much better, she was always on twitter until whenever she felt like sleep was necessary. Which was never."
"You are the same, blasting rock and making fucking mac and cheese at night," Veronica scolds me.
"Wait she did that with you too?" Sweet Pea looks shocked.
"None of you are special," I interrupt Betty before she could reply, "I did that with all three of you."
"It was a sleepover," Betty grumbles.
"It was a dinner party I invited her to, she stayed the night that day. Found her cooking in my kitchen at 1 that morning."
"It was almost every night I lived with her."
"She can't cook without music, she woke up my mom."
"Not Ms. Cooper," Veronica gapes.
"Oh yes Ms. Cooper, who do you think I ate it with?" I smirk.
"Jesus Christ," Sweets groans.
"You guys can stop complaining now, the drive's over."
"Oh yay!" Veronica claps her hands together.
"Wait, why are we at Thistle House?"
"Because, you guys," I drawl out my sentence as I hop out of the truck, the other three following suit, "We're gonna clean it up for Cheryl so we can move back in."
"See I knew we were doing something for Cheryl as a surprise," Sweets started, "but I actually had no idea what we are doing. How are we getting in?"
"Cheryl gave me a key just in case she lost her own. And even if locks were changed, I grew up in a gang, I know how to pick a lock," I assure.
"What about her Clifford and Jason?" Betty asked.
"We'll figure out a way to get them to leave. They aren't around often anyway."
"Um ok, well what are we doing now?" Sweet Pea questioned curiously.
"Literally what I just said, clean up the house!" I exclaim.
"For what? Again, Jason and Clifford are still here. I seriously doubt that they'd enjoy your precense in their home," Betty accuses.
"That's for me to worry about, I'll deal later.
"Ok, fine. Whatever. So," Betty turns around to address Sweet Pea and her girlfriend but pauses.
"Is everything ok?" I question when I turn back around, away from my truck's mirror.
"They ran away," Betty mutters.
I look over by the barn on the Blossom property and see Sweet Pea and V playing a tag game.
"Tag? Really?"
"Well, they're probably bored, Betty. They're gonna be cleaning all day anyway, it'll be fine."
"What are we cleaning anyway?"
"I trashed Cheryl's room last time I was hear, I told you this."
"Did you talk to her about that?"
"Breifly. I don't think she really cared about the material items. It should be ok."