Choni One Shots pt: 2

208: The One Where Cheryl is in Denial

TONI POV:

I walk into the small kitchen. I pour the coffee and look at Cheryl. "You think you want to go home?" I ask putting the mug in front of her. "He'll come home." She says quietly. I take a deep breath. "Cheryl, Jason has been missing for 3 days. I know you want to believe he'll come home, but you have to at least prepare yourself for him not to and if he does, you have to prepare yourself for the worse." She looks at me. "I'm sorry, but you need start preparing for the worse." I whisper. "I'm good." I nod.

I watch as they drag Jason's body out of the water at Sweetwater. I look at Cheryl who's clearly in denial. She has been for 2 weeks. I don't know how much longer that's gonna last. It takes Cheryl a long time to process what happens in a lot of situations. I take a deep breath and put my hand on her shoulder. She doesn't say anything she just walks back to her car. I look at Cheryl's mom. "I'm sorry." I whisper not knowing what else to say. "Just please be there for Cheryl when she realizes what happened." I nod. I go up to the car and get in next to her. I drive off and bring her to the trailer. The ride is quiet. I wish it wasn't but I know that's what Cheryl needs. I take a deep breath as we go inside. "You ok?" I ask concerned. She nods. "I'm gonna go to bed, it's been a long day." I nod.

I walk out of the bedroom and see Cheryl getting ready. "Where are you going?" I ask quietly. "School." She says like nothing happened yesterday. Like her brother wasn't just found dead! "Cheryl you need some time to process what happened." I say quietly. "Toni, I'm fine." She says quietly. "Cheryl..." I whisper. "Just stay home today." I say quietly. "Why?" She ask. "Because Jason is dead and you need time to greave!" I say pissed. "There's nothing to greave." She says quietly. "Jason is dead... and there's nothing I can do about it." She says starting to realize what happened. Her eyes widen. "Jason's dead." She says quietly. She tries to catch her breath. I run over to her as she collapses to the floor. I hold her as she cries. I don't know how long we are on the floor but it was dark out by the time she finally fell asleep. I pick her up and bring her into the bedroom.

Betty looks at Cheryl. "She hasn't gotten out of bed in 3 days, I don't know what to do." I whisper. "She had a breakdown the morning after Jason was found and she hasn't gotten out of bed." I add. She looks at me. "I'm more afraid she's gonna get a kidney infection or something." I whisper. "I don't think she's peed in 4 days." I say quietly. "I thought she's been in bed 3 days." I nod. "The day Jason was found, she just went straight to bed and didn't get up until the next morning." She nods. "I don't know what to do." I whisper. "You know her better than me." She takes a deep breath. I look at Cheryl. "Has she been awake?" I shrug. "She's been in and out." I whisper. "She's clearly depressed." I say. "I just don't know how to help her." I whisper. "Just be there for her and make sure she doesn't do anything serious. I can call my therapist and see if she can send someone here to talk to her and maybe give her something just to get out of this funk." I nod. "Try to get her out of bed and make sure she eats. And pees apparently." I nod again. "Thank you." I whisper. She nods. "I have to head to school, I'll come back after." She whispers. I look at her. "Ok." I smile sadly. "How are her parents doing?" I ask quietly. "They're handling it better than Cheryl is." I nod. "How are you doing?" I ask concerned. "Better now that we actually know where he is." I nod. "Polly?" I ask quietly. "Same as Cheryl, completely devastated." She whispers.

I walk out of the trailer and pull out a cigarette out of my pocket. I look at Sweet Pea. "How's she doing?" He ask as I light the cigarette up and smoke it. "Better! She actually got up to use the bathroom today." He nods. "How are you doing?" He ask. I look at him. "Fine why?" I ask confused. "Because I know you guys were friends." I take a deep breath. "I think I know who killed him." I whisper. "It was Clifford." I add. "Why do you think that?" He ask confused. "I was talking to Betty last night and apparently Clifford specifically isn't to phased my any of this." I explain. "Also he knew Jason was gonna try and take over the family business." I whisper. "What about Cheryl?" I look back at the trailer. "She doesn't want it. Before all of this, Cheryl and I were thinking about skipping town and starting a family." I explain. "What about college?" I shrug. "Cheryl was gonna drop out." I say quietly. "How far away?" He ask quietly. "Maine. My aunt is up there." He nods. "The cool one?" I smile. "Yeah." He smiles. I take a deep breath. I finish my cigarette. "I'm gonna head back inside, it's fucking cold out." He walks away and I go back inside. I walk into the bedroom. "You ok?" I ask Cheryl. She looks at me and shrugs. I nod. "If you want to talk we can." She shakes her head. "Not right now." I smile sadly. "Do you still want to get out of this town?" She ask quietly. I shrug. "Yeah!" I nod. "After the funeral, I think we should go and than maybe look back in a few months." I smile. "I like that." I whisper. "What are you gonna do with the trailer?" She ask quietly. "Keep it. Just in case." She nods. "Shit hits the fan?" I nod. "Shit hits the fan." She smiles a little the first time in a while actually. I look at her. "You should take a shower." I whisper. She nods. "In a minute." I nod and pull her into a kiss. "I love you." I whisper. She smiles. "I love you too." I smile.

I finish packing everything into the truck and close the trunk." I look at Cheryl who walks out of the trailer. "Ready?" I ask quietly. She nods. "Did you call your aunt that we're heading up?" I nod. "Yeah! She's expecting us." She smiles. "Your parents didn't try to talk you out of this at the funeral right?" I ask. She smiles. "No, they did tell me that once we finally get our own place they will send some of Jason's stuff up." I smile. "Like they aren't trying to kick me out of Riverdale or anything but they understand that living here is to hard for me." I nod. She looks at me. "They asked why you were so happy to get out of here." She says quietly. I look at her and take a deep breath. "I never really had a lot of time to make much of a dent here." I say quietly. She look at me. "That's not as depressing as I made it sound." I say. She smiles. "I just realized something!" She says standing up straighter. "What?" I ask confused. "Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary." I nod. "Are we supposed to do anything?" I ask quietly. She thinks for a second. "We can drive up to Maine." She suggest. "There's a place that has some really good sea food that I would like to take you." She looks at me. "I don't eat sea food remember?" I nod. "Do you want to go to Pop's before leaving then? I'll pay." She nods. "I like that."