Roommates | CHONI |

Nineteen

Cheryl was scared and when Cheryl got scared she masked it with anger. She stormed into Veronica's apartment followed by everyone else. Veronica immediately going to the kitchen for the first aid box and pushing everyone into the lounge to get them cleaned up. Cheryl on the other hand stormed into the bathroom slamming the door. 'Do you mind?' Toni asked Veronica silently asking for permission since the raven haired girl had kindly taken them in after the fight. 'Go ahead' Veronica nodded before going into the lounge herself. Toni made her way to the bathroom door and knocked. 'Cher? Please let me in. I'm sorry'. The door swung open, Cheryl was angry and she didn't care who heard. 'You're sorry?' she screamed 'do you know how it felt to stand there helpless as you we're getting the life beat out of you'. 'Cheryl I'm fine' she winced as she shifted her weight on to her other foot. 'Clearly Toni, look at you. What were you thinking!'. 'I was giving that asshole what he deserves, I wasn't going to just stand there while he disrespected you'. 'Toni what you did was stupid and dangerous! You could have walked away!'.

The group were in the lounge trying not to listen to the argument but it proved difficult with how small the apartment was. 'Jesus Red sure is going in hard' Sweet Pea said. 'As she should, look at you guys. Someone could have been seriously hurt what was you thinking?' Veronica said with a raised eyebrow. 'No Serpent stands alone' they all said at practically the same time. 'There was no way we were gonna let Toni take on a group by herself' Jughead shrugged. This wasn't what Veronica was expecting to happen when Cheryl said she was going to meet Toni's friends but she knew what Nick was like and his weird obsession with Cheryl. He probably deserved it she thought, she just hoped this wasn't the end for Cheryl and Toni before it had really even began. Veronica looked around at the familiar and new faces, all of them seemingly relaxed even with the cuts and bruises, this was definitely not their first rodeo. 'Thanks for helping us Veronica' Fangs smiled. She just smiled back 'no problem'.

The redhead and the Serpent we're still arguing, Cheryl on the brink of tears but suddenly stilled her face noticing the blood on Toni's face 'let's get you cleaned up, we'll talk about this later'. She stormed off, Toni following her like a scolded child. When she entered the room full of Toni's friends and Veronica she nodded at them 'thank you for having Toni's back. Nice to meet you all although I'd have preferred it to be under different circumstances' she eyed Toni, who sheepishly smiled before taking a seat. 'No worries Red, we've got T's back' the tall boy smiled. Cheryl grabbed some cloths and disinfectant and moved to sit next to Toni 'this is going to hurt' she shrugged, she didn't want to hurt Toni but if she insisted on getting into fights then this is what had to come after. The redhead tried as gently as she could to clean the wounds but every now and again the Serpent let out a hiss of pain. One of the boys just told her to stop being a baby which annoyed Toni and she flipped him off. 'All done' Cheryl said heading to the bathroom. 'Looks like you're in the dog house Topaz' Sweet Pea smiled 'you did the right thing though'. 'Really? She doesn't think so' Toni huffed. 'Toni she was just scared, that fight was pretty brutal and you were outnumbered' Veronica said. 'I know' Toni sighed. The Serpents cleaned up the mess they had made, thanking Veronica before they had to head home. They promised Toni they'd meet up again so they could properly meet Cheryl.

Just Jughead, Fangs, Veronica, Toni and Cheryl remained in the apartment Cheryl giving Toni complete silent treatment. Veronica tried to start a conversation for them both multiple times but completely failed every time and the tension was running high. 'Toni how are you getting your bike back to campus?' Fangs asked. 'Riding it obviously' Toni answered back. 'I gonna head home, thank you for today Ronnie. Jughead, Fangs I'll see you around' she said as she quickly stood and left the apartment. 'Shit Topaz, she's really pissed at you' Jughead said. 'Just give her time, she'll come around' Veronica smiled. 'I better make sure she gets home safe, Nick could be hanging around. I'll see you guys later' Toni nodded. When she lifted her leg to get on her bike she had to bite back the pain. She started the motorcycle and set off to catch up with Cheryl, unsurprisingly Cheryl had already made it half way on her short journey home. The redhead heard the sound of the engine slowing down behind her until it came to a stop next to her. 'Cheryl? Come on don't be mad at me, I'm sorry okay' Toni pleaded. 'Toni I just need some space please respect that' Cheryl stated her eyes filling with tears as she turned and continued to walk. Toni  jump off her bike as quick as she could to cause less pain and trailed behind Cheryl. She left her bike in the parking lot and tried to jog to keep up with an angry Cheryl. The stairs were a challenge for Toni her ribs ached as well as her stomach and every other part of her body for that matter. She stopped on the third step up 'you go ahead, I'll catch up' she said trying to hide the pain in her face. Cheryl was angry but she couldn't leave her like this. 'Come on, let me help you, the sooner we get to our room the better'. Cheryl wrapped her arm around Toni's middle as gently as she could but Toni still hissed in pain. 'I'm sorry' Cheryl panicked. 'It's not your fault' Toni smiled 'come on' this time she did conceal her pain, for Cheryl's sake.

Once they were locked inside of their room Cheryl turned to Toni 'take off your clothes'. 'What?' Toni seemed flustered. 'Jesus Toni not like that, I need to check your wounds'. 'Oh yeah I knew that'. Toni tried to take off her jeans but it was too difficult. 'Let me help' Cheryl said calmly. Cheryl couldn't hear Toni moaning in pain, the bruises on the Serpents legs had her full attention. She didn't think it could get any worse, that was until Toni managed to take off her shirt. Her body was covering in blue and purple bruises not an inch of her beautiful caramel skin in sight. 'Toni this looks pretty serious we should get you to a hospital'. 'No way, I'm fine it'll clear up in a few days' she took Cheryl's hand 'trust me, I've been in worse states and I'm sorry, I never wanted you to see that side of me'. 'Toni I don't want you to hide a part of yourself from me, just please be careful, I don't want to lose you'. 'Don't worry Bombshell I'm not going anywhere' she placed a sweet kiss on the redheads lips. As soon as Cheryl accepted the kiss Toni deepened it, which Cheryl allowed for a moment but soon pulled away 'we should get you into bed'. Cheryl fumbled around for a shirt for Toni to wear picking the one up she had wore earlier today. She pulled it over Toni's head before heading into the bathroom. 'Here's some painkillers' Cheryl handed them over with a bottle of water. 'Thank you' Toni smiled. Cheryl lowered the girl on to her bed before going to prepare for bed herself.

When Cheryl was getting in her own bed Toni pouted 'why are you all the way over there?'. 'I'm sorry Toni but there's no way I'm risking hurting you in your sleep and please don't try and argue with me on this'. 'Fine' Toni sighed 'can we talk about last night? We haven't really spoken about it yet?'. 'Okay sure' Cheryl blushed. 'How do you feel about everything? Please don't let what happened this afternoon cloud your judgement of me though'. 'Last night was... nice' Cheryl smiled. 'Nice? Seriously? Is that it... nice?' Toni raised an eyebrow. 'Toni I really enjoyed spending time with you amongst other things, I really do like you' the redhead blushed. 'I really like you too, you're beautiful, intelligent, caring and you light up any room. I know I really messed up today but I did have your best interest at heart. I would never let anyone hurt you Cheryl and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. You're the most special person in my life, already and I know it may seem quick...' Toni turned on her side to face Cheryl 'but do you think maybe you could give me a chance? I'd love to call you my mine officially. Cheryl Blossom would you be my girlfriend?' The Serpent sent her a cheeky but hopeful smile. Cheryl drank in every word that Toni had just said, no one had ever treat her with so much love and put her before themselves. She turned on her side to face the pink haired girl 'I'd love to TT' she smiled completely lovestruck, a smile that Toni returned.