They had finally made it in, and the heavy mahogany wood door of Thistlehouse slammed behind them, shutting out the frigid wind from the blizzard. Toni glanced around Cheryl’s home, surprised to see that it had been decorated for the holiday. There was garland on the stairwell, and a half decorated Christmas tree, to which Cheryl quickly noticed Toni staring at.
“I had planned on finishing it, but never got around to actually doing it.” Cheryl professed.
“I can help you finish it if you want, I just need to put Anthony to bed somewhere.” Toni responded as she looked around for somewhere to put him.
“The nursery room is still up, if you want to use that bed.” Cheryl offered, smiling ear to ear. Toni followed Cheryl into the room, and saw that room had been completely remodeled. It no longer had the gothic red and Black theme. Instead it was filled with blues and grays, and giraffes with abc block letters. Toni smiled at the gesture, and was reminded of the awful things she had said to Cheryl that night. She thought about how if she had handled things differently that night, what her life would look like now. Maybe she would be married to Cheryl instead, and she and Fangs would still be friends, hell maybe even Fangs and Kevin would be together. Things had been hard between her and Cheryl because Toni made it that way. Toni sat Anthony down gently into the crib, careful not to wake him, smiling while she took the time to stare at him in awe as he slept soundly. Cheryl placed an arm over Toni’s shoulder, something that Toni hadn’t noticed at first because it just seemed so natural.
“I wanted to apologize again for what I put Anthony through, I-”
“It's okay Cheryl, I forgive you.” Toni reassured her, she decided against holding grudges and lingering in the past, so instead she just let it all go. They had settled down in front of the fireplace going through the boxes of ornaments, deciding which ones should go on the tree. Toni had found an old picture frame ornament with a picture of Cheryl inside with who she presumed to be Jason.
“You know Cheryl, I wasn’t even aware that you had a Christmas tree.” Toni jokes, as she showed off the cute picture of the redhead when she was younger. “But this is definitely going on.” Toni finished as she placed the ornament in the pile with the others.
“Decorating the Christmas tree was one of very few fond moments from my childhood that I shared with Jay-Jay.” Cheryl responded, still looking down at the ornaments she was going through. Toni saw that remembering her late brother still hurt Cheryl, and Toni was reminded of the hard life she’s lived, and how some of the things Toni had said probably made it worse.
“Cheryl, I'm sorry for the things I said to you the night of the key party, and I'm sorry about manipulating you and leading you on- '' Toni started, but Cheryl quickly hushed her.
“Toni like you said, it’s all in the past. But thankyou for telling me. It means a lot coming from you.” Cheryl responded. They laughed and shared memories as they hung the chosen ornaments on the tree, and when the time came to place the start on top, Toni insisted on doing it. Cheryl sat holding back her laugh as she watched Toni continuously try and fail to place the star on top.
“I don’t know why you're laughing Cheryl, you wouldn’t be able to place it on either.” Toni grunted while standing on her tiptoes with her arm stretched as far as it would go.
“Perhaps, but I wasn’t the one who was so confident about being able to pull it off.” Cheryl countered as she sipped her wine next to the fireplace. Toni sat down next to her, finally giving up and accepting the fact that the tree wasn’t going to have a star. She picked up the bottle of wine and took a swig from it.
“Classy Antionette.”
“Oh I'm as classy as they get, Blossom.” Toni replied and winked at her. When she placed the bottle down, her hand unintentionally was placed on top of Cheryl’s. Cheryl noticed this and stared at Toni with a blank expression, and Toni couldn't really read the situation. The fireplace continued to snap and crackle and the snow continued to fall faster, but Toni and Cheryl stood still just staring at each other longingly.
“Why did you push me away Tt. If you don’t mind me asking?” Cheryl asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Toni thought about it for a second, she wanted to be honest with Cheryl.
“I had a rocky childhood growing up, and I really just wanted Anthony to have better.” Toni started out, staring into the flames, absorbing the warmth it radiated.
“I really wanted me and Fangs to work out, but I knew there was no chance of that happening as long as you were in the picture.” Toni finished, looking back into Cheryl’s eyes trying to read her reaction.
“Because deep down I have always loved you Cheryl.” Toni interlaced their fingers as she spoke.
“It's always been you.” Toni whispered, drawing closer, and she noticed Cheryl tense up, and back away a little. Toni then looked up to notice the mistletoe hanging from the fireplace mantle directly above them, and raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly.
“Wouldn’t you agree kissing under the mistletoe is a bit cliche?” Cheryl joked in an attempt to cut the tension, but Toni leaned in anyway, and the kiss was soft and soothing. She pulled back to see Cherly’s reaction, and was happy to see the redhead smiling back at her.
"Merry Christmas Tt." Cheryl said as she looked over to see the clock struck tweleve.
“Merry Christmas Cher.” Toni whispered before pulling her back in, and deepening the kiss.
Happy Holidays to everyone 😊
YOU ARE READING
If We Had 5 More Minutes
Fanfictionessentially a what if, after season 6, instead of them going back into the past, the story follows the events that happen directly after the comet. this is Choni centered.
