The Boxer And The Blossom (GxG Cheryl Blossom)

Part 20. The Open Invitation

Cheryl finishes another drink.

"Easy on the whisky maybe?" Although it seems she's far from mine right now, I still care.

That's always been one of my downfalls, some girls would say I never cared enough and they'd be right. Though the girls I did care for, I always will. Relationships end and people leave your life but I'm yet to work out how to stop caring about people. It seems others have it worked out so clearly.

"Don't tell her what to do." Toni frowns disapprovingly at me, she picks the whiskey up and refills Cheryl's cup.

"Or what? Are you gonna rough me up with your leather jacket gang?" I laugh and use my teeth to open a bottle of beer.

Toni's face drops. She makes her way around the kitchen to get in my face. I think she expects me to react or flinch but I couldn't be more still if I tried.

"Look, I don't know what I want but I do know that if you two start fighting then I don't want either of you." Cheryl comes between us and pushes us away from each other.

She has a hand on each of our chests. Toni pulls Cheryl towards her as she leans back against the kitchen worktop.

In the blink of an eye Toni now holds Cheryl's face with one hand and the other on her waist and begins kissing her right in front of me.

I stand speechless for a few seconds before I realise Cheryl is kissing her back. I watch Cheryl's hands perch either side of Toni's face and I walk away.

I catch Betty's eye, who clocks the event going on behind us. I grab the remainder of the bottle of whisky and walk through the living area.

The attractive blonde and brunette that I'd been sitting with earlier are rather intoxicated and excited to see me return although my face couldn't appear less excited if I tried.

They pull me towards them playfully and I begin to kiss the blonde girl. I slip my hand behind her neck and I bite her lip, I can see she enjoys it by the look she gives me as I pull away.

The brunette with dimples and shiny white teeth pulls me down to her mouth expecting the same. I kiss her hard and my fingers find themselves in her hair before I pull it from the root, a deep moan leaves her mouth and I pull away.

They both look too inebriated and attention seeking for me to truly be interested. They ask for my number and I give it to them both before quickly leaving the party.

Betty is waiting for me outside.

"Did you want to come back to mine?" She smiles empathetically and I nod and hand her the bottle of whisky of which she sips from.

We walk in silence for a while before coming up to a small flat, Betty lets us in and I look around.

A one bedroom apartment with some quirky paintings but minimalistic decoration. I sit down on her long L shaped sofa and Betty sits on the other side, we continue to share the whisky.

"What do you make of all this then?" I ask the kind blonde girl who I sit opposite.

"It's hard to say. I know Cheryl and Toni, but I hardly know you. They had their ups and downs, I remember their huge arguments at school, screaming at each other when Toni had been out doing god knows what all night. Toni cheated so many times but Cheryl always forgave her. I know that she wouldn't bring just anyone home, none of us would bring an outsider back to this town if it wasn't serious." Betty shrugs, though her words always seem full of confidence, it's conviction that is lacking in her statements.

"What's with this town, you all seem so caught up on it, as if it has a life of its own?" The burn of whisky down my throat is warming, almost comforting.

"How much has Cheryl told you about her life here?" Betty studies my face and reaches for the bottle.

"Not much, weird family life, they obviously have a lot of money and some strange values." I tell her.

"Cheryl's brother was murdered. It's rumoured he was going to tarnish the Blossom name and they wouldn't have that. It was all very odd. Then more people started dying. Nothing good comes from being in this town. Nothing good comes from the Blossoms." Betty finally says something with conviction.

I'm shocked to hear every word that left her mouth but this makes sense as to why Cheryl is the way she is.

When I wake up, light streams into the living room, my hands still grasp the bottle of whisky and my mouth is so very dry and in need of water.

Betty is still asleep on the sofa, I check the time and it's 5am. I pour myself a huge drink of water and I leave Betty's apartment quietly.

As I order a taxi back to Thistlehouse my brain flicks through the events of the evening.

Arriving at the ridiculously grand house, I'm careful to be extra light on my feet as I sneak into the creaky old home.

The door to Cheryl's room is ajar, pushing it open I half expect to see her bed occupied by another body.

She's asleep, and alone. It seems she also passed out fully clothed, her phone is in her hand and her make up is still intact.
I lay on top of the bed next to her and go back to sleep.

Some hours pass and I feel the bed moving, which brings me out of a deep sleep. Opening my eyes I see a very hungover looking Cheryl, she looks at me with one eye open and the other squinting shut.

"Where did you go last night?" She attempts to speak clearly but her voice is croaky.

"Betty let me stay at her's." I respond and sit up in the four poster bed.

"Her place has one bed, did you.." Cheryl's voice trails off, unsure if she wants to hear the response to the question she instinctively asked.

"You have a girlfriend, you were all over each other the last time I saw you. I believe that leaves me free to do whatever I like." I tell the red head, although nothing like that happened between Betty and I, my point still stands.

"It's just so complicated. Toni and I have so much history, but I want to move on from everything here." Cheryl's shaky hand grabs the bottle of water beside her bed and she drinks almost all of it.

"I need to go for a run or something, I've not worked out since being here." I get out of bed, bored of hearing halfhearted excuses from the girl I'm actually interested in for once.

"We have a gym, down the hall and make a left, keep going till you see the studio." Cheryl gets up and goes to the bathroom, leaving me in the bedroom alone.

I put on an old t-shirt and my gym shorts before taking the directions I was given.