// One Night // It Was Always Her

Chapter 36: Claws.

Toni's POV

I was now on my way over to Betty's house. I pulled up at a nice average-sized house. Yep, this is the Coopers' house. It gave me chills to be here at the same house Hal used to live. I walk up to the door and knock on it. The door opens revealing a woman with blond hair in a tight skirt and a jacket. ''Oh, you must be Toni'' She says with a smile. ''That's me'' I answer. ''Welcome, Toni. I'm Alice, Betty's mom'' She greets me. ''Pleasure to meet you'' I say with a smile and she lets me in. 

I walk inside the house and it was clean and organized. Out of nowhere, I see a girl, slightly older-looking than Betty with two babies. She looks up at me and smiles. ''Hi, you're Toni, right?'' She asks me and I nod. ''I'm Polly, Betty's sister and these are my kids, Juniper and Dagwood'' She says. ''Well, it's very nice to meet you all'' I say and she smiles. 

''Toni, please sit down'' Mrs Cooper says and I sit down on the couch. ''Would you like some tea?'' She asks me from the kitchen. ''No, I'm okay. Thank you'' I say and she comes out with a cup of tea for herself and Polly. She also sits down opposite of me. ''I heard what Hal did and I'm so sorry'' She apologises. ''It's fine, Mrs Cooper. Madi's fine'' I say and she nods. 

''Can I ask you something, Polly?'' I ask Polly and she nods. ''Why do the twins have red hair? You have blond hair'' I ask her. ''Their father is Jason'' She says. ''Wait, Jason Blossom?'' I ask her and she nods. 

''Toni, you're here!'' Betty says, standing by the couch. ''Elizabeth, come join us'' Mrs Cooper says. ''Actually, Toni and I have a project to work on'' She says and signals for me to come. I follow her upstairs to her room and it was very, girly. ''Take a seat and we'll begin'' She says and I sit down. 

We had to make a poster about a random object. Our object was a pencil.

After a bit, we fix our last things for our poster. ''And...Done!'' Betty says with a smile. ''Nicely done'' I compliment her on her work. ''Well, maybe we could partner up more often. It's really fun and we get our work done'' She suggests. ''That would be great. Unless Cheryl's in the same class'' I say and she nods.

''I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow?'' I tell her and she nods. ''Wait, is Cheryl coming to the beach tomorrow?'' She asks me. ''I'll ask her and let you know'' I say and she smiles. We go downstairs. ''Thank you for having me, Mrs Cooper'' I thank Mrs Cooper and she nods. ''I hope to see you soon'' She says and I nod. 

''Bye Polly'' I say and she waves. I leave and drive to the Thistlehouse. I walk inside and see Cheryl curled up in a ball while watching TV. She doesn't notice me so I sneak up to her and kiss her head. She turns around and smiles when she sees me. She pecks my lips and makes a sign that she wants to cuddle. ''I'm bored'' She whines. 

''How 'bout I take you out tonight? I can promise you that it's very different from the other dates we've been on'' I tell her and she looks at me. ''It better be good'' She says and I grin. ''Well, I guess you have to be the judge'' I say and kiss her. ''I'll change'' She says and gets up but I grab her wrist. ''Wear pants and a t-shirt'' I tell her and she raises her eyebrow. ''Why can't I wear a dress?'' She asks me. ''We're going on an adventure'' I say and she nods. 

Cheryl comes downstairs and I grab my Serpent jacket. We get in my car and I drive to the Whyte Wyrm. ''Are you kidding?'' Cheryl asks me. ''Wait for it'' I say. Cheryl wants to walk into the entrance but I grab her hand, leading her to the backyard. 

''Are you planning to kill me?'' She asks me.

''Oh my god, why would you think that?'' I ask her and roll my eyes. ''Just a bit further'' I say and we arrive at a huge tree with a ladder on it. I grab a key from my shirt pocket and unlock the ladder. ''Follow me'' I say and I climb up the ladder. She follows me and we arrive at a treehouse with polaroids of Cheryl and me, our friends and family. It was lit with light decorations and I sit down on the edge of the treehouse. ''Wow'' Cheryl says speechless. ''You like it?'' I ask her and she glows. ''I love it'' She smiles, sitting next to me. 

''I'm cold'' She says. ''I told you to bring your jacket'' I tell her. ''Here'' I say and wrap my Serpent jacket around her shoulders. She rests her head on my shoulder and we enjoy the view. ''Did you build this treehouse?'' She asks me. ''Yeah, I come here when I need to clear my mind'' I say and she nods. ''Tones!?'' I hear someone yell. I get up and look to see who it is. It was Fangs. ''yeah?!'' I ask. ''Tall boy is picking a fight again!'' He yells and I groan. ''I swear to god'' I say and Cheryl giggles. ''Stay here, I'll be right back'' I tell Cheryl and she nods. I get down and run inside.

Cheryl's POV

I was waiting for Toni and his treehouse was marvellous. ''Hi'' I hear an unfamiliar voice say. I turn around and see a guy. ''Jesus Christ'' I say and he laughs. ''sorry to scare you'' He apologises. ''I'm Claws Fogarty'' He says. ''Cheryl Blossom'' I reply. ''Are you related to Fangs?'' I ask him and he grins. ''Pretty obvious, right? Fangs and Claws?'' He answers making me laugh. ''So, uh, I hate to break this but who let you in here? It's kind of private'' He asks me. ''Toni let me in'' I reply and he looks a bit surprised. ''He did?'' He asks and I nod. ''Well, you must be special'' He says. ''Well, I am his girlfriend'' I say. ''Yeah, but he never lets anyone else in here except for himself'' He says making me smile.

''Hey Claws, what's up?'' Toni asks, while on the ladder. ''Oh, hey Tones. I was just talking to your girlfriend'' He says and Toni smiles. ''Pleasure to see you, Cheryl'' Claws says and leaves.

Toni's POV

''So what did you two talk about?'' I ask her and a smile forms on her face. ''About how you never let anybody in this treehouse'' She says. ''What can I say? You're my weak spot'' I tell her and she giggles. ''Betty asked me if we were coming to the beach'' I say. ''Yeah, we can go'' She says. ''Are you sure? We don't have to'' I say. ''I'm sure. I wanna have some fun'' She says and I nod. I sit down next to her and wrap my arm around her. She cuddles into my side and I kiss her head. We enjoy the view and talk about other things.

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