76: The One Where Toni's Mom Dies

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CHERYL POV:

Toni hasn't been ok. She's been off. "Is Toni ok?" Veronica ask quietly. "No. Her mom has been in the hospital. She's been off." Toni walks over to us from her locker. "Can we talk?" She ask quietly. I can see it in her face that something is seriously wrong. I take her hand and we go to the gym on the bleachers. "I can't believe I'm about to do this." She paces the top bleachers. "My mom is really sick. I don't have much money left." She walks over to me. I take her hands. She does this cute thing where with one finger at a time she puts light pressure on my palm. She starts with her left pinky and goes from there. "Do you need some money?" I ask quietly. "I'm sorry. It's just I need to pay the hospital bills. I also need you to be there tonight. I just need support." I nod. "Of course." I hug her.

"How much to I owe you?" Toni ask quietly. "A date at pops." I whisper handing her the check. "How is she?" I ask quietly. "They're giving her less than 24 hours." She bites her lip. "Go in there. Tell her somethings you never got to. Say goodbye." I whisper in her ear. "It's now or never." She nods and goes back into the room. She opens and closes the door 3 times. She's really on edge. I take a deep breath and go back to the waiting room. Fangs comes in and he sits next to me. "How is she?" He ask breaking the silence. "Her OCD is acting up. She closed the door 3 times." I whisper. "How's her mom doing?" He ask. "24 hours. I'll be back in a second." I get up and go to the room. I knock on the door. She nods and I come in. It's quiet besides the beeping of the heart monitor. I sit next to Toni and take her hand. Toni does the thing with her fingers. I move hair out of her face. "Have you talked to her?" I ask quietly. She nods. She let's go of my hand and takes her moms hand with both. She lies her head on both of their hands and cries. "Mom, please. I know you're hurting. If you're ready to go it's ok. Just know I love you and I don't know what I'll do without you but I think I'm ready to figure it out." Toni whispers to her mom. Toni cries for a while into her mom. "I love you." She whispers multiple times to her mom. This all breaks my heart. After a hour of sitting here crying. Toni's mom's heart monitor flat lines. I feel my heart drop and shatter at the same time. "No! Mom!" She cries. The nurses run in, I pull Toni back and she cries into me. "Hey you're ok."

It's been a week since her mom died. She got frustrated and tore her trailer apart and ran out. I've been keeping my distance and I know you're probably think that it's probably bad to do that, and you're probably right but I'm letting her come to me. I've been staying with her. She hasn't been to school in since. "Cheryl Blossom to guidance, Cheryl Blossom to guidance immediately." Someone announces to the whole school. I pack my stuff and walk out of class. I go to guidance. "Hello, I was called down." I go to the Secretary. "Miss Antoinette Topaz is on the phone for you." I take a deep breath and pick on the phone. "Baby what's wrong?" I ask concerned. "Can you come home? I don't know if I can be alone right now." I nod and quickly realize she can't see me. "Cher?" I snap back. "Yeah I'll be there do you want me to pick anything up?" I ask quietly. "Tissues." She whispers. "Ok. I'll be there." I whisper. I hang up and walk out. "Cheryl what was that about?" Veronica ask walking over to me. "Toni wants me to be there." I go to the office. "I need to sign myself out." I whisper. "Here you go." I sign myself out. "Is everything ok?" V ask quietly. "Yeah." I whisper. "I'll see you tomorrow." I walk out.

I walk into the trailer and it's been trashed again. "Babe! I'm home!" I yell. I go to the bathroom and she on the floor. I sit down in front of her. I don't say anything, I don't do anything I just sit there until she's ready to talk. "I just don't want to be alone." She whispers. "It's ok." I take her hand. "How about you take a shower and go to pops." I suggest. "Ok." She gets up, takes her clothes off and takes a shower. "Are you still there?" She ask quietly. "Yeah." I tell her. Once she's done we go to Pops. She's silent. "Do you want anything?" I ask quietly. She shakes her head. "You need to eat." She shakes her head. I order, Pop Tate comes back with our milkshakes. "I'm on not hungry." She whispers. I push the milkshake closer. "It's not a food it's a drink." I smile sadly. "Ok." She whispers so quietly I can barely hear her. She takes the milkshake and takes a sip. I take her hand and rub it slowly with my thumb. "Have you called any family? Besides the serpents." She shakes her head. "No. She was my only blood family." She whispers. "My father walked out on us when I was 7, my grandfather died 3 years go, I never knew my grandmother, my uncle hasn't been in my life, I don't even know if he's alive! I have such a fucked up family!" She lies her head on the table. I stroke her hair. "I know." I whisper to her. Our food comes and I eat in silence. "You should eat. Really." I whisper. She sits up and takes some of my fries. She eats them slowly. "You ok?" I ask quietly. She nods. "Yeah. You should have gotten curly fries." She smiles for the first time in a month. "Do you want to order your own?" She nods. "Ok." I wave Pop Tate over and Toni orders. Her food comes back a few minutes later. She scarfs down the fries. "I haven't eaten in a week." She whispers. "Are you ready to go back to school?" I ask quietly. She shakes her head. "Maybe next week." I whisper. "Yeah." I kiss her hand. "Is this the date at Pops I owed you?" She ask quietly. "Yeah." She pulls out her wallet and pays. "Let's go." I get up and reach out for her hand. She takes it and we walk out.

"Toni the service was beautiful. Your mom would have loved it." Toni nods. "Thank you for helping me." She whispers. "Toni i-I'll always be there to help you no matter what happens." I hug her and we slowly walk out of the church. "The serpents are doing something tonight, do you want to go?" She ask me quietly. "Yeah." We walk to the car hand in hand. "Do you feel like you finally said goodbye?" She nods. "I love you." She whispers to me. "I love you too." She smiles. "Finally!" She laughs. "I've been waiting a long ass time to say that to you." She kisses me slowly. I rub her cheek. "I love you and your mother loves you even though she's gone she still here." I hold my hand over her heart. "Here." She nods. "Do you want to go back to school?" She nods. "Yeah. I just don't want to go everyday yet I might just go Monday and Tuesday and see from there. I already talked to my therapist about it. He thinks it's a good idea." I fix her tie because dresses seam to be forbidden to her. "Let's go home. Get change and celebrate your mom." She smiles and we get in the car. We go home and the rest is history.

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