capsize me and douse me in your bay

chapter fifteen

The weight on Toni's chest was unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. Her face scrunched up in displeasure as the sunlight burned through her eyelids, causing her arm to instinctively raise to cover her face. After the long day she had yesterday, she felt like she could sleep forever. And Cheryl apparently felt the same, since she was out cold against her chest.

Toni's lips curled up into a smile as she squinted in the sunlight, taking in the sight of her peaceful expression. Like some kind of Disney princess, Cheryl even slept with a smile on her face like she didn't have a care or problem in the world. She brushed a few strands of bright red hair from her face, freezing when she stirred a bit. But when the younger girl relaxed, Toni did as well, reaching up to rake her fingers through her own hair with a relieved sigh. Yesterday had been a total whirlwind, from finding out Cheryl was a mermaid to her trying to tell her that she loved her. For someone who was used to nothing happening, that was almost too much for Toni. But she was grateful for the quiet time she had now while Cheryl was asleep.

She knew she liked Cheryl as more than a friend. There was no point in denying it anymore. But where were they supposed to go from here? Cheryl was a mermaid. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that mermaids were real, let alone the fact that one was claiming to be in love with her. How were they supposed to make things work between them? They were from completely different worlds.

Would it be any different if she were human?

Biting her lip, Toni thought as hard as her half-asleep brain could. Would it be any different if Cheryl were human? Would she be giving in to the feelings that were so foreign to her, or would she still be keeping them pushed down and making excuses? But this wasn't her usual 'I'm not ready to let someone in' excuse, this was a 'the girl I'm falling for has a tail and lives in the ocean' excuse. Which, unfortunately, was a pretty good argument.

Cheryl was beautiful, kind, adorable...and she could make a root canal seem exciting. Cheryl loved her...or she thought she did. Regardless, Toni saw the way that the redhead looked at her like she hung the stars in the sky. It never failed to send a shiver down her spine and a blush to her cheeks when she would catch Cheryl staring unapologetically. Maybe that's what it was about her. She didn't know what was considered 'normal' on land. It was like she lived in her own little world and assumed everyone around her would be okay with it.

There was a rawness about Cheryl that Toni admired. But she also feared it. She'd seen too much shit in the world to understand how the redhead could possibly have such a innocent outlook on life. She let things roll off her back so easily sometimes. Even with what she had told her yesterday about her brother. He died. He was killed by a human, and yet Cheryl was still positive and forgiving. Meanwhile, Toni was still jaded and bitter about her parents.

It's okay to still be upset over what happened. Everyone processes and grieves differently.

With a deep sigh, the pinkette reached up to rub her throbbing temple with her free hand while the other was gently stroking up and down Cheryl's back over the thin cotton t-shirt she recognized from her closet. As much as Toni loved having the time alone to think, it was way too early for her to be having an internal war like this. Her hunger wasn't helping either.

She carefully slid out from where Cheryl was attached to her side, covering her back up with the quilted blanket as she stirred briefly. Her lip caught between her teeth as she watched her sleep, unable to resist the urge to kiss her forehead. Toni could feel the tingle of electricity in her lips when they met with the warm skin, tearing herself away before she ended up getting back in bed with her.

Her feet padded down the hall after she quietly shut the door, making her way downstairs only to be met with the comforting smell of bacon and maple syrup. And that warm, homey feeling in her stomach spread throughout her whole body when she found Jughead and Betty working so domestically around the kitchen.