i have travelled the world (and there's no other girl like you)
Still, there was something absolutely magnetic about Cheryl Blossom, and Toni couldn’t help but feel her almost irresistible pull.
7 times when Toni found herself falling in love with Cheryl, and 1 time when she said so.
There’s something fascinating about seeing something you don’t like at first but directly know you will love – in time. … You shy away but know there are gratifying secrets there, and the half-open door is often more exciting than the wide.
Toni has done the flag-waving at many drag races (some might say too many), and it’s almost second nature to her by now. This time, though, when Toni walks over to the starting line from where she’s standing next to Sweet Pea, she isn’t the only one. Toni sizes the other girl up (read: checks her out) and her brain practically short-circuits, because damn. Toni is awestruck because this woman (Toni thinks that it would be an insult to refer to someone as refined as the redhead as a mere girl) is gorgeous. Of course, that probably means that she won’t give Toni the time of her day.
Toni has been known to catch feelings really easily. It’s a topic that’s been covered time and time again with the Serpents (“Toni, you useless bisexual,” Sweet Pea chuckles after she tells them about the latest person she scared off. “You are a mess,” Fangs agrees, snorting). This may be why the three words it takes some people months, even years to say are already on her mind.
Thankfully for Toni (she didn’t think that she’d be able to show her face anywhere in Riverdale ever again if she embarrassed herself that badly, in front of the Ghoulies and the Northsiders, no less), she manages to instead say, “I usually do the honours.” That argument sounds weak even in her head, but it was the best she could come up with at the time.
“Not today, Cha Cha,” the ginger bombshell responds dismissively, barely glancing at Toni as she strides confidently past the Serpent. Said Serpent obeys the Northside goddess’ unspoken command to go away, and as she retreats to the spot where Sweet Pea and Fangs are standing, Toni finally puts two and two together. She groans aloud, mentally smacking herself for not getting it earlier. The fiery-haired beauty with a temper to match fits all of Jughead’s descriptions of Cheryl Blossom, HBIC of Riverdale High (“She’s the worst. Cheryl never has a nice word for anyone. Plus, she doesn’t even try to hide her hatred of the Serpents, even though she knows my dad didn’t really kill her brother,” Jughead complains one day. “He did help cover up the murder, though,” Toni rationalizes. “Even so, FP doesn’t represent all of the Serpents,” Jughead insists. This turns into an argument that has very little to do with the Blossom family, and Toni soon forgets about Cheryl). Toni is at once even more grateful that she hadn’t let her emotions rule her brain and decides that she’d better avoid the Blossom in case of any future slip-ups.
Yes. This was the best and most reasonable options, and it would probably save her from a lot of unnecessary heartache.
Still, there was something absolutely magnetic about Cheryl Blossom, and Toni couldn’t help but feel her almost irresistible pull.
2. When the Serpents Transferred to Riverdale High.
With the shutting down of Southside High, the Southside students are now going to be attending Riverdale High. As soon as they walk in, Serpent jackets and all, they are greeted by two Northsiders Toni only knows from Jughead’s stories, Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge, as well as a few others (Kevin Keller, who Toni recognizes because he used to date Joaquin, and Josie McCoy, former leader of Josie and the Pussycats, are another two that stand out). Toni is only half-listening until she hears a familiar voice and her head snaps up at the sound.
“Stand down, Eva Peron.” Dressed in red from her dress to her lipstick, the young Blossom strolls down the stairs like she owns the place. A pretty (but likely conceited) jock is by her side, and Toni feels a twinge of… jealousy?
Toni had done so well sticking to the promise she made to herself to not see Cheryl Blossom that she had nearly forgotten their encounter. However, the moment that she laid eyes upon the Blossom again, everything came rushing back to her, and Toni was smitten anew.
Jughead mutters something about school spirit, but Toni isn’t listening to him. Her attention belongs to Cheryl Blossom alone.
“Cheryl… No one invited Fascist Barbie to the party,” Veronica greets her, and Toni half-smiles, gaining a new level of admiration for the former New Yorker.
“Wrong, Veronica,” Cheryl shoots back. “No one invited Southside scum to our school.” At this, Toni’s smile turns into a frown. Jughead definitely wasn’t wrong about the Blossom despising the Serpents.
“Listen up, ragamuffins,” the ginger addresses them next, and Toni turns her head to face her. “I will not allow Riverdale High’s above average GPA to suffer because of classrooms that are overcrowded with underachievers. So please, do us all a favour and find some other school to debase with your hard-scrabble ways.” While Cheryl has been making this speech, Toni has been becoming angrier and angrier, her thoughts all becoming along the lines of either ‘fuck her’ or 'I want to fuck her.’ Because although there is nothing Toni finds more attractive in a woman than backbone and assertiveness, the Southside Serpents are her family. So she spits out, “Why don’t you come over here and say that to my face?” Toni advances towards the Northsider, becoming increasingly aware of the sexual tension in the air.
“Happily, Queen of the Buskers,” Cheryl replies without hesitation, also approaching her, and Toni isn’t sure whether she wants to kiss Cheryl or punch her. Unfortunately (or fortunately, because it could’ve ended very badly), Archie steps between them and tries to make some sort of peace. Toni doesn’t hear anything he says, her ears ringing and her eyes fixed on her new enemy/possible love of her life.
3. Their Conversation in The Bathroom.
Things for Toni have been awfully quiet on the Cheryl front since the day she transferred to Riverdale High, and Toni doesn’t know whether she’s relieved or disappointed. She finds herself unconsciously searching the halls for the redheaded cheerleader sometimes and wonders why exactly she’s trying to find the Blossom girl. For all of her wondering, Toni still cannot come up with a reasonable explanation. It seems almost fitting, though- an unreasonable attraction to an unreasonable girl.
The next time she sees Cheryl is a coincidence – they happen to be at the same place at the same time – and it almost feels like the universe is laughing at her. When Toni makes an effort to look for Cheryl, she is nowhere to be found, but the one time she isn’t, there Cheryl is.
Their conversation is an accident too- it wouldn’t have happened if Toni wasn’t listening in on Cheryl’s phone call, and Toni usually doesn’t eavesdrop, but in her defence, it was hard not to hear Cheryl.
Toni exits the stall after Cheryl hangs up (and as soon as Toni sees her, she decides that she had most definitely been disappointed when she hadn’t had a Cheryl sighting, because why else would she be so cheerful now?) and washes her hands casually, trying to act like she hadn’t just absorbed every detail of the Blossom girl’s talk with Jughead.
“Did you just tell Jughead that Archie and Betty kissed?” Toni inquires rhetorically, trying to sound indifferent even though her heart is pounding from Cheryl’s close proximity (What is going on? Toni asks herself. She’s never gotten this worked up over anyone before).
“Yes. So what if I did?” the Blossom answers immediately, sounding just as apathetic as Toni wished she herself did.
“Did you at least have a reason?” Toni asks next, turning towards Cheryl.
“Oh, that’s right. You’re new here,” the taller girl remembers, also pivoting to face Toni. “Hi! I’m Cheryl Blossom, aka Cheryl Bombshell, which means… I need no reasons. I simply… am. Feel free to tremble.”
Toni certainly feels like trembling right now, but not for the reasons Cheryl “Bombshell” might think. So although she wants to melt into a gay-ass puddle at the ginger’s feet, Toni blurts out, “I have a better idea,” as if saying it aloud will make it true. She clings to the strap of her bag like it’s the last thing tethering her to sanity.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you, because clearly… You’re in a lot of pain,” Toni continues, taking a chance and placing her hand on Cheryl’s arm. Cheryl looks at said hand like it’s a personal insult to everything she stands for.
“Get your sapphic Serpent hands off of my body!” she hisses, slapping Toni’s arm away and storming out of the bathroom.
Far from being scared off, said 'sapphic Serpent’ stands there with a small smirk spreading across her face because she knows something about the Blossom girl that Cheryl might not have even realized about herself.
That was the gayest panic Toni has witnessed in a while, and Toni is making it her mission to get Cheryl Blossom to come out of the closet.
4. Seeing Love, Simon At The Movie Theatre.
Toni waits outside the theatre, lost in thought. The majority of it is about the closet case known as Cheryl Blossom and the conversation they had earlier that day, but occasionally a 'where the hell is Fangs?’ flits across her mind. That question is finally answered when Toni’s phone buzzes, startling her and breaking the peaceful silence. She fumbles it out of her pocket and glances at the screen.
Fangs: I can’t make it to the movie. Something else came up.
This is usually a euphemism for 'Sweet Pea and I are going to have sex,’ but just to be sure, Toni texts him back.
Toni: 'Something else came up.’ Was it Sweets’ penis?
A few seconds later, the phone vibrates again with his response.
That’s a yes, then. She lets out a sigh and finally pushes the door open. Don’t get her wrong, Toni’s happy for the two of them, but sometimes she just feels like a third wheel.
She looks around, trying to find someone else she knows to sit with, and then – jackpot. Cheryl Blossom, here to see Love, Simon? Toni silently thanks the universe for yet another opportunity to learn more about this complex human being (I know I thought that you were laughing at me before, but now I see that you ship us too) and heads over.
“Let me guess…” Toni begins. “A cherry cola for Cheryl Bombshell.”
“My god, what do you want? And why do you keep stalking me?” Cheryl asks, already irritated. Toni feels a pang of sadness at the clear rejection but is still quick to refute her accusation.
“I’m not. I came to see this movie with Fangs, and he bailed on me,” she explains, and Cheryl looks almost… apologetic?
Lowering her voice, Toni adds, “Are you okay?” The Blossom girl opens her mouth and Toni’s heart leaps at the thought of Cheryl finally opening up to her.
“I’m alone at the movies and I’m trying to stay away from my mother, who has turned our house into her sexual playpen,” the Northsider answers, and Toni’s mouth falls open slightly. “So, no, I am really not.” The pink-haired Serpent takes a risk, putting it all out there.
“Oh, I was going to grab a seat alone, unless you want some company,” she offers gently. “But… no pressure.” Cheryl smiles at her, takes one last sip of her drink, and follows Toni into the movie theatre. It takes almost everything Toni has to not grin like an idiot (she’s making progress!). Somehow, she manages, and the pair finds two empty spots just as the movie begins.
Love, Simon is even better than Toni hoped (then again, the fact that Cheryl is sitting next to her the whole time doesn’t hurt). She thinks about texting Fangs something taunting after it ends, but all of her ill thoughts disappear when she glances over at Cheryl Blossom, Ice Queen extraordinaire, and finds her crying.
At this rare sight, Toni feels like the post-saving-the-presents-from-going-off-the-cliff Grinch, her heart growing three sizes. She experiences a rush of affection for this girl, who she hardly knows but is already falling for.
5. Their Conversation at Pop’s Diner.
After the movie ended, this new, subdued version of Cheryl allowed Toni to take her to Pop’s and buy her a milkshake. Now, they sit at the counter, the Blossom girl stirring her strawberry milkshake with her straw.
“Now, you may think you’ve mastered the art of silent tears, but I saw you crying during that movie, Cheryl,” Toni admits.
“I never cry at movies. Real life’s tragic enough,” Cheryl responds simply and without any force. “But when Simon’s mom said he used to be such a carefree kid growing up, and then, at a certain point, he stopped being that happy kid because he was hiding a secret, just…” Her voice breaks.
“Cheryl-” Toni starts, concerned, but Cheryl isn’t finished.
“Everyone thinks I’m this loveless monster, but it isn’t true,” the redhead protests. “I loved someone who loved me.” There’s a bittersweet expression on Cheryl’s face as she remembers. “My mother destroyed it.”
“You mean your brother, Jason?” Toni guesses. “I heard how close you guys were.” But the Northsider shakes her head.
“No, not JJ,” she corrects Toni. “Her name was… Heather.” Toni’s heart soars as her suspicions are confirmed. She has a chance with Cheryl Blossom.
But right now, Cheryl needs comfort, so the Serpent keeps her face neutral.
“She was my best friend in junior high. She used to sleep over every weekend, until one night, my mother caught us in the same bed. She said I was… deviant,” the Blossom girl confesses. Toni is left desperately searching for something, anything she could say to make Cheryl realize that she deserves family and friends that care about her and don’t make her think that her sexuality is something to be ashamed of, relationships that build her up instead of knocking her down, and all the love in the world.
She deserves me, a small voice in Toni’s head whispers. I would give her everything.
“Cheryl, I am so sorry. But you have to know your mother’s wrong,” she insists, so full of sureness and conviction in her words. “You’re not loveless, you’re not deviant, okay?” At this, she grabs Cheryl’s hand, her heart on her sleeve. “You’re… sensational.”
Toni hasn’t gone to many sleepovers – growing up, her two best friends were Fangs and Sweet Pea, and the only times she slept over at their places were when she got kicked out of her trailer. Because of this (as well as Cheryl’s utter unpredictability), Toni wasn’t sure what to expect when Cheryl invited her and the rest of the 'inner circle Vixens’ to a “mandatory slumber party.”
The sleepover is even stranger than Toni had expected. First, they sit in a line and brush each other’s hair (Is this a strange activity for a slumber party, or is it just me? Toni ponders). Then, after they’re finished, Cheryl gets to her feet.
“Inner circle, Cousin Betty, I didn’t just bring you to Thistlehouse for a girlish slumber party,” she begins, looking distressed. “The truth is, I’m terrified of being alone here. There’s a stranger in this house: my Uncle Claudius. He’s as mad as the sea, and ever since he blew in I feel like I’m in mortal peril.”
Toni is filled with equal desire to protect Cheryl (what the hell? She’s never been this possessive before) and puzzlement. Is this another game (with Cheryl, who can tell)?
To clarify, she replies, “Wait, I’m confused. Is this real, or are we playing a game?”
“All too real, TT,” the Blossom girl answers. Toni’s heart swells a little at the nickname (Not the time, Topaz, she scolds herself).
“I fear they’re plotting against me and Nana Rose. Mumsy cultivates esoteric herbs in the conservatory: tannis root, jimsonweed… I’m afraid to eat for fear of being poisoned,” Cheryl worries.
“Cheryl, are you sure you’re not imagining things?” Josie asks carefully, and Toni frowns before she can stop herself. She herself has only known Cheryl for a very short time, but she still trusts Cheryl’s judgement and she knows that Cheryl would never lie about anything this big. Actually, Cheryl doesn’t really lie about anything. It’s one thing that Toni’s always admired about Cheryl: she’s honest to a fault. If you ask her a direct question, she’ll answer truthfully.
Toni wonders why the rest of Cheryl’s inner circle, who have known her for much longer than she has, don’t seem to know Cheryl at all.
While Toni has been pondering the implications of Cheryl’s other 'friends’ not trusting her enough to know when someone is dangerous, Betty has added something to the conversation. Whatever it is that she said, it seems to have been in agreement with Cheryl, so at least not all of them think that Cheryl’s going crazy.
After that, the conversation seems to have ended. Cheryl moves on to sleeping arrangements, immediately deciding that Josie, Veronica, and Betty will be sleeping on the floor and she and Toni will be sleeping in the bed. Toni’s heart jumps a little at this, wondering what Cheryl’s rationale is.
Whatever the reason (and nobody asks), everyone acquiesces and Toni settles into bed next to the redhead. However, she almost immediately starts to regret her earlier approval of the idea, because how the hell is she going to get any sleep when she’s laying inches away from the aptly nicknamed Cheryl 'Bombshell’? Surprisingly, Cheryl also seems to have difficulty finding rest. After all of the other girls have gone to sleep, Toni hears a rustling sound, which can only mean that Cheryl has turned towards Toni. The Serpent begins to face the Blossom girl as well, but just as quickly, Cheryl looks back up at the ceiling.
“Full disclosure,” Cheryl starts quietly, and the two roll over to fully face each other. “I didn’t want to invite all the girls tonight.” Toni shifts a little as she starts really thinking that the redhead has some ulterior motives.
“But I knew my hideous mother would never allow me to invite just you.” Her voice lowers even further on the last word, and Toni smiles. “Which is… what I craved.” Toni feels like her heart is going to beat out of her chest. This is it, she knows, with a certainty that she’s never had before. This is when we become more than friends. And it seems that Toni’s right, too, because Cheryl is leaning in and Toni is leaning in, and just as their lips are about to meet –
There’s a crashing sound and they pull apart from each other. Cheryl is out of bed and rushing into the hall in a second. Toni is right behind her, followed by Josie, then Veronica, then Betty. They look over the railing and everything else falls away as Cheryl lets out a piercing scream because in a heap at the bottom of the stairs is Nana Rose Blossom.
Toni recalls that this is exactly what Cheryl had been scared would happen, and then a selfish bit of her wants to scream as well, but for a slightly different reason (We were having a moment, for fuck’s sake!).
The girls all wait outside as an ambulance arrives to take Nana Rose to the hospital, and finally, Cheryl speaks once again, tears of fear in her eyes.
“Toni, I think they pushed my nana down the stairs,” she frets. Then, with a tone that suggests that she knows beyond a doubt that what she’s saying is true, Cheryl continues, “I think I’m next.”
7. Saving Cheryl From Conversion Therapy.
Toni had stayed by Cheryl’s side since Nana Rose’s 'accident,’ terrified by the conviction Cheryl had possessed when she told Toni that she thought she might be the next member of her household to suffer an assassination attempt. The only time they spent apart was when they were sleeping because Toni was given to trust that Cheryl wasn’t kidding when she said that Penelope Blossom wouldn’t allow just Toni to sleep over. Still, she insisted that Cheryl text her when she went to bed and when she woke up so that Toni knew nothing bad had happened to her while she was gone.
The Serpent is supposed to be meeting Cheryl at the hospital to check up on Nana Rose. However, when she gets there, the only person in Nana Rose’s room is Nana Rose. Toni feels a wave of panic (No, no, no, they can’t hurt her, I won’t let them, no), but she pushes it down for the moment, desperate for a reasonable explanation. She sits anxiously by Nana Rose’s bedside until the door opens. Toni leaps to her feet, but to her disappointment and distress, it isn’t Cheryl, only a doctor.
“Excuse me, Doctor Masters, but have you seen Cheryl?” Toni inquires, trying not to seem too nervous.
“Oh, she left with her mother a little while ago,” he responds, and Toni nods, trying to calm down. Her phone probably just died, she reasons with herself.
Her sense of unease stays with her, though.
Toni drives her motorcycle to Thornhill, accidentally running a few red lights in her all-consuming need to find Cheryl and know that she’s safe. She knocks on the front door and Penelope Blossom answers it.
Cheryl’s mom definitely recognizes Toni, all right, and she looks like she’s contemplating closing the door right then and there. Before she can do that, though, Toni pipes up.
“Mrs. Blossom, hi! I’m looking for Cheryl, she wasn’t at the hospital with her nana…” she says, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt at seeming laid-back.
“No, she’s gone,” Penelope answers promptly, no emotion on her face. Toni’s heart stops. Oh my god, Cheryl was right. “Boarding school in Switzerland. All-girls. She left us last night.” This should pacify Toni, but it just sounds so… fake.
“Mrs. Blossom, that doesn’t make any sense,” she argues, but Penelope is done talking.
“Don’t come here again,” she finishes. Now, she slams the door in Toni’s face. Toni wants to protest, but she has little choice in this matter, so instead, she turns away and gets on her motorcycle. She takes one last concerned glance at the house and drives away.
As much as it kills her, Toni can’t find any free time to confide in anyone about her strange encounter with Mrs. Blossom until after cheer practice (Sweet Pea and Fangs are too busy with their vendetta against Jughead and Betty’s campaign). Nobody other than her even seems to really notice that Cheryl is gone.
She confronts Veronica and Josie after everyone else leaves.
“Do you remember how paranoid Cheryl was at her slumber party, saying that her mom and uncle were out to get her?” Toni queries. Josie and Veronica nod and make affirmative noises. “Well, I think they did something to her.”
“What kind of something?” Josie asks, looking sceptical.
“Her mom said they sent her off to some all-girls boarding school in Switzerland,” Toni continues.
“Well, that’s easy enough to check, there’s only one: Surval Montreux,” Veronica offers. Of course she’d know that, Toni thinks.
“Please. If Cheryl was in the Swiss Alps, she’d be posting parka selfies every hour,” the Serpent scoffs. “But her social media’s been dead for days.”
“Wait, that’s a sure sign of foul play,” Veronica realizes.
“Whatever you need, Toni, I’m in,” Veronica decides.
“Me too,” Josie concurs. “Even if we have to storm Thistlehouse.”
They all head over to Cheryl’s home. Toni feels more confident with the two of them by her side, sure that Penelope Blossom won’t be able to turn all three of them away. Even if she can’t get any answers out of Cheryl’s mother, Toni is prepared to interrogate as many people as she can to find out where Cheryl is.
With that thought, Toni’s phone buzzes.
Sweet Pea: What are you doing now? Fangs and I were thinking that we could all go see Love, Simon today since he had to bail on you last night.
Toni is trapped. She knows that if she tells the truth, she’ll be subject to ridicule, such as but not limited to, You are so whipped, Topaz, and I can’t believe that you got involved with a Northsider! But Toni is an awful liar, and her falsehoods fool nobody, even over text.
She decides to compromise.
Toni: I can’t. I’m hanging out with some of the Vixens.
The statement is half-true, at least, and Sweet Pea seems to buy it.
Sweet Pea: You better not keep ditching us for them! Serpents are family.
Toni: Trust me, I won’t. This is a one-time thing.
I hope, her brain adds. If she finds Cheryl soon, there will be no need for these kinds of searches anymore. And I will find her.
She sets her phone down just as Josie finishes her threat.
“-maybe you’ll tell him.” She sits back, confident that the menace of law enforcement showing up at the Blossom’s door will be enough to make Penelope Blossom crack.
“All right, then,” Cheryl’s mother settles. “The truth is that Cheryl started exhibiting strange, deviant behavior.” Toni’s heart squeezes as she remembers the pain on Cheryl’s face as she had admitted that her mother had told her that she was deviant as well. At the moment, Toni thinks that she’s never hated anyone as much as she hates Penelope Blossom right now.
“So I sent her abroad to a private wellness institute where they’re trying to help her,” Mrs. Blossom continues. “You don’t have to believe me, but here, let me show you something.” She passes a piece of paper to Josie, who unfolds it to reveal a drawing of her and Cheryl.
“Oh my god,” Josie murmurs. What is it? Toni wonders, not seeing anything out of place in the drawing.
“She’s drawn dozens like it,” Cheryl’s mother tells them, like this is proof of Cheryl’s deviance.
“I don’t understand.” Veronica voices her confusion.
“No, but Josie does. Don’t you?” Penelope Blossom asks. “Cheryl was obsessed with you to the point where I was afraid she might hurt you, or herself, or both.” Josie looks horrified, but when Toni looks at the paper, all she feels is understanding. This is your fault! she wants to scream at Mrs. Blossom. If you hadn’t forced her to stay in the closet and told her that she was a monster, then maybe she wouldn’t have believed that she truly was freakish.
“So, if you would like me to tell that to your mother and her boyfriend and show them and the town Cheryl’s drawings of you, I’d be happy to,” Cheryl’s mother says in a voice that suggests that she really would be happy throwing her only remaining child under the bus. “But hopefully, you girls have the decency to keep this matter private.”
Penelope stands up and opens the door of Thistlehouse, staring pointedly at the three of them. Josie is the first to get up, fleeing out of the door. Veronica and Toni follow quickly.
“Josie, wait! Slow down! We need to regroup!” Veronica calls after her.
“If what Mrs. Blossom said is even a tiny bit true, that means that Cheryl threatened me, sent me a bloody pig’s heart!” Josie exclaims, whirling around to face them. “I’m out, you guys! I’m done.” The young McCoy storms away again, and this time, Toni and Veronica don’t go after her.
This is what separates us, Toni realizes as she watches Josie leave. I see Cheryl’s gay panic for what it is, while she sees it as… what? The actions of a perverse madwoman? Toni glances over at Veronica, who shows no signs of leaving, and wonders if the Lodge heiress isn’t at least a little bit not-straight herself, recalling a story Jughead told her about when Veronica and Betty had made out for Vixen auditions. At the time, it had sounded like nothing more than the fodder of straight-boy fantasies, but now, Toni ponders the possibility that the kiss had meant more than that.
Whatever the case, the two of them head their separate ways, and Toni is left to worry about Cheryl even further.
The next day, in history class, Toni is lost in thought, conjuring different places where Cheryl might have gone, each less likely than the last. Toni is thinking about how Cheryl might have already murdered when the speaker screeches.
“Antoinette Topaz to the principal’s office. Antoinette Topaz, please report to the principal’s office.” Toni is equally pissed off that they used her full name and anxious about what this could mean. She grabs her stuff and rushes to the office, a small part of her desperately hoping that this is about Cheryl.
“A call for you. She said it was urgent,” the secretary informs her. Toni grabs the phone and puts it to her ear.
“Hello?” she greets the unknown caller hesitantly.
“She’s not far away,” a scratchy voice tells her.
“Who is this?” Toni asks, confused.
“Cheryl. She’s nearby,” the caller repeats, and this time, Toni recognizes her.
“Nana Rose?” Toni clutches the phone tighter, urgency in her tone. “Nana Rose, where is she?”
“With… the sisters,” the Blossom matriarch rasps. Before she can say more, the line goes dead.
“Hello? Nana Rose?” Toni shakes the phone desperately, dread pooling in her stomach.
At Vixens practice later that day, Toni and Veronica sit high up in the bleachers.
“That was Nana Rose Blossom who paged you?” Veronica reiterates as soon as Toni starts telling her the details of the call.
“Yeah, it was. Although we got disconnected before she could say too much beyond the fact that Cheryl was nearby and that she was with 'the sisters,’” Toni continues disappointedly.
“The Sisters? What sisters?” Veronica wonders.
“I don’t know,” Toni admits despondently. “Maybe there’s a re-education camp called The Sisters?”
“Well, there’s the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, but that’s more like an orphanage,” Veronica contributes. “I don’t think they do gay conversion there.” What other kind of conversion therapy is there? a small voice in the back of Toni’s head snidely remarks.
“Well, who would know for sure?” Toni asks instead.
“Oh my god, of course,” Veronica says, like she knows a guy who’s an expert on conversion therapy and she’ll just call him up.
It turns out, she does, in a way.
“Yes, it absolutely could be the Sisters of Quiet Mercy,” Kevin tells them when they ask. “It’s one of the few places in the country that still does conversion therapy. Off the books, of course.” And Kevin, the sheriff’s son, didn’t think to tell his dad about this? Toni thinks.
“What the hell decade is this?” she exclaims to nobody in particular. Now that she has her answer, all Toni wants is to storm the Sisters of Quiet Mercy and get Cheryl back, but the universe (and Kevin) have other plans. The sheriff’s son rambles on about a distillery, hookups, and a tunnel, and could probably go on for a while, but Veronica thankfully interrupts him.
“Kevin, can you lead us to this secret gay hookup tunnel?” the Lodge heiress requests, and if Toni wasn’t so worried about Cheryl, she might’ve laughed, because the absurdity of the sentence was certainly not lost on her.
“I can probably find it,” he replies. “But we should go at night.”
So it’s with this logic that Toni finds herself waiting in the lobby of the Pembrooke later that day. Eventually, Veronica comes down the hallway in a skintight black bodysuit that doesn’t seem all that practical for a break-in (Cheryl would likely approve of the outfit, though). The more I hang out with Veronica, the more I like her, Toni notices.
“Sorry, I had to wait for my parents to do bed check,” Veronica explains smoothly. Toni nods and the two go out the front door, where Kevin’s car is idling. Veronica gets into the passenger seat, so Toni slides into the back. Veronica and Kevin keep up a constant stream of chatter on the way, but as soon as the car parks, everyone goes silent. They run up to the tunnel and Kevin begins to speak.
“According to my intel, the tunnel that leads from the main residence comes out here,” he informs them.
“Okay, that’s our way in,” Veronica decides. “Alright, Kevin, you stay here. If we’re not back in fifteen minutes, call your dad.” Kevin nods, and Toni pulls a crowbar out of her bag. She pries the door open and ducks into the tunnel. Veronica follows close behind, their flashlights reflecting off of the water on the ground.
“And when we get to the main building, what happens then?” Veronica inquires.
“We search each and every damn room until we find her,” Toni answers her, dead serious. Anger flares in her at the thought of finally being in this place that has no doubt tortured Cheryl and many, many others. This place will be lucky if Toni doesn’t burn it down by the time the night is over.
Veronica nods in agreement solemnly and they hurry along. Once they get into the building, the two turn to each other again.
“Okay, let’s split up,” Toni decides authoritatively. “We’ll cover twice the ground.”
“Okay, but be careful,” Veronica warns her.
“Yeah,” Toni agrees half-heartedly, already rushing off. Cheryl first, my safety second.
“Cheryl?” she shouts as she goes along, looking through every room with an intensity that scares herself. Finally, she barges into a room that seems to be occupied. A movie is playing, and she squints into the light of the projector.
“Cheryl? Are you in here?” Toni asks.
“Toni?” a familiar voice replies, and a wave of relief washes over Toni.
“We came to rescue you,” she says simply.
“You did?” Cheryl repeats, and Toni’s heart breaks again for her. I will always come to rescue you, she thinks fiercely. I will always be there for you.
I will always want to make you feel loved. Toni knows now that she is completely and irrevocably screwed, but she doesn’t give a flying fuck, because Cheryl Blossom is worth being broken up and lovesick over.
And in a second, it seems like all there is in the world is the two of them. Cheryl hugs her, the kind of hug that feels right.
In the middle of the Sister of Quiet Mercy, in a room full of teens just like them, in front of a homophobic film, Cheryl and Toni kiss, and the world seems to stop. Nothing else matters… until Veronica bursts into the room.
“Cheryl, Toni,” she says, not seeming fazed in the least bit by their fuck-the-homophobes liplock. “There are a bunch of nuns coming. We have to go. Come on.” They hurry after Veronica, but as they run, Cheryl grabs Toni’s hand and weaves their fingers together. Toni wants to be able to save everyone in that room, but for now, the only person she’s focused on getting out of there is Cheryl.
Toni should have been more afraid of the angry nuns chasing after them, and she probably would have been more afraid were she not so overwhelmingly happy. She had kissed Cheryl Blossom, HBIC and Riverdale High’s biggest and most vocal hater of the Southside Serpents. Cheryl Blossom has kissed her. And now, they were holding hands.
Toni feels awfully tempted to tell Cheryl how much she means to her, but this is the worst possible time to do so, so she stays quiet. They run and they run, and everything is a blur. She knows that they escape the nuns, that they meet up with Kevin, and they drive off, but the only thing tethering Toni to reality is the solidness of Cheryl’s hand in her own.
+1. After Their First Time Together.
Toni lies on Cheryl’s bed in her room at Thistlehouse, her arm wrapped around her girlfriend’s waist. Cheryl is sweaty but sated, and Toni’s mouth curls into a smirk at the thought that she’s the cause of this. She presses a light kiss to the back of Cheryl’s neck, listening to the redhead’s even, rhythmic breathing. Toni gazes at her girlfriend adoringly, still in disbelief that Cheryl wanted her first time to be with her. Out of the likely hundreds of people willing (and wishing) to have sex with her, she chose Toni.
And god, does Toni love her for it. In fact, her love for Cheryl is so overwhelming and abundant that it’s filled her to the brim and is now spilling over, unable to be contained.
Because of this, and because of innumerable other reasons, Toni finally says, “I love you.” It sounds terribly loud in the silent room, and for a second, Toni thinks that Cheryl just slept through her confession, but then the ginger turns to face her, tears (of happiness, for once) in her eyes.
“I love you, too,” Cheryl whispers back, and to Toni’s surprise, she finds that she’s crying too.
“Yeah,” Cheryl responds, and when Toni looks into her girlfriend’s eyes, she sees the same love she carries around her reflected back at her.
“We can never tell Sweet Pea and Fangs about this,” Toni says next. Cheryl snorts, wiping the tears off of her cheeks.
The two lean in to kiss each other again. It isn’t the first time, and they both know that it won’t be the last.
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