AN: Little bit o juice. 8k reads is so amazing, ily all so much. Hope you enjoy!

Written 5.21.18

TONI'S POV

Cheryl didn't say a word until we were upstairs.

"Cher, what's wrong?" I asked her. I sat down on the bed as she paced the floor.

"Who was Quinn?" She quickly asked me.

"She - uh - she was my ex. Why?" I asked, surprised she knew who she was.

"I was talking to Sweet Pea about you shooting Peabody. He said you haven't hurt anyone but Quinn." She said.

I sighed heavily.

"Quinn is my ex." I said, "We we're together for about a year before..."

"What?" She pressed, "Toni."

"It's something I don't like to talk about, okay?" I snapped. She backed up.

"Cheryl," I began starting to get up. She flinched.

Was she scared of me?

"Wh- what did you do?" She said firmly.

"I - I - I'm sorry. I just don't want to talk about it." I said.

"Again with these trust issues?" She asked.

"Give me time at least to think!" I said.

"Fine. But you've had days to think about shooting someone, let's talk about that then." She argued.

"What's there to it?" I asked.

"You shot someone! With a gun!" She exclaimed.

"I got mad!" I defended myself.

"Toni talk to me!" She said, voice breaking.

"Cheryl, I am!" I said.

"What happened with Quinn?" She pushed.

"We dated! Okay? It ended ugly." I said.

"Sweet Pea said!" She began. I quickly cut her off.

"Quinn was Sweet Pea's sister!" I finally yelled.

"She was my first girlfriend. Sweet Pea and I broke up but I was still living with them. I slowly started to like her. We started dating." I said.

"And?" She pressed.

"And it ended, Cheryl. Okay?" I said fed up.

"Whatever. Find me when you're ready to talk." She said getting into bed.

"Cheryl." I started.

"Goodnight." She said.

"I love you, Cher." I told her.

When I didn't get a response I sighed, and closed my eyes. I lay still for a awhile before I felt Cheryl move closer to me and put her hand on my thigh. I kept my eyes closed, pretending I was asleep.

"I love you, too." She mumbled under her breath as she drifted to sleep.

THE NEXT DAY

Cheryl was getting ready when I woke up.

"Veronica's having a party tonight. I'm going to help set up. I - I think we need some time after last night." She said.

"Yeah, we'll talk later." I said.

"Okay...come to the party tonight. It's at Pembroke at 9." She said.

"I'll be there." I told her. She just shook her head before walking towards the door.

"I love you." I said as she walked out.

"I love you." I heard her mumble to herself before I lay back in bed trying to sleep again.

CEHRYL'S POV

I stepped into my car and took in all the information Micheal told me earlier that morning before Toni had woken up.

*DRAMATIC FLASHBACK*

"Micheal, can you help me with something?" I asked.

"Course." He replied as I sat down at the kitchen table.

"I know it's a bit of invasion of privacy but, what happened with Quinn?" I asked him.

"Cheryl." He said and gave me a look.

"I know, I know. I seem like a stalker. But I'm concerned about Toni and want to know. I don't wanna spend any more time fighting with her." I told him, "I won't snitch."

"Fine." He said, "They dated for a year before this incident happened."

"What?" I pushed further.

"Quinn got teased for being lesbian." He said.

"Wasn't Toni too though?" I asked.

"No. Toni was a Serpent, and a bloodline one. Everyone would go after them if they ever attacked her." He said.

"But wouldn't they still attack them because she was Sweet Pea's family?" I asked.

"Sweet Pea was just a newly minted member and was a hot head, so people really didn't trust him." He explained, "but Toni got mad that they weren't helping her so she fought them on her own."

"Wouldn't she get killed or something?" I asked.

"Toni was a lot more dangerous. She was a peacekeeper, but if you got her mad then you were basically dead." He told me, "Personally, I think she softened for you. No doubt she woulda killed Peabody had you not been in her life."

"Has she killed before?" I asked, still shocked. He shook his head.

"No. But she was really close." He said.

"Who? And why?" I demanded.

"It's what ended Quinn and her." He quickly said.

"What happened?" I pushed.

"She beat the snot out of this one guy who was making fun of Quinn.Right in front of Quinn. She would've killed him, had Quinn not tore her off of him. Once everything fizzled out, Quinn broke up with Toni because she was ultimately afraid of her." He continued, "She always says that Dad hurt her, but it was Quinn who broke her. Skipped town after because she couldn't handle the consequences."

"But who's fault was it?" I asked.

"If you ask me, it was Quinn's. All Toni did was love and protect her, but got nothing in return. No 'I love you's' or anything to prove her love in return." He said, "Even Sweet Pea agrees, and he's her brother."

"So what about Toni now?" I asked.

"She worked out her issues. Calmed down a bit. Still badass. Still could kill, but would never." He told me.

"But still. That's pretty intense." I said.

"Toni would never hurt someone who didn't deserve it. It's just the amount of aggression. She's gotten better once you came around. Just watch out for her still, okay?" He reassured me.

"Yeah, defiantly." I agreed.

*END OF DRAMATIC FLASHBACK*

I didn't know what to think of it, but it wasn't something that could be ignored. Before I could think of a plan, I was at Pembrooke. I washed all my problems away and walked in to help Ronnie set everything up, and just clear my head for a bit.

TONI'S POV

AT THE PARTY

I walk in to the building at around 10.

I saw Cheryl by the bar, and she seemed to already be drunk. I walked over to her.

"Toni, you made it. Yaaaaayyy!!! Wanna beer?" She slurred.

Damn. Why was she so drunk? Did I drive her to drunk this much?

"Not if I'm gonna have to take of you tonight, Blossom." I told her.

"You," She said tearing up, "are so supportive." Her eyes widened, "SENSATIONAL EVEN!"

"You, are so drunk. Wasted even." I told her.

"It's the life of the party'! Get with it!" She said taking another drink.

"Whatever, Red. I'm just here to make sure you don't get picked up by someone else." I told her grabbing a water.

"Booorrrriiiinnnggggg!" She said, "OH I LOVE THIS SONG!!"

I smirked and sat on the couch watching her dance next to Betty.

"Drunk Cheryl is so fun to watch." Sweet Pea said, taking a seat next to me as we both watch Cheryl flip her hair around everywhere.

"Not when you have to babysit." I told him chuckling.

"You two still fighting?" He asked me.

"Yeah, but I doubt she remembers it. I just wanna at least be here." I said.

"Did she bring up Quinn?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm gonna tell her but I just don't know how." I told him.

"You'll figure it, Topaz. You always do." He reassured me before going off to find Veronica.

The party started to fizzle out at 1 and I decided it was best to just stay the night at Veronica's.

"Your cute." She flirted.

"Thanks. You are too." I told her helping her up the stairs.

"Toni's not gonna like that you called me cute." She slurred.

"Then she'll have to deal with me." I said waking her into a room.

"Toni could beat you up faster than you could say, say, I don't even know! But she'd win." She mumbled.

"Blossom you got tequila all over your shirt." I told her as I tried to pull it for her.

"No! Stop! I have a girlfriend!" She yelled, slapping my hands away.

"Cheryl it's just me. You're fine." I told her.

"No! Get out! Get me Toni! Leave!" She said pushing me out of the room.

"Cheryl, I am To-" I began.

"No! Get out. Don't come back." She gave one last shove that pushed me out and she slammed the door in my face.

AN: Pretty long chapter with some interesting stuff. Leave comments on what you want next and thanks for reading!