Welcome to our last chapter! This has been a while ride. We're both so thankful for each and everyone one of you that have read this, commented and voted. It means the world to us.

We are both sad and excited for this to come to and end, as we have other projects that we would like to work on, and we might do more together in the future.

----------

School was finally over. It was a bittersweet feeling. Yes they'll have a few days to enjoy each other. But Cheryl was leaving soon and time was going very fast.

Toni was also working as much as she could to pay for the program so she wasn't spending as much time as she'd like with her girlfriend.

Cheryl spent a lot of time with Veronica while Toni was at work. They were by the pool on the roof of the Pembrook. "I can't believe you're leaving in three weeks." Veronica said sadly.

"I can't believe it either. Time goes by so fast." She was happy to see her mom again but so sad to leave her friends.

"How's Toni holding up?" Veronica hadn't heard from Toni that much since the end of school.

"She's working. That's basically all she does. I think she doesn't want to live her emotions yet. She wants to enjoy our time together."

"It's gonna be hard on both of you to spend time apart. You are both attached by the hips."

"Well yes. But also she'll be able to spend time with you guys before she joins me. And I miss my mom. I can't wait to spend some time with just the two of us."

"Yeah you are right." She took a sip of her lemonade. "I'm gonna miss you Cher."

"Me too V." She hugged her. "But you'll come visit us, I hope. We have a lot of cool places for skiing."

"Sounds like a plan for spring break then." She laughed. "Have you guys thought about college yet?"

"We haven't talked about it. But for me I think the best would be to study here. I wanna be a lawyer and the prestigious law schools are in the US. I would love to come back."

"What a dream. You, Toni, Sweet Pea and I, going to college together."

"This might be a good plan V. We'll see when the time comes."

"You know what time it is now?"

Cheryl looked at her with a serious look. "No, what?"

"A party dear. To celebrate your departure. Because everyone will miss you."

"I'm not sure Toni would be up for that."

"Tell her Veronica says to take a day off for once."

Cheryl rolled her eyes. "I'll tell her."

When Toni came home from work that night, Cheryl was sitting on the bed reading. "Hey babe. Did you have fun with V?" She kissed her.

"Indeed T.T Veronica wants to do a little Fête. For moi."

Toni sat next to her. "A party for you. This is very sweet. Too bad I'm working mostly every night."

"Well she said you need to come."

"Babe. I need to work so I can join you."

Cheryl pouted. "This is my last party in town T.T. You'll have plenty of time to work when I'm gone. Pretty please."

Toni looked at her hesitantly. "I hate you."

"You don't. You love me. So much." She resisted a smile.

"I Hate that I can't say no to you." She tried to look mad.

"I love you T.T"

"Uhg I love you so much I wanna squeeze that pretty face of yours."

Cheryl laughed. "Kiss me mon coeur."

And Toni was happy to oblige. They kissed and laughed and talked about their respective day and it was perfect.

Toni asked Pop if she could take the weekend off and he was more than happy to agree. Everyone in town was talking about Veronica's party.

It was going to be a nice way to spend one last night together before they go separate ways.

Veronica and her extra ass rented a venue for the party. She knew that Toni and Cheryl weren't fans of alcohol since the party. So she hired some bartenders to serve them fancy mocktails. She hired people to decorate the place in a summer theme. There was a DJ. Nothing was too much for her two best friends.

The girls were getting ready. "So T.T Veronica said that the theme was summer."

"Which means?" Toni was so not into that but Cheryl was enjoying this.

"I suggest you wear something colorful or with flowers on it."

"Babe you know I only own black clothes."

"You can borrow some of mine. I like you in my clothes." Cheryl looked through her clothes and found a beautiful dress. It was a pink dress. Something flashy. Toni will look very good in it. "Try this baby."

"Thanks Cher." She undressed and took the pink dress. She put it on.

"You should keep it. It looks better on you."

She smiled. "What are you wearing?"

Cheryl changed into her outfit for the night. A white dress with cherry blossom flowers on it.

"Very cute baby." She kissed her. "Are we ready?"

"Yes."

They left the house and drove to the location Veronica told them to go. There were a lot of cars outside and the music was super loud. "Did you know Veronica was going to do something so big?"

"No T.T. " Cheryl knew that Toni wasn't a fan of that. "Let's just go dance and spend time with our friends."

"I'm doing it for you." Toni said.

" I know, baby. We won't stay too late I swear."

"Babe. We can stay for as long as you want." She smiled.

"I know that T.T. But it's the first weekend we have together in weeks. And I really want to cuddle in bed with my baby."

"I love you." She kissed her. "Let's go."

They walked inside and found Veronica and Sweet Pea close to the bar.

"Hey guys." Cheryl hugged Veronica. "Thank you for this."

"I'm happy you both came." She hugged Toni too. "I missed you T."

"Me too Veronica." She hugged Sweet Pea too. "I missed you too Pea."

"Me too Tiny."

They talked with Veronica and Sweet Pea for a few minutes and went to get something to drink. They really appreciated the fact that there was no alcohol tonight. And everyone seemed to have fun anyway.

They went to the dance floor and danced together. It was nice to be carefree. At some point Cheryl was very close to Toni. Their bodies were melting together. Toni's hands on Cheryl's hips. They danced like they were alone. Only them. Then a slow start and Toni's hand were around Cheryl's neck. They swayed to the song of the music in each other's arms.

"T.T.. I'm tired. Can we go?"

"Of course babe." They said goodbye to Veronica and thanked her for the night.

They didn't stay for long but they wanted to have some alone time.

"I'm gonna miss you so bad." Toni said as she hugged Cheryl and peppered her face with kisses.

Cheryl was smiling. "Me too T.T it's gonna be a long month without you. I don't know how I'm gonna sleep without you holding me."

Toni didn't want to release the hug. "I'm so used to smelling your hair before I sleep."

"I know T.T but we are going to facetime every day."

"Do you promise?"

Cheryl turned to face Toni. "Of course. I won't spend a single day without seeing your pretty face. Never."

*********

Ever since school got out, Toni had been working full time at Pops. She worked five days a week, including every weekend. It made more sense for her to cover the weekend shifts so that her coworkers who had kids could stay home.

Toni was beyond tired. Her feet were sore and her back was hurting after every shift. She was certain she would get used to it, but she hadn't. Thankfully, when she got home, Cheryl would run her a bath, and rub her feet and back. It was like having her own personal masseuse.

"God," Toni groaned as she laid on her stomach with Cheryl's hands on her back. "I'm really going to miss this. Maybe I can talk Ronnie into rubbing my back."

Cherly snorted, "Good luck with that."

"I'm sure she must have had a crush on me at some point. Let's be honest," Toni laughed. She was proud of how confident in her sexuality she had become. A year ago, she never would have imagined that she would be dating someone of the same sex, let alone the exchange student that was living with her family.

She wouldn't have it any other way, though.

"Lesbihonest I think is the term you're looking for, TT." Cheryl said it in such a serious tone, but Toni just laughed at her. "What's so funny?"

Toni continued laughing and slowly got out her words, "Just the way you said it." Tears from laughter were forming in the corners of her eyes and her girlfriend had stopped moving her hands. Toni flipped over, exposing her chest, causing a distraction for the redhead.

Cheryl visibly swallowed and slowly spoke, "As much as I've loved our quiet time together and all of the cuddling, I'd really love something else." She touched Toni's bottom lip with her index finger and slowly drug it down Toni's neck, down to her sternum, down to her bellybutton...

Toni was squirming, her hands fisting the sheets.

"Cher... I- I don't know how long we'll be alone."

Cheryl crawled on top of Toni, her knee in between Toni's thighs. Toni's hands moved to Cheryl's waist and Cheryl lowered herself to kiss Toni passionately. Toni bit Cheryl's bottom lip, getting a moan out of the girl on top of her. Toni grinned and deepened the kiss.

Cheryl's hands were tangled in pink hair when Toni started rocking against her thigh. She could feel the warmth of Toni's center against her skin, with just her leggings and Toni's shorts in between them.

Toni was intoxicating and Cheryl never wanted to leave her.

It didn't take long for all of their clothes to come off. Cheryl plunged two fingers into Toni and moved her hand at a mindblowing speed, her thumb on Toni's clit. Neither of them knew how much time they had until Anthony and Jackie came back home, so they wanted to make this quick. Cheryl also wanted to savor every second.

Toni's fingernails were digging into Cheryl's back as slender fingers were thrusting into her. Toni could feel her orgasm building and was sure she would explode at any second, but she wanted this to last.

"Cum for me, TT," Cheryl whispered against Toni's temple.

"I need..."

"What do you need, babygirl?"

Toni took a deep breath. Cheryl calling her that really did things to her. She ran her hand from Cheryl's back to her front, just below her belly button and moved lower. "I need you."

Cheryl moaned and pressed her forehead to Toni's while her hips rocked down on the fingers that had slipped inside her.

They came together and neither of them stopped or slowed down. They held onto each other tightly as they moved together and finally, after their fourth orgasm, they both heard a car door outside. Both girls groaned at being interrupted, but they quickly picked up their clothes and made their way into the shower on wobbly legs.

-

It was now 1am, as they both laid in bed. They were laying on their sides, staring at each other. "You should sleep, mon amour," Cheryl whispered, moving stray hair behind Toni's ear.

Toni knew she needed to sleep. She worked at noon, but she wanted to be well rested for her shift. Her eyes felt as heavy as her limbs did. Toni closed her eyes and felt her girlfriend kiss her eyelids, and then her forehead and her cheeks.

She didn't want to sleep and miss out on their time together. She didn't want t-

-

While Toni was at work, Cheryl had started to go through all of her own belongings. She needed to figure out what she would ship back to her house and what she would take on the plane. If there was anything left over, she could probably leave it for Toni to bring with her.

Going through everything made Cheryl sad, but she had to do it. She didn't want to put off packing, as much as she wanted to put off leaving. But she was also excited to get back home and see her mom, brother and friends. She hadn't talked to her friends from back home very much, other than a few comments on social media, and she wondered if they would still be friends when she got back.

Cheryl emptied a few drawers and began packing most of the clothes. She could leave out what she would be wearing between now and the time she left. Her hands grabbed the soft black fabric of Toni's hoodie, something that had quickly become her favorite thing to wear, even before they started dating. Toni had told her to keep it all those months ago and Cheryl wondered if Toni still meant it.

The hoodie became a signature item in her wardrobe. Something she wore when she slept over at Veronica's or wore when she wasn't feeling well. She even wore it when she was especially homesick, not realizing that until now, home wasn't a place.

It was a person.

Tears pricked her eyes, threatening to spill over.

Cheryl laughed at herself. She was never this emotional until she met Toni.

There was a knock on the door frame, startling Cheryl, bringing her back out of her thoughts. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Jackie smiled. "Everything okay?"

Cheryl nodded. "Just going through everything and packing."

Jackie walked into the room and laid a hand on Cheryl's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "It's okay to be sad. We'll all miss you here. And Toni."

Oh, Gaia. Cheryl had been so far in her own head, she hadn't even realized how hard this would be on Jackie and Anthony. She held onto the hoodie with one hand while she hugged Jackie tightly. Jackie tensed at first, as the redhead almost knocked her over, but she held on tightly.

"I'm so sorry," Cheryl whimpered.

Jackie's right hand was rubbing Cheryl's back soothingly, while her left was caressing Cheryl's hair. "Honey, why are you sorry?"

Cheryl sniffled, trying to catch her breath now. "For taking Toni away from you."

Jackie shook her head and squeezed Cheryl in her arms before letting go. She put her hands on Cheryl's shoulders and looked her right in the eyes as she spoke. "You're not taking Toni away from us. She's... expanding her horizons and growing as a person. I am so incredibly proud of her for spreading her wings and coming out of her shell. All of which I have you to thank for. I have no doubt it would have happened eventually, probably after she went off to college, but I am so happy for her. For both of you."

"Y- you are?" Cheryl sniffled again.

Jackie nodded, "Very. Now, I didn't come in here to interrupt you, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thank you," Cheryl smiled. "I'm fine, really."

Jackie smiled back at her. "I also found a recipe for poutine that I'm going to try. I've had a few times in the city, but I thought I'd make it for you."

Cheryl wanted to cry again as Jackie walked out of the room, but she couldn't let herself.

-

For the next week, Jackie and Anthony seemed to be giving the girls their space. While Toni was at work and Cheryl was hanging out with Veronica, Anthony had even put their bedroom door back on its hinges.

Of course, both girls were extremely thankful for it.

Every night after Toni's shift, she would shower or take a bath with Cheryl. Afterwards, they would lay in bed naked and cuddle. Of course, sometimes the cuddling turned into sex, but Toni wanted intamacy. She didn't want to let that go.

Tonight, they moved slowly against each other as their fingers worked to bring the other over the edge. Neither of them wanted to stop, not just because they were enjoying themselves, but also because Cheryl was flying back home the next morning.

Cheryl flipped them so that she was top, and she kissed Toni with every ounce of passion in her body. She wanted to make sure that Toni felt loved at this moment. She kissed Toni again and felt shaking lips beneath her own. Their tears met in a salty cascade down their faces as they both cried for the other; at the loss of the other, even if they would be seeing each other soon.

Their fingers stalled and they held each other instead, neither wanting to forget how it felt to be pressed to the other.

-

"Are you sure you have everything?" Toni asked. They had all eaten breakfast together as a family. Jackie and Anthony had both taken off work for the occasion, and to take Cheryl to the airport together.

"Yes, TT," Cheryl smiled. "There's no need to worry." She was finishing packing her suitcase, making sure she had her toothbrush, shampoo and other essentials. She disappeared into the bathroom for the third time, making sure she didn't forget anything.

Toni took that opportunity to find a polaroid of the two of them on her wall. It was quite possibly her favorite photo of the two of them. She also grabbed one with her, Cheryl, Veronica, Sweet Pea, Fangs and Kevin all in the shot. Toni searched in Cheryl's carry on for the book she was reading. She wrote a few words on the one of just the two of them and put the photos between the pages, where the bookmark was.

As Cheryl was reappearing, Toni was searching her closet for a specific shirt. "Ah ha! Here is it!" She beamed. "Take this with you." She handed the shirt over to Cheryl.

Cheryl held it up and her brows furrowed. "TT, you love this shirt. I can't take it. You already gave me your hoodie."

"But I love you more, and I know that you like how soft it is. Take it. Please," she pleaded.

Cheryl affectionately rolled her eyes. "Fine, but that means I'm leaving something else with you."

"What? That's not fair," Toni teasingly protested. She would happily take whatever Cheryl was going to give her. She had already been given the blue shirt she liked to sleep in.

Cheryl searched around in her suitcase, where she had put her jewelry, and pulled out a small bag. She unzipped it and pulled out a simple and delicate gold chain that contained a pair of cherries and handed it to her girlfriend.

Toni took it in her hands and joked, "At this point I should probably just get a tattoo of cherries." The two laughed at the horrible joke, but it was soon quiet again. They didn't want to part. Didn't want this to end.

They knew that they wouldn't be ending anytime soon, but they didn't want to be separated.

-

The drive to the airport was way too short for anyone's liking. Jackie and Anthony said their goodbyes, and promised to be in Canada for their graduation. They stood back, giving the girls space.

The last call was made for boarding, but Toni wasn't ready to let her go. She held onto Cheryl's hands tighter than before.

Cheryl kissed Toni's cheek, where a single tear had fallen. "Bébé, je dois y aller." Toni didn't respond, she just kept looking into Cheryl's eyes. "TT, we will see each other soon. I'll call you as soon as I get off the plane, and we can facetime before bed. I promise."

Toni nodded. Her lips were quivering as tears streamed down her face. Cheryl pulled her into a tight hug. "I really have to go now, okay? I love you, Toni. So, so much."

"I love you, too." Toni whimpered. "Je te verrai prochainement"

"Yes, TT. You will." Cheryl looked behind her to see that the line for boarding was getting shorter. She cupped Toni's face with her hands and kissed her one more time. "I'll call you."

Cheryl stepped back slowly as their hands parted by the fingertips. She waved to Jackie and Anthony, who waved back. She walked over to the attendant and handed over her ticket. She looked back one last time and blew a kiss at Toni.

Toni caught it and held it to her heart.

Toni watched her go.

She started sobbing as soon as Cheryl was out of sight. Her parents came up behind her and hugged her. They reassured her that she would be okay. That she would see Cheryl again soon.

On the drive home, Toni stared at the