After all the shit that went down because Cheryl wanted to testify, Cheryl ends up not testifying.

Toni finds out because the entire gang comes up to her in the office and tells her, even though they know she knows too. She had promised to stay away, and she has, but she still keeps tabs on Cheryl. Sees her around college, even though she un-enrolled soon after that day. It is her way of making sure she is safe.

Not that the other girl needs it. Once FP comes out of prison, Penny is officially de-Serpentised and Tall Boy put out of power. Things change for a while, and then slowly, steadily start going back to the way they were.

Except for Toni.

"You want to quit," the King of the Serpents says to her, when she comes to meet him in his office.

"I don't want to quit," she tells him back "The Serpents are my family. Jughead, Veronica, Sweet Pea, Fangs, they're my best friends. FP, I think of you as my father."

He tilts his head thoughtfully, then "You do want to tell me something monumental, though."

"I want to quit what I do. At least the killing and the torturing part. I could work in research, and I'm still one of your best undercover agents, and I'd still handle a gun, but I won't…I can't do the killings anymore."

"Any particular reason?"

She shrugs.

"You fell in love," he says after an intense staring contest, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile "Toni Topaz, you bloody fell in love."

"What? No? No way? What even are you….okay, fine," she admits, after the weak spluttering "Maybe."

"Who is it?"

"Cheryl Blossom," she says, finding hilarity in the way his face drops into the most comically-shocked expression she has ever seen.

"Cheryl Blossom?" he asks.

"Yep."

"The Cheryl Blossom?"

"Yeah."

"Jason Blossom's sister Cheryl Blossom?"

"Last time I checked, yes."

He sits down on his chair "Oh boy. You've got a lot of trouble on your hands."

She shakes her head, then "No, it's…it's not like that. She doesn't….she kind of hates me."

"Well, you did lie to her. It's understandable."

"She deserves a better person."

"Then be a better person," FP says, like it's the simplest thing in the world.

It's not. It's really not.

She enrolls for a photography course in another college nearby, digging into her Serpent funds to help her along. Works her ass off at some small-time magazine that is in dire need of photographers and earns a few bucks there. When it's still not enough, she drags Fangs (who is out of action for about two months because of a stray bullet) to a coffee shop and asks the crusty manager there if he has vacancies for both of them. He gives them a long, judgmental look, a long hard look that asks what's up with the pink hair and the numerous tattoos, and all the while Toni thinks that if she just wasn't in the presence of a bunch of college-going people, she'd probably take her knife out and stab him in his neck so hard he'd die.

"I don't think this is the best place for…..you," he says, finally.

Toni grabs Fangs around his arm tightly as he starts to get up to probably headbutt the man, and says, in the most disgusting tone of voice she has ever heard herself use "But sir," she starts, putting her hand on the manager's arm, letting her face drop into a pitiful expression "We really need the money, sir. It'd help a lot. I'd be very grateful."

He swallows "Alright, you start on Monday."

"Great," she perks up instantly, starting to walk out "My boyfriend and I will be there."

In the distance she hears his say "Boyfriend?", but she and Fangs are already doubled over laughing, and really couldn't care less.

And that's how she runs into Cheryl, just over a month later.

It's been the most exhausting month of her life. She almost misses killing people.

(Almost)

She almost misses killing people because people, are assholes. There are assholes in her class, in the magazine she interns for, and in the coffee shop. Hungover college-goers who blearily blurt out their orders in an incoherent mumble, and expect her to make sense of it, idiots who keep tapping their watches as though it'll make the coffee machine run any faster, and a special brand of smart asses who try to hit on her. She thinks of quitting almost fifty times a day. The only thing that keeps her here is Cheryl.

Every time she thinks of quitting, she thinks of Cheryl, and how she had promised to become a better person for her. She imagines them a year later, Toni with a nice steady photography job lined up, running into Cheryl, and hopefully the girl would still be single, and Toni would get down on one knee and declare her eternal love for the girl and…..

"Toni!" Fangs screams "The icing!"

Ah well.

With the amount of time she spends fantasizing about their first meeting, it's almost hilarious that the first time they actually do meet; she doesn't even realize it until it's too late.

It's a bad day, the machine threw up icing on her early in the morning, and people have been screaming at her all day, and when the next person comes, she just sleepily mumbles "Morning. What can I get you, today?" and then looks up.

The girl in front of the counter gives a start, and her head snaps up almost immediately "Toni?"

"Cheryl," Toni waves weakly at her "Surprise?"

"I'll have a….." Cheryl starts, after the initial shock of the situation wears off, and she decides to go back to Ice-Queen Cheryl.

"I know what your order is," Toni reminds her, quietly.

There is a flash of pain in the other girl's eyes, before it is replaced with indifference, and she blurts out another coffee order.

"Things change," Cheryl says.

Toni gives her a hard look, then starts making the coffee. She scribbles a "It's really nice to see you, Cheryl" on a piece of paper she tapes on top of the lid, and gives it to Cheryl.

Cheryl doesn't say anything to that, just collects the coffee and walks out.

She comes back though. Walks in two days later, when Jughead, Sweet Pea and Veronica have dropped in at a non-busy hour and are laughing at the counter.

"Move, hobo," she tells Jughead, and stands in front of Toni. She says another coffee order, and waits regally as it is prepared. Toni scrawls a "You're back!" onto lid, and hands it to her, but, like last time, Cheryl takes one look at it, then walks out again.

"That went well," Veronica notes.

"She's scary," Jughead adds, adjusting his beanie.

"Eh, I don't know," Sweet Pea says "Think Toni still has a chance."

Toni looks at him with a smile on her face, because no matter how glacial Cheryl's looks may be, or how amazing she is at giving the silent treatment, she still thinks there's a chance.

This goes on for a week. Every day Toni will scrawl a small note and fix it on top of the lid, something like "Having the worst day today" or "Class was amazing, I took like three amazing photos of the same lame fruit of bowl", and Cheryl will take one look at it and walk out.

One day, though, to Toni's immense surprise, Cheryl decides to sit in the café, and have her coffee. Toni is so astounded she almost messes up three orders because she's too busy sneaking glances at the girl sitting by the window, staring at the world outside. When the girl finally leaves, Toni jumps up to go to her table, even though she is supposed to be minding the counter. She sees her empty coffee cup, with her note fluttering on top of it. She grabs it, reads her own words, a small "Hope you're having a good morning today", turns the page over, and smiles, her heart doing a strange dance all over her chest.

On the other side, in beautiful penmanship, is written "I am, thank you. Hope you're having one too, even though you've been screamed at by a bunch of different people all in the span of ten minutes."

Yes, she thinks, now I am having a good day.

This is what happiness is, Toni thinks. The tiny anticipation of Cheryl's arrival, the excitement of her departure so she can read what she's written today, and see her turn back to give her a tiny, uncertain smile. The way she had fallen in love a few months ago, the desperate intense love that used to keep her up at night due to the worrying and the lying, has now settled in her chest like the calm after a storm. She still stays up at nights, but now it's because she keeps reading what Cheryl had said about her morning class or that annoying professor who kept singling her out. She still longs, still aches, still craves, but it's sweeter now.

And for this, she can wait forever. She can wait out a year of this, of tiny notes hidden on coffee cups, of small, longing glances across a crowded coffee shop, of tiny smiles and small peals of laughter. She can wait forever for Cheryl Blossom.

It's raining outside.

Cheryl cannot believe that she'd be so stupid to forget her umbrella back at the flat when the skies have been grey since the morning, but apparently, the bloom of a second-first love have indeed rendered her a moron. She thinks of waiting this storm out, but it doesn't look like it's letting up soon, and she has work to do. She gets up and starts walking towards the door.

"You're going out in the rain?" Toni asks her.

"I don't have any other option," she replies, shrugging.

"Yes, you do," the pink-haired girl tells her, then walking out of the booth with an umbrella in her hand, gestures towards the door "Lead the way, M'lady."

"What? No. You can't just leave your post like…"

"Fangs will take care of it," she replies "It's okay, Cheryl. I'll just drop you off and be back in fifteen."

So they start walking. Slowly, very mindful not to touch each other, although Cheryl has the irrational urge to reach out and take Toni's hand every time their knuckles brush up against each other's.

"This is nice," Toni breaks the silence, after five minutes.

"Really?" she arches an eyebrow at her, just because she wants her to keep talking.

"Yeah, it's like…I don't know, a fresh start or something."

"You can't start what never ended."

"Well, yeah, but you can rewrite it. You can try to go back to the beginning, tweak a few things here and there, and find that you have an entirely different ending than you originally planned."

"I don't think that's how it works," Cheryl says, because no matter how crazy she is for this girl, there's some history that isn't easily forgotten.

Toni stops in the middle of the street, and turns to her.

"Hi, Cheryl," she starts "I'm Toni Topaz, originally named Antoinette Topaz, and I am a part of the street gang known as the Serpents. I used to kill for them, but I've moved onto other things, and now I go to college. I've taken a course in photography, and work in a tiny magazine, and also have a part-time job as a barista. I'm trying to," she looks Cheryl right in the eyes now "Be a better person. For me. And also, for this girl I'm kind of in love with, and who I'm willing to wait forever for, if she wants me to."

"Forever is a long, long time," Cheryl whispers.

"That's okay," Toni tells her " For you, I can wait longer."