The best thing about being best friends with Toni Topaz? She's pretty and sweet and fun and the most loyal person Cheryl Blossom ever met in her entire life.

The worst thing about being best friends with Toni Topaz? Being in love with her because of all those things and knowing that there is not a single chance of those feelings ever being reciprocated.

She knows the brunette since ever, they have grown up next door to each other and had become inseparable the first time their mothers had put them in the same playpen for an hour. Exhausted, they had fallen asleep net to each other, hands and foreheads touching and when Toni's mother lifted her out of the playpen to go home, they had both woke immediately and had been making a fuss until she'd set her daughter down again. There ha never been any mistaking that this was going to be a friendship to last for eternity.

And up until the moment Cheryl realized she's attracted to girls and, one girl specifically, there had not ever been anything they had not told each other. Cheryl likes boys, has kissed one or two already and had felt the sparks with at least one of them, but she can't deny, that girls had always held just that much more of an appeal for her. Technically, Toni knows that, too, but Cheryl had done everything in her power to assure Toni that she has never been, nor will she ever be attracted to her. They are best friends, and that it exactly how she will always see Toni, nothing more and nothing less. It's a lie now, and it has been a lie back then, but the last thing Cheryl needs is to destroy the only real friendship she has, with the one person that means so much to – has even before romantic feelings have arisen.

When Toni calls her up to tell her she'll be over in a minute to go through the redhead's closet for first-date clothes, Cheryl asks her to bring some of her mother's homemade cookies for the inevitable sleepover. Then she takes a look in the full length mirror in her room and schools her features; the dreamy smile has to go, and the love sick expression in her eyes needs to vanish. She's only satisfied she'd successfully hidden her feelings when her cheeks stop glowing. Then she falls back onto her bed, buries her nose in her abandoned fashion magazine and waits for her best friend.

It has been about a decade since Toni had last used the front door, or the doorbell for that matter, at her best friend's house. Their mothers had been best friends since High School, too and on more than one occurrence, they had used the other's house like their own; using the never locked backdoor. It hadn't taken long for six year olds Cheryl and Toni to pick up on this habit and so she brunette lets herself into the house now, too, balancing her Serpent shaped throw pillow in one hand and the plate of cookies in the other. She kicks the door shut behind her with her foot, earning a glare from Cheryl's mother who had been busy preparing dinner – always enough for two more people should they (un)expectantly show up, just like Toni's mother does every time she cooks – but had abandoned her task to give Toni a hand. An apology and a greeting later and the girl is on her way up the stairs.

She pushes the door to her best friend's room open with her back, almost dropping the cookies to the sound of Cheryl's laughter. The redhead is still lying on her stomach across the bed, feet propped up against the headrest, but the magazine is not nearly as entertaining as watching the beautiful girl stumble through her door. Toni shoots her a look, barely able to hide her own smirk, and after she's deposited the plate on the dresser next to the door, she flips her friend a particular finger. This time, the smile breaks out fully across her lips. The snake pillow finds its way next to the cherry shaped red one Cheryl keeps on her bed. They had gifted those to each other about five years ago, when they had strolled through the annual fair and had come across a shooting stand. Since that day, they are always dragged over to the other's house at sleepovers, and neither of the girls in in the least bit ashamed to admit they only sleep well cuddled up in the same bed, clutching those pillows tight to their chests.

Toni informs Cheryl, that she has seen her mother make dinner downstairs and the two decide to spend the time they have before they are called down to set the table with more fashion magazines, lying side by side on the covers, laughing, talking and gossiping. And Toni tells her about the date with some guy she had met at Pop's yesterday when she had been waiting to pick up their milkshake order. The guy had been working behind the counter, had taken her order and served her two shakes not five minutes later, but in between he had managed to slip Toni his number and, after long and careful consideration, that had spanned a whole two hours and a talk with Cheryl about something completely different, she'd taken out her phone and had texted him. Another hour later, she knew just the basics about him, but had scored a date this weekend.

As much as she tries to hide it though, Toni can see that Cheryl is not really happy for her. The redhead makes a good attempt at pretending it's not that she's not happy about the date so much as she doesn't know why the brunette hadn't mentioned the guy yesterday. And Toni is quick with an apology that Cheryl accepts on the spot, because she hasn't been hurt about that t all honestly, but she needs to uphold the pretense.

It's easier for Cheryl to push down and hide her feelings when they are with their little group of friends, or when they sit down to dinner or just a friendly conversation with their respective mothers, but this casual talk about everything and nothing at the same time is okay, too. Not always, some times she just wants to lean over and shut their bantering up with a kiss, but most of the time she's okay with it. She is preoccupied with the topics at hand and not so much able to sneak lingering looks at the girl beside her, or inconspicuously check her out. She can pretend there are no feelings at all for a short while, too, then, but that mostly only lasts for the time it takes for Cheryl's eyes to find Toni's again.

Times like this, though, are extremely hard. Dinner had come and gone, Toni's mother had joined them and Cheryl's father came home from work just in time and the five of them had spent another half an hour after just sitting together. He adults had relocated into the living room rather soon, however, and the girls had taken this as their clue to retreat to the bedroom as well.

And now, Cheryl has taken up her position on the bed again, dodging the occasional shirt or dress flying her way, while Toni raids her closet for the perfect outfit. It's always been like this, and it's nothing new for Cheryl to watch Toni change into different skirts and tops without sparing any thought to it at all. It doesn't get easier with time either. More often than not, Cheryl catches herself staring, and she's quick to make sure Toni doesn't notice. She hasn't yet or, if she did, hadn't mentioned it at least.

With the perfect outfit on hand – a black mini skirt made from leather and a blood red top that shows way too much skin than Cheryl would want Toni wearing for anyone but her – it's Cheryl's turn to push her friend down onto the chair in front of her dresser and threads a brush through brown locks, spiked with pink-ish strands here and there. There's going to be make-up tries in the end, too, but first Cheryl has free reign over Toni's hair. It never takes the redhead long to find just the exact style that suits the other girl best for any occasion, but it's also true, that Cheryl could be done in even less time. The opportunity to touch Toni like that without having to explain why, is something she won't waste ever however.

When they are finally done, Cheryl is a mess inside, but Toni looks more beautiful than ever; and it's for that guy and not for Cheryl, and that mixes Cheryl's emotions even more.

And then, there comes the part where Cheryl can be her true self, show however much emotion as she wants to and be as close to her best friend as possible. It's late and they head to bed. Here, Toni is always the one seeking contact, scooting as close as possible and cuddling into her friend's embrace. It's just how she sleeps the best and it had always been this way.

It's incredibly dark outside and the clock on her nightstand shows just past 3 am., when Cheryl realizes she's not the only one in the room that is awake. She's lying on her back, staring at the non-visible ceiling, one of Toni's arms around her waist and the brunette's head is nestled into the crook of her neck. But it's not the usual calm exhale against her skin that indicates she's sleeping that Cheryl feels, but rather a quick intake of breath and a long exhalation, accompanied by a rather tense posture. She bears it for another five minutes, and then Cheryl carefully turns onto her side without breaking the contact around her waist and searches Toni's eyes in the dark. What she sees when she finally finds them takes her breath away. It's a look she had never thought to see in those gorgeous eyes.

It's also the only thing Cheryl needs to see before she leans forward and kisses the soft lips she has been dreaming of kissing for so long. And there's not the slightest hesitation from the other girl, opening her lips to welcome the redhead's tongue into her mouth and deepening the kiss in the process. Before she knows it, Cheryl finds herself on her back again, Toni pinning her down to the mattress with her hips. And they are still kissing; it's like oxygen is not even a necessity anymore.

Toni's hands are everywhere, Cheryl's aren't idle either, and she rids the girl beneath her off her top in a matter of minutes, marveling at the sight before her, Cheryl half naked and obviously ready for her. Her head sinks down and she takes an already hard nipple into her mouth, rolls it between her teeth, biting, sucking and soothing in a repetitive motion until she has Cheryl squirming underneath her. Then she moves on to her other breast and starts all over again.

Just when Cheryl thinks she can't take it anymore, hands tangled deeply in the other girl's hair to keep them connected, Toni's hand wanders down her torso in a light caress and effortlessly slips into a pair of panties that is embarrassingly wet. Toni smirks at the discovery. She let's her middle finger graze the girl's clit once, twice, watching the changes on her face with interest, before moving further down even and slowly and carefully easing first one finger, then two, into her. Cheryl bites her bottom lip hard to keep from screaming; they have to be careful, her parents are sleeping just down the hall.

A few skilled strokes of the brunette's fingers and Cheryl's orgasm is rushing through her very core, and it's so much better than in all her imaginations of this exact scenario. She's still coming down from her high, when Toni pulls her hand from her panties and, scooting down on the bed, takes the scrap of fabric with her. Then she takes a short moment to just look at the beautiful girl before her, completely naked and open and just for her. And before Cheryl can voice any protest whatsoever, Toni pushes her thighs further apart and her head disappears between the redhead's legs.

At the first touch of the brunette's tongue on her folds, Cheryl has to turn her head to muffle her scream in the covers under her cheek. Again, it doesn't take long for the beginnings of a second orgasm to creep into her consciousness, overtaking her whole body and making all rational sound disappear from her mind. This time, she bites her lip until she'd swear she's drawn blood to keep the scream from slipping past her lips when she comes. The hands tangled in brown locks, tighten almost painfully, but Toni is so into her task that she doesn't even notice. Her eyes close out off their own will and she only opens them again, when she hears Toni calling out her name softly.

Toni is next to her, propped up on one elbow. Her face reflects slight worry and an emotion Cheryl can't place. She's also not sure, where those are coming from in the first place – they had both been more than fine just minutes ago. And then Cheryl realizes something else, and her cheeks take on the color of her hair and she strongly hopes she has not actually said anything out loud earlier.

Toni is dressed, Cheryl is dressed. She might be feeling a very distinct warmth in a very distinct place, but that's just the result of a very realistic dream. A dream, not the first one, and definitively not the last one, but nothing more than a dream nonetheless.