Hello and welcome to part 2 of Free Falling. Hope this chapter is up to standards. I promise the next one will be much longer.

Last Chapter:

Toni looked up, an evil grin spreading across her face. Cheryl smiled back, moving to the bike. Toni got on first, and Cheryl sat behind her.

"Helmet?"

"Oh good. Thanks TT," Cheryl replied quickly. Her hands were shaking slightly, so Toni twisted her body around to take Cheryl's hand's in her's.

"If you don't want to go on the bike, just say, ok. If you need to stop at any moment, yell and hopefully...," she smiled," hopefully I'll hear you."

Now Cheryl was smiling fully. Toni turned back around, reving the engine.

"Hold on!" Toni cried.

"To what!!!" Cheryl shrieked in reply. A hand snaked around from the front to grab Cheryl's drawing them around Toni's body.

"Better?" Was all she heard over the wind.

"Thanks," Cheryl replied, leaning her head into Toni's back, just enjoying the feel of the wind in her hair.

Leaning back, she pushed her arms up, letting out a cry of joy. She was grinning from ear to ear, and lifted herself out of the seat, standing up.

It was exhilarating. In that perfect little moment as the bike sped down the road around town, Cheryl was completely and irrevocably free. There was no tormementing mother, no dead twin, no drug dealer father. No ghosts, or vendettas, or serpents. No rivalries, or anything at all really. There was just Cheryl and the one person left who actually mattered to her.

They moved further around town, so Cheryl sat down again, right as the bike started to slow.

"Where are we, TT?" Cheryl asked, slightly dizzy with the adrenaline.

"The woods. We did a circle of town. We're actually back quite close to your house, even though you can't tell."

She was right. There was absolutely no way to tell where they were. If Toni hadn't just told her, Cheryl would be lost.

They left the bike just off the road, walking through the woods, until Cheryl suddenly stopped.

"I know where we are! See that mark on the tree there? The birch one?" Toni nodded from next to her, moving to run her fingers over the little black, thorn-shaped mark on the tree.

"JJ and I put that there. There are about 6 other trees with marks like that." Cheryl said, sounding proud, yet sad at the memory of her brother.

"Actually, let's go. I'll show you!" Cheryl said, grasping Toni's hand. She tugged gently, and they started running off through the woods. They crashed through bushes, tripped over sticks, but they barely noticed. They were too caught up in the moment. Just holding onto the other as they ran, not interested in where they were going (Cheryl admittedly had no idea where the other marks were, it had been about 7 years since she last saw them).

Except then, Toni stopped.

"Shit," she cursed. "My bike!"

Cheryl laughed, shaking her head.

"Oops," she said, looking down at the ground for a second. "GPS? Because I have no idea how to get back there."

"Nah, it'll be fine. I'll just text one of the guys to pick it up for me." Toni replied, sitting on a log. "Sit for a sec, Cher. I have to ask you something."

Cheryl swallowed. Hard. She knew this was just Toni, her friend, but her immediate reaction when people said something like that was to run. She didn't talk about things with anyone. You talked to Toni though she told herself. You came out to her. Whatever she asks, it will be fine.

So Cheryl sat down across from Toni, looking at the ground, refusing to meet the other girl's eyes.

"It's about the other night. You know, at the will reading?" Cheryl nodded, still not looking up. "Anyway, after your mother burst in, you kinda disappeared into yourself. I know you noticed, and if it's ok, could you maybe explain?" Toni asked.

Cheryl sighed, relieved. She didn't really know what she expected Toni to say, but this? This was easy to explain. Maybe it hadn't been at the time, but Cheryl had had time to think since then.

"Oh ok. Sure." She said, meeting Toni's deep brown eyes with her own. "My mother, as you know, isn't a great person. And, well, I guess having her barge in like that kinda shook me up. She just always manages to make me feel small and..." she sniffled, trying to hide the noise from the girl next to her. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. She didn't want to cry right now. This was supposed to be a happy day, free of any thoughts of her demented mother.

"Cher, you don't have to talk about it if it makes you sad. I think I can guess what the rest would be. You told me most of this at Pop's, remember?" Toni said, curling her arm around Cheryl and pulling her close.

"Thanks TT. Also," Cheryl said, sitting up straight. "You, Toni Topaz, are cordially invited to dinner at Thistlehouse." Seeing the look on Toni's face, Cheryl knew the serpent would take some convincing.

"Please TT," she said, moving to stand in front of Toni. "Just for tonight. It will only be for dinner, then you can leave. It's just that it's supposed to be a big, proper "welcome to the family" dinner for my uncle. And he's scary, TT. Please, just for tonight."

Honestly, Toni would do anything for Cheryl, and the other girl could very easily melt her will with a few little words, leaving Toni in a little pink puddle of sappy adoration. And if Cheryl needed her, who was she to decline? This girl had been through hell, and the least she deserved was a friend when she needed one.

"Ok Cher. I'll stay for dinner. By the way, what time do you usually have dinner? Because it's 6:00," Toni told her. Cheryl's face lit up, before she suddenly looked horrified.

"Toni! We have 20 minutes to get back and get changed!" She exclaimed, pulling Toni up and getting out her phone to pull up a GPS.

"Oh, great... Let's go!" Toni cried, taking off running in the direction Cheryl pointed. Together, the headed back towards Thistlehouse.

\--/

I know this is really, really early in terms of posting date, but I wanted to get the next chapter out for you guys. I recently recieved two incredible reviews, from CherryBlackman and ForTheLoveOfShips.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to both of you. Your support and enjoyment of my work is what motivates me to keep writing, and I'm just so happy you both enjoy reading this fic so much.

Oh and just to clarify CherryBlackman, I am actually from Australia. "The land down under" and all that. :D

And lastly, I just wanted to inform you guys that I have a number of new stories currently in the works, and I will be releasing them over the next month or two. They are mostly AU's because that's what I've been inspired to write recently.

G'night!-G