Toni opened her eyes, but she saw nothing. Only darkness, washing over her and swallowing her whole.

"W-why can't I see!??!" She shouted, frantically moving her hands around to feel the hospital bed.

"Toni..." a man said suddenly, he sounded like he was over by a wall.
"Unfortunately during the surgery the part of your brain that allows you to see was severely compromised, and I did everyone could to salvage it." He said softly but confidently.

Toni felt her heart beat speed up, and her throat grew tight.

"S-so I'll never see again!?!" She cried, trying to rub her eyes with her hands in confusion.

"You will not..." He muttered sadly. Toni screamed, she screamed as loud as she could to avoid reality. She couldn't see, anything anymore. She was devastated.

"Toni! Toni calm down!" The doctor said, rushing to her aid. Toni stopped and tilted her head, the doctor sat on front of her.

"Toni...there's a wonderful program I'm gonna put you in, because you need help getting adjusted, okay?"

Toni shakily nodded her head, "o-okay.." she muttered, breathing heavily. The doctor explained that the head of the program came in and is going to talk to her about it. A young woman with a blond ponytail came in, not that Toni knew what she looked like.

"Hi Ms. Topaz, I'm Elizabeth Cooper and I'm the head of the program Dr. Shepard has told you about."

"I called her earlier so you'd get started right away." Dr. Shepard explained.

"I'm going to introduce you to a caretaker that's gonna help you around, is that okay?" She asked Toni.

Toni blinked and nodded a little, she heard footsteps come in the room.

"This is Sweetpea. He'll be helping you out."

Toni waved towards the opposite wall, Dr. Shepard chuckled and moved her arm towards Sweetpea, who smiled warmly.

"Hi Toni. I'm gonna be helping you out at home and getting you used to- being blind." He swallowed. Toni nodded her head,

"When can I go home?" She asked, her breath shaking.

"After some physical therapy." Dr. Shepard answered.

After a few weeks, Toni had gotten used to using a cane and walking blind. Sweetpea had been there with her the entire time, they had quite a bond. He also showed her special sunglasses to protect her eyes from further damage.

"So I get to go home today?" She said excitedly, Sweetpea said yes and Toni was overjoyed, ready to get home.

The pair made their way out of the hospital, Toni a bit slower. She stopped to adjust her glasses and kept pressing on. They both crossed the sidewalk.

"Are you gonna be living with me?" Toni asked, feeling the ground with her stick. Both walking past convenience stores. Sweetpea nodded but then looked at Toni.

"Oh- yep." He said clearly, entering the apartment building Toni lived in. They used the elevator to get up to Toni's apartment floor. Toni sighed,

"I'll guess I have to quit my job..." she said coldly. Sweetpea looked down at her.

"What was your profession?" He asked calmly, Toni tilted her head towards him and cracked a smile.

"A photographer." She stated, a few moments later she bursted into laughter. She doubled over and hung onto Sweetpea's arm listening to him chuckle along with her.

"That's...unfortunate" he mumbled as he helped her regain herself. She smiled at him and continued to laugh, this time he laughed along with her.

Neither of them heard the ding as the elevator doors opened, Sweetpea sighed and helped Toni out.

"Well now you have to get used to touching and hearing things..." he concluded, opening up her purse to dig for her keys. Toni frowned,

"Don't look at all of my stuff in there..." she whispered softly. Sweetpea replied with an 'okay' as he pulled out her apartment keys and unlocking the door.

Toni walked in and inhaled the smells of her home. Fresh pine and leather, she thought. She felt around for her couch and awkwardly sat down. Sweetpea trailed behind her.

"You have a beautiful apartment..." he breathed, sitting down next to her. Toni smiled a little before looking down. She felt tears welt up in her eyes as she started to sob again.

"Hey- hey Toni...what's wrong?" Sweetpea asked comfortingly. Toni sniffed and wiped her nose.

"I can't see!" She cried, putting her head in her hands, "I can't see anything and I can't do anything I loved to do!" She screamed, clutching her hair in her fists.

Sweetpea put a hand on her back as she stood up, maneuvering her cane wildly and lifting it over her head when she reached her small round dining table.

She smashed her cane down on the table, broken into sobs. Sweetpea rushed to her aid her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Tiny...Tiny, hey!" He shouted soothingly, using the nickname he made up for her while she was in physical therapy with him.

Toni's breath seemed to have slowed down as she sunk into Sweetpea's arms. He held her close as he tried his best to comfort her, he couldn't imagine her life right now.

"I- I can't take photos..." she said hoarsely through the back of her throat. Sweetpea pulled her back up against his chest, sitting down on the floor with her.

"I can't read!" She cried, "I can't see anything!" She whimpered as she squeezed her eyes closed. Sweetpea stroked her pink hair.

"It's gonna be okay Toni...I'm here." He mumbled. After a while, Sweetpea stayed by her side. Toni had stopped crying for the most part.

"Hey...how about if I read to you?" He asked softly. Toni nodded her head slowly, her eyes burning from the tears.

"T-there's a book, on my nightstand by my bed...it's a book of poems..." she said softly. Sweetpea said he would go get it and picked her up, carrying her gently and placing her on the couch.

Once he came back, he opened the book and started to read out loud to her. Toni's breath began to slow down as she took in every word he said. She felt her pulse decrease as she wiped her tear stained cheeks in case any more fell from her cloudy eyes.

Sweetpea stopped and looked over to her, he stared at Toni sitting there patiently. He put his hand on her chin and tilted her head towards him, connecting his lips with hers.

She kissed him back and felt him slowly pull away. Toni couldn't see where he was now, and Sweetpea realized what he did.

"I- I'm so sorry..." he whispered. Toni tilted her head in the direction she thought he was in and nodded her head,

"Don't be sorry" she replied slowly back to him. He hesitated but then nodded his head, she let out a breath she had been holding on to for a minute.

"Um- there's this blind therapy group that I think you'd enjoy talking to..." Sweetpea up suggested, Toni asked him when the meetings were and he said there was one tonight.

Sweetpea had made sure Toni had gotten at least some rest before attending the meeting around five o'clock. She was sleeping soundly in her bed while Sweetpea took some time to get adjusted to his temporary stay.

He glanced around the apartment, colors filled every space. He looked at the pictures she had on a mantle. One was with what looked like her grandparents, she was holding some sort of certificate.

He smiled a little as he heard rustling from her bedroom, he looked over and saw Toni get up slowly and carefully. He noticed how much progress she was making with her new lifestyle.

"You sleep okay?" He asked, Toni nodded and inhaled. He checked his watch and looked back up at her,

"Shall we head to the meeting?"

"Yeah..let's go" Toni sighed, reaching out her arm to link with his.

Toni and Sweetpea emerged from the double doors of the church the meeting was held in, both of them laughing from the contents in the meeting.

"That was so weird!" She laughed, feeling her way to the car. Sweetpea laughed,

"If only you could've seen what they were all wearing! It's like they all don't have caretakers!" He laughed, his smile slowly fading. He mumbled an apology.

"Don't apologize," Toni smiled, "might as well make a little humor out of it."

Sweetpea muttered an 'okay' and helped her in the car. They both stumbled into the apartment after a pretty silent drive home. Sweetpea stood across from her setting her keys down, playing with his fingers nervously.

"Toni about the kiss..."

Toni turned over to the direction of his voice, "No," she interrupted, "I liked it, a lot. I like you a lot..."

Sweetpea looked up at her, "what?"

Toni shrugged, sitting down on the couch, "I wish I could see you" she breathed out, placing her stick down. Sweetpea stood there, slowly walking over to her.

"What if I showed you instead?"

He sat down next to her and picked up her hands, dragging them against his chest. Toni smiled, feeling her hands slide up his shirt. Sweetpea leaned in to kiss her again, Toni gasped a little before kissing him back.

"I want to see you so bad..." Toni sighed, pulling away from him. Sweetpea stopped and stared at her for a moment,

"Here..." he mumbled, grabbing one of her scarfs and tying it around his eyes. Toni furrowed her brow,

"What did you do?"

"I evened out the odds, eliminated my sense of sight." He mumbled, feeling for her lips and kissing them again. Toni laughed as she pulled off her shirt.

Sweetpea kissed every inch of her face before both breathing heavily. He hovered over top of her as she kissed him hard. His hands slid up and down her waist.

After they were too tired to continue, Sweetpea laid down and held her close to him, the scarf scattered itself on the floor.

"I don't want to live without you Tiny...you're extraordinary" Sweetpea whispered, kissing her head. Toni turned her head towards him,

"I can't live without you too...literally" she chuckled. Sweetpea laughed and kissed her forehead for a moment. Toni smiled as she laid her body up against his.