Dana tried to talk with Cherry, but it wasn't easy. The things she told her were inconsistent and she couldn't stop crying. Dana felt awful for her. Kip had been everything to her, and if she understood her friend well, she had caught him with a Croweater three times. And Kip hadn't been just a boyfriend to Cherry; she had believed they would grow old. She had tattooed a crow on her body to show the world to who she belonged and that ink would never fade. A lasting memory of her loss.
In the meantime Cherry had fallen asleep, her head in Dana's lap. Slowly Dana stroked her hair, that felt clammy because of all the tears she had shed. Dana felt incredibly helpless, wishing she could do more to help her friend. All she could think of, was offering her some distraction until she felt strong enough to stand on her own. But then what? Should Cherry try to live here as an illegal too? Or could she persuade her to go back to the US after some time? The apartment she shared with Juice wasn't very big and she had noticed that he didn't really know what to do with the situation.
"You think she tells us the truth?" Juice asked later that night, as they were both in bed and Cherry was sleeping on the couch.
"Are you blind?" Dana asked with raised eyebrows. "Don't you see how broken she is?"
Juice sighed. Their fingers were laced and they had turned on their sides, facing each other. His face looked exhausted, as if he had been worrying for hours.
"It just doesn't feel right. That Kozik isn't calling me back..."
"He's probably just busy. They are with so few now..."
Juice gave her a skeptical look. "It's an emergency burner. What's the point of it if you don't take calls?"
Dana stretched her hand towards his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb, hoping to make him relax a bit more. She had forgotten how easily he was upset when it was about Charming. "An emergency burner? That ain't true, Juice. If something happens here or there, we are too far away from each other to do something about it. It's more a... consolation, the knowledge that you aren't completely cut off from your friends. When Kozik has time or when there's something goin' on, he will call you, okay?" Her hand slipped to his boxer shorts and she leaned into him to kiss him, determined to help him let these thoughts go.
. . .
In the three days that followed, Dana saw the old Cherry come back a little.
A little.
Dana took her to a village close by to shop around and get a little culture. Juice stayed close to them because he still didn't trust Cherry completely, but he kept watch at the doors instead of following them inside the shops, to give them some space. Even though Kozik still hadn't called back, Juice seemed to have been able to put these thoughts to rest since nothing suspicious had happened the past days. If Maddox was still somehow connected to Cherry's arrival, he would have found them by now. They agreed that Kozik was probably too busy to see a missed called on a phone he hadn't used in six weeks. He probably believed they would call to the clubhouse if there was really something wrong, whereby it no longer mattered if Maddox would find them.
In that case, he would have found them already.
Dana helped zipping up the dress Cherry was fitting and whistled as her friend turned around in front of the mirror. "Well, this will surely help you to hook a cute Mexican."
Cherry gave her a slight smile.
Too soon, Dana. Too soon.
"I really missed doing things like this with you," Cherry said after gathering a pile of dresses she wanted to buy. "Those days without you were so boring." She sighed, her face grew gloomy again.
Dana hooked her arm around Cherry's. "Those days are over now. I'm happy you're here."
"You are?" Cherry asked, doubting. "I mean... Juice doesn't seem too happy about it."
Dana shrugged her shoulders. "He always needs a bit more time to get used to a new situation."
"I envy the two of you," Cherry admitted, glancing at Juice, who was leaning against a streetlight, staring into the distance. "You really are the perfect couple. You have gone through the most horrible things I can think of and you're still madly in love." Her hand glided along a heart shaped balloon in a vase.
The day after tomorrow it was Valentine's Day; a day on which Cherry would be confronted with her broken heart once more.
"You have to celebrate it, Valentine's Day. Despite my broken relationship. I mean – it's your first Valentine's Day together."
Dana shrugged her shoulders. "There will be many other Valentine's Days. I'm not going to celebrate love when you feel so horrible."
Cherry looked up, giving her an intense look. "Yes, you have to, Dana. You have to cherish what you have. It can be gone within the blink of an eye."
The glance in Cherry's eyes was so fierce it made Dana feel uncomfortable. "If you say so..."
"I'm serious, Dana. Go enjoy each other. Me and Netflix will be fine. You shouldn't shake up your life because of me."
Dana raised her eyebrows. "My life is already shaken up, and that has nothing to do with you, Cherry."
The girl dropped her eyes. "Let's hope it stays that way."
Dana frowned, but Cherry stepped forward to pay for the dresses and Dana let go of the subject. Instead, she wondered what they should do on Valentine's Day. If she wasn't buried underneath roses and hearts today, she had probably forgotten about it and she knew a little surprise would do Juice good.
Maybe Cherry could help her to come up with some ideas. Or was that too harsh to ask? It was hard to judge what she could and couldn't say and she decided to wait to see if Cherry would bring up the subject again herself.