This was a Cherish they hadn't seen before. Even Allie, who knew much more of Cherish than the guys did, was surprised. She was nothing like the girl Allie had first met at Seven's party. She was not the sad, but cute girl, drunkenly careening all over the place. She was happy, not intoxicated. She was dancing, not stumbling. And she was stunning, not an accidentally cute mess in an oversized shirt and red lacy bra.
She no longer slumped her shoulders with the weight of depression. Come to think of it, she wasn't even slouchy with uncertainty and discomfort at the way she was dressed. She held her shoulders back confidently and moved with ease as if she always wore so little and hadn't spent the past months hiding behind layers of clothing. This was the real Cherish. It was evident in how easy it came to her. It was even more evident in the way her old friends did not seem the slightest bit surprised.
"Allo everyone."
The music had suddenly dropped its volume and only the guitarist and bassist were quietly noodling with their instruments. The people in the crowd turned to the stage to see what was going on. It was Cash, twirling drumsticks in one hand and gripping the microphone nervously in the other. Cherish peered at him; since when did he sing?
"So everyone knows about the ladies who usually sponsor these parties, and you all know that they are a few of the sexiest ladies around!"
The guys in the audience howled and hooted agreements of all types, ranging from outwardly lewd to plain and simple yeah man's.
Grinning, Cash winked at Cherish, "Most of you are aware of the accident earlier this year that took one of the twins from us. We kinda lost the other twin for a while there, too. But, lucky for us all, we got our Malice back today. Cherry, Biquette, we've missed you and your girls up here."
Cherish froze, trying to convince herself not to go up there. She watched as her Dolls went to Cash's side- Audrey, Jessline, Melanie, all dolled up and ready to dance.
"We're playing your song, Malice, so you better be up here, Babe."
Well so much for not going up there; there really wasn't anything they could do to stop her. As Cash settled onto the drum throne, Cherish bounced up the stairs to the stage.
"Don't mind him," she gestured to Seven. "He's just a pet."
As the song began, the same song that had broken her down a few weeks ago, she smiled. Years ago when at a concert, Len, Audrey and her had jumped onto the stage and began dancing. Like most girls their age, they made up little dance routines. But unlike the innocent pop dances the other girls were doing, theirs were a combination of swing, jive and provocative burlesque moves. It became something of a tradition, something they did at all Cash's shows and at all parties with live music. As Iggy grabbed the microphone, ready to growl out the song, Cherish threw back her head and howled.
-.-
Her face was flushed a pleasant shade of pink and a contented smile lit her lips as she danced about. She didn't seem to notice anything going on around her, much more interested in belting out the songs.
"We're gonna do just what we wanna do, get outta the way we're the wrecking crew!!!"
Ian grinned as he caught Cherish around her waist when he spun her one times too many. Laughing, she clutched his shoulders as he pulled her back up. Instead of standing, she kicked her legs up and hung off him.
"I'll drop you!"
"Not if I drop you first."
"I'm carrying you."
"Good point," she giggled as she set her feet down. As she semi-spun in his arms again, she caught sight of someone and took off across the room. "Quentin! I didn't know you were here!"
He laughed as he separated himself from her, pulling his mouth back from hers. "Course I'd be here! I heard you'd be here-" he looked over her shoulder quite obviously, "who's this?"
Cherish looked behind her as if she had forgotten she was stuck to Seven. He had been surprisingly bearable all night. He hadn't been trying to upset her, nor had he tried to injure her. In fact he had let her do whatever she wanted; he had even danced, or bobbed rather, with her and her friends.
"Oh. Quinn, this is Seven. Seven, this is Quentin, he's like my big brother. I grew up with him."
Seven nodded, "Any relation to Cash?"
Quentin chuckled, "Yeah, that little shit's my brother."
Nodding again, Seven took a step back to let Cherish have her privacy; as much privacy as she could have while handcuffed to him.
Ian nudged him, "She sure has a lot of guys, huh?"
"Yeah."
"I bet she says they're all just friends."
"Yeah."
"She sure is hot, huh?"
"Yeah... wait, WHAT?"
As Ian scampered off, he knocked into a tall red head who had been approaching Quentin and Cherish. Seven watched as she draped an arm around Quentin, "Oh, hey! Cherry, this is my Nessa. Nessa, this is my Cherish."
"Oh good, I thought I was going to have to get jealous of the girl kissing my baby," Nessa drawled and enveloped Cherish in a gentle hug.
"I've heard so much about you, Cherry!" she looked at Seven with a smile. "I see you've got your own toy."
"Meh. Seven's just there for the eye candy value. I don't really use him for anything else."
Nessa laughed as she shook Seven's hand, "You should."
"You know, that's what I've been trying to tell her all this time."
"Seven?" Cherish said sweetly, despite wanting to gag at his words.
"Yeah?"
"Be a good pet and shut up."
-.-
The drive home was quiet. If only because everyone in the car, save Seven had fallen asleep. A good thing, because he was driving. Cherish herself had her chin propped on the ledge of the passenger side window, her eyes half open watching the lights of the other cars on the highway zooming by. There was no radio playing, but Cherish was humming at a barely audible volume, a contented semi-smile on her face. In the back seat, Allie was jammed between the two boys, Ian's head in her lap and Juss using her chest as a cushion.
As the car bounced over a particularly pothole filled stretch of road, Cherish sat up. Rubbing her chin, she shifted around in her seat, trying to get comfortable again. She glanced at Seven, "Why don't you turn on the radio to keep yourself awake?"
His eyes flicked from the road to her and back again, "You're all sleeping. It's fine."
"Whatever, but I think it would be better if your eyes stay open while you're driving."
He smiled, offering her a nod but no more words. Sliding over in her seat, she leaned against his arm. She closed her eyes and stretched her legs out, her feet dangling out the open window in quite an adorable fashion.
"I think it would be better if my arm stays awake while I'm driving."
"Seven?" it came out as a barely there whisper.
"Hmm?"
"Be a good pet and shut..."
-.-
Looking down at his arm, he smiled. Her mouth was hanging open, a little trickle of drool running down the side of her face. In the back seat none of the others had moved to get up, dead asleep. He supposed he should figure out a way to get them all into the house. Reaching his free arm behind him, Seven flicked at Ian's knee. "Whu?"
"Shhh"
Ian looked around somewhat disoriented, "Oh, we're home..."
"Yeah..." He looked down again, at Cherish asleep on his arm and sighed; this would not be easy. Gently, he pushed her upright and slid himself into her seat. Looping his arm around her waist, he slid out the passenger side.
"Mmmfeee."
Seven smiled at her contented utterance, rolled her up into his arms and carried her to the house. As Ian finally stopped fumbling with his keys and opened the door, he issued a warning "shhh" to keep them from waking any of the children. But still, Seven, Juss and Allie snickered and giggled as they fell over things in the darkness of the house. "Guys!" Ian whisper yelled. "Basement, now. I'll be right down."
Seven shook his head and slowly picked his way down the stairs. Joana and Liz were lying on the floor in front of the sofa, a movie playing on the T.V. before them. He hadn't been sure at first if they were awake, but Joana's head twitched in his direction, "You're home!" Upon seeing the scantily clad girl in his arms, her mood visibly soured. When she realised that the girl was Cherish with her head softly leaning against Seven's chest, her frown turned into an angry scowl. She stared as Seven crossed the room and sat on the arm of the couch, "Why don't you put her down?"
Before he could answer, Juss came bouncing down the stairs, Allie giggling wildly as she crashed down behind him after missing a step in the dark. Liz jumped up in fright and then burst out laughing.
"Shhh!" Seven was the one to reprimand them this time, nodding his head down at Cherish. "Juss, a little help here?" Seven begged in a tired whisper. "She's not exactly a feather."
"So put her down then, genius," Joana said bitingly, without taking her gaze from the T.V.
"Need help with the sofa bed?" Liz asked. She ignored the angry reprimanding look Joana shot her, and began pulling the cushions off the sofa.
Seven lowered himself into the recliner, "Thanks, Lizard-butt."
"No problem, Severin."
"Okay, so I have pillows and blankets..." Ian stumbled into the basement and deposited a large pile of stuff on the floor. "Oh. Hi Liz, I didn't know you were here."
"Hi. Shhh, Cherry's sleeping," she pointed over her shoulder. "And apparently, so is Seven." She pulled the lever on the chair so it reclined all the way back and gently shoved a pillow under Seven's head.
"Thanks Lizard-butt," he mumbled sleepily, with a lazy grin.
"You gonna change, Sev?" Ian asked as he tossed sheets over the sofa bed.
"Sleeping."
"Okay."
Cherish suddenly moved wildly, kicking her legs out and waving one arm around, "S'freezy. Stup'd Sev'n stealin th'blanket..." she murmured and settled against him again, burying her face into his shirt.
-.-
The voices had seemed distant at first. But they floated closer and closer till they seemed to be beside her. As she drifted out of sleep, she felt every inch of her body, sore and cramped as it was. She willed herself to move, but sleep still had a very good hold on her. Who cared if she was late for school? She would lay here a little longer. Taking a deep breath she felt comforted by the faint musky smell she was greeted by.
In the seconds it took her to realise she was lying on someone, she became conscious of the arms that were wrapped around her. Reluctantly, she pried her eyes open; V.E.N. Unless someone else had a tattoo across their neck that ended in "ven" she was quite sure it was Seven's neck she was cuddling up to. Which meant that the arms, and the body the arms were so kindly pressing her down against, belonged to him. A wave of panic surged through her, but she took another deep breath and calmed herself.
Who was she expecting to wake up with? She was handcuffed to him, so it was inevitable that she would have fallen asleep beside him. It was slightly odd that she woke up with her body pressed so closely against his. But, in all honesty, the last thing she remembered was being in the car, where she had willingly leaned against him.
"You awake?" His warm breath rushed over her hair and down the side of her face in an airy whisper. She nodded into the curve of his neck. "So, we should get up?"
She nodded again, but didn't move. Part of her was comfortable lying on the warm couch in Ian's basement. Another part of her wanted to get as far away from there as possible, but was too sore to move.
"Can't move?"
Shaking her head, she muttered a petulant "No." She could almost hear him grin and felt his arms tighten around her just slightly and his chest flex as he attempted to move.
After a moment, he sighed and relaxed into the recliner again. "Guys. Help. Can't move."
* Title song by Jerry Lee Lewis
Lyrics Cherish is singing are from Wrecking Crew by The Meteors