Feeling disturbed, Abigail looked up when the door of her room opened. Ashley barged in, dropping an envelope on Abigail's bed. "You're on the line with Juice again?!"

With a wave of her hand, Abigail told her friend to shut up, but of course Ashley ignored her. She flopped down on the bed next to her.

"Hey Juicy! Haven't seen you in a while! You should visit us more often!"

She yelled so loud in Abigail's ear that she pulled her head to the side. 

By now he had stopped by a few times. The first time he'd felt very awkward around Ashley, who had teased him with the fact that she had seen him getting off. The moment Abigail had shown him a small smirk, he had shaken off the awkwardness, jokingly telling her he could send her a video like that too. 

She wouldn't even been surprised if he had really done it. 

Their flirting hadn't escaped her attention. Part of her wondered if he did in on purpose, just to make her jealous, but she also had to admit that Ashley was a great girl. Her relationship with Davey's friend hadn't lasted long; at a New Year's party she had cheated with a guy who had, to her shame, turned out to be under age. 

When she didn't put the phone on speaker, Ashley pulled the device out of her hand, got up and launched herself on her own bed. 

"You know, you could call him yourself instead of stealing my phone the whole time," Abigail noticed. 

"Nah." Smirking, she sat with her back against the wall. "Hey Juicy... How about a hot date with me?"

Abigail rolled her eyes, glad she couldn't hear his answer. She knew Ashley was just messing with her right now; she knew about her former feelings for Juice and she would never get into a relationship with him herself. And if they would just have an one night stand – well, then she hoped she'd never find out. 

A little grumpy because her conversation with Juice was interrupted so brutally, Abigail touched for the envelope on her bed. Except for her name, nothing was written on it. Frowning, she tore open the paper and looked into it. 

"What the hell?" She pulled a black rose out of it. The leaves were shriveled and the bud hung down. 

Ashley tilted her head. "The fuck?"

She heard Juice's voice through the phone without being able to understand the exact words, and Ashley tossed back the device. 

"Hey." His voice sounded worried when she pressed the device to her ear. "What's goin' on?"

"I uh – I received some weird mail." She looked at the sharp thorns that were still attached to the stem. "A rose."

He chuckled. "You got another stalker?"

"It's a black rose, thorns included. I dunno, I think it's a bit creepy."

"Someone's just foolin' around I guess."

"Maybe..." Although she wouldn't know who would do that. Finding the flower was no coincidence; her boyfriend's band had just released a new song called Black Rose. Was this some prank Davey had pulled on her? It felt a little far-fetched, but she would call him later. "It's just something stupid..." She tried to shake it off. By now, everyone in the building knew her boyfriend was in a band, so everyone could have left the envelope. 

"I gotta go, it's my bar tending shift."

Abigail's shoulders slumped down. Although they had talked for at least half an hour, it felt like they had just started their conversation. "Okay, good luck. I miss you."

"Miss you too. See you soon!"

He ended the call. 

Abigail didn't notice how deep she was sighing until Ashley looked at her with raised eyebrows. 

"What?" she asked a little annoyed.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I just wonder how long you're going to go through with this. For more than half a year your whole body just screams JUICE." 

Abigail rolled her eyes. "Those feelings lie far in the past."

Her friend started to laugh. "Right... You should watch yourself when you're talking to him. It's kinda cute, those shining eyes and megawatt smile. Never see that when you talk to Dave."

Abigail wrapped her arms around her knees. That was because all phone calls with Davey felt repetitive. The silences made her feel uncomfortable and when she did tell him something, he sounded distracted, like he was doing four things at the same time. Right now he was doing a tour again and she hadn't seen him in two weeks. She missed him, not talking to him made it easier. She missed Juice too, but his phone calls gave her energy and cheered her up – that is, as long as Ashley wasn't interrupting them. 

"I love Davey," she said stubbornly. She balanced her chin on her knee. 

"I never said you didn't. But you gotta admit that it's a little weird that he's always the one you call when something's bothering you, instead of your boyfriend."

"Why? He's one of my best friends. And he – he just listens when I talk to him, instead of humming the whole fucking time."

"Whatever Abs. But I still think Juice is the perfect match for you."

"Is that the reason you're trying to get into his pants?" she huffed. 

Innocently, Ashley shrugged her shoulders. "Hey that guy is fucking hot. The minute you want em you can have em, but as long as you don't? I'm not gonna ignore that nice piece of meat."

"Not even if it hurts me?" she muttered.

Ashley didn't give in; she only raised her eyebrows higher. "If it hurts you, it's your own fault and not mine. That guy worships you, Ab. He would rob a fucking bank for you."

She sighed softly. Again the doubt was gnawing. Every time she had convinced herself that she still wanted this relationship with Davey, she started to doubt again. Most times because of Ashley. But she really liked Davey. Sure – their relationship wasn't perfect because he was away half of the time, but at least he didn't risk his life every day for some stupid criminal shit. Furthermore their friendship was finally fixed; she didn't want to ruin it again. 

"I'm going to call Dave," she muttered. 

He didn't answer her call. Only after midnight, when she was asleep, he called back. Knowing that Ashley would even be fast asleep when a bulldozer would cross their room, she sat up straight. "Hey."

"Hey babe. I saw a missed call. You okay?"

She squeezed her eyes while trying to filter out the background noise. His tone told her he wasn't sober, but he always drank a couple of beers when he was on stage. 

Suddenly, a lump formed in her throat. "I miss you."

Her stomach cringed as she heard a girl's laughter right beside him. She knew she had no reason not to trust him, but because she didn't know a lot of men who had never cheated, there was a strange feeling in her stomach.

"Miss you too, love. I'll be home in four days, for another week. Then I'll be all yours."

"You tellin' me you're not mine now?" she asked with a slight smirk. 

Juice would have joked; saying something about the countless hot girls surrounding him and still convincing her he wouldn't touch any of them. Davey however sighed.

"Of course you are. You know I love you."

She dropped her eyes. Her tone had been light, but he made it sound like she was clingy. Probably not on purpose – after all, he couldn't see her face and she knew the continuous jealousy of his ex had left its mark on their relationship too. 

Awkwardly, she cleared her throat. "Someone sent me a rose." She bit her lip, it sounded quite out of the blue. "A black one?"

"Really? Well – it wasn't me? Your biker boyfriend stalkin' you again?" He chuckled – sometimes she had the feeling that he was shipping them harder than Ashley did.

"No. Honestly, it didn't look very romantic." She was silent for a while, considering whether she should put her thoughts into words or not. "You think a fan sent it to me? That she figured out where I live? I dunno... it just feels creepy."

"It's just a rose, baby." He laughed softly. "They sent me that crap every fucking day. Don't worry, love. It's just part of the job. I love you Abby. See it as proof of my love."

In thoughts, she could see him wink. 

"Okay," she answered quietly, although she still felt uncomfortable with it. Why would a fan send her a rose like that? Was it a threat? It surely wasn't because she was such a great girl... Maybe it was because of the club she had grown up with, but she was used to taking threats seriously while Davey was always laughing them off. 

"Go back to sleep, love. I'll be home in a few days." He chuckled softly. "And I'll get you some red roses."

Her lips curled up in a small smile before she said goodbye. However, in her stomach was still a vicious sting. Maybe she was paranoid... but maybe the violence surrounding her while growing up had given her good instincts.