In the DiMera mansion, JoDevil holds a heart shaped box, and looks at Gabi. She holds up a chocolate. Days of Our Lives
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
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As we get into Salem, the folks around town are celebrating Valentine’s Day.  Marlena gets to work to find her office overflowing with flowers and balloons. John calls and the two exchange sweet nothings, but just as he asks how her first day back in the office is going, Nancy barges in in tears. It takes some work, but the grieving woman manages to tell Marlena about Craig. “How does that happen,” she asks of his being gay through tears. “Is it me?” Maybe he’s going through a midlife crisis, Nancy suggests.

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“Craig isn’t here,” Marlena says. “You are. Clearly you’re having a very hard time with this.” Marlena tells Nancy that Craig’s orientation isn’t her fault, and while his being gay isn’t a choice, he made a choice to keep it from her. And that’s what’s causing her pain. “It feels like a death,” Nancy says of her collapsing marriage. Marlena understands and says it’ll just take time, and she’ll be there for Nancy while she goes through it.

In an office, John grasps Marlena's shoulders and looks intently at his wife. Red heart shaped balloons are in the background. Days of Our Lives

At the precinct, Nicole visits Rafe with coffee and breakfast for the first day of his trial. Rafe, though, isn’t that hungry. “Kind of hard to eat when your future’s on the line,” he tells her. She insists he did nothing wrong, but he thinks back to their passionate desk sex and asks if she’s sure about that. Nicole points out that Ava’s been curiously absent through all this, so clearly that means she’s the one who set him up. But just as she says that, Rafe’s MIA girlfriend swoops into the room with a kiss for her framed beau.

Ava makes up some excuse about her “former life” making her hanging around him a liability, but says she just couldn’t stay away on Valentine’s Day. She then twists the knife in with seemingly innocent digs asking why anyone would ever want to hurt Rafe until Nicole gets fed up. “Oh, just stop it, Ava. I know that you’re the one who did this!” Ava feigns innocence and Nicole blurts out that it’s obvious she found out that Rafe cheated on his girlfriend with the blonde.

Again, Ava pretends like she’s just finding out, demanding to know how many times it happened. Rafe says the truth is that he’s had feelings for Nicole for awhile. “We talked about this,” Ava says. “You denied it. More than once.” Rafe apologizes, but Nicole’s ticked. “We made a mistake,” she admits, “but I’m not surprised you acted like the vindictive bitch you’ve always been and framed him.” Rafe asks Ava if it’s true, but she scoffs, declares that she’s innocent and he can rot in jail and storms out.

In the interrogation room, Ava sits on the desk, holding out a plate of pastries to Nicole. Rafe sits in a chair, looking at a baked good in his hand. Nicole stands and reaches for coffee. Days of Our Lives

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Out in the Horton Saquare, Craig spots Johnny out for a jog, and when the DiMera catches his gaze demands to know “what the hell” he’s looking at. “It’s the middle of February, and you’re running with no shirt on,” Craig points out. That’s enough of an ice-breaker for JoDevil, so they introduce themselves, which leads to Johnny throws himself at Craig. He thinks he tore a pectoral muscle, the doc should check it out.

The impromptu exam doesn’t last long, though, once Chloe shows up, but the damage is already done. She’s annoyed that her dad’s flirting with “some young guy in the middle of Horton Square. What the hell is wrong with you?” She doesn’t let up criticizing her dad as he tries explaining what happened, but Craig puts his foot down and says that even if he was flirting with Johnny, he refuses to live his life as a lie anymore.

Chloe apologizes and says that she’s there for her dad. Then she probes him about his new love, though she’s a bit uncomfortable at the thought of meeting him. Craig just discovered that his new boyfriend is coming to Salem to support him. Chloe agrees to think about joining them for dinner, at least.

Craig sits at a table in Horton Square. A shirtless Johnny stands, and shakes his hand. Days of Our Lives

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Elsewhere, Gabi wakes to a romantic, petal strewn bed, but the Jake’s attempts to feed her chocolate covered cherries are literally tossed back in his face. She thinks back to discussing her beau’s supposed betrayal with Johnny and their plan to betray him in turn. “That was not the reaction I was expecting,” Jake notes. She covers by saying she’s allergic to cherries, and he apologizes and suggests a do-over.

Instead, she runs off, ostensibly because of Rafe’s trial. Jake offers to go along with her, but she tells him not to worry, just focus on taking over Titan. Once she’s gone, he tells himself that he’s going to get her the CEO of Titan position for Valentine’s Day. But then he sees Johnny’s text on her forgotten phone telling Gabi to “Be my Valentine.”

Back at the mansion, Johnny digs into the chocolates Tony got Anna for Valentine’s Day when Gabi bursts in exclaiming, “I hate him!” She’s ticked as hell about Jake’s two-faced Valentine’s romance, but then starts to wonder if she misunderstood the clearly smitten man’s talk with Maggie. No, no, Johnny says, he found proof of Jake’s betrayal.

Johnny sits on his bed, that is strewn with rose petals. Gabi stands, in a pink robe, with her hands on her hips. She grimmaces at him. Days of Our Lives

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John and Brady, meanwhile, talk about how rough it must be for Craig “having feelings that you can’t act on.” That’s something Brady knows about with Chloe, he says. But he’s going to be there for her every step of the way. Chloe shows up telling Brady about meeting her dad’s new boyfriend, but she isn’t sure what to do. Maybe it would be easier to handle, though, if Brady went with her.

In the show’s last few minutes, John shows up at Marlena’s office, telling her about Craig. She knows, Marlena says, Nancy just left. Marlena says marriage troubles make her appreciate her John’s relationship even more. Nancy, meanwhile, is crying on a bench in the square when she spots Craig. He tries apologizing and saying he’s still her friend, but she bitterly laughs him off and demands a divorce. Brady wants to be sure she’s asking him to dinner on Valentine’s Day. “What are friends for?”

Nancy sits on a bench outside of Brady's Pub. Craig stands in front of her. She holds up a finger, and glares at him. Days of Our Lives

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Jake goes to visit Rafe and asks if he just missed Gabi. Rafe and Nicole tell him she was never there, then, once he’s gone, talk about how nice it is that at least their feelings are out in the open. And Johnny breaks out some paperwork that ostensibly shows that Jake’s trying to swipe Stefan’s DiMera shares from Gabi. She declares she’s going to kill Jake, but Johnny convinces her to plot with him instead. “Won’t it be fun to see Jake’s face when we burn him to the ground?”

Next on Days of Our Lives: someone finally suspects the devil might still be around, and Tripp plans a surprise for Allie.

Chloe’s never had it easy. Take a look through her tumultuous life and times in Salem in our photo gallery below.

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