A/N: First EVER CM Punk/Kelly fic. I'm not really a big fan of the pairing, but I was talking with the awesome Vera (Heel Princess), and the idea for this came about from that. Special shout-out/dedication to her because she loves this pairing! Hope you enjoy, hunn :)
This is A/U, although I don't refer to Kelly as Barbie. No particular reason, I just didn't want to. It seemed easier to call her Kelly.
Song used is "Want To", by Sugarland, and is one of my personal faves.
Please R&R, and enjoy :)
Holding her breath, Kelly stepped forward and pushed the doorbell, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for a response. She looked and smiled at the sound of dogs barking and children laughing as they rode their bikes to the playground adjacent from the neighborhood. It was a beautiful day outside.
The door swung open moments later to reveal Kelly's closest friend and next-door neighbor, Phil Brooks.
"Ready to go?" The perky blonde asked with a smile, as she stepped in the door of the spacious house and set her bags on the floor.
Phil smiled back at his friend and, running a hand through his shoulder-length raven colored locks, replied,
"Yeah, Kels, just give me a minute to grab the rest of my stuff, okay?"
The blonde nodded warmly as the older man bounded up the large spiral staircase that led towards a huge upstairs area. In all the time she'd known Phil, Kelly had never seen the entire interior of his house. Her house wasn't exactly what one would call sparse either, but Phil's house was practically like a mansion.
While she waited for Phil to return, Kelly made her way over to the dark brown sofa, absent-mindedly picking up a magazine off of the coffee table beside of the sofa and flipping through it. Normally she loved her tabloids, but she just couldn't concentrate on anything today but the trip. She'd been looking forward to this particular trip for what seemed like an eternity.
I packed a cooler and a change of clothes
Let's jump in, see how far it goes
You got my heart and your daddy's boat
We've got all night to make it float
It was a regular routine for the two of them: every Friday when she got off of work, Kelly would stop by Phil's and they would head down to the beach. It was a chance for them to spend some time together, have fun in the sun, and relax.
Being from Chicago, Phil hadn't visited many beaches, and he really wasn't a beach person anyway, but he knew how much Kelly enjoyed their weekly trip, and he enjoyed being with her. They lived right next door to each other, and had for the past seven years, ever since he'd moved down the street from Kelly and her family. Except for the weekends, though, they spent very little time together. Kelly's parents were divorced, and so Kelly often made trips to her dad's place during the week, when she wasn't working or didn't have any classes to attend. Phil worked a 40 hour job down at the town grocery store, so free time was a luxury for him as well.
Kelly chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair, contemplating whether or not she should use this trip as the time to tell Phil how she felt about him. She'd kept her feelings a secret from everyone, especially her parents, as they didn't approve of their daughter becoming romantically involved with a man who was nine years older than her. To them, it was strange, but Phil was a great guy, and Kelly knew that he only had the best intentions for her. The age difference never mattered to her.
The blonde just hoped she didn't screw everything up when telling Phil how she felt. If he rejected her feelings, Kelly would be completely embarrassed, and although she couldn't be totally sure, she figured that the friendship wouldn't be the same again. At least not for a while. But she needed to get this out—holding it in any longer was simply impossible. All she could do was hope that Phil would either reciprocate the feelings, or at least have the heart to let her down gently if he didn't feel the same way.
We could sit on the shore
We could just be friends
Or we could jump in
No matter the decision she made, Kelly knew that the end result would change her entire world. She'd thought about the risks, the benefits, and decided that the risk was worth it. She was scared to death, even though this was Phil, the guy who knew her better than anyone, and as jittery as a schoolgirl confessing her first crush.
The whole world could change in a minute
Just one kiss could stop it spinning
We could think it through
But I don't want to, if you don't want to
The whole drive down to the beach, Kelly remained silent. Phil contemplated asking her if anything was wrong, but he decided that pushing her to speak wasn't the best option, and so he'd turned the radio on, happily humming along to The Bouncing Souls as they approached the dock. The Chicago native opened the door for Kelly, once again smiling at her as she stepped out.
She didn't even know it, and Phil wasn't about to tell her, but these trips to the beach meant a lot to him. It gave him a chance to get away from his family, although he loved them, and allowed him to relax. His parents were both prominent figures in the town, and being forced to attend dinners and parties with them was exhausting. He was grateful to get away whenever he could.
Yeah we both got dreams
we could chase alone
Or we could make our own
Kelly didn't want to interfere with her friend's plans, and she knew that her confession would probably just mess everything up. The blonde knew that Phil wanted to be a professional wrestler one day. It had been his passion, his dream, ever since she'd known him. On the other hand, she didn't really have any definite plans in terms of a career, but she knew that she could always get into modeling as a last resort. The blonde was fairly pretty, and had won a couple of beauty contests as a child. If all else failed, Kelly would go down that path. While it wasn't what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, at least it would bring some money in for her.
Still, the perky beauty couldn't help but think about sharing her future with Phil. While the two of them weren't dating, they were very close. Kelly had had feelings for the man she considered to be her best friend for several years, and she wasn't exactly sure, but judging on the way he'd been acting towards her lately, she thought that those feelings might just be reciprocated, should she choose to make them known.
Although she was a pretty girl, and had always been quite popular with the boys, Kelly didn't have much confidence in herself. It had been a common misconception ever since she went through puberty and got her killer figure—which she didn't think was all that special, although everyone around her believed the exact opposite—she had never had a proper boyfriend. She'd been on a couple of dates with the captain of the football team, but nothing ever came of it. Kelly didn't really like any of the guys in her school, mainly because they all assumed she was easy just because of the way she looked.
In an attempt to interrupt Kelly's thoughts, Phil dipped his hand in the water and, grinning, flicked the water in Kelly's face. Surprised, the blonde snapped out of her reverie, but didn't say anything, only managing a small, wan smile in her friend's direction.
"Something on your mind, Kels?" Phil asked as he grabbed a bottle of Pepsi from his bag and took a long drink. He tilted his head questioningly as he looked at Kelly, his eyebrows arched. To say that she'd been acting strangely today would be a huge understatement. Kelly was usually bubbly and talkative, and rarely ever quiet. What was going on with this girl?
The whole world could change in a minute
Just one kiss could stop it spinning
We could think it through
But I don't want to if you don't want to
We could keep things just the same
Leave here the way we came
With nothing to lose
But I don't want to if you don't want to
Nervously, Kelly tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she fidgeted with her hands, trying to formulate the words she needed to say, the words she'd said over and over in her head countless times.
"It's just so hard," she said shakily, her voice barely above a whisper. She averted her gaze to the ground and stared at the sand, which was suddenly very interesting, as she spoke.
"I don't bite," her friend replied, winking.
"Well, I mean…ummm, oh gosh," Kelly stammered. Stop being so nervous!
"Come here," Phil said softly, beckoning Kelly to sit closer to him on the beach blanket he'd brought with him. Reluctantly, the bubbly beauty did so, the proximity of their bodies causing her to shiver. She didn't know why she was so nervous, and if the situation wasn't so serious, she probably would have started laughing, as it was something she often did to relieve stress or when she needed to make light of a situation.
"Now, is this about us?" The man known as Punk to his friends and family questioned, his eyes locking with Kelly's. She nodded, and cleared her throat to finally speak. Hopefully I won't stutter this time, she thought to herself.
"Yeah, actually…I mean, I've wanted to talk to you about this for a while, but I just never knew when the best time to do it would be," Kelly replied, tossing her hair back behind her shoulders. Then, the realization of what Punk had just said hit her: he'd known all along. Now she really felt stupid.
"How long have you felt this way?" Punk asked again, his gaze still firmly fixed on Kelly.
She shrugged, not sure how to reply to that question.
"I don't know…a couple of months?"
"Well, what took you so long?" The dark haired man smirked as he pulled Kelly closer, wrapping an arm around her shaking shoulders. She let out a sigh of relief, and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they looked out into the ocean, the two of them both relieved and happy at the same time.
A huge weight had been lifted from Kelly's shoulders and she smiled brightly as Punk squeezed her shoulder lightly. Her whole world had changed—but not in the way she'd expected it to. Everything happens for a reason, or so the saying goes, and the blonde was ready to see where this would lead.
But I want to
But I want you
