A/N: This is a repost! I posted it a while ago… then kept playing with it! I can't help it.

It is essentially the same, with a little bit added in because… well because I didn't think part of it was how I imagined it to be.

I apologise to those of you who had tagged and reviewed the old version.

So here we go again

Based on "Love the way you lie" by Rhianna and Eminem. – so not mine.

CM Punk. – yes. Totally mine… no wait. Sorry. Slipped into my happy place for a moment. Completely NOT mine.

I'd also like to point out that I do love him. Despite how this story goes. Really I do. I don't think he's evil… I am well aware that this is so far from what he's like – confirmed by his very vocal disgust of beating women. I did find this really hard to write, but I hope you like it!

There is also a Sequel. That will be posted separately to this. So follow me if you want to be notified when I post it.

Reviews are pretty. And they help ease the anxiety of this story – not sure how I feel about it.

So let me know :D


It was rare, but on a day like today – if Phil stayed perfectly still and the chaos in his head lay dormant – he could stare at Aurora and remember how they used to be in the beginning. That brief moment in time where they were both happy. When she smiled at him every time she looked at him, and his heart raced every time she walked through the door.

She was sitting in the bay window of their home, the warm summer sun filtering through the glass and catching the red highlights in her untamed raven hair, making it shine. She was barely dressed, wearing a pair of boy leg underwear and a singlet top that clung to her body and as Phil sat in the lounge chair, his legs extended in front of him and his eyes trained on the woman before him, she arched her back in an attempt to get comfortable. Phil felt that familiar tightening in his lower stomach and any chance he had of tearing his eyes away from her was lost.

He let his cool green eyes travel over her, as she sat completely unaware of his presence. She was unbelievably perfect. In almost every way. His eyes quickly fell on the dark shadow under her left eye and the ugly bruises that marred the soft, glowing skin of her neck. Bruises that could easily serve as fingerprints. In that rare moment of silence that enveloped him, Phil was able to feel remorse. For what he had said, what he had done, and for scarring such beauty – beauty he was sometimes certain he didn't deserve to be near, let alone claim as his.

A small shudder ran through his powerful, tattooed form at the thought. He quickly stilled himself, not willing to let this quiet moment go. He loved her in these moments. Not the powerful, insane and addictive love he felt for her with every fibre of his being most of the time, but the soft, gentle kind of love that everyone else in the world found easy. The kind of love that he occasionally craved and wished that he was capable of. The kind of love that he was sure he would never be worthy of.

It never lasted long though.

Phil was brought out of his daydream as Aurora shifted once again and turned her dark eyes toward him. They were blank for a fraction of a second as his presence in the room with her sank in, then a rush of emotion flooded through them. Phil could see the small amount of fear she felt when she saw him and that it was quickly overshadowed by the intense anger and hatred she felt seconds later.

She fucking hated him right now and, as the chaos stirred in his mind, Phil revelled in the fact that she did. He loved it. It was tantamount to the complete control he craved over everything in his life. Although a small part of him, the part that was being pushed further and further down into his mind by the anger in her eyes and the dominating chaos behind his, wished he had never done it.

"Who's that dude" Phil growled in her ear as he grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her against his chest so there was no room to escape. They hadn't even been in the club ten minutes and some random guy had already approached her.

Phil had only left her side for a moment to go to the bar. When he had turned around, his previous good mood and the unbelievable high he had been on simply by being her with her, vanished as he saw her smiling at some stranger and brushing his arm with her hand as he handed her a beer. A fucking beer. His eyes had grown darker in an instant and his muscles tensed under the material of his shirt. When Aurora had turned and found him watching her through the crowd, she had smiled at him. That was when his blood started to boil.

"I don't even know his name" Aurora shrieked at him, but her response fell on deaf ears. Phil couldn't hear her. Couldn't hear the crowd around them or the music that filled the air. He could only hear the voice in his head telling him she had to pay. He could see nothing but her hand on another man and the alcohol he had given her.

As he began to drag her to the exit, ignoring the mass of people staring at the scene they were causing, Aurora began to struggle against him. Trying to wrench her arm free of his hand, trying to pull away from his body. Phil just held on to her tighter, seemingly oblivious to the cry of pain his attentions drew from her.

As her attempts became desperate, frantic and erratic, his temper reached boiling point, rushing over the edge and taking him over completely. They almost fell through the exit doors, struggling against each other, each in a desperate bid to gain control. Phil won.

He shoved her against the wall of a club, half thankful that they had emerged in a darkened and isolated ally way but knowing that the threat of an audience would not have been able to stop him. The backhand that connected with Aurora's cheekbone was almost deafening in the deserted space. The startled cry she emitted in response was almost lost in the echo of the impact.

Phil watched her for a moment, his usually ice cold eyes burning with fury and almost begging her to defy him again. To test him. To push him. So he had an excuse to go flying over that edge. He watched her as she recognised the look in his eyes and in turn he recognised the defiance in hers.

"Go fuck yourself Phil. You can't stop me from walking away from you any time I want. And that kills you" She hissed.

And that was all it took. Phil was on her in a heartbeat. His large tattooed hands, ironically branded with the word "Romance", wrapped around her throat, squeezing the soft flesh and strangling any further cries she may have uttered. His body was pressed against hers, trapping her against the brick wall and eliminating any space between them. She was so close he could feel her racing heartbeat against his chest. As the pressure of his hold increased, the fire in Aurora's eyes faded and the smirk on Phil's face grew to a grin. In the back of his mind he wondered if he'd be able to stop himself before he took her life away. He could feel her feeble hands tapping on his back, desperately grasping for hope, for a breath, for a miracle and it began a debate in his head as to whether or not he should grant her that hope. But before a decision could be made, the choice was taken away from him.

He had no time to react as Aurora's knee connected with his groin. She was accurate and unforgiving and before he could even completely release her from his death grip, she had struggled free, pausing only to aim another kick viciously into the back of his leg before taking off down the ally way without once turning around to see him inevitably drop to his knees.

He wanted to run after her. To push through the pain and hunt her down, but he couldn't force the air into his lungs. Maybe this was what Aurora had felt when he was slowly cutting off the oxygen to her body moments before. The remorse hit him harder than the low blow that had dropped him and the struggle for air became next to impossible. He had laid his hands on her. He had hurt her. Something he was never supposed to do. As he forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain in his groin and his heart, he swore to himself and to her- wherever she was- that he would never stoop so low again.

"I guess I don't know my own strength..." his voice, laboured from his heavy breathing, did nothing to mask the pathetic excuse.

I love the way you lie

Aurora hadn't spoken a word to him. In fact, by the time Phil had painfully made his way back to their house from the ally way, she had locked herself in the bathroom. He had begged, pleaded with her to open the door and when that hadn't worked, screamed and tried to break down the door. All to no avail. Eventually he had fallen asleep across their bed and, when he had awoken that morning, the bathroom door was open, and Aurora was nowhere in sight.

It had taken Phil no time at all to find her in the bay window of the lounge room, where they now sat, still in silence. She loved that window more than any other part of their giant, mansion like home.

She was still staring at him. He could see how tense she was. It radiated from her and in an instant Phil's own peaceful moment was broken. They stayed still for what seemed like forever, the silence no longer calm, but strained. Phil fought against his own mind not to yell at her, to remind himself that he loved the woman before him more than anything. More than air. But it was Aurora who broke the silence.

"What are you doing?" She asked. Her voice was cold. The smile that usually graced her beautiful mouth when she spoke to him was absent.

"I'm just watching you. You're so beautiful" Phil told her. The truth sounded simple in his mind. But nothing was ever simple between them.

"Even with your marks on me? Or does that make me more beautiful in that fucked up mind of yours? Does it make you feel like you've claimed ownership?" She hissed.

Phil felt his own body tense at her words. With slow and deliberate breaths he tried to relax his muscles and not react to her. He had promised he wouldn't hurt her again. He watched her as her eyes travelled over his body. Although he hadn't offered a response, he knew she knew him well enough to see the reaction she had.

"You know these marks will fade. Maybe it would just be easier for you to brand me?" She continued. Phil's eyes flashed with anger at the suggestion, but Aurora ignored him.

She stood slowly, unfolding her lean body and stretching her arms above her head. Phil was instantly caught in a war between desperately wanting to shut her mouth and ravishing that amazing body. As he watched, she turned her back to him and with slow movements, shimmied her boy leg underwear down her legs, turning to look at her own bare ass.

"You could brand me right here. Your little SES cross logo would be appropriate. But then... well the only way another guy would know I'm yours is if he got me naked first"

The growl that escaped Phil was a clear warning. They both knew it. He had straightened up in the lounge chair he was sitting on and his whole body was tense, but Aurora was not about to stop. This was her payback. In wrestling he was arguably the best in the world, and his gimmick certainly promoted that. In this though, no one was better than Aurora. She knew how to press his buttons better than anyone who had come before her.

"And really, if I'm already naked, who the fuck is going to care? Past the point of no return. Might as well keep riding" Her voice was a purr and she ended her little monologue with a wink and pulled her underwear back up to cover herself.

All of Phil's previous promises, his determined resolve to not hurt her again, dissolved in the blink of an eye. He stood from the chair with a speed many envied and reached her within a fraction of a second. His hand roughly travelled up her neck, not bothering to skip over the still painful bruises he had caused the night before, and tangled into her long dark hair, pulling it roughly back and forcing her to look at him.

"Shut the fuck up Aurora. We both know you wouldn't let another man touch you" he told her, his voice was nothing but a dominating growl in her ear.

Aurora laughed. She actually laughed – a genuine laugh that lit up her eyes and it served to enrage him even more. "How do you know I haven't already Punk?" she taunted him.

Phil smirked and the gesture caused Aurora to falter for a moment. Rather than answer her, Phil used his other hand, letting it hover around the waist band of her shorts, his fingers caressing her skin and causing an involuntary sigh to escape her lips, before roughly dragging them from her body and letting them fall at her ankles.

Aurora gasped in shock and tried to move away from him, but Phil wasn't going to allow that to happen. He let go of her hair and slid both his hands over her ass, lifting her up against him and moving her to the closest wall.

"Let me fucking go Punk" she shrieked. Phil ignored her. He felt her hands move to his shoulders and ignored the pain as she dug her nails into his skin. Holding her against the wall with the weight of his body, he pushed his own jeans down and before she could try and escape from him again, he entered her roughly.

Aurora gasped, overwhelmed by shock and pain and Phil bent his head to her neck, leaving a trail of kisses from her ear to her collarbone before biting her shoulder. He smiled against her skin when he heard her groan.

"What were you saying Rora?" he muttered quietly, pushing into her with a slow and painful pace.

Aurora was nothing if not stubborn. "I said," she gasped as he thrust into her again before stilling his movements, "How do you know I haven't already".

Phil brought his mouth to hers in a crushing kiss, his tongue claiming her mouth and his mind celebrating the victory as she moaned against him and pushed her body to meet his as he quickened the pace. He knew he had made his point when she raised herself up to wrap her legs around his waist, but his dominating nature could not let it go at that.

"I know Aurora, because I know I'm the only one who can do this to you. I'm the only onewho can make you moan like this and we both know it" he told her through her cries "Now admit it"

"Like hell I will" Aurora breathed out. Phil couldn't believe how obstinate she was being. He slowed his pace once more, earning a frustrated groan from Aurora as he brought her back from the edge of her climax. He moved within her slowly, his deep and measured thrusts driving her crazy.

"Come on Aurora. You know what I want and I know you want to admit it" Phil whispered in her ear.

Aurora tried desperately to keep quite, moving her body against his to try and quicken his pace, but Phil wasn't having any of it. He wanted her to say it.

Finally, Aurora couldn't take it anymore. "I love you Phil" she murmured in his ear.

Phil smiled into her neck and reverting back to the pace she was craving.

"God yes Phil" Aurora cried, clinging to him as he moved. He cries spurred him on as he concentrated in taking her back to edge she had been on before. He could feel the tension in her body as she climaxed and he followed soon after.

"That's my girl" he whispered in her ear, claiming her mouth once more before setting her firmly on the ground and stepping back and pulling up his jeans. Aurora stood before him, breathing heavily, half naked, and the anger back in her eyes.

"You're a fucking asshole" she muttered.

Phil just looked at her, "You were clinging to me a moment ago as though your life depended on it"

Aurora just shook her head. "Why do we keep doing this?"

Phil knew what she meant. He fucking loved her. So much it hurt sometimes. They fought all the time, and not just small disagreements. They had all out screaming matches that, more often than not, ended in one or both of them being hurt. Heart breaking things were said and she would leave. But he always brought her back. They would walk through the customary apologies and everything would be okay, for a while. Eventually they fell back into the same patterns, the same routine. Like it was nothing but a game. Maybe it was. Maybe they weren't capable of anything else. Maybe that's where their passion came from.

"Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano?" he told her, sending a grin her way. He watched as she threw up her hands in defeat, before stepping into her shorts and storming out the door. Wrong answer.

"Come on baby! Pick up your bags off the side walk" Phil pleaded. He was keeping up with her quick pace easily as she stalked down the street, towing her suitcase behind her as she ignored his pleading. He thought he was doing pretty well to keep the anger out of his voice, but it wasn't easy to control.

"Fuck off Phil. I can't do this anymore. One of us is going to end up dead if we keep this up" Aurora called over her shoulder. She didn't even pause to look at him.

"I'm sorry babe" Phil tried again, catching up to her and grabbing her arm so he could pull her around to face him.

"It's not enough Phil."

"I told you this was my fault" Phil told her, hating how weak he sounded. He couldn't let her walk away from him. From them. "We'll do better this time. Next time I'll aim my fist at the drywall"

"Next time?" Aurora demanded, her eyes widening as though he had just proven her point.

"There won't be a next time" Phil amended.

They stood in the street in silence for a time while Phil rubbed slow circles over her skin as he held her hand. Eventually Aurora looked up at him and he could see her resolve had faltered.

"Come home with me babe, we're nothing without each other" he told her again. His voice was low and soft. A devious move he knew would kill any defence she had left. He was right. She nodded her head and let him lead her back to the house, looking down at her feet for the short walk back.

Aurora sat on the cold tiles of the ensuite with her back against the closed door. She had been sitting there for ten minutes or so, wondering how she could be so close to escape, only to find herself back in this house. She knew why, though. She loved him. Despite everything she had ever learned telling her their relationship was based on everything that was depraved and socially unacceptable, she only had to look into his green eyes and see the fire in them – a fire she knew was only ignited by wrestling and by her, and she felt as though she was home, no matter how broken it was.

Phil was on the phone in the bedroom. She could hear him clearly from where she sat and guessed that he was talking to perhaps his best friend in the world, Scott Colton. As she listened to him, and as his voice grew louder, Aurora felt her fear grow and her body turn cold at his words.

"Of course I apologised..."

"Of course I was fucking lying..."

"I just wanted her backColton..."

"Yeah, I know I'm a liar..."

"If she ever leaves again? If she ever tries to fucking leave again I'll tie her to the bed and set this house on fire"

But even the threat of Phil's words, the fear embedded deep in her heart and the cold that felt like it would never leave didn't persuade Aurora to pick herself up off the bathroom floor and run.

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn

Well that's alright because I like the way it hurts

Just gonna stand there and hear me cry

Well that's alright because I love the way you lie

Love the way you lie…