NOSTALGIA – THE SEQUEL
AJ tossed and turned in bed, trying to find a position where she was both comfortable and cool. Once again, the night was passing her by and she was losing precious time for sleeping. As she lay there, blinking she made a mental note in her mind of all the things she could be doing rather than lying here, staring at the ceiling.
It was no use, she couldn't lie here sweaty and uncomfortable, and so she got up and decided to do some laundry. Since moving back to New Jersey, she'd bought a small house just around the corner from where her parents lived. It wasn't big at all, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms; also the perfect yard for her dog Nacho Cheese to run around in, after all he wasn't very fond of exercise.
She pushed her feet into her furry pink slippers and held her hand over her mouth as she yawned slightly. Her body clock was all out of proportion, she did feel tired, so why couldn't she sleep?
Several nights AJ would lay there, in the double bed she shared, thinking about the one man she couldn't get off her mind. It'd been about a year since she'd moved on from WWE, and she never thought living a regular life could be so boring. There was no waking up to a morning routine of exercise, and no evenings filled with entertaining rowdy fans. She had even taken up Pilates on a Saturday as she had free time, since she'd usually have been at meet and greets all day. Although her mom constantly ranted to her on the phone telling her it was good to take a break, AJ was just waiting for the opportune moment to go back and get in the ring again.
As she made her way to the bathroom, she picked up the laundry basket she kept at the top of the stairs. She shuffled her way across the hall and into the bathroom, where she sat on the floor and transferred all the dirty clothes into the basket. It was mind numbing work, but at least she was starting to cool down.
Once the basket was filled, she made her way silently down the stairs, creeping as if she was in someone else's house. She walked through the kitchen and into the small laundry room. Placing the basket on the floor she stretched her back and flailed her arms in the air.
As she sighed looking at the filled washer/dryer, she lifted up the lid and proceeded to empty the dry clothing onto the floor. She picked out each item slowly, carefully admiring all her clothes. She lifted out a few t-shirts she'd got on sale at Hot Topic, before finally pulling out a t-shirt that made a large smile break out on her face.
In her small hands, AJ held her one and only 'I dig crazy chicks' t-shirt. Gosh she loved to wear this tee so much, although, Corey didn't approve of it much.
Yes, you heard correctly. AJ Lee had decided to move on, or so she claimed. After 6 months of being in New Jersey alone, AJ found a fellow wrestler, and struck up a romance with Ring of Honour wrestler, Corey Graves. Now, anyone that knew the couple would say they were perfect for each other, AJ however thought differently.
She would never admit it to anyone, but she just kept Corey around because she didn't want to go back to being lonely. Sure, they'd shared a good fling together, but AJ didn't think of it as anything more, but two months later she finds he's moving into her house and she couldn't understand how things had escalated so quickly. She'd often convince herself she was in love with Corey, but her heart would ache as she flashed back on scenes of herself and Punk lying together watching a movie.
AJ thought about Punk a lot. She knew he'd probably got on with his own life, and probably never thought about her another day after she left, the thought of Punk moving on also persuaded her to stay with Corey. Yeah, sometimes he was a sweet guy, but he wasn't the one with the key to her heart.
She pulled the tee in close to her face, hoping to catch a whiff of Punk's aftershave which used to linger on the cotton. She sighed hopelessly, as now all she could smell was the washing powder. As she bit her lip, she threw the t-shirt onto the pile with all the other clean laundry.
Punk had just returned back to the bus with Kofi and Miz after a night of 'partying'. That wasn't really Punk's scene, but as his friends had invited him along he thought why not? Who'd give up an opportunity to see a load of work colleagues making fools out of themselves whilst under the influence? Of course, Punk was still alcohol free, drug free, and he'd most recently become title free.
Punk dropped the title to Daniel Bryan, which had made him madder than ever, although he had to admit Bryan won the title fair and square. Kofi had convinced him not to worry about it, but he knew that Bryan plus the title equalled thoughts of AJ; after all, Punk had originally chosen the title over AJ.
The three entered the bus, all falling on the seats in the main lounge. Punk turned the lights on and slumped down beside Kofi.
"Wasn't that an interesting night?" Miz said, laughing slightly.
Kofi and Punk nodded together, "I thought I'd seen the worst of Cena drunk before, but holy shit when that man drinks too much, there's no controlling him!" Punk laughed, along with Kofi and Miz.
The three of them lay around for a while before deciding it would be a good idea to try and get some rest. Miz left first, falling on his bunk and sleeping, still dressed in his shirt and jeans. Kofi waited to see if Punk was gonna budge, but realized that would mean waiting forever. He got up, yawning and kicking his shoes off.
"Don't stay in here forever as usual, okay Punk? Make sure you get some rest, stop overthinking things all the time man." Kofi said softly, before turning the lights down dim and leaving.
Punk sat on the sofa, his head was ringing from the loud music that had been inflicted into their ears for the entirety of the night. He rubbed his forehead before sitting back into the chair and kicking off his own shoes. He was eyeing up the cupboard full of glasses, deciding whether he could be bothered to get up and grab a drink or not.
Eventually he thought what the heck, and raised himself, hobbling over to the cupboard and pulling out a small glass. As he stood looking inside the open cupboard, he pulled one note out from the pile at the back. He held it in his palm as he turned on the tap, making sure not to drop it. He then shoved the glass under the running water, letting it fill half way before placing it down on the side so he could turn the tap back off. He stood up against the counter, now sipping the water, reading the note over and over.
Punk, my batman! I just found a pile of these notes I wanted to give you, but I thought you might find it childish. Oh well! I guess you'll get them some day and you'll wake up like omg AJ you're a weirdo, but we still have to share the same bed! I love you x
He finished off his glass of water, and placed the glass into the sink, leaving it for someone else to clear up in the morning. As he walked towards the door he took one final glance at the note before screwing it up in his hand and throwing it in the direction of the bin.
"That's four." Punk mumbled.
Punk had found it rough to get over AJ, but of course he didn't let anyone else know that. Every time Kofi brought her up he acted as if he didn't care, but that was the biggest lie of the century. Thoughts of AJ would keep him awake at night, and he was starting to piss himself off as he hated thinking about her. He was constantly in an inner battle with himself, so he thought the best thing to do would be to get rid of everything that reminded him of her, so he started with the notes, disposing one every time he went to the cupboard.
At first Punk managed to convince himself it was working, but even he couldn't keep that up. He began to start regretting throwing them away, but by keeping them he thought of himself as weak. So every night as he lay in bed awake, he'd still think of her, she was all he ever thought of. He wondered if he'd ever see her again, but then again, he had no idea how he'd handle that sort of situation.
Punk thought he was doing a good job of showing he didn't care, little did he know Miz and Kofi could see right through him, and would have regular discussions about the situation when he wasn't around. Miz had tried contacting AJ to try and convince her to come back, but she refused, saying she needed to start new. They knew they had tugged some heartstrings however, because each time they asked, it would take longer for her to say she wouldn't return, clearly she was thinking about it. Kofi and Miz just hoped it would be soon, because even after a year Punk was still falling downhill, rapidly.
Welcome all readers, previous and new! This is my new fic, Nostalgia.
Nostalgia ; a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.
This fic is a sequel to Stay Forever, but if you haven't read that don't worry! You'll be able to pick up the storyline easily! But if you want to, be sure to go back and read it and review :) or if not, just pm me and I'll let you know the basics. I won't be updating this fic until (probably) the 18th Jan, so please be patient, I've got a lot to do haha, but make sure to review this chapter and let me know what you think so far! Enjoy :)