Since I started writing my first story about #AJPunk, I've been bouncing ideas around in my head and on paper about another story that I could do revolving around them. And finally the idea came to me. So here's my newest story about everyone's favorite almost-would-be-should-be couple in the WWE. It's completely different from my first story, so I hope y'all like it. Here it is.

Everything except this story is owned by the WWE. If it wasn't, well, we all know AJ & Punk would have gotten together by now. Duhhh.

No Way Out - June 17th, 2012

She couldn't see straight. There was a stabbing pain in her neck that made it hard for her to turn her head, and the dull throbbing she felt in her head was making her feel woozy. She was surrounded by darkness, so where she could be, she had no idea. Knowing who had carried her to the back, he had probably taken her to the boiler room or some other place within the depths of the arena. His music was still playing, reverberating throughout the walls of the arena, so that meant he must've not made it backstage yet. Good. She didn't want to see him, because he probably had questions, many of them, and she wasn't in any mood to give him answers.

Suddenly, a light was flicked on from somewhere and she immediately shielded her eyes, the throbbing in her skull becoming exacerbated because of it. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly looked around and saw that she was in the trainer's office. She surpressed a snort, closing her eyes as she laid back in her seat and slid down a little. She hadn't expected him to take her here; she didn't think he had much of a heart at all, but she was disproving that theory day by day. A small smile then graced her pink lips as she thought about it; here she was, bringing a monster to his knees, all because of one simple little kiss. Here she was, causing her ex-boyfriend all sorts of hell because of the shit he had done to her and put her through. And here she was, sending all sorts of signals to the man who found himself in the middle of it all. Was she with him or against him? It was for her to know and him to find out...if she wanted him to.

She tensed up for a moment when she heard the door open, thinking he had come back for her, but instead it was a trainer coming to check on her injuries. She heard his words, but she wasn't really paying attention; everything felt like white noise at the moment. What did get her ears to perk up, however, was the sound of his music stopping, and suddenly she felt the urge to get as far away from the arena as possible. She tried shooing the trainer off, but he insisted on running a concussion test on her to see if she had possibly suffered one with the tumble she took. Resigned to the fact that she was stuck there for the moment, she sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a huff, crossing her slender arms across her chest as the trainer went to work. After a few minutes of basic tests, he deemed her concussion free and good to go, but only if she promised that she'd try to take it easy from here on out. She nodded her head and in short form, stood up and quickly exited the office, taking a moment to slowly crane her neck to the left and right, making sure that there was no sign of him (or any of them, for that matter) anywhere. When the coast was clear, she walked a little quicker than usual to her dressing room. She didn't make it very far when the monster himself emerged from behind a series of crates, stepping in front of her and stopping her dead in her tracks.

Her eyes glanced his hulking frame up and down as she watched him adjust his black leather glove, his greasy, stringy hair hanging in front of his masked face. His breathing was heavy, and he literally towered over her small frame. The throbbing in her head was replaced by the sound of her heart beating against her chest like a drum line. Just because she had been shown a different side of him as of late didn't change the fact that he was still a monster who could snap at the tiniest of things. He didn't say a word as he stood over her, and she couldn't even tell if he was looking at her or not. Flipping his hair back to reveal the red mask that covered his face, he had a look of...was that concern? She couldn't really tell, the mask predictably hid most everything except for his eyes and mouth. But his lips were twitching, and he raised his gloved hand near her shoulder, almost like he wanted to touch her to see if she'd hold or break. Everything about this whole thing made her feel incredibly uneasy; what if he just upped and took her somewhere? She'd be powerless to stop him...and she hated feeling that way.

He licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak, but he quickly shut it and continued glancing down at her, a cocktail of mixed emotions playing across what little facial features he had thanks to his mask. The little imaginary angel on her right shoulder told her that she should try to make a run for it, but simply put, fear was what had her rooted to her spot. He was still a monster and he wasn't one to be messed around with, she knew this. There was a time and place to push buttons, and she had been doing that, but right now wasn't one of those times. She gulped as his hand raised again and found it's way to her tiny shoulder; she was afraid that he might squeeze it and leave a big bruise, or worse, dislocate or break it. That's what he was capable of.

"Are you...are you ok?", he asked, breaking the tense silence with his low, gruff whisper. She slowly nodded her head, her throat tightening up as she slowly craned her neck up to face him. Words were escaping her at the worst possible time. She felt his hand slowly rub her shoulder, and though it should have put her somewhat at ease, it did nothing to get rid of the nervous, almost nausious feeling that was residing in the pit of her stomach. Instead of saying something else to her, he nodded and removed his hand from her shoulder, lowering his head, turning on his heel and walking away from her while she remained frozen in place. She waited until he was completely out of sight to make her move, moving down the hall at an even quicker pace than before, lest she run into one of the other two men she encountered earlier in the night. Which she wanted absolutely no part of.

A few seconds later, she reached her dressing room and haphazardly began to throw her things together, raging neck pain and massive headache be damned. After everything was shoved into her bag, she turned the lights off and began to lightly jog down the hall toward the very back of the arena to the talent parking lot. It was then, when she got there and felt the pavement beneath her high tops, that she cursed herself; she had gotten a ride from her friend and she had to leave the arena early due to an emergency. She gingerly raised her head to look at the darkened skies, a deep sigh escaping her lips as she decided to trudge forward on foot; the hotel couldn't have been more than a mile or two away from the arena, and this was still New Jersey, so she knew the surrounding area fairly well. It was then that the skies decided to open up on her. At first, she felt a few drops hit her on the top of her head and she thought nothing of it. No sooner had she exited the parking lot and began walking down the deserted streets in what she hoped was the right direction toward what she hoped was the hotel everyone was staying at, though, did the rain start to kick in more.

She stopped for a brief second to glance upwards, quickly closing her eyes as a drop of rainwater splashed on her cheek. This was just her luck. She continued with her walk for a few more minutes, at which point, the rain grew heavier, and she sped her walk into a jog, and then from a jog to a run. She'd be lucky if she made it to the hotel and she wasn't completely drenched over every inch of her body from head to toe. Eventually, she found herself at a bus stop to catch her breath when a rather large, black and grey bus stopped there as well. Her breathing stopped for a second; she knew that bus anywhere. Dread began to slowly fill up within her as she watched the door swing open, waiting for him to appear before her. But the dread was surpressed and replaced by mild relief when she saw that his 'road wife', as he affectionately and jokingly called him, was the one that appeared before her, puzzlement on his face as he looked at her.

"What are you doing walking alone in the rain this late?", he asked, concern being hinted at in his question. She didn't respond back; she didn't want to deal with anything having to do with him, but on the other hand, the man before her had been nothing but a sweetheart to her ever since they became friends a while back. But the thought of him being on the bus still lingered in the back of her mind, and all she merely did was shake her head and shrug her shoulders, before attempting to continue on her walk. She'd made it this far on her own, she wanted to finish the trip and feel a sense of accomplishment, no matter how small it may be, for the first time in a while. But the dark skinned, dreadlocked man wasn't having any of that.

"Come on girl, don't play that game with me. Get in here, the hotel's not for another mile and a half", he said, stepping off the bus and moving toward her with hands extended. She instinctively backed up and shook her head; she wasn't going anywhere near that bus, because she knew he was in there, probably stewing, probably wondering what the hell happened earlier in the night during his title match. She just wasn't getting on that bus, no way, no how. It just wasn't happening. But the man in front of her seemingly picked up on her reluctance, sensing there might be a motive as to why she was so content with walking through the rain this late at night. It then hit him like a sack of bricks. "He's not on the bus, if that's what you're wondering. He caught a ride with someone else, so it's just me. Now come on, let's get you inside before you get sick or anymore drenched."

All she could do was sigh and nod her head slowly as she trudged onto the large bus, resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to win this little battle. She got on and plopped down on the couch to her left, while Kofi closed the doors and got behind the wheel. She took a moment to look around, and sure enough, he was nowhere to be found, just like her friend had just said. As the bus kicked into gear, she leaned back into her seat and carefully rested her neck on the back, finding herself staring at the ceiling, taking in the silence. She caught him glancing over his shoulder at her a few times, obviously wanting to say something to her, but thinking better of it every time. So there they sat, riding together in silence through the rain soaked streets of New Jersey.

"Are you alright?", he asked her as the bus came to a stop at a red light.

The suddeness of his question caught her a bit off guard, she wasn't expecting him to say anything to her, let alone ask her the same damn question that she had been getting from everyone everywhere. She looked over at him from her seated position and glared at him; he took that as her answer and turned back around to drive. But the question began to swim around in her head; was she? She couldn't give herself an answer to that, let alone anyone else. She hadn't necessarily been in her right mind ever since Daniel had told her that he wished she never existed and proceeded to rip her heart out of her chest and then shred it to pieces. How would any girl feel after their first real love treated her like that? Insulted her, ridiculed her...beat her...and yet, here she was, still not completely over him. Whenever she was around him, she didn't know whether to be afraid or happy, but recently, she had been more scared to be around him. She thought he was a cruel person for all the times he treated her like utter garbage then, but now...now, something had changed in him. Like he had become even angrier and more bitter seemingly overnight, if that was even possible. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she kept muddling around in his business, maybe it was the fact that he constantly couldn't upend his old, ex-friend for the title they had fought over tonight. She didn't want to find out.

The bus came to a stop. She peered out the window and saw the hotel in front of her eyes, so she sprung to her feet and grabbed her bag, and rushed past her confused friend, giving him a short, small wave as she quickly exited the bus and made a beeline for the entrance to the hotel. She kept her head down as to avoid making eye contact with anyone as she speed walked through the lobby and walked straight into the elevator. Pushing the button of the floor that her room was on, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had made it. All she was looking forward to now was some sleep and the chance to move onto a new day tomorrow. She would only be so lucky.

When the doors slid open, she looked up and gasped, her eyes widening with absolute fear; before her stood her very agitated, very pissed off ex-boyfriend. His face, sans his bushy, almost gross-looking beard, was as red as the truns he regularly wore. His shoulders rose with each heavy breath he took, and she saw that his fists were clenched tightly at his sides. He was literally shaking with rage...which meant that whatever was about to happen wasn't going to end up well for her. He reached forward and snatched her by the wrist, gripping it tightly, a small, almost inaudible yelp escaping her lips as he dragged her out of the elevator and into the hall, slamming her up against the wall, the pain shooting through her head and neck all the way down her spine. He brought his face mere inches away from her own, she could feel his hot, disgusting breath on her face as he mashed his teeth together, boring holes through her eyes with his own vengeful ones. She was legitimately afraid of what he would do right now, the fear she had earlier when in the presence of the monster now increasing tenfold.

"Just when I thought I'd never find you", he whispered harshly at her through gnashed teeth. "You keep surprising me." His hands then found their way from her wrist to her throat, crushing it and crushing any hope of her calling out for help. He continued to glare at her with eyes that made her feel as if he was going to beat the ever loving crap out of her for what she did tonight during his title match. And they were all alone in a deserted hallway with everyone asleep...

"I may have discarded you like the worthless trash that you are, but don't think for one second that you aren't still mine. You belong to me and only me, do you get that? DO YOU GET THAT?", he yelled into her face. A lone, singular tear began to slide down her cheek; she'd take being alone in the boiler room with the monster over this any day. "If I catch you out there sticking your nose where it doesn't belong again, helping that scummy looking bastard retain his title and causing ME to lose, so help me God, I swear, I won't hesitate to punish you far worse than I have in the past. Am I clear?"

It took all the energy left in her to slowly nod her head. A sickly, satisfied looking grin spread across his lips as he slammed her head against the wall and released the iron grip he had on her throat, watching her slowly slide down the wall and onto the floor, tears streaming from her eyes as he walked away, evily chuckling to himself and leaving her a mess where she laid.

All while a bearded man with piercing green eyes watched from afar...

And that's that, hope you all liked it! KOD will be updated soon and reviews are greatly welcomed, lates!