Title: Comfort in Silence

Author: Tina

Disclaimer: No ownage.

Rating: None, really.

Characters/Pairing: Lita/Punk

Summary: Sometimes silence can be beautiful, comforting. Lita/Punk.

Weekly Prompt: Darkness

Notes: Response to a challenge at lita_fics at Livejournal. First Lita/Punk fic!!!! Hope you guys enjoy, and please review!

She'd always loved the darkness. In fact, ever since she was a little girl, Amy had found the dark comforting. Whenever her parents were arguing—which was almost an every day occurrence—Amy often made the journey from her bedroom to the attic to escape it all. The attic was like her safe haven, a place where nothing or anyone could bother her. Sometimes she went up there even if her parents weren't fighting, simply because she loved the silence in the room. The atmosphere was calming, in a way. She was probably the only person who thought so, but Amy felt that silence gave her comfort.

So it made sense that Amy was sitting there now, trying to calm her nerves after a long day at work. She loved her jobs on some days, but being a bartender was quite stressful ninety-nine percent of the time. Phil thought it was hilarious, being straight-edge and dating a bartender, and he and Amy both got a lot of laughs out of it. But he offered his support every day, and he was positive that Amy knew how much he cared about her. They'd been dating for several years, and even though most people assumed that marriage would be the next step, neither of them were in a rush to do so. They felt that when the time was right, it would happen, but for now, they were both content with the way things were. Besides, they knew they loved each other, why should they have to go through all that unnecessary trouble for a piece of paper?

The dark haired man smiled a little as he climbed up the steps to the small room, carefully ducking so that he didn't bump his head on the stooped ceiling. The place was very cramped—too cramped for his liking, and brought out his claustrophobia. Phil couldn't understand what Amy found endearing about a dusty, smelly, confined attic. But that was what he loved so much about his girlfriend—she was quirky and marched to the beat of a different drum, rather than just going along with the crowd. Those qualities had drawn them to each other.

"Thought I might find you up here," the man known as Punk to his close friends and family said with a smile. He sat down on the creaky hardwood floor beside of his girlfriend and casually threw an arm around her shoulder.

Amy didn't say anything at first. She was completely off in her own little world, just pondering, as she had been for the last half-hour. Punk rolled his eyes and, waving a hand in front of her eyes, stated,

"Amy, hello, earth to Amy…"

The redhead snapped her head up to meet Phil's eyes, surprised to find him sitting there.

"Sorry, Phil. I was just kinda off in la-la land." She apologized with a small smile.

"I could tell," he answered, nodding. "What were you thinking about?"

She shrugged, not really wanting to share her thoughts with him.

"Nothing in particular. Just the usual, you know, work and how I'm always saying I want to quit. Today was one of those days." The redhead rolled her eyes. "I swear, if one more drunk guy tries to grab my ass……"

"So quit," Phil said evenly, shrugging his shoulders. "You don't need the bullshit, Amy."

Amy ran a hand through her dark locks. Quitting was easier said than done—Punk wasn't working at the moment, as his mother was ill and he'd had to quit his job to help care for her—so someone needed to be paying the bills. If she didn't work, who would do that? So even though she hated her job the majority of the time, Amy knew that she would just have to suck it up and deal.

"I can't," she sighed. "You know I can't. You're not working, and the bills have to be paid."

"Well," the Chicago native replied as a smile danced around his lips, "I actually got my ass up and went to the job center today, and I think I found a part-time job that will work around taking care of Mom."

A surprised look came over Amy's face, and was quickly replaced by a beaming smile.

"Really? That's awesome!" Amy exclaimed, moving from her spot and throwing her arms around her boyfriend's neck. Now she had the perfect excuse to quit that annoying as hell job and hopefully find another one.

Punk hugged his girlfriend tightly, pleased that he'd been able to turn her day around.

"Yeah, I went the other day while you were at work. I'm hoping to hear something by the end of the week." Suddenly, his nose twitched—mostly due to the smell of mildew and the large acclimation of dust bunnies—and he could feel a sneeze coming on.

I hate this damn attic, he groaned silently.

"Now, can we please get out of here?" He grimaced. "It smells in here."

Amy laughed loudly, throwing her head back.

"Yeah, OK." She shook her head. "Wimp."

Punk punched her shoulder playfully.

"I'm not a wimp. I have allergies."

The redhead rolled her eyes as they made their way out of the attic.

"OK, so you're a really big wimp."

"You know you love me, babe."