Connected

"C'mon, mommy. We're gonna be late." Kace sighed as he stood at the door of their apartment, ready for school, holding his backpack onto him whilst he watched his mother rush around frantically.

"Ok, ok. I'm coming." AJ exclaimed as she rushed out of the kitchen and down the hall, "Ok, you got everything?" She asked, unzipping his bag at the back and checking that she hadn't forgot to put his lunch in.

"Yeah. I got everything." Kace assured her as AJ zipped his bag back up and left the apartment with him.

"Ok, let me lock the door and we can go." She said, locking the apartment door, throwing her keys in her purse and latching onto his hand as they climbed down the first set of stairs. She wasn't normally on time for anything. She put it down to luck.

She continued to rush down the stairs when she saw the man from last night come out of his apartment. She couldn't bite her tongue. Ever.

"Thank you for turning the music down when I asked you too." She announced, pausing behind him whilst Kace held her hand and looked up, tugging on her hand for her to hurry up so he could get to school.

Punk turned around and looked at her.

"We got an amazing sleep." AJ nodded sarcastically as Punk laughed lightly.

"I'm glad to hear it." Punk said, "So you live upstairs?" He asked, but it appeared that AJ was finished talking to him, pushing by him with her son and leaving the apartment block as he watched and shook his head. He was an asshole but it didn't cancel out the fact she had an attitude.

"Who was that man?" Kace asked whilst AJ walked him to school which was just a few minute's walk away, "Is he our new neighbour?" He asked.

"Kind of." AJ said, no thrill in her voice, "But don't talk to him, ok?" AJ said. She got the feeling that her downstairs neighbour wasn't particularly child friendly. She had glimpsed into his apartment when she had knocked on his door through the night and there didn't look like many trustworthy characters around. It was a rough part of town they were in, and the apartment block wasn't exactly the Ritz. She just wanted her son to be safe and not around strange characters.

"Why can't I talk to him?" Kace asked as they walked through the school gates.

"Because mommy says don't talk to him." AJ smiled, crouching down in front of him, "We're new here so… people don't really know us and some people we don't wanna get to know, ok?" She said as Kace nodded.

"Like the drunk man in our house before we came here?" He asked, referring to the man across the landing where they lived that would come home drunk every night and bang on their door, only to realise he lived across the landing.

"Yeah." AJ nodded but with a slight sigh, "You have the best day. I'll be right here to pick you up when you finish. You can tell me all about it." She said as Kace nodded, "I love you." She kissed his cheek as he wiped it bashfully making AJ smile.

"Love you." Kace said whilst running off into class as AJ smiled, leaving the school quickly and heading for her shift at the café.

"You look tired today." Bonnie implied whilst brushing by AJ behind the counter and placing the dirty coffee cups in the dish washer whilst AJ prepped some coffees for a different table.

"I am." AJ sighed, "There was some sort of party going on last night in the apartment below. I mean… who has a party on a Wednesday night?" She shook her head, "I barely slept. I won't be surprised if my son's school calls me to tell me he's fallen asleep on his desk." AJ shook her head.

"Did you go down and ask for them to turn to the music down?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah. The guy came to the door but as soon as I went back upstairs the music got louder." She shook her head, "Then I saw him this morning and he didn't even apologise." AJ said, "Prick."

"There's always an asshole who has to disturb the peace, isn't there?" Bonnie shook her head, "You can complain to the landlord if it happens again. I would."

"I will." AJ said, "I just don't want it keeping Kace awake. I just want to settle in here. It seems like a good place for us, you know? I got the job here. Kace goes to school. We've been lucky with getting an apartment." AJ said, "I don't need jerks like that ruining it for me."

"You don't." Bonnie agreed, "Warn him that you'll go to the landlord."

"Well I threatened to call the cops last night and that didn't make a difference." AJ sighed, "You'd think because I have Kace that he would have been a little more understanding." She shook her head.

"Oh, you don't know Chicago." Bonnie said, "Where is it you're from again?"

"New Jersey." AJ said, "But I've not lived there since Kace was about one. We uh… we've moved a lot." She said as Bonnie nodded.

"Never settle. That's what my mom always told me." Bonnie said, "Before she hung herself."

"Oh." AJ shook her head with surprise, "I'm-I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't be. I'm sorry, I'm like an opened book. You'll get used to it." She waved her hand as AJ nodded. She knew Bonnie seemed to be open and forward, which actually put her to ease, "So how was your son's first day at school?" Bonnie asked as she done a few coffees for the people waiting to take away their drinks.

"I don't think he enjoyed it very much." AJ said, "He didn't make any friends but I told him these things take a little bit of time, you know." She said as Bonnie nodded, "I just hope he settles in. Things have been so chaotic recently." She said as Bonnie nodded.

She wasn't so stupid as to ask AJ why she was moving all the time, she knew it was an answer that she probably didn't want to give her, and so avoided asking for the time being, until AJ was more comfortable.

"He'll settle in." Bonnie nodded, "Just give it some time." She smiled as AJ nodded, placing the made coffees onto a tray as she made her way out to deliver them to a table.

Punk got back from work and had immediately crashed out on the sofa in front of the TV. He was the manager of a comic book store where he worked with all his buddy's. They'd all got the job straight out of high school, and due to Punk's expert knowledge, he managed to rank himself up to manager. He wasn't rich but he made plenty of money, especially when he lived alone, and even when he did share some time with his girlfriend.

He'd lived with foster parents since he was seven and never saw eye-to-eye with them. They ran a successful marketing business which Punk had been offered many times to be a part of, but he didn't want anything to do with it. They were never parents in his eyes. It was like they adopted him for some sort of purpose. Like there was always an agenda behind it and he didn't trust them. Not to mention he'd been on their bad side and was still scarred. He had plenty of stories to go around about them, that was for sure.

Through high school and his young years he mostly stayed with his friends Dean or Seth, and officially got his own place as soon as he could. He wasn't ungrateful for the roof they put over him and the food they gave him, but he just never trusted them, and he never would.

He was flicking through the channels on TV when he heard a knock at his door, standing up and walking over to answer it as he swung the door opened and saw his big sister standing.

"Hey." Bonnie cheered, brushing by him and into the apartment as he closed the door over.

"Did you bring food for me?" Was all Punk was interested in.

"I brought you some cake from the café." Bonnie said, sitting down the bag on the coffee table as she took her coat off, "Where are your idiot friends?" She asked him.

"Dean is still working and Seth is at his place, I assume." Punk said, digging into the bag which had cake in it, "Oh, Bon you know I don't like icing." He grunted, "Couldn't you have brought me some sandwiches or something?"

"Make your own sandwiches." Bonnie tutted, "I thought you'd be with Kat actually." She admitted.

"Nah, we broke up." Punk said, slouching back on the couch as Bonnie took a seat beside him.

"Surprise surprise." Bonnie hummed as Punk just glared at her.

"For real this time." Punk said, "We had a massive fight and I'm done with her."

"She was good for you." Bonnie frowned, "I liked her." She said as Punk just shook his head, "What was the fight over?"

"She was just asking me if I was gonna work in the comic store for the rest of my life." Punk said, "I took offence. She started saying that I could be so rich if I worked with Gerry in the business." He said, "And she knows fine well I don't want anything to do with them."

"Maybe she was just trying to… look out for you. Give you some advice." Bonnie shook her head.

"I don't need advice. I'm happy at the comic store." He said.

"I know you are." Bonnie smiled, "As long as you're doing something that makes you happy then I don't care." Bonnie waved her hand.

They were put into the foster care system together and were both adopted out by their adoptive parents Gerry and Alice. Bonnie was only a few years older, but was very protective of her little brother and liked to keep an eye on him. She was almost like a mother and a sister to him.

"How is the café doing?" Punk asked her, watching as she ate a bit of the cake she'd brought over.

"Oh, fine." Bonnie said, "A new girl started yesterday. She's super nice." Bonnie nodded.

"It's not like you to make friends." Punk chuckled a little.

"I know, right?" Bonnie nodded, "But she's lovely. She says she moves a lot though so… I don't know how long she'll stick around for." She shrugged as Punk nodded, "So I take it you're not going to mom's fiftieth party in the Plaza next week?" She asked him.

"What do you think?" Punk asked her.

Bonnie had a better relationship with her foster parents than Punk did, but she always put it down to her being desperate to have a new home again, and somewhere stable. She did agree with Punk that their foster parents were a little strange sometimes, especially on the business side of things.

"I think we should go for just a little while. It'd be nice of us to show face. We're… We are their children, Phil." She nodded.

"No." Punk said, "You can go represent the both of us."

"How is that fair?" Bonnie tutted.

"Well you clearly want to go." Punk said, "I'm not interested."

"Sometimes you make things more difficult for yourself, you know that?" Bonnie nodded.

"No, I don't." Punk objected, "You know how I feel. Don't ask stupid questions that you already know the answer to." Punk said, "And stop spilling crumbs all over my couch." He whined as she shoved him roughly.

"Shut up." Bonnie laughed, rubbing the top of his head and missing his slicked hair up as he groaned but laughed. Even if they didn't have parent figures. They'd always had each other.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Let me know what you think! Got some exciting things planned for this story!