Changes Are Coming


Two days later AJ found herself sitting in an office being questioned about William Devile. Bradford had shown up for moral support and to keep his word of helping her. It took hours for something that transpired for only five minutes. After the questioning was over AJ was informed she could return to work the start of next week and she was relieved.

"Thank you." AJ said catching Bradford before he was able to get into his car.

"It's the least I could do." Bradford said to her placing his suitcase into the backseat of his car.

"Did you do it because you felt bad for cheating and lying or did you do it because you think I'm good at my job?" She questioned.

"I did it because I believe in you." Bradford told her honestly. "I also blame myself, this whole situation with me has gotten into your head and you slipped up-"

"Trust me, it's not you." She said to him.

"What's going on AJ?" Bradford asked with a sigh. "This isn't like you. What is distracting you so much? Are you seeing someone who is pulling you away from work?"

"You really want me to answer that?" She snorted folding her arms.

"Yes." Bradford said to her seriously. "Whoever you are with should respect your job. Don't ever settle for less."

"He does." AJ said to him then shook her head. "I'm not even with anyone, forget it-" She began and Bradford gently grabbed her wrist.

"Talk to me about what is going on." Bradford insisted. "You need someone to talk to. I thought Punk would be that guy for you since he always was when we were-" he stopped himself and looked at her. "It's Punk?"

"It's complicated." AJ said to him. "And I shouldn't be discussing this with you-"

"Do you know how messy it is to be with a Detective in the police station that you're working in? Did you slip up to help him-" Bradford began.

"You know Phil and know he would never ask me to compromise my job or would want anyone released, especially someone like William Devile." she said to him.

"So what's the problem?" Bradford asked her. "I always knew he had a thing for you-"

"It really isn't like that." She said sitting on the curb feeling defeated.

"So what is it like?" He asked sitting next to her. "If I had to hand pick someone for you, it would be him."

"We're not dating we're just- it's just a physical thing." She shrugged.

"I find that hard to believe." Bradford laughed. "You love too hard to be with someone without feeling and he loves you too much for that. That was stupid thing for either of you to think- friends with benefits?" he chuckled.

"That was the plan." She said to him.

"So, what's changed?" he asked.

"We tried to break it off but we just keep ending back with each other." She confided.

"Obviously." Bradford laughed. "You're smarter than this April."

"He's seeing someone." AJ told Bradford.

"Are you?" he asked.

"No. I tried but I keep comparing everyone to Phil." AJ told him. "It's ruining my romantic life." she admitted. "I want to move on from him to someone else but it's like he's tainted me."

"I think if he heard you say that he'd feel really bad." Bradford said to her. "The guy cares about you, he couldn't wait until I was out of the picture."

"It wasn't like that." AJ said shaking her head.

"It was exactly like that." Bradford said to her with a chuckle. "Why are you two fighting being together when that's so clearly what you both want?"

"I never imagined being with him like this." AJ admitted. "But now..."

"You do." Bradford finished for her. "Take it from someone who kept it ending it with someone he really cared about, don't waste the time. Lay it all out there for him."

"If he wanted to be with me and only me he'd say it. He's never held back from anything before." AJ told him. "I'm just wasting my time. I'm in a rut and I don't like it."

"You really feel that way?" he asked her and she nodded.

"I need to get away." She told him. "I need to clear my head and not just from the Phil thing but all the stuff with you too."

"I might be able to help you." Bradford said to her and she eyed him carefully. "But you have to be really committed into wanting to leave this all behind."

"I'm listening." she said giving him her full attention.


Punk walked into the local coffee shop and saw Aimee as she waved him offer and headed over to her table in the back and removed his jacket.

"Hi." Aimee smiled as he kissed her cheek and took a seat. "Thanks for meeting me."

"Of course." he said grabbing the drink menu. "I can't stay long though, I have a lot of work to do."

"I understand." She said to him. "We just keep missing each other lately I feel."

"Yea." he agreed. "I wanted to talk to you about that." He said putting the menu down.

"Oh no." She smiled. "I know what you're going to say."

"Do you?" He asked.

"It's over." She said to him and he didn't argue. "I know you've been seeing someone else too and it's not like we were exclusive so I'm not mad. I'm just sad that you didn't pick me."

"It's not about picking." He said to her. "It's just I'm not in the right state and maybe in another time or place you and I could have worked out- actually I know we could have. It's just not working right now and I don't want to keep you from someone who could really appreciate you."

"I get that." She said to him nodding.

"I just hate wasting your time. I think you're smart and beautiful but my mind is kind of all over the place right now." He said to her.

"Is it AJ?" Aimee asked.

"No." He smirked.

"It is." Aimee said quietly. "I see it in your face every time she walks into a room. Your eyes light up. I can't compete with her. You two have such a rich history."

"It really isn't like that." Punk insisted. "I'm not dating her and I don't have any plans to date her. I just kind of need to think things over on my own, you know?"

"Ok." Aimee said sadly. "I respect you for being honest and not wasting my time."

"Detective." William Devile greeted standing over the table. "I thought this was Ms. Mendez for a second. Hi there." William smiled sticking his hand out to Aimee who shook his hand.

"What are you doing?" Punk asked annoyed.

"Making your job easier." William said to him. "You've been tailing me, there's an officer right outside who followed me."

"Get your coffee and get the fuck out of here." Punk warned him.

"Are you dating him?" William asked. "You have a thing for Spanish chicks?" he asked now looking at Punk. "I do too."

"I suggest you go buy your coffee elsewhere." He said standing up.

"Fine." William said to him. "How is Ms. Mendez by the way? Heard she got in a bit of trouble."

"Bye." Punk said to him sarcastically.

"Good day officer." William smirked then walked out of the shop.

"Friend of yours?" Aimee asked curiously.

"No." Punk said watching him leave before sitting back down.

"So, I guess this is goodbye." Aimee said to him.

"Goodbye is a bit harsh. If you ever need anything you can always call me." He told her and she just nodded and stood up.

"I really hope you find whatever it is you're looking for." Aimee said to him and he gave her a small but grateful smile. "Take care, Punk."

"You too." He said to her and she left him sitting in the coffee shop wondering if he blew a perfectly good relationship with a great girl over something that might not even come to pass.


It was late when Punk made it to the bar. It was also packed and he had to push his way through the crowd to make it to the table that Maria, AJ and Cody were already occupying.

"Finally." AJ said eagerly pulling out a chair for him and he sat down.

"Yea, AJ has a big announcement and made us wait for you." Maria said to him.

"Big announcement?" he asked looking over to AJ who had on a big smile.

"There's no easy way to say it." AJ said looking at the group. "But I got a great job offer today from Bradford."

"You're going back to work with him?" Punk asked surprised. "Why would you do that to yourself?"

"Yea I mean all for a greater job but do you want to face him everyday?" Maria asked skeptically.

"Ignore them, go for it." Cody encouraged and lifted his glass in salute.

"It's not with Bradford, I meant his friend offered me a job." AJ corrected. "They need ADA's and-"

"What?" Punk asked. "That's the same job."

"It's not here." AJ told him looking him in the eye. "It's in Tampa."

"Tampa Florida?" Maria asked as Punk felt his heart drop.

"Yea." AJ said with a smile. "It's a lot more money then out here and I can start next week-"

"You're moving?" Cody asked stunned.

"I am. I took his offer." AJ told them. "It would be stupid not to."

"So you're just going to leave?" Maria asked devastated.

"In a few days." She confirmed. "They office is going to put me up in nice hotel until I get settled but they have a lot of open cases and not enough help."

"What about us?" Maria asked.

"I'll visit and Skype." She promised. "But I have nothing else keeping me here anymore."

"I know this is sudden." AJ said to them and Cody nodded.

"Yea, a little heads up would have been nice." He said to her.

"It was offered to me and I had to take it right away or risk not getting it at all." AJ said to them. "I think it will be a great do-over for me. A fresh start."

"I guess." Maria forced out.

"Be happy for me, I need this." She pleaded to Maria.

"Of course I'm happy for you but I'm going to miss my roommate." She told her sadly. "I really liked having you living with me."

"I'll be back from time to time and I'll need a place to crash." AJ smirked.

"Have you ever lived anywhere outside of Chicago?" Cody asked.

"No. So this is terrifying and I need all the support I can get." She said looking at Cody and Maria.

"You got it." Cody said standing up. "Drinks on me. Wine?" he asked AJ who nodded.

"I'll help." Maria offered standing up and following him.

"You're awfully quiet." AJ said to Punk.

"What do you expect me to say Ape?" he asked hurt. "You didn't even give me a heads up, I'm not deserving of that?"

"It just happened today." She reminded him.

"Forget the fact that we've been sleeping together for months now but we've known each other our entire lives." He reminded her trying not to grow too angry.
"I don't know life without you."

"It's for the best." AJ told him. "For everyone, especially you."

"Don't make decisions for me." he scoffed. "Did you give this any thought?"

"Of course I did and Bradford-" She began.

"Fuck that guy." he spat standing up.

"Where are you going?" She sighed. "I don't want you to be angry I don't have much time-" she couldn't even finish because he stormed out of the bar.

"I had a feeling he'd do that." Maria said walking over holding two glasses.

"Yea. He's just down because he broke it off with Aimee today." Cody said to them.

"He did?" AJ asked.

"Yea. Wouldn't say why, between us? I think he's been seeing someone secretly." Cody said and Maria arched a curious brow at AJ.

"You don't say." She smirked and AJ looked nervous. "I thought the same thing."

"Yea?" Cody asked.

"Why don't you go see if you can catch up to him?" Maria suggested.

"Yea, I'll bring him back." Cody offered standing up.

"What?" AJ asked as Maria eyed her.

"I've pretended not to know for months but I know you and Punk have screwing each others brains out." Maria said to her. "But the cat is out of the bag now and you broke his heart."

"How did you know?" AJ asked and Maria rolled her eyes.

"First of all, I hear you two in your bedroom." Maria said to her. "I've seen him sneaking out in the mornings and after he walked in on Jeff he spent over an hour in your room just 'talking'?" she mocked. "I'm pretty but I'm not stupid."

"We've tried to stop." AJ confided.

"Why? You two are perfect for each other." Maria insisted. "If you go to Tampa you're not only ruining your relationship with him but your friendship."

"I couldn't find him." Cody shrugged sitting back down.


Punk was banging on a door loudly with a closed fist until it swung open.

"Punk?" Bradford asked yawning, clearly he was sleeping.

Punk just walked into the penthouse that AJ used to share with him and turned to face Bradford.

"Call your friend and tell him to take back the job offer to AJ." Punk instructed.

"Come on." Bradford sighed. "You know she needs this."

"No she doesn't." Punk argued. "You don't know AJ. She doesn't like being alone in her own house let alone a state. Call your friend and call this thing off."

"No." he to Punk. "You're distracting her from her job. April has one of the brightest minds-"

"Fuck off. Don't tell me I'm bad for her." Punk warned him. "I didn't propose to her and fuck my boyfriend behind her back! You did that!" he yelled. "You broke her and I'm still trying to help her put the pieces together!"

"By taking her pants off?" Bradford asked him folding his arms. "That was your grand plan? To do something you used to dream about doing?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Punk mocked.

"I do." Bradford warned. "She told me about your arrangement. She's all confused and worked up and that's on you." he said to him. "You're the one who took advantage of her-"

"Don't say that." Punk warned grabbing him by his shirt. "Don't ever fucking insinuate that I would ever take advantage of her."

"Relax." Bradford said pushing Punk off of him. "I know you care for her but right now she doesn't think she has anybody."

"Call this off." Punk requested again.

"If you want her to stay, tell her that." Bradford said to him simply.

"I don't need advice from you what I need you to do is call this off. You've fucked with her life enough." Punk said to him.

"You've never liked me." Bradford laughed.

"No I didn't because you weren't good enough for her and I was right. So is this payback because I uncovered your affair?" Punk asked.

"No. It's a peace offering to AJ who is miserable and wants to start over." Bradford informed him. "I won't call my friend and I think this is a great opportunity for her."

"She'll hate it. She hates the heat." Punk told him and Bradford rolled his eyes.

"There's beautiful beaches." Bradford said to him.

"She's afraid of the ocean and it's not that she can't swim but she watches all of these shows on water animals and she doesn't know what could hurt her." Punk told him. "You clearly don't know her."

"She's fearless." Bradford corrected. "I know that much."

"She didn't even give this enough thought." Punk argued.

"So tell her that." Bradford said to him. "I didn't put a gun to her head, she can change her mind and still keep her job at the public defenders office."

"Just do me a favor and stay out of her fucking business." Punk said then stormed out the door.


AJ was laying in bed when her bedroom door opened and she saw Punk walk in. She sat up and watched as he sat far away from her at the edge of the bed.

"Where did you go?" She asked.

"To clear my head." He said looking at his shoes, refusing to look her in the face.

"Don't spend my last few days ignoring me or not looking at me." she pleaded.

"What do you want me to say Ape?" He asked now looking at her and she could see how sad he was.

"That you're proud and happy for me." She said hopefully. "That it's the right thing to do."

"It's not." he said to her. "It's not the right thing."

"Why?" She asked.

"Because you belong here in Chicago." He insisted. "You'll hate Tampa."

"Did you break up with Aimee?" she asked.

"Does it even matter to you?" he asked back.

"You matter." She said to him.

"Why wouldn't you even talk to me?" he asked her. "You really are just willing to leave me behind like this? We grew up together."

"It's not all about you." She said to him.

"If we didn't start this whole 'friends with benefits' would you be leaving?" He asked and she didn't respond. "Don't leave because of this."

"Tell me you want me to stay and give me a real reason as to why and I'll stay."

"I'm not playing this game with you. You know how I feel and you know I don't want you to go." he said to her.

"Tell me." She demanded. "Give me one good reason to stay and I will. Otherwise I'm not going to waste my time anymore and just move on with my life and start over."

"You're so desperate to start over? Fine. Fucking go." He said standing up. "I'm not going to beg you for a damn thing and if you thought I would or this was all a big ploy to get me to, you're going to be disappointed with the result."

"Don't be like this." She said to him. "You don't have any reason to be angry."

"Of course I do!" he yelled. "Go to Florida, but don't fucking call or visit. If you're going go and stay the fuck there. I wouldn't want to twist you up or distract you."

"Phil." She scolded getting of the bed. "Don't go." She whispered moving in front of the door. "Stay the night, one last night."

"No." He said gently pushing her away from the door. "You want it done? It's done. Have a safe trip." he spat then walked out of her room.

"Phil!" She yelled chasing him down the steps but he didn't even look back as he stormed out of the house and left her behind.

"Give him a day." Maria said walking up behind her. "You know how he gets when he's angry."

"We don't have a day." She said to her. "I'm leaving."

"He won't let you leave without saying goodbye." Maria promised her closing the front door.

"Yea." AJ whispered sadly locking the door.


A/N: So much more to come!