After saying goodnight to Kaia first, she looked a lot tired than Scarlett, he headed over to Scarlett's room where she was already in her pyjamas and under the covers.
"You look comfy." Punk smiled, walking towards her and crouching down beside the bed, watching her turn on her side.
"I am." She smiled to him.
"Good." Punk nodded, "So what is it mom usually does? Tell you a story or something?" Punk asked her, watching her laugh a little.
"No." She laughed, "She just says goodnight." Scarlett said.
"Right." Punk nodded, understanding as he just looked at Scarlett, he couldn't pull himself away to just leave her after saying one goodnight. If it kept him bonding with her, he would pull out a story and read it to her, but she seemed to have some questions for him.
"Why did you go away?" Scarlett asked him curiously. She wanted to know why all of a sudden her mother tells her that her father is back from going away when she was younger. What she wanted to know, was why he went away? What could have been so much more important that he had to leave her and her sister?
"Eh…" Punk scratched the back of his head.
"I killed your uncle downstairs in the living room and got sent to prison for five years."
"I done a bad thing and… I had to pay the price." Punk sighed, watching her just look funny at him.
"What bad thing?" Scarlett asked, raising her eyebrow.
"I just… you don't need to know." Punk said, "Bad enough that I had to go away for a while. You know when people are bad they get punished, yeah?" He asked her.
"Yeah." Scarlett nodded, "When Kaia is bad, mom never lets her go for ice cream with us." She smiled, just like any other siblings, she loved to see Kaia get into trouble.
"Yeah… well like that…" Punk said, "Only my punishment was being kept away from you, Kaia and your mother." Punk said, "I've missed a lot of your life, in fact… I've missed a crucial part of your life that I should have been there for, but I'm here now and I promise you and I promise Kaia, I'm not leaving again." Punk promised, not only to Scarlett but to himself.
"But… what if you do another bad thing?" Scarlett asked sweetly, looking up at him.
"Trust me sweetheart." Punk said, tucking her hair behind her ear, "There's not a thing I would risk doing, to get took away from you again, I promise." He said.
Scarlett just waved her hand in front of him, wiggling her pinky out at him and smiling. Punk just smiled and latched his pinky on to hers. He promised… no, he pinky promised he wouldn't leave her again.
"Alright…" Punk said, standing up straight and tucking the covers up over her, "Goodnight sweetheart." He said, planting a kiss on her head and heading out of the room, turning the light off and shutting the door over behind him, leaving Scarlett to quickly fall asleep, they both had tired themselves out at the party they were at.
"They sleeping?" April asked, putting her phone down as she seen Punk approach from upstairs.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Who were you on the phone to?" He asked, being his nosey self.
"Just my mom." April said.
"God… your mom and dad must want to kill me." Punk cringed, sitting down beside April on the couch.
"My dad wants to kill you, yeah. My mom seems to have looked past it." April shrugged.
"I mean what kind of person wants to hear that your daughter's husband killed someone in their house." Punk shook his head at himself.
"Oh be quiet. You done it for me and even though I'm not proud or even happy in the slightest, I'm just glad he's gone and your back with me." She said, "Anyway… my dad's just being a dad, you'd be the same if it was Scarlett or Kaia." April said as Punk just nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. I would." Punk said, "I suppose you're right." He nodded, why was she always right. Was it just an April thing or was it a women thing.
"Are you going to stay tonight?" April asked him, looking up at him.
"Would you like me to?" Punk asked her politely.
"I'd have you stay every night Phil. It's just the kids I'm worried about." April said.
"Well they know mommy and daddy are a thing now, they know I'm around all the time, what's the harm in them seeing me every morning?" Punk asked her.
"Are you saying you want to move back in?" April said, sitting up and looking at him.
"Well yeah, what's stopping us." Punk shrugged.
"That's a big step…" April took a nervous swallow. Punk moving in was just a statement of him being there all the time now, which she didn't know if her children were that ready yet.
"Please April, just say no already." Punk said, shaking his head at her dragging it out, standing up and walking away towards the door way.
"Phil…" April said, "Phil I never said no, give me a chance to speak." April rushed after him, grabbing his hand and feeling him pull it away as he turned around.
"Do you know I just had to explain to my seven year old daughter that I had to go away because I done something bad, I promised her I wouldn't leave again and do you know what she said…" Punk just looked up and chuckled, "She asked me what if I done something bad again." Punk said.
"And so… she has a right to ask that, what if you do something bad again Phil? Because you can bet your ass I will not stick by you the way I have this time." April warned him.
"Look, I just want my family back, I want my wife, I want my kids and I want to forget about everything that I done, everything that I put you through, but I can't forget that… I can't forget any of it, no matter how much I try, it's forever up in here." He said, putting his finger against his temple, "I don't know why you couldn't have just informed the kids about me as they grew up." He muttered, watching her nostrils flair.
"Are you shitting with me right now?" She said, burning her eyes at him. "You think I'm going to forget it?!" April screamed, "Newsflash, you weren't the only one that suffered, but even through everything, through everything everyone shouted at me, all the dirt sheets, Colt in my ear, parents at school, people just casually in the park, after everyone put me down for sticking by you, I done it anyway and you stand here, blaming me for your kids not knowing you, that's all on you, all of it. You killed Mike, not me. You took his life away from him, your own brother and somehow I managed to stay by your side." April shook her head, looking at him, "Now… I wish I hadn't even bothered." She said.
"Alright, so I snap at you and suddenly you hate me? This is hard for me ok." Punk said.
"Yeah, it is for all of us, Phil." April spat, walking towards the door and opening it, in signal for him to leave.
How dare he snap at her and shout as if it was her fault that all of this had happened. Everything was all down to him. Nothing that he done was encouraged by her.
"C'mon, I didn't mean to snap ok… I'm just caught up in everything. Please, let me stay with you." Punk asked, realising how wrong he was to snap at her like that.
"I don't want you to stay. Just leave." April said, pointing to outside of the door.
Punk just nodded, not prepared to argue back with her. He knew he was in the wrong. He had just got a little caught up with Scarlett asking him questions, having to ask permission to move back into his own home, April giving him that 'no' look, he just snapped for a minute and he knew he shouldn't have, especially when April had been wonderful throughout everything. She could have easily shut him out and not let him see the kids, but she didn't, because she was April and she loved him as much as sometimes she didn't want to.
"Sorry." Punk muttered under his breath, stepping outside and hearing the door bang behind him.
He cursed to himself as he walked to Colt's. How could he have been such a prick to her just there. He didn't deserve her, he knew he didn't.
Once arriving at Colt's, he seen that Colt was still up in the living room thankfully, he needed some brotherly comfort.
"Hey man, what's up?" Colt asked Punk with a frown, seeing how stroppy Punk looked as he sat down on the couch across from him.
"I just pissed April off, big time." Punk said, shaking his head at how stupid he was.
"How?" Colt asked curiously.
"Long story short. I asked to move in, she practically said no, I snapped, she snapped back and won the fight like she always does." Punk said.
"You mean she snapped back, won the fight like she always does, because you're the one always in the wrong?" Colt raised his eyebrows at her as Punk just made a funny face at him.
"Just want my family back man." Punk sighed, running his hands over his face, a silent atmosphere in the room as Colt just sighed, not really knowing what to say.
Punk lifted his head for a minute to ask Colt a question, "April mentioned a lot of people questioned her on why she was sticking by me when I was inside, what did she mean by that?" Punk asked, hoping Colt would know.
Colt just scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "I'd figure you'd ask about this." Colt sighed, "Just… April got a lot of shit off of everyone. You know, she'd take the kids to the park, try to clear her head and people would come up to her, talk shit to her, some parents wouldn't let their kids play with Scarlett or Kaia, it was pretty shit for April. It was like she was paying the price for your doings while you were inside. Not that, that would be any better." Colt said.
"What were they saying to her?" Punk asked, as if he didn't feel bad enough.
"Just asking why she was sticking by a murderer, things along the lines of that, she'd get it everywhere man, people would chap the door to the house, she'd ignore it obviously, but it was people outside to give her shit, people at the grocery store, the park, the mall, everywhere, she couldn't go anywhere without getting shouted across the street at, she practically hid away for the first year you were gone, I took the kids everywhere they needed to go." Colt said.
Punk just sighed, "My life is a mess." Punk said, slumping back into the couch with a sigh.
"You were so happy a few weeks ago? Or was that just because you got laid after five years?" Colt asked him.
"No, I genuinely was happy with the way things were going, we were making progress." Punk said, watching Colt still look at him, "And yes… because I got laid for the first time in five years." Punk rolled his eyes.
"Look man, take my advice or not, but April's a star compare to most wives out there, if she was just an ordinary girl, she'd have moved on, took your money you left, moved house, not given a damn, but she stuck by you. The last person she needs giving her shit is you, she's took it from almost the majority of Chicago already." Colt said, standing up and walking on by, "I'll see you in the morning, I'm off to bed." Colt said, walking on upstairs.
"Goodnight." Punk mumbled, lost in his thoughts and guilt as he fidgeted about with his wedding band.
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