You and Me: Meant to be?

by SpectacularCombustion

My take on the relationship between CM Punk and AJ Lee. Based off the real-life happenings and sightings of the two of them in public. (FIRST STORY) - Non Regular Updates

12. Chapter 12

Author's Note:

Holy freaking crap! You guys went crazy with the number of reviews for the last chapter! As of writing, there have been 18, I repeat 18 reviews for the past chapter (the most I've ever gotten for a single chapter) and I just wanna say thank you so very much. It really puts a smile on my face when I see so many reviews. It gives me more drive to write the next chapter and as you guys know, I take a while to finish one since I try to get as much content in and make sure everything is perfect (I'm a perfectionist lol). It really means a lot to me that you guys are happy with the story because it means the hard work I put in is all worth it in the end. In the words of CM Punk, 'keep being you guys, it's pretty cool'. Continue to read and review, you awesome people!

Anyways, for this chapter, since you guys reviewed so much, here's an extra-long one. I thought of breaking it up into two but since I've already criminally made you guys wait long enough (Sorry, my school work is piling on a bit…), I decided to just post it in one shot. Hope you enjoy!

Also, shout out to leeleelayla5 for being my 50th follower and thank you all for 100 reviews. Never thought I'd get this many!

---

Answering Reviewers:

mnnie8778

"Is Erica really gay?"

I'm not 100% sure if it's true but I found out about it from a Tumblr post floating around which has a screenshot of Erica's tweet where she admitted she was gay. However, ever since then, her account has been deleted (because she was apparently spammed by AJ's fans lol) so I can't track back to see if it was real or fake. Nevertheless, I'll be writing her as such for this story but it won't be that significant and it doesn't necessarily mean it's true.

---

Best Review for Chapter 11 is from... (This was hard since there were so many so I chose to take the easy route and publish what the 100th reviewer said lol XD)

Guest

"I love this story! Please update ASAP!"

---

6 October 2013

AJ was stretching herself at the gorilla, getting herself warmed up for her title match with one half of the Bella twins, Brie Bella. As Tamina helped to put her coveted Divas' Championship belt around her waist, AJ looked down onto her cut up shirt which was specially made for the Susan G. Komen's breast cancer awareness campaign. Rather poetically, her shirt read love life and that was what she was doing right now. She was loving every minute of her life at the moment. At work, she was the company's top diva and at home, she was warming the bed of arguably the company's number two guy, CM Punk. In the meantime, Punk himself was doing his normal warm up routine backstage when he spotted at the corner of his eye the man who he wrestled with roughly a decade ago in Ring of Honor, Daniel Bryan, watching on at a monitor. As he walked over to the man who was about to face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, donning a spider with a web design on either side of his Halloween-themed wrestling trunks as a tribute to AJ and to commemorate the start of his favourite month which he aptly nicknamed as 'Punktober', he could not help but chuckle at his long-time friend who was running his fingers through his thick, goat-like beard.

"Goat face!" Punk called out as he placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Punkybear!" Daniel replied with a smile on his face while Punk's facial expression immediately changed to that of confusion.

"How the-"

"Overheard AJ calling you that when I walked by just now while she was chatting with Big E," Daniel informed him, cutting Punk off.

"Fuck."

"So is Punkybear having a good time with the Black Widow?" Daniel teased, his distinct laughter followed his words.

"Watch it Bryan," he warned.

"Oooo, Punkybear has claws," Daniel teased again, resulting in a playful shove on the shoulder by Punk as Daniel laughed it off, "Seriously though, how are you two?"

"We're great, man. It couldn't be any better. She's just been incredible," Punk happily answered as he looked on at AJ making her entrance for her match.

"I can tell, you actually look happy for once walking around back here," he noted, "I kinda miss the grumpy, agitated Punk."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah, almost everyone is noticing it."

"Damn, I guess that's the effect April has had on me," Punk admitted with a wry smile.

"Obviously, so pay up," he demanded, holding out his open hand towards Punk.

"Huh? Pay what?" Punk asked, dumbfounded.

"My hundred bucks," Daniel answered, causing Punk's eyes to widen in shock.

"What the hell for?!"

"I won the bet which we agreed to last year, remember?" Daniel reminded Punk who momentarily went through his thoughts to remember this so-called bet.

---

*Flashback*

"AJ!" Punk called out while AJ quickly turned on her heels to face the Straightedge Superstar who was currently running up to her.

"Punk? What's wrong? Did I mess up just now?" AJ asked in quick succession as Punk tried to catch some of his breath.

"No, no, that's not the case at all," he took in a deep breath before continuing, "I just came to tell you that you did a great job out there."

"Oh, thanks," she shyly replied, tucking some of her hair behind her hair, "You weren't too shabby yourself, especially with the kiss."

"Yeah... About that... It was something, huh?" Punk asked, scratching the back of his head as he recalled the kiss that they had just shared for the live airing of the Smackdown edition of The Great American Bash.

"Yeah... It was definitely... Errr... Different alright," she nervously replied with little giggles spluttering out of her mouth, obliviously playing with the ends of her hair which fell to the front of her body.

"Yeah, but it went a little longer than planned, right? I could've sworn you said ten seconds?" he questioned as AJ's thoughts instantly raced at a thousand miles per hour.

"Crap, how long did I kiss him for? You just had to forget to pull away, April. Just deny, deny and deny."

"It was ten seconds when I broke the kiss," she lied, putting on a poker face in hopes that he would not pick up on her lie.

"Errr, I don't think so," he said a little unsurely while shaking his head, "It felt longer."

"It seems some people can't count," she accused with a smirk, her spunky attitude catching Punk off guard.

"Well, I didn't go to college," he countered, playing along with her jibe.

"Well maybe you should have. At least you would've been able to count up to ten," she was now really challenging Punk. He had to admit it was refreshing to see somebody talking back to him and not buckling under pressure at the mere sight of him like so many of the other relatively new divas and superstars.

"Ohhhhhh, you sure are feisty, huh?"

"Yup, but not as feisty as that tongue of yours which slithered into my mouth," she hit back as Punk laughed it off.

"I did that?" he responded innocently.

"Yeah, you did," she reaffirmed, "I thought we agreed to no tongue?"

"I don't remember that," Punk lied, still putting on his innocent facade while scratching his temple with his index finger, "And neither did you apparently since I recalled our tongues touching."

"Of course they touched, you literally forced yours into my mouth," she countered with an added vigour.

"Wow, it seems like today everyone has amnesia because I clearly remembered you opening your mouth as big as Big Show before I entered and I stayed inside for quite long as well," he smirked at AJ as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her, "You also began using your tongue after that."

AJ snorted in response, unable to believe the nerve of this guy, "Keep telling yourself that, buddy. Deep down, you know what happened."

"Yeah, you kissed me for longer than planned and liked it when I used tongue so you did the same afterwards," he reaffirmed, earning a grunt from AJ.

"Ugh, you're stubborn, you know that?"

"I've been told that before, sweetheart," Punk smirked once more at her.

"Did he just call me sweetheart? And that smirk… Am I blushing? Snap out of it April, are you forgetting about Greg?" AJ thought for a moment as her cheeks did indeed blush. However, the thought of Trent quickly reminded her to stop whatever that was going on between them. The flirting, the playful banter, it all seemed a little much for two people who would just consider each other as co-workers.

"I-I-I gotta go," she stuttered as she walked backwards slowly away from him, "See you on Sunday, Punk."

It actually made Punk kind of sad that she had to go off. He was really enjoying the conversation they were sharing, "See ya."

AJ turned around after giving Punk a small smile as a goodbye. She was alerted when his voice rang through the halls of the American Bank Center again, "And it's Phil."

"Huh?" she turned on her heel, not really hearing him properly the first time around.

"You can call me Phil," he informed her with a smile.

"Hang on, usually nobody can call him by his name unless they're close to him. Why is he letting me call him that?" AJ pondered as she tried to read off his facial expression.

Not wanting to seem as if she was staring at him, she quickly replied to him, "Oh, um, then you can call me April... If you want to... But I'm fine with AJ too."

"I think I prefer April, it has a more personal feel to it," he gave her another one of his trademark smirks which AJ quickly found quite charming to say the least, "Plus, AJ's a guy's name."

"Is not!" she denied vehemently as she closed back the distance between them.

"Is too! In comparison, my name is all man, no hint of a girl," Punk proudly claimed.

"Phil? As in Phillip?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?"

"You look like you're a member of a punk band or even a drug addict out of a rehab centre but yet you have such a cute name like Phillip," AJ giggled, playfully mocking his given name.

"That's quite a cute and infectious laugh," Punk thought momentarily as he continued to listen to the Converse-wearing diva talk.

"It's not really badass is it? Sounds more like a pencil pusher, or to be more specific, a spectacled accountant," she finished as Punk laughed off her jibes.

"Wow, you sure don't hold back your insults, huh?"

"What can I say? I'm a brutally honest person," she admitted with a laugh.

"I like that side to you, it's refreshing around here," he confessed honestly as another light blush came onto her cheeks.

"Thanks... Well it was somewhat nice talking to ya," she said as Punk laughed in response before once more going on her way, "See you, Phil."

"Bye April," Punk waved at her before watching her turn the corner, out of his view.

"April…" he muttered to himself before smirking, "Hm, pretty name."

"Pretty girl as well, huh?" Daniel spoke up from behind Punk, scaring the bajeebus out of him.

"Bryan!" Punk turned around to face Daniel, his hand gravitating towards where his heart was, "Fuck, you gave me a scare there."

"It's nothing compared to the scare you'll get once Amy sees that kiss you had... Or maybe she's already seen it since it was live," Daniel smiled wickedly at him.

"I already told her I was going to be kissing AJ so I have nothing to be worried about," Punk defended.

"Well what I saw out there wasn't kissing, it was making out and you guys took forever as well," he remarked, "Also, I'm pretty sure some of the things you two did just now was not on the script."

"Sometimes you gotta improvise to make the scene better," Punk said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah," Daniel rolled his eyes at his response, "And your improvisation is probably gonna get you kicked out of the bed for the next couple of nights."

"Amy understands it's all business and didn't mean anything so I think you're just overreacting," he said.

"You can call it whatever you want but I'll give you two years tops that you'll be dating AJ by then," he told Punk before covering his mouth with his hand momentarily, "Oops, I mean April."

"Oh, you wanna make it a bet?"

"Sure, hundred bucks says you'll be calling April your girlfriend within the next two years," he wagered while emphasising on AJ's first name.

"Ok then, it's a bet," he offered up his hand to which Daniel gladly accepted as they made the bet official between them, "I can't wait to be a hundred dollars richer in two years. There's no chance I'll be dating AJ anytime soon or even ever for that matter."

"Hell, I'm still not even sure if she's legal," Punk added with a laugh.

"Make all the jokes you want, we'll just wait and see in two years. I actually have a good feeling about this."

*End of Flashback*

---

"Oh, that bet..."

"Yup, it's 2013 and last time I checked… Two years haven't passed so pay up, Punk," he requested as he checked his imaginary watch on his taped up wrist.

"Fine…" he muttered in defeat, "I'll pay you later, my wallet's in the locker room."

"Sure, just don't forget."

"Yeah, yeah, a deal's a deal. I'm a man of my word so don't you worry…" Punk sighed before continuing, "Fuck, I can't believe you were right all along."

"Dude, the way you two were looking at each other after that kiss told me you two would inevitably get together," Daniel revealed, "It was just a matter of time."

"Still, it sucks that I lost a hundred bucks."

"You'll get it back and more just from tonight's pay check alone," he chuckled, "At least now I can get some of the money back from buying Brie her ring."

"Oh yeah! You two are engaged, congrats man," Punk said, patting Daniel on the back.

"Thanks, I was flipping nervous when I asked her to marry me, especially with the cameras around," he confessed as he watched on at AJ working on Brie's arm.

"How's reality TV working out for you?" he asked, referring to his involvement in 'Total Divas'.

"It can be a hassle but it's making us some extra money on the side and more importantly, it's making Brie happy and if she's happy, then I'm happy," Daniel divulged.

"Making sacrifices for your soon-to-be wife, that sounds like a great future husband," he noted with a warm smile.

"Thanks, how about you? Any wedding bells for you and a certain Miss Lee or are you still standing firm against marriage?"

"I don't know man, she's definitely changing my view on it," Punk admitted, admiring her looking gorgeous as always.

"She's told you she wants marriage and kids?"

"No, she hasn't but I assume that's what she wants since all girls dream about that since they're young," he told Daniel who nodded along, understanding exactly what he meant.

"Well, AJ isn't exactly your average girl," he laughed again, "Maybe she doesn't want those things."

"I doubt it, she's too caring and loving to not want them. I can tell she wants them, maybe not now or anytime soon but definitely down the road and trust me, she's a girl, one hundred percent all woman," he smirked at Daniel who knew what he was really trying to say about AJ.

"Ew, say no more, I don't need to know all the details."

"But you never know, you know. So far, she's all I look for in a girl and if she's still that in one or two years, maybe I should make her something more than just my girlfriend," he revealed.

"In the great words of Beyoncé, if you like it then you should put a ring on it," Daniel sang the lyrics to the song as Punk squinted his eyes at him while side eyeing him.

"Uhhh, Beyoncé makes it sound so much better," they shared a laugh before turning their full focus onto the match their girls were having.

"They're having a good match, won't you say so?"

"For a divas' match, yeah, definitely," Punk agreed with Daniel, "It's definitely better than their weekly matches which to put lightly, are crap."

"Yeah, they're given only three minutes or so and it's usually a tag match. There's absolutely no time to tell a story unlike now," Daniel said.

"Yeah, but I gotta say, Brie has really improved," he admitted to Daniel while nodding his head, "You did a good job with her."

"Don't give me all the credit, she's becoming really dedicated to improve herself and it really shows. AJ's ring psychology and promos have gotten really good as well, I'm sure you had something to do with that," he glanced back up at Punk.

"She loves to listen and learn new things. She's the perfect student," Punk confessed proudly.

"No wonder you like her, you probably force her to listen to you grumble and complain about how things are run around here," Bryan joked.

"How'd you know?" Punk replied with a smile, playing along.

"I've known you for far too long."

"So am I invited to this grand wedding of yours?"

"It's a small wedding and if you don't mind the 'Total Divas' cameras, of course you can come," Daniel told Punk who quickly scrunched up his face at the mention of 'Total Divas'.

"Crap, I might have to think about that then."

"It's cool, I know AJ despises the show so she might not be comfortable going," Daniel accepted, though he did hope the two of them could come to watch him marry the girl of his dreams.

"I wouldn't say she despises it, she just hates how the show has influenced the booking of her matches," he corrected Daniel who nodded along.

"I get it."

"Besides, I think your bride wouldn't be too happy to see April," he chuckled, referring to the apparent rift between the two ladies.

"Nah, I don't think Brie has a problem with AJ," Daniel revealed, surprising Punk.

"Really?"

"Yeah, at first she did. She was pissed when AJ insinuated that her and Nikki were sleeping their way to the top but I reminded her it was just a promo and that AJ didn't really mean it. Hell, Brie's been with me since I was a nobody in this business so that statement in itself is ludicrous to say the least. Ever since then, she's been cool with it and doesn't resent her as much as before," he divulged.

"But there's still a hatred there?"

"A little but it's normal. Everyone back here has a little hatred for one another because they're eyeing up each other's spots and that's what Brie is doing. She just wants AJ's spot just like the rest of the divas," Daniel disclosed as Punk nodded his head understandingly.

"Like every champion, she has a target on her back," Punk remarked, recalling his time as champion where everyone in the back was chomping at his feet for the belt around his waist.

"Yup, but so far, she's been handling it really well," Daniel noted as he watched AJ roll up Brie for the win.

"Welp, I would shake your hand but my girl just kicked your soon-to-be wife's ass and I don't associate myself with losers," Punk mocked as he ironically gestured an 'L' with his hand on his forehead.

"Haha very funny Phil, just you wait. In a couple of months, Brie's gonna be the one holding up that title," he warned as Punk simply brushed it off.

"Sure, sure and goats are gonna fly."

"Haven't you seen me fly before?" Daniel asked as they shared another laugh before proceeding to the gorilla to meet up with their respective partners.

---

AJ was the first one to emerge from the curtains with Tamina helping her to walk which was a little surprising to Punk since there were no more cameras around but yet she was still selling the toll the match had taken on her body.

"April," Punk said, going up to AJ to hug her when Tamina spoke up, stopping him from doing so.

"Punk, something's wrong with her," she said as AJ's arm remained draped across her shoulders.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Punk asked in worry as he looked on at AJ who was looking down the entire time.

"She can't walk on her own," Tamina revealed as Punk's eyes enlarged in shock.

"What?!"

"Phil… Don't shout… Head hurts…" AJ muttered while using her free hand to clutch onto her forehead. Daniel and Punk shared looks as they watched AJ struggle.

"Fuck, this isn't good," Punk commented, looking back and forth between Daniel and AJ. Both Punk and Daniel knew what she was suffering from. They had seen it and know it all too well.

"Bryan!" Brie shouted with a smile on her face after coming out of the curtains with her sister behind her before giving Daniel a hug.

"Owww!" AJ wailed in response, unable to tolerate the loud noise which was literally ringing in her head.

Brie immediately noticed AJ being in pain and asked in concern, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's having a headache and can't walk on her own," Daniel answered as AJ continued to hold onto her head.

"Why? What happened?" Brie asked, worry setting in her face.

"We don't know," Daniel simply replied.

"April, what happened?" Punk queried, tilting her head up slowly and carefully by her chin with his hand so that their eyes could meet.

"I hit my head on the turnbuckle," she revealed as she massaged the back of her head, the look on her face slowly killing Punk on the inside. He hated seeing her like this and there was seemingly nothing he could do about it to make it better for her.

"When did she do that?" Daniel asked, not remembering a point in the match where AJ had hit her head on the turnbuckle.

Brie, on the other hand, instantly remembered the fateful moment, "I think it was when I was holding her up and slamming her into the corner. I think I held her up too high and she must've hit the back of her head against the turnbuckle."

"We better bring her to the doc," Punk advised, receiving nods of approval from Daniel, Brie and Tamina.

"Oh boohoo, she has a little headache. Just let her parents handle it and take care of her. Oh wait, they're never here to support her and watch her wrestle. My bad," Nikki mocked as she folded her arms, ending it with a little giggle as she knew bringing up AJ's family issues would rile her up.

"Nicole!" Brie slapped her sister on her arm with the back of her hand, knowing it was completely uncalled for at a time like this.

"You bitch!" AJ shouted as she tried to attack Nikki but failed in doing so as Tamina firmly held onto her, pulling her back.

"Whoa, AJ, AJ, calm down," Tamina said, finding it surprisingly difficult to tame the small Divas' Champion.

"Seems like I made the little girl angry," Nikki pointed out, still poking fun at AJ who was fuming at this point, "Do you need someone to guide you while you fly to Puerto Rico to cry to Mommy?"

"Nicole! Enough!" Brie shouted once more, wanting her twin to stop with her insults.

"Let me go!" AJ cried, squirming in Tamina's grip but struggling to get out of it. She did not care that she was hurt at the moment, she just wanted to unleash her fury on the other half of the Bella twins.

"April, it's me," Punk said comfortingly while cupping her cheeks with his hands as their eyes met once again, "Forget her, just chill and take a breather, ok?"

"But she-"

"I'm here, that's all that matters," he said reassuringly, "Her words can't hurt you."

AJ took a deep breath before nodding her head slightly and shooting Punk a small smile. It was surprising to her that Punk was so cool and collected about it all and she was glad that he was there with her. He returned the smile before shooting daggers at Nikki, "I think you better leave."

Nikki scoffed while rolling her eyes, "Fine by me, me and Brie were gonna leave anyways."

Nikki took her sister's hand to walk away with her but Brie quickly pulled her hand away, "Speak for yourself, I'm gonna follow them to the doc."

"What?! Why?"

"Because I caused this," she said, looking over to AJ before turning back to face Nikki, "Just go before you make things worse for her."

"I'm your sister, Brianna," Nikki reminded Brie as she tapped her chest with her hand, "You're gonna side with her?"

"Just go, Nicole," she suggested in a dismissive manner, "We'll talk later, ok?"

"Whatever," Nikki simply said as she glared at AJ for a moment before walking away.

"I'm sorry," Brie apologised to AJ.

"It's ok," AJ replied with a warm smile to Brie. She did not ever think she would ever smile to either of the Bella twins but at least now she knew who was the friendlier of the two.

"C'mon April," Punk cajoled before catching AJ by surprise when he lifted her up and carried her bridal style, "We'll take you to the doc."

"Ok…" she gave him another small smile as she circled her arms around his neck before resting her head on his shoulder. He walked slowly to the trainer's room, making sure not to move her head too much and aggravating her injury as Daniel, Brie and Tamina followed.

---

"Doc!" Punk shouted, alerting Dr. Amann as he entered the room with AJ still in his arms.

"Phil," AJ whined, wincing in pain as her head continued to throb.

"Sorry, I forgot," he apologised, looking down at AJ who had the side of her head nuzzled against his shoulder, her eyes tight shut. Even hurt, she was the absolute vision of cuteness coupled with beauty.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Amann questioned in concern, taking a closer look at AJ.

"I think she has a concussion. She has a painful headache and she's having trouble walking under her own power," Punk explained, making sure to keep the tone of his voice down so that it would not bother AJ.

"Ok, lay her down on the bed here," he instructed before Punk did as such, laying her down carefully while AJ rather reluctantly released her hold on him. If it was up to her, she would have just preferred to stay in his arms.

"So what happened?"

"I hit the back of my head against the turnbuckle just now and my head just feels like there's a lot of pressure on it right now," AJ notified him slowly through gritted teeth as she tolerated the substantial pain in her head.

"Ok, we still need to run some tests to diagnose for sure what's bothering her at the moment," Dr. Amann informed the rest of them before looking over to AJ, "For now, you just lay down here and rest. We'll run the tests later when you've gotten some rest."

"Ok," she simply responded with a small nod of the head.

"I'm sorry AJ, I swear I didn't mean to hurt you," Brie spoke up, taking a hold of AJ's hand comfortingly.

"It's ok, I know you didn't," AJ gave her a reassuring smile as she began taking a liking to this side of Brie, "It's also my fault, I oversold that move."

"So is there anything we can do for now?" Brie asked Dr. Amann.

"I'm afraid not," he answered, "All of you can stay here but she really needs some rest so I suggest keeping it down."

"We'll just go then so we don't disturb her," Daniel suggested.

"Yeah, you guys go," Punk instructed them, "I'll stay here with her."

"Ok," Daniel replied before taking Brie's hand and leading her out of the room.

"I'll watch her when you go for your match," Tamina offered, "I'll be in the locker room in the meantime so give me a knock on the door when you need to go."

"Ok, thanks for helping her out, Sarona," Punk told Tamina, grateful for her assistance throughout AJ's injury.

"No problem, just gimme an update when they've done the tests, ok?" Tamina asked.

"Yeah, us too," Brie said as her and Daniel stood at the door.

"Sure thing," Punk smiled warmly at them before they left the room. He then took a chair and placed it beside the bed AJ was lying on.

"I'll leave you two so you can have some alone time," Dr. Amann said, walking over to the exit of the room.

"Thanks, doc," Punk said as he sat down on the chair and watched Dr. Amann close the door to the room.

"It really hurts, Phil," she complained to Punk who quickly took a hold of her hand with his.

"Shhh, I know... Just rest," he comfortingly told AJ who nodded her head slightly again.

"Can you stay here?" she pleaded.

"Of course I will," he smiled at her before giving her hand a loving kiss, "But I'll have to leave soon for my match but the moment it finishes, you can bet I'll be right here by your side."

"Thank you," she let go of his hand and cupped his chin instead, pulling it towards her. Punk, knowing her head needed to remain stationary for as much as possible right now, closed the gap for her, kissing her ever so softly on the lips. When they did part, she had one more message for Punk, "Be safe later when you wrestle Ryback, ok?"

"You're the one stricken on a bed and you want me to be safe?" Punk chuckled, unable to believe that she was caring more about him than herself at the moment.

"Just don't get hurt. I'd hate for both of us to be in the same position," AJ told him as she rubbed the top of his hand with her thumb.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll be fine, just worry about yourself," he said as they shared a loving smile.

"Ok…" she uttered before AJ closed her eyes in an attempt to get some much needed rest for her head. When she did eventually fall asleep, he carefully unlocked their hands and called the doctor back to watch her with Tamina as he still had to go out to the ring to do his job. After making sure that there was someone looking after AJ while he was gone, he reluctantly made his way to the gorilla for his match and saw his old pal, Paul Heyman, there.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you," Paul said as Punk began to wrap up his hands with tape. In the midst of looking after AJ, he had forgotten to tape up his hands like he always does.

"I was in the trainer's room," he muttered in a despondent voice.

"Why? Do you have an injury or something?"

"Nah, it's April," he informed Paul while still keeping his focus on taping up his hands, "She's suffering a concussion from what we can tell but it's not confirmed yet."

"Oh my, give her my well wishes, will you?"

"Yeah, I will…"

"You ok?" Paul asked, noticing his sorrowful demeanour, "Do you need the match to be shortened 'cause we can do that?"

"No, just go ahead as planned. I'm fine," he said, brushing Paul's idea off.

"I doubt you're fine," Paul said, noting his lack of a smile ever since meeting him a couple of moments ago, "You look like you've just been told you're lactose intolerant and can't eat ice cream anymore."

"I'm fine, Paul!" Punk snapped at him, his sudden raised voice causing Paul to jump, "Let's just do what we need to do, ok?"

"Ok champ," Paul simply agreed, not wanting to agitate him any further. It was clear to Paul that Punk had AJ fully on his mind and maybe wrestling could distract him for a bit.

---

"Hey, how is she?" Punk whispered after knocking on the door of the trainer's room where Tamina and Dr. Amann had been sitting and waiting patiently for AJ to wake up.

"She's been asleep the entire time you've been gone," Tamina revealed before getting off her seat, "I'll be heading off now. Take good care of her, ok?"

"Will do, thanks for everything again," Punk smiled towards the Samoan who returned the smile in kind.

"Anytime," she said before leaving the room.

"When she wakes up, we'll evaluate her," Dr. Amann told Punk who just nodded in return before going over to sit beside AJ once again. She looked so peaceful sleeping but yet Punk knew she was in a lot of pain at the same time. After around about another two hours of sleep, AJ finally awoke from her slumber and as she batted her eyelids, trying to adjust to the seemingly blinding light of the room shining on her face, she could not help but feel confused at the state she was in at the moment.

"Where am I?" AJ asked, sitting up on the bed and alerting Punk who was just about to fall asleep.

"April," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Phil? Why am I here?" she asked in wonder, examining her surroundings and noticing that she was in fact in the trainer's room.

"You don't remember?" Punk questioned, standing up and rubbing her back comfortingly with one of his hands.

"No, what happened-" immediately her hand locked onto her head as she felt her head pulsate, "Ow… My head…"

"You hit the back of your head on the turnbuckle in your match," Punk informed AJ who looked perplexed after hearing the news.

"I did? I don't even remember having a match."

"You don't remember wrestling Brie?"

"No…" she said, looking straight ahead and unable to recall having a match for the night.

"Do you remember anything from today?"

"I remember putting on my ring gear but after that it's all a blur…" AJ revealed before turning to face Punk, "I'm scared Phil, what's happening?"

"You're showing signs of a concussion," he informed her as panic started to set in her.

"I've never had a concussion before, am I gonna be out for as long as Nick?" she asked Punk hurriedly, referring to the fact that Dolph was out of action for over a month after suffering his concussion.

"We don't know," Dr. Amann spoke up, "We're gonna run some tests to make sure it's a concussion and assess how long you could be out of action for."

"Ok," she replied to Dr. Amann before shifting her gaze back to Punk, "Please stay with me."

"I will, someone will have to kill me to drag me out of here," he told her as they shared another smile. AJ then cupped his cheeks and pulled him into a brief kiss.

"I'm glad you still remember I'm your boyfriend 'cause I probably wouldn't stay if you forgot," Punk joked after pulling away to try to get her to continue to smile. He missed seeing that beautiful smile of hers and the sooner this concussion was over, the sooner that smile would return.

"You're such an ass," she giggled softly, punching him lightly on the arm.

Dr. Amann proceeded to carry out the tests to determine AJ's condition but she was relatively calm throughout the process. Whether it was due to the fact that she had the internal spirit to stay strong or that she had her boyfriend by her side the entire time, she knew there was no reason to panic.

"So how is she, doc?"

"After running all the necessary tests, we can confirm that she is suffering from a concussion. As of right now, we can't gauge how long she'll be out for since her concussion is still in its early stages so please bring her back tomorrow for a further check-up after she's had a full night's sleep and ample rest," Dr. Amann informed them.

"Ok doc, other than sleep and rest, is there anything else she needs?" Punk asked as his hand remain glued to her back, constantly massaging it to comfort her.

"Make sure she is well fed and hydrated so no skipping meals," he warned, "Also, make sure she does not do anything either physically or psychologically strenuous. It's best she remains lying down if possible."

"Ok doc, thanks for everything," Punk said as he helped AJ get off the bed.

"You're welcome. Let's hope tomorrow's a good day and your concussion has died down. Until then, rest, rest and rest, ok?"

"I hear you, doc," AJ said as she leaned on Punk for support since she was still having problems with balance, "See you tomorrow."

"Take care April and you take care of her, alright?" he pointed to Punk.

"Yes sir, you can count on me," Punk assured, wrapping his arm around AJ.

"Good, now get out of here. She needs to lie down, pronto," Dr. Amann advised as Punk and AJ started to make their way out of the room.

"Will do," he reassured before exiting the room and trudging along the halls with AJ firmly tucked under his arm, looking straight ahead as a mere glance at the ground made her feel light-headed.

"My things," AJ said as they walked past the divas' locker room.

"They're already inside the bus," Punk informed AJ as he continued to drag her along to his bus.

"But how-"

"Sarona packed up your things and passed them to me," he clarified, cutting AJ off before looking down at her, "Don't worry, I wasn't being a perv and snuck into the locker room."

"Never said you were," she giggled before noticing the lack of people hanging around in the arena, "Whoa, how long was I in there? Everyone's gone home."

"A couple of hours," he answered as they arrived at the parking lot where there were still a small group of fans lounging around by the side, eager to get an autograph and/or a picture with their favourite superstars and divas. When they saw Punk and AJ emerge from the arena, they began to scream their names out loud, calling for them to come over.

"Argh, my head…" AJ held onto her head again in pain, "I can't take so much noise."

"Ok, ok, we'll walk a little faster," Punk told her as he picked up the pace they were walking at and in turn, completely ignoring the fans that were gathered outside of the arena. At this time, Punk had more urgent things to do than to sign posters and smile for the cameras. AJ was his number one priority and he did not care if he pissed his fans off by doing so. Thankfully for AJ, they arrived at Punk's bus which was parked relatively close to the arena exit. Closing the door, the sound of the screaming fans faded and she was treated to the silence of the bus.

"Hey April, how are you?" Joe asked as Punk carefully pulled her up the stairs.

"My head hurts, I can't walk straight without someone's help and I can't remember my match," she sounded off as she managed to drag herself to the nearby couch where she just collapsed on top of it.

"She sounds jovial," Joe commented sarcastically.

"It's her first ever concussion," Punk chuckled but immediately he was silenced when AJ made her voice heard.

"This is not funny, Phil!" she shouted, cringing at the sound of her own voice as she massaged the temples of her head with her fingers.

"Sorry…" he said to AJ before slapping Joe on the arm, "You see what you got me into."

"My bad," he chuckled before putting away the book he had been reading, "I better get us moving."

"Yeah, don't drive so fast, will ya? We don't want too many vibrations," Punk told Joe, "Take as long as you want in fact."

"Ok, I understand," Joe replied before starting up the engine. Punk proceeded to enter the living room and close the door behind him shut. He laughed to himself quietly when he stumbled upon her elbow pad, countless bangles and knee-high Chucks and socks sprawled out on the floor while she was just lying on the couch with her eyes shut and her hand constantly massaging her forehead. He was not exactly a neat person himself but he would let her off the hook this one time for messing up his bus since she was suffering from a concussion.

"C'mon April, let's get you to bed," he cajoled AJ but she gave no indication that she was about to leave the relatively firm couch.

"But I don't wanna... It's too far," she whined before holding out her hands to him, asking him without words to carry her to the bedroom.

"God, you're such a princess," he chuckled before lifting her up off the couch and once more, carrying her bridal style towards the room in the back.

"I have a concussion, cut me some slack," AJ said as an excuse as she wrapped her arms around his neck. AJ had to admit she was liking being in his arms like this. Before today, he had never carried her this way before, though she never once asked him to.

"There you go, princess," Punk said before gently laying her down onto the bed and before Punk could even take a breather, she instantly had another demand.

"I'm hungry, get me some food."

"Yes, your highness," he rolled his eyes at her slave-like request before exiting the room and getting her something to eat. A couple of minutes later, Punk returned with a warm bowl full of spaghetti and meatballs.

Seating down Indian style in front of her while she sat up against the headboard of the bed, he offered AJ the bowl of food as she took a look inside of it to see the contents, "It's food from catering I smuggled earlier tonight but I did heat it up for you."

"It's ok, as long as I can eat it," she smiled at him but just as she was about to take the bowl out of his hands, she had another request for him, "Um, could you feed me?"

"Are you sure you're not milking this?" Punk asked with a laugh.

"Maybe a little, but I am feeling a little dizzy," she admitted before putting on her puppy dog eyes which she knew Punk could just not resist, "Could you... Please?"

"Anything for you, princess," Punk said with a smile as he twirled the spaghetti around his fork while holding up the bowl in front of her.

"Stop calling me princess," AJ told him as Punk stopped twirling the fork.

"It's either that or patient, choose."

"Princess it is then," she accepted it happily, though she did not have that much of a choice as Punk lifted up the rolled up pasta and blew some of the steam away.

"Good girl," he commended before moving the fork towards her mouth, "Now open wide, princess."

AJ did as she was told and happily welcomed the food into her mouth, "Mmm, that's actually quite nice."

"The food or the feeding?" Punk queried while twirling the pasta once again around his fork.

"Both," she replied with a small giggle before pointing at her open mouth.

"Yes princess, it's coming. Just gimme a sec," he said as he continued to spin the fork before blowing the steam off and putting it in her mouth again. Punk continued this routine until there was no more ounce of food left in the bowl.

"For someone so small, she sure does eat fast," he thought as he exited the room and placed the bowl along with the fork into the dishwasher. He then returned to the room with a glass of water which AJ quickly consumed.

"Thanks for feeding me," she gratefully told Punk after finishing off her drink and placing the glass on the cup holder beside the bed. After a nice meal and hydrating herself, she noticed the pain in her head had subsided somewhat.

"You're welcome," he replied as he sat on the edge of the bed, facing her with one leg bent at the knee towards him on the bed while the other was planted on the floor.

"Could you do one more thing for me?"

"Anything."

"Could you wash my body for me?"

"What?!" Punk shouted in shock to which AJ was not overly impressed with as she quickly held her head again.

"Phil…"

"Sorry, I always forget."

"Just take a shower with me, please," both her hands gravitated to his hand which was resting on the bed, comfortingly stroking and massaging it as her eyes worked their charm on him again.

"B-But why?"

"Because I don't have the best balance at the moment, Phil, and the floor's gonna be wet. I feel light headed just looking down. I stink and I feel icky and sticky," AJ explained, "Plus, haven't you always wanted this?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Please Phil," she pleaded again, almost to the point of begging.

"Fine," Punk caved in to her demands again as he got off the bed, "But only a shower, nothing more."

"Of course, my head's in too much discomfort to think about doing that."

"Here," he pulled her up by her hands so that she could stand on her own two feet, "Can you stand up straight?"

"Y-Yeah," she said before feeling herself start to tip over to one side, "But not for long."

"Ok, ok," he returned to holding her by her hands when he noticed she was about to fall down before leading her to the shower room, "I'll make it quick."

After Punk opened the door and let AJ in first, she leaned her back against the wall while pushing her hands against either sides of the relatively narrow shower room to keep herself stable but the small little vibrations the bus was making did not help to ease her headache one bit.

"Take off my clothes for me," AJ requested as Punk gulped nervously.

"C'mon, why are you nervous? You've seen her naked before and undressed her so what's so different about this?" he thought briefly.

"Ummm, ok," Punk hooked his fingers underneath her cut up shirt and pulled it up off of her, revealing a bright pink bra. Tossing her shirt onto the dry floor outside of the shower room, he then proceeded to her belt buckle. Unlocking the buckle, he slipped the belt off and tossed it at the same place her shirt lay. Gulping one more time, he unbuttoned and unzipped her jean shorts before pulling them down rather quickly, in AJ's mind, to reveal a matching set of pink undergarments. Once more, he threw the article of clothing outside before looking back at AJ. He could not help but admire her beauty but for some reason he was reluctant to go on. As all this was happening, AJ never took her eyes off Punk's when he would take the occasional glance at her face. She could tell something was bothering him and it was even more obvious as he just stood still in front of her, not moving a muscle.

"What's wrong?" AJ asked, snapping Punk out of the trance her body had on him.

"I don't know, this doesn't feel right," he admitted as he turned his head away from AJ, "It feels like I'm taking advantage of you."

"You're not, Phil," AJ reached up to his face and turned it towards her, "I asked you to do this, remember?"

"Still-"

"I trust you," she revealed, stopping him short as she smiled warmly at him.

Punk returned the smile before carrying on with undressing her, "Ok, turn around for me."

AJ turned around and quickly used her hands to push against the walls again for support but what Punk did not expect was to see her wearing a thong. Instantly, the bulge in his pants became bigger, "Fuck, did you have to wear a thong?"

"I always wear it when I wrestle," AJ said before Punk unhooked her bra and pulled it off of her when AJ lifted her hands off the wall for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, looking back at Punk and wondering why he asked her that question.

"No, no. Nothing's wrong," he quickly answered before squatting and subsequently pulling her thong slowly down her sun-kissed, caramel legs, enjoying and savouring every second of it, a little too much if he was being honest. Lifting up her legs so that Punk could get her underwear completely off of her, she shivered at the sudden coldness on her body, especially on her private parts. After placing her underwear outside on the floor with the rest of her clothes, he went on to close the door only to be stopped by AJ.

"Wait, aren't you going to take your clothes off?"

"I'd rather not."

"Don't be silly, you're gonna wet your clothes," she giggled, "We've seen each other naked before so I don't see a problem."

"Yeah, but that's when we're having sex," he said, "This is different."

"It's not different, just take them off," she maintained as Punk accepted defeat and did as AJ said so, taking off his hoodie, shirt and basketball shorts in a jiffy. He, however, was rather hesitant with his boxer briefs.

"Yes, even those Phil," Punk groaned before taking his boxers off slowly, scrunching up his face and looking away from AJ as he did so. When they went down far enough, his hardened member popped out, straighter and bigger than ever.

"Whoa," AJ simply uttered as he completely took off his shorts.

"See, this is why I didn't want to take my clothes off," Punk confessed as he tossed his boxers out of the room, embarrassed by his not so little friend.

"It's ok, Phil," she giggled while biting her lip when she took another look at it, "I'm glad it's up considering I'm butt naked. I'll be more worried if it wasn't."

"Still, just try not to look down," he pleaded with a blush on his face as he closed the door and turned on the shower to hot.

"I feel light-headed just by looking down for too long, remember?," she reminded him as he pulled her from under the shower head towards where the water was being spouted onto. When her body was wet enough, he reached over to turn off the shower and grab a hold of the sponge on the rack behind her but in doing so, accidentally poked her stomach with his erect member.

"Fuck, sorry," he blushed once more, embarrassed that his dick which he was struggling to tame had made contact with her skin.

"It's ok, just don't poke it where it shouldn't be," she warned with a small laugh. She was really enjoying this whereas on the other hand, this was excruciating for Punk. He felt like he was going to explode any second and the pain kept on building up as he got harder and harder.

"I have to do this quick before I literally explode," Punk told himself as he quickly squeezed the liquid soap onto the sponge and started cleaning her front. Their eyes remained fixed on each other as he cleaned her breasts and arms in silence with only the pitter patter of the water against their bodies disturbing the calm mood. When he was done, he moved to her lower regions which for the sake of his sanity, he made short work of. Too short to AJ's liking in fact.

"Turn around for me, April," she did as she was told and once again supported herself with her hands on the wall. He washed her back fairly quickly before descending down to her round ass which glistened due to the reflection of the light on her wet cheeks. He covered her butt cheeks with the white foamy soap when he rubbed the sponge against them but instead of moving on, he continued to work on her ass. AJ could feel his other free hand caressing her cheeks and knew what he was doing. She knew it must have been painful for him not to be able to do anything so she let him take his time with that area of her body as she herself enjoyed him massaging and feeling her ass. Her eyes were tight shut as she could feel herself getting a little wet and it was not due to the soap or water. However, her headache soon started to throb again and she felt she needed to lie down soon.

"Mmm…" she moaned, still enjoying his hand motions on her buttocks, "Taking a little too long there, buddy."

Punk immediately blushed, knowing he was caught in the act. He did not mean to take so long but it was so hard to control his urges. He swiftly reached over her shoulder to turn the shower back on and once again, the tip of his length made contact with her body, this time resting at the start of her butt crack.

"Crap, I-"

"Just leave it be Phil," AJ said with her eyes still shut as the water poured down onto the both of them. Punk smirked at her response before kissing his way up from her shoulder to her ear.

"Phil…" she moaned as her hands turned into fists against the walls and her toes scrunched up against the wet floor.

Nibbling on her earlobe, he whispered seductively into her ear, "Is this too much for you?"

"No… This is perfect… This is calming…" she said in between deep breaths. It was actually soothing her and in fact, the pain in her head died down with every loving kiss he placed on her coupled with the warm droplets of water crashing down onto her skin.

"I have to end this before things get out of hand," he whispered again when he felt his member beginning to throb.

AJ responded by turning around and holding onto him by his biceps for balance, "Thank you for this."

"You're welcome, beautiful," he said before they shared a passionate kiss, his length once again pressed up against her stomach and close to her womanhood but she did not care one jot about that.

"Let's get you to bed so you can rest up, ok?" he suggested after they eventually parted, cupping her cheeks with his damp hands. She merely responded with a shy nod of the head before he turned the shower off and reached over for the towel to dry both of them off. Once that was done, he helped her out of the small, still wet room and guided her to the bedroom with a towel wrapped around her body. As AJ sat down on the bed, she could not help but look over to Punk's bare body as he searched his cupboard for clothes to wear.

"Something wrong?" Punk asked as he put on his boxers when he noticed AJ staring at him.

"Nothing, can't your girlfriend stare at your body?" she asked with a devilish smile.

Punk laughed in reply as he put on his sweatpants, "Nope, nothing wrong with that."

"Err, can you get my things for me?"

"Sure," he simply answered, picking up her luggage bag from the corner of the room and settling it onto the bed. She proceeded to searching the bag for her night clothes and plucked them out after selecting which ones to wear.

"So is your head getting better?" he questioned, putting on a 'Bake and Destroy' shirt on in the meantime.

"Not really," she said with a small sigh as she unwrapped her towel and put on her underwear and sweatpants, lifting her body up slightly when need be as she got dressed sitting down, "I still have a headache but it doesn't hurt as much as before. The dizziness is still there though."

"You gotta lie down, sleep it off and see how it is tomorrow," he advised.

"Yeah," she put on a Marvel Comics T-shirt, "Thank you for everything, you've been amazing."

"No biggie, I'm sure you would've done the same for me," he replied with a smile before picking up her luggage off the bed and putting it back in its original position.

"I don't think I would've been able to tolerate my whining and demands," she laughed as she laid down flat on her back, feeling the weight on her head being lifted when her head rested on the soft, comfortable pillow.

"You're concussed, it's warranted," he told her with a small chuckle, brushing it off, "It comes with the territory."

After his laughter died down and he moved himself onto the bed beside AJ with his back resting against the headboard, she looked up to him and spouted out the very words she had never once said to him, "I love you."

Instantly, Punk's head jerked back in surprise, "That was out of the blue. Is that the concussion talking?"

"No, it's all me. I've been meaning to say it to you for a long time and I think this is the perfect time to do so. You've been so helpful today and I just wanna say I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have you by my side," she confessed, constantly looking back and forth between his face and his stomach. Punk responded by shifting his body down the bed until he was lying on his side, face to face with AJ.

"And I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have you by my side," he cupped her chin and moved in for a searing kiss, "I love you too, April, and don't you forget it."

"I won't... At least I hope my concussion doesn't cause me to forget it," she laughed.

"You're amazing you know that? You're hurt and you're still making jokes and having a smile on your face," he remarked.

"I'm just trying to stay positive and I have a smile on my face because I have such a loving boyfriend to take care of me," Punk replied with a giant smile and a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Just try to sleep, ok?"

"Ok… You're not gonna sleep?"

"Not really sleepy, plus I need to be up to check up on you and make sure you don't fall into a coma," he informed her.

"A coma?!" AJ shrieked, grimacing after hearing her own voice.

"Relax… You're just making it worse. Nothing psychologically strenuous, remember?"

"You caused it by saying I could fall into a coma," she hit back, making sure not to raise her voice too high.

"My bad," he apologised, "I should've thought about that before saying it."

"So it could happen?"

"It could if it's a really, really severe concussion but don't you worry, I'll be here to wake you up every couple of hours to make sure you're still alive," he chuckled at the end but AJ did not share the same sentiment.

"That's not funny," she instantly turned her body so her back was facing him instead, wincing a little at the sudden head movement.

"C'mon, I'm sorry," he apologised with a little laugh, tugging on her arm to turn back to face him, "I just want you to lighten up, that's all. I'm positive you're gonna be ok."

She turned her head slowly, just enough to see most of his face, "You promise?"

"With all my heart," he assured as he brought up the sheets to cover them and wrapped his arms around her waist, closing the gap between their bodies.

AJ looked away from him again and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his body, "Can we just stay like this for the entire night?"

"Whatever you want," Punk answered before snorting, "You're definitely milking this alright."

"I'm not!" she raised her voice again and instantly regretted it. She really needed to remember to keep her voice down.

"Shhh, sleep," he caressed her head, running his hand continuously down her hair and back up again.

"Ughhhh," she groaned but soon enjoyed the soothing effect his hand had on her head.

"Goodnight, my love," Punk mumbled into her neck after giving it a kiss.

AJ merely smiled before once more, closing her eyes and hoping that the next time she opened them, her headache and dizziness would have gone away, "Goodnight, baby."

---

7 October 2013

"Ugh, I'm in horrible shape," AJ commented as her and Punk entered the CONSOL Energy Arena a couple of hours before RAW went live hand in hand with AJ leaning the side of her head on his upper arm.

"I wouldn't-" he started but immediately realised it was futile to disagree with her considering the state she was in right now, "Yeah, you're definitely getting sent home alright."

"Shanks for the encouraging words, Phil," she sarcastically said as she kept looking straight ahead.

"Shanks?"

"It's snot funny, Phil," she shot back, looking up at Punk who was biting his bottom lip to contain his laughter. Ever since waking up this morning, AJ had been experiencing slurred speeches, causing her words to be slightly mispronounced. Though her headache was getting better, she had to admit she preferred the sound of the constant thud in her head compared to the sound of Punk laughing every time she spoke.

"Snot?"

"Ugh, jerk," AJ used the same hand which was interlocked with Punk's and directed the pair of hands to his stomach, hitting him firm as he finally broke out into chuckles.

"C'mon, I'm just trying to humour you," he said, wiping away one or two drops of tears from his eyes.

"I know…" she went back to lean her head on his arm, "I'm just scared that this is gonna mean the end of my title reign."

"They won't do that, you're going to be back before they can even contemplate the idea of stripping you of the title," Punk reassured, looking down onto the top of her head.

AJ let out a huff, "I hope show."

"You hope Show will what? What do you hope Big Show will do?" Punk asked, biting his bottom lip again where his lip ring used to be.

"So! So!" she replied clearly in annoyance, looking up at him through her spectacle frames and hitting him again on the stomach with their hands.

"Ok, ok, I'll stop," he chuckled as a weak smile came onto AJ's face, glad that she was smiling again even if it was not the biggest or warmest he had ever seen, "Are you still seeing a fog?"

"Yeah…" she said before lifting up her glasses off her nose bridge, still seeing a white cloud of sorts obstructing her view, "Dammit, I wish that just by taking off my glasses, the fog will go away with it as well."

"Too bad you're not Cyclops."

"That would be so cool if I could shoot out this horrible concussion through my eyes and heal myself," she chuckled out.

"Yeah, but right now you're more like Jean Grey with all these headaches," Punk noted as AJ sighed but still had a smile on her face.

"At least I finally get to be like her for a bit," she giggled, living her dream of being one of her favourite comic book characters though she had to admit it was more of a nightmare than a dream, "And quite fittingly, I have a Wolverine by my side."

They shared a smile before he leaned down and kissed her forehead. After turning a couple more corners and walking through a couple more hallways, AJ's misery finally came to an end when they spotted the sign which read 'Trainer's Room' on one of the doors.

"Concussed first," Punk pushed the door open with a stupid grin plastered on his face, stepping aside to let AJ enter first and when she did so, she could not resist giving him a cold glare as she walked by.

"April, how are you?" Dr. Amann asked as AJ sat with her legs stretched out in front of her on the bed.

"I feel horrible," she simply muttered, her lack of enthusiasm obvious to see.

Dr. Amann laughed to himself at her simple yet telling response, "Can you be a little more specific?"

"I ha-"

"She still has her headache though it has died down," Punk interrupted AJ, informing Dr. Amann of her current condition for her as she mouthed a 'thank you' to Punk, "She still can't remember anything from her match and she still needs a little help walking."

"Also, she's having a little trouble with speech and she's complaining of seeing a fog after waking up this morning," Punk added, looking towards AJ who nodded in approval of everything he had just said.

"Oh, that doesn't sound good."

"So what now?" AJ asked a little hurriedly, an almost petulant attitude apparent in her tone.

"We'll re-evaluate you again to assess the extent of your concussion. As of now, you are clearly unfit to compete and you will have to be sent home," he notified AJ who gave out a loud, exasperated sigh.

"I knew it…"

"It's for your own benefit," he reminded AJ as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "You need to be at home and rest up."

"We'll start the check up to see how bad it is," Dr. Amann announced as he picked up a small torchlight from the table nearby. After about twenty minutes, the check-up was completed and as Dr. Amann inspected the report in his hands, AJ knew it did not go too well for her considering she felt discomfort in her body throughout the process.

"So how bad is it?" Punk questioned in worry.

"From all the data we've collected, based on your reactions to light, sound and basic body movements, we've diagnosed you with a grade 2 to a grade 3 concussion," Dr. Amann announced but AJ quickly screwed up her face, not understanding what that entailed.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you could be out for as short as a week to as long as a month, depending on how well you recover," Dr. Amann told her.

"Great…" AJ muttered under her breath, upset that she could possibly miss a month of wrestling and probably lose her title at the same time.

"Like I said yesterday, rest and no skipping meals," Dr. Amann instructed, "Right now, I'm not even sure if she should even get on a plane."

"It's that bad?" Punk asked.

"At the moment, unfortunately so," he regretfully revealed as AJ turned her head towards Punk, her face depicting a sense of fear and sadness, "Because of her dizziness and motion sickness, she might have nausea and subsequently vomit."

"Oh god…" AJ put her head in her hands, unable to believe the news.

"Do you think she can make it through a two hour plane ride?"

"It's not that I don't think she can make it, I'm afraid it'll cause her concussion to worsen," Dr. Amann revealed honestly.

"But if she was to ride on my bus, it'll take at least ten hours to get to Tampa and it's also not the smoothest of journeys as well," Punk argued back as AJ screwed up her face once again, filtering out everything that she did not want to hear.

"In that case, she has to take the plane, first class of course so that she is as comfortable as can be."

"Ok, I have an idea," he placed a hand on AJ's shoulder, snapping her out of her blank stare and causing her to look at him in the eyes, "April, since you're in pretty bad shape right now, we'll stay in the same hotel we were in today for the night and make sure you get enough rest before getting on the plane to Tampa. Till then, you'll rest in my bus until I'm done then we'll head to the hotel."

AJ merely nodded and gave him the best smile she could muster as Dr. Amann approved Punk's thinking, "That sounds like a good idea. Make sure someone is looking after her while she rests. We don't want something happening without anyone around."

"Alright, thanks for your time doc," Punk said as he helped AJ off of the bed and subsequently led her out of the room and back to their home away from home, his bus.

"I feel so useless, like a human ragdoll," she uttered despondently as she swayed their intertwined hands.

"No you're not," he argued lightly before chancing a meeting with Big E and Kaitlyn after they turned a corner.

"Hey AJ," Big E acknowledged, giving her a warm hug which she half-heartedly returned.

"Hi guys…" she said in a low tone, her sadness verging on depression.

"We heard the news, how you doing?" Kaitlyn asked, holding onto AJ's shoulder comfortingly.

"Bad, just bad," AJ started, "I could be out for as long as a month if things don't improve."

"Oh my."

"So what's gonna happen to her?" Big E queried Punk.

"She's going back home later and I'm coming with her but since I have to work later, she'll have to rest in the bus for a while," he informed Big E.

"Do one of you guys mind sparing a couple of hours to look after her?" he asked, "We need someone to keep an eye on her while she's resting."

"I'll do it," Kaitlyn swiftly responded as Big E breathed a huge sigh of relief. He loved to hang around with AJ but being stuck in a bus with her was definitely not on his agenda for the day, or any day for that matter.

"Thanks Celeste," AJ gave her a tight hug, a smile reappearing on her face.

"What are besties for," Kaitlyn replied while hugging her just as tight.

"Great, I'll lead you to the bus," Punk announced after they parted.

"Take care girl."

"Thanks E," AJ waved at Big E as Kaitlyn followed the pair who were practically attached at the hip.

"That's cute," Kaitlyn thought as she watched Punk and AJ walking hand in hand with their bodies glued to one another. When they arrived at his bus, Kaitlyn was left in awe at the interior of the large vehicle. There was a TV, an Xbox, a kitchen, lots of space to just lounge around and relax and bunks for people to sleep in.

"I need to remind April to invite me onto this bus once in a while," Kaitlyn told herself as Punk led her and AJ to the bedroom. Once there, AJ quickly plopped herself down onto the bed while Kaitlyn was being shown the essential amenities which AJ might need such as the refrigerator and microwave.

"And finally, the washroom's over here," Punk notified her as he stood at the entrance of the toilet which was closest to the bedroom, "There might be a time that she needs it since she might feel nauseous and want to vomit."

"What?!"

"Yeah, good luck with that," Punk grinned at her before walking briskly past her and towards the exit of the bus, "I'll call regularly to check up on how she's doing."

"Punk!" Kaitlyn called out pointlessly, not knowing that she had basically signed up for clean-up duty in the event AJ was to expel out her insides.

"Make sure she rests and no loud noises!" Punk hollered with a smile on his face before leaving the bus. When he entered the arena once again, he was stopped by Stephanie McMahon who was currently in talks with Dr. Amann.

"Punk! Over here."

"What is it Steph?" Punk asked in an irritated tone, coming off as unfriendly to Stephanie but she quickly dismissed his attitude.

"Where's April?" she asked.

"She's in my bus. What's wrong?" Punk looked back and forth between Stephanie and Dr. Amann.

"I need to talk to her in person," Stephanie disclosed.

"Well she can't, she's resting," Punk revealed, crossing his arms as his protective nature towards AJ shone through, "Whatever you need to tell her, you tell it to me."

"Look, I know you and her have something going on now but this is a private matter, it's between an employee and her boss," Stephanie told him in an authoritative manner.

"Well that employee is going to be telling me anyways so why not we just make it simple for everyone and you tell it to me directly?" Punk was getting increasingly annoyed at her seemingly I'm-better-than-you attitude.

"Fine then, since you're so stubborn," Stephanie reluctantly gave up getting into an argument with him, "I wanted to ask April whether she's okay with vacating the title."

"What?! Why the fuck for?!"

"Phil, watch your language. I'm your boss, remember?" Stephanie reminded him but that did little to calm him down.

"No! I'll say whatever the fuck I wanna say!" Punk defiantly clamored, "Why would you strip her of the title?!"

"I've already talked to Chris over here," she started as she looked over to Dr. Amann, "And he said that April could be out for a month so I thought we should take the title off of her so that she does not rush her recovery process and put her body in further jeopardy."

"He said she could be out for a month but he also said she could come back within a week," Punk emphasised while pointing at Dr. Amann.

"Yes, he told me that as well but we have to put our employee's health first and I just don't see a week as being enough for her," she explained, "The show must go on and it can't for the divas division if the champion is stuck at home on her bed."

"Trust me, all she needs is a week and she'll be up and running again," Punk assured in a firm tone.

"Don't do this to her," he pleaded in a softer voice, "She's worked her tail off to get this opportunity, don't treat her like Dolph and take her title away from her just like that."

"We let Dolph keep his title while he was gone and ratings plummeted as a result," she revealed, "We don't want to make the same mistake again."

"I'm just looking out for her, Phil," she pointed out to him in a motherly tone, "I don't want her to do something which could shorten her career."

"She'll get more opportunities with the title, we'll make it up to her," Stephanie promised.

Punk sighed and ran his hand through his scruffy hair, "Give her a week, please."

"Fine, I'll give her a week," Stephanie hesitantly agreed, knowing it must have really meant a lot to AJ for Punk to plead for her case, "But if she's still in bad shape after that, I'll have to take the title off of her."

"Fine," Punk accepted gratefully, "Is Vince even cool with your idea of taking the title away from her?"

"It was actually Paul's idea and Vince approved it," she clarified, emphasising her husband's involvement. Triple H was getting more and more influence backstage and he was seen by most as the heir to Vince's throne as he began to run the show instead.

"Figures," he muttered.

"We all regard April as a huge asset for the divas," she disclosed, "She's the only female to move merchandise and we would be just as sad to see her lose TV time 'cause it means lesser people will be tuning in to the divas' segment."

"We want her to be with us for as long as possible and if it means she has to lose the title to get better, then so be it," she added, trying to get Punk to understand their point of view.

"Well she won't be doing that anytime soon," Punk assured as he started to walk away, "And don't bother contacting her because the next time you see her, she'll be back at work as usual, doing what she loves."

---

Kaitlyn could have sworn Punk left AJ to her on purpose so that he did not have to clean up for AJ. Groaning with a hint of regret, she returned to the bedroom and was met with the sight of AJ resting in the center of the bed, her spectacles squeezed into one of the pocket holders stuck on the wall beside the bed.

"He never mentioned anything about puking," Kaitlyn grumbled as she sat over the edge of the bed as AJ's eyes shot open.

"So if he did, you wouldn't have come?"

"Maybe, this is a new shirt," she said, looking down at her black 'GEEK' shirt. When she looked back up at AJ, her face was met with a flying pillow.

Shaking her head off the relatively soft impact the pillow made on her cranium, Kaitlyn chuckled, "I didn't know one of the symptoms is irritability."

"I just hate today, it's just sucked," AJ complained, referring to the fact that new symptoms appeared while the old ones were just about to subside.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Phil was basically a nurse yesterday night and he stayed up for the most part. He even had to clean me," she revealed, causing Kaitlyn to raise her eyebrows at the last part.

"Clean you as in…" she gestured with her hand for AJ to elaborate further.

"He washed me while he was in the shower with me."

"No way!"

"Yeah," she giggled shyly, "I asked him to since I could barely stand straight on my own."

"Wow, that must've been an experience. Did you two…?"

"No way, my head was in too much pain to do that but it was soothing to have him there, just the two of us," she expressed with a small smile on her face, recalling the wonderful time she had in the shower room with Punk last night.

"He didn't like give you a rub down there?"

"Nope, he was particularly fast actually for that area," she giggled again as she continued to tell Kaitlyn of all the details of her night, not being able to just keep it to herself, "He did take his time around my ass though."

"He was totally feeling you up," Kaitlyn said, playfully slapping her leg, "So he didn't like get off while in there?"

"No, at least I don't think so but I won't blame him if he did a little," she revealed unsurely, "Even I had to admit I was getting a little hot and wet and it wasn't because of the hot water."

"You're so dirty," Kaitlyn chuckled.

"No, I was clean yesterday," she winked at her as they shared a laugh, "He couldn't tone down his little… I mean big friend though."

"I can imagine. It must've been killing him that he couldn't do any more than to touch you."

"Yeah, I would've probably just jumped him if the roles were reversed," AJ honestly said, "Luckily there was a bathtub in the hotel we checked in this morning so I didn't have to ask him to do that again."

"You mean you don't want him to do that again?" Kaitlyn teased as a light shade of pink formed on AJ's cheeks.

"Well… Maybe when I'm back to full health," she said slowly while drawing circles with her finger on the bed sheets.

"You never told me you were living in a mansion on the road by the way," Kaitlyn said, looking around the room and noticing a big flat-screen TV which was hung on the wall in front of the bed.

"It's not that big," AJ dismissed.

"Yeah, it is," she said before taking a peek out of the room to see the other various luxurious amenities inside the bus, "It's bigger than the apartment I had before moving in with PJ. You're a lucky girl."

"Thanks, but I don't really count myself as lucky for being able to stay in this bus. I feel lucky I get to be around my loving boyfriend more," AJ stated as Kaitlyn snorted in reply.

"That was so cheesy, he's so rubbing off on you," Kaitlyn chuckled.

"Maybe he is," she giggled.

"But c'mon, even you gotta admit this place is awesome. You get to play video games with him, watch movies and TV with him, sleep and even shower with him," Kaitlyn ticked off each of the things she could do with Punk with her fingers, winking at AJ for her last point, "You're living the life girl."

"I guess I am."

Kaitlyn then began to bounce herself on the bed, causing AJ to groan in discomfort, "Bouncy bed too, must be great for sex."

"Shtop shaking the bed," AJ requested as she massaged her forehead with her hand.

"Sorry," Kaitlyn immediately stopped moving but noticed something peculiar, "Wait, did you just say 'shtop'?"

"I have a little difficulty pronouncing words sometimes 'cause of this shupid concussion," AJ made it known to Kaitlyn who let out a giggle after she finished.

"You're just like Phil," AJ accused, turning her back towards Kaitlyn as she shut her eyes to get some sleep.

"C'mon, don't be like that," she said, patting AJ on the ankle, "It was kinda funny."

"Shhh, sleeping," AJ said, trying to hush the Hybrid Diva.

"Fine, just don't forget to invite me onto this bus sometime when you're back to one hundred percent health," Kaitlyn reminded her as she rested her body down on her back, perilously close to the edge and whipping out her hand phone to occupy some of the time she had now.

"Shhh."

---

8 October 2013

Punk and AJ arrived in Tampa in the early afternoon. After a long sleep on the bus and an even longer one at the hotel, AJ was feeling much, much better. Most of her symptoms were gone with only the occasional headache and dizziness affecting her. Even Punk was surprised at the rate she was recovering at. Just yesterday in the late afternoon, she was told she was in the risk of having to take a month off and today, she seemed as though she was just a day or two away from being able to get into the ring again.

"And this is my house," AJ introduced after opening the door to her apartment. Just a couple of seconds had passed when two Chihuahuas scurried towards her, barking and catching Punk by surprise.

"Nacho! Pamela!" she crouched down to pet her dogs who were extremely pleased to see her. However, the moment Punk moved closer into the house and thereby closer to AJ, both of the dogs started barking loudly at Punk, trying to scare and shoo him away from their owner as they assumed he was a threat.

"Whoa, you didn't tell me they were guard dogs," he said, a little frightened by the not so warm welcome he was receiving.

"They're just a little unfriendly to strangers," AJ clapped her hands, gaining the attention of Nacho and Pamela before introducing them to Punk, "Guys, this is Phil. Don't worry, he's a friend."

"Put your hand out," AJ instructed, looking up to Punk.

He gulped in nervousness. He loved dogs when they were friendly, not when they were trying to kill him, "Are you sure they don't bite?"

"They won't, unless you aggravate them or their owner," AJ told him with a smirk. Punk hesitantly crouched down to AJ's level and held out one of his inked hands. Both Pamela and Nacho examined his hand before looking over to AJ.

"It's cool guys, he's good," she told them as Nacho was the first one to move close to his hand, licking his fingertips. Pamela followed suit and Punk was enjoying their interaction.

"They're cute," he commented as he scratched Nacho's back, "But you always talk about Nacho. You never mentioned the other one."

"Nacho's my favourite while Pamela's my sister's favourite by default," she revealed, scratching Pamela's neck.

"So how do you tell them apart?" he still did not know whether he was tending to Nacho or Pamela.

"Nacho has brown fur," she pointed to the fur on the dog Punk was petting, "And in case you're still confused… Sit up."

With a clap of her hands, both the dogs sat up, exposing their private parts to Punk who quickly caught on to what she meant and chuckled at the sight, "Oh, I see it now."

Punk and AJ pulled their luggage into the living room as he examined the place she called home. It was much smaller compared to his own house but it was homely. It was modest yet comfortable and he did not expect much else from a person like AJ who did not care for materialistic and fanciful things.

"Nice place you have here."

"Thanks, it's not the biggest but it's enough for two sisters and their dogs," she giggled as she watched Punk move towards the window to see the scenery from her living room.

"I like it, it's cosy and warm," he praised, looking out of the window.

"It's Tampa, it's always warm," she volleyed back as Punk let out a chuckle and turned around to face her.

"Ok smartass, where's your dear sister then?"

"I don't know, she should be home since the dogs are here," she clapped her hands once more, getting the attention of the two dogs who were sniffing Punk's luggage, "Nacho, where's Erica?"

Nacho barked and quickly scampered towards Erica's bedroom with Pamela following closely behind. Both the dogs barked at the door before AJ opened it slightly, far enough to allow the dogs to enter. What she saw was her sister snoring away with her back to her. As a small smile crept up on her face seeing her sister sleep so peacefully, she carefully closed the door, making sure not to even make the 'click' sound when the door closed.

"She's sleeping," AJ informed Punk after heading back to the living room.

"Ah, then don't disturb her."

"Anyways, I gotta change first," AJ said, turning around to go to her room.

"Sure, do you need any help?"

"No, I'm fine, Phil. I can do this on my own," she let out a tiny laugh before entering her room.

"Ok, I'll just be looking around here then," Punk walked around the room, noticing the various colours of her pillows on her black couch. He made his way to the kitchen counter where a peculiar round object tickled his fancy.

"I knew she was going to take good care of the ball. She even bought a baseball case for it," Punk thought, surprised she had a case for it and placed it at a prominent place on its own with nothing else near it. He returned back to the room-wide window, admiring the view.

"Wow, it's hot," Punk noted before taking off his shirt and whipping it over his shoulder, not yet acclimatising to the heat which was rare to say the least in Chicago.

"Cool, I can see the sea from here," he pointed out to himself, "Pretty nice view."

"Well I'll say," a familiar voice alerted Punk. Turning around, he was greeted with the sight of AJ eyeing him up and down while biting her lip, clothed in a predominantly red and black boxer shorts with a grey, Pikachu tank top as she sat with her feet stretched out across the couch.

"Whoa," he merely voiced as it was his turn now to eye her body up and down, "So this is what AJ Lee looks like at home."

"Uhuh, you like it?" AJ teased as he moved onto the couch with her, pressing her down onto it with his body lying on top of hers and his shirt falling down to her side.

"No," he answered as a frown formed on her face, "I love it."

Her frown quickly changed into a huge grin before he moved his head down for a kiss. When they parted, he caressed her face, wondering, "Is it still throbbing?"

"No, not anymore, just a little dizziness every now and then," she conceded, "That soup you made for me yesterday really helped and a long sleep at the hotel did wonders for me last night as well, except for the whole barfing into the toilet part."

On their way to the hotel yesterday, AJ felt nauseous and quickly made a beeline for his toilet. It was the first time she had ever vomited into the toilet bowl but thankfully for her, Punk was there all the way through comforting and making her feel better, "You know, I never thought I'd ever hold up your hair for you to vomit. I always thought I'd do it for some other reason."

"What do you mean? What reason?"

"You know, sometimes when a woman pleasures a man, her hair kinda gets in the way," he said with a smirk.

"You dirty ass," she slapped him on his chest, the sound amplified by the fact that he had no shirt on.

"Anyways, I'm glad we decided to stay in the hotel for the day," he tucked a couple of strands of hair behind her ear, "You seem to be recovering quite well. You very well might be out for only a week."

"Yup, all thanks to Nurse Punk and I'm also glad you're here with me now," she smirked at him before pulling him down for into a heated kiss, one which quickly had the number of their tongues being called as they explored each other's mouths and swallowed each other's moans of pleasure. Punk slowly moved away from her lips, kissing his way down from her face to her neck and eventually to her shoulder. He pulled one of the shoulder straps of her tank top past her shoulder, revealing the red strap of her bra. He kissed the skin around the strap before biting on it, taking a little flesh along the way.

"Phil..." AJ moaned as her eyes remained closed, enjoying what he was doing. With the strap gritted in between his teeth, he pulled it past her shoulder as AJ giggled at him using his teeth for once to undress her. Punk moved over to the other side, placing wet kisses on her shoulder.

"Oh!" AJ exclaimed when Punk wasted no time and pulled down both the shoulder strap of her top and bra swiftly past her shoulder in one fell swoop.

"Don't ruin this shirt..." AJ softly moaned as he kissed her bare shoulder.

Punk smiled against her skin as he kissed his way down her body, "I'll.. Try..."

Once he reached the top of her bra, he pulled the straps completely off of AJ with her helping him along the way. Once her arms were free of any fabric, Punk tugged her top further down to her belly, just enough for her bra to be fully exposed.

"Red, my favourite," Punk noted as AJ giggled and brought him down for a relatively quick kiss. He then flipped both the cups of her bra down, exposing her perky breasts as AJ hitched her breath and closed her eyes, knowing what was about to happen next. Punk licked his lips before taking in one of her nipples in his mouth, running his tongue around the tip shortly thereafter.

"Mmm..." AJ moaned as her hands clutched onto his hair while her legs circled around his waist, "Make it hard, Phil..."

Punk smiled against her skin before licking and eventually flicking the ever hardening nub, enjoying the moans and groans AJ was making. As he began nibbling on her erect nub softly with his lips, the barking in Erica's room had picked up unbeknownst to them, so much so that Erica was pulled out of her slumber.

"Oh..." AJ breathed out as he started to play with her other nipple in between his fingers while still continuing to nibble on her sensitive nub.

"Ugh, what is it Nacho-" Erica muttered, though not loud enough for AJ and Punk to hear as she exited her room with Nacho closely behind her but she immediately stopped short of what she was about to say when she was faced with the sight in front of her. She rubbed her eyes a couple more times to make sure they were not fooling her as the pair on the couch continued their intimate session.

"Yes Phil… Right there…" she moaned loudly, pushing his head further down onto her nipple.

"Oh my god!" Erica yelped with half of a smile.

"Ah! Erica!" AJ squealed as her eyes shot open in complete surprise, covering her bare chest with her hands as Punk quickly got off of her. Both of them sat up on the couch as Erica placed her hands on her hips with Nacho barking along beside her as if he was scolding them.

"I-I thought you were asleep," AJ stuttered in a panic, her cheeks the reddest it had ever been after being caught red-handed in the middle of making love with her boyfriend by her very own sister.

"I was asleep until Nacho woke me up and I'm glad he did," Erica clarified, looking down at the blonde Chihuahua before shooting a sly smile at Punk and AJ, "You two were gonna do it on the couch, weren't you?"

Punk rubbed the back of his head nervously, knowing Erica had caught onto their intentions before whispering to AJ through gritted teeth, "Told you those dogs can be guard dogs."

AJ completely ignored Punk's comment as she tried to deny Erica's assumption, "W-We weren't. We were just kissing, that's all."

"Plus, I have a concussion, remember?" AJ added. She should have known the fact that she could hear barking coming from inside Erica's room meant that she was most likely going to wake up but she was too busy with Punk to notice.

"You don't seem to have one now and I didn't see any kissing," she pointed out, her grin as big as ever as she folded her arms, "Also, how do you explain the fact that he's shirtless while your tetas are out in the open?"

"I…" AJ drawled, turning her head towards Punk for help, "We… We were…"

"Hi, we haven't formally met," Punk offered his hand along with a friendly smile after getting off the couch and moving to where Erica was, "I'm Phil."

"Oh, h-hi, I-I'm Erica," she sputtered, shaking his hand with a stupid smile spread across her face as her eyes wandered between his face and his colourful chest and arms.

"I know, April's told me a lot about you and can I just say, she was right. You are pretty," he mentioned with a wink after he released their hands.

Erica giggled in response, flattered by his compliment, "Thanks."

AJ rolled her eyes as she flipped her bra cups back over onto her bosom and put her arms through the bra straps one at a time. She witnessed Erica continue her conversation, or rather to her, her flirting with Punk, "I'm sorry, I'm an absolute mess. This isn't what I look like in front of guests."

"It's not that bad, it's better than most people," Punk complimented as AJ stuck out her tongue, wanting to vomit for the second time in consecutive days, "Anyways, I'm sorry as well for what me and April were doing. We kinda got carried away a bit just now."

"You weren't saying sorry a minute ago," AJ murmured quietly to herself while pulling the straps of her tank top over her shoulders, adjusting her shirt so that it covered up her bra like it was supposed to.

"You didn't tell me he was well-mannered, April," Erica hollered to AJ, looking around Punk's bare body.

"And potty trained as well so that bodes well for your place," Punk added as Erica chuckled along.

"Well then, welcome to my home," Erica announced before AJ quickly corrected her, a feeling of annoyance distinct in her tone.

"Our home."

"Whatever, just some basic house rules to tell you," she started, shrugging off AJ's claim on their house, "Lift up the toilet seat when you pee, make sure the door is closed at all times so the dogs don't run away and err, you're allowed to be shirtless around the house."

"Erica," AJ stood up, irritated by her last 'rule'.

"Oh yeah, only have sex in April's room and don't make too much noise while you two are going at it," Erica added.

"Erica!" AJ wailed as Erica still did not get the clue to stop with her on-the-spot rule-making.

"Yes ma'am," Punk happily saluted her, a stance which reminded her of her dear brother, Robert, who was serving his country at the moment.

"I like him April, he's much more well-trained than your past boyfriends or even the dogs," Erica smirked at AJ whose emotions ranged from anger to embarrassment to utter annoyance, "Anyways, I'll be going back to sleep. I have to work the night shift tonight."

"You're not even going to give your sister a hug or a 'welcome home' or even a 'how are you doing with the concussion'?" AJ asked with her sassiness on full effect.

"Fine," Erica muttered before turning around and walking over to her sister, giving her a less than welcome hug when she eventually reached her.

"Welcome home," Erica mumbled after pulling away, a small smile accompanying her rather demure hospitality.

"I'm just as happy to see you, sis," AJ remarked sarcastically, shooting her a fake smile.

Erica proceeded to shake AJ's head as a way to test for her concussion, resulting in a small whine evoking from AJ, "Mm."

"You're fine," she brushed off how severe the condition of her head was, "As expected, he did a good job of nursing you back to health."

"Thanks for the love, sis," another fake smile etched onto AJ's face as Erica turned back to her room.

"Anytime, remember to use your room and protection if you're gonna continue from where you guys left off just now. Just don't make so much noise," Erica said nonchalantly before closing her bedroom door behind her, going back to sleep with Pamela already in a light slumber on her bed.

"Erica!" AJ yelled out uselessly.

"I like your sister," Punk declared with a smug smile, "She's cool and I'm already better than the dogs."

"Ugh, that's because you were practically offering up your body to her and by the way, you're not allowed to be shirtless around the house except in my room," AJ warned Punk.

"But why?" he queried as she walked past him towards her room, "It's hot here in Tampa."

"You know damn well why, Phil," she said in a warning tone with Punk and subsequently Nacho following behind her.

"So does that mean I'm going to be staying in your room?"

"Of course, unless you piss me off again like just now when you were 'chatting' with Erica then the guest room is all yours," she answered, ending it with a grin as she used air quotes for 'chatting'.

"Whoa," Punk simply uttered after entering her room.

"I know, I know, there's too much toys and comics for a grown woman," she noted as she sat on the front edge of her bed where Nacho joined her soon after.

"Wasn't gonna say that at all, it's actually a nice room," he admitted, examining his surroundings which consisted of various posters of wrestlers past and present, including herself, numerous figurines of comic book and cartoon characters and even one of herself and a cabinet with a transparent, glass window on the door which enabled it to showcase the hundreds of comic books she kept in her possession.

"I like the personal touch to it," he chuckled softly, picking up an old school 'AJ Lee' action figure off one of the shelves and showing it off to her.

"Heh, I'm a mark for myself," AJ said with a shrug of her shoulders as she stroked Nacho's back.

"Clearly," he snickered, putting the figurine back to its original position among the other 'AJ Lee' action figures.

"I just keep them to show my future children what mommy did when she was young," AJ explained as Punk walked over to the cabinet full of her comics.

"I understand, I'm not judging," Punk said as he checked out her collection of comics which varied from X-men to Spiderman to Batman and more.

"Sounds like you are," AJ said as Punk turned around to face her.

"That's just how my voice sounds like," he said with a smirk before looking back at the comics on display, "Nice collection."

"Thanks, but it's not as big as yours though," she conceded, referring to the fact that Punk's assortment of comic books was so large that he needed an entire room to store them.

"Still, it's pretty impressive," he replied with an approving nod and a 'not bad' face. When he looked beside the cabinet, there were shelves with stuffed toys on display with one row in particular catching his eye, "Pokémon?"

"What? They're cute, especially Pikachu," she shot up from her bed and picked up a toy Pikachu from the shelf and cuddled it close to her chest while giving Punk a pout.

"You're cuter though," he told AJ as she chuckled sheepishly before he leaned down for a soft kiss with her. Nacho began to bark at them, or rather Punk to be more exact, forcing him to break the kiss.

"I think your boyfriend's jealous," he chuckled, looking at Nacho who was on all fours on the bed, staring at him.

"He'll eventually get used to it," she shrugged, patting Nacho on the head comfortingly before introducing Punk to her other stuffed toys on the shelf which included a unicorn-looking horse toy that was partly owned by Kaitlyn, a toy koala named Benny as well as another toy named Felipe. Punk found it funny how she had such cute names for her toys. Then again, this was the same woman who named her dog after a type of cheese so it did not surprise him that she had named her toys.

"So where's all your video games?" he asked as AJ put the Pikachu back on the shelf in between a Squirtle and a Charmander, "I don't see them around."

"They're in the entertainment room as I'd call it," she revealed.

"Ah, so no entertainment happens in here?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Maybe, if you're lucky," AJ smirked at him as she patted his cheek with her hand before turning around to leave the room with Nacho automatically jumping off the bed and following her, "Follow me, I'll show you the rest of the house."

---

9 October 2013

AJ and Punk had been spending their time at home since he felt AJ needed all the rest she could get while her symptoms were still in effect. Her concussion was getting better though and she could now read her comics in peace and even watch TV without feeling any migraine. On this relatively warm Wednesday night, they decided to watch a movie together in the entertainment room with AJ picking the movie of her choice, The Amazing Spiderman.

"I still think he's too good looking to be Spiderman," Punk remarked as him and AJ were cuddled up against each other on the couch in front of the TV.

"Are you crazy? He's perfect to be Spiderman!"

"C'mon April, don't let your urge to masturbate to him cloud your comic book loving mind," he appealed to her, trying to change her opinion on Andrew Garfield acting as Spiderman.

"I don't do that!" she denied vehemently, slapping him on the chest.

"I know you April, behind that innocent face is a dirty girl," he smirked at her.

"Whatever, I bet you jack off to Emma Stone," she alleged in an attempt to turn the tables on him.

"I actually have in the past… Ahhhh good times…" Punk admitted while closing his eyes and recalling his sessions with himself.

"And when you say in the past, you mean like yesterday night right?" AJ teased, causing Punk's eyes to shoot open.

"No, I was with you the entire night yesterday," he denied.

"You were, except for when I fell 'asleep'," she corrected him while using air quotes.

"What are you talking about?"

"You left my room and went to the guest bathroom outside after you thought I had fallen asleep," AJ revealed as Punk's eyes widened, "Now why would you do that when there's a perfectly usable one in my room, hmmm?"

"Err, I went to the one outside so that I didn't pollute your room with the smell of shit," he informed her nervously.

"So you grunt when you shit?"

"People do that," he argued.

"Do they go uhh awhhhh?" she mocked, mimicking the sounds he was making last night in the lavatory.

"How long were you standing outside the door?" he asked as his voice went high.

"I think I left after your second orgasm," she notified him with a chuckle.

"Fuck," Punk facepalmed himself, "I thought I was being quiet."

"The door is a little thin," she informed him with a giggle.

"I'm sorry, it's just one of those times when the comics and the TV just isn't doing it for me," he confessed as AJ bobbed her head.

"I understand, in fact..." AJ began straddling his hips, "I think I'm having one of those times right now."

AJ proceeded to get a hold of the remote control behind her on the chest-like table and subsequently turned the TV off. She then placed a burning kiss on his lips and as their lips moved slowly against one another, she quickly lowered her hand down the front of his body until she reached the top of his shorts. She slipped her hand underneath his shorts and underwear before getting a hold of the base of his member.

"April, no, we can't do this," Punk said as he broke the kiss and pulled her hand out from his shorts.

"Why not?" she whimpered, breathing a little heavily after the kiss they had just shared.

"Well, your sister said no sex in the house except for your room and last time I checked, this isn't your room," he reminded her, "Plus, you have a concussion!"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," she simply dismissed, "And my concussion's getting better, it's almost gone."

"That's good and all but I don't care if you can jump up and down and not feel dizzy. Until you get the all clear from the doc, no physical or psychologically strenuous activity whatsoever," she was really beginning to despise those all too familiar words.

"That didn't stop you from practically tearing off my top and fondling with my boobs just five minutes after entering my house," AJ volleyed back, "What changed?"

Punk let out a sigh before divulging to her, "I got a call from the doc yesterday and he said that at any time, your concussion could reappear if you strain yourself too much so you need to make sure you have an extended period without any symptoms before you can take the Impact Test. I've had concussions before and it slipped my mind that they can come back just like that at any given moment. You want to be back as soon as possible, right?"

What he did not tell AJ was the fact that he had promised Stephanie that AJ would be able to work again in a week and if she was deemed unfit, her title would be stripped off of her. He did not think that such an information would have helped AJ's recovery. Like Stephanie said, it probably would have been detrimental to AJ knowing that she had a deadline to meet and that would have added unnecessary stress which was not healthy to her.

"I do… But I miss you," she admitted with a sigh, looking at him with her puppy dog eyes while running her hands up and down his chest.

"One week. One week and you'll be able to rock my world as much as you like," Punk told AJ who giggled quietly to herself after hearing his words. After giving out another small sigh, she reluctantly nodded, agreeing to his terms.

"Are you sure you don't even want to touch me? I don't think it's that demanding," she whispered enticingly with a devious smile as she grabbed his hand and directed it into her boxer shorts. She then took control of a couple of his fingers and rubbed them up and down her opening, biting her lip in response at his touch.

"N-Nope," Punk stuttered with a big gulp following it as he pulled his hand out quickly from inside her shorts, "It'll for sure lead to something more and I promised myself you'd get well as soon as possible and I'm not breaking that."

"Fine, I'll touch myself then," AJ dared, hoping he would not see through her lie.

"That's okay with me," he smiled before kissing her forehead and settling her back down on the couch beside him. He then stood up and headed for the door, "Have fun, sweetheart."

"Oh, and if I were you, I'd lock the door," he winked at her just before he was about to close the door on the entertainment room.

With a 'click' sound following the door closing, AJ collapsed down onto the couch and stuffed a pillow over her face before screaming into it in frustration, "Ahhhh!"

---

10 October 2013

Punk was the first one to wake up the next day. 5am to be exact. The previous day, he received an invitation by none other than the face of the company, John Cena, to visit his gym, Hard Nocks South, while he was in town. When Punk first opened his eyes for the day, he was met with the sight of AJ's face. A couple of strands of her hair fell to the side of her head, partly covering her face while her hands which were clutching the bed sheets concealed her face. She was such a pretty and cute sight to Punk as she continued to enjoy her slumber with her body curled up against him. Not wanting to wake her, knowing she was not exactly a morning person, he gingerly uncovered himself of the sheets and got out of bed. After a quick shower in the bathroom in AJ's room, he readied himself with his workout clothes, a plain black compression shirt with his usual matching black shorts on. After putting on a Gracie hoodie and his Cubs hat, he went over to AJ and gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head before he headed off to the gym. Just as he reached for the handle of her door, a voice emanated from the bed.

"Where are you going?" AJ asked as she rubbed her eyes off of her sleep.

Punk turned around and offered her a smile before answering, "The gym."

"Which gym?"

"Cena's," he gave another answer as he walked over back to AJ on the bed.

"Cena?" a confused look etched onto her face as Punk sat at the front of the bed, "Since when were you buddy buddies with John?"

"We're not, but we're professional co-workers who have a borderline friendship," he disclosed.

"A borderline friendship?" she echoed with a chuckle.

"It's a thing," he argued lightly.

"Anyways, I've been there before. It's a great place to work out. Gimme thirty minutes and I'll be ready," she said before quickly kicking off the covers and sitting up on the bed.

"No, stay in bed," Punk instructed while holding her down by her shoulders, making sure she was not able to get off the bed, "You need all the rest you can get."

"But I've already rested for two days now," AJ whined.

"And a third won't hurt."

"But we've never worked out together before."

"Really? What about all the times I stretched you out?" he reminded her with a giant sly smile on his face.

"Not the same," AJ noted as she squinted her eyes at him, "Can't I just follow you there and admire you working out then?"

"I'd love that but that also means other guys will be admiring you looking pretty and I don't want to go to jail for assault," he said.

"Me neither, I'll probably bail out the wrong guy since you blend in so well with the other cell mates," AJ joked.

"Haha, you never told me you were a comedian," Punk snickered sarcastically.

"I have many talents that you still don't know about," she playfully tapped his nose with her index finger, "So how are you getting there?"

"A cab, or I'll just aimlessly walk around until I find it," Punk answered with a shrug of his shoulders proceeding his words.

"Let me drive you there," AJ offered.

"You're recovering from a concussion and you want me to get in the car with you at the wheel?" he asked, emphasising how crazy her offer sounded.

"Ok, in hindsight, that may not have been my best idea," she admitted with a tiny laugh.

"Clearly."

"Then take my car," AJ offered again, "It may not be as fancy and luxurious as yours but it'll still do the job."

"I don't know how to get there, remember? Do you want your car lost as well?" he questioned with a chuckle, "Guess you're still concussed."

"I'm not, ok!" she denied strongly. She hated being treated like a weakling even though she knew Punk had her best interests at heart, "It's 5.30 in the morning Phil. My brain isn't functioning properly at this hour."

"I can tell. Now go back to sleep," he instructed as he got off the bed, "I'll be back by 10."

"Wait, can you do one thing for me?" she asked as he stood in front of the bed, his shin resting against the side of the mattress.

"What is it?"

"Get milk from the grocery store nearby since there's no more in the fridge and gimme a goodbye kiss," AJ told him.

"That's two things," Punk snickered.

"The kiss doesn't count. It was a reminder. It should always be done," she said firmly.

"You worry too much, I'll never forget about it," Punk smiled down at her before leaning down for a kiss with AJ as his hands which were resting on either side of her body propped his body up off the bed. Punk wanted it to be a short kiss so he pulled away after a few seconds but AJ immediately pulled him back for another kiss, one which definitely would last longer.

"Let's… Go… For… A little... Pre-workout..." AJ told him in between short, quick kisses as she moved to the corners of his lips and tossed his cap aside on the bed. Before Punk could even respond, she pulled him down onto the bed with her, his body lying on top of hers as they continued their lip lock session. He seemed to oblige to her demand when he slipped both his hands under her shirt through the armpit holes of her white tank top and proceeded to massage her breasts with them. AJ turned her head away from his and broke the kiss once she felt him feeling her up, giving him access to her neck which she wanted him to kiss and maybe even leave a mark or two.

"Can I just say...? I love you... Wearing a tank top... With no bra on..." Punk said in between wet kisses to her neck, loving the fact that he was able to pleasure her so quickly without the hindrance of her bra.

"You and me both," she agreed with him as she wedged her hands in his hair, "It doesn't feel..."

"Oh!" she exclaimed when Punk started to play with her nipples in between his fingers, "Constricting when I sleep."

"Then you should... Wear this... On the bus..."

"I would but it's too cold in the bus," she informed him as her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of her neck being kissed down and her breasts being kneaded and played with.

"I'll lower… The AC next time..."

"Ok, I'll bring them with me next time but for now..." AJ opened her eyes and began pulling the zipper of his jacket down as her lips began meshing with his once again, mumbling against them, "Let's... Finish... What we... Started... A couple of days ago..."

It was as if that was the cue and Punk responded by squeezing her sensitive nipples hard, causing AJ to push him off and break the kiss, shrieking due to the sudden pain, "Ah! Phil!"

"We'll finish it when you're well again," he pecked her lips before reaching over for his cap and putting it back on again. Giving her a wink, he then proceeded to getting off of her and heading off to the door, "Now go back to sleep."

"You're no fun anymore," AJ pouted as she folded her arms like a kid who was denied her favourite toy.

"Trust me, you won't be saying that when I'm through with you next week," he assured her with a wink before closing the door and subsequently heading out of the house for the gym. AJ flopped back down onto the bed and groaned loudly at the emptiness surrounding her as she burned a hole in the ceiling with her eyes. Not long after, the door to her room moved again, this time with a head popping out of it.

"Hey."

"What do you want?" AJ asked in an irritated tone, still looking up at the ceiling.

"Jeez, didn't know you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Erica said as she opened up the door fully and walked towards her bed.

"It's barely morning and why are you up so early?" she questioned, still giving Erica the sense that she did not want to be disturbed but at least now she was looking at her instead of the ceiling.

"Slept early, woke up early," Erica said simply, "Heard the front door open, where'd your boyfriend go?"

"The gym and he didn't let me come," AJ knitted her eyebrows together in frustration.

"So that's why you're in a mood. You're still recovering from your concussion. He's right to not let you tag along," Erica tried to reason with AJ.

"Ugh," she groaned, "I hate this concussion. I can't get out of my own freaking house."

"But you usually don't get out of the house," Erica reminded her with a chuckle.

"That's when Phil wasn't here but now that he is, I can't do anything with him apart from watching TV and sleeping in the same bed as him," AJ complained, "I'm always being reminded to rest."

"He's just looking out for you, honey," Erica stroked AJ's hair, trying to soothe her, "He cares about you."

"I know he does and I love him for that but it's like I can't fully enjoy my time with him. He's put his dick on lockdown for the week ever since the doc called him up on Tuesday to make sure I don't do anything too 'strenuous' so thanks for clam jamming me that afternoon. You're a great help," she sarcastically thanked her while using air quotes on the often said word which was becoming so annoying to her.

"You guys didn't continue in here that day?"

"Of course not!" AJ replied, anger evident in her voice, "You ruined the moment for us and the flirting after that was just icing on the cake."

"I'm sorry," she apologised, "I didn't know it was your one shot at getting some."

"And the flirting?"

"I'd apologise but what else was I supposed to say when he's just standing there in front of me and exposing his hot body?"

"Errr, how about 'put your shirt back on, buddy'?" she suggested sassily.

"Now why would I say that?" she rhetorically asked with a smirk, "That sounds like a terrible idea."

"I swear one of these nights you're gonna take a pillow and cover it over my face while I'm sleeping so that you can kill me quietly and have him all for yourself," AJ predicted as Erica laughed in response.

"I could, you know," Erica softly patted the top of AJ's head, "You better watch out, April."

"I'll die fighting for him. You won't make it out without a scratch," AJ swore with a sinister smile.

"So when is he coming back?"

"Around 10, why?"

"Let's make him breakfast before he comes back," Erica suggested, "Guys love girls who make them breakfast, or any food for that matter."

"Good idea, wake me up in three hours and I'll help you," AJ instructed her before pulling up the covers over most of her body.

"God, you're so lazy," she remarked, "You've had tons of sleep and rest already and you still need more."

"I don't need more, I want more," AJ corrected her sister before looking over to the clock on her phone on the bedside table, "It's 5.35am Erica, let me sleep."

"Fine, one more question."

"What is it now?"

"Does he always suck and play with your boobs before you guys do it?" Erica asked, biting her bottom lip to stifle her laughter.

"I'm not discussing my sex life with you. Never again," she said firmly.

"So it turns you on?" Erica queried as AJ let out a loud groan before turning her back to Erica and covering her exposed ear with the pillow Punk slept on.

"Ignore me all you want, it definitely turned you on," Erica noted, talking loudly so AJ could hear her every word, "I know what I heard."

"Yes Phil… Right there…" Erica moaned, mocking and putting on her best impression of AJ before letting out a laugh.

"And do you always wrap your legs around him?"

"I guess that's a yes," she assumed as AJ remained silent, though she did not know how long more she could just lie there and tolerate her teasing.

"So was it going to be one of those urgent sex where your clothes are still on while you're doing it since your shirt and bra was still kinda on you while he was devouring your breasts?" that was the one that tipped her over as AJ swiftly rolled over and threw the pillow hard at Erica's face.

"Get out!" AJ shouted over Erica's laugh as Erica got off the bed.

"I knew it! You were so gonna do that!"

"Just go away!" she shouted once more, daring to use the other pillow on Erica before she eventually left the room in a fit of giggles. AJ collapsed back down onto the bed, sighing loudly. She really needed to make sure her sister was not at home when Punk would come by.

---

In the meantime, Punk arrived at John's gym after taking a cab ride there. He had to admit, the place was a little run down for someone who earns the most money out of the entire roster. He was just as surprised when he entered the establishment, noticing it being a little small but quite homely for a gym. He liked that he felt at ease just after entering it. There were no treadmills but there were tons of dumbbells and weights and the place was not the prettiest with there being no paint on the walls, just the natural patterns of the wooden interior.

"You made it!" John called out as he dropped his weights on the gym mat.

"I couldn't possibly miss using your gym. It's pretty impressive," he said with an approving nod, examining the place further.

"Thanks. How's April doing?"

"She's feeling better. Her concussion's almost gone and she can walk around fine on her own," Punk informed him.

"That's great to hear, I heard she was in pretty bad shape on Monday," John said.

"She was, but overnight, her condition really improved," Punk told him.

John snorted in reply, "I'm not surprised. The girl's a fighter."

"Definitely. So how's the arm?" Punk asked, pointing to his arm which was covered in a sleeve.

"It's back to full health and as you probably heard, I'll be coming back at Hell in a Cell," John informed him.

"Actually, I didn't know since I was too busy with April," Punk admitted with a smirk.

"Thanks for caring."

"You're a big boy, Cena. April deserves my sympathy more than you," he pointed out, "So who are you up against?"

"Alberto, for the World Title," immediately, Punk snickered.

"What?"

"You're gonna go over, right?"

"Yeah," John nodded, "Vince thinks it'll give the title more credibility."

"Figures, he didn't ask me to do that," Punk said, folding his arms in annoyance.

"You're stuck in a program with Paul but once you're done, I could go to creative and set up a match between us for the title," John offered but Punk quickly shook his head.

"Nah, I have my eyes on the WWE Title," Punk informed him, "Though its looks still aren't any better since its last facelift."

"You still think it looks too kiddish, don't you?"

"Yup, all thanks to you John for bringing in that monstrosity of a title that could spin," his sarcasm was there for John to see as he referred to the now obsolete spinner WWE Championship belt.

"It looked cool," John argued lightly.

"It looked like it belonged in a Toys 'R' Us and I had to lug it around for more than a year," he pointed out to John, annoyed, "Thanks for making it so heavy by the way."

"My pleasure," he said with a smile on his face.

"So where's Nikki? I thought you two love to work out with each other?" Punk queried.

"She's at home, sleeping," John revealed, "She's not really an early riser."

"Same as April," they shared a small laugh before Punk continued, "Living together already, huh? Any wedding plans?"

"You're asking me that question? You?" John pointed at Punk, "Mr. I don't think marriage is for me."

"Just answer the question, John boy."

"Nah, I don't want to face another possibility of a divorce. Going through one is bad enough but two? That'll be a nightmare for me," John revealed as Punk nodded along.

"I understand, marriage isn't for everyone and the consequences of a divorce is crazy bad," Punk admitted, "I used to think it wasn't for me as well but April's really making me consider it."

"Am I hearing right? CM Punk being tied down by one girl? Could the apocalypse prediction be a year off?"

"Very funny, Cena. Since you're not getting married, I won't have to force April to go then," Punk said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, Nicole and April don't really see eye to eye," he replied with a nervous laugh and a scratch of the back of his head.

"Yeah, about that, could you tell her to tone down the hate a little?" he asked politely which was a surprise to John, "She was making fun of April's family when she was dealing with her concussion."

"She didn't tell me she did that," John said, a little angry Nikki did not mention this to him, "I'm going to have a word with her but I can't promise you they'll get along. When girls hate each other, it's very hard to change their minds."

"I know, I just don't want to break up a fight between them... Partly because I'd probably just enjoy it too much and just watch until one of them kills the other," Punk admitted with a chuckle. He just loved seeing women fight.

"In that case, you better get in between them 'cause I don't want to see April in the obituaries," John joked.

"I don't know about that, I wouldn't bet against April," he warned, "She's stronger than she looks."

"C'mon, enough talking, let's see if you can actually lift more than your girlfriend," John challenged Punk.

"You're just full of jokes today, aren't ya?"

"It's a part of my gimmick," he shrugged.

"You mean your awful, bland gimmick?" Punk retorted with a smile.

"Yup, the one that's still making the WWE the most money," he proudly claimed as Punk gave him a casual roll of the eyes.

"Way to shut me up, John boy," he said as they walked over to the bench press station which Big E was currently sitting on.

"Punk! Surprised to see you here," Big E hopped off the bench and gave Punk a jiveshake before bringing him into a small hug.

"Hey E, I was invited," Punk replied as he pulled away.

"No, I mean it's surprising to see you in a gym," Big E chuckled but Punk was barely amused.

"I'm getting sick of these jokes," Punk moved onto the bench and laid down flat on his back on it and adjusted his body so that his neck was below the bar, "Just spot me."

"Cranky, not a morning person, are ya?" Big E teased as he moved behind Punk's head.

"C'mon, that's too little," John mocked as he pointed with his open hand at the weights on the bar Punk was gripping, "AJ can do better than that."

"Any more jokes and this bar is flying at your chest, Cena, and just like your girlfriend, you'll be getting a boob job," he warned menacingly as John and Big E laughed before Punk proceeded to lift the weights.

---

"You so took advantage of him," Erica pointed out as AJ shook her head. AJ had been telling her sister about what Punk had been doing for her since she suffered this concussion while they were getting the food ready and setting up the food on the kitchen counter.

"I wasn't, honest," AJ argued, "I really wasn't in a position to shower by myself."

"Keep telling yourself that, April," Erica smirked but before AJ could respond, the bell of the Mendez residence went off.

"That must be Phil," AJ walked towards the door and when she looked through the peephole, she was met with the sight of Punk shirtless and sweaty with a grocery bag in his hands and his sling bag hanging over his shoulder. After she opened the door, she greeted him with a kiss on the lips with the kiss being a little more wet than usual thanks to the sweat surrounding his lips.

"Hi."

"Hi," she smiled up at him but her eyes quickly shifted down from his face to his glistening body as Nacho and Pamela raced up to Punk.

"Whoa, calm down guys," Punk laughed as the two dogs barked at him in happiness before snuggling their heads against his legs, catching Punk a little off guard by their response.

"Hey, it looks like they're starting to like you," she smiled, looking down at her two beloved pets who were quickly taking a liking to Punk.

"You think? Or do they really like milk?"

"It's definitely you," she giggled as they walked towards the counter full of food before taking the plastic bag with the carton of milk in it from his hand, "Thanks for buying the milk but uhhh, where's your shirt?"

"Oh, sorry," he apologised, rubbing the back of his head as he had completely forgotten about the rule she made for him, "I went for a little run around the neighbourhood after working out and it was really hot."

"Yeah it is," Erica muttered softly as she eyed Punk, causing AJ to stomp on her foot forcefully, "Owww!"

Punk chuckled at the sight of the two sisters squabbling and enjoyed it as much as the sight of Nacho chasing after Pamela into the entertainment room.

"Anyways, we made you breakfast," AJ said.

"Oh shit, thanks," Punk looked over the food and it all looked so good to him, especially the round flapjacks which were stacked on top of each other on a plate, "Mmm, pancakes, my favourite."

"Yeah, April told me you liked them so I made them for you," Erica revealed, still occasionally taking a glance at his body.

"You mean I made them for him?" AJ attempted to correct Erica, peeved that she tried to take all the credit for the pancakes which she personally cooked for him.

"Tomato tomato," she said with differing intonations.

"It looks delicious, I'll wash up for a bit and I'll join you girls," Punk said, eagerly wanting to dig in but knowing he needed to freshen up before eating with them.

"Ok, we'll wait for you," AJ promised as she sat on the seat beside Erica's and placed the bag containing the milk on the counter.

"You're an awesome girlfriend, you know that? I love you," Punk said before leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"Love you too," AJ giggled as he headed towards her room to take a quick shower.

"Love eh?" Erica teased, elbowing her sister on the arm as AJ blushed a light pink, "So who said it first?"

"Me of course," AJ proudly claimed.

"I'm proud of you, he really seems like a great guy but that body though..." Erica trailed off as she recalled what Punk looked like seconds ago.

"Can you stop gawking at him?" she asked, though it was more of a demand, "God, you were like a lion stalking its prey just now, just waiting to pounce on him."

"He was shirtless and sweaty, how could I not look?"

AJ sighed as even she had to admit she could not look away from Punk, "Just try to control yourself."

"As long as he's wearing a shirt, I'm in complete control but if not..."

"If not, you're going to get the taste slapped out of your mouth," AJ warned.

"Violence is never the answer, April," Erica reasoned teasingly.

"You-"

"Hey April!" Punk shouted from her bathroom, cutting off what she was about to say, "Could you get my bath towel from the towel rack? I forgot to take it with me in here just now."

Instantly, her eyes gravitated towards Erica whose head shot up like a deer which had just heard a gun shot go off, "No, don't you dare."

"She's busy! I'll get it for you!" Erica wailed as she raced towards the balcony to get Punk's towel.

"Erica!" AJ raced after her sister, knowing the last thing she wanted was for Erica to see her man fully naked.

---

~Review~