Hey everyone...been a while! The reason I've taken so long to update this story will be explained at the end. For now, I hope you all enjoy the newest chapter and have a happy Easter tomorrow! On with the show!

The Kiss Of Death

3 - 25 - 13

Punk sat in his darkened dressing room in relative silence. Before him, on a stool a few feet away, rested the urn that belonged to the legendary and now sadly deceased Paul Bearer. He had taken it from Kane a few weeks ago, and was using it in his quest to fuck around with the psyche of the Deadman, the phenom himself, the Undertaker. WrestleMania was right around the corner, and he was looking to do the one thing that so many had failed to do before him; be the man that ended the fabled, historic and iconic streak that currently stood at 20-0. 20-0. He let that number float around his head for a few moments. He said it himself last week, and he believed every word he said till the bitter end. He was going to be the one in 20-1.

He heard the door open and looked over his shoulder to see Paul entering the room, a worried look on his rotund face as he popped a squat next to him. No words were said between the two men. They had still been at odds, odds that were only intensified once Brock Lesnar, the human wrecking machine and former UFC Heavyweight Champion, came back into the fold in late January and put an exclamation point on his aforementioned return by delivering an F-5 to Vince, effectively breaking the old man's pelvis, or hip, whatever you wanted to believe. Paul had been spending more and more time with Brock and his quest to destroy Hunter, and he was fine with it. No Paul meant no stress, no wondering if Paul was going to stab him in the back, none of that excess bullshit. He liked being on his own again, even if it was only here and there.

The two men remained seated, the silence thickening in the air. Punk's eyes darted back and forth between the urn and Paul, before finally settling on the urn. The looks he had gotten from everyone backstage after he took it (stolen and all the other words associated with it just sounded so dirty) made him grin and smirk and feel like he did what he had set out to do; get people talking. Everyone knew that Bearer's family had signed off on everything...they still wanted to see his ass get kicked, and he was glad. His job wouldn't be done if nobody wanted to maim him. And he was thankful, relieved even, for all the attention he and the Deadman were getting as they inched closer and closer to the showcase of the immortals. It served well enough to take his mind off of his personal problems.

Paul took the hint and thankfully decided to get up and leave, and so he was back to where he was before his manager decided to become an unwelcome guest for a spell; sitting in silence and shrouded by darkness. Now that he could think without interruption, his mind wandered back, uneasily, to the seventh of January, a scant couple of months ago. He was still champion then. He was still on top of the wrestling world. He had his girl...he had everything he could have ever wanted out of life. And in the span of, oh, maybe ten, fifteen minutes, it had all come crashing down on him like one, big, monstrous tidal wave. He hadn't known what hit him till it was far too late to do any damage control. It was out of his hands and in the all mighty hands of a higher power. He felt helpless.

AJ's father suffered a heart attack that night. A massive, dangerous, life-threatening heart attack. He was immediately taken to the nearest hospital, Overlook Medical Center in Union, a few minutes away from her parents home. He had been there ever since, in critical condition, withering away in the ICU wing of the damn place, hooked up to tubes and contraptions and machines, all of that shit. It was saddening and depressing to bear witness to. And the toll it was taking on poor AJ was killing him on the inside, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. When she wasn't on the road, she was back home, with her father at every chance. Hunter had offered to give her some time off to take care of her ill dad, but she declined...she was dedicated to the business, something that he both admired and wanted to scold her for. Hiding behind every smirk and sultry look was an unbearable pain. He didn't know how she did it. He wished he could have half as much strength as her...but he also wished that she would take the time off to be with her family 24/7.

That's what led to a big fight between the two of them. Punk shook his head, remembering every little detail about it, right down to the actual verbatim. It started off innocently enough...he had asked her how her old man was holding up, and she said he was still in the same condition...they didn't know what they were going to do with him. She was scared, he vividly remembered that. Then it all went south from there.

What should have been customary of him as her boyfriend to comfort her and wait on her hand and foot, make her feel special and show her that not everything in the world was bleak and dreary, turned into him asking what was going to happen to them as a couple. AJ, predictably, wanted to know what the hell he was talking about, and why he would bring something like that up at a time like that. He was oblivious. All he wanted to know was what ground they stood on. She had been spending less and less time with him when she was on the road, and more and more of it with Dolph and Langston, her running buddies. He was particularly enraged when Dolph took it upon himself to take her to Jersey one time, and she agreed to it, knowing damn well that he had offered to do the same thing and she politely declined.

It pissed him off, and he couldn't remember the last time he was that angry at anything. Maybe when they told him Dwayne was winning the title at the Royal Rumble? This whole thing with Dolph and AJ leapfrogged that. How the hell did she think it'd be okay to turn down her boyfriend and go see her sick dad with Dolph? It boggled his mind and made him furious. It was as if their relationship meant jack shit to her. After everything they had been through and done together? He didn't know where she got off doing something like that to him. They had it out again at a house show a few weeks ago...and they hadn't spoken since. He went back to traveling with Kofi and Truth, she travelled with Dolph and Langston...it upset him to know that the distance between them could have been nipped in the bud had he not acted like a selfish douchebag. He wanted to go and make it up to her. And he was going to...

Punk opened the lid on the urn and reached inside, grabbing the note with AJ's handwriting scribbled all across it. It wasn't necessarily short, but it was sweet and to the point. He could hear her beautiful, squeaky, lilting voice in his head recite the words on endless loop. He stared at it in his hands, a blank and emotionless look on his face as he read it to himself again. It was barely a day old.

"Dear Phil...I don't know what to do anymore. Between you, this business and most importantly, my father...my heart is being tugged in so many different places, it's a wonder I haven't had a nervous breakdown yet. There's so much going on and I just now have a moment to sit down and put everything into focus...

I love you. I know we haven't said it to each other, because we didn't need to, but it's true. I love you. And that's what makes this so hard for me. I feel like I'm torn between a rock and a hard place...and I don't want to drag you any further into my crazy, messed up life than I already have. You've always been so kind and compassionate towards me, and I will forever be grateful for the fact that you took a chance on me, one you didn't need to take, one you could have easily passed up and forgotten about. But I can't do this to you anymore...I can't keep neglecting you and shying away when all you've been trying to do is help in your own way. What I'm pretty much trying to say to you here is...

I'm letting you go. I won't let myself use you and take your kindness and love for granted anymore. You don't have to worry about me any longer. I'm going to continue to split time between the road and my father's side. You're free. This is what's best for us. I don't want to hurt and push you away anymore...this is goodbye, Phillip. I love you. Forever and always. April."

Punk blinked as he folded the note up and put it back in the urn. Leaning back in his seat, he remained silent still, words not coming by easily as he thought about AJ's note for the millionth time in the last few hours. Without thinking, he slapped the urn away and watched it fly through the air, hitting the wall and tumbling all across the floor. He was doing something about this, and he was doing it now. He was going to fix it, just like he said he would.

Exiting his dressing room, he stalked down the hall, stomping his feet with each step, a man on a mission. Rounding the corner, he walked further down and came to a stop in front of the dressing room she shared with Dolph and Langston. He didn't care if either of those two were in there. He was getting his girl back one way or another. He was getting answers.

Pushing the door open so he could peek inside, out of the corner of his eye, he saw AJ...and he saw Dolph, right next to her, his arms wrapped protectively around her quaking body...he saw him press a kiss to her temple. He didn't need to see anything else. He knew in his heart and in his mind why she had written that little letter. It was all clear to him now.

He turned around, and he left. And after WrestleMania...he wasn't coming back.

The reason why I've taken so long to update this is because I couldn't think of anything to write for it. My mind was pretty much drawing blanks when it came to updating this...so I'm putting it on hiatus till at least the summer. I feel this is for the best. I want to focus on My life and Crazy Is The New Sane while coming up with new ideas for this. Hopefully I'll be able to bring it back in the summer. Thank you all for reading this story and reviewing it and liking it as much as you all have. It means a lot to me, and hopefully you'll all stick with me through this. Thank you again! =)