Part XXVI: A Dark Night
AJ waited about an hour until she heard Punk slightly snoring next to her. She had built almost a wall in-between them to make sure they kept their hands to themselves. But she couldn't shake the image of the poor cat in their yard probably freezing and looking for food and shelter. The least she could do was feed the poor thing but again she had to make sure Punk was fast asleep first. He did not want AJ to feed the stray and attract more strays to their house but once he was sleeping she very carefully tiptoed out of the bed and closed their bedroom door.
She headed down the steps and turned on the kitchen light and quickly looked in the cabinet for anything to feed the homeless cat with. She smiled when she found a can of tuna and walked over to the sink to open the can then headed towards the back glass door.
"He didn't lock the door?" AJ frowned shaking her head and opening the door and stepped out side "Psstt.." she called for the cat that she could no longer see. She did notice that few of the chairs were knocked over but it wasn't very windy and didn't understand how that happened. She placed the can by the door and went inside to find her jacket so she could clean up the back a little.
She headed into the living room and opened the closet door to pull out her jacket then headed back into the kitchen and seemed confused that the light had shut off.
"What?" she asked herself turning the switch back on then headed towards the back door and when she went to turn the handle it was locked….she definitely didn't lock it before grabbing her jacket. As she started to unlock it the lights in the kitchen went out again.
"Phil this isn't funny" AJ warned turning around but no one was there. She decided to turn the light back on but before she could flip the switch she felt a hand tighten around her wrist and before she could even let out a scream a hand pressed against her mouth.
"Don't fight it" Corey seethed into her ear as she started to struggle. She was facing him but didn't even realize it was Corey until he spoke. "Calm down" he instructed. AJ continued to struggle against him and tried as hard as she could to scream "if you wake him up you're both going to be sorry" he said to her jerking her face so she was looking directly at him "I will hurt him very badly and there won't be any wedding tomorrow"
AJ was very frightened by Corey's facial expression and voice. His eye's seemed distant and dilated and his grip was so strong on her face that she wouldn't be surprised if he left a mark, but he didn't seem to even realize his strength. AJ stopped moving around and just slowly nodded.
"Let's go" he said keeping her hand over her mouth and dragging her towards another door that led to the theatre room downstairs. Punk and AJ hadn't used the room yet but the fact the room was sound proof rubbed AJ the wrong way.
Once they were inside he let her go and locked the door behind him
"What the hell are you doing?" AJ asked trying to hide her fear
"Why didn't you come and get me?" Corey asked her
"I told you why!" AJ yelled
"Keep your voice down!" Corey yelled back. Even though the room was sound proof he didn't want her screaming or raising her voice "I had to get a public defender who got me out. What is wrong with you?"
"You broke into my house" AJ pointed out in a slow voice "And you're asking me what's wrong with me?"
"I just need you to hear me out" Corey said desperately running his hands over his head frantically
"You need help" AJ said softly "I can help with that" she promised "We can leave right now and we can call Vince and set you up in a nice facility-"
"You think I need rehab?" Corey asked pointing at himself then let out a bitter laugh "I don't need rehab or Vince McMahon! I needed a friend! I needed you!"
"I tried" AJ argued lightly
"No you didn't!" Corey yelled "After I got off the phone with you I realized something. You were using me this whole time"
"What?" AJ asked stunned
"I was just Punk's place holder for you" Corey spat "Everyone has always compared me to him-"
"That wasn't my intention" AJ said seriously "And you aren't like Punk I've told you this a thousand times before"
"Come on AJ" he said with a groan "We're two peas in a pod"
"He's never locked me in a theatre room" AJ muttered
"But I bet if he did it would be ok. CM Punk could do whatever he wants and get away with it" Corey laughed "Walks out of the company- they continue to pay him and welcome him back with open arms, Walks on you- comes back after he's had his fill of his ex and you welcome him back with open legs- it must be nice" AJ decided to let that insulting comment slide since she really wasn't in any position to defend herself
"What are you hoping to accomplish by doing this?" AJ questioned the hysterical man "Or do you have no idea what you're actually doing?"
"Why couldn't you just love me?" Corey questioned ignoring her questions
"I do love you-" AJ started but stopped when Corey's finger pressed her against her lips
"Don't ruin it AJ" Corey pleaded closing his eyes as he rested his forehead against hers "I love you too"
"Corey I'm getting married tomorrow" AJ reminded him in a quiet voice
"And you ruined it anyway" Corey snorted shaking his head "Why are you so hell bent on breaking me?"
"I'm sorry if you felt I sent you mixed signals that wasn't my intention" AJ said to him honestly
"I shouldn't have let you stopped me that night" Corey said to her. He was so close to her face that AJ could feel the heat of his breath against her lips
"That night went too far" AJ told him as kindly as possible "You're my friend and it would have ruined everything. Look what it's already done to us and we didn't even seal the deal"
"It would have proven how much I care about you" Corey said brushing her hair behind her ear "Can you give me that chance now?"
"Corey" AJ said feeling even more tense "I really don't want to"
"AJ" he whispered before placing his lips on her own. AJ remained frozen while Corey kept his lips on hers for over five minutes. He pulled away and gave her a disgusted look
"You won't even try?" Corey asked hurt "You've let him blind you to the point that you can't even feel the connection between us?"
"There is no connection!" AJ yelled pulling away "I'm leaving and I'm calling the police so I suggest-" she never made it to the door because Corey grabbed her by her arm and tugged her back towards him. His large hand landed on her small neck and clenched his hand closed around it
"I won't let him hurt you again" Corey promised as tears fell from his eyes while AJ tried gasping and clawing at his arm to let her go
When Punk rolled over he hit the mass of pillows and it totally interrupted his sleep. He groaned annoyed and started tossing the pillows on the floor when he looked over he noticed AJ wasn't there. He felt her side of the bed to make sure he wasn't seeing things and noticed how cold her side was and opened his eyes wider.
"AJ?" he asked in a sleepy voice but there was no response. He assumed she had trouble sleeping and went into the game room and was going to just leave her be but for some reason he decided to get up and check to make sure.
Once making his way into the game room he noticed the lights and TV was off and frowned then headed downstairs into the living room and saw she wasn't there either. Did she run out on him? He questioned himself then headed into the dark kitchen and flipped the light on and looked down and saw her jacket on the floor, he leaned over and picked it up and placed it on the nearest chair then looked around the kitchen.
"AJ?" he asked starting to worry and also noticed one cabinet door was left open. He walked towards the glass door and went to see if she went outside and noticed some of the chairs were knocked over before he could go far the same stray cat from earlier was at his door eating a can of tuna that he assumed AJ left. "Where the hell did she go?" he asked looking around the yard before heading back inside.
Back downstairs AJ felt herself starting to get weak as now Corey had both hands wrapped her around throat. With a last surge of energy AJ clawed at his face, which caused him to release her quickly.
"Damn it!" Corey shouted holding his face "What are-" before he could say anything else she punched him as hard as she could and started to race towards the door. "Stop!" Corey said grabbing AJ by the back of her pants causing her to hit the floor
"Get off of me!" AJ screamed as she continued to kick, scratch, slap- anything she could do to get him away
"You're going to hurt yourself!" Corey yelled grabbing her by a fistful of her hair and pulling her to her feet "Why are you making this more difficult then it has to be!"
"You're trying to kill me!" AJ shouted
"I didn't mean it" Corey said quickly but AJ spat in his face surprising him but not enough for him to let her go he hit her as hard as he could across the face causing her to crash onto the floor but not before hitting her head on a table on the way down. "No, no, no" he said frantically noticing AJ wasn't moving. "AJ?" he questioned shaking her arm lightly "AJ wake up!" he yelled louder "I didn't mean to- I'm so sorry!" but she still didn't wake up. He rolled her slightly and saw she had blood dripping from the top of her head over her face from where she fell and her nose was also bloody from where he hit her. "Oh god" He cried frantically then let her go so she was still face down on the floor. He backed away from her quickly and opened the theatre room door but when he turned around he hit right into something….or someone. He didn't even get a chance to turn around before he felt himself being thrown onto the ground
"You've got to be kidding me!" Punk yelled standing over him "I am going to-"
"Help her!" Corey shouted pointing towards the room and with the door still opened Punk saw AJ lying on the ground face down and motionless
"AJ" Punk said running towards her almost completely forgetting about Corey being there. He rolled her over and saw the bloody mess she was in.
"I didn't mean it" Corey cried. Punk was torn between killing Corey or helping AJ but it only took him half a second to decide.
"AJ can you hear me?" Punk asked feeling for a pulse and that's when he saw the light bruising around her neck
"Is she dead?" Corey asked hysterically
"No but you are" Punk said shooting a glare towards the man
"She fell!" Corey argued
"AJ can you hear me?" Punk asked lightly tapping her face "AJ?" he asked again he couldn't help but to keep glancing over to Corey who he wanted to rip limb from limb but had to make sure AJ was ok first. "Damn it AJ" he muttered feeling around his pants for his phone but knew he didn't take it with him.
"She kept fighting me" Corey defended "I just wanted her to stop!"
"What were you doing with her down here anyway!" Punk yelled towards him but kept near AJ "I need to call an ambulance" he said standing up "Back up or I'll back you up" Punk warned
"Why? You said she was fine!" Corey shouted
"She won't wake up you idiot!" Punk yelled back
"The cops will come too" Corey said to him
"That's the point" Punk said to him "Get upstairs" he said to him "I don't want you near her"
"I can't" Corey said shaking his head
"I'd love to pound you into the ground right now but AJ doesn't have the time to spare! She could be seriously hurt and the longer we wait the worse it will get!" Punk yelled as he walked towards the door
"I can't let you call the cops" Corey told him but Punk just punched square in the jaw and he wasn't sure what took over his body in that moment but he just kept hitting Corey. Corey had a surge of strength of though and shoved Punk off of him and tackled him down the narrow hallway. Punk was actually prepared for this and while Corey stood over him with one hand on him Punk bit down as hard as he possibly could on his strung out former friend. He quickly jerked his arm away as Punk shoved him back. As Punk went to lunge at the man again Corey ran up the stairs with Punk in hot pursuit, once Corey made it back up the stairs and into the kitchen he ran right out the back door and Punk followed a few feet after him then stopped in his tracks and let Corey get away. He had to get AJ help first. He turned back inside and grabbed the house phone and dialed 9-1-1 while heading down the stairs to check on AJ again.
"Punk?" AJ asked opening her eyes
"Don't move" Punk instructed
"My head is killing me" She muttered placing her hand over the cut and hissed
"Don't" Punk said pulling her hand away from her face "I called an ambulance"
"Corey-" AJ muttered trying to sit up
"Sit back" Punk instructed "Don't move around too much"
"He was here" AJ said to him "And he-"
"I saw him" Punk said to her
"He's going to kill me!" AJ said starting to cry "He tried to strangle me! He said-"
"He's not coming back" Punk assured her
"No, no you don't understand he's crazy" AJ said hysterically
"AJ I'm here now" Punk reminded her and that seemed to calm her
"Please don't leave me" she pleaded lightly. As Punk looked down at her fear and blood filled face he couldn't help but feel helpless. Maybe he should have chased after Corey….
"I'm not leaving" Punk promised
An hour later Punk was in the waiting room at the hospital talking to the police and filling out AJ's medical forms. After a little more time passed her doctor stepped out and informed Punk she was fine and was lucky enough to not even had a concussion and the cut on her head didn't require stitches.
"Hey" Punk said walking into the room as AJ looked over to him and smiled
"Hi" she said faintly "When are you busting me out of here?"
"I'm just waiting on a few forms" Punk said to her "How's your head?"
"It's ok" AJ said to him "And my nose isn't broken either so that's good"
"You've got some bruising" Punk noted lightly tracing his finger over her neck
"It will fade" AJ said to him. He couldn't believe how remarkably calm she was "Not in time for the wedding though"
"The wedding?" Punk asked with a laugh "I'm thinking we should move it to next weekend"
"No" AJ said firmly "I want to marry you today"
"AJ your face is a mess" Punk pointed out "You had a really rough night"
"You told me you'd marry me in sweats" AJ reminded him "You really care that much about how I'd look?"
"Of course not" Punk said to her taking a seat next to her on the bed "I just think you've had a really terrifying night and maybe you should be resting"
"I could have died last night" AJ told him in a strong voice "And all I could think of was how I wasn't going to get to marry you. When he was choking me it was you that motivated me to fight back. I want to marry you as soon as possible"
"Ok" Punk said to her with a half a smirk
"I'm not going to let him take away our wedding day" AJ said to him
"I let him get away" Punk admitted causing AJ to look confused "When I found you on the floor he was there and we fought briefly but he ran off and I could have caught him but I just let him go. Still want to marry me?"
"You let him run off so you could help me" AJ pointed out "I wouldn't have expected you to have done it differently. He's a wanted man now and the police are looking for him and they will get him. He's not really a professional criminal" she laughed
"I could have figured it out" Punk said mentally kicking himself "I keep going over it in my head and if I-"
"You put me first" AJ said silencing him "You could have beaten him down and probably gone to jail for manslaughter but instead you saw I was unresponsive and saved my life. Thank you" she said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek
"You know last night when I woke up and you were gone I thought you left me" Punk smirked
"You know I could never do that" AJ smiled sweetly taking his hand into hers
"I saw the can of food you left for the cat and your jacket on the floor and I freaked out" Punk admitted "I thought someone grabbed you from outside and did god knows what to you"
"Did the cat eat?" she asked him with wide hopeful eyes
"You were almost murdered a few hours ago and you want to know if the cat from down the street ate the food you left for it?" Punk asked stunned and she nodded "Yes AJ the cat was eating when I saw it"
"Good" AJ smiled "Does the fact that I was almost killed get me a pass on feeding her?" she knew Punk did not want stray animals around the house
"Yes you get a pass on a lot of things" Punk promised
"Oh good" AJ said to him "So be honest how bad does my face look? Do I need to wear a mask for the ceremony?"
"Your face isn't as bad as I thought it would be" Punk told her honestly "When I saw you your entire face was bloody but you can cover the cut with your hair and your nose doesn't look bad"
"Good" AJ smiled "It's cute we kind of match" she said to him nodding towards his own darkened eye
"Every bride and groom's dream" Punk mocked as he felt his phone start to vibrate. He looked down and saw a mass of messages
"Who is that?" AJ asked
"Vince" Punk said to her glancing over the messages "What the hell is happening?" he read off one message "Is this a joke?" the next one read "What happened to AJ?" the one after read "Why are you not answering me!" the final one read
"You should call him" AJ said to him but Punk just slipped his phone back into his pocket
"I don't care about Vince" Punk informed her "I'm more worried about you"
"You heard the doctor I'm a tough cookie" AJ told him proudly
"That you are" Punk agreed fondly
It was about two in the afternoon and AJ was upstairs catching up on sleep. Originally they were going to be married at noon but decided to have a late night ceremony. The media hadn't broken the Corey story yet…but it would be only a matter of time before some within WWE opened their big mouths. Punk was surprised when Cliff and Colt dropped by his place so early.
"Didn't you get my message?" Punk asked letting his friends into his house "I told you we're going to have the wedding at nine tonight"
"We got the message but not the explanation" Cliff said to him with a laugh taking off his jacket
"Actually we thought you needed help setting more up" Colt told him
"No I don't" Punk said to him "I had a really long night so why don't you guys go grab some food and come back later"
"What happened?" Colt asked intrigued
"Did AJ run out on you?" Cliff asked
"No" Punk said to him
"So what happened?" Cliff asked
"What is it with you two?" Punk asked annoyed "I don't want to talk about!"
"Touchy, touchy" Colt noted shaking his head "Seriously are you two fighting or something?"
"Not at all" Punk said to him "We just needed some more sleep"
"Why aren't you sleeping?" Cliff asked
"Because you two are here" Punk shot back
"Who was at the door?" AJ asked coming down the steps rubbing her eyes
"Morning beautiful" Cliff smiled then frowned upon seeing AJ's face and exposed neck "What happened to you?"
"Holy crap" Colt muttered
"Is it that bad?" AJ asked nervously. Colt looked over Punk who shot him a look and mouthed 'do not upset her'
"No!" Colt assured her with a nervous laugh "You look great! You just surprised us that's all. Right Cliff?"
"Yea" Cliff said with a nervous smile "So seriously was this like a sex game gone bad?"
"Get out of my house" Punk said flatly
"They don't know?" AJ asked Punk who just shook his head
"No that's why we're here" Colt told her
"Corey attacked AJ last night" Punk told them
"Where?" Cliff asked
"The house" Punk said to them "I left the backdoor unlocked and he got in easily"
"Holy crap that's scary" Cliff said to them "Where is he now?"
"He's on the run" Punk mocked
"You didn't like kill him or almost kill him?" Cliff asked seriously. Punk was already feeling guilty enough about letting Corey go he didn't want his friends comments on top of it
"Punk saved my life" AJ said to them "He found me downstairs knocked out and fought Corey off and called an ambulance for me."
"He ran out when I called for help" Punk informed them
"And you two still want to have this wedding?" Colt asked them
"Yea, why not?" AJ smirked "I've waited for over a year for this day already" she said simply then headed into the kitchen
"She's handling this remarkably well" Colt said to Punk in a whisper
"Too well" Punk agreed as he watched AJ move around the kitchen from where he was standing
"Maybe she's in like shock" Cliff whispered joining in as well "Are you sure getting married tonight is the right thing to do? And I'm not just saying that because I want to marry her either"
"She's adamant about it" Punk said to them "She said she was close to death last night and she doesn't want to waste another moment"
"I don't blame her" Colt said to him as all three watched AJ "She must have been terrified"
"Held her own though" Punk added "She fought him off a few times"
"Not surprising she's scary" Cliff said to him seriously
"What are you going to do about Corey?" Colt asked
"What can I do?" Punk asked looking at Colt "I wish I would have chased after him but I just couldn't risk AJ. Head injuries are scary"
"Yea absolutely" Colt agreed "Police will pick him up"
"Yea I mean it's easier to since he's considered a celebrity I suppose" Punk said to them "If I bump into him I will wrap my hands around his throat like he did to AJ" Cliff promised causing Punk to let out a light laugh. Punk watched as AJ opened the back door and placed another can food outside for the cat that had returned just like Punk knew it would. He couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Can we do anything?" Colt asked him "Anything you need seriously"
"Actually if one of you could get her mom from the hotel later that would be great" Punk said
"I'd love to bond with the woman who made such an exotic creation" Cliff said seriously causing Punk shoot him an odd glare
"What about her brother and sister?" Colt asked
"Her sister is standing by her father and not coming, her brother couldn't leave" Punk informed them "But Celeste and PJ are coming if you want to get them from the airport" he said to them
"No problem" Colt said to them
After kicking out his friends Punk found AJ sitting inside the kitchen on the floor holding the cat and petting her.
"So now we're letting the cat into the house?" Punk asked annoyed
"She's lonely" AJ frowned "And it is cold out for her. She's going to be one of my guests for the wedding. I hope you're ok with that"
"Keep the cat" Punk told her brushing it off
"Really?" AJ asked surprised
"Yea I mean cat's take care of themselves right?" Punk questioned kneeling down and scratching the cat behind her ear "If you want her keep her"
"We need to get her vaccinated" AJ said to him
"And make sure she doesn't belong to anyone" Punk said to her
"She doesn't have a collar" AJ pointed out "And look at her" she said at the disheveled cat "She's a mess and she's a kitten not a cat yet"
"How do you know this?" Punk asked
"Because I just know" AJ defended "But really we can keep her?"
"Yea absolutely" Punk said to her
"You hate cats" AJ reminded him
"But I love you" he said right back "Keep her downstairs until we get her to a vet though"
"Deal" AJ said standing up with the cat "Can we go to the store and get a litter box and food now?"
"Yea we've got time" Punk said looking at the time on his phone
"You're the best in the world" she said giving him a sloppy kiss on the lips. She headed towards the door that led to downstairs but froze at the top of them
"What's wrong?" Punk asked coming up behind her
"Can we put her in one of the spare rooms?" AJ asked closing the door quickly. Clearly she wasn't ready to go back down there yet.
"Yea ok" Punk said feeling bad that she was afraid of her own home. A home he bought to keep her safe.
"Thanks" She muttered walking past him feeling embarrassed and raced up the stairs
Punk opened the basement door and glanced down the steps and tried to figure out how he was going to fix this for AJ. He didn't want her to be afraid to enjoy the house and if it meant they would have to move again he would do it in a heartbeat but he knew the right thing to do was to help her through this. Wanting to have the wedding and acting like nothing happened wasn't going to help her and he knew it was only a matter time before she cracked. He just had to make sure he'd be there to help her.
A/N: So will the wedding happen? Where is Corey? Is AJ just in shock and going to crack at any moment and the most important question...what will they name their new cat?