Promises, Promises

"So, you'll be home every night?" AJ asked as she sat on the couch and listened to him explain that he'd be going undercover.

"For now." He told her.

"What does that mean?" She asked. "Some nights you won't be?"

"Down the line, yea." He told her and he could tell she was crushed. "I'm not going to be just gone though." He said taking her hand but she pulled it away from him and stood up.

"And you already agreed to this? Without even asking me?" She asked.

"What was I supposed to say?" he asked. "This is my career."

"And I'm going to be your wife." she said to him. "Which is more important to you?"

"You know the answer to that." He said to her.

"We were planning on getting married and a house." She reminded him. "That just stops because you want a promotion?"

"We can get married and get a house. I won't be there 24/7." He reminded her. "There are kids dying on the street from laced drugs." He argued and she looked away from him.

"Stop trying to make me feel bad for feeling bad for myself." she mumbled under her breath.

"I'm not. You have every right to be upset." He said standing up and walking over to her. "If you're really that against this I'll call up and tell my boss I can't do it."

"And let kids continue to die?" She said looking at him. "No."

"I know the timing sucks." He said to her. "But I'm doing a good thing."

"I know you are. You're a good man." She practically groaned. "I was just really looking forward to getting married and getting this house. I'm not looking forward to starting our life out together alone."

"You won't be alone." He reminded her.

"It also sounds really dangerous." She said to him.

"I'm going to be a bouncer and eavesdropping." He scoffed. "Safest job I've ever had." he assured her with ease.

"It's just a lot to take in. Earlier today we were picking between out top three favorite homes to begin our lives in and now I feel like I'm getting ready to say goodbye." she said to him.

"It's nights." He told her. "I'll be home during the day."

"You'll be doing more work during the day." She told him. "As soon as you get an 'in' you'll be gone all of the time and then you won't be living here."

"That's a long way down." he told her. "What can I do? How can I reassure you?"

"You can't." She told him. "You're doing the right thing and I hate sounding like such a selfish woman but I was so excited."

"You can still be excited." He smiled but she glared at him. "We're going to get married." he promised her as he forced her to look at him. "We're going to get the house and the dog and have kids. I swear."

"I'm trying to not be selfish here." She sighed. "I think I just got really comfortable with us both being home these last few months. We're going from falling asleep together and waking up together everyday to living apart. It's just going to be an adjustment."

"It's not as bad as you think it is." He assured her. "I don't have to do this. Say the word and I'll call it off."

"You do have to do this." She said looking into his eyes. "You're a good man and an even better cop. This is your job and I know that not only do you want to do it you have to."

"Do you have any idea how much I love you for saying that?" he asked seriously.

"More than this morning?" She teased.

"I'm going to give you everything you want. And this case could lead to a promotion which will lead to a huge pay increase for me- for us." He corrected.

"I don't care about money we have money." She told him. "Just promise me one thing."

"Anything." He said to her.

"You'll come home to me?" She asked.

"Every single night." He promised. "Or morning...whatever time I get done with what I have to do." he smirked.

"I just want you safe." She said to him.

"I will be." He told her. "Can you do something for me?"

"Brave to ask me for something else. I'm giving you up for god knows how long and now you want a favor?" she asked in disbelief causing him to laugh.

"Marry me tomorrow." He told her.

"What?" She asked stunned.

"Tomorrow. Let's do it. I can get us in with a judge and we'll get our marriage certificate." He said to her. "I want us married. I want everyone to know that even if I'm not around you're spoken for, I want to be your husband, I want to come home to my wife." he said to her.

"What else?" She asked sensing something was off.

"It's just-" he began. "-it's for the best if we're legally married. If something were to happen to me you'd always be taken care of."

"Are you kidding?" She asked pulling away from him. "You just promised me you'd come home to me and now you want it written on paper we're married in case of something-"

"It's just if something were to happen, you'd not only be taken care of but you'd make the decisions for me on my behalf." He told her.

"I don't like this conversation." She scoffed walking away.

"Ape, please." he began as he followed her.

"I wanted to get married because I love you." she said walking into the bedroom. "Not out of fear and I've made it clear to you that I can't afford to lose you-"

"Stop I'm sorry." he said placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not trying to scare you."

"You are." She whispered trying not to cry.

"We were going to get married anywhere." he reminded her.

"What about our parents?" She asked. "We promised we'd invite them."

"We'll do it again." He told her. "Let's just do it. It's always been about us."

"Ok." She forced out plastering on a smile.

"You're going to be ok." He promised her. "I'm not going to be gone."

"Why does it feel that way?" she asked him.

"It's not." he told her grabbing her hands and kissing them. "We're going to survive this, we survived much worse."

"I just want to be at peace with you for longer than four weeks at at time." She said to him.

"We will be at peace for the rest of our lives." he told her.

The next day AJ was sitting in the court house while Punk handled the paperwork, they had their marriage license ready to go and a friend of Punk's who was a judge was sneaking them in quickly. The witnesses were people AJ didn't even know. She was in a simple white dress that stopped just above her knees and she had one single flower that they plucked from the front of the courthouse. All she ever wanted was to marry Punk. Her dream was about to come true.

"Ape." Punk called for her and nodded.

She stood up and took his hand as he lead her into the judges chamber.

"Pretty bride." The judge smiled standing up with a book.

"The prettiest." Punk agreed smiling at her. "You ready?" he asked and she nodded.

"Ok lets get-" the judge began.

"I'm sorry." AJ blurted out. "But no."

"No?" Punk questioned.

"I didn't even get to ask the question yet." The judge chuckled.

"I can't do this." She said passing Punk the flower and she turned around and literally ran out of the room.

AJ kept running until she hit the street and then she wasn't sure where to go.

"April!" Punk yelled from a distance and she took off again but he was faster than her.

Punk grabbed her by the waist to stop her as she almost ran into traffic since she was in such a panic.

"What are you doing?" He demanded furiously.

"I can't right now." She said pushing him away.

"You can't?" He asked her. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean? We were about to get married- we've been talking about this for months."

"I won't marry you." She told him and his face dropped. "Not like this."

"What are you talking about? Courthouse wedding has been what we wanted, at least that's what I thought you wanted." he said to her almost frantically. "Is this about the undercover case?"

"Yes." She told him.

"Ape, I won't sacrifice our relationship for this." He argued.

"Yes you will because I'm not giving you a choice." She told him.

"No." He said shaking his head. "If I thought you were going to break it off with me-"

"Wait." She said holding her hand up. "I'm not breaking it off with you, why would you think that?"

"You just ran out on me Ape." He reminded her. "Please explain to me what the hell is going through your head?"

"I'm thinking about what you said last night." She said to him. "You want this as security for me."

"I want to marry you." He affirmed. "That's all I've ever wanted."

"Yes and it's what I want to but I want our parents there." she said to him. "You want me taken care of in case this goes bad and I won't give you that kind of peace of mind." she informed him. "I want you to have more of a reason to fight and come home every night."

"Ape." He sighed rubbing his head.

"I don't want this." She told him. "I want to marry you but not under these circumstances. It doesn't feel special to me. And I won't marry you just so you can sleep better while you're away."

"I don't know how long this is going to take." He warned her.

"I've waited my whole life for you." She told him with brutal honesty. "I can wait a little bit longer. Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you." He said pulling her against his chest. "I guess I'm scared too."

"You're worried about being undercover?" She asked nervously.

"No." He chuckled still holding her as people passed by them. "I'm never afraid of my job believe it or not."

"So what were you scared of?" she asked looking up at him.

"I'll be gone so much and someone will fall in love with you the way that I love you." He admitted.

"Nobody could ever love me the way that you do." She told him. "Don't ever doubt me. I meant what I said, I've waited forever for you and I'm not going to leave. I want you to go undercover and have peace of mind knowing that I will be home- in our home- every single night waiting for you."

"I guess this was kind of silly." He admitted. "I panicked a bit."

"You did." She smiled. "That's ok though. It's ok to miss me you know." She teased.

"I'm going to miss you but I'm still going to see you." He reminded her.

"I'm going to be working on my book and this new show. I can't push it off until our wedding anymore because I won't know how long this will take." she told him. "I'm going to be ok."

"I know you will." He said kissing the top of her head.

Later that day they got a call from the realtor about a home that just went on the market, it was in their price range and she felt it was everything they both wanted.

"Sorry to bother you two but this home is going to go fast." she told them walking them to the front gate.

The house had a tall brick wall with black wooden gates to get to the front door. You had to punch a code in just to enter the property and walk up to the front of the house. There was a huge front yard and AJ saw toys that belonged to kids on the yard and smiled.

"I like that." Punk said to AJ referring to the gate.

"It would be safe for kids and a dog too." she agreed.

The realtor opened the front door and AJ gasped. Punk was in awe of how much she loved the place without even seeing it. She didn't react this way with any home they had seen. The house was covered in kids toys but it felt so homey, even to him. The home had dark wooden floors and dark fixtures. There was a large staircase as soon as you walked in and to the right was the living room and to the left he assumed that lead to the kitchen and dinning room.

"There are four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, dinning room, den which has been converted into a play room but obviously you can do whatever you want with." The realtor told them. "It's a three car garage, attic and the yard has a pool and finished deck."

"I want it." AJ said without even looking at it.

"Don't you want to look at it first?" Punk asked with a grin.

"No." She said deathly serious. "The second I stepped inside of this home I knew it was ours. This was meant to be our home."

"I really insist on showing you both around." The realtor said to them.

"We'll take the tour but I know my fiancee." Punk smirked. "She wants this house."

"Do you?" AJ asked looking up at him.

"I want what you want." He told her simply.

"But do you love it?" she asked seriously.

"I haven't even seen it." He laughed. "I loved the first three steps we took." He teased.

"Ok let's do the tour." AJ told the realtor. "But this is it. I can feel it."

Punk and AJ toured the house and he had to admit, he loved it too. It was in an amazing neighborhood, security was good and it was honestly like a dream house. He could see growing old in this house with AJ.

"I'm going to call the home owners. Are you sure you don't want to just put in an offer and outbid? Paying outright the asking price will guarantee you the home but you could save some money." The realtor warned them.

"No we want this house." Punk told her firmly.

"Alright." She smiled. "Give me a few minutes." She said stepping away.

"Do you really love it?" she asked as they were in the large kitchen. It had a kitchen island, french doors that lead to the back and everything was so modern and dark, just the way AJ liked it. "This will keep me busy while you work too."

"You're going to move in without me?" he teased.

"No but I can decorate." She said to him. "There's so many rooms! And we have to furnish it."

"You don't want my input on how I want it to look?" he teased.

"No." She said seriously and he laughed. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do." He said to her.

"And now even more motivation for you to come home safe every night." She said to him. "This will also push you to wrap up the case quickly because who wouldn't want to live there?"

"That is true." he smirked. "Look, about me being gone for a lot of the time-"

"I'm not going to find anybody else." She laughed.

"It's not that." He said to her. "I know something happened with you and Palanski."

"Oh." She said to him. "I can't discuss it with you."

"I know that." he said to her. "I need you to look me in the eye and promise me you'll do whatever Detective Jenkins tells you. I want you safe."

"I will be." She promised.

"I mean it Ape." he warned her. "Kofi, Anderson- they're all going to look out for you all you have to do is call."

"I won't make the same mistakes I made with Hale." She told him. "I'm going to be careful and not hide anything."

"And do everything Jenkins and anyone else with a badge tells you?" he asked her seriously.

"Yes." She told him.

"I also know Hale Green's trial is starting soon..." He trailed off.

"I'm going to be ok." She told him. "Like I said I'll be busy. Work, book, furnishing, Charlie and Hale." she raddled off.

"Just don't run yourself into the ground." He warned her. "And I will be home during the days so I'm going to want to be kept informed."

"You will be." She told him. "Just worry about you and I'll take care of me."

"That's what worries me." He said seriously and she let out a laugh.

"I'm not some magnet for danger." She defended laughing but he just eyed her without even cracking a smile.

"We'll see about that." He said to her.

Later that night Punk and AJ were in bed catching their breath.

"I thought we agreed tomorrow we'd spend the day in bed since it's my last day before I start undercover?" He asked gasping as he looked up at the ceiling.

"We started early. I wanted to celebrate." She said rolling on top of him and kissing him.

"We are officially home owners." He agreed.

"And that is a cause for celebration." She grinned. "I'm also celebrating all of my dreams coming true."

"We're not even married yet." He reminded her.

"We will be." she said to him. "I really hope you're not mad about me running out on you."

"I'm not mad but you scared the shit out of me." He admitted. "I thought you were leaving me."

"Never." she said to him kissing him. "You're stuck with me. Deal with it."

"I like being stuck to you." He grinned.

"I didn't mean literally." she giggled.

"I did." Punk said seriously. "Just don't scare me like that again."

"Don't scare me about setting things up for me for 'just in case' scenarios." She shot back. "So, since you're abandoning me for work-" she began and he glared at her. "And leaving me by my lonesome, can we talk about getting a dog?"

"Ape." He sighed rolling his head.

"That house is so big for us and we're not having kids anytime soon we need something to fill it up." She said to him. "Please?" She asked sticking her bottom lip out.

"Ok." he said giving in immediately. "But don't just run out and get a dog." He warned her as she squealed with excitement. "I have to meet the dog first." he warned her.

"Deal." She promised.

"I'll try to figure out a time and place where we could look next week." He said to her.

"Are we allowed to be seen in public?" She asked seriously and he laughed.

"Where do you think I'm going undercover?" He laughed.

"A strip club." She stated coldly.

"We can go out but we just have to avoid downtown, that's all." he said to her.

"What if we do get spotted?" She asked.

"Spotted by someone I'm trying to arrest?" he asked and she nodded. "Let's just hope that doesn't happen because these aren't people I want you to know."

"Are you going to look at the strippers?" She asked him and he laughed.

"I'm not going to look at them." he said amused.

"I'm sure they're pretty." She shrugged.

"I'm sure they are." He agreed. "I'm also sure they couldn't hold a candle to you."

"Just remember I'm the jealous type." She warned him.

"I won't forget it." He laughed. "Don't worry about that crap. I'll be busy actually working."

"You better be." She warned. "Working extra hard so you can come home to marry me and move into our new beautiful home."

"I will do my best to speed up the process." He teased.

"Now look me in the eyes and promise me that." she said to him. "Promise me you'll be safe and come home to me so you can marry me."

"I will be safe and come home to marry you because there's nothing I want more." he told her seriously as he looked into her eyes.

"Now show me how much you love me." She whispered lowering her face to kiss him...