Attention

"Where the hell is she?" AJ shook her head, "Phil." AJ said, sudden realisation that their daughter wasn't in the apartment, "Phil, where the hell is she?" AJ shrieked, pacing around recklessly.

"Ok, calm down." Punk nodded, "Did you check her bedroom?" He asked her, speeding his way over to the bedroom and bursting in, looking around, "Her bookbag is gone." Punk shook his head.

"She would never leave like this on her own." AJ shook her head, starting to feel a hollow pain in her chest at the thought of her baby not being anywhere near, "We have to go look. We can't stay here." AJ said.

"Yeah." Punk agreed, "Yeah, ok. Let's go." Punk nodded, grabbing his phone and his keys as they rushed out of the door, "Go on down and ask around, I'm gonna ask Jules to keep a look out." He said as AJ nodded, already running down the stairs whilst Punk knocked on his neighbours door.

"Hey, Phil. What's up?" Jules asked.

"Hey, can you keep a look out for Jessica in case she comes back here? She's disappeared and we… we don't know where she is." Punk said worriedly.

"Oh, man." Jules gulped, "Yeah, sure. I'll keep a look out, of course." Jules nodded.

"Ok. Thank you." Punk nodded, rushing off down the stairs and out of the apartment block into the street where AJ had made her way across the road and was asking strangers if they'd saw Jessica.

Punk looked from left to right and tried to put himself in Jessica's shoes, to figure out where she would go.

AJ made her way back across the road to him once she spotted him, "No one is even saying anything to me." AJ gasped.

"Ok, you need to take a deep breath." Punk nodded, "No one's gonna stop and talk to you in this state." He told her as AJ nodded.

"She's so small." AJ shook her head, trying not to cry, "Why… we would have heard the door close, I-I don't get it." AJ said.

"We were too busy fucking arguing to notice." Punk shook his head as a large cloud of guilt hung over them, "We need to call the police." Punk nodded.

"I'll call Jamie. He'll get people out right away." AJ said as Punk just nodded, letting her walk away to call Jamie as he began to stop people on the street to ask if they'd seen a little girl of Jessica's description. He was trying to stay calm to keep AJ calm, but his insides were shaking and he really hadn't felt this terrified in a long time.

He couldn't understand how someone so little had already made her way out of sight without anyone noticing she was on her own. The thought of her being lost and realising she was lost was starting to break his heart.

"Jamie has contacted the station and they're gonna have cars out. He's… also coming out to help look." AJ nodded as she re-joined Punk as they began to walk down the street at a fast pace, looking in the different store windows in case Jessica had wandered into one, "This isn't like her." AJ shook her head, "I don't understand."

"She can't have gone far." Punk shook his head, trying to stay positive.

"Hey, excuse me!"

Punk and AJ both turned around in a flash as they watched a man run up to them, one who they had stopped on their way down the street.

"I think your little girl is in this store." He said, "She's on her own and… trying on jackets."

AJ and Punk immediately followed the man to the store which he was referring to, walking around it until they eventually, with so much relief and joy, saw Jessica standing looking at herself in the mirror with a new jacket on.

"Jessica!" AJ exclaimed as Jessica turned around and looked at her very worried but relieved parents rushing towards her.

AJ immediately crouched down and squeezed Jessica tightly as Punk ran his hand through his hair and sighed loudly. The relief was unreal.

"Mommy, what are you doing?" Jessica tried to wriggle out of the hug.

"What on earth are you doing here on your own?" AJ demanded to know once she squeezed Jessica to death, "You know you can't wander off… especially not like this." AJ shook her head.

"You and daddy didn't want to talk to me so I came to look at jackets myself." Jessica shrugged.

"Baby, no." AJ shook her head, "No, you can't do that. You can't just up and leave. Me and daddy just had to talk about some adult things, that's all." AJ said, "Please, don't scare me like that." She sighed, pulling her back in for a hug as Jessica rested her chin on her mother's shoulder, looking up at her father who she could see was also cross with her for what she'd done.

"I just wanted to get my jacket." Jessica shook her head.

"Well you can't on your own. It's so busy out there. You can't ever come out on your own like that. It's too dangerous." AJ told her, "Promise me that will never, ever happen again." AJ said, truly spooked by what had just gone on.

"Ok. I promise, I didn't mean to scare you." Jessica frowned as AJ just shook her head.

"I'm just glad you're ok." AJ sighed, "I… I have to go call Jamie." AJ stood up and wandered away whilst Punk looked down at Jessica.

"Oh, are you angry at me?" Jessica worried as she looked up at her father whom she'd never saw look at her in that way before.

"You had us so worried." Punk crouched down in front of her, "You can't just leave the apartment, baby. You just can't do that. Mommy is right, it's so busy out in the streets with so many people. And-And how on earth were you gonna pay for a new jacket anyway?"

"Oh." Jessica opened up her bookbag, "I'm sorry." She said as she took her father's wallet out and gave it back to him, "I was going to give it back."

"Jesus Christ." Punk groaned a little as he realised his daughter was five years old and had already managed to sneak his wallet into her bag without him noticing, "Baby, you can't do that. You can't take my wallet. This has important things in it. Cards. Money… sometimes." He said.

"And a picture of me." Jessica smiled sweetly.

"This isn't good." Punk told her. He didn't want to be mad with her because he found it hard when she was so innocent looking, but he was shocked that she'd managed to pull something like this off at such a young age and he wept for the future with her.

"Am I in trouble?" Jessica wondered.

"No." Punk sighed, "But you need to promise me and mommy you'll never do something like this again, or you will be in a lot of trouble." He told her seriously.

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me." Jessica shrugged.

"No, of course not. Sometimes mommy's and daddy's need to have talks on their own. That's it." Punk told her as AJ made her way over.

"Jamie has called off the search party." AJ announced, "How many jackets have you tried on?" AJ asked curiously.

"A few." Jessica told her, "I like this one the best." She told her, sporting a denim jacket, "And it fits nice." She patted herself down as Punk just shook his head. He couldn't believe this little character was his.

"Promise us you won't do this again." AJ said. She needed to hear it and make sure Jessica knew how incredibly wrong this was and how worried they were.

"I promise." Jessica nodded. She fully understood that what she'd done wasn't allowed. She could tell by her parents expressions that they were worried.

"Ok." AJ sighed, placing her hand on her forehead as Punk stood back up straight, turning to AJ and placing his hand on her shoulder as she turned to him and nodded, taking a deep breath. It was terrifying for both of them but now it was the biggest relief that their baby was ok and unharmed by anything.

"Ok, let's get this jacket and get out of here." Punk nodded.

They headed back to Punk's apartment and both AJ and Punk tried to ease off of Jessica as they noticed she got a little bit shaken up after they found her, no doubt realising what she had done was incredibly serious.

"Are you sure you're ok to have her another night?" AJ asked, a part of her not wanting to leave now, looking through the door as she saw Jessica sitting up watching TV.

"Yeah, she's fine." Punk nodded, "Shame on us for… not paying attention." He shook his head.

"Yeah but she… I don't know, I think she did it for attention." AJ nodded, "Do you think she's starting to feel… in the middle of us?" AJ sighed.

"I don't know but… I'm just glad she's ok and, I think she gets the idea to never do it again." Punk nodded, "I think me and you just need to forget about what's going on, whatever it is or was… it's not what you want, fine." Punk nodded, "I just… want you to be happy." He said as AJ just nodded.

"I think I'm gonna go talk to Jamie. I just… I want things to be simple for both of us." She said as Punk just nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Punk agreed, "Whatever… works out best."

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I… I should go." She said as Punk nodded.

"I'll drop her off tomorrow morning just before nine." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, ok." AJ said. In the heat of another fight, which AJ knew was brought on by the passion they still had for each other's feelings, they had dropped everything they were doing to come together in the one thing they both agreed on, and that was keeping their daughter safe and making sure she was alright. She felt lucky to have him by her side today during the scare they had, and it was another reminder of how much they needed each other at times. But it was so hard to let go of the past.