Enjoy the last chapter, folks. This story has been a blast to write!
Three days later…
The three days that Punk had been doubting for the past month had finally come and gone and it was the sweetest redemption he could have asked for. He wasn't thinking about how he had lost AJ, or his addicting character, he was focused and he was in the zone, only thinking of one person in particular, his sweet baby daughter.
AJ started the trip off with so many nerves, but they quickly vanished as soon as she got back into the swing of things, not as rusty as she thought she was, still keeping her talent. It had just got lost in the past year and needed and chance to come back out.
Punk never thought he could possibly be happy again without AJ, he thought his life had no purpose, but being without AJ, his life had an even greater purpose. He was a father, and that came at the top of his list, regardless of being just 'friends' with AJ, they still vowed to raise their daughter in a family type way.
Their three days on the road, squaring off to some tough ass guys finally opened his eyes wide and clear. He was meant to get with AJ, he was meant to be with her, because without her, and all the shit they had been through, he wouldn't have felt so strong as to what he did now. And without getting with her, their daughter would never have been born, and he could never imagine that.
"Pass me the jam." AJ pointed across the table, smiling as Punk passed her the jar, all five of them sitting in a diner, before setting out on the road to go home.
He never thought the day would come where he could sit across the table from AJ and look at her just as he used to, one of his best friends. It was bizarre sometimes to think they had shared a year together, a numbing, painful year, but this was the way things were meant to go.
"I just want to say…" Punk held the glass of orange juice in his hand, "I'm glad we done this, and I'm proud of all of you. We started like this… we're destined to end like this." Punk said as AJ smiled.
"I don't think this is our last ride though." Dean piped up.
"You stupid? Of course it isn't." Punk said, "You're the greatest friends a guy could ask for. I was so caught up in thinking that I needed someone to love me closely…" He looked at AJ specifically, "I didn't realise I had four amazing friends already loving me." He said.
"We're always going to love you." AJ smiled across at him, watching him smile.
"Ok…" Seth said, "Well, I can't say your relationship was a complete disaster, we did get little Pait from it… but I'm glad you worked things out." Seth piped in.
"That little girl has got some great parents." Roman added as Punk nodded.
"She does." Punk smiled, smiling across at AJ who smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear.
She was still beautiful to him, a part of him would always want her in the way he couldn't have, but he was satisfied being her friend. Everyone was happier, he was a stronger father and most of all… no roadblocks got put in their way.
"And she has some great uncles. Just saying." Dean put his hands up in defence, "Still pissed you never called her Deanette." Dean sighed as AJ giggled.
"Why don't you have your own Deanette then." Punk rolled his eyes with a chuckle, paying his attention back to his food as they all did, Dean looking around with raised eyebrows.
"Well… actually." He looked as they all lifted their heads one by one, staring at him in the eye.
A few hours later…
After Dean explaining to his excited friends about growing his own offspring in Renee's stomach, they headed off back into their city, dropping one after the other off until it was just AJ and Punk heading back to Mike's.
"Oh, my precious girl." AJ smiled as she held Paiten in her arms, missing her so much it was unexplainable while Punk watched, caressing the back of his daughter's head as AJ held her tightly.
"How did things go?" Mike asked his brother.
"Good. Great actually. Got the fucker back in prison and only came away with a few bruises." Punk smiled to his brother, turning his attention back to Paiten who he had missed so much, not realising how much he had missed her until seeing her again right at this moment.
"Mommy and daddy got one bad guy down, another million to go." Punk spoke to his daughter, vowing to kill all the bad men in the world to protect her.
AJ laughed, feeling Punk pull her in, Paiten tucked in between them looking around with awe inspiring eyes, in between her parents love that may not have been sexual or intimate anymore, but it had never been stronger this way.
"My girls." Punk whispered. He'd enjoyed their adrenalised few days, never feeling better and finding himself again, but he was glad to be back with Paiten and AJ.
Later on…
Punk and AJ had been invited out for dinner with Dean and Renee, to which at first they were a little hesitant, plus… they weren't all for leaving Paiten again, but they eventually came to a decision to go and take Paiten with them in her stroller. She stayed fast asleep the majority of the night anyway. She was a little angel when out, not a single peep out of her.
Punk didn't even feel like he was on a double date like he thought he would feel, he knew he was here with his three friends and his daughter, who he just couldn't stop staring at.
It was in this moment, where he realised that unconditional love didn't need to be between a man and woman who shared a bed. No, it could be between his best friends who he loved with all his heart.
He could always say him and AJ tried, but they were destined to be friends, to fight off the bad guys and even though they weren't destined to be a couple, they were definitely destined to be parents.
It was a hard process, his heart had broken so many times he was surprised it was still beating, he'd let himself go and gave into weaknesses, but not once had he lost what meant the most to him, his friends… no, his family.
"Well, we better shoot off." Punk said, his hands guiding Paiten's stroller as they headed out of the restaurant, AJ standing close beside him as they said their goodbyes to Dean and Renee.
From city to city, country to country, in all of these life and death situations, he'd realised that his life was just that. He lived off of that adrenalin, he lived off of having his friends backs. He wasn't boyfriend material… but he was father material.
It was hard to put the past year and a half behind them, but Punk was willing to, to forget about his drunken mistakes, his irresponsible fatherly mistakes and his boyfriend mistakes.
AJ wasn't upset that the past year had happened, she felt stronger for it and she never thought she would say it, but her and Punks love had never been stronger. It was a classic example that parents did not need to be emotionally in love with each other the way peoples perspective of parenthood was. They could be the best of friends who told each other everything and still raise a daughter in the city with pride, looking back on everything they had been through and being stronger for it.
"I'm still kinda hungry." Punk sighed, feeling AJ hold on to his arm as they walked down the path, pushing a sleeping Paiten in her stroller.
"How can you possibly be hungry still?" AJ chuckled against his arm that had became more larger over his past month of training and sweating.
"Did you see what I ordered?" Punk looked down at her.
"Yeah, but you ate half of my fries, Punk." AJ said as Punk smiled to himself.
"You're small, you don't need that much food." He said as she hit him playfully as they approached AJ's house.
"You did good this weekend." She looked up at him with a smile.
"You did good today." She nodded, coming to her house, pausing outside with him.
"Ahh, you weren't too bad yourself." He shrugged, the dark night quiet and still, unlike what they were used to. He could forever hear burning fires, crashing cars, falling down buildings… and he loved it.
"Goodnight, Brooks." She saluted him with a smile, taking herself and her bottled up feelings with her, walking up the stairs to her house…
"Ahh, you weren't too bad yourself." Punk smiled to her as she looked up at him, pausing in the street.
"Since you're still hungry… do you fancy going for some ice cream?" She asked him with a hopeful smile.
"That sounds good." Punk nodded.
"Ok." AJ nodded, "Let me just go in and get Paiten her blanket." She said, not wanting her daughter to get cold in this dark night.
Punk watched with a smile as AJ ran up the steps to her house and in through the door to collect the blanket.
He'd spent so much time thinking he needed her as a girlfriend, when really… he just needed her. Sometimes things didn't end like fairytales, but they weren't living in a fairytale. They were the good guys in the world full of bad. Sometimes things didn't end in marriage and a happily ever after… they ended better, with an everlasting friendship and a lesson learned.
"Got it." AJ smiled, running out the door with blanket in hand, locking her house back up and walking down the steps, walking around and placing the blanket over Paiten's sleepy body in her stroller, talking her hair behind her ears as she looked down at her perfect daughter, stroking her cheek lovingly.
"Can't have my baby cold." Punk said as AJ joined him back behind the stroller as he pushed it along the path, turning back in their tracks to go get some late night ice cream.
"Your baby?" AJ raised her eyebrows with disapproval.
"Our baby." Punk corrected himself. And she was just that, she was their baby and always would be, their perfect baby girl.
"What flavour are you going for?" AJ asked him curiously.
"Oh, the decisions." Punk thought hard.
"C'mon. You always go for mint chocolate chip." AJ rolled her eyes at his predicting taste in ice cream.
"I do not. I like other flavours." He fluttered his eyes at her.
"Like vanilla." She said, "The most boring flavour in the universe." She said as he laughed.
"Ok, well how about you pick the flavour I have then." He told her as she hugged into his side.
"Where would you be without me? Picking out the ice cream flavour of the night." AJ laughed as Punk smiled.
"Where would I be without you." Punk mumbled, pushing his daughter along the path in her stroller, AJ cuddled into him on the cold night as they proceeded down to the ice cream shop down the road.
This year had taught them a lot. The most important thing being that, as long as they had each other, nothing bad could happen, as long as they were still in each others lives, they could continue to love and grow as people and give their daughter the love she needed and deserved. They never knew that what they wanted with each other, they already had.
The end.
Not a typical ending which I hope no one is too mad at. Thank you so much for the reviews and support throughout this crazy story, it means so much to me and I can't thank all the readers and reviewers enough. Stick around for the sequel to 'I want crazy' coming very soon! Thank you so much. - Lauren.
