No Rush


"So… how was it?" Jenny smiled, standing in art class where they were painting one of the walls after finishing course work that they had to do.

"How was what?" Freddie asked modestly.

"The D?" Jenny asked as Freddie turned to her and made a face.

"You two are way too nosey." Freddie just laughed, dipping her paint brush in the pot and back onto the wall where they were painting different designs and patterns.

"At least tell us if it went well?" Lucy asked, "You owe us that."

"I owe you?" Freddie laughed.

"Well this is the guy you're blowing us off for now, we deserve to know that he's at least treating you nice." Lucy said.

"It was fine." Freddie shrugged.

"Just fine?" Jenny asked.

"Ok, it was really fine." Freddie nodded.

"What'd he do?" Lucy asked, "Did he go down on you?" She asked as Freddie kept her eyes on the wall, "I assume that's a yes." She laughed.

"Did you go down on him?" Jenny asked as Freddie kept her eyes on the wall, trying her best not to smile, "Freddie Carraro, you little slut." She laughed.

"How does that make me a slut?" Freddie turned to her and laughed, "He's my boyfriend."

"Hey, I'm proud of you." Jenny put her hands up, "Was he big?"

"Ok, you're both officially not allowed to ask questions now." Freddie warned as they laughed, "That's all you're getting."

"At least you don't have to be nervous now." Lucy said as Freddie nodded.

"He didn't make it a nervous thing for me. Like I thought would be but… it wasn't. It was nice." She shrugged, "I'm going to his again tonight."

"Oh, yeah. Get it girl." Jenny nodded, "Clearly he wants more." She smirked.

"He wanted me to stay over last night." Freddie said, "But I knew I'd be faced with twenty one questions from my dad in the morning, but then… I came home and he wasn't there and he still wasn't this morning, he was at my mom's. He just sent me a text saying he was ok and that I better go to school." She shrugged.

"Oh, your dad finally getting the love he deserves has made my year." Jenny nodded, "What a guy."

"No, I think he was just… they've been spending a lot of time together." Freddie said, "You know what, I don't want to know." She admitted, "They can… do what they want." She waved her hand.

"Don't you want them together?" Lucy asked.

"Of course I do. I just don't want them to rush into anything to the point they end up overwhelmed. Me and my mom are still taking it slow, I mean things are good with her, and she's like… a part of my life now, but there's more between them both, I think they should respect the fact they haven't been together in eighteen years."

"You don't know how they're feeling though." Jenny said, "Clearly they loved one another. Wouldn't it be nice to have them together? Under the same roof as you?"

"Yeah, it would." Freddie nodded. Of course she wanted her parents to be happy and together, but she still worried about how much time they'd actually spent apart, and that maybe one day that would catch them out, "It's not for me to say." She shrugged, climbing down from the ladders, not noticing the paint tray sitting as she stepped down on it and fell down onto the other paint as Jenny and Lucy looked down at her, "You've got to be kidding me." Freddie groaned, looking at the paint up her arm and t-shirt, some in her hair and face.

"Are you ok?" Jenny laughed as Freddie groaned to herself, looking over at the other class where some younger students were laughing.

"Oh, yeah. Great." Freddie shook her head, standing up, "It's literally everywhere." She shook her head, feeling the paint all over her back and up the backs of her arms.

"Freddie, go clean up in the girls bathroom." Her teacher called over.

"Oh, no I was gonna just stand here and go to my next class like this." Freddie muttered without her teacher hearing, "Stop laughing." She told her friends who were trying their best not to obviously laugh at her.

"You look like elmo jerked off on your face." Lucy laughed as half of her face was covered in red paint.

"Funny." Freddie nodded, "I swear if anyone sees me like this." She shook her head, dumping the paintbrush down and walking out of the class, practically dripping with paint as she made her way down to the girls locker room. She would have gone to the bathroom but she knew the dryers and sinks were better in the locker rooms.

She walked on in, thankfully seeing it empty, beginning to wash herself at the sink, stripping her t-shirt off. She wasn't even sure how to even clean it.

She continued to try and wash her t-shirt as well as her face and parts of her hair when she suddenly heard loud commotion coming from the opposite door which lead outside. She thought nothing of it, assuming the girls gym team were coming in, until she heard a lot more masculine voices.

She slowly looked up from the sink, looking in the mirror as she saw the school's football team standing together staring at her.

"Shit." Freddie sighed to herself, grabbing her t-shirt and turning around, placing it over her.

"I think you got the wrong locker room, Brooks." One of the guys nodded, "Nice bra, though. Black is my favourite."

"Oh, is that the first bra you've ever saw in person? Besides from your mom's?" Freddie smiled, putting her still very painted t-shirt back on as some of the other guys laughed with her, watching the boy front and centre go red from embarrassment, "I thought this place smelt too bad to be the girls. I apologise." She nodded, walking off out of the locker room, groaning to herself as she found the girls locker room instead.


"Hey, I'm home." Freddie sighed, walking into the apartment, dried up paint in her hair and on her clothes as Punk walked around the corner from inside the kitchen.

"Oh, shit." Punk jumped a little, "What the hell happened to you?"

"I tripped and… fell in some paint." Freddie shook her head, dumping her bag down and walking into the living room as Punk followed her.

"It's all in your hair." He cringed.

"Yes, dad. I'm aware. I've had people tell me all day." Freddie said, "I need to shower." She shook her head, afraid to sit down anywhere in case she left a print of paint, "You stay at mom's last night?" She turned around to him, arching a brow.

"Yeah." Punk nodded casually.

"Just crash on her couch, did you?" Freddie asked with a telling smile as Punk watched her.

"Uh… yeah." Punk nodded along as Freddie just nodded.

"Right." Freddie said, "Well I'm gonna go shower and then I'm going out."

"With?" Punk questioned.

"Rocky." Freddie said.

"Why don't you invite him in one night? I'll cook." Punk said.

"You don't cook." Freddie laughed a little.

"Well then my lazy ass will lift the phone and call for a pizza." Punk said, "I feel like I've not got to talk to Rocky at all."

"Yeah, I wonder why he would avoid you." Freddie said, folding her arms.

"I do wonder why? I'm a lovely guy just up for some casual conversation." Punk shrugged as Freddie scoffed.

"If Rocky says the wrong thing you'll pounce on him. I know you." Freddie said, "Some nights I might just… stay at his house and go straight to school from there, that'd be ok right?"

"No." Punk laughed, "No it wouldn't."

"Why not?" Freddie asked.

"Because. You come home." Punk told her seriously.

"What difference does it really make?" Freddie asked.

"A lot. I want you home-"

"Coming from the guy who was away all night and all morning last night?" Freddie asked.

"I'm a grown ass man, Freddie." Punk laughed.

"And I'm eighteen." Freddie said, "I'm not a little girl."

"You've just started dating this kid-"

"Stop calling him this kid, he has a name, use it." Freddie told him.

"You've just started dating Rocky." Punk said.

"And? What is your point exactly?" Freddie asked him.

"Don't rush into anything." Punk told her.

"Already have." Freddie mumbled.

"What?" Punk said.

"Nothing." Freddie smiled, "Fine, whatever keeps your heart rate healthy." She shook her head, "I'm going to shower." She said, wandering off to the bathroom as Punk shook his head.


Freddie left the apartment later on after showering and headed to Rocky's house where she was actually surprisingly met with him coming down the side walk.

"Where were you?" Freddie asked him as Rocky just shook his head.

"Just… out." Rocky smiled to her, leaning in and giving her a kiss, "You're early."

"Had to get away from my dad's questions." Freddie nodded, "He wants to invite you over for dinner." She told him as he unlocked the door and walked on into the house.

"That's not good." Rocky admitted.

"It'll be fine. As long as I prepare you for a week in advance, you'll be ok." Freddie nodded as Rocky groaned, "You won't believe what happened to me in school today-"

"I heard." Rocky nodded, displeased, not that Freddie noticed, heading on upstairs.

"Oh, great. So everyone is talking about it?" Freddie asked, "I'm over it." She shook her head, following him upstairs and into his bedroom, "Where is your little brother?"

"Some club, I don't know." Rocky shook his head.

"Well I uh… I said to my dad about me potentially just staying over here and going to school in the morning from here but he… was not down for that." Freddie said, "In fact, he told me to be back for 10." She admitted, embarrassed.

"What?" Rocky groaned, "What difference does it make?"

"That's what I said but… he's been all adamant about it now." Freddie shook her head, "Which means… we just gotta start up a few hours early." She smiled, stripping her t-shirt off and walking over to him as he smiled, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back onto the bed with him.


"You gave her a curfew?" AJ laughed a little, sitting in the kitchen in Punk's apartment having dinner with him. They'd been doing it since he got out of hospital, nothing too extravagant but enough to be in each other's company. However, neither had addressed the activities of last night. In the morning AJ had gone to work and they never really got the chance to talk. She could only remember falling asleep in his arms and feeling so sad to leave them when her alarm went off.

"Damn right." Punk nodded, "She said would it be ok if she just stayed overnight? It's like sometimes I think she's trying to test me." He said.

"What's wrong with her staying over at his house? They're dating." AJ shook her head.

"Because I know why she wants to stay over." Punk said as AJ shrugged.

"She's not a baby." AJ reminded him, "I mean, you realise they are… probably doing it already-"

"Why? Has she told you?" Punk put his fork down as AJ raised a brow.

"No, but I took her to the doctors for birth control a few weeks ago." AJ said as Punk raised a brow.

"Excuse me?" Punk shook his head.

"What?" AJ said, "She's smart. Unlike me and you who didn't use anything." She rolled her eyes.

"She asked you to take her?" Punk asked.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "It's not a big deal."

"I feel ill." Punk sighed to himself, running his hands over his face as AJ sighed.

"Wouldn't you rather she be in a relationship, being safe, enjoying his company, rather than some stranger at a party that she doesn't know… there's nothing wrong with what she's doing." AJ nodded, "I know you just worry but she's ok." She said as Punk just grumbled, "I was kinda hoping we could talk about… our relationship, not our daughters." She said as Punk looked across at her, "We never got the chance to talk really this morning." She said as he nodded, "I don't regret it." She made clear.

"I don't either." Punk shook his head.

"But I do think it's… important for us to respect how much we've been apart, and how different things are on an emotional level." She said as Punk nodded.

"It still feels like nothing has changed, especially last night." He said as she nodded, "I was kinda thinking you were just… emotional because of what I told you… about your dad." He said.

"A part of me was." AJ nodded, "I'm not gonna pretend I'm upset. My dad was a terrible person. I was just more… scared above anything else about the fact your dad took another person's life. I mean, that's how all of this started. Trying to cover up a murder that he committed. I really don't want things to end the same way it did last time. I'm not… missing another eighteen years of my kid's life."

"You're not gonna." Punk said, "It's normal you've got the fear of that after what you've been through. My dad… not that I'm proud of it, but he knows how to handle that type of situation. So I don't want it lying on your shoulders or mine. I know it's not something you want to forget about, it's hard to, but for us to move on, we gotta." He said as she nodded, "Don't worry about my dad. He can carry a lot on his shoulders. More than the average person." Punk said.

"I've realised that over the years." AJ nodded, "Am I a horrible person? For… For not caring that my own father is dead?"

"Your father wasn't a father to you. He did the opposite of care for you. He was totally fine with hurting Freddie and me, and he knew what that would do to you, and he still didn't care. You have every right to feel nothing." Punk assured her.

"So what do we do?" AJ asked him.

"About what?" Punk asked her.

"About us. What are we doing?" She asked. It seemed such a simple question but yet so difficult to confirm, "Can we just have sex again?" She asked exhaustedly as he threw his cutlery down, standing up as she did too, feeling him lift her up, pressing his lips against hers in a rush, pinning her against the nearest wall, his hand around her neck as they kissed longingly, her hands pulling at his t-shirt as he kissed her neck. They couldn't help it.