"I'm... probably going to go home." AJ told Max, finding herself completely embarassed, realising she was crying on him and putting him in an awkward situation.

"Don't go just because of her." Max told her, watching her stand up and and lift Piper from her crib, placing her into her stroller so she could get the hell out of here. She didn't think Punk was purposely trying to hurt her like this, he probably didn't even know she was hurting, but he should just have had the common sense to know that he was crossing the line with this girl, wether he wanted to face it or not.

"Can you tell Phil to remember and take her crib and things home with him when he's finished here." AJ said as Max nodded, watching AJ guide the stroller out of the back room and through the shop, smiling to the man holding the door opened for her and quickly leaving the shop without letting anybody know. She figured Punk had everything covered anyway with his little friend.

Punk however, had noticed AJ leaving the shop without so much as a goodbye, he paused his conversation with Violet behind the counter and ran slowly out of the shop, catching up with her to make sure she and Piper were ok.

"April... April, wait." Punk jogged up behind her in the street, watching her turn around and stare up at him.

"What?" AJ looked at him.

"Where are you going? I thought you were staying all day?" Punk questioned her.

"Looks like you got everything covered." AJ nodded, "Piper was getting restless anyway, I thought I'd take her home." AJ lied, knowing fine well that Piper was fine in her crib in the back room with her uncle watching her closely.

"Alright... well, do you want me to bring home dinner?" Punk asked her.

"Whatever." AJ said, other things on her mind other than dinner, looking up at him as he nodded.

"Ok. Well I'll see you when I get home then." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." She said, not giving him the chance to give her a kiss as she headed on down the pavement through different people on the busy Saturday. He could sense she didn't want bothered and he wasn't sure why.

He had noticed some change in their relationship these past weeks. He felt distant from her, like she was purposely trying to get away from him at any cost. But he didn't see how he acted with Violet through her eyes, to him, he was just joking around with a friend and having a good time at work. He had no idea how he was making his girlfriend feel.

After their small fight about him giving Violet the job, AJ just became so silent. She didn't seem happy. This was meant to be the best few weeks of their life with little Piper being born, but it had been the complete opposite.

He did feel attracted to Violet, she was a beautiful girl, there was no reason for him not to, but he loved AJ, and he knew he did. That's why joking around with Violet didn't seem like a big deal to him. He knew deep inside that he loved AJ. He supposed he just needed to show it more.

He made his way back into the shop, passing Max on the way in.

"Where are you going?" Punk asked his little brother who pulled his ear phones from his ears.

"What?" Max looked up at his brother. He had to admit, he was disgusted by his older brothers actions these few weeks, especially when he had so much going for him. Piper and AJ loved him, yet he spent the majority of his days behind a counter flirting with some one night stand he had years ago. It didn't make sense to Max.

"Where are you going?" Punk asked him again.

"Hayley's." Max said, walking on by Punk, placing his earphones back in and headed down the street to go to his girlfriends house.

Punk sighed as he watched Max walk down the street, walking back into the shop and trailing across the aisles to find the counter and get behind it.

"Who burst your bubble?" Violet asked him.

"Have I done something today?" Punk asked her curiously.

"What do you mean?" Violet shook her head.

"I don't know. April and Max seemed pissed with me." Punk shrugged.

"April seems pissed with you every day." Violet rolled her eyes, "She must be a joy to come home to." She said, taking a seat behind the counter as Punk looked at her disapprovingly.

"You don't know her." Punk told Violet, "Not like I know her." He said, not liking the way Violet spoke about April.

"Maybe she has that baby depression thing." Violet said, "You know, where they are all depressed and don't want to talk to anyone thing." She said as Punk shook his head.

"She isn't depressed." Punk said, although to him it did make a lot of sense, "What about Max though?" He said.

"Well he's just a teenager, he's going to be pissed all the time anyway." Violet said.

To Punk, all Violet was saying made sense to him, but he would never call out AJ and claim she has post natal depression. He didn't have the heart.

"Are we still working late tonight?" Violet asked.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, tapping the pen he was holding on the notepad, running his hand throuh his hair with a sigh. He didn't know what else he was supposed to do. He bought her presents, he treated her well in the house, he took good care of Piper, he really didn't know what the problem was, and that told him he wasn't paying good enough attention to AJ as he really should have. Less time needed to be spent with Violet and more with his girlfriend and new born daughter.

Later on...

Later on that night, AJ was in the house with Max and Piper, the only people she seemed to have around her at the moment. She had fed, changed and put Piper to sleep in her room, her little presence being the only thing to keep her smiling.

She was now currently lying on the couch downstairs with her feet on Max's lap who sat at the opposite side of the couch. She was twirling the necklace that Punk bought her around in her fingers, in a daydream of wonder, wondering what Punk was up to at this moment in time.

"I guess he's working late tonight." Max looked at the clock on the mantel as AJ nodded.

"Looks like it." AJ said, looking across at the TV, "Is it me? Am I doing something? Am I boring him?" AJ asked Max.

"No. It's not you, AJ." Max assured her, "It's all him." He muttered.

"Look at her compared to me. She's his match made in heaven." AJ rolled her eyes.

"No she isn't. You are." Max patted her leg, "You do need to talk to him though." He suggested. This problem wouldn't go away if they both kept carrying on this way. They needed to sit down and talk, and Punk needed to see how AJ felt and at least try look at things from her point of view, because from where she was standing, anything was about to go down with him and Violet.

With Punk...

Punk had stayed late on after the shop closed to do a stock take with Violet. For once though, he didn't enjoy being in her company, he couldn't get AJ out of his mind. He hoped she was ok, he really did.

"I bet you're dreading going home tonight." Violet smiled over to him as he chuckled to himself. She understood him in some level, but she wasn't after a friendship, and for some reason he hadn't figured that out yet.

"Just a little." Punk nodded, putting the comic he was looking at back in it's place and walking over to Violet who was doing the books in the corner, looking at their cerial numbers on the back and writing them down.

"Here's the only additon of this issue." Violet passed to him for him to write the number down. In the midst of passing the book to him, his hand closed over hers and she immediately looked up at him into those green eyes that belonged to be stared at by someone else.

"Ok... I got it." Punk nodded to her, "Let go." He smiled as she smiled back, letting go of the comic and blushing to herself, looking away from him and carrying on with the rest of the books.

"Do you really love your girlfriend?" Violet asked him, "I know you love your daughter. But do you love your girlfriend?" Violet asked as Punk laughed at her stupidity.

"Of course I do." Punk said without question.

"Then why are here instead of at home with her?" She turned around to him, watching him look down, scuffing his feet off the wooden flooring, having no honest answer for that.

He wasn't in control over what happened next, her lips were immediately on his as she dropped the comic books she was holding, her hand cupping his cheek as she put so much force into the kiss that he stumbled back against the shelf, feeling her press her body tightly against his. What didn't alarm him or disturb him was the fact she had kissed him, in fact, he was expecting it. What alarmed him the most that he was here, kissing her back and thinking only of himself.

Oh dear.

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