The Other Girl

"Hey, man. You ok?" Dean asked, walking into the station, spotting Punk sitting slouched on the chair at his desk.

"Not really, no." Punk shook his head. He'd just come from talking to AJ, and all he could see was the pain and disappointment in her face. It was the same pain he felt, and he wasn't sure she even believed that anymore. He didn't blame her if she didn't trust a thing he said anymore.

"Is there anything I can do?" Dean asked him as Punk shook his head.

"No, nothing." Punk shook his head, "You said it. It's my mess. I did this." He nodded to himself.

"This other girl… did you really love her?" Dean asked curiously, sitting down at his desk, wheeling his chair over to Punk's desk.

"Yeah, I did. I still do." Punk shook his head, "But… what am I supposed to do? If I tell Janine, she's out of here and she's taking my kid with her." He said, rubbing his forehead tiredly. He wasn't sleeping. Not when he had so much to think about, "And I don't wanna hurt her. She's having my baby. What the hell is she gonna do if I tell her that whilst she was finding out she's pregnant with our kid, I was out sleeping with someone else." Punk said.

"Do you think there's hope for you and Janine at all?" Dean asked, "Maybe… Maybe this baby will bring you closer together." He nodded, "It might not fix everything but it could make it a little easier for you."

"I'm not in love with Janine." Punk shook his head, "Yes, I love her, I care about her and I don't want her to get hurt but… I'm not in love with her. And I was so ready to lay it all out there. Tell her that we're done. A baby changes everything." He sighed to himself as Dean nodded.

"What are you gonna do then?" Dean asked.

"What can I do?" Punk asked, "Go back to where I was a few weeks ago. Tell myself that I can save my marriage. If not for me then for my kid. They're the one that's gonna suffer." He shook his head sadly. The timing was so off and he felt bad for being so miserable about something that should have been so wonderful.

"Look I'm not condemning you lying to Janine and just shutting up for the sake of a baby. I'm not." Dean said, "But I'm just scared of what she might do if you were honest with her. I mean say you came clean to her, you guys split and she had the baby. Do you really see her agreeing to co-parent with you?"

"No, of course not." Punk took a deep breath, "I should have come clean to her sooner. Before I even slept with anyone else. I should have gotten out… like dad said." He shook his head.

"You can't look at it like that anymore. You gotta look forward. You're gonna be a dad. That's… exciting, right?" Dean smiled. He could see his brother was at a crossroads where he felt lost and confused. He didn't envy the situation he was in at all.

"What do I know about kids?" Punk shook his head.

"Said every new parent to be in existence." Dean smiled, "You'll learn. And Uncle Dean will be there to help." He promised as Dean smiled to his brother.

"Thanks, man." Punk nodded.

"I know this isn't what you want. No need to say it, I can just tell." Dean said, "But… maybe if you give it a go, things could change for the better."

"Maybe." Punk said unconvinced, "I can barely look her in the eye."

"I think that's understandable given what's been going on. I get it, you were preparing to end it and go your separate ways. You were ready to do it and now… you feel like you can't. I get that." Dean nodded.

"Do you get that I still want to be with… the other girl, even though my wife is pregnant?" Punk said, "I mean… what the hell is wrong with me? My wife tells me she's gonna have a baby and all I want is to go meet someone else." He shook his head as Dean sighed to himself.

"You really love this other girl, huh?" Dean realised as Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah, I do." He said, sitting up on his chair and sighing to himself, "I uh… I gotta finish this report." He shook his head as Dean nodded to himself, moving back over to his own desk.

"Hey, I'm home." Punk said, getting home later that night as he saw Janine come from the kitchen, dressed up ready to go out, "You off somewhere?" He asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna go out." Janine smiled, "I left a shirt and some jeans out on our bed for you."

"Out? Out where?" Punk shook his head.

"Just to the bar down the street. We're gonna meet Dean and his new girlfriend. I text Dean." Janine smiled as Punk shook his head immediately, "What?"

"We uh… we don't need to go there, do we?" Punk chuckled a little nervously, "I mean… I'm always there."

"Exactly and I know how much you love it." Janine smiled, kissing his cheek, "And finally your brother is dating which means I have a girl I can talk to." She said excitedly.

"Babe, I don't know… I don't feel like going out." Punk shook his head.

"Come on, this is my way of… showing you that I'm down." Janine smiled.

"You're down?" Punk shook his head.

"Yeah. I know that I give you a hard time for spending time with your friends and brother in that bar. So I just want to be a part of." Janine shrugged, "So go get into your shirt and we'll get going." She said as Punk nodded slowly.

He didn't recall a time in recent years where she'd actually took notice of something he liked and enjoyed, like hanging to with his buddy's and brother at the bar.

"You sure I can't tempt you to go anywhere else?" Punk asked her.

"No, we're going there. It's not about me. You love it there so we'll go there." Janine smiled, "Now quickly, go get changed." She said as Punk nodded, heading upstairs and quickly getting cleaned up and changed into a shirt and jeans.

Janine waited downstairs, putting her coat on and applying some lipstick as she looked in the mirror by their front door. She looked down at her stomach, turning side on and rubbing it, staring into the mirror as she done so.

She turned around when she heard Punk coming downstairs, "Maybe we should just go for dinner or something?" Punk suggested, walking down the stairs.

"Oh, you look so handsome." Janine smiled sweetly, "No, we're going to meet Dean and… Renee, I think her name is." She said.

"Yeah, it's Renee." Punk assured, "Ok." He took a deep breath. This wasn't going to go well, he just knew it.

"I secretly want to celebrate our news." Janine smiled, taking his hand and placing it on her tummy, "I swear I can feel it. It's probably so tiny right now but… I can feel it." She nodded as he smiled, feeling her tummy with his hand.

"Well… I can't but I'll take your word for it." Punk smiled.

"It can be a secret celebration. Just between you and I." Janine smiled, "And our baby."

"Yeah." Punk smiled.

"Ok, let's get going. It takes me forever to walk in these heels." She shook her head, taking his hand and leaving the house.

"April get rid of those glasses sitting there. They've been there for hours." Jeanette shook her head, standing behind the bar where AJ was helping out. She knew her parents couldn't keep her upstairs forever. Especially at the weekend when the bar got incredibly busy.

"I've just not got round to it yet, mom." AJ shook her head.

"Lose the attitude, baby. It doesn't suit you." Jeanette walked by her as AJ rolled her eyes, reaching over for the empty glasses, beginning to unload them into the dish washer. She had channelled all her hurt and sadness into working. She still couldn't really believe that the one good thing in her life that she'd found, had been taken away from her. She hated herself for even believing it would have worked out. She felt incredibly stupid.

"She looked up as she heard the bar door opening up, watching as Punk walked in with Janine, clutching the glass she was holding as he didn't even look at her. She couldn't believe he was actually coming into the bar, with his wife, hours after finishing it with her. She felt even more stupid now, and wondered if she had him figured out the way she thought she had.

"I'll go get the drinks." Janine said after saying hello to Dean and meeting his new date, Renee.

"No, let me." Punk said immediately.

"No, I wanna have a look at the sodas." Janine insisted, "Water?"

"Yeah." Punk nodded nervously, sitting down at the table as he watched Janine head up to the bar.

AJ took a deep breath as she realised she had to serve Janine, keeping her cool as she walked over to serve her.

"Hi, what can I get you?" AJ asked politely.

"Hi, sweetie. Uh…. What kind of soda's do you do?" Janine asked as AJ looked across at her.

"Just… the usual kinds." AJ nodded.

"Ok, I'll take a grapefruit soda and a water." Janine nodded.

"Ok." AJ said, turning around and grabbing a soda from the fridge behind as well as a water, "Keeping the tab open?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, we are." Janine smiled, "Can you bring them over?" She asked as AJ looked down at the can of soda and the water. Why couldn't she take it over? She had two hands.

"Yeah." AJ nodded.

"Thank you, sweetie." Janine nodded, walking back over to the table they had as AJ grabbed the soda and water, walking out from behind the bar and heading over to their table.

"Here you go." AJ sat down the drinks for them.

"Thanks, honey." Janine smiled as Punk glanced up at AJ.

"Thank you." Punk nodded.

"Dean, can I get you anything else?" AJ asked, ignoring Punk.

"I'm good, April. Thanks." Dean smiled as she nodded, walking back over behind the bar.

"I kept the tab open." Janine smiled to Punk.

"Who are you and what have you done with Janine?" Dean questioned as Janine smiled, turning to Punk and kissing him as Punk kissed back as discreetly as he could, but she was all over him.

Dean looked elsewhere and out of the corner of his eye noticed AJ behind the bar wiping under her eyes, very obviously upset.

"You want another drink?" Dean asked Renee.

"Rum and coke." Renee nodded as Dean stood up, walking over to the bar, looking on at AJ quickly drying her eyes.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Dean asked, "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." AJ assured him, looking over at Punk and Janine. Her heart physically hurt watching it. She didn't know if he had control over it, but to bring it here, right in front of her nose. It was the first time she felt like he'd made her look like an idiot, and feel like one too.

"Disgusting, right?" Dean nodded, noticing she was watching Punk and Janine.

"Excuse me." AJ said, not being able to stand and watch it anymore, walking away from Dean and into the back of the bar as he shook his head with confusion, turning back to Punk and Janine, pausing for a second. Surely it wasn't…

He walked back over to the table, "Can I speak to you?" Dean asked Punk who he noticed was extremely uncomfortable.

"Uh… yeah." Punk said.

"Outside." Dean nodded, walking off outside as Punk stood up, leaving Janine chatting to Renee as he followed his brother out of the bar.

"What is it?" Punk shook his head.

"The other girl." Dean said, "It's April, isn't it?" Dean realised.