Shopping

Punk finished up his shift at 6am, leaving the station and getting into his car to drive home, except… he didn't want to go home, it didn't feel like a home to him anymore. Home was somewhere he felt happy and comforted. His home was AJ.

He promised himself he would stay away from her. He knew it wasn't fair to be around her right now, but he physically couldn't go one more day without seeing her. He was aching for her. Just to see her and hear her voice.

He knew he shouldn't have, but he drove to the bar. He knew she'd be leaving for college soon and when he saw her walk out of the entrance, he got out.

"April." Punk said as AJ turned around, watching the nervousness on her face. He hated that he made her feel that way. That he'd hurt her and made her feel small.

"I need to get my bus." AJ shook her head, "You shouldn't be here."

"Please just let me talk to you." Punk said, walking towards her as she sighed, "I miss you." He shook his head, "This is killing me."

"Well it's not the best for me either, Phil." AJ nodded as Punk sighed to himself.

"It's you. It's you who I wanna be with. Not her." Punk shook his head, "You know I was going to call it off. I was gonna bring up divorce. I did bring it up." He said, "And then she told me she was pregnant. What am I supposed to do?" He asked. He kept saying it because he truly didn't know. He wanted someone to make the call for him.

"I don't know. I don't want to be the one who breaks up a family." She shook her head, "It felt… it felt ok because I knew you were gonna end your marriage and we could be together but… it's different now." AJ shook her head, "I don't want to be the reason you don't get to see your kid." She said as Punk looked across at him.

"You're not to blame for anything." He made clear, "You have to know that. I don't blame you at all. I should have spoken to Janine months ago." He said, "And now here I am, I thought I finally had it figured out." He admitted.

"Well life isn't that easy sometimes." AJ nodded, "The decision has to be yours. No one else's."

"It's not just about what I want, though." He said, "It's harder than that now." He said.

"And I know that." AJ understood, "But you need to figure it out because I'm not gonna be on standby for you to change your mind. I'm not being one of your options. I want to be more than that to you. And if that's all I am then maybe we shouldn't have even done this-"

"You are not an option. You're it." Punk said as she looked up at him, "I want you." He said, tilting her chin up by his thumb and finger.

"Don't." She whispered. When she felt as strongly as she did about him, she knew she could be reckless.

"Spend the morning with me." Punk nodded.

"Phil." AJ sighed, looking up at him. She wanted to be with him so badly, but she knew this could only make it more difficult and more problematic than it already was…

"Phil." AJ moaned, lying in the hotel bed naked as Punk thrusted inside of her on top. A few days without him had her body relishing in glory, welcoming him back desperately.

She'd skipped her class for the morning and Punk had text Janine to say he was working later. It was hard to think about consequences when it felt this good.

"Fuck, April." Punk moaned, leaning down and kissing her passionately, feeling her moans in his mouth as he continued to pump inside of her fiercely.

"I'm gonna cum." AJ whispered against the side of his mouth, "Please don't stop." She grabbed his face desperately as he moved his hand down between them and began stroking her clit, sending her completely over the edge as she bucked her hips so wildly and sensitively that his length slipped out of her, causing him to smile as he watched her orgasm.

"You ok?" Punk smiled, leaning down and kissing her neck as AJ moaned with satisfaction, grabbing the back of his hair.

"You make every time feel like the first." She said breathlessly as he smiled, kissing up her jaw and back to her lips.

He slipped back inside of her below, this time thrusting into her slowly and deep as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I don't want this to end." He whispered as she bit her lip, moaning quietly at the intense thrusts filling her up.

He couldn't hang back for much longer and came hard, pulling out of her and collapsing on the bed beside, tossing the condom from him as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I wish this felt wrong." AJ admitted truthfully as he turned to her, "So it would be easy to stop." She whispered, curling her nakedness into him as he wrapped his arm around her.

"It'd be easier but… I don't want to lose this feeling for anything." Punk admitted truthfully, grazing his fingers up and down her arm.

"Have you been sleeping with her?" AJ asked curiously.

"No." Punk said truthfully, "No, every time she hints at it I… I come up with an excuse." He said, "The ironic thing is, sleeping with her would feel like cheating, and this… this is the thing that feels right." He said.

"But morally… it's not right." AJ whispered. There were moments where she hated herself for being the other girl, "My uh… my dad had an affair when I was growing up." She said as Punk looked down at her, "I found them." She nodded.

"I'm sorry." Punk sighed.

"No, it's… it's fine." AJ said, "But I always wondered how anyone could do that to another woman. Another family." She shook her head, "I thought seeing that type of thing so young would have made me think before… doing something like this." She shook her head, "But I guess not."

"This just feels completely different." Punk shook his head.

"Yeah, for us. What about Janine?" AJ sighed, "I know you're stuck and you don't love her anymore, you haven't for a while, even before me but… what we're doing is still unfair. And it's hard to care when we're in the moment." She nodded.

"I know." Punk nodded, "Trust me, I feel like the worst person on earth." He said, "I wish I could just tell her."

"Maybe you can." AJ said, "Who's to say she'll not let you see the kid?"

"Dean said the same thing but… I know her. She can be spiteful." Punk nodded, "And if not her then her family." He said, "And then to the kid, I'll be the dad that walked out on him for another woman." He said, "And I don't wanna be that." He sighed to himself as AJ nodded.

She knew it was a difficult place to be in. His feelings for her were clear, but the goodness in his heart wasn't ready to risk losing his kid.

"So what do we do?" AJ whispered, "We can't… we can't keep doing this." She shook her head. She hated that she'd gave in, because it only made it harder to pull away again.

"I-I don't know." Punk sighed with frustration, "Do I tell her? Is that the risk I gotta take?" He questioned, "I can't lose you." He shook his head.

The past year had been slowly but surely the most challenging thing for him. His marriage fell apart bit by bit and to find AJ was almost like the light at the end of the dark tunnel. To find a best friend and soulmate all in one, that was his sign that his marriage was finished. But the situation he was in now made it impossible to make a decision.

"Then you should tell her." AJ nodded, "The sooner you tell her the easier it will be." She said as Punk nodded.

"I don't even know what I could say." Punk sighed to himself.

"The truth." AJ said, "This doesn't make you a bad person. If she uses the baby against you, to get back at you, that's not you paying for your mistakes, that's her being unfair. No matter what happened, the baby shouldn't be put in the middle."

"And that's what I'm scared of." Punk sighed to himself, "I just don't know." He said as AJ looked up at him.

"I'm not going to just wait around on you." AJ made clear, "You know I feel and you know where I am. But if I'm just keeping you warm until you go back home to your wife… this is over." She made clear to him.

"That's not who you are." Punk said, "You are my home. I want to stay here with you all night. It's you I want." He said, rolling over on top of her as she looked up at him.

"You got me. I'm right here." AJ nodded as he leaned down and captured her lips against his, rolling them over so she was on top, making every second count.

AJ got back home to the bar in the afternoon where her parents believed she had been at college for the day. She knew one day off wouldn't affect her college work, and it was most definitely worth it after the full morning she had spent in bed with Punk.

She knew her heart was in such a risky place, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to be with him. When they were together it just felt right. It felt perfect.

"April run along to the store and get in some milk. We're out." Jeanette said just as AJ had come back.

"Just milk?' AJ asked her.

"Yes. Straight back." Jeanette warned, handing AJ over some money.

"Ok." AJ said, leaving the bar and crossing the road and heading down to the nearest store for her mother.

She picked up the milk and headed to the cashiers desk when she nervously bumped into Janine in one of the aisles. She tried to avoid eye contact but she knew she had been spotted.

"Hey… April, is it?" Janine smiled.

"Yeah." AJ gulped nervously. She could barely look this woman in the eye considering she'd been sleeping with her husband all morning.

"I don't think I've ever saw you out from behind that bar." Janine teased.

"Just getting some milk." AJ nodded.

"You don't use soya?" Janine noticed.

"No… just… normal milk." AJ laughed a little.

"Oh, soya milk is really good for your hair and nails." Janine said, "You should try it." She said as AJ nodded to herself. Complimentary as she always was.

"Maybe I will." AJ nodded, "But my mom would kill me if I came back with it. She likes her basics." AJ said.

"Oh, my mom is the same." Janine chuckled, grabbing a box of toothpaste and putting it in her basket as AJ noticed something that puzzled her. A box of tampons.

"Must be a generation thing." AJ said, making sure she didn't look too suspicious but she knew what she was looking at. She was pretty sure the last thing a pregnant woman needed was a full box of tampons.

"Must be." Janine smiled, "Well I better go." She said as AJ nodded, watching her walk away down the rest of the aisle as AJ stood in shock and confusion.