Together

"Dean, I'm so sorry." AJ turned to Dean immediately, "I'll find somewhere to go." She nodded, knowing fine well that she didn't have anywhere else.

"April, you're fine." Dean nodded, "I've got a spare bedroom, you guys can stay in there until you figure something out." He said, "I'm meeting Renee for dinner so… I'm gonna go. Just make yourself at home." He nodded to her.

"Thank you so much." AJ said as Dean nodded.

"Thanks, man. I'll see you later." Punk said as Dean nodded, leaving the kitchen and heading out to meet Renee, "So what happened?" Punk asked AJ, taking her bags from her and sitting them over.

"They yelled at me. A lot." AJ nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen table with him, "They think of me as much as Janine does. Actually I think they think worse of me than she does so… that paints a picture for you." She said as Punk sighed to himself, "They weren't interested in hearing if I actually loved you or if it was a serious relationship." She said, "They wanted me gone."

"I am so sorry." Punk took her hand in his, "This is all my fault."

"No, it's not." AJ shook her head, "We both did this." She said, "We both wanted this. It's nobody's fault." She said.

"I can't believe they would kick you out." Punk shook his head as AJ looked across at him.

"Really?" AJ raised a brow.

"Ok, maybe I can believe it a little." He nodded as AJ smiled softly, "But still, to just kick you out and not even think about how unsafe you could be-"

"I think me doing something for myself for once has made them realise that they can't control my life anymore. And maybe that's all I was to them. Maybe I was never really a daughter to them. Just someone they could control." She said.

"Your dad did the same thing. Not even the same thing, he did worse." Punk said, "How can he justify being mad at you?"

"Well he said a lot less than my mom, I guess." AJ said, "She thinks you just used me." She nodded, "No one's gonna believe that we actually care about each other." She shook her head with frustration.

"I don't care what anyone else believes. We know what's going on between us and that's all that matters." Punk nodded as AJ sighed to herself.

"I can't believe she found my lanyard in your car." AJ sighed, placing her hand on her forehead, "I've been looking for that for like a week and a half." She shook her head, "I just thought I'd misplaced it."

"I had no idea she was looking in my car. I had no idea she was gonna come to the bar like that." Punk said.

"Did you see her after outside?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, but she was still just going off on one." Punk said, "She said she's not finished. That she has more to say and more to do." He shook his head as AJ sighed to herself.

"This is such a mess, Phil. I never thought it would be this bad. Were we just in denial?" AJ shook her head.

"I just don't think I realised how Janine would really take it." Punk said, "I never thought she'd go into full blown psycho mode." He said, "I really thought she'd pack her bags and go to her mom's actually." He shook his head.

"What are we going to do?" AJ asked him, "I've just been thrown out my house." She shook her head, still in shock.

"As long as you're with me, you'll be fine. I promise you." He nodded, "Your parents are idiots for kicking you out, for treating you the way they do." Punk said, "You don't deserve any of it." He made clear. He wanted her to know that. The way her family had treated her, even prior to this, was almost inhumane. Part of him was glad she was out of that toxic environment, but he knew she had to be terrified on her own.

"I just don't know how to live on my own. I'll never be allowed back in the bar. My parents said I'm the shame of the family. They're more concerned about what people will think."

"You have nothing to be ashamed about." Punk said, "We know what we have. Maybe things got out of hand and that's on me. I should have been the one who came clean sooner to Janine-"

"She lied to you about having a baby." AJ reminded him, "You did what you had to. And I don't blame you." She said.

"She's acting like that doesn't exist. It's not even phased her that she made up this lie." Punk shook his head, "And I got a feeling that the divorce isn't gonna go smooth at all." He sighed to himself.

"I'm here for you" AJ nodded. She wanted him to know she was there for him just as much as he was there for her. The only good thing to come out of this was the fact they could give themselves to each other completely, without the fear or the guilt anymore.

"I love you." Punk said softly, cupping her cheek as she rested against it.

"I love you too." AJ nodded. She felt like everything could be falling down around her, but if she had him she'd be fine, and they'd get through it. She knew that type of love was special and rare, "My hair is all sticky." She sighed, running her hands through her sticky hair thanks to Janine throwing a drink over her, "And I smell like vodka." She sighed.

"Why don't you go take a shower?" Punk nodded with a smile.

"I feel bad for Dean. This is his house." She sighed.

"And he's my brother." Punk said, "He's fine with it. It won't be forever." He nodded as she looked across at him.

"Ok." AJ nodded.

"I'll order some food for us, ok?" He said as she smiled and nodded.

"Ok. I'll go upstairs." AJ said, getting up from the kitchen table, grabbing her bags and heading off upstairs to take a shower.

She put her bags in the spare bedroom and headed into the bathroom, turning the shower on and getting out of her clothes, in need of a hot steaming shower to wash the day away from her.

Punk took his phone out and was about to order food when he figured he should check with AJ on what she wanted to eat. He left the kitchen and headed upstairs, knocking on the bathroom door.

"April." He said.

"Yeah?" AJ said from the shower.

"Uh… I forgot to ask what kind of food you want? Pizza? Chinese?" He went on listing as AJ stepped out of the shower and unlocked the door, opening it wide as she stood naked and wet in front of him.

"What?" She looked up at him as he gulped. Her beauty always took his breath away.

"Uh…" Punk paused, "Food?" He nodded, remembering why he came upstairs.

"Why don't we call for some later?" She whispered, taking his hand and pulling him into the bathroom, closing the door over and stepping back into the shower as Punk smirked.

He took his clothes off in a flash and joined her in the shower, immediately taking part in a passionate kiss, pressing her body up against the glass as he held one of her legs up around him, wanting to feel her as close as he could.

He kissed from her lips down her body, crouching down in front of her as AJ smiled, draping one of her legs over his shoulder as his tongue swooped in between her folds, feasting on her like her life depended on it.

"Fuck, baby." AJ moaned, running her hands through his wet hair, leaning her head back against the shower doors and cupping he breasts. She could always count on him to make everything bad in her life go away. To have was to have everything she needed.

He stayed between her legs for some time before kissing his way back up her body to her lips. He then picked her up as her legs circled around him, placing her down on his length as she moaned, her arms wrapped around his neck as she looked him in the eyes.

"Fuck, that feels so good." She moaned as he began lifting her up and down on his length, thrusting up inside of her whilst the shower sprayed onto them, making everything steamier and slippery.

He watched her moaning, only turning him on even more every time she let out how good she was feeling vocally. He continued to move her up and down on his length, holding her up by the ass, the sound of skin slapping skin filling the room as she grabbed his neck to hold on.

"We've never done this before." AJ said, later on sitting at the kitchen table whilst eating from her Chinese takeaway box. She was in some sweats and a t-shirt which she'd packed in her bag, her hair still wet from her shower.

"Done what?" Punk asked.

"Spent a night together." AJ said, "I always had to go home." She said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He smiled, "It's nice." He nodded as she smiled. To be able to sit with one another, talk and be in each other's company without the worry of other people around them was bliss.

"I don't know what I was expecting my parents to say. I should have known this was how they'd react." AJ shook her head, "I had this hope that when you'd sorted your divorce out, I would tell them and they'd be happy for me." She sighed to herself, "How dumb am I?"

"You're not dumb." Punk shook his head, "I don't blame you for wanting your parents support. We all do. And it sucks when we don't get it, even more so when they treat us like we're a piece of shit." He said as AJ nodded, "Taking myself away from my parents was when I really started to get my life together. I didn't feel like I was tied down to anything." He said as AJ nodded.

"At least you have your brother." AJ said, "Mine couldn't care less what happens to me." She shook her head.

"Then they don't deserve you." Punk said, "You're an amazing woman. Strong. Beautiful. Smart as hell." He said as she smiled to him, "This is their loss, not yours." He shook his head as she smiled.

"Thank you." She said quietly, "What are you going to do about Janine?" She asked him.

"I'm not sure." Punk shook his head, "I can't talk to her right now. She's too heated. I'm gonna need to wait until she's in a better place before I talk about the divorce." He said as AJ nodded.

"I guess I was dumb to think that it would go smoother." AJ said, "Do you think I ruined your marriage?" She asked him. She was only human, and the things her mother had said to her, the horrible things, they were still playing in her mind.

"No, of course you wouldn't. My marriage was already ruined, and you were there for me." Punk said, "I didn't fall in love with you because I was looking for someone else… I just saw you, it just happened naturally and to me that means I'd fallen out of love with Janine a long time ago." He said as she nodded.

"I just wanna forget about all the white noise. My parents. Janine. Everyone who has an opinion." AJ nodded.

"We can." Punk said, "We'll get through this." He promised as she nodded with a smile. She believed him. Even though things had gone disastrously wrong, having him by her side made everything ok, and she knew she'd be just fine.