Not Over

"Mmm this is nice." AJ moaned softly, waking up in the morning in bed as Punk spooned her from behind with his arm wrapped over her. They'd gotten to have the night to themselves, sharing more kisses and cuddles in bed than they normally got a chance to. It was nice just to lie there in their own little bubble and forget about everything.

"It is." Punk agreed, feeling relaxed and calm as he held her close. When he held her, everything felt like it was going to be ok, because they had this and that was all that mattered.

"Did Dean come home last night?" AJ wondered with a smile.

"I don't know, I never heard him. Did you?" Punk asked.

"No, I fell asleep so early." She shook her head. They'd spent the night curled up on the couch watching TV, speaking all their troubles to each other, before heading to bed for the night where AJ fell asleep extremely fast, very much exhausted from the chaotic day.

"I wasn't far behind you." Punk said truthfully, "He might have stayed at Renee's." He said.

"How long have they been dating?" AJ asked him. It was nice just to be able to talk. To have the time and leisure to be in each other's company without worrying. Of course there was still the stress of her parents kicking her out, and Janine going off the rails, but they had each other and they knew that was enough. They didn't have to address it to one another, they just knew.

"That's been a few weeks now." Punk nodded, "He seems to really like her." He said.

"He never struck me as the dating type to be honest." AJ said as Punk chuckled a little.

"He's not really. He has to really like a girl to go on a date with them." Punk said.

"Are you like that too?" AJ asked him curiously.

"I guess so, yeah." Punk nodded.

"Did you date before Janine?" AJ asked him. They were still getting to know one another of course, and the beauty was they now had all the time in the world, and getting to know each other was a breath of fresh air.

"A little. I was probably a little reckless when it came to girls." Punk said honestly.

"Oh, really?" AJ said sarcastically.

"What?" Punk chuckled.

"Nothing." AJ smiled to herself.

"No, go on." Punk smiled.

"Well you just… you're a very charming individual, so it's… it's not hard to believe it." AJ said as Punk chuckled a little.

"The only girl who has ever made me nervous about anything is you." Punk admitted truthfully.

"Little old me?" AJ smiled, "What have I got to make you nervous about?" She asked curiously.

"You're so smart." Punk said, "You know who you are and… you have this confidence about you. I don't think you realise it, and maybe it's not apparent when you first see you but… it's there." He said as AJ smiled to herself.

"Yeah well you grow up pretty much alone, you gotta gain a back bone from somewhere." AJ nodded, "I just feel like mine never really grew to its full potential." She said.

"What do you mean?" Punk asked.

"I let my parents control me for so long. I never spoke up for myself. I let them say and do whatever they wanted." AJ said, "If I was so confident, wouldn't I have stood up to them before now?"

"It's a different kind of confidence I'm talking about." Punk whispered, kissing he neck as she smiled, "It's a lot deeper."

"So you have me all figured out then?" AJ smiled, reaching her hand back behind her and cupping his cheek.

"No, I doubt it." He said, lifting his head from her neck, "I'm sure there's still a lot that I don't know about you. And there's a lot you don't know about me, probably." He said.

"Well go on." AJ said, playing with his hand which draped over her whilst he spooned her, "Tell me something about you that I wouldn't know. Something crazy." She said as Punk chuckled to himself.

"Something crazy." Punk nodded to himself, "I never finished school." He said.

"Why not?" AJ asked.

"I got kicked out." He said, "For fighting. Still somehow made it into the academy but… I think my actual fighting skills are what got me there, not any sort of qualifications." He said.

"You have such an amazing job." AJ said, "Not finishing school never looked so good on someone." She said as he smiled.

"What about you? Something I would never know?" He asked her.

"Uh… I am very bendy." She said as he laughed a little.

"I think more so that anyone else, I know that." He said as she smiled, "Come on, something I wouldn't know."

"I have never had a friend." AJ shrugged as Punk stayed quiet, "My mom wouldn't let me go to other people's houses. Even in the first grade. So because of that I always got left out. Carried over into high school." She said, "My mom said that friends can hold you back from reaching your full potential so why would I wanna risk that?" She shrugged as Punk sighed to himself, "And working in a bar, watching friends come in all the time, it's all I ever really wanted for such a long time." She admitted.

"How your parents have treated you is… it's not fair." Punk said.

"Yeah." AJ said, "I know." She nodded, "Truth is you were probably the first person I would ever have classed as a friend. I mean I met friendly people in the bar all the time but you were the only one who actually seemed interesting in me and how I was doing." She said, "So… thank you." She said quietly as he kissed her cheek.

"I'll always be your friend first." He promised as she smiled, "You stay here, I am gonna bring you up some breakfast." He said, kissing her cheek and getting out of bed as she smiled, watching as he left the bedroom.

For someone who had just been thrown out of her home, she sure didn't feel sad about it. In fact, ironically, this was the first time she'd actually felt taken care of. It was the first time she felt like she had a home.

Punk brought her up some breakfast with what he could find in Dean's refrigerator. Coffee, toast, bacon and eggs.

"Oh, are you not having anything?" AJ asked, sitting up in the bed as he sat the tray on the night stand beside her.

"No, I gotta shower and get to work." Punk told her.

"Oh, yeah." AJ nodded.

"You got college today?" Punk asked her.

"No, I'm off." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Well make yourself at home. I'll come check in on you on my lunch break." He said.

"You don't have to do that. I'm sure I'll be fine." AJ assured him.

"I'll be home around six. Maybe instead of staying in I could… finally take you out?" He smiled as AJ looked across at him, "Don't worry, we'll go way into the city where no one can accidentally bump into us." He assured her as she smiled.

"That sounds nice." She smiled.

"It's a date?" Punk questioned with a smirk as AJ nodded.

"It is." She smiled, watching as he leaned over and kissed her sweetly before heading for a shower whilst she stuck some TV on and had breakfast in bed.

Punk eventually left the house and got to the police station. He walked into the offices, walking towards his when he realised people were staring at him, and not in a good way.

He reached his desk and looked over where Dean was sitting, "Hey." Punk said quietly.

"What's up?" Dean greeted, "You good?" He asked.

"Yeah." Punk said, sitting down at his desk, "Why is everyone looking at me?" He asked his brother wearily.

"Well word got out about… what's going on with you and Janine." Dean said as Punk turned to him, "Word travels fast."

"Yeah, no kidding." Punk shook his head.

"How was your night? Is April ok?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah, she's better this morning. It was nice to actually spend a full night together. Normally we'd have to rush away." He said, "She feels bad that she's staying in your house, though."

"Tell her not to worry." Dean shook his head, "You two can stay as long as you need." He nodded as Punk smiled.

"I appreciate that, and I know she really does." Punk said, "I see you stayed with Renee last night?"

"Yeah, the opportunity presented itself." Dean nodded casually as Punk chuckled a little, "So we have an interview today with a witness from last week's battery assault in that club." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"When's he coming in?" Punk asked.

"12pm." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"Hey, Phil." Kasey approached Punk at his desk.

"What's up, Kasey?" Punk nodded.

"Uh… Janine is outside." Kasey said, "And she's slashed your tyres."

"What?" Punk stood up as Dean groaned to himself.

Punk ran out of the station, heading outside where he saw Janine crouched down, slashing his last tyre on his car.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Punk yelled as Janine looked over with a smile.

"You fucked another woman in this car." Janine said casually as Dean came out to check on things behind Punk.

"Have you lost your mind?" Punk shook his head.

"No, I'm thinking good. I'm thinking real good." Janine said, standing up straight as Punk shook his head.

"It doesn't have to be this difficult, Janine." Punk shook his head.

"I loved you." Janine spat, "I thought you were someone who would never, ever hurt me like this." She said as Punk looked across at her, "What is it? What does she have that I don't?" She questioned seriously.

"You can't come here, to my work and… and do this." Punk said, "You're making this worse for yourself." He shook his head.

"We could have had a baby." Janine sighed, "We could have. If that's what you wanted-"

"I didn't." Punk made clear, "And you know I didn't." He said. He was starting to think she was really going crazy.

"But it could have been better. It could have saved us." She insisted.

"We were too far gone. This marriage didn't end because I found someone else. It ended a long time ago." Punk said, "And you know… deep down you know it did." He said as Janine stared across at him.

"I still can't believe you did this to me." Janine shook her head, "My husband. The love of my life."

"You need to go, Janine." Dean said, "If you go now, we'll pretend that we didn't see you slashing these tyres." He nodded as Punk looked across at Janine. She looked like she was on another planet.

"Go home." Punk nodded to her.

"It's not over." Janine shook her head.

"It is." Punk assured her, "It's been over for a long time."

"It's not over." Janine whispered to herself, dropping the knife she used to slash the tyres onto the ground as she backed away and left the station.

"She doesn't look good." Dean said to Punk who sighed to himself.

"Yeah, I know." Punk shook his head.