Vow

AJ got home from college later on, walking into Dean's house and shutting the door over behind her as she heard Punk and Dean in the kitchen. She didn't want to tell them about what happened with Janine. She could put on a brave face but of course she felt humiliated to a degree. She just didn't want to make either of them any more worried or upset.

"Hey." AJ smiled, walking into the kitchen, putting her backpack down.

"Hey." Dean nodded.

"You're not usually back from class this late." Punk noticed, looking across at her.

"Oh, I just got caught up in a class." AJ shrugged, "How are you?" She smiled, walking over to him, kissing him sweetly.

"I'm good." Punk said, noticing she was acting funny already. He knew her so well. He'd been her friend for a long time. He could tell when she acted out of character, "What's wrong?" He asked as Dean looked over.

"What?" AJ shook her head, "Nothing, I'm fine." She smiled, rubbing his arm, "What are you guys doing for dinner? I could make something." She said, walking over to the fridge as Punk suddenly noticed a cut up her arm where her cardigan was ripped.

"April what happened to your arm?" Punk asked worriedly, walking over to her, "It's bleeding."

"Oh." AJ tilted her arm round and looked at it, "Oh, it's nothing."

"April." Punk said as AJ looked up at him. Part of her liked that he knew her so well and could tell when she had something to tell him. It meant there would always be honesty.

"Ok." AJ said, accepting defeat, "Janine found me at the bus stop whilst I was waiting." She said as Dean looked over angrily.

"What the hell did she do to you?" Punk asked, extremely angry, even more angrier than he was when she slashed his tyres.

"She just talked shit and then she pushed me into a garbage can. I must have cut my arm when I fell down." She realised having not even noticed.

"That's it." Punk shook his head angrily, grabbing his keys and heading out of the kitchen.

"Wait, Phil." AJ followed him out of the kitchen, pulling him back by the arm, "Don't. You're just going to make this worse for yourself."

"April, she assaulted you on the street. Maybe, maybe I can overlook the tyre thing because it was me, she's trying to hurt me and I can deal with it, but when she starts bringing you into this, no way." He shook his head angrily.

"She's too far gone, I think." AJ said, "Just listen to me." She begged, holding him back from reaching the door, "She's not thinking clearly. She kept saying that I should leave you alone so that you and her can fix your marriage. She doesn't even care that you cheated, she cares that she's alone." She emphasised as Punk looked across at her, "She can't comprehend that you aren't in love with her anymore."

"Well then maybe I'll go make it perfectly clear to her." Punk said, walking for the door.

"Or you can say nothing and let her make a fool of herself. Let her go on and on until she bores her own self." AJ suggested, "She is… not in a right frame of mind right now." She said.

"That doesn't give her a right to assault you on the street, April." Punk said, "I know I've hurt her and she has a right to be mad but this is just too far."

"Please don't go over there." AJ shook her head, "She thinks that you two are gonna work things out. She really believes that. She's not just in denial. She actually thinks that you're just using me and that you're gonna come back to her. And that weirdest thing is she sounds like she would take you back. It's not registering that you're not in love with her anymore." She said. She'd gathered that from talking to Janine earlier.

"Is she stupid?" Punk questioned as AJ sighed.

"She's hurting." AJ said, "And when people hurt, they act out-"

"You don't need to be reasonable, April. The guilt is over. We don't have to feel bad for her." Punk made himself clear. He knew it was just her kindness showing through.

"I don't feel bad for her." AJ assured him, "She humiliated me, got me kicked out of my own home, assaulted me just there.. I don't feel bad for her." AJ concluded, "I just don't want to give her the attention she's clearly looking for." She said, "She probably pushed me over because she knows it would get this reaction from you. I bet she's sitting at home just waiting at the door for you to push through." She said as Punk looked across at her.

"I'm not gonna let you suffer in this. This is my marriage. She shouldn't be anywhere near you." Punk said, opening up the door.

"Phil, please." AJ sighed, watching as he left the house and closed the door over behind him as she sighed to herself.

"You gotta let them both have it out." Dean said as AJ turned around, "His biggest nightmare is you getting dragged down with him and that's what's happening."

"I'm a big girl. I can handle it." AJ said.

"I know, and Phil knows that but… he doesn't want you to deal with it." Dean said, "Let him be mad at her. She's not the victim here. She played a huge part in demolishing their marriage, even before you and Phil got together."

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

"Well I never really noticed it until I've seen Phil around you. He's himself. He talks about work again. He has his old sense of humour back." Dean said, "He's comfortable. And look I'm not saying he was in a hostile relationship. I know for sure that he did love Janine at one point but… she controlled a lot of things and he bottled a lot of stuff up. Stuff that you should talk to your wife about." Dean shrugged as AJ looked across at him, "He's found you and he wants to protect what he has with you. Let him." Dean nodded as AJ sighed to herself.

"I just don't want him to make it worse." AJ said.

"It's already pretty bad anyway. What's it gonna hurt?" Dean said as AJ nodded to herself, "Come on, you better clean your arm up." He nodded as she walked over to him, getting a reassuring arm around the shoulder as he walked her into the kitchen.

Punk burst through the house which he was now referring to as Janine's, not bothering to knock, to enraged to think about manners.

"Janine!" Punk yelled, walking into the living room, "Janine!" He called, walking into the kitchen where he paused. He didn't see Janine, instead her mother, Hilary was sitting at the kitchen table. He wasn't sure he'd make it out of the house alive at this point.

"Phillip." Hilary nodded.

"Where is Janine?" Punk asked.

"Her sister came by and picked her up. Taking her to my house to stay for a little while. To be around her family at this difficult time." Hilary said as Punk looked across at her.

"What about the divorce?" Punk shook his head.

"She is no right mind to be thinking about going through a divorce. But believe me, she will in good time. I will not let her be married to you for any longer than she has to." Hilary shook her head.

"I know what you must think of me." Punk assured her, "But she's not innocent. She told me she was pregnant when she wasn't. She lied to me because she was scared I was going to leave." He said, "Tried to trap me."

"She loved you." Hilary said, "Still does, sadly." She said.

"Our marriage was finished months ago. We tried hard to make it work and it wasn't happening." Punk said, "This was going to happen whether I found someone else or not-"

"Is found someone else the new phrase for cheating?" Hilary asked, "Because that's what it is. Cheating." She nodded.

"It is." Punk agreed, "I'm not shying away from that. But we were broken down. I mean she spent weeks at your house ignoring my calls, not wanting to see me or talk to me." Punk said.

"Because she was upset that things weren't going right." Hilary said, "She is not as weak and dumb as you think." She stood up.

"I don't think she's weak or dumb." Punk shook his head, "But assaulting another woman in the street is when this crosses the line." He said, "And the fact she still thinks we can actually fix our marriage isn't dumb, it's psychotic." Punk nodded as Hilary looked across at him.

"You obviously didn't love my daughter as much as she loved you." Hilary nodded, "I can assure you, you will regret this in the years to come. Once my daughter picks herself up, divorces you and gets her head straight, you're gonna see what it's like to be on her wrong side." She said, "I'd be very afraid if I were you."

"What is she gonna do? Fake another pregnancy?" Punk asked as Hilary slapped him across the face hard.

"That was a sign of her desperation for you to love her." Hilary spat, "She wanted to have a baby with you. It's all she talked about when she stayed with me. How she wanted you to be the father of her kids, how she wanted you to have your own family." She said, "She just wanted you to love her-"

"And I did." Punk said, "But along the way it stopped working and I wasn't gonna be stuck in a relationship that made me miserable. It was unfair to me and unfair to her." He said, "We can go on and be happy with other people."

"Oh, she will." Hilary nodded confidently, "My daughter is a beautiful, strong, smart woman. This is your loss and her gain." She assured him, "And I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure she divorces you as quickly as possible." She said.

"Well, finally we agree on something." Punk nodded to her.

"And then your hell will really begin." Hilary assured him as he looked across at her, "Don't contact her. She needs time on her own with her family." She said, putting her coat on and grabbing her car keys as Punk watched her, "This is going to stay with you forever. Janine will make sure of it." She nodded, leaving the kitchen as Punk watched her storm out of the door.