Family Dinner

"Hey, why are you awake?" AJ asked sleepily, waking up in the middle of the night, turning in bed as she noticed Punk was lying on his back wide awake.

"I can't sleep." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"I can see that." She said, "What's wrong?" She asked, giving him her hand as he placed it on his chest, tracing his fingertips along her hand.

"I just… I can't stop thinking about Janine." Punk admitted as AJ raised her eyebrows a little awkwardly, not saying anything as Punk turned to her, "No… not like that." He promised, "No, I'm just thinking about how strangely different she acted today." He said, "It just kinda freaked me out. I wasn't expecting it."

"You think she's being sincere?" AJ asked him. It did cross her mine about how genuine Janine was upon her new and improved attitude. It was slightly strange to hear she was being reasonable, considering how insane she was going about the whole thing.

"I mean… yeah, I think she is." Punk nodded, "That's the weird part."

"Do you kinda wish she was being mad and nasty to you? So it'd be easier for you?" AJ asked him.

"Maybe. I don't know." Punk sighed to himself as AJ watched him.

"Do you still care about her?" AJ asked. Of course the second she heard Janine was back she felt nervousness within her. Not because she doubted Punk's love for her. She'd never doubt what they had. But it did cross her mind that he may have still cared about her. She knew there had to have been a reason they got married in the first place.

"No… no, not like that." Punk made clear, "In fact seeing her and noticing her actually being sincere and decent, it made me realise that… I don't think it would have mattered if she was the perfect most amazing wife ever. She's not you." He said as AJ smiled to herself, her heart feeling warm and fuzzy, "And she never will be." He turned her head to look at her, noticing her smiling.

"You're sweet." She smiled, caressing his cheek sweetly, "I totally understand if you did still care about her. I know that she wasn't a saint. She lied and well… manipulated you." AJ said, "But you had to have married her for a reason, right?"

"Yeah, yeah I did but… I think I was way too young to think about what I was actually doing. Sure I found this girl I was really in love with and we hit it off. I guess I just thought… well, this is it for me." Punk said, "But it wasn't." He said, "So yes, I hope she can move on and she can find happiness elsewhere but the only person I care about is you." He nodded as she smiled, "I mean, you've been incredible these past few months."

"You've not been so bad yourself." AJ smiled.

"No, I'm serious. You somehow have this ability to make me come out of my comfort zone. To talk about things that I never wanna talk about it." Punk said, "Things I'd never even think about telling Janine." He made clear as AJ nodded.

"Well I just hope you know I'm always here for you. To listen, to talk to." AJ said, playing with a strand of his hair that had fallen down out of its slicked back style, "Just like you've been here for me." She smiled as he lifted up her hand from his chest and kissed it, causing her to smile.

"I'll be honest with you… I'm terrified about having dinner with my parents." Punk said truthfully.

"Why? What do you think they're gonna say to you? Or me?" AJ asked him softly.

"I don't know… my dad probably won't say much. He'll make some inappropriate jokes." Punk nodded.

"Oh, like I'm not used to that." AJ smiled.

"No, I mean… really inappropriate." Punk assured her, "And then there's my mom…" Punk nodded to himself.

"Why don't you two get along? Did something happen?" AJ asked him.

"There's not a specific reason." Punk shook his head, "She's just… so brash and unkind." He said, "Best way to describe her." He figured, "It's not like she's just opinionated and honest… she's not… she's not nice woman." Punk shook his head.

"All sounds familiar." AJ nodded to him.

"Yeah, I guess she's sort of like your mom." Punk nodded, "In the way that she likes to have control and tell people what to do." He said, "I just grew up as a kid thinking she hated me. My own mom." He said, "They didn't treat Dean much better but she just seemed to have more of an issue with me than she did with Dean." He shrugged.

"Again… all sounds very familiar." AJ added as he nodded.

"Have you even heard from your brother at all?" Punk asked.

"No and I don't want to." AJ said, "He didn't treat me any better than my mom and dad." She shrugged as Punk nodded.

"I guess we just grew the short straw when it comes to parents, huh?" Punk nodded.

"Yeah." AJ said, continuing to play with his hair, "I just wish I had a normal childhood like other kids." She shook her head.

"I guess my childhood was still pretty normal." Punk nodded, "I spent most of outside."

"Yeah, living on a busy street above a bar… with of course the crazy family… I didn't really have a garden to play in it." She nodded.

"That's right you were playing with your mom's pills deciding to be a chemist." Punk nodded as AJ chuckled.

"That's right." AJ smiled to herself, "My mom, one time, took me to the doctors and made them check that I was… still a virgin." She nodded, "I was… eleven." She said as Punk looked across at her.

"Eleven?" He sighed as AJ nodded.

"Yeah." She said, "It was a… friend of a family friend." AJ said, "And I can… still remember it." She shook her head as Punk sighed, "So yeah… I get the whole shitty mom thing."

"Yeah, no kidding." Punk sighed.

"I hope you know how much all of this means to me." AJ said, "The way you've helped me." She said.

"Helped you?" Punk questioned.

"I feel like I hadn't really been outside my house before until we got together. Any any other person might have laughed at me for never being on a date or… never having had sex… or never even seen the majority of the city I live in." She said, "But you didn't, instead you've shown me it all and I'll never forget that." She shook her head as he smiled.

"You deserve the world." Punk said, wrapping his arm around her as she curled into him, "And more."

"I love you." AJ smiled, stroking his cheek sweetly as her face stayed close to his.

"I love you too." Punk smiled, pressing a kiss on her lips softly as she kissed back.

"You ok?" AJ asked, a few days later as they parked up outside Punk's parents' house.

"Mhm." Punk nodded, having not said much on the car ride there, "Let's just inhale our food and leave." Punk suggested, getting out of the car as AJ followed.

"It's gonna be fine." AJ assured him, taking his hand in hers and walking towards the house, "Was this your childhood home?"

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Grew up her." He said, "I cracked my skull right here on this wall, actually." He pointed to the wall around the front garden.

"How the hell did you do that?" AJ shook her head.

"I was… running towards the ice-cream van and Dean tripped me up. Fell backwards and cracked my head." Punk nodded.

"Oh my God." AJ shook her head, "You're so clumsy."

"No, I got tripped up." Punk insisted as AJ smiled, "Are you really sure about this?" Punk asked, turning to her as they stood in front of the door. He then watched as she stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Yes." AJ said, squeezing his hand tightly as he took a deep breath.

Finally his father answered the door, "Hey, dad." Punk nodded.

"Hey." Jack nodded, "We didn't know if you were coming." He said, slightly surprised to see Punk.

"Well… we've came." Punk nodded, stepping into the house as AJ followed, "Dad, this is April, April this is my dad, Jack." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Hi." AJ smiled.

"Hi, sweetheart." Jack nodded to her, slightly taken back by how young she was. They didn't really know much besides the fact their son's marriage had fallen apart and he was dating someone else.

"Is everyone in the kitchen?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, give me your jackets." Jack said as Punk handed over his jacket whilst AJ did the same, "Go on through, I'll put these upstairs." He said as Punk nodded, taking AJ's hand back in his as they walked through the house.

"See… not so bad." AJ nudged Punk.

"That's just the warm up." Punk assured her, walking on into the kitchen as he saw his mother turn around.

"Phil." His mother, Liz, said with surprise.

"Hey." Punk nodded.

"I… I didn't think you'd come." Liz admitted truthfully whilst Dean and Renee sat at the kitchen table, already consuming their third alcoholic drink after being there for just half an hour.

"Well here I am." Punk nodded, "Mom, this is April, April this is my mom, Elizabeth."

"Liz." Liz scoffed, looking over at AJ, "Aren't you… sweet." She smiled, unpleasantly as AJ nodded.

"Hi." AJ nodded simply.

"Ok well… take a seat. Dinner is almost ready." Liz nodded to them both as AJ and Punk took a seat at the table.

"Thanks for coming." Dean said discretely as Punk nodded.

"Thank April." Punk nodded as Dean turned to AJ, giving her a thankful nod as she just smiled.

"Smells good, mom." Dean nodded.

"Well obviously." Liz replied right away whilst Jack came back into the kitchen, taking a seat at one top of the table, "Oh, yeah Jack you just sit down and relax I'll take care of everything." Liz nodded over to her husband as Jack raised his beer to her and nodded.

"No problem at all." Jack nodded as AJ looked over at Renee, both sharing nervous smiles.

"April, would you like a children's portion?" Liz asked, her back turned to them as she dished out dinner.

Punk was about to stand up when AJ grabbed a hold of his leg and gave him a stern look, which put him in his place immediately.

"Uh no, just a regular sized adult portion will be fine, thank you." AJ replied smugly.

"Ok." Liz chuckled to herself as Punk shook his head, glaring over at his mother, "Here we go." She hummed, sitting down the planes one by one to everyone before taking a seat at the other top of the table.

"Thank you." Renee nodded, not really knowing what else to say.

"So Dean how is your job?" Liz asked Dean.

"It's good." Dean nodded, "Yeah, me and Phil are working on a case together right now actually."

"What case?" Jack asked curiously.

"Series of burglaries happening in the neighbourhood and we're trying to get to the bottom of it." Dean said, "Most likely gang related which also stems out to other issues. No doubt we'll come across a drugs jackpot." He said as Punk nodded.

"And what about you? Where do you work?" Liz asked Renee.

"I'm a school teacher. I teach the first grade." Renee smiled.

"Oh, sweet. You look like a school teacher." Liz nodded.

"Thanks." Renee nodded, not sure how to take that.

Punk was half expecting his mother to move onto he and AJ, but she never did, clearly not showing much interest, but luckily his father took over.

"What do you do, April? You work?" Jack asked.

"I do, yeah. And I go to college." AJ nodded.

"Let me guess." Liz interrupted, "I bet you're studying… hairdressing." Liz nodded with a patronising smile as AJ shook her head.

"Uh… no, not that there's anything wrong with that." AJ shook her head, "I'm studying medicine." She said as Liz looked over at her.

"Oh, really?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. And then I work part-time at a shoe store not far from here." AJ said.

"I highly doubt a part-time wage covers rent." Liz chuckled to herself, "I'm sure there's other ways of payment you've arranged." She nodded as Punk looked at his mother.

"Quit it." Punk warned as Liz made a face at him.

"You spoke to your wife at all, Phil?" Liz asked, "Or does she not exist in your life anymore now you've got yourself a new hot, young toy to play with-"

"Just stop, alright?" Punk nodded, "For your information I've spoken to Janine and we're going through the divorce process." He said, "Once it's all done, she's moving away to be closer to her mom. We're both moving on." He made clear. It felt good to say that and believe it.

"Well that was quite a waste of five years, wasn't it?" Liz nodded.

"Yeah well forgive me for not wanting to be stuck in a miserable marriage like you two." Punk shook his head as AJ played with her food awkwardly, looking over at Renee again who was staying quiet.

"So… April, married men? Is that your type?" Liz nodded.

"That's enough!" Punk yelled angrily and very loudly as they all slightly jumped. He was not about to sit there and let his girlfriend be talked to like that. He knew this was how the night was going to go, "Now I didn't wanna come here. I didn't need to come here but April did. She wanted to meet you both… don't worry, I told her she really wasn't missing out on much but the least you could do is treat her with some fucking respect." Punk spat angrily as AJ sat beside him quietly.

She had mentally prepared herself for some snide comments, but she didn't think his mother was going to be as brash as she really was. Now she understand why he didn't talk to her.

"This is my house, Phil. Don't raise your voice at me in my own house." Liz warned, "You should be ashamed of yourself for even bringing her here. Janine was a good woman. What did she do to deserve you cheating on her with a college student?" Liz spat, "It's disgusting."

"You didn't even like Janine." Punk shook his head.

"Well at least she was your age." Liz shook her head, "And had a proper job. And was ready to settle down."

"Yeah well it was my relationship and my business." Punk said, "And I did what was right for me and what made me happy."

"I think you did the right thing." Jack nodded to Punk.

"Oh, of course you would." Liz laughed, "Husband of the century sitting over there." She shook her head.

"You know what…" AJ spoke up, "As much as this is going really well…" She nodded sarcastically, "I don't really like this food." She said as Punk turned to her with a small smile.

"Excuse me?" Liz questioned.

"Yeah, it's… it's kinda tasteless." AJ nodded, "So… I don't know about you…" She turned to Punk who was smiling, "But I think I'm gonna go."

"You fancy a cheeseburger?" Punk nodded to her.

"Oh, I'd love one." AJ said as Liz looked at them both.

"Well congratulations, Phil. You've finally met someone who is just as rude and obnoxious as you are." Liz nodded, "I wish you all the best." She said.

"Thank you, that's so kind of you." AJ smiled sarcastically, getting up from the table.

"I'll get your jackets." Jack nodded to himself, walking out of the kitchen and heading upstairs.

"Good luck." Punk nodded to Dean and Renee who weren't thrilled about their early departure.

"We don't need to listen to that." AJ said, walking out of the kitchen with Punk who was still smiling. He loved the way she had stood up to his mother, and had acted very classy, keeping her dignity intact and making his mother look a fool. He loved that.

"Lasted longer than I thought it would actually." Punk admitted, "I didn't know if we'd make it to the table." He said as AJ chuckled.

"Maybe I shouldn't have forced you to come." AJ said. She felt a little bad. She never thought his mother was going to be as bad as she was. She now understood why he didn't want to come.

"No, it was fun watching you slate my mom's food." Punk nodded to her as she smiled.

"Here you go." Jack came downstairs with the jackets, "I apologise on behalf of my wife." He nodded to AJ. If there was one thing she had gathered from the short time in the house, it was that Jack wasn't as bad as she thought. In fact, he seemed fairly pleasant.

"That's ok." AJ nodded.

"Sorry, Phil." Jack nodded as Punk shook his head whilst AJ watched.

"Maybe you could come to our apartment for dinner." AJ butted in as Jack looked at her, "Just the three of us." She nodded as Jack looked at Punk who nodded along.

"Yeah, maybe." Jack nodded to them, "I uh… I should get back in." He pointed to the kitchen as they nodded, watching him walk off as Punk turned to AJ.

"Cheeseburgers?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, opening up the door as they left the house, banging the door shut behind them.