Separate Ways

"Hey I just want to apologise for tonight." Punk nodded, walking into their bedroom where AJ was changing into her shorts and t-shirt.

"Phil, you've been apologising all night. You don't have to." AJ reminded him.

"I know but I knew that it would end that way. I knew she'd have something to say about you and I don't want you listening to that shit." Punk shook his head.

"I don't." AJ assured him, "Ok, yeah maybe… I didn't think she'd be as bad as she was." She said, "But… I'm not stranger to being patronised and spoken to like that so…"

"Yeah but that shouldn't be something you get used to, April." Punk said, walking around their bed towards her, "I don't want you think you need to put up with shit like that."

"I don't. I didn't put up with it. We got up and we left." AJ shrugged, "I thought it would have been nice to meet your parents and maybe… maybe they wouldn't be so sceptical of me until they met me but… clearly your mom isn't interested." AJ understood, "But your dad seemed ok. Maybe next time we just go see him instead, have him over for dinner like I said." She nodded.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Punk smiled.

"I know." AJ said teasingly towards him, "I just hope I didn't make you uncomfortable with this. I know I sort of pushed you to go." She said, feeling slightly bad.

"No, you didn't push me. If I really didn't wanna go I wouldn't have." He said, "Actually I think it was good that I got a reminder of how self-involved my mom is, how cruel she can be." Punk nodded, "Dean text and said that he and Renee left not long after us, apparently she started weighing in on him." He said as AJ sighed.

"I don't know how anyone can treat their kids like that." AJ shook her head, sitting down on the edge of the bed as Punk nodded, "I mean if I had kids I would make sure they felt so loved and special." She said as Punk nodded, sitting down beside her on the bed.

"You want kids?" Punk smiled to her.

"Eventually, yeah." AJ nodded to him, "You?"

"Yeah, it's a challenge I guess." He teased as she smiled.

"But then it kinda deters me from it because I've never really had a good mom so… how would I know how to be one?" She questioned as Punk nodded.

"Well sure, there's fear that comes with stuff like that but… I think it's down to the individual." Punk nodded.

"Were you scared?" AJ asked, "When you thought Janine was pregnant?" She wondered, "We never really talked about it that much."

"Of course I was scared." Punk nodded, "It just never felt right. I think deep down I knew that Janine being the mother of my kids wasn't… it wasn't something I'd even imagined and I guess when you're married to someone and you don't see that kind of future with them… I guess that's alarm bells." He said as AJ nodded.

"What about me?" AJ asked him, "Do you see me as the mother of your kids?" She asked him curiously as he turned to her.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I do." He said as she smiled, "And I think that was the problem I had when I thought Janine was pregnant. It just never felt right." He shook his head as AJ nodded.

"Do you think she'll move on? Find someone else?" AJ asked him.

"Yeah, I think so. I hope so." Punk nodded, "The divorce should be pretty straight forward. She's not fighting me for anything. I guess it's just about it getting signed and filed. Made official."

"How long could it take?" AJ asked him.

"Well it could take a while but given there's no sort of dispute, probably quicker than most." Punk said, "I didn't see that coming."

"Me neither honestly." AJ said, "But I think it's good for both your consciences that you go your separate ways amicably and… there's no hatred or aggression there anymore." She nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course that's better." Punk nodded, "Despite what she probably thinks, I never wanted it to end in divorce."

"Of course you didn't. No one sets out to get married to get divorced." AJ said, "Things just sometimes don't work out." She nodded.

"You were like the writing on the wall for me, you know." Punk nodded to her as she smiled.

"I could see how miserable you were for such a long time. I just wanted to make sure you always had someone to talk to." AJ nodded, "You're my friend first." She placed her hand on his leg, "Always." She said as he smiled.

3 months later…

"Why are you knocking?" Janine shook her head, opening the door where Punk was standing, "Come in." She nodded as Punk stepped into what was both their home for many years.

"I just came by to get all my boxes." Punk nodded to her.

"Yeah they're all in the living room. You actually have very little stuff." Janine said as Punk nodded.

"I'll get them loaded up in the car and then I'll… I'll be out your way." Punk nodded to her.

"The house is sold." Janine nodded to him, "I'm out by tomorrow morning so I've got a van coming for all my stuff to take it to my new place."

"That didn't take long." Punk said.

"Well it's a nice house." Janine nodded to him, "I didn't doubt someone would want it."

"Yeah, I guess." Punk nodded, "So you're gone in the morning?"

"Yeah. No reason for me to stick around now the divorce has been settled." Janine nodded.

After a few months of going back and forth with lawyers and courts, their divorce had finally been finalized. They were no longer married.

"I hope you know that I'm not expecting you to leave. If you wanted to stay here then… you're entitled to." Punk said.

"No, I don't want to stay here." Janine told him, "I really just want to go away." She nodded.

"That's fair enough." Punk nodded, "I uh… I wanna thank you for how reasonable you've been these past few months, how easy you made the divorce." He said.

"Yeah because Janine doesn't make things easy normally, does she?" Janine nodded to herself.

"Well no, not really." Punk said.

"I just wanted it to be over, Phil." Janine nodded, "You don't love me. I'm not gonna embarrass myself anymore. I get the point." She said as he looked across at her.

"Well I never wanted you to feel unloved or unimportant." Punk shook his head.

"Yeah well maybe you should have thought about that when you were sleeping with another girl." Janine nodded to him as he looked across at her, "I just hope she keeps you satisfied enough to prevent you from hurting her like you did me. Because it's not a nice feeling."

"Yeah, ok." Punk nodded to her, hearing enough, "I hope you find happiness." He said as Janine nodded.

"Yeah, I do too." Janine nodded, "And I hope she is everything that I wasn't for you." She said as he looked across at her.

"I'll… start taking my stuff to the car." He nodded to her.

"Ok." Janine said, watching as he headed into the living room, taking a few boxes, sighing to herself as she watched him begin to pack his things up into his car.

Once Punk had unloaded all the boxes into his car, he realised that this was perhaps the last time he was going to see her, and he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say to her. Despite the fact he had moved on and was very much in love with someone who he really felt was "the one" he still wouldn't be so cruel as to forget the time he had spent with Janine.

"So I guess… this is it?" Punk nodded to her as she folded her arms.

"Yeah." Janine nodded, "This is it." She said.

"I'm sorry. I never wanted it to end like this and I hope you believe me when I say that." He said.

"I do." Janine nodded, "But… it has ended so… you can go do what you wanna do and… so can I." She said as he nodded, "Maybe we'll bump into each other in a few years and… smile to each other." She shrugged as he nodded.

"Yeah, maybe." Punk nodded.

"Is it inappropriate if I ask you for a hug?" Janine asked him.

"No, of course not." Punk shook his head, walking towards her with a smile, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'll kiss your gravestone." She whispered in his ear as Punk raised his eyebrows, taken back, suddenly losing his breath in a quick second as he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, stumbling back a little as he looked down at the knife Janine had pushed into him.

She ripped it out as Punk watched the blood seeping out his t-shirt, placing his hand on one of the spindle's at the stairs, looking across at her and gulping, feeling one side of his body start to go numb, collapsing at the bottom of the stairs as Janine watched him.

"You got you divorce." Janine nodded, picking her purse up, "Got what you wanted." She said, crouching down in front of him as he tried to reach out and grab her, grab something, using one of his hands to press on his bleeding wound.

She reached into his jeans pocket, taking his phone out and throwing it down the hallway as Punk watched, "Crawl for it." She nodded.

"You bitch." Punk said in a shaky voice, never being in so much pain in all his life, feeling the blood physically spilling out of his side.

"You can kiss my ass goodbye." Janine smiled, standing up straight, putting her purse over her shoulder and opening up the front door as Punk watched her leave, closing the door behind her as he groaned in pain, leaning in his forehead against the floor, lifting it and looking across at his cell phone, so far away down the hall.