Not You

"Hey, I was wondering where you'd went?" AJ smiled, sitting in bed after waking up as she watched her husband come through the hotel room door with breakfast for them.

"I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk." Punk told her, "There was probably about twenty café's I passed. It was a lot of pressure trying to pick one." He admitted as she smiled.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" AJ asked him.

"Oh, you know how I am in different places." Punk said, passing her over the breakfast he'd got for her.

"You always make me feel lazy when you get up and go for your little strolls. You're sort of nosey, aren't you?" She nodded as he chuckled.

"People watched. It's my favourite thing." He said as she smiled, "I figured I could maybe watch the girls today and you and Jude could go… shopping or something." He nodded, sitting down on the bed beside her.

"Oh, that's a good idea." AJ nodded to him, "Are you ok with that? I don't want to make you feel like you've came here to babysit."

"No, of course not. I love spending time with the girls. It… reminds me of when our girls were younger. Well… Jude and Thea." He nodded.

"Do you think we're gonna get any more?" AJ asked him, "Grandkids?"

"I don't know." Punk laughed, "Well Thea said she was done, right?"

"Yeah but I said I was done after Jude." AJ reminded him as he nodded, "It's just… so much kids. I feel like Christmas gets bigger and bigger every year."

"Well… better than it getting smaller, right?" Punk nodded to her.

"That's true." AJ agreed, taking a bite of her bagel. She'd wanted to tell her husband about Joey last night but they wound up doing… other things once they got back to the room, and it had escaped her yet again. She wasn't putting it off any longer, "Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something. Now we got a… quiet minute to ourselves." She said.

"What's up?" Punk asked her, "I just burnt my lip." He groaned, sitting the coffee cup over on the side table as she smiled a little.

"Uh… a few days ago there, I was in work and Joey came into my office." She nodded, "He's been rehired by the company."

"Who's that?" Punk asked her curiously as AJ looked at him, only wishing she didn't have to explain.

"The… guy I dated for a little while when you were gone." She nodded as he looked at her.

"Oh." Punk nodded.

"I would have told you when I got home that day but then all that stuff happened with Cassie and Theo. And then we decided to come out here." AJ nodded, "I just felt like you should know." She said.

"It's alright." Punk laughed a little, "So the guy's working there again. As long as… you're fine with it, it's not bothering me." He nodded to her as she looked at him, "What did you think I was gonna say?" He asked.

"Well I don't know, it is kinda weird. I mean, I felt weird seeing him again. He was really polite and nice, though. Just… a little awkward." AJ shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Life can be awkward sometimes." Punk said, "As long as you're ok, I don't care who you're working with." He nodded to her, "It's not… really anything to do with me."

"I know, I wasn't meaning for this to be like a big announcement or anything. I just wanted you to know." AJ said as he nodded.

"Well thank you, for letting me know." He smiled, "He knows that we're together, right?"

"He didn't ask actually." AJ realised, "He just asked how I was and how the girls were. They knew him for a little while."

"Step dad." Punk chuckled to himself a little as AJ looked at him.

"It was never like that." AJ made clear.

"I'm teasing." Punk turned to her as she just nodded, "Is this the guy who told Cassie I was dead?" He asked her.

"Yeah." AJ shook her head, "I never knew he said that to her."

"It's fine." Punk shook his head, "So are you like… working with him or is he just working at the company again?"

"Just the company. He's on the same floor as me so we'll probably bump into each other from time to time." She nodded.

"Is that how you wound up dating him?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." AJ said, "I know we've never fully talked about it. I just assumed you wouldn't wanna hear it."

"You wanted to see if you could move on, that… that doesn't bother me." Punk nodded to her, "Yeah, it would have really crushed me if you wound up falling for someone else and… falling out of love with me in the process. But I think it worked out all ok for us so… don't worry about it. And if you wanna talk to me about it, talk to me about it." He assured her as she smiled.

"I've only told Jude so far. I should probably tell Cassie and Thea." AJ nodded, "Jude and Thea really didn't like him."

"Why?" Punk asked curiously.

"Well, Jude was worried about you and how you would feel. Thea was worried about me and if it was what I really wanted. Which I don't think it was. It's like you said, I was just trying to see if I could move on. It'd been five year you'd been gone. In that five years I had a baby, watched one of my daughters struggle through a drug addiction… I kinda just wanted something for myself." She nodded to him.

"I get that." He assured her, "Did he spend some time with the kids?"

"Yeah, a little bit." AJ nodded, "Mostly just Cassie, but I doubt she'd remember."

"So she… she asked him if he was her dad?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." AJ said as he nodded.

Even hearing this all these years later still hurt him a little.

"How long did it last?" Punk asked her.

"A few months." AJ nodded.

"Why'd you end it?" He asked her as she shrugged.

"He just…" She turned to him, watching him separate his bagel, looking around the hotel room, somewhere they would have called their home for the night when they were young, "He wasn't you." She shrugged as he turned to her with a small smile.

"Why won't this damn thing work?!" Eighteen year old AJ yelled, banging the TV remote off the motel room floor, sitting in front of the TV.

"Just use the buttons on the TV." Punk said, lying in bed half-asleep.

"It doesn't have any." AJ shook her head, "I wanted to watch that new game show." She huffed as Punk smiled a little, watching her smacking the tv remote off the floor as he rolled his eyes.

"Ok, that's just making tons of noise." Punk shook his head.

"Then come help me." AJ said as he got out of bed, walking over to her and crouching down, taking the remote from her as she smiled, watching him as he tried taking the batteries out, not taking her eyes off him.

"You know these are in the wrong way, right?" Punk showed her as she looked on.

"Oops." She smiled innocently as he nodded.

"You're a dummy." He concluded as she smiled.

"Hey, don't be mean." She said as he chuckled.

"Here." He handed her the remote as she successfully flicked the channel.

"My hero." AJ nodded as he chuckled, walking over to the couch and sorting through some of his clothes that were dumped in a pile.

They moved around a ton. He and Dean worked some illegal jobs, enough to get them cash for a few nights in the motel. And that was their life.

"I'm fucking tired, man." Punk admitted, walking back over to the bed and crashing into it.

"Well you were out all night." AJ said, getting up from the floor, wearing one of his t-shirts as a night dress.

"It's like I sleep in three hour sections now." Punk shook his head, watching her walk over to the bed.

"When are you going back out?" AJ asked him.

"Tonight." He nodded to her as she frowned a little, "Don't give me that face." He took her hand, pulling her over.

"I miss you." She told him, climbing over his body and lying over him.

"I won't be gone long." He promised, running his hand through her hair, closing his eyes over, feeling more at peace when he was holding her, feeling like he could drift into a better sleep.

She looked up, noticing he had fell asleep, smiling as she kissed his cheek, leaning her cheek back on his chest. She couldn't imagine feeling any safer with anybody else. She was so sure, even at such a young age, that this was her person for life.

"What do you mean we're going out?" Thea laughed a little, sitting at the table in her room, having been reading when she got a visit from her husband and children.

"We're gonna go out for the day." Dominic said.

"I don't… I don't think I can." Thea shook her head.

"You can, I've spoken with your counsellor. She says it'll be good for you to get out for a day. She thinks you're ready for it." He nodded to her.

"I-I don't know." Thea closed her book over, gulping nervously.

"Hey, it'll be fine." Dominic assured her, "We're not gonna go far. It's a nice day so I thought we could go take the kids for a walk. See some greenery." He said, "Good for the soul."

"Do I even have decent clothes with me?" Thea laughed a little.

"What you're wearing is fine." He chuckled, "You just need a jacket and some shoes." He shrugged.

"Mommy, come on!" Sofia yelled, "I want to go for my walk." She huffed, pushing her hair out of her face as Thea chuckled.

"Ok. Alright." Thea nodded, getting up from the chair. She was nervous, but part of her was also desperate to get out of this place for a little while. There was fear for sure. She'd been used to a certain routine for a few weeks in the facility, but she felt ready to tackle a day outside.

"I'll get your shoes." Sofia ran over to the closet in the room.

"I didn't expect this." Thea admitted as Dominic smiled.

"We'll return you safe and sound. Don't worry." He nodded to her as she smiled.

"Here, mommy." Sofia tossed over some shoes for her mother.

"She needs a jacket too, Sofia." James told his little sister.

"I can't reach." Sofia looked up at the clothes hanging up as Dominic chuckled.

"I'll get it." Dominic nodded, getting a jacket out for Thea who couldn't help smile at her children's desperation to have a day out with her. It made her smile. It made her feel good.

"Ok, I'm going as quick as I can." Thea chuckled.

"This was an unexpected surprise." Thea smiled, holding Dominic's hand as they walked through the woodland walkway, nothing but trees surrounding them. The kids were running ahead, enjoying the outdoors naturally.

"A good one?" Dominic asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah." She smiled, "When did you speak to my counsellor?" She asked.

"A couple nights ago. I asked her if you'd be able to come out for the day and she said you're more than capable of that." He nodded, "The kids miss stuff like this with you. I can… I can be a lot of things for them but I can't… can't be mom." He shook his head as she nodded.

"I know." Thea said, "Thank you for taking care of them throughout all of this." She sighed, "I'm really lucky that I have you." She nodded as he smiled.

"I just wanna see you better." He said, "And not just for the kids or for me but… for yourself." He nodded to her, "I don't want you to be unhappy."

"I was never unhappy because of you or the kids." She made clear.

"I know that." He nodded, "But still, it all comes hand in hand, right?" He said, "What's the saying? Happy wife, happy life?" He asked as she chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so." Thea smiled, "Started off this year with just… a regular addiction. Now I have borderline personality disorder, an addiction and a liver that may give up on me if I ever take another drink again." She nodded, "It's not ideal." She shook her head.

"No, but… you're moving onto the other side of all of that. I know there's still a lot to learn and understand with this disorder, but you're doing the work, and it's something you can treat now. You don't have to suffer in silence anymore." He said, "Call me stupid for saying it but… maybe all of this was something that needed to happen. I wish it didn't have to be so painful but… maybe it's a blessing in disguise."

"I think so." Thea agreed with him, "I'm just glad no one gave up on me when I wanted them to." She nodded to him.

"No one's ever gonna give up on you." He assured her, lifting her hand he was holding and kissing it as she smiled, linking her arm through his and hugging into him as they walked through the forest.

"It's so gonna rain." Thea nodded.

"Yeah, I can feel it." Dominic nodded, "I thought it was gonna be a nice day." He admitted, feeling the rain getting heavier.

"It's raining!" Sofia yelled.

"We're gonna get wet." James huffed, running back to his parents as Thea laughed a little.

"It's just water." Thea nodded, "It's not gonna bite." She teased, messing James' hair up as he scoffed.

"Damn, it's really coming down." Dominic laughed, trying to pull his hoodless jacket over his head as Thea just laughed, not bothering to put her hood up.

"There's puddles!" Sofia noticed, jumping into the puddles, "Mommy, look." She giggled, taking Thea's hand and showing her.

"It's a big one." Thea nodded, jumping in the puddles with Sofia as Dominic smiled.

"There's a big one up here." James noticed, running over to another forming puddle as Sofia ran to join him.

"You enjoying the puddles?" Dominic smiled as she nodded.

"My feet are so wet right now." Thea laughed, "I don't even care." She shook her head as he smiled, watching her look up at the rain, closing her eyes for a few seconds. He hadn't saw her smile this big in a long time. It was hard for it not to rub off on him.

"Your hair is a little wet." He nodded as she laughed.

"A little?" She shook her head as he nodded, watching as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you." Dominic nodded as she smiled.

"I love you." She said, "Thanks for not ditching my crazy ass. I know I… come with a lot of baggage these days."

"We all got baggage." He said, "I love your crazy ass." He nodded as she smiled, leaning in and kissing him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.