Trust

"You look nice." Punk said, getting home from work the next night, walking into the bedroom where he saw his wife sitting applying some make-up. They hadn't spoken much since last night. It wasn't like them to not communicate with each other, but it was almost a case of not knowing what to really say. They hadn't dived deep into this conversation topic before, and it did bring back a lot of the uncertain memories of that time, for both of them.

"Thank you." AJ smiled at him in the mirror, "Will you be ok for dinner?" She asked him.

"Well I have been invited to Thea's for dinner tonight, actually." Punk said, "She came to visit me at the docks earlier. I told her you were going to your boss' house and she was kind enough to take me in for the night." He said as AJ smiled.

"Pity dinner?" AJ teased.

"Probably. Dinner is dinner to me." Punk said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, stretching his back as she watched him in the mirror.

"You ok?" She asked him as he nodded.

"Just… the old back playing up again." He said.

"Take some pills." AJ said.

"No." Punk scoffed as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Well I shouldn't be home late." She assured him, "It's just dinner and some work conversation. Few hours at the most." She nodded.

"Ape, you're not my babysitter. It's alright." He laughed a little as she smiled, "You do look incredible." He nodded to her.

"Thank you." AJ smiled, turning around and looking at her, "So what's on the menu at Thea's? How is she doing?"

"Well she's cooking so she's doing ok in that respect." Punk said, "She seems good. She was at therapy this morning. I think getting to see the kids more is really helping her out." He said as AJ nodded.

"Well of course after being away from them for so long." AJ nodded, "Good, I'm glad." She smiled, "I hope you have a nice night. Don't have too much fun without me." She teased.

"Right back at you." He nodded as her smile faded a little.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She turned back around to her dressing table, looking at him in the mirror.

"Nothing." He laughed a little, "I'm joking, obviously." He shook his head.

"You know I'm as thrilled abouthim being there as you are." AJ said, "Seriously."

"I know. Really, it was just a joke." Punk said, "Come on, is this how it's gonna be now that this chump is working on your floor again?" He asked as AJ turned around, "You being around him doesn't bother me. I've told you that. So if that's why you get uptight about it then just stop it. My concern is you. And how you feel about it. That's all I care about." He made clear as she just nodded.

"I know." AJ sighed, "I know. I'm ok." She assured him, standing up and walking over to him.

"If you're not you gotta tell me." Punk looked up at her as she stood in between his legs, brushing her hand through his hair.

"I will. But I'm ok. I'm just focused on doing my job." AJ nodded to him.

"You're so beautiful." He looked up at her as she smiled, "You don't happen to have like… a couple minutes to spear do you?" He asked, running his hands up her thighs as she smiled.

"And what do you need that takes a couple of minutes?" She raised a brow with a smile.

"Why don't you get on your knees and I'll show you." He nodded, undoing his pants as she smirked, dropping down to her knees in front of him as he pushed his pants and boxers down.

She wrapped her hand around his length, stroking him up and down whilst he tilted her chin up to look at him.

"Couple of minutes is all you've got." She hummed, stroking him up and down with her hand before replacing her hand with her mouth.

"Fuck." Punk closed his eyes and rolled his head back a little, placing his hand on the back of her head as she moved her mouth up and down on him.

She switched between her hand and her mouth, looking up at him and smiling upon his pleasured face, doing what she knew he liked, encouraging his release the deeper she took him in her mouth.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum." Punk moaned, watching as she bobbed her head up and down on him, placing her hands on his thighs as she enjoyed him between her lips. She got her own pleasure from giving him his, and things were a little tense between them at the minute, which usually resulted in some encounters such as this.

Punk eventually found his release, spilling himself inside her mouth as she sucked the head of his shaft clean, releasing him from her mouth completely as she looked up at him, a dazed look on his face which made her chuckle.

"You can pay me back later for that." She smiled, standing back to her feet, chuckling as she watched him lay down on the bed.

"I'll pay you back now." Punk laughed a little, running his hand through his hair.

"I have to go." She said, wandering into the bathroom to properly fix herself, "Later." She assured him.

"You want some coffee?" Thea asked, a little while after dinner, sitting in the kitchen with her dad as she got up and began making coffee.

"Yeah, go on." Punk nodded, "Is Dominic always on bedtime duty?" He asked her.

"We switch around." She said. Dominic was upstairs getting the kids ready for bed, "I'm just glad I'm home to give him help. They can be a handful." She nodded.

"I'm pretty sure that's in children's job title. Being a handful." Punk nodded.

"Well not according to Cassie. She has an angel child." Thea said.

"Your kids are older. They can act up more." Punk said.

"James is fine. It's Sofia. The girl is a maniac." Thea laughed to herself.

"She's you." Punk said, "That's the exact same way you used to be as a kid."

"Then I feel bad for you and mom." Thea said, pouring the coffee, "Wouldn't change her for the world, though." She nodded with a smile as Punk nodded.

"So how's the therapy going?" Punk asked her as she sat down at the table with him, sliding over the coffee for him.

"It's fine." Thea shrugged, "It does help, I'm not naïve." She nodded, "Do I wish I didn't have to go? Sure, of course I do. But I'm not in denial anymore. There's… something wrong with me, right? So I gotta deal with it." She nodded.

"There's not something wrong with you." Punk said.

"There is." Thea nodded, "Borderline personality disorder. That's me. And I gotta make sure I take care of that. Now I know I really have no excuse." She said as he looked across at her, "It's kinda frustrating to be honest."

"What is?" Punk asked.

"How obvious it was that I have this illness." Thea said, "I mean I… I love my sister so much I literally killed someone for her." She shook her head, "And we all just acted like that was fine?" She questioned.

"That's a little different." Punk scoffed.

"It's not. I could have called the cops. I could have stalled him-"

"If you didn't kill him. I would have." Punk told her truthfully, "What he did to Jude, what he did to you… you don't have to be mentally ill to want to make him pay for that." He shook his head, "He's exactly where he's supposed to be." He shook his head.

"Yeah, he is." Thea agreed, "Part of me wishes he could have just rotted in prison for the rest of his life. I always wonder if Jude would have wanted to face him."

"At the time? I don't think so." Punk shook his head, "Now? Probably."

"So why was Punk going to her boss' for dinner?" Thea asked.

"She does it every year. Business stuff." Punk nodded.

"Joey there?" Thea asked, sipping her coffee as Punk nodded, "You look thrilled about that." She said.

"I don't give a shit about him or what he's doing, as long as it's not affecting your mother." Punk nodded, "Sometimes it's just hard to believe she was with someone else, even if it was for a short time."

"Of course it's hard to believe." Thea nodded, "You guys have been inseparable since you were sixteen. It was always just the both of you. I can understand why it's hard for you to believe."

"I just pushed it to the back of my mind. We barely spoke about it. Her telling me was enough. I didn't… I didn't need the details. I didn't want them. Now the guy is working in an office a few doors down from her." Punk shook his head, "We've just… never had this kind of problem before. There's never been someone else."

"Didn't you cheat on her-"

"That was different." Punk scoffed as Thea rolled her eyes.

"Well what about in high school? You guys never fought and broke up?" She asked.

"No." Punk thought to himself, "One girl did try and ask me out one time and… your mom put her head through the bathroom mirror." Punk nodded, "She got expelled a couple days later."

"She would have scared me if I was in her classes." Thea laughed a little as Punk nodded.

"I don't think girls looked at me ever again after that." Punk said as Thea smiled.

"Well I can see why it's weird for you but you just gotta trust that the guy isn't gonna bother her." Thea said, "I know sometimes it's difficult to trust the male species, but… you just gotta." Thea shrugged.

"When did she realise she didn't wanna be with him?" Punk asked her.

"She had a conversation with Sam." Thea said as Punk nodded, "If I knew she was legit happy with him and he was good enough for her then I would have encouraged it. I know that's a slap in the face to you, but… I wanted what was best for her. After everything she'd done for me." Thea said, "This guy wasn't the best for her." She shook her head.

"What'd Sam say to her?" Punk asked.

"I'm not sure. They pretended they didn't like one another but… she was there for mom a lot when you were gone." Thea nodded, sipping on her coffee.

"You miss her?" Punk nodded.

"Yeah." Thea said, "You?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" He asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah, I would." Thea smiled, "I'm glad you guys sort of made amends in the end. I know that would have meant a lot to her." She said as Punk nodded.

"Well she started to feel like an actual mom for the first time in my life." Punk nodded, "Funny how that worked. She was always around when we didn't see eye to eye and then… finally when things start getting better she kicks the can."

"Yeah she was a bastard." Thea nodded as Punk smiled, "I'm not surprised she did that in the slightest."

"I shouldn't be either." Punk nodded, "I'm glad you got a good friendship out of her. She didn't have many people but… I know you meant a lot to her."

"She meant a lot to me." Thea nodded to herself, "I miss her a lot." She said as Punk nodded, "I wish I could have told her about the BPD. She would have had a field day with that."

"Oh, yeah. She would have." Punk nodded, "Saying something like… Thea baby we're all mentally ill don't worry about it."

"Yeah." Thea chuckled at the impression, "Anything to make me feel better about it." She nodded.

"She'd be proud of you." Punk nodded.

"I know." Thea smiled.