It Got So Complicated
"What part of leave me alone aren't you getting?" AJ spat, coming out of the bedroom after putting Thea down, "I don't want to talk to you." She said, walking off into the kitchen as Punk followed her.
"Well I want to talk to you." Punk said, "And how the hell do you expect me to just walk away after seeing… after walking in on…"
"Yeah, I get it." AJ said.
"Who is he?" Punk shook his head as AJ looked across at him.
"I-I don't know." AJ said, "He was… he was fixing my water. Well, he was gonna. Then you threw him out."
"He didn't look like he was fixing your water to me, April." Punk looked across at her.
"Hi, I'm April and I have no money." AJ nodded as Punk shook his head, suddenly realising what had been going on.
"You weren't…" He sighed to himself, "No, April-"
"I no longer have a choice." AJ spat as Punk ran his hands over his face and sighed, "I need water… I need it to make up Thea's bottles, and she has her bath at night, she loves the bath." AJ said, feeling a lump in her throat as Punk looked at her, "And I had no money-"
"That doesn't mean he can do that. Aren't these guys supposed to come for free?" He asked her.
"Yeah." AJ shrugged as Punk sighed.
"Well here… let me take a look at it." Punk said.
"No, it's fine. Don't do me any favours." AJ rolled her eyes, watching as he walked over to the sink anyway, looking underneath it as she watched him.
"What is it? Some sort of blockage or something?" He looked around, unscrewing some things and taking a look as she watched him. It was surreal for him to even be here. She was still in shock that he was back in her life, even though she was reluctant to let him in.
"I don't know what's wrong with it." AJ shrugged, watching him unscrew some things, reaching up and turning the tap on as she watched the water run from it, placing her hand on her chest with relief as Punk smiled to himself.
"Whoever connected this shit is stupid. One of the caps was in the wrong place." He said.
"You connected it when we moved in here." AJ raised a brow as Punk realised.
"Oh, yeah." Punk nodded, standing up, "Well that should be it." He said, sliding the sink back in and closing everything up.
"So what… are you a plumber now?" AJ folded her arms.
"Learned some stuff in prison believe it or not." Punk said, "And I've started walking with Dean on the construction sites." He said as AJ nodded slowly.
"Well good for you." AJ nodded as Punk looked across at her.
"I know you don't want to listen to me." Punk nodded, "And I can understand why."
"Then leave." AJ said as Punk sighed.
"I just… I want you to know how sorry I am." Punk said, "Really. I wish there was something I could do to make it better. To take it all back."
"You can't take it back." AJ said, "There's nothing you can do."
"I never meant to hurt you, April." Punk shook his head as AJ looked across at him, "You were all I had. I loved you. I still… I still love you." He nodded as AJ sighed, "All that shit that happened, it's in the past… and you always deserved better than that." He said, "I want to be better. You make me want to be better."
"Be better for yourself. Not for me." AJ shrugged.
"I am. I'm trying." Punk said, "Prison opened my eyes to a lot. My attitude was horrible back then. I was being selfish and I was stupid." He said, "I just… I need you to know how sorry I am for everything." He said as AJ looked at him.
She knew he was sorry. It was very clear to see. But that didn't change everything that happened for her. It didn't change the fact that she had been here, on her own, for a year.
"What do you expect?" AJ said, "For you to say sorry and me to just forget it all happened?" She asked.
"No, of course not." Punk said, "I just… I just need you to know how sorry I am, how angry I am with myself for throwing away the best thing I ever had." He said as AJ looked down, "And I wanna… I wanna be there for my daughter."
"Do you?" AJ questioned, "Do you actually care?" She wondered.
"Of course I care. I want to be here for her. I want to be here for you. We could… We could be a family."
"I think we're a little past that now." AJ nodded.
"I know you think I'd be a terrible father." Punk said, "And I don't blame you, I guess. But… you gotta give me a chance."
"I told you I was pregnant and you slept with someone else." She said, "You don't care."
"That's not true." Punk said, "We had a huge argument that night. We broke up. I was… I was upset and I was confused-"
"Not too confused to stick your dick in someone else." AJ spat as Punk sighed.
"Things were messy back then. We fell apart. I fell apart." He admitted, "I was stupid to push you away because you were… you were the only person who stood by me."
"Yeah, I was." AJ nodded.
"I just… I want to see my daughter. Just give me that chance. I… I got a job now so I can, I can start paying for things for her, I can give you money-"
"I don't want your money." AJ spat as Punk looked at her. He knew she was too proud and too strong to admit she needed help, that was just who she was.
"It can be for things for Thea. New clothes or… formula, diapers, whatever she needs." Punk nodded, "Please. I'm not… I'm not gonna give up on her. And I don't wanna give up on us."
"There is no us." AJ said immediately, "You blew it, Phil." She shook her head.
"Then let me make it right again." Punk said, "Come on, Ape." He sighed, walking over to her and taking her hands as she sighed, "Come on, we had something special. You're my best friend above anything else." He said as AJ looked up at him.
She hated that she still loved him dearly. He was her one. Her best friend. Her support system. Her everything. But she couldn't' forget what he did. What he threw away.
"No." AJ snapped out of it, throwing his hands away, "No, it's too hard." She said, "I can't trust that you won't get sucked back into that life again."
"I was a dumb kid-"
"It was a year ago." AJ scoffed, "It's not like we' thirty now." She said.
"I know that but being in prison taught me a lot. It taught me a lot about who I really don't wanna turn out like." He said, "I was just chasing a high with those guys, I was being stupid and I just tossed away our value. I promise you I'll never hang around with those guys again." He nodded, "I wanna be here for you and for Thea."
"I always thought of you as someone who could never hurt me." AJ nodded as Punk sighed, "And you hurt me." She nodded, "I don't want you around." She shook her head as Punk ran his hand through his hair.
"Then… then why you got those pictures up on the fridge?" Punk said, grasping onto anything he could to remind her of what they had, what magic they had, "If you hated me so bad why are these still up?"
"I just…" AJ looked over at them, "I haven't got a chance to take them down." AJ said, rolling her eyes at herself.
"Of course that's it." Punk shook his head, looking across at her as she stayed silent, "I wanna see my daughter. I wanna spend time with her. I'm entitled to see her-"
"Entitled?" AJ laughed, "You think you're entitled to anything?"
"She's my kid, April. It's not like I walked out. I was put in prison-"
"Pretty much the same as walking out. You could have prevented going to prison." AJ said.
"Yeah and I just made mistakes, ok? And I'm gonna regret them forever, don't you worry." Punk said, "I wanna see Thea. I'm not gonna walk away from her." He promised as AJ looked across at him. Deep down, she knew he wouldn't walk away from his child.
"Well you're not taking her away from me." AJ said defensively as Punk nodded, putting his hands up.
"I play by your rules. That's fair." Punk accepted, "Any time that I can have with her, I'll take." He nodded as she looked over at him.
"You can come by for an hour tomorrow." AJ shrugged.
"Or we could go out?" Punk suggested, watching her glare at him, "Staying in is fine." He nodded, "Yeah, ok. What time?"
"She's normally awake from… three to five. That's when she gets her bottle, her bath, before going to bed." AJ told him.
"So I'll be here at three." Punk nodded, looking across at her as she just nodded and looked down, "I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make this right." He said, "I love you. And even though you might not love me-"
"Is that what you think?" AJ looked up at him as he shrugged with confusion, "I love you. I love you and I hate it." She spat angrily as Punk nodded slowly, "I wish I could hate you."
"I hate me." Punk assured her, "I just… I hope one day you can forgive me for everything. For being so dumb and not listening to you when you warned me about Rio." He said, "I'm gonna be better. I'm not gonna turn out like our parents."
"I wouldn't promise yourself that just yet." AJ said, "You can leave now." She said as Punk nodded.
"If that guy ever comes back-"
"I can handle myself." AJ said as he nodded. He knew she could. He'd seen it plenty of times with his own eyes. But he was always going to protect her, even if she didn't want the protection.
"Just… know I'm here." Punk said as she looked at him, "I'll see myself out." He said as AJ nodded, watching as he left the kitchen and left the apartment.
She immediately ran out after him, locking the apartment door quickly and leaning back against it, wondering how things got to be so difficult.
"Who is the new girl?" Punk asked, leaning over the cafeteria table to his friends and his little brother, dumping his bag down as he watched the young girl in line, "She was in health class." He said, sitting down as they all turned around.
"No clue." Dean shrugged, "She's good looking." He nodded.
"Maryse, tell her to come sit with us." Punk nodded to his blonde French friend who scoffed.
"You tell her." Maryse batted back.
"I'll do your English essay for you." Punk teased, pulling her tray from her as Maryse rolled her eyes, "And you can do my French."
"Give back." Maryse snapped, snatching her lunch tray back with her food on it, "Which girl are you losers talking about?" She turned around.
"Dark hair. Getting served right now." Punk said as Maryse looked over.
"Ok, fine." Maryse waved her hand at him as Punk smiled to himself.
Maryse watched as AJ eventually walked down the cafeteria, she threw a banana peel out onto the floor as Punk shook his head.
"Lame." Punk scoffed whilst the others chuckled.
"Watch and learn, ugly." Maryse shoved his face, getting up from the table, watching as AJ walked down, "Oh, look out!" Maryse called as AJ jumped a little, "You almost tripped." Maryse said, picking up the banana peel as Punk rolled his eyes.
"Oh." AJ noticed, "Thanks." She nodded as Maryse smiled.
"Hey, are you in my health class?" Maryse asked, "From last period?"
"Uh… yeah, I guess I must be." AJ nodded.
"I'm Maryse." She smiled.
"April." AJ nodded.
"Come sit, there's a seat over here." Maryse nodded as AJ looked over at the group of people she was walking back to. She promised herself she wouldn't be awkward. She would find an escape. She would find people.
"Ok." AJ said to herself, taking a deep breath as she followed the blonde girl over to the table, taking the vacant seat.
"What's up." Dean nodded to her as AJ smiled pleasantly.
"Everyone this is April." Maryse pointed whilst the table looked over.
"You guys can call me AJ." AJ nodded as Punk looked at her.
"I like April." Punk nodded as AJ looked at him, watching as he smiled her way. She could tell they weren't the popular kids, they all stood out in their own ways, especially him. He had the most amazing eyes, the most… enticing smirk that made her stomach feel light.
"What's your name?" AJ smiled.
"Phil." Punk nodded, taking a sip of his drink as she smiled and nodded.
"Well hey." AJ gave him a smile, different from the smile she gave the rest of them.
