For Her


"Hey, where is April?" Dean asked, wandering over to Punk who was sitting on an outside bench where a strip of stores were.

"She's in there getting new clothes." Punk pointed as Dean looked at the store, "We're going to check out the new apartment today." He said.

"Oh, nice." Dean nodded, "You think you'll get it?"

"Yeah." Punk nodded positively, "It's not getting it that I'm worried about. It's keeping it." Punk said as Dean nodded, "I know how April feels about Rio and working for him but… if I did some jobs for him every month, we could live on that money. It's quick and it's easy-"

"It is. I don't blame you for wanting to keep doing it." Dean nodded, "You just gotta make sure April is ok with it." Dean said as Punk sighed and nodded.

"She wants us to get jobs but I've been applying without telling her and… every single person has rejected me. I didn't want to tell her because I knew it'd scare her." Punk said, "This is easy for us, it's what we know… why change it?"

"Yeah, I get you." Dean said, watching AJ storm out of the store with very obviously no bags in her hands.

"Hey." Punk stood up, "April." He called, watching as she ran off down the street.

"What the hell?" Dean turned to Punk who ran after her. He cursed at her for being so fast, but he eventually found her at a rest stop, watching her run into the toilet as he sighed.

He ran up to the bathroom door and knocked on it, "Ape, what happened?" Punk asked, "Let me in." He said, listening to the door unlock as he walked into the bathroom where she was sitting on the toilet seat, "Hey, what's up?" Punk crouched down in front of her.

"They wouldn't let me buy anything." AJ looked at him, "And then they… they made me empty my bag before I left." She said as Punk ran his hand through his hair.

"Hey, you can go somewhere else. You don't need that." Punk shook his head.

"I told them I had money to spend and they still told me to leave." AJ shook her head, "I'm fed up of being on everyone's bottom tier."

"Hey." Punk took her hands, "You're not on my bottom tier. You're at the very top of mine." He smiled, "`They don't know what they're talking about. People are just… rude, and you don't gotta listen to that." He said as AJ nodded, wiping her tears as Punk frowned.

He very rarely saw her cry. She was an extremely tough individual. The strongest person he knew, and he hated to see her hurt. It hurt him.

"Don't cry." He whispered, drying her tears, "Hey, we're going to have a look at that apartment, and we're probably gonna get it." He nodded, "We're moving on up." He said as AJ smiled a little, "It's gonna be our own place. Our home." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I'm being dumb." AJ realised, giving herself into trouble for crying as she dried her tears up.

"No, you're not." Punk assured her, "Come here." He sighed, standing up as she stood up, falling into his arms and hugging him tightly. He instantly made her feel better. Just the feeling of him. He was like a safety blanket for her.


"I can't believe this could be our own place." AJ shook her head, walking around the apartment.

It wasn't the best looking place. A lot of things needed fixed and it was pretty empty in regards to furniture. But it was a place, it was a possibility to finally have stability. Something neither of them knew anything about.

"Pretty sweet, huh?" Punk nodded, wandering into the kitchen as AJ followed.

"This could be our home." AJ said with amazement, looking around the kitchen. They'd spent the past few years hopping from other people's homes to dangerous motels. To have this chance to have their own place felt like a dream.

"I know it's a little rough around the edges and this side of town isn't the safest but… I think this is awesome." Punk nodded, both showing their humble and grateful roots as they looked upon this apartment with hope.

"Hey." The superintendent of the building walked back into the apartment, "So here are your keys." The man nodded, "I've gave you two sets-"

"What?" Punk shook his head, "We were told to just come and take a look." He said as AJ looked on with hope.

"Well we had someone else coming to see it early this morning but they passed on it." The man said, "So, you got it." He told them as AJ turned to Punk.

She immediately jumped on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him as he chuckled and squeezed her tightly.

"Oh my God." AJ squealed so excitedly as Punk spun her around.

"Rent gets paid at the end of every month." The man interrupted their celebrating, "No pets. No disturbing the peace." He waved his hand, "Enjoy it." He shrugged, wandering away, not particularly helpful but they didn't car.

"Oh my God, keys." AJ said, jumping down from on top of Punk, picking up the keys sitting on the kitchen table, "Keys to our own place. This is ours." AJ said with amazement as Punk watched her.

The best part wasn't getting the apartment, it was seeing the joy on her face, the excitement and the constant smiling, watching her opening up the cupboards and talking about what they could put where.

"Our own place, huh?" Punk smiled to himself proudly as AJ nodded, looking over at him.

"I don't even care where the money is coming from." AJ shrugged foolishly. She knew she should have cared, but in the moment, she didn't. She was on too much of a high to care about anything other than them being here and having their own place.

"You don't?" Punk smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and shook her head.

"No." AJ said, "We'll be fine." She said as Punk nodded.

"I got you no matter what." Punk nodded as she smiled.

"I love you so much." She said, cupping the back of his head, looking into his eyes. Their bond was on another level. He wasn't just her boyfriend. They'd gone through he worst times together, side by side, they got each other. She knew that he was her soulmate, no one else would stand a chance in her lifetime.

"I love you." Punk smiled, leaning down and kissing her.


"What is this?" AJ asked, sitting in the kitchen whilst feeding Thea, watching Punk pass an envelope over the table.

"Well I got paid today." Punk said.

"And you're giving me money?" AJ questioned, "I'm not your charity-"

"It's for Thea." Punk corrected, "Can you not… fight me on everything?" He shook his head as AJ looked across at him, "I told you I would start giving you money for her. For diapers and stuff. I wanna help." He nodded.

"It's fine, you don't give money-"

"Well I'm leaving it here, so use it." Punk said, "Go buy her an outfit or something. A new toy. Or use it to pay the rent. Do something with it." He nodded as she looked across at him.

It wasn't like she was surprised by his actions. It was just a reminder that he was a very good person, and he did care a lot.

"She needs some new onesies." AJ nodded, "And I… I am short for rent this month so…" She shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, do whatever you need to." He said as AJ nodded.

"Thank you." AJ nodded sincerely. She didn't like to be helped, she'd been that way her whole life, she liked to do things on her own, but when she was struggling this much, she couldn't turn help away, even from him, "How does it feel to get your first pay cheque?" AJ asked him.

"Good." Punk smiled, "Actually being able to pay for things and not feel guilty about it… it's nice." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I bet." She smiled as Punk watched her.

It was such a beautiful sight to see her sitting feeding their daughter. He could see just how wonderful a mother she was just by the way she held Thea. Like she was her everything. He would never give up on them. It would be impossible to.

"I assume you want a job at one point." Punk said.

"Yeah, I'd like to get one." AJ nodded, "I worked in a café when I was pregnant, they told me they would hire me back but… I have no one to watch Thea, it's not realistic." She shrugged.

"Maybe down the line, I could watch her and you could work. We could fix some sort of schedule up." Punk suggested, "If it's what you would want." He said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be good." AJ nodded, "Are you staying for her bath?"

"Am I allowed?" He laughed a little.

"You don't have to ask that." AJ said, "Yes, you're allowed." She nodded as he smiled.

"Yeah, I'll stay." Punk said, "I can go run the bath." He stood up as AJ nodded, "I check it with my wrist, right?" He asked.

"Elbow." AJ smiled a little.

"Right." Punk shook his head, walking away out of the kitchen as AJ smiled to herself a little.

She pulled over the envelope he had given her, opening it up and looking at the cash. She didn't expect him to give her so much. He knew her well enough to know that she wasn't mad about the fact she had to pay for things on her own whilst he was gone, she was mad about them and what happened. The money showed he truly cared for his daughter and any necessities that she needed.

"We'll get you some new onesies, baby. Huh?" AJ smiled, stroking Thea's cheek whilst giving her the bottle.

Punk eventually returned into the kitchen after running the bath for Thea, just in time for her to finish up her bottle. AJ passed her over to him and he took her into the bathroom.

"Hey can you just check the water is ok for her?" Punk asked worriedly as AJ smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, sure." AJ said, rolling her t-shirt up and dipping her elbow into the bath tub where the shallow water was, "That's perfect." AJ nodded to him as he smiled. She could see how much he cared and how much good he wanted to do by his daughter. That put her mind at ease for some reason.

"Ok, in we go." Punk hummed, leaning over the bath and holding Thea into the shallow water as AJ stood by the door watching, "Look at you." He smiled, holding her up as she kicked her legs a little.

He then watched as the baby girl smiled, touching the water with her hands as both AJ and Punk smiled to themselves.

"I love that smile." AJ whispered to herself.

"I love her." Punk shook his head, "I didn't think something so small and tiny could mean this much. I would do anything for her." He said as AJ nodded. She believed him.

"Yeah, me too." AJ agreed as Punk looked up at her.

"I know that… me and you aren't… we're not getting along, it's obvious. But can we just… be civil for her?" Punk asked her as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, we can." AJ nodded, "We can do it for her." AJ made clear as Punk nodded.

He figured his ex needed time. She had been through a lot. She'd been so alone this entire time that having him back was something she probably wasn't used to now, even though they were glued to each other's hip before. He figured the most important thing he could focus on right now was his baby daughter. That was something they could both agree on.