Advice

"C'mon, c'mon. Open up!" Rey banged on the apartment door. She had so many questions floating around in her head, so many things she wanted to say. Things that she'd thought about saying to her parents since she was just twelve years old. It was all in her head, ready to spill out from her mouth, and when the door opened… she froze.

"Obviously it's you." Punk shook his head with confusion, "What?" He asked, "What do you want?" He asked her as Rey looked up at him.

She looked up at him, not being able to speak. Was this really her father? He was nothing like how she imagined him to be.

"Kid, I don't got all day." Punk shook his head, about to close the door.

"Wait." Rey said desperately as Punk looked at her, "Bob… he said I should come here." She nodded.

"Ok." Punk nodded, "Why?" He shook his head as Rey went quiet again. It was so difficult trying to think of what to say. She really couldn't find the words.

"Is there something wrong with you?" Punk shook his head with confusion, "I'm closing the door." He informed her.

"No, wait… I'm Sarah. My name is Sarah." She gulped. She figured if she couldn't get her answers as his daughter, she'd get them somehow, "I'm a friend of Bob's. He… He told me to come here for help." She nodded, making up things on the spot, which she'd gotten quite good at over the years for many reasons.

"Help with what?" Punk asked her as she looked up at him, "If he sent you here to get money from me I'll kill him." He nodded.

"I'm pregnant." Rey said, "And… and he told me you could help."

"What?" Punk shook his head, "Help with what exactly?" Punk asked, a little horrified, "This is weird now, you should just go." He said, closing the door over as Rey stopped him.

"He told me about Reylissa." Rey nodded as Punk looked down at her, "And… and he thought you could give me some advice." She nodded, "Please, I'm desperate." She said as Punk looked down at her, opening the door back up a little.

"Great. I'm now the poster boy for teenage pregnancy?" He asked her as she shrugged, "Alright, come in." He shook his head as she walked into his apartment.

She'd manipulated people before, it wasn't going to be challenging. The only challenging part was the fact she was actually having a conversation with her father, and he didn't even realise it.

She walked into the living room where she saw another man sitting watching TV, "Wait…" Rey shook her head with confusion. She recognised him. He came into Hooters regularly. But why was he here?

"Hey, Dean. Clear off to the kitchen for a sec?" Punk asked Dean who looked up.

"Hooter girl?" Dean laughed as Rey rolled her eyes, "Why the hell are you here?" He asked.

"She's a friend of Bob's." Punk explained as Dean looked across at her, "Can you go to the kitchen?" Punk asked him.

"Yeah, I suppose. It's not like this is my apartment or anything." Dean scoffed, getting up from the couch and heading off into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

"Who was that?" Rey asked Punk.

"My little brother." Punk shook his head as Rey raised her eyebrows.

She had been serving her uncle at work and the entire time, he was her uncle? She felt like she was going to throw up.

"Maybe this was a mistake." Rey admitted as Punk looked across at her.

"Hey, if you need to talk about this, maybe I am the best person." He nodded as she looked across at him, "Sit down." He nodded to her as she gulped and walked over to the couch, sitting down as he sat across from her, "You're the girl with the boyfriend who never turned up to my garage?" Punk reminded himself as Rey nodded.

"Yeah, that's me." Rey nodded.

"I'm assuming he's the dad?" Punk asked her as Rey just nodded. She wished she could have just blurted it out to him. It would have been so much easier, but she didn't know how to. She'd never properly prepared for this moment.

"I think I'm gonna have the kid and keep it but Bob said I should speak to you." Rey shrugged, "I don't know, I just… I don't see how anyone could give their own child away." She stared at him.

"Yeah, well neither did I until it happens to you." Punk nodded, "What age are you?" He asked her.

"Seventeen." Rey lied.

"You gotta think what's best for the kid, right? It's not just you anymore. Think about all the work that gets put into having a kid and think… are you ready for that? Do you have the money? Do you have the support? I mean… you work at Hooters." He said.

"What the hell is wrong with Hooters?" Rey asked angrily.

"No, nothing… I'm just meaning… the pay might not be the best." Punk shrugged, "It's not just as simple as having the baby and moving forward. There's a lot that goes into it."

"Why did you give your daughter away?" Rey shook her head, "What if she needed you?" She asked as Punk looked across at her.

"She was going to have a better family who could take care of her. A mom and dad who were prepared. It was the best thing for her. That's what you gotta think about." Punk nodded, "I'm not saying it's the easier option, it's probably the toughest but when you're in a tough position, do you really wanna bring a kid into that?" He asked her.

"What if you're determined? I mean all kids really need is love, right?" Rey asked him, "Why couldn't love just be enough?"

"Love doesn't buy clothes and furniture for a baby that they need. I was your age when I had my kid and I was like you, determined to make it work, so was my girlfriend at the time. But things get in the way sometimes. And it's not meant to be."

"So why not just get an abortion?" Rey asked coldly, "Maybe I'll just do that."

"Well that's your decision. It's your body, you do what you want. No one should tell you different." Punk nodded, "But we decided we wanted to make it work. It was working for a while and then things… started to crumble. You make poor choices and decisions, you realise you're not ready for this sort of life. You're just a kid." He said, "So we decided it was best to give our kid a chance with a better family, with a better mom and dad." He said as Rey looked across at him.

"Do you still think about her?" Rey asked him as Punk nodded.

"Every damn day." Punk nodded, "It doesn't leave you. Not something like that." He said as she looked at him, "She'll be… nineteen now. Almost twenty." Punk said as Rey looked across at him.

"Do you have regrets?" Rey asked him.

"Not being able to make it work." Punk nodded, "Making the stupid decisions I made." He said, "But… we always put her before us-"

"Really?" Rey laughed to herself as Punk looked across at her with confusion, "I mean… giving your kid away doesn't really seem like selfless thing to do, if you ask me." She covered herself quickly as Punk looked across at her.

"It wasn't something we wanted. We put her before us. Selfishly, we could have… we could have kept her but what life would she have? What life would we have? We wanted her to go to parents who… who had money, who were mentally ready for something like that because we weren't." Punk told her, "Are you ready for something like that?" He asked her, "Especially when you got a dead beat boyfriend."

"You know what." Rey stood up, "I'm sure I'll figure it out." She nodded as Punk stood up.

"Well good luck." Punk nodded, "I… I know it can be a scary time." He said, "Especially if you're alone."

"Oh, don't worry. I've been alone my entire life. Since birth. Maybe that's why I'd never dream of giving my kid away. I know what it feels like to not have anybody." She nodded.

"Sometimes it's a blessing in disguise." Punk said, "But hey if you're ready for this then… more power to you." He nodded, "You just… shouldn't feel guilty about wanting what's best, and if what's best is for the kid to be with someone else, someone who can give more then that shouldn't be a bad decision." He said, "I couldn't give my kid what she needed but you know, I'm sure she grew up loved and appreciated by a family who knew what they were doing."

"Oh, I'm sure she did." Rey nodded as Punk looked across at her. He somehow got the feeling she wasn't actually interested in the advice he was trying to give her, which was odd when that's why she was here, "I should get going." She nodded.

"If you see Bob before me, tell him not to send anymore pregnant teens to my apartment please." He rolled his eyes as Rey faked a laugh and nodded, "And just… really think about your decision, it's not easy. I get it."

"Right." Rey nodded, turning back around to him, "What happened to your girlfriend?" She asked him.

Uh… we broke up and she moved on with her life." Punk nodded as Rey looked at him. She could see sadness when he said that, and she realised… maybe she'd never understand her parent's story and what they were feeling. What they still felt. Maybe it was best to not burden them with her presence. They gave her away and maybe it was her job to stay away.

"I'm sorry about that." Rey nodded, "Well thanks for the advice." She said, "I'm sure Reylissa is… doing fine." She nodded.

"I hope she is." Punk nodded, looking on at her as she brushed her dark hair out of her face, "Does my advice get me free chicken wings from Hooters?" He asked as she turned to him, screwing her eyes up.

"N-No." Rey shook her head. This guy? This was her father? Asking her for free chicken wings? She couldn't believe this was happening. The temptation to scream at him that she was his daughter was real, but she wasn't actually sure it would benefit her from much after all. The answers she'd gotten hadn't cured her anger and she wasn't sure it ever would.

"Thanks." Rey nodded, heading out to the door as Punk watched her and nodded, watching as she left the apartment and closed the door behind her, shaking his head to himself. He was gonna kill Bob the next time he saw him.

"What the hell was that about?" Dean shook his head, walking back into the living room and sitting down on the couch as Punk walked back in.

"Some girl just… needing some help I guess." Punk nodded, "I feel bad for her." He admitted.

"Don't. She's a bitch." Dean nodded.

"You don't know her." Punk laughed.

"Yeah but I see her in Hooters. She's always bitch slapping people and mouthing off." Dean shook his head.

"That's because Hooter girls always get harassed. I don't blame her." Punk shook his head as Dean just shrugged, noticing something on the floor where Rey had been sitting.

"Uh…" Dean picked it up, looking at the picture and sighing, "I think this is yours." He nodded to his brother, extending it to him as Punk walked over and took the picture from him.

He hadn't saw that picture in a long, long time. He forgot how young they really were. How frightened they looked, but how in love they were with their baby. He looked at AJ, sighing to himself. Losing her was the worst thing in the world, and seeing her again, living a new life was perhaps even worse.

He realised that this picture didn't belong to him, he knew it was normally in Bob's picture album, and wondered why this young girl had it, and why she had left it in his place.