Feeling Lost

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't know where to go." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"No, you're fine." Punk assured her, "She'll be fine there." He nodded, standing outside his bedroom where Amelia was asleep on his bed along with the dog who appeared to be watching over her, "Best friends, huh?" Punk nodded as AJ smiled.

"Yeah, I wouldn't go near her when he's around." AJ advised as Punk smiled, looking over to the six year old and smiling. She was AJ's image. Sweet and precious.

"Is everything ok?" Punk asked her as she closed the door over, walking into the living room as he followed her.

"No, not really." AJ shook her head. She'd barely had time to process what was going on. As she drove away from the place she felt was her home, it really began to sink in just how hurt she was. How she had put so much trust into her husband, only for it to be thrown back in her face in such a cruel way.

"What's wrong?" Punk asked with concern. He could tell something was wrong, he could see it in her eyes and he was worried.

"Tom has been cheating on me." She nodded, taking a seat on the couch as Punk watched her, "He's been cheating on me." She said, feeling so strange to say it aloud. She'd had friends, work friends, neighbours who had been cheated on. It upset her that it was something so common, but she never once thought she'd be experiencing the feeling of being cheated on.

"April, I'm… I'm sorry." Punk shook his head, not sure what to say or do, sitting down beside her on the couch, "You just found out?" He asked her as she nodded.

"I just walked into my house and found him in bed with another woman." AJ turned to him as Punk sighed and shook his head. He was angry. Angry that someone could hurt her like that. That someone could take her for granted and not truly treat her the way she deserved to be treated.

"I'm so sorry." Punk shook his head as AJ just nodded.

"Our marriage wasn't perfect, I know that. There's been times that we struggled but that's normal." AJ shrugged, "I never thought it was that bad that he had to… go be with someone else." AJ shook her head. Now that she had stopped and was really thinking about it, she felt pretty worthless after what Tom had done, "I don't even think this is the first time." She admitted honestly.

"April you're worth so much more than this." Punk assured her right away, "So much more." He nodded as she turned to him, "Yeah people have problems with their marriage, I'm the first one to understand that but… when I had issues with my wife, issues we couldn't resolve, we divorced. We didn't cheat on each other." Punk said, "Tom is… he's not worth it." He made clear as AJ sighed.

"I just… I don't want any disruption for Amelia." AJ sighed to herself, doing her best not to cry, not yet anyway, "She won't understand this and I can't… I can't just disappear with her." She shook her head.

"Hey, you get to do what is best for her right now and if taking her away from any sort of arguments or conflict is what is best then you're doing that. You and Tom gotta cool off and he lost the privilege to decide anything when he was… doing what he's been doing." He said, "You can stay here for as long as you need." He nodded, placing his hand on her thigh as she sighed.

She hated that she had to lose him all those years ago. That they never got to really work things out. She wondered how different things would be, but she knew her sweet baby girl would never be there and suddenly, she really didn't want to change anything. She just wished things could be different now.

"Thank you." AJ nodded to him, "I'm sorry for just showing up like this, I just… I didn't know where to go. I was gonna go to Bob but he's just got out the hospital and I don't want to stress him with anything." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I get it. I'm glad you came here." Punk nodded, he wanted her to never feel like a stranger. They'd been strangers for too long.

"Me and Amelia will sleep on the couch. We're not… we're not taking your bed." AJ shook her head.

"No, you are. I'll sleep here, it's fine." Punk nodded, "Have you ate? Dean disappeared for pizza, he'll probably buy too much as usual so… if you're hungry, if Amelia is hungry." He said as she smiled and nodded. She realised this was the best place she could have went. Somewhere she actually felt cherished and important, even with a man who she hadn't saw since she was eighteen. She still felt more worth with him than she did with her husband clearly.

"Thanks, Phil." AJ said as he smiled.

"I'm here to talk if you need to." He nodded

"I just feel so stupid." She sighed, "How I never… I never even saw it."

"Because it's not something you should have been looking out for. A marriage is just completely built on trust and loyalty and if you don't have that, what do you really have?" He shrugged as AJ nodded, "It's not your fault that he clearly has no disregard for you. Shame on him for not knowing what he has." He said as she turned to him.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." AJ shook her head, "I have… a daughter who hates me, a husband who has cheated on me, a marriage on the way out, another daughter whose home is gonna be broken now-"

"All those things are not your fault." Punk said, "Reylissa, we can… we can give her space and time and maybe we can work something out with her." He nodded, "You and Tom is something you gotta work out and there's no rush." He said as she nodded.

"When did my life become such a mess?" She shook her head, placing her hands over her face. She felt like things had gone from bad to worse to horrific. The only thing that was really helping her was being with Punk and listening to his voice.

"It's not a mess. You've accomplished so much." Punk reminded her.

"I should have trusted your opinions on Tom all those years ago." She nodded to herself, "I just thought I meant more to him than this."

"Hey, you guys… obviously had something." Punk nodded, "But marriages can fall apart, I guess it's all about communicating-"

"Which we did none of." AJ nodded, "What happened to your wife?" She asked him.

"Nothing happened to her." Punk laughed a little, "We just wanted different things. It just didn't work out." He nodded.

"How long were you married?" AJ asked.

"Uh… five years but… four really, the last year wasn't exactly worth counting." He admitted honestly.

"Who was she?" AJ asked.

"Just a girl I met when I was out with Dean one night." Punk nodded.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"It's ok. It's better to end something that's making you miserable." He said, "Getting out of it was like… breath of fresh air." He nodded to himself.

"Did you tell her about Reylissa?" AJ asked him.

"Yeah but she… she didn't like talking about it. I didn't really either but, I think it made her uncomfortable or… I don't know-"

"Tom was the same." AJ nodded, "He would just nod and then change the conversation when I brought her up." She said, "I'm just fed up of being judged for it." She shook her head, "We loved one another, it's not like it was some random hookup and we had to deal with it. I was sure I was gonna spend the rest of my life with you." She admitted.

"Yeah, me too." Punk nodded, scratching the back of his neck.

"But we did what we did for her benefit. It didn't pay off obviously we know that now but… we were trying to do the right thing." She said as Punk nodded.

"I guess a lot of people don't understand it. We do. We lived it, we went through it. These people have their opinions but they don't know what it was like." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I wish I could go back." AJ shook her head, "Make it work somehow." She nodded to him, "But… I wouldn't have Amelia and I could never be without her." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Hey, everything… it happens for a reason." Punk nodded, "Nineteen years later and… we're back in each other's company and… Reylissa is close by. Who would have thought?"

"And she hates us." AJ added.

"I think she needs space. It's a big deal for her. We're her parents and I think deep down, she does want to know us. She's taught herself to hate us but… I don't know, I don't think it'll last and… I'd love to know her." He sighed, "I know it's late and she's a woman and I really don't have much purpose to serve in her life at this point but… I still want to know my daughter." He said as she nodded.

"I do too." AJ nodded in agreement just as the door opened up.

"I got pizza." Dean said, walking into the living room with two boxes as AJ looked up, "Hope you're hungry, April." Dean patted her shoulder comfortingly as AJ smiled. She'd felt more comfort in the past hour from Punk and Dean than she had from her husband their entire marriage. She figured she had been pretty blinded, or she had just settled for less when she really didn't deserve it.

"I'm gonna go change into something more comfortable." AJ nodded to Punk, "And check on Amelia. I'll be back in a minute." She said as he nodded and smiled, watching her walk away. He hated that she was hurting, but was relieved to be the one comforting her.

"Hey, baby. Glad you made it." Zac smirked, grabbing Rey around the waist and kissing her cheek as she walked into the apartment where Zac had directed her to.

She could tell he was drunk and high, but she was in such a negative mindset that she almost wanted to join him. She wanted all her thoughts to go away. All the confusion, all the conflict. What to do, what not to do. How to feel. She wanted it to disappear.

"Hey, is this your new place or something?" Rey asked him.

"No, it's just a friends, come in." He nodded, walking through to the sitting area as Rey followed. The apartment barely had anything in it and she knew what kind of place she was really walking into.

She headed into the sitting area, looking over at the other guys sitting on the couch drinking, noticing the drugs and the booze sitting on the table, turning to Zac, "No girls here?" She asked him.

"Here, have a drink." Zac pulled her over, pushing her down onto the couch between two random strangers she didn't know, handing her over a drink as she looked at it.

"I thought it was just gonna be us." Rey looked up at him. She figured she met him, had too many drinks with him and fell into his bed, regretting it all the morning of course, but seeing the other guys as well as the drugs right in front of her, she began to panic a little.

"It's just a few friends." Zac stumbled over a little as Rey turned to look at the guys she was sitting in between. They were all high and drunk and she wasn't sure this was what she really wanted after all.

"I should go." Rey nodded to herself as the guy beside her put his hand on her thigh.

"Stay and have some fun." He nodded to her whilst the other beside her tried to pull her t-shirt and bra strap down, forcing her down as she quickly broke free of them.

"Get off me." Rey said frantically, elbowing one of them and punching the other in the balls as she tripped over their legs but got herself together and ran out of the sitting area.

"Where you going?" Zac ran after her, "You said you were fucked up. You needed to… to take your mind off things." He stumbled over to her as she opened up the door.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you and maybe have a few drinks. I didn't want to… get high and be some sort of entertainment for you and your friends." Rey shook her head, "You really aren't what I thought you were."

"Don't act like you wouldn't like it." Zac chuckled as Rey slapped him across the face so hard that he stumbled over a little.

"Just stay away from me." She made clear, running out of the apartment and out onto the street, thankful to feel the fresh air as she sighed to herself, feeling tears overwhelm her. She'd never felt so lost in her life.

She always had a pretty good grasp on who she was and the life she lived, but ever since finding out about her meetings, meeting them, she felt like she didn't know anything.

She walked down the street, hugging her arms as she noticed Bob's store was opened for the first time since he'd gone to hospital, and the light was on.

She rushed across the road and into the store, looking over at Bob who was taking his time stocking a shelf. He turned around and noticed her.

"Rey." Bob smiled as Rey rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around him tightly as he raised his eyebrows. He was really the only trustworthy, comforting person she'd had her entire life, and she really just needed him right now, "Hey." Bob sighed, noticing she was upset, rubbing her back softly, "Hey, it's ok."