Want

"Hey, Bob. What kind of dinner do kids eat?" Punk asked, walking around Bob's store the next day as Bob looked over with confusion.

"Cooking for Dean again?" Bob asked.

"No, it's for Amelia. April's kid." Punk said, walking over to the counter, "They're staying with me just now."

"Why is that?" Bob asked with confusion.

"Her husband has been cheating on her." Punk said as Bob tilted his head.

"That bastard." Bob spat angrily as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "It's just temporary, to give her some space." He said, "So I thought I'd cook something for them." He shrugged as Bob smiled to himself.

"You getting along with the little kid?" Bob smiled as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, she's cute as hell." Punk nodded.

"What about April? Is she ok?" Bob asked.

"She's on and off." Punk said, "She's still in shock I think. When she went home she… she found him in bed with another woman." Punk cringed as Bob shook his head.

"Some men never know what they have." Bob shook his head as Punk nodded, "Nice she went to you after it." Bob smiled to Punk who just shook his head.

"Don't get any ideas, Bob." Punk told him, "It's just… me, a friend, helping out her, a friend." He shrugged.

"Yeah, ok." Bob scoffed.

"I got to talk to Reylissa yesterday." Punk said as Bob raised his eyebrows, "She seems to have cooled off." He nodded, "I think she's gonna give us a chance." He smiled, "She still needs some space but she said she's not just gonna walk away from us without trying things." He said as Bob smiled and nodded.

"I knew she would come around." Bob smiled, "Well that's great." He nodded.

"Yeah." Punk smiled to himself, "It's just… having April around and Amelia… I don't know, it makes me think of what could have been." He nodded, "It's a little difficult that we never had that time with Reylissa. I mean… it's not like she needs us to take care of her anymore-"

"Yeah, she does." Bob nodded, "We all like to be taken care of. Especially by our parents. Just because she's older doesn't mean you aren't gonna have a full relationship with her." He said, "As for you missing out… you can't think about the past anymore. Think about now and what's going on." He nodded.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah, April is really happy she's gonna give us a chance." He said as Bob smiled and nodded.

"As am I." Bob smiled, "Make your meatballs. They're good." He advised as Punk nodded.

"Oh, yeah. I didn't even think of them. My signature dish." He nodded to himself, about to walk away when he paused, "What do I need to make them again?" He questioned as Bob raised a brow and shook his head.

"Hey." Rey smiled, walking into the bar which Josh worked in after her shift, sitting on a stool at the bar as Josh smiled.

"Hey, you just finished?" Josh asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." Rey groaned, resting her head down on the bar top as Josh cringed.

"Yeah, I wouldn't put my head on that." He laughed to himself as Rey smiled.

"Probably right." She lifted her head.

"Here, on the house." Josh nodded, sliding her over a drink as she smiled.

"Thank you." She smiled, "Oh and thank you for putting me to bed the other night." She laughed to herself, "Unless I walked there myself but I… I don't really remember doing that." She admitted.

"Yeah well I thought you'd be more comfortable." Josh nodded as Rey smiled. She'd never met someone with so much kindness and actual manners. She almost felt strange that he was treating her so well.

"I was." Rey nodded, "Thank you." She said, "And I also spoke to my dad in the morning, I met him at the diner down the road. Turns out my mom is staying with him just now and I… I have a little sister too." She shook her head as Josh smiled.

"Yeah? You didn't know about her?" Josh asked.

"No, not until I saw her. She's six so… I don't think we'll be sharing clothes or anything but… she's my sister." She shook her head with amazement. She never thought she would have siblings. She was amazed by it and in some way, she was excited.

"That's great." Josh smiled, "Are you gonna meet her?" He asked.

"Yeah, I want to." Rey said, "Her name is Amelia. She's so cute." Rey nodded, "But I mean… what do I have in common with a six year old?" She frowned.

"Hey, you'll find something." Josh nodded, "I'm sure she'll love you." He nodded, "Does this mean that you're gonna… talk to your parents?" He asked as Rey nodded.

"Yeah, I'm gonna give it a go." Rey nodded, "I can't walk away from them and not try. They've been through a lot just like me and it's selfish of me to just… think about my feelings and how I've felt this whole time." She said, "And they actually seem like ok people." She shrugged.

"Good, I'm glad you're gonna give it a try. It's better than having regrets later on in life where you wished you saw them." Josh said, "When you gonna see them?" He asked her.

"Well I've not arranged anything. I think I still need a bit of space. I don't want to dive right into it and scare myself. I don't know how to really act well around people. I wanna try hard not to say the wrong things. I know I probably will but I think I still need a few days to prepare myself." She said as Josh nodded.

"Hey, it's on your terms. You take how much time you need." He nodded as Rey smiled, "And don't think of it as something negative and scary. It's a good thing. Who knows… ten year's time from now you might be closer than ever to them."

"I'll just keep myself programmed to the next few days." She smiled.

"Fair enough." Josh laughed to himself, "Hey, I hope this isn't too forward but… I have a family party this weekend and I really hate suffering through it alone. You wouldn't wanna come with me?" He questioned as Rey raised her eyebrows.

"You want me to… meet your family?" Rey questioned as Josh nodded, "Oh… uh…" She'd never met anyone's parents before.

"Two sets of parents, one week." Josh smiled as Rey laughed lightly.

"I can take on anything." Rey teased, "Yeah, I'd like to come. You live out of town right?" She nodded.

"Yeah, it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere." Josh nodded as Rey smiled.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Rey nodded, "I can get it off work." She said.

"Great." Josh smiled.

"I didn't know you cooked." AJ smiled a little, sitting at the table with Punk and Amelia where Punk had made them dinner, which was the nicest thing. She couldn't remember the last time someone had actually cooked her dinner.

"Well technically, I don't." Punk laughed a little, "I guess we go through phases." He said, "Dean definitely does not cook."

"Where is he?" AJ asked.

"He's gone to see my dad probably." Punk nodded as AJ looked across at him.

"Your dad?" AJ asked as Punk nodded, "I thought you didn't… I thought you never saw him now-"

"I don't. Dean does." Punk said as AJ nodded slowly, "I don't understand it either but… I don't know, Dean has a bad conscience."

"Where is he? Your dad I mean." AJ said.

"He lives in an apartment about five minutes away." Punk nodded.

"Is he still-"

"A junkie? Yeah." Punk nodded briefly, "I don't understand how the man is still alive." He rolled his eyes, "He's not my dad. He never was." He shook his head as AJ nodded slowly.

"I-I didn't think Dean would have been in contact with him. I mean, he was terrible to the both of you." She nodded.

"Yeah, I guess Dean feels bad now that he's on his own. I don't give a shit." Punk shrugged as Amelia stared at him.

"That's a bad word." Amelia said quietly.

"Shit, sorry." Punk shook his head as AJ looked at him with a smile.

"You said it again." Amelia told him as Punk just cringed, turning to AJ who was smiling.

"Slip of the tongue." Punk mumbled as AJ smiled.

"Hey, what do you say to Phil for making us dinner." AJ turned to Amelia.

"Thanks, Phil. I like it." Amelia nodded as Punk smiled.

"You do? Thank God for that." He smiled, "It's a special recipe." He winked.

"Really? So no one knows it?" Amelia asked him.

"No one. Just be me. I can't give it to anyone, it's too good." He shrugged as Amelia smiled.

"I want to have secret recipes." Amelia said as AJ smiled.

"Well maybe I'll tell you this one but you can't let your mommy know. She'd tell everyone." He pointed to AJ who laughed to herself.

"It's true. I'd go tell everyone." AJ nodded.

"Well I won't." Amelia gasped, "You can trust me." She said.

"Ok, I will tell you before you go to bed. So mommy isn't here." He nodded as Amelia nodded and smiled excitedly.

"Hey, I don't know about this." AJ smiled, "I want in on the secrets."

"Too bad." Amelia told her, "You blab too much." She waved her hand as Punk chuckled to himself whilst AJ gasped, turning to Punk who just shrugged.

Once they finished up dinner, Amelia headed into the living room to watch TV whilst AJ helped Punk clear up the kitchen. It turned out he could cook, but boy was he a messy cook.

"I think she likes it here." AJ admitted honestly.

"Really? This small place?" Punk teased as AJ smiled.

"It's not small." AJ scoffed.

"Well, compared to your house I assume it's like a shoe box." He laughed to himself.

"I guess she's used to more space." AJ nodded, "But she loves it here. I mean as long as Spike is with her, she doesn't care where she goes."

"Yeah, I can see that." Punk chuckled to himself, "I hope you know you're welcome to stay here for as long as you need." He nodded as she smiled.

"Thank you, I really appreciate this." She said, "But I mean I gotta go talk to Tom at some point and figure something out. If I'm gonna leave or if he is. How we're gonna make it work with Amelia." She said, "There's a lot to figure out."

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Well I'm here, whatever you need." He said as she smiled.

"I can't stay in your bed for much longer. That's not fair on you." She shook her head.

"Hey, I never sleep anyone." Punk assured her, "And I'm fine on the couch." He nodded as she just smiled.

"I just wish I didn't have to deal with this. I don't want to talk to him about it because I know he's just going to throw excuses at me." She shook her head as Punk sighed.

"Like you said, it's sorting things out for Amelia, you don't need to be nice to him or hear him out. Quite frankly he doesn't deserve it." He said as AJ smiled. She never thought she would have sought so much comfort in him at this time. She really felt like he was giving her a shoulder to lean on and he was going to so much effort to keep her laughing, to keep her daughter smiling. That meant everything. It reminded her of how amazing he really was. And the sweet boy she fell in love with all those years ago was still there.

"A part of me just wants to forget about him." AJ admitted, "I mean, is that bad?"

"Are you kidding? He's the one who fucked up, not you. I'd feel the same." Punk nodded.

"It's just made me think about all the things that were wrong with our marriage. I mean we hardly spent time together. Maybe that's why he cheated-"

"There is never any reason for any man to cheat on his wife. I don't want to hear it." Punk said, "If he was responsible about it and he was unhappy, he would have had the decency to sit you down and talk to you about it." He shook his head as AJ nodded. She saw how angry he was by the whole thing. His protective side was still definitely there.

"Well you're making this a lot easier on me." She smiled, "And you're… you're great with Amelia." She nodded, "Makes me sort of sad actually." She said as he turned to her, "Maybe this could have been us with Reylissa." She shrugged as Punk nodded. Seeing him with her daughter, it brought back painful feelings of when she once thought he was going to father her children and be there by her side.

"Yeah, I get it." Punk nodded, "Would have been nice." He smiled to her.

"Yeah." AJ whispered, "But I guess we can't dwell on the past forever. The what if's and the maybes." She said, "We're here now and… and maybe we still have the chance to be parents to our daughter."

"Yeah." Punk agreed, "Yeah, I'm gonna try really hard to sell myself as a good person to her. I know she's older and she can take care of herself but… I don't know, I still want to be someone she comes to for a hug if things go wrong." He shrugged as AJ nodded with a smile.

"I think you're gonna be good." AJ nodded, "You have this weird talent of understanding females." She said.

"I do?" Punk questioned as AJ smiled.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I'm nervous." He told her honestly.

"Me too." AJ nodded, "I don't want to let her down."

"Me neither." Punk agreed, taking a deep breath as AJ placed her hand on top of his.

"Hey, we'll be fine. She's new to this too. We can… we can all learn together." She nodded as he smiled.

"Yeah." Punk smiled, looking down at her as she stared at him. She felt herself losing her way in those beautiful eyes, his comforting smile. She wanted to be his again, she knew that, but the responsible adult in her was fighting it.

"I should go… check on Amelia." She pulled her hand back from him as he nodded.

"Yeah, sure." Punk nodded to her, feeling her rub his back as she brushed by him and left the kitchen, watching her until she disappeared. The more she stayed, the more he realised just how much he wanted her.