Family

"We should probably get dressed before Dean gets home." AJ smiled, looking up at Punk as she lay on the couch with him, her leg tangled over his whilst she rested her hand on his chest, tracing her finger around the new tattoos.

"Probably." Punk nodded with a smile as she looked up at him, "I really just wanna lie here." He admitted as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, me too." AJ sighed. For the first time in so long, she felt at peace. Being with him again truly proved how much she had missed him, how much she really hadn't moved on from him. Even after all this time, he knew just how to take care of her, how to make her feel good and safe at the same time, "I missed this." She whispered, looking up at him.

"Yeah, me too." Punk nodded, running his fingers through her hair. He forgot how much he had missed being with her on a physical level, how every second was full of love and want. He'd missed just lying with her, holding her tight to him, feeling her body against his. It was hard to think of why they ever decided this wasn't enough.

"I miss you." AJ looked up at him as he looked down at her, "I missed you like this." She cupped his cheek, "You just… you know me so well." She sighed, "And it's just… it feels wrong to think about why we ever fell apart." She admitted.

"I guess we've had time to think about it. A lot of time." Punk nodded, "It seemed like the right thing at the time, with everything we'd gone through, felt like we were bad for each other." He said, "Or maybe I was just bad for you."

"You're not." AJ shook her head, "I haven't felt like this in a long, long time." She nodded.

"Yeah, me neither." Punk said, "Am I allowed to ask what… what's going on with us?" He asked her. It was obvious they still had feelings for one another, a lot of feelings, but he didn't want to be lead to think a certain thing if she wasn't thinking it.

"All I know is… being here these past few days… I've felt happier than I have my entire marriage." She shook her head, "I mean how ridiculous is it that I find my husband cheating on me and… somehow I'm happy, here with you." AJ shook her head, "A part of me still feels like I should be guilty." She sighed.

"Well you shouldn't." Punk said, "Maybe you're right. Maybe we just… gave up on this too quickly. I don't know, it was like we got spooked and ran away from each other." He said.

"Yeah." AJ agreed, "But I've always known that I still love you. That's not gonna go away." She looked up at him as he nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, caressing her cheek as she leaned up and kissed him softly.

"I like me better when I'm with you." She whispered against his lips as he smiled. At times she didn't like the person she'd become. The woman who buried everything in her work. Who didn't make time to actually stop and enjoy her life. But with Punk, she found herself giving her that time to actually sit back, to laugh again, to smile. He did that.

"Me too." Punk smiled as she rested her head on his chest, enjoying being in his arms at last.

"Hey." Rey smiled, walking over to the bar where Josh was standing behind, having found herself heading straight for the bar without realising.

"Hey." Josh nodded, "You haven't been returning my calls." He folded his arms as Rey sat up on the stool.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Rey sighed, "I just… after your parents, I just needed a bit of space."

"Sounds like you need space a lot." Josh said as Rey shook her head.

"Can you blame me after the way your parents treated me?" Rey questioned.

"Yeah, but I didn't treat you that way." Josh reminded her, "You know that's not how I feel about you." He said.

"Yeah well I've had a lot going on. I was meeting my parents tonight." Rey sighed, "You'll never believe what happened with my ex-"

"Hey, is this how you think this is gonna go?" Josh questioned as Rey looked at him, "You just pick and choose when you wanna talk to me? You ignore my calls for a few days and then you just appear and expect me to not say shit about it?" Josh asked, "I don't know if you've ever been in a proper relationship before… but this isn't how they go." He nodded.

"Excuse me?" Rey tilted her head, "I don't remember doing anything to piss you off, Josh." She said, "It was your parents who basically told me I wasn't good enough for you. Sorry if I had a few days of doubting myself and what was going on with us." She said.

"I told you not to listen to that shit. That's not how I feel about you and you know it. I like you. I want to be with you and spend time with you but you're so… so…"

"What?" Rey gritted her teeth.

"Difficult." Josh shrugged, "I don't know whether you're coming or going for the most part. I don't know how to read you. Half the time I feel like I'm doing something wrong just by showing interest in you." He said.

"I've been kinda distracted with a lot but go on, get it all out your system." Rey nodded. Of course this was happening, "Anything else you wanna get off your chest?"

"This isn't about me getting anything off my chest. I just don't wanna be the one putting in the effort all the time. Spending time trying to call you and getting no answer for two days." Josh said, "What else am I supposed to do?"

"Respect that I want to be alone. Respect that I'm trying to get to know my parents who I've just met after nineteen years." Rey said, "Excuse me for having a lot going on." She shook her head, "Why are you saying all of this?" She questioned, standing up from the stool.

"Because I'm not going to chase you, Rey." Josh made clear, "It's not one sided. I don't know if it's… some issues you got that you're not dealing with, maybe it's the stuff with your parents I-"

Before he could say anything else, Rey grabbed a glass beside her which had some water in it, throwing it at him on his face as he shut his eyes.

"My issues?" Rey spat as Josh wiped his face, "Ok, I'll go deal with my issues. Don't ever contact me ever again. Do you understand me?" She nodded.

"Rey." Josh sighed, watching as she quickly left the bar, rushing through some people and heading out of the door as he dried his face off and sighed.

Rey shook her head, walking down the street as she folded her arms, feeling warm tears running down her cheeks as she tried to dodge her way around all of the people on the busy pathway. She wondered if there was anyone else who wanted to have a go at her tonight.

She walked into the next bar in desperate need of a drink, walking up to the bar counter and sitting down on the stool, placing her hand over her head.

"I'm pretty sure you're too young for a place like this." Dean noticed her as Rey turned beside her, "You got some fake ID?" He nodded.

"Yeah." Rey shrugged.

"You been crying?" Dean noticed, puffing on his cigarette as Rey wiped her face and rolled her eyes. Of course she had to meet him.

"What's it to you?" Rey shook her head, turning away from him.

"What? Can't be concerned about my little niece?" Dean asked as Rey rolled her eyes.

"You don't know me." Rey shook her head.

"No, but I know you got Brooks in your blood. We take care of our own." Dean nodded as Rey looked at him, "Someone giving you trouble tonight?" He questioned.

"No." Rey shook her head. It wasn't worth getting into, "You wanna look out for me, you'll buy me a drink." She nodded.

"What you having?" Dean asked her as Rey looked at him.

"Red wine. Whatever they have." Rey shrugged as Dean nodded, calling the bar man over and ordering them both a drink.

"Here, have a puff on that." Dean said, extending his cigarette as Rey looked at it, "Your dad will have me in a body bag but you look like you need it." He nodded as Rey agreed and nodded, taking the cigarette from him and taking a few puffs, "You wanna talk about what's going on with you then?" He asked her, taking the cigarette back as their drinks came.

"Do I? No." Rey shook her head, "My ex called me a cheap whore in front of my parents. My boyfriend maybe just dumped me." She nodded to herself, "Things are really looking up." She took a sip of her drink as Dean looked at her.

"You're young, kid." Dean nodded.

"Oh, that makes everything ok?" Rey asked him.

"No, but I'm just saying… you got a lifetime ahead of you." Dean said, "You're still a kid. You'll move past all these things for sure." He said, "How'd it go with your mom and dad?" He asked her.

"To be honest, that was probably the most positive part of my night, which I did not expect." Rey admitted truthfully, "They actually seem like nice people." She nodded.

"Fancy that, eh?" Dean laughed a little, "You thought they'd be evil or something?" He sniggered.

"I think the whole point was I… I didn't know what to expect from them." Rey nodded, "But… yeah, maybe they're ok." She said as Dean nodded.

"You know, I wasn't really involved with everything that happened back then, when you were born, but I knew one thing and it was that they really did love one another." Dean said, "It wasn't like they were fooling around or anything. They meant a great deal to one another, and they still do." Dean said, "And you meant a lot to them."

"So I keep hearing." Rey nodded.

"They're both crazy too, you should know." Dean said as Rey turned to him, "A good crazy, though." He nodded.

"They don't seem it." Rey said.

"Wait until you get to know them properly." Dean said, "Unless you've been put off?"

"No, I… I'm gonna see them again." Rey nodded, "I actually felt comfortable with them. They were easy to talk to. They're interested in me." She said as Dean smiled.

"Of course they are." Dean nodded, "You want my advice?"

"On what?" Rey asked.

"On this boy drama you have going on, whatever it is." He said as Rey nodded, "Boys aren't going extinct. They're always gonna be around." Dean nodded, "Put yourself first and stop worrying about everyone else. You get that from your mom." He realised as Rey sighed, "Think about yourself and what you want."

"I really liked Josh, though." Rey sighed to herself, "And I guess I… I sort of understand where he's coming from. I always distance myself from people and then they snap and they push me away, but it's only because I'm already pushing them." Rey nodded.

"Now that sounds more like your dad." Dean nodded to himself.

"Well I thank them both for giving me such annoying personality traits." Rey rolled her eyes as Dean smiled.

"You'll figure it out." Dean nodded, "Just know that whatever it is you're going through, it's not the end of the world." He said as Rey smiled softly.

"Thanks." Rey nodded.

"You want a shot?" Dean asked her, already calling the bar man over as Rey chuckled to herself, watching him order them some shots.