Feels Right

"Are you ok?" Punk shook his head, pulling back from hugging his daughter, walking over to the apartment door and closing it over as Rey nodded, wiping her face.

"Y-Yeah, I'm… I'm fine." She nodded as he looked over to her, "I didn't think he was gonna…" She shook her head, "I thought he was better than that." She admitted, still in shock.

"He needs to stay away from you." Punk nodded, "Ok, he's trouble and he's only gonna get worse." He said as Rey looked at him.

"What if you hadn't come back?" Rey shook her head.

"I did so… don't think about that." Punk said, "If he's smart he will stay away and if he's dumb… I'll kill him." He shook his head, "Do you want me to stick around?" He asked her. He didn't think it was wise to leave her like this. She looked shaken up and all he wanted to do was be there for her, now that he had the chance to do so.

"Y-Yeah." Rey nodded.

"Ok." Punk said, "Ok, go… go sit on the couch." He nodded to her as she wandered away over to the sofa, "You want some tea or coffee?"

"I'm twenty. I don't spend money on tea and coffee." Rey said honestly.

"Fair enough." Punk said, walking over to the couch with her as she sat down, kicking her shoes off and grabbing her blanket from behind, "How long have you known that guy?" Punk asked her.

"Since I was fifteen." Rey said, "He was in the same foster home as me." She said as he nodded, "You don't have to stay if you don't want to. You can go home."

"No, you shouldn't be alone right now." Punk said, watching as she lay down on the couch, curling into a ball. He'd never seen her look so sad. It hurt him to see her this way and he really wished he spent longer punching Zac's face.

"When I was little…" Rey said quietly, "I used to talk to my teddy bears." She said as Punk sat back on the couch, "And I would fight with them. I would practise yelling at them so that whenever I had to fight with someone when I got older, it wouldn't scare me." She nodded, "But it scares me." She nodded as Punk looked over at her.

"Rey, you're worth more than that dick." Punk said, "He's just low life trying to drag everybody down with him. There's tons of them out there unfortunately."

"Like your dad?" Rey looked over at him as Punk looked across at her, "Seemed like a nice man."

"H-How did you-"

"I had dinner with mom earlier. She told me." Rey said, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Well it is what it is." Punk nodded, "But I got out, I knew I deserved better. You do too." He said, "Anything he says to you is just to get in your head. It's to make you believe what he wants you to so that he can… so he can control you. But you're better than that."

"Am I?" Rey questioned, "Maybe I'm fooling myself." She said, "Going to college, trying to mend my family back together-"

"You're going to college?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." Rey nodded, "I got in."

"That's amazing. You never even said you were applying." Punk said, "Well done, that's… wow." Punk nodded with pride.

"Maybe I just don't cut the college frame." She shrugged.

"Hey, hey sit up and look at me." Punk told her as she sat up a little, hugging her knees as she looked at him, "Anything he said to you isn't true. You work damn hard and you deserve this. You're the strongest person I've ever came across and you're gonna be amazing." He nodded, "I know I missed out on… being able to encourage as a kid, I'm sorry about that but… now it's my job to do that and I won't have some drug addict come in and tell you what you're worth." He said.

"He's got a point. I've not been perfect my entire life-"

"And who the hell is?" Punk asked, "Huh? No one." He said, "We make mistakes. We grow up. We do things we regret. It's part of life." He nodded, "You've earned this and you deserve to do something for you." He nodded as she leaned her head back on the couch.

"He knows me better than you do." Rey nodded, "Forgive me if I believe him more than I do you." She shrugged.

"I don't care if he's known you longer. It's human reaction. You don't tell someone what they're worth. They discover that on their own and then you love them for it, no matter what it is." Punk said, "I could know you for five minutes and I'd still tell you the same." He said as she looked across at him.

"He's never going to leave me alone. He's been in my life for too long." Rey said.

"Don't worry about that. I'll personally see to him if he comes near you again." Punk promised, "You focus on you. Do things for you. You've spent a lot of time not getting to be yourself because you've been so worried about where you're gonna be." He said.

"I feel like I'm never going to stop worrying." Rey admitted tiredly.

"You don't have to worry." Punk nodded, "I got a lot of protecting to make up for." He said, "I'm here to look out for you. So is your mom. We'll do anything for you. You know that." He stated as she nodded, "So go live your life and don't… don't give a fuck what anyone else thinks." He said as Rey smiled to herself.

"Words of wisdom, huh?" Rey smiled.

"Hey, I'm new to this." Punk put his hands up as she smiled.

"Well you're doing a pretty good job." She smiled to him.

"Really?" Punk took a deep breath, "Good. That's a relief." He nodded as she smiled.

"Thank you for showing up tonight." Rey nodded, "Wait… why were you coming over anyway?" She asked curiously.

"I have Lily for the day on Friday. I was wondering if you wanted to do something with us." Punk nodded, "And maybe I was curious to see how you got on at your moms." He shrugged as Rey smiled.

"I'd love to spend the day with you and Lily." Rey smiled, "And moms was great actually. She showed me some pictures of you guys in high school."

"Oh, really?" Punk asked, "Did you wonder how I managed to win her over, looking the way I did?"

"A little." Rey laughed as he smiled.

"Don't worry, sometimes I still wonder too." Punk nodded.

"I've just… I've always grew up watching my back. Not letting anyone in. I let Zac in. He got to know me and… I've regretted it ever since." She said.

"We all have similar regrets. We regret letting people get close, we regret telling people our secrets and things about us that no one else knows. But some day, someone will come along and you'll tell them everything and they'll love you so much that they'd never use it against you or hurt you with it." Punk nodded.

"Like you and mom?" Rey asked him as he turned to her, "Come on, just tell me you're both back together. It's a nice end to your story."

"We're just… we're taking it slow. A lot has changed and we have other priorities. We're not kids anymore." Punk said.

"That shouldn't be any excuse to ignore your feelings." Rey said, "Come on, don't preach to me about doing things for myself when you aren't." She said, "If you still love her you should be with her." She nodded.

"I'm working on it." Punk assured, "Don't you worry about that." He said as Rey just smiled.

"As long as I'm invited to the wedding." Rey smiled, resting back down on the couch, "You wanna watch a movie?" She asked him, "Go have a look at the DVD's I have over there and pick one." She nodded as he took his jacket off and wandered over to the movies she had to pick one, "But I have to agree." She nodded as he just smiled.

Once he picked a movie, he sat and watched it with her on the sofa. They only got halfway through until he noticed she had fallen fast asleep, her hand draping off the couch, her cheek pressed against the arm of the couch causing him to laugh a little.

He paused the movie and stood up, fixing the blanket around her and turning around, taking a look at the pretty messy apartment. He figured he could make himself a little useful.

He headed into the kitchen and began clearing up. He washed the dishes, took the trash out, cleaned everywhere and put things back in their belonging cupboards. He then cleared up the living area, folding up some scattered clothes and taking them through to her bedroom across the room.

He cleared up what he could in her bedroom without being intrusive in any way, smiling at the pictures stuck to her wall of her and her best friend, pausing when he saw the picture of him and AJ with her when she was just born, the one which she threw back at him when they had first met.

He smiled and walked back into the living room, putting his jacket on and walking over to her, leaning down and pressing a kiss on her head before leaving the apartment and locking it over.

He found himself, not going home, but going where he wanted to be. He realised preaching to his daughter about going after what she wanted, wasn't really right if he didn't do it himself.

He knocked on the door and waited for a response, watching as AJ opened the door to her house.

"Hey." AJ smiled, shaking her head, "What you doing here?" She asked.

"Uh… I just… wondering if you wanted to hang out." He nodded as she smiled a little.

"It's 11pm." AJ smiled.

"Yeah, I know." Punk said, "I'll uh… I'll go-"

AJ smiled to herself, stepping out onto the step and turning him around as she reached up for his lips, cupping his cheeks and pulling him close as he wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss.

"I'll hang out with you." She whispered, nuzzling his face, taking his hand and bringing him into the house before closing the door over.