Meets the Eye

The next weekend came and went and on that following Monday Punk walked into the pet shop looking for Larry who he had left in AJ's care while he was away.

"Hey." AJ greeted hearing the door and seeing him walk in.

"Hey AJ." Punk said with a small smile closing the door behind him. "How was Larry?"

"He was an angel." She smiled closing her book. "I hope you don't mind but I took him home with me during the night because he kept crying every time I left."

"That's fine as long as your didn't mind." He said to her.

"I didn't it was nice to have a companion for a few nights." She smirked.

"I have money-" he started.

"You know I won't accept your money. I love hanging out with Larry." She said to him.

"I had a feeling you'd say that so I got you this." He said handing her a few comics.

"Now that I'll take." she said happily then finally looked him in the eye and frowned. "You have a nasty cut above your eye." she pointed out.

"Yea that happens when I fight." He teased.

"I mean it looks infected." She frowned lightly touching it and he jerked his head back. "I have a first aid kit."

"That's not necessary." He said as he watched her walk into the back room and came out with the small kit.

"Sit." She insisted pointing to the stool behind the counter.

Punk obliged and took a seat and AJ took off the knitted Blackhawks hat from his head and cringed at the cut.

"Did you at least win?" She asked him.

"I did actually." he stated proudly as she dabbed alcohol onto a gauze and dabbed over the cut. "Second round knock out."

"That's good?" She asked and he smirked.

"Yea it's good." He said with a small laugh.

"Well congratulations." She said happily as she continued to clean the cut. "You work really hard so I'm not surprised."

"You don't watch any fights?" He asked her.

"No." She shrugged. "Nothing against it but I don't just have the time to catch it on TV."

"You should come to a fight." He suggested. "You might like it."

"I don't know how I would feel about watching a bunch of men kicking the crap out of each other." She teased. "I don't know if I could stomach it."

"I think you should give it a try." He said as she placed a bandage over his cut. "At least watch it on TV it's a lot of fun."

"If you say so." she smirked. "There you go." she said closing the kit up.

"Thanks." he said running his hand over the bandage. "Are you a part time nurse or something?" he teased.

"Nah, my dad used to get cut up a lot so I have some experience." She said honestly. "He was just a clumsy." she added quickly and he nodded slowly. "You probably want to see Larry, I'll go get him."

"I hope it wasn't a problem for your roommate or boyfriend to have Larry around." Punk said to her and she almost laughed out loud.

"I live alone." She said to him before heading downstairs to get Larry.

Later that night after locking up the shop AJ headed next door to the gym when she realized she forgot to Punk Larry's favorite toy. She was in awe of all the people in the gym working out like crazy. There were different stations working their ass's off even at this time of night.

"AJ." Tommy greeted walking over to her. "You lost?"

"No I was looking for Punk, Larry left this." She said holding out the toy.

"I'll make sure he gets it back." Tommy said taking the toy. "Let me ask you something AJ, do you always wear glasses?"

"Usually." She said slightly confused. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering." Tommy said noticeably eyeing her up and down. "Do you work out?"

"I run every morning." She said to him quietly. "Again, why?"

"I'm just wondering if there's more to you than meets the eye." Tommy shrugged.

"What's going on?" Punk asked walking over to them.

AJ's nearly popped out of her head. Punk had on a t-shirt that was sticking him to due to sweat. His arms were far more muscular than she ever noticed. Her stomach actually tightened at the sight of him.

"I forgot Larry's toy and was dropping it off and-" she began but couldn't remember Tommy's name.

"Tommy." Tommy smiled at her.

"Yea, Tommy said he'd give it to you." AJ said to him and Punk took the toy from him.

"I was also going to invite AJ to the fight Friday night." Tommy said to Punk but was looking at AJ.

"I thought you already fought?" AJ asked Punk.

"There are fights all of the time." Tommy answered before Punk could. "We're not fighting this Friday but a few of the guys from the team are."

"AJ isn't into fighting." Punk answered for her.

"Well she's missing out." Tommy grinned. "You haven't lived until you've seen a fight, unless you're busy." now AJ knew she wasn't busy and should accept the invitation since she really didn't have much else going on and she was kind of intrigued by the idea of seeing Punk again.

"I'd love to go but I close on Fridays." She said to them.

"There will be plenty of other fights." Punk assured her.

"The fights don't start until after ten and you close at what? Nine?" Tommy asked. "I'll even pick you up."

"You don't have to do." She insisted.

"I don't mind." Tommy said to her. "We'll even have time to stop for some food."

"I have to get going." She said pushing her glasses up.

"Thanks AJ." Punk said giving her a small smile.

"And I'll see you Friday night." Tommy waved as AJ walked out of the gym.

"What are you doing?" Punk asked him. "You don't like her."

"I'm starting to think you're right about her." Tommy smirked. "She has something going on underneath all of that clothing."

"Don't mess with her like that." Punk said annoyed. "She's a sweet kid."

"She's not a kid she's a grown woman and you're the one who told me I was judging her unfairly." Tommy pointed out. "Plus I'm going through a dry spell."

"She's not going to have sex with you." Punk laughed. "You're wasting your time."

"Why, what's wrong with me?" Tommy scoffed. "She's probably wet right now just because I paid her a little attention. It's probably the most attention she's ever gotten from a man."

"Don't fuck around with her." Punk warned him.

"You are interested in her!" Tommy boomed laughing and folding his arms. "I thought it was weird when you jumped up to defend her last week but now I'm really concerned."

"She's a buddy." Punk defended. "And if you thought I was interested in her why did you ask her out?"

"Let's get back to work." Tommy chuckled walking off and not answering Punk's question.

"You should totally go." Celeste said as she helped AJ stock the shelf two days later. "What else do you have to do?"

"I don't know." AJ said shaking her head. "It seems like a date."

"So?" Celeste questioned. "When was the last time you were even on a date?"

"A while ago." AJ admitted. "But men like Tommy don't just approach women like me."

"There's nothing wrong with you." Celeste snapped defensively. "You're beautiful and you need to stop pretending you're not. There's nothing odd about an attractive man wanting to take you out."

"It just seemed weird is all." AJ said stocking the shelf.

"Is it because you really have eyes for Punk?" Celeste asked her.

"I don't know." AJ sighed. "I really do like him. We've been talking a lot more."

"So go to this fight. It doesn't have to be a date but think of it as an opportunity to hang out with Punk." Celeste encouraged. "Take those glasses off, blow your hair out and put on your tightest dress."

"I don't think I can wear a dress to a fight." AJ said unsurely.

"Sure you can." Celeste said with a wave of her hand. "You do dress up and go out sometimes it's just that Punk has never seen that side of you before. Seriously, when was the last time you put your contacts in and got dressed up for a night?"

"Probably for your birthday dinner last year." AJ said remembering back.

"You're going to this fight." Celeste ordered. "And I'll close up the shop Friday so you can get ready."

"You don't mind?" AJ asked her.

"Not at all." Celeste smiled.

"I really don't know any of these people." AJ said having doubts and Celeste rolled her eyes.

"Stop looking for reasons not to go." Celeste said to her. "You need to get out. You can't live in this store and fights are fun to go to."

"You've gone?" AJ asked and Celeste nodded.

"Seriously you'll like it more than you think you will." Celeste assured her.

The door chimed and AJ turned around and saw her father stumble in.

"Oh no." AJ muttered dropping the stuff she was stocking on the shelf. "Dad?"

"Hi baby." her father said holding onto the counter to keep his balance.

"Need me to call a cab?" Celeste offered. This was a regular occurrence.

"Please." AJ said sadly to Celeste who nodded. "I told you that you can't come to my job like this."

"Like what?" He asked offended and slurring his words.

"Drunk!" AJ argued. "I'm working."

"No one is here." he said gesturing to the empty store. "Are you ashamed of me?"

"No-" AJ began.

"You sound it." he said as his breath hit AJ's face she cringed. "I'm your father." he reminded her sternly.

"I know that but this is my job." AJ practically cried.

"Fine!" He yelled knocking over a few items that were on the counter. "I'll leave and you'll never hear from me again." he stumbled towards the door and AJ threw her head back.

"Here we go again." AJ sighed. He did this often. "I'll be right back." She said to Celeste who just nodded.

"Cab will be here in twenty." Celeste called out as AJ stepped outside into the cold.

AJ rubbed her hands over her arms and saw her father stumbled onto the curb.

"Come on dad." She sighed trying to grab his arm.

"Let go of me!" He shouted jerking his arm away from her. "I just wanted to see you."

"I know that dad." She said sadly kneeling down. "But you've been drinking."

"I hardly had any." he slurred. "When are you coming home?"

"I have my own home, remember?" She asked him.

"You left me just like your mother." He said sadly and began to cry and AJ looked around to make sure no one was looking.

"Stop crying." She pleaded. "Mom died but I'm still here I'm just in my own place now. It's really cold out, come inside and wait for the cab." she insisted trying to pull him up to his feet which took some time.

"You're so ungrateful." He said looking at AJ.

When her father was a mean it meant he drank liquor, he was much nicer to her when he only drank beer.

"It's late now." AJ said trying to pull him inside the shop. "You're going to get sick-" he again jerked his arm away.

"Just leave me alone!" he yelled in her face causing her to flinch, not that her father ever hit her but the shouting in her face always caused her jump back.

"AJ?" A voice asked and she could see Punk marching over.

"Crap." She muttered under breath. "Hey Punk, it's ok I've got this under control."

"You always know better." Her father scoffed almost falling over but Punk grabbed him.

"He's my father." AJ said quietly to Punk and his face dropped.

"She's ashamed of me." Her father laughed. "I don't blame her." he said sadly.

"I just need to get him inside until the cab gets here." AJ said to Punk.

"I'll give him a ride home." Punk offered. "I was leaving for the night anyway."

"That's not necessary." She said to him. "But thank you."

"I'm not going home." Her father stated as Punk kept a grip on him to keep him standing. "I don't want to be alone in that big empty house." He wept now and AJ was mortified.

"You can stay with me." AJ offered and he smiled.

"Yea?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure thing." She said to him. "I'll grab my stuff and take the cab home with you, can you stay with him for a minute?" she asked Punk who nodded.

AJ checked with Celeste to make sure she was ok to close alone then went back outside and saw Punk loading her father into the backseat of his car.

"Punk-" she started.

"I couldn't keep holding him up." Punk defended. "And this way I can help you get him into your place. I'm not judging here I'm just trying to help you out."

"Ok." she said giving in.

Punk helped AJ's father up the two flight up steps and into AJ's very tiny loft. He let go of her father and he fell face first into her pullout bed.

"Thank you." AJ said to him.

"It's not a problem." He assured her. "You need me to stay?"

"No he's harmless." She said to him. "He just get emotional when he drinks."

"Where are you going to sleep?" He asked her seeing there was no room for her.

"I've got it worked out." AJ said walking him to the door. "Again thank you for the ride and helping me carry him in."

"About Friday-" he began.

"I'm going." She answered without thinking.

"Good." Punk forced out with a fake smile.

"You keep telling me to watch a fight." She reminded him.

"I have." He said scratching the back of his head. "Just-" he began then stopped himself.

"Just what?" She asked looking up at him.

"Just don't let Tommy pressure you into dinner or anything." He said casually.

"Ok." AJ said to him. "Is that it?"

"Yea I guess so." he said to her. "I'll see you Friday night or probably before you know how Larry eats like a pig." he smirked.

"You're definitely going to be there Friday night?" She asked him.

"Yea is that ok?" He asked teasingly.

"No I'm glad you'll be there." She said to him. "I'm only going because you swear I'll find it fun."

"And you will." He stated smugly. "Goodnight AJ."

"Night Punk." She said giving him a small wave and watched him walk off.