Thank you again for your kind reviews and strong support for Punk/AJ. Although, on RAW this past Monday, that was not the case between the two of them. On the flip side, though, I knew Daniel Bryan was gonna be in a lot of trouble and AJ proved it by having him evaluated after his loss to Sheamus. I thought it was pretty funny, though, seeing Daniel in a bunch about Charlie 'Winning' Sheen.

I think AJ, for her first week as general manager of RAW, she's doing a good job. Now there's gonna be a triple threat match for the WWE championship at SummerSlam and all I can say this, as much as I love Punk and/or Cena, it's gonna be tough to see who's gonna win.

Enjoy and happy reading!

Lots of love, hugs and kisses from your resident writer and friend, Nina!

X

Monday Night RAW

Quickens Loan Arena

Cleveland, Ohio

May 14th, 2012

AJ was pretty much exhausted from Daniel tormenting her, physically and emotionally.

After costing her the chance of winning the divas' title last week on RAW by slamming her against the steel steps, she was pretty much exhausted. All she wanted to do is curl up into a ball somewhere and cry for hours on end. She didn't know how much more anguish she could take. Even thought Punk has been doing a great job protecting her, the bottle line is, he can't protect her all the time. For as long as she's been with Daniel, he can come up with a way to get her alone and inflict some serious punishment on her.

The Jersey native stepped out of the women's locker room to get a bottle of water. She was minding her own business when once again, Daniel came out of nowhere and intercepted her in the middle of the hallway by blocking her path. He grabbed her arm roughly and yanked her towards him; anger evident on his still bruised face. He still wasn't over getting his ass handed to him by Punk last week and he's gonna make sure she knows about it.

"Let me go, Daniel. I have nothing to say to you," she told him, her voice contorting in anger.

"First of all, shut up. Second of all, I have some unfinished business with you," he growled in her face.

"Look, you got what you wanted when you slammed me into the steel steps and cost me the chance of winning the divas' title last week. So, just let me go and leave me alone," she told him as she tried to yank her arm away from him. Daniel didn't budge and gripped her arm even tighter.

"Stop struggling and listen to me. I realize that dumping you on national television was a mistake. I'm willing to forgive you for being stupid if you do one thing for me," he said, leering at her.

"And what's that?" AJ snorted, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Take me back, AJ. Take me back as your boyfriend," he demanded, still leering at her.

She was shocked. Truly shocked. The goat face wants her to take him back. She knew immediately why he wanted her to take him back; so that he can use her as bait again so that he could get the title back. A single tear fell from her eyes because this was confusing as hell.

Speaking of confusing, Punk was heading towards catering himself to get something to eat when he saw AJ being manhandled once again by Daniel. The Chicago native was just about sick and tired of seeing AJ being humiliated by her ex-boyfriend. Ever since she finally told him that Daniel attacked her on RAW last month, he's been more protective of her as ususal.

Even more infuriating, Punk overheard Daniel demanding that AJ take him back. He wanted to go over there and kick the living shit of him for even suggesting that she take him back after everything he had done to her. Punk hoped and prayed that AJ would finally grow a backbone and reject him like he rejected her.

"So let me get this straight: you want me to take you back? After everything you had done to me? And let's not talk about within the last month, Daniel. We're talking about the stuff you had done to me before Wrestlemania," AJ said, her face contorting in anger and confusion.

"That's right, AJ. So, what do you say? Will you take me back?" Daniel asked, making no room for argument.

"Why would I wanna take you back?" she asked, shaking her head.

He gripped her arm even tighter and yanked her towards him even harder. "Because you don't wanna have anything bad to happen to you again. Just remember, I may have dumped your naive ass, but I can still wreck your life."

She finally yanked her arm away from her ex and stepped back away from him. "You've already wrecked my life, Daniel. Why would I wanna take you back after everything you've done to me? I do believe in forgiveness and redemption, but you haven't done a single thing to deserve my forgiveness. I'm not going to take you back because you're gonna end up hurting me over and over again. I'm sorry, but I'm moving on."

"I don't think so, AJ. I told you before that I can still wreck your life and I will continue to do so if you don't do what I say!" he said, his voice raising a little.

"You know what? I should've known that you're gonna keep acting like this. Because you can't stand the fact that I'm finally standing up for myself and that pissed you off. Well, I've got news for you, Daniel: I'm done with you. I'm done with you for good. When you dumped me on national tv, I had an epiphany: I can do better than you. But, no, you're still bitching and moaning at the fact that you lost the title in 18 seconds and I was the blame. Well, newsflash, jackass; I didn't cause you to lose the title! You did! You brought this on yourself! So, I'm gonna tell you this for the last time: leave me alone! You got what you wanted when you kept attacking me and now I'm not gonna take it anymore! If you keep messing with me, I'll have no problem reporting you to Vince about everything!" AJ snapped, her face now twisting in anger.

Daniel couldn't believe what he was witnessing. His ex-girlfriend, who he was demanding that she take him back was now standing up for herself and telling him to fuck off. That pissed him off because he was doing a damn good job reducing her to being nothing. He had planned on running her out of the company and even drive her insane to the point that she'll end up committing suicide.

That angered him even more. He didn't know what to do now.

"Have you lost your fucking mind, bitch?! Do you know who you're talking to?!" he screamed, getting back right into her face.

AJ placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away. "Don't stand any closer to me, Daniel. I'm not gonna allow you to hurt me anymore. I don't want you back."

"On the contrary, little girl, you're gonna take me back. Unless you want me to show the WWE universe what kind of a slut you are," he hissed, getting back right into her face and grabbing her arm again.

"W-what are you talking about?" she stammered, looking at him with fear dancing in her eyes.

"Let's just say I have footage of you whoring yourself around to several other WWE superstars, some of them who happened to be my closest friends. Just try me, April; I can ruin your life by putting the footage online for the whole world to see. You'll be famous alright," he snickered, gripping her arm even further.

She snatched her arm away from him again and stepped back. "Like I said before, my life is already ruined because of you, Daniel. I'm not taking you back and that's final. And you know something? So what if you put the so called footage of me having sex with several superstars on the internet? You and I both know that I was drugged and was left in a vulnerable position, thanks to you. Now, leave me alone before I go to Vince and tell him everything. And, he'll believe me because I can back up my claims!"

She turned on heel and began to walk away from him, but his anger got the best of him and he ended up kicking her right in the back of her head. Down she went like a ton of bricks and she felt her face being smacked against the concrete ground. Daniel ended up standing over her; looming down at her with a wicked smile on his face.

"I warned you, AJ. I warned you about disobeying me. Don't cross me again. I'll see you later," he said as he began to walk away. However, he didn't get far because he ended up getting kicked in the back of his head by none other than CM Punk. An angry scowl loomed on the Chicago native's face as he stood over the man who made AJ's life a living hell.

"And I warned you, goat face, to stay away from AJ or else you will see me again. Keep crossing me and see if you don't end up in the river," Punk warned, kicking Daniel in his ribs to prove his point. The goat face howled out in pain as Punk kept kicking him in his ribs.

"Please, stop," Daniel pleaded, holding on to his ribs and feel pain ebbing through out his body.

"Oh, what's the matter? Not so tough when you're on the receiving end of it, aren't you? Well, no, I'm not gonna stop. I told you the next time you messed with AJ, I may even kill you. And I'll make sure no one will miss you!" Punk screamed as he kicked Daniel right into his face, knocking him out cold.

Punk turned on his heel and walked away, heading towards AJ, who was slowly getting up after she got kicked in the back of her head. She looked up and saw Punk coming to her aid; scooping her up in his strong arms.

"Are you okay, April?" he asked sincerely.

She shook her head, trying to shake the cobwebs out of her eyes. "No, I'm not. When will this all end?"

"I still suggest that you go and talk to Vince about this, baby. Daniel's not gonna stop until he get what he wants," he told her as he began carrying her away from the scene and away from prying eyes.

"And I'll just keep giving him ammo to hurt me more. I know you overheard our conversation. I can't report Daniel because like I said before, he can lie his way out of anything. He'll make me out to be a liar because he does have proof that I slept with several of his friends; even though I was drugged," AJ said, trying to blink back tears.

"April, if Daniel drugged you, that meant that you were raped; not only by goat face but also his friends. You could've went to the police about this," Punk said as they stood outside the women's locker room. He finally sat her down and grabbed her hands gently.

"And I would've end up dead. Daniel threatened to kill me if I said anything about what happened. Plus, he can always destroy the footage and say that I'm crazy. He'll do anything to ruin my life and he's done a damn good job of it, too," she broke down and sobbed hysterically. Punk wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly; realizing that she could be right.

He didn't know what else to do. As long as that goat face jerk was still breathing, AJ will never be free of him. He was making her life a living hell and humiliating her without even breaking a sweat. And, no matter how many times Punk kicked his ass, Daniel just keeps escalating and escalating. Even if the son of a bitch is dead, he'll find a way to haunt AJ.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Punk asked when she finally pulled away from him. She wiped her tear stained face with her hands and sniffed softly.

"I don't know what to do. Every time I turn around, Daniel's there; ready to attack again. I just wish he'd leave me alone," she said softly.

To her shock, he leaned over and kissed her forehead gently. "Well, as long as I'm here, I can promise you that goat face won't be messing with you for much longer."

"Don't make any promises you can't keep, Phil. I don't want you getting hurt. You don't need to worry about my problems," AJ said sadly.

Punk reached over and tilted her head up with his finger. "Believe it or not, I do worry about you. Let me take care of you, okay? I'll give you some time to think about it."

He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving her alone to think about his suggestion. Truth be told, she was getting sick and tired of being afraid all the time. She was sick and tired of Daniel messing with her every chance he could get. And it felt so good to know that Punk was going out of his way to protect her; to show her that they were still some good men out there in the world.

All she wanted was to be loved again; to be cherished and respected.

Sighing deeply, AJ pushed the door opened the locker room and walked inside. She found her best friend Kaitlyn gearing up for her match and looking excited.

"Kait, it's just a match, don't worry," AJ said, smiling at the young brunette.

"I know it's just match, but this could be my chance to be in the title picture. Speaking of which, how are you doing, girl? I'm still pissed that your stupid ex-boyfriend cost you the chance and even had the balls to attack you in public," Kaitlyn said, her face fuming.

AJ sighed deeply. "Believe me, I'm still pissed as well. But, what can you do about it? I just gather my bearings and move on."

"I'm sorry for what he did to you, though. I can't believe he dumped you on national tv. I should've went down there and kicked his goat face ass for good measure," Kaitlyn snarled.

AJ went over to her best friend and hugged her tightly; which effectively calmed the other woman down because she was getting fired up.

"Hon, don't worry about it. Needless to say, I'm not gonna let Daniel hurt me anymore. I'm moving on with my life," AJ assured her best friend with a smile on her face.

"Okay, okay. I get your meaning. Well, I'm gotta get ready for my match tonight. How about you and I have a little sleep over after the show? We can watch scary movies, eat lots and lots of junk food and give each other make overs," Kaitlyn suggested as she grabbed her towel off the bench.

"Sounds good. You and I haven't been hanging out as much lately. It feels good to know that I still have my bff," AJ said with a grin on her beautiful face.

"Great! Listen, I've gotta go, but I'll catch up with you later," Kaitlyn said as she skipped out of the locker room with a smile on her face. AJ couldn't help but laugh at her best friend's carefree attitude. It was something the Jersey native needed to have in her life again; to be able to laugh, love and be free of any stressors and obligations her ex put her through.

Running her fingers through her long brunette hair, she went over to her assigned locker to grab her gym bag. She didn't even hear the door being opened and someone walking in; however, as soon as she turned around to grab her water bottle, her face was contorting in shock and fear.

"Hello, AJ. We still have some unfinished business to take care of," Daniel said, his bruised face contorting in anger and pure rage.

Please, God. I don't know how much more I can take getting hurt by this man. I need a sign; a sign to help me get the hell out of dodge unscathed! AJ thought with fear lurking in her veins. However, as her vengeful ex began advancing towards her with evil intentions, her prayers appeared to go unanswered.

However, AJ will finally have the courage to fight back and stand tall.

After all, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Coming up in the next chapter: Daniel attacks AJ again, but this time, she manages to fight back and escape from his latest vicious rampage. AJ, Kaitlyn and Layla have their sleep over, in which AJ reveals everything to her two best friends. And, AJ and Punk take the next steps to strengthening their friendship. Will their romantic feelings for one another also come to light? Stay tuned!

And please make sure to read Tug of War.

Please review!