Believe Me, I'm Lying

April walked past Beth without being spotted and head to the back of the bathrooms. She saw Adam go in but it was a public bathroom so others were probably in there with him. She waited patiently outside the bathroom door for him emerge. Once he did he came face to face with her directly. It was the first time he had seen her since shooting her and was take aback.

"April-" Adam began.

"I want to talk to you outside." April said nodding towards the backdoor that lead to the parking lot.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Adam stated nervously and peering around for Punk.

"I wasn't asking." April said to him. "You owe me that much."

"Fine." Adam agreed and walked out the backdoor first.

As soon as Adam heard the door close behind April he turned to face her but when he did she was holding a gun nervously with her two hands.

"April." Adam sighed. He wasn't in fear of his life, he knew April well enough to know she would never hurt a fly, let alone kill someone- even him- in cold blood.

"No! I talk!" She yelled as she lowered one shaky arm and held the gun in the other hand and pointed it right at his chest. "How much was I worth?"

"Excuse me?" Adam asked.

"Phil told me you went into business with James Sawyer because you needed money, how much was my life worth to you?" She asked.

"It wasn't like that." Adam insisted. "I was already in too deep with him. It wasn't even about money by that point it was about staying alive."

"Don't expect me to pity you!" She yelled gesturing with the gun and he jumped back a bit.

"Do you even know how to use that?" Adam asked nodding at her weapon.

"I do. Phil took me for lessons and got me this protect myself." She told him. "I'm more afraid of you than James Sawyer or his father. Did you know that? Did you know that I hate guns but I force myself to carry this one at all times because you made me this way?"

"I'm sorry." He said to her.

"Did you know my parents already buried a child?" She asked and his face fell. "I'm all they have left and you were going to take me away from me them for a few bucks."

"I wasn't think April." Adam sighed shaking his head. "I'm sor-"

"Stop saying you're SORRY!" She yelled jabbing him with her gun. "I don't want you to say you're sorry because I'm never going to forgive you. Why should I?"

"You shouldn't." He agreed.

"When I was laying there and I kept thinking I was going to die you were the last face I was going to see and it made me want to die quicker." She confessed holding back tears. "The fact that you're sitting in the same restaurant as me as I try to celebrate my engagement and mild freedom makes me sick." She hissed.

"I didn't know you'd be here." Adam told her honestly.

"Phil told me you were leaving town." April said coldly. "He hates seeing you. It tares him up inside. He feels he traded one devil for the other."

"I am leaving town. I'm keeping my word." Adam told her.

"Your word means absolutely nothing to me." She hissed pressing the gun to his chest. "I should pull the trigger."

"You don't want to go to jail, April." Adam said calmly. "Don't throw away your life over mine."

"Go to jail? You didn't." April pointed out in a sarcastic yet frustrated voice. "Do you think if I shot you in cold blood here that Beth would cry? Would she hold vigil by your bedside like Phil did for me?"

"I can't make it go away for you." Adam told her sadly. "I'm sorry you're in pain and I scare you but you have nothing to fear from me."

"Spoken like a true predator." She hissed.

"April." A calm and quiet voice said behind her.

"Leave me alone." She told Phil but not taking her eyes off of Adam or moving a muscle to lower the gun.

"Ape." Punk said walking up next to her. "What are you doing?"

"Go back inside." She instructed Punk.

"I can't do that." He told her softly. "You see, you have a gun pointed at him and believe me if anyone deserves a bullet, it's him." He told her. "But the justice system has flaws. And you will go to jail for the rest of your life if you pull that trigger and there will be nothing I can do to get you out of it." He warned her but she never took her cold and boarder line empty eyes off of Adam. "April, we're about to get married. Are you going to throw it all away for this piece of shit?"

"He's right." Adam told her. "I'm not worth it. Otherwise I'd tell you to do it."

"Shut up." April warned him.

"Ape, please." he pleaded placing his hand over the gun but she still didn't budge. "April." He said in a sterner voice.

"I hate you." She said to Adam.

"I hate me too sometimes." Adam had to admit.

April released the gun and Punk took and relief ran through his body. He bent over and let a breath out as April stood there glaring at Adam still.

"Go." Punk told Adam.

"I won't tell anyone about this." Adam assured them then went inside.

"What were you thinking?" Punk asked her furiously.

"Why did you stop me!" She shrieked surprising him.

"April, you can't just kill somebody!" he yelled back. "This gun was a bad idea, I'm getting rid of it."

"You might as well." She spat. "This wasn't your business!"

"You are very much my business." Punk said back to her.

"He was sitting in there with his girlfriend laughing!" She yelled. "You opened the cell doors for him and he gets a second chance at life! And why? Why does he deserve it!"

"April-" He began sadly and reached for her but she jerked away.

"Leave me alone." She said turning around and walking away.

"April!" he yelled chasing after her.

"Just stop!" She yelled looking back at him.

"What's gotten into you?" He asked forcing her to turn around and face him.

"He shot me!" She yelled so loud that she startled him. "What's gotten into you? What were you thinking letting him go!"

"He got us Sawyer." Punk reminded her. "I told you-"

"He would have done it for less." She cried shaking her head. "Now he's eating shrimp and drinking wine a free man without a care in the world but I still have to be afraid!"

"You don't." He assured her.

"I do!" She yelled back.

"Ape, I won't let him near you-" He began.

"You let him shoot him! He was out for me all along and you didn't see it!" She reminded him and his face fell.

April began to walk ahead and Punk let her.

April arrived home and was surprised she beat Punk home since he had the car. She was already regretting her argument with Punk. She knew he carried a lot of guilt from that day. It was part of the reason she wanted to end Adam, so Punk could let go of some of that anger. She grabbed her cellphone and sat on the floor next to the fire place and used the remote controller to turn it on.

"Phil." April greeted to his voice mail. "I don't know where you are but I'm sorry. I'm just never myself when Adam is around. Please come home." She said then hung up.

The door opened forty minutes later and April's bloodshot eyes from crying looked right at him. She was still in her dress but her makeup was smudged from crying.

"I'm sorry." She said to him as her voice cracked.

"Me too." he said closing the door behind himself and locking it.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Driving around to clear my head." He admitted. "Followed you home to make sure you got home." He said sitting next to her. "You have to understand that what Adam did-"

"-it wasn't your fault." She finished for him. "I know that, I was angry. I don't know why I get like that when I see him."

"You have PTSD. I think you should talk to someone." He said to her.

"Like a therapist?" She asked.

"Yea." He said to her. "Ape, you can't pull your gun out and wave it around that's not why I got it for you. But that's not what I was going to say. I take full responsibility for what Adam did to you and I will never forgive myself and you shouldn't forgive me for it either. He was on my team, he was my friend and right hand and he was working with the very people I was trying to protect you from."

"You didn't pull that trigger." She told him. "Don't feel guilty."

"I do and I should." He told her. "I can't change that and I would never ask you to forgive me but I will ask you if you believe that I would have traded places with you that day and taken that bullet?"

"I do." She said softly. "You don't need my forgiveness because you didn't put that in motion. You couldn't have been everywhere at once. You're not Superman."

"I never would have orchestrated his release if I didn't think it would be safer for you." he told her. "I wanted the Sawyers more than I wanted him in jail and I should have spoken to you first but I was panicked. I was scared they were going to find you and I spent that whole weekend in Vermont trying to think of a way to save you. Because it's not just your life, it's mine." He told her as a tear fell from his eye. "You die, I die. You hurt, I hurt." He told her.

"You did the right thing." She said crying softly herself. "If you had told me about it first I would have agreed to it. I just hated seeing him there."

"He's leaving town for good." Punk assured her. "I just saw him and he's packing shit and taking Beth and leaving."

"Was she in on it with him?" She asked him curiously.

"I don't know. They both swear she wasn't but how could she be with someone so vile?" He asked.

"I don't know." She said. "I don't think I'd be able to give up on you no matter what you did."

"I doubt that." He said with a light smile. "You're special. You know right from wrong and you have morals." He reminded her.

"Where is my gun?" She asked him.

"I sold it back to the shop." He told her and she frowned. "You need to see someone first and talk out whatever it is you're going through. Getting you the gun after you were shot wasn't the right thing. You're not like anyone else and I should have known better. A gun wasn't going to answer your problems. You don't need to shoot anyone-"

"I could shoot him." April told him coldly.

"No you couldn't." He told her. "Or you would have done it. You're too good, too innocent. You need to really go through the motions first. We kind of just jumped into things like you getting shot wasn't a big deal. I had no idea it's weighed so heavily on you. I've been so distracted with getting the Sawyers and keeping you out of harms way."

"I didn't want to tell you." She confessed.

"You can tell me anything." He reminded her. "That's the point of this whole thing, our engagement and relationship. You tell me things."

"I didn't want you to think less of me. Nothing phases you." She pointed out softly. "You just always get up and dust it off but I still have trouble closing my eyes and not seeing Adam standing over me."

"You should have told me." He said shaking his head. "We'll get you some help."

"I'm not crazy." She insisted.

"I know you're not. It's normal to feel what you're feeling." He told her.

"I'd feel better if I had my gun." She told him.

"I'd feel better if you left the shooting to me." he smirked causing her to smile. He reached into his pocket and passed her some cash. "That's the money from you gun." He told her.

"Thanks." She smirked taking it. "What were your parents doing at the restaurant?"

"I forgot about that." Punk said running his hand over his face. "They claim they were discussing our wedding."

"That's really sweet." She told him.

"He had lipstick on his lips." Punk told her and April seemed confused. "Same shade my mother was had on"

"Oh! They're back together!" She cheered.

"No, no, no." Punk laughed shaking his head. "They're...you know..."

"No I don't." She said to him confused and he let out a frustrated laugh.

"They're...you know...with each other." He said to her.

"Sleeping together?" April asked and he cringed. "I think that's sweet."

"They're not meant to be together." Punk told her. "They fight constantly-"

"That just means their sex life must be passionate." She grinned and he gagged. "Don't be like that." She laughed.

"We don't fight and I think we have a great sex life." He said to her.

"I was just thinking, this was our first fight." She said to him and he eyed her with skepticism.

"I think we fight plenty." He remarked trying not to laugh.

"I mean our first big one where we walked away." She told him.

"I guess. I didn't like it." He said to her. "Do me a favor, in the future don't just walk away let's just fight it out."

"Ok." She said to him. "That's fair. But you know since we did have a big fight maybe we should make up." she said leaning in to kiss him but he turned his face. "What?" she asked as she watched him stand up.

"I promised you a dinner and an engagement celebration." He reminded her holding his hand out for her and she accepted and stood up with him.

"I'm a mess now." She reasoned.

"You're beautiful." He corrected and grabbed her jacket and held it open for her. "Lucky for you I know the owner and he's keeping our table and the positive is that we'll have the place to ourselves. No parents, no Adam."

"Perfect." She smiled and took his hand and they walked out the door.

Punk and April enjoyed their quiet dinner more. Sure the staff was cleaning up but Punk's friend stayed and cooked them up a meal that was to die for. So much so that April asked him to cater the wedding even though she didn't have a date or venue yet.

"I feel so good now." April said as they walked inside and she shook off her jacket. "First major wedding decision made."

"Yea if only we had a place, date or time." Punk teased taking his own jacket off now.

"My mom want to take me to this boutique for a wedding gown when we're in town. Which is next weekend by the way." She told him kicking off her shoes.

"Got it." He said to her. "I'll order the tickets."

"I already did." She told him. "And I'll pack for us. But this whole week I'm going to have to work on my piece for the Tribune." she told him.

"You work and I'll stay out of the way." he told her. "When are you starting?"

"Tomorrow." She told him and he lifted her over his shoulder.

"Good. We have the night to ourselves." He said climbing up the stairs with her dangling over his shoulder giggling.

Punk and April were fast asleep. Punk had grown used to April sleeping spiraled all over the bed and him so he didn't mind it. April could hear the heavy ran and thunder as she slept and stuck her head up when loud thunder roared. She picked herself up and looked at Punk who was still out cold. She swore he could sleep through a bomb going off. She crawled out of the bed and looked over to him and he was still sleeping and she rolled her eyes and grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her still nude body then walked down the spiral stairs.

She headed into the kitchen and felt a freezing breeze hit her and realized the window that lead to the fire escape was open and walked over in a hurry to close it. When she did a bolt of lightening struck and she screamed when she saw a man on the fire escape. She quickly shut the window and locked it and ran up the spiral stairs.

"Phil!" She yelled as he slept then crawled onto the bed and began to shake him. "Phil!" She screamed louder and his eyes popped open and he jerked his body up causing his head to crash right into April's.

"Fuck!" Punk yelled rubbing his head then saw he hit April. "Babe?" he asked.

"It's ok." She said holding her eye. "There's someone downstairs." She hissed in pain.

"What?" he asked jumping out of the bed and turning on the light. He bent over and inspected her eye and saw blood. "Fuck, Ape." he groaned. "You're going to need stitches-"

"Phil there's a man on the fire escape!" She yelled and pointed.

Punk grabbed his sweats and threw them on before reaching for his gun and running down the stairs. April looked down at her hand and it was covered in blood. She looked around the bedroom and grabbed a pair of clean underwear and pressed it to the cut she had above her eye then grabbed a lamp and unplugged it and headed down the stairs to assist Punk.

When Punk made it to the window it was shut and locked and when he opened it there was no one on the fire escape.

"Did you get him?" April asked and he turned around and jumped back, startled by her bloody head that now had underwear stuck to it and a lamp in her hand.

"No one was there." he said taking the lamp from her and turning on the light. "The window was locked-"

"Phil the window was open. I shut and locked it." She argued as he removed the underwear from her cut and looked at it.

"I'm sorry." he said looking at her eye. "I have to get you to the hospital."

"It's alright." She told him.

"No it's not." He said to her. "I headbutted you really hard."

"Phil there really was someone out there" She insisted as he grabbed a cloth and dampened it and pressed it to her cut.

"Was it Sawyer?" He asked.

"I didn't see his face too well it was a quick burst of lightening but whoever it was when the house." She told him.

"I would have heard someone in the house." He told her as he tried to clean her cut

"You wouldn't have heard it if this man came in, jumped up and down on her bed, tortured me for hours and then cut my head off." She told him.

"That's awfully graphic." Punk remarked. "Get dressed." he told her.

"Come on, Phil." She sighed.

"You need a few stitches." he shrugged.

"How come you barely have a mark." She said touching where she hit him.

"My head is harder I suppose." He shrugged.

"I could have told you that." She mumbled walking to the stairs.

"I heard that!" He yelled.

"Phil, make sure everything his locked up." She ordered from the bedroom and he nodded and began to expect the few windows they had.

Punk didn't see anything weird except he saw some wet spots by the window. There were a few puddles that could have been made from feet. He let out an annoyed breath, it truly was never ending...