As if it wasn't a big enough blow to find out that the man she loved was romantically involved with someone else, she discovered that evening through further conversation with Daniel that the majority of the locker room already knew about it. She seemed to be the last one to find out.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked Daniel, hurt.

"I didn't find out until Derrick confessed to me a few days ago. It seems that Punk didn't want me to know and therefore I was purposefully kept in the dark."

"Because he didn't want you talking to me..."

"That's what I'm assuming. Of course, when Derrick told me I phoned Punk immediately to ask him what the hell was going on. He seemed unaware that AJ had previously been dating Derrick. As far as his reasoning behind seeing AJ, he didn't have any good excuses. He only begged that I say nothing and give him a chance to talk to you. And so I did. I regret it now, of course-and I'm pissed that you had to find out through Derrick. He and I will be talking later because I expressly told him not to tell you until Punk came forward."

"I just don't understand. He just proposed to me a couple of months ago. Why go to all that trouble just to cheat on me?

Daniel nodded solemnly.

"I wish I had an answer for you. I never expected this out of him."

She scoffed.

"I should have known better. Everybody warned me in the beginning that he was a cheater, that he never settles down with anyone. And I was stupid enough to think that I was special, that I had changed him."

"Don't place any blame on yourself. Seeing the two of you together, even I thought that he had changed. I always thought he saw you in a different light-and perhaps he truly does. Neither of us knows all the details. The main thing you need to focus on now is finding some time to talk to him about it."

She knew he was right, but it was a reality she didn't want to face. Her anger over the situation made her want to fly home now and confront him about it. But there was a part of her that was bigger than the anger and within that part lived humiliation and sadness. Even bigger than the anger and the sadness was fear. She was afraid of speaking to Punk, and deep down she knew the reason for this fear was the possibility that things between the two of them might very well be coming to an end.

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When she arrived home, Punk was already there. She took a deep breath before she entered, and thought back to what Daniel had said. It was going to be hard but she must reserve judgement. It was a benefit that he had not given her weeks earlier.

She supposed she had some sort of plan of action once she walked through the door, but all that was quickly forgotten. He was standing in the entryway, a goofy grin on his face. She'd barely had time to set her luggage down before he enveloped her in his embrace.

"There you are! I was starting to think you weren't coming home."

She looked at him in a daze, baffled by his sudden eagerness.

"...My flight was delayed."

"Well, you're here now. Come on, let's go sit down."

He took her by the hand and, still somewhat bewildered, she followed along.

"Did you have a good week?"

"Well…"

He paused a moment and studied her.

"What's wrong? You seem upset."

She hesitated.

"I was meaning to talk to you."

"About what?" he asked.

He seemed so clueless she wanted to think it had all been a huge joke at her expense and that he hadn't cheated after all.

"I talked to Derrick today."

His eyes narrowed.

"Bateman?"

"Yes. He had some interesting things to say."

Punk began to shrink away from her like a deflating balloon.

"I want to know if what he said is true."

"What did he say?"

"He said he saw you kissing AJ the night of your birthday party. I presume it was when you told me you were going to 'say goodbye to a couple of people'."

For the first time, Punk seemed to be at a loss for words.

"I don't know what to say."

"So it's true then?"
He hesitated.

"I did kiss her that night-but, that was the only time. I made a mistake, and I regretted it the moment it happened. I even told her that it was a mistake, and that I love you and want to be with you."

She'd heard what he said, but suddenly his admitting to kissing AJ wasn't as significant as the realization that had just dawned on her.

"So you told her you wanted to be with me...and then she told you that I was cheating on you with Dean Ambrose. And even though you'd already started some kind of twisted infatuation with her, you felt justified in attacking me."

He scoffed.

"Don't play the victim. You know you were doing the same thing with Dean Ambrose. I don't believe for a minute that you don't have any feelings for him."

"And so that makes it okay for you to kiss AJ?"

"That's not what I said."

"But it sounds like that's what you mean. You don't believe me? That's fine, because I don't believe you. Do you know why? Because everyone else knew about this long before me. I want to put emphasis on the word long because by most accounts, you started fooling around with her not even two weeks after I moved to Smackdown."

"Yeah? And so what if it's true," he said dismissively.

She stared at him in disbelief. His words stung so that she felt tears in her eyes.

"Do you realize you've made an absolute fool out of me? Why? Why propose and then two weeks later start an affair with another woman?"

"Stop being so dramatic. I did not start anything with AJ two weeks after you left."

"So how long was it then? Two and a half?"

He laughed a sickening laugh.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Aidan."

"I want you to say what you want. What do you really want?"

He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. He looked her in the eye, and with great hesitance he spoke.
"I think we rushed into this thing. Maybe we should take a break."

Those few words were enough to knock the wind from her. Feeling foolish, she wiped at the tears that had began to pour from her eyes.

"If all you wanted was to break up, why did you wait so long?"

He shrugged.

"I didn't want you to go to him. And now, I know that you won't. Your career depends on it."

He gave her a disgusting smirk and left her standing in the middle of their living room, feeling more alone than she'd ever felt before.