Thank you to Crazy WiAtch, 440girl, velociraptor4659 and guest, the reviews help, here is a short chapter, a bit rushed i am sorry, but hope it satisfies, start college on monday so things will get busy. Hope you guys enjoy, don't forget to review/follow/favourite, spread the word pretties :) xoxoxoxo
Punk treaded through the club, if there was anything that he wanted to avoid tonight it was having to talk to Phoebe. He had surprised himself when he had told her that he was jealous, which only made things more funny seeing as it was true. He knew he may have been a little harsh, but he knew that she needed the wake-up call, it had just dawned on him that it was him who had introduced April to Phoebe so that they could hopefully be friends. Regardless it angered him to the core that she would act so oblivious towards the fact that they were so close to sharing a kiss, a kiss that he wanted so badly to happen for quite some time. The deep bass that echoed throughout the club wasn't helping matters, and by the time he had reached his secure place within the corner he heard a voice so clear it startled him.
"Shit, Saraya. Hey."
"What's going on with you and Phoebe?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Don't bullshit me alright. I've seen you staring at her all night, and she's been looking at you as well, don't look so surprised and I've just seen the both of you run outside together. Seriously Phil, what do you think you're playing at?"
"Not that it's any of your business, no their isn't anything going on, geez back off would ya?"
He felt her punch him deep in the ribs, it wasn't at all playful of girly, it began throbbing like a bitch, Punk was not impressed, his mouth had formed a perfect frown.
"Look Punk. If you're into Phoebe that's fine, but don't string April along, she really likes you and she doesn't need a bastard like you messing with her, alright?"
By the time Punk managed to come up with something smart he was watching her walk away, huffing and puffing. Women, he thought miserably to himself. He somehow felt like being single was a better solution that dealing with the drama that usually clung to him whenever he was romantically involved with a woman. He realised that April was nowhere to be found, where the fuck has she disappeared to now. He felt like kicking himself, he knew coming out was a bad idea, he hadn't even seen Zack all night and he knew from the moment April had asked him that he wasn't going to. He knew he shouldn't have come out tonight, of all the things he was craving his travel bus bed and a comic book. He couldn't get over how boring he was sometimes.
Phoebe stumbled back into the club tears threatening to fall, her confrontation with Punk had left her flustered. She gazed at the people dancing and realised that she was in no mood to party anymore. Her eyes scanned the club to see if she could find Nick, unsuccessful - she couldn't even make out anyone she recognised the dance floor was that crowded . Her heart rate hitched when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"I've had my eye on you all night, beautiful."
Phoebe shuddered at the sight of him, the man was a complete stranger, the mere contact and his voice made her skin crawl as she backed away a couple of steps. "Some people would call that creepy."
"You're hot. What can I say?"
"I'd say leave me the fuck alone, you creep."
Phoebe turned to walk away when she felt a hand grab her wrist, his grip tightened around it and she felt his other hand grab her ass, she trembled and attempted to push the man away. "Get off of me!"
"It's okay sweetheart," Phoebe continued to struggle, not listening to a single word he was saying, "I know your type, dresses like a whore, fucks like a whore."
Before Phoebe could get a response out she saw a punch connect with the harassers face, his grip immediately loosened and she had fallen backwards into Saraya. Her eyes were groggy and she could almost make out a figure drop to the floor, by this point Phoebe was crying, her eyes blurred to see who her attacker was. Her legs eventually gave way and she could feel herself lose consciousness. There were voices asking her if she was alright, her eyelids drooping, slowly closing, before whispering Punk's name.
"Do you think her drink was spiked, you know, or maybe it was something she ate?"
"No, it can't have been. We got a late dinner last night and I'm fine. Plus, she was really cautious last night, she wouldn't even let me buy her a drink. She must've gotten a panic attack when that asshole touched her."
"What are you two doing here?" Phoebe groaned, struggling to get up. Nick was first to rush over to her aid.
"To make sure you're alright, Phoebe you were out cold for almost 5 hours we were getting really worried. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just feel like I'm getting a cold or something, what happened last night?"
"We drove you to the hospital so that the doctor could run some tests and they didn't find anything unusual in your system. Do you remember anything strange that happened yesterday?"
"Yeah, I – I remember some guy and he was all over me and I just got so scared and – " Punk wasn't looking directly at Phoebe, but his heart swelled when he heard her voice crack. He was currently staring outside the window of his hotel room, he hadn't shown any sign as to how he was feeling however in reality he was anxious, a part of him scared for her. Nick hadn't left her side, the last conversation he shared with her ran through his mind, in his mind he had discreetly dropped the hint that he did have a thing for her.
Her gaze landed on him for a short while until facing back to Nick, "It's alright, you're here now. You're safe."
"Nick, I'm really hungry. You wouldn't mind grabbing me something, would you?" he gave her a smile, before silently obliging as he left. She heard the door softly click, silence engulfing the room. She wrapped the duvet a little tighter around her continuing to gaze at him.
"I almost killed that guy for touching you, he was a fucking bastard."
"Thank you," her voice was small. Punk finally turned around to look at Phoebe, smirking at her as he ran a hand over his hair, Phoebe noticed his bags were redder than usual.
"What happened to everyone last night after I -"
"Well, you kept asking for me last night. So that's why I stayed here with you in case you, you know in case you woke up and called for me again," Phoebe heard smugness in his voice however kept quiet letting him continue, "Nick didn't want to leave you either, kept blaming himself for not looking after you and not spending time with you blah blah blah, the girls were really scared and they wanted to come with us but we told them that we'd take care of you. April insisted she come and she was with us at the hospital but left an hour ago."
"I'm sorry." Phoebe whispered.
"What for?" "I didn't mean for you guys to go through all this trouble just for me, and also for you know, when we argued last night. Because I do care about you, Punk. I was being completely irrational last night. You're allowed to be with whoever you want to be with, April is such a great girl and I was being really stupid. I didn't realise the way I was acting was hurting you, it was never my intention to make you feel jealous. I don't know what I would've done if you weren't there. I didn't mean to get you and Nick worried."
Punk nodded silently, he didn't expect an apology from her but was glad all the same, "Let's not talk about last night, I was being an asshole."
"You? An asshole?"
"Shut up." He smirked.
"Shit!" He watched Phoebe rip the covers away from her and jump around frantically Punk looked at her bemused. "Crap, shit, fuck!"
"You okay there, darling?" laughter ripping from him.
"I had a flight to Stamford this morning, god Stephanie is going to kill me! Erm, Punk?"
"Yeah?"
"Who changed me?" Phoebe looked down at herself, track shorts and an oversized Stealing the Show swallowing her petite body, oddly enough the shirt was longer than the dress she wore last night.
"Don't worry, all April." Phoebe could've sworn that she saw sadness in Punk's eyes, "We actually flipped a coin because we all "volunteered," then me and Ziggles argued about what clothes to give you, obviously Nick won."
"I've actually always wanted this shirt so I'll have to thank him."
"About your meeting, I called Stephanie this morning and explained the situation, she completely understands and she's alright she just wants you to get better."
"I bet that was fun, talking to Stephanie."
"You know me too well," Punk grinned , his eyes travelling Phoebe as she sat back on the bed crossing her legs Indian style, she motioned him to join her. "I really didn't mean to upset you last night."
"I thought we said that we weren't going to talk about what happened last night?" Phoebe smiled, she reached up towards Punk's hair flattening a piece that refused to stay down.
"Did I ruin your date with Dolphin?"
"Let's put it this way, I was upset that we argued and I wasn't in the mood to stay at the club so I probably would've asked Nick to take me home and since I was feeling vulnerable I probably would've asked Nick to have sex with me, so yeah I'd say you did a pretty swell job."
Punk didn't say anything, he just stared at her; the thought of her having sex with him made his blood boil, it was bad enough he had to witness the two of them kiss. "Punk, I'm kidding. God, you should've seen the look your face, like you were about to murder someone."
"Because that's exactly how I felt." Phoebe swallowed, the conversation they shared yesterday had been incredibly overwhelming, she was so clueless, still was. The only thing she and Punk knew was the undeniable attraction that they had for each other.
"Just so you know, you have no reason to be jealous. You're a great guy, handsome, so smart and witty, and you're so passionate. April is very lucky."
Punk was about to respond until he heard the door open, Nick stepped into the room with a carton that held 3 cups of coffee and a McDonalds take-out bag in the other. "Nick, you are amazing," she beamed when he handed her a cup, he turned back around to hand the second to Punk who muttered a thank you. He tossed Phoebe and Phil a breakfast wrap, bacon, egg and cheese - she could not be any more happier as she tuck in, gobbling and munching it within 3 huge bites.
"That is so attractive." Punk and Nick stared at her open mouthed, she licked her fingers clean and was oblivious to the egg juices that had splattered her shirt, she reached for the coffee and slurped loudly. Punk watched Nick's face grow in disgust, smirking at how repulsed he was. When she had finished she scrunched the paper wrapping back into the bag and strode over towards Nick, pressing a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you so much." She had disappeared into the bathroom, Nick's face was still screwed in repulsion however when he realised that he was now alone with Punk he decided that he was in no mood to hang around. Punk bit into his wrap, and immediately felt his eyes water, bacon. Considering he had stuck to his pescetarian diet, the smell of bacon was heavy in his mouth and if it wasn't for Phoebe he would be beside the toilet throwing up what he had just chewed.
He tossed the wrap back into the bag, Nick raised an eyebrow at him, "I only eat fish and eggs, no red meat for me." Nick shrugged and carried on eating his breakfast.
"Phil, look. You and Phoebe – "
"Don't Nick, I know where you're going with this. She likes you, she really likes you and me and April sort of have a thing going on...so you don't need to start an argument with me. We're just friends."
"Punk I see the way you look at her, I appreciate you telling me that you're going to back off but, I'm not buying it. Look, I don't know if me and Phoebe even have a future, last night only proved that she wants you. Do you have any idea how that feels?"
"No I only did just get cheated on and dumped last year, no idea how that feels. She doesn't know what she wants, I'm not going to persuade her to be with me because contrary to popular belief I'm not that big of an asshole."
"She likes you, Punk and not the way I like her." Punk understood how that felt, long after the break-up between him and Amy, all Punk wanted to do was hate her, it was virtually impossible. At one point he couldn't stop thinking about her he loved her so much that it physically hurt his chest, the thought of her not feeling mutual hurt even more.
"You're going to have to talk to her, but I'm telling you, you're wrong. I know Phoebe."
"Exactly."
Punk didn't know how to respond, sure there were always chemistry and they were always flirting, he liked the banter he shared with her, he liked spending time with her, wanting to be in a relationship with her was a different story, the sexual fantasies were a different story.
"What are you saying Nick?"
"I'm saying – that you Mr. Fucking Perfect and I had to sit there day in and day out watch her talk about how amazing you are and when you started treating her like crap I watched her crumble and break. I would hold her and watch her cry in her sleep. Then the moment you decide to act all Mr. Nice Guy, she has turned into the smitten kitten she had always been, she is totally and madly in love with you Punk."
"I don't know what you want me to do Nick."
"You're close, I get that, but I see the way you act around her, you can deny that you're into her but you need to back the fuck off. Stop with the flirting, just quit acting like you're a goddamn couple. Last night I should've been the one taking care of her, I should've been there to beat the shit out of that guy, I should be the one to protect her, I should be the one that makes her smile whenever she's looking at me or thinking about me, not you godamnit."
"You are way out of line, man."
"Listen to me you, jackass – "
"Is everything alright in here?" Phoebe stepped out, her hair brushed and make-up had been retouched, she would thank April later but for now she was confused as to what was going on outside of the room.
"Yeah, we're just arguing about who's better. Cleveland Browns or Chicago Bears?"
"Oh, Chicago Bears hands down. Right Phil?" Nick shot Punk a 'told you so' look, who scowled back.
"Damn straight."
"Thanks for letting me crash here tonight Punk, and you know both of you for taking care of me. You two are the literally the greatest guys in the world." She jumped up and wrapped her arms around the both of them, pulling them into a warm hug. Nick turned to look at Punk, giving him a death stare even when she had let go.
"So I'm gonna go shower in my room and I better see something about getting a flight to Stamford tonight."
"I'll follow you out," Nick mumbled who was already out the door, when he was out of earshot Phoebe turned to Punk giving him another squeeze, surprising him.
"Thanks for everything, Punk." She began walking towards the door until she felt him grab hold of her wrist, her breath caught in her throat, heart pounding, palms sweating.
"Don't mention it."