Chapter 6: Closure
Punk had been in Atlanta now for two long weeks. He hadn't spoken to AJ since their final goodbye after Raw and he was worried. He wanted to pick up the phone and call her or send her a message but he couldn't do that to Amy. Once he arrived in Atlanta they agreed it was a fresh start for them and he owed her that.
Amy on the other hand couldn't help but notice how miserable Punk was. She thought once he was away from the company for a bit his mood would change and he'd go back into his happy old self but he only got worse. He did his part and came to Atlanta but even though his body was there with her his heart was elsewhere and she couldn't stand it.
"What's all this?" Punk asked stepping into the Atlanta apartment with Kenz
"How was the walk?" Amy asked as Kenz ran right towards her
"Good" he said looking over to luggage "What is this Amy?"
"I packed your stuff up" she said calmly
"Why?" he asked
"You don't want to be here" Amy said to him honestly and he sighed gearing up for a fight
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be" Punk said to her
"You're here all right but your heart isn't" Amy said with a laugh "You've been miserable and don't deny it"
"I'm just adjusting that's all" Punk defended
"No you hate it here and you don't want to be here with me" Amy said still remaining calm "I don't want to be the only one putting in effort"
"I am putting in effort!" Punk yelled
"Being here is one thing but you're thinking about her" Amy said to him
"I haven't spoken to AJ since I left Raw" Punk swore to her and that was the honest truth
"Oh believe me I know" Amy laughed "And look at you. You're not even the same person. Why are you here trying with me when you want to so clearly be with her?"
"I love you" Punk said to her softly causing her to smile
"I know and I know you're trying to do the right thing but wasting my time and yours isn't helping" Amy said to him "Go home. Sort yourself out alone see what you really want"
"Amy if I walk out the door now I'm not coming back" Punk warned
"I know" she said with a faint smile "We've been over for a long time Phil and these past two weeks only confirmed that"
"I'm sorry" he said to her
"Don't be sorry just get yourself sorted out" Amy said to him "I love you too much to see you like this"
"I don't even know what could make me happy anymore" he admitted in defeat "I thought being away from work and not traveling would do it but something's still wrong"
"If you ever loved me at all you won't make me say what you know I'm going to say" Amy warned "Talk to her" she suggested
"I fucked it up" Punk said to her "I fucked it up with you and her"
"Is this about Randy?" Amy asked him and he looked over to her "I asked him about his story with AJ for you"
"What did he say?" Punk asked her
"He said it's strictly to push his own story and he's hoping to even get her a title shot down the line" Amy said to him "He did say he had to push her in the right direction"
"What does that mean?" Punk asked her
"I don't know when I asked he said he couldn't get into details" Amy said to her "From what I understand she didn't want the story and he did. He's really not a bad guy he won't hurt her if anything he's helping her career"
"He's helping himself" Punk remarked bitterly
"Look I don't want to talk about AJ anymore" Amy said honestly "I'm trying to be cool and understanding about all of this but that's as far as I'll go"
"Right" Punk agreed "Are you sure Amy? I can stay"
"No go Phil" Amy said to him "Find your happiness and with any luck I'll find mine"
Punk headed back to Chicago and was actually feeling better already. The fact that he and Amy finally ended was for the best even though he was going to miss her. He was also surprised by how cool she was about the whole breakup. If he had known it would be that easy he would have done it a long time ago. Now he needed to focus on AJ. He was in the free to contact her but was having trouble working up the nerve to actually hit send.
He had been home for hours now and was sitting on his couch with the TV on. It was Monday so he was planning on actually tuning into Raw to catch up a bit. Right at eight the show had started but it was his phone that started to ring. He saw it was AJ calling and quickly turned off his TV and hit the answer button.
"AJ?" he asked surprised into the phone
"Hey Punk" she said shyly "Are you busy?"
"No" he said softly, still surprised that she was calling him "What's up?"
"I'm just keeping my promise" she said to him and it took him a minute to catch on
"What's wrong?" his voice was harsh
"I need help" she admitted "I think I've gotten in way over my head Punk" she was now crying "I need you"
"Calm down" he said almost frantically "What happened?"
"I can't talk about it over the phone" AJ sobbed "Please Phil" she pleaded and it was the first time she had ever called him by his legal name.
"Are you hurt?" Punk asked her
"No" she cried out "I just don't know what I'm doing anymore"
"Relax ok" Punk said to her "Where are you? Are you at Raw?"
"No I'm not" AJ said to him
"Are you home?" Punk asked her
"Yes" she choked out "Ok I'll take the next flight out" he said without hesitation
"I don't want to cause an issue for you and Amy…" she told him honestly "if you can't it's fine I just needed-"
"Don't worry about that" Punk said firmly "Are you going to be ok until I get there?"
"Yea" she said softly
"Ok I'll call you when I get my flight details" Punk said to her
"Thank you" she said softly
A couple of hours later Punk had landed in Tampa. He caught the earliest flight her could and by two in the morning he was pulling up in front of AJ's place in a cab. He quickly paid the cab driver and jumped out of the cab with his small duffle bag. Two flights in one day exhausted him but he felt a surge when he was walking towards AJ apartment building. As he reached her front door it swung open and there she was, the woman he loved- the only woman he loved- broken crying in the doorframe.
He didn't say a word he just dropped his bag to his feet and she practically jumped into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her just as tightly. It had only been two weeks but it felt like an entirety to him. He felt her hot tears against his neck as she snuggled into it. He wasn't sure how long they embraced for but eventually she pulled away and he followed her into her small apartment.
"I'm sorry for dragging you away from Atlanta" AJ said wiping her tears away
"I wasn't in Atlanta" Punk informed her almost proudly. "I was home"
"Oh" AJ said not knowing what that meant exactly
"What happened?" Punk asked running his hand down her cheek
"Everything" She said with a bitter smile as fresh tears rolled down her cheek "My career is over"
"You need to explain everything to me from the beginning" Punk ordered as he guided her over to the couch
"You're going to be mad at me" AJ said to him quietly
"Just tell me" Punk encouraged "Obviously this how to do with Randy right?" she just nodded. He was hoping that wasn't the case. "Ok so tell me"
"Do you remember when he asked me to lunch?" AJ asked him and he tilted his head towards her in an 'are you kidding me?' manner "Right" she said quickly "So he told me he knew"
"Knew what?" Punk asked
"About us" AJ admitted and Punk was surprised. Randy dropped little comments about AJ but most of the guys did. He was a close friend with her so everyone joked around with him about it "He saw you leaving my hotel room one night"
"Ok" Punk said slowly trying to remain calm
"He told me he was going to tell Amy and then everyone else" AJ said to him "I didn't want to ruin your relationship anymore than I already have"
"So you made a deal with him?" Punk asked almost surprised
"Sort of" she sighed "He told me he wouldn't say a word if I agreed to drop my story with Dolph and work with him. He said he had big plans to main-event Wrestlemania he said he wanted to wrestle you. I know how important that is to you"
"So you agreed to blow your own story and your Diva's title story to work with him to protect my relationship and try to give me a push?" Punk asked surprised
"I thought if you had hope in going to Wrestelmania you'd come back" AJ admitted
"I was coming back regardless" Punk reminded her "Why didn't you come to me about this?"
"Because it was my mistake" AJ said to him
"It wasn't your mistake" Punk argued "You think what we've been doing is a mistake?"
"No but getting caught would be" AJ said to him softly "It would have killed my career and your relationship"
"So what else did Randy say?" Punk asked trying to get back on point
"That was it basically" AJ said to him
"So what's got you so upset today?" Punk questioned "He obviously did something and why aren't you working?"
"Randy has been making me travel with him" AJ said to him and Punk already looked more annoyed then before "When we got to Raw earlier I was told I wasn't needed so I came home. I was also told I wouldn't be needed for the rest of the week. It doesn't seem like a big deal to a lot of people but I can't afford to not be working this entire week" Punk just nodded as she spoke
"Why would you be sent home like that?" Punk asked curiously
"Randy" she admitted shaking her head
"Tell me" Punk said biting his lower lip. He already knew he wasn't going to like this story.
"Last night we were on his bus driving into Orlando and I was sitting on the couch where I had been sleeping the last two weeks and he plopped down next to me" AJ started "He started to kiss my shoulders" she said looking at her hands and not him "It wasn't a big deal or anything but I told him no and kicked him off of me literally. When I said stop he did" she clarified so Punk wouldn't completely freak out
"Point made" Punk said almost annoyed "What happened after that?"
"He started to laugh" AJ said to him "And then he said he didn't think he'd need me this week and I shot my mouth off to him about how he didn't write for the show and couldn't tell me what to do. Sure enough we get to Raw he has a sit down with his buddy Hunter and I'm sent packing for the week"
"Of course" Punk said bitterly "Baby Randy didn't get his way so he went running to his daddy" he was now standing "You should have told me about this when he first blackmailed you"
"I didn't think this would happen" AJ defended
"I warned you" Punk said to her seriously "I told you if you got too close to him you'd end up like Melina or Mickey"
"What was I supposed to do? I didn't have a choice" AJ argued
"You had a choice- you had me" Punk argued back "I would have taken care of it"
"How? Run your mouth off to him? Maybe hit him? That would have made him run right to Amy" AJ argued
"I don't know I would have figured it out" Punk argued. She wasn't wrong. He would have blown a gasket and went right for Randy
"You would have made it all worse" AJ mumbled
"Well did you make it better?" Punk questioned "Look where you are now"
"I was supposed to also get a t-shirt. They stopped production on it" AJ confided looking up at him from her seat "Did they stop because they're going to fire me? How do I fix this?"
"Crap" Punk mumbled running his hands over his face
"That's not good" AJ was hoping Punk would tell her she was acting crazy and it wasn't a big deal but now she was more worried then before. "Please tell me how to fix it. You've been here long enough you know these people"
"You're right I do know them" Punk spat "Once you get on their shit list you're there for good"
"My career is over and I didn't even get the title" AJ frowned
"It's not over" Punk said confidently "I'll take care of it"
"You just said once you're on the shit list there's no way off" AJ reminded him "Maybe if I go to Randy-"
"And what?" Punk asked cutting her off "Sleep with him?"
"I don't know Punk I'm scared" AJ admitted "Forget the fact that I need this job but I also love it. I can go wrestle anywhere else but I won't be able to afford to live here-"
"I'll handle it" Punk said again "You have me in your corner and I do carry some weight around there"
"Not like Randy" AJ reminded him
"No I don't but I'm not going to let him bully you out of the company" Punk said to her "Besides he still think he needs you. He's just trying to scare you into fucking him"
"They'll just swap me out with another girl" AJ said to him "He talks about Aksana a lot"
"Oh please" Punk mumbled "You're in a league of your own. No other girl in the company can touch you and he knows that"
"If you go to home he's going to tell" AJ said to him "I'll figure something else out"
"Amy and I are over" Punk said to her and he could tell she was surprised
"Since when?" She asked
"Since about ten this morning" Punk said to her and walked back over the couch and took a seat next to her "She already suspects something between us so don't worry about that"
"My reputation would be over" AJ said to him "Whoring around with the very beloved 'Lita's' boyfriend would kill my career. You'd be high-fived by everyone but I would be crucified"
"The double standard of this industry sucks" Punk said to her
"I'd rather not have a job then have this get out like that" AJ admitted
"I know" Punk said resting his head against the couch "I just need a day and I'll figure it out"
"Just tell me what to do and I'll take care of it" AJ said to him
"You got into this mess to protect me" Punk said to her "I'm not going to let you deal with it all on your own" she just nodded and both fell into an awkward silence until he spoke again "What were you saying when he was talking about Wrestlemania?"
"He said he was hoping to feud with you" AJ said to him and now it was making sense to Punk
"Oh really" Punk smirked
"Do you think he was lying?" AJ asked him
"No I think he knows I'll make him look good in a big match like that and I also know that he'd love to have me watch you cheer him at ringside" Punk said to her
"He mentioned that to me too" AJ admitted and Punk just let out a dry laugh "Why would you care if I worked with him?"
"Because I fucking hate him that's why" Punk said to her "He knows it would kill me"
"Why though? We're not together" AJ reminded him "I work with Dolph and you don't care"
"I do care" Punk admitted looking towards her lazily "But Dolph isn't a bad guy. Randy on the other hand I've known very a long time I know what he's capable of and he knows that. Thinking about you being on his bus makes my skin crawl"
"I never slept with him" AJ said to him
"I know" Punk said to her "You're not like that"
"Aren't I?" she asked and he seemed surprised "I was with you when I was with Trent and I knew you were with Amy. I deserve the reputation I'm about to get"
"It wasn't just sex" Punk said to her "At least not to me. We spent many nights together and only half of the time we were physical" he wasn't lying either. A lot of their nights consisted of just curling up and talking and tenderly kissing.
"I miss those nights" AJ admitted shyly
"Me too" Punk said to her "We can have one of those tonight"
"I'd like that" she smiled standing up and grabbing his hand "And just so you know it wasn't just about sex to me either"
"I know" Punk smiled as she led him into the bedroom.
There was no sex that night or even kissing. They spent the night just catching up and talking about what he had been up to the last two weeks. She fell asleep curled against him but he had trouble sleeping. He knew he did the right thing coming to see her but he was worried about her now. Randy had always hated him and what better way to piss him off then to have AJ fired? He was having a tough time imagining going back to work as it was but if AJ wasn't there his motivation to go back was dwindling. He couldn't let her take the fall when all she was trying to do is protect him.
He looked down and saw AJ was still fast asleep but he was starving. He carefully moved her off of him and headed into her small kitchen. It broke his heart that she wasn't only fighting for a job she loved but to keep a roof over her head. Sometimes he took how fortunate he was for granted. He had no shirt on and just pair of shorts as he opened her refrigerator he pulled out a carton of juice and drank from it but spit it right out in the sink. He scrunched his face off and read the expiration date- two weeks ago it expired. He decided he was now going to go through her entire kitchen and pull out anything old but he heard her front door being played with. He slowly walked towards the door and hid behind it and waited for the door to open, which it eventually did. Once the person was inside Punk placed them in a chokehold.
"Don't move or I'll break your fucking neck" Punk hissed into the man's ear
"It's me" the man choked out. Punk looked over the man's shoulder and sighed in annoyance. "Shit" the man muttered as Punk released his hold
"What are you doing?" Punk asked annoyed
"Holy shit that hurt" Trent said rubbing his neck
"Why did you just break in here?" Punk demanded taking a step forward towards Trent
"I needed to get some of my stuff" Trent mumbled "AJ is never around to let me in"
"So you picked her locks?" Punk asked annoyed "I could have killed you"
"Yea I get that" Trent said to him "I didn't realize anyone was here and you were the last person I expected to see here"
"I could say the same thing" Punk smirked annoyed as he folded his arms
"AJ's here?" Trent asked and Punk nodded "And you're not really dressed I can see." He said eyeing Punk's shirtless look "So how long has this been going on?" he asked Punk as he reached into a closet and pulled out an empty duffle bag
"Nothing is going on" Punk informed him "But if something was going on I wouldn't tell you shit because it's not your business"
"You were with her when I was with her" Trent said to him with a laugh "You two being together really doesn't surprise me even though her missing a show does. Why is she here?"
"Ask her yourself" Punk remarked
"That's ok" Trent said nervously "She's still pissed at me"
"I can't imagine" Punk said as he watched Trent place things into a bag
"I was an asshole I know that" Trent said honestly "I cheated on her but at least I owned up to it"
"Only because you caught" Punk retorted
"And because you and her never got caught it makes it ok?" Trent asked him seriously
"That's the second time you've accused me of being with AJ" Punk said with a bitter laugh
"Am I wrong?" Trent asked looking at Punk in the face
"You're not leaving with that bag" Punk said ignoring his question "Not until AJ goes through it"
"You really think I'd steal her stuff?" Trent asked amused
"I don't know you from jack" Punk shrugged
"What are you doing here?" AJ asked stepping out of the bedroom
"Good morning beautiful" Trent smiled kissing her cheek "I was hoping to avoid you today"
"Nice" AJ mumbled "Did you let him in?" she asked Punk
"Nope" Punk said leaning against the counter and folding his arms
"You broke in to my apartment?" AJ asked him
"It was our apartment at one time" Trent defended with a laugh
"My name is on the rental agreement" AJ reminded him "And I paid all of the bills last time I checked"
"Which is why I'm the one that left" Trent smirked "Seriously though I'll be out of your way in like five minutes"
"Fine" AJ mumbled folding her arms watching as he threw stuff in a bag "No way!" she said walking over to the bag and Punk watched in amusement. Trent was wrong for cheating on her but all in all he wasn't a complete dick.
"It's mine" Trent said holding the DVD in his hand
"But I bought it for you" AJ reminded him snatching back from him "This is the only copy of Batman Begins I have"
"So go get another one" Trent said taking it back from her
"I can't get another one this was a limited edition DVD pack" AJ said seriously grabbing the DVD again "I only bought it for you because I wanted it" Punk smiled at the comment as he watched from a distance
"I know that" Trent smirked "But you still gave it to me therefore it's mine" he said taking back from yet again "If we're going to play this game then I want everything I ever bought you"
"Don't be so petty" AJ defended childishly. She clearly only wanted the DVD and Punk thought it was so cute
"Well I bought you that pikachu tank top you're wearing so take it off and give it back to me" Trent challenged arrogantly
"Fine" AJ said and crossed her arm and attempted to pull the shirt off right now
"Stop" Punk said quickly as he walked over to them "Keep your shirt on and you take the DVD" he said to Trent
"Why thank you Punk" Trent said with a smile then looked towards AJ
"I've got like three copies of that edition I'll give you them all" Punk said to AJ
"Fine" AJ said annoyed "Take the DVD" she said annoyed
"Cool" Trent grinned. "I've got some clothes inside" he informed her asking permission to go into her bedroom
"Go" she said quietly and went inside
"Sorry I didn't mean to butt in but I really do have a few copies of the movie" Punk whispered to her "You didn't have to strip to make your point"
"It's fine" AJ said to him
"By the way are you aware all of your food is expired?" Punk asked her
"Yea I know I've been on the UK tour for the last two weeks and I just got in" AJ said to him "Sorry I should have given you a heads up"
"Get used to it she always keeps expired shit" Trent said walking out of her bedroom and AJ just rolled her eyes "She needs like a house keeper or something"
"Trent used to take care of all the expired stuff because he was home so much" AJ admitted taking a stab at the fact that he wasn't currently working
"Ouch" Trent laughed "Ok I think that's it"
"Good" AJ said to him and he kissed her cheek again
"Take care squirt" he said seriously to her and she just nodded
"You too" she forced out
"Punk" he said shaking his hand and Punk reluctantly reciprocated "Always good to see you" he said to him and Punk just nodded and watched as Trent walked out the door
"So what now?" AJ asked looking over to Punk. She wasn't sure if he was going or staying
"Now you go get dressed so I can take you food shopping" Punk said seriously "And if you're lucky I'll cook you dinner tonight" he said seriously and she smiled
"You don't mind staying here with me?" AJ asked him
"I'll stay as long as you'll have me" Punk said sincerely.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everybody!