Lost

AJ slowly opened her eyes with a smile plastered on her face as she woke from her slumber with Punk on the couch. She stretched out and then realized she was in fact on the couch- alone. She shot her head up and saw Dean sitting in the folding chair across from her and watched as he removed his headphones.

"Sleeping beauty finally awakens." He snorted.

"Where is he?" AJ asked turning her head to see if he was elsewhere.

"He was gone by the time I got here." Dean shrugged. "Pussy is probably already back in Chicago."

"No he wouldn't just leave me." AJ said getting off the couch and walking over to her phone.

"Yea he would he's done it since the day you met." Dean reminded her. "Please don't tell me you fucked the guy too."

"No he just held me so I could sleep." AJ frowned. "I'm sure he'll be back." She said putting on a smile.

"I don't think he will be." Dean said to her. "Just let this guy go, he's done nothing but bring you problems."

"And happiness!" she argued.

"AJ the guy has a girlfriend." He argued shaking his head. "He is using you to get his dick wet!"

"I don't ever judge what you do." AJ said shaking her head.

"I'm trying to help you!" Dean argued.

"I don't want your help." She said annoyed. "You don't understand us-"

"There is no 'us' AJ! It's him! It's all him." Dean said to her. "Let it go."

"We share something." AJ said to him. "We have this bond-"

"So where is he?" Dean asked looking around the empty apartment. "Because I don't see that tatted up piece of shit anywhere."

"Maybe he went to Randy and Ryan-" she began and Dean laughed.

"The guy is a rat." Dean laughed. "Paul told me the whole fucking story. He's a rat, he's a chicken and he's running because that's what he does. You can do better. He's going back home where he lives and will continue to live with his hot girlfriend."

"Stop it." AJ said shaking her head.

"Listen to me AJ!" He yelled. "Move on! And hopefully he stays the fuck away at least for your benefit because if he cared about you as much as you claim he does he'll put your safety first!"

"He'll be back any minute I'm sure." AJ said to him and Dean rolled his eyes. "If you're going to have a bad attitude maybe you shouldn't be here."

"I'll be here because guess what? He won't be." Dean remarked putting his headphones back on.

Punk arrived outside his front door and bowed his head before walking inside. As soon as he stepped in he saw a bunch of bags that he knew was Maria's. She wasn't lying- she really was packing up to leave him. He loved being with AJ but loved Maria. The guilt weighed him on more than he thought it would.

"Phil." Maria greeted coolly as she walked down the stairs. "I'm surprised you came back today."

"I'm sorry." He said to her defeated. "Don't go."

"Too late Phil." Maria said annoyed throwing a hairbrush into one of her bags.

"Please, I'm sorry." He said gently and gripped her arm so she would face him. "You've been my girl for so long and I haven't treated you fairly."

"Did you go see her?" Maria asked folding her arms and he nodded. "Did you sleep with her?"

"We didn't have sex." He told her honestly. "You remember Randy and Ryan- they saw me with her and have been giving her a hard time these last few weeks. Ryan went after her last night and I had to just make sure she was ok." He said trying to be honest.

"Did they hurt her?" Maria asked hoping they hadn't; as much as she hated AJ at the moment she wouldn't want her hurt like that.

"It wasn't pretty but she's ok." Punk said to her. "And now I'm here."

"Did you see Ryan?" Maria asked him.

"I drove by their old hangout I saw them inside there was about twenty guys inside and I would have been killed." Punk said to her. "I walked away."

"That was smart." Maria said to him knowing walking away probably really bothered him.

"It was a pussy move." Punk said hating himself. "I just walked away and it's not going to stop they're still going to mess with her."

"She should go to the police." Maria said in a light tone.

"Paul promised me he'd keep her safe so I'm taking his word for it." Punk said to her. "Please don't go baby." He said and she gave him a weak smile. "I need you more than ever."

"Ok." She said giving him to him because she always gave into him.

AJ waited up the entire night and he never came back. She literally sat on the couch and waited for him the entire day, he never called, he never showed up. Dean couldn't help but feel bad for AJ who was desperate for this man who just clearly wasn't as interested. He moved into her room since she was on the couch and at 10pm he came out and sat next to her on the couch.

"You were right." She said quietly looking at him with watery eyes.

"I'm sorry that I was." Dean said honestly. "Go get some sleep." He said to her.

"What have I done?" she asked him. "I left the only home I had ever had, Primo- and for what? A job where I get coffee and sit at a desk all day? Maybe I should just go back home and hope Primo can forgive me."

"You do what you have to do but I think you'll be making a mistake. You've only ever been with Primo and you got a little too caught up with Punk, you just need to enjoy your life while you're young and have some flings." Dean suggested.

"Like you do?" she asked him. "How happy are you?" she asked narrowing at his eyes.

"I'm happy enough to not be sitting on the couch Saturday night crying." He shot at her. "Sorry." He added quickly.

"No it's fine, you're right." She said then unexpectedly grabbed his face and kissed him.

All of the years that Dean and AJ had known each other they had never kissed. She had known Dean since he was teen since he grew up not far from her childhood home with Robbie. She'd be lying if she didn't admit to ever wondering what it would be like to be with the dangerous Dean Ambrose. But as quickly as the kiss started Dean pulled away.

"If you need me to do this for you I will." He said to her. "But we both know it's not right." He said cupping her face. Dean wasn't wrong and AJ knew it.

"I'm really sorry." She said pulling away and standing up. "Can you forget that I did that?"

"Sure." He shrugged then smiled. "Relax you're having a bad night-"

"I'm going out." She said grabbing her bag.

"Where?" he asked.

"Just don't worry about me, I'll be fine." She then rushed out of the apartment leaving a worried Dean behind.

Punk woke up in the middle of the night and looked to the side and saw Maria was wide awake looking up at the ceiling. He smirked as he rolled onto his side and draped his arm over her, kissing her cheek with his scruffy face but she didn't even acknowledge him.

"We just spent an hour making up and you're mad again?" he laughed.

"You said her name again." Was all Maria said and she said it in the calmest voice he had ever heard.

"No I didn't." he said sure of himself. "I called you Maria." He said firmly then smirked. "And pussycat." He added.

"No not when we were having sex." Maria said looking towards him. "While you were sleeping." Punk frowned because he wasn't sure if he had. "You were dreaming about her."

"No I wasn't." He said to her.

"Yes you were." She said looking back up at the ceiling. "I love you Phil, I love you so much but we're over and we have been for a long time. You're not happy, I'm not happy."

"You're not happy?" he asked surprised.

"How could I be?" she asked him. "You've been with other women and I've ignored it because you're all I've ever known or been with. We've been together a long time Phil- too long."

"You're breaking up with me?" he asked.

"I am." She said to him. "I'll be out in the morning."

"You don't have to go." Punk insisted.

"I do." She said to him. "You're going to do the same thing to her that you've done to me." She warned him. "And I would hate her for taking you from me but I pity her for what you're going to put her through." She told him bluntly and he didn't respond because Maria was right. He just laid back himself and both stayed in bed as far apart as possible as they looked away from each other. He loved Maria without a doubt he just wasn't in love with her anymore. AJ wasn't the reason for it, he had been stepping out on Maria for months now, she just helped Maria see the light if anything.

AJ wasn't sure why she was here or what she was thinking but she knocked at the door that she shared with her husband. It was late but she knew Primo worked late and didn't sleep until almost the mornings.

"April." Primo frowned as he opened the door.

"Hi." She said with a weak smile.

"What are you doing here? Is everything ok?" he asked noting her disheveled look.

"I just needed to see you." She said with a smile. "Can I come in? Maybe we can talk?"

"Talk?" he asked amused. "You walked out of here a year ago and never looked back and now you show up on a random Saturday night wanting to talk?"

"I'm sorry." She said to him.

"Wait." He said before she could walk away. "Something is up I can see it in your eyes and believe me I'd love to sit down and talk to you about everything but right now isn't a good time."

"Oh." She said not really expecting Primo to turn her away.

"Who is at the door?" a female asked. It wasn't just any female either, AJ knew exactly who was in her home. "Holy shit." Rosa said walking to the door with a Chihuahua on her arm and was wearing a short nightgown. "Little April Jeanette."

"Rosa." AJ forced out. "It's been a long time."

"Robbie's funeral." She noted.

"You're sleeping with my dead brothers girlfriend?" she asked Primo.

"No." Primo said to her.

"We're getting married April." Rosa said smugly. "You never thought I was good enough for your brother do you feel the same for your ex?" she asked stepping towards AJ.

"Come on Rosa go back inside." Primo said to her.

"No I want to know what gives this bitch the right to show her face here. You look like you've had a rough day- to fucking bad April." Rosa hissed. "You left everyone behind no one wants you here."

"Rosa stop!" Primo yelled.

"She realized she made a mistake and it's too damn bad." Rosa said to him.

"Get out of my face." AJ warned the woman she already hated with a passion before she knew she was with her ex.

"Do you remember the last time we went at it?" Rosa laughed. "I kicked your ass."

"That was sixth grade and I've come long a way." AJ said rolling up her sleeves.

"It's enough go inside Rosa." Primo ordered stepping between the two.

"You're right Primo, it wouldn't be good for the baby." She said placing her hand over her stomach and shot AJ a cocky grin before stepping back inside.

"She's pregnant?" AJ asked.

"Yea she is." Primo said to her running his hand over his face.

"How long have you been with her?" AJ asked him.

"Almost a year." He told her honestly.

"You didn't waste much time." AJ snorted.

"Don't you dare." He warned. "You left me and I needed someone and that someone was Rosa. She's great."

"Great enough to have a baby with." AJ noted.

"It wasn't planned." Primo told her.

"When I wanted to have a baby you told me you didn't want children." AJ reminded him.

"No you wanted to have a baby after Robbie died because you wanted to fill a void and do it for the wrong reasons." Primo said to her.

"And Rosa isn't the filling void of her dead husband?" AJ asked him.

"It's just different." Primo said to her simply. "What's going on with you? Why are you here?"

"I just needed to see a familiar face that's all." She said to him.

"I heard you've been doing real well, got yourself a good job, a nicer place." Primo said with a smile. "You should be proud of yourself."

"Nothing I've done this past year has made me proud." She said taking a seat on the front step and Primo sat next to her.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"No." she said looking at her fingers and played with her nails.

"Isn't that why you're here?" Primo asked and she just smirked. "Oh!" he said with a laugh. "Any other time or place I'd love to but I've got a fiancée and child."

"It's fine." AJ said to him with a smile. "It's for the best actually because that would just add to my not proud moments pile."

"You know who is a great listener?" Primo asked her.

"My mom?" she asked knowing that's what he was going to say.

"Yea." He said to her. "Go see them." He encouraged. "They miss you so much."

"It's late." AJ said to him.

"They don't care." Primo smirked. "Also I saw the kitchen light on right before you dropped by." Primo still lived in the same home he shared with AJ, next door to her parents. "Are you sure you don't want to talk to me though?"

"No it's best I don't." she said to him.

"I assume it's man trouble which is why you came by here to begin with so for that I'm grateful you don't want to talk about it. I'm getting married but you're still my first love, I'll love you forever April." Primo said giving her a sweet smile.

"I love you too." She smiled.

Punk was back in New York a day later. He wasn't sure what the hell he was doing anymore but he couldn't be home while he watched Maria move out it hurt too much. Paul was surprised when he arrived at his office first thing in the morning to see Punk there.

"Punk." Paul said and he just nodded. "I thought we agreed you'd stay in Chicago for a few weeks and let this stuff with your brother die down again."

"Maria is moving out." Punk told him. "I can't be there."

"I'm sorry." Paul frowned. "I know you cared about her."

"Yea." Punk said quietly. "How's AJ doing?"

"She called in sick last night." Paul told him.

"That's not like her." Punk said to him.

"No but she's had a rough week." Paul reminded him. "I told her to take a few days. Do you plan on seeing her?"

"I want to but I can't." Punk said to him. "I pussed out on her."

"She'd rather you in one piece I'm sure." Paul smirked.

"I thought I smelt shit." Dean greeted as he stepped into the office.

"What's he doing here?" Punk asked Paul not even looking back at Dean.

"I wasn't kidding about hiring him as my head security." Paul said seriously. "Hello Mr. Ambrose."

"Paul." He said but glared at Punk while he said it.

"I don't have time for your shit man." Punk said annoyed.

"Aw did you have a bad weekend?" Dean mocked.

"How's AJ feeling?" Paul asked.

"I don't know." Dean shrugged. "Probably like crap." He said to Paul as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Did you not see her this morning?" Paul asked.

"No I have not seen her since Saturday night. She went out and didn't come home." Dean said to them and Punk jerked his head back to look at Dean.

"And that didn't alarm you?" Punk hissed.

"She needs a little space and seeing as how you're back she made the right decision. I gave her some advice and she just went to follow it." Dean informed him.

"What advice?" Punk asked annoyed.

"To go out and get laid." Dean said simply and Paul cringed knowing Punk wouldn't like that response since he was still sensitive over this whole Maria thing as well. "She tried to fuck me first." He said with a grin to Punk who narrowed his eyes at him.

"And you were just man enough to push her aside? Not take advantage of her?" Punk asked standing up to go nose to nose with Dean.

"Yea I'm not you I don't need to use AJ to feel good about myself." Dean said with a laugh, clearly not intimidated. "She went home."

"What do you mean home?" Punk asked.

"Home to her husband." Dean said to him. "At least that's where I last saw her when I followed her all the way back to New Jersey to make sure no one tried to pull her pants off down an alley."

"She went back to her husband?" Punk asked surprised.

"Oh she must not have gotten the memo that she had to wait around for you until you were good and ready." Dean laughed. "If I had to guess she's probably filled with that Puerto Rican dick as we speak."

Punk shoved Dean back and punched him right across the face. Dean was actually surprised by the strength behind the punch and laughed as he held his jaw.

"No!" Paul warned standing up. "Cool off!"

"Yea get lost." Punk said to Dean.

"No you." Paul said to Punk. "Take a walk."

"Fuck this." Punk said turning around and storming out of the office.

"Take a walk around the block! Stay the fuck out of New Jersey!" he yelled after Punk as he avoided the elevator and took the stairs.

Punk didn't go to New Jersey he headed straight to Brooklyn in hopes that Dean was lying to him about AJ being back with her husband. He knocked at her door for ten minutes until he finally decided that she was in fact not home. When he stepped out of AJ's apartment building he saw Randy Orton leaning against his car smugly.

"Hey Brooks." Randy said to him. "Welcome home."

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Punk demanded.

"I live in New York in case you have forgotten." Randy smirked.

"Not in New York here outside of AJ's apartment building." He hissed taking a step towards him.

"I wanted to drop in and check on her after her run in with Ryan." He said in a friendly voice. "You know how excited he gets when he's around beautiful women."

"I want to see him." Punk said to him.

"You drove by the old spot a few days ago and drove off- I saw you, actually we all saw you. Why didn't you drop in?" Randy asked him.

"I don't have a death wish." Punk told him bluntly. "You guys don't fight fair."

"Neither do you rat." Randy sneered. "Visited your brother on Sunday, he'll be out soon."

"Ten years fly's." Punk said to him. "So let's do this." He said throwing his hands up.

"You think I'm going to fight you on a busy street?" Randy asked amused. "No that's not my thing also your brother asked me to keep my hands to myself and unlike you I have loyalty." Randy reached into his pocket and tossed Punk AJ's underwear that Ryan had taken.

"So that's it?" Punk asked putting the underwear into his jean pocket.

"No this isn't over but the only person who deserves to make you eat this curb is three weeks away from being able to."

"I don't give a shit what you're really up to but I want you leave AJ alone. We're not together, we're not even talking at the moment she doesn't deserve this crap." Punk said to him.

"You and women." He snorted. "Always sticking up for them."

"Don't push me." Punk warned him. "AJ is just an innocent bystander in all of this."

"Fine." Randy said to him. "Your brother will handle all of this anyway." He said simply.

"Did you tell him?" Punk asked him.

"About what? The fact that you've been fucking around behind Maria's back with a mousy Puerto Rican with a big ass?" Randy asked with a laugh. "He already knew, asked me about it. I told him AJ was a 5 when dressed but when she's naked she's a fucking 12." He grinned.

"How did he know about her?" Punk asked.

"I'm assuming Maria told him." Randy said surprising him. "We were all friends, Maria never forgot."

"Maria's been to see him?" Punk asked him again.

"She's visits him once a month, the same as the rest of us- his real family." Randy said to him and he knew Punk was fuming. "We grew up together Brooks you can't be mad at the poor girl for being loyal."

"There's nothing loyal about seeing and speaking to him." Punk said to him coldly. "You have no moral codes, no good side- you're all fucking sick!"

"I'm done with this because your eye is twitching and it looks like you're itching for a fight." Randy laughed.

"What's the matter? You don't want a go because your buddies aren't here? Wasn't expecting me I'm sure." Punk noted. "Maria didn't give you the heads up?"

"Look are you going to give AJ her panties back or not?" Randy asked seriously. "I'll drive over the bridge to New Jersey and personally deliver them to her myself I don't want you getting pervy with them or anything." He laughed.

Punk wasn't sure what possessed him to strike the man as hard as he could but he didn't let up. Randy didn't see the right hook coming as Punk laid punch after punch on Randy and didn't stop until random people walking by pulled him off of him. Randy's face was a bloody mess and Punk knew he matters ten times worse.

"I'm calling the cops!" someone yelled who leaned over to check on Randy.

This was exactly what Punk didn't need at this moment. Forget the bad press he was going to get just in time for his comic release but Mike would be out in a few weeks as well. These guys were pissed off enough at him and now they'd be out for blood.

"No don't." Randy said spitting up some blood as someone helped him sit up. "We're family, we fight sometimes." He said then looked up towards Punk.

Punk eyed the man he grew up with such rage ready to kill him but backed away. He wasn't in the right mind to be around anyone. He hailed a cab and jumped in and wasn't even sure where to tell him to drop him off. He didn't want to see Paul and risk facing Dean, he didn't want to see AJ since his emotions were all fucked up and he couldn't go back home to Chicago because if he saw Maria he'd snap. He hadn't felt so lost and alone like this in close to ten years and he was sure this was exactly how AJ was feeling a few days ago herself. He fucked up big time and had no idea where to go from here.