Moving On

"He seemed… different." AJ whispered, later that night as she lay naked with her boyfriend. Her lingerie set lay discarded along with his clothes on the floor after a steamy night, now heading into early hours of the morning.

They'd gone for some dinner in a low-key restaurant near the hotel, where AJ told Punk about what she had said to Ben and how the visit had gone. They then moved things to the bedroom and funny enough, she was still thinking about the visit, and how, almost out of character Ben seemed.

"What kind of different?" Punk asked her, his head resting on the pillow where she curled into his body. It was nice to get away again and spend the night together in a nice hotel.

"He… He wasn't as mad as I thought he'd be. He seemed really calm and… understanding. I mean, he was still trying to make an excuse here and there but… he just seemed strangely ok with what was going on." She shook her head.

"Well he kinda has to accept it. The quicker the better. He's not getting out of there for a long time." Punk shrugged, "At least now you've got a little tiny bit of closure. You can maybe try and move on… we can move on. Start something good together and not look back." He said as AJ nodded and smiled.

Although she was thinking about how strange Ben seemed to be acting, she was happy with the closure she'd gotten from going to see him and say her final words to him. It really felt like she could close that door over and start to look to the future with Punk, which was a nice thing to do.

"Maybe we could even… start looking for a place of our own." She said, tapping her fingers up his chest as he smiled, "That'd be nice." She said as he nodded.

"Yeah." Punk smiled as he imagined it, "It would." He agreed, "I think I'm gonna try get my old job back with Doug at the garage. I know he fired me but it wasn't personal." Punk said, "And it was good money, really good. And I was a good worker." He nodded to himself.

"You liked that job too." AJ remembered as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, it was ok." Punk said, "The guys were great and I was good at it." Punk nodded, "Either way, I need to get a job if we wanna start looking to move." He said.

"What do you think Dean would say?" AJ asked him, "I mean… you guys have never lied apart. How will you cope?" She asked as he laughed a little.

"I'm sure we'll get by." Punk smiled, "He'd probably keep the apartment. It's a good place for him and… well, if things work out with Anna." He shrugged, "I'll leave it up to him." He said.

"I'd quite like a place where it's central but it's close to my firm, close to your work and close to the apartment too, if Dean continues to stay there." AJ said.

"You're awful precise." Punk laughed a little, "Who would have thought a few months ago that we'd be looking at houses together?" He shook his head. It was sometimes strange to think that they were even broken up, because it felt like nothing had changed and no time had been lost.

"I know." AJ nodded, "It feels right." She said, "Like I have butterflies for the first time in so long." She said. She was excited about the future now, because she believed it would be a good one, an exciting one. She'd always wanted her own home, and when she got the house with Ben, it was great, but there always felt like something was missing, now she had butterflies about the thought of having a home with Punk. With someone she really knew inside and out.

"Yeah, it's exciting." Punk agreed. It was nice to finally have something good going on for them, something to look forward to.

"Do you think Dean had Anna at the apartment tonight?" AJ asked him.

"Maybe." Punk said, "I don't know, I think he wants to take it slow with her. First time I've saw him like this over a girl." He admitted truthfully as AJ smiled.

"Good for him." AJ nodded sincerely, "He deserves someone good in his life. I always think about what we have and good that is… I want the same for him." She said, "And she really is gorgeous." She noded.

"Yeah." Punk agreed as AJ looked up at him.

"You aren't allowed to agree." She said as he looked down at her and smiled.

"Hey, you know my eyes are only on you. Always." He said as she smiled.

"I'm kidding. I'm not that insecure." She assured him as he smiled, "Maybe we can double date." She laughed a little.

"I suggested that to him but he said that'd be like him double dating with his parents." He shook his head, "What do we know about new, fresh relationships, right?" Punk said as AJ laughed and smiled.

"Hey, baby I like where we're at now." She said, looking up at him and smiling, "And I'm excited about having a life with you." She said, "Well… a more serious life." She said as he smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, me too. Especially after all of this that's happened. I just wanna hibernate with you." He said as she smiled.

"And never see anyone ever again?" AJ laughed, looking up at him.

"That would be ideal." Punk nodded, "I'll see Dean maybe a few hours every day." He nodded as she laughed.

"Yeah, right. You'd be like a lost puppy without him." She said, "What'd you two even get up to when I was gone?" She asked.

"Do you want a day-to-day run down?" Punk laughed, "You were gone for quite a while." He said as she slapped his chest.

"I just mean in general." She said.

"Nothing that we weren't doing before. Working, cubs and hawks games, we used to Mrs Kerr's grocery shopping for her at one point. She fell and broke her hip on the ice one winter so we took over doing her shopping." He said.

"You're so nice it's sickening." AJ shook her head as he laughed.

"Hey, I only done it until her hip healed." Punk said, "And… she was seventy. I do have a little tiny bit of a heart." He said, "We didn't take money from her but she'd always tell us to buy a cake for ourselves."

"Oh, you are grown ass men." AJ shook her head, "You didn't actually take the cakes, did you?"

"Uh yeah, she had a lot of shopping. I wasn't gonna take her money but… a cake I could do." Punk nodded as she laughed.

"Well you're a good man either way." She nodded.

"Sometimes." He said, "Apart from that, nothing exciting happened. We didn't get married or anything." He said as she gasped and looked up at him.

"Phillip Brooks, was that a dig?" She asked as he grinned.

"No." He said sarcastically as she nudged his side, only causing him to nudge her back as they began messing around where she wound up back on top of him. They were ready to make each second count, and have that life they had always wanted with each other since they got together. They'd just hit a few rocky bumps on the road, some that lasted longer than others. Now they were back on track.

6 months later…

"I'm just saying, I don't think you need to move out so soon." Dean shrugged, sitting in the living room of the apartment with Punk. Practically all of AJ and Punk's things were packed up after they had finally closed in on a deal for the house they wanted. It was exactly what they were looking for and it was pretty much perfect location like AJ had suggested.

In the past six months, Punk had also managed to get his job back at the garage. There was no bad blood, and he promised Doug that he'd work twice as hard. Whether it being the sympathy for a man who was almost killed when he was innocent, or if he just needed extra staff, Punk didn't know, but he gave him the job back anyway and it was nice to finally get money back in his bank again. AJ had also gone back to work.

Dean was still seeing Anna and things were going well. Slow, but well. But Dean wasn't all too pleased that he now had an apartment to pay full rent for, and he was also secretly sad that his brother and AJ would no longer be living with him.

"It's not so soon." Punk laughed a little, "Forget about the few years we were split for… we've been together for the longest time." Punk said, "It's time we both start getting our own space." He said, "I'm like five minutes down the road." He reminded him.

"It's not the same, though." Dean huffed like a kid.

"I know but we'll get used to it. We weren't gonna stay like this forever." He said. It was a big change for them. They were very close brothers, and had always lived together either way, so this was a big change for them to go their separate ways and become more independent in their own lives. It wasn't like they were never going to see each other again, that was for sure.

"I know but… it's gonna be so quiet here." Dean sighed.

"You've got Anna." Punk reminded him.

"Yeah, but she's not always here." Dean said.

"It's been going good for you guys for a few months now." Punk acknowledged. He and AJ had met with Anna on a few occasions and they were getting familiar with her on a regular basis. Dean was right, she was different from high school, and she did appear to be a very sweet girl, and Punk was glad, because he knew how much his brother had taken a liking to her.

"Yeah, I know." Dean nodded.

"Look, we've got a spare bedroom. If you're feeling lonely you can always stay a night." Punk teased as Dean just grumbled to him, "Hey, man. You'll be fine here. You're liking your new job, right?" He asked as Dean nodded, "And it's better pay." He said, "You've got a good girlfriend. You've got it good." He said as Dean nodded.

"I know it's just… it's always been the two of us. No matter what." Dean said.

"It still is." Punk assured him, "We're just moving on with our lives now. I know, it's all very adult like and sickening but… it's kinda nice that we both have a life of our own now." He nodded.

"Yeah." Dean agreed with him. Things had been going great with Anna, and Dean really did feel like things were coming together pretty well. He'd gotten a new job which he actually was interested in and which paid him more, and of course he had a great relationship with Anna on the go. He was just going to miss his brother, that was all.

"When are you officially gone then?" Dean asked.

"Probably in the next few days. We just need to move the rest of our stuff." He said, "We've got the day off tomorrow so it'll probably be all shifted by then… and then, this place is all yours." He nodded.

"Well at least it'll be a lot more peaceful." Dean nodded.

"That's true." Punk said, "Ok, I gotta go pick AJ up from work. I'll just bring a pizza home or something." He waved his hand, grabbing his keys and standing up from the couch.

"Bring extra, I'm gonna go see at Anna at work, she doesn't get off until later but she might want some leftovers."

"You're romantic." Punk nodded.

"Shut up." Dean said.

"Ok, extra it is." Punk said, leaving the apartment to go pick AJ up from work at the firm she was based in. Things were good in the aftermath of what they had all been through, and like Punk said, they were all moving on and carrying on with their lives. If anything they weren't wasting a single second of living, because they knew, especially Punk, what it felt like to feel trapped, and scared, and in his case, near to death.

Later on, Dean had headed off to wear Anna worked. She was a hairdresser in a salon in the city. He'd never visited her work, mostly because she always told him that by the end of the day she looked a mess, which he didn't believe. He was enjoying getting to know her and letting someone into his life. He always felt like he had an issue with that, but he trusted Anna, and they really were clicking well.

He stepped into the salon which was close to shutting anyway. He was also thankful that she was getting along with Punk and AJ too, which obviously was a big thing for him.

"Can I help you?" A girl at the front desk smiled.

"Is Anna around?" Dean asked casually over the sound of blow dries going on.

"Anna?" She shook her head with confusion, "Was she getting her hair done here?" She wondered.

"No… no, she works here." Dean nodded.

"Um… no Anna works here." She shook her head, "Maybe you've gotten mixed up." She said as Dean just shook his head.

"Right, sorry." Dean said, walking out of the salon and shaking his head. He knew that was the one she had told him, but he also remembered her enforcing how much she didn't want him to see how much of a mess she looked like at the end of the day, practically wanting him to stay away… and now she didn't even work there apparently. He was confused.

A/N: Let me know what you think!