"Away to see Elise… were we?" Jack asked after he'd called Punk later on to his house, "Didn't take any detours home?" He asked as Punk sat on the couch, looking up at him and shaking his head.
"No." Jack said.
"Why are you lying to me, Phil?" Jack asked, watching his son look up at him, trying his best to act confused.
"I'm not." Punk said.
"Then what the hell are these." Jack spat, slamming down black and white pictures on the coffee table as Punk leaned forward, looking on at them as he cringed.
"You've been spying on me?" He asked, looking up at his father.
"Technically no." Jack shook his head, "I've been spying on her." He said, "Why couldn't you have told me you slept with her?" Jack asked. He couldn't quite understand why his son had to lie to him about this. He knew his son slept around. He really couldn't care, but it was annoying him why he hadn't told him the truth.
"I didn't think it would matter." Punk said, "Why the hell are you watching her? Why… why is there camera's in her house?" He asked with anger, "I told you to leave her alone. She… she has nothing to do with anything."
"I'm watching her because I don't trust her." Jack said, "And plus, she's a good looking girl, when I'm bored it gives me something to do." Jack said as Punk stood up quickly, looking over at him with silent violence.
"Stop spying on her." He said, "And most importantly, stop spying on me, and asking where I am all of the time." He said, "You wonder why Elise left? Because you wouldn't let her breathe. You wouldn't let her go out and be herself. Just like you're doing to me."
"I haven't heard you complaining until now." Jack argued back, "This girl… you seem to like her. Well… from the pictures anyway."
"You have no right to even have they pictures." Punk said, "Can I not even fuck girls now without you looking in on me?" He asked with anger, walking by his father.
"Phil, stop being such a baby." Jack said. He didn't know why his son was getting so defensive over this girl, who he didn't think was much of a catch, not for his son anyway, "What's wrong with you?" He asked.
"Nothing." Punk said, "Nothing is wrong with me." He spat, "Just… stop watching her. Can you do that?" Punk asked as he nodded.
"Ok. Alright. I'll stop watching her. I'll trust your word." Jack nodded, "Now are you going to do this job tonight?" Jack asked.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah, I'm on it." He nodded.
AJ had met up with Elise who was on her lunch break. She had an hour before she had another class in, and decided to go for lunch with her friend. The only thing was, she couldn't exactly confide in her, considering the man who was messing with her mind was her brother.
"You had a rough night last night?" Elise laughed, sitting in a sandwich shop with AJ, noticing she looked rather tired and all over the place.
"I eh… didn't sleep very well." She said as Elise nodded.
"Did my brother reply to you?" Elise asked.
"What?" AJ looked at her with confusion.
"The text." Elise said, "Did he reply?"
"Oh." AJ realised, "No… no he never replied." AJ shook her head, playing around with the chips on her plate that had gone with her sandwich.
"Hey, you alright?" Elise asked her, noticing she seemed a bit down about something.
"Can I ask you something?" AJ said as Elise nodded.
"Sure." Elise smiled.
"When you got with Dean… did it matter to you that he… that he was bad. That he done bad things?" She asked.
"Not when I was with him." Elise shook her head, "In fact, I loved him in spite of all of that stuff." She said.
"You loved him?" AJ asked.
"I did." Elise nodded, "But I knew I couldn't stay. Especially when I was pregnant." She said, "One, Phil would have killed him if he found out he got me pregnant. Two, I don't think he would have been all that good with a baby. Three, he didn't love me that much to leave everything he knew behind, and trust me." Elise said, "These… these guys don't know anything other than what they do. Most of them have done it since they were kids. They're insecure. They don't know how to deal with their feelings." She explained.
"Makes sense. I suppose." AJ nodded, it sounded very familiar, "Do you think things would be different if you stayed?" She asked.
"I don't know." Elise shrugged, "Maybe we could have been happy. Maybe I was just too pessimistic and left because it was the easiest thing to do." She shrugged, "These guys are like rocks though, it's extremely hard to find who they really are. Took me a full year just to get Dean to admit that he liked me." She laughed.
"How old were you?" AJ asked.
"Twenty, going on twenty one." Elise said, "Yet my brother and father still treated me like I was eight." She rolled her eyes.
"Are you ever gonna let Dean know that he's the father? Why wouldn't he have questioned it when he knows you have daughter the same age to the years ago you got together?" She asked.
"Because either he has figured it out, and he wants nothing to do with us. Or he hasn't and he doesn't care about me anymore to even think so much about me or Toni." She shrugged, "It's better I stay clear of him. He won't be any good for Toni anyway." She said.
"You don't know that." AJ said, "I think you should give him a chance."
"Since when were you Team Brooks and company all of a sudden?" Elise laughed a little as AJ just looked down.
"I'm not." AJ said, "I just… I just think he should be given the option to access to his daughter. It might turn his world around. For the better." She said as Elise just shrugged.
"I don't know. It's not something I can just quickly decide on. I'd have to think about it." She said as AJ nodded.
She thought about telling Elise that she slept with Punk, but she knew it would just cause chaos. She'd be so angry with her no doubt, almost as angry as she was herself. Who knows what she'd do? She was clearly against her brother and father, and everything they done. Knowing Punk had manipulated his way into her bed would no doubt drive her crazy.
But that was the problem. He didn't manipulate her. He didn't do anything she didn't want him to. She encouraged it. She let him take her upstairs. She allowed him to touch her and kiss her. She was just as much to blame for this mistake as he was. Yes. She was referring it to a mistake. Because it was something she shouldn't have done. Now she'd had a taste of him, she wanted more and more, and she hated herself for it. She didn't know what she was going to do.
"Your done?" Jack asked, later that night in Invictus, the busy Saturday night club pounding with music and chatter.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, sitting down beside his father at the bar, "All done." He ran his hands through his hair.
"That was fast." Jack smiled.
"Sami and Dean helped me." Punk said, "You stopped stalking Elise's friend yet, or do I have to sort that out too?" Punk asked.
"Don't get cheeky with me, boy." Jack spat, swigging over his brandy and pushing it forward for a refill from the bar attender, "I've turned the camera's off and I've told Joe to stop watching her, but the camera's are still in her house." He shrugged.
"How'd you get them in, in the first place?" Punk asked.
"Joe went and broke in one day that she was out. I didn't trust her that she'd keep quiet, so I wanted to keep an eye on her." Jack said, "But I guess I'll just have to trust you on this one." He said.
"Yeah. You will." Punk said, "I'm gonna go see if I can take the camera's down without her noticing." He announced as Jack nodded, watching him walk away and out of the club, raising his phone to his ear after dialling a number.
"Yeah… yeah, keep an eye on him. And find me out more about this April girl."
Punk drove to AJ's, knowing it was probably a bad idea. He knew she'd be at home, and he knew she'd be mad with him for treating her the way he did this morning. He didn't want to treat her that way, but it was easier than telling her how he really felt about sleeping with her last night.
He didn't know how he was going to take down these damn camera's without her noticing. If she did notice she'd probably kill him. But then again, it wasn't him who put them there. He was just as disgusted as anyone else.
He knocked the door, standing with his hands in his pockets as he seen her shadow move closely towards the door, unlocking it and opening it up.
"What do you want?" She asked him with exhaustion. His face just made her angry.
"Can I come in?" He asked, "Please." He remembered his manners.
AJ knew she shouldn't have, but she let him in anyway, closing the door behind him as he walked on into the living room, watching him look around suspiciously, "Lost something?" She asked as he shook his head and returned his stare to her.
How she looked beautiful in anything. Even shorts and a hoodie with her hair tied back.
"No." He laughed, "Just came to see how you were." He smiled to her as she raised her eyebrows.
"And what's the catch?" She asked him, "C'mon. Of course you didn't come here to see if I was ok." She laughed lightly.
"Alright, but don't be mad. This… it has nothing to do with me." He promised her as she folded her arms, "There's camera's all around your house. I didn't put them in. My dad got them put in. He's been watching you ever since he found out you knew what I'd done. And he… well I think he watched us have sex last night." He nodded to her as she cringed with disgust, turning away from him.
"That is… that's vile." She spat, "I've been being watched by some old man?" She groaned in sickness, "Why are you telling me this?" She asked.
"Well… actually I came here to take them down. I was just as disgusted as you are." He said truthfully, "Look, I've told him to stop bothering you. I think he got the message." He said as she just shook her head.
"I just… I want nothing to do with you or your family. Everytime I convince myself I've forgotten about you and what you've done, you pop back up." She said, "Just… take them down." She sighed, running her hand over her face as she watched him nod.
He felt bad for her. She didn't deserve all of this. She didn't deserve him using her, poisoning her in everything he was doing. She was worth so much more. But he couldn't deny his affection for her. And he seen she wasn't all that restricting from him.
She watched him as he took down the small hidden camera's in her house which included in the living room, kitchen and bedroom. She appreciated him coming in and taking them down, and warning her. But she didn't know anything. For all she knew it could have been him that put them in in the first place.
"How'd they even get put up?" AJ asked him as he'd returned into the living room, sitting the small camera's on the couch in a collection.
"One of the guys broke into your house and put them up. You should really be more careful." He said as she rolled her eyes.
"I always lock my door." She spat, "How can I be any more careful than what I already am?" She asked him as he just looked across at her, lusting at her, thinking of her last night, her body, her sweetness. It drove him insane that he had to hide his feelings towards the night from her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked him.
"You're beautiful." Punk admitted, not being able to help himself, "Maybe I lied to you today." He admitted as she looked across at him, "I did… I had more than fun last night." He nodded, "And I can't stop thinking about it." He admitted.
"Good." She nodded, "I was almost doubting you were even human." She said, "Why do you look so terrified when you tell me that? What's so wrong in feeling something for once in your life?" She asked him. She was so glad he had told her that. It gave her peace of mind that he really did have a heart in there, and a soul. It was just hidden.
"Because I don't want to hurt you." He said, "And I know I will." He admitted.
"Why would you hurt me?" She asked him.
"Because I'm not… well I'm not like other guys. You know that fine well. I'd rather just… pretend to you that you mean nothing and move on, instead of hurting you later on." He told her. It was the most honest he'd ever been in his life. It felt strange to tell the truth, but AJ deserved the truth.
"And do I mean nothing?" She asked him as he inched closer to her.
"I don't know." Punk shrugged, "All I know is last night, you… you made me feel like I was a good person. You made me feel like there was still hope." He said, "No one has ever done that."
"You can be a good person. You can change." She whispered, looking up at him, feeling that connection again with him, that desire for him.
"I can't change." He shook his head, cupping her cheeks, pressing his lips against hers as she kissed back. He didn't know why, but she made every bad memory in his life, which was pretty much his entire life, go away. When he was with her, there was light. There was passion.
"No..." AJ pushed him away, "No… I don't want this. You can't… you can't play me like this." She shook her head, "I want you to leave." She folded her arms and turned away from him.
She didn't want a replay of last night, where they'd make love, passionate and heated love, and then he'd leave before she woke, and pretended like it was just another girl he'd slept with. She wouldn't be hurt that way. If it meant she had to avoid him at all times, then she would, because she wasn't being played like this, and she still didn't know if she wanted to get involved with a man like that.
"Ok." Punk nodded. He wasn't putting up a fight. He suppose it was wrong of him to kiss her again. There was no future for them. Unfortunately. He was too messed up, and it was far too complicated. He supposed it was best to just leave and never return. It was less painful for both of them. Plus, they didn't really know yet what it was they even felt towards one another.
Will they really part ways? Will Elise think about telling Dean he is Toni's father? What is Jack up to? All coming soon! Review and stay tuned.