"He was always there, you know." Punk wiped under his eyes quickly whilst sat at the kitchen table across from AJ, "If he wasn't there, when my dad went off on benders, no one would have been there." Punk said, "He was more of a father to me than my dad ever was." He admitted. He was truly devastated by this. Heartbroken in fact. He loved his uncle very much, and soon, his father was going to pass away, and what did that leave him with? Just his baby sister? No… no, he had April and Liesel now. They would heal any pain.
"Do you know who it was that… killed him?" AJ asked curiously.
"No. Not yet." Punk shook his head, "But I'm gonna find them, and I'm gonna kill him-"
"That doesn't really make you the bigger man, does it?" She shook her head at his need to clash violence with violence.
"I don't give a fuck." Punk said bluntly, "If that was me, my uncle and dad would be tearing down buildings and bridges to find out who it was." He said.
"I think what you need is some rest." She suggested, "You were up all night, and you only got an hours sleep." She reached over and stoked the back of his hand lightly, "Should I call Elise?"
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Yeah, I'm gonna go lie down." He nodded to her, standing up as she smiled sympathetically. She couldn't help but feel achingly sorry for him. He'd lost a close family member. And she did always have good things to say about Dennis, more than she could about Jack. He seemed to know Punk better. And he loved Liesel when he came to visit her in hospital. At least Punk could have the memory of that.
She grabbed her phone as Punk went out of sight and called Elise round, just telling her it was an emergency.
Elise shortly came to the house not that long after, with Toni of course. She looked completely exhausted to for some reason, and she was pale white, as if the colour was draining out her with each waiting day.
"Aunt AJ." Toni exclaimed with excitement as Elise helped her out her coat at the doorway. Toni had gotten into the habit of calling AJ her auntie, which made sense. She always called Punk her uncle, and obviously her first little cousin was Liesel. It made sense to call AJ her aunt. Maybe one day, it would be official.
"Hi, baby." AJ smiled, "I put out some bisuits and juice in the living room. Why don't you go on in?" She asked Toni.
"Can I see the baby later?" Toni asked, "Please." She remembered her manners.
"Yeah, of course you can. She's having a little nap just now, but she'll wake soon for her bottle, and you can have a hold, ok?" AJ smiled, flicking the little girls chin as she nodded and ran away into the living room.
AJ now turned her attention to Elise, "You look dreadful. Have you been ill?" AJ asked, trying to find a polite way to say that, but there really wasn't a polite way to tell someone they looked terrible.
"No." Elise sighed, "Put on the kettle. We have a lot to talk about." Elise sighed, trailing down the hallway and into the kitchen as AJ followed, sticking the kettle on and eventually making two coffee's for them, sitting down as Elise began, "So, I told Dean." She said as AJ raised her eyebrows.
"When?" AJ shook her head.
"At the hospital." Elise said, "Told him everything. But he walked out. Hasn't came in contact since. I can guarantee you he's off somewhere getting high, trying his damn hardest to forget about us." Elise sighed as AJ frowned.
"Maybe he just needs some time." She suggested, "That's sort of big news for a guy like him. I doubt he's gonna jump right into daddy role and start tucking her in at night. You just gotta have some patience." AJ said.
"He won't come back. He'll move out the country or something. I could see it in his eyes. He wants nothing to do with us." She said.
"Elise, you're just being paranoid." AJ shook her head, "Dean will come round in his own time. He's a man. He won't want to talk about his feelings and his emotions like you want him to. He'll come to you when he's ready to talk and work something out. I believe he will." AJ nodded, "Despite his flaws, he's a good guy. You just gotta be clear about what you want from him."
"I don't know what I want from him." Elise sighed.
"I mean, obviously I want him to be around for Toni. That's the main idea. But… I still love him. I still want to be with him." Elise nodded, "I don't know what to do."
"Just give him some time." AJ smiled sweetly, "Everything will work out the way it's meant to."
"I guess it will." Elise sighed, sipping on her warm coffee, "What was it you wanted me here for?" She asked, reminding herself that she didn't just come round for a coffee and a chat.
"Oh, right." AJ nodded, "Well… Phil got some bad news earlier today from your father-"
"Is it my dad? Is he… has he?"
"No." AJ shook her head, as much as she would have longed to say yes, "No, it's not your father. It's your uncle." She said.
"My uncle Dennis?" Elise asked.
"Yeah." AJ nodded, "He was found dead this morning." AJ said, "I'm really sorry, Elise." She frowned as she watched her friends lip begin to quiver.
"Really?" She gasped, pressing her hand over her mouth as AJ nodded, "How… did someone hurt him?"
"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Phil isn't taking it very well. He's gone for a lie down." AJ said, "I know you were both close to your uncle. I'm so sorry." AJ sighed, not sure what else she could possibly say.
"Oh, I can't believe this." Elise sighed, tears streaming down her cheeks, "He always took care of us. When dad couldn't be bothered to. He… He always tried to get Phil into school. Always told us about our mom." She smiled remembering back, "He was such a good man, despite what he may have came across as."
"He was nothing but nice to me." AJ smiled, "I'm sure they'll find who ever killed him." AJ nodded.
"They better." Elise snuffled, placing her hands over her face and sobbing quietly as AJ shuffled around, wrapping her arm around her comfortingly as she rested her head into her. It was upsetting to see Punk and Elise so hurt by this. It was a devastating loss for both of them.
Later on, Elise eventually left to go home with Toni after her getting past her dinner time. AJ offered to let Toni stay here, and have dinner, to maybe give Elise some time to herself, but she could see Elise needed her daughter around to keep her from falling apart.
She had gone upstairs to check on Punk and Liesel, having left them for about two hours now, creeping in the door and smiling as she seen Punk out cold on their bed, lying atop of the covers whilst Liesel lay in her crib quite content with the presence of her father beside her.
She knew they'd get through this. She believed they would. She knew Punk was strong, and he'd bounce back to his normal self in a few days. He just needed some time to grieve.
AJ was about to leave the room, not wanting to disturb Liesel or Punk, but she seen Punk open his eyes, looking up at her as she then inched her way into the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed where he lay.
"Hey." AJ spoke softly, running her fingers through his messy hair, "You ok?" She asked him.
"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Did you tell Elise?" Punk asked, noticing the clock, not realising he had actually fell asleep for that long.
"Yeah." AJ nodded, "She took it rough. But I think she'll be ok." AJ said, both of them speaking in low voices for the sake of Liesel.
"I don't even feel like getting up." Punk admitted, he was so done, he wished to just lie in bed all day, without moving.
"You don't have to." AJ told him, cupping his cheek, "You're allowed to feel this way." She nodded, "You hungry? You feel like something to eat?" She asked him as he shook his head.
"No. I'm not hungry." He said, "Can you just… lie with me." He asked. It was all he wished for. To hold her and feel her, to make all his sadness and anger disappear.
"Of course I can." AJ smiled, "Budge over." She said as he shuffled over, giving her room to lie up beside him, curling into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her tightly, shutting his eyes over contently, "Better?" She whispered.
"Much." Punk nodded, "Promise me that you'll never leave me." He said as she looked up at him. He was a man with a lot of loss in his life. First his mother, who was the most genuine person he had in his life as a child, now his uncle, the man who was more of a father to him than his own dad. And he knew that when the time came, his dad would pass away, within the next year or so. He couldn't bare it if he lost AJ too.
"I'm always here." AJ said, "I'm not going to leave you." She promised, "Me or Liesel." She nodded, pressing a soft kiss on his lips and pulling back as she rested back into his chest. She would never leave him. Her and Liesel belonged to him for life. Their journey had just begun. There was so much hope for them in the future, she believed anyway. A bigger house, hopefully a wedding, maybe a little brother or sister for Liesel as the years went by. They still had their life ahead of them. She wasn't going anywhere.
Later that night, Elise had just put Toni to bed, and was sulking in the dimly lit living room with a blanket around her shoulders, watching TV but paying very little attention to it. She was upset. So much wrong was going on in her life. She couldn't believe her uncle was really gone. And she couldn't help but think, that soon enough, her father was going to pass away too, which meant she really only had her older brother to depend on. And what if something happened to him? She'd have nothing. Dean had clearly made up his mind. She'd given up hoping he'd show. She was done with believing in happy endings. She knew she wouldn't get one.
She sat laid up on the couch, sitting up when she suddenly heard the doorbell go. It was a little late for the postman or milkman, she had no idea who it could have been, but she had to find out.
She unwrapped the blanket from her shoulders and walked out into the hallway, opening up the door and looking on into the rain lashing night, surprised and overwhelmed to see Dean standing, completely soaking, his eyes screwed up from the lashes of rain connecting to his face.
"Dean- Get in here." She pulled him in out the rain as he walked in, watching her close the door, "What are you doing here?"
"I heard about your uncle." Dean nodded, "I'm sorry."
"That's all you came to say?" Elise shook her head as he unzipped his coat, which was the promise of something good happening, like a civilised chat, "Give me it. I'll put it on the radiator." She said as he passed the soaking Jack to her, walking away into the living room as he sat the coat on the radiator behind the door.
"Where is… where is Toni?" He asked hesitantly. His daughter, Toni. It still hadn't sunk into his brain. Even when he'd spent the past few days doing his math sums to add up such correct dates.
"It's 9pm. She's in her bed." Elise said, folding her arms as Dean nodded casually, taking a seat on the couch as she slowly sat down beside him.
"I… I don't know anything about kids." He turned to her as she stared him in the eye, "I don't. I honestly don't. The first baby I've ever held, was Liesel, just a few days ago. I've never been around kids. I don't know how they react or what they like. I don't know how to be that good parent. I'm not Punk, ok? It won't just come to me naturally." Dean said, "I mean, what do I have in common with a four year old little girl?"
"You'd be surprised." Elise smiled. Was he really here? Saying all this? Proving himself to her in some unnecessary way.
"Honestly, I'm gonna fuck up so many times, you're gonna wish you'd never told me. But… she only has one dad, and it's me, and I should be there for her. I mean, she's my daughter. I want to bring her up right. Send her to school, give her a good and happy life." He said.
"You don't have to say all this, Dean. Just telling me you'll be there for her is enough." She admitted.
"I know." Dean said, "But I just want you to know." He shrugged, "I mean, maybe I could come round once a day, for an hour or two, to start off with. She's gonna need to get used to me as much as I'm gonna need to get used to her." He said.
"You really want this?" Elise said.
"I've thought about it." Dean nodded, "And yeah. I want to be a part of my daughter's life. She needs a father." He said, "That is, if you'll let me be her father." He said hesitantly.
"Of course I will." Elise nodded, "We can just take it slow to start off with. She's pretty comfortable with strangers, which I know is a bad thing. But she isn't a hard kid to deal with." Elise admitted, "I hope you fall in love with her just as much as I have." She smiled.
"I already have." Dean nodded, "Whenever I think about her, I just… I don't know. I think I'm going crazy." He admitted, scratching his wet hair as Elise laughed.
"You're allowed to go soft." She nodded with a smile as Dean watched her, having missed that smile. He never wanted Elise to leave all those years ago, he begged her to stay, but it made sense now why she was so adamant about going. He loved her. He watched her when he was nineteen, as a fifteen year old girl, fighting with her brother and back chatting her father. He'd loved her ever since, and now it seemed like they were old, and he felt ready to take that love and really do something with it.
"I am sorry about your uncle." Dean said as Elise nodded.
"Thanks." Elise said, "I think me and Phil have taken it both pretty hard." She said, "I'm really gonna miss him." She sighed, tears welling up in her eyes as they streamed out, trying her hardest not to get upset, but this time, feeling an arm wrap around her.
She hadn't felt this sort of comfort since they were together. She forgot how good it felt to feel protected by him. She just forgot how good it was to be with him. She was so glad he was here.
"It's ok." He whispered soothingly, watching as she looked up at him, pausing as she stared into his blue eyes. There was nothing that could stop her. She'd waited a long time for this, because she didn't believe this was what he wanted, but it turned out, this was actually what he needed. Maybe this would turn his life around. She could only hope.
She reached for his lips, cupping his wet, stubbly cheeks and sinking into his frame, having missed those lips so much.