Be Yourself
Punk approached the ambulance with Jason at his side after AJ told the officers to let them through.
"What happened?" Punk asked gently cupping her chin to examine her face. "Someone attacked you?"
"Daren." AJ said looking up at him. "He was really mad and told me to take my statement back and I refused. He followed me out and dragged me down here."
"Holy shit." Jason muttered.
"What did he do?" Punk asked her.
"I can't talk about it right now." AJ said uncomfortably. "Can you take me home?"
"Where is Daren?" Jason asked her.
"The police arrested him. Or they took him to the hospital first." AJ shrugged.
"You fought him off?" Jason asked proudly.
"No." AJ admitted looking away. "Maria and Mike saw me and she maced him, Mike chased him down so he couldn't get away."
"Maybe you should go down to the station first." Jason suggested as Punk kept his eyes on his completely broken girlfriend. "I mean-"
"No." Punk said to him. "She wants to go home so I'm taking her home." he said helping AJ out of the ambulance. "Is she good to go?" Punk asked the EMT's.
"Yea." the man said and AJ looked back and thanked him quietly.
"You should go down to the station and make sure this guy is being properly charged." Punk whispered to Jason.
"Are you sure? She needs me right now." Jason insisted.
"Come by in the morning, let me get her settled first." Punk suggested.
"Fine." Jason said to him. "I'm coming by tonight though."
"Alright." Punk said to him.
Punk took AJ to her apartment where Larry greeted them at the door.
"Hey." AJ said but it came out in a lisp since her lip was swollen and cut. She had a very hard time bending time to pet him so Punk eased her back up so she was standing straight.
"I'll put him in the bed with you so you don't have to bend." Punk said to her.
"I need a shower." She said to him and Punk just nodded. "Help me?"
Punk felt his heart drop. Out of all of the time he's spent with AJ which was a lot, she's never asked him to help her with anything. She was still shaking and scared but this was finally his time to step up for her and he wasn't going to let her down.
"Come on." He said helping her into her small bathroom. Punk eased her tiny work shirt over her body and noticed the red marks on her ribs that he knew would turn to bruises. She was so tiny, how can a man triple her size kick her?
"It doesn't hurt too bad." She said noticing he was looking at her.
Punk untied her converse next and removed her socks before pulling down her tight spandex work shorts. He was relieved to see she seemed fully together in this region. He wasn't sure what went down in that alley and he was too afraid to ask her right now but this eased his biggest fear.
"He didn't." AJ said as if she was reading her mind and Punk ignored her then helped her out of her bra and panties before turning on the water. "Hot." She insisted.
"Is this good?" he asked testing the water and she reached in and nodded but cringed when she extended her arm. "You need help?"
"Yea." She said almost ashamed.
She stepped into the shower and a second later he joined her. It wasn't sexual, he was just helping her wash off the blood and dirt. She literally stood still as he did all of the work for her. He washed over her cut up knees, her legs, her arms and gently ran a rag over her cut up face. He washed her hair for her and she let him.
After the shower he wrapped her up in a towel and carried her into the bedroom and placed her onto her bed. She waited as he grabbed a t-shirt and sleeping shorts and helped her into them then he left the bedroom as Larry ran in with her.
"What's that?" AJ asked noticing him holding something.
"Ice for your ribs." He said to her. "Lay back on the bed." he told her and she did just that and placed the ice pack under her shirt and she hissed slightly. "It stings now but you'll thank me later." he said to her.
"Is my face bad?" she asked curiously.
"No." He lied opening her window for fresh air.
"Are you going to stay?" She asked him.
"Yea." He said to her.
"Don't you want to know what happened?" she asked sitting up slightly as he sat next to her on the edge of the bed.
"No but yes." He said to her.
"He didn't get a chance to do anything." She told him and he nodded and felt relief. "He pulled his pants down and kept me on my knees and he tried to make me-"
"It's alright." Punk said cutting her off. "You don't have to tell me anymore."
"Phil-" She began.
"I really don't want to hear about it." He said to her and her face dropped. "You need to rest. We'll talk about it tomorrow or something."
"You said we have an honest policy." She reminded him.
"We do. And I appreciate you being honest now with me for a change but I can't listen to it right now. Right now I want to make you feel better." He said as nicely as possible.
"Alright." She said feeling bad he shut her down like that but tried not to show it.
"Did you get hit anywhere else?" He asked her.
"You want to know that?" She scoffed.
"Come on AJ." He groaned not wanting to get into a fight.
"Just my face and ribs." She mumbled under her breath.
"Alright." Punk said to her. "I'll get you more ice for your lip."
"I don't need more ice." She argued.
"Yea you do or your lip is going to blow up." He warned her walking out of the room and she petted Larry who was licking her arm.
"Here." He said passing her more ice.
"You don't have to stay." AJ said to him.
"You asked me to." Punk reminded her.
"Well you don't have to." She said simply. "I'm fine. I was just shaken up but it's worn off."
"I'm not leaving." he said to her.
"You don't want to be here Phil." She sighed. "And I feel like you're looking for a fight and I don't have it in me right now."
"You think I want to fight with you?" He asked with a laugh. "Are you fucking nuts?"
"You want to fight with someone and you don't want to listen to me." She pointed out.
"I do want to fight someone, I want to fight this person real bad." Punk told her honestly. "But it's not you honey trust me."
"He's in lockup." AJ reminded him and Punk shook his head. "You don't even know what really happened."
"I don't need you to tell me what I already fucking know." Punk snapped. "Your skimmed knees, your cut up face? You told me enough to know he dragged you down that alley and tried to shove his dick down your throat." he said to her. "It makes me fucking sick." He hissed. "And if you confirm that story for me I'm going to do something stupid to get thrown into lock up so I can get face to face with him."
"I'm sorry." She said to him and placed his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes at her.
"What the hell are you apologizing for?" He asked annoyed.
"You're upset because of me." She shrugged. "Seemed like the right thing to say."
"I'm not upset because of you." He said trying to shake off his anger and moved to sit right next to her. "I love you and you told me yesterday when something good happens to you it happens to me, well, when something bad happens to you it also happens to me. I'm just angry but it's not at you. You did nothing wrong AJ."
"You were right all along." AJ said shaking her head. "I feel like an idiot."
"You trusted him and that just goes to show how amazing you are." Punk said taking her hand into his own and lifting it to his lips where he pressed a kiss to it. "I hate myself for not being there for you."
"You're here now." she reminded him. "I just wish Maria and Mike weren't my saviors, I wish I could have fought back but I was shaking too much."
"I understand that." Punk said to her. "I would have been scared too."
"No you wouldn't have." She scoffed. "I've spent almost a year trying to prove to you I wasn't some spoiled princess and could take care of myself and I was so full of myself and look what happened."
"You did everything right." He assured her.
"He came there tonight to-" She stopped herself realizing he didn't want to know details. "It's not important."
"No, tell me." He encouraged now. "What did he say to you at the bar?"
"He told me to take back my complaint." She told him. "And I wouldn't and I smiled and I was smug and it pissed him off. I left right after and didn't even consider that he would have followed me out. He was so quick and when I fell I was done. He told me he'd kill me if I-" she stopped again.
"It's alright." He said to her.
"He tried to get me to take him in his mouth and said he'd kill me if I bit him." AJ said looking away and shaking her head as tears fell.
"It's alright." He said gripping her hand more. "You can cry." He laughed almost painfully. "You don't have to be brave all of the time."
"I started throwing up." She sobbed. "I have never been more embarrassed in my life."
"You have no reason to be embarrassed." Punk insisted moving closer to her and used the hand that wasn't clutching her to tilt her face up so she was looking at him. "Hey, look at me." He ordered gently. "He should be embarrassed."
"I should have listened to you and Jason from the start." AJ insisted as she sniffled. "I just didn't think he was such a bad man."
"You shouldn't be afraid to trust people." Punk said to her. "Not everyone is like him. I was just jealous."
"You don't get jealous." She pointed out as her crying slowed down and he smirked.
"Yea I do. I try not to show it because I don't want to scare you off. I want to be the man you want me to be but another men spending so much time with you makes me a little jealous." He admitted.
"You're the perfect man." She said without thought. "You're sweet, loving, strong, protective, hard working and smart. You don't need to change a thing for me."
"Same as you don't have to fight every battle to try to impress me." He pointed out.
"You're right." She whispered with a sad smile.
"Let's just agree to be ourselves from here on out?" he suggested.
"I'd like that." She said to him.
Someone knocked at the door and AJ's head shot up.
"It's Jason." Punk told her already knowing. He kissed her hand one more time before placing it back on the bed and walking to the door.
"Hey." Jason said walking in.
"Why did you knock?" Punk asked closing the door.
"I didn't feel right barging in." Jason said to him. "Is she ok?"
"She's shaken up." Punk told him truthfully. "But she'll be alright. What happened at the station?"
"He's spending the night in lock up and being presented in front of a judge in the morning who will decide about bail. There's no way out of this for him he's going to pay for what he did. It's not just AJ's testimony but Maria, Mike's a a few other people who tackled him to the ground."
"Good." Punk said to him. "Even though part of me wants him out so I could fucking kill him."
"His eyes are all burned from the mace." Jason smirked. "It's awesome but they wouldn't let me near him."
"I imagine they wouldn't." Punk said to him. "You want to see your sister?"
"I don't want to bother her right now." Jason said shaking his head.
"Yea she seems a little ashamed at the moment." Punk admitted looking back at the closed bedroom door.
"She shouldn't." Jason said to him. "I'm going to head over and check on Kate she's worried sick. I'll be by in the morning to see her."
"Ok." Punk said to him and walked him out.
Punk walked back into AJ's room and saw she was looking at her phone concerned.
"My mother knows." AJ said looking up at him. "How does she know?"
"Maybe the police contacted her or something." Punk shrugged. "Maybe she saw it on the news."
"The news?" AJ asked.
"There was a news crew there when I got there tonight." Punk said to her.
"I told her I'm fine but she keeps telling me to come home." AJ said to him. "I already told her I am home."
"You think this crappy apartment is a home?" he asked with a laugh.
"Yea I do." She said putting her phone down. "My first home." she added. "I know it hasn't been easy since I've moved here and I've been through more drama this last year then my entire life when I was in Jersey but I love it here. I love having you across the hall, I love this apartment because I feel closer to my dad, I love that I decorated it here and Larry is always waiting for me at the front door."
"I've been thinking about this apartment actually." Punk admitted.
"Yea?" She smirked.
"I was waiting for after you graduated to bring it up but I'm always here and-" he began.
"Yes!" She finished anxiously.
"I didn't even get to ask." He had to laugh.
"I want you to live here with me." She insisted. "It makes sense. We can split the rent and then we can save our money."
"Yea we can save up for a better place." He said to her and she smiled.
"Don't you like working above the shop?" She asked him.
"Sure." He shrugged. "But I'd also like to be in a safer building with you. You don't really want to grow old in this place do you?" he teased.
"I'd grow old anywhere that you were." She said to him and he gave her half a smile.
"We have to start considering our futures." He said to her. "I don't want to be here in this shit hole forever."
"You think about our future?" She asked smiling and he was thrilled to see her so happy.
"Of course I do. I mean, do you envision a future without me?" He asked and she shook her head no. "We're it for each other and we both know that. I want to start taking the proper steps with you to ensure we have a good life."
"You've given this some serious thought." She smirked.
"I have." He confirmed. "That's why I need you to be a little more careful." he smirked. "There's no future for me without you in it."
"I'll be careful." She promised.
"And I'll be more diligent." He promised as well.
"Do I have to see him again?" AJ asked Punk.
"Daren?" He asked and she nodded. "I don't know." he told her honestly. "If you do you won't be doing it alone."
"I'm not scared of him." AJ said bravely.
"I know that." He said with half a smile.
"I just don't see the need to have to see him again, you know?" she said and he agreed.
"Like I said if you do I'll be there." He assured her. "But I don't want to think about him anymore. Let's try to decide where I'm going to hang my Misfits poster."
"Your misfits poster?" she asked nervously. "In here?"
"Yea." He laughed.
"You're bringing everything from your old place?" She asked with a laugh.
"Yup." He said to her. "I think it would look great hung right over our bed." he said nodding towards the space.
"Or we can hang it on the inside closet door so you could see it every morning." She suggested seriously. "Are you bringing all of those dirty magazines with you too?" she asked and he laughed loudly.
"I don't have dirty magazines at my place." He said still laughing.
"Yes you do! They're in the closet in a box under a pile of your clothes in the far left corner." She said to him and he eyed her curiously. "I snoop you know this about me." she defended.
"Those have to be from when I was a kid." He laughed. "I didn't even know I still had them. Try to remember I've lived there since I was 17."
"You were with Maria though and you still felt the need to keep magazines like that?" She asked.
"Yea I did." He said with no shame.
"Do you watch porn?" she asked him.
"No I don't." He said trying not to laugh. "Why would I watch porn when I have you?"
"Just checking." She said with a smirk. "We don't need your furniture though." She told him.
"Most of it we don't." he agreed. "My chair I need." He said referring to his old ratty recliner. "It's my favorite chair."
"We should get you a new chair." She suggested. "One that matches my white couches."
"I just told you I don't want to spend unnecessary money." he pointed out. "I'm keeping my chair and it's going right in front of the TV."
"Fine." AJ caved. "Hey, you know what I was thinking? We should go back to the cabin for a few days."
"Yea?" Punk asked surprised she'd want to do that.
"Yea it really helped me clear my head when I needed it back then and I'm done with school and I'm sure work will give me a few days, what do you say?" she asked hopefully.
"I think I can swing that." Punk smiled. "I'll be real busy after Kate has the baby because Jason is taking a week off so we should go and do something before that. That doesn't help us with earning money to save up."
"Ugh we can't live like that." She groaned. "I love that you're so invested in us and planning our future and we'll save up and get out of this building eventually but I still want to have fun. I don't want to spend every waking minute here."
"Alright." Punk said to her. "We'll go, we'll fish and we'll have a lot of alone time."
"Just what I need." She said with a smile. She wanted to reach over and kiss him but her lip hurt too much. "Can we wait until my swelling goes down?"
"Yea." Punk said to her tucking her hair behind her ear. "You're still beautiful though."
"Thank you." She whispered. "Can you lay down with me?" she asked.
"Yea." He said as he crawled into the bed wit her. "Your ice still on?"
"Yea." She told him.
"If you want I'll take you to the hospital first thing in the morning to get them x-rayed." He offered.
"It's ok it was a few kicks." she said placing her hand over the ice that was under her shirt.
"I could kill him." Punk muttered under his breath touching over her ribs now as well, gently though.
"I think he's blinded." She smirked.
"Not good enough." Punk said shaking his head.
"So tell me more about our future." She said wanting to get off the topic of Daren. "How many children?"
"Seriously?" he asked with a laugh.
"Yea how many do you see us with?" She asked resting her head on his chest.
"We already have Larry." Punk pointed out. "But human people? Three, all boys."
"I feel like I'd go crazy in a house with you and three mini yous." She laughed.
"You'd be able to handle it." He said to her. "They could hang out at the shop with me after school just like Jason and I used to do with David and then we'd go to all of their little league games and be those obnoxious parents at the games."
"Us? Obnoxious?" She teased with a giggle.
"Yea and then when they were all tucked into bed you and I would take our nightly shower together and have some grown up time." he told her.
"That sounds nice." She grinned closing her eyes as she rested against his chest. "Tell me more."
"Tell you more? What else is there to tell?" he laughed.
"How does future me look?" She asked as she yawned.
"Oh, future you is hot." He said seriously and she smiled while her eyes remained closed. "Just as hot as you are now. You're going to be one of those rare women who get more and more beautiful the older they get."
"Do you have a cane?" She asked and he glared at her, even though she could see the glare she just knew that's what he was doing.
"No future me is fucking fit." He told her smugly. "The women throw themselves at me but I turn them all done."
"I'm flattered." AJ laughed.
"You should be." He said seriously and she laughed more.
"What a nice future we have to look forward to. We're going to still be young and hot with three awesome kids." AJ said as she felt herself drifting off into sleep.
"Larry too." Punk added and the dog lifted his head upon hearing his name.
"I knew you'd love him." AJ said before finally fall asleep.
"I love you." he whispered after she fell asleep and kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to take care of you for the rest of your life." he promised.