Handout

AJ ran to the store Friday night since her parents would be in tomorrow morning. She at least wanted to provide them with breakfast since they were taking them out to dinner. She passed Punk in the shop who was working with Mike and Jason then headed up the stairs. She approached her door but heard Maria down the hall.

"I said to stay out of my face." Maria spat and AJ peered over casually.

"C'mon mama." the man cooed blocking her way into the apartment.

"I'll have you know my boyfriend is right downstairs." Maria told him feeling unthreatened. "It didn't work when we were kids and it won't work now."

"Leave her alone." AJ said and the man turned to face her and smirked. AJ knew that face. He was part of the 'welcome wagon' her first night here, it was Shane.

"Well, well, well." Shane whistled. "I thought all of the Mendez's were out of this building." he said strolling over to her and forgetting Maria completely. "Miss me princess?"

"It's been oddly pleasant here without you." AJ noted sarcastically.

"Can't believe you're still slumming it here." Shane said leaning against her door. "I don't know if you heard that I was in lockup for a while."

"Almost two years." AJ noted.

"That's right princess." He smirked. "Two years without the touch of a woman is an awfully long time."

"Well this woman is off the market." Maria smiled walking over to them. "She also isn't a Mendez anymore."

"Don't tell me you two...because we can have a lot of fucking fun with that." Shane said to them.

"She's a Brooks." Maria informed him.

"Brooks?" Shane asked with a laugh then it hit him. "You married Punk."

"We're out of your league Shane." Maria reminded him.

"Oh please you've been fucking around with Mike? Give me a break." Shane snorted. "And Punk is no prize. I'll tell you ladies what I'll take you first." He said to AJ. "And you can watch and warm up." he said looking at Maria who rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure you kept some lucky man real warm in prison these last two years, Vinny is inside I'm sure he's missed you." Maria responded and Shane glared at her.

"Stay out of our way." AJ warned him unlocking her door.

"I like your way princess." Shane smirked leaning into her and AJ shoved him dropping her bag.

"AJ." Maria whispered.

"You have no right to get so close to me." AJ hissed at him.

"You fucking crazy bitch." Shane remarked eyeing her as if she was crazy. "Do you know who I fucking am?" he demanded pushing her against the wall.

"Hey!" Maria yelled trying to pull Shane away from her.

"Go ahead hit me." AJ challenged. "Try to touch me I dare you because you'll be back in prison so fast it will make your head spin but you'll luck it and be in the hospital first because you know what Punk will do to you if you touch me."

"You fucking crazy bitch." Shane remarked and stepped back. "Remember we're neighbors princess." he reminded her and then winked at Maria as he walked back into his apartment.

"Do you have a death wish?" Maria asked as AJ picked up her grocery bag.

"I won't let another man threaten me like that." AJ said walking inside and Maria followed.

"You can't just piss these people off." Maria argued. "Yea stick up for yourself but don't encourage this. He'll never stop."

"He'll stop." AJ said to her. "I've come a long way since I first got here and he used to terrify me so much that I wanted to move."

"He should." Maria said to her. "I get you're all about being strong and independent but Phil isn't going to think any more highly of you. You're already at the top AJ."

"It's not about Phil it's about me." AJ said to her.

"You're feeling ashamed about what happened." Maria noted. "You shouldn't but I probably would if I was you too. Doesn't mean you should pick fights with dangerous men. You're going to get not only yourself but Phil hurt or worse. And I will be damned if I let you drag him down so you can prove something to yourself." She then walked out of the apartment.

Later that night Punk wandered upstairs and AJ was already asleep but Larry clearly wanted to go for a walk. He put his leash on and stepped out the door but the minute he walked into the hall the door next door opened and Shane popped his head out.

"Looking for something?" Punk asked tilting his head to eye the man.

"Or someone." Shane said stepping further into the hallway.

"Hope that someone isn't my wife." Punk warned him calmly. "You just got out of lock up you want to end up back there or dead?"

"She put her hands on me earlier." Shane said to him and Punk eyed him. "It's true. Her and Maria are all up on me."

"Stay the fuck out of their way." Punk warned him.

"She got in my face and threatened to call the cops on me." Shane pointed out. "You married a girl who doesn't know the fucking rules? You don't rat on your friends."

"You're not a friend and if she did that she must have a had reason and I plan on asking her about it and for your sake it better not be bad." Punk shot at him.

"This is the way we live here. I hear things. You're all domesticated now, big shop owner, ugly fucking dog, a wife that is out of your league, I bet you even a have a pile of money in that shit hole apartment and you're saving to get out of here and I suggest you do because our worlds don't blend anymore." Shane told him. "You want to move on up that's fine man but I'm not going to let you and your stuck up wife shit on what I have going on here. You want me to stay out of her way, well tell her to stay out of mine." Shane said to him then walked back in his apartment.

Punk walked right back into the apartment without walking Larry yet and walked into the bedroom and shook AJ's shoulder to wake her up.

"Phil?" AJ asked slowly opening her eyes.

"What the fuck are you doing with Shane?" he demanded.

"Nothing." AJ said sitting up. "He was saying disgusting things to me and Maria."

"We've had this talk." Punk reminded her trying not to get angry. "You told me the other day you want to stay here and save for a house but now I'm thinking that's not an option if you're going to piss off the criminal neighbors. You're going to get yourself hurt and me thrown in a fucking prison."

"Nothing happened." AJ argued fully awake now.

"We're leaving this building." He told her sternly. "So start packing your shit up."

"We have plans!" AJ yelled jumping out of the bed following him out of the bedroom.

"Plans change AJ. We'll get something else across town where I don't have to be afraid of you pissing off the local criminals." Punk said to her.

"Don't be ridiculous. When I first moved here I was going to move because of Shane and you talked me out of it." AJ said to him. "What's changed?"

"What's changed? You're my wife and you're alone here half of the time. We have too much at stake AJ." Punk said to her.

"Or maybe you think I'm in capable of taking care of myself since the Daren thing." She suggested folding her arms.

"It's not about him but yea that story crossed my mind once or twice or thirty fucking times a day." Punk said to her. "I worry about you and I won't apologize for that."

"Why did you marry me if you don't think I can take care of myself?" She asked him. "We've discussed moving and we decided to wait and I want to stick with that." she told him.

"I don't." He said to her. "This isn't about you taking care of yourself this is about you living in a safe place, me as your husband providing that for you. He's going to sniff around here looking for cash too and I don't want anyone breaking in here."

"We don't have cash here." AJ scoffed.

"Of course we don't but they don't that." Punk said to her. "The building wasn't this bad two years ago. We're leaving."

"I'm not leaving." AJ responded and he glared at her. "Look at me like that all you want Phil but we're married now and we came to a decision and that's that."

"Start packing." Punk ordered slowly and she tried not to laugh. "I'm putting my foot down."

"Oh you should have said that to begin with." AJ teased.

"AJ-" He started.

"I want a home not another apartment." She told him. "You told me you'd give me everything I've ever wanted and this is what I want. I want a small little home where we can have a yard for Larry and room for children."

"Do you have any idea how long that is going to take?" Punk asked her in disbelief.

"You always say something good is worth the wait." She reminded him.

"AJ-" he began.

"Let's just wait." she said to him. "I promise to keep my mouth shout."

"You aren't the problem." Punk said to her. "He's the problem. You think it's bad now? Now that he's out he's going to be running his drugs out of his apartment again, his clients are going to be coming in and out and passing our door everyday. It's not just him it's everything he brings and yea, you pissing him off didn't help anything but it wouldn't have changed what's going down. I don't want you around it and I'm going to move us so just accept it." he then grabbed Larry's leash again and walked out of the apartment with him.

The next morning AJ's parents were by early but Punk and AJ were still barely talking.

"Are there at least pictures?" Pricella asked sipping a cup of coffee.

"There are but we didn't get them yet." AJ said drinking her own coffee.

"Are you two already fighting?" Pricella asked.

"Pricella." Hugh whispered.

"We're having a difference of opinion as to when we should move." Punk told them honestly and AJ glared at him. "You can talk to Jack but I can't talk to your parents?"

"I thought moving was your first priority?" Hugh questioned Punk.

"It was and still mine." Punk said from behind the counter and looked over to AJ.

"Oh you have to be kidding me AJ." Pricella said shaking her head.

"We want to save and get a house or at least that was the plan." AJ said to her.

"The building is getting worse and it's not safe for either of us to be in here anymore." Punk told them.

"Well, maybe we can help with that." Hugh offered.

"No thank you." AJ said to him quickly.

"We had this regardless." Pricella said reaching into her purse and passing her a check. "It was the money we put aside for the wedding."

"So now you can keep it." AJ said trying to hand it back but Pricella refused.

"We've put money away for your wedding every year since you were a little girl." Pricella told her. "It was yours regardless." AJ looked at the check and she shook her head.

"This is too much." AJ said to them.

"It's from your wedding fund." Hugh said simply. "You didn't have the big wedding so you get the cash. It's not enough to outright buy a home but it's enough to put a portion down and pay a mortgage."

"Obviously if you two want help with finding a home we'd be more than happy." Pricella said to them.

"No and no to the check." AJ said placing it on the table and sliding it across to her.

"Thank you." Punk said picking up the check surprising AJ.

"Phil." AJ whispered in shock.

"If this check gets us out of this building then so be it." Punk said to her. "We accept it and appreciate it."

"Maybe this is something we should discuss first." AJ said glaring at him.

"You turned it down without discussing it with me." Punk pointed out. AJ stood up and grabbed her jacket and walked out of the apartment.

"She's just stubborn." Pricella said brushing it off.

"This is the right thing." Hugh said to Punk. "She doesn't see that now but it is. She's not going to like every decision but it was the right one."

"I plan on paying you back." Punk told Hugh.

"We told you this money was meant for the wedding." Pricella reminded him.

"I know that but I don't want a handout which is also what this is. I plan on paying you back every cent." Punk told them and before Pricella could argue Hugh nodded.

"I understand." Hugh said to him.

"It'll take a little time-" Punk began.

"Take as much time as you need." Hugh said to him. "You're a proud man and I respect that."

When AJ walked out of the apartment she put on her jacket right outside the door and when she did Shane's door opened next door but instead of him was a kid, he couldn't have been older than fifteen walking out of the apartment.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" the boy spat as he passed AJ and walked to the staircase doors.

"That's an excellent question." Shane said to her. "You scooping out my customers?"

"He's just a kid." AJ said in shock.

"Mind your own fucking business princess." Shane warned her. "I spoke to Punk last night and I made it clear that you need to stay out of my way. This is the way it is here whether you like it or not and Punk can live in denial and think it wasn't like this while I was away but it was. I just bring more people."

"It's not right." AJ said shaking her head.

"No one messes with your daddy's shop." Shane scoffed. "But once you climb the stairs you're in my shop."

"It's not about my dad's shop. It's about you doing whatever you want." AJ said to him.

"I'm not the only one." Shane said to her. "You didn't grow up on the streets like we did. So fuck off and stop sticking your nose into my business or I won't care who the fuck you're married to or who your brother is- I will hurt you princess." AJ opened her mouth to respond but then remembered what she promised Punk.

Punk opened the door and stepped outside and was surprised to see Shane talking to his wife. He could feel his chest tightening and looked over to Shane who held his hands up defensively.

"We just bumped into each other." Shane said to him. "We were just-"

Punk grabbed Shane by the collar of his shirt and dragged him down the hall.

"Phil!" AJ yelled.

"I told you to stay the fuck away from her." Punk hissed kicking open the stairwell door.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Shane yelled as Punk pulled him to his feet then shoved him down the stairs as AJ's eyes widened in shock.

It was only six stairs so the fall couldn't have hurt him much but Punk ran down the stairs and grabbed him again prepared to toss him down the next flight.

"My fucking ankle." Shane hissed.

"I don't give a shit what hurts I fucking told you to leave her alone. She's in the hallway you look the other fucking way." Punk hissed.

"Phil stop!" AJ screamed fearfully and Punk froze.

"Yea chill man." Shane hissed and Punk released his grip.

"You two are fucking pains in my ass." Shane said limping up the stairs. "This isn't fucking over." he warned them.

"Phil." AJ said shaking grabbing his arm. "Let's move." She whispered holding back tears and she could tell he was even surprised by his actions. "We'll take my parents money and ask them for more if we need to let's just get out of here."

"I'm sorry." He said as she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

"You were just protecting me." She whispered. "It's ok."

"I never wanted you to see that side of me." he said to her in shock of his own violent actions.

"I get it now. We'll move we have the money let's just go." AJ said to him. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

"Sorry to interrupt." Hugh said coming down the stairs with Pricella following. "We're going back to the hotel for a few hours and we'll see you both at dinner."

"We're going to take the money." AJ told him and he gave her a weak smile.

"I'm glad. I have a friend from med-school who lives out here, his son is a real estate agent and I'm going to give him a call." Hugh told him and Punk nodded. "You both will be out of here in no time."

"Get some rest you both look exhausted." was all Pricella said but kissed AJ's cheek then Punk's on her way out.

"Let's go back upstairs." AJ said grabbing Punk's hand and leading the way for him.

"I told Hugh we're going to pay him back." Punk told AJ as they stepped back into the apartment.

"Ok." AJ said to him. "If that's what you want."

"Yea it's what I want." Punk said to her.

"It's a wedding present." AJ reminded him picking up the check and looking at it. "Can you keep it in the safe downstairs?" she asked.

"Yea then I'll take it to the bank Monday." He told her taking the check and looking at it. "It's a big fucking check."

"We can get something nice with this and the money we have." She said to him. "Houses cost like 200 grand and-"

"We don't pay for the house outright." Punk smirked looking at her and she blushed with embarrassment. "I mean we could, but we'll be paying a mortgage. The more expensive the house the higher the mortgage." He educated her and she nodded.

"I'm new to all of this." She shrugged.

"We'll find a perfectly good place." He promised her. "Enough room to start a family."

"And a yard for Larry?" she asked and he nodded.

"Can't forget Larry." Punk smirked then looked down at his folded hands. "Look about what I did-"

"You were protecting me." She said to him dismissing it.

"I'm not a violent guy. When I was a kid I was and I haven't hurt anyone like that in a long time." HE said to her. "I just don't want you to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid of you." AJ said confused. "Why would you even think that?"

"You were shaking." he said to her. "And you were crying. You don't cry."

"I was like that because I was afraid for you. I thought you'd end up in jail." she said to him.

"I would go to jail if it meant keeping you safe." He said to her.

"Well, we can't have that because we just got married and you haven't even given me one child yet." She said to him and he smirked. "But what if you just pissed him off more?"

"Fuck him." Punk scoffed. "I told him to leave you alone."

"You really would end up in jail for me wouldn't you?" she asked.

"Yea I would so let's get the fuck out of here." he said to her and she smiled.

"Well, since we're already moving and we have the money and all and you're going to be making a lot of money at the shop can we discuss children?" She asked him.

"We can't steal Jason and Kate's thunder." Punk pointed out. "And moving isn't going to happen over night."

"After Jason and Kate have their baby can we start trying?" She asked bluntly.

"What about school?" He asked.

"I'll be done." She shrugged. "I just need one more semester after this. Jason and Kate are due in six months then I'd still have nine more to go, we have plenty of time."

"After Jason and Kate have their baby we'll try." He promised.

"Swear?" she asked him.

"Have I ever gone back on my word?" He asked her and she shook her head. "After they have their baby we'll try for our own, ok?"

"Ok." She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I love you and I can't wait to start the rest of our lives together."