Fresh Start
"Since when did we become April's messengers?" Dean scoffed, pulling up outside Jason and AJ's house with Renee after picking her up from the hospital.
"We're not messengers. I'm just picking up some more clothes for her." Renee said, "You can stay in the car." She assured him.
"You sure? Does he know you're coming?" Dean asked.
"No but what's he gonna do? Not let me in?" Renee scoffed.
"He's probably not in a particularly happy place right now. His fiancé just ran out on him on their wedding day. I think I should come with you." He nodded.
"No, it's fine. I won't be long." Renee told him, "You would just stand there and… make everything more uncomfortable."
"Excuse me?" Dean laughed a little.
"What? You do that, you know." She nodded.
"Well maybe he should feel uncomfortable." Dean shrugged.
"Look, he hasn't done anything wrong. He's not the villain." Renee nodded, "I'll be in and out as quickly as I can." She told him, leaning over and kissing his cheek before getting out of the car.
She walked towards the door of the house, knocking on it and waiting for an answer where Jason came and opened up the door to her, holding a bottle of beer in his hand. Luckily, he wasn't quite drunk yet.
"Let me guess… April sent you?" Jason asked, amused a little to see Renee.
"She just needs some clothes and stuff. She thought you'd want some space." Renee nodded.
"Come in." Jason nodded to her as Renee stepped into the house.
"I'll be as quick as I can." Renee nodded to him.
"Well it'll be pretty easy for you. I've started boxing her stuff up." Jason told her, "Can you believe that? I spent our wedding night… packing all her shit into boxes so she can… get the hell out of my life." He nodded to himself as Renee looked at him.
"I know whatever I say won't help but… she didn't want to hurt you like this." Renee said.
"Well I didn't hear her speak up for six months. I thought she wanted to get married." Jason shook his head, "And now I'm the fool who took back his cheating fiancé, only for her to leave me for him anyway." He shook his head angrily, taking a drink of his beer as Renee looked over at him.
"I'm just gonna… go get some things." Renee said awkwardly, walking off upstairs as Jason wandered back into the living room.
Renee grabbed a couple boxes that Jason had already packed up, taking them downstairs as Jason came back out from the living room.
"Is she with him? Is she with him right now?" Jason asked curiously.
"Yeah." Renee nodded, "I can just come get all her things one day if… if you two don't wanna speak with each other yet." She said.
"Yeah maybe that's for the best." Jason nodded, "I thought she loved me." He shook his head.
"She did." Renee said, "I know she did."
"Not as much as this other guy, though. Right?" Jason nodded to her as Renee looked down awkwardly, "You know we were supposed to be going on our honeymoon right now." He shook his head.
"Time will heal all these wounds." Renee nodded, "Just focus on yourself for a while and put yourself first."
"Yeah well that's what she's doing." Jason shook his head coldly.
"I should go." Renee said, picking up the boxes as he opened the door for her, watching as she headed to the waiting car to dump the boxes in and drive off.
"So he's already packing my things?" AJ nodded, taking the boxes from Renee and walking through to Punk's bedroom where she dumped them on the bed.
"Yeah, it looked like everything was packed up. Probably easier. If you don't wanna go to the house then I can just stop by and get a couple boxes at a time." Renee told her.
"Thank you." AJ nodded to her sincerely, "I just… I don't think I'd have the energy to fight with him." She shook her head.
"Yeah he still seemed pretty mad." Renee nodded.
"I'll probably never hear from my mother again." AJ nodded to herself.
"Would that be such a bad thing?" Renee folded her arms as AJ laughed a little.
"Yeah, you're right." AJ nodded, "These past few months have literally just felt like a nightmare and… now I've woke up."
"I mean it took you a while but… I'm glad you're being honest with yourself about what you want… who you want. You don't wanna live a life in a big lie, being miserable with someone you don't love." Renee said as AJ nodded.
"Yeah, I know." AJ said.
"Where is Phil anyway?" Renee wondered, walking back into the kitchen with AJ.
"He got called out to work." AJ nodded, "I'm not too mad, though. I got the whole day with him." She shrugged with a smile.
"And you're ok living here with him? Cause I don't mind you living with me." Renee assured her.
"No, it's fine. He's fine with it. I think he wants me to stay here actually." AJ nodded, "I've got a week off from work but it was only because of the honeymoon so now I'm not going on that, I may as well just go back to work." She shrugged.
"Said no one ever." Renee scoffed.
"Did I see Shauna at the wedding?" AJ asked her, "It was such a blur but I feel like I saw her face."
"Yeah she was there." Renee nodded.
"God, I'm never gonna hear the end of it with her." AJ groaned, sitting down at the table as Renee chuckled.
"I think everyone who knows you and loves you, just wants you to be happy." Renee said.
"Yeah, I know." AJ smiled, "I'm happy with Phil."
"Maybe you should keep that wedding dress on standby." Renee shrugged.
"No, that thing is going straight in the trash." AJ laughed, "Or I'll send it to charity." She nodded.
"Doesn't it feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders?" Renee figured.
"Oh you have no idea." AJ nodded, "I didn't realise just how miserable I was. How much I was lying to myself. And for what? To make my mother happy? To settle with this idea that Jason was meant for me and that I was grateful to have a man who forgave my mistakes." AJ shook her head, "I just… I lost sight of everything." She said.
"Well… take this as a fresh start." Renee nodded, "You can finally be with the one you want and just be you. Don't live to please other people." She shook her head as AJ nodded.
"Yeah I need to remember that." AJ nodded, "It's weird, though cause I never feel like that when I'm with Phil. When I'm with him it's just… I'm happy and I'm doing things I love, and I'm confident with it." She said as Renee smiled.
"Well I know it's kinda chaotic right now but in a few years you'll look back on all of this and thank yourself for running out of your wedding, even if it was embarrassing." Renee said as AJ smiled.
"Believe me, I'm thanking myself right now." AJ nodded.
"Our kids could be cousins." Renee clapped excitedly.
"Renee." AJ rolled her eyes as Renee chuckled.
Punk got home later on that night past midnight, walking in through the apartment tiredly after a tough call out. Whenever they got an emergency call out on their day off, they knew it wasn't going to be great.
He made his way through to the kitchen, noticing AJ had packaged up some leftovers from dinner for him which he just began eating cold standing up. He was too tired to heat it up or sit down, this just made it go down quicker.
The best thing about all of this, though, was the feeling he got when he walked into the apartment, knowing she was here with him. It made his tough night feel a little easier. It made this place feel a lot more comforting.
He left the kitchen, turning the lights off and walking through to his bedroom, smiling as he saw AJ fast asleep in bed. It warmed his heart.
It had been a tough six months. At one point he really thought he was going to lose the woman he loved, and he wasn't quite sure he could love another like he loved her. It was tough, but it all felt right again.
He got out of his clothes and got into bed, trying not to disturb her but she woke up anyway to cuddle into him.
"Are you ok?" She asked, her eyes still closed as she curled into him.
"Yeah." He nodded, kissing her head, "Just a tough call out."
"You're so brave." She whispered, "I tried staying awake for you but… I'm so tired." She said sleepily.
"Yeah me too." He nodded. Sometimes the most satisfying feeling wasn't sexual at all. Sometimes it was getting into bed after a long night with the woman he loved, holding her in his arms and falling asleep together in peace.
"I'm so glad I'm here with you." She whispered.
"I'm glad you're here too." He said, "And I love you." He nodded, "So much." He whispered, looking down and noticing she was fast asleep in his arms.
He just knew this was the woman he was supposed to fall asleep with every night. It'd taken them a little while to get there, but he finally felt like the future was theirs.
