Talk It Out

"Is everything ok with you and Lyla?" Punk asked, walking home after the girls had finished cleaning up his shop, which was a lot more awkward than he thought it would be.

"Yeah." AJ said bluntly, probably the first word she'd said to him since she arrived at his shop.

"Didn't seem like it was ok." Punk said, "You guys have a fight or something?" He asked. He didn't want to say that Shiv had told him, he wanted her to talk to him about it through her own choice, but he knew it was probably going to be like getting blood from a stone.

"I don't want to talk about it, Phil. Ok?" AJ turned to him with a serious look on her face.

"No. Not ok." He said as she sighed loudly, "She's your best friend. What's going on?" He asked.

"Nothing." AJ said bluntly, rummaging in her bag for her keys whilst they got to the apartment building, "I'm tired. I just want to go to bed." She told him.

He didn't say any more. He simply followed her up the stairs to the apartment door and walked on in after she unlocked it.

"You should probably get me a key cut for this place now." He smiled a little, trying to soften her up a little. He could see she was clearly upset, but he didn't want to go to bed tonight without letting her get whatever happened off her chest.

"Yeah, I'll get round to it." AJ nodded.

"I can make some dinner if you want to shower first." He told her as she dumped her bag on the sofa and tossed her keys down.

"I'm not really hungry. I'm just going to shower and go to bed." She nodded.

"You gotta eat something." Punk scoffed, "Even if it's a piece of toast."

"I'm not hungry." AJ said, walking off into the bedroom and closing the door behind her as Punk huffed with frustration.

An indicator that he knew he was madly in love with this woman, was the fact he wanted all of her problems to be his problems too. He wanted to help her through with whatever hard situations she faced. He didn't want her to shut him out and leave him in the dark.

He let her shower whilst he made himself a quick sandwich. He also made AJ a PB&J sandwich, despite her insistence on not being hungry. He tidied up the kitchen and brought the sandwich through to the bedroom where she was sitting on the edge of the bed in her bath robe with wet hair, applying some face cream.

"I made you a classic." Punk said, "I'd sleep better tonight knowing you ate something."

"What is it?" AJ asked curiously.

"PB&J." Punk smiled, extending the plate over to her as she smiled softly.

"Thanks." AJ smiled, taking the plate, "I used to make these for my lunch at school." She said, remembering fondly, "I wasn't really a cold cuts girl."

"You opting for the sweet option? That doesn't surprise me." He said as she nodded, taking a bite of the sandwich and nodding with satisfaction.

"You got a good peanut butter to jelly ratio going on here." AJ nodded as he smiled.

"Glad you like it." Punk smiled, "I'm going to take a quick shower." He told her as she nodded.

She sat back on the bed, leaning against the headboard and tucking into the sandwich which she never knew she needed until now, listening to Punk in the shower whilst going over the events of the day in her head.

Punk eventually emerged from the bathroom with just a towel around his waist, making his way into the bedroom as AJ watched without meaning to. She watched him put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, drying his wet hair briefly with the towel before throwing it down on the floor.

"That towel doesn't live there." AJ reminded him, "You realise that attracts spiders, right? Wet towels on the floor."

"God forbid we had a spider in here." Punk nodded, picking the towel back up.

"Yes, God forbid." AJ said seriously, "You know how I feel about them."

"Poor, innocent little creatures." Punk shook his head with disappointment, taking the towel back into the bathroom and throwing it in the wash basket.

"They're creatures sent straight from the devil. I know it." AJ shook her head as Punk just chuckled, more so because he knew she was being deadly serious. He'd had to kill a fair share of spiders for her in the apartment over the past months.

"How's that sandwich going down?" He smiled, lying on top of the bed on his stomach, looking up at her sitting beside him.

"Going down a treat." AJ nodded.

"Ok. You're showered. You're fed. You've moisturised. You've got to see me half naked." Punk said, "Now you can tell me what's going on with you and Lyla." He nodded as AJ rolled her eyes, sitting her empty plate over on her bedside table.

"I don't feel like talking about it." AJ sighed.

"I guarantee you'll feel better if you talk about it." Punk nodded, "I mean… you invited me to live here. This is what you have to put up with now." He shrugged as she smiled a little. It was impossible not to. The truth was, she wasn't yet used to going home with someone and sharing her life with him. Even though it all felt great, it was still surreal sometimes.

"It's just a stupid fight." AJ deflected.

"Doesn't seem that way. You seem really down." Punk said, "What did you guys fight about?" He asked.

"Well, I took your advice and I figured I'd tell Lyla I was planning to get her a flight ticket to New Jersey, to go and spend however long she wanted there." AJ said.

"And?" Punk waited.

"And… it turns out this guy she's in love with, this guy she sees twice a year, is actually married with a child." AJ folded her arms as Punk raised his eyebrows.

"Oh." Punk said with surprise, "Really?" He shook his head.

"Really." AJ nodded, "He got married a few years ago. Lyla insists he's not happy in the marriage but… there's no excuse for it. She told me she was disgusted with herself, but she can't help how she feels about him." She said.

"So that's why he's never came out here to visit her?" Punk realised as AJ nodded.

"So, I told her that the whole situation didn't seem worth it. That she deserves someone who will give her their full attention, and that if he won't end his marriage then her relationship with him is just a lost cause." AJ said as Punk nodded along, "Then she just started biting back at me. And then she said it was my fault that she and him couldn't be together in the first place, because she had to come here with me because I was such a mess at the time, and I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own." AJ nodded, "And I think she was implying that because I'm dating you now that I've got everything I ever wanted whilst she has nothing." AJ shook her head, still enraged by it all.

"Seems like things escalated pretty badly." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"I was just starting to believe that it wasn't my fault she broke up with him. I was starting to tell myself that she made her own choice and she wanted to come on this journey with me but now… now I feel like she really does resent me. Like I've just been this charity case to her the whole time. Because I was raped, she felt like she couldn't leave me."

"I think it sounds like you both said stuff that you didn't mean." Punk said.

"But she's right." AJ said, "I could never have come here without Lyla. I really was a mess. I was riddled with anxiety. I was paranoid. I barely slept. I was depressed and then I was manic on all the ideas we had for the coffee shop. I needed her. If she didn't come with me then I wouldn't have come here." AJ nodded.

"She never told you she was serious about Lewis. And you never asked her to break up with him. She did that on her own accord. You can't be responsible for her decisions, April." Punk said, "She's only saying this to you because she's probably feeling embarrassed that she's sleeping with a married guy now. She's hurt and she's taking it out on you."

"But she's not wrong." AJ shook her head.

"She's wrong for making you feel responsible for her own decisions. I mean… does she think you wanted to be anxious and depressed? Does she think you wanted to be raped and mentally scarred? You didn't ask for any of that. She did what best friends do. They stick by each other." Punk said as she listened to him closely, "She's only throwing it in your face now because… maybe you don't need her any more like you used to."

"I will always need her in my life." AJ shook her head, "But all of this… it feels like there's a part of her that I've never knew. All this time."

"I'm sure you guys said stuff in the heat of the moment. She's probably humiliated that you now know her dream guy is married. She should have been honest with you from the start." Punk nodded, "But she chose to come out here with you. And she told you herself she doesn't regret it. That she's had the best years of her life here. And that's clear to see. It's the first thing I noticed about you two. How much you love this place and how much great memories you've made here." Punk said, "I think she's just feeling a little mixed up."

"I just think it's curious that it's all been brought up since we've started dating." AJ said, "She seemed so happy for me that I was finally letting someone in. Letting a man into my life. But now I think it's just reminding her of what she gave up for me." She shook her head.

"April, I think she is happy for you. I can tell." Punk nodded, "I get the vibe from her that if I was ever to cross you or upset you, she'd have my ass hanging from the nearest tree." Punk said as AJ smiled a little, "I don't doubt that she loves seeing you happy in a relationship after what you went through. I just think it's made her think more about Lewis, and maybe she's realising herself that it's a means to an end, and she's taking it out on the one person she loves the most." He nodded.

"That's not ok, though." AJ stated.

"I know it's not." Punk agreed, "I just think you guys should let yourselves cool off, and then talk things out. It might be the best thing she's ever done… telling you he's married. Maybe it'll help her realise that it's not worth it anymore. Maybe she'll be able to move on eventually if she has you to confide in."

"It's just making me feel like our relationship has been so one-sided. Like she's been the one harbouring all my problems and secrets. Whilst I barely know her deepest ones." AJ shook her head.

"I never told you this because I didn't think I needed to. It was a conversation between me and Lyla." He told her, "When she was over at my shop learning how to do the sandwiches, we obviously got to talking about you."

"Obviously." AJ rolled her eyes.

"Mostly about how much we love you." Punk emphasised as she made a face at him, "She ended up crying. Telling me about how she found you that night you were attacked. How she thought you were actually dead. Her best friend." He said as AJ looked at him, "I don't blame her for wanting to protect you fiercely from that moment on. I think that makes her an exceptional friend. One most people would kill to have."

"She was crying?" AJ frowned a little.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I think she's just feeling conflicted and upset about her situation with this guy. She clearly does have feelings for him, and she must know in her heart that it's not going to go anywhere. Not anywhere seriously."

"Yeah, and that sucks but it feels like she's blaming me for it." AJ shook her head, "I can't help how I feel, Phil."

"I know. And you're perfectly right to feel like that." Punk nodded, "But I think you'll both get through it. Because I've never seen closer friends than you two. Sometimes we can say stupid shit to the people we love."

"Don't you start saying stupid shit to me." AJ scoffed as Punk smiled.

"I would never." He said with a dramatic gasp, "I've never said a stupid thing in my life."

"Mhm." AJ smiled at him.

"You guys will be alright. Just… give each other a little space and then talk it out." He nodded.

"I'm still mad." AJ made clear.

"And you should be." Punk nodded, "But it'll pass."

"You and your infinite words of wisdom." AJ said.

"You love it." Punk said, pulling her down the bed by her legs as she giggled, lying directly beside him now as he tucked her wet hair behind her ear.

"Thank you for making me talk about it." AJ nodded.

"You know me. I love talking." Punk smiled.

"Yeah, you got a very talented mouth there." She smirked, flicking her finger against his bottom lip as he smiled, leaning down and kissing her softly as he started untying her bath robe.