Different Direction

"You didn't see his face?" Punk asked, sitting with AJ in his coffee shop whilst Finn stood over by the window.

"No. It's dark. And his hood was up. I think it was definitely a guy." AJ nodded.

Punk had returned from walking Nico home to find AJ and Finn in a frenzy over someone lurking outside the coffee shop. Someone who had disappeared just as quick as he had appeared.

"By the time AJ went into the back to get me, he was gone." Finn said, "I went outside and looked up and down the street but… I couldn't see anything." He said.

"Maybe it was just someone passing by. Stopping to look at their phone or something?" Punk asked, trying to rationalise the situation, desperately wanting to take the fear he saw in his girlfriend away.

"No, he was looking right over here. Standing facing the shop." AJ shook her head, "What if it's that guy? Craig?" She questioned worriedly.

"What's the strategy, though?" Finn asked, "Why just stand across the road and stare?"

"To scare us." AJ said, "Which… mission accomplished." She shook her head stressfully, running her hand through her hair as Punk watched her.

"I'll call the sheriff. Let him know." Punk nodded to her, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Neither would Finn. I don't know who this guy is or what he wants, but he's not going to get it. And he's not going to get to you. Ok?" He said, taking her hand across the table and squeezing it tightly.

"He's right. He wouldn't get anywhere near you." Finn nodded to AJ with a warm smile, holding up the baseball bat which he was still gripping tight.

"Why do you guys even keep that here?" AJ scoffed.

"Phil stored it in the back after the situation with Luke." Finn shrugged as AJ turned to Punk.

"It was Daryl's idea." Punk said, "Thought it might be good in case we ever get robbed."

"Or some lunatic we don't know tries to attack us." AJ corrected, "If it was him. Craig. What the hell is the endgame, exactly? None of us have any idea who he even is and yet… he's putting so much effort into terrorising us. Attacking Shiv, vandalising your shop, stalking and lurking in the shadows." AJ said as Punk just shook his head.

"I wish I knew." He nodded with frustration, "I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"You can't be sorry for that. You can't be around twenty-four seven." AJ sighed, squeezing his hand tightly, "Someone just needs to catch the fucker."

"Amen to that." Finn nodded.

"Come on. Let's lock this place up and get home." Punk nodded to them both, "We'll drive you home, Finn."

"It's ok. I can walk." Finn insisted.

"Not tonight." Punk shook his head as Finn just nodded, not putting up a fight. Not tonight anyway.

"You never thought this would be something worth mentioning?" Daryl questioned angrily, sitting outside the late-night café with Shiv.

Their hot chocolates were now half consumed and neglected.

"Of course I did." Shiv hissed back angrily, "Obviously I did. But I thought if I told AJ, if I told anyone… it would only make them panic more."

"Well, yeah. It would. But you still should have said something." Daryl said.

"I didn't want AJ being scared. Not with her pregnancy. She'd be constantly looking over her shoulder." Shiv shook her head, "And anyway, we don't know that's what the email meant."

"It seems fairly obvious that's what the email meant." Daryl said, "Who is this fruit-loop? How did they even get your email address?"

"I have no idea. It was my college email. Not my personal." Shiv said, "That's why I didn't come back at Thanksgiving. I don't want to face AJ and keep it from her. It's easier to just stay away."

"She could be in danger, though. You should have said something." Daryl shook his head.

"I'm scared." Shiv said with frustration, "I'm terrified that this guy is watching me. I'm scared he's on campus following me. I mean… he obviously knows that this is the college I go to. I thought if I went back home, he'd follow me. Maybe he'd find out that I told AJ about the email. That I'd warned her." She said frantically, "I just feel so paranoid. I never want to leave my room. I just feel like he's out there." She shook her head, placing her hand on her forehead and looking away from him as Daryl watched her.

"If he didn't mean to attack you then… I doubt he's watching you." Daryl said, "The email was probably just to rile you up. Scare you. Which clearly, it has."

"Can you blame me?" Shiv said, "I mean… seriously? Who is this guy? What the hell could he possibly want? If he did mean to attack AJ, then why?"

"I have no idea." Daryl said, "But I'd bet it's something to do with Phil or AJ. It has to be. You were just… in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"AJ is pregnant. If he attacked her, anything could have happened. To her or the baby." Shiv shook her head worriedly, "The whole thing is just making me feel sick. I'm barely sleeping. All I've thought about these past few weeks is… should I tell AJ? Should I not? What if he sent that email to bate me? Maybe it was just to throw a spanner in the works? Maybe he's just messing with me?" Shiv said frantically.

"Ok, calm down." Daryl nodded. He'd never saw her like this before. The Shiv he knew was always so level-headed. Always organised and calm. This wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before from her. He could see she was truly sick with fear and anxiety.

"I can't calm down." Shiv said angrily.

"Take a drink." He encouraged.

"I don't want a drink." Shiv shook her head.

"Then take a deep breath." Daryl suggested as Shiv looked at him, nodding to herself and taking a few deep breaths, "They're gonna find this guy. Whoever he is."

"When? It's been weeks now." Shiv said.

"I don't know. But he will get caught. He'll slip up." Daryl nodded, "I haven't said it directly to his face but… I still think it's something to do with Phil and his past."

"Phil doesn't recognise him, though." Shiv said.

"Then maybe it's a friend of a friend." Daryl said, "C'mon, Shiv. He was a big-time criminal defence lawyer. We're all just a bunch of people from a small town no one even knows about. It's gotta be tied to him."

"What about AJ and Lyla? They're out of towners." Shiv said, "And come to think about it, I don't really know that much about their past. I know they're both college dropouts. That's about it."

"What could they have possibly done in their life to provoke something like this?" Daryl asked, "It's gotta be connected to a past client of Phil's. It's the only logical explanation. And I'm not putting the blame on Phil for it, before you think I am." He said.

"I know you're not." Shiv said, "I just hate how awful it's made me feel. I'm normally a glass half-full type of person. I can look past a lot of things and… move myself on. But this just feels so sick and twisted."

"I know." Daryl nodded, "Are your grades being affected? If they are, you really should speak to a college councillor or something." He suggested.

"My grades are fine." Shiv shook her head as Daryl nodded.

"Of course they are." He smiled a little, "So you've really just been staying in your room this whole time? You've not been going out with friends?"

"No." Shiv shook her head, "Honestly, college life isn't all its hyped up to be. It's too many late nights and sore heads." She folded her arms and leaned back on the chair as Daryl laughed a little.

"Some would say you're boring." Daryl nodded.

"I'm not boring." Shiv scoffed, "I just don't want a hangover every single day. How am I supposed to do my best work when I've got a raging headache?" She questioned, "Besides, I like my own company."

"That's obvious." Daryl said, "You want to grab something to eat before you go back? I'll walk you." He said.

"You don't have to." Shiv said, "You didn't even have to come here. Checking up on me like I'm a child."

"Alright, ok. I think we're past the whole, you didn't have to come here, conversation." Daryl rolled his eyes, "Do you want to get food or no?" He asked.

"I am a little hungry." Shiv nodded.

The truth was, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders after speaking with Daryl about the email she'd received and the worries she'd been having. Getting it off her chest had oddly made her feel calmer, and she was definitely glad of that. But the fear was still there, the worry over what this meant for AJ. For someone she regarded as much as an older sister. Her stomach was still very much in knots with the whole thing.

"Where do you want to go?" Daryl asked, standing up from their seat outside the café.

"There's a sandwich shop just down the street. We can go there." Shiv decided.

"Are you ok?" Punk asked, sitting down beside AJ on the sofa in their apartment, having just gotten home from driving Finn home.

"Not really." AJ said, leaning her head on his shoulder, "Do you still think this is your brother? Trying to play games with you? Get in your head?"

"If it is, he's going to a lot of effort." Punk shook his head, "But honestly? I don't know. I can't be sure."

"Is the aim of this just to scare us? And who is the target? Is it me? You? Shiv?" AJ questioned with worry, "I can't figure it out."

"It's clearly a really mixed up, unwell person." Punk nodded, caressing the side of her head as she leaned into him, "I know you can't help it, but I just don't want you to worry yourself sick."

"I'm trying really hard not to." AJ assured him, "But it was terrifying. It was like a ghost. One minute he was there, then he was gone." She said, "Although, I did feel safe with Finn. He looked like he was ready to go to war for me." She smiled a little as Punk smiled too.

"Because he probably would. Daryl too." Punk nodded, "We got a good neighbourhood watch scheme going on."

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "Have you heard from Daryl? I wonder how he's getting on with Shiv."

"No, he's not text or called." Punk said, "I'm sure he'll get through to her. In his own, unique way." He said.

"I just hope she's ok." AJ sighed just as Punk's phone began to ring on the coffee table, "Who is it?" AJ asked as Punk leaned forward and looked at his phone.

"Sophie." Punk said with apprehension.

"Perfect timing to a bad day." AJ scoffed, "Answer it." She still encouraged.

"It might be something about my brother." Punk said as AJ nodded, watching him stand up and answer the phone.

She watched him pacing around the sofa, getting dizzy watching him as he spoke with Sophie. She couldn't really make out what the conversation was about, but she could tell by the look on his face that he was confused, which unsettled her.

"Ok. Ok, thanks for looking into it." Punk spoke on the phone before hanging up.

"What? Why do you look so confused?" AJ asked worriedly as Punk sat his phone down.

"Craig only served the last few months of his sentence at Cook County. The same prison as my brother." Punk said, "He was transferred."

"Transferred from where?" AJ questioned.

"New Jersey State Prison." Punk said, watching AJ swallow the lump in her throat, her eyes widening with fear as a past nightmare replayed over and over in her head.