New Job
"How long until the alarm goes off?" AJ asked, lying in bed with Punk the next morning, noticing he was awake, too.
"We got… an hour." Punk checked his phone for the time.
"Why are you awake so early?" She frowned, leaning into him and tangling her leg over his under the sheets.
"Why are you?" He turned to her.
"My spider senses woke me up. They knew you were awake and staring at the ceiling like a troubled man." She said, kissing his chest as he smiled.
"I just can't sleep." He said, "Everything with Daryl and Shiv. It's just got me tossing and turning."
"You don't have to carry so much on your shoulders. There's nothing we can do to make them see eye to eye. The ball is fully in their court. All we can do is support them and be their friends." AJ nodded, tracing her finger around the snake tattoo on his pec.
"I know, but it just makes me feel helpless. Shiv is vulnerable and distant. Daryl is angry and confused. And I feel like I can't say anything to them that will help them." He said.
"I think they gotta feel all those emotions if they're ever going to get back on the same page." AJ nodded, "We can't hold ourselves responsible for how it works out between them."
"Yeah, but they're still kids in my eyes." Punk said.
"Yeah, I know." AJ understood his feelings, "Wish we could just fast forward to the part where they kiss and make up."
"I don't even know if that's on the cards." Punk said, "They're two different people now. I think too much has happened."
"Don't write them off just yet." AJ said, "Our meddling worked before with them, didn't it?" She smiled up at him.
"I don't think now is the time for meddling." Punk smiled.
"Yeah, maybe not." AJ figured, "You should try and go back to sleep." She told him.
"Nah, I'm awake now." Punk said, "May as well just get up and shower." He said, about to sit up off the bed when AJ pulled him back.
"Or you could just stay there." She smirked, pushing the sheets back and climbing over him as he chuckled.
"If you insist." Punk smiled.
"I do." She nodded, leaning forward, and kissing him passionately, trailing her kiss down his neck, her lips travelling down his body until she came face to face with his boxers.
She pushed them down his hips, freeing his length which she took in her hand and began stroking up and down.
"Fuck." Punk whispered as she smiled, watching him roll his head back and screw his face up with pleasure.
"Wait." She said, crawling over the bed to reach her bedside table.
"What? Where are you going?" Punk frowned, watching her grab the hair scrunchie from her bedside table, "Oh, you mean business." Punk said as she chuckled, tying her long hair back out of her face as she crawled back over between his legs.
She leaned down, wrapping her mouth around him and bobbing her head up and down, swirling her tongue around the tip of him before enclosing her mouth fully around him again.
"Fuck." Punk moaned, placing his hand on her head, burying his fingers into her scalp, guiding her up and down on him, his whole-body tingling at the feeling of her velvet mouth going up and down.
She switched from her mouth to her hand, looking up at him and smirking as she saw the dazed look on his face as he watched her. She loved watching him. The concentration and focus on his face, watching her every movement, his little moans and groans which made her wet between her legs, the way he'd sometimes push her head back down on him, desperate to feel her mouth again.
She could tell by the quickness of his breathing that he was close, and so she continued moving her mouth up and down on him at a steady but quick pace, encouraging that release from him as she suddenly felt his hand steady her head to stop her, spilling himself inside her mouth as she stayed still and looked up at him.
"Fuck, that was good." Punk groaned, running his hand through his messy hair as AJ released him from her mouth, kissing her way back up his body, satisfied by his own satisfaction as she straddled his hips.
"I think you should return the favour now." She smirked as he nodded, watching her roll off of him and onto her back, pushing her shorts and panties down as he moved on top of her and kissed her passionately.
"You know I love returning the favour." He mumbled against her neck as she smiled.
"I know." She said, placing her hand flat on top of his head and pushing him down her body as he chuckled.
"There's our newest Brewberry girl." AJ smiled, watching Daryl walk into her shop for his first shift.
"He's so pretty." Lyla exaggerated.
"Woot woot!" Becca done a few fist pumps as Daryl looked at them all.
"I fear I'm going to regret this." Daryl said, taking his cap off.
"Never." AJ said, "Did you get those Nicotine patches?" She asked.
"Yeah. And gum." He said, taking his jacket off.
"You're gonna have way more fun over here than you ever had at that place across the road." Becca nodded, "And look." She pointed up to the sign above the coffee machine.
Their No Boys Beyond This Point sign had 'except Daryl' written underneath it now, which of course made him laugh.
"You guys are crazy." Daryl concluded, walking behind the counter as AJ passed him an apron.
"For you." AJ smiled.
"Thanks." Daryl nodded, "Don't laugh but… I might seriously need a refresher course on how to make coffee. Pretentious coffee, I mean. Cappuccinos and flat whites, etcetera." He spoke.
"Ok, well… why don't you try and make a cappuccino, a flat white and a latte for us, and we'll see how out of touch you are." AJ suggested.
"Oh, yes. It's like a game." Becca smiled, "And we're the judges."
"What happened to not putting pressure on me?" Daryl scoffed.
"We got forty minutes until we open. And I think you'll be surprised at how quick it'll come back to you." AJ nodded as Daryl tied his apron around his waist.
"Ok." Daryl nodded to himself, standing in front of the coffee machine as the girls watched him, "Can you guys not stare at me? It's not helping." He told them.
"Yeah… yeah, we'll go through to the kitchen and start on the pastries." AJ nodded as the three of them disappeared into the back whilst Daryl grabbed a mug and looked at the coffee machine with determination.
"Hey, I just want you to know that Daryl is working across the road with the girls." Punk said. He didn't want Shiv to be kept in the dark. They'd all done too much keeping secrets for the time being. He figured the best way forward was to be up front and honest about everything.
"I know." Shiv nodded to him, "AJ called me last night and told me. Said she didn't want me to think she hired him behind my back. But it's… it's not really my business, is it?" Shiv shrugged, slicing up some of brownies which Finn had baked earlier.
"I just wanted you to know." Punk said.
"Thank you." Shiv said, "And I'm sorry." She added.
"For what?" He shook his head.
"I know you would rather Daryl working here with you again instead of me." She nodded.
"That's not true." Punk said.
"It is. He's your friend and you've been waiting a long time for him to get out of prison. I wouldn't be offended if you wanted me to find another job someplace else." Shiv nodded.
"Shiv. C'mon. Of course I don't." Punk said, "You're a great worker, and I'm lucky to have you here. I don't want you looking elsewhere. I need you here, and Daryl will be fine working across the road." He nodded to her. Sometimes he felt immense waves of sadness in his heart for Shiv. How lonely she'd become. How distant and almost cold. He missed the bubbly and bright girl who was full of spirit and optimism.
"Thank you." Shiv nodded to him, forcing a smile.
"You think you guys will talk soon?" He asked her.
"We talked last night." Shiv said, "Didn't go very well. He told me he wants to see Brianna." She shrugged.
"Oh." Punk said, "That's good, right?" He asked her.
"Maybe. I don't know." Shiv shook her head, "He left prison expecting me to have moved on and be living this great life, and he seems so disappointed that instead I'm here, making coffee full time and raising our child. He resents me and I… I'm scared he'll channel that onto Brianna. I grew up with parents who clearly did not want a child. I know what that feels like." She said.
"You really think he would resent Brianna?" Punk asked.
"I don't know. I think it's very obvious that we don't recognise each other." Shiv shrugged.
Although Punk was sad to hear what she was saying, he was glad she was talking to him about it. It was the first time she'd willingly discussed Daryl with him, and he was super glad she wasn't bottling it up.
"That might be true but… I think if you take it in tiny steps, and he gets to know Brianna, he'll be a good dad. He'll fall in love with her. He just… he doesn't know her. He's probably scared he won't be good enough." Punk said.
"I sort of told him I didn't want to speak to him or see him. That I'd communicate with him through his mom." Shiv said, "Which I know… sounds extremely childish." She said before he got the chance to tell her, "But… us talking and being in the same room isn't going very well."
"And will you let him see her?" Punk asked.
"I can't keep her from him. Regardless of how I feel about him, it wouldn't be fair. On him or Brianna." Shiv said, "I just… he looks at me like he hates me." She sighed, placing the knife down which she was using to cut the brownies, placing her hand over her eyes as she felt herself beginning to cry, trying so hard to keep it in, but it was getting too difficult.
"Hey, come on." Punk sighed, wrapping his arms around her, "He doesn't hate you. I promise you." He said, hugging her tightly as she cried into him.
"I think he does." Shiv cried, "But he wasn't there. And I had to… I had to do it all on my own. He doesn't know what it was like. I was so frightened all the time and I really wanted him there." She said as Punk nodded, sighing to himself as he could hear the pain in her sobs.
"I know." Punk sighed, rubbing her back softly, "You've both been through a lot. More than any of us can imagine. But it's time to look forward now. Wipe the slate clean." He said, "We've always been here for you." He reminded her.
"I know." Shiv said, pulling back from the hug and wiping her wet face, "I know. I just convinced myself it'd be easier to do it all alone. But it's really not." She sighed, "Especially now that he's back."
"You're not alone." Punk assured her.
"This baguette is stale!" Finn yelled, walking into the kitchen holding a baguette, "These were supposed to be delivered fresh and it's stale as fuck." He complained angrily as Punk rolled his eyes.
Shiv laughed a little, wiping more of her tears as Finn looked at her and realised she was clearly upset and having a moment.
"Oh." Finn said, lowering the baguette he was holding, "Sorry, I didn't mean to… intrude."
"It's ok." Shiv laughed, "Sorry about your baguette." She offered as Punk smiled.
"They're all the same. I can't hear any crisp or crackle from them." Finn said, tossing the baguette across the counter as it slid along and landed in the sink.
"Ok, so I assume we're not doing baguettes today?" Punk asked him.
"What do you think?" Finn asked sassily, "You need to complain to our suppliers."
"Why don't you just bake the baguettes yourself? You can do it." Punk said whilst Shiv grabbed a napkin to fix her face.
"Because there aren't enough hours in the day, Phil." Finn said with frustration, "I already have to bake the bagels, then I got cakes and pastries, then I got the special of the day and don't forget I got a pot of soup on the go." He shook his head, "All I ask for is fresh baguettes and this is what I get." He pointed to the baguette, which was now soggy, sitting in the sink with other dishes.
"Ok, well you're clearly having a very bad day so far. Me and Shiv will give you some space." Punk nodded, guiding Shiv out of the kitchen with him as she laughed.
"I do have a lot of fun working with you guys." She said truthfully.
"Yeah? We thought you hated us." Punk said.
"Of course I don't." Shiv scoffed. Although she kept her head down for the most part and didn't interact much with the guys, she did find herself laughing to herself whenever she heard one of their jokes or saw one of them have a meltdown, which was surprisingly quite a lot.
"Alright, we open in two minutes." Punk checked the time as Shiv nodded, "You good?" He made sure.
"Yeah." Shiv nodded firmly, fixing her apron and taking a deep breath.
"Finn, you good?!" Punk yelled.
"Don't talk to me right now!" Finn yelled back as Punk turned to Shiv, both of them laughing.