AJ's POV
Two Days Later
A few days later after my wonderful night at Raw, I packed a few sets of clothes and some necessities into a small duffle bag and got on a bus. Well, not a bus, more like half a dozen buses in order to get to Chicago since I couldn't find a cheap flight.
Believe me when I say that Chicago is huge. There were so many people and so many different buildings and streets and places to go. Looking for Punk here was almost like a lost cause.
But, if he wasn't in Chicago, where else would he be?
I knew I couldn't exactly just ask someone where Punk lived. In Chicago, Punk was literally treated almost like a saint. His address wouldn't exactly be easy to find.
First, I tried to guess. I tried every hotel, complex, house, penthouse, you name it that was anywhere near either a gym or a wrestling ring. I couldn't find it. Then I tried anything that was pretty expensive. I assumed that Punk had to have a bit of money. I mean, what was he gonna blow his savings on, drugs?
Again, I found nothing. He must have been pretty hidden away.
By this time, the sun was setting and darkness was starting to blanket the sky. But I didn't exactly have anywhere to stay. I had some of my credit cards, but it could take forever to find a room in this city that wasn't booked. Maybe if I could find Punk in time, he'd let me stay with him. Or maybe he'd kick me out on the street to stay and sleep in the gutter.
Either way, I had to find him. I'd come all this way and I was going to find him.
I could always call him. Then maybe he'd just tell me where he was. Or avoid me. With him, you never knew what kind of reaction you'd get. But, I guess since I really didn't have any other options, what did I have to loose?
I sat down on one of the bus stop benches, laying my duffel bag on the ground next to me and pulling my phone out of my black leather purse. I dialed in his number and then held the phone up to my ear.
One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four rings. Then it sent me to voicemail. I sighed in disappointment and hung up the phone, fiddling to try to fit it back into my purse. I felt the little bag of pills fumbling around inside by bag.
Then I heard rustling coming from my left side. I turned my head around and saw a figure in a black hoodie and dark jeans rummaging through my duffel bag.
"Hey!" I screamed at them, standing up as their eyes met mine. It was a girl, taller than me, with short black hair, a nose piercing, and sickly looking eyes. "That's mine!"
"Well duh, haven't you ever heard of robbing girly?" She replied, picking my bag up my the straps. I grabbed onto the end of my bag before she could take off, pulling the bag towards me.
"Give it back!" I continued to pull with all my might on the bag, but it was slowly slipping out of my grasp. With one big heave, the girl broke my grip on my duffel bag and then, almost as quickly as she appeared, ran into the busy streets of Chicago.
So now, I had no clothes, no toiletries, no nothing except for the items that remained in my purse. Now what was I supposed to do?
With the little bit of spare change that was left in my purse, I got up and walked into one of the nearby shops and bought a bottle of water. I walked back outside and leaned up against the building. I pulled one of my pills out of the plastic bag and used the water to rinse it down my throat. I realized I had broken a promise, but what was I to do now that I was completely alone in one of the most dangerous cities in the country?
I looked down at my hands. They were dirty and red from pulling on the duffel bag. I was sure dark circles had started forming around my eyes by now and I just felt like giving up. I was exhausted, I was hungry, I was defeated, and I just wanted to curl up and disappear.
Then I felt my purse start to vibrate. I reached my hand in and pulled out my phone to see a very familiar number on the screen. I answered. "Hello?" my voice sounded dry.
"AJ, did you try to call me?"
"Where are you?" I asked.
"What?"
"Where are you?" I repeated.
"Chicago. Why?"
"I'm in Chicago!" I said. "Be more specific!"
"Wha-Why are you in Chicago?!?"
"I've been looking for you!" I yelled at Punk. "Listen, I'd explain, but I'm tired, I'm mad, and I was robbed earlier this evening! So can you just tell me where you are?!"
I waited impatiently for his reply.
_____
CM Punk wasn't exactly thrilled when I showed up at the address given to me. I'd assume for a lot of reasons. He probably wanted to be alone, and also I looked like a mess.
I stood in front of him outside his doorway, clutching my handbag closer to me than ever before. I refused to look at him in the eye.
"So, you're too crazy to do what a normal person would have done and just have called me of you wanted to talk?" Punk asked. I didn't answer. I just sighed out of shame and looked down at my converse.
"Well, come on in, I guess," he said. I nodded and followed him inside.
As I followed him throughout his house, I didn't bother to look around. I just stared at Punk's backside, trying to think of what I could possibly say to him to make me sound less stupid.
We ended up in Punk's living area, to which the TV was flashing with Walking Dead episodes. He sat down on the couch to which I followed.
I didn't know where to start. I just looked down at my lap. Punk broke the ice after a while.
"So... talk," he said. I let in a breathe of fresh air.
"Ok..." How to tell this to him. "I, uh, I was wondering..." Avoid the meltdown. "I was wondering why you left." It came out more like a question than a statement.
Punk sighed and leaned back. "Is that all?"
I didn't look at him. I wondered if I should mention the breakdown I had. I decided against it. "Well, everyone else want's to know."
CM Punk just laughed a little. "There are things we'd all love to know."
I kept quiet. Punk killed the silence.
"Fine...Just... I'm not happy with the way the company's been working," he began. "And I was sick of it."
"That's all?" I said. "That's the reason you left m-WWE?" Wow, almost blew it there. Good move, AJ, good move.
"Well..." Punk tried to think of something to say, "are you enjoying it?"
"Enjoying it?" I said. "Like, being in the company? Yeah, I've grown up watching-"
"No no no, not that excuse. I mean, are you... Happy, to a sense?" Punk asked. "I mean, do you like the fact that only Total Divas get a shot at your title?"
"No," I said. "But what does that have to do with-"
"Are you happy that the Total Divas get to look like the good guys all the time?" He asked.
"No, but-"
"Do you like how they always assume that Total Divas turned you down for their reality show and say your jealous of the ones that are on it?" Punk said with a smirk on his face.
"No!" I said. "I hate when they do that! They asked me to be on the reality show and I said no! They just always try to make me look less-" I saw the satisfaction on Punk's face from my outburst. I calmed my voice down. "Worthy."
Punk smiled with success. "Now you see my point."
I crossed my arms. One cause I was angry and two cause I was cold. "Still, I didn't quit the company."
"Cause you, miss Lee, are too scared to do anything," he said. "You want to hold onto that belt of yours so much that you're too scared to do anything risky."
"That is not true!" I said.
"Really?" Punk asked sarcastically. The truth was I really hadn't done anything risky. As of late, I had so much riding on the line every Raw, every Smackdown. "That's what I thought."
"So what?" I replied.
"For someone as crazy and secretive as you, I'd just expect you'd be on my side," Punk said.
"What side?" I asked.
"You know," he began, "the side of people who don't want to take crap from the company. The side of a... Revolution to a sense."
"Really? Who besides you is in this?" I asked.
"Well, Daniel Bryan could be-"
"Could be?"
"I'd assume he's part of it," Punk said. "It's just people that are sick of the way things are running."
I looked down at my lap. "I am."
"Good," He said. "Then maybe we have a shot at being friends." He patted me on the knee. I looked up at him.
"Um, I feel like I ask this to you a lot, but do you mind if I stay with you? Again?" I asked. Punk looked into my eyes. For once, this wasn't out of fear, or greed, or annoyance, or anger, or hate. It was just my eyes meeting his. And it felt... nice, in a way.
"Yeah sure. You can sleep on the couch," he said, getting up. "I'll get you some blankets."
"Also," I stood up as well. "You wouldn't happen to have anything I could wear? I, um, I got robbed earlier tonight."
Punk scratched his head. "Yeah, I think I have an old t shirt or something lying around." He walked away, leaving me alone with the Walking Dead on his television.
When he came back, he threw me a pink oversized T Shirt. I unfolded it to see how big it actually was. Plastered on the front was my Susan G. Komen 'Love Life' logo.
"Why do you have this?" I asked.
"I lost a bet and I had to wear that during the Rise Above Cancer commercial," Punk said. And yet he still kept it?
After he tossed a few blankets and a pillow onto the couch, I asked him where the bathroom was so I could change. He pointed it out to me and I went to go get ready for, most likely, a very awkward evening.
Once I was in the Love Life shirt, I put my jacket on over me just to give myself a little more clothing. Even though I was guilty of not wearing a ton of clothing when I was in my wrestling attire, that didn't mean I enjoyed going out like that all the time.
I didn't have anything in my purse to help me get ready for bed, so I just brushed my hair out with my fingers. Stupid girl who robbed me.
I walked out of the bathroom and walked back to the living room to see that the TV was turned off and that a little "bed" had been set up for me on the couch and only the light on the table next to the couch remained on. I climbed into the numerous blankets, switched the lights off, and attempted to go to sleep.
_____
I was awoken in the middle of the night to the sound of something hitting the floor. I eyes shot open and I sat up to see if the sound was anywhere near me. Nothing.
Then another sound echoed throughout the house. By this time, I had slipped out of the blankets and had started walking towards the noise. I could hear it getting louder and louder as I wondered through the house and made my way closer to one of the bedrooms.
The door to the room was open, but I didn't peek in. I already knew who was in there.
I could hear the rustling of sheets and a few grunts and quiet cries. The sounds of a very uneasy, painful, vicious slumber. The sounds and horrors that came with a nightmare.
It didn't take a genius to guess what perhaps he was dreaming about. His father was an alcoholic when he was growing up. One can only guess what kind of emotional scars are left behind from that.
Trust me when I say hearing him being tortured in there by his mind wasn't exactly easy for me. I mean, nightmares were a regular thing for me, and I could assume it was horrible for him too. But, what could I ever do to help?
I slowly walked away from the door and back to the couch, where I should be. I hid myself in the blankets and tried to avoid the horrendous soft howls that continued for the rest of the night.
A/N: Of course, I don't know if that's exactly the reason Punk walked away because no one really knows for sure, but... *sigh*.
So, I had to add Punk's AJ shirt that was in the WWE Susan G. Komen commercial because that was just great. :)
That's about it. Don't really know what else to say. Happy Valentine's Day, I guess?
-El ♥