A/N: So here it is- a new story! It's more AU than Second Best but still has wrestling in it. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read my stories and I hope you like this one! Sorry about the long wait for the new story but I needed some time off but I'm back! The title is a little weird but I named it after my favorite Rolling Stones song, I'm terrible at coming up with the titles also it goes without saying I own nothing but the the werido characters I'll eventually create. Enjoy!
Summary: Punk is the WWE champion and has it all- fame, fortune and friends but there is one thing missing from his life, something he didn't even know he wanted until he crashed into it.
Chapter 1: Getting To Know You
CM Punk was at the gym in Tampa, Florida. More specifically he was at John Cena's gym stupidly (in his opinion) named 'Hard Nocks'. It was Wednesday and his first day off after working a pay-per-view Sunday, Raw on Monday and SmackDown last night. The last thing he wanted was to be at this gym working with a bunch of newer guys and up and coming talent on NXT. It's not that he had a problem with any of them but he knew more than half of them wouldn't get called up and the few that did would never make it. But being the WWE champion meant he had to put more effort in (at least that's what Vince and Hunter have told him).
He wasn't even sure most of these guys had the chops to make it but that's why he was here, to train them up so one day they could take over for him so he could he pass the torch eventually. It was something he was looking forward to more and more with each day that passed. Three guys caught his attention quickly and that was Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. They had personality, drive and more importantly the passion. Another one that caught his eye was the large man who went by Big E Langston. He was built like a brick house and could lift with breaking a sweat. The large man also had a great sense of humor and Punk even caught himself cracking a few laughs at the man, he enjoyed being around people who could make him laugh.
"So what do you think?" Cena asked walking up to Punk eyeing the younger talent
"They're ok" Punk shrugged simply "Think you'll be able to put over any of them?" he mocked lightly
"Don't be like that" Cena warned "I don't write the scripts"
"Yea, yea" Punk mumbled
"They're all pretty funny too" Cena noted "You should go over there and get to know them"
"I'm here to judge them not date them" Punk reminded him and Cena let out a dry laugh
"These people are going to be in the ring with you eventually some of them might even be your traveling buddies one day" Cena said to him and Punk just rolled his eyes
"I'm not here for friends" Punk said to him bitterly
"Clearly" John snorted "What's the harm in making a few new friends?"
"Good god John what is your deal?" Punk asked annoyed "If I knew I was being set up I never would have agreed to this"
"You've been miserable" John pointed out and Punk scrunched his face up in surprise "Ever since you and Beth broke up you've been a bigger dick than usual"
"That's not true" Punk huffed
"You're hurt" John said as Punk rolled his eyes dramatically "It's ok to have feelings"
"I'm not hurt" Punk shot at him
"Kofi said you've been impossible to deal with" John admitted "We think you need a few friends"
"I have friends" Punk remarked back causing John now to roll his own eyes "And the last thing I need is to be the older guy who hangs out with a bunch of rookies in attempt to hold onto my youth"
"Ok" John said laughing at Punk "Whatever you say man. Keep up this whole loner bitter persona you have going for you" he said slapping his arm playfully "But I'm sure if you lightened up a bit you might just enjoy being on the road a little more" he informed him.
Punk just rolled his eyes and started to toss his things into his gym bag.
"Hey Punk" the large Big E Langston shouted jogging over to him. "You're not leaving are you?"
"Yea I've got an early flight tomorrow" Punk said not even picking his head up as he packed his bag.
"Well we're going to grab a bite to eat at the diner across the street" Langston offered "You should come with" Punk looked up and was ready to say 'no' then stopped.
"Is Cena going?" Punk asked arching a brow
"No" Langston said unsure of what the right response would be.
"I'm in" Punk said happily
"Great just give ten minutes" Langston said to him
Once they headed into the diner they were sat at a large table in the back.
"This place looks like a dump" Punk noted looking around the old diner.
"It is" Dean agreed with a sly grin
"The food is out of this world" Seth assured Punk "Sometimes there's a line to get in here on the weekends"
"Is it really worth the wait?" Punk mumbled looking over the menu
"We don't wait" Dean told Punk causing him to look up at the man sitting across from him "Langston's girlfriend gets us in, she works here"
"She's not my girlfriend" Langston said with a laugh "She's a friend"
"She's a wrestling groupie" Seth corrected seriously
"She's in wrestling school herself" Langston said to Punk who just nodded "I met her at the gym a year ago she's good people" he shrugged
"And you've never tapped that?" Roman questioned with a laugh
"She's like a sister" Langston said to them "And cut that crap out before my real girlfriend hears you" he warned them
"Is she here right now?" Dean asked amused
"Dude she's everywhere" Langston said almost horrified causing Punk to let out a laugh
"Hey guys" a friendly voice said causing Punk to look up. She was a tiny, tanned little woman- or possibly teenager? She had long hair, black nails, no makeup and his favorite part about her? The chucks she was rocking on her feet.
"Hey April" Dean said in an almost to sweet of a voice. The rest of the guys greeted her in kind.
"You're new" April noted looking over to Punk
"I thought you said she was a wrestling nerd?" Punk asked the group but keeping his eyes locked on the small waitress.
"I am I just didn't want to geek out over you" April admitted shyly and extended her hand to the tattooed man. "Hi Mr. Punk"
"You can just call me Punk" Punk smirked shaking her hand before he let go of her hand he noticed a rubber bracelet around her slender wrist that caught his eye "Call of Duty?" he smirked eyeing the fan bracelet and she pulled her hand away feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Yea" April said shyly "Not only am I a wrestling nerd but I suppose I'd be put in the category of gamer nerd as well" she admitted then looked at the other guys who were still looking at the menu "I'll give you guys a few more minutes" she said to them
"Um April-" Roman started
"I know hot water and lemon" April said knowingly then walked away
Later in the evening the guys were munching down on their food and Punk was pleasantly at ease. Maybe Cena was right, he needed to just be one of the guys and hang around with some of the younger blood.
He was heading out of the bathroom and looked around the small hole in a wall diner and couldn't believe how packed it had gotten, he was so engrossed he didn't even realize he bumped into someone until he heard the sound of glass breaking. He looked down at his shirt and felt the hot soup almost burning through.
"I'm so sorry" the familiar tiny voice said looking up at him from the floor. The anger of the hot soup disappeared when he saw it was April he tackled to the floor. She looked horrified once she noticed she spilt the soup on him. "Oh god" she said quickly standing up and grabbing napkins and wiping his shirt down.
"It's fine" Punk said gently placing his hand over her small one and taking the napkins "I wasn't paying attention" he knelt down and started to help her with the glass.
"You don't have to do this, go back to your table I'll clean up" AJ insisted getting on her knees and throwing everything on her tray.
"I insist" Punk said to her
"April" a large voice boomed "This is the third tray in a week and it's only Wednesday" Punk watched as April quickly stood up straight to come face to face with her boss he assumed.
"I'm sorry" April said almost fearfully
"This is coming out of your check this time" the man warned waggling his finger at her and Punk caught it out of the corner of his eye and stood up as well now. Punk could tell by the look on the man's face he knew exactly who Punk was. "I'm so sorry about this" the manager said to him in a much different tone than he had used with April. "Consider your meal on the house and send the bill for your shirt to us as well"
"Actually I was just going to offer to pay for the dishes" Punk shrugged simply surprising April. "It was me who bumped into her" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a hundred bill and passed it to the manager
"Oh don't be silly" the manager said with a nervous laugh
"I insist" Punk said in a firmer tone and waited for the man to take the money. Once he did the manager smiled and walked away.
"Thanks" April mumbled picking up the rest of the dishes
"It's not a big deal" Punk shrugged "Do they really make you pay for the dishes you break?" he asked seriously
"Well not usually but I'm kind of clumsy" April laughed lightly
"I thought Langston mentioned you were a wrestler?" Punk asked her
"I'm not a wrestler" April said to him "I take classes" she corrected and Punk just nodded "And I wouldn't be able to take them this week if I had to pay for those dishes so thank you again"
"No problem" Punk said to her "Like I said it was my fault"
"But your dinner is definitely on me" April said to him and before he could argue April held up her hand to silence him "No arguments. Now go back to the table and maybe I'll bring you all a cookie or something" She teased and he just smiled and walked away.
Once they finished eating Punk insisted on coffee and joked around with the guys for another hour or so. For some reason he just didn't want to leave the small diner.
"Why don't you just ask her our" Langston said to Punk
"What?" Punk asked looking over to him
"You've been eyeing little April all night" Roman pointed out
"Nah" Punk said brushing it off "She's cute" he shrugged
"She's hot" Dean corrected "You should see her work out. We see her at the gym all of the time"
"She's like sixteen" Punk laughed
"She's twenty-four" Langston corrected and Punk was surprised by that
"Still young" Punk informed them
"Well too bad you're leaving tomorrow morning because I'm sneaking her backstage tomorrow night for the show" Langston said to him
"How is Christy going to feel about that?" Dean teased referring to Langston's girlfriend
"She'll be there too" Langston said to him quickly
"Hey guys you want anything else?" April asked walking over to them
"Nah I think we're good" Seth said "Guys? Punk?" he said grinning towards Punk
"I think we're good" Punk said to her
"We'll take the check darling" Dean said to her
"It's on the house tonight" she said to them and all look pleased "You can thank Punk for that" she said pointing at his shirt
"Gee thanks Punk" Langston said standing up with the rest of the guys. All of the guys did reach into their wallet and threw some cash on the table as a tip for her.
"See you tomorrow night April" Roman said to her and April's face lit up. The guys all walked out and Punk zipped up his hoodie and watched as April collected their coffee mugs.
"Is everything alright?" April asked noticing Punk was still there
"Yea" Punk said to her coolly
"I don't mean to sound like a weird groupie but it was really cool to meet you" April admitted and he noticed her cheeks turn a shade of red
"You're pretty cool yourself" Punk noted "I mean the chucks and COD bracelet are pretty awesome"
"You should see my ninja turtle socks" April teased
"Oh now you're just flirting with me" Punk said with a wide grin
"Seriously thanks again for tonight and next time in your Tampa make sure to stop by" April said to extending her hand to him again
"Yea I just might do that" Punk said shaking her hand again but not unlocking his eyes from hers