Hey everyone! Here's my choice for the AJ/Punk prompt challenge by Running On Crazy. I chose #18. "Phil sees that love even means sitting through Wicked on Broadway, just because she loves musicals. (based on AJ's fuse TV interview) I switched it up a tad bit but it remains faithful to the prompt. Hope you enjoy! =)

The sun shone through his blinds and he groaned. He hated the sun, he hated when it woke him up, and he just wished that the sun didn't exist on days like this. He really was like Batman in the sense that he was more at ease in the dark of night, minus the whole protecting Gotham City from the likes of the Joker, Mr. Freeze, the Penguin, and the rest of the rogue's gallery thing. Slowly opening his eyes and letting a yawn escape his lips, he turned over onto his side, shielding himself from the sun, while also noticing that the other side of the bed was empty. She was always up and about at ungodly hours. His polar opposite in that sense, he said to himself often. She would always love being out in the sun, doing all sorts of activities, enjoying herself, whereas when the sun went down, all she wanted to do was cuddle and enjoy a movie or her television shows. He didn't understand how she could operate like that, but he was more than used to it by now.

Hearing the birds chirping constantly, Phil rubbed his eyes to get the sleep out of them and stretched his limbs all about, before swinging his legs over the side of his bed, feeling the coolness of the carpet beneath his toes. Throwing on his new AC/DC inspired BITW shirt (yes, he had yet another new one, that's what happened when you were the leading merchandise seller in the company) he walked down the steps into the living room, right into the kitchen, where sure enough, there she was making breakfast for the two of them.

"Morning sleepy head", she said cheerfully as she cracked open a few eggs and threw them onto the skillet.

"Morning", he grumbled as he reached into the fridge for the orange juice, grabbing it and proceeding to drink it straight from the container. He could hear her audibly sigh, but he didn't care right now. It was his home; he would do as he damn well pleased.

She watched him as he put the container back into the fridge and then scratched at his long sideburns for a few seconds, giggling to herself as he kept at it. "Hockey ended a month ago. The Blackhawks won. Isn't the tradition to shave everything off after you've won the Cup or been eliminated?"

"Yes, my dear, the tradition is just that. But I happen to like the new look. I know you weren't complaining a few days ago when—"

"That's enough of that, Phil. Come and eat your breakfast", she said a bit sternly, though with a grin as she put their plates down on the kitchen table. She couldn't help but stare at him as he attacked his pancakes and scrambled eggs with the same ferocity he displayed in the ring. She knew he was the best in the world, but she didn't think that it translated to scarfing down pancakes at the rate he was going. She was wrong.

He noticed her staring at him like he was some sideshow freak, and, placing his fork and knife down, he pulled his arms up onto the table, resting his fists under his bare chin, looking at her in an inquisitive way. "Penny for your thoughts, darling?", he asked in a saccharine tone. "Do you not like how I go about eating my pancakes?"

All she could do was laugh at the way he was acting right now. Ever since he took the entire Blackhawks team out for pancakes when they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, he had the hugest hankerings for them on their off days. Nine times out of ten, she would indulge him, as she knew how to make bitchin' pancakes (as Phil so succinctly put it), and he was always appreciative of them. He just must've been really, really hungry today.

"No, I think it's hilarious, Mister Best In The World. You look so adorable when you're eating them", she said, needling him with kindness and adoration.

He shot her a deadpan glare as he went about finishing off his breakfast. "I am not adorable, you know this. That word isn't even in my dictionary."

"Oh, whatever Wolvie", she responded with teasingly, finishing her own plate off, then standing up to put them in the sink. "Hey, we're still on for later today, right?", she suddenly asked, hoping he hadn't forgotten the plans they made a few weeks ago, right before he came back to work at Payback. He was prone to things like that on occasion.

"Yeah, of course we are…what exactly are we doing again?", Phil asked, feeling like a dummy for forgetting these plans, whatever the hell they were. Judging by the somewhat disappointed look on her face, he knew they were important, at least to her they were. 'Good one, jackass. Best in the world and you can't remember something as simple as what you're supposed to be doing tonight', he mentally chided himself with.

Shaking her head, she sighed as she put the plates in the dishwasher. "We're seeing Wicked, remember? We're going to the Oriental Theatre to see it? I got the tickets right before you came back to work? Is any of this ringing a bell in that noggin of yours?"

"Well…", he started off with slowly, running a tattooed hand through his still growing hair, his fingertips lightly grazing over the thirteen staples that were installed into his skull this past Sunday at Money In The Bank. "I mean, I do get hit in the head for a living, and my memory has never been the best…and I did just get these suckers stuck in my head", he said, showing the staples off to her once again. Once he saw that she wasn't amused, he groaned inwardly. "Yes, I forgot and I'm sorry. At least give me some brownie points for not making any other plans though!"

She looked at him and closed her eyes, whispering some choice words under her breath. Sliding a hand through her long, dark tresses and letting them fall over her shoulders, she walked up to him at the kitchen table and gave him a light smile, followed up by a chaste kiss on the forehead. "You're lucky I love you and you're so damn cute", she said as she walked towards the steps that went upstairs. "Be ready by seven!"

Nodding his head, Phil grinned. "Will do, ma'am. Wouldn't wanna be late for the big show!", he said as enthusiastically as he could without it sounding forced. When she was up the stairs, he exhaled deeply and ran a hand down his face. He couldn't believe he found himself in this situation. He absolutely hated Broadway plays, stuff like this in general. He was a gritty, grungy straight edge punk rock kid from the hardened streets of Chicago. He didn't go to plays, or Broadway acts, or crappy musicals, or anything like this. Why had he even agreed to this in the first place? He didn't know.

"Ugh, I hope this thing doesn't drag on like one of those sappy chick flicks…"

Phil took his seat next to her in the theatre, watching her as her eyes danced around the entire building, from the ceiling, to the balcony seats, to the curtains, all the way back to him and his tight smile. She knew this was killing him, coming here to a place like this that was so…unlike him. But she appreciated the fact that he was trying to have a good time for her. She more than appreciated it, if she was being honest with herself. She loved it. She knew that behind his edge, gruff exterior beat the heart of a hopeless romantic.

"Don't look so enthused, Punk", she lightly chided him, grinning as she laced her hand together with his, keeping a tight grip. She then realized he hadn't said anything from the moment they got out of the car till now. "You gonna be okay?", she asked, a bit of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, okay kiddo? Enjoy your show. I know you've been wanting to see this for a while, so you should have fun with it", he responded reassuringly. The smile he gave her was a little less forced this time, because he genuinely wanted her to have a good time tonight. He always wanted to make sure she was enjoying herself, even if it was at his own expense. None of his issues mattered when it came to her. Huh. That's why he agreed to do this with her. So that's what it felt like…

She gave him that smile of hers, the one that could light up the sun and made his insides melt. He went to say something else, but she shushed him; the show was about to begin. Sighing, he settled into his seat and sat back, his hand still intertwined with hers, as the show started and he instantly found himself bored to death. All this Wizard of Oz stuff made him want to go to sleep…

Until he looked to his left and saw how her almond shaped amaretto eyes animatedly watched the events happening on stage. She was completely wrapped up in the story. He had never seen her so attentive before, maybe during one of his promos or matches, but not quite like this. She wasn't kidding when she told him that she absolutely adored musicals. It was almost as if she was starting to become part of the show herself, the way she was mouthing the lines the actor's and actresses' spoke, and in how she swayed her body back and forth to the songs, bobbing and weaving her head around.

It was at this point that he fell in love with her more than he already had. He had one foot in the rabbit hole already, but now, now he was fully submerged in it. This was, perhaps, the happiest he had ever seen her, next to when they decided to rekindle their old flame a few months ago. His attention was no longer on trying to get through the show without falling asleep; rather, it was on watching her enjoy herself. It brought him great pride, knowing he had a hand in this.

When the show finally ended, she looked over at him and saw that he was staring at her, a grin spread across his lips as leaned forward and gave her a kiss. "Whoa there, Phillip. That wasn't quite the reaction I was expecting", she said after they had broken apart, though she giggled at the goofy look on his face as their eyes remained locked on each other. "You alright?"

Phil smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, April", he said, taking his other hand and grasping hers in both of his. "I'm alright. I think I have a handle on something now that I didn't before, though."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

He leaned in and gave her another kiss, just because she was his, he was hers, and just because he could. "I think I'm finally starting to figure out what love really means."