Panic


"Matthew, what are you doing here?" AJ shook her head as she looked on at her best friend's older brother.

"Just over to see a few friends." Matthew smiled, "Dom told me you'd probably be here, working away as usual." He nodded, "And look at you." He nodded to her bump with a smile, "Not the little girl I remember." He shook his head, "I wanted to see you at the trial but… we got the direct flight, didn't give me much time."

"Yeah, I thought you just didn't want to speak to me." AJ laughed a little.

"No, I just didn't get the chance." Matthew said as AJ nodded.

She'd known Matthew all her life it felt like. Due to their families being close and her being so close to Sofia, he was naturally in her life just as much.

"How long are you here for?" AJ asked him.

"Just a few days." Matthew said, "I don't know you can work in that place. Gives me nightmares." He looked up at the courthouse as AJ looked over too.

"I guess I'm just used to it." AJ shrugged.

"You're looking great. When are you even due? Dominic barely told me anything." Matthew said.

"Four months time." AJ said, "Trying not to freak out." She admitted truthfully.

"You'll be great." Matthew smiled softly, "You fancy going for a coffee? I'm not doing anything. Unless you have somewhere to be." He said casually.

"Uh… yeah, sure." AJ smiled, "I've finished up for the day anyway, and I am hungry." She admitted.

"Then it's on me." Matthew nodded as AJ smiled. He had always been lovely to her and sweet, but she knew Sofia's death really affected him in a lot of ways, mentally. It explained why he murdered Greg so viciously. She knew he could be dangerous if put to the test, but not to those he cared about.


They headed to a coffee shop not far from the courthouse and AJ was excited to tuck into the cake she'd taken a slice off. It was definitely what she needed after the day she'd had in court, and it was nice to catch up with an old face.

"You know what you're having?" Matthew asked her.

"No, we don't." AJ said, "I don't think we're gonna find out. I think I want it to be a surprise." She nodded, "I might cave in though if they ask. I know Phil isn't bothered either." She said as Matthew nodded.

"Phil." Matthew said as AJ looked at him, "He good to you?" He asked.

"God, you're worse than my brother." AJ laughed a little, "He's too good to me." AJ nodded, "We're taking this each day as it comes of course, it's pretty terrifying but… we've got a good relationship." She said confidently as Matthew smiled and nodded.

"Yeah your brother seems to like him." Matthew nodded, "And… I know that he knows about Greg. Honestly, I'm pretty shocked that a cop is keeping that information to himself. Maybe he's just doing it for you, but… I appreciate it. I wasn't in a good place and I know that's not a good reason for what I did but… that man saw Sofia that night, he could have stopped it all, I just… I lost it." He said as AJ nodded.

"It's all over now." AJ said, "There's no reason to… think about it, not about those bastards anyway, and not about Greg. What's done has been done." She nodded.

"Yeah." Matthew agreed.

"Have you saw my parents lately?" AJ wondered.

"Yeah, I mean I see them all the time." Matthew laughed a little, "Your mom is excited about the baby." He nodded.

"She's not been returning my calls. I'm kinda mad they didn't come to the trial to show their support." She admitted.

"No, I understood, so did my parents. Your mom hates flying and… they're really settled where they are. I think coming here gives them bad memories, you know?"

"So… is she not gonna come see me when I have the baby then?" AJ shrugged as Matthew looked across at her.

"I know you've never had the easiest relationship with her-"

"No kidding." AJ shook her head.

"But she does care about you. Talks about you all the time. Real proud of you for… for going it alone out here, pursuing your career to this extent. I mean you're making a comfortable living. And now you got a good guy, a baby on the way… she's super proud of you."

"Then why can't she tell me that? Am I supposed to guess how she's feeling?" AJ shook her head.

"I think she just doesn't have a good way with words." Matthew said, "My mom is the same. So was Sofia. Dry as a bone." He laughed a little as AJ smiled.

"I miss her." AJ shook her head, "I used to think that as time went on, things would get easier but… it really doesn't."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Matthew nodded, running his hand over his face, "Makes a huge difference knowing that those bastards, well… two of them at least, are getting what they deserve. In my eyes, there's no punishment severe enough for them but… it'll do." He nodded.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I'm just glad she has some justice now." She said as Matthew nodded.

"Me too." Matthew said, "She'd be so excited about the baby." He smiled.

"She would." AJ smiled, taking another bite of her cake as Matthew chuckled a little.

"You got a little." He pointed to the corner of his mouth to show her where some icing was on her face.

"There?" AJ asked, missing the icing as Matthew smiled and chuckled a little.

"No… here." He leaned over, wiping the corner of her mouth for her as AJ smiled and rolled her eyes a little.

"Can't even feed myself never mind a baby." AJ shook her head as Matthew smiled at her, continuing on with their chat.


"You ok?" Seth asked, helping Cami into her apartment later on in the day after she had been discharged from hospital. Things had happened all very quickly and it was difficult to come back from the hospital and pretend like everything was normal. They didn't regret their decision, especially when they had met the parents whom were adopting the baby. They were so wonderful and desperate for a child. But of course the initial process of it was challenging for both of them.

"Yeah, I'm good." Cami smiled, slowly walking over to the couch whilst Seth shut the door over and carried her bag into her room. He'd been around a lot more for her. Once he ended his relationship after confessing what had happened, he spent a lot more time with Cami making sure she felt supported by him. He didn't want her to do this alone. Nothing had been romantic, if he wound up staying with her one night he would crash on the couch.

"I've sat your bag on your bed, I can unpack it later." Seth told her, watching her sit down on the couch slowly, "What you fancy for dinner?" He asked her.

"Seth, you don't have to stay around because you feel you have to." Cami reminded him. She had appreciated the support from him, and most importantly the friendship he'd shown her, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to be there all the time.

"I'm not. I want to be here or you." Seth nodded, walking over and sitting down beside her, "It's not gonna be easy and I just want to be here for you. Can you let me do that?" He asked her as she looked at him.

"I ruined your life with this." Cami shook her head, "It's why I didn't want you involved. It didn't seem fair-"

"It takes two to tango." Seth said, "I wasn't happy in my relationship. You didn't ruin anything. I'm the one in the wrong for not ending my relationship and being unfaithful. But that doesn't matter now because it's over and I can focus on helping you." He nodded.

"Thank you." Cami smiled softly, "Phil said he saw the parents in the hospital and they were really happy." She nodded, "I still feel like something is missing. It's not a good feeling but… knowing he's ok and he's safe with a family who will love him makes it all easier." She said, "I kept saying to myself, I just gave up on him way too quickly, I didn't give him or myself a chance to do this-"

"You had valid reasons." Seth said, "And you shouldn't doubt anything. We made the decision together and it felt like the best one for the situation."

"I just didn't want to let him down, and I have a feeling I would have. He doesn't deserve that." Cami said, "I do love him." She nodded to him as Seth gulped and nodded, "I really love him and I'm scared that… I'll never get him out of my mind." She sighed, "And I don't want him to grow up and think we did this because we didn't want him or love him."

"He's not gonna think that." Seth shook his head, placing his hand on her leg, "He's gonna grow up with a family who love him and they're gonna tell him, when he's old enough, that we gave him away because we wanted better for him. There's no wrong in that." She said as Cami nodded, drying her tears.

"I just want a good life for him." Cami nodded to herself.

"I do too." Seth said, "And he'll get it." He nodded, "It's not easy. It feels hollow and wrong." He said as she nodded, "But it's not gonna last forever, it's just gonna take a bit of time."

"Yeah." Cami said, "You don't have to be this nice." She laughed a little as Seth smiled.

"I'm not usually." Seth reminded her, "But I know how you feel. I'm feeling it too." He said as she nodded, "But it'll get better." He said as she nodded.

"Why don't you stay and we can just order in later?" Cami asked, "We can watch a movie. I can't promise I won't fall asleep." She said as he smiled.

"I can forgive you if you do." Seth said as he just smiled. She was glad she had him at this difficult time. They could both lean on each other.


Punk was on his way home, running on zero sleep yet he knew he had to stop by at Dean's house to check in on him to see if he was even there and if he was ok. His plan to lock him up for the night was pretty degrading, but he knew it was the only way to sober him up at this point, to where he could hopefully have a normal conversation with him.

He got out of the car once parking up outside the house, walking down the pathway and stopping at the door which he knocked on, waiting for a few minutes before going ahead and trying the door, which was open.

He walked on into the house, closing the door over behind him and looking down the dark hallway, walking down and turning into the living room, turning around where he saw Dean lying on the couch past out.

It took his eyes a few minutes to catch up with his brain however as he heard what sounded like Dean choking, too unconscious and drunk to feel that he was throwing up, lying flat on his back.

"Dean." Punk panicked, immediately rushing over to him and turning him around, noticing he'd started to turn a funny purple colour whilst choking, turning him around onto his side as he thankfully threw up successfully whilst Punk took a deep breath and placed his hand over his mouth. It wasn't the realisation of what he had to do, but the realisation that if he hadn't been there, if he'd decided to go home instead or take a longer detour, the outcome could have been disastrous.

"Ok, man. You're alright." Punk nodded, rubbing Dean's back as he continued to throw up, only this time Punk noticed he was throwing up blood and wincing a little, "You in pain?" Punk asked with worry as Dean rolled back onto his back, "No stay on your side." Punk told him, keeping him on the side. It appeared Dean was so out of it he wasn't even registering that Punk was there.

"Fucking hell." Dean winced, holding his side as Punk looked on with worry. He knew it wasn't normal to throw up blood, and it appeared that he was in a lot of pain.

"Ok, we're going to the hospital." Punk nodded, "C'mon." He said, trying to help Dean up, watching him clutch his side as he did so, suddenly starting to really worry about his best friend's health.