Nothing Else Matters


"Oh my God." Dean groaned as he walked out of his bedroom, holding his head as his eyes adjusted to the lighting. He'd never felt a headache like it.

"At least you're alive." Punk said as Dean turned to him over on the couch, "I thought your liver would have disintegrated overnight." He said as Dean groaned.

"I think death would be less painful." Dean groaned, walking over to the couch, "You stayed here all night?" He asked as he sat down on the couch across from Punk.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "I was scared to leave. Didn't want you to choke on your own vomit or anything." He said.

"I'm not sick when I drink." Dean reminded him.

"No, but… I wasn't chancing it." Punk said, "You were… you were pretty wrecked last night." Punk said as Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I can feel it." Dean nodded, "Did you take me home?"

"Yeah. Sal called me. He didn't want you to walk home yourself." Punk said, "So I came and got you."

"Phil to the rescue." Dean nodded, "You let AJ know you were staying here? She'd be worried."

"Yeah. I dropped her a text." Punk said, "She's off to work right now, and I'm planning to go visit that bitch who wrote that article about me." He said.

"Don't do anything crazy." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"I just wanna have a chat with her. I know you think Anna is in the wrong too, I don't disregard what she's done, but it looks like she's got a really fucked relationship with her mom." Punk said as Dean nodded.

"She still could have told us." Dean shook his head.

"Yeah, I know." Punk said, "But I'm just saying. A conversation between me and her is gonna be a lot different from a conversation between you and her." Punk reminded him, "I'm not the one who was in a relationship with her."

"Yeah, I know." Dean said, "I just feel like an idiot."

"Don't." Punk said, "It's best you two talk on your own." He nodded, "Maybe you'll come to an agreement, maybe you'll be able to see past everything, I don't know. It's between the both of you."

"Could you forgive her?" Dean asked him.

"I don't know." Punk said, "Maybe." Punk nodded, "She was doing what her mother told her, her mother who she seems terrified of. She was scared to lose her job, and maybe by not telling us, she thought that would be better."

"I doubt that." Dean said.

"I'm just trying to put myself in her shoes." Punk said, "I mean, clearly she loves you, or she wouldn't seem so sorry about the full thing." He shrugged, "I don't know. I'm looking at it as… she didn't write the article, she didn't push for it to be written and to dig up my past. That was the newspaper, her mom." Punk nodded.

"She still kept things from us and worked for her mom behind our backs." Dean said.

"I know." Punk said, "it's a hard one." He nodded, "Obviously you might feel stronger about it because… you're at lot closer to her than I am." He said, "So… you and her should talk."

"If it was AJ would you forgive her?" Dean asked.

"It's not realistic to compare. I've been with AJ since I was a kid. She wouldn't do something like this." Punk said.

"Well if it was back then, when you first started dating, and she lied to you, betrayed your trust… would you have forgave her?" Dean asked.

"I would have talked with her." Punk nodded, "For sure." He said, "And I'd try and see her side of the story. Because there's always two." He said, "I don't know, it's a hard one. If you love her the way I love AJ, then yeah, maybe you will find it in your heart to forgive her, but… it's not my place to say."

"It's all a fucking mess." Dean shook his head.

"It'll work itself out." Punk nodded, "Just hang low and drink some water." He said, standing up and stretching, "I needa go home and get changed before I go visit this woman." He said.

"Can I come with you?" Dean wondered as Punk looked across at him and nodded.

"Yeah. Ok." Punk nodded.


"Is this the tiredness starting to settle in?" Liz smiled, walking into AJ's office, catching AJ resting her head back on her chair whilst pretty much doing anything but work. Of course she made a light-hearted joke about it.

"I'm starting to feel it." AJ nodded, "Or I don't know if it's because of everything going on." She shook her head.

"Yeah, I read it in the paper." Liz said, "Awful what some people will do just to… pull a publicity stunt like that." She shook her head, "Trust me, in a few days it'll die down. No one wants to hear about the man who was falsely accused of a crime. No offence. I think they'd much rather focus on the bastards who actually did it." She said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to tell Phil. I know it'll fade out but… I know it bothers him. He acts all calm, like it doesn't matter what they've said in that article but I know he's bothered by it, and that bothers me."

"Well of course he'll be bothered by it." Liz said, "I would be if some stranger dug up my past and put it in the paper." She nodded, "He's probably trying not to worry you. You have more than yourself to look out for remember." She said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I know." AJ smiled, rubbing her belly, "I can't believe I'm seven months gone already. I'm starting to feel so unprepared." She shook her head.

"Oh, you'll just be panicking. It comes in waves." Liz nodded, "With my first, every second day I seemed to be worrying about something that didn't need to be worried about." She laughed a little, "If I could go back and give myself some advice it would be to enjoy it and stop worrying so much. You're only pregnant for the first time once." She said, "Second time won't be as special. Well, of course it'll be special but… you know what I mean."

"I really just wanna concentrate on this one first." AJ laughed a little as Liz smiled.

"Have you got a name picked out yet?" Liz asked her.

"We have but… we're… we're keeping it private." AJ nodded, "Even Phil's brother doesn't know and, he's desperate to find out." AJ smiled.

"Oh, of course." Liz smiled, "I can't wait to hear it." She said as AJ nodded, "If you're starting to get too tired and you're starting to feel the stress here in the office, you know you can take your leave soon." She said as AJ waved her hand.

"Oh, I'm fine. I just need a rest every now and then." She laughed a little, "I'm still good to go."

"Alright, but no one is forcing you to be here." Liz reminded her.

"I know but I want to be here." AJ said, "If I stayed at home I'd just be on the couch eating chocolate all day. It's healthier for me to be here." AJ said as Liz laughed lightly.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Liz smiled, "Well just take it easy." She said as AJ smiled and nodded.


Meanwhile, once Dean had gotten ready and powered through his awful hangover, Punk had also gotten changed and they both headed to the building which the newspapers were written in, going by the address Anna had gave him.

"Just stay calm, alright?" Punk asked Dean who was already twitching upon the environment they were walking into, strolling up to the reception area.

They stuck out like sore thumbs of course in their jeans and t-shirts amongst suits and dresses.

"Can I help you two gentleman?" The lady at reception asked.

"Yeah, we're looking for Jean Ferris. She'll wanna talk to us, trust me." Punk nodded as the women nodded and gulped.

"Her office is on the thirteenth flour." The woman said, "I'll let her know you're on your way up." She said. She recognised who they were of course.

"Thanks." Punk nodded, heading off to the elevator with Dean who had taken a handful of mints from the front desk, throwing them up and catching them in his mouth as they entered the elevator to take them up to the correct floor.

They walked out of the elevator once reaching the floor, walking along the corridor to find the correct office as they both walked in one after the other, not knocking, not being subtle, but pushing the door opened and walking straight in. They didn't have to show this woman respect at all.

"Got a minute?" Punk asked as Dean closed the door behind them, looking over at the woman behind her desk who seemed to be loving the scenario already.

"Actually, I was-"

"Great." Punk ignored her, "No, go on. Get your notebook and pen out… you gotta be a fast writer if you wanna get all of this down." He smirked as Jean just laughed and nodded.

"Phil, this was never personal, I mean c'mon… you have a… a unique story. Why would you not want people to know about it?"

"Unique?" Punk laughed, turning to Dean, "Unique?" He said as Dean shook his head, "That's not what that article insinuates." Punk said.

"In this day, not a lot of people get casually released from death row." Jean said.

"Ok, ok… then you tell me the link between me being on death row, and me having a girlfriend who is bipolar?" Punk asked, "Because that's what you wrote, that's what you brought up." He said.

"I was just stating facts." Jean shook her head, "Your girlfriend is bipolar. It's a fact."

"Yeah, and whose business is that to know? Not everyone in Chicago." Punk hissed, "And my mom… bringing her death into it? Newsflash, lots of kids lose a parent when they're young. So don't… don't act like that had anything to do with me being on death row either." Punk said, "I was on death row because-"

"Because one of your foster carers didn't like you and picked you out to cover up for a job he collaborated in with a drug mob boss." Jean said, "So that's when you ask yourself why you were in foster care? Because your mom died." Jean said, "There's always a link." She nodded.

"What'd you get out of this?" Dean asked, "Besides the money. Besides putting your daughter in a position she didn't want to be in. What's in it for you?"

"I love a good story." She said bluntly, looking at both of them in the eye, "And if you two want to sympathise with Anna, then be my guest, she loves the attention, she always has done." She waved her hand.

"You make her do your dirty work." Dean spat, "You threatened her job against her."

"I didn't exactly hold a gun to her head." Jean rolled her eyes as Dean shook his head, "And now she has feelings for you, which… isn't acceptable from where I'm standing." She said, "She's a beautiful young girl, intelligent, determined, gorgeous… why hang around with a damaged little boy with only his big brother to depend on." Jean looked at Dean fiercely who tensed angrily.

"This isn't about Anna." Punk said, "You wrote it. You envisioned the story. You told her to go plant things in my kitchen to listen in to my conversations with my girlfriend."

"Yeah, very sweet might I add." Jean smiled, "Although, all the sex was extremely off-putting." She shook her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My bad for thinking I could feel comfortable and safe in my own home." Punk spat, "You're incredibly lucky that you're as smart as you are, that you managed to write an article which has no skin to pick at for us to take you down for this, but don't you think that I won't go to the police for those chips you planted in my house."

"Oh, Phil. Why do you think I have Anna do those types of jobs?" Jean asked, "It'll be her who gets arrested. She put them there." She shook her head, "So go ahead, be my guest. I need a break from her anyway." She said, taking a sip of her water as Dean folded his arms. He'd never been more infuriated by a woman before, and was starting to wonder how Anna had dealt with her all this time.

"I hope you enjoy this whilst it lasts." Punk nodded, "Because in a few days, no one is gonna care about your story. There's other important things going on in the world right now. No one cares about the innocent guy who got let go from death row." Punk said, "So I hope you enjoyed this. Picking at my life, putting it out there for everyone to know about, for everyone to feel sorry for." Punk said, "But I'm gonna keep living my life. No matter what you or anybody else thinks of me." He said.

"Good for you." Jean nodded, "Now I'd stay away from me if I were you." She said, "You don't wanna make me angry." She shook her head.

"No, you don't wanna make me angry either." Punk said, walking further to her desk and placing his hands down on top of the wooden desk, looking into her eyes, "You're pathetic." He whispered as Jean just smiled to him.

He then pushed her glass of water over as it spilled all over the papers on her desk, "Oh my-" She stood up from her chair and desperately tried to save all her wet papers as Punk smiled and backed away, walking out of the office as Dean followed, smiling to themselves as Dean shoved Punk and messed around with one another as people in dresses and suits watched with confusion as they walked down the corridor.


Punk drove to Dean's apartment to drop him off. He felt so much better after talking to Jean and telling her where to go. It made him feel more confident in his life that no one could ever make him feel small or worthless of the life he was now living. He no longer cared about what people thought about him, all he cared about was his family, now more than ever.

"The look on her face man." Dean whistled as Punk smiled, sitting in the car outside the apartment.

"She can write what she wants. Doesn't matter." Punk shook his head, "We all know the truth. Who the fuck cares what she wants to say about me?" He shrugged as Dean nodded, "You might wanna… get out." Punk said, nodding over to the apartment block where Anna was standing outside waiting, "Hey." Punk said as he noticed Dean gaze over at her, "Talk it out. I'll back you with whatever you wanna do. She's still not in my good books but… despite what she's done, I know she's genuine… and her mother is literally the devil incarnate." Punk shrugged as Dean nodded.

"I don't know what to do." Dean sighed to himself.

"Go. Go talk to her." Punk squeezed his shoulder, "You'll work something out." He nodded as Dean sighed, running his hand through his hair and nodded.

"Yeah, ok. I'll see you around." Dean said casually, getting out of the car and closing the door over as he headed on over to Anna as Punk watched with a small smile, watching as they small talked and then headed on into the apartment block.


A/N: Let me know what you think!