February 2, 2012

Punk's self-imposed Chicago exile was just what he needed to get some perspective on his current situation even though it put him through the emotional ringer. He found himself sitting on the counter in his bathroom, staring into the drawer that had been designated as John's. Although the toiletries had no emotional connections, they were still John's and they were the one last shred of John he still had in his life. He found himself packing and unpacking John's things over and over, shoving them to the back of his closet only to pull them out again because just knowing they were there was emotionally taxing. He had taken to sleeping in one of John's old Cenation T's which was just further proof that he would never be able to sever the connection between him and John. He ran countless miles in the park, turning over in his mind the few options that were left for him. He finally decided that he would give John one last chance. Although Punk wasn't one to lay down ultimatums the situation called for it, and he would make John choose. Either he wanted him or he wanted Ryder but he couldn't have both. Punk yearned for John to pick him but was scared to death of what would happen to him if John's decision went the other way.

February 3, 2012

When Punk arrived at the first house show he immediately looked for John because all the things he needed to say to him were wearing him down. He looked everywhere but he was nowhere to be found.

"Are you looking for John by any chance?" Eve asked, an unreadable smile on her face.

"Yeah, have you seen him?"

"He's not going to be here. He brought Zack home with him to Tampa so he would have someone to take care of him."

"Oh, thanks for letting me know."

"No problem, we are co-conspirators you know."

Punk turned on his heel and found the most remote empty room he could find. He slid down against the closed door and tucked his head into his knees. His blood had run cold when Eve revealed John and Ryder's whereabouts. John had brought Ryder home with him to Tampa? Punk's mind starting looping all the memories he and John had shared in that house, and just like Punk's apartment, Punk had things that he had left at John's house. He could just imagine the bonfire Ryder would start, erasing the last concrete connection between him and John. It was really over. Ryder had supplanted Punk in every place he had occupied in John's life. He wiped the tears off his cheeks that he had barely reined in when he had spoken to Eve. He looked into a mirror in the empty locker room. The tears where gone but he was frighteningly pale and looked like he could keel over at any second.

Punk headed back to the arena entrance to face Miz who was perceptive as all hell and Punk knew he would take advantage of his fragile state. Punk put his best effort forward but considering his situation that wasn't very much. Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale but Punk rolled out of the way to prevent a pin, going under the ropes, and he fell to the floor. He had no intention of getting back in the ring; Miz could have his count out win. He felt himself being dragged up and thrown back into the ring. He looked to ringside and found Kofi looking at him like he had lost his fool mind. Punk realized that he just needed to get this over and done with so he could find somewhere to just fall apart. He quickly finished the match with a kick to Miz's head. He and Kofi returned to the locker room and headed to the hotel. They entered their room and Punk collapsed on the bed, fully dressed and turned his back to Kofi to stare listlessly at the wall. Kofi tried to coax him to go to dinner but with his stomach as twisted up as it was there would be no way he could keep it down. Punk would see John tomorrow at Raw but Punk knew there was nothing left to say to John now. It was all over.

February 6, 2012

Monday Night Raw

Punk walked into the arena in Oklahoma City glad to be at work for once. It was a well-needed distraction, needed even more so by John's continued absence. He wasn't going to terrorize his mind making up more and more painful theories of what was transpiring in Tampa. He had done enough of that during the string of house shows. He still had the Ziggler issue to face. He had also been absent at the house shows. Punk knew now that as appealing as Ziggler appeared he was not John and no one deserved dating him while he was pining over something he could never have. Kofi was treating him like he was made out of glass but Punk was putting on a brave face because the last thing he needed right now was a very uncomfortable pep talk from Randy. They made their way to the monitor bay, Punk sticking close to Randy and Kofi so that Ziggler had no opportunity to get anywhere near him. A road agent approached him and Kofi, informing that that they would be competing in a Six Pack Challenge to determine who would be entering the Elimination Chamber last. Punk was glad to have some real competition, a little chaos and violence would go a long way to lifting his spirits.

The show opened with Hunter revealing that he had fully intended to fire Laurinaitis last week before he was interrupted by the Undertaker's reappearance. Laurinaitis had cut Hunter off at the pass, going over his head to the Board of Director's in an attempt to keep his job. Laurinaitis was expected to be in attendance tonight and Punk hoped it was with a pink slip in hand. Hunter began explaining his reasons for refusing the Undertaker's challenge. Punk couldn't believe the things that were coming out of Hunter's mouth; Hunter saying the Undertaker deserved his pity for trying to recapture something that was no longer there. He actually felt sorry for Hunter because he knew that the Undertaker would not take this slight lightly.

Punk watched the rest of the show impassively. That was until Jericho's music began playing through the arena. There was no running around like a hyperactive child who had forgotten their Ritalin. He looked like he was finally going to address the circumstances of his return, and he had Punk's full attention. Jericho was finally going to string more than five words together.

He began by mocking the fans for buying into the strange behavior he had been exhibiting, going so far to admit to trolling them.

"Oh great, now he's started talking in full sentences we'll never get him to shut up," Randy voiced, already exasperated with Jericho, snickers coming from behind him from the roster members that had overheard him.

Then he turned his ire to the roster, calling them all Chris Jericho wannabes and being made obsolete just by Jericho's mere presence. No matter the current alliances, the whole roster was offended. Punk heard 'asshole' 'idiot' 'jackass' and a host of other expletives yelled out by offended wrestlers.

Then Jericho took aim at the rest of the competitors in the Elimination Chamber. He accused Miz of copying his manner of dress and style of speaking.

"Seriously!" Miz yelled out, obviously pissed as hell.

"Seriously!" The whole roster parroted back at Miz.

He then attacked Kofi, accusing him of stealing Jericho's use of high flying maneuvers.

"Jericho has a time machine! He went back to the 70's and became the first person to go off the top rope!" Kofi said with mocking amazement. Hanging around him was making Kofi more sarcastic by the day.

R-Truth was next, Jericho charging with stealing his use of catch phrases.

"Jericho won't be able to say anything with a mouthful of spiders!" Punk felt his shoulders shake at the insanity that was Truth before shuddering at the mental image of having a mouthful of spiders.

Ziggler and Vickie were next on the list when Jericho claimed to have invented the use of female managers.

The entire roster turned around when a laugh rang out through the monitor bay. Vickie was cracking up laughing, not shrieking, not cackling, but full out laughing. Even Ziggler was looking at her like she had lost her damn mind.

Of course Jericho charged Punk as the main offender and proceeded to go through a laundry list of complaints, mainly centered on his erroneous, at least according to Jericho, use of the moniker of best in the world.

The roster turned to look at Punk, waiting for him to go off but they were disappointed. Punk just continued to watch Jericho complain with a small smile on his face. Jericho contended that he was the best in the world at everything he does. Punk wondered if that included looking like Christmas decorations.

"That is it! I'm going out there and punch him in his delusional mouth!" Miz yelled, jumping to his feet.

"Miz, chill. Guys, I'll go out there and take care of this," Punk said, also standing up.

Miz stood with his fists clenched by his side, staring Punk down. Punk thought he was going to have a problem until Miz smirked and held his hand out in front of him as if to say, have at it."

Punk entered the arena belt in one hand and mic in the other held behind his back. The crowd was with him but when he revealed the mic they came unglued. Jericho didn't seem to be very happy that his tiresome tirade and been interrupted. Punk walked slowly towards Jericho, entering the ring and staring him down. He opened his mouth to respond in kind but then realized that wasn't the way to really send Jericho through the roof. He dropped the mic and held the belt in the air above Jericho's head. He turned his back to Jericho so that he got a good look at what was printed on the back of his shirt, and then he just walked out, Jericho screaming at his retreating back.

"Come back and talk to me wannabe!"

Punk just kept walking back to the monitor bay.

"I thought you were going out there to drop an epic pipe bomb, not impersonate a mute!" Miz yelled.

"Did you see the look on his face? He was angrier that I didn't say a damn word instead of playing into his hands. He'll get a bomb dropped on him, just give me time," Punk assured the irate roster.

Punk's good mood after that little exchange couldn't even be brought down by the reappearance of Laurinaitis, announcing the return of Shawn Michaels next week and John vs. Kane in an Ambulance match at Elimination Chamber. Punk thought that the way things were going with John and Kane the match would have ended with someone leaving in an ambulance regardless.

The competitors in the Six Pack Challenge were clustered around the ring entrance, with Jericho on one side of the gorilla position and everyone else on the other. Punk was watching Jericho closely when it finally dawned on him that he had united everyone against him and that every single one of them had Jericho at the top of their hit list. They all entered the arena, and just as Punk had predicted, Jericho was attacked by everyone in the ring, except himself, just watching the melee unfold. He picked the closest person to him, which happened to be Miz, and tried to roll him up for a pin. This seemed to reorient everyone else to what they were actually supposed to be doing in the ring, and Jericho rolled out the ring in as much of a hurry as a person who had just been beat to all hell could. After that the match degenerated into pure pandemonium, everyone desperate to get the advantageous final entry position. Punk couldn't help but notice that Jericho was nowhere to be found. The ring eventually cleared out, bodies strewn around ringside and Punk found himself face to face with Jericho who had finally decided to reenter the match. The stare down only resulted in both of them being attacked from behind.

The match continued until he was left alone in the ring with Ziggler, connecting with the GTS and he went for the pin, only to be pulled out by his legs and thrown across the announce table. Punk didn't need to see who was responsible when he heard Jericho's music sound through the arena. Punk finally collected himself to sit up only to see Jericho sitting Indian style in the middle of the ring, holding HIS title. Who was infringing on gimmicks now? Punk could live without entering last, as long as he finished first, but Jericho outright mocking him had him ready to kill. Jericho abandoned the belt in the ring before Punk could recover and choke him out in the ring like he deserved.

Punk made his way back to the locker room and showered, sticking like glue to Kofi to keep Ziggler at bay. He had managed to avoid him all night but he knew his luck couldn't hold out for that long. He reached the safety of his and Kofi's hotel room and that was when the phone calls started, Ziggler calling every hour on the hour. Punk eventually silenced his phone but it kept vibrating all the same. At 2AM Punk finally gave up the fight. Kofi was fast asleep and Punk took his phone into the bathroom.

"Why do you keep calling me?"

"Meet me in the lobby."

"No."

"Come on, you know you want to."

"No. Stop calling."

"You said you'd think about it, it's been a week."

"Do you really want to be my rebound after John?"

"You'll come to adore me, everyone does."

"Well I won't be adoring you at 2AM."

"We have 3 days in Abu Dhabi; you won't be able to avoid me forever."

Punk pressed end on his phone. He wouldn't be able to avoid Ziggler forever, and that was what he was afraid of. Punk lay back in bed and contemplated the trip to the UAE. It would be the first time in a while that he was jetting off to some exotic locale without John at his side to share it with. He had 3 days of Kofi chaperoning him, Ziggler trying to get him alone and the pain of being around John to look forward to. It was going to be a long trip.

AN: First I wanted to send a shout out to CaptainYuzuki18 for changing my desktop background and to HeartDeNijs for making me cry and them attempting to assassinate me all in one week. I survived the attempt, barely, and I live to write another day.

Like most people I am susceptible to flattery and your reviews make me want to live up to the hype and deliver new material as soon as possible so you don't grow bored of waiting and abandon me. This chapter is more transitional than anything, which is code for the next chapter being a swervy trip to crazy land. Hope you enjoy!