September 2010

AJ had just walked backstage after her first episode of NXT. She skipped around searching for her best friend when Kaitlyn caught up and handed her a water.

"You were amazing Aj! I know I've said it before but I can't believe we made it!" She grabbed Aj and the two jumped up and down squealing.

"We are going to kick ass here," Aj mused, "WWE won't know what hit them!" The two were so thrilled they didn't notice someone watching them.

"Errhem," Eva Marie grumbled.

Aj spun around, "Oh, hey Nat!", she greeted her best friend. Eva gave a smug smile, she didn't seem to pleased by what she had just saw. Kaitlyn noticed the awkwardness of the situation, "Okay, well I'll see you later Aj!" and left rather quickly. Eva, arms crossed, never took her eyes off of Aj. They had been best friends since they were in Florida Championship Wrestling with each other. Her jealousy got a hold of her when Aj was getting more attention by the wrestling scouts then she was. The fact that Aj got moved up and she didn't had caused an even bigger rift in their friendship because of the jealousy.

Aj knew Eva was jealous and it made her feel terrible. She did her best to get Eva attention, like tonight she brought her to her first NXT show. She knew Eva's jealousy got even worse when Kaitlyn was around. Truth was, Aj thought of Kaitlyn as more of a friend than Eva. Since it was rumored that she and Kaitlyn were being moved up, Eva made her jealousy more apparent. She would diss Aj's ring gear, wrestling style, and even things that had nothing to do with wrestling. Aj recalled a memory of when her and Eva were shoe shopping.

"So since we already have tight dresses from those wrestling photo shoots we just need heels." Eva babbled. Aj rolled her eyes, "Nat, we already have heels and I can't afford to buy anymore." Now it was Eva's turn to roll her eyes.

"No, you know I can never have enough heels. You on the other had only have two pairs of shoes. Those black one inch heels that aren't sexy enough to get you noticed at a club and those ugly red Chuck Taylors," as Eva said this she looked down to glare at the "red eye sores" Aj was wearing at the moment.

"Hey! Come on you know I need to save money for wrestling and I love my Chucks!" Aj defended herself.

"April," Eva used Aj's real name when she wanted to make sure her best friend knew she was serious, "no WWE scout will take you seriously if they even see you in those for a second, not to mention how many guys it scares away. I wouldn't be caught dead even wearing that color."

"Look, I don't want to be moved up to WWE for how I look. I want to be noticed for my wrestling." She argued back. Eva taught her that since she was so small she couldn't let people walk on her so she tried to fight back whenever she could. She never won a fight with her best friend though since Eva had such a mean personality.

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm only looking out for you. I'm just telling you that wearing those shoes makes you look like a twelve year old," Eva fought back making sure her word stung as much as possible, "WWE doesn't hire girls who won't attract guys. That is basically what the Diva's are is just eye candy for the men. If you continue wearing what you do and you do get moved up, it will just be to give everyone a laugh. You will be like that loser Diva who goes around blowing bubbles and acting like a three year old." Aj was furious. The Diva's division was not just eye candy. They were so much more. Had Eva not heard her constantly raving about her idol Lita? Maybe the Diva's division was falling a bit but once she got there she wanted to make sure that no one just thought the Divas were just a bunch of "eye candy". Eva's rant had also demolished any self esteem she had left.

After their conversation, Aj had changed the way she presented herself. She bought more heels and more tight fitting dresses, shirts, and pants. It did give her a confidence boost to have all the guys looking at her but she didn't like acting like someone she wasn't. Her once loved red Chuck Taylors hid in the bottom of her gym bag, and when she even went to touch them she was attacked with constant insults from Eva.

Aj returned from her lingering thoughts to more insults from Eva.

"You made it so obvious that you couldn't walk in those heels, I swear you weren't even trying. Oh, another thing, there is this stuff called makeup and it makes you look prettier! What the hell, you make it to the next level and you can't even hold up your image. Then I catch you back here acting like a high school cheerleader with that wannabe Kaitlyn. Do you even care about our friendsh-" she was cut off when Aj began, "Stop! Listen I made it here because I worked my ass off! If you were involved in any part of it, it just dragged me down more!" A crowd began to form around them of the cast of NXT mixed with some of the WWE superstars who were their to mentor the rookies.

"Listen you little rat, if I didn't help you look like a woman, you would be skipping around in your stupid shoes being laughed at." Eva fought back. Aj had just about enough of Eva treating her like a doormat.

"You tell me to stand up for myself and when I do you chew my head off," AJ yelled at her now former best friend. "I'm done having you point out my flaws. It would be one thing if it was constructive criticism but you have always been a flat out bitch. I put up with it for so long and now i'm walking away from you," she began to walk away, but wanted to take on a challenge she felt was given to her, "and if you think I can't get anywhere by skipping around in my "stupid shoes" ...just wait!"

Aj stormed leaving a hot headed Eva behind her. She threw herself into the locker room looking for Kaitlyn. Though her tear soaked eyes she could see she was the only one inside. While wiping her eyes she unzipped her gym bag. She took of her show clothes and put on her yoga pants, grey fleece hoodie, and laced up her neglected red Chucks. She went to the bathroom and scrubbed off any makeup that she had previously applied to her face. When her eyes were no longer red she headed outside. Once she was in the parking lot she realized that Eva was her ride there and now long gone. Kaitlyn had left earlier with her boyfriend and Aj didn't want to interrupt anything. Looking around she realized that most of the wrestlers had already left. She crouched down on the step and flipped her hood up to shut out the cold air but it was no good. She pulled out her wallet to see how much cash she had to spare but realized that she only had enough to stay at a run down motel. From her past she had no problem doing so but she would have to trek the streets in the cold for many miles to find a motel cheap enough to stay at.

As she stood up she heard the door open behind her. Out of the door appeared CM Punk. Once he saw Aj he immediately smiled remembering the small firecracker from the fight earlier. He loved how she lit up backstage after she came from the ring. He heard she was a true wrestling fan which he felt was something this company needed more of. He realized he probably looked like a creep just staring at her smiling but there was something about her that just couldn't figure out. Just being in her presence felt...right. Aj saw him smile at her and immediately felt warm. She didn't know how long they were staring at each other but she didn't know what to say. She was such a fan and didn't want to say anything stupid.

"Oh my god! You're CM Punk!"...so much for not saying anything stupid. Punk's smile just got even bigger though. Most of the rookie Divas tried to act cool and act like they didn't know him. His conceded side told him that they knew, which made them fake, which was something he hated. He realized he was still smiling and staring so he fumbled out, "Oh uhh yeah I guess I am haha," he rubbed the back of his neck knowing he needed to chill out, then continued, "You were the rookie from the argument backstage earlier right?" He knew it was probably a sore subject but he didn't know what else to say. He was too busy being a mentor to Darren Young to pay attention to the whole NXT show. His mentoring role was an on screen thing but he took it very seriously.

Aj was at loss for words. She was so embarrassed that The CM Punk had witnessed her fighting on her first day. "Oh you saw that? Well I mean I guess everyone saw that...wait I didn't mean to sound like I was full of myself...I meant-"

"Nahh don't sweat it," Punk cut off the stuttering Aj, "It's not like word of it wouldn't have gotten around anyway." He then noticed she was shivering. "So I'm guessing from the fight that the other girl was your friend and I'm also going to guess that since you're still standing here means she was your ride home?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure there is a motel within walking distance. It was nice to meet you, but I'm you have got to be tired so I will just be going!" Aj didn't want to be a burden on him but as she went to walk away he lightly grabbed her arm. It sent a tingling feeling through her body, all she could think was, "Wow."

"First of all, I'm never tired," Punk stated, "Second, you are crazy if you think I'm going to let you stay at any of the motels in this area, let alone walk down the street in this weather especially at night."

Aj went to argue back but he would let her get a word in. He knew at that point he was already attached to her.

"You can stay on my tour bus. The couch turns out to be a really comfy bed. My room is a total disaster otherwise you would be sleeping there," he continued to talk, "And I know I'm a complete stranger that you have every right not to trust but-" That is when Aj cut him off, "Thank you." was all she said. The two sealed the deal with a nod. They remained quite as they walked to Punk's bus and headed inside. They both hiked the stairs and stood in the kitchen/living room/ dining room. He looked over at Aj to try reading her expression. He then quickly scanned over the room. He noticed he missed the trashcan when he went to throw a banana out earlier, left a plate out on the table, and had dirty T-shirt thrown over the back of the couch. He went right to his nervous habit and started to rub the back of his neck and peeked out over his arm at Aj again. He was relieved to see smile had appeared on her face. She then bounced over to the couch, made herself at home by grabbing a stray pillow, squeezed it to her stomach and rested her chin on it.

"I love it!" she decided. Punk gave her a weird expression. This girl was weird if she loved this dump.

"Yeah, it's a piece of work." Was all he said as he quietly sat down next to her.

"No really," Aj assured him, "It has a homey feeling to it." She continued to smile as she looked over at him. She then noticed her favorite video game by his TV.

"Oh my god no way," she squealed, "You have Metal Gear Solid!" He was surprised she knew what that was.

"Yeah it's one of my favorites," he smiled at her enthusiasm, "Personally, I would say that I am very much like Solid Snake." Aj laughed at his comment, "You are not cool enough to be anywhere near like Solid Snake!" she teased. He jokingly put a hand over his heart and put on his best "hurt" face. Then becoming panicked that there would be an awkward silence, decided to ask about her friend.

"So what was the deal with you and your friend," he carefully questioned.

"Well," Aj started, "she has always just tried to shoot me down. I'm sure you heard a lot of it during the fight."

"No I was just caught up in how hot it is to see two girls fighting," he teased. She reached over and thumped him over the head. Which caused him to pinch her, which caused her to tackle him.

"Well that escalated quickly," he chuckled. The two were now laying next to each other. He looked over at her appreciating her natural beauty. Then she looked over at him and he was frozen. Her eyes were so big, brown, and...stunning. She too was frozen staring into his memorizing green eyes. The dark bags underneath didn't frighten her. It just drew her in, wanting to know the story behind them. They slowly were moving closer and closer to each other without realizing it. Punk then allowed his eyes to dash to her lips. They looked so soft and pure. His hand reached up and cupped her smooth warm face. There lips were about to meet when Aj's phone went off. It jolted the two out of their trance and they shot up back into a sitting position. Punk cleared his throat and said, "Uhh maybe you should look at that." He looked down at his feet not believing what came over him. Aj snatched her phone and hid her blushed cheeks behind her hair.

"It's a text from Natalie." She tried to settle her voice. It read,

I put all your stuff in a box. Don't worry I wouldn't take any of your ugly shit. I'm gunna put it outside out door tomorrow. If it's still there when I get back at 9pm I'm gunna throw it in the dumpster.

"Well that was pleasant..." She mumbled

"What?" Punk asked not hearing her.

"Would you be able to bring me to my apartment tomorrow so she doesn't throw out my stuff?" Aj asked frantically.

"Yeah, of course," he would do anything to take the worry off her face, "you can stay here until you get settled."

"Thank you so much, I don't know how I can thank you!"

"Thank me by proving that bitch wrong," he said as he stood up. He went to the cabinet and pulled out the most comfortable blanket he could find and tossed it to her.

"Easily!" Aj promised and snuggled into the couch with the blanket and pillow. Punk was walking out back to his room when he turned around.

"And by the way," he looked over his shoulder, "I love the shoes."

Aj watched as he walked away and couldn't help but smile uncontrollably. They both became best friends after that night but couldn't deny that there was something even more special between them

Author Note: This is my first story! I just want everyone to understand that I do the best research I can as far as characters are involved because I want to keep the facts as close to real life as possible. As far as Eva is involved in the story, I had to make up her background. Obviously she didn't do FCW with Aj but I wanted her to be one of the main villains. I hope you enjoy my story and hopefully there will be many more chapters to follow. In future chapters it will be more up to date than this, I just wanted to create a solid foundation for how Aj and CM Punk met. I hope you enjoyed the story and I would love to hear from you!