Title: New Year, New Beginning
Author: Karen U/revivingophelia
Pairing/Character: Eve Torres/Seth Rollins, CM Punk
Disclaimer: No one you recognize belongs to me
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Eve attends the WWE's New Year's party.
Spoilers: sequel to Meet Me at Midnight.
Warnings: a little language.
Notes: happy new year, everybody! :)
She smoothed out the skirt of her dress, hating that she felt a little nervous. Honestly, she hadn't been looking forward to this mostly mandatory New Year's Eve party at all - who wanted to ring in the new year with their coworkers instead of their friends and family for goodness' sake - but that had been before. Before she'd been caught under some of the mistletoe that AJ Lee had hung all over the arena with none other than Seth Rollins... A guy that she'd had something of an attraction to for a little while, and after tonight, after finding out he could kiss like *that* and that he apparently had some sort of interest in her, too... Well, yeah. Now she was nervous. Because he would be at this party - as would the rest of the Shield - and they'd said something about making sure they were near each other at midnight which was... oh, all of half an hour away. Half an hour to wonder if he'd really meant it... half an hour to wonder what people would think if he had meant it and they did end up kissing at midnight. Not that she really cared too much about what other people thought. It was just that she kind of worried about what the rest of the Shield would think, because obviously they would be wherever Seth was at this party. They kind of stuck together and all... Truth was, she'd been pretty shocked that Seth had been alone when she'd run into him - literally - earlier.
Shaking her head, Eve Torres forced herself to step forward and into the mostly dark room that was housing the party, the divas' champion looking around the hotel's ballroom at her co-workers, trying to find someone that she wouldn't hate spending the next few minutes with. Unfortunately, that list was short, at least partly because half the guys that were nice to her were only nice because they wanted to hit on her (and somehow thought that creeps like Zack and Cena had gotten farther with her than they had and that they could, too... Which was utter BS. She'd kissed Zack - mostly to mess with his head - and she'd kissed Cena, but neither of them had ever gotten more than a kiss from her. She actually had standards, unlike AJ, who would makeout with anybody and pretty much anything.)
A wave from a corner caught her eye, and Eve squinted slightly into the darkness, not sure at first that the wave was for her, but then she saw who it was and he kept waving, so she started to make her way over to where CM Punk sat at one of the tables at the edge of the room. He was, in fact, actually waving one of his crutches at her to get her attention. Smiling slightly at the sight of him nearly hitting Epico in the head with the crutch as the man got a little too close, Eve eased her way to where the WWE champion was, sitting down in the chair he'd indicated.
"I would get up, but..." He shrugged, trailing off, and Eve rolled her eyes.
"You're not that much of a gentleman?" she finished for him, and he gave her an offended look that was entirely over-exaggerated, actually putting a hand on his chest as he looked at her, wide-eyed and all affronted.
"Ms. Torres, you wound me!" he declared, and the divas' champion arched a brow at him.
"I highly doubt that. And if I wanted to wound you, I would just take your crutch and hit you in the head with it," she said, then tilted her head to the side, giving him a considering look. "Well, maybe not. I mean, your head is just so hard..."
"You're such a bitch sometimes, Torres," Punk said, and Eve smirked at him.
"Right back at you, Punk," she replied, reaching out to accept the drink that he'd picked up from the table and was now holding out to her. She arched a brow as she looked at it.
"Just Diet Pepsi. I know you don't drink, and you know I wouldn't pull anything on you," he told her, and Eve nodded before taking a sip, knowing that was true. Punk would never order something alcoholic and then tell the person that it wasn't, and she knew damn good and well that he wouldn't do anything else weird with her drink, either.
"You got me a drink, waved me down as soon as I got here... If I didn't know better, I'd think you were waiting for me or something," the diva mused, and Punk shrugged.
"Not many people in this company that are worth my time, and it was made all too clear that Paul wasn't invited, so... And besides that, I wanted to talk to you," he said, and something in the way that he was looking at her - she could see it even through the dim lighting - made her absolutely certain that CM Punk had heard about what had happened between her and Seth Rollins... Which wasn't entirely surprising. After all, Layla had actually witnessed it, and then the other diva had run off, most likely to tell everyone she saw what had happened and, well... The WWE had a gossip grapevine like no other, which meant most of the roster probably already knew about the incident with Eve Torres, Seth Rollins, and a sprig of mistletoe. There was probably security footage of it, and someone like Cena or that idiot Ryder or that brat Kaitlyn would probably try to get their hands on it to air it on the show or something.
Of course, even though she was almost certain that she knew what CM Punk wanted to talk about, Eve didn't just jump into it. He was going to be the one to bring it up, not her. She lifted her drink to her lips, taking a sip before speaking. "What do we have to talk about?"
He smirked at her. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe about a rumor I heard going around. From what I understand, Layla's the one that started it." He arched a brow at her. "Does Eve need to cut a bitch?"
The divas' champion let out an indelicate snort before taking another swallow of her Diet Pepsi. "Please. Layla isn't exactly worth my time," she said with a roll of her eyes.
"Okay then. Now, about the rumor, I have to ask-"
"Punk-"
"Do I need to go all 'protective big brother' and beat the crap out of Rollins with my crutch, or-"
"Oh, lord. The last thing I need is for you to go protective big brother," Eve said, then made a face. "I really don't need to think of what it would be like if you were my brother, either. That's like, nightmare-inducing material right there."
"Being related to me would be a nightmare? That hurts, Eve. Right through the heart," Punk told her, making a dramatic stabbing motion at his own chest, like he was being stabbed in the heart or something. Eve rolled her eyes at his antics.
"You really are a freak."
"And yet you still hang out with me. What does that say about you?" Punk asked, and Eve shrugged her shoulders.
"Glutton for punishment, I guess," the diva stated, all of a sudden aware that the WWE champion was no longer looking at her but was instead looking at something over her shoulder. There was a slight smirk touching his lips as he reached for his own drink and took a sip, and even before she glanced over her shoulder, Eve had a pretty strong suspicion of what - or who - she would see.
Seth Rollins.
Well, not just Rollins, actually, but the entirety of the Shield. Seth Rollins, however, was the only one that was currently approaching the table that she and CM Punk were seated at. As she flipped her hair back over her shoulder and sat up a bit straighter, squaring her shoulders, Eve was sure that she saw the WWE champion smirk a bit at her reaction to the sight of Rollins coming their way, but there was nothing she could do about that. Okay, maybe she could kick Punk in his bad knee, but she didn't really want to hurt the guy and it would also be totally undignified. She'd already acted like a bit of a bumbling idiot in front of Seth Rollins earlier that night; she didn't want to make things worse by reacting to Punk's all-too-knowing expression right now.
Rollins came to a stop near the table, his hands in the pockets of the dark jeans he was wearing. If he was aware of the way a large portion of the other divas and superstars were looking at him - either glaring or watching him warily - he didn't show it. The truth was, if it weren't for the fact that a hefty fine and an unpaid suspension of an undetermined length had been threatened for anyone that started a fight at the party tonight, then the guys of the Shield probably would have been attacked en masse upon entering the room. As it was, the rest of the company had to just content itself with glaring and saying nasty things under their breath instead. Of course, once SmackDown rolled around, all bets were off again.
As he stood there, Seth cut a look toward Punk, frowning slightly, and the WWE champion gave him a winning smile, lifting the soft drink he held in his hand as if in a toast. "Don't worry, man. Eve's just my friend. Also my pretend little sister because I've decided I don't have enough real little sisters."
Eve rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him. He's a freak," the diva said, shaking her head, though she knew that amusement was coloring the look that she gave the WWE champion.
"I'll keep that in mind," Rollins said. "I thought maybe we were meeting at midnight," he continued, and Eve looked down at the watch on her wrist.
"Well, it's not quite midnight yet, so we still have some time," she countered, drawing a small smile from the man, then blinking in something like surprise when he suddenly reached a hand out to her.
"Do you want to dance?" Seth questioned, giving her another smile. "Might have heard a rumor that it's something you like to do."
"Yes, but she dances like a cheerleader or drill team member or something," Punk stated, then smiled when Eve glared at him. "I've seen the old videos from when you were on the Clippers dance team, my dear. Not to mention the fact that you used to walk out with R-Truth." He looked over at Rollins. "Trust me. There's not enough room on the dance floor for Eve to dance like that-"
"Shut up, Punk," Eve told him, then looked over at Rollins. "Just ignore him. And I would love to dance," the woman said, reaching out to take the hand that Seth was holding out to her as she rose from her seat, allowing the man to lead her out to the dance floor... All too aware of all the eyes that were on them. It seemed they had the attention of half the roster or more, and whether it was simply because it was the sight of Seth Rollins of the Shield and Eve Torres on the dance floor, or because of what Layla had told half the world about them earlier, Eve didn't know. As she felt Seth's hand settle at her waist, she decided she didn't really care, either.
Seth's gaze flicked around before settling back on her. "We have quite the audience. I think your little buddy Layla must have just about told the world about what she saw."
"Well, I'm sure she was excited about it. It's probably the most action she's been near all year," Eve replied, drawing a larger smile from Rollins.
"You have a vicious streak. I think I like it."
"Good to know," Eve said, unconsciously toying with the collar of the button-up shirt that the man was wearing. "I kind of like your vicious streak, too. I keep hoping you'll use it against Zack Ryder or something."
Rollins smiled. "I think that could be arranged. The guy's annoying as hell anyway. He deserves to have the crap kicked out of him just because of his stupid catchphrases," the man said, then tilted his head slightly to the side. "You know, Dean and Roman asked me if I knew what I was getting myself into... Kissing you tonight. Coming up to you now."
"Well, I imagine Punk was working his way up to asking me that before you came over." The diva rolled her eyes. "He really is kind of like the older brother I never wanted. At least lately, anyway." She arched a brow at the man she was dancing with. "So... When Ambrose and Reigns asked you if you knew what you were getting yourself into... What did you tell them?" she asked, the diva hearing the difference in the way she spoke and the way he did... Seth easily used the first names of the other members of the Shield, but she stuck to the last names, because she sure as hell didn't know them well enough to do otherwise. She really didn't know them at all. She barely knew Seth, really... But there was just something about him that made her feel like she did, or at least made her want to know more. A lot more.
He lifted his hand for a moment, tucking a stray lock of her hair back from her face. She tried not to reach to the way his fingers brushed her cheek as he did so. "I told them that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But that I really wanted to find out," he replied, and Eve couldn't help the smile that came to her lips at that.
"I like that answer."
"I was hoping you might," he told her, starting to lean forward, and Eve pulled back just the slightest bit. She saw the flicker of surprise in his gaze and gave him a coy look.
"It's not even midnight yet, you know..."
"Close enough. And we can kiss again when midnight comes anyway," he replied, and Eve grinned at him as she leaned closer.
"I like that answer," she said, repeating her words from just seconds before, and Rollins smiled at her before leaning forward again, repeating his own words just an instant before his lips touched hers.
"I was hoping you might."
The End