Quick note: Thanks for the reviews, guys, I like reading what you think of this little story! Also, if you like this pairing, check out a story called 'The sweetness in chocolate makes wine taste sour' by Violets in the rain, it's a nice story with Punk and Eve that you may like. Anyway, now that that's said, please enjoy ;)
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If there was a thing that Eve Torres has learnt through the years, it was that it was harder to drown when you had your chin up. Yes… ever since realizing this, the WWE Diva has decided to keep that statement close to her heart and that was why she refused to walk into any kind of crowd if it wasn't with her head held up high, because she would rather hurt her neck for straining it to high than allowing herself to drown in the adversity that seemed to be always following her around.
Call it pride or call it self-preservation, Eve didn't even really care what it was; the only thing that she knew was that she would give no one the satisfaction of ever seeing her drown.
So yeah, after the John experience, this strategy seemed adequate to use and despite being very aware of the things people talked behind her back, she always kept her head way too high. She did likewise when the WWE Universe took a liking to calling her hoeski, she never bowed her head down when her supposedly good friends turned their back on her and her chin was up every single time she ran into Cena and his always mocking grin.
It was hard, no one would know how hard… but despite bending her and changing her into a person she never thought she would become, they never managed to break down the walls she has built all around her.
At least not until Punk came along and took her unaware, tearing all her protective walls down and scattering the pieces far away so that she would be close enough to being unable to build them back up.
Punk… shaking her head and blinking her eyes for a couple of times, Eve blew out a breath as she kept walking down the corridor of the arena where the WWE performed that night. She was on her wait out, the show has ended long ago and now that everyone seemed to be gone, she was dragging her rolling suitcase behind her as she once again tried to decipher how the hell did she get sucked into Punk's little games.
Now, thinking about what happened with the Chicago native always lead her to the come up with the same conclusion, that it was ridiculous and even stupid for her to feel so down and beat up after his betrayal; after all they had done nothing more than fool around a few times and that was it.
But yeah, even though there has been nothing serious really going on between them and even though three weeks had passed by since she found out about whatever kind of sick game Punk and John had been playing with her, Eve still couldn't shake away the feeling of betrayal eating her entrails.
There was anger too… after all he used her in the same manner that John had used her and in her mind she was in all her rights to be bitter about it all.
Not that Punk would ever know about that feeling, not in this life… because yeah, even though she has seen him several times, she has gone out of her way to evade a one on one encounter so there has been no exchange between them. Besides, she would rather die a thousand times than going to him and admit how bad he had shaken her.
"Eve, wait."
As the sound of that voice caught her attention, Eve rolled her eyes and puffed out a breath; as she did that, the brunette focused her gaze on the path ahead and wondered how long would it take her to reach the exit door and make it to her rental car to leave it all behind.
"Eve." The man insisted and when she felt a something grabbing her upper arm, she turned to him and pushed his hand away. "Don't touch me. I've told you this before."
Not even minding her words or the harsh tone accompanying them, the man took off his cap and ran a hand over his head. "Listen, I know you are mad at me and you are in all your right. I was a jerk and I apologize, but come on… you have to give us a second chance."
When John said that, he smiled sheepishly his infamous dimple smile and Eve wondered how come that she had once found that smile to be so charming.
Hell, she once thought him to be the perfect man for her and that belief ended up being her demise. She was stupid back then… stupid enough to let him blindside her and conceal his real intentions so that he could take advantage of that stupid defect she used to have of trusting too much. Yup, she basically handed him the chance to play her for a fool and as if that wasn't enough, he made the whole world judge her weakness.
"I swear I'll make it up to you so come on, babe." He said reaching for her chin.
Looking deep into his eyes, Eve licked her lips and squinted her eyes. "You know, John… If you really want to make it up to me then leave me the hell alone. Stop following me around and begging me, you look pathetic."
With that said, she turned around and meant to walk away; but before she could give one step forward, John once again grabbed her arm and pulled her to him; only that this time he did it with more force until she slammed against him, and once he had her close enough, he held her hands to her back so she couldn't use them against him like she did the previous time.
"Don't play difficult with me, you little slut;" He said darkly. "With your reputation you should be flattered that I'm putting my attention back on you."
Clenching her teeth, Eve struggled to break free of his hold. It was impossible though, he was stronger and his grip too firm. "Get your hands off, I'm only going to warn you once."
"Come on babe, don't fight it, we both know that you want this even more than I do." Watching as he leaned forward as if to kiss her, Eve turned her head to the side and grunted.
"Come on Cena, you heard the lady here; get your hands off."
As soon as that raspy female voice resonated through the corridors, John let go off Eve. She was glad, even though if she hated that someone has been witness of the way he had overpowered her.
"Nat, what are…" John began to say in what sounded like an easy going chuckle, but as he looked to the newcomer, he stopped any attempt of talking.
"And don't just stand there, start walking and get the fuck out."
Now, Eve didn't bother to turn around when she first heard Natalya talking, but this person that was now talking wasn't her… no, it was Punk and upon hearing his voice she couldn't help but to turn.
Now, the first thing that she noticed upon looking at him was that he was standing side by side with Natalya, his arms folded up to his chest and his eyes fixed completely on John. He seemed to also be on his way out… at least judging by the bag hanging from his shoulder.
"This is no business of yours, Punk, so keep your nose out."
"Well since you took it out here to the corridor, I'm making it my business. Now get out before I make you."
Through wide eyes, Eve looked from one man to the other, the tension in the air thick enough to make her choke.
"Are you alright?" She heard Natalya ask and pursing her lips tight, she lifted her head up high.
Yeah, the woman was talking to her so she replied. "I'm fine." But she wasn't, there was a lot of anger simmering deep within her and seeing both Punk and Cena in the same room was making her want to release it all.
But no, she was not going to do that. A big part of keeping herself afloat was making sure to hold herself together and because she was not going to give either one of them the pleasure of seeing her crumble, she grabbed her suitcase and with her chin up she began to walk down the corridor once again.
The walk felt eternal, but she kept going forward and when she finally reached the exit door, she stepped out into a dark rainy night.
"Of course it was going to be raining outside." Walking across the parking lot, she mumbled under her breath as she felt the rain pouring hard over her. And really, why wouldn't it be raining? It seemed to fit into the whole picture.
Hell, it wouldn't surprise her either if her car wouldn't start or that she would drop the keys in a puddle of something; because when someone was hit with a case of bad luck, everything happened at once.
"Hey, where the hell do you think you are going?"
Snorting, Eve shook her head. Yeah… and here it was again, her tale of unfortunate events continued. It started earlier in her match when she landed all wrong and twisted her ankle and apparently it was going to end with Punk walking after her just after her little altercation with John.
Wiping water out of her eyes, Eve decided that she was going to ignore him, make it to her car and drive away; but as soon as she made the choice, her body acted on its own accord and before she knew it she was facing him.
"Was that little show for my benefit, uh? Did you two decided to keep the games rolling. If so, who decided on the roles? Did you draw sticks to pick who was going to be the bad guy and who the savior?"
Oh, because she got it now. It was too much of a coincidence that every night when Cena decided to go after her, Punk was always somewhere near by to 'save her' so they definitely planned it all out.
Snarling his lips, Punk took a step towards her. "Don't be ridiculous. Look, let's talk about this little misunderstanding once and for all, my bus is over there."
Eve snorted, by then she was soaking wet and Punk seemed to be in the same predicament. It was hard to concentrate in such state of coldness so she brushed her hair behind her ear and blurted out the first thing that came into her mind. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Fine, then let's talk things out here. Tell me why…"
"I don't want to talk to you!" She yelled, all her bottled up feelings starting to slip out; but even though, she was unable to turn her back on him to walk away.
"Then too fucking bad because I'm not going to drop this until you tell me why are you so fucking pissed off with me. You don't want to get in the bus, rad, then we will stay out here until we settle things out. So tell me, why are you so mad at me?"
Eve puffed out a breath and looked over his shoulder. "Get over yourself because I'm not mad at you, I don't care enough to be mad." Now, her voice came out indifferent, just like she meant to, but as she said that, she was unable to look at him in the eyes.
He noticed, apparently, because as soon as the wind carried off her words, he grabbed her face and made her look at him. Now, Eve didn't back away from his touch as she would have done if he was John, no… instead of doing that she closed her eyes as the familiar touch made her shiver from head to toe. "That's bullshit and you know it."
Blinking the rain out of her eyes, Eve shook her head. "No, the one that is full of bullshit around here is you."
She meant to stop there, but there was a pressure building deep inside of her and if she didn't let it go, she was going to explode inside out.
Snorting without any trace of amusement, she tilted her head to him and shook her head from left to right. "You lied to me, I told you about John and all that happened with him and you still lied to me and laughed about it behind my back."
Without letting go of her face, Punk pushed his lip ring with the tip of his tongue and then he shook his head in the same way she did a minute prior. "I never lied to you and I never mislead you into believing I was something that I was not. I was more than crystal clear with you so don't you try to shove in my face this little fantasy you created about me and Cena teaming up against you."
"Oh come on, don't bother in denying it!" Was he trying to play with her intelligence?
"No, you can say all you want about me and you will probably be right; I'm a jerk, I talk shit out of my ass and I'm too blunt to spare anyone's feelings; but if there is one thing that I am not, it's a liar and let alone a player."
Rolling her eyes, Eve cleared her throat and looked away from him once again. "Yeah well that's what I thought too, but clearly I was wrong. You are no better than him, you may look and act different but deep inside you are both the same, two poor excuses of men."
When she said that, his eyes became a little darker. He was mad, she could see it and she could sense it, but in her mind making him mad was just a tiny retaliation for what he did to her.
If her words made him feel angry, then good.
"Poor excuse of a man… alright." He said, dropping his hand down and placing it on her hip as he used the back of his other hand to wipe off the water from his eyes. "If I am that, then what does that mean about you, Eve? What does it mean that you ended up having sex and enjoying every minute of it with such a low man as myself and what does it mean when every time that I touch you, instead of pushing me away you only get a little closer."
For a moment Eve said nothing, but then she lifted her chin and clenched her jaw. "Well…"
His olive green eyes were digging into hers and his touch was burning her, but swallowing hard, Eve tried not to think on the way those same eyes would look at her in the brims of his passion and let alone on the way that same hand that now rested over her hip has explored all the curves of her body without any kind of reservation.
"I guess it means that I was stupid enough to believe that you were different; I won't make that mistake again so go back to your buddy and tell him that your little plan didn't work." With that said, she pushed his hand away.
"For the love of Jebus, woman! He is not my buddy and we never planned on anything regarding you; is that so hard to get into that thick skull of yours?"
"Then why did you send him to me that night? And don't even try to deny it because I know it was you." When she asked that, Punk ran a hand down his face and instead of anger, she started to feel that sense of disappointment washing all over her once again. "Was it a bet?"
And God, how would it sting to know it has all been a bet. There was nothing that could make a woman feel worthless like having two men making bets to take her to bed and falling into both of their traps.
"I never made any bet with him and I never told him about what happened between us. As far as I know he doesn't even know."
"Then why did you do it?" She yelled in frustration, her arms coming to embrace herself because it was getting too cold.
"I don't know okay." He said out loud, almost yelling in annoyance. "Maybe I wanted you to go back to him so that I wouldn't have to deal with whatever was going on between us. Is that what you wanted to hear? That I wanted to get rid of you and that I changed my mind a little too late and tried to rush back to you before he could get you back?"
Hearing that and feeling her heart beating hard into her chest, Eve swallowed down and tried to make sense of what he just said. She couldn't, so shaking her head she closed her eyes.
She didn't know what was really happening, but listening to him saying that he has wanted to send her off into Cena's arms stung all the same and a deep sense of sorrow embraced her completely. "Then congratulations, you got what you wanted and got rid of me."
"That's where you are wrong, because I never got what I wanted." He rasped out angrily and then grabbed her rolling suitcase and turned around. "Now get into the bus before I get even crabbier, would you at least do that?"
Eve wanted to say no, that she wasn't going to go with him, but before she could even say the words out loud, her feet betrayed her and they started to follow him until soon after, she was climbing into the bus with him.
Once in, she saw him drop her things into a table and when he kicked off his shoes and went to the cabin so that he could tell the chauffer that they could take off, she did nothing but watch.
By the time the bus started to move she was standing in a puddle of water; her hair was dripping, her clothes were doing no better and she could even feel her feet drowning inside her boots.
"There's a bathroom with a shower in the room at the back, feel free to get cleaned up and change."
With that said, Punk grabbed his bag and walked into a small room, slamming the door behind him and leaving her alone.
Eve didn't move from her spot and instead she started wondering what the hell was she doing there. Even if Punk was telling the truth, the best thing the two of them could ever do was forget everything that happened between them and move on.
They would never work, they were like water and oil, they couldn't coexist and they both knew it.
But if that was the case, then why couldn't she just walk out?
Chewing on her lips, Eve breathed out and grabbing her things, she walked into the room Punk told her. She didn't use the bathroom once in there though, she just stripped off her wet clothes and wrapped herself in a towel she found over his bed. Once that was done, she lay down and closed her eyes for a couple of minutes…
Now, as her head hit the pillow, she was invaded by a familiar scent that could be catalogued as pure him and breathing deeply into it, her brain started to work in overload.
Could he be telling the truth? Her mind wanted to believe that he was. After all if there was something that characterized the man, it was his brutal honesty and she couldn't think of a good reason of why would he lie to her about this. To get her into his bed? He already did that and he did it without lying… so what else could it be, to prove something?
Ah, Punk, Punk, Punk… lies or not, she had no idea what he was doing to her and why was she letting him do it. She shouldn't even be there; by all rights she should be safely in her rental car and driving towards her next destination and away from him.
But instead of doing that, she has somehow ended up tangled in him once again and there she was now, in his tour bus and in his bed.
"What are you doing?" She asked to herself, but to that question she had no answer so snuggling against his pillow, she closed her eyes tighter and started to chew on the inside of her cheek.
After an undetermined amount of time that she spent musing about what was going on, Eve felt the mattress sink and her eyes opened immediately. It was Punk, sitting over the edge of the bed.
From her vantage point she noticed that he had changed into a dry green shirt and black basketball shorts and even though his back to her, she could see the way he was cradling his head into his hands.
Without taking her eyes away from him, Eve sat up and using the pad of her fingers to smooth her brows, she swallowed hard down. "What is this thing going on between us?" She asked, holding the towel tighter against body and keeping her voice low.
"The fuck if I know." He replied in a raspy whisper and after that, the two of them remained in silence for several minutes; Eve staring off and Punk closing his eyes.
After a while the silence got too overwhelming for Eve to handle and she just had to break it off. "My car is at the arena."
Punk nodded, straightening his back and dropped his hands to his lap. Then, blowing out a breath he turned around and fixed his eyes on hers.
Now, one of the things Eve has learnt about Punk was that he had the most penetrating gaze she has ever known. The way he looked at her was almost obscene and she even believed that with the way those deep greens delved deep into hers, that he could strip her out of any pretense just so that he could see deep inside.
It was… she didn't even know how to explain it, but his eyes were definitely the most powerful drawing force that he possessed and she could feel herself submitting under his stare over and over again if she wasn't careful.
"Do you want me to get you back there?" He asked and she blinked a couple of times, not knowing how to answer that.
"I don't know." She admitted and as soon as her words were out, Punk leaned forward and kissed her lips briefly.
At the contact, her hand automatically lifted to the back of his head and she added a bit of pressure into the kiss. His lips were as she remembered and maybe even better, but before she could fully get into the moment, he pulled back and got off the bed.
"Then get dressed, I'll take you back to the arena."
With that said he was gone again and staring after him, Eve drew her knees to her chest and buried her face there. She didn't know what was happening to her, only that she was more confused than ever and she didn't think that things would get clearer in her head any time soon. No… not when Punk was involved in the whole thing…
