Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Thirty-Six

The rest of the weekend passed in a bit of a blur. Unfortunately, Eve hadn't had any matches as the house shows, which meant that she'd been walking Jeff out for his matches, which had been tag matches. He'd been teaming with Rey Mysterio while Punk had been teaming with Chris Jericho. On top of that, Melina had been facing Michelle in non-title matches and, after Layla had helped Michelle cheat to win on Saturday, Eve had walked Melina out on Sunday, managing to prevent Layla from interfering for the second night in a row, and Melina had walked away with a non-title victory that would hopefully lead to something more in the future... Such as a title shot at Night of Champions. She'd kind of figured already that Melina would be the likely challenge at the pay per view, but the non-title win over the weekend just made it all the more clear that Melina deserved it.

But now the weekend was over, and she hadn't had to appear on RAW on Monday, though she had watched the show... And now it was Tuesday morning, and CM Punk was supposed to be coming over that afternoon. Not just coming over, but coming to stay until Friday morning, when they both left for the next episode of SmackDown and that week's live events. Sure, he would be spending part of his time doing various promotional things for the upcoming pay per view - he was, after all, the World Heavyweight champion and therefore the person to send for publicity - but the rest of the time he would be with her, at her place. He'd be spending the night at her place... and she knew without a doubt that he would *not* be in the guest room. He'd be staying in her room, in her bed, and...

"Oh, stop freaking out like a little girl, Eve," she muttered to herself, the diva shaking her head at her own silliness. It wasn't that she was nervous about what was going to happen between them... It was more like... anticipation. They'd talked about having sex, made it clear that they wanted to, and Punk had made it very, very clear that he wanted it to be somewhere that they could be together all night, somewhere that he wouldn't have to hurry off and pretend he hadn't been in her hotel room after it was over. And because of that, because of the wait, because of the knowledge that it was going to happen - and a pretty damn good idea of when it would happen - well... Of course she had some butterflies. Anticipation. Okay, so maybe a little bit of nervousness, because in all honesty, it had been quite awhile for her, and she'd never thought she would end up in a relationship with one of her coworkers... And despite the fact that they weren't really able to go on dates and things like that given the fact that it was a secret, she knew that what she had with CM Punk definitely counted as an actual relationship. This wasn't some random little fling. For either of them. It was a whole lot more.

Which was probably why she was so freaked out.

"Damn it, Eve. Calm down," she whispered, pushing her hands through her hair, the woman glancing in the mirror as she walked by it, making a face because she looked a lot more wild-eyed than she would have liked. Shaking her head, she forced herself to go and sit down, taking a few deep breaths as she looked around the living room, part of her thinking that maybe it would have been better to just go at it in the bathroom of the hotel like they'd been about to do before they'd stopped themselves a few mornings before. Because then there wouldn't this insane amount of nerves and anticipation and whatever the hell else it was that was dancing around inside. She felt stupid, really, like some silly girl with her first crush or first love or...

"It's not just some crush or some little thing. It's real," she told herself, knowing that was the big thing. She'd dated before. Obviously. Not a lot in high school because most the guys there were idiots that either hated the fact that she did better in school than they did or they just wanted to copy off her homework. She'd barely even managed to get a date to the senior prom, and then the night had turned into a disaster because he'd been a jerk that had thought 'prom date' had automatically meant he'd be scoring and she'd had to dissuade him of that fact with a knee to the balls. She'd had more success with the dating scene in college, had even dated one guy for the better part of a year, but still... There was something different this time. Punk wasn't some asshole high school kid or college boy or any of that. He was actually several years older than her, she knew that, and the fact that he hadn't pushed her when so many other guys would have... Okay, geez, this sounded really stupid and silly, but Punk was actually a man and not some boy playing at being a man. He wanted her, he let her know it, but he wasn't going to push her... And he was more than willing to wait for the right time. It really wasn't something she'd experienced before. And she'd never had anyone look at her quite the way Punk did, either.

With a shake of her head, Eve rose to her feet and went to grab her cell phone from its charger, quickly finding the person that she wanted to call, then pushing the button to connect and lifting the phone to her ear, impatiently waiting for the person on the other end to pick up the phone.

"Aren't you supposed to be... busy... this week?" an amused voice stated on the other end of the line, and Eve very nearly hung up right then and there, though at the last moment she decided to do the mature thing and actually speak.

"He's not going to be here until this evening, and you know it. And I can't believe I told you he was coming to my place for a few days," the brunette muttered, and she could hear Melina laugh on the other end of the line.

"Think of it this way. At least you told me and not Kelly."

Eve made a face. "This is true. She would be making way more obvious sex comments, tossing in a few jokes, and possibly playing seventies porn music or something. She has far too much of an interest in my sex life, and I know it's not because of the lack of play in hers. She's had sex a lot more in her life than I've had in mine. And she's, like, two-and-a-half years younger than me."

"Well, she has to be an overachiever in something. Apparently she decided on being one when it comes to sex."

"Hey. I could be an overachiever when it comes to sex. Just, you know, in quality, not in quantity of partners. And I'm not meaning to imply that Kelly's a-"

"She's just more... free... than you. Please, if she were a guy, she'd be getting high-fives all the time for being a player." Melina snorted. "Hell, if she were a guy, they'd probably be asking her why she hadn't scored more."

"Double standards suck," Eve muttered, then heaved out a sigh. "Okay. I'm actually feeling a little less nervous now. Talking to you."

"You were feeling nervous? About CM Punk? I mean... Okay, are you sure you want this? That you're ready? That you're not just-"

"If you suggest that I'm just doing this out of gratitude for him helping me... No. I'm not the kind of girl that thinks you have to thank a guy with sex."

"I didn't mean to imply you were. I just meant... If you're nervous-"

"It's anticipation. At least part of it. And then it's been awhile for me, and... God, it's stupid."

"What?" Melina asked, and Eve heaved out a sigh.

"I keep thinking... 'what if he doesn't enjoy it? What if I'm not good enough in bed or something and'-"

"It's not stupid. It's just your nerves talking. And seriously... Your first time with a partner isn't always flashes of lightning and totally awesome everything. It can be awkward. Or... really fast," Melina said, letting out a snort. Eve arched a brow.

"You got a story to share?"

"Maybe. A really bad, pathetic one that I'd rather forget. Okay. See. I slept with Batista," the woman said, then paused, and Eve sighed.

"Okay. And?"

"See, that's the part where most people say 'I know' because he made sure everyone knew because he's an ass."

"Of course he is," Eve said with a roll of her eyes, and really, she agreed with that assessment. The guy had come onto her a time or two and Eve had brushed him off with as much grace as she could muster... But he'd looked at her like he couldn't believe that she was giving up a chance to get with him. Yeah, like he was every girl's dream or something. He really wasn't all that, not in her opinion, and he was so jacked up that Eve was pretty sure that one of these days he'd blow a muscle doing his stupid gesturing on the ramp before he came down to the ring.

Melina let out a sigh. "Anyway. As I said... I slept with Batista. Big mistake, huge regret, and I wish I could go back and change it so that it had never happened. But I did it, and I have to live with it, so... It is what it is. A learning experience. Also, it was really not good at all."

Eve snorted. "I'm not really surprised by that. He seems like the kind of guy that thinks he's better than he is... At everything."

"Pretty much. It wasn't just a quickie, it was a *really* quickie. I didn't even come close to finishing, and he was already thanking me for a good time. Seriously, I felt like... Let's just say I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd tried to pay me or something. He was all about getting his and who cared about mine."

"I don't think CM Punk is going to be that way," Eve said slowly, knowing she was right about that. After all, if he only cared about getting his, he would have pushed for things to go faster than they had so far. He wouldn't have cared if their first time was in some random hotel room.

"I don't either. 'Cause, for one thing, I don't think CM Punk is an asshole that only cares about himself. In fact, from what you've told me so far... I know he's not. Obviously he cares about you. A lot. And that can make not-great sex somehow seem a lot better. When the feelings are there, you're willing to work at it, because it matters. And you matter to him. And I know he matters to you. So basically what I'm saying is... If the first time doesn't make you see stars, that doesn't mean the second or third time won't. And that's just my advice."

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again?" Eve offered, and Melina laughed.

"Something like that. And something tells me that CM Punk is the kind of guy that very much likes to succeed," the other diva said in a suggestive tone, but before Eve could respond to that, she frowned at what sounded like a car pulling into her driveway.

"What the..."

"What is it?" Melina asked, and Eve made her way to the window, poking at the blinds to open then enough to see out.

"He's here. He's early."

"Maybe he's eager."

"Melina-"

"Talk to you later," the other woman said, and before Eve could do or say anything else, the call was over. Putting her phone down, she made her way to the door just as a knock sounded, the diva quickly opening it to find CM Punk standing there... Eve frowning slightly as she noted the bag of groceries he held. His suitcase sat next to his feet.

"You brought... groceries?"

"I know I'm early. One of the interviews got cancelled. So I thought I'd stop at the store, pick up some stuff... Then maybe come by early and cook dinner for us. If that's okay with you," he said, and Eve smiled, stepping back to allow him entrance, the nerves she'd been feeling earlier not gone, not really, but somehow quieted just by the fact that he was here.

"I think I'd like that. And after..."

He gave her a smile. "And after... I guess we'll see what happens."