Happy New Years, everybody!

Here's the next chapter. As you can see by the title, Jeff's back. Yay! LOL! Hope you enjoy it.

Love ya : )

And a special thanks to Esha!

Ch. 12: That Hardy Boy

Punk's POV

"What the fuck was that, man?" I sighed as I paced the floor of the 24 hour comic shop that we were at. After that awkward ass club outing, Jug, Shelly and I hightailed it out of there.

Amy, who was a surprise in the first place, a pleasant one, but a surprise none the less, went back to the hotel. I know her showing up had something to do with Luis and Sky's dryhumping session.

"You didn't know your girl could dance like that, huh?" Jug laughed, handing me a comic to examine. "Actually, I did." Sky's hip movements are magical. It's the kind of phenomenon that keeps you up all night just daydreaming about it. I swear her late night lap dances are partly the reason why I'm a borderline insomniac. Ugh, but I'm not thinking about that now.

"That's not the problem. But I'm not getting into that with her personal bodyguard within earshot." I pointed over to Shelly, who was over at the Ironman comics a few feet away.

"I'm not her bodyguard, you ass. And anyway, I'm rooting for you when it comes to her male counterparts." She smirked at me. "Whatever, Shelly. You know whatever I say, you're gonna go report it back to her." I handed the comic back to Jug.

"Not really. She's a living dead girl around us. It's amazing that we got her to come out at all." She sighed.

"Forget this. I'm gonna work on getting Batman back to normal, and you're gonna have to get Catwoman Quinn back to herself. Cause those two are so boring when they're fighting." Jug groaned, handing me another comic.

"This is more than just a fight, James." Shelly answered Jug, calling him by his real name. I haven't heard anyone call him that in like ten years. "Look, while you two are trying to fix shit, I'm trying to live my life. There's nothing to fix because she wants me, and I don't want her. What's there to fix?" I handed Jug the other comic he gave me.

"But you do want her. At least that's what it sounded like you were saying on our cab ride to Club Thunder." Jug reminded me. "A part of me does. But the more intelligent part of me knows that we're not good for each other." I sighed. This night has gone terribly bad.

"No, that gang member she left with isn't good for her." Jug joked. "He's not a gang member. He's a tattoo artist." I corrected him. Why, I don't know. He's part of my problem, too.

"Well, excuuuuuse me. Her 7 foot, dryhumping, tattoo artist is bad for her." He corrected himself sarcastically. "I'm not a fan of his, either, Jug. But I'd rather him than that Hardy boy." I scoffed.

"Hold up. You're stressing over Hardy, but you know she did that at the club when she saw your girl, Amy." Shelly defended Sky, like a true friend.

"How was I supposed to know that she was gonna ask Barbie if she knew where I was? And how was I supposed to know that little miss ditzy bubblehead was gonna go to the same gay bar… I mean club, that were at? And how was I supposed to know that she was gonna surprise me there?" I rolled my eyes, suddenly ready to go back to my hotel room and end this night.

"I think you got Barbie mixed up with Maria." Shelly scoffed, making Jug laugh. He's not too fond of Maria either. "Whatever, Shelly. I'm done with this conversation. Let her do what she wants." I grabbed a few indie comics and walked up to the register.

"Fine then. With your stubborn ass. James and I are gonna continue our conversation in his room. You still coming to the concert tomorrow?" Shelly asked, right behind me. I sighed. "Not my type of music, but I've got nothing better to do."

"Good. Now lets get out of here. The freaks come out at night, dude." Jug laughed. He's right about that. There's some crazy ass folks out here.

"Oh, yeah. I don't think you have to worry about her and Luis. From what she's told me, they're not into each other like that." Shelly gave me a wink. "I'm not worried at all. I just wanna chill." And now, I'm officially through with this conversation, and this night. Ugh.

Sky's POV

"You do know that the last time I talked to you, I wasn't expecting to hear from you again until you and the Karate Kid's wedding date." Luis chuckled as we entered me, Shelly and Barbie's hotel room. I'm so glad we have it all to ourselves tonight.

"Wedding date? Luis, get real." I scoffed, gently massaging my chest as I slung Kelly and Shelly's dresses off of my bed. "Whatever, Sky. You were the one talking about being destined to get married and have little Punky babies. Ugh." He rolled his eyes at me.

"For once, I agree. Ugh." I poked my bottom lip out at the remembrance of that, though. I used to tell Luis about all of my little family plans the first few weeks PJ and I started dating. And yeah, it did involve Punky babies.

Ugh, reminds me of my high school dreams. Only I was a mermaid named Ember and Phil was a merman named Henna. I used to tell Phil about my dreams, but I never told him that Henna was actually him. He only found out when we started dating, years later. I still don't get how I knew that he liked me, but he didn't know that I felt the same way.

Great. Thinking of this is making me feel worse.

"Okay, tell daddy what's going on. And can you tell me while that pout's still on your face? It's sexy." Luis grinned as he laid out on my little twin sized bed. He's so huge, most of his body's out of the bed.

"Stop it, Lu. I'm not in the mood for jokes." I sighed as I sat beside him Indian style on the bed. "Lets get into this shit, then. What did the little Karate Kid do?" Luis smiled that beautiful smile. "Actually, I did something." I sighed, dreading this upcoming conversation.

After I told him about all of the events of OVW, post breakup, and all of the shit that happened recently, I was drained. I stared at Luis, waiting impatiently for his two cents.

"Well…" I poked him, causing him to burst into laughter. "Mami, that's some bullshit." He roared. "No, Lu. This is beyond bullshit. This is dumbass-ness." I rolled my eyes.

"So, you really thinking about getting with that Hardy boy?" He asked, that playful smile gone now. "I mean, I guess so. He's a sweetheart. And most of the time when I'm around him, he distracts me from… you know."

"You're really into that Phil, huh?" He smiled at me, sitting up and grabbing my right hand from my chest. I didn't even realize my hand was still there. "You already know that." He rolled his eyes at me.

"So what you're saying is that my sexy ass isn't enough to keep your mind off of him?" I started to chuckle at him. Leave it to Luis to bring his conceitedness into my problems. "Lu, you're cute. But you're no Phillip Brooks. We've discussed that." I shook my head at his little frown.

"Yeah, but you weren't saying that a few years ago." The frown quickly went away and a smirk played on his lips. He still had my hand in his, so he easily pulled me over to him. "A few years? Lu, that was nine years ago. You're tripping." I chuckled at him. And even though he gives me the shivers whenever I'm around him, he's not even half as sexy as Phil is to me.

"Nine years, two years. Whatever. That little Hardy boy calls you Cherrypop, huh? Well tell him to call me the Cherrypopper." I snatched my hand away from his and lightly punched him in the chest. "You're a pervert, Luis. You really are."

He laughed. "I'm just kidding, mami. But if you'd go back to that night, you might reconsider jumping into shit with that Hardy boy." He slyly grinned. "Okay. Fine then. I was pissed at Phil. I ranted to you about it. And we had sex. What are you getting at?" He's really confusing me now.

"No. You weren't pissed at Karate Kid. You were like heartbroken. Hysterical. You were borderline depressed." He sighed, remembering my erratic actions all those years ago.

It was the summer of '97. Two months after that stupid argument Phil and I got into. You know, the argument that separated us for six years. I decided to just give him some space so I didn't call him. I was gonna wait until he called. But of course, he didn't.

Which brought me to California. I needed a break, so I left Chicago for a whole two weeks. At that moment, I really could care less about what was going on in school. I mean, I was a straight A student, so I wasn't gonna miss anything.

My birthday's October 3rd. I knew he heard that I was leaving to go to Cali. I was expecting him to call me and try to make up with me before then. Well, that didn't happen and I left for California. But I just knew that he would at least call on my birthday. I knew he had deep feelings for me, so I knew that he was hurting as much as I was with this absence thing.

Well, my birthday came and I was eagerly expecting a phone call from Phil. When he didn't call, I lost it. I mean, I fucking loved him, hard. I loved him so much that it hurt. Even back then.

So I called Luis. Went over to his house. Spilled my guts to him. He was very sympathetic. I needed that. And then I smelled his cologne. And then he smiled at me. And his silky hair was all shiny and black. And one thing led to another and, yeah.

I felt like shit afterward, though. I was trying to save myself for Phil's dumb ass. If only he'd called…

"Maybe I was a little depressed. But I still don't see where you're getting at, Lu." I sighed, grabbing my chest again. The more I think about him, the more I want to cry. But I refuse to cry in front of Luis.

"And what happened when you told him about that all those years later?" He chuckled, remembering what I told him in 2004, a few weeks after Phil and I had got together. Man, was I on top of the world then.

"It made his ass go crazy." I chuckled. Phil and I were catching up one day and the topic of firsts came up. Believe it or not, PJ was actually a virgin in high school. That was one of the things that attracted me to him.

Anyway, he told me about this wrestler chick he was with and I told him about Lu. I also explained why Lu was my first. I'm thinking that that's what triggered his 'I have to come find you when we get into arguments' deal. I'm guessing that he thought that I would run into the arms of someone else again because he didn't call or check on me. "I still don't see what you're getting at with this, Lu."

"Look, you two idiots have been puppy loving each other for ten years, mami. I'm your boy, right?" He asked, batting those big pretty brown eyes of his. "Yes, Luis. You are." I sighed. "Well, listen to me, then." He smiled at me.

"Do you remember this? 'I'm so in love with this nerd, I don't know what to do'." He imitated my voice terribly. "Yeah. So what?" I grouched. "Oh, so I guess you remember this: 'And I'm so in love with this psychopath, I don't know what to do'." This time he imitated Phil's voice.

Of course I remember that. Phil and I were acting crazy, jumping up and down in his apartment in Kentucky, jamming to one of his favorite bands, Rancid. Luis had called and started teasing me. I didn't care cause at that moment, PJ and I were in heaven. We were beyond well content. So I yelled that into the phone, and Phil yelled back, making me blush and Luis laugh.

"That was worse than my voice, Lu. Stick to ink. Not imitations." I continued to massage my chest. "So you're not gonna acknowledge that one, huh?" He chuckled. "Yeah, Luis. I remember him saying that. What's your point? That was almost three years ago." I groaned.

"The point is, you are not ready to get with anyone right now. You're still stuck on the Karate Kid." He grinned, knowingly. "I might be stuck on him, but when I'm around Jeff, I feel good." That should be a good enough reason, right?

"Mami. I'm trying not to laugh, but you're making it so hard. Look at you. Every time I mention the Karate Kid, you turn red and you grab your chest." He gently took my hand from my chest and kissed my knuckles. "You noticed that, huh?" I frowned. I didn't know it was that obvious.

"Look, I don't really get his reasons as to why he doesn't want to get back with you, but what I do know is that you're not ready to get involved with anyone else. At least not until he's fully out of your system."

That's it. I couldn't take it anymore. "Luis, I can't. I can't get him out of my system. My body is corrupted with him. I can't get him out of my head. It's ironic. I got this tattoo because I was thinking of him. And it turns out, he's done this very thing to me." I closed my eyes as I traced the tattoo of a dagger through a heart that's on my chest.

"It's gonna be alright, mami. He's gonna come to his senses. You just need to calm your head. And jumping into a relationship with that goddamn Hardy is not gonna help shit." I sighed, but he's right. But also, I don't want to listen to him. My mind's already made up.

"But he distracts me from my pain." I mumbled. Luis sighed. "Fine, Sky. Do whatever you want." He sighed, giving up on trying to change my mind. Thank goodness, cause I'm beyond tired of this conversation. "Thank you. Now can we please change the subject?" I smiled, turned on my side, and undid his ponytail. Every time I get him alone, I always play in his soft locks. It's calming.

"Yeah. Lets talk about that tattoo that you were talking about in the car." He smiled. Anything to get to see any part of my body. Only Luis. Gotta love him.

Punk's POV

"I'm not a big fan of these guys, but at least we get to hang out." I'm talking to Amy. I knew that Shelly and Jug had their little agenda going on, and I figured that I needed to make it up to Amy for that horrible club outing, so I invited her to go with us.

At least that way Jug and Shelly's agenda is put on hold. And I can make up for last night with Amy. Two birds, one Punk.

"Yeah. We'll have fun." She smiled at me.

After waiting for this club to fill up, which took all of five minutes, I started to look around. I know Sky's gonna be here. I want to avoid her at all costs. "Hey, isn't that Sky over there?" Amy asked. I sighed. So much for my avoiding plan.

I looked across the room where she was pointing, and sure enough, there was Skylar. She had on a black minidress with a big ass yellow belt over the waist. She still looks dead in the face, but she's still beautiful.

"Yeah, that's her." I quickly turned around, making sure we didn't make eye contact. "You don't wanna go speak to her?" Amy asked sweetly. I sighed again. "Not really. We're kinda going through something right now, and it's best if we kept the talking to each other to a minimum." Amy gave me a confused look.

"What happened? I thought she was your best friend?" She asked. "Well, she was. I don't know what she is to me now." I would like to end this conversation before it really got going, but if I'm gonna seriously pursue her, she's gonna have to know the truth about Sky and I.

"Does this have anything to do with me?" She asked, still looking over at Skylar. "No." I took a deep breath. "Look, Amy. Me and Sky used to date." I was expecting her to frown at me or something, but she smiled before she looked back over at Sky.

"I knew that already. I could tell. Just like I can tell that you two still care for each other. I wish that I could still be friends with my old crew." A forlorn look flashed across her face as she watched Sky run into the arms of Jeff Hardy.

Wait. Jeff Hardy? What the hell is this? Don't Raw superstars have shows to do somewhere like… not in California?

"I take it you didn't know about that." She gave me a sympathetic look after turning from the love scene. "No. I knew. Just didn't expect him to be here." I quickly turned my attention back to Amy and away from the PDA fest across the room.

"Actually, mine and his little surprise visit was all because of Jeff. He was missing her and well, I wanted to continue our conversation. You seemed kind of distant, then." She playfully poked me in the arm.

"He misses her? He barely even knows her." I scoffed. I know I shouldn't be showing my jealousy in front of my potential girlfriend, but whatever. I wear my heart on my sleeve. And I say what's on my mind. "I understand how you feel. Really, I do. When I saw Matt with Ashley for the first time, I wanted to grab her by her extensions and bash her head into a brick wall."

"Hold up. You were pissed because Matt had a new girlfriend and you're the one that cheated on him? Sorry, but that's funny as hell." I couldn't help the guffaw that escaped my lips.

"I didn't say that I was right for being mad. I just was. I don't know. It's like all the feelings I had for him were still lingering. It took a little while to get the Matt, and Adam for that matter, taste out of my system. But now they're gone, and I'm good." She smiled. Ugh, her smile's really starting to get to me. It's cute.

"I can understand that. But this is different. At least Matt's smart enough to know when someone wants him for one reason. Sky's not that good at judging people." I couldn't help but look back over at Sky and Jeff. They were being joined by Luis, Diego, and Sky's friend Tyanna.

"And you are? Look at you. You're assuming that Jeff only wants to sleep with her when I know for a fact that he really likes her."

"Oh, you do, huh. I guess what Jeff had with Lori was real, too." I scoffed. "No. That was sex. All sex. But if she would've given him a chance, I'm sure they would've been happy together." She smiled, knowingly.

"That's not what her sister told me. And it's not what Lori told me. But whatever. Sky's gonna do what she wants to do and I'm gonna do what I want. And right now, I want to dance to this West Coast music and enjoy our night together. This time, I'm all yours. No distractions or being distant. Just Phil." I smiled at her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. She blushed and rested her head on my chest.

I'm gonna enjoy my night with my potential girlfriend and leave my ex and her new potential boyfriend alone. Amy's right. It's gonna take a while to get the taste of Sky out of my system, but dammit, I've gotta do it. Hopefully we'll remain friends after all of this is over, but if not, oh well. She's not good for me, relationship wise. And that's final.

Sky's POV

"Hey, Jughead. About time you spoke to me." I grinned at Jug as he wrapped me in his arms. "Ah, you know I had to chill with Batman for a while. You know I'm Robin, right." He laughed.

"Whatever you say, James. You can be whoever you wanna be. Right now I'm guessing that you're Mr. Martinez, huh?" I smiled at him as he wrapped his arms around Shelly's shoulders. "Nah. She's gonna be Mrs. Mulligan. Right, babe?" He grinned as he pecked her on the cheek.

"I'm liking the sound of Mr. Martinez myself, Jug." She poked her tongue at him. "Ugh, your cuteness is really effing with my contact high." I playfully rolled my eyes at them. "Whatever, Sky. You should be somewhere being cute, too. After all, you and that Hardy boy are a new couple, aren't you?" Shelly deviously smirked at me. Ugh, she knows that Jug dislikes Jeff almost as much as PJ.

"Why does everyone keep calling him 'that Hardy boy'? His name's Jeff. Dammit." I scoffed, making the two of them laugh. "Fuck him and his name, girl. Batman and Catwoman are supposed to be together. Not Catwoman and Joker." Jug returned my eye roll with one of his own.

"Hey, babe. Technically, she can be with Jeff if he's the Joker. You know, you do call her Catwoman Quinn." Shelly grinned, coming to my defense like she always does. I love that girl. "Ah whatever. Look, that Hardy boy's on his way over here with the little Guerrero girl. You gonna introduce me to your new man?" Jug smirked at me. I frowned.

"Oh, shit." Both Shelly and I said in unison. I couldn't help but smile when Jeff made his way through the crowd over to us. He was holding a short, but beautiful and curvy Latina's hand. She's the infamous Lori. I've seen her in pictures, and I've seen some of her matches, but I've never seen her in person. She's gorgeous. And to say that she's a triplet, her sister Kim looks nothing like her. I mean she's beautiful, too, but they're just different.

"Lori-o. This is my baby, Cherrypop" Jeff introduced me to her. I smiled at her and she smiled back. "Hi. My name's Laurryin. Jeffro here's told me a lot about you." She said in a slight Latin accent. "He's told me a lot about you, too. Starting with your taste in music. P.O.D. is the shit, girl." We laughed. "Jeff, you're right. I'm in love with this girl. And I love you even more because you're a dead ringer for Gwen Stefani." She grinned.

She's not the first one to tell me that I looked like Gwen. I met her back in '98. She said it herself. "Enough of the love fest, ladies. Can we be introduced here?" Jug interfered in our little conversation and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Okay, Jeff, Lauryyin. This is Jug. Shelly's new boo and my good friend. And Jughead, this is Jeff, my new boo. And this is Lauryyin, your new boo's good friend, my new boo's good friend, and my new good friend. And everyone's met Luis and Diego. And don't ask me where they are right now. They're probably out self promoting or hunting for some chicks." I looked around for them and they were both at the bar chatting it up with two cute little blondes. Ah, my boys.

My friend Tyanna was here, but my mom called her to her store to do some work. Tyanna's my mom's best friend/assistant's daughter. We grew up together. She's now interning to become a designer. My mom knew that Ty was with me. That explains why she hurriedly created some work to get her away from me. I'm the bad influence. Tyanna's like the golden child. She's doing what my mom hoped that I would do. You know, help build her fashion empire, or whatever.

"Nice to meet you, Hardy. You remind me of my buddy Phil. Or as he's known now, CM Punk." Jug grinned at Jeff and winked at me. I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh, yeah. Pepsi. How?" Jeff smirked, taking Jug's bait and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Philly used to dye his hair and polish his nails and shit back in high school. You two'd probably make good friends." Jug gave me a devious grin. "Nah. I don't think he likes me too much." Jeff replied, looking past Jug with a grin.

"Why do you think that? Phil's a nice guy." Jug laughed. Shelly shook her head as she gave me a sympathetic look. "He's getting cozy with my brother's ex and I'm dating his ex. Nah, man. Too much tension." Jeff responded, still looking across the room.

I decided to see what he was grinning at, and once I did , I wished that I hadn't. It was Phil, all hugged up with Amy. He was laughing and gently rocking her back and forth to the soft rock music playing.

I remember when he used to do that to me. He'd hold me close, my back to his warm chest and we'd just rock. Sometimes we'd just talk. "Bitch." I mumbled. Punky's ears must've been burning, because as soon as I spoke he looked at me.

My heart started to ache again. Seeing him hold her the way he used to hold me, damn. But I can't say anything because Jeff's holding me the exact same way. And I'm pretty sure that the look of hurt on his face is mirroring the hurt on mine.

"Hola amigos. Are you ready for P.O.D?" The announcer interrupted our staring competition as he began to hype the crowd. We both turned to the stage to watch the show. That pain still lingered as the show got started, but the smell of Jeff's cologne and the mellow vibe of P.O.D is sure to calm me down.

"That concert was banging, huh?" Jeff murmured right before I claimed his lips again. We're in the elevator, on our way to his hotel room.

We've been going at it since the end of the show. The taxi driver almost kicked us out. Phil and I actually got kicked out of a few taxis in New York. Ugh, why is he in my head right now?

As soon as the elevator door opened, I grabbed Jeff's hand and pulled him out. I wanted to get to his room fast, regardless of the fact that I didn't know where his room was. I took a left and started power walking my way down the hall. Jeff chuckled as he took my hand and turned me around. "Wrong way."

As we walked to his room, I started to flashback to the concert. It was the beginning of one of my favorite P.O.D songs, Alive. I would sometimes play that song during me and Punky's make-out sessions.

Jeff and I were still jamming, but I decided to glance across the crowd to see if this song triggered any memories within PJ's big ass head. After all, this song was kinda sentimental to us.

To my dismay, he was in a liplock with Amy. I swear my heart dropped to the floor. I decided that I had to block that haunting image out of my head, so I pulled Jeff's head down to my face and planted a big one on him.

It was enough of a distraction for me to enjoy the rest of the song. I was supposed to meet up with Sonny and the rest of the band afterwards, but I cancelled. I'll catch up with them another time. So here I am, hoping that Jeffrey Nero can keep my mind's attention.

When we got to his room, I let him open the door. As soon as that door closed, I had him pinned up against it, reclaiming his lips. "You a freak, ain't ya?" Jeff grinned, pushing me back a little. "You'll see." I bit my bottom lip as I started to pull his shirt up. He smirked as he held his arms up.

Phil used to love it when I stripped him down. Ugh, dammit. Forget him. Once Jeff's shirt was off, I grabbed his hand and led him to his bed. "Damn. A couple weeks ago, you was all hesitant." He said as I pushed him down onto the bed. I smiled at him.

But then flashbacks of Phil teasing me about my aggressiveness, although he was really the aggressor, started to cloud my mind. I closed my eyes and opened them again to see Jeff's gorgeous face, thus snapping me back into the moment.

"Shut up, Jeff." I chuckled at his goofy grin as I started to take off my dress. He shrugged his shoulders and pulled me onto him once the dress was on the floor. As I got reacquainted with his lips, I closed my eyes, trying to get more into it. We rolled over so that he was on top of me. I was enjoying this pleasant distraction until Phil's face popped in my head. Instead of Jeff's soft lips kissing me, it was Phil's even softer lips. Now I know I'm going crazy.

I quickly opened my eyes and stopped our make-out session. Ugh, I don't mind if he occupies my mind any other time, but right now is not when I want him all up in my head. And I damn sure don't want to be imagining that Jeff is Punky. I mean, the whole reason for this impromptu love session is to keep Phil out of my thoughts.

Good thing Jeff was too lust filled to notice my little episode. He just moved from my lips to my neck. He went straight to my hot spot. That really pulled me back into the moment.

When I felt the cold of his lip ring on my warm skin, it instantly brought Phil back into my head. The metallic cold of Phil's lip ring always did something to me. He had a tongue ring, too. But I just cannot think of what that did to me. I just can't.

Then Jeff's hair started to gently tickle my shoulder, which brought a flood of more Phil thoughts into my head. "Fine. You win." I mumbled, low enough that Jeff couldn't hear. I sighed and closed my eyes again, thus fully giving in to my Punky corrupted mind. At least the Phil in my head still wants me.