Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Fifteen

Eve heaved out a sigh as she fiddled with the radio in the rental car, she and Kelly on their way to an appearance at a local military base. Since the blonde had won the coin toss, Kelly was the one driving, and Eve was trying her best not to look over at the speedometer; Kelly was known for considering the speed limit more of a 'suggestion' than anything else... A suggestion she generally ignored. On top of that, the young blonde had been talking trash about Jeff Hardy for the entire drive - not that Eve really minded that - but the mood it put Kelly in just made the girl that much more of an aggressive driver. The truth was, if Eve didn't have other things currently on her mind, she'd probably be cowering in the front seat with her hands over her eyes. Instead, she sat there quietly, three words spinning around and around in her mind until-

"He kissed me."

The words just sort of came out, and Kelly jerked the wheel slightly at the sound of the other woman's voice, her eyes wide as she looked over at Eve for just a bit too long before realizing that it was really a good idea to keep her eyes on the road since she was the one driving and all.

"What?!" Kelly practically screeched, the volume of her voice just a bit too loud - and the pitch a bit too high - for the close confines of their rental car. "Jeff Hardy did *what*?!"

Eve made a face. "Jeff Hardy? I never said-"

"That's who we've been talking about for the past... However long we've been in the car," Kelly said, frowning slightly as she flicked a look at the clock in the car, the diva seeming to realize for the first time just how very long she'd been going on about what had happened the night before and how much of a jerk Jeff was. Though to be fair, really, it wasn't *entirely* about Jeff. She'd talked trash about Maria a bit, too... Though she usually went quickly back to Jeff. It was like she was on some sort of a loop or something. And while Eve didn't mind too much since it meant she didn't have to have anything to input into the conversation, it did get a bit old after awhile.

"Yeah, well... I kind of, sort of tuned it out a little bit after the first fifteen minutes or so. Sorry. Got other stuff on my mind."

"Well, obviously, since you just announced that someone kissed you!" Kelly sputtered, and Eve had the feeling that if they weren't on a tight schedule to get to the army base, then Kelly would be looking for some sort of little place to sit down and eat so they could have an actual gossip session about it or something. And Eve wasn't quite ready for that. In fact, she wasn't quite sure why she'd even mentioned the kissing at all, and now that she had, she knew she had to tell Kelly who it was that had kissed her. Not that Kelly would need many guesses to figure it out or anything. Maybe one guess. "Was it Cena? 'Cause he was totally protective of you last night."

Or maybe Kelly wouldn't get it on the first guess after all.

Eve shook her head, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. She adored Kelly, she really did - she was currently the only diva in the company that Eve trusted - but the girl didn't always quite, well, get it. "No, Kelly, it wasn't Cena."

"Well, who else was around last night? John walked us to the rental car-"

"Which means you would have seen it if he'd kissed me," Eve reminded the younger girl. "Also, since I barely know the guy? I would have pushed him away really quickly if he'd tried it. But no, he's not the one that kissed me."

Kelly smiled. "Ooh... Does this mean you didn't push away the mysterious guy that kissed you? Inquiring minds want to know. Those same inquiring minds also want to know who, exactly, planted one on you. So do tell."

"He didn't 'plant one on me'. He just kissed me. And yes, I kissed him back. And since you seem to have forgotten the one guy in all the company that actually knows what Jeff Hardy's really done-"

"Punk? CM Punk kissed you? No way. When?" Kelly wanted to know, her eyes wide, and Eve could have sworn the younger diva was actually bouncing in her seat. Seriously, for someone that dressed so sexy and actually got her start in the WWE as a freaking exhibitionist, she could definitely act weirdly childlike at times. "Oh, my gosh. I can't believe it. He's cute. He really is. I mean, I had a total crush on him way back when I started with ECW and he was there and-"

"Yeah, Kelly, I know. The whole world knew you had a crush on CM Punk because you didn't make a secret of it," Eve reminded the younger woman, and Kelly wrinkled up her nose.

"You're probably right."

"I'm definitely right."

"Whatever. The point is... He really is good-looking, in a not usual sort of way. And I did have a crush on him. He really helped me out a couple of times, but... He always just kind of treated me like a kid sister, which at the time sucked, but I'm okay with it now." Kelly paused. "Obviously he doesn't think of you as a kid sister if he made a move on you," the blonde said, unable to keep the smile off her face because, really, she was way over her old crush on the guy and Eve totally deserved some smoochies with a hottie after what she'd been through.

Eve rolled her eyes. "He didn't make a move on me. He kissed me. Once. And I might have kissed him, so it was technically two kisses, but when I kissed him it lasted like two seconds, so it doesn't really count," the brunette said, and Kelly glanced over to give her a rather disbelieving look.

"Sure. Whatever you say. Where did he kiss you?"

Eve arched a brow. "On the lips. Where else would he kiss me?"

"Well, there are plenty of places, but that's not what I meant. I figured lips since hello, you two don't know each other well enough for him to be kissing other places just yet-"

"Okay, Kelly, mind out of the gutter."

"Oh, please. Whatever. So... Where did he kiss you? As in, geographical location... In a car, in a locker room-"

"In my hotel room."

"Oh, really? Hmm... And were you standing up or laying down when this kiss occurred?" Kelly asked next, and Eve had to fight the urge to reach out and slap the younger woman's arm... Only able to convince herself to hold back from doing so because Kelly was the one driving at the moment.

"Are you seriously asking me that? Gutterface," the brunette muttered, shaking her head. "It was a kiss. He didn't do anything but kiss me. Geez. We were sitting down. He was checking out the bruise on my shoulder - he saw it because I was wearing a tank top - and then we were talking and then he kissed me and dear Lord, I'm never telling you anything ever again."

Kelly frowned, though it wasn't because of Eve's declaration that she wasn't telling her anything ever again. No, something else had caught her attention. "Wait a minute. Did you say bruise? You have a bruise?"

Eve heaved out a sigh, trying not to flinch. She really hadn't meant to tell Kelly that. Of course, if the younger girl saw her in the locker room on Friday at SmackDown, then she'd probably see it anyway, but that would have given Eve a few days of reprieve before she'd had to admit anything. And instead... Well, she'd opened her big mouth and actually told her. "Yes, I have a bruise. It's from last night. Obviously. I guess my shoulder hit the wall pretty hard-"

"Yeah, when Jeff Hardy threw you into it," Kelly sneered, all laughter and happiness forgotten as she went back to what had been the topic of the first half hour of their drive: Jeff Hardy and how much of an asshole he'd turned out to be. "He needs to pay for that. And it totally serves him right that people saw him do it. I mean, I know you have to be upset about it and all, but at least now people know. They know he's a jerk."

"They know he lost his temper once and did something he shouldn't have. They don't know that he left he on the side of the road last month," Eve replied, shaking her head and closing her eyes wearily. "And even if I said something about it now, there's no way anyone would believe me. My feet are completely healed, and so is my leg and... My only real backup for what happened is CM Punk since he's the one that found me and, well... Do you really think people are going to believe any bad things he said about Jeff? Especially after he cashed in the money in the bank contract on him."

"Well it sucks that people won't believe the truth. That the only people that actually know the truth are me and you and Punk and Jeff and that Jeff somehow thinks that he's excused for his behavior because he thinks he's entitled or something. He's a two-time screw up is what he is. And a complete jerk." Kelly glared fiercely in front of her as she drove. "I hope Punk makes him hurt. Badly."

"Kelly-"

"Oh, don't say you don't feel the same way. Whatever Punk dishes out, Jeff deserves. You know it, I know it, and Punk knows it. As for the rest of the world? They're just blinded by Jeff's act. One of these days, they'll see through him-"

"But probably not any time soon," Eve broke in, looking over at the younger woman. For the most part, she appreciated Kelly's enthusiasm, but after awhile, all the vindictiveness got a hard to take. It kind of made her feel like a jerk because, well... She did feel that way. She did think Jeff deserved to be knocked around - hard - by CM Punk. But what kind of person did it make her if she was so damned bent on revenge... Especially if Jeff didn't know *why* Punk was going after him this way.

"Stop feeling guilty," Kelly instructed, and Eve blinked, then looked over at her.

"What?"

"I know you. You're feeling guilty because you keep imagining all the wonderful ways that CM Punk can make Jeff Hardy hurt... and you've also loved every damn minute of what Punk has done so far. Plus, you would like to do some damage yourself. You're not used to having such mean thoughts, so you feel guilty, even though he totally deserves what he gets. So, you know, get over the guilty and just enjoy the bad thoughts."

"You know, Kelly, sometimes... You are so very twisted," Eve told the younger woman, and the blonde shrugged her shoulders with a smile, nearly bouncing in her seat.

"I'll take that as a compliment," the young diva declared, then slanted a glance at Eve. "You know what would really throw Jeff for a loop and totally piss him off?"

"I'm sure you have several ideas," the brunette said with a sigh, and Kelly grinned again.

"Well, of course I do, 'cause I'm awesome that way, but really... This one's terrific," she said, then slanted another look toward Eve. "Aren't you going to ask me about it?"

"Nope."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm tell you anyway, because I know you want to hear it. You should kiss Punk."

"I did. Last night. He kissed me first, though," Eve told her, and the blonde laughed.

"I know, and that's great but... I'm talking about an awesome way to turn against Jeff. You helped Punk beat him and then, when the two of you are standing over his beaten body... You just totally start making out. Like, serious kissage-"

"Yeah. Not gonna happen," the brunette said, shaking her head at her friend's idea. "Definitely not going to happen."

"It would be great, though. A real shocker. For Jeff and the fans."

"I'm not going to... Anything that happens between me and Punk is just... Between us," Eve said, then looked over at Kelly. "Just, you know... Shut up and drive for awhile."

"I can talk and drive at the same time," Kelly declared, the diva narrowly missing another car as she spoke, and Eve closed her eyes, not really holding it against the other driver for the rude gesture he'd just made toward them.

"No, Kelly... You really can't."