Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Thirty-Four

"Nice job tonight."

Eve looked up at the sound of the voice, smiling as she watched CM Punk come into her room, the man using the key card that she'd managed to slip into his bag with her room number attached to it. She'd asked for two key cards at the front desk when she'd checked in, acting like the room was for her and her boyfriend, but really, she'd just wanted to make sure Punk had a way into her room in case he came by when she was in the shower or something. Or maybe in case he got there before she got back to her room... After all, Melina had insisted on going out for ice cream sundaes as a celebration after their win over Michelle McCool and Layla earlier in the night.

"It seems like I'm finally starting to get some matches," the diva said as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, intending to stand up to greet him, but he crossed the room before she had the chance to get up, the man leaning down to press a kiss to her lips before climbing over her and flopping down on the other side of the bed. He looked over at her as he pushed a hand through his hair, Eve settling on her side next to him, raised up on one elbow so that she could look down at him, her gaze moving over his face.

"This keeps going, you'll be able to leave Jeff without having to worry about who to manage afterwards," he said quietly, and Eve shook her head slightly, lifting her hand to rest it against his chest, very aware of the way his hand automatically came up to cover hers.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't want to manage someone... Namely you. I mean, once I'm away from Jeff, it's not so much about needing someone to manage. It's more about... Wanting to manage you. Wanting to be around you." She tilted her head to the side slightly as she looked at him. "I'd have thought you would have figured that out by now."

"I was hoping. But I kind of wanted you to say it," he told her, lifting her hand from his chest and bringing it to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it, then flipping it over and pressing a kiss to the palm of her hand. "I was serious, though. When I said nice job tonight. You and Melina make a good team."

"It's good to work with her. She's been wrestling a lot longer than I have, and it's nice to team with someone I can rely on," the diva said, not saying a word about the fact that there had been times in the past that she'd teamed with someone that didn't quite fit that bill. After all, she had teamed with Maria before. Not to mention the fact that, while she'd never teamed with him in a match before, she had been Jeff Hardy's manager for quite awhile, and Lord knew that she couldn't rely on him. Maybe at one time she could, but not anymore. Not for a little while now.

"Yeah, I imagine that's something that you have to think about more now. I mean, ever since..."

She nodded. "Jeff... and now Maria." The diva shook her head. "I don't know why I never... I thought Maria was decent, you know? A good person. And now... It doesn't matter what Jeff has said to her, the fact of the matter is that she made the decision to go after Kelly and hurt her. She had to know that Kelly would wind up injured from an attack like that. And for what? What the hell did Kelly ever do to her?" Eve sat up on the bed, leaning against the headboard, letting her head fall back against the fake wood with a soft thud. "Maybe it makes me a bad person, but I'm glad Maria was too injured to there tonight. I mean, I know a concussion is serious and all, but-"

"But it's Maria. She doesn't have any brains to damage," Punk said with a snort, the man rolling his eyes when Eve reached out and smacked him on the arm for his comment. Sighing, he sat up next to her on the bed, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the woman. "Look... Maria is a loose cannon. She went after Kelly, she attacked you backstage - thankfully without the help of any weapons - and she doesn't seem to think that she did anything wrong. If she had been there tonight, I wouldn't have put it past her to attack you or Melina while you were out there for your match against McCool and Layla. In fact, you may have to keep an eye out for her when she does come back. Try and stick with Melina as much as possible, have each other's backs. At least until you're able to turn against Jeff and team up with me. And even then... We owe it to Melina to have her back."

"I owe her. You don't."

"She's helping you out. She's your friend. That means I've got her back. Kelly's, too, once she returns," the world heavyweight champion stated, and Eve looked over at him, smirking slightly.

"You'll have yourself a regular harem," she told him, and he rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Except I don't want a harem. I want you," he replied, leaning in to kiss her again, his hand coming up to move through her hair, Eve turning slightly so that they had a better angle, the diva shifting closer to him... Then pulling away, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as she looked at him.

"I was worried about you tonight. When I saw that you were facing the Great Khali."

"The guy can't wrestle."

"The guy is huge. And potentially very dangerous. I'm glad that you... I'm glad you got out of there." She gave a smile. "Who would have thought I'd ever be grateful for an appearance by Kane?" she asked, referring to the fact that the Big Red Machine had come out there with a chair to go after Khali. The smile turned into a smirk. "Maybe it was payback for what you did during his match..."

"All I did was go out there and stand on the stage with the title. It's not my fault that it distracted Jeff enough for Kane to chokeslam him and get the win. It was my favorite part of the match, though."

Eve smiled. "Mine, too, actually. Anything to see Jeff lose," she said, then turned to look at him. "He's not thrilled about Maria being hurt."

"Not surprising. She's the one diva in the company that runs around kissing his ass. Well, the one diva on SmackDown, anyway. Not sure how it goes on RAW. But you and Melina and Kelly all think he's an ass - with good reason - and I'm guessing none of the others give a damn about him anyway. Layla or Natalya or Michelle. So yeah... His lone groupie is hurt. Of course he's pissed." He looked at her, suddenly concerned. "He didn't try anything, did he?"

"No. I mean... He barged into the divas' locker room and tried to tell me that I had to walk him out, but I managed to get out of that really easily since I had a match and it just happened to be after his. It's kind of in my contract. If my safety's in question or I have a match of my own, I'm not required to be at ringside as his manager. Tonight I could have used either one, seeing as he was facing Kane and all." She arched a brow at Punk. "At least I know that, when he's facing you, my safety isn't an issue. You're going to be facing him again at Night of Champions, you know. They may not have completely announced it yet, not for sure, but you know... You'll have to defend, and since you two are still trying to maim each other, and the whole disqualification thing that happened at the Bash..."

"I know. He'll get another shot at it. Doesn't bother me. It's not like I mind beating the ever-loving crap out of the guy... Or messing with his mind and drawing out his misery. If anyone deserves it, well... He's probably one of many in the company that deserves it, actually. But right now, he's at the top of my list," Punk said, and Eve nodded slightly, then let her head rest against the headboard again.

"I'll be out there for that match, you know. I mean, barring Maria returning and going nuts and taking out Melina or something. Then I'd be staying with Melina to help her instead of... But whatever. The point is, I'm very highly unlikely to have any sort of a match. I figure the most likely person for Michelle to be defending her title against is Melina, which... Yay for Melina, she deserves it. But without a match, and knowing that my safety isn't exactly a concern because I know you wouldn't hurt me and Jeff wouldn't want to screw up his public image by hurting me... I'll be out there."

Punk nodded at that, the world heavyweight champion reaching out to run his fingers lightly over Eve's cheek. "I kind of figured as much. You know it doesn't bother me to have you out there. Unless, of course, you stand there cheering for Jeff Hardy."

"I might have to, you know. At least at first," she replied, arching a brow at him. "At least until I turn against the bastard-"

"Eve-"

She shook her head, lifting a hand to put her fingertips against his mouth, the woman cutting off whatever he was going to say. "We've talked about this. I'm turning against him. I'll go out there and pretend that I don't hate his guts and let him continue thinking that I think I've got nothing else to turn to, and when the time is right, I will turn against the jerk, and I will start walking out with you instead. And the best time to do that is when he's facing you for the title. If I can make my presence known and cost him the shot without the referee seeing it, then I will. But if I can't..."

"Getting DQ'd will keep the title in my hands. Doesn't bother me to get DQ'd," Punk told her, the man having tugged at her wrist, lowering her hand so that he could speak easily again. "Of course, if he gets DQ'd, then I'll probably have to give him another shot at it."

"I know. And I'm sorry for that-"

"I'm not. Not if it means you'd be walking out there for that match *with* me instead of with him. He'll be pissed, you know. When you leave him."

"He won't care about losing me. He'll just be mad that I had the nerve to choose someone else over him. The fact that it's you will just make it worse on him," Eve said with a smirk, then suddenly turned to look at him, her expression serious. "That's not why... I'm not choosing you to get back at him. I'm not some sort of-"

This time, it was Punk that put his hand up, actually covering her mouth completely and cutting off her words. He arched a brow at her. "I know. You're not... Trust me, Eve. You're different than a lot of women in this business, and I mean that as a compliment. I don't think you're using me as a way to get back at Jeff Hardy. Hell, let's remember that when I went out there and cashed in the Money in the Bank contract on him, you had no idea I was going to do it. You didn't ask me to help you get back at him. I wanted to. Partly because it's the right thing to do, yeah. But also because... it's you. And yeah, you want to get back at Jeff for the shit he pulled, and that's understandable. He deserves it. But I know you wouldn't use me to do it. Because I'm pretty sure that I've come to know you pretty well, and that's just not you." He smirked. "It does, however, work out pretty well that we both want to see Jeff Hardy get the crapped kicked out of him."

"That is true," Eve replied, scooting down so that she was laying down in the bed again. Turning her head, she looked up at Punk, watching as he got himself settled again as well. "Are you staying for awhile?" she asked, and he arched a brow at her.

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then I guess I am."