Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Thirty-Eight

Eve frowned slightly as she looked in the mirror, the diva sighing before tucking some hair behind her ears, then glancing over at the sound of the door to the divas' locker room swinging open. She smiled as she saw the raven-haired woman that entered, lifting a hand for a quick wave that Melina returned.

"You're looking quite refreshed and rested after the days off. I have to admit I'm a little surprised by that."

"Well, I may not have gotten a lot of sleep, but when I did, I slept better than I have in a long time," Eve replied, unable to keep the smile off her face as she spoke, and the older woman arched a brow at her as she came over and put her things down in the locker beside the one Eve had claimed.

"Oh, really? Does that mean he wore you out?"

"I think it was mutual thing. We wore each other out and... Oh, wow."

"So the reality lived up to the expectations, I presume? No disappointing, too-fast moments like I had with a certain former champion that thinks far too much of himself?" Melina wanted to know, and Eve let out a snort.

"Definitely not. I mean, okay, the first time, it kind of felt a little like spontaneous combustion or something, but it was both of us, and I was right there with him at the finish line," the younger diva said, then made a face. "And I can't believe I'm telling you this. I should have more dignity than this-"

"Oh, honey, who cares. You had a fantastic time with someone that seems like a great guy. Feel free to brag. You're entitled, especially after the shit Jeff Hardy has put you through."

"You say that like Jeff is my ex or something. We never dated, you know. I'm just his manager."

"And I'm sure you're very grateful for that. Because he's probably so drugged out half the time that he can't even get it up, much less keep it up. Now back to all of the sex. On a scale of one to ten..."

"I know I'm not all that experienced because I didn't date nearly as much as people seem to think I should have, but... It was just... Best. Sex. Ever. I mean... Oh, geez... I am not the girl that kisses and tells. I just don't..."

"But you want to now because you have this great guy and you really don't have anyone to talk to about it because the two of you are a secret and you're totally bursting with it and I think it's great."

"That was so a run-on sentence," Eve said, and Melina rolled her eyes.

"Whether it was or not, this thing between you and Punk is great. It's nice to see my friend fall in love," the older woman said, watching as Eve's eyes widened at her words. "What?"

Eve sank down on the bench next to the other woman. "Mel, it's not. I don't... He doesn't..."

"Oh, really? Secret or not, you two try and spend as much time together as possible. You should see yourself when you talk about him, Evie. You practically glow."

"I do not-"

"Oh, yes, you do. Look, Eve... It's great. Falling in love is awesome."

"It is way too soon to say-"

"I've seen the way he looks at you, and I've seen the way you look at him. If you think you're not completely falling for him, then you're lying to yourself. Because the looks between you two? That is not just lust. Trust me on that. I know the difference. You may not be ready to call it love yet, but you know that you're moving in that direction. And if it didn't mean something to both of you, then the past few days that you spent together would not been so special to you." She arched a brow at the younger woman. "Don't even try to tell me that it wasn't special."

"Melina, I... I mean, I really, really care about him. Obviously. I wouldn't have sex with someone that I..."

"That you what?" the older diva questioned when Eve trailed off, and the other woman sighed, tugging at the long strands of her hair before replying.

"That I didn't see a possible future with."

"More than a possible future, Eve. You told me that once this thing with Hardy is over, once you've made it clear once and for all that you are not some punching bag for that piece of shit... Punk wants you walking out with him. He wants the whole damn world - or at least the viewing audience - to know that you two are together."

"He does."

"Then that's a future. Both of you see a future. You're making plans to take this public and be together and not hide any longer. Whatever you two have together, you both want it to continue. So my advice is this: hold onto it. He cares about you; it's obvious. You care about him. I'm pretty sure that, whether you want to admit it or not, you know it's sliding headlong into love-"

"If I fall in love with him... I need him to love me, too. I just-"

"I think he does. Or he's moving in that direction just as much as you are."

"You've only seen him with me once, Melina, and that was last week."

"Sometimes seeing people together once is all it takes. Which means you two need to be extra careful around the arenas," Melina told her. "Just because you don't go around making out in public doesn't mean... A look, a touch, anything... Anything that lingers too long or has a certain look to it... You've got to be careful, Eve."

"I know it. We can't... Until I turn against Jeff - which I fully intend to do at Night of Champions, which is less than two weeks away - I have to be careful. We have to be careful. I get it. We've been careful for weeks-"

"I know you have. But the deeper you get in with him, the more careful you have to be. You can't walk past each other in the hallway and give each other a look that screams 'we had sex last night'. You can't even be friendly with each other. He and Jeff are, like, mortal enemies now. Punk got himself disqualified at the last pay per view, and he's running around spouting off about the times that Jeff was suspended for Wellness Violations-"

"Yeah, well, he's only one violation away from being fired... And I know damn good and well that he's violating the policy left and right at the moment," Eve said, and Melina nodded her head at that, acknowledging the statement. After all, she knew about the circumstances under which Punk and Eve had first been thrown together, as well as being told about the time that Eve had found drugs in Jeff's bag and then flushed them down the toilet, and she didn't think Eve would lie about either of those things. Not to mention the fact that she definitely recalled Eve having a split lip at one point, which had apparently occurred when Jeff had caught her flushing the drugs and proceeded to hit her for it.

"It's strange, really. How he manages to get around the rules. He's been caught twice in the past. Makes me wonder why he hasn't been caught again for that third strike," the older woman said, frowning as she settled herself more comfortably on the bench they were seated on. "I mean, you flushed some of his stuff down the toilet that one time, so you know he's carrying stuff with him. Hell, when this all started, it was because he was driving high and you tried to make him switch seats with you. And then he pushed you out of the car."

"That's over now, Mel. I would never get in a car with him again," Eve assured the older diva, seeing the murderous look in her eyes as she mentioned the incident.

"I know you wouldn't, but... It just... You're a smart woman, Eve. You know what could have happened out there. If CM Punk hadn't been the one to see you, hadn't been the first one to stop."

"I know. Sometimes I still wake up at night with bad dreams about it," Eve said quietly, then heaved out a sigh. "In fact, despite the past few days being a really awesome sleep... I did have one little incident last night that..."

"You had a nightmare about it?"

Eve shrugged. "Yeah. It was... One of those what if scenarios, you know? What if... What if Punk hadn't stopped and no one had stopped and I'd still been out there late at night and... It was stupid and involved being chased by animals. Wolves, I think. It was just..."

"It was scary. Being out there was scary. Did you tell Punk about the dream?"

"He probably wouldn't have let up until I did. He woke me up from it and made me tell him about it, and he got this look on his face like... He looked sad and angry at the same time-"

"Sad because he knows that the dream stems from a real thing for you - or at least what might have happened if he hadn't seen you that day. Angry because seeing you upset probably just makes him want to make Jeff Hardy suffer even more for what he did to you," Melina stated, and Eve nodded slightly, knowing that the other woman's theory made a lot of sense.

"He still really wants Jeff to pay for what he did. For the little things he's done since. It really pisses him off that Jeff just keeps acting like he's the good guy when he's not. Jeff just keeps playing the nice guy to the fans, but in reality... He's just messed up."

"I think it runs in the family. I'm pretty sure that Matt's total slime, too," Melina stated, and Eve nodded, thinking about the one time when Edge had helped her out against Jeff and the blond man's words then.

"From what I've heard... That sounds pretty accurate," the woman replied, tucking some hair behind her ears as she spoke. "They're both creeps that thrive on the hero-worship of the fans." Eve shook her head. "I don't want to talk about them, though."

"Desire for a subject change noted and accepted," Melina replied easily enough. "I'm glad you had a good few days off. Also, I talked to Teddy Long about the weekend."

"What about it?"

"We're tagging at the live events against Michelle and Layla. Kind of get me ready a bit for my match against Michelle at Night of Champions... And it gets you in the ring some more. It was actually his idea, not mine, by the way. He didn't want the one-on-one match to be until the pay per view, so he figured that some tag matches would be good. Can't say I disagree," the woman said, then looked over at Eve. "And speaking of tag matches, I've got a mixed tag tonight. I'm teaming up with Cryme Tyme, believe it or not, to take on Natalya and her guys. Should be interesting."

"Should be," Eve said, then smirked slightly. "Maybe Cryme Tyme can steal a win tonight."

"Oh, very funny. Very not lame at all," Melina said, rolling her eyes. Frowning, she turned to look at the other diva. "I talked to Kelly yesterday. I mention this because I imagine you didn't really talk to her much this week, what with all the sex and stuff."

"I talked to her Wednesday morning. When Punk was off doing some promotional stuff. She sounded good. But she said it would still be a few more weeks before she's cleared to be back. Hopefully a couple weeks before SummerSlam."

"Yeah. Stupid Maria. Speaking of... Is she back tonight?"

"Heard a rumor that she's cleared, but that she was told to stay home this week. Don't know if it's true or not."

"Well, if it's not true... Watch your back."

"I will. I'm walking out with Jeff tonight anyway - I don't really have any other choice - and she's not likely to attack me when he's out there, if only because he knows that he'd have to act like he cared... Which he really doesn't."

"Still..."

"I'll watch my back, Melina. You make sure that Cryme Tyme watches yours," Eve said, and the older diva smirked at that.

"Oh, I'm sure they will. And they'll probably enjoy it."

"Melina!"

"What? They're men! Straight men. They probably like asses. And face it: mine is fantastic."

"You are so full of yourself," Eve muttered, and Melina elbowed her in the side.

"Yeah, well, you love me anyway. Now, as for more details from the past few days... Specifically details about a certain world heavyweight champion..."

"Melina?"

"Yeah?"

"Just give it up."

"You can't blame a girl for trying."