Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Forty

"You know, you're really bad at this gossiping thing," Melina commented, the diva taking a bite of a baked potato chip that they'd ended up getting when they couldn't find the kind of ice cream they wanted in a smaller size. No way were they going to buy one of the big ones and end up wasting it because it melted in the hotel's mini-fridge... So instead they'd bought some chips and pretzels, things they could actually take as snacks with them as they went from city to city during the weekend for the live events.

Eve shrugged her shoulders. "I've never really been one to kiss and tell. You caught me in a weak moment earlier," she explained again despite the fact that she'd said it before.

Melina made a face. "Yes, well... Share and share alike and all of that," she said, and Eve shook her head.

"I don't think that really applies, because it's not like I'm asking for details on your hook-up with Batista or anything."

"True. Although I'm not afraid to say that he really didn't live up to the hype or whatever. Though I guess it was mostly self-hype. You'd think a guy that has the nickname 'the Animal' could last longer or be more interesting or... something. Of course, we were in a locker room, so we didn't have a lot of time and it was probably hard to be inventive, and-"

"I really don't want to hear about it," Eve interrupted, trying not to shudder because... Sex in a locker room? Was just all sorts of 'ew' in her mind. Those places always just seemed so... dirty. Not to mention the fact that they weren't all that sound-proofed, so anyone walking by could probably hear what was going on inside.

"You're such a goody-goody," Melina said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes, the divas both straightening up at the sudden sound of a knock on the door. Quickly, the older diva rose to her feet and made her way over, glancing through the peephole before opening the door and stepping back to allow the person in the hallway to enter. She arched a brow at CM Punk as he entered the room. "You're taking a risk by coming here, you know."

"I know. I also know that the only other person with the company that has a room in this hallway is Dolph Ziggler, and I'm pretty sure he went out tonight after the show, so he's not even there." He arched a brow. "I'm thinking he and Maria are on the outs."

"Well, he's figured out that Maria has a thing for Jeff, so I'm going with a 'yes' on that one," Eve replied, her eyes on Punk's face just as his eyes were on hers, and Melina smirked slightly before gesturing toward the door.

"I'm just going to... Let myself out now," she said, heading over and grabbing her purse, as well as the bag of chips that she'd picked out, then going toward the door. She smirked at the couple in the room. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do... Which really still gives you a lot of options."

CM Punk watched as Melina exited the room, the diva closing the door firmly behind her, then turned toward Eve, arching a brow as he looked at her. "What exactly does she expect us to do?"

"Pretty much the same thing Kelly would expect us to be doing," Eve replied, then bit her lip. "She, uh... She knows you came to see me this past week and... She knows that..."

"That we're together?" he finished when she trailed off, and the woman nodded her head.

"Yeah. She wanted details-"

"Well, I hope you gave me a good review," Punk interrupted as he approached her, and Eve smiled at him, relieved that he wasn't going to be weird about the idea of her and Melina talking about what had happened between them.

"A very good review. In fairly vague terms because I don't really... I'm not..."

"You don't tell your friends about your sex life. Got it. I'm not really the type to overshare much myself," he told her, his hands coming to rest on her hips, the man leaning in to press a kiss to her lips that she readily reciprocated. The kiss didn't last very long, however, the man breaking it after only a few moments, before either of them could get into it too deeply. Eve frowned slightly as she looked up at him, taking in the serious look that she could see in his eyes.

"What is it?"

"Are you okay?" he asked her, his hands sliding beneath the shirt that she was wearing, though there wasn't anything sexual about the touch. He just rest one hand at her waist, the other sliding gently up her side, his fingers lightly moving over the place on her abdomen that had taken the brunt of the impact with the barrier when Dolph had knocked Mysterio into her... and had therefore caused her to slam into the barrier that was set up around the ring to keep the fans separated from the action. There was some padding on the barrier, of course, but it still didn't give a person that much protection, especially when they slammed into it.

"I'm fine. Really," Eve told him, looking him in the eye as she spoke, her hands coming up to rest on his shoulders. Her fingers curled into the material of his shirt. "I know that there are risks when I'm out there at ringside. I've always known it. I'm usually pretty good at keeping my eyes open and staying out of the way. This time, I wasn't. But I'm okay."

"You hit pretty hard," Punk stated, his hands sliding up and down her sides, nearly causing her to shiver in response to his light touch. His hands were still beneath her shirt, so he was still touching bare skin. "When Rey knocked into you..."

"It wasn't Rey's fault. And Dolph didn't see me there, so it wasn't really his fault, either. And besides that, he came and apologized to me for it," she said, and Punk arched a brow at that, his eyes widening in surprise a bit.

"Dolph Ziggler actually apologized about something? Are you sure we're talking about the same man, because I didn't think he was capable of that," Punk said, and Eve rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes, I'm sure. And to be honest, I think he's got a little bit of misplaced guilt over the way Maria's been acting. She's turning out not to be the person that he thought she was," the diva said, then shrugged slightly. "Of course, as it turns out, she's not really who I thought she was, either. I thought she was my friend, and my friend would have never done what she did to Kelly."

"And she wouldn't have attacked you from behind in the hallway, either," Punk put in, reminding her of that incident... Not that she could have really forgotten it.

"And my friend would have asked for my side of things instead of buying the bullshit that Jeff Hardy fed her when this whole mess started," Eve stated quietly. "That's when I realized that the only reason she'd ever pretended to be my friend in the first place was probably because hanging out with me meant she was around Jeff more. And she probably started dating Dolph because she hoped it would make Jeff jealous and get him to make a move or something. Obviously that didn't work. He's so sure of himself with her that he's still got her doing his dirty work."

"Maybe getting knocked around by you and Melina will knock some sense into her."

"I sincerely doubt it. And I really don't want to talk about Jeff or Maria," Eve said, making a face, and
Punk nodded, his hands sliding up and down her sides once more, his expression growing concerned again.

"Okay. How about we talk about this weekend? I saw the match listing for the live events, Eve. I know you're scheduled for matches," he said, and the diva nodded.

"I am. Tag team matches. I'm teaming up with Melina to take on Michelle McCool and Layla," the woman stated. "Our grand plan at the moment is to make sure that they don't pin us."

That drew a smile from the man. "That sounds like a good plan, if a little simplistic. But that's not what I was really asking." His hand skimmed up the side that had slammed into the barrier, his touch extremely gentle. "It was more... Are you going to be able to compete? You hit the barrier hard, Eve-"

"And I'm okay. I promise. I'm sore. Yes. But it's really nothing. I mean, doing a moonsault on someone or whatever can bang your ribs up, too. I was more banged up when I started practicing to do the moonsault than I am now. I can take some ibuprofen if it hurts and I'll be fine," she told him, then reached up, putting her hand over his mouth when it seemed like he was going to protest. "I. Am. Fine."

He sighed, lifting a hand to take hers away from his mouth. "I'm just concerned about you."

"I know. But it's not necessary," she told him, lifting up a bit so that she could kiss him, the man readily responding, deepening the kiss and tugging her a little closer to him. She could feel his hands at the bottom of her shirt, but instead of slipping underneath the material again, he left them at her waist, keeping things at just a kiss, nothing more. After a few moments, he broke the kiss and stepped back, looking down at her as he lifted her shirt, Eve doing nothing to stop him. It wasn't like he hadn't seen it all before - she was pretty sure they'd spent most of their time together that week either naked or very nearly so - but he didn't lift the shirt any higher than her abdomen, the man's frown deepening as he reached out with his free hand and skimmed his fingertips over the skin of her side.

"You're bruising a little."

"I'll cover it with makeup this weekend so that Michelle and Layla don't see it. I've got it covered, Punk. I'm going to be okay. You take a lot more hits than I do," she reminded him, and he made a face at that, dropping his hold on her shirt and reaching out to her, hooking his arms around her waist and pulling her against him.

"I know you're right. I just... I don't like seeing you hurt. And it really sucks when I'm out there and can't do a damned thing about it. I wanted to go to you tonight," he confessed, though he didn't really need to. Eve had been able to see it in his eyes when he'd realized what had happened.

She reached up, took his face in her hands. "I know you did. And I also know that the reason you didn't was to protect our secrets. I understand. And I'm fine. And on top of that, you're here now."

"I told myself that it was a risk to come here and that it was stupid... But I couldn't stay away."

"I know. You had to see for yourself that I was okay. I'm the same way with you." Her fingers toyed with the material of the t-shirt he was wearing. "You know... For the rest of the weekend, Melina and I actually booked it so that we're sharing a room."

"Which means... No more sneaking over to your room," he whispered, and she nodded.

"Right. I could, of course, sneak to yours-"

"I don't want you to do that. If Jeff saw you and confronted you or..."

"I know. I get it. But that means... After tonight..."

"No more sneaking to each other's room until next week," he said, and Eve nodded.

"That's right. So let's make the most of it," she told him, and he frowned slightly, his hand skimming up her side again, once more beneath her shirt, his palm warm against her skin.

"You sure?" he asked, and since she knew he was only asking that because he was concerned about her ribs, she smiled, drawing him closer to her, speaking when his lips were just a breath away from hers.

"I'm sure. Now shut up and take me to bed."