To Be Torn Between Two

Chapter 16: The Promise

This was going to be a difficult and emotional day for the brunette Diva. Eve stood up from her seat in the church and steadily walked to the front, to eulogize Phil Brooks, otherwise known as CM Punk. Swallowing the prominent lump in her throat, she began her eulogy.

"Phil... was incredible. He was so different, so new. Every time I saw him it was always so refreshing and he made everything bad go away." She took a moment, to take a deep breath to regather her composure before continuing. "He saved my life in so many ways. I loved him with all my heart. No, I love him with all my heart because one of the last things he..." Eve stopped as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Randy was perched on the edge of his seat, ready to take over if Eve got overly emotional. "One of the last things he said to me was 'I promise I will always stick around, no matter what'. So..." Eve continued through her tears. "So that's how I know...I know that he is still here with me" Eve began to choke on her words. "He's never going to leave me and I don't want him to. Phil made me happy and I will always love him."

Her tears became uncontrollable and when she finished she brought a hand to her mouth in order to take control of the sobs that began to rack her body. Within seconds, Randy was by her side, securely wrapping his arm around her shoulders in comfort as he guided her back to her seat.

"Are you ok?" Randy whispered, and Eve nodded in reply. Then Randy returned to the front, with a crinkled piece of paper in his hands. Randy let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Shakily, he unfolded the crinkled bit of paper before he began to read. "I know that I wasn't Phil's favourite person but we were actually becoming good friends. He was for me and for many of us, a breath of fresh air. He was different and that's what made him a unique person inside and outside of the ring." He paused for a moment, then looked back down at the paper he was holding. "As many of you know, Phil was a literary genius and he had a love for poetry. Here in my hand, I hold one of his favourite poems." Randy cleared his throat and took in a deep breath, then continued to read out the poem that Punk loved so much.

"I'd like the memory of me to be a happy one. I'd like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done. I'd like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways, Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days. I'd like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun; Of happy memories that I leave when life is done."

As Randy finished, Eve couldn't take it anymore and ran out of the church, hysterically sobbing. Randy, making sure that all of his other friends were relatively fine first, then followed Eve outside as the service continued. He found her collapsed on the stairs of the church. He sat down next to her and cradled her in his arms. Eve shook uncontrollably and sobbed hysterically into The Viper's shoulder, and felt incredibly selfish when all she wanted was Punk.

In front of them someone coughed, and Eve raised her head to look at who wanted their attention. There stood Punk with a conceited grin on his face. "You know, I would still be alive if it wasn't for you two" he stated smugly. "Randy if you never kissed Kelly, Eve would have never left that room, meaning I wouldn't have gone after Eve." He turned his attention to Eve now. "And if you hadn't overreacted and left that room in the first place, Eve, I never would have needed to hail a cab, which means I would still be alive."

"Shut up!" Eve screamed at him. "You're not real!"

"I am perfectly real. But I bet it must really suck to be you right now knowing you are the reason why your boyfriend...wait" - he squinted up in thought- "I wasn't even your boyfriend, yet you claimed to have loved me...ha! You are the reason why I'm not here with you now, and you know it."

"Shut up!" she screamed at him again. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She clenched her eyes shut as she kicked out of Randy's embrace. She heard someone say her name.