Dirty Deeds

CH 19: Heart to Heart

   By the time the Smackdown taping rolls around, I've been hanging out with Layla for three and a half days. Just the two of us. I feel like I could gnaw my own arm off if she drags me to one more stupid store. In fact, after the first night, things got so tense that I booked myself a separate room so that I could have some down time. I sleep late on the last day, since Layla was going to go do something. I couldn't tell you what it was; she told me, but by then, I was tuning her out. All I know is, it's a free day, and that's something I haven't had in ages. I don't know why I was surprised when someone knocked on my door around eleven am.

"Layla!" I growl, opening the door.

"Not hardly," Punk says with a smirk. "Though she was kind enough to give me your new room number."

"Go away." I start to shut the door, but he stops me.

"Wow, girl bonding time has not done anything for you, has it?"

"Punk, I'm serious. Go away."

"I never claimed you weren't serious," he says. "But no, I'm not going away. Sorry." He indicates the room. "Can I come in, please?"

"No." I sigh. "You coming in here would make the rumor mongers crazy. But I'll come out. There's a nice little coffee shop across the street. We'll go there."

"Fine," Punk says, leaning against the doorframe. "I'll wait here."

I shut the door, knowing that he'll start knocking like crazy if I'm not out in five minutes. He's done it before. So with a longing look at my bed, I throw on something cute and head for the door. "Let's go."

Punk looks up from his watch. "Four and a half minutes. You're learning."

I slip on my sunglasses- seriously, who has time for make up in four and a half minutes?- and we head for the elevators. "This had better be important."

"I hope you're less cranky when you've got some coffee in you," he mutters. "Seriously, are you going through caffeine withdrawals or something?" He turns to look at me with a frown. "Or is it something else you're missing? A certain dark haired Superstar, maybe?"

"If you mean you, Cuddle Monkey, then the answer is no."

"Why must you always be so mean, McCool?" he asks with a grin.

I follow him out of the elevator and down to the coffee shop. He orders himself a Pepsi- big shocker there- and I get myself something much more supercharged. He chooses a table away from the windows and we sit. "Now what is this about?" I ask, sipping my coffee.

"You tell me," he says.

I frown at him. "You dragged me out of my room for no good reason?"

Punk says, "I got a call from Layla this morning. I didn't even know she had my number, McCool. Regardless, she wanted to talk to me about you."

"What did she say?" I feel this sense of fascinated dread.

"Honestly, I couldn't make half of it out. I got the gist of it, though." He leans over the table. "So you and I are going to have a conversation about just what your intentions toward Matt Hardy are."

"Are you kidding me?" I ask. "What are you, his mother?"

Punk gives me his most intense look. "Normally, I would be asking him about his intentions, but since I don't think the two of us can be trusted not to try and beat the snot out of one another for longer than five minutes at a time- especially when it comes to you- I figured I'd find out what you're thinking."

"You know," I say, "I'm getting damned tired of everyone asking me what I'm thinking. You and Layla in particular. I am an adult, and I can make my own decisions."

Punk sighs. "I'm not asking what the hell you think you're doing; I'm asking what you're thinking. There's a difference. I don't want to see you get hurt, McCool, and I don't trust Hardy not to hurt you."

I smirk. "That's funny. He said the same thing about you, almost word for word."

Punk frowns. "Why would he think I'd hurt you?"

"Maybe because of the thing with his brother?"

Punk considers. "Fine. I'm the bad guy here. The evil, spooky, scary straightedged monster. Now can we move past that and get to what you're actually thinking already?"

"I don't know," I finally say. "This weekend has been really long and miserable, even though I wanted it to go well. Layla is annoying the crap out of me."

"That seems pretty normal to me," he says. I glare at him. "Sorry. Continue."

"Anyway, I've been feeling unhappy this whole weekend. Nothing we've done has been able to distract me for long." I meet his eyes across the table. "Matt calls me every night. It's the only time I've felt like things are okay. So take from that what you will."

He sits back and looks at me for a long moment. "Geez, McCool, you've got it bad for him, don't you?"

I start to deny it, and then I hesitate. "I suppose I do."

Punk nods. "Right. So where do we go from here?"

"What's this 'we' stuff?"

"Okay, I probably shouldn't tell you this," he says, leaning forward again, "but I'm going to, anyway. Outside of the straightedge society, you're one of the few people I count as a friend. And to be honest, I'm not so sure Gallows wouldn't turn on me in a second if he thought Serena would follow him. I trust you, McCool. You've never betrayed me, and I appreciate that."

I blink at him, surprised at the sentiment. "You're welcome."

He nods. "So now that that's out of the way... your intentions?"

"I don't know," I say. "I want to see where things go."

"Do you want me to try and find out what his intentions are for you?" He seems completely serious. I try to picture that meeting in my head and I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry at the image.

"No, that's okay," I say. "It's kind of nice, being able to find my own way for once. I appreciate the offer, though."

"It'll still be there if you change your mind."

"No offense, Punk," I say, "but the last time you 'helped' me, you got his girlfriend fired."

"And the very next day, you were coming out of his room," Punk says, raising his brows at me. "A fact that I kept almost completely to myself. So I don't know what you're complaining about."

I sigh. "Just do me a favor and stay out of it, okay? Be nice- or as nice as you can be, considering- and don't interfere. Let things go however they're going to go." I pause, letting him take it all in. "And try not to antagonize him so much. He's still pretty ticked about your comment to him the last time he saw you."

"Which comment was that?"

"Say hi to your brother for me?"

Punk chuckles. "I'd forgotten about that. That was a good one." He holds up his hands. "Okay, fine. I'm going to stay out of it, and I'll try not to bait Hardy into a fight, okay?"

"Thanks, Punk."

"The things I do for your friendship, sunshine," he says with a shake of his head, "would make a lesser man cry."