The rest of the evening seemed to drag on forever for Seth. After walking away from AJ, he spent his time preparing for his main event match in which he ended up losing to Roman, Randy and Ryback. It wasn't Seth's proudest moment but his had was elsewhere and it seemed like everyone could tell. Once the match was finished and the show stopped tapping, Seth grabbed the championship belt and made his way backstage. Dean stood there waiting but he walked right past him, head down and eyes on the floor as he made his way towards the locker room. He knew that Dean would be confused and Roman would be shocked that Seth hadn't waited for him to get backstage but he didn't care tonight, all he wanted was to get back to his hotel.

It didn't take long for Seth to finish packing his suitcase but he was interrupted by the locker door opening. He knew exactly who it was but he kept his back to the door and waited for them to get the hint that he didn't want to talk. If they did get the hint, they didn't care.

"I know you're upset about the match but losing isn't that big of a deal." Roman said and for a second there, Seth wanted to laugh. He knew he should just turn around and tell them what was going on but he didn't have the energy. He wasn't sure he could even speak without wanting to cry and the sudden emotional state he was in bothered him. He didn't want his friends to see him like this. So he kept his back to them and continued packing.

"I was right, wasn't I?" The question that came from Dean's direction stopped Seth in his tracks. He finally turned around to face his friends. Roman looked confused, not having a clue about what Dean was right about. Seth couldn't even look at Dean, who genuinely looked upset knowing that he had been right. AJ wasn't just Seth's best friend, but a friend of all the Shield boys. She had been there for all of them and Seth realized just then that he wasn't the only one about to lose her. He couldn't figure out why it seemed to be affecting him harder though.

Turning away from the two again, Seth zipped up his suitcase and picked it up. He knew that right now would be the best time to have his brothers by his side but he could only think about one person. Dean and Roman moved apart, giving Seth the space he needed to walk out of the locker room and he took it. It wasn't until he was out of the locker room, with his back to his friends again, that he answered Dean's question. "Yes, you were." And with that he walked away from them and headed down the hall towards the garage.

The ride back to the hotel had been a quiet one. Seth normally rode with Dean and Ambrose to the shows since they didn't get to see much of each other with the shield having broken up. For this reason, Seth had ended up calling a cab to get back to his hotel. He knew he should have just waited for Dean and Roman, to tell Roman what was going on, but he didn't want to. Not yet.

Before he knew it, the cab was coming to a stop and he was getting out. He quickly grabbed his suitcase and made his way up the elevator and to his room. At this point he just wanted to get this conversation over with. Seth wasn't even sure if AJ had decided to meet him at his hotel room and if she had, if she was there yet or not.

Grabbing the hotel key out of his pocket, he opened the door and pushed his way inside only to spot a familiar figure laying on his bed. As upset as he had been moments ago, Seth couldn't help but smile at his best friend who was currently curled up in a ball in his bed.

Walking into the room and shutting the door behind him, he dropped his suitcase down quietly before walking over to the bed and jumping on it. The sudden movement of the bed caused the brunette to wake. Jumping up quickly, she turned her attention to Seth before letting a groan slip through her lips as she laid back down, grabbing a pillow and pulling it over her head.

"Go away," he heard AJ mutter through the pillow and he couldn't help but laugh.

"That would be a little hard since you are sleeping in my bed." Seth stated as he grabbed the pillow and pulled it away from her. He heard a sigh of defeat and watched as she rolled over on her back so that she was looking up at him.

"I was sleeping."

"And I woke you up. Nice to know we both can see the obvious."

AJ rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile as she sat up, crossing her legs indian style and facing Seth. "I'm assuming this means you deciding you did want to hear my reasoning."

For just a moment, Seth had forgotten why AJ was there to begin with. He forgot that this wasn't just the two friends hanging out like normal. He sighed as the topic brought back the uneasy feeling in his gut, and the emotions he couldn't pinpoint or understand. Those feelings were not what he wanted AJ to see at the moment so he pushed back those feelings and sighed, looking away from his best friend.

"I'd rather hear it was all a rumor but I don't see that happening anymore." He snapped and instantly regretted it. Seth had a way of getting an attitude when he was upset, something that AJ knew very well. She wasn't use to the attitude being directed towards her though, which made her slightly uncomfortable. Seth could see it and he wanted to apologize right away but didn't have a chance.

"I'm retiring from in-ring competition. I'm not leaving WWE." The first words out of her mouth and it was official. He didn't understand how she wouldn't be leaving. Not competing in ring meant she would no longer be traveling. He would no longer see her every day. Before he had a chance to speak though, she continued. "I'm sick Seth. You know this. I'm sick, and tired, and hurt. And this is the only way I am going to get the rest and healing I need."

Seth knew she was right as she spoke but that didn't mean he liked anything she was saying. He sighed and leaned back against the pillows on his bed before looking at AJ. She was right. He knew she was still injured, that WWE had brought he back to wrestle while she was still recovering. That she kept getting injured again. And Seth told her every time she needed to stay at home for awhile.

Now she was and he wasn't sure he liked the idea so much anymore.

He knew that he couldn't make this about him though. AJ was his best friend outside of his shield brothers, one of the few people he had known the longest in the company. He cared about her more than anyone else on that roster and he knew this was what was best for her. So after five minutes of silence, he finally spoke up.

"Do you ever plan on wrestling again? Or are you going to ride out the rest of your contract retired?"

Now it was AJ's turn to sigh, who turned so that she could lean up against the pillows beside him before speaking herself.

"I haven't decided what I want to do. Wrestling is my first love. It's my life. You know this. But there is just so much going on right now. I need to do this for me. If I'm given the option to renew my contract when it comes up, who knows. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

Seth shook his head and the silence grew between the two. They had always been able to sit in silence, in each other's company, without things getting weird but it seemed like tonight things were different. The atmosphere was tense. The two were both upset. And the silence was only making things worse.

"Seth, please don't hate me."

AJ's voice cracked as she spoke and it snapped Seth back to reality. He pushed himself up and turned so he was looking at her. At some point, AJ had stared to tear up and was now letting the tears fall. Crying was not something you saw her do often and the sight broke Seth's heart.

"I don't hate you. I just miss you already." Seth spoke as he reached out and whipped the tears that were rolling down AJ's cheek. Almost instantly, the tears stopped and Seth couldn't figure out if it was because he had saw her crying or if it was because of what he had sad.

"I promise you, I'm not leaving you."

With that, things got silent between the two again. Seth didn't know what to say at this point and it seemed that AJ felt the same way. A second later, he felt the bed move beneath him and watch as AJ moved to her feet.

"I should probably get going. I have an early flight tomorrow morning and I'd rather not sleep through it." Seth watched as she moved towards the door and jumped to his feet himself, wanting to stop AJ. He wasn't even to terms with the fact that she was leaving him and now he was finding out she was leaving the next morning. Before he even had a chance to speak, AJ stopped him. "I will be back this weekend and we are going to celebrate your big win, okay?" She smiled at him before opening the door and walking out into the hallway.

Seth stood still and watched as the door shut, closing the distance between AJ and him. After a moment, he grabbed his cell phone in his hand and pulled up Roman's number.

'I need a beer. Or shot. Or ten. Wanna go to the bar?' He sent a quick text and then grabbed his hotel key and walked out of the room, knowing that Roman and Dean would meet him downstairs.

Just like Seth had predicted, Roman and Dean walked into the hotel bar not even ten minutes after Seth had gotten there. He sat at the bar with a 22oz of Bud Light in front of him. It wasn't his favorite beer but it was something he knew he could drink fast and drink a lot of. The two made their way over to the two toned hair wrestler, both of them taking a seat on each side of him.

"Nice to see you waited for us." Roman spoke as he glanced at the full beer sitting in front of Seth, which caused him to laugh.

"This is my second one. Sorry, you guys are going to have to play catch up." The bartender walked over as Seth was talking and Dean order a round for him and Roman. The three of them would spend a lot of their nights at the bar whenever they had the next morning off. Tonight was different. They knew they had filming for smackdown the next day but none of them protested because they all knew why they were here.

"Look, you are allowed to be upset Seth. You can ignore it all you want, you can sit here and pretend you're not upset, but sooner or later you are going to have to accept it." Dean's voice threw Seth off, as well as Roman, as both men turned to look at him. They normally let Roman be the words of wisdom kind of guy so to hear it come out of Dean's mouth wasn't normal. Then again, this wasn't a normal situation.

"Why would I have a reason to be upset? She's going home because of injury. She's spent most of the year away anyway." Seth shrugged his shoulders as he downed half of his beer, not wanting to deal with the current conversation.

"What do you mean why would you be upset? She's AJ. And you are you. You're losing your other half."

"I still don't understand." Seth trailed off as he looked over at Dean and then at Roman. Both guys seemed to be thinking the same thing and it was taking Seth a moment to figure out what it was. "AJ's not my other half?"

That comment caused a roar of laughter to come from Roman which annoyed Seth. He turned to glare at the man, who had been quiet up until this moment. The look on Seth's face caused Roman to laugh again before finally speaking up. "Everyone knows how you feel about her man. You follow her around like a puppy dog."

"Are you guys sure you're not the ones drunk?" Looking at his beer, Seth sat a twenty down on the bar top and pushed his chair away. "Look, this wasn't my smartest decision. New champ shouldn't show up hungover for a show. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Before the other two could protest, Seth walked away from them and out of the hotel. This was not the conversation he was planning on having. He was wanting to get drunk and bullshit with his friends and instead they were wanting to talk about his feelings for AJ. The thought made him laugh. Feelings? She was his best friend, of course he cared for her but that was it. It wasn't more. It couldn't be. But the longer the thoughts ran through Seth's mind the more he was starting to think maybe his friends were right. Did he like AJ more than just a friend?