A/N: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing the story, hope you enjoy the conclusion!
Dolph sat anxiously waiting for AJ's flight. His arrival was scheduled to be about fifteen minutes before hers, but he'd arrived early, and hers was arriving ten minutes late, which gave him time to think and analyze, and essentially drive himself crazy. He slumped down further into his chair, blending in with the usual airport cacophony, but to further deter anyone, he pulled the baseball cap on his head over his eyes just a tiny bit more. It wasn't that he didn't like meeting and talking with fans, but right now, he wasn't sure he could form words.
AJ was showing up soon. She was going to walk off the air bridge, and they would actually have to talk face-to-face, and the thought terrified him. He wasn't normally a scared man, he was a wrestler, and with that came a sort of bravery, throwing your body around every which way and putting it up for injury. But talking to girls, especially girls he liked, was a recurring problem since he was a teenager. He tended to stutter over his words and come off cheesy rather than charming.
That's what happened the other night after AJ pretty much told him she liked him. The conversation turned to mush, which was why he was so damn nervous right now. After she'd said what he wanted to hear, he'd become nearly mute, and he was pretty sure he'd damaged any chances he had with her after that.
"Oh."
"Oh? That's…I mean, that's all you have to say?" she asked nervously, her voice just as quiet as his was. "Does…do you…I mean, yeah, like, it was a nice surprise because, it was a nice surprise."
"Yeah, I'm…well, I'm glad it was a nice one, and everything," he said, mentally and nearly physically slapping himself in the face because he was such an idiot.
"Good, so we should probably talk, right?"
"Yeah, talking would be, we probably have stuff to discuss," he said, still mentally berating himself. Why couldn't he just be smooth?
"Do you want to talk now?" she wondered. No, no he did not want to talk now! He couldn't even form coherent sentences, and he needed to prepare himself, and this wasn't even how his night was supposed to go. His brother started this entire thing, so it wasn't like he had anything prepared! He could not talk to her right now!
"Um, how about we do this in person," he said, "don't you think that would be better?"
"Yeah, I guess it would, I guess there'd be things to say."
"Oh, lots," he laughed then wondered why he was laughing. "Um, so yeah, we'll do that when I pick you up or when we meet up, yeah, when we meet up in Chicago, day after tomorrow."
"Yup, so until then?"
"I'll be thinking of you," he said. He cringed at how cheesy that sounded. He closed his eyes at his own stupidity. This was why he'd never confessed his feelings before. Now he was being thrust into an uncomfortable situation whose outcome he didn't know.
"I'll be thinking of you too," she said, and maybe he didn't ruin it. "Merry Christmas, Nick."
"Merry Christmas, AJ."
"Nick…"
His throat went dry and he licked his lips as he looked up to see AJ standing there. He was tongue-tied. He didn't know what to say, what do you say to your potential something or another? What was she? The girl he liked? His potential girlfriend? What the hell could they call each other now? Friends? Friends with benefits? Wait, no, there were no benefits yet, were they're going to be though?
"Nick?" she repeated again. "Did you hear me?"
"Sorry," he shook his head, "I did, hey."
"Hey," she smiled at him, but it was just as awkward as he felt. He stood up so he was in front of her, and they stood there for at least a minute, neither one say anything as people continued to stream by them, unaware of the situation brewing right there in front of them.
"So we should go."
"Yeah, we should, the show is tonight, and we've got to get there and prepare and stuff," she nodded. They both started to reach for her bag, and they ended up bumping heads, both yelping at the contact. He pulled away first, and wanted to just be swallowed hall.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"It's okay," she rubbed the top of her head, "I got my bag though, it's okay."
"No, I insist," he told her.
"Well, I reject your insisting, and I can handle it, promise," she told him, giving him a look that told him to try and defy her one more time. He conceded, and she smiled triumphantly as she grabbed her bag. They pulled their suitcases through the airport to the rental car shuttles. After they got their car, they put their bags in and climbed into the front seats. "I think we should talk now," she told him, surprising him by blurting it out with no warning whatsoever.
"Now?" he asked in surprise. He thought they would wait until after the show, or maybe after the new year, or maybe after five years had passed and he worked up the courage, but right now? In the rental car garage?
"Yes, now, before the show, before we're surrounded by people and coworkers who need to talk about matches and everything. We'll never get time to talk if we wait until we're at work, and we should…I mean, don't you think we should talk about…stuff?"
"Yeah, of course I do, I just didn't expect it so soon," he admitted, staring straight ahead, suddenly finding the bumper of the car in front of him fascinating. This car was suddenly stifling, almost closing in on him.
"When did you expect it?"
"Not this soon."
"I like you," she just came out and said it, probably because it was clear he was not going to start this conversation. "When I got that text, I don't know, it was just like, I felt relieved that I wasn't the only person feeling this way. I thought that this was something great, but then when you didn't call, it just kind of told me how much I liked you because you not calling me really, really hurt."
"I would never want to hurt you," he said. "I've liked you for a while too. I just…I'm not good at this, AJ."
"Good at what?"
"Relationships."
"But all your exes love you."
"Yeah, because I'm good at breaking up with them, but I'm not good at relationships. I'm not the type of guy who…I'm okay around girls I don't like, I can flirt, be smooth, whatever, charming, I don't know, but it's different, I don't know."
"I'm not good at them either," she shrugged. "Two relationships in the five years I've really been dating. That's not exactly knocking them dead."
"When did you…" He let his voice trail off.
She understood, "When you pulled my top down." She turned her head to look at him. He could feel her eyes trailing over his face, and he wanted to turn to look at her, but if he did, he was afraid she would see every emotion playing over his face. "That was the beginning of it. I know it didn't seem like a big deal, but it was to me. Not everyone would think to do that. You did. I don't know, since then, it's been like this building thing, never like, crazy or weird, but just this growing…feeling of…something…"
She was a lot more articulate than he was, but because she was, he had to match that or she wouldn't understand his feelings. "You're perfect." Damn it, that was too much. Now she was going to think he was a creeper or something. "I mean, ugh…"
"Nick," she took his hand gently. "I think you're really cute."
"I'm an idiot, but you actually are pretty perfect."
"Not totally."
"Well, no, nobody is…I'm sort of perfect, jk, jk, but what I'm trying to say is that I've liked you for a while, and it took my brother of all things to tell you how I felt because I'm a coward. I'm sorry it took me so long—"
"It's been a year since I started liking you, don't worry about the length of time."
"I just find myself wanting to spend all my time with you. When I'm around you, it's just…I'm not even sure how to describe it, but I feel like myself around you. Does that make sense?"
"Perfect," she told him, stroking his hand with her thumb. "I feel that way too. I like being around you, as a friend, as more than a friend, and I think that's the start of a good relationship, I hope so anyways. I think it should be two people who can be themselves a you don't think less of me, if anything, you think more of me."
"I wish I could be that articulate."
"You call that articulate? Wow, you are a sorry man," she laughed. "I just want to move forward with whatever this is, and I would hope you would too or else this is going to be a really awkward car ride."
"So you want to be my girlfriend? Oh God, please tell me I didn't just sound like a twelve year old? I did, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but it was a cute twelve year old," she told him sweetly. "I do want to be your girlfriend, if you want me to be, which I'm guessing you do because you just asked me, and we're really going to have to get better at this talking thing, aren't we?"
"We've got time, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I think we've got a little bit of time," AJ said, staring at him again. "Just enough time really."
"Yeah, definitely just enough—"
She leaned over and kissed him, her mouth coming over his and he didn't react at first, sitting there like an even bigger idiot. Then he moved his hand to cup the back of her head, and her body somehow moved over him until she was in his lap, and still she was managing to kiss him. She was impressed. She moaned lightly against his mouth, her arms coming to wrap tightly around his neck, and he wasn't even sure when she let go of his hand, but this was much, much better.
It wasn't their first kiss or their second or even their fifth, but it was perhaps as disgusting as those first ones had been, just less frenzied. Tongues were everywhere, and it was sloppy and messy, but neither cared as his hands found her thighs, and he thanked the heavens she was wearing a loose dress because it allowed him to run his hands over her legs and up her smooth thighs.
He moved his mouth from hers down to her neck, burying his face into her skin. He seemed to pull him in closer, and he let his tongue run over the vein pulsing in her neck. It felt like her pulse was accelerated, and he felt accomplished because of it. She kept giving these little mewling sounds, and he was content to show her his feelings rather than talking about them. He wasn't even sure how far they were going to go right now. What was the protocol for people who had made out in front of thousands of people who just started dating?
He couldn't think more about it before there was a knock on the window.
They both pulled apart quickly, looking to the window, and AJ covered her face as she saw a security guard. "Excuse me, I'm going to have to ask that you don't do that," he said through the window.
"Sorry, sorry," Dolph said, almost pushing AJ off him, but she was quicker than he was and got into the passenger seat. "We're leaving."
The security guy just nodded and walked off as AJ wiped at her mouth. "Oh my God."
"You want to get to work?"
"Yes, very much so," she blushed. He grabbed her hand and kissed it.
"We'll finish where we left off later, okay?"
"Do we have to thank your brother over this?" AJ wondered, thinking about how it was all Briley that got them here. Maybe they'd have to send him a gift or something.
"Oh no, he's still dead."
THE END
