A/N: I'm so glad you guys liked the last chapter and remembered the story, it made me happy, so I hope you enjoy the chapter, and reviews are lovely. :)

It felt like a physical blow.

She actually had to take a step back from the force of it. The information assailed her, whipping at her face as Dolph stood there, huffing from the exertion of his outburst. His blue eyes were heated and seemed brighter, and he was so angry she could feel it coming off him in waves. She blinked a few times as her brain tried to piece together the words he was saying at her. She didn't understand.

"What?" she choked out, wishing he would repeat himself so he could hear this once again.

"Kaitlyn told me she saw you two together when I was gone with my concussion. Then I come back and you're all about your plan with Kaitlyn, and you only included E. You didn't want me to be any part of it, you start meeting with all the time without me, telling me that you didn't need me. I read the writing on the wall, AJ, and I wasn't going to be mad a fool of, do you understand me, I wasn't going to look like an idiot!"

"Dolph…"

"No, okay, I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, I really, truly tried, but you didn't want to be with me, fine, be with him, I don't care anymore. God, I should have seen this coming when I saw you last year, I should have known that you just string guys along, pretending like you care until you can screw them over. Maybe I should warn E about you."

"Dolph," she tried again, pressing her hand to his arm.

He wrenched his arm out of her reach, "Don't touch me!"

Now AJ was getting angry. It was starting to come together, all of it, the reason he pulled away, the reason he broke up with her, the reason he wanted nothing to do with her now and constantly prodded about her and E, it all made sense, and as she thought more about it, she became angrier. Mostly at Kaitlyn, but at herself, at E, even at Dolph, she was angry at everyone involved because this was a completely avoidable situation made worse by a jealous ex-friend.

She grabbed his arm this time, digging her nails into his skin. He protested for a second before she hauled him further down this deserted hallway and further away from prying ears and eyes. "Dolph Ziggler, you listen to me right now and you listen to me good—"

"No, let me go, okay, let me go!" he told her, pulling from her reach again. He tried to get by her, but she moved in front of him. He tried to get away again, but once again, she put herself in front of him, blocking his path. He became frustrated and picked her up by the waist, surprising her as he put her down to the side of him so he could walk past.

"Oh no you don't!" she told him, jumping on his back as he grunted from the unexpected weight.

"Will you let go of me?" he asked, trying to pry her off, but she'd locked her legs around his waist, so it was near impossible for her to get him off her. She just kept her grip as tight as she could.

"Not until you let me talk."

"Fine," he said, "just get off me."

"Promise not to run?" She knew him too well to not think that he wouldn't bolt as soon as she let go of him.

"Yes," he promised so she hopped off his back. She grabbed his hand to lead him back to where they were talking, but he shrugged her off again. It hurt for a moment, but she was hopeful that in a short while, things would get better. She needed for things to get better. Dolph followed her down the hallway until they were back to where they were.

She needed to clear this up. Dolph was hurting, she was hurting, and that didn't need to happen. She didn't need to feel lost and alone anymore if Dolph would just listen to her. It was only now that she really looked at him because he'd not allowed himself to get close to her, and it made sense if he believed what Kaitlyn said, what he saw with his own eyes. When she looked at him, she could see the hurt in his face, the betrayal that was etched in his features.

She reached up and touched his cheek because she had to try and erase that look from his face. It felt so natural touching him like this, her thumb running over his stubble. He let the contact go for a moment, but then pulled his head away. She sighed and put her hand back down at her side, trying to think of what to say that wouldn't send him running away and wouldn't make him not believe her.

"I…didn't include you in the Kaitlyn stuff because I thought you wouldn't want to be a part of it," she told him, starting off there because that was the part he saw with his own eyes. She did only include E in it, and she never told Dolph of her plans. He didn't even know she was Kaitlyn's "secret admirer," so no wonder he felt left out and out of the loop.

"What?" he said, wondering why she was explaining this now.

"Because you were different. You were acting different, nicer, trying to be friends with people, being the fan favorite, it was like you'd changed who you were because you weren't happy with who you had been. I felt like…okay, if he knew I'd been doing this all along, he'll hate me for it because he'll think it's stupid and childish, and so I kept it from you, and that's why I only included E. I only included him because I was scared of what you'd think."

"I would have supported you, I would have been in on it with you," he told her. "I was proud of you, I was always proud of you."

"Kaitlyn saw nothing," AJ said, "because there's nothing to be seen. When you were gone, I missed you, I missed you so much, and E was a friend to me when I needed it. At least I thought he was. I don't know what he is now. He's…he seems to think that there's something between us, something I don't see to be honest."

"But tonight…"

"Layla," AJ shrugged, "she's been trying to be friendly with me, I guess Kaitlyn's ego is getting too big for everyone to be around, and she said that I should make you jealous, show you what you lost, make you see that you'd made a huge mistake, and well, I took advantage of E's feelings, not my finest moment."

"There was nothing?"

"No, I mean, a couple times I missed you, and I'd…I'd start crying because I was worried about you, and he hugged me, but that's it. And this is Kaitlyn, Dolph, Kaitlyn, the woman who I took the title from, who treated me like shit, why wouldn't she want to ruin my life."

"I don't know what to believe anymore," Dolph shook his head.

"I've missed you so much," AJ confessed, tears pooling in her eyes. "I kept wondering what I did to make you so angry with me. I couldn't figure it out, and I was just so…lost without you. I loved you, and I felt like you were the one, you know, that you could be the one good one that I needed so desperately so when you dumped me, it was like, I didn't know what to believe either."

"So you really…you would have included me in your plans?"

"If I had known you wanted to be a part of it as much as you say, I would have absolutely wanted you to be a part of it. I wanted you to be a part of everything in my life," she said then took a deep breath before continuing, "I still do."

"I just, I need time to think," Dolph said, "I'm sorry, AJ."

"No, no, it's okay, I'm just glad that I got to tell you my side of the story. I would have never cheated on you. I know my past is sketchy with the whole Daniel and Punk thing, I know that I at least deserved a little bit of the suspicion because of how I acted, but I would never have done that to you."

"I'm sorry that I was so quick to judge and believe her when I should have known she had it out for you. I did know that, you told me so many times, of course I knew that. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"Thank you, that's all I needed to hear," she told him and it felt like she'd lost about a hundred pounds of guilt and uncertainty.

She'd only ever wanted to know why he'd done it, why he thought he should have done it sooner. She just needed to know why his feelings changed on a dime, and now she knew they had changed, but not as she expected. She knew the truth of the situation, and if nothing else, she wanted that closure. She had that now, and if that was all she was ever going to get, she would have to live with it.

She reached forward and tentatively gave him a hug, "I just want to say thank you for listening to me, and I hope that things work out for you. I still think you should be champion, and I still hate Del Rio and Swagger for everything they did."

"Thanks," he chuckled softly, hugging her back. She pulled away before she could cling to him and beg him to come back to her. She hate to at least maintain a little bit of her dignity now. She had to let him be the one to take the next step. He knew she still loved him, and she could do no more. It was his information to do something with.

She wanted to talk to E though, right now, but she knew if she went right now she'd be angry and yell and look crazy. She needed to approach this differently than she had with situations in the past. She was trying to ditch her reputation as a crazy chick and be a strong champion. She knew that she wasn't doing a very good job of that the past couple weeks with regards to Dolph, but she'd been hurt. Now that she knew the truth, she could approach things the way she'd intended before her life fell to shambles.

"I'll see you later," she told him simply.

He nodded, and she turned and walked away, proud of herself for doing so. She was done for the evening so she gathered her things, and she called a cab. She usually drove with E, but she didn't want to this evening and maybe not for any evenings after this. She texted him a quick note saying that she wasn't going to be driving with him, and she went outside to wait for her cab. When it arrived, she got in quickly before E could potentially find her. He hadn't sent anything back, but she didn't know if he would try to seek her out.

Her hotel room didn't feel as lonely tonight, and that was encouraging. She put on her pajamas and ordered an ice cream sundae from room service, figuring that she could treat herself tonight after everything that happened. There was a knock at the door and she got up, grabbing a couple dollars to tip the waiter with. Upon opening the door, she found it wasn't the waiter at all.

"What are you doing here?"

"I had enough time to think, I thought, and I thought, and every time I thought, I came to the same conclusion, I miss you so much, and I'm stupid, and you're stupid, so let's be stupid together, but just don't tell anyone I'm stupid because I've got a rep."

"So what are you saying?"

"I would get down on my gorgeous knees and beg you to take me back, but can you just pretend like I am?" he asked her and she hugged him tightly before pulling him into the room. "I love you."

She relished in the words she'd longed to hear again. "I love you too."

The way he exhaled, it seemed like he'd been feeling the same way. "So what do we do now? Do we go out and announce we're back together, get our revenge on Kaitlyn, what do we do?"

"I have a better idea."