A/N: Thank you for all the reads, reviews, and everything else. Hope you enjoy the chapter, and reviews are always welcome! :)

November 20, 2012

"He's not a good kisser, but don't you dare tell him I told you that."

Dolph snickered, "Wow, hearing that just made my entire day. It really did, and I'm so happy right now, I don't even know what do with myself."

"Why is that such a good thing?" AJ asked him, but she knew the answer. While he maintained a civil relationship with John, she knew that Dolph actually didn't much care for him. She didn't see the problem with him, he'd been a mentor for a while now, but to each their own.

"Because it's nice to know that I have something over him, even if I can't be the top guy over him."

"How do you know you're a better kisser?"

"I could probably ask Nikki," Dolph said, "but since she's actually dating John right now, I should wait until they break up then ask her about it. I'm sure she'll say me though, I've never had a complaint before. Don't worry, you'll find out soon."

"Oh my God, you're right," AJ bit her lip, "I didn't even think of that. Last night was pretty intense though, don't you think? I'm actually really liking where we're going with this. I think people are really going to be surprised when we get together. It's not so over-the-top like I was with Bryan and Phil."

"Yeah, and I hope you don't think I was too harsh with what I said," he told her. He knew she knew that it was all part of their characters, but it never hurt to make sure she knew he didn't think any of those things about her. He'd gotten to know AJ a lot better, and knew that she wasn't anything like her character. She was very down-to-earth and sweet, and not at all crazy.

"No, it was actually perfect," AJ nodded, "we really want people to think that we hate each other, it'll really add the element of surprise. I still can't believe they had me go into the men's locker room though. I know that everyone knew I was coming in there, but it was still so weird and so…manly."

"Well, what is the women's locker room like? They never let me in, but I figure that it's lots of pillow fights and helping each other put your bras on and stuff."

AJ just sighed lightly. She was getting used to Dolph's dirty jokes, and while they were silly and stupid, it was just part of who he was, she was learning. He didn't mean them to offend anyone, even though he knew some people got annoyed by it, but it was just him. "Yes, that's exactly what we do, then we rub oil all over each other so we're nice and shiny for our matches."

"If you ever need help with that, don't hesitate to ask me."

"I think I can manage," she nodded seriously. "But your locker room, it's just so…like, I don't know, testosterone-filled. I can't even describe it, it was kind of exciting being in there."

"Exciting?"

"Shut up, it's like forbidden territory," AJ laughed, taking a tortilla chip from their shared basket and chewing on it slowly. She and Dolph were spending a lot more time together lately, trying to get to know one another even better in preparation for their storyline. They knew that when people were put together spontaneously, they often lacked any kind of chemistry (the first thing that came to her mind was Khali and Nattie, who had no chemistry whatsoever), and they didn't want to fall into that trap.

"I guess I can see where it'd be weird, but exciting, I don't know, a bunch of half naked, sweaty guys…wait, wait, wait, I'm seeing it now," he joked and she dropped her mouth open in mock shock, shaking her head and looking down at her napkin. "Wait, do you have like a crush on someone?"

"God no," she said immediately, "I don't have my eye on anyone right now. After Greg, I'm happy to be single for a while, I like it, it's good, it's nice."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," he said, "so…what do you want out of our partnership? Like between us, what do you want out of it?"

"I want to be remembered," AJ told him. "I always want to be remembered that's my goal. I want to be a Lita or a Trish, I want to retire and have people miss the hell out of me and want me to come back."

"I thought you never wanted to retire."

"Well, semi-retire, I eventually want to like get married and stuff, but I would come back every once in a while just to keep the other divas on their toes. I know I can go for years, I'll be the next Mae Young or Moolah, going through tables when I'm in my 70's."

"I hope I'm alive to see that."

"I hope you are too," she told him sweetly, "we'll sit back and reminisce about being together. That's what I want out of this. I want us to be so gross and disgusting and horrible that people can't get enough of it. I want them to hate how much they love us. I think we can do it too."

"I think so too, and disgusting, we'll definitely be disgusting, but we're going to get in trouble."

"Like that's new for you, I'm surprised you still have a job," she joked. Dolph was known for his ragging on other superstars in order to prop himself up. Most of it was his character, but some of it was him, and sometimes he did get in trouble for it, but for the most part, he got away with it. It was a wonder he had so many friends backstage though, but then, he was charming, or so he was told.

"So am I most of the time," he told her, "don't worry, when you're around me, you'll get used to being in trouble too."

"I'm looking forward to it," she said just as their food arrived. They dug into their meal for a few minutes before resuming their conversation. "So, since you act like Mr. Fearless most of the time, what is one thing that scares you?"

"I'm not crazy about spiders, but um, probably talking to girls."

"I hate to break it to you, Nick, but I'm a woman. You probably got confused because of my lack of proportions, but I have breasts, and the female, uh, stuff, you know, and I'm regretting this sentence so much right now."

"I just mean, like, I don't know, getting girls to go out with me, it's just…you're different, you're so easy to talk to." And it was true. There was something so open about AJ that kind of made someone want to spill all their secrets to her.

"So you wouldn't ever think to date me then, that's what you're saying, I'm not really your type?" she asked, and it wasn't that she was offended, he could tell, she was just genuinely curious. He never thought about type though, there wasn't really a type for him, it was more about personality, and it always had been. People called him shallow, and they thought he would fuck any pretty, little thing that walked by in a skirt, but they couldn't be more wrong.

"No, that's not what I'm saying, and I don't have a type really, it's not like I want a blonde-haired, blue eyes tall girl from Scandinavia, what I really want is a woman who is smart and can banter back and forth with me, looks aren't huge for me if we're being honest, I mean, sure, they're there, you know, but if they're perfect in every other way, their looks become less important."

"I'm the same way," she told him, "if a guy can make me laugh then everything else just kind of fades away. I just want someone who will laugh with me. I think a relationship should be filled with laughter."

"Funny is huge for me," he added. "One of my exes was a comedienne."

"Oh yeah, Amy, right? I, uh, heard about that…"

"I think everyone heard about that," he sucked at his teeth a little, trying not to blush. He was handling that situation as best he could, but it was embarrassing, and he wished she would have come to him before she talked about their sex life to the entire world. "Maybe someone not that funny then."

AJ laughed heartily at that, "That's also a stupid reason to break up with someone, I mean, come on, a lot of women would like that in a man. So you like funny ladies?"

"I like comedy a lot, I kind of want to try my hand at stand-up comedy, but I haven't yet worked up the courage to do it yet. I just…I'm really scared to try it. It's really rough. I have a lot of comedian friends and it's just tough."

"You should do it," she encouraged him. "I mean, you perform in front of thousands all the time, and on TV to boot. Do you have a routine or anything?"

"I do a lot of writing, so I do have material."

"Oh my God, can I read it?" she asked eagerly.

"You can't just read comedy, it has to be performed," he tried to dodge it because he didn't think his stuff was funny. He was constantly tweaking it, but he'd never actually showed it to anyone, and he really didn't want to. It probably wasn't funny, and the thought of standing up in front of people and bombing was terrifying. He was good at wrestling, he'd always known he was good at wrestling, but this was foreign territory, and he'd be going in blind.

"Okay, so can you perform it for me then?" she asked.

"No way, it's not good, you don't want to hear it. It's still something I'm new at, and I don't think it's any good, and it's really just ideas, and they don't have any real punch-lines yet, and it's stupid to really try to—"

He was cut off by her putting her hand on top of his, which he only just then realized, he'd been tapping his fingers nervously against the table while rambling on about how he didn't want to perform it for her. He didn't like failing, and he knew if he let AJ hear his jokes that she wouldn't laugh, and he'd feel like a failure. He looked up into her eyes, and they were the same kind of warm they were when he told her wanted to be the one who was good to her in their onscreen partnership.

"I bet it's really good," she said simply, taking her hand off of his, and she left it at that. She didn't say anything else as she went back to eating her tacos. He stared at her for a few moments because he didn't know what the response to that should be. Somehow, her words calmed him down. She was just so easy to get along with, and it almost felt like they'd known each other for years and not months.

"How come we weren't friends before?" he finally asked.

She chewed the bite of food in her mouth before she answered, "We just didn't know each other. But we're friends now, so it all worked itself out."

"I guess, you know, I guess if I wanted to share some of my comedy with you, it'd be okay. I mean, if that's okay with you. If you were just offering to be nice, I understand—"

"I wasn't just saying it," AJ said, "I love to watch stand-up specials, and I would love to hear your material, are you like an observational comic or are you like, someone who likes to make puns or are you the dreaded prop comic?"

"Observational."

"My favorite kind, and I wouldn't make fun of you or heckle you, but it's up to you. I mean, I'd be an engaging audience, and I could offer you constructive criticism without you feeling embarrassed, but only if you want to share it with me, you don't have to, and I would completely understand." It wouldn't hurt for him to try his material out with someone. He knew AJ wouldn't make fun of it, if anything, she would probably lie to him before insulting him. She was his friend, and he could trust her.

"Then I'd really like to share it with you."