"It's been too long since we've gotten to do this, bro."
"Yeah," Dolph nodded, staring into the bottom of his beer. He was trying to keep himself occupied tonight, but it wasn't working. His brain kept thinking about AJ and what she was doing right now. He knew it would do him no good to do so, but he couldn't help it, it wasn't like he had completely control over his thoughts, if his brain wanted to think about AJ, it was going to think about her. The thoughts just crept into his brain without rhyme or reason.
"I was starting to think I was losing you to your new squad."
"They're cool," Dolph said noncommittally, "I like hanging out with them."
"Yeah, it's obvious, but it was starting to feel like you were forgetting your own friends, so tonight is cool," Zack slapped him on the back, but Dolph barely registered it. He was really trying to focus on his friend, one who he'd been neglecting for a while now, but it wasn't working.
AJ was out there on her date with Punk, her first actual date with the guy, and it was all Dolph could think about. He thought a night out, getting perhaps stinking drunk might let his mind rest from the five thousand, no scratch that, five million scenarios it had concocted on how this night would go, and how every subsequent night after that would go.
"Yeah, real cool."
"You okay, dude?" Zack asked.
Dolph shook himself free of his thoughts and turned to his friend, "Yeah, sorry, was just thinking about all the upcoming stuff we have going, you know, travel and all that, it's always such a hassle booking everything yourself."
"You're telling me," Zack said, "so what's been happening with you? I feel like we haven't talked lately, you seeing anyone?"
"Nope, nobody, I'm too busy for that shit, you know that," Dolph shook his head. "It's too hard having a relationship with someone right now, I'm not about that life."
"I see what you mean," Zack said.
They fell into comfortable conversation, and for a while at least, Dolph was able to stave off the images of Punk and AJ in his mind. He only briefly wondered if they were going to sleep together tonight. He wouldn't have risen to such assumptions if he and AJ hadn't pretty much fallen into bed with no pretense. Who knew what kind of person she was on dates, not that he wanted to draw conclusions, but it wasn't like Punk was a stranger. The thought of his dirty hands all over her made him see red, and he had to take deep breaths in order to control his anger over the image.
He ended up avoiding her for a few days after that, and he wasn't even sure how he managed to do that since they worked on the same show, but avoid her he did. Because they weren't working directly with each other any longer, it was easier than he thought it would be. He barely talked to E and Kaitlyn either for fear they might reveal something about AJ's date, and for a while, he just wanted to pretend like nothing happened.
After the few days spent avoiding her, he was able to go home and avoid her even more. Being more than halfway across the country from her helped, and luckily for him, they weren't on the same house show circuit that weekend, so it meant an entire week without her, and that gave him time to really evaluate what was going on between the two of them. Without her around to cloud his judgment, he was able to take a good, hard look at what they were doing, and what they were to each other.
They were nothing more than sex. She'd never given him any indication that she wanted more. Everything he could ascribe to her being interested in him romantically could also be written off as friendship because they'd gotten so close over the course of their storyline. He couldn't believe in anything she did with him while they were together because what if it didn't mean that much to her. It was easier and probably better to think of themselves as what they'd originally been, friends with benefits.
He needed to start being real with himself. There was never going to be anything more between him and AJ, and maybe it was just better that way. He wasn't her type to begin with. She belonged with someone like Punk, someone who shared the same interests as her, someone she could talk to about the things she loved. He always listened attentively, but he was always a little lost when she spoke of things like obscure comic book villains or some video game she really loved. He couldn't be the man she needed, and he certainly wasn't the man she wanted.
"Hey!" she jumped in front of him the second he got to the show on Monday. He was barely in the door and it made him wonder if she'd been waiting for him. She hugged him tightly, and he hugged her back half-heartedly. He'd been hoping to avoid her tonight as well, but no such luck.
"Hey," he said, his voice not nearly as excited as hers was.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever," she told him, looping her arm through his as they walked further into the building. "Where the hell have you been hiding?"
It didn't escape his notice that her fingers were lightly brushing against his biceps, but it was clearly an unconscious move and not something she was doing on purpose. "Nowhere," he said, "I've just been busy, I mean, I'm trying to get things back on track after the concussion."
"Oh yeah," she said sympathetically, and her voice became somber. He'd grilled her once about what happened during those hours that he'd lost, considering he'd spent most of them with her (he'd seen the late night picture she'd posted on Twitter, and the 30 other ones they'd taken because apparently none of them had been the right one to post), but she'd never really told him that much about it. He could tell that it hurt her to think about, so he'd dropped it for the most part.
One day, though, he'd asked Stephanie McMahon if he could watch the footage that wasn't aired that evening. She'd been hesitant at first, but eventually she'd relented and told him that he could stop by headquarters and she'd give him clearance to watch it. He'd gone one day and he'd watched as AJ rushed to his side, clearly terrified hovering over him. He'd never know what she was saying to him, but she was talking and he could see his lips moving, and he would forever wonder what words were said that evening.
"I really feel like I have to focus," he told her, "not let anything get in my way, you know what I mean."
"I understand," she nodded. "It's difficult to come back after an injury and have your momentum killed."
"Exactly, so I feel like I should just work my ass off and ignore everything else," he said, hoping that she was getting what he was trying to say. If she was going to stop what they were doing, he wanted to end it first, save his heart and his pride.
"I see," she said, pausing a little bit as her grip tightened on his arm.
"So, uh, how was your date with Punk last week?"
"It was surprisingly fun," AJ told him, and again, her grip tightened on him a little bit.
"You sound like you expected it to be terrible," Dolph turned to her. Her face was serious, like she was thinking, but then she looked up at him and gave him a resplendent smile. He wasn't sure if it was to him or if it was because she was thinking about her date with Punk and it was so good that it made her that happy.
"I did," she laughed, "I mean, have you met him? He's not exactly a guy with the best reputation with the ladies." She laughed as if she made a joke. He couldn't help but give a small chuckle. Punk's reputation preceded him, that was for sure. Most of the women around here wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole.
"That's true."
"But he was a gentleman," AJ shrugged. "He treated me nicely, he didn't try any funny business, and he made it a fun time, like it was an actual date. I kind of expected him to drag me to some UFC thing or something."
"Where did he drag you?" Dolph might as well prolong the agony of this conversation. It was almost cathartic in a way. If he could listen to this, detach himself from the situation, he could let her go. She obviously wanted to leave, so he was going to let her go without anything weighing down her conscience.
"This really nice restaurant, which was unexpected, wasn't sure he knew what those were and then we went to see a movie," she told him. "Movies are always good for dates because you don't have to talk much, and we talked a lot during dinner. He's actually more interesting than you would think."
"He seems like someone with a lot of backstory."
"He is, he actually wanted to go out tomorrow night."
"Wow, already on the second date, how long before you put out?" he said, but made it clear that he was joking, even if inside it was tearing him apart. A second date already? He'd been so hoping it would all fall apart, but it wasn't, and it was only going to get worse. He needed to end this friendship right now.
"Very funny," she rolled her eyes.
"Look, AJ, I really should get going," he told her gently as he extricated his arm from hers. "I have to go see what match I have tonight, if I have a match tonight then you know, get ready."
"Is everything okay with you?" AJ asked, looking up at him in concern. Her eyes searched his face, and he hoped there was enough passivity on it to not alarm her of what he was trying to do or how he really felt.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"I didn't give Punk an answer to the second date," AJ told him, and he wasn't sure if she was just trying to continue the conversation or if she was trying to tell him something more than what her words were actually saying.
"Why not?"
"I wasn't sure," she explained, "whether or not I wanted a second date."
"It sounded like you had fun though," he told her, pushing her away even further. "If you had fun, you should go on another with him. I mean, don't deny yourself the chance to be happy."
"You want me to be happy?" she asked, her voice soft and melodic.
"Yeah, Punk seems like the perfect guy for you," Dolph explained. "I mean, you guys have so much in common, you can talk about all the things you both like, and you just have a lot in common." He finished the sentence lamely, gamely trying to let her go. He didn't want to be the albatross around her neck keeping her from who she really wanted. "AJ, if I'm…we were just sleeping together, that's it."
She screwed up her mouth a little bit, and she opened her mouth to say something, but then her mouth clamped shut a little bit. They stood there in the hallway for a long moment, staring at each other, and he could tell that she had something to say, but she didn't want to say it.
"All you have to do is say the word and we can stop, I'm not going to be offended or anything. It was a no strings attached thing anyways, and we both knew that we could just walk away at any time, so you don't have to feel guilty. I don't want you to feel guilty, I want you to be happy. So just be happy." She stared at him, not saying anything, and he had no idea what she was thinking.
"Okay."
That was it, he knew it was over.