A/N: Thank you so much for all the love for the story, hope you enjoy this part, and review if you want to. :)
She suddenly felt shy around his family.
She'd felt so welcomed by them, and they were such wonderful people, but she suddenly felt timid around their warmth. She clung to Dolph's side, holding his right hand with her right hand and holding onto his arm with her left. His mother kept giving their joined hands little glances of approval, which only made AJ want to retreat into herself a little bit more.
"What's up with you, your nails are like digging into my skin?" Dolph asked, prying her hand off his arm a little. AJ looked down and could see the little crescents of her fingernails embedded on his arm. She gave him a guilty look and bit her lip. "You're being weird," he whispered to her.
"I'm fine," she told him unconvincingly, and he frowned, but was pulled back into the conversation by his young cousin, who was asking a million questions about other wrestlers that were going to be there tonight, and if he could meet them.
That didn't stop Dolph from watching AJ every now and then. Her hand was back to gripping his arm tightly, and he wondered what could possibly be wrong with her. They'd just been having fun together, but now she seemed absolutely terrified to be by his side. He couldn't figure it out. Did she really not want to be with him? No, he didn't want to entertain that idea. He was sure that she wanted to be with him, well, as sure as he possibly could be.
"Hey, you guys better go get your seats," Dolph said upon looking up at one of the clocks around the arena. "You don't want to miss the beginning of the show."
"We're going, we're going," his mother said, brushing her hands over his shoulders like she was brushing away dust. "Do well. I'll be proud either way."
"Thanks, Mom," he responded bashfully, his face turning a sweet shade of pink.
Kelly turned to AJ next and ran her hands over AJ's loose hair, "If he gets into trouble, you get in there and make sure that everything goes his way." She winked at her, and AJ, for the first time in a while, laughed, genuinely pleased by Kelly's words. Dolph's mother gave them one more meaningful look before she jogged off to catch up with the rest of Dolph's clan.
"Okay, now that they're gone, what's up? You were acting weird."
"I was not."
"Yes, you were, I've been around you long enough to know when you're being weird." He removed her hand from his arm again so that he could turn to face her. He studied her for a second, searching her eyes for something that she couldn't quite figure out, but his face softened a little bit as he took in her whole face.
"What's on my face?" she asked instinctively, believing that there must be something on her face, and wouldn't that just be something, especially after she'd spent the entire conversation being a mute.
"A couple of eyes, nose, mouth, your standard face stuff," he told her, reaching up and brushing his thumb gently underneath her lips, "definitely a kissable pair of lips, that's for sure."
She twisted her mouth, "I was shy."
He'd expected the conversation to be over about what was up with her because she seemed intent on not divulging what it was about, but now it made sense. AJ wasn't the best at social situations. It wasn't that she was weird or crazy, she was just shy, and being around large groups wasn't her cup of tea.
"You didn't need to be shy."
"I know, but it was just…I was shy because they were all here and like, we didn't really get to talk to your mom after…after this morning, so it was like she was looking at us with that look, you know the look."
"That she's happy?"
"No, like she knew we had sex this morning," she hissed. "I don't know, don't mind me, I'm just being weird. I'm just shy and awkward and I don't know what I'm saying anymore, and I'm sorry."
"It's not a big deal, I was just hoping you hadn't already decided that you're way too good for me or something." In response to that, she wrapped her short arms around his waist as best she could, needing to press herself against him firmly in order to make the entire reach. He leaned down and kissed her a little bit, just a brief touch, but she was happy enough for it. "You don't need to be shy around me."
"I think I've already proven that point," she mumbled against his lips. He wanted more though, and he deepened the kiss, his own arms pulling her impossibly closer, and she had to stand up a little on her tiptoes to meet him halfway. She nearly pushed him into the wall behind her as she propelled him backwards, but he landed with a soft thud and a short gasp that allowed her better purchase of his mouth.
"You're so hot," he told her because he never imagined in his wildest dreams that she could be so bold. He'd thought she might be like her personality, timid, shy, taking a while to warm up, but not her. She was all warmth and softness and he was getting carried away in the middle of the hallway. "You're going to be the death of me, I'm sure."
"That's the plan all along," AJ said, "I just make you slowly die."
He snorted with her laughter because while it wasn't even funny, there was something in her delivery that always made him laugh. He brushed her hair away from her face. "You're the weirdest chick I know."
"The same goes for you, and that includes the chick part," she told him as they both heard the loud sound of a throat clearing a few feet away from them, echoing through this part of the arena. They both looked over and saw E waiting impatiently for them.
"I can't leave you two alone for a few minutes, can I?"
"A few more minutes, and you would have walked into a completely different scene," Dolph smirked, and E made a disgusted face, his tongue sticking out as he waggled his head from side to side trying to get that image out of his brain. He didn't even want to think about what kind of things he might walk in on now. He made a mental note to always knock from now on.
"Well, I'm glad I didn't because there are a lot of things a son doesn't need to know about his parents," E said, "but our match is coming up in ten, and I think we should probably go over some things…"
"Oh yeah, right, a match," Dolph gave a quick look to AJ, who grinned. E just shook his head and lead the way. They briefly discussed the match with Dolph's opponent, going over some of the specifics of the match, but being a house show, it was almost better if the match happened naturally. They simply mapped out the ending and that was that. They did mention they were going to pull something before the match, but the soundboard guy knew.
They headed out there, Dolph with his briefcase and AJ on his arm. They walked around to the side of the ring where his mother and rest of his family were sitting. He grinned at them as they cheered louder than anyone in the building. AJ waited by the ring steps while Dolph grabbed a microphone, telling everyone that tonight was a special night, especially because his family was here to watch him wrestle. AJ waved at them jauntily while Dolph was talking.
In the next moment, he was saying that the past few weeks had been special too, and for an entirely different reason. He called AJ over to him, and she walked over slowly, smiling down at him. He was a great actor because he sounded like he was actually getting choked up talking to her. He started to stumble over his words like a pro before he slowly went down to bended knee. AJ snuck a peek at Dolph's family, and his mother's eyes were wide as she jumped up and down clapping.
Dolph, for his part, kind of forgot that everyone else in the world existed. This was stupid, this whole thing was stupid because it made him think about doing this for real, for making real promises to this woman, but they had been dating a mere few hours, so this was not something he should be thinking about, so doing this at all was just dumb. He should have just left well enough alone. Damn him and his joking nature.
He couldn't stop now though, and his body turned to tell someone this was real, and his voice was actually shaking. He was embarrassed, and he almost wanted to run out of here because what was he thinking! If he looked up at AJ now, she would see, she was absolutely going to see what he was thinking and feeling. He licked his lips and tried to make this funny, if he made this funny then it wouldn't seem so awkward.
He tried his best, using clichés and overly romantic words to make it sound silly, but still, his words felt too close to his actual heart. He'd spent weeks falling in love with this woman, and while he logically knew they were nowhere close to marriage and that this might not even be the woman he eventually wanted to marry, it still was striking every nerve in his mind and heart. His throat felt dry and he forced the words out of his mouth.
AJ didn't seem to notice, so enraptured was she in the joke. He finally asked her if she would make him the happiest superstar in the WWE if she would…wear his wristband. That's when the sails came out of his mother's sails. Even though he couldn't see her, he could almost feel the disappointment coming off her in waves. It almost made him laugh as he stood up, but that thought was torpedoed as AJ unexpectedly jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and hugging him so tightly he thought she might just melt into him.
The match went on as planned, and he tried not to sneak looks at AJ all the time because she was a distraction if there ever was one, and when it was all over, she hugged him again and he carried her backstage as she giggled and clung to him. "I've got to get away from you two crazy people," E muttered, walking away and shaking his head at the two of them, trying to shake the upcoming weeks and months he'd have to spend traveling with these two idiots.
"That was great," AJ said, her legs still around his waist, and her face inches from his own. "I think your mom is going to kill us though. You didn't see her face. She really thought it was all going down, she looked so happy and then I think we kind of crushed her bubble a little bit or a lot."
"Well, maybe now she won't meddle so much."
"I think it was her meddling that got us together, honey," AJ said the last word like it was poison upon her lips.
"I guess I should concede that, but only a little. I would have told you about it eventually, I was just working up the courage for it. I would have said it to you at some point."
"When we were old and gray?"
"Before then," Dolph pursed his lips, "way before then."
"Oh, well, at least I have—"
It only took his mother a few minutes to storm backstage, practically pushing past the security that kept her from the backstage before she flashed her pass. Dolph and AJ could hear her stalking their way, and they both turned their heads to see her red face, anger plainly written across it. Dolph looked at AJ with a worried look on his face.
"Shit."
