Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

Sorry for the schedule slip, exams are a bit of a bitch. But hey, AJ and Dean are finally together! And we've finally reached 2014, which – as we all know – was definitely a great year for the Shield and contained nothing big or bad or heart-breaking ever.

…Enjoy these happy moments.

Chapter Twenty-Four

January 3rd, 2014

Verizon Center, Washington D.C.

"AJ, are you alright there?"

I looked up from my title belt. "Huh?"

Layla and Tamina were both staring at me.

Tamina was the first to speak, for a change. "You're humming."

"I've…you know, got a song in my head."

Layla raised an eyebrow. "The Shield's theme song?"

My face starting to feel a little warm. "What? No…"

Layla and Tamina exchanged a glance, very clearly not convinced. Layla took a few steps closer, scrutinising my face.

I relented a little. "It's…catchy."

She leant down, meeting my eyes. "Hmm. AJ?"

"Yes, Layla?" I said, swallowing and trying to meet her eyes.

Layla tilted her head to the side. "That's a nasty-looking bruise you got there."

Oh.

I resisted the urge to reach up to touch the mark I knew was sat just above my left collarbone. I thought I'd slapped on enough make-up to hide it, but I must have been wrong.

"Right. That. Well, it's a dangerous business, I must have got it in the ring."

"Mm-hm."

There was a pause, before Layla slowly started to smirk. "Who's the guy?"

"What…what do you mean?"

"Or girl? You've got nothing to be ashamed about, you know. Look at me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know, the whole thing with me and Mich–" Layla cut herself off, realising that she was going off on a tangent. "Oh, you meant…AJ, love, you and I both know you didn't get that in the ring."

Tamina stepped in to rescue me, gently pulling Layla back by the shoulders. "Layla, you're making her uncomfortable."

I took a deep breath. "No, it's OK. I've actually got something I need to tell you guys."

Both looked expectantly at me, Tamina calm and composed, Layla looking like her grin might break her face in two.

"I…err…might be starting something with Dean?"

Layla shrieked, charging forward to pull me into a hug. "I knew it! Ha-ha!"

I laughed a little at her enthusiastic response, patting her on the back. "Nice to know you approve."

Tamina nodded from a distance. "Congratulations."

Layla finally released me from the vice-grip of a hug. "I've got to find someone. We can go on double dates."

"I'll let Rollins know."

January 4th, 2014

WWE Inc. Florida Branch Headquarters, Tampa, Florida

The first Authority meeting of the new year.

Really, it wasn't any different from the other dozens of meetings Triple H and Stephanie has dragged us to. There were Brad and Vickie, bickering over useless details again. There was Randy Orton, sat at Triple H's right-hand, wearing those two big world title belts over his shoulders. There was Kane, glowering into the middle distance. There were Triple H and Stephanie, presiding over events with the usual smug looks that most multi-millionaire diabolic geniuses have.

The only thing that had changed was that I was now sat next to the Shield.

It looked innocent, of course. I'd sat next to the Shield before, especially since most of the Authority (pre-Kane) couldn't stand me. I'd probably even sat next to Dean before, and no one battled an eyelash.

I glanced over at Dean, catching his eye. He turned his head towards me just slightly, and winked.

My face grew warmer, and I quickly shifted my gaze down to the table, nudging him in the side with my elbow.

He did his cute half-laugh, half-exhale but before he could do anything else in response, Triple H stood up and officially started the meeting.

"You may have already been informed, but this coming Raw will be a special event. An Old School Raw."

I tilted my head. This could be fun.

Stephanie spoke up, taking over from her husband. "Don't be fooled. If it wasn't for my father requesting it, there would be no way in hell that this would be happening. With the returning legends, the locker room will be even harder to control."

…Leave it to Stephanie to kill any enthusiasm for anything ever.

"Ric's returning," Triple H said. "He should be willing to cooperate…"

He trailed off, turning his gaze onto Orton. "As long as you don't do anything stupid, Randy."

Orton's expression hardened, his eyes narrowed and intense as he glared at Triple H. Ten years on, the tension between the members of Evolution was still simmering. Maybe one day, it would boil over.

"But Roddy Piper…" Triple H continued, turning away from Orton. "Is another story. That's why I'm leaving you three to control that."

I blinked, before realising he was looking at the Shield, not me.

Rollins nodded his head, a dark curl slipping away from its place behind his ear and falling in front of his face. He glanced over at me, probably because he felt my eyes on him and his pretty hair.

I realised that Stephanie was speaking, and turned back to face her.

"Are there any questions before we all get back to work?"

I raised my hand, and definitely caught Stephanie rolling her eyes in response. Still, she let me speak.

"I was wondering…the Royal Rumble's coming up. Are there any plans for my opponent?"

"We'll discuss that later," Stephanie said, getting up with a sigh. "Any other questions?"

The room was silent.

"Good," Triple H nodded. "See you all on Monday."

After Triple H and Stephanie left, the room cleared out pretty quickly, until it was only me and the Shield left.

"Did I just…" I paused, looking at Dean. "Did I just get brushed off?"

He slung an arm around my shoulder, squeezing me lightly. I sighed, and leaned into him, settling my head between his shoulder and his neck. "Stephanie sucks."

Dean laughed again.

Rollins spoke up. "Who knows? Maybe she'll get back to you."

Dean had probably told his teammates about our recent...upgrade? Well, after that whole Survivor Series call, Roman probably knew something might be going on. But it would certainly explain their new, subtle attempts at being friendly. It was kind of cute in a way. Trying to put me at ease, I guess.

I shrugged. "Maybe. Or I'll just have to pick another fight again."

January 6th, 2014

Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

"Ugh."

My head flopped forward, pressing against Dean's shoulder.

"I'm just exhausted. Dealing with Ric Flair is way harder than I thought it would be."

We were stood around in my dressing room, killing some time before we were needed. Just a few minutes ago, Brad had given me the awesome task of trying to keep Ric Flair to a schedule. It was a long, slow, uphill battle.

Dean laughed a little. "Has the old guy gone senile?"

"I wish," I said, snorting. "His precious daughter Charlotte told him that I'd picked Bayley to help out at Survivor Series instead of her. He wasn't happy."

"Damn. You want a coffee or something to help you feel better?"

I thought this over, pulling my head up from his shoulder. "Hmm. Nah, I pick 'or something."

Dean only had time to shoot me a vaguely confused look, before I leaned forward and kissed him.

He reciprocated, his hands resting on the bare strip of skin peeking out between my shorts and my t-shirt. Pressing closer, I pulled away just slightly to let myself breathe.

"Not that I'm complaining," Dean murmured. "But aren't your friends going to come in any minute?"

"Ugh," I said again in response. Giving him one last short kiss, I reluctantly pulled away.

"You know…" Dean said, before pausing and rubbing the back of his neck.

I tilted my head. "Yeah?"

"If you're free next week, we can go grab some dinner or something?"

"Like a date?"

Dean shrugged, averting his eyes. "If you want."

I couldn't help but grin. "That sounds really great."

Dean let out a sigh of relief. "Cool."

The door to the dressing room flew open, and Layla came strutting through with her bag slung over her shoulder. She glanced at Dean. "Hey, Ambrose."

"Layla," he greeted, nodding.

Tamina followed behind her, and nodded at Dean too. "Dean."

"Hey, Tamina. Roman's been looking for you about your birthday or whatever."

I blinked. "You and Roman know each other?"

Tamina stared at me. Layla looked amused. Even Dean shot me a look.

"He's my cousin," Tamina explained.

"Whoa, really?" I said.

Tamina shrugged. "Yeah, he's Maleata's godfather."

"…Who's Maleata?"

At this, Tamina's stoicism finally melted a little. "She's my daughter."

"…You have a daughter?" I asked, incredulous.

She smirked a little. "Yeah. Two."

I blinked. "Oh."

My mind…well, maybe it wasn't blown exactly, but I was definitely a little stunned. What else didn't I know about my friends? Was Big E secretly married this whole time? Was Layla a former trophy wife?

"Right…" I said. "Well, on that note…I'm gonna go see if Brad needs me to run more errands."

Looking back to Dean, I couldn't help but smile at him before making my way out of the dressing room.

Well, I guess tonight wasn't a complete disaster. I mean, Stephanie would be screaming at us for days and there would be some justification, but there was some good to come out of tonight.

The Bellas lost, for one.

And…

Yeah, that was about it.

Then, Dean almost got strangled by a python.

I finally found someone who I maybe wanted to be with, and who liked me back without any kind of insecurities to inhibit him.

And then he almost died.

I rounded a corner, hoping to try and find Dean and make sure he wasn't suffering from deadly venom poisoning or PTSD.

Oh, God. What if I found him collapsed on the floor, having a seizure? What if he really had been bitten and the venom had gotten into his bloodstream? What if he was dying?

What if he was…

"And you assholes just stood around and watched? What the hell was that?"

…Completely fine but very angry at his teammates?

I waited, hiding behind a production crate. I was fairly sure that the Shield were just around the corner, and Dean did not sound happy.

"Look, Dean, I know you're pissed off–"

"Damn right, I'm pissed off, Seth! Look, I'm just saying that I've had your backs before, and I'm just a little irritated that you didn't return the favour."

"Guys," a deeper voice intoned, seemingly breaking up the potential argument. It sounded like Roman. "Come on. We can't let this get between us, it's just what Punk wants, OK?"

Neither replied. There was an awkward silence.

Roman continued. "Look, why don't we go get some take-out or something? Dean, you can pick if you want. Maybe even get some beers?"

It sounded like Dean clicked his tongue against his teeth, before huffing. "Nah, not feeling it tonight."

"Dean…"

"No, really, I'm just tired," Dean said. "But I'm sure Seth would love to. No, no one can argue with his weird, control-freak orders."

Rollins didn't seem to rise up to the bait. "Nah, I was thinking of just heading back to the hotel too. Sorry, Roman."

"Hey, no problem," Roman said. Maybe he shrugged, since there was a little pause. "As long as you guys are OK."

Rollins laughed. "Yeah, we're fine. Right, Dean?"

"Yeah," Dean muttered. "Peachy."

Then, all I could hear were footsteps softly fading away. I leant against the production crate, blowing a strand of hair that had fallen into my face.

Stupid Punk was getting exactly what he wanted. Cracks were beginning to show in the Shield.

January 8th, 2014

Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"It's been four days," I muttered, drumming my fingers against my dressing table. "Stephanie still hasn't gotten back to me on who my opponent will be for the Royal Rumble."

Layla leaned back in her chair and popped a piece of gum into her mouth.

I sighed. "I mean, I'm not even getting put into matches anymore. It's all Bellas and Funkadactyls. It's like no one remembers there's even a Divas Championship at all. You know?"

She shrugged. "I gotta say, AJ…I'm glad you're taking it well."

"What? Taking what well?" I asked. "I'm not getting respected. Why would I take that well?"

"Didn't you hear the news?" Layla said, shifting forward.

"What news?"

"AJ…Kaitlyn's retiring."

I blinked.

"I…I'm sorry. What?"

Layla shot me a sympathetic look. "They announced it this morning."

I got up out of my seat. "No."

"AJ–"

"No. She wouldn't, not without telling me…" I trailed off.

Would she?

Before Layla could respond, I stormed out of my dressing room and headed for the women's locker room. I just needed to confront this rumour and it will all get straightened out and it will turn out that this is all one big misunderstanding.

Instead, I opened the door to find Kaitlyn in the middle of a group hug, tears in her eyes.

No.

Our eyes met, and my blood ran cold.

"No."

Kaitlyn straightened up, and removed herself from the group hug. "Guys, could you give us a minute?"

The other divas did as she asked, emptying the room with little more than a passing glare aimed towards me. Soon, it was just me and Kaitlyn.

My jaw set, my back teeth grinding against each other. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kaitlyn folded her arms. "When was the last time we talked? Not counting Survivor Series."

"…Point taken," I said. "But…"

But I always assumed that one day you'd see sense and come back and we'd be friends again.

No more ChickBusters. Ever.

"What are you even going to do when you stop wrestling?" I asked, switching subjects. "That fitness thing you used to talk about?"

Kaitlyn's face softened as she thought over her answer. "Yeah. I thought I'd set up a place in Florida, maybe. Plus, you know, I'll have more time to focus on marriage and whatever."

…What?

"Marriage?" I repeated. "Did you just say you were getting married?!"

Kaitlyn's expression hardened again. "Yeah. So?"

God. Tamina had kids. Kaitlyn was getting married. When did everyone turn into adults?"

I tried to tone down the edge to my voice, in case I pushed her too far and end up in a fistfight. "Who's…err…who's the lucky guy?"

She smiled at this, tucking back a lock of her hair. "Derrick."

I blanked for a second, before a familiar curly-haired goof entered into my mind. "Wait…as in Bateman? From NXT Redemption? That Derrick?"

There was that dopey grin again. "Yeah."

"Wasn't he dating Maxine?"

"It's a long story," she said, waving away my question. "And that was two years ago, anyway."

Whoa. That threw me for a loop. "Really? It feels like…decades ago."

"I know, right? Do you remember that time Gabriel freaked out over his good-luck socks?"

"Oh my God, and we didn't hear the end of it for months," I said, remembering the very angry South African. "Good times…"

Our laughter slowly trailed off, leaving only an awkward silence.

"Well, I'm going to get going," Kaitlyn finally said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I've got a flight."

"Oh…OK."

She nodded at me, before clearing her throat and heading out the door.

The first words I ever heard her say echoed through my head.

WWE Universe, my name is Kaitlyn. And I'm not just the girl next door.

This was probably the time when I should have apologised. Apologised for everything that happened between us, apologised for ruining our friendship.

Instead, all I could say was…

"Goodbye, Kaitlyn."