Chapter 25

"Don't you just love early mornings?" AJ Lee chirped, taking a sip of her coffee and skipping along, pulling her wheeled bag along behind her.

Mel yawned in response, adjusting the strap of her duffle on her shoulder. She had dragged herself out of bed at the horrible hour of five o'clock to come to the arena. Vince had ordered that everyone show up early and practice their segments because he thought that everyone was slacking. While she didn't necessarily agree that everyone was slacking, she could name a few people off the top of her head who were.

The two Divas strolled across the parking lot, chattering as they drank their coffee. AJ was dressed simply, in a Batman hoodie the clung to her slim figure and a pair of skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors. Mel was wearing a fleece jacket over the top of her gear, with her sparkly blue shorts on display for everyone to see. She had a pair of sneakers on instead of her wrestling boots though, simply because she didn't want her boots to get ruined.

AJ reached the doors first, and she tugged them open and held them for Mel, who walked inside. AJ followed her in, allowing the heavy doors to swing shut behind them. It was dim inside the building, possibly because the bright light outside had blinded the both of them a little bit. They walked down the long hallway until it branched off in two different directions. Already used to this, they took the left one, the one leading to the womens' locker room.

The locker room went silent as soon as they entered, all of the other Divas halting the conversations they had been having and turning to look at both of them at once. Mel wasn't a popular person at the moment because of who she was married to, and AJ wasn't a popular person because of who she was married to and because she was the Divas' Champion. She had something that all the other girls wanted, and it had turned them all into petty little brats.

AJ stopped and stood there defiantly, one hand on the handle of her bag and the other clutching the cardboard coffee cup like it was a lethal weapon. She raised her chin, her long, shiny dark hair cascading down her shoulders, and raked them with an icy stare, challenging them to say anything. Of course, none of them did; they just turned their backs on the two women and continued their conversations as if they weren't even there.

Mel placed her hand on AJ's muscular arm and gently drew her away from the other Divas. "Come on," she said softly. "They're not worth it."

AJ bit her lip, then followed Mel over to their lockers. Originally, they had been much closer to the lockers of the other Divas, but that had had to stop after they had all turned on them, obviously. AJ ripped her locker open ferociously, yanking out her denim shorts and cut-up "Love Bites" t-shirt. She threw everything on a nearby bench, not even bothering to pick the gear up when it fell to the floor.

In stark contrast to her tiny friend, Mel calmly drew her makeup bag out of her locker and proceeded to put it in, using the mirror that was glued to the back. She liked to think that she and AJ complimented each other nicely, with AJ being the snarky, temperamental one, and herself being the calm, diplomatic one. Well, most of the time.

"Don't let them get to you," she told the Black Widow as she was applying eyeliner. "If they see you get angry, then they win. Of course, it might be nice to throw them a bone every once and awhile; they don't win often."

The corners of AJ's mouth twitched slightly, letting her know that the Divas' Champion was trying really hard not to crack a smile. "I don't care," she said indignantly. "I worked my ass off to get here, I didn't fuck my way to the top like some people." She shot a venomous glare at Nikki Bella when she said those last few words, and Mel placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her back around so she was looking at her locker again.

"Stop," Mel scolded her. "You're better than that. What would Punk say if he saw you acting like this?"

AJ gave her a look that spoke volumes, and Mel had to laugh. "Okay, okay, maybe that was a bad example," she admitted.

"No, no," AJ sighed, picking her gear up off of the floor. "You're right, I should just ignore them. It's hard, but I'll manage."

"Good, I'm proud of you for deciding to take the high road." Mel put her eyeliner back in her makeup bag, and after touching up her eyeshadow, she snatched up her script and closed her locker door. "I'll see you in a little bit, I have to go and do a few more run-throughs with Mike. Remember what I told you." She glanced over her shoulder at the other girls, who were all clustered together like a pack of wolves, watching the two of them through slitted eyes.

"Go," AJ told her, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "Don't worry about me, I can handle those bitches."

"So much for the high road," Mel commented, but she grabbed her script and headed off to find Mike all the same.

After determining that Mike was not in his locker room, Mel headed to the next logical place to look: Catering. They do say that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, after all.

Sure enough, when Mel walked into the crowded room, she spotted Mike over by one of the salad bars. His back was to her, so she waded through the cluster of coworkers and backstage staff until she was close enough to get his attention. She stretched out a hand, intending to tap his shoulder, but that was when she noticed that he wasn't alone.

Eve stood there, wrapped in a baggy sweatshirt and with the hood pulled up over her head. She and Mike were speaking in low voices, too soft for Mel to hear, and Eve's hand was resting on his forearm almost possessively. Mel instinctively took a step back, suddenly feeling extremely idiotic. That's right. Eve had claim to him.

Mike said something that Eve didn't appear to like, because she shook her head and removed her hand from his arm. She snapped something at him before spinning on her heel and storming off into the crowd. Mike stayed where he was, running a weary hand through his hair.

Mel melted back into the crowd, deciding that now was not a good time to be bugging Mike.

"Ready to go?"

Mel looked up at Mike and gave a little nod, her heart pounding. It was her first time doing a backstage interview with another person, and it was even more daunting considering the fact that she was supposed to act like he was her boyfriend. Even though Roman had told her that she had his blessing to continue with the storyline, it was still a bit uncomfortable.

Suddenly, it was showtime. Renee Young came over with a mic, looking as classy as ever, and Mike and Mel stood off to the side, out of sight of the cameras. They were supposed to wait until Renee announced them before walking over. Mel clutched Mike's arm tight, but he didn't say anything, probably because he knew how nervous she was.

"And now let's cut to our broadcast partner Renee Young, who's standing by with a very special guest," Michael Cole announced.

"Thank you Michael," Renee said as the camera switched to her. "I'm here with the Intercontinental Champion, The Miz."

That was their cue, and Mike swaggered up until he was standing with Renee, Mel attached to his arm. She was wearing a tight black dress that she thought showed a little too much cleavage, and a pair of stiletto heels that made her afraid she would fall at any second. Holding onto Mike was more of a way to stop herself from falling flat on her face than it was selling their relationship.

"So Miz, I see that you didn't just get yourself the Intercontinental title," Renee remarked before holding the microphone up to his mouth to catch his response.

"That's right Renee," Mike replied, sounding perfectly arrogant and pompous. "Not only did Dolph Ziggler lose the title, but he lost his girl as well. Pretty ironic considering that this is the guy who claims he can steal your girlfriend. I don't blame Mel at all though, and neither should you or any of those people out there. She realized that Dolph was a loser, so she made the wise decision to jump off of the sinking ship and associate herself with the winner. If anything, that shows that she has more brains in her pretty head than most of the Divas. And besides, let's be real here. Who can resist this beautiful face? I mean look at it!" Mike turned to look at the camera, striking poses and turning his head from side to side so that they could get better shots of his face.

"Not me," Mel said adoringly, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him sloppily. They made out for a few minutes, making it as convincing as possible, which actually wasn't that hard. Mike seemed to want to kiss her just as badly as she wanted to kiss him, so that was a plus.

Renee made a disgusted face, and the screen slowly went dark. The backstage staff signaled to them that the segment was over, and the two of them broke apart.

"Great job guys, that was awesome acting!" Renee commended them before going off to film her next interview.

"You were perfect," Mike told Mel, smiling warmly at her. "I don't know what you were so nervous about, you handled it like a pro."

Mel beamed at that. "Thanks! Your promo was amazing too!"

Mike grinned, and then he leaned in close and said, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership." He held her gaze for a few moments before turning around and heading back to his locker room to get ready for his upcoming match.