A/N: Thank you so much for all the love and feedback for the story. I really appreciate it and hope it continues, and sorry for the continual lateness, my work schedule varies from week to week so it's difficult to find time, but thank you for your patience. :)
"Oh, hey, I'm sorry."
"Oh, it's okay," Kaitlyn said, looking up at Briley. He had a beer in his hand, and looked like he was going to come sit on the patio. There were no lights on, the only lights coming from the pool, which sent an eerie, blue glow over the entire backyard. "Take a seat."
"Thanks," Briley said, sitting down next to her. "I come out here when I can hear AJ and Dolph having sex."
"Oh, you're gross!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, my room is down the hall, I can't hear anything," he joked. "But it is nice to sit out here at night. Sometimes I'm alone, sometimes AJ wanders out here, sometimes Dolph crashes out here with me, sometimes we all just hang out."
"With beer?"
"Not AJ," Briley said, recognizing Kaitlyn's joking tone. "I rarely have one, but it felt like one of those nights. So what brings you out here?"
"It's nice," Kaitlyn said with a shrug. "Quiet, but still warm and I don't know, it's just nice."
"What were you thinking about?" he asked her. Kaitlyn had flown home with AJ and Dolph after WWE was in Florida the last week. Briley had been nervous to have her around, but once she was here, she was just Kaitlyn, and they just fell into that routine they always did when Kaitlyn was around.
"Moving out here."
Briley's head snapped towards her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that…how can I stay in Florida?" Kaitlyn sounded helpless. "It's stifling now. I don't really have a place to stay since I was living at PJ's place, which is obviously not somewhere I want to be. And I just came back from Texas, and going back would be such a hassle, so where else can I go?"
"You have the world at large," Briley told her, "you don't even have to stay in the States if you wanted to. You could run your business from anywhere really."
"I could," she said, "but I want somewhere familiar with people who are familiar. I just…need that right now."
"How are you doing, like for real?"
"I'm sad," she told him, pursing her lips. "I mean, I know that doesn't sound descriptive at all, but that's how I feel. I'm just sad really. I don't know how they can make this look easy on TV and in movies because it's not. Knowing you're breaking someone's heart, someone who loves you, it's a sucky feeling."
"But do you regret it?" he wondered.
"Oh, no, I don't regret it, I just regret I let it get there. I regret that I didn't follow my gut the entire time. I should have. Saying yes just felt like the natural progression, and it was always something we joked about, so I just figured, welp, this is it. I shouldn't have done that."
"We make mistakes."
"And like, how long do I wait to go out again?" Kaitlyn laughed sardonically. "I don't even know the protocol, and that's another reason to move, it lessens the chance of ever running into him."
"Always good."
"I should just move to Timbuktu," she shook her head. "I feel like I've made a mess of everything, but at the same time, I feel better for not being with him then I feel bad for feeling that way."
"Don't feel bad for doing the right thing. He's going to find someone, and he'll be happy that you called it off, trust me," he reached out and pat her on the hand. "So you miss wrestling at all?"
"Being there, I did. When I went to visit, I wanted to be out there, but when I'm away from it, I'm good with it. I have other things, my new business, but that was another right choice I made."
"I'm happy with only wresting part-time. I started wrestling because I went to a show with my brother, and I watched him wrestle in OVW, and I thought it combined a bunch of things that I liked so I tried out. I don't regret it, I love wrestling, but like my brother, I have a lot of interests."
"Nothing wrong with that," she told him, glancing over at him, "so anyone special catching your eye? I know that you and Serena were better friends, but anyone since then. I'm very invested in the happiness of others now. I want to make sure everyone around me is happy since I'm so sad."
"Don't break my heart over here, Kitty Kait," he told her, "but no, not really. That's not for lack of wanting on their parts, though, they definitely want me, but I'm just not in the market for someone right now."
"Why not? You're young, handsome," she joked. He turned to her and studied her face for a moment. In the light, he could see her eyes train down a little bit, and if the light were better, he would see that her face was flushing too. "Or should I say hot and young?"
He laughed, "Hey, it could be worse, I could be my brother."
"Oh, Lord, I don't think I could handle you if you were just like your brother. What's Donny like? Is he like you and Dolph?"
"Not at all. He's way more low-key," Briley explained, thinking about his little brother. "I mean, sure, he's a little shit because he's our younger brother, but he's not like, showing off."
"Man, can you imagine if you had two Dolphs in your family?"
"Don't make me think about that," Briley told her. "Donny's cool. His calling is working with dogs, especially pitbulls. He's pretty amazing."
"I think your whole family sounds pretty amazing if you ask me," Kaitlyn said, catching herself. Was she showing her true colors here? She didn't want to rush things with Briley, wait, rush things?
She was so confused about her feelings for him. She knew she had them, that much was obvious. She knew that she wanted something with him, but she didn't know if she should just for it or if she should wait. She felt like she should wait, but if she waited, would he still be single when she wanted to be with him? Briley was a nice guy whose looks only added to his personality. He was sweet and kind, and she had fun when she was around him.
Someone was going to want him, and what if that person wanted him, and he didn't want her or if he liked her, maybe he wouldn't want her anymore if he had to wait. Maybe she should actually talk to him about her feelings, but she wasn't even sure that would be appropriate yet either. She really needed to see if there were any self-help books for people who broke off engagements days before their weddings because they might have feelings for someone else.
"I can't say that we're horrible," Briley said, "once you get to know us that is."
"Of course."
"I wouldn't hate you moving out here," Briley admitted to her, hoping that it didn't come off as too strong or anything. "I think it'd be nice to have someone around who isn't my brother and his fiancée."
"Not making friends?"
"No, I am, but not anyone I'm close to really. I have friends in LA, but out here, not so much, so having you here, we could hang out or something."
"That sounds like fun," she said, glad that he actually wanted to spend time with her.
"Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun."
AJ peeked through the blinds again, smiling to herself before looking over the shoulder at her fiancé. He was watching TV, not even paying attention to what she was doing. Oh, he knew what she was doing, alright, but he didn't particularly care about what she was doing. She went ahead and peeked outside again.
"They're still out there," AJ said, "I wonder what they're talking about."
"None of our business," Dolph told her, and she made an annoyed sound before climbing into bed and lying down. She scooted over so she was lying with her head on Dolph's upper thigh. He started to run his fingers through her hair, and she smiled.
"I know it's not, but you can't help but be curious, right?" she asked him. "I mean, we both know they have feelings for one another, so we're like…watching it all play out or something. We're the observers who know the future, we're like time travelers."
"That makes no sense," he laughed, letting his fingers curl into her hair. "Yeah, we do know what they feel for each other, but we can't let them know that. They'll figure it out, until then, we just have to watch and root for them?"
"Yes, of course we're rooting for them, dummy," AJ said, smacking him on the leg. "We want them to be happy, and it's totally going to be with each other, I can sense it."
"You can sense it?" Dolph asked incredulously, "or is it just you wanting them together because that would be really convenient for you?"
"It would be, but really, I want them to be happy," she turned so she was facing up, and turned her head to the left so she could look at him. "I care about the two of them, and knowing what we know is torture. It's like I want to tell them but I know they have to do it on their own terms."
"Exactly, key word own."
"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to tell me what to do, we may be getting married, but the day you get to tell me what to do is…um, never. I'm just putting that out there while it's kind of calm."
"I already know that, but thanks," Dolph said, "so speaking of telling people what to do or the lack thereof, what's going on with Paige?"
"Oh, you didn't see her completely kick my ass on Monday, wow, where were you when all that happened?" AJ knew he was being sarcastic, but thinking about Paige brought that out of her now. She knew that it was going to come to blows with Paige, she'd known for weeks, but she just continued on her merry way, thinking that it would happen next week.
So now they were here, and Paige had attacked her, and it was like, now what? "I'm going to kill her, that's what's what."
"Kill her? Don't you think that's a little strong?"
"No, I don't think that's strong at all. In fact, after last week, after her beatdown of me, I don't think that's enough. I want to smash her face in with a frying pan like in the cartoons, that's what I really want to do. She disrespected me. I knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any better."
"Yeah, if she were a guy, I'd punch her, but I know you can handle it. Just like you can handle anything. Do you want to handle The Miz for me? He's becoming insufferable."
"More or less than Bo Dallas?"
Dolph shuddered thinking about the two men. It was difficult to choose who was worth because they were both equally bad. It made it worse that the Miz was the actual Intercontinental champion. It made Miz's ego rise to unfathomable levels, and the Miz's ego was already too big. "I hate them both."
"Well, I think my problem is slightly worse because at least you got to walk out of the arena last week while I was forced to be helped backstage," AJ told him. "Not that I don't care about you, baby, I do, but I think Paige being a bitch to me is slightly more important."
"Wow, so I don't even matter anymore," he pretended to be shocked. "I guess it's all just what Princess AJ wants."
"Ahh, not a princess," she covered her ears, starting to hum and sing-song, "I'm not a princess, I cannot hear you, I'm not a princess, I'm not so girly."
"Fine, fine, I guess just my boo is a princess," he said, taking a deep sigh. "Brit-Brit would appreciate being called that, hell, I'd treat her like the queen that she is."
"Wouldn't Beyonce be considered the queen? Isn't that how it works in the music world right now, Beyonce is like the queen of everything," AJ teased, knowing that Dolph would take high offense to Britney not being the number one person in the music industry.
"How dare you!" he told her, sliding down into the bed and grabbing her by the waist then rolling so he was on top of her. "You take that back. We do not besmirch the name of Britney in this house, and I will not marry you unless you take Britney Spears as your supreme overlord. It's a real deal-breaker."
"I don't think I saw that in Liz Lemon's book," AJ scrunched her nose. "So you'd call off the whole thing?"
"I'm afraid so," Dolph pretended to be serious. "Of course, if we broke up, that would free me up to start dating Britney. What do you think her stance is on professional wrestling? Hell, I'd quit if for her."
"Wow, that's impressive, maybe she's your one true love," AJ pouted.
"Yeah, and Paige is your very best friend."
That thought flitted through AJ's mind that Monday on Raw when Paige was out in the ring. AJ wasn't buying her act, and she didn't think anyone in that arena bought her act either. She'd been biding her time to turn on AJ, and AJ had seen it coming, but did nothing to stop it last week. She was embarrassed she let herself get caught off guard by the younger woman. She was better than that, she'd become the diva's champion because she was always the one with the upper-hand, so to be the one on the losing end was something she didn't like.
Paige trying to pretty much ask for forgiveness and say that wasn't her last week, AJ had to go out there and comment on that. She couldn't let Paige think she thought what happened was okay. She was not going to become some push over again, believing everything because she didn't want to feel like a loser. She'd let that happen with Daniel, letting him get away with everything because she was too weak to do anything about it. She wasn't that woman anymore, and she wasn't going to take any of Paige's shit.
Then Paige said if she didn't believe her, AJ was crazy. She knew that was a trigger word for AJ yet she said it anyways. AJ took a deep breath, not letting it get to her. She was bigger than that word now. That word did not define her. She was getting married to an amazing man who loved her, she had her real best friend back, she was making more friends and becoming the person she was before she was with Daniel. She knew she was better than that word.
Paige only said it to try and get a rile out of her. Paige only said it because she wanted AJ to become that person again, but she wasn't about to let it happen. She wasn't going to cave into that pressure. Oh, she had plans to take care of Paige, but it wasn't because she was called crazy, oh no, it was because Paige was a bitch who threw her over the announcer's table last week. That would be the reason for her revenge.
When Paige least expected it was when AJ struck. She wasn't buying any of Paige's bullshit, and she wanted to make it clear that they were not friends, they had never been friends, and at this rate, they would never be friends. Paige was fake, as fake as they came, and she was better than falling for that again. She knew who her true friends were, and Paige was not one of them. Plus, revenge was sweet, and Paige needed a little taste of that. When she'd been out with her injury, she'd watched Paige beat diva after diva, and it made her too cocky. AJ'd been there, but she'd learned from it this time around, Paige still didn't get it.
"Well that's taken care of," AJ dusted off her hands as she walked backstage.
"You're amazing for someone who could fit in my pocket," Dolph told her, giving her a hug. He had a match later teaming with the Usos. They were nice guys, always welcoming, and he felt like they made a good team so he felt good going into the match tonight. Maybe he was still riding high after his win last week on Raw.
"AJ, we're friends," Paige said, walking over to her, "you didn't have to do that."
"Oh, Paige, sweetie, yes, I did. You have to learn that I'm the champion now," AJ looked at the pale woman. She could see all the falsity in Paige's eyes. The girl was as easy to read as the directions on a tube of toothpaste. "You won over me in a fluke win, but I proved that I'm better than you in an actual match that we could prepare for, you have yet to show me anything."
Paige's eyes narrowed, but then she brightened slightly, "I just don't want to ruin our friendship, but it's okay, we're still best friends."
She wandered away and AJ looked at her fiancé, "And they actually call me crazy still."
"They don't know what they're talking about," he gathered her up in his arms. "I think you were hot out there showing her who was boss. I like you having the title back, and I'm going to try my damnedest to get the IC title away from Miz. We should be like power couple lite right now."
"Mmhmm," she leaned up to kiss him. "Is Miz in the match with you, I forget."
"Yeah, he is, and I'll predict it right now, he's going to let Ryback and Axel do most of the work."
Dolph wasn't far off. Miz was riding the coattails of Ryback and Axel during the match because he was the Miz and probably didn't want to ruin his face, but Dolph thought a few good punches would actually improve his looks for the most part. It just proved what Dolph knew, he should be the true IC champion, not Miz. This was the first step in getting that title. Halfway through the match, E came out with his new posse, and Dolph briefly wondered if he was a target for E now.
He couldn't say that he hung out with the crew E was hanging out with right now, but E was like a son to him, so he felt himself relatively safe. They were probably looking at the Usos though because the Usos held the tag gold, and he could see E and one of his associates going after that title. Maybe he'd have a talk with his son, make sure that he was running with the right crowd. There was no time to think of that though as he won the match for his team, getting the pin on Ryback of all people. That was a new one, but hey, he'd also eliminated Del Rio in the Battle Royal for the IC title so miracles did happen.
"Hey, do you know what's going on with E?" Dolph asked as AJ handed him a towel backstage to wipe the sweat from his body.
"What do you mean?" AJ asked, stoked that Dolph had won and she'd one-upped Paige. It was a good night for the couple, a rare one, and they should go out to celebrate. She hadn't been aware of any issues with E. He was hanging out with Kofi and Xavier more now, and they seemed to have formed their own little faction, but she'd just been talking to E the other day about meeting up for lunch soon.
"I don't know, like, is he like different or something?"
"No, I don't think so," AJ shrugged, "I think he's just with those guys because they can help him, like he was with us because he could help us, I mean, he's the muscle, you know what I mean."
"Okay, I just worry, he's our son and everything, and I want what's best for him."
"I'm sure he's fine," AJ dismissed it quickly. "Tonight, we both did well, I think that's what we need to focus on. Dinner on me?"
"On you? Like, dinner's on your boobs and dessert is—"
AJ cut him off sharply, "You know what I mean!"
"You said dinner was on you, I just assumed that I'd be eating—"
"You are disgusting," AJ turned on her heel and started to walk away. "I think the unending sexual innuendo is a deal breaker."
"Wait, no, I don't think Liz Lemon put that either!" he laughed as he started to follow her, grabbing at her waist and kissing her neck. "Come on, I mean, I think we'd both enjoy dessert, don't you think?"
"You're insatiable," she told him, but she was giggling when she said it. Yes, they probably both would enjoy dessert. "I like you much better when you win."
"I like you much better when you're tossing women around," he told her, hugging her now.
"So let's just keep doing this being winners thing, what do you say?"
"I'm all in."
