A/N: Thank you guys SO much for the wonderful and staggering support for this story. I'm totally surprised and so happy that you all enjoyed the first chapter. I love these two together so much, and I love sharing that with everyone. Anyways, I'm going to be following the shows up to a point, then I'm going to take it my own direction, but I hope you enjoy the chapter, and please keep reviewing, thank you again! :)

"So is Cena as bad a kisser as he looks?"

AJ looked up from her laptop at Dolph, giving him a look, "Excuse me?"

"I'm just trying to make conversation since you're pretty much ignoring me, and I thought I came here to discuss what's going to happen at TLC," Dolph said, "didn't anyone ever teach you that it's rude to be on a computer while you have company?"

"John was emailing me, I had to finish it," AJ put the laptop down onto the coffee table. "And for the record, yes, he's a really bad kisser."

"I could tell," Dolph said, "I bet that's why his wife divorced him, either that or she saw me on television and wanted me. I mean, when you look like I do, you're fighting them off by the dozens."

"Dozens? Wow, I thought you would think more highly of yourself," AJ snarked at him as he scowled. "But it's nice to see that somewhere, deep inside that shriveled heart of yours, you might have some humility."

"At least I don't go around kissing everyone. Maybe you should tell people you're conducting some kind of social experiment. You know, you're out to kiss every guy in the company, compare them all, you might even look smart for two seconds."

"I'm plenty smart."

"Because mixing it up with three guys at once was a genius idea?" Dolph asked.

"You don't know me, you don't know how I live my life," AJ told him. "So don't go around presuming you know me, okay?"

"Well don't do the same for me then," Dolph told her.

"Fine!"

"Fine!" he returned back and she growled in frustration, balling up her fists at her side. She knew Dolph would be difficult at first, but she was really mad right now. He didn't know anything about her, about why she did the things she did, and it wasn't just Dolph. Everyone thought they knew her. Everyone thought she was crazy, everyone thought she was unhinged, and the one person she'd hoped wouldn't think that was apparently first in line at her condemning. "Hey, calm down."

His hand was on top of one of her balled fists and she looked over at him. "What are you doing?"

"I thought we were not presuming to know each other all that well," he said, pulling his hand back quickly. "I'm just trying to try out this truce thing we have going for the next few minutes."

"I'm not crazy," she told him, preparing herself for his next blow.

"Okay," he surprised her, just nodding at her, his face serious.

"You…don't have any snide comment?" she wondered.

"No," he shook his head, "although I'm curious about why you think that when evidence, well, when things not going your way has tended to…cause you to lash out in…strange ways…"

She had to laugh because he was trying so hard, and nobody actually tried with her. She un-balled her fists, letting herself try and relax, hard as it was when she thought back. "You know, I was homeless for a while."

"I remember you saying that, yeah."

"Nobody likes you when you're homeless. Everyone looks down at you. They think you're trash," she looked over at him, and he had the decency to look sheepish. "But it's not like you wanted it to happen. It's not like you woke up one morning and said, 'hey, you know what would be great, having no place to call home!'"

"I'm sorry," he said for lack of anything else to say. He did feel sorry for her. He'd never experienced that, and it was something he could not even fathom.

"It's not your fault," she said, "but you get lonely sometimes because nobody is willing to look past stuff. I know I have issues, I'm not saying I don't, but I'm not crazy, okay? I'm not crazy."

"I get it," Dolph said. "I mean, I still think you're a little bit on the weird side, is it okay if I think that?"

"I am weird," she told him, "but I'm not sleeping with all these guys."

"You did kind of want to marry one before you even went on a date though…" He pursed his lips.

"I never said all of my decisions are totally rational, and it was just because I kind of wanted Daniel to be jealous, I'm not that bad. I mean, I probably wouldn't have gone through with it," she told him, shaking her head.

"Probably?" he wondered. She rolled her eyes. "Okay, look, we're getting way off track here, and if I stay in here, who knows, Vickie might find me coming out of your hotel room, and then we're screwed."

"How did she even get that?"

"Being in charge, she has privileges, that's all I can really say," Dolph said. "I'm not really sorry to be ditching her though, she's holding me back. I haven't said anything because she's in charge, but you can only hold someone like me back for a short time."

"God, were you born with that ego?"

"I worked on it, perfected it by the time I was two," he joked with her. "I can't help it that I'm irresistible, even to women who think they hate me."

"I do hate you."

"That's why you came to me," he countered, and she groaned. He was going to make things so difficult for her, she could see, but at least there seemed to be a nice streak in him. She was surprised by it, but pleasantly so. She could work with that, as long as she kept her emotions out of it. She was done with putting herself out there, and really, Dolph Ziggler was the last guy she wanted put herself out for…or put out for.

"I came to you because you hate Cena as much as I do. Did you see him the other week when I was upset? He hugged me, yeah, but he must not have realized I own a television and could see him practically rolling his eyes at me. He rolled his eyes because I was upset and acting out."

"That wasn't cool," Dolph said, mostly because he didn't want her going mental again. It made him uncomfortable to see her upset. He wasn't the right type of guy to comfort a girl. He didn't do much of it. In fact, for all his acting like he was the most suave guy on the planet, he was still kind of awkward around women, but nobody needed to know that.

"You hate him, I hate him, it made sense, it makes sense. You want to bring him down and so do I, we have mutual interests," AJ told him in no short terms. "You know the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So right now, you're about the only one I've got."

"I almost thought you were going to call me your friend."

"Ha, not a chance," she told him. "I was thinking we make the big move at TLC, like I told you. Cena is going to expect me to cheer for him, and he's going to expect me to do something rash. Vickie is going to be out there with you?"

"No, but I know if she sees me about to lose, she'll try to come out and help me. She wants me to win. She's willing to do anything to ensure that."

"Great, that's something we need. If she goes out there, it would only make sense for me to be out there. I know John is going to probably not want me out there, but he doesn't control me."

"So what happens after that?"

"He'll probably lay you out at some point—"

"Whoa, wait a second, how do you know I'm not going to lay him out so much I'm going to win?"

"Well, if that happens, and that's a big if, I'll think of something on the fly, but in the likely event that you get laid out at some point, when Cena climbs the ladder, I'll tip it over," she smiled.

"Whoa, you want to knock him off the ladder?" Dolph asked. He knew this chick wanted to get back at Cena, but that could cause some serious damage. Not that he didn't appreciate a little violence, but that was some definitely dangerous.

"Yes, I do," AJ told him. "He deserves it. Do you disagree?"

"No, at this point, I'm going to try not to get on your bad side," he told her. "So after you push him off, that's when I come in and win?"

"Well, if you think you can," AJ told him, smiling at him sarcastically.

"Of course I can," Dolph told her, "don't doubt that I can hold up my end of the bargain, alright? Because I'm not the one who can go all loose cannon. Remember that I'm the one trusting you not to screw me over. I mean, really, for all I know you still could have a plan with John to get my briefcase. It'd be the perfect plan, so I'm going to keep my shields up a little longer."

"I'm not going to screw you over," AJ told him again. "Believe me."

"I will, it's just going to take some time, that's all," he explained, and he believed he was being reasonable. He'd never worked with AJ, and he had nothing to base any kind of trust on, so he had to remain cautious. "After TLC what happens? You said you would help me get the title."

"I have a plan, but you have to trust that you can't know all of it right now, but I'm going to be in your corner."

"What does that mean exactly? What are we going to have to pull to make it look like we're actually on the same page? People aren't going to start believing that we just suddenly up and started teaming together, and we need to get away from both Cena and Vickie, so we need something that will get them both away from us."

"We become a couple," AJ told him. "Vickie hates it when you stray, doesn't she? I mean, that's what you did with Kaitlyn, right? Which is so funny considering she came down pretty hard on me when I was kissing other guys, at least they were all single."

"Vickie and I have a professional relationship."

"Now, but you didn't then," AJ shrugged, "I don't care, but we have to make it look real, like we're really a couple, do you think you can do that? I mean, I'm willing to put aside most of my disgust for you, how about you for me?"

"If it gets me the title, sure, admittedly, you're probably a better kisser than Vickie, and I know I'm a better kisser than Cena."

"Not difficult, I think even you can manage that," AJ told him blithely, "but we have to do this full stop, you got it? We have to make sure that nobody knows what this really is. My reputation is in tatters already, I'd like to at least try and repair the whole slut image everyone seems to put on me."

"So besides the Cena revenge thing, that's what you're going to get out of this?"

"It crossed my mind," AJ said, "when I find the right guy, I'll know it, and I'll be faithful to him, I'm not the type of girl who does that. I don't want to be looked as the type of girl who flits from one guy to the other. I just haven't found anyone willing to take me on yet, but I guess I have faith, I mean, it's been shaken, but I still have a little of it left."

It wasn't very much, admittedly, but it was still there. Calling her a slut hurt, yes, but she knew what she was, she knew the kind of person she was, and when she found someone who would be really there for her, would be the one for her, she planned on holding on tight. She could be the kind of girl that a guy would be proud to have. She wanted to be that kind of girl for someone. He was out there somewhere, but her plans to find him would have to be put on hold.

"Again, you can go find your soulmate, just make sure it's after I win the belt with your mystery help."

"Like I said, Dolph, you just have to trust me."