AJ wrung her hands as she sat on her bed. Dolph would be here any minute to pick her up to take her to the show, but she wasn't sure she wanted to see him right now. She could call…well, no, E was going to be traveling with them, so he wouldn't be an option, and besides Dolph and E, she didn't really have any friends around that she could call and get a ride from. She didn't have her own rental car, and even if she did, she wouldn't want to drive it because she hated driving.

She just didn't want to see Dolph right now. Her emotions still felt too raw after last night, and she feared that if she saw him right now that something might break inside of her. She didn't know what came over them the night before. She kept trying to tell herself that it was just the overwrought emotions from his Royal Rumble win, and that them almost kissing was them letting those emotions out in a terrible, horrible way. Sometime around 2am though, she couldn't convince herself of that excuse fully any longer.

She thought back to her sister's words to her about Dolph when he'd come to Florida. She remembered her own words about not wanting a relationship right now, the same words she'd repeated to Dolph last night, even though he never offered to have a relationship with her. Still, it felt like it was something he might ask of her, and even if he wasn't going to say it, it needed to be put out there anyways.

Things were going so well with Dolph. They were excelling as a team in the ring, and they were friends out of it. It'd been so long since she'd had someone she could fully trust, and she found that in Dolph. She trusted him with everything, and for the first time in a long time, she could be herself around another person without fear of reproach. He never made her feel small, never belittled her. He treated her as his equal, and she didn't know until now how much she needed that.

A relationship at this point would be a disaster. She would fall too deeply again, she would let herself become ensconced in him, and like the others before him, he would break her heart, and she'd be left alone again. She just wasn't capable of maintaining a relationship, and she couldn't risk losing Dolph. If she lost Dolph, she'd feel empty. The rejections of Daniel, Punk, Kane, and John were already deep scars she had to bear, but Dolph's scar might be her undoing.

There was a knock on her door, and she visibly started to shake. She had to maintain her composure, but it was difficult. She slowly stood up, trying to stop herself from looking like a scared calf taking its first steps. She took a deep breath before opening her hotel room door. Dolph was smiling at her from the other side, and she didn't take any time to analyze what his smile might mean.

"Hey, you ready?" he said, his voice normal, and that relaxed her a little bit. Maybe he was really just going to let last night go without another word. She would be so grateful if he never even mentioned it.

"Yeah, I'm ready," she grabbed her bag sitting next to the door.

"Have you eaten?" he asked.

"Yeah, got room service," she told him, and now it was getting awkward, why weren't they talking about normal things. She needed to steer this conversation in a different direction, she realized. "Where's E?"

"Waiting downstairs," Dolph told her, "he's sitting in the lobby, or should I say sleeping in the lobby. I don't know how that guy sleeps so much."

"He's a growing boy," AJ joked, which made Dolph laugh, and the tension seemed to ease a little bit. She tried not to think of the show later tonight because if she thought about where they were actually headed, about the show ahead of them, she'd have to play Dolph's girlfriend, and suddenly the prospect was terrifying.

Last night, she'd almost kissed him, and not just the way they kissed onscreen, but actually kissed him, with feelings behind it, with feelings they would have made known to each other behind it. She didn't know if she could do the same tonight. What if it was awkward, what if something slipped? What if it felt so good she said to hell with her stupid decision not to have a relationship and she fell for him? That last one was crippling her.

"If he grows anymore, we're in trouble, he'll eat us out of house and home," Dolph joked, trying to lighten the mood again. The ride to the lobby was mercifully short then E was with them, and AJ felt like she had a buffer. She could be more herself when E was around, and she found herself focusing more on what he had to say than she did anything Dolph was saying.

She thought she'd gotten away with it until Dolph left her and E alone to go ask Stephanie if they could have time at the top of the show. It was then that E turned to her, looking at her with that piercing gaze, and she knew it was coming. "What's up with you two?" he asked.

"I have no idea what you mean." Yes, a stock answer, but she hoped he would let it go.

She had no such luck, not today, "You do know what I mean, you two were acting weird. You were fine last night, did you guys have a fight or something? I mean, I don't know what you could fight about, he won the Royal Rumble last night. Speaking of which, I think I might try for the IC title."

"That's great!" she took the opportunity to change the subject. "Oh my God, if we all had titles, we should get you started on that. Wade has the title right now, he's tough, but you're bigger and better, and unexpected. You know, we should hold off on you wrestling until—"

"AJ, that's not going to work," he cut her off, "I'm not going to stop asking what's up between you and Dolph just because you're trying to change the subject. There's time for me to get the title, but the team doesn't work unless we're all on the same page."

She furrowed her brow, "Why are you suddenly all talkative, I liked it better when you were a silent killer."

"Silent, but deadly," he smirked, and she made a face. "Nothing is going on between me and Dolph, alright, we're fine."

"Unlikely story, but whatever," he said, starting to walk away, knowing full well that AJ's curiosity would cause her to chase him down. Not even a few seconds later her hand touched his arm, proving him right. He stopped and turned to her, raising an eyebrow as if asking what she could possibly want.

"What do you mean?" she asked, falling right into his trap.

"AJ," he sighed, placing his hands on her shoulders. He looked around, seeing there were too many people milling about, and he started directing her back to their locker room. Once there, he sat her down then stared at her as he took a seat next to her. "I'm older than you—"

"By a year!" she told him. "That means nothing."

"You know, it's okay to be scared."

"I'm not scared of anything," she told him. "When do you become insightful too? Seriously, E, what kind of man are you?"

"I'm one that stands back and watches things and observes unnoticed. You don't think I haven't noticed what's been going on between the two of you. I'm right there like 95 percent of the time. I'm not stupid, AJ, just quiet."

"E, look, I appreciate that you want to help me or whatever—"

"I also saw you get burned," he told her, "we've known each other for a while, right? From when I was in NXT, you were around, I've known you, haven't I? Maybe not as close as we are now, but I've seen you."

It was true, they did know each other, and they did see each other, and it was just true, "Yes, okay, you've known me, that means nothing."

"Daniel, Punk, John, Kane, whoever else there's been, they're not Dolph," E said, "I had my reservations about the guy, I'll admit it. I mostly joined your group because you asked me to, not necessarily because I liked the guy."

She'd always known E was intelligent, but he was such a man of few words that this speech he was clearly preparing himself to give to her was a surprise. She knew he was always around, and that meant he had a front row seat to everything she didn't want to see, and everything she hadn't seen because while she wasn't looking at Dolph, E was, which gave him an insight she didn't have.

"You gotta stop measuring people to them, especially Dolph."

"Dolph is my friend."

"Yeah, he's your friend, and he cares about you more than you even want to admit. Why do you think he goes through all this for you? Why do you think he continues to be your biggest defender?"

"Has he said anything to you?" she asked him suddenly. Would things change if he had? Would she feel differently if Dolph had said something to E about the two of them? Maybe if she could get a clearer picture of Dolph's thoughts without Dolph telling them to her she might feel better about this whole thing.

"No, I just see what I see because it's obvious."

"E, I appreciate it, and yes, something may have almost, almost happened between me and Dolph, but right now, I need to be about me, I need to focus on myself because I can't continue to fall for men and be disappointed by them. I know what you see, and I'm sure you've seen a lot, but…I just can't right now, I just…can't."

"Can't or won't?" he asked.

"Both," she admitted honestly. "Dolph has been the biggest surprise of my life, and if I lose him. Look, he's my friend, and all this, it's really just because we're acting out all this onscreen. I think we're all becoming a little too…it's like that thing, you know, the thing, what's the word…oh, yeah, Stockholm Syndrome. You become so into something you start believing it. That's all this is."

E just laughed and pat her on the shoulder, "Girl, you're so crazy."

"E!" she said, but she laughed and leaned over to hug him. "Thank you for caring."

"God, what have we become?" he sighed, hugging her back.

"A weird family," she told him, pulling away. Dolph walked into the room and he looked between them. "Nothing to see here, Dolph. Did you get the time at the top of the show, are we going to get the chance to challenge The Rock?"

"Yeah, I got time," Dolph told her, "I was thinking that maybe I should go out there by myself, you know, like make it more impactful. Just me in the ring, making this a really serious moment between two men over the title."

AJ's face fell. She didn't even do anything with him and he was starting to let her down. Flashes of John came to her mind. "Oh, well…I guess…"

"I'm kidding, get your stuff on, we're going to blow the roof off this place, and I got you your match with the Funkadactyls, so that's happening tonight too," he told her. He watched as her face lit up. She raced to him and hugged him. "I know things are weird between us," he whispered against the skin of her neck, and it was then she realized he'd buried her face against her, "but I don't want them to be, if friends is what we have to be, friends it is." She was never more grateful than in that moment, even if a small part of her was telling her it was a mistake.

"Thank you."