Hmm, when things go back to the real world, does this little relationship come crumbling down? Please let me know if you love, hate, loathe, or want to strangle me. :) Your reviews get my ass motivated. Happy (belated) Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

AJ smiled as she watched Seth get out of the driver's side of their rental car, her heart thumping with both excitement and nervousness as they neared the arena. It had been a long drive; one full of thought, each of them forever delving deeper into the other's psyche. Though they'd chosen to keep their real-life relationship as low-key as possible for now, they didn't plan on necessarily hiding it, either. Seth had suggested that, like his former Shield brother, they keep their relationship hushed; but when asked, they wouldn't deny it nor confirm it. For almost a year, Dean Ambrose's relationship with pretty interviewer, Renee Young, had been on a strictly need-to-know basis, and it had worked out. Though now it was common knowledge, it had allowed them to blossom and understand each other before bringing in the rest of the world's curious eyes.

Last night had been amazing, and each time she reflected on the stay at his home, she looked forward to the possibility of the next one.

"Want me to grab your stuff, babe?" he asked, opening the trunk of the sleek vehicle. She smiled, looking down, not used to being called by such a ridiculous-and sickeningly sweet-pet name.

"Nah, I got it," she replied, slinging her skull messenger bag over her hip before grabbing her huge duffel bag. "Thank you, though," she looked up at him, still amazed at how somehow, she'd managed to capture his attention at all. She smiled broadly as he saw her watching him, the newness of their relationship making her feel like she was in deep puppy love.

Together, they made their way through the empty parking lot, chattering mindlessly about how good it felt to be back. Though the break was nice in many ways, they missed the fans, the anticipation, the structure, and their peers. Though AJ couldn't help but worry about how things might be with Paige when she finally met up with her again, she hoped it would go well. She tried to stop freaking out over that confrontation, forcing herself to listen to Seth going on about the match he was going to have that night, clearly excited to be back in the ring.

"Too bad you've always got to have backup," AJ retaliated, feeling kind of brave. She didn't want to knock Seth down, or even cause an argument after finally admitting their feelings for each other. But, it was true. "I get that you're a heel. But it makes you look like a chump, you know? Always depending on Stephanie and J&J Security, maybe even Kane or Big Show trying to keep the belt on you. And I know it's not all your fault, but why can't you try winning fairly? I know you've got enough talent, and so does everyone else...but I really want to see you use it to its full potential. Use your in-ring skills to show off, not the Authority storyline. I think a lot more people will respect you as a champ if you did that."

Seth smirked. "For you, sweetcheeks, I may just talk to the team," he gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze, and AJ could tell he was serious. "You know what I really want to do?"

AJ's eyebrow quirked up, a small smile turning up. "Have hot shower sex in the locker room before the rest of the roster shows up?" she suggested, though she was definitely kidding. Still, it struck Seth by surprise, now a full-smile across his face.

"I mean, that would be great, too. Actually, do you think we could get away with that?"

AJ giggled, now thinking about if it was something she'd want to try. For some reason, it sounded so hot...but so naughty. "Probably not," she admitted, knowing that their peers would be showing up sooner rather than later. "If you want, though, we can room together soon. And practice naked yoga," she laughed at her own bad joke, walking through the door that somehow, Seth was able to open for her despite having his arms full with heavy gear.

"Text me your room number tonight," he said with full seriousness. "If you want, of course. I can understand if you want to make sure our friends don't know the full story on what's going on."

"Ahem," a voice said from right in front of them, which was startling as neither of them had been paying any attention to anything but each other. It was Paige, standing alongside Kevin Owens.

"Hey!" Seth Rollins fistbumped his buddy, while Paige rolled her heavily-darkened eyes at the very sight of him.

"Hello, crumpet. Just throwing this out there, but maybe your friends already know the full story on what's going on, and you two don't," she stated bluntly, not bothering to look at Seth at all, nor acknowledge him.

"Yeah, bro, we need to have a quick talk. You know, before the management gets here," Kevin's playfulness with Seth ended quickly, and he took on a much more solemn articulation. "And it's not cool. So not cool."

"Paige, I'm really sorry that I spent time with Seth and didn't tell you that's where I ended up," AJ said quickly, certain that their two closest friends were just upset that they had connected with each other; not telling them that they were slowly heading towards dating territory. "But you know, I'm really happy that I did. It sucks that the internet tried to decode us before we were willing to be exploited, but in this day and age, it's just that way. So before they all crack the big mystery, Seth and I really do want to be together," AJ sputtered out quickly, turning everyone's eyes on her. She didn't mean for it to sound like a speech, but she knew she owed her friend an apology.

Paige sighed. "As much as I think that idea completely sucks," Paige emphasized her words heavily, "I accept your apology. But not your little fling with the Golden Boy. Anyways, that's not exactly what we wanted to talk to you about."

"Well, Morticia Addams, please, do tell," Seth interjected, his words powerful. AJ could tell he was getting annoyed with Paige, her little jabs at his character becoming irritating.

"Listen, Seth...about your guys' thing-" Kevin Owens started.

"Rollins, AJ. Office, now," Stephanie McMahon appeared out of absolutely nowhere, causing all four of them to jump. It was like she had managed to teleport to the area. After all, just a few seconds ago, the whole place was seemingly vacant.

"Steph, we were just-" Paige plead with Stephanie, who oftentimes let Paige get away with a lot more than she probably should. The boss had taken a deep liking to Paige, despite their very obvious differences.

"I know what you were doing," Steph seemed frazzled, and AJ began to panic. She wasn't certain what she'd done to make Stephanie immediately call them to her office, but for the most part, AJ thought she'd done well keeping herself out of trouble since the showdown with the Bellas. She'd done everything she was supposed to be doing; had fully accepted the stipulation of her eventual loss to Eva Marie. "You two, go grab a bite to eat or something before the show. I've got to speak to these two lovebirds."

Oh, fuck.

Seth wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he was furious.

The only person that knew where he and AJ stood as far as relationship terms went was Leighla. Which meant she had intentionally leaked the information to the general public. But for what? She had seemed to have grown up a lot since posting tons of bullshit following their nasty breakup. He was hurt, pissed, confused, and felt absolutely terrible for the woman that sat next to him. She wanted to tread carefully, not wanting to cause too much of a stir. Her life, after all, had been crushed greatly by social media and the likes. And while AJ chose to ignore reports about her, CM Punk, and Lita's totally fucked up love triangle, she wouldn't be able to just pretend that their affiliation simply didn't exist.

He also feared that this immediate public reaction would frighten her, ending them before they were able to give it a good, solid chance. He was already coming up with reasons for why she shouldn't ditch out, things to say to her when she was ready to disappear off the face of the earth again. Seth didn't want that, especially after the last time she'd made such great strides of effort to not speak to him.

"Well, guys," Stephanie sat across from them, a stressed mess. AJ's hands were flat on the table, Seth's folded on his lap. "I guess let's figure this out."

"Figure what out, exactly?" Seth questioned, very uncertain where this conversation was going to be heading.

Steph gave a small sigh, avoiding eye contact with the champion. "Well, do you remember when Lana and Rusev announced their engagement on Twitter, and my team was doing everything possible to ensure that we could come up with a quick fix to the broken kayfabe?"

Both AJ and Seth murmured in reply, admitting they'd heard of that.

"But we're not messing up any storylines," Seth said in quick defense. "We just started seeing each other, and it kind of happened quickly and unexpectedly. So I don't really see how this is going to mess up kayfabe."

"I understand what you're saying, Seth. And you're right, there hasn't been the extent of patching the wound, not like the Bulgarian Brute and Ravishing Russian. But the largest problem is allegations made by your former girlfriend, Seth."

"Former girlfriend?" AJ's eyebrow quirked up, clearly not liking where this was headed.

"Yes, AJ. Zahra has taken it upon herself to call you out on social media, claiming that you're a homewrecker and that their relationship wasn't quite finished before you stepped in," Stephanie explained calmly.

"That's bullshit!" Seth exclaimed, trying hard not to notice that AJ was swallowing hard next to him, trying to bite her tongue. She probably questioned his validity now, as women often did when someone put a bug in their ear. He could only hope that their relationship was much stronger than this petty shit, but it was so new that the fragility of it was probably certain.

"I know it is," Stephanie agreed, and she seemed to be sincere. "But that brings us to the next point. I'm working really hard alongside my husband to ensure it doesn't happen, but as you know, my father gets most control. And unfortunately, he thinks that once the feud with Eva Marie has officially been wrapped up, AJ, he'd like to see what you and Zahra Schreiber could do together in the ring."

"You've got to be kidding me!" AJ was clearly angry, and she got up off from her chair. "I know that once I left Phil, I had to beg and plead for my job back. But now, I have finally gotten over all the dumb shit he put me through. I've finally found someone who helps me forget the pain. So that's really too bad for this girl, but I'm not about to lose someone all over again to their skanky ex-girlfriend!"

"Besides, Steph...you know Zahra is a wildcard. She was fired for her pro-Nazi slogans and stuff on her social media. I mean, whose to say there won't be any lashing out from the public again, just like there was when it was discovered? That'd be horrible for the company..." Seth was just talking to fill the silence, hoping that he was making a good point. This was ridiculous! He wanted to be rid of the trash, yet somehow, Zahra managed to continuously weasel her way into their life.

"I agree, yet again. And like I said, we're trying to sway his opinion. Especially because of that," Steph remarked. "However, he's been saying they want to try pushing the envelope again with our writers. And he loves putting real, raw emotion into the ring. He's known for it. And believes it makes for better stories, better fights, and better feuds. In this case, I don't necessarily argue that point; but I think it'd be a bad move, given the situation. And, AJ, given your emotional state."

Stephanie wrinkled her brow, writing something on the yellow legal pad that lay on the side of her desk. "I'll be sure to pass that along, AJ, but I can't guarantee anything. You guys have my word that I'll do everything I can to keep Zahra out of the WWE."

"How about this, Steph? You and Hunter keep her away from AJ, or I will not renew my contract in January," Seth threatened, and both women looked up at him, shocked expressions on their faces.

"You don't really mean that," AJ played off casually, laughing awkwardly like he had made a joke.

"I do, actually. Because I think sometimes the WWE forgets that these are people's lives. It's not for entertainment, it's for AJ and myself, behind closed doors."

"I see. So that answers my next question, as well," Stephanie responded, scratching away on her legal pad once again. "You are not interested in putting your relationship up for show?"

"For show?" they both asked in unison. AJ immediately thought she meant displaying them for the world to see in all of their most intimate moments on E!, and sorry, but becoming a regular on Total Divas was just too much for her. She had very little of her private life left as it was, and she definitely didn't feel the need or want to share Seth with the rest of the world. The fact that people were now recognizing them as a couple totally threw a loop in their original plan, though, and she wondered if maybe Stephanie had a different idea for the pair.

"Yeah, I was thinking about maybe eventually turning AJ heel, since she's pretty versatile like that, and maybe become your manager for awhile."

AJ bit her lip, knowing how many people she'd managed in the past, wondering if it would look like the old AJ that she'd fought so hard to be better than. Especially near the end of her first career run, she proved that she didn't need to be riding coattails of anyone, and she kind of wanted to keep it that way.

"I mean, it's going to be hard to ignore that people are aware of our relationship, but I think, at least for now, AJ and I would just like to keep our relationship off from the television. Since it's been determined that AJ and myself are exclusive, it's understandable if we're out in public and someone might snap a picture of us. It happens to all of us. But just like Nikki and John, I think it's wisest to keep that away, and keep kayfabe alive...at least a little bit."

Stephanie's expression changed once more, perhaps giving off a relieved vibe. "I see," she said finally. "I'll relay this all to dad-er, Vince. But like I said, guys, I can't promise anything. But I'll do my best."

"So we're free to go?" Seth asked, giving puppy dog eyes to the woman in charge. She rolled her eyes and flicked her wrist, shooing them away as she picked up her phone, swiping it unlocked. She had a pleased look on her face, and hopefully, that meant a good thing.

Seth and AJ slipped out of the office, neither of them speaking. Neither of them would look at the other. He watched as she bit her lip, trying to find the right words to say to him. Fuck, she looked sexy as hell when she did that.

The hallway was becoming busy with stagehands and cameras, the WWE Social Media Lounge set halfway set up as Tom Philips awkwardly joked with Nikki Bella and Dolph Ziggler. Seth's eyes glued to Ziggler, wishing he'd choke on his fake laughs and smiles whenever Nikki was nearby. He still held a grudge with Dolph, anyways; and seeing him and being in a shitty mood already just amplified his ill feeling towards the former champion.

"So...I've got a question," AJ finally said something, still not looking at him. She appeared to be nervous, crossing and uncrossing her arms as they filtered their way through seamstresses and hairstylists setting up throughout the backstage area.

Seth looked at her with wonder, hoping she wasn't pissed that this whole secret was...blabbed to Twitter.

"How would Zahra even know that we were...I mean, unless you were still talking to her?"

Fuck, I knew she would be wondering...a successful bug was planted in her ear. And now, it's possible that she'd always be wondering in the back of her mind if she actually did interfere with their relationship.

"I'm not entirely sure," Seth answered truthfully, and AJ watched as her shoes kept hitting the scratched tile on the floor. Her mouth made a thin line, and Seth knew she was trying to talk herself out of being upset. He had to act quickly.

"Zahra's not telling the truth, though. I can promise you that. We've been..well, we've actually really never been in a relationship. Just, you know...I was training her, and..."

"And sleeping together," she said, halfheartedly.

"I didn't say-"

AJ cut him off quickly, sucking air in her cheeks. "No, Seth, that wasn't a question. That was a statement. I didn't just fall off from the turnip truck yesterday. Why else would she be so annoyed that you're in a relationship, if it isn't with her?"

Man, girls were smart. True detectives.

"Right. Well," Seth cleared his throat, slowing his pace as AJ kept hers steady. She still looked down at the ground, as if she was unsure what to think or believe. She was definitely acting as though she didn't want to be around Seth, and as lame as it seemed, that scared him. So what if he never had an established relationship with Zahra? So what if they were pretty much just sweating together, both in the ring and in the bed?

"It's fine, Seth," she said finally. "Really. I didn't expect you to be a virgin, you know? I just didn't expect high school drama, either."

"AJ, come on," he pleaded with her, grabbing her elbow to stop her as she was now clearly huffy and trying to escape him.

"I should've known that you and me, being happy, wouldn't be so easy," she said to her feet, slowly turning to look at him as he gently released his grip. She had tears prickling her eyes, and Seth stepped forward, ready to give her a hug. She shook her head quickly, both hands up as she looked around her. While nobody from the roster was nearby, there were plenty of crew members who would love to get a quick iPhone shot of the pair, just for a few extra moments of fame.

"It can be," he replied, taking one of her hands in both of his.

"How does she know, Seth? How?"

Seth was at loss for words. She clearly thought that he'd mentioned it to her, and that he was trying to deny it so she didn't get even more upset. What could he say to her to prove that he wasn't the bad guy that so many people had led her to believe him to be?

"AJ, I-" he was cut off by his phone ringing. He dug it out of his pocket, seeing that Leighla had texted him. He'd found this odd, since they'd literally just cut ties.

AJ had caught a glimpse of the name, shaking her head as a tear fell down her cheek.

"I see," she said quietly.

"AJ..."

"I've got to get ready for the show. See ya."

With that, she stormed away, leaving Seth an angry mess. He glimpsed at his phone, cursing Leighla and her horrible timing. What in the actual fuck could she possibly want from him now?