Yeah, so...if you'd like to read more of my things, I am also writing an OC/Styles story. I'm specifically happy with that one. :)

"The thing with AJ is, she has been such a great friend. But, isn't it concerning that she comes in and gets whatever she wants? Because I think it's a real riot. Well, my dear little crumpet, the problem with that is that things have changed quite a bit. And to be honest, so have I. I don't want to be compared to the infamous AJ Lee. I want to be Paige, and I want to start on my own path without you on it. And frankly, my dear, unless you're out of my way, I'm never going to be a champion again."

Paige was giving a solid backstage promo, Renee Young expressing faux concern as the black-haired diva spouted the nonsense that she was fed earlier in the evening.

"And how does that transition into your relationship with Seth Rollins?" Renee asked, being fed the question through a tiny earpiece covered by her hair. She had been against the interview, not liking the dabble in real-life by the WWE producers. It was well-known that she was in a relationship with Dean Ambrose, and she kept it far away from the cameras for as long as AJ could remember. Maybe it was Dean's preference, but from what she knew of him, he was extremely private and didn't want to be turned into a storyline.

Smart man.

"AJ's history has shown that if a cute boy is in the way, she makes awful choices. Just ask Daniel Bryan, John Cena, and even Kane."

AJ breathed a small sigh of relief that she'd left CM Punk off that list, though she supposed the producers had told her not to list off the straight-edge superstar. Not everyone got the hint, though, as some of the "CM Punk" chants began from the crowd.

"So obviously, the best way to get AJ to break? Bring in a cute face. Seth and I have an agreement here. He led on AJ, and now I owe him one."

"And...speaking of owing him one," Stephanie McMahon suddenly appeared on camera, as though she was listening in the whole time, "I have quite a match set for you. Seth Rollins and Paige, versus AJ Lee and a superstar of my choice," she gave a hearty smile. Paige made a face, and Stephanie gave a fake laugh.

"What's wrong? You two should easily be able to handle anything that's thrown your way," Stephanie smiled brilliantly, a smug look shining on her face.

Paige muttered an agreement before the camera cut to commercial break.

AJ sighed, crossing and uncrossing her arms. Paige hadn't spoken to her in a week, and although she was speaking to Seth, things were shaky between them at best. Last she knew, her boxes of collectibles had been delivered to his home. But with the awkwardness of the new storyline and Finn Balor's apparent main roster call-up, she hadn't been able to confirm that news. She hadn't really been able to see Seth at all, which was really unfortunate.

But, that was the life of a WWE superstar. She started remembering exactly why she'd left the company to begin with: meddling in personal affairs, awful creative decisions, and impossible schedules. Even if she wanted to spend time with Seth within the last week, it would've been quite hard. He had some signings with Toys 'R Us in the nearby cities, and she was busy with dumb photo shoots. She had, however, been approached by producers for the WWE Network, who wanted to film her comeback story for a show they'd been working on called "24."

That, she thought, she might actually agree to.

Regardless, one was a lonely number, and she pined for feeling Seth's warmth against her. Shoot, she'd even be fine for Seth being in the same room.

"That ought to be interesting," Dolph Ziggler appeared from nowhere, the backstage monitor she'd been watching from now circled with her colleagues. "Who do you think it'll be?" he wiggled an eyebrow, and AJ shrugged. She knew who it was, of course; the NXT champion was set to make yet another appearance tonight. This match would set off a whole slew of promos between shows between Finn Balor and Seth Rollins, setting up for next month's pay-per-view. There, Rollins would drop his belt to Balor.

Everyone knew the set of events would happen eventually, but the pace which the writers were going ahead with Finn was unnerving. She couldn't imagine how awful Seth had felt about the exchange. Plus, he had pulled a fast one on his former teammates. They hadn't known he had taken the opportunity with the Authority, and they'd been surprised when he'd crossed them.

You just don't do something like that to so-called "brothers."

"So the rumors that you and Finn hooked up in NXT are true, then?" Dolph asked, not bothering to lower his voice. "I mean, why else would you four be shot into a storyline so quickly?"

AJ rolled her eyes. "Finn and I are friends. And that's it. It's too bad he's being brought in this way, really. I don't really understand the creative plan behind all this, but I can assure you, it's not because Finn and 'I hooked up'." She even used finger quotations , hoping that Dolph would shut it.

Dolph laughed, clearly not buying the story. AJ had a real issue with Dolph. Although they'd been considerably professional towards one another, they couldn't stand each other much, either. The only reason? Nikki Bella.

When AJ Lee came into the company, Dolph was a smooth talker and extremely kind. She'd ended up falling for him, interested in him, and hoping to eventually date him. The only problem there was that she didn't know he was secretly dating Nikki, which she found out later on. It was fine, but Nikki Bella would understandably loathe her for the rest of her career. Paired with AJ's awful storyline with Cena back in the day that Paige had mentioned, and the two would certainly never see eye to eye.

She'd go on to work with Dolph easily, but kept her heart guarded ever since then. Until she began getting romantically involved with Punk, but the ending to that story wasn't really a happy one for her. Seth seemed to be everything she never knew she needed, yet the way they were heading, doubt began to sink in. The infiltration from outsiders made her wonder if they could ever be happy.

"AJ? Do you have a second?" one of the producers interrupted, and although he apologized for doing though, AJ replied that she was grateful he had. She really didn't want to be around Dolph any more than she had to.

The producer pulled his headphones down around his neck, giving her a small smile. "Kevin Dunn sent me to speak with you before your match tonight. Obviously, you and Finn are slated to win this one. But, how do you feel about laying one on Seth before Finn beats him for the roll-up?"

Actually, she didn't hate the idea. It would strengthen Seth's storyline with Finn, anyways. Now that it was public knowledge that AJ was seeing the former Shield member, kissing him wasn't a big deal. Kissing him so that Finn could blast him to win the match looked like a cheap win, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing. But with Seth being a heel, and Balor being a heel, that didn't really make much sense...

"The plan, for the pay-per-view, is a double turn," the producer stated, almost like he could read AJ's mind. It'll be revealed that Finn is the chosen one of Triple H, replacing Seth Rollins. He'll join the Authority, and we'll use the sympathy card for Rollins."

"Where do I fit into this?" AJ wondered out loud.

"Well, that remains to be seen. Let's just get through tonight, and we can check out what the writers have in store for you later on."

AJ agreed, albeit her reply dragged out. What was with the lazy writing nowadays? It was almost like the writing team was flying by the seat of their pants, only doing simple stories that didn't really make any sense.

"How do you feel about giving Finn a kiss after he wins the match?" the producer asked awkwardly, knowing that the idea sucked. "It'd be like reviving the 'crazy chick' thing. Maybe we can get AJ Lee to stick with the authority as Finn's valet for awhile or-"

"Absolutely not," AJ replied. "Things are already weird with the world knowing Seth and I are together. I'd rather keep Finn out of my relationship. I don't want the rumors...so thank you, but no thanks."

The producer nodded, and his eyes grew wide as Seth Rollins joined the pair, snaking his arm around AJ's waist. Her heart picked up speed immediately, the cool touch a gentle reminder of what it felt like to be near him. She hoped that they would be able to spend the night together. After all, it had been far too long since they were able to spend time together. Just that simple touch made her feel like everything was going to be okay between them.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is there a problem?" Seth asked coolly, watchful of the producer. "Don't you think there's been enough bullshit flung our way?" he asked, keeping his face straight. The producer muttered a short reply.

"I know that you're just the messenger, so I won't shoot you. But I think it's about time people leave our business to us, and that includes this company. Remind your boss that we only agreed to this storyline for a short period of time. If I have to ask for my release from this company because my wishes aren't being respected, that's really unfortunate." Seth turned away from the guy, keeping his hands on AJ. Neither man spoke again, but AJ mouthed a quick apology to the young producer.

"You were kind of rude back there," she said quietly. "I mean, it's not his fault that they wanted to pull a fast one on us."

Seth snorted with a laugh. "You know, this whole thing is to pull a fast one on us. I thought we were very clear about keeping our relationship off-screen."

"We were," AJ agreed. "But, I agreed to kiss you for Finn to get the win tonight as a distraction. It looks like a cheap win for him, you know? Plus, the producer said that there would be a double-turn in the future."

"Yeah, I heard that part. Funny, they haven't yet revealed to me what the whole plan was."

"Probably because they don't even know what the whole plan consists of," AJ shrugged. "Things sure have changed a lot. I don't remember the writing being this sloppy a few years back."

"You're telling me," Seth replied. "I'm really glad you turned down the opportunity to kiss Balor, though," he turned towards her, his eyes shining with contentment.

"You heard that bit?" she asked. He nodded, and she simply replied, "I'd never do that to you."

Seth pulled her close, his hand on the small of her back. Brushing her cheek with a calloused thumb, he tucked her long dark hair behind her ear before giving her a long, gentle kiss.

"I love you so much," AJ said quietly after they broke off for a breath of air. "I'm sorry that this is happening to you. But I will do everything I can to ease the pain."

Seth laughed once. "You know, if I had to choose between my relationship with you and my title, I'd choose you every time. You've changed my outlook on pretty much everything. So, as much as it sucks...and mostly because I had to use my former friends as stepping stones to be where I am...I'm willing to bet it's just bad karma coming to bite me. So, more power to Finn Balor being the new face of the Authority."

"You don't need the Authority anyways," AJ partially whispered. You never knew whose ears were around backstage. "You're talented, whether or not you're with those asshats."

"I guess. I just think I'm gonna be embarrassed once everyone else finds out the Authority is going to replace me. I can just see the excitement on Dean's face. I can just hear Roman's laugh. Fuck," Seth ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. "I'm gonna be a joke to them."

AJ lowered her eyes, wanting to offer her opinion but treading carefully.

"You could always make amends ahead of time," she said, bringing her eyes back up to meet his. "It might take some time, but maybe if they hear an apology, it'll be a step in the right direction." She'd tried to encourage Seth to piece back together his friendship with Dean and Roman before, but it hadn't gotten anywhere. Now that the intention of the company was quite clear, she hoped that Seth would do just that. If he didn't, it would be rough for him. The black sheep of the locker room, perhaps...

"You really want me to apologize, don't you?" Seth asked. He didn't wait for her to respond. "I want to. I do. But I burned down that bridge while I was still standing on it. It wouldn't surprise me at all if I walked up to Roman's locker room door and got socked in the jaw."

"I think that scenario would be more likely if you walked up to Dean's locker room door," AJ considered. "But even if you do, I bet it'll make things right."

Seth thought about it. "You're right. I'll reach out to them. But you need to reach out to Paige. I know how fucked up things are between you because of this stupid storyline. You know damn well there's nothing going on between us, and it's not right to lash out at her."

AJ looked at him with a wounded puppy expression. She knew he was right, and she also knew that she'd acted like a total bitch to her best friend. Very rarely did AJ allow the company to get under her skin with their stories. In fact, the only time she'd ever been upset with a storyline was when they'd wanted her to portray a mental patient. But now that they'd gotten her personal affairs mixed up in the business, she was feeling salty.

"I'll apologize to her," AJ confirmed. "But you've got to offer an olive branch to your two friends, too. And, also, no more fighting with me about Finn, please. He was kind to me when I was in Florida, but I swear on my entire action figure collection that that's where my relationship with Finn ends."

Seth laughed, his eyes crinkling with his smile. She could tell he believed her, and he visibly relaxed. "Just be careful around him, alright, AJ?" he warned. "I will trust you, but I damn sure won't be trusting him."

The burst of energy from the crowd hit AJ like a semi truck. As she skipped her way down the ring, she smiled and pointed at the crowd before wiping her feet off on the apron. Ever since she was training, she began doing that before entering. It was a sign of respect, and she always liked that thought.

Paige and Seth were already in the ring, muttering back and forth. Although they both looked pissed off at her, they were actually talking about a band that they both liked releasing an apparently awful new song. AJ forced herself not to smile and break character, but she rethought that. Of course she'd smile and act like Paige had never fucked her over, that's exactly what her character would do in this situation.

So she smiled, allowing her teeth to show. She gave a small bow towards Paige, who looked confused. She looked over at Seth, who shrugged. He looked like he couldn't care less, his championship belt on his shoulder.

AJ blew him a kiss, and the crowd went nuts. She laughed when Seth turned away, as though she'd blow a disease his way. He scrunched up his nose in disgust.

AJ sat in the ropes, making herself comfortable. Stephanie McMahon's music began, and she began to march down to the ring. She had a microphone in hand, but was receiving massive heat from the crowd. She played an excellent heel character.

"Oh, quiet down," Stephanie shot back at them. "I'm sure that Seth Rollins is wondering why he's being dragged into this...catfight," she crowed once the audience mellowed out. Seth nodded, pointing to his belt and said something about how he was a champion and didn't need to be involved here.

"Well, Seth, it looks like you got involved yourself. Paige made it quite clear that you 'owed her' for buttering up AJ. This kind of works out nicely, though. See, Paige got involved in AJ's match with Eva Marie. And seeing as you and Paige are on the same page..." Stephanie realized what she'd just said, and backtracked for a second, "are in cahoots, more or less, this match just made sense. AJ's on the same page as someone, too."

Stephanie walked across the stage to allow Finn Balor's music to play. As soon as the beginning notes began to play, the crowd picked up on who the mystery partner was. Finn appeared behind some smoke. He came down in his simple black trunks, the NXT belt around his waist. The reaction from the crowd was unbelievable, and Seth's face turned red in the meantime.

"Ladies and gentleman, please welcome our NXT champion, Finnnnnn Balooooor!" Steph's voice was shrill, but even with the microphone, AJ could barely hear her over the crowd's noise. Finn gave a gorgeous smile to the fans as he sauntered down the ramp. AJ shot him Finn girlish smile before glancing at Paige, who appeared to be watching closely.

Finn posed on each of the turnbuckles in correspondence with his music, and with each pose, the crowd got rowdier. Once his music stopped and the lights came back on, AJ continued to grin as the crowd started an entire slew of pro-Finn Balor chants.

"Finn is gonna killll you..."

"NXT! NXT! NXT!"

"YES! YES! YES!"

The two men participated in a show-off contest, each of them displaying their belts proudly in the air while yelling. Paige looked to be more interested in her black-painted fingernails than in the two men, keeping her eyes in front of her. AJ kept shooting darting glances her way, but she ignored each of them. She hoped, at least, the camera was able to capture the anger radiating between the two women in the ring.

The referee finally broke apart the two men, the crowd beginning to "Yeah!" and "Boo!". Naturally, as the current face of the authority, Seth was getting booed.

The fans are going to be in for a huge surprise, AJ thought to herself. Seth stepped out of the ring first, and Finn glared at him as he followed suit. She was set to square off against Paige. She loved her prior matches with the anti-diva, and she hoped that despite them not being on the greatest of terms, they could put on a great performance.

AJ locked up, Paige quickly getting the upper hand. Maneuvering herself to be behind AJ, Paige took her down quickly with a Russian leg sweep. AJ sat up quickly, a look of shock on her face. Paige began to fake-pout, making fun of her. AJ pushed at her, and Paige retaliated quickly with the same move. So, AJ smacked her with a quick slap, the noise loud through the arena.

Their bout continued this way for awhile, nobody ever really gaining momentum. After awhile, AJ called for them to wrap up and tag their partners in. The crowd was growing slowly disinterested. Paige agreed, whipping AJ towards her corner and setting up for a clothesline. AJ ducked from the blow, instead tagging Finn Balor.

Finn stepped into the ring, and the referee put a hand up while Paige made her way back to the apron. In the past, it made no difference if there was a man and woman against each other in the ring. But, times had changed, and now the match would be halted until both members of the same gender stood toe to toe.

And once Seth came back to face off against Balor, the crowd once again celebrated the very fact that Finn was in the WWE ring.

Their match went on for quite awhile, both of the men able to work well with each other. Each one was able to pull off one giant, stunning move; Finn Balor suplexed Seth from the top turnbuckle with ease, and Seth Rollins set up a curb stomp whilst on the top rope. Though his finished missed wildly, he was able to tuck and roll so he didn't put all the force down on his already weak knee.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

The crowd was going crazy for the two performers. AJ leaned in, clapping like a crazy person while she stood on the bottom rope. Seth yelled at her to get down, and she blatantly ignored him. Instead, when the camera passed, she made sure to cheer her partner on.

The referee came over to her. To anyone else, it would have just looked like a warning to get off the ropes. But he told her to "finish up," which meant to go down to the timekeeper's area and snatch Rollins' championship belt. She did just that, and when she came back to the ropes, she caught Seth's eye as she held it in the air as though she'd won the thing herself.

That belt was much, much heavier than the butterfly belt had been, and she was surprised she could balance on the apron while holding it up for him to see. Seth came over to snatch it back, and as a way to play keep-away, she let him grab one of the straps.

Just like she was fishing, she pulled him in, kissing him. It was just enough to get the crowd going once more, and when she broke away, Seth feigned being startled. She wiped her mouth with an evil grin before dropping the belt on the floor, the cameraman nearest getting her whole expression up close. The fans booed the move, as she figured they would.

Then, when Seth began to turn around, a sickened expression written on his face, AJ laughed crazily. He'd walked straight into Finn, who'd hooked up Seth into his finishing move, 1916.

When the referee counted to three, the crowd roared, despite the wimpy match finish. They didn't mind so long as Balor was victorious.

Finn's music began to play once more, and AJ Lee held up his hand in victory. He wrapped her up in a hug, and she made certain to avoid his face. The last thing she wanted was for him to go ahead and kiss her. Sure, she told the producers she wouldn't do it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't.

And while her back was turned, Paige attacked her from behind, yelling "This is MY HOUSE, AJ!" Fans booed, and she began assaulting AJ with punches. Each punch was a near hit, but she protected her face anyways just in case one of her fist accidentally connected. "PTO," she heard Paige whisper, quickly putting AJ into a submission move.

AJ tapped weakly, eventually just allowing herself to relax as Paige kept it locked in. She could hear the referee telling her to get off, but Paige kept applying pressure. Eventually, she could see Finn's muscled legs drag the black-haired diva off from AJ, who let her body crumble to the mat completely. Although normally Paige's submission felt just like a decent stretch, AJ had a feeling she was gonna be sore tomorrow.

Finn slung AJ's limp body over his shoulders and carried her to the back, the decimation that Paige had put on her allowing the fans to actually believe she may have seriously been injured. Some of the medical personnel followed Finn to the back, the medics holding their bags as they kept up with Finn's strides all the way up the ramp.

And with that, the show closed out.