Disclaimer: I do not own the real people or characters in this story. The characters are owned by WWE, and the people own themselves. Tame story, come one and all!

A/N: Got an anonymous request over on tumblr to write a story about the Dolph/AJ picture on the beach from the other day (I trust you've all seen it and if you haven't, my God, go look, the cuteness is nearly blinding!). Anyways, this came from that request. It's fluffy, so there's that. And I know there's no Ferris Wheel at the location they were at, but I'm taking creative license so bear with me.

Anyways, hope you enjoy, and if you want to leave a review go right ahead. I'm an adult, I can take it, so if you want to dish some brutality, go right ahead. Enjoy! :)

Concussions sucked.

Oh sure, they sucked for the obvious reasons. Dolph lost the memory of two days, two days of his life just gone. He had to have multiple scans to make sure he was okay, he wasn't allowed to wrestle, he wasn't allowed to exercise. The list went on and on and on and then on a little bit more, and yes, that was all terrible, but her selfishness (and she was allowed this sometimes) was the reason why concussions sucked in this particular moment.

She just wanted to be with her boyfriend.

Her nights at Raw and SmackDown were spent thinking about how she would much rather be with him. It wasn't like she didn't love her work, she absolutely did love it, but there was a Dolph-sized hole in the show, and nothing could fill it. She wouldn't say she felt lost without him, but she'd be remiss to say that it wasn't strange and out-of-place not to have him there to make her laugh and ease the small bevy of nerves that always came before that first step out into the arena. She hoped she never got over the nerves simply because it would mean he wouldn't be right there to make her laugh.

Tuesday night was spent thinking of Wednesday and San Diego and him. He'd been in San Diego since Sunday morning, testing out his flying with the short flight from Phoenix, a test run if you will. It was the plan all along, baby steps the doctor said, don't try to fly cross-country, especially with his vertigo issues right after the concussion. But it was a success, and he was waiting for her there, and she wanted to get out of this hotel room and into his hotel room (not necessarily for the dirty stuff, but their suggestive and downright shameless tweeting the other night did not help).

When she finally touched down in San Diego, the air felt fresher, and she felt the smile she'd been missing for days come over her face. Just a short trip to the hotel and she would be with him again. The cab ride was endless to her, and she couldn't even appreciate the beautiful scenery San Diego had to offer. Her mind was focused, as focused as she always was during her matches, except this wasn't a match, and she just wanted her boyfriend. Finally, the cab pulled up and she paid before rushing inside. She knew his room, so she forwent the check-in desk for the elevators.

"God, I missed you," she threw her arms around his neck, leaning up to bury her face into his shirt. She drunk in the familiar smell that he always had, something so many people commented on. She could get lost in the scent of his cologne, and she secretly loved when it clung to her own clothes, like a silent reminder that her boyfriend loved her.

"I should spend more days away from you if this is the welcome I get," he told her, but she pulled away to glare at him, "jk, jk, we should spend all our time together."

"That's more like it," she said, leaning up to give him a kiss. "I missed you so much though, the shows aren't the same without you, and our road trips are 33% less funny without you there."

"You forgot the .333 infinity," he reminded her.

"Well, you're not that funny," she joked as she finally put her feet back on flat ground after standing on her tiptoes to hug him. He sidestepped her and pulled her luggage into the room.

"As much as I like the voyeurism, I don't think it's appropriate in a hotel hallway," he said, glancing both ways. "There's a pool downstairs though, if you really wanted to get wild."

"Why get wild there when there's an entire ocean right outside the window," AJ told him, and he laughed and licked his bottom lip as he tried to keep from guffawing (or actually picturing that, the shameless flirting on Twitter was only what he was allowed to say, but what he let himself think of her most of the time was not Twitter-friendly).

"Don't give me ideas," he shook his head as she flopped down on the bed. "Okay, and you gave me ideas."

"I'm not saying take me right now, Ziggy," she turned onto her side, putting her hand on her cheek as she watched him walk over and sit down across from her. He reached out and started rubbing her jean-covered leg. "How's your head?"

"Better, getting better all the time," he sung a little bit, and she frowned, "Yeah, the singing thing, I think it's a side effect of the concussion…or just because I'm so happy to be around you."

She loved when he got romantic like that. It wasn't necessarily rare, but it was usually tinged with humor so the genuine comments without the intention of garnering laughter were her favorite ones. They were the ones that made her smile like she was right now. They were the ones that made her reach out her free hand and grab his, lacing their fingers together neatly because they fit. From the first moment he took her hand, they fit perfectly. It was just like how she always felt like she fit perfectly into his side.

"I'm happy too," she told him softly. "I'm glad we get to get away from everything. No work, no doctors—"

"No being stuck at home," he added, "I was starting to go crazy. I may have even done something nuts like dye my hair back its original color, that's how bored I was."

"God forbid!" AJ laughed, sitting up and sitting cross-legged from him. She squinted her eyes and stared at him, "Yeah, no, it's hard to picture you with your natural hair color anymore. You somehow look better and worse as a blonde."

"Plus, my fun factor would have decreased exponentially." She looked at him in confusion. "Because blonds have more fun…yeah, that one fell flat, see, even my timing is off. Thank God for San Diego. I feel like I've been able to breathe better. The only thing better than you here would be if the kid could come with us."

"Nacho on a beach, my baby would get buried in the sand or something," she said, "We'll see him soon, I miss him but your brother is taking good care of him."

"Well, he's unemployed now, he has nothing better to do," Dolph shrugged. He knew his brother would land on his feet though. His brother was talented and smart, it would be okay for him. "So, what did you want to do today? I mean, besides all the crazy sex we're going to have because you put some ideas in my head, babe, and they haven't left."

"What are you talking about?" she asked coyly. "I don't even know where your mind is at right now."

"On your Black Widow submission," he said, suddenly, and very slickly, flipped them onto the bed so he was hovering over her. "I'm not so sure I like how they have to tap out when you have them in that submission maneuver."

"And why is that?" she asked him, staring up at him innocently.

"Oh, I don't know," he told her, his hand slipping underneath her as he gave her butt a squeeze. She pretended to act scandalized while he leaned down to kiss her. "Layla was getting awfully grabby at the end there. Should I be worried?"

"Mmm, I don't think so," she mumbled against his lips, "but remind me again why I'm choosing you and not her."

Later (much later, that 18 seconds thing was completely a joke), they decided that staying in their hotel room any longer would be detrimental to Dolph's physical restrictions since his concussion, and they decided to explore the beach. They'd both been to San Diego before, Dolph more than her, but she'd never had the opportunity to explore the city that much, and certainly never had time to go to the beach. The view from their hotel only added to the enticing picture of the ocean, and before long, they found themselves walking along the shore, holding hands on the brink of the vastness of turbulent waters.

"This is nice," she told him, looking out over the water. "We never just get time to do nothing and be ourselves. I mean, we're always just in character…although you might still be with the t-shirt."

"It was the only clean one I had left. I'm trying to look nice for you," he told her, making her grin. He felt the urge to kiss her, so he leaned down and did, briefly, just a peck, really, nothing compared to what they did on the bed in their hotel room a short while ago, but it made her brighten considerably.

"Someday, we're going to take a vacation, a real, actual, multi-week vacation," she told him, pressing herself to his side as he shifted to move his arm around her. "And we'll go everywhere."

"Nice dream," he said, kissing the top of her head. "You know what's funny?"

"Your face?" she asked.

"Always, but my hair is funnier," he told her, "it's that we're here, walking on the beach together, and nobody even knows. Nobody knows we're here, nobody can hang out in front of our hotel, nobody is waiting to get things signed. We're just here, and together, and hey, let them all think we're just fake, you know."

"You relish too much in people thinking we're fake, I'm going to start gaining a complex, you know," she joked with him, wrapping her own arm around his waist, sneaking her hand under his loud pink shirt and rubbing his side. "I'm going to start believing I'm your secret girlfriend."

"That I make out with on national TV and in front of thousands of people?"

"Acting, baby, they call that acting."

"What the hell were we acting out a little while ago?"

"We were recreating Edge and Lita's live sex celebration," AJ responded and Dolph started snorting in laughter so much he nearly doubled over. AJ giggled as she watched him nearly lose it right there on the beach. He turned to her, cupping her face in his large hands and leaned down for a proper kiss this time.

"This is the reason why I love you."

"I thought it was because I could keep up with your athleticism, but it's nice to know it's this too," she told him. She looked up ahead and spotted the carnival at the pier. "I didn't know they had one of those here!"

"Oh great, my girlfriend is going to want me to use my muscles to win her some sort of stuff animal."

"A bear that says, 'I wuv you beary much,' like Logan would have won Veronica if they were ever able to be together for longer than a few episodes."

Dolph groaned, "I can't believe I let you make me watch that entire show!"

"I can't believe you made me watch those 70's roasts," AJ stuck out her tongue, "tit for tat, baby, tit for tat."

"When do I get more tit?"

"Disgusting," she said, hugging him around the waist again as they continued walking. "I'm surprised we haven't gotten the usual reprimand from our tweeting. 'Now Dolph, AJ, we think you two are doing a great job, and we understand you're really together, but we're going to need you to tone down the kisses, we have a rating to uphold.'"

Dolph rolled his eyes, "So I want to give my girlfriend some tongue, those kids will become teenagers, take one look at you and realize why I want to be gross."

"Will you ride the carousel with me?" she asked.

"No," he answered.

"You're no fun," she pouted.

"Just my luck, we go on it, suddenly hundreds of WWE fans show up, take pictures, and babe, they already know I'm a sex god in bed, do you think me sitting on a fake horse is going to do my image any good at all?"

"Well, the kids might like it, and I know you've been itching to steal that fanbase from Cena."

"Don't make good points," he told her, "I will give you one Ferris Wheel ride and that's it on the cheesy cliché relationship stuff."

"No bear?"

"We don't need a bear, we have Nacho."

"I can win it myself, I should try that hammer thing, I bet I'd hit it higher than you."

"You probably could with your guns," he told her with a wink.

They hit the boardwalk and walked around, checking out the sights and generally being lazy, tourist bums. A few people recognized them (AJ teased Dolph mercilessly for wearing his shirt and thinking he wouldn't get recognized), and took pictures, but for the most part, they were left alone, and it was refreshing to feel like normal people for a little while. They didn't have to amp up their relationship for the cameras, they didn't have to over-act or pretend to be ridiculously in love.

Love for them, in the real sense, came easily, like putting on a comfortable shirt. It was without dramatics or sweeping romantic gestures. They were just themselves, and love came to them, they did not search for love. When they were away from the cameras, their personas faded away until it was just them, just this, just a sense of belonging they had yet to experience anywhere else.

When the sun started to dip in the sky, Dolph, as promised, took her to the Ferris Wheel. She giggled as they got on and sat next to each other. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he grumbled. "When did I become this guy? Next thing you know, I'm bringing you flowers every time I see you or dropping a ring in your champagne…"

"Ring?"

"I don't have one, don't worry," he told her as the ride started to move them up. He wrapped his arm around her and she lifted her hand to link with his over her shoulder. They sat quietly for a few minutes before they started moving towards the top. The view was peaceful from up here, the sounds of people below becoming muted by the distance. "This is actually kind of nice."

"It is," she agreed. "I like that we came here, even if it's only for a couple days, well, for me at least."

"Me too, and I flew without throwing up or feeling like the entire world was spinning, so I think we should celebrate that."

"Duly noted," she kissed his cheek. "I'm proud you didn't puke in front of an entire plane of people."

"Me too, I like showing off, but not like that. Also, I think we should also take note how I have pulled off the long dark socks all day without looking like someone's dad," he told her, lifting one foot up.

"And I would like to congratulate the both of us on the fake baby that everyone thinks I'm having because the wind happened to blow my shirt up a little bit while we were taking that picture earlier."

"Well, we could have taken another picture, you know."

"One, that old lady looked so put out when we asked for a picture, and two, with the wind this afternoon, probably would've ended up being a topless picture."

"Well, we just wouldn't have posted that, I know we're pretty suggestive, but I'm going to have a problem with you posting a picture like that."

"Aww, you care," she said, laying her head on his shoulder. "I miss you when you're not on the road, and it's strange because we haven't actually been together that long, I mean, traveling, you know, what with me traveling with Kaitlyn and everything, and you being the weirdo who likes to travel alone."

"Well, I miss you too, it sucks sitting at home."

"I can't wait until you're back."

"I can't wait to get in the ring again, Big E taking good care of you on the road?"

"Yes, he makes sure I wear my seatbelt and that the booster seat is adjusted so I can see over the dashboard."

Dolph laughed, "You taking care of him?"

"Yes, I regularly feed him whole chickens and kindly throw the bones out the window so he can continue driving."

"Then you don't even need me there," he told her as he laid his cheek on the top of her head. They were almost at the top of the Ferris Wheel as it stopped again, only a couple spots from the top.

She laughed, "You act like that's actually something I want when it couldn't be further from the truth. I need and want you there. You know that."

"I like hearing it, stokes the ego, you know."

"Mmhmm," she hummed as they lapsed into silence again. He could hear her give a little sigh, but he waited a few minutes before speaking again, waiting until they were at the crest of the ride to speak again.

"Kind of worth the concussion if it meant I got to spend time with you," he told her, his voice void of sarcasm or hubris.

"No, it was not," AJ told him, shaking her head slightly as her head came up to look at him. "It was not worth that, this is not worth that. Nothing would have been worth that, Dolph, not anything."

"Okay, babe, I get it, still if it didn't happen, I wouldn't be here with you, and…that's the part that's worth it," he shrugged because he was embarrassed. He did that, shrugged and acted like he couldn't get the words out because he wasn't the kind of guy who had pretty, flowery words at the ready. He was awkward, and one side of his mouth would quirk up into an almost smile, which he thought could hide how bad he actually was at this kind of thing.

"You're with me all the time, you know," she reminded him. "What makes this so special?"

He shrugged again and she almost wished to push his shoulders down with her hand so he couldn't brush everything off like he did. "Just is."

"You're impossible," she told him, laughing quietly as she brushed her thumbs over his cheeks. "You never know what to say, do you?"

"Sure, I do, when I want to," he told her. "I love you."

"I love you too, I'm not worth two days of memory loss though," she laid her head back down on his shoulder as the ride started its descent down now.

"You kind of are." She just smiled, giving up the argument before it began.

Concussions still sucked though.