Heyy! *Peaks around corner shyly* Yeah, I've created yet ANOTHER AJ Styles fic...oopsie? :D This idea literally came to me after the small segment on SmackDown Friday night between AJ and The OC. My brain started going and well...it conjured this up! *Shrugs* I also want to thank one of my peeps JustCherry73 for your support on this. I was wary to begin with since I have 3 AJ stories already going, but it was calling to me, lol.
I don't own anyone affiliated with the WWE...that's all them. I only own the OC and the storyline. Which btw, is NOT going to match up whatsoever with anything. Hence fiction...teehee!
Enjoy my lovelies!
Rosalie POV
As I walk down the hallway towards my station, I hear a loud commotion and then complete silence when I make it to the next intersection that make up the winding halls of the Staples Center. Before I can even make sense of what had happened, the large body of AJ Styles rushes past me, putting me off balance and I collide with the wall behind me.
I gasp at the sudden impact and watch his retreating form in shock. What has gotten into him? I think to myself. He never use to be like this before The Bloodline had taken him out months ago. Strictly for storyline of course. But also because he needed time to sort out his divorce after being married for almost 24 years. It's been going around the locker room well before this occurred that he and his wife have been having some major issues.
"Rosie!" I hear my name being called by Mia Yim as she hurries to me with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows following closely behind. "Rosie, oh my god. Are you okay?" Mia asks in concern, placing a hand to my shoulder in comfort as she does a once over on me.
Taking my eyes away from the direction AJ took, I look at the blue haired woman with wide eyes. Nodding my head that I am in fact okay, I'm still trying to make sense of what just happened.
"Y–yeah, I'm alright. What was that all about?" I ask, placing a hand to my rapidly rising and falling chest as I try to calm my pounding heart from the excitement that just happened. Or lack thereof. I couldn't tell you.
"He's overreacting is what happened," Karl spits out and Mia shoots him a dirty look while Luke stays quiet and shakes his head at the situation as a whole.
"Karl, shut up," Mia snaps at him before putting her attention back onto me, "they just had a promo and it got a little physical, but it just seems like AJ is taking his character a little too seriously. Ever since he's come back before the Rumble, he hasn't been himself," she addresses me. Yeah, I've noticed that, too.
"And he's been taking it out on us any chance he gets," Karl inputs with a sour expression and I look at him with biased eyes. There is no way AJ would go out of the way to start issues with his work family…just because.
What Mia said does make sense though, but it just doesn't seem like the AJ I've come to know over the years that I've been with the WWE. He's always such a sweetheart and a gentleman. He knows how to work his southern charm, if you will. He is from Gainesville, Georgia after all. But he has been different lately. A lot different. He's much darker, always has a negative attitude and any chance he gets, tries to pick a fight. If it's not that, he keeps to himself. And that happens more often than not. It's like he's the Lone Wolf from his TNA days all over again. And honestly…it scares me.
"You guys are best friends, Karl. I highly doubt he'd take his anger out on you for no reason. Any time I've ever see him this heated since being back is…I hate to say this because I love you guys, but when you bother him," I reply with a shrug. And I know his loss to Drew McIntyre last week isn't helping in the slightest bit. But LA Knight is partial to blame for his loss. He chose to start going after AJ for no reason, trying to get a rise out of him any way he could to make him act out. And of course he knew it would work. So why not sabotage his one chance to go to WrestleMania? If you ask me, I think LA Knight is threatened by AJ Styles. But that's just my opinion.
As of right now, AJ has no plans for WrestleMania because his chance literally went out the window with last weeks match and I know it's killing him inside. Even if he doesn't show it. When he hurts, I hurt. Plain and simple. He's come to mean a lot to me over the past couple of years, so to see him acting like this and knowing there is nothing I can do to help him…mainly because I know he's not going to want it…it fucking sucks.
"So what your saying is it's our fault?" Karl comes back at me and I look up at him with surprised and hurt eyes. My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, not knowing how to respond to him.
Looking down at my feet, I reply, "that's not what I…I–I gotta go. I'll see you later, Mia," I rasp out and hurry back down the hallway to my original intended destination before I got swept up in The OC's and AJ Styles' latest drama.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Karl?" I hear Mia yell at the bald man before I'm completely out of earshot of the trio.
That was a month ago. This week SmackDown is in Atlanta, so I know it's going to be even harder on AJ. He hasn't changed and it seems like he's getting even worse. He's becoming more isolated and darker than he was right before Elimination Chamber. I want so badly to be there for him, but I just don't know how to without becoming a victim of his wrath.
I'm finishing up on Zelina Vega's hair for the night before I have a little time to myself. "Alright, girl and we are done," I announce, removing the curling iron from the New York native's hair before fluffing it out some. For the last finishing touch, I apply a nice amount of hairspray to keep it in place.
"Girl seriously, you are a lifesaver. Thank you," she replies, checking out the final results in the mirror with a smile.
"Just doing my job, but you're welcome," I grin, promising to see her later on.
When she leaves the room, I wipe the smile from my face and take a deep breath. SmackDown starts soon and I know AJ has a match against Austin Theory, tonight. But I also know that Randy Orton is suppose to interfere in the match costing him. I guess that's the perks of being one of WWE's top hair stylists; you hear things about matches and such that shouldn't be heard.
I know I'm going to regret doing this, but my heart is telling me I need to. I hadn't spoken a word to him in over a month and quite frankly, I miss AJ. Even if he's in a dark place right now. If there is any sort of comfort I can bring him to, I at least want to try. Even if it does backfire on me.
I try to calm myself as I make my way to his locker room. It's where he keeps himself holed up in until he's needed…if he's needed. When I finally make it to him, I take another deep breath and knock on the large wooden door. I hear no sound on the other side of it until I hear the doorknob turn, leaving it's place in the lock.
When his eyes land on me after he opens the door, my heart stops. The hard, but void look in his eyes and his slightly unkempt hair has my stomach lodging in my throat. This really was a bad idea.
"What do you want?" He sneers at me and walks away back into the room. I shoot my hand out to catch the door and walk in behind him, but I don't dare tread any further into the room than what I already have.
I swallow thickly and watch him as he begins pacing before suddenly stopping to put his stare onto me. He raises an eyebrow at me, but the look on his face doesn't change.
"I–I just wanted to see how you're doing; it's been a while since I've seen you and I wanted to wish you luck on tonights match," I tell him which earns me a sarcastic snort paired with a scoff.
"Are you serious, right now?" He retorts with an attitude and I suddenly grow shy under his stare. Subtly shrugging, I nod my head.
"I miss you," I comment softly and he laughs.
"You miss me? I haven't gone anywhere, Rosalie. I've been here the whole time. And I'm just fine, livin' my best life…alone. I don't need your luck, either," he says with a pause before adding, "just get out of here and leave me alone. Seriously. You're annoying me and distracting me from tryna focus on my match tonight."
I look at him with such sadness as I try desperately to keep the tears at bay that want to break free. I won't give him that satisfaction. "Right," I rasp out, "sorry I bothered you," I add before fleeing the locker room and to the nearest women's room to me.
When I don't come across one, I keep blindly walking until I slam head on into a solid body. Thankfully, I don't hit the floor because they catch me in time, but I can't bring myself to look up at them. So instead, I give them a quiet thanks paired with a 'sorry' before I try to maneuver around them. They don't let that happen though.
"Whoa, hey. What's got you so upset? Are you, alright?" The voice asks me and I look up into the blue eyes of Randy Orton. I really don't need this right now. Out of everyone I had to bump into, it's Randy fucking Orton.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Please just leave me alone; I don't wanna talk about it," I quietly retort, pushing past him and go straight for the women's locker room, looking for my best friend on the SmackDown roster, Tiffany Stratton.
When I make it to the locker room, I can't find her anywhere and call for her a couple of times before I'm told that she went to go see Nick in regards to her match tonight. I thank them, then make my way towards his office.
As soon as I go to knock on the door, it opens revealing Tiffany. Her eyes light up upon seeing me, but the smile on her face quickly turns into a frown when she sees the unshed tears in my eyes. "Rosie, girl. What's wrong?" She asks in concern before her attitude takes a turn, "whose ass do I need to kick?" She growls. I can't help but crack a small smile at her overprotectiveness.
"Not here, Tiff. Somewhere more private…please," I tell her quietly, not wanting to draw attention onto us. Nodding her head, she grabs my arm and pulls me into an empty room, locking the door behind us.
"Alright girl, spill. What has got you so upset and whose ass am I kicking?" Tiffany asks, sitting down on the couch at the opposite end of the room.
Releasing a quiet laugh, I take the spot next to her. "Well for starters, you can't necessarily kick his ass, simply because he has well over 20+ years of experience over you and could prevent you from doing so in a heartbeat and two I won't allow you to. I can't…" I reply, shaking my head at protecting AJ, even if at the moment he doesn't deserve it.
"You…can't?" What does that even mean?" She retorts, looking at me like I've lost my mind. Maybe I have.
"I don't even know myself because he…" I begin, then sigh thinking about what just happened, "…he's not himself at the moment and I don't know what to do because he doesn't want anyone's help," I say and Tiffany cuts me off.
"Wait…are you talking about AJ?" She asks, looking at me with wide eyes.
Returning her stare, I subtly nod my head.
"But…what does he have to do with anything?" She questions and I make her promise me she won't repeat what I'm about to tell her outside of this room. "I promise. I won't say anything," she tells me, but I give her a look…that look, "I swear! I won't!" Tiffany promises and I take it as being a good enough of an answer.
"AJ has to do with everything, Tiff. I–I love him. I'm in love with him and that's what makes all of this so hard. But he has absolutely no idea how I feel. I kept it to myself because he was married, but now that he's back…I've never seen him so detached from reality. I went to go see him before I came to you and he was so rude…so cold towards me. I told him I missed him and he laughed in my face," I tell her.
I can tell by the look on her face that she's speechless and has no idea what to say. "He…laughed at you after you showed him nothing but kindness?" She asks and I silently nod. "Yet you still love him? Even after he treated you like you meant nothing? Even a friend?" Tiffany asks again and once more…I nod.
"I do, Tiff. I have since I first met him. That's why this is so hard. I know that's not AJ. I don't know if it's his ex-wife who fucked him up or if he's taking this Bloodline storyline too seriously? Because he's acting just like his character and that's what scares me. I don't know what to do," I whisper, leaning over to rest my head on the tops of my thighs, finally letting the dam break free.
"Oh sweetheart," Tiffany coos, closing the space between us and begins rubbing her hand comfortingly against my back. "He's not worth this heartbreak and pain you're going through. Not if he's going to be acting like that," she said softly, trying to be supportive.
"That's just it, Tiffany…you don't get it. He is worth it. To me. For me, he is. That AJ Styles…that Allen Jones out there…that's not him! I know it's not him…it's just," I say and the look on her face tells me she thinks I've completely lost my mind. "Y'know what? Never mind. Forget I told you anything. It's obvious you're not taking what I'm telling you seriously," I scoff out with a sniffle.
Getting up, I leave the room, ignoring Tiffany's calls for me. I ignore her because I know I have a better chance of Mia listening to me and understand my dilemma better than Tiffany. And I can't even do that because she is close with AJ and I refuse to put her in that situation. A fucking situation that doesn't even exist! Because no one but myself and Tiffany know that I'm in love with a very broken AJ Styles. I groan to myself and make my way towards catering. With all this damn crying I've been doing, I need an energy drink to wake me up. And fast.
Later on back at the hotel, I make my way through the sliding glass doors and into the building, hauling my supplies behind me. I halt in my movements, but only for a second when I see AJ at the front desk. I know he saw me looking, but I ignore him and don't give him the satisfaction of letting him see how much he's destroyed me internally tonight. Emotionally. Mentally.
I quicken my steps and keep my head down as I make my way to the elevator. I push the UP arrow and hope that it doesn't take long for the lift to get to the main lobby. What seems like an eternity, but in reality is only about a minute later, the door dings and slowly slides open.
I breathe a sigh of relief and quickly get inside, pressing the button for my floor, but before the doors can close, another body joins me. My breath hitches in my throat and my heart begins to pound in my chest when my eyes discover that the other body belongs to AJ. Oh my god, this is not happening to me, right now.
"Press 5 for me, please," he requests and I, without a word, press it for him. "Thanks," he said quietly.
"You're welcome," I reply at just above a whisper, afraid to make him angry as I press myself into the wall, trying to keep as much distance in between us as possible. Just being in the same vicinity as him has my hairs standing on end. His presence excites me, but it also scares the shit outta me. I don't dare look up at him, no matter how much my brain yells at me to. He's a gorgeous man…any female can see that, but when a man you've been attracted to for years is suddenly cold towards you for no reason, you're going to do anything and everything to avoid making him even angrier. Even if you haven't done anything to warrant him being angry at you to begin with.
Unfortunately, that doesn't last long because I'm on the 4th floor and the doors just slid open for me to exit. I say a soft and quiet excuse me as I squeeze past AJ, dragging my suitcase of supplies behind me. Trying my best to avoid him as much as possible. I swear I felt his fingers brush against my arm, but I shrug it off and tell myself that I was imagining things. He made it quite clear earlier that he wants no association with me anymore. And while it hurts like a fucking bitch because I've done nothing to warrant his wrath, I accept defeat.
I don't look back as the doors close behind me, but I could feel his eyes burning holes through me as the elevator doors finally separated us. I stand there for about a minute as I try to let my heart calm itself. I really do hate that he still has this effect on me. He's going to continue doing so, whether you like it or not, Rosie. So just accept it.
I scowl at my thoughts as I make my way to my room for the night. Tomorrow we travel to Charlotte for a house show, before then going to Johnston City on Sunday for another. Lucky for me, AJ is a part of both shows. Tiffany is as well…I just don't know where she stands right now because of how I left things earlier. I guess we'll find out come tomorrow, I think to myself as I let the hotel door slam shut behind me.