Smackdown is another off-night. Miz has an upcoming match against Mark Henry, and AJ and Tamina have a tag match against the Bellas, but other than that, the arena is quiet. Alberto and Ricardo have once more remained in Florida since Del Rio had wrestled on both on Raw and Main Event, and Ricardo had concluded all of his interviews there, which means it's just him, Alex, AJ and Tamina yet again. Alex is busy on Smackdown pre-show business, but he peeks into the locker room when he can, Mike glad to see him for however long he can get away. With Wrestlemania season in full force, they're all busy in different ways- Alex and Ricardo with their backstage responsibilities, AJ with her Divas title match, and the rest of them with preparations for the Battle Royal. But Mike also has Marine 4 and his media dates to focus on, which leaves him barely time to breathe, much less sleep or eat. Easing AJ's worry for him is the main reason he takes a break when he can to take care of himself, not wanting her to be stressed out over one more thing.
But that night doesn't help at all, AJ and Tamina's tag match against the Bellas going poorly early on. Vickie is on commentary, which makes AJ even more snappish, taking it out on Tamina until the enforcer pushes her over on the apron, tagging her in and watching from outside as she loses a moment later. Mike frowns at the look on the woman's face, her smirk growing into a smile as AJ stares at her, looking sad and pensive. Tamina doesn't even stick around at ringside, leaving ahead of AJ, barely sparing a glance at Mike as she bypasses the divas champion locker room, going right to the main divas room. Mike swallows, watching her go, before turning to face his wife as she stumbles into his arms, burying her face into his chest as he strokes her hair gently. "Oh, sweetheart," he mutters sympathetically, lifting her up and carrying her down the hall to her room before others could see and mock her. "It's going to be ok. Remember?"
She sniffs and swallows, tugging on his shirt. "I'm going to be ok. I'm going to be ok."
"Exactly," he mutters, kissing her forehead. "Come on." He walks her inside and settles her onto the couch, stroking the tears off of her face. "It's ok, sweetheart."
"I'm going- I'm going to be ok," she continues to whispers, clinging to her title desperately. "I have to be."
"That's right." He holds her close, murmuring to her until he has to go, his match against Mark Henry up next. He hovers over her and smiles sadly, nuzzling against her. "I'll be back as soon as I can, ok?" Cupping her face, he kisses her gently before pulling away, wiping under her eyes again. "Don't worry."
"Be safe," she whispers, staring up at him with wet brown eyes as she hugs her title close, watching him leave.
He tries, he really does. But it goes downhill early on, Mike angering Mark within minutes. He remembers very little of the next few minutes- getting thrown into the stairs, or the barricade wall, or the World's Strongest Slam that follows. But he does remember waking up in the trainer's office later on, AJ sprawled out across his chest, tears dripping down her face as he stirs under her, reaching up to stroke the hair out of her eyes. She sniffs and sits up, staring at him for a few, tense moments. "Hey."
She whimpers and lunges forward, kissing him. "Hi. Don't scare me like that again."
"I'm sorry," he mumbles. "Didn't mean to. Forgive me?"
"This time." She lays back down against him, her breath hitching as he brushes his hand up and down her back. She scratches lightly at his chest and sighs. "We're going to be ok."
"Yes, we will." He smiles into her hair, hoping that he's not misleading her.
Raw is crazier than normal. They're all there, gearing up to head out for New Orleans for Wrestlemania week to begin. AJ gets so flustered by Vickie Guerrero finally confirming the divas invitational match at Mania will be one fall to a finish that she doesn't realize she still has her wedding ring on when she heads out for her own match against Naomi, with the other competitors in the invitational at ringside acting as female lumberjacks. Mike doesn't notice it either, his focus on the match he will be competing against Sheamus the following night which had been announced shortly after Vickie Guerrero's news.
It's not until she's getting thrown back into the ring by the others- who purposely leave Naomi alone whenever she falls out of the ring- that he sees the sparkling diamond on her finger, paling slightly as she appears to be clasping her fingers tightly, clearly aware of its presence now and not wanting to lose it in the melee that's going on around her. Tamina, thankfully, tries to help despite the tension between them the past few weeks, just to get waylaid as well, this leading to AJ losing the match, looking wrecked as she peers out at Tamina, her confidence once more shaken.
Mike tries to comfort her, his fingers grazing against the ring still safe on her finger, while they watch some of the show together, catching a glimpse of Alex up on the panel. Miz sneers upon seeing Wade Barrett up there, too, rolling his eyes at his nonstop bad news crap. AJ sighs and peeks out from where she'd had her face buried into his neck, watching as the Piper's Pit starts awhile later, swallowing when he gently detaches himself from her, leaning over to kiss her. "I'll be right back," he whispers when she peers up at him, pale and wide eyed.
Once he drags himself away from her, he interrupts Roddy before he could invite whoever he thinks is the true favorite of the battle royal, proclaiming himself as the instant odds-on to win, barely getting into the ring before Sheamus interrupts next, quickly followed by others who will be in the contest. Yet again, Big Show clears the ring and Mike stares up at him, angry and in disbelief that he's going to possibly get outshone by his former tag partner. No, he thinks. Doing it on Raw or Smackdown is one thing, I won't allow him to tarnish my Wrestlemania winning streak... I won't let my Wrestlemania Moment get taken from me. He trudges backstage and returns to AJ's locker room, where she tries to comfort him but both fall into dispondent silences, lost in their thoughts and worries about what will come Sunday.
She rests her head on his shoulder and vaguely kisses his neck. "We're going to be ok."
"Of course we are." He strokes her hair and tries not to dwell too much on what he'd do if either of them should lose Sunday, when he has filming for Marine 4 coming up and wouldn't be here for her as much as he'd like to be if she'd lose her belt on top of everything else...
Main Event does nothing for his lingering doubts. Ricardo, Del Rio, and Alex leave for New Orleans, leaving Mike, AJ and Tamina behind for Main Event responsibilities. He has a match against Sheamus, and Tamina has a match against Nikki Bella, which AJ wants to be present for, so the newlyweds explore DC early Tuesday before meeting up with the enforcer at the arena later that night.
Though Tamina still seems distant from AJ, she tolerates the girl's presence so Mike keeps his thoughts to himself, though he tries to keep a close eye on them even as he prepares himself for his match, stretching and trying to work out hard enough to distract himself from what's to come against Sheamus, all too familiar with what kind of pain a match against the man can inflict, especially if it takes very long to determine a victor. Which this one does, the two men going back and forth, Miz locking in the figure four, Sheamus hitting him with the forearms against the ropes, and every other thing either of them can think of to accomplish, trying to defeat the other long enough for the three count. But it finally goes in Sheamus' favor, Mike downed by a bone-rattling Brogue Kick that leaves him staring blankly at the lights overhead until a referee attempts to revive him.
He stumbles backstage as a recap airs overhead, eyes open only a sliver as AJ walks up to him and cups his face, peering up into what she can see of his blue gaze. "Poor baby," she whispers, leaning up to kiss him gently. "I'll be back soon, go relax in my locker room, alright?"
He nods silently and follows her command, watching Tamina's match with a twist to his lips that's half a smile, half a grimace as his body aches from the after-effects of his match, adrenaline slowly draining from him as he decompresses. Tamina cinches another victory and AJ rushes into the ring, beaming at the taller woman, hugging her tightly. In sharp contrast to her joy, however, Tamina looks exasperated and tense, Mike not liking the looks of this at all so close to Sunday. But there's not a lot he can do about it, especially when his wife looks so happy, her skipping only slowing when she catches sight of him, walking over to him slightly more sedately.
His chest is raw where Sheamus had hit repeatedly, and she grimaces upon her first good look at it, gently running her fingers across his flesh until he grunts softly. "Oh, sorry, sorry," she whispers. "I didn't mean to..."
He shakes his head tiredly. "It's fine, sweetheart, not your fault. C'mere." As she sits in his lap, pressing soft, wet kisses against his skin, careful to avoid his injuries, he rests his hand in her hair and brushes his fingers through it. "Calm before the storm, huh?" She nods faintly, sighing. "I can't believe Wrestlemania is only five days away... It always sneaks up on me."
"Me too." She strokes his arms before sitting back up. "I don't know about you, but I personally want to get out of here. And you need your rest anyway, before our flight to New Orleans tomorrow. But first, I have something for you- and hopefully it will help with this, a little." She stands and digs around in her bag before locating what she's looking for, holding the item out in front of her.
He sits up, taking it in with a small smile. "Is that...?" As she turns it around, the lettering on the back jumping out at him. I will love you til your last breath. He chuckles, wincing when his chest pulls a bit, reaching out for it. "Huh, well, that's apropos."
"I thought so too. And this one's all yours." She skips over to him with it, smiling down at him as he tugs it on over his head, breathing loudly when he has to move around a little too much. Thankfully the shirt is large enough that it doesn't fit snugly against his battered chest, giving him room to breathe and letting him relax as much as he possibly can while they make the short trip back to the hotel, eager for Wrestlemania to come, ease some of the anxious tension that's been building for weeks now within the group.
Once they're comfortably in bed a little later, her head on his shoulder, he kisses her temple. "Thanks for the shirt, I love it."
She smiles. "I'm glad. And I love you."
"I love you too," he whispers, stroking her hair once more as he thinks about what's to come.