A/N Any questions that you'd like to have answered via corneroffandom chronicles lemme know here. Thank you!
That afternoon, Mike walks hand in hand with AJ through Vancouver's airport, a small smile growing along his face as he takes in the city that he's been to three times now to film movies. He loves it and, glancing over at his wife, is sure that she will as well. After a quick taxi ride to their hotel, he takes in her reaction to the place, gaping around at the spacious grounds. WWE Films had always set him up with the best rooms for the period of time these shoots always took, and now she'll get to enjoy it all as well- the amenities, the room service, the view of the city out of their balcony, all of it. He won't be able to spend much time with her while she's here, since the shooting schedule is as rushed as ever so he and Summer Rae can get back to their WWE responsibilities, but she understands, which he loves her even more for.
Once they're in the room and their bags are settled on chairs to be unpacked and sorted, he sinks down next to her on the bed and kisses her. "First day is gonna be kind of slow, do you want to come with me and have a tour of the set, see how the magic happens?"
She seems to ponder it for a minute as he leans in and kisses her throat up to her jaw, but eventually shakes her head. "No, sorry, I haven't been sleeping well and I kind of just want to stay in..." Her hand rests on his cheek as he pulls back to examine her, worry bleeding from him. "I'm fine," she insists. "I just... want to rest for awhile, think. And the last thing I need right now is to see Summer Rae."
He nods slowly, pulling her in close and hugging her. "Alright, sweetheart, I more than understand." He kisses the top of her head. "If you need anything, call my cell... or, if it's something really important, use the set number I gave you." She nods again and he kisses her nose, hovering over her lips for a moment. "I love you."
"I love you," she breathes into him as he tips her onto the bed, kissing her deeply. He eventually pulls away and tugs the bedding up over her, making sure she's comfortable before turning and walking out of the room, her eyes focused on him until the door shuts behind him. Her face immediately crumples as she rolls over and sobs into the nearest pillow, her arms even emptier than they'd felt before now that he's gone.
It's dark out when Mike returns that night, the first day in Vancouver having gone alright. He'd met the cast, the crew, shook hands, exchanged small talk, and discussed the script and some of the special affects before they'd gotten into a little bit of actual filming. He hopes, in the hours that have passed since he'd left, that AJ has had some fun, but he senses that that's wrong as soon as he checks his phone and finds no texts, no calls. After stopping to pick up something, his arrival back to their hotel only proves this as he enters the room and finds it as dark and quiet as it had been when he'd left it. He considers flicking the lamp on but forgoes it when he finds her in the partial darkness, sleeping on her stomach in the exact same place he'd left her. He sighs and shakes his head, resting something soft between her shoulderblades, shifting it so it tickles her skin until she stirs and looks over her shoulder at him.
"Mike?" she yawns, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes, knocking the item onto the bed. She blinks down at the light brown bear with a pink bowtie and soft blue eyes that he had bought just for her, to give her something to hold onto whenever he was too busy. "You're back..." she falters, staring at the clock. "...early..."
He frowns and settles in at her feet, smoothing his hand up and down her leg. "Did you sleep this entire time?" She doesn't say anything and he closes his eyes. "Sweetheart... I know you're sad, but I wanted you to try to have a good time here..."
The bed shifts as she frees herself the rest of the way from the sheets and crawls into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I am, I promise- especially now that you're back." He taps her mouth and shifts her so they're face to face, her heels pressing against his lower back now. "I'm just tired now, I promise tomorrow will be different-"
"Damn straight it will," he tells her. "You're coming with me. I'll show you around the set, you'll meet my co-stars, we'll annoy Summer Rae to death, and then I'll take you out to eat and to see the town. They have to film some establishing scenes with the other characters, and I won't be needed for a few hours, so we can do a little exploring." She does look sincerely happy at this and he smiles down at her, eyes shining as he strokes her back. "But for tonight, I wanna explore the jacuzzi with you," he whispers, lifting her up and carrying her into the bathroom as she giggles helplessly against his neck.
The next day, he introduces everyone they run into to his wife and she gazes around in surprise at the set, pointedly ignoring Summer Rae whenever they walk by her, Mike's hand warm and unwavering from her lower back as he leads her to his trailer, helping her inside and letting her look around. "Well, this is cozy," she says, hopping onto the cushions towards the back and watching as he digs around in the mini-fridge, handing over a bottle of water. As she places it on the table next to the seat, he settles in next to her with a drink of his own, smirking. "I like it."
"I do too," he admits, turning towards her. "So, now that you've looked around, what do you think? Might want to do a movie of your own some day, huh?"
She tilts her head and shrugs, resting her cool hand on the side of his face. "No, I think I'll leave that to you for now..." She leans in and kisses him teasingly. "I'd rather watch you do your action film stunts anyway..." He smiles down at her before taking the untouched bottle of water from her and putting it back in the fridge, gripping her hand and pulling her up into his arms. "Where are we going now?" she wonders, not too surprised by his sudden change of plans, leaving the trailer and walking through the building to exit the set completely.
"Well, I promised to show you Vancouver, and so I will," he tells her, wrapping his arm loosely around her midsection as he leads her through the streets. "You know, the last two times I came here, the only way I could talk with anyone was through Skype." He nuzzles against her and smiles. "It really sucked. But now you're here, if only for a few days, and I don't want to waste a second of the time we have together. When you return to the WWE, and I stay here, well... it's going to make for a long month."
She nods, her eyes glazing over as he points out restaurants and stores that he checked out and liked while filming Marine: Homefront, and Christmas Bounty. She tries to focus but it's hard as she dwells on his lonely comments, which match her own worries down to the last syllable. She doesn't want to leave him, she doesn't want to return to WWE, not right now... As he leans in to kiss her next to an impressive water fountain that's so clear, all of the change gleaming in the sun is visible upon first glance, she knows, her mind suddenly clearing. There's nothing to worry about anymore. She grips his collar and kisses him back, suddenly feeling lighter than she had since Wrestlemania. "Let's go back to the hotel," she whispers, seeing its highest floors not that far from where they're currently standing. When he pulls away, their eyes lock and he nods, allowing her to grip his hands and lead him back, the two of them dodging people left and right in their haste to return to their room.
Once inside, Mike tosses the keycard aside and cups her face, staring into her eyes. "You look... peaceful," he whispers to her, eyes darkening when she kisses his fingertips slightly. "You know what you're going to do?"
"Yes," she says simply, reaching up and pulling her shirt over her head. He swallows, watching as she kicks her shoes off on the way to the bathroom, his eyes widening. Following her in a minute later, he finds her sitting on the counter, her back flush against the mirror that goes from one side of the wall to the other over the sinks, waiting for him as she kicks the shelves with bare feet. He takes her in, their reflection, all of it, and releases a sharp breath before gripping her hips and pulling her towards him, AJ's lips parting into a grin as he kisses her roughly. "I want to stay."
He hesitates, catching his own eye in the mirror before looking down at her. "What?"
"I want to stay here, with you." She trails her hand under his shirt, resting over his racing heart. "I've been fighting for well over three hundred days, first to become Divas champion and then just to keep the title..." She sighs, her breath cool against his throat. "I'm tired. I want to relax a little bit, I want to stay with you. I want to explore Vancouver, I want to make sure that that nasty Summer Rae doesn't try anything with you... I want to give you a proper honeymoon, even though I know you're going to be busy filming a lot. It's still more time than we'd get to spend together if I did resume traveling with WWE right now." He splays his hand across her ribs and she sighs, closing her eyes. "Don't you want me to stay, Mike?"
"Of course I do, sweetheart," he breathes, burying his face in the crook of her neck, lightly scraping his teeth there. "I just want you to not regret this... you're going to give up your rematch against Paige right now?"
"Just for a little while," she shrugs. "It's always there for me whenever I'm ready to go back for it, it's in my contract. They can't strip it from me. That leaves the #1 contendership open... and I have no doubt Tamina will take my place smoothly." Mike hums and she pulls back to look at him. "Alright?"
"Of course," he whispers. "Anything that makes you feel better. I just want you happy, AJ. And you're right, you have been working hard for a very long time. You definitely deserve some time off." He leans in and kisses her, grasping her hands and pinning them both to the counter top, a challenge flashing in her eyes even as he smirks, closing his eyes to block out the disorienting reflection of them in the mirror as her heels begin to dig into his back, drawing them flush against each other.
"Thank you," she murmurs, her hands freed enough now for her to stroke her fingers through his hair as he trails his over her remaining articles of clothing, taking time in response to her slow minstrations. "For bringing me here, for the teddy bear, for always having my back, no matter what..." She rests her face on his shoulder and releases a ragged sigh, her words failing abruptly as she blanks on what she's thinking about, talking about, all of her problems disappearing with his teasing touch.
They begin to fall into a bit of a rhythm- Mike waking up every morning, kissing her softly before he collects his things and leaves for the movie set, AJ then waking up and lazing around in bed for a little bit before she gets breakfast and suns on the balcony, reading or sometimes scrolling the Internet in a peaceful way she hasn't had the chance to for a very, very long time. From there, she goes swimming or explores the hotel gym, which is fairly decent for a WWE diva's needs. Lunch and then maybe a quick visit to the set before she goes exploring the city some more, taking in various stores and other sites that Mike had recommended to her when she'd asked him what places were great around here.
By then the sun would be inching towards setting so she would return to the hotel and doze until Mike returns from filming, giving her yet another gentle kiss before he'd disappear into the bathroom to shower off whatever grime had been missed at the studio. By the time he'd reappear, she'd have some sort of supper ordered for them and they'd spend the rest of the night in each other's arms, Mike telling her about his day while they eat until he dozes off, head resting on her arm until she needs to move to get rid of their plates or trays, which would immediately wake him up and cause him to draw her closer, forgetting his exhaustion for a short while.
This doesn't hold on Tuesday, however, his lingering grimeyness from the movie, exhaustion and hunger doesn't seem to be relevant at all this evening as he storms into their hotel room, tossing random things around the room as she stands and watches his jacket, keycard, and everything else in his pockets hitting the opposing wall. "What's wrong?" she finally asks when he seems to have exhausted the things available to him for such useage.
"Alex," he grits his teeth, glowering down at his phone- the only thing on his pocket which had avoided this rampage. AJ looks confused even as Mike holds his phone out to her, showing a tweet alert from Alex suggesting he start working with Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger.
"Oh," she says, her brow furrowing. She doesn't like them either, but Mike's anger is something else. "Why does that-?"
"Ricardo and Del Rio feuded with Swagger and Colter a little over a year ago," he reminds the former divas champion, watching as her eyes widen and lips part in surprise. "Right. Swagger broke Ricardo's ankle and did a number of other nasty things to both of them for weeks. So Alex being Ricardo's roommate, I can only imagine how he must be feeling right now... of course I'm up here and can't talk sense into Alex that easily." He grows more and more frustrated, pacing up and down the room as she tracks him with a worried gaze. "Ugh, I swear to God... How much more in Ricardo going to have to take?" he mumbles, wondering if perhaps this has something to do with how quiet the younger man's been the past few weeks. More than normal, anyway. "Dammit..."
AJ shifts over and hugs him, kissing his shoulder. "I'm sure he'll be ok, he has Del Rio and I don't think Alex will do anything to hurt him on purpose..."
"It's the inadvertant stuff that I'm worried about," Mike admits, shaking his head as she lays another kiss on his mouth. "AJ-"
"Look, I understand, alright? But you're tired and hungry and pissed. There's not a lot you can do for either of them right now, and less if you pass out from malnourishment or exhaustion. So let me take care of you for awhile, and we'll figure out what to do with the Alex situation if something more comes from it."
"Alright," he sighs, seeing the sense in her suggestion. "What would I do without you, AJ?" She doesn't give him a true answer, just leans in and kisses him again, smiling against his lips as they settle in on the bed, Mike breathing heavily as she digs her knees into his sides with each shift of her body.