Considering, Alberto is a gracious enough host while they remain in his house, waiting for Smackdown to come and go. Meaning that he leaves them be while AJ sleeps off the cuts and bruises and all around soreness caused by Paige's attack, and says very little when Mike surprises his parents with plane tickets to Florida and front row tickets to Smackdown, Miz almost tentative when he has to ask if they too can stay in the large house. Their awe upon seeing Alberto's home for the first time had made it all worth it, Mike smiling as this had pulled AJ out of bed for the first time since the attack, Mike's mom careful as she hugs her, oohs over the wedding ring and tsks over her still visible bruises.
That night, Mike holds her and wonders if, had things been better between Del Rio and Ricardo, they would've been the ones looking for somewhere else to stay after Sunday night, but that hadn't been a problem. He sighs and strokes AJ's hair, pressing soft kisses against her mouth as she blankly watches a TV that he and Sofia had brought in so she'd not be completely bored. "Everything's going to be ok, sweetheart," he whispers to her.
She hums and buries her face in his neck, nodding gingerly. "I know," she responds softly. "Of course it will, you're here."
The next few days pass slowly, AJ slowly feeling better, but Mike still shakes his head when she talks about going to Smackdown with him. "No, you heard the trainer," he chides her gently. "You're not a hundred percent, and I'm not letting you take any chances, alright? Not when I finally have you back on the road with me. You're going to relax, and watch me on TV, and laugh at my ridiculousness, and then I'll come back here and hold you while you sleep... then we'll leave for Texas on Sunday, and you can get your revenge on Paige Monday. How does that sound?" AJ still seems displeased with this so he settles on top of her, lazily kissing her lips and entwining his fingers with hers, pressing her into the pillows as she sighs into him. "I just want to make sure you're ok, sweetheart... but if you want involved somehow, I have an idea." He leans in and whispers into her ear as she nuzzles against his cheek, giggling. "Alright?"
"Alright, fine, you win," she murmurs, peering up into his deep blue eyes. "But first..." She pulls him back down, the fingers of her free hand burying into his hair as she kisses him intently.
With Ricardo and Paige staying at his and Alex's apartment, no one's seen much of them- not that Mike wants to see Paige, really, after everything, but he does miss the former ring announcer. So he requests an interview with Ricardo on Smackdown, to be held in his locker room after he has a MizTV segment. The techs stencil it in on the board and he wanders off, needing to set up for other things. On his way to the ring, he remembers abruptly that AJ is watching, so he grabs a kid's magazine on his way by, all but tearing it from his hands, before autographing it, ignoring his protestations.
Once in the ring, he starts to read off what he had memorized from what AJ had wrote for him as an acceptance speech before introducing his parents. Wanders over to them and talks to his mom for awhile until she says that Roman Reigns is her favorite wrestler, Mike rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses at the expected answer. Something AJ had probably told her to say just to see his reaction. He fights not to smile, not wanting to give either of the most important women in his life the satisfaction, before turning and re-entering the ring. If his mom could respond like that, he doesn't want to imagine what his father might say. So he continues to recite the speech before choking out something AJ had insisted on, about his wife, Maryse, and their different pets. He closes his eyes and discreetly shakes his head, wondering where she comes up with these things, and why, after everything that had happened, but he barely has time to think any further about it when Bo Dallas interrupts and Miz finds himself face to face with the strangely chipper young man, who appears to be a fan of him.
Feeling weirdly charmed by him, he indulges him for a few moments... just for Dolph Ziggler to interrupt. When he tries to punch Miz, he ducks back- just to watch, agape, as Bo attacks Dolph viciously. This leads into a match and Mike retreats to the commentary table to watch, talk about what's been going on lately for him, his movies, being Intercontinental champion. When Dolph is on the floor in front of the table and takes another swing at Mike, this puts his attention back where it belongs and he watches grimly for an opportunity, any chance- and he gets it not long afterwards, Bo winning and Mike gleefully sending Dolph into the turnbuckle post afterwards.
Mike and Bo walk side by side up the ramp, through the halls, until Mike remembers his interview. Relieved for an excuse to not hear anymore about how bolieving helped Dallas to win, he turns to look at his companion. "Yeah, that's great, Bo, really. But I have an interview to see through, so I gotta go. Thanks for the assist. Bye."
"Bye! Don't forget to bolieve, Miz!"
He winces, trying not to run no matter how badly he wants to get away, and finally arrives at his locker room. Breathing out deeply, he tilts his head to find Alberto lurking in a corner, watching him closely as he joins Ricardo, lips twitching into a smile as he nods at the younger man. Before the interview can start, a tech runs in with his scheduled post-segment iced coffee and he thanks him, feeling a little guilty about the befuddled look on Ricardo's face as he attempts to continue with the interview. Mike answers some rambling non-sequitur about box offices between sips of his coffee. When his friend tries to ask another question, Mike interrupts, snaps his finger at the lurking tech and smirks when he hands over a piece of paper and a sharpie. Mike insists on signing an autograph for Ricardo, but it's really just a scribbled note to explain what he's doing, and why, then dragging Ricardo into a quick picture that he promises to email him. The exasperated, disbelieving look on poor Ricardo's face is priceless, and he can't help but laugh a little as he leaves the room, Ricardo gaping after him as he goes.
He's sure that gets him very few points with Alberto, but he doesn't really care, having done all he could already just to get the two men to be friends again. So he sits back and watches as Paige enters the ring, a grim look in his eyes as the former divas champion goes on and on about how she still considers AJ a frenemy. He can only imagine what AJ must think about all of this, relieved when the actual match against Naomi begins. It's very short, Paige eaking out a victory after Cameron comes out and distracts her former tag partner.
Mike shakes his head and chooses then to leave, not wanting to see anymore of the show. He considers collecting his parents as well but depriving his mother of seeing her favorite wrestler seems mean so instead he pulls Del Rio aside while he prepares for his match. "Hey, do me a favor? I'm leaving early to check on AJ, can you make sure my parents get back to the house?"
Alberto continues adjusting his wrist tape, staring at him grimly, his dark eyes locked on the other man. "Hm," he grumbles, turning to look at himself in a nearby full length mirror. Mike's about to further try to convince him when he sighs. "I suppose. Since you gave me an opportunity to speak to Ricardo."
Miz nods, abruptly clapping him on the back. "Thanks!" He stops for a moment, realizing that that just annoyed Alberto further, and gulps before stepping away. "Yeah, uh, thanks, man. See you later then." He quickly turns and leaves, not wanting to antagonize the Mexican aristocrat further. When he arrives back at the house, their room is dark and AJ is asleep, the TV off now. He smiles and sinks in next to her, his heart warming as she instinctively curls into him, releasing a soft little sigh when he leans in and kisses her. When he notices that her eyes are open, he nuzzles in closer and smiles. "Now explain to me again, sweetheart, why you had to include the Maryse mention in that acceptance speech as soon as I told you who Paige was facing tonight?"
She laughs sleepily against him and kisses his jaw. "There was a method to my madness, unfortunately it didn't work." He rests his hand on her back and strokes her sleep-warm skin gently. "I was hoping Cameron would return to obsessing over this stupid rumor, take the bait and leave Naomi alone so she could demolish Paige, but you know. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Mike chuckles and kisses her, shaking his head. "Should've guessed, sweetheart." He continues stroking softly up and down her spine until she dozes back off, listening to the soft padding of Sofia moving around in the kitchen and the door opening and closing as the others return. Despite everything- Mike not being his favorite person, Del Rio's loss to Roman Reigns- he gets Mike's parents back to the house safely not long after Smackdown ends and that's the important thing. Mike falls asleep with a smile on his face.
The group of them, minus Ricardo and Paige, for obvious reasons, spends the weekend exploring Florida, the Mizanins happy to get to spend some time with their son and his new bride, AJ thankfully feeling well enough to join them on the beach, at a couple of restaurants, whatever else strikes their fancy. When Sunday comes around, Mike regrets having to see them off so soon but they all now have to turn their attention to Raw, Mike with his Intercontinental title, and AJ to get revenge on Paige for everything. So he hugs and kisses his mom, promises to see them both soon, and stands back with his wife and friends, watching them get on their flight to Ohio, before all of them continue on their way to Texas.
When he turns back around, he catches Ricardo's eye and smiles sadly, knowing all too well what this week is going to bring. For that reason, Raw is somewhat subdued for him. He watches as Paige continues to mimic AJ, skipping to the ring and claiming that they're best friends, just for AJ to exaggerate her own entrance, skipping and smirking all the way to the ring, clearly not believing any of the girl's promises. She saying that she's a woman who doesn't play little girl games makes Mike smile a little, especially when AJ attacks her and sends her out of the ring, standing strong with the divas title at her feet, daring Paige to come get it. When she returns, he hugs her and chuckles as she mocks Paige faintly in his ear, before pulling back to kiss him. "Are you going to be ok for your six man match?" she whispers, stroking her fingers down his face.
"Yeah." He squeezes her before pulling away. "I guess I should meet up with Rybaxel and discuss strategy before that, huh?" He kisses her and then turns to the door. "AJ?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you." Her smile is the last thing he sees as he leaves the room, trying his hardest to put his game face on. The match itself isn't great. He doesn't gel perfectly with Rybaxel and, when he's not distracted by protecting the moneymaker, everything else that's going on weighs him down, so he's not that surprised when his team loses. He skirts away untouched, however, so he figures that that's something, at least. Now that Raw is behind them, it had been tempting, so tempting, to return with the others to Florida, but Paige is among those going to Florida and he doesn't want to put AJ through more of her ridiculous claims of still being her friend, so he agrees to go to California for a few days before Smackdown. AJ pats his arm and steps aside, understanding what he needs right now as he looks at Ricardo and swallows hard.
Neither man speaks a word, just steps forward and hugs each other tightly, Ricardo's face buried in Mike's neck as Alberto and Paige, AJ and Alex lurk nearby, watching. "Thank you," he finally mutters, pulling away enough to look Ricardo in the eye.
"No, thank you, Mike. For always having my back when I needed it most, helping me through the last year." Ricardo's smile is strained, painful to look at, so Mike pulls him in for another, shorter hug, rubbing his back when his breath hitches.
"I'll see you soon, alright? Don't think you're going to get away from me that easily," the Intercontinental champion warns him. "Just ask John."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Mike," Ricardo shakes his head, his lips twitching either from wanting to smile or wanting to cry, or both, Mike never finds out because he releases him and turns sharply, wrapping an arm around his wife and leading her out of the room quietly, unable to face any longer that this is the last night Ricardo will be with the WWE.