Filming is wrapping up. More and more of the cast and crew are finishing their duties and going back to their homes, Mike leading AJ around the studio once more to look at it while it's so much more quiet and peaceful. She touches their lock lovingly before kissing him on the lips, smiling up at him. "I can't believe in less than a week that we'll be back in California," she muses, turning to stare at him. "Can you?"
"Not really," he shakes his head, offering a quick smile at her. Their fingers interlace as he leads her towards his trailer. "Back to reality, and trying to figure out what's going on with John... and how to fix things with Alex..." He sighs, his hand sprawling out lazily over her stomach as they sit down on the bench seat inside and she leans against him. "And the Authority holding me down... and trying to keep a straight face whenever I see Sandow's latest stupid attempt at getting attention." He nuzzles closer to her. "At least you don't have to worry about any of that nonsense anymore." Her leaving WWE had ate at him for awhile, it was so sudden, but he had accepted it was the best move for her. She looks so much happier now, free, he would've never denied her this.
"Yeah," she sighs, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry you have to handle it all alone now though."
He shakes his head, kissing her slowly, softly. "I'm never alone, sweetheart. I know you're always with me, no matter how many physical miles are between us." She opens her eyes and twists around in his arms, nose to nose with him as she searches his eyes heatedly. After a moment, she kisses him, warm and intense, and he murmurs into her mouth, pulling her closer. His hand is rubbing her back lazily, AJ's knees digging into his hips when-
There's a knock at the door of the trailer, Mike's soft groan drifting into a sharp gasp as he turns away from her and stares at the door. "What?!"
"Sorry, Mike, but we need you in makeup," one of the PAs call out and he sighs, slumping against the seat.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I've got to go." He stands and gently deposits her on the seat, cupping her face and staring down at her as she pouts unhappily. He tsks and kisses her slowly before pulling away from her. "Rain check, I promise," he tells her, winking at her before turning to meet up with the PA and begin his day.
She huffs and looks around, eyes widening in realization. "Crap, I left my laptop at the hotel!"
-x
Mike's always tired after a long day of filming, replaying the scenes in his head, pondering what he could've done better or just differently, so AJ has taken to having food waiting for him, pushing him towards the bathroom once he's ate his fill. Then, once done there, she pushes him into the bathroom for a hot shower or, if filming's been exceptionally frustrating, a sedate bath. Afterwards, they end up tangled up in sheets and towels, eating dessert and watching whatever's on TV. For Thursdays, it's usually Smackdown, AJ determined now to keep track of what's going on between Tamina and Paige.
So they're watching while Paige shoots a promo, talking about Naomi attacking her in London, and her being the proper #1 contender for the divas title. When Naomi and Tamina themselves interrupt, Paige doesn't seem bothered by the prospect of facing both of them, encouraging them into the ring. AJ bites her lip as both divas quickly overpower the British diva but, before things could get too serious, Nikki Bella runs out and presumably makes the save, sending Naomi and Tamina scrambling away, but then she rack attacks Paige, leaving her body bent and motionless against the mat. AJ grimaces but, considering, she's glad that that's the only damage Paige has taken tonight.
Mike finds her hand and pulls it to his lips, kissing her palm softly. "Ya know, they're going to be alright. Besides, it's WWE. They were bound to feud at some point."
"I know," she sighs. "It's just hard to watch, knowing that I can't do anything about any of this anymore. It's not my place. The title, their fights, all I can do is watch from afar..." He strokes her hair for a few minutes before nuzzling into her neck and kissing her flesh, still warm from the bath. "I don't regret my decision," she continues on quietly as he settles her against the pillows. "It needed done, I was still injured, and just tired of everything... the politics and spinning my wheels and going nowhere..." As he kisses her, tracing her ribs with his hands, she hisses out a breath between her teeth, her toes curling against the sheets. "I wish I could've done more to help the other divas, but..." Her hand finds his hair and stroke through the soft strands, enjoying the rare feel of them when not weighed down by product. "... I did the best I could for as long as I could hold on..." He nods against her soft flesh, still kissing and nibbling, and she releases a breathy groan. "Now I can be a better wife to you, and focus on other things I've been putting on the backburner for much too long..."
He pauses and crawls back up her body, hovering over her with a small smile, searching her eyes. "You've always been a perfect wife," he tells her softly. "I've never told you before? I guess I'm the one who's been slacking if you didn't know that..." She opens her mouth to say something but he settles against her and kisses her to silence, running his fingers up her palms before pressing their hands flush together and pinning them against the soft pillows.
A few more days and they finish wrapping Santa's Little Helpers entirely. Miz breathes easier once it's done, his hand resting on AJ's hip as they oversee the wrap party held for him as he'll be heading home to Los Angeles the next morning. Music is playing distantly and he sighs, tugging her onto the floor away from most of the people. "Wanna dance, sweetheart?"
She laughs, making a face at him, before curving her fingers around his, allowing him to spin her around in time to the music. As he pulls her against him, she twists away and allows him to twirl her back against him, the two of them beginning to move in time to the music, which is faster than most things she cares to dance to, not having the best rhythm, but neither does he so they end up laughing before long, aware of how awful they must look- but they're having fun and that's all that matters as he dips her at the end of the song. She squeals as he pulls her back up into his arms and kisses her, leading her back to the table of food. "Are you having fun, Mike?" she asks, watching him look around at his costars and the crew. "You're going to miss them, huh?"
He smiles at her. "Always do, but that's what twitter and everything is for." He draws her towards him and kisses the top of her head, holding a fruit tart against her lips until she eats it. "I can't wait to be back home with you."
"Me too," she sighs, leaning up on her tippytoes to kiss him, grinning when he sighs at the taste of fruit on her lips.
-x
California looks the same when they arrive, just warmer. He draws her into the car and they drive through, looking around at what the lingering drought has continued to do to the state while they were gone, before arriving at their home. The grass looks brown and scraggly but the house itself looks fine. A note from Ricardo is waiting for them and Mike skims it, not surprised because Ricardo had called to say he, Alberto and Sofia were going to stay for a couple days following John sending Alberto through the glass window.
"Ricardo says he restocked the fridge for us before they left," Mike calls out to his wife. Everything looks the way it did when they'd left it and he shakes his head, only imagining what all Sofia and Ricardo did to make sure that nothing was out of place before leaving.
"He wasn't kidding," she says, returning to him with a fresh bottle of coconut water. "I'm so happy to be home."
"Me too," he murmurs, taking a greedy sip from the bottle before putting the lid back on it and lifting her up over his shoulder. "In fact, let's go explore the areas I've missed the most." She laughs and slaps his shoulder as he walks towards the bedroom.
She makes grilled cheese for supper, neither of them feeling like anything too taxing, and he sighs as he takes the first bite of it, neither of them paying too much attention to Raw as they work their way through the bread and gooey cheese. That is, until MizTV is announced for the Extreme Rules preshow. She stares at him as he chokes on his sandwich, her hand rough on his back as she tries to smack it loose. "Are you ok?!"
"Yeah," he groans, his voice rough. She hands him his water and he downs it quickly, staring at the TV incredulously. "Did I miss something while we were distracted?" He finds his phone in the things they'd dropped on the table hours earlier and checks the alerts. "Dammit, yep, they sent me an email a couple of hours ago." He turns back to AJ. "Guess I'm going back to work sooner than I realized."
She nods, looking sad, but cups his face and draws him in for a kiss. "Guess we better make the most of the time we have left together then..."
He makes an agreeable noise to this, supper and Raw both entirely forgotten. "I guess Morrison will just have to wait too," he murmurs against her lips as she wraps her arms around his neck and allows him to lift her into his arms once more.