"Can you believe," AJ asks sleepily early one morning, "that our friends are getting married in, like, two weeks?"
Mike blinks a few times, stroking his hands over hers, feeling the cool band of her wedding ring against his fingertips. "Not really," he admits. Heath and Maryse had been straightforward enough of a relationship, in all honesty, but both Alicia and Ricardo had been through so much between Alex Riley and Paige, he's relieved that things are going more smoothly for them this go around. He stares at the ceiling and bites his lip, pondering. "Do you think..."
When he doesn't finish his sentence right away, AJ sits up and looks at him, stroking a finger down his chest. "Do I think what?"
"Paige was generally alright with ignoring me until the last couple of weeks," he says. "Think she found out about the weddings?"
"It's possible," AJ hedges. "I could understand why she wouldn't be exactly thrilled about it all, maybe things with Ricardo still feel unfinished to her, but you always have been a little extra when it comes to Daniel." She smiles down at him, eyes flashing mischeviously. "And you know you can't disagree with me." When he doesn't even try to argue against what she said, she smirks. "If I was GM again, I'd probably do something very similar to what she's been doing."
Mike groans and AJ giggles. "You were mean enough to me when you were GM," he says, stretching his fingers out over her back and drawing her into him.
She hums, closing her eyes as he kisses her. "I think it all worked out ok for you in the end," she muses, carding her fingers through his hair and kissing him back, warm and soft in the early morning light.
"I suppose you're right," he sighs, pressing his fingers against her spine and holding her in place as he deepens the kiss, feeling her toes curl against his ankles. "I love you, sweetheart."
She hums. "I love you too, husband," she breathes against his lips, rubbing her nose against his and smiling warmly at him as they continue to make the most of the early morning hours when the house is quiet and everything is peaceful, allowing them to focus entirely on themselves for once.
-x
That Tuesday, Maryse and he are sitting at an Italianr restaurant, laughing and talking quietly amongst themselves. They'd made a big deal out of renting the entire establishment out for themselves in a promo they film for Smackdown to explain why they'd left, but in all honesty, it hadn't even been opened yet, the manager a huge Miz fan and not minding letting him in early. Even gave them some breadsticks to chew on while the kitchen got things together for actual cooking later in the evening. "So," Mike says once conversation has lulled between them, "how's everything with the wedding going?"
"Good," she says with a small smile. "Can you believe that Heath and I would end up here?" She runs her finger over the rim of her glass of water, exhaling softly. "I'm so happy, and our daughter is so precious. I see a lot of him in her, she's so curious and happy all of the time. And there's still so much of her personality to grow as she does. I can't wait to experience all of it alongside with him."
Mike smiles at her. "I can tell how happy you are," he tells her. "I'm really glad for both you and Heath. You guys deserve all of this, and more." He pats her hand before looking at his phone as it lights up. "Daniel and Brie are coming," he says, standing up. "We should go." The restaurant would be opening shortly anyway for the dinner crowd, and now's the time for the rest of their plan to get under the skin of Daniel and Brie.
Maryse follows him out and then tugs at his hand to stop him before they get into the car. "Just, quickly, I'm happy for you too," she says in a hurry. "You and AJ have always been nicer to me than I've ever deserved. Especially considering all of the drama I dragged in with me when I came back into your lives a few years ago. I can never thank you enough."
He nods. "I wasn't going to leave you out in the cold when you needed help," he tells her. "Now come on, let's do this, ok?" She follows him into the car and they sit side by side as a driver weaves carefully through traffic back to the arena, thinking about what's ahead. Tonight, Hell in a Cell, everything else. Also, Mixed Match Challenge would be returning and he's going to reunite with Asuka, which makes him happy. She was a fun partner, and he's sure they'd find similar success this go around.
Once the car stops, he gets out first, turning back to help Maryse out of the car before turning to look up at the building. "Well, are we ready?" he asks her.
"Yes, we are," she says with all confidence as they re-enter to continue mind games against Brie and Daniel.
Wrestling R-Truth after years of barely thinking about his former tag partner isn't how Mike sees his evening go, but it happens in the main event, no less, and everything goes downhill quickly when Brie and Daniel return, just for everything to course correct well enough, Maryse and Miz making their escape while Almas and Zelina Vega get tangled up in Daniel and Brie's submission holds, tapping desperately. Mike grits his teeth against the realization that this could be them in a couple of weeks, casting an uncomfortable glance at Maryse as they escape back up the ramp side by side.