"I don't want to go," Mike huffs, pressing his face into AJ's neck and hiding.
She laughs. Strokes his hair, kisses his jaw. "I don't want you to either," she murmurs. "Unfortunately, you have to."
He pouts against her and she hums. "I'd rather spend my Valentine's right here."
"Well, you and me both," she says tenderly. "But responsibilities and all that."
He groans. "I know. I know." He forces himself to sit up and huffs lightly, cradling her face, kissing her slowly. "I love you."
She smiles at him. "I love you too, conveniently enough."
He grins back and cradles her face for awhile longer, content just to memorize her face- although he already knows it better than his own most times. She smirks and reaches up, cradling his wrists and holding him close. "I love you."
"Love you too," she hums, eyes fluttering softly as he leans in and kisses her, slow and soft. "How much time do we have before you have to go?"
"Plenty," is all he says, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her flush against him. She hums in approval and he grins, stroking her side. Neither of them are much for their anniversary- it's a nice reminder of how far they've come, but all in all, they don't need some big celebration. Life as a WWE superstar- along with all of her responsibilities- is hard enough to juggle without throwing a party for every birthday and milestone that comes along, but they acknowledge it here, in their own way, his lips soft on hers, fingers slow and tender against her skin. She hums and arches into him as he explores, as if they've never done this before, the sensations brand new and heady between them.
"You're the best thing that ever happened to me," she whispers to him and he pauses between kissing against her shoulders, looking up at her.
"That should be my line," he tells her, feeling her tremble under his fingers. "I hate to imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't figured things out all of those years ago and stopped being an asshole."
She sighs softly and brings his face up to hers, kissing him tenderly. "You weren't really that much of an asshole," she says. "Or at least you gave as good as you got, because I look back on some of the things I did, and oh man..." She cards her fingers through his hair and huffs. "Imagine I used to talk about having children with Dolph Ziggler, of all people."
He smiles up at her and shakes his head. "Think they would've come out of the womb with atrocious dyed blond hair?" he jokes.
"I hope not," she shivers. "My poor children. Thank you for saving them from appearance on down." She grins at him as he laughs against her sternum, sighing. "I can't imagine our children being anything other than the adorable, brilliant people they are right now, in this moment."
"Me neither," Mike murmurs, still distracted by easing her shirt up and off and slowly kissing every inch of her that he can reach. She leans back and enjoys the ticklish, tender sensations brushing up her abs from his ministrations. "I love our family just the way it is."
"Me too," she muses, running her fingers gently through his hair, just to tug the fine brown strands between her fingers when he begins to tease her, eyes glinting bright in the soft light coming from the windows. She exhales a soft, slow sigh ending in a faint moan, overwhelmed by her feelings for this ridiculous, endearing man. "I love you so much."
He presses another kiss to her before tilting his face and looking up at her. "I love you too. Forever and always, April Jean."
-x
Raw is what it is. Mike mostly goes just to troll the Mysterios, which he succeeds at so well that he finds himself with a match in Saudi Arabia the coming weekend. Which is fine, he assumed he'd be dealing with Rey in a bigger setting than some random Raw at some point. Going from Edge to Rey seems linear, anyway. One overrated legend for another.
He can't wait to see the looks on their faces when he walks out victorious. Again.