"So any word on Morrison's injury?" AJ asks, peering up at him through the bathroom mirror.

"No," Mike sighs, thumbing through his phone. "He hasn't called, I tried texting but he hasn't responded. I may turn to Taya if he keeps giving me the silent treatment for much longer."

AJ finishes brushes her teeth and flops onto the bed next to Mike, squinting at his phone. "I'm sure he'll answer before too long. We both know how he gets. Injuries were never easy for him to talk about."

"I know," Mike says, some bitterness in his tone. "I just, you know, wish he could've trusted me more through the years with it. His neck injury, his ankle injury, hell, the stem cell stuff he had before WWE rehired him a few years ago. It always feels like I'm finding out of the severity of these things after the fact. It's exhausting."

AJ hums. "I can understand that," she says. "He's your best friend and you just want to help, but I can understand his POV too."

Mike frowns at her. "Huh?"

"I mean, think about it, Mike. Outside of a concussion, you haven't had any significant injury in almost twenty years in WWE until you tore your knee a couple years back. That'd make anyone feel uncomfortable with injuries, especially if they're a highflyer like John, when you were constantly telling him to take less risks."

Mike groans, burying his face in a pillow. "I guess it makes sense," he admits. "But I... was only trying to help him, I didn't mean to make him feel like I wouldn't be sympathetic or helpful if he got injured. You know? He's like a brother to me, I never meant..."

"I know that," she soothes him. "Hell, he probably knows it too. But just be patient with him, yeah? He'll come to you when he feels like it. And hopefully it's nothing serious so it won't matter either way, he'll be back to wrestling and giving you heart attacks with his springboards or whatever before you know it."

"You always know just what to say," Mike chuckles, leaning into her as she kisses his shoulder, his neck. "I love you."

"I love you," she murmurs. "So tell me more about your new BFF, Ciampa. Did you braid his beard?"

Mike's laugh echoes through the room before he hoists her up and drops her onto the bed, tickling her and making her squeal.

-x

"So you know the plan tonight, right?"

Ciampa nods. Fiddles with his gear. "Yep. Wait for him to deny you again and run to the ring, take him out."

"Right in one," Mike tells him. "See you out there." He should be leaving. He can't stop looking at Tommaso's beard, AJ's teasing echoing in his ear. "Hey, man, has anyone ever braided your beard?"

Ciampa snorts. Looks up at him, brows crooked. "My daughter's tried a couple of times, I suppsoe if she ever tries when I'm not half out the door, she'll succeed."

Mike chuckles, thinking about Sara. "Yeah," he says quietly. "Daughters can be something else, huh?"

"Yeah," Ciampa says, looking up at him. "I can't imagine how it must feel to have two young daughters."

Mike pauses, then realizes Ciampa only knows the truth Miz and Mrs. tells him. that he knows nothing about Sara Louisa, or George. It draws him back, makes him realize just how carefully he still has to handle things around Ciampa until he knows that the man s trustworthy enough for the truth to be told. "Alright, I'm going," he says. "See you in a few."

"See you."

Mike's mind is racing with thoughts of Ciampa and his actual trustworthiness in the long-term as he makes his way down to gorilla to begin MizTV for the evening. "I might've made a mistake," he thinks even as Ciampa appears and tries to help with Logan Paul a few minutes later.