Disclaimer: I do not own the people or characters in this story. The people own themselves and the characters belong to WWE. This story won't feature anything too crazy so feel free to read it.

A/N: Hey, so I recently got a request from lfrost for a story involving Dolph getting de-pushed and his subsequent promos on the app with regards to his spot. So this is the request to that story filled, and I hope that you'll enjoy it, and please review and tell me if I should continue or not, and if you want to be brutal, I always welcome it, thanks. :)

"You're going to get yourself into trouble."

"How much more trouble can I get myself into?" Dolph asked with a sardonic laugh. "Tell me, realistically, how much worse can it get?"

"Um, does your buddy, Zack Ryder, ring any bells?" AJ asked him, hanging onto his arm. Dolph was playing with fire at this point, and they both knew it, but she couldn't stop him from being himself. Ever since their onscreen breakup, it was more difficult to rein him in. When they were together, he was extra cautious because he knew anything he said would reflect on AJ, but now that they were apart, he could say what he wanted.

Not that ever thought he said anything that was over-the-top insulting towards anyone. He played a character, a cocky jackass who hated everyone but himself, and thought he was better than everyone, and he played that up when he did interviews. It wasn't like he hated Randy Orton, but apparently talking anything slightly negative (it wasn't even really negative in his opinion, and the opinion of many people) about the champion was grounds for being treated like you had the plague.

"I might as well start my own youtube show," Dolph told her, and she groaned, pulling him into a nearby hallway, away from the foot traffic. Now, AJ was pretty tiny, so she couldn't actually pull him anywhere, but he went willingly because she was his best friend, and he cared about her enough to let her think she could pull him anywhere.

He still wasn't sure how AJ got the moniker of being his best friend. It all happened so quickly he sometimes joked that she drugged him and brainwashed him, but erased his memory of the event. By thinking that scenario, it proved that she talked to him way too much about comic books because that was something straight out of some nefarious villain's evil plan.

He wouldn't classify them as friends before their storyline started with one another. They were acquaintances, both being friends with Kaitlyn, but as for being friends just the two of them, no, they weren't. They didn't hang out, never had in-depth conversations. They were restricted to head nods in the hallway or the occasional spoken hello in passing.

Then they were put together, and if there was such a thing as a whirlwind friendship, that's what theirs was. Traveling together, working together, doing events together, hanging out together, eating together, it pushed them into an unexpected yet welcome friendship. He couldn't imagine his life without her buzzing around him like a little bee. She somehow made a niche for himself in his life, and for that he was actually quite thankful.

AJ sighed as she held him by the upper arm. Her grip was tight, but her hands were tiny so it didn't hurt at all. "Dolph, you're not in that bad a position."

"AJ, I have no position," he told her, "I might as well be on the bottom of the face list." He was referring to the talent list that came with every script for every show, and it was like a popular list that came out every week, everyone scrambling to see where they were ranked. At this time last year, he'd been near the head of the heel list, and just a few months ago, he'd been at the top under champion, and now, they might as well just keep him off the list.

AJ pursed her lips as if weighing her words. She opened her mouth for a moment before closing it again. It formed a thin line, one of worry and frustration, but nothing could match his own frustrations. "They might find a space for you in the whole Authority angle they're doing now."

"They might, but I doubt it, I think they want me away from that, it's going to Daniel," Dolph shrugged, "I can't hate him for that, he's worked just as hard as I am, and he deserves to reap those rewards. You know what the worst part is?"

"What?" AJ asked, probably just to appease him or to give her time to think of an attack argument.

"The crowd still cheers for me," he told her, "they still want me out there, they still want it, and I know, I know that management doesn't even care. They could cheer me louder than anyone, and they still wouldn't care. And for what? Because I said one thing about Randy, and suddenly I'm being chastised for it and my push is taken away?"

"You'll get there again," she said lamely, "you'll make it."

"Will I?" Dolph let out an incredulous snort. He looked off, not meeting her eye, and she tried to move into his line of sight, but he moved his eyes again. "I've been doing this for almost ten years, AJ, and I still haven't made it. I did my time, I was a caddy, a fucking cheerleader, I put in the work, and because I'm not 6'4, I'm never going to make it. I set records in college, I was amazing, but it doesn't even matter."

"Dolph, you talk like you want to leave," AJ commented, fear pervading her voice. She didn't know what she'd do if Dolph left.

"I'm not saying that…yet," he added, "I'm not saying I'm going to leave, but it's just so damn frustrating. I'm not where I want to be, and I'm not where I think I should be, and so why do I come into work? I go out there, I have a five minute match where I usually get squashed, and that's it? I'm supposed to be satisfied with that?"

"Please, please don't run your mouth," she begged him, knowing that he tended to do that. It wasn't that he was a hothead, and he wasn't normally a complainer, but people could only take so much pushing before they started to push back. She'd noticed it on his Twitter feed, tweets that voiced his frustration, and if he wasn't careful, that too was going to come back to haunt him.

"It really doesn't matter anymore."

"It matters to me, you're going to get yourself in more trouble," she reminded him.

"Why don't you just go find your boyfriend and leave me alone," he told her, not to be malicious, but there was nothing she could say right now to convince her that he was anywhere near where he should be.

"Forget him," AJ waved her hand in the air like she was literally shooing him away. "I'm focused on you right now."

"Look, it's okay, I'm not going to quit, and I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'll just sit back here like a good, little boy and live tweet Raw or something, I guess. I mean, no big deal that I'm not booked and Los Matadores and 3MB are, no big deal at all."

AJ frowned, "It's just one week."

"Yeah," he said, but was unconvincing. "Look, AJ, I appreciate you and everything you do for me, I really do, you're like the one who always thinks I'm going to get what I deserve, but I think we need to come to terms with the fact that it's not."

"I refuse to believe that."

"And that's why I love you," he told her, cupping her face in his hands. She gave him an endearing look, "but you're a winner, and you're continuing to win and do well and you should be focusing on that. I'm super proud of you."

"Thanks," she said, "but—"

He pulled away and shook a finger at her. "No buts, okay, look, you are a champion, and you need to focus on yourself for once."

"But—"

"Stop with the buts, well, not with your butt, you can continue with that one," he told her and she laughed and shook her head. "You're actually booked tonight so get out of here, go find your opponent and talk the match then go find that asshole you're dating and, I don't know, do whatever it is you two do."

"I would say that he's not an asshole, but he calls himself an asshole, so I guess you're right about that," she shrugged. "You going to be okay?"

"If you mean, am I not going to go straight to management and take a shit all over them and quit the company while giving everyone the middle finger and calling Randy a stupid motherfucker, no, I'm not planning on doing that."

"Good," she said, hugging him quickly, "I'll see you later!"

"I'll be around," he said as she dashed off, probably to go grab her title. He laughed and shook her head. AJ was one of those people who wanted everyone around her to be happy and hated to see people upset. He knew she'd been giving Kaitlyn some pep talks because Kaitlyn was feeling progressively lower ever since losing the title. Management kept promising her she was going to be put in a program, but it had yet to come to fruition, and he knew that she was getter frustrated. He wondered why it always seemed like his friends were getting the short end of the stick. Maybe he just needed to befriend new people.

He stepped back into the main hallway and nearly bumped into Miz. Here was another guy that the company didn't use properly, but then, at least Miz did have his one moment of WrestleMania glory (that he never shut up about). But now, Miz was more like a novelty, "What were you doing over there, making out with AJ?" Miz wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"How many times do I have to tell you that we're just friends?"

"One more time?" Miz shrugged.

"She's also taken," Dolph pointed out. He knew Miz was just razzing him as was his wont. That's what they did with one another, they teased each other, mercilessly most of the time, and for some reason, Miz thought it was hilarious that he was best friends with AJ now.

"For now," Miz joked, implying that AJ's relationship would fail. Dolph rolled his eyes. "Hey, how'd that date go last week, what was her name again?"

"Angela," Dolph said, "and boring. She was boring, I'm never going to take any advice from your fiancée ever again. If those are the types of people that Maryse finds interesting, you are in for quite the shock when you get married."

"I was shocked when Maryse agreed to marry me, everything from here on out is a piece of cake."

"True, still wonder if she needs glasses or something," Dolph said.

"So really, what were you and AJ talking about?" Miz brought the subject back around to him and his petite friend.

"About me not being booked, me being punished, me being nothing around here, you know, business as usual," he said, "sometimes I really wonder if I've already peaked and this is it. I'm in my prime and being wasted."

"Not booked tonight?"

"Nope, I should be used to it. AJ is worried that I'm going to quit or leave or say something to get myself fired," Dolph explained. Sometimes, he wondered if that might not be the best thing for him. He had other interests outside wrestling. True, wrestling was his first love, but in order for a relationship t work, shouldn't there be equal give and take? If he gave it his all, he felt like he should at least get something in return.

He could go back to law school if he wasn't here, not that he thought being a lawyer was particularly exciting, but he knew that he could go into that field if necessary. Comedy was a calling he'd felt for a long time, and if not here he wouldn't hesitate to start doing more stand-up and seeing if he had a future in it.

AJ's words rang in his head though. He'd promised her he wouldn't do anything stupid and he wouldn't quit. Even though sometimes leaving felt like the right choice, especially now, he knew that he couldn't just leave like that. He still had the fans' support, and they motivated him to keep doing this, but what was the breaking point? What was the limit to what he could take?

And how close was he to that?