Proud ||AJ Styles one shot||

Proud

3. That was a number that AJ was going to remember for a long, long time. It was the numbers entered his first Royal Rumble at. His debut had been even better than he could've imagined. And Eli was nothing but proud.

Eli let her smile grow as she watched AJ battle in the Royal Rumble. She knew that Vince hadn't planned for AJ to win, but she couldn't help but be proud of her husband.

This wasn't the first time AJ would be stepping into a WWE ring, but this was the first time he was going to step into a WWE ring and make an impact.
WWE already had huge plans for him in the near future. In the next few months AJ was going to have two major feuds: one with Chris Jericho that would lead to a match at WrestleMania and one with Roman Reigns that would happen around the same time that Anderson and Gallows would be debuting.

Eli's smile dropped momentarily when she thought about how AJ wouldn't be home that often, but that smile quickly returned when she looked up to see her husband flying around the ring, going after anyone in his sight. Eli knew that a lot of things were going to change, but she was okay with that. She was willing to drop everything just so AJ could live out his dream.

Hearing Kevin Owens' music play made Eli's breath hitch; she knew what was going to happen, she knew what WWE had planned. Eli began to twirl her wedding band around her finger - a nervous habit she had picked up over the last few months - as she watched Kevin enter the ring and immediately go for AJ. In less than a minute Kevin had AJ over the top rope and out on the floor. Even though she knew what was going to happen it still made her heart drop.

The next participant in the Royal Rumble happened to be Dean Ambrose and Eli laughed as she remembered what Dean had told her earlier in the day, "don't worry 'bout a thing, sweetheart. I'm goin' straight for Kev when I get in there and then Zayn will eliminate him. We'll avenge AJ for ya." And Dean kept to his word. As soon as he entered the ring he was throwing punches at Kevin.

"Darlin'?"

Eli's head snapped around to see a sweat-covered AJ standing with his arms out, beckoning for a hug. Wasting no time, Eli made her way over to him and grabbed his face in her hands, pulling him down to kiss her. Eli noted that he tasted like that mint gum he was always chewing and she couldn't get enough of of it. She would never get tired of his kisses. Eli deepened the kiss when she felt AJ's hands on the small of her back, pushing the hem of her shirt up a bit. The fabric of his gloves against her skin sent shivers up her spine and in the moment, she didn't care about anything else, not Kevin, not the Royal Rumble, not WWE. In that moment she was only focused on the way AJ's lips felt against hers.

"What was that for?" AJ asked breathlessly as the two of you finally pulled away, but his gloved hands never left the small of her back.

"What? I can't kiss my husband?"

AJ laughed before leaning down to press his forehead against Eli's. "Darlin', you never kiss me in public like that. The only PDA you ever do is hold my hand."

Eli moved her hands from AJ's face down to his bare chest and smiled. "I'm just really, really proud of you."

"Why? I didn't win,"

"Yeah, but try putting yourself in my shoes," Eli explained, "I just got to watch the love of my life go out there and do what he loves I'm front of so many people and he's doing it in a completely different environment than he's used to, but he still fucking rocked it." AJ laughed again and nodded. "I'm just so proud of you."

"I'm so grateful to have you in my life," AJ whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Eli's lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too, darlin'." AJ smiled. "And maybe I could get a kiss like that after all my matches."

Eli laughed and smacked AJ's chest playfully. "I'll think about it."