Training days for the newer recruits at the Performance Center were always harrowing days. Although most of the newbies had previous wrestling experience, you still had the odd one or two with next-to-none to deal with. So it wasn't at all unexpected for these newer starts to be paired up with the more experienced, world-travelled members of the NXT Roster.

Finn Bálor would never admit it out loud, but he always breathed a sigh of relief when someone else had to deal with those guys. However, in this case it really was a double-edged sword…as he watched Sami Zayn go through some basic drills with the winner of the last season of Tough Enough, Josh Bredl. Robbie Brookside had asked Sami to go through some basic "trust" exercises with Josh, given that Sami was one of the safest and most reliable workers they had available. That, and Sami was one of the few people who was willing to give the rookie the benefit of the doubt; the memory of his Tweet regarding the Social Outcasts still on the minds of many.

Everything seemed to be going well, really. The two traded body slams, hip tosses and back body drops for a while with no major botches. Then came the higher-risk stuff, and Finn couldn't help but shudder as Sami ascended to the top rope. Sami might not have any problems putting his faith in Josh, but Finn certainly wasn't as sure. Still, Sami's top rope cross body was more majestic than dangerous, so even if Josh caught him wrong coming down the chances of injury were slim.

…so imagine the entire room's collective surprise when Josh simply stepped out of the way of Sami's cross body, causing the Canadian to crash down to the mat awkwardly. Finn had already began running into the ring before Sami could even utter a cry of pain, the side of Sami's head bouncing harshly against the ring mat. He barely heard Brookside's irate roar from the side of the ring as he knelt down beside the prone Sami…the snippets of their conversation barely reaching his ears.

"What were you thinking, Bredl?"

"Why wouldn't I just move out of the way if I saw it coming, huh?"

"Because you two never agreed to do that! If Zayn had known you were going to move, he'd have adjusted accordingly! That is unacceptable behaviour, Bredl! You keep pullin' stunts like that, nobody's going to want to work with you in the ring!"

Finn sighed, barely seeing Josh exiting the ring out of the corner of his eye. He really knew how to make all the wrong impressions…

"Finn…?"

Finn's attention immediately reverted back to Sami, who was looking up at him with wide-eyes, a look of surprise on his face.

Finn smiled gently at him, replying in a soothing tone, "Sami, hey, you alright?"

Sami squinted slightly at Finn, scrunching his nose up in confusion, "…why are you all glowy?"

"Huh…what are you…" Finn paused, looking up towards the ceiling at the spotlights above the ring. Finn moved his head slightly to let Sami see where the light was coming from, "Oh, Sami, it's just the lights. See?"

"Ohhhh…" Sami looked relieved, "I thought an angel had come down to take me away in his heavenly embrace."

"…right, well," Finn looked around the ring, seeing an array of worried faces but no actual medical personal among them, "I think we'd better get you to medical…does anything hurt, Sami? Can you move?"

Sami huffed, "No."

It was Finn's turn to look confused, "No? …as in 'no' you can't move anything, 'no' you're not hurt or 'no' you don't want to move?"

Finn couldn't say he was expecting Sami to suddenly reach up and wrap his arms around his neck, bringing Finn down to his level.

"No, I think I'd rather you joined me down here…" Sami giggled at the surprised look on Finn's face, "Wanna make out?"

"Sami! NO! Everybody's staring!" Finn sputtered, trying to pull away from a very insistent Sami Zayn, "Someone give me a hand to get him to the doctors? Please?"

Finn felt somebody slide into the ring, just barely managing to make out the form of Hugo Knox sliding his arms under Sami's shoulders to help move him out of the ring.

"Thanks, Hugo…" Finn sighed as Sami's grip around his neck loosened with the sudden movement.

"No problem, mate," Hugo replied, sliding under the bottom rope with a cheeky grin aimed directly at Finn, "He always so upfront about snogging in public like that?"

Finn groaned, exiting the ring himself to help Hugo support Sami, "Can we please just get him checked out? He's clearly knocked something loose on that landing…"

"Oh, Finn!" Sami chuckled lightly, "You can check me out anytime!"

"So, this isn't normal, then?" Hugo asked Finn for clarification.

"God, no!" Finn gasped suddenly as a stray hand had found it's way to his arse, "SAMI!"

"Honk!"

"Oh, Jesus…" Hugo had to look away before he burst out laughing at Sami's antics.

"Right, keep this up Sami Zayn and you're going on your own to medical," Finn was absolutely mortified at his friend's antics, and the suppressed laughter from the rest of the Performance Center wasn't helping.

"Noooo…I'll be good!" Sami insisted, "You gotta come with us to visit the wizard, remember?"

Finn and Hugo shared an equally confused look, before Finn found the nerve to speak up, "…the what now?"

"You, me, and the big, strong lion here!" Sami tilted his head in Hugo's direction, "We're off to see the wizard!"

Finn groaned, "…I may actually murder Josh Bredl for this."

"Hey, at least he didn't call you Dorothy," Hugo offered.

"Shut it, Knox."

Sami hadn't been entirely co-operative with the doctors, constantly fidgeting and evading the questions being asked. It wasn't until Finn sat down beside him and took Sami's hand in his own that Sami calmed down, eventually beginning to recant his side of events to the best of his ability. Robbie Brookside had arrived moments later, anger still clearly radiating off him but the concern for one of his charges took priority for now.

"Right…well, everything looks fine…" The doctor took out a penlight and checked Sami's eyes, nodding at Sami's immediate responsiveness, "…but I think we should get an x-ray done just in case. He landed pretty hard on the side of his head, correct?"

"Yeah…" Finn replied quietly, as Sami let out a small mewl of disapproval, "Sorry Sami, I know you hate hospitals…"

"…it's fine…" Sami muttered, turning to look at Finn with a sad expression. Finn felt Sami squeeze his hand just a little tighter, "…you'll…come with me though, right? Please don't leave me?"

"As long as it's okay with the trainers…" Finn paused to look over at Robbie, who reluctantly nodded in agreement. Finn smiled in appreciation before turning his attention back to Sami, "Okay, I'll be right there with you then."

"Yay!" Sami suddenly smiled brightly at Finn, raising their still joined together hands to kiss Finn's knuckles, and continuing to catch the Irishman completely off-guard, "You da best!"

"Whatever you say, Sami," Finn muttered mostly to himself, continuing to internally plot Josh Bredl's murder and subsequent escape, "C'mon, let's get going…"

Finn found himself dreading the ride over to the hospital, wondering what else was going to come out of Sami's trauma-riddled mind on the way over. The doctor who had attended to Sami at the Performance Centre was driving them over, and Sami had been quite insistent that he and Finn share the backseat together. Thankfully the hum of the car seemed to have a calming effect on Sami, and he seemed to be this close to dozing off on Finn's shoulder. Unfortunately the doctor insisted on making sure Sami stayed awake, which led to him getting a little despondent as exhaustion began to cloud his already addled senses.

"M'sorry, Finn…" Sami muttered, "W'sting your day like this."

"It's fine, Sami," Finn wrapped an arm around Sami's shoulder, letting him get comfy.

"Too good to me," Sami brokenly responded, "Don't deserve ya."

"Aww, don't say that…" Finn gently pulled Sami in just a little closer, "You deserve only the best, you do."

"…nothing better than you," Sami sighed sadly, "Don't have you, though."

"I'm right here, aren't I?" Finn replied, confusion evident in his voice.

"Yeah…" Sami seemed to brighten up slightly at that, "You're here…with me…that's good, right?"

"'Course it is," Finn smiled gently at Sami.

"…they'll probably take you away from me for the x-ray, though," Sami frowned slightly, "You'll wait for me?"

"I promise I'll be as close by as they'll allow," The determination in Finn's voice surprised even himself, "Not goin' anywhere 'till I know you'll be okay."

Sami sniffled slightly, tilting his head into Finn's shoulder to hide himself away, "T'ank you."

The x-ray revealed some slight swelling, nothing the doctor's deemed too dangerous but still worrying enough that they opted to keep Sami in overnight for continued observation. Sami had agreed, if only because that meant he'd get a bed to lie down in and finally be left to sleep the daze away. Finn had wordlessly been allowed to stay with Sami, the loss of contact with Finn being the only thing that seemed to agitate Sami in any way. Thus, Finn found himself sitting beside Sami's bed, watching on helplessly as nurses came in periodically to check Sami's vitals and leaving satisfied each time. For the most part, Finn was left alone with only his thoughts for company…they'd left the Performance Center so quickly that he hadn't a chance to grab his phone or any other form of distraction.

Of course, most of his thoughts had been about Sami and how he had acted around Finn the entire time after the accident. They'd been mates for so long, Finn had never even entertained the idea that Sami would even think of him as anything more than that. Deserves only the best...Finn had said as much to Sami earlier…I'm far from that. Still, Finn couldn't help but wonder how much of Sami's actions earlier had been rooted in reality and how much had been exaggerated due to the potential head trauma. Finn certainly didn't think Sami would try to kiss him in the middle of the Performance Center under normal circumstances, but the awestruck glance Finn had received just by holding his hand in medical…that felt far too real to be trauma induced.

"You're thinkin' too loud…"

Finn blinked in surprise, looking up to see Sami watching him with a fond expression on his face. He sounded far more coherent for the rest he had partaken in.

"Sorry, Sami…how ya feelin'?"

"Head is still a bit sore," Sami sighed, "But I guess I'm okay, otherwise?"

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Finn allowed himself a sigh of relief, "Was worried for a while, there."

"Sorry 'bout that…" Sami let his head fall softly back on to the pillow, "…and about how I acted."

Finn shook his head, "Oh, it's fine. A little embarrassment is healthy every now and then. You remember much of it?"

"Kinda…?" Sami blinked up at the ceiling, "Honestly, I'm not sure which things actually happened and which I just made-up in my head…did I really compare Hugo Knox to the lion from the Wizard Of Oz?"

"You did, yes."

Sami groaned, "…okay…uh…is it safe to assume all the really embarrassing stuff actually happened?"

Finn chuckled despite himself, "Would you like a full list?"

"…that would probably be a horrible idea," Sami sighed, "I'm sorry, Finn…God, the crap I put you through today…"

"Doesn't matter," Finn patted Sami's hand, before gently entwining their fingers together, "As long as you're okay, yeah?"

"…did I really say you were an angel? And grab your butt?"

Finn frowned, "Sami, I told you…it's fine."

"…and try to make out with you in the middle of the ring?"

"Yeah, but…look, it really doesn't matter now…it was just delirium, you don't have to apologize for any of that. I am not angry or disappointed with you. You're going to be fine, and that's all I care about."

Sami sighed sadly, "Figures…only time I can get anywhere close to you like that is when I'm knocked loopy…wow, is this what people go through after a night out of heavy drinking?"

Finn couldn't help but grin at Sami's semi-confession, "Actually, that's a pretty good comparison, yeah…but, Sami, can I tell you something?"

"Yeah?"

"I really wouldn't object to making out with you, as long as it's not in front of the entire Performance Center. I'll even take you out to dinner first. When you're feeling better, I mean."

"Really?" Sami looked over at Finn in disbelief, "You wanna…go on a date? With me? Like…as a couple?"

"Really," Finn smiled warmly, holding up their interlaced hands, "Not just holding your hand for warmth, y'know? Just…didn't dream you thought of me that way."

"Huh…wow, yeah…I guess it's a date, then," Sami chuckled derisively, "To think, all I had to do was jump off the top rope and nearly concuss myself to admit all that to you."

"A bit of an extreme way to get my attention, really," Finn laughed softly, "Maybe I won't murder Bredl for this after all."

Prompt was for Finn Bálor & Sami Zayn, "You fainted…straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn't have to go to such extremes." Chosen by cherryheartswrasslin on Tumblr.