Author's Note: I'm doing it again, writing something new even though I have other WIPs waiting on my attention, I have too many ideas and not enough time. This was inspired by a story I've been following on AO3 called The Broken Club by TheKiwiBird. The Finn and Bayley of that story (as of this writing) are just friends, and Finn is losing sleep for entirely different reasons, but the idea of Bayley trying to help an insomniac Finn wouldn't leave me alone until this story was born.

He hadn't slept well in weeks, most nights he didn't sleep at all and when he did sleep it was more fitful tossing and turning than anything restful. He felt like he was on the verge of losing his mind. The doctors had offered various sleep aids, but he'd been wary of chemically induced sleep and the potential side effects. He was an advocate for taking as few pills as possible knowing how easy it could be in this lifestyle to develop a habit.

He'd hadn't confided his struggles to very many, but a few of his friends knew what he was dealing with. Karl was sympathetic, but he couldn't really help in any way except to be supportive, besides he had a family to take care and a lot on his plate. Finn hadn't even meant to tell Bayley, but she'd been sensitive to his mood changes ever since their time in NXT when they'd done so many media tours together. She'd noticed something was off and confronted him about it. She'd been very concerned and had wanted to help as much as possible. She'd been the one he'd come to rely on to help make sure he wasn't going off the deep end. Sleep deprivation wasn't fun to deal with and she'd made sure he didn't do anything stupid like miss a wake-up call.

She was sweet, maybe too sweet as she'd put up with far more from him than she should have over the last several weeks. Besides making sure he didn't lose his job over missed flights, she'd also put up with him being a grumpy bear half of the time and completely out of it the other half, and she'd endured it all without complaint.

He felt pretty bad because he'd snapped at her earlier when she'd offered to keep him company this evening. He hadn't meant to take his frustration out on her, but he'd lost his match tonight because he couldn't think straight and he'd been feeling sorry for himself. When she'd made the suggestion he couldn't help but feel like she thought he needed a babysitter. The truth was with his current mental state he probably did need someone to watch over him, and he knew in reality that wasn't really how Bayley felt anyway. She was just worried about him, and he was lucky he had a friend like her who cared.

Now he was sitting alone in his room, his brain going in circles only feeling more and more sorry for himself, kicking himself for turning down her offer. He could have had the cheerful ray of sunshine that was Bayley to distract him instead of sitting here stewing in his own self pity. He kept grabbing his phone deciding he would text her an apology only to change his mind and decide she deserved to have a decent night's sleep herself, something she hadn't probably had much of recently since she'd been spending so much time in his room keeping him company.

He had just picked up his phone again when he heard a soft knock at the door. He opened the door to find Bayley smiling hesitantly at him in brightly colored leggings, an over-sized t-shirt, and her signature pony tail. He felt himself let out a breath in relief, and grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, muttering an apology into her shoulder. When he pulled back she smiled at him and said,

"It's okay, I know you're dealing with a lot."

"Still I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I don't know why you put up with me lately."

"Cause that's what friends do. I'm guessing no more luck tonight than any other night huh?" she asked as he gestured for her to come in and he shut the door.

"No, I haven't slept at all in three days."

"Damn Finn. I know you don't want to rely on pills, but maybe you ought to think about taking something at least once just so you can get your head back in the game."

"That's the thing though, I don't trust myself right now to make a decision to do something I know I wouldn't normally."

"You've gotta get some sleep though before you end up doing so from a hospital bed."

"I know, but I don't know what else I can do to make it happen. I've tried everything I can think of except pills."

"Have you had a masseuse come to your room?"

"Yeah, and I can doze while they are here, but as soon as they leave I'm back to square one."

"I used to put my nephews to sleep by rubbing my hands through their hair, do you want me to try that?"

"Uh, sure. I'll try anything at this point and I haven't tried that yet," he told her.

"Well get comfortable, and we will give it a shot," she said. He pulled his t-shirt off and laid down in what used to be his favorite position to sleep in, partially on his side, partially on his stomach. He felt the bed dip behind him as Bayley got situated, then her fingers lightly running through his hair. Honestly, it felt amazing and he was able to relax more than he had all day. He could feel himself on the edge of sleep and for awhile he drifted in and out losing track of time as he hovered somewhere between waking and sleeping. Eventually though he knew her arm tired because her fingers slowed and he thought she must have fallen asleep herself. Instead of drifting off the rest of the way, it was like his body was wide awake again, all evidence of her hard work gone. He shifted which must have woken her because he felt her stir and she sleepily asked,

"Guess it didn't work?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, this isn't your fault you know. You can't help it." She sighed again and it was silent for a little while, long enough that he began to wonder if she'd fallen back asleep when he heard her ask,

"Have you tried cuddling?"

He turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. She gave him a look back and said, "I know, but it's all I can think of right now."

"You should go back to your room and rest, there's no point in both of us losing sleep."

"I really don't want to leave you alone right now Finn. I'm scared for you," he could hear the genuine fear in her voice, and it made him feel worse for not taking her effort seriously.

"Well we might as well give it a shot then, I'm game if you are."

"Are you a cuddler or a cuddlee?" He gave her another look and couldn't help but tease her a little and said,

"You know those aren't words right?"

"Hush you, which one do you prefer?"

"I don't actually have many chances to cuddle honestly, but I guess I'm a cuddler."

She'd already taken her shoes off, but he wasn't surprised when she loosened her hair up, then she came around to lie down on the side of the bed where she could back up to him. It was awkward. They'd always been completely platonic friends, and they were comfortable with hugs and casual touching, but this was much more intimate then anything they'd ever done. She didn't look remotely comfortable and there was too much space between them to actually accomplish what she'd been going for, so he broke down and reached out and pulled her firmly against him, settling his arm around her waist. After another minute of awkwardness they both started to relax, and to his amazement he could feel the edge of sleep again. The sound of her even breathing, the smell of her shampoo, and the warmth of her body against him finally accomplished what all of the massages in the world had failed to do for weeks, and he finally drifted completely asleep.

...

He woke the next morning to the sound of someone knocking on the door. They'd shifted during the night and he now lay on his back with her wrapped around him, her head pillowed in the crook of his shoulder and her leg draped over his hip almost intimately. The arm she was laying partially on was wrapped around her keeping her snug against him. He blinked and glanced over at the clock and realized that he'd slept well past his wake-up call, and the door was most likely the maid service. Thankfully he didn't have a flight to catch today as it was their day off, but he needed to get them up and moving anyway or they were going to miss their checkout time.

Despite the knocking Bayley didn't move except to bury her face further into his chest, and he had a moment where the sight of her like that made him feel a sense of...longing that he couldn't quite define. He forced himself to push it aside and shook her arm lightly, calling her name until her eyes blinked open. After a few seconds she seemed to become more aware and she looked at him and asked,

"Did it work?" He smiled at her and nodded yes and her whole face lit up. Once she moved her focus off of him though she realized just how close they were positioned and her whole face turned red. It was kind of adorable. He was actually really comfortable too, and he would have been content to stay like that a little longer, but the knock sounded at the door again and she hastened to answer it. After sending the hotel staff away she returned and immediately gave him a giddy smile.

"I'm so glad it worked. You look so much better already."

"Thanks, I think."

"You know what I mean. I've been really worried about you." He smiled softly at her, once again feeling grateful that he had someone who cared about him the way she did.

"I know, and I really appreciate it. You've helped keep me sane the last couple of weeks. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"I'm glad I've been able to help," she said ducking her eyes like his gratitude had flustered her.

"We kind of overslept, you didn't have a flight to catch did you?"

"No, I gave up my apartment in San Jose a few months ago, I haven't been going home as frequently."

"Why did you give up your apartment?" he asked, feeling bad that he hadn't already known that.

"After Nick and I broke up, it felt like I was wasting a lot of time and money just to spend a few hours there every week. When the lease came up I decided to just to let it go. I stay with my mom when I do go back, the rest of the time I've been bouncing around between staying with friends or just going on to the next city a day early. Were you headed back to Orlando?"

"That was the original plan, but I don't have to be anywhere on any kind of schedule today, and at this point I probably won't bother. Like you said, sometimes it's not worth the travel time if you are only going to be there a few hours."

"Well I've already got a car lined up if you want to ride with me to Huntsville."

"Sure."

"Alright, I'm going to go get cleaned up and packed and I'll meet you in the lobby in an hour?"

"Yeah, sounds good," she started to turn towards the door when he put a hand a hand on her arm to stop her. She turned back to him and he said, "Thank you." She smiled sweetly at him, warmth in her eyes, and said, "You're welcome."

...

That evening Bayley tried to get settled in her hotel room. She'd had a great day sharing a ride with a rested Finn, and had enjoyed seeing the happier side of her friend. He'd really been going through a rough patch the last several weeks dealing with an unexpected and prolonged bout of insomnia. His body hadn't adjusted well to the travel schedule and stress after returning from a long injury rehab, and she'd been really worried about him.

Last night she'd been exhausted and desperate enough to suggest cuddling and to their surprise it had worked. He'd finally gotten a whole night's sleep. It had been a little weird and awkward at first, but by that point she would have done almost anything to help him. This morning had been slightly embarrassing considering she'd woken up with her whole body wrapped around him, but she didn't care if that's what it took to get her friend back to the healthier, happier version of himself.

Of course now she was having trouble getting to sleep herself. Her body had a adjusted to being up late with him, and even though last night had been the first time they'd ever slept in a bed together, for some reason the bed felt really empty without his weight and warmth in it. Her brain was also having trouble settling down because she couldn't help but worry about how he was doing. He'd said he was tired when they'd parted a couple of hours ago, but she could tell he was anxious about how well he would sleep. She was starting to wish she'd been bold enough to suggest they repeat their arrangement from the night before.

More time passed, the clock slowly ticking by the minutes until sometime after three she heard a barely there tap on the door. If she hadn't been wide awake she wouldn't have heard it. She got up to answer the door to find a bleary-eyed Finn. She didn't even say a word simply opened the door wider to let him in. He stumbled to the bed, toed off his shoes, pulled off t-shirt, and curled up under the blankets, holding them out waiting for her to join him. As soon as she lay with her back against his chest and his arm around her waist she could feel sleep taking over and she drifted off.

She once again woke to find herself curled around Finn, legs entangled with his. She'd remembered to put the do not disturb sign on the door when she'd opened it for Finn last night, so they thankfully didn't have to worry about that, and since he was still sleeping soundly she could take a minute to enjoy the comfort her position gave her without worrying about being embarrassed by the intimacy of it. She'd learned first hand that he didn't like sleeping in a t-shirt so her face and arm lay against the warmth of his bare skin, and he smelled amazing, clean with the faint, spicy scent of men's deodorant. She wasn't sure how long she lay like that, enjoying it more than she probably should have before he eventually began to stir. Instead of moving away he only tightened his arm around her, keeping her snug against him as he slowly woke up. He didn't say anything for a long time, and they simply lay together like that.

When he did speak he said,

"I was trying not to wake you up."

"You didn't. I couldn't sleep either."

"That's probably my fault. I'm glad I didn't wake you, but I feel bad for how much I've messed with your sleep lately."

"It hasn't been that bad," she said though she knew that wasn't entirely true. There had been a few times where she'd hardly got any sleep for worrying about him, but that wasn't his fault.

When they got up to go about their day they both ignored the subject of how the last two nights had made them even closer or what they were going to do when evening rolled around again. They'd slept away the entire morning, so they really only had time to get in an afternoon workout, and they went to the gym that her trainer had lined up for her. They both favored crossfit style workouts and he'd actually worked with the her trainer occasionally before, so their preferences in a gym were the same. Afterwards they got a late lunch together before parting at the arena.

She watched his match from the monitors backstage and she could tell even the crowd knew Finn had more energy, more fire than he had in a long time. They were heavily into it as he completed all of his signature moves and executed a flawless coup de gras for the win. She loved the almost goofy, enthusiastic grin he favored her with when he passed by on his way back to the locker room. It was great to see him back in the zone, understanding how much the lack of sleep had robbed even his desire to wrestle from him.

She got a ride back to the hotel that night with Sasha who she hadn't seen nearly as much of recently. Sasha kept her tied up in conversation for quite a while and by the time they parted it was past midnight. She checked her phone to find she'd missed a few texts from Finn, wondering if she wanted to hang out. She felt bad that she hadn't noticed them earlier and decided to try his room first before even bothering going to her own.

He opened the door after only one knock, and like he had two nights ago he immediately pulled her into a hug. She hadn't expected it and to her surprise she felt her breath catch and her heart skip a beat when he wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, I'm sorry I missed your texts earlier, Sasha wanted to catch up, and it's been awhile since I've seen her."

"I guess that's my fault, I've been monopolizing your time."

"No worries, you're my friend too, and you needed me more, besides Sasha and I have never needed to spend every second with each other to remain close." He looked at her almost shyly (which was strange in itself, Finn could be introverted, but he'd never been shy, he had too much self confidence) before saying,

"I was hoping you would be dressed more comfortably," looking pointedly at her jeans.

"You know it's okay to say you want to cuddle," she teased before saying, "I came straight here, but I can go change and come back." She wasn't even going to try and pretend like she didn't want the same thing he did.

"Yeah, well it sounds kind of stupid, but yeah I do. If you're not tired though we could watch a movie first."

"We've got a flight to catch in the morning we're probably better off saving a movie for tomorrow night," she said. She didn't see the point in acting like she was coming back for anything other than to sleep in his bed or that it would more than likely happen again tomorrow night. She wasn't quite sure how they'd gotten to this point in the course of a couple of days, but last night had proven that her solution for Finn's insomnia was only going to work if they kept doing it, and as weird as that was, it didn't bother her. She liked feeling him behind her and waking up to his heartbeat under her ear. He smiled at her in relief, and said,

"Well go change then lass, so we can get some sleep." She rolled her eyes at him, but hastened to do as he said.