Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author Note: Set directly after the 'NXT Takeover: Fatal 4 Way' event in September 2014.

LEMONS AND LIME

The match was over. Adrian had won. Sami had interviews to do. God, it was the last thing he wanted to do. But here he was, sweating and grasping for answers, numb instead of angry, trying to sound like he was still absolutely up for fighting again. He was willing to try but not right now. Not..

He got backstage finally and Adam was waiting for him. No Rosebuds, no Bunny, just Adam in leather pants and a lime-green fur coat over his bare chest, his necklaces glinting under the dim lights. He didn't tell Sami to stop being a grumpy pants, he didn't even suggest a party. He just cocked his head and looked at Sami. Sami still felt numb, like all the air had gone out of him, like he really didn't want to talk anymore. Adam reached inside his fur coat and produced both a towel and a water bottle, both of which Sami gratefully accepted. He drained half the bottle quickly and wiped his face clean of sweat. Adam led him down a hallway and through some of the building's least known corridors until they emerged outside close to where the Exotic Express was parked.

Sami paused, something finally penetrating the fug that had settled over him since the match's end. There was no music playing, the Exotic Express was silent.

He looked at Adam who had stopped a little way off, waiting patiently for Sami to catch up.

"No party tonight?"

Adam expressively shrugged a shoulder, everything about him was always so full of connotations. Usually Sami could read what those connotations were, but the fug was still heavy and his head and chest hurt and there was an ache deep in his bones that wasn't going anywhere.

"Not really in the mood," Adam replied.

Sami's eyebrows twitched; Adam Rose wasn't in the mood for a party? His expression probably made his disbelief clear because Adam pursed his lips and flickered a few fingers through the air. In the darkness, his eyes outlined with kohl and his coat such a Day-Glo color, he looked completely otherworldly. Sami had always really liked that side of Adam, how easily he embraced the weird and wacky side of himself and others and how whole-heartedly he accepted and encouraged that. Different was good, especially now.

Adam was talking again. "A party just doesn't seem to fit the ambiance tonight."

The ambiance. Meaning Sami's loss. Adam was canceling his party plans because of Sami. As if Sami didn't have enough of an ache going on. Adam shook his head.

"Guilt is a terrible companion, a total lemon. Come on."

He offered a hand to Sami, not presuming to touch him. Sami swallowed the last of his water and as he moved forwards, grazed his fingers across Adam's, like an accident or an experiment or gratitude. The fug was still there and parts of him were still numb, but he was responding to Adam. The touch between them firmed up for a moment and Adam smiled before letting go, giving Sami his space and leading the way onto the bus. Adam had always been a great people reader.

On-board, things were pretty quiet. A small group of Rosebuds were playing cards and another larger group were laughing as they played Twister while others mixed drinks at the bar. Adam gestured to one of the girls, Shelly, who was wearing cat ears.

"Tell Marv to put his foot down. No lemons allowed, especially if they've got an English accent."

Shelly nodded while Sami looked sharply at Adam. That was a pointed reference to Adrian. But Adam didn't say anymore on the subject, instead he offered Sami a drink from the bar and then he told the others that he and Sami were going to have a lie-down, it was a jasmine situation all the way tonight, okay? There were plenty of nods and several people waved as Sami followed Adam through the communal area but there was no pity on anyone's face. There was concern which was nice and pretty touching, Sami could feel it through his numbness. And he was very aware of Adam as he entered Adam's room and lay down on a familiar bed. Sami had often teased Adam for getting such an impressively-sized bed on a bus, Adam had always claimed that he needed the essentials when on the road.

Sami pressed his face into the pillow, it smelled like Adam. It felt pretty essential right now too.

It felt good to lie down, to not have to answer any questions. He was still both aching and numb, the kind of combination that made him want to burrow and bury himself for a while. Adam had given him an escape route from everything and...

And Adam wasn't lying down beside him.

Sami twisted around and spotted Adam by the door, checking something on his phone. The bus was moving, Sami realized. How had he missed that? Adam glanced up and smiled at Sami, the kind of smile that made a bit of the bone-deep ache that Sami felt melt away.

"Take all the time you need, Zayny. We'll keep the peace for a while, we're due a zen-yoga session with Camille anyway, Bunny's very keen."

Sami made a protesting noise, his fingers trying to stretch out and Adam paused with his own hand on the door handle. He looked at Sami with careful eyes. Sami could feel himself relaxing under that gaze, he didn't want to talk but he didn't want Adam to leave either. That was very important right now.

Adam stepped towards the bed, watching as Sami sank back down and pointedly made room beside him for Adam. After another moment, Adam shed his jacket and sent a quick text message before depositing his phone on a small overloaded cabinet and unlacing his boots. Sami turned onto his back, enjoying the view as Adam pulled his necklaces off over his head. He was humming under his breath and the neon-lights from outside were raining in through the window at just the right angle, spraying across his face and dripping down his chest. Adam looked like pop art, another kind of otherworldly. Sami liked looking at this version too, he always liked looking at Adam.

He especially liked looking at Adam right now, when so much else was too bitter and painful for him to think about.

Adam flopped down next to him, not quite touching him, but within reach. Adam was usually so tactile, it was weird to have that gap between them now. But it was considerate, like Adam wasn't making assumptions, like he knew that Sami probably wanted space at the moment even from Adam. Sami appreciated that but reached out to firmly pull Adam closer. He wanted to touch Adam and he wanted more than a brush of fingers this time.

That sounded like the best thing ever right now.

Adam instantly cuddled close and pressed a kiss to Sami's forehead. Sami kissed Adam's chin in response. He needed to take a shower, he was sweating all over Adam's sheets. He muttered something to that effect and Adam shook his head, pressing closer.

"It's a good smell. You should sweat over my other sheets too if you've got the time."

Sami snorted out something roughly like a laugh and felt Adam's hands begin to run over his back and shoulders. Adam tutted at what he found and pressed harder, the caresses turning into a massage. Sami groaned, his aches were responding well to Adam's touch, so Adam paused and leaned away for a moment. Then there was a plastic snap and oil dribbled over Sami's back. It smelled like jasmine. Really?

"It's a lovely smell, isn't it?" Adam dropped the bottle somewhere off the bed with a clatter and put his hands back to work. "I do love it when everything comes together."

Sami smiled faintly into the pillow, letting Adam's hands ease him, the ache still burning under his skin but it wasn't overtaking his mind anymore. Pain and numbness was still his overriding feeling but at least they had company now thanks to Adam's presence. Sami clung to that feeling, he'd been happy to wallow before but now he wanted to wallow with Adam.

His thoughts circled through his pain, the knocks and lumps that he was going to be feeling for a while too, to wondering how much pain Adrian was in right now. He was probably taking an ice bath, he probably still had his championship belt clutched to him Something curdled in Sami's stomach; Adrian had taken away Sami's latest grab at being NXT Champion, he'd seen Sami about to win and he'd pulled the referee out of the ring. Then he'd gotten the pin himself. He was a fighting champion, sure, Sami knew that. But it still stung, it hurt that Adrian had done that.

And Adam was making sure that Adrian didn't seek Sami out on the bus. Sami pressed his face further into the pillow. He'd talk to Adrian at some point, maybe when the aches had lessened more.

Eventually, Adam's touches evened out and he dropped down beside Sami, combing sticky scented fingers through Sami's hair and beard. The smell was good and Sami could detect the strawberry-flavor of a recent sucker on Adam's breath, a sucker and a couple of the cocktails that Matt liked to mix up.

Adam kissed Sami, lingering and sweet with just a hint of teeth. Sami let out a small sound and kept his eyes shut. Adam huddled down for sleep, his hair going everywhere as usual, his leather pants creaking. He often slept in his clothes, shedding them in the morning before showering and picking out fresh ones. The familiar sounds were comforting to Sami.

This was enough, for now. This would quell the questions and the ache and the bitter numbness. Sami unashamedly buried his face in Adam's hair and wrapped an arm securely around Adam's waist. The movement of the bus was a comfort too, alongside the low hubbub of Rosebud noise.

"Thanks for the invite to your private party."

Adam's voice was quiet and without its usual flash. Sami wondered why blearily, was Adam aching too? He petted Adam's side and snuffled into his hair. Adam shouldn't sound like that, but Sami was sort of vaguely glad that Adam felt that he could sound that way with Sami.

Maybe being pained and numb together could be a life-preserver for both of them, maybe it'd just help. Maybe they both wanted and needed it.

Sami slept and dreamed of strange hollow seas, Spanish and French mashing together through his pounding head. He thought he saw Adrian but whoever it was was always turning away.

Sami woke up alone, he could hear the shower running. Adam's pants lay on the floor. Sami's head and chest and well, everything were all still aching, the numbness having receded, leaving sheer bitter glumness in its wake for now. Lying there, he made a quick firm decision – for now, he was going to avoid thinking about the previous night; the loss, Adrian, Sami's resounding lack of championship. Usually he was all about bouncing back fast from a loss, usually he'd fight on immediately to show everyone that he wasn't cowed or crushed or taking any steps backwards. Usually he'd be analyzing what'd happened, doing over footage, learning from his mistakes. He'd be still fighting, proving every detractor wrong, showing what he was made of. Nothing kept Sami Zayn down for long.

For now though he just wanted sleep and space, he wanted to duck his head under everything until further notice. He wanted the world to go away for a while.

He snuggled down into the bedclothes, noticing with a slight frown that something felt...off somehow. His sleep-slow mind finally caught up, someone had draped Adam's lime-green fur coat over him. The color should have been an eye-sore, Sami pulled it closer, his heart thrumming.

The coat smelled of Adam and nothing else.

-the end