A/N: Soo just to put it out there I didn't intentionally name Tara after the ACTUAL physical therapist in the PC that worked with Seth and Finn. Maybe I remembered in subconsciously but not digging into the private lives of non-wrestlers, Tara's a total OC. (She might loosely be based on Taynara Melo de Carvalho from a physical standpoint). Also, let me know if you'd be interested in the Finn/Tara backstory in a one-or-two shot, I have some ideas for how that came to be.
XXX
Rehab had been especially brutal that Friday. Tara and Finn had a fight, he could hear it from down the hall as they argued in his room about him meeting her parents. She worked Seth particularly hard, and he pretended like somehow he hadn't heard their shouting. It was also the end of the first week, the hardest in any rehab. At the end of the day, he was exhausted, frustrated, and burning in every muscle. And then on top of it all, he knew each time Sasha left would be harder than the next.
He leaned back on the chair, watching Tara clean up her station.
"Finn at the doctor?" he asked.
"Uh, yes," she glanced over at him.
"You two alright?"
"Why wouldn't we?"
"C'mon, T,"
She looked over sheepishly, "so you heard that."
"Yeah," he said softly, "I heard it."
"We're fine," she shook her head, "just a fight."
"You seemed pretty upset when you left last night."
"Why do you care?"
"I don't," the corner of his mouth turned upward, "so I'll just be over here, not caring, if you wanted to talk about it."
"Finn's a good guy, Seth."
"I know, he's the best. But that doesn't mean he's never been selfish."
"We'll be okay," she said with a sigh.
"Yeah, I know you will. C'mon, let's go home and if you two are still barely speaking, I'll sacrifice myself and sit between you while we watch Batman."
"Thank you," she nodded and pick up her bag.
"Hey maybe it'll even make him jealous," he winked at her on his way out, her rolling her eyes in response.
They didn't talk the whole way home, no chatting, no flirting. Tara kept her eyes ahead, didn't ask him about rehab or Sasha. She seemed unsure, nervous even, as they pulled into the driveway.
He opened the door with the spare key that had ended up on his keychain next to Sasha's.
"Hey!" he called in, "someone followed me home, can we keep her?"
Finn looked down from the top of the stairs, a grin coming across his face.
"'Course we can keep 'er," he tilted his head at her on his way down and Tara grinned in response. "Hi."
"Hi," she looked up at him as he stopped on the step above her.
He leaned down and kissed her gingerly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear as he did. "My shoulder's feelin' better."
"Yeah?"
"I'll show ya," he looped an arm around her shoulder and lead her upstairs. She took a glance back behind her at Seth and shrugged.
"Bye guys," he called after them, slumping into the kitchen to find himself some dinner. At least someone in this damn house was getting laid.
XXX
Sasha flopped onto the hotel bed, exhausted from the live show. She glanced at her phone, it would be seven Seth's time, he was probably home from rehab, waiting for her to call. It wasn't really like him, to wait by the phone pining, but no one was themselves in rehab. And Seth, he'd gotten insecure, almost needy. She didn't mind, it wasn't like it was annoying her to pay attention to him, but it wasn't easy, it never was.
The phone rang for a moment, before Seth's voice came over the other end.
"Hey baby," his voice was smooth, she could already tell what he wanted. She was in luck.
"Seth," she smiled, "how was your day?"
"It was okay, hold on," the line shuffled for a minute, "alright that's better."
"Settled in the guest room?"
"And babyface Finn is facing directly at the wall."
She laughed, "you're ridiculous."
"I've seen Finn's room, it's covered with these pictures, I don't know how he doesn't feel them watching him."
"Maybe he's celibate."
"He's in there banging Tara right now."
"Gross!"
"It's true. Whatever, good for them, better than them fighting."
"Well you would know."
"What?"
"About fighting?"
"Hey!"
Sasha giggled and could hear the smile it brought to his face.
"Damn Banks, I miss you."
"Yeah, I miss you too."
"So were you calling just to say hi or?"
"I wanted to hear your voice," she leaned back against the pillows of the bed.
"Yeah well my voice wanted to hear you too."
"You're such a dork," she looked up at the ceiling aimlessly.
"If you want something you can just say so."
"Okay," Sasha bit her lip, "I want something."
"Get set up, I'll be here."
She blushed but pulled the duffle bag towards her. Truth was she needed this pretty badly tonight, and Seth was most tolerable when he was focused on something other than the injury. Positioning the little device in between her legs, she leaned back again, returned her headphones to her ears and exhale slowly.
"Alright."
"Ready? Nice and relaxed? Ha ha ha-"
"Will you just get to it?"
"Yes ma'am," Seth didn't say anything for a moment, but the soft vibrations told her he was carefully planning his next move. "Just like that?"
"Mmm,"
"What was that kitten? I didn't catch it."
Her cheeks flushed, "that feels good."
"Good."
"Seth!" she squealed out as it quickened, vibrating through her. She hated the sound it of but he seemed to love it.
"Ha ha ha. That's right baby, let it happen."
"I fucking hate you," she chuckled, closing her eyes and wiggling her hips.
"No, you don't," he laughed. "Mmm that's right."
"Oh I know that sound."
"What, are you the only one who gets to have fun around here? Moan for me baby,"
She rolled her eyes, but after a moment of her silence the vibrations slipped down to a slow rumble.
"Seth!"
"Moan it."
"Seeeeth,"
"There it is," he gave her a bit of leash and she gripped the sheets. "Fuck I love that sound. I miss you, kitten."
"I miss you too."
"when are you hooome?" he groaned.
"I was there yesterday."
"I want you back here."
"Oh in Finn's guest room? Where his parents sleep?"
"Stop, gross."
"Kill your boner real fast."
"Yeah and it was going so well for you."
"I'm satisfied."
"Oh. You sure?"
"Yeah I really need a shower," she said apologetically.
"Okay, baby, as long as you're good," he sounded a little bit sad and she felt bad, but that shower was calling her.
"I'm sleeping in your shirt tonight," she offered.
"You better," he chuckled. "I uh, I love you. I miss you a lot."
"I know you do, I do too. I'll text you in the morning, okay?"
"Yeah. Love you."
The phone clicked off and Seth let his hand with the phone drop to the bed with a sigh. He pulled the other one out of his boxers. It wasn't like he didn't know the schedule, how it felt to get to the hotel after a show. Exhausted, hurting, and brain moving at a million miles an hour. But still, selfishly, he wanted her all to himself.
Seth groaned and pulled on a pair of basketball shorts. He slumped down the stairs and settled in on the couch, a bowl of chips in his lap. There wasn't much on at this hour aside from the primetime shows he never had the ability to keep up with. The Godfather was on one of the higher channels, halfway through, and he went to work on the guac. So this was what he was reduced to on a Friday night, no house show, no local bar or club, no rolling around in Sasha's sheets.
He heard footsteps on the stairs and glance behind him. Tara was wearing one of Finn's shirts, the one he'd been wearing when they came through the door. Maybe a pair of boxer shorts underneath, he couldn't be sure, the shirt came mid-thigh on her small frame. She blushed when he turned around.
"Didn't realize you were down here," she went to the fridge, casting a bright light onto her in the dim room. "Thought you'd be in your room."
"That's alright," he smiled, "I was but, y'know," he shrugged, "she's busy. And tired."
"Yeah, I bet."
"Plus, it's not my room."
"It is for the next few weeks. You two don't give each other enough credit, you know that?"
Seth smirked, "yeah, I know. So you all patched up now?"
She rolled her eyes, pulling out a bottle of water, "yes."
"Seems like it."
"Yeah, well."
"Hey no judgement," he scoffed, "solving problems with sex, kind of my thing."
Tara crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one hip, "unsurprising. And you doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Being a jerk."
"I'm sorry. You should go back up, your boyfriend's waiting."
"Nah he'll be fast asleep by now," a small, loving smile came onto her face, "it's uncanny."
"Yeah I roomed with him once or twice back last year, he'd be out with the lights and the tv all on by the time I got out of the shower."
She laughed, "that's him."
Seth sighed, "you wanna sit, then?"
Tara paused but nodded, "yeah." She took a seat on the other side of the couch and pulled a blanket up to her chest. He passed her the chips and guac and she dove in.
"I'm sorry," he said after a moment, "really."
She glanced over at him and nodded, "you're just jealous, I know."
"Jealous?"
"Because Sasha's away?"
"Oh. Right. Yeah, no, it's been hard. Really hard."
"I'm not looking forward to it, honestly. I don't know-" her voice cracked and she bit her lip, shaking her head, "I don't know."
"You'll be fine. Finn is a saint. He'll call you twice a day and send flowers for no reason."
She laughed a little bit, blinking quickly, "he is, he is a saint."
"He loves you. A lot."
"I'm just tired of hiding. We can hardly go out because there are so many people who live in this town who could catch us."
"Thought it was your idea."
"The first time," she shrugged, "I didn't know if it was gonna go past one night but now…It just feels like…"
"He's ashamed of you."
"You think so?"
"Actually I don't. I've been there. Just give it time, he'll come around, change his mind."
"That what happened with Sasha?"
"More like I got her back and part of the deal was no hiding."
"What'd you do?"
"Apologized like a million times, told her she was the only one I wanted."
"No, to lose her in the first place."
"Oh, uh," Seth tipped his head, "I honestly can't even remember anymore. It was a lot of things."
"Hope you learned from them."
"Yeah, I hope so too."
Tara laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous, Rollins."
"I know. It's gotten me this far."
"Hey, um, thanks," she smiled softly, "I haven't really had anyone to talk to about this."
"The girls at the PC?"
"None that know about me and Finn. He made it clear what he wanted."
"He's just trying to protect you."
"I know. He always is."
"Might have to do with the age difference."
She rolled her eyes again, standing up, "alright. I should get back to him."
"Yeah, you should."
"Night, Seth."
"Night, Tara."
XXX
"This is weird."
"It's not weird," Finn glanced over at him from the driver's seat. "An' this isn't a hotel. No mini bar."
"I would've given you cash," Seth crossed his arms, scoffing "or Venmo."
"Yeah well, I ain't fetchin' your Fruit Loops."
"Fiiine."
They pulled into the parking lot of the local grocery store, Finn whistled to himself as he collected a chart and pulled his list from the pocket of his shorts. Seth tried not to feel insanely awkward about doing errands together on a Saturday morning.
"You need protein bars?" Finn asked over his shoulder.
"Yeah but I'm not sharing."
Finn rolled his eyes, "they're right there. Those are mostly sugar anyway."
"How does Tara put up with you, know-it-all?"
Finn laughed, "she's kind of a know-it-all too, y'know."
"Yeah, I'm aware. Hey, you two okay now?"
"Oh, yeah," Finn shrugged, "just a little spat. Sorry, that's awkward."
"It's fine. As long as you're cool. She's my friend too," Seth reached up to pick out his cereal, Kashi, and Fruit Loops.
" 'Bout that-"
"About what?"
"Ya two bein' friends."
"What about it? Should we get two of these?"
"Yeah, probably. Don't change the subject."
"I wasn't changing the subject. I just wanted to know if I should get two."
"Yes. Why has Tara never mentioned you before?"
"Why would she mention me?" Seth continued to browse the aisles, almost hoping to outrun this conversation.
"If you're friends."
"I mean. We catch up every few months when I'm in town for like, a coffee. We're not close. She was my trainer when I got hurt last yeah, you know that."
"Yeah, I didn' really know her well back in NXT."
"Right, married to the career,"
"So you're mates then."
Seth shrugged, "she doesn't have many down here."
"She's got plenty, the girls love 'er."
"None that know about you."
"What's that supposed to mean?
"It doesn't mean anythin', just that she told me that it's been hard."
"She told you?"
"Because we're friends, that's where this dumb conversation started, remember?"
"Actually, think it started with you pryin' into my love life."
"I just wanted to know you guys made up."
"We did."
"Great. I'm glad." He rolled his eyes and looked back to the list on his phone.
"When did she tell you about it bein' hard?" Finn tried again after a minute of picking out his chips.
"Uh, last night."
"Last night?"
"In passing, she came down for a water after…whatever."
"She did?"
"You pass out pretty quickly according to her."
"So she came down for a water and told ya things have been hard with me and that I was asleep?"
"Finn, I feel like you're making something out of this-"
"I'm just askin' ya what happened."
"We hung out for a few minutes, she told me that the hiding has been hard and she was worried about what would happen when you went back on the road. Satisfied?"
Finn's eyes narrowed, "that the whole truth this time?"
"Yes. Can we talk about something else? I really don't care about your love life this much."
He chuckled, "yeah, 'course."