Chapter Text
Christen is sitting on the floor, reading over her personalized workout before getting started on her training. She notices that Dawn added more reps and more weight than last time. Normally, reading this would fluster Christen, bring down her entire day from the change in her routine. But Christen's having a great day and absolutely nothing could change that.
She had the best sleep of her life last night. Recently, Christen hasn't been sleeping well; she's been having trouble falling asleep and has been waking up multiple times throughout the night. Last night, though, she slept soundly the entire time.
There is an obvious reason for her newfound ability to sleep and her amazing day and it's Tobin Heath.
She's been officially dating Tobin again for about 10 hours and her life became instantly better. Christen hates that it seems like her happiness depends on her relationship, but it's really not like that at all. She's been in love with Tobin for a long time and finally being able to admit it out loud again has removed a weight off of Christen's shoulders.
Christen woke up first this morning, still tangled with Tobin. She was content just watching Tobin sleep, watching the shallow breaths coming from Tobin's content smile playing with the wisps of light brown hair laying across Christen's chest. When she felt Tobin's grip tighten around her waist, she bent forward to press a soft kiss into Tobin's hair. The content hum Tobin let out at the contact made Christen tighten her arms around Tobin.
"I'm so glad this wasn't a dream," Tobin stated, voice thick with sleep as she peers up at Christen. Christen's smile grew, pleased that Tobin feels the exact same way. It was the perfect start to her day and just thinking about it is making Christen feel giddy with excitement.
She sees Kelley approaching and quickly contains her overwhelmingly happy exterior. It's not that Christen and Tobin don't want their friends to know, but right now it's just between the two of them. It's something special that only they share together after being apart for three years. Also, the teasing the pair are sure to receive from their teammates is something Christen want to avoid just a little bit longer.
Christen quickly scans her workout one more time, putting on a hopefully pensive face as Kelley sits down beside her.
"Dawn made yours harder, too?" Kelley asks as she begins stretching to prepare for her workout. Christen just nods, not trusting her voice to not give away her happiness.
They stretch in silence for a minute, each focusing on getting their bodies ready for their conditioning.
"Something's different." Christen has her nose in her knees, loosening her hamstrings, when Kelley speaks again. At first, Christen isn't sure what Kelley's talking about. She didn't notice anything different about the room or people in it, but when Kelley scans Christen from head to toe, she knows that Kelley is sensing her newfound happiness. She didn't think she was being that obvious, but maybe Christen's attempts at being normal was what gave her away. Still, Christen hopes that Kelley is talking about something else.
"What do you mean?"
Christen watches as Kelley's eye flit across the room before landing back on Christen. Her lips are pursed and her eyebrows are furrowed as she looks over Christen.
She tilts her head, still scanning Christen's face before speaking again.
"Something's different."
Christen looks around the room, pretending like she's trying to help Kelley figure out what's changed. She knows the real answer, but Kelley can't know yet. Her mind is working fast, trying to find something that she can say.
When Christen spots Crystal and the giant ring on her left hand, she finally has her out. "Oh, yeah! Did you know Crystal's engaged now."
Kelley's eyebrows somehow furrow further and she bites her bottom lip, shaking her head slowly. "No, I didn't. But that's not it." Kelley sits up on her knees and leans closer to Christen, examining her closely. "Something's different about you."
Still trying to pretend that she has no idea what Kelley is talking about, Christen uses her hands to check her earrings. Christen was hoping she remembered to change them, thinking she could pass that off as the change. Unfortunately, they were the same ones she was wearing the previous evening. Her hands fiddle with the collar of her shirt as Christen goes over her morning. She didn't put any makeup on, since she'd only sweat it off during training anyway, so she can't use a change of mascara as an excuse. Christen remembers running late, opting to stay and cuddle with Tobin for an extra 15 minutes instead of getting into the shower when she should have, leaving her no time to straighten her hair. It's a flimsy excuse, but it's the only thing she can think of.
"I didn't straighten my hair today," Christen says, shrugging her shoulders. "Could that be it?"
Kelley shakes her head lightly, still examining Christen closely. "No. It's something else. You seem..." she pauses for a moment, letting out a slow breath. "Happier."
Christen isn't a good actress, but she tries to morph her face into something resembling confusion. "I don't know, Kel," Christen sighs as she resumes her stretching. "Maybe you're just imagining it."
Letting out an annoyed huff, Kelley stands up. "I'm going to figure it out, Press, just you wait."
If Christen wasn't such good friends with Kelley, the statement would frighten her, instantly remove whatever cheerfulness waking up wrapped in Tobin's arms created. But Christen knows Kelley and she knows that Kelley is more insistent on figuring out why Christen seems different after such a short time apart because of her stubborn attitude.
Christen rolls her eyes at Kelley. "Let me know when you do," Christen says as she gets off of the ground, patting Kelley on the back before walking towards one of the machines.
She briefly glances at Tobin who is across the room with Allie and Alex, feeling her cheeks heat up when their eyes lock. Christen is grateful she has her back to Kelley or she's sure Kelley would be able to figure her out.
It hasn't been that long since the interrogation their friends gave them last night. Even if they were joking before, surely the shy smile that finds its place on Christen's face would give them away. When Tobin winks at her, Christen can feel her heart melt, wishing she could close the distance between them and press her lips to Tobin's. Instead she settles for winking back before getting started on her workout.
***
Christen and Tobin sit a table by themselves at lunch. It wasn't intentional, by the time the pair arrived the rest of the seats were filled. Tobin grabbed an empty chair from a nearby table, scooting it close to Christen's as Christen set down their meals.
They're almost finished their meals when Christen finally tears her eyes away from Tobin, looking around the room at the rest of her teammates. When she spots Kelley and the knowing smirk stretched across her face, Christen quickly looks away immediately forgetting whatever conversation she and Tobin are in the middle of.
"Kelley knows." Christen is using her napkin as a shield to cover her lips, knowing how good Kelley has gotten at reading lips. She looks down at her hand clasped in Tobin's and briefly considers removing it before she remembers that they hold hand all the time and this is technically not any different.
"Well yeah, everyone knows Messi's more technical on the ball." Tobin's scanning Christen face with eyebrows scrunched together as she's biting her bottom lip. "Why are we talking about Kelley?" Confusion is evident in her voice as she continues looking at Christen.
Christen glances at Kelley, watching as Kelley quickly looks away, pretending like she isn't watching the pair. When Christen yanks on Tobin's hand, Tobin follows Christen's line of vision to Kelley, who is now trying to subtly spy on them out of the corner of her eye. Her grin widens when she notices two pairs of eyes on her before she turns to fully face them.
When Kelley waves, her smile softens.
"Oh."
Tobin begins rubbing her thumb along Christen's, immediately calming Christen down.
"Guess we should tell the rest of them then," Christen states, upset that they're going to have to break their little bubble.
"Probably," Tobin nods, scrunching up her nose. "Before Kelley tells them."
"Tonight then," Christen says, eyes staring deeply into Tobin's. They stay that way for a long moment, aware of Kelley still watching them from across the room, but not caring in the slightest. "I really want to kiss you right now."
Tobin's lips turn up into a large smile, before she's pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. "You should do it. Then we wouldn't have to say anything."
Tobin's eyebrows are raised in challenge, daring Christen to just lean forward. Christen is tempted, but she turns away before she does.
"Tonight."
***
After a quick planning session in their hotel room, Christen and Tobin were ready. The group were going to some frozen yogurt shop and Christen thought that that would be the perfect opportunity to tell them.
Christen slips her shoes on and walks to Tobin at the door, slipping her hand into Tobin's outstretched one.
"Ready?" Tobin asks, giving Christen's hand a light squeeze.
Christen tries to hide her smile. "Not really."
Although she's a little nervous, Christen is mostly excited to finally admit their reacquired relationship to her friends. The whole day Christen had to question her actions towards Tobin. Even after not being in a relationship for three years, they were always affectionate with each other. Having to figure out what was too much for their "friends" status was exhausting and Christen's glad that it's finally ending.
Tobin presses a kiss to Christen's hand before reaching for the door handle.
They're somehow the first two ready and in the lobby of the hotel, where they all agreed to meet, despite Christen's three outfit changes. They sit sharing a seat, with Tobin's legs resting in Christen's lap and her hand playing with Christen's hair. Christen lets her eyes close at the comfort and doesn't open them again until she hears a throat clearing behind her.
Tobin takes her time removing her legs from Christen and when Christen is finally able to stand up and turn around, she is greeted by Ali silently scolding Ashlyn.
"Hey guys," Christen says cheerfully, breaking whatever silent argument Ali and Ashlyn are having.
"Hey," Ashlyn responds. "Are we the only ones down here?" She asks, before turning towards Ali. "See I told you we didn't have to rush to get ready."
Before Christen gets a chance to respond to Ashlyn, the rest of their teammate begin flooding into the lobby from the elevators. Although they were all together for practically the entire day, the lobby becomes loud as the group chats about what happened in the short hours that they were apart. Even though they are talking to different people, Christen and Tobin's hands never separate; their fingers remain interlocked.
Christen can feel Kelley watching them and hopes that the defender can just wait a few more minutes to bring anything up, especially in front of the rest of their friends.
On their way to the frozen yogurt shop, Christen feels someone step in between her and Tobin. They drop their hands drop to their sides as Kelley slips her arms around the pair's shoulders. Kelley opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, Tobin is cutting her off.
"Don't say anything." She sounds calm and Christen can hear the smile in her voice, which makes Christen relax.
Kelley's about to say something again, this time Christen doesn't let her.
"We're going to need you to be patient."
A smile spreads across Kelley's face as she rubs Tobin and Christen's shoulders. "Just don't take too long, I've got a bet to win."
"Seriously, Kelley?" Christen sighs.
Both Kelley and Tobin laugh before Kelley is removing her arms from around Christen and Tobin's shoulders. She grabs their hands and rejoins them before walking away and joining Allie and Alex walking up ahead.
"So I guess there's no doubting that she knows," Tobin states, rubbing her neck with her free hand. Christen laughs and steps closer to Tobin.
"Did you see Ash's face when she and Ali came down stairs? I'm pretty sure they know too." She's laughing a little harder now as she rests her cheek on Tobin's shoulder. "This is probably going to be really easy."
"Maybe we should just start making-out, make it even easier." Tobin removes her hand from Christen's and wraps it around her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
Christen continues laughing the rest of the way to the frozen yogurt shop. They all get their desserts and travel down to the empty beach to eat them. Christen is about a quarter finished her yogurt when Tobin nudges her.
There's a lull in everyone's conversations and Christen figures that it's probably the perfect time to tell the group. She hands her dessert over to Tobin before standing up.
"Hey, everyone!" She announces. When everyone is looking at her, Christen gets nervous. She looks down at Tobin, who is smiling up at her, and continues. "Tobin has an announcement."
Christen quickly sits back down, reaching for her yogurt. Instead of grabbing it, her hand wraps around Tobin's and she's being pulled back up. Although everyone's eyes are still on her, Christen feels calmer with Tobin's arm wrapped around her, just like the previous night.
"We have an announcement," Tobin clarifies. Christen blushes when Tobin kisses her cheek. "So, Christen and I are dating again. And before anyone asks, it happened after you were all being jerks to us.
"But not because of you guys," Christen adds, looking around at her teammate staring up at them.
A chorus of "finally" floats around the air as the group of friends show their support.
Kelley's smile is bigger than Christen has possibly ever seen. "I knew first!" She exclaims, standing up and dancing around herself. "Now pay up everyone."
"Wait you told her before you told me?" Allie asks, handing a few bills to Kelley.
Alex frowns at Tobin and Christen. "Yeah, what's with that?"
"We didn't tell anyone," Tobin sighs. "Kelley's been weirdly watching us all day and kind of figured it out."
"I thought you two just decided to amp up the 'platonic' PDA and didn't believe Ashlyn when she insisted you were back together," Ali says, standing up and wrapping Christen and Tobin into a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you," she whispers just loud enough for the pair to hear.
Soon, the entire group is surrounding Christen and Tobin in a group hug.
"Okay, enough." Christen declares, pushing her teammate away from her, but keeping Tobin close. "It was long overdue." She turns Tobin's face towards her and gives Tobin a quick kiss, finally able to do so in front of all their friends.
"You're telling us." Meghan yells and they all begin laughing.
They sit down again and Christen grabs her frozen yogurt from where Tobin placed it, stirring it a little to mix up the melted parts.
"That went well," Tobin sighs, curling into Christen's side.
"I was expecting a lot more teasing. Our friends are going soft." Christen takes a bite of her yogurt, deciding it is too melted to salvage and sets it aside. She wraps her now empty arms around Tobin, maneuvering so Tobin is practically sitting in her lap.
Tobin hums her affirmation, getting more comfortable in her position.
"I'm sure there will be actual teasing later," Tobin says as she snuggles into Christen. She is resting her cheek on Christen's shoulder. "I love you," she mumbles into Christen's neck and Christen's cheeks heat up at the statement.
"I love you, too."
After three years of hiding her feelings from herself and then a day of hiding her feeling from her friends, Christen feels a sense of relief at those words. The cooing that Christen hears from her friend around her, warms her heart that little bit more.
She's finally allowed to openly love Tobin, and be loved back, without any judgment. Three years was way too long.