Chapter Text
Tobin didn’t have to return the New York Fury after the Olympics. The season was finished, and she had been allocated to Portland for the following year. It was the start of the NWSL, and she had no idea if this league would take off and last like the others had tried to. Christen did have to go back to Sweden. After the party, Tobin spent a week with her parents before following Christen to Sweden until the end of their season. She was training over there and really enjoying herself having time to be with Christen and not hiding. She knew why they hid and neither of them was ready for the scrutiny of being out. They were private people at heart.
They wanted their skills to speak for themselves and be judged on that, nothing else should matter. But they knew it did, so they hid.
For now. The timing wasn't right.
Once the season finished for Christen, they travelled around Europe for a bit before returning to Christens parent’s house in California. They had sold their apartment because they were never in one spot long enough to need it. One day they would have a home but right now they were wanderers.
They spent November planning the wedding. They only wanted the people they were close with and truly loved and trusted there, which was honestly limited to their families and about 30 soccer players. Christen wanted it on the beach while Tobin didn’t care. She just wanted to be married to her best friend before they got separated again. Tobin had signed a six-month contract in France before she moved to Portland while Christen was going back to Sweden for a year.
It was a quiet wedding on the local beach at sunset and it was perfect for them. Tobin wore white pants and a button-down shirt while Christen wore a simple white dress that flowed to the floor. They were barefoot and happy they could do it their way. It was New Years’ Day and they could think of no better way to start 2013.
Before they disappeared up the coast for their honeymoon, they went and changed their names. Legally, they were now Tobin and Christen Heath but that wouldn’t be public knowledge for a while. They would go by Tobin Heath and Christen Press until they were ready for the world to know and they knew their careers wouldn’t be impacted. It could take a while, but they were together and happy to wait.
Tobin and Christen couldn’t wait to walk out in the National Team together, with C.HEATH and T.HEATH on their backs. It was a dream they would cling too.
Tobin had to report to PSG on the 7th of January. Christen went with her and spent 3 weeks there before she had to go to Sweden. It was almost like a continuation of their honeymoon and they made the most of their time together. Christen cheered her wife on proudly from the sidelines while she could.
Separating again was hard. They hoped they would be together for National camps and it was only a two-hour flight between France and Sweden, but it was a lot harder separating now they were married.
The February camp had the pair flying into the States from Europe with Ashlyn and Ali. They both played in Sweden with Christen and were on the same flight home. They were great friends and supports for Christen, helping the young striker manage the distance. Ash and Ali weren’t married, but everyone knew they would get there eventually. Similarly, to Tobin and Christen, they weren’t out yet, but the team knew. The squad liked to tease the couple about getting beaten to the alter but they just brushed it off. They were happy with who they were.
They were the couples closest friends and they could relate to situations others couldn’t. It was amazing having someone like that to talk to.
The camp wasn’t the longest one, but it was by far Tobin’s favourite.
Christen made her debut that camp. And Tobin couldn’t stop smiling.
Tobin was so proud of her wife. Christen scored a double and was player of the match after dominating. Tobin even assisted the second goal which made it just that bit sweeter. They celebrated as crazily as they could in the middle of a camp and Christen was so happy. The team backed her, she had her wife by her side, and she had finally made it to the top. It was as if nothing could be better.
Unfortunately, the National Team had a new coach, and no one was really comfortable with him. He was stifling their creativity and putting players in unusual positions. They were still winning, but no one was happy. Christen wasn’t complaining, she was happy to play wherever she could but the veterans, which somehow now included her wife even though she was only 24, were frustrated.
The team had an unofficial rule that the coach found out nothing about them and their families. Their private lives were under lock and key and no one broke their silence. He came across as fun-loving and cool, but the girls were aware that he wasn’t who he appeared.
Christen and Tobin weren’t able to be themselves around the coach. Not fully. Around the coach they did their best to stay away from each other because they just didn’t think he was a good person too know anything about them. According to Alex, they ‘exuded a fluffiness and happiness when together which only came from being in love.’ They didn't want him to ruin that.
The team noticed that the couple was uncomfortable around the coach and did their best to help them out. If that meant changing rooms on the sly or a text message updating them on where he was around the camp. It gave them time to change their location or their actions.
Tobin and Christen were grateful for their teammates and it reinforced their decision not to come out to the public. Maybe once they felt comfortable within the National Team setup they would, but if they weren’t fully comfortable there with the most accepting of teammates, where would they be?
After the camp, the couple went back to Europe. Tobin went back to PSG and Christen went to Sweden. They had to finish out their contracts even if separating broke their hearts.
Tobin enjoyed her time in Paris and learnt a lot about not only football but being a professional. However, when she settled in Portland and got comfortable, she felt like she was at home. The vibe of the city made the midfielder feel settled and calm. She knew the only thing that would make it perfect was Christen.
Tobin took a few weeks before she settled in with the Thorns squad. A few had been in the Olympic Squad and had been at her wedding, but she wasn’t going to tell the girls she didn’t know something that important. She was focused on football. Her rings were worn on a chain around her neck like it had been since the wedding. If she wore them out in public, it was on her middle finger. She only wore them on her ring finger in the privacy of her own home or with her closest friends when she was moping about missing Christen.
That happened quite often.
Tobin won the championship with the Thorns and after the year she had had, Tobin was all for staying in Portland full time. The team was brilliant, the girls were growing on her (she hadn’t told them her biggest secret, but they were worming their way into her life) and the city was chill.
Tobin flew out to Sweden the day after the final and watched her wife compete in her finals. They spent their off time just relaxing and being together, discussing their futures and planning their lives back in the States. They weren’t able to play for the same team in the NWSL as Christens rights were held by Chicago, but it would be easier to manage. Tobin was hoping she and Christen could go back to Portland and live there until the 2014 season started up and show her wife just how spectacular the city was.
However, her mindset and their plans changed when Tobin realised Christen wouldn’t be able to leave Sweden until the middle of 2014. Her wife was involved in the women’s Champions League and her contract didn’t finish until they were knocked out.
After a long discussion with both her wife and the Thorns, which required Tobin to inform the organisation of her marital status, Tobin returned to PSG for another short-term contract. It was the best option for them even if there didn’t seem to be many good ones. She wouldn’t miss much of the Portland season, but she also wouldn’t be in the one place that felt like home and she wouldn’t be with her wife. She would be closer to her and Christen could live with her in the limited offseason she had, but it wouldn’t be the same.
Tobin struggled for match time in Paris and wasn’t happy when she wasn’t with Christen. She stayed professional and did her job when she was called upon, but at home she was a shadow of herself.
She perked up at National camps, but they were limited in their number and tense. The camps were mostly a band-aid which was ripped off when the couple was pulled apart again. The coach was let go in April after a bad camp and Christen and Tobin breathed a sigh of relief. They had no idea who would come in next and they honestly hoped it would be someone who was considerate, kind, smart and compassionate.
If they couldn’t get that, then someone who wasn’t a homophobic asshole.
Tobin breathed a sigh of relief when her contract finished, and she returned to Portland. She left Europe a month before her wife but Christen knew Tobin needed to go home. Paris was great for her football but bad for her mindset. Portland helped get her head back on straight and Allie and Alex kept her thinking positively not negatively.
Christen knew her wife was happy when their Skype call was cut short with a yell of “HARRY” and a pillow knocked the laptop down. She could hear the peals of laughter from Tobin and she knew her wife was beaming.
As much as Christen wished she was playing for Portland, her flight was headed to Chicago when she finished in Sweden. The pair were hoping to get Christen transferred to Portland but until then they would make do. They hated being apart, but they flew as often as they needed too to be together. They were back in the same country now and they were slowly getting closer together.
Jill Ellis was brought in as the new USWNT coach in May after serving as the interim coach and while her style was different to what they were used to, her demeanour and personality was calming. The girls were happy under the coach. Every camp they went to after Jill came in as the coach was better than the last. The girls were firing on all levels and really excited that their game would go to the next level.
Christen and Tobin felt safe in the National Team environment. Not just with the players, but with the staff and the organisation. All the selectors were fair, and Jill was tough but treated everyone equally. No one got away with anything and the newbies were protected from the shit the older players occasionally pulled.
The NWSL season ended and Christen went to Portland. She liked Chicago, but Tobin loved Portland. Tobin couldn’t describe what it was that made Portland feel so special, but Christen knew that if it made Tobin smile then it was worth moving. She quickly found her own love for the city and the couple knew that they would be settled there.
The first thing Tobin did after showing Christen the city was introduce her to the Thorns. She trusted them and they had supported her greatly while she was trying to get her headspace sorted. They alluded to the fact they knew she was missing someone, but she never explained or elaborated. When Christen was brought in by a blushing but smiling Tobin the team hollered and cheered. Tobin was sheepish but before the girls could get too riled up, they showed the team their rings.
They were speechless and Christen explained their story and their history. They were laughing and crying at the story, hating the fact their teammate felt she had to hide her relationship. They promised to protect it until they were ready to come out fully.
Christen grinned and Tobin shrugged. “That could be sooner than we all think.”
Both women were in the squad for the 2014 CONCACEF competition in October. They won the competition and the squad was celebrating together in the hotel. They were playing stupid drinking games because it was the first time in a long time that they could really let loose. It was also one of the last because the World Cup was coming up in less than 12 months and after the heartbreak of 2011, they were determined to win this one.
They were sitting around playing truth or dare without the dare because, according to Carli, they were professional athletes who can’t do stupid shit like that in case they get hurt. Everyone rolled their eyes but actually agreed with her. (Kelley had jumped out of a window and into a pool on a dare once. It was not a bad rule.)
They were buzzed enough that silly things were being asked but sober enough that real questions were being. Ali was asked what she loved most about Ashlyn while Amy was asked who her favourite New Kid was. Tobin pouted when she said Lauren and called her a betrayer. Christen hugged her wife and kissed her on the cheek which immediately made her smile.
Tobin and Christen were asked why they hadn’t come out yet.
“It isn’t because of the coach and US Soccer still, right? Jill is sweet and no one will care you are married. You are perfect together! Anyone can see that.” Alex hated seeing her best friend in pain and that was what it looked like whenever she was apart from Christen.
Tobin and Christen explained they didn’t want any extra pressure on themselves coming up to a World Cup and they didn’t want to put any more scrutiny on the team. They had to live in two different cities for half of the year and didn’t want the scrutiny when they were able to be together. Besides, their clubs and Jill knew. It just wasn’t public yet. It was a matter of timing.
The Thorns knew because Tobin and Christen had told the team and Tobin had told the coach to get her contract in Pairs signed off. Chicago knew because Christen had enquired about a trade to Portland and they wanted to know why.
Before she was the head coach, Jill had helped them by telling Ali where Tom would be. She was their spy behind enemy lines and had supported them for longer than anyone knew.
Jill had spoken to the couple before her first camp in charge. She had no problem with their relationship and was fully supportive. They were going to be permanent roommates as she knew they would sneak around if she didn’t and she trusted them not to abuse the privilege. She only asked that they came to her if their was anything she needed to know and that any spats or arguments were kept out of camp.
Jill had asked them when they planned to come out officially. They saw her sag in relief when they said it wouldn’t be until after the World Cup because they didn’t want to be a distraction. “I would never tell some one to not come out, but it could cause a media storm and I wouldn’t want you to have to deal with that. It is hard enough without being in the public eye. I’ll do everything I can to protect you from it if you do decide to come out, but some things can’t be taken back.”
The team accepted that answer and moved onto other topics. They loved the couple and couldn’t wait for the day they could be free of the shackles of duty. Carli joked that Tobin should just snog Christen after a game and get it over with that way. The team laughed at the blush on the couples faces, unaware that they had come close to doing that before.
The team mucked around for a bit and started dancing to music. Christen and Tobin went and hid in the corner, occasionally kissing but mostly just being cute and adorable. The girls groaned and took photos of the pair. They had a log of all the times the pair were cute and adorable since their first camp together. Kelley and Ash even had photos of their time in college. Nothing that would incriminate them but they had spent most of the first party cuddled up looking cute. As soon as they came out, everyone was going to post an embarrassingly adorable photo of the pair. It would be their way of showing support and teasing them.
The girls were together for most of 2015. They were in US camps for weeks at a time preparing for the World Cup, and then were actually competing. They only had to separate for a few weeks, and they were miserable.
The World Cup was long, but they were rooming together. They didn’t get as much private time as they expected. Team dynamics were important so most of the time they hung out in a group. However, everyone could see they were better as a pair and they rarely separated if they didn’t have to.
They celebrated their personal milestones and achievements throughout the camp. Even though they had their own room, they wanted privacy and space where no one could knock on the door or prank them. The couple eventually found that in the hour before curfew that lying together on the roof of the hotel and just being together was the best use of that time.
Only once did they fall asleep up there and the team gave them shit for days.
They had made it to the final and Christen had spent the morning locked in the bathroom trying to calm Tobin down. She was freaking out about what happened four years ago and was terrified it would happen again. As much as it wasn’t her fault, Tobin knew today was the day she could make amends in her own mind. Christen took over 3 hours to calm her down.
Tobin and Christen surfaced for lunch but nothing was said. They weren’t the only ones feeling nervy. Ali looked green. Kelley was fidgetting. Lauren and Amy were silent.
Christen didn’t play any minutes in the final but she had the best view to watch history being made. Carli’s hat trick and Laurens goal were amazing, and no one could believe it. They went into the half time break buzzing. 4-1 up and some of them still couldn’t believe it.
The second half wasn’t better than the first. Not for anyone except Tobin and Christen. Tobin scored the goal that put the match out of reach after a Japanese goal looked to try and make it a battle. Christen cried when she scored and hid herself behind Ashlyn to calm herself down. Tobin’s finish put to bed all her worries about history repeating itself and she played freely for the rest of the game until she was subbed out.
The whistle went and the team swarmed the pitch. Tobin and Christen ran away looking for each other in the excitement, forgetting they were next to each other.
Tobin ended up next to Alex and Allie and the duo saw her pouting. “What’s wrong Tobi?! We won!”
Tobin nodded. “I know, but I can’t find Chris!”
Allie rolled her eyes and spun her so she could see her wife with Ali and Ash. The pair seemed to be doing the same thing for the younger forward and Ash spun Christen around to see Tobin.
Their eyes locked across the field and they beamed. They ran away from their friends and met halfway.
Tobin tackled her wife in a hug and spun her in circles, smiling and laughing. Once she set her down, they just held each other for a few seconds.
When they pulled back, Tobin cocked her head at her wife’s shy smile. “What is it?”
Christen shrugged. “I’m so proud of you. All I want to do is kiss you and show it, but all I can do right now is hug you.”
Tobin blushed and shrugged. “I would like nothing more than to do that. But we can’t. It would take the shine off the team and we don’t want that.”
“One day?”
Tobin nodded. “Very soon. Maybe tonight. But right now, we have a team to celebrate with and I am not leaving your side. Ever. I’m not hiding my love for you anymore.”
The pair went and joined their teammates, and if they were a bit more coupley than normal, no one commented on it. Once they were back in the changerooms, Christen pulled her wife into a corner and kissed her senseless. The cameras weren’t on them and they needed that connection.
They weren’t hiding their relationship anymore. They hadn’t said anything to the press or the public, but they noticed that questions were being thrown their way about their relationship. Online, fans were questioning their relationship after a photo of them cuddling in the changerooms after the match went viral. Tobin had her hand around Christens waist and Christen was kissing her cheek. It was tame but it was telling. Especially considering their engagement and wedding rings were in full view.
There were other photos but none were as clear as that one.
They managed to get to the ticker-tape parade until they had to face it. However, they had planned for it. Once they decided they weren’t hiding they had spoken to their teammates. With their blessing, they were going to quietly announce they were married without saying a thing.
When they got to the end of the parade and the Mayor’s speech was finished, the team was then being presented with new jerseys which had three stars on them. Jill was announcing them as coach, and she made sure that she skipped Tobin. The crowd didn’t miss that and was clamouring for Tobin to get her jersey presented to her. Tobin just smiled and put her hand in Christens. She was ready for this.
Once the team had all been announced, except Tobin and Christen, Carli moved to the microphone and spoke clearly as Ash and Kelley moved to pull the couple to their feet. They dropped their hands so they could walk through the chairs easily, but they stayed close. Once they were stood in the middle of the stage, Kelley and Ash moved back to their places with the team.
Carli cleared her throat. “We have two special jerseys for these two. These jerseys have been waiting for them since New Years Day, 2013 and I am so proud to be here to witness this. They have put our success before their happiness for years and now, it is our time to support them and put them first.”
Alex and HAO had the jerseys in their hands to present to their teammates. They all had tears in their eyes, but they were all smiling.
Tobin and Christen held their jerseys so that the crowd couldn’t see the back. They were beaming and crying at the names on the back.
Carli spoke before she got to choked up to finish. “Number 17 of the World Cup winning squad is Tobin Heath.” Tobin spun her jersey around and the crowd could see the back. They didn’t really notice the difference that had her so happy. The ones who could didn't get it.
Carli cleared her throat and spoke. “Number 23 of the World Cup winning squad is Christen Heath.” Christen spun her jersey around to cheers of celebration and gasps of shock.
They were beaming and the whole stage was clapping. Tobin kissed her wife softly, but they were both smiling so wide it didn’t last long.
The team surrounded them in celebration, and they stood at the front with their new jersey’s proudly on display.
T. HEATH and C. HEATH stood out boldly on the white jerseys.
They wouldn’t be hiding anything again. They would carry their love on their backs.
Always.