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“What are you?”
Tobin took a swig of her drink and grimaced at the overly fruity taste. Lindsey must have made this batch of punch.
“Pilot,” she answered Kelley. She tugged on the fuzzy collar of her old-timey bomber jacket and flicked at the aviator sunglasses on the top of her head.
“Like just a pilot? Not even like a famous pilot? Lame!”
“Thanks Leo,” Tobin winked at her, eyeing the Hawaiian shirt and bandaged cut on Kelley’s arm.
Kelley struck a pose. “Thanks! Love is tragic, y’know.”
“Love, huh?” Tobin smirked around the rim of her cup as she watched Kelley blush furiously, as if just realizing what she said.
“Deep like is tragic doesn’t have the same ring to it,” Kelley mumbled. She scrubbed at her cheek with the back of her hand like it would make the color go away, which obviously didn’t work.
Tobin softened at the way Kelley smiled when her eyes landed on a pair of white wings visible talking with Alex in the kitchen. She liked seeing her friends happy.
“Anyway, you’re one to talk.” Kelley countered.
Tobin, perpetually single, very confused, and refusing to acknowledge exactly what she knew Kelley was referencing, just tilted her head to the side and frowned at her. “What?”
Kelley rolled her eyes. She shoved one of the two cups in her hand at Tobin who had to react quickly to not drop it. “Nothing, Captain Oblivious. Can you find Chris? She wanted a drink.”
The name hit like a jolt of electricity. Instead of butterflies it felt like Halloween themed bats took up residence in her stomach and chest, swooping and batting at the inside of her body like they were desperate to get out. “Where is she?” She asked. She hadn’t even known Christen was there yet.
“Around.” Kelley shrugged and left, sneaking up to wind an arm around her girl and tapping her knuckles very gently but fondly against the front of Alex’s stomach. Tobin grinned when Alex batted her hand away but curled her hand gently on top of the barely-there bump instead.
“Real helpful Kel,” Tobin muttered to nobody. She lifted her head to scan the crowd.
Ali and Ashlyn’s house was packed with national team and NWSL teammates alike. Over in the corner by the tv she could see Gomez and Morticia holding court - the hostesses themselves. As she wove through the crowd she passed a surprisingly short Sam Mewis in a nose-guard mask and a tall blonde pirate that was the ACTUAL Sam Mewis scowling and saying, “How the hell did you get one of my jerseys, Bellpepper?!” Beyonce was dancing on a makeshift dance floor to cheers of “yeah Dunny get it!” Before she could make a full sweep of the room she was stopped by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, eye catching in neon yellow shirts and bright red leggings with suspenders.
“Which one of you is Tweedle Dum?” She asked, leaning forward to blow on the helicopter hat of the one on the right so it started to spin.
“Me!” Sonnett answered cheerfully. She leaned into Lindsey to allow her to flick at the helicopter part of her hat to keep it spinning.
Tobin chuckled. “Do you have anyone else? Alice? The Mad Hatter?”
“Both,” Lindsey pointed over to where a British Mad Hatter was wooing her Alice with beer pong skills. Obviously it was working, since Kristie gave her a kiss the next time she sank a shot. (Much to the groans of their opponents: Jane in a t-shirt with bricks on it and Ellie in a shark onesie.) “And there’s an Aussie around here somewhere dressed as the Cheshire Cat.”
“Which one?”
“Which Cheshire Cat?”
Tobin rolled her eyes. “No, which Aussie. Idiot.”
“Hey!” Lindsey pouted at her. Sonnett tapped her cheek to make her smile again. Tobin contained another laugh at the way Lindsey was swaying just the littlest bit. The Great Horan was on her way to a great hangover the next day.
“Caitlin,” Sonnett offered when it became obvious Lindsey was too distracted by Tobin making fun of her to answer.
“Have you seen Pressie?” Lindsey blurted out suddenly.
Those damn bats again. She wished they’d go away instead of acting up whenever someone even casually mentioned her friend. She emphasized the last word to herself. A reminder of all they were - all they were apt to ever be. “Uh, no, actually Kel sent me to bring her a drink. Do you know where she is?”
“Outside, I think.” Sonnett was looking at her with a very concerning twinkle of mischief in her blue eyes. Tobin was wary instantly. “That’s where Al and Ash are keeping the dogs.”
Tobin couldn’t stop the fond smile that grew at that. Of course, she should have checked where the dogs were first. “Thanks guys.”
The twinkle of mischief brightened into a supernova. Sonnett nearly cackled. It got louder when Tobin narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“Nothing,” Sonny answered the unasked question. She braced herself a little to let Lindsey lean into her and nuzzle into her neck. “Good luck!”
“Luck? Why do I need luck?”
Sonnett just laughed and unwound herself from Lindsey to instead grab her by the hand and lead her away. Hopefully to drink some water. Tobin glared at their retreating backs and then turned to make her way towards the backyard.
There were just as many people in the backyard as there were inside - hanging by the pool, eating off the buffet table, or lounging on the chairs scattered along the grass. Running around nearby hoping for people to drop treats was Logan as the cutest four legged Batman (Batdog?) to ever exist, shadowed by Alaska dressed adorably as her Robin. They ran past a group of humans dressed as Superheroes: AD and Emily as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Allie and Bati as Supergirl and the Flash, and Syd and Dom as Aquaman and Mera. Tobin’s eyes skipped from one person to the next until Allie laughed and put her hand on the shoulder of the person she was talk to and Tobin -
Tobin dropped her drink.
In her defense, it was only because she couldn’t feel her fingers anymore. Any feelings she’d been ignoring or pushing away about Christen slammed to the forefront so fast she thought she could feel them escaping out of her chest. She had to stop herself from touching her heart to make sure it was still beating properly.
Because Christen was Wonder Woman.
She had the boots, with what looked like miles and miles of legs than ran up into the skirt. The armored corset hugged her torso and left her upper chest and arms bare. The headpiece held back her curly dark hair. Christen was all smiles, and toned muscles, and broad open expanses of smooth brown skin, and Tobin was pretty sure she was going to pass out.
A loud shriek of laughter from somewhere nearby broke her out of her trance. She scooped up the dropped cup before the dogs could come investigate. She dropped it into a trash can behind her and, armed only with the cup Kelley had given her for Christen, she meandered as casually as she could over to the group.
“HARRY!” Allie threw her arms around Tobin in a very happy, very tipsy greeting.
“Hey, Har,” Tobin grinned and patted her on the back with her free hand. “Nice wig, Dom.”
Dom tugged on a lock of his red Mera wig and winked at her. Syd flexed her arms and lifted up her trident.
“You guys all look great!” She told them, stepping back from Allie and looking around the group. She purposefully left Christen for last, but that didn’t stop her from feeling like someone punched her gut when her eyes met Christen’s, a bright grey-green in the low light. “That costume’s fantastic, Chris.” If she was a little breathless at least it was hard to hear over the other noise. “I can’t believe you all did a group costume and didn’t tell me.”
“You can do it too!” Allie said just a touch too loudly. She kissed his hand when Bati touched her shoulder to quiet her and he got this soft, sappy look on his face. “You can do it with Chris! Cause she’s Wonder Woman and you can be that guy. Chris Pine.”
“Steve Trevor,” Christen corrected. She crossed their little circle to stand in front of Tobin and Tobin’s heart skipped at least four beats when she smoothed her hands against the fuzzy collar of Tobin’s bomber jacket. “You’ve got the pilot part down.”
Christen was too close, and she smelled like that lotion she always used after a shower, and Tobin was an adult who could handle this...probably.
“This is for you,” she said. She held up the cup Kelley had given her. “Kel said you wanted a drink.”
“Ooh!” Christen pulled her hands away from Tobin’s jacket to make wiggly grabby fingers at the cup instead. It was adorable and Tobin gave her the cup immediately. “Thanks, Tobs!”
Christen sipped delicately at the drink and Tobin smiled at the way her nose crinkled. “Linds made the punch, blame her,” Tobin said.
“I will.” Christen looked up from underneath her lashes. A pretty pink color spread across her cheeks. “You really like the outfit?” She asked.
Without thinking it through Tobin reached out and ran her fingers over the stitching of the corset. Her palm skittered against Christen’s side, moving with each deep breath she took. She could feel the way Christen’s breath hitched under her touch and it made her brave. She slid her hand to her hip to tug at the lasso there, wrapping it around her wrist. “Lasso of truth says I can’t lie,” Tobin murmured, smiling back when Christen broke into a grin. “It’s the best costume of the night.”
“Of the whole night, huh? You probably haven’t seen everybody here yet.”
“Don’t need to. Plus, you’ve got me on your arm. I can be an excellent Steve Trevor. I’ve often been told I look nothing like Chris Pine.”
Christen laughed with her head thrown back, quieting into a series of giggles that Tobin would gladly make a fool of herself just to keep hearing.
“I think you’re a much better Steve Trevor,” Christen said when her giggles had trailed off.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Chris Pine who?”
“You two are cute,” Allie said suddenly.
It pulled Tobin out of her Christen bubble so quickly she nearly gave herself whiplash. She stepped back a little and turned her head to hide the disappointment on her face. Christen didn’t let her go far though. She stepped forward and wrapped her hands around Tobin’s arm.
“Excuse you? We’re clearly badass.” Christen drawled.
Tobin puffed out her chest and nodded, promoting another flurry of giggles.
AD rolled her eyes but she was smiling. “Clearly we’re the more badass couple here,” she wrapped her arm around Emily’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Right, babe?”
Tobin’s heart did a deep-sea dive at the word ‘couple’ even as Christen snuggled closer. “Cold?” she asked her quietly.
Christen shook her head, paused, then nodded. “Want to go inside?” She tugged on Tobin’s arm.
“Sure.” Tobin raised her voice a little, but didn’t meet the eyes of any of the smirking faces watching them. “We’re heading inside. You losers can stay out here being the lesser dressed people.”
Syd kicked at her and Tobin skipped to the side, pulling Christen along with a smile. As they stepped through the door the music started to hit them more. Someone - she suspected Ashlyn - had decided they’d moved into the ‘bump the tunes’ part of the night. Christen hurried ahead of her, switching their positions so she was now the one leading Tobin into the crowd.
“C’mon flygirl. Dance with me!”
Like Tobin could do anything else except get pulled along? She’d spent every moment of her life since Christen came into it happily following where she led. And maybe one day she’d woman up and do something about it. Maybe tonight, with Christen looking over her shoulder with such a radiant smile that Tobin’s heart felt too big for her chest.
They reached the edge of the makeshift dance floor and Christen immediately pulled her closer. She wrapped her arms loosely around Tobin’s shoulders and Tobin stepped into her space just a little to put her hands on her waist.
She didn’t know what song was playing but it was something with a lot of base. For as graceful as she was on the soccer field absolutely none of that translated onto the dance floor and she normally felt awkward and out of place. With Christen none of that mattered. All she had to do was let her body move. All she had to do was keep any part of her body that was pressed against Christen exactly where it was and Christen’s body did the work for her.
It was intoxicating, being so close. Feeling the heat where her skin pressed against Tobin’s clothes. The beat of the music so loud she could feel it. And it seemed like every song Christen got a little closer, until soon Tobin’s hands slid to the small of her back and Christen’s elbows were hooked around her neck, her hands playing with the hair on the back of Tobin’s head.
Her skin was on fire. She could feel every ounce of blood rushing through her veins.
As the song transitioned from one to the next Tobin heard it, nearly a whisper, so soft it was nearly a miracle she heard it at all, something Christen seemed to be saying only to herself: “What are we doing?”
Later, she would never be able to say what the catalyst was. Maybe it was because she was tired of pretending. Maybe it was the way she caught Kelley looking at them from where she was dancing with her own girl - protector Kelley, who took her role of defender very seriously, who would never let either of them get hurt. Maybe it was because it was finally time.
Whatever it was she grabbed Christen’s hand and tugged, pulled her away from the crowd and down the hallway and into an empty downstairs room, and maybe if she bothered to pay attention she would have noticed that Christen followed her just as willingly.
“Tobin?” she asked when the door clicked shut behind them. “Is everything ok?”
Tobin reached out and grabbed the lasso on Christen’s hip, ignoring the curious and confused look she got from those eyes she loved so much as she wrapped it loosely around both of their wrists. “Lasso of truth,” she croaked out, voice shot as she lifted her eyes to Christen’s. “If I kissed you right now, what would you do?”
All the breath rushed out of Christen so loudly that Tobin could hear it in the stillness of the room. The party went on with muffled noise somewhere but all that mattered was them.
“Ask you to never stop.”
The tension inside her curled and snapped all at once like a rubber band. Tobin kissed her.
Christen’s lips tasted like the shitty punch Lindsey made and outside the door was a party full of their friends who had probably seen them walk away together and yet it was the most perfect first kiss she’d ever had. She adored everything about it: she adored the way Christen leaned into it, the happy little hum she made in the back of her throat when Tobin pulled her closer, the way her fingers tugged at the little wisps of hair at the back of her neck and scratched against her scalp.
She adored it because it didn’t feel like a first kiss at all. It felt like they’d done it a thousand times before - like they’d had all the practice they’d ever needed to. They kissed the way they played soccer together, seamless and fluid. Tobin nipped at her full bottom lip and the breathy little sigh she got in return immediately made her want to do it again.
The needy way Christen pressed into her when she started to pull back made her smile so much they couldn’t keep the kiss going any longer. She smiled even wider when Christen dropped a few tiny little kisses against the corner of her smile.
“Well?”
Christen nudged their noses together. Tobin could feel every breath she took, through the rise and fall of their chests pressed so tightly together and the puffs of air that hit her lips, so close but not actually touching. “I thought I said never stop?”
She squealed when Tobin grabbed her hips and spun them, backing them into the wall by the door. When Tobin kissed her again it was a little needier, a little more heated, her fingers dug into her hips with a little more force, and yet it was still just as perfect the second time around. The bats were gone - banished - dispelled by Christen saying everything she’d ever wanted to hear.
Her head was spinning. She was nearly overwhelmed. She paused briefly to pull away, barely far enough for any meaningful distance, but her mind needed time to catch up that this was happening, that Christen was pulling her in instead of pushing her away, that every thought she’d had in the past few years was not only okay but enthusiastically welcomed.
When she pulled away just that tiniest amount Christen’s fingers tightened more, blunt fingernails scraping the back of her neck in such a way that it sent a frisson of heat down her spine. She couldn’t control the shiver and she felt more than saw the way that Christen smirked as she pressed a kiss to Tobin’s jaw and did it again. She laughed when it made Tobin shiver a second time and the giggles Tobin already loved so much were infinitely better when they vibrated against her skin.
The slam of someone knocking on the door was the only thing to pull them away from each other.
“You better not be making out in my exercise room!” Ashlyn shouted through the door.
Tobin’s heart stuttered when Christen tilted her head to look at her. Her face was flushed, lips red and a bit swollen, her chest heaving. She looked thoroughly kissed and absolutely ravished. Tobin felt a surge of pride for making her look this way. She knocked back against the door.
“Shut up, Ash!”
Their friend’s laughter followed them into their next kiss.
The next year they went as Han Solo and Princess Leia, and matched on purpose.