Work Text:
The music thumps along the walls of the club and through the bodies of the people occupying it. It's dark and foggy and I shouldn't be able to identify my friends silhouettes through the crowd of people, but I do. Kelley is by the front entrance, shamelessly flirting with the bouncer, who is also my good friend, Hope Solo. I see a hint of a smile on Hope's face so I know Kelley is working her magic. Ashlyn on the other hand, is in the midst of all the chaos trying to dance her way into Ali Krieger's heart. It seems to be working though, since right now they are so close that from where I'm sitting, it looks like they could be one person.
I shake my head at my friends antics and take a sip of my beer. It's been a relatively quiet night for myself (well, besides the bartender constantly hitting on me; oblivious to the fact that I'm not interested in him or his gender), but that doesn't stop me from having a good time. It's nice, sitting here and people watching. There's no one that stands out to me yet-everyone's doing the same thing.
I see Ali take a break from the dancing as she starts walking towards me.
"You just going to sit here all night?" She ask, sitting down at the empty bar stool next to me.
I shake my head. "No. Once I get enough alcohol in me I'll probably be on the dance floor."
Ali laughs. I see her eyes wander into the dance floor, looking for someone. Looking for Ashlyn.
"Are you two together?" I ask Ali. I know Ashlyn likes Ali, she's not so subtle about her feelings. But I barely know Ali, I have no idea about her.
Ali sighs. "It's complicated."
I laugh and take a sip of my beer. "If you like her, it's really not that complicated."
Ali gives me a look before changing the subject. "Some of my co workers are joining us tonight."
"Oh yeah? Who?" I ask.
"Some friends. Sydeny, Alex, Julie, and Christen."
"Don't know them." I say shrugging my shoulders, and take another sip.
"Didn't think so." Ali says, before tapping my thigh and going back on the dance floor.
I have a few minutes of silence- well as quiet as it gets in a dance club, before Kelley comes bounding over to my side.
"What's up Tobito?" She says, taking the beer bottle out of my hands and taking a sip.
"Hey! I paid six bucks for that!" I say, taking the bottle back.
"Six bucks? Isn't a bottle like that 10 dollars?" Kelley asks pointing to the menu on the bar.
I give her a grin and gesture my head to the bar tender that's been flirting with me all night.
"Oh I see! You've been working your magic on him, huh?" She asks giving me a wink.
I laugh. "There's no magic to work. I'm not interested in him anyways."
Kelley steals my beer again for another sip, "Not interested in men you mean." She corrects me.
I roll me eyes at her and take my drink back.
"Maybe you can get with one of Krieger's friends." Kelley tells me as she starts spinning around in her bar chair.
"You've know them?" I ask.
She nods her head. "Yeah I've seen them. They're pretty hot. Especially the one named Alex." She stops spinning and focuses on the dance floor.
"I thought you were pinning on Hope over there?" I ask, gesturing my head to the entrance where Hope was working.
Kelley blushes. "Yeah well I'm still aloud to acknowledge attractive people's appearances. Damn." She says as she spins around again on her chair.
"You're gunna get dizzy." I tell her.
"Psh no I won't." Kelley says while still spinning.
I roll my eyes and look over to the entrance. I see Hope talking to a group of women that are entering the club. There a blond girl, holding hands with a shorter brunette, both are very good looking and obviously together.
"Ah, I see you've found Krieger's crew. That's Julie and Christen," Kelley says as she turns to face where I'm looking. "As if you couldn't tell, they're dating."
I nod my head and take another sip of my almost empty beer. "Who's that?" I say pointing the tip of my beer to a darker skinned girl who's already dancing to the beat of the music in the doorway.
"That's Sydney, she's dating a guy named Dom I think." Kelley tells me while taking my beer and finishing it off.
"Dom Dwyer?" I ask while lightly hitting her on the shoulder for stealing my beer.
"Yeah," Kelley looks over to me in confusion, "Do you know him?" She asks me.
I nod my head absentmindedly. "I've seen him at work."
"Speaking of work, I was talking to Katie and she wanted to know when we could meet up to talk about the deal. You know, I think she's just trying to get a way to be alone with you something. I'm like 98.6% sure she has a huge crush-" Kelley drones on.
As Kelley keeps talking my eyes find the most gorgeous girl in the room. I see her laugh at something Hope says and I swear I stop breathing right there. She's wearing a short black dress, showing off her long, tan muscular legs. Even from this far, I could see her bright eyes darting around the room in excitement and anticipation. Her brown hair cascades down her back in loose wavy curls. I'm not the only one who notices her, practically all of the male's (and some female's) eyes are glued to the the tall beauty.
"Tobin? Tobiiiiin? Are you even listening to me?" Kelley reaches over to waves her hand in my face, almost falling out of the stool.
I take my eyes off of the girl and look over at Kelley in annoyance. "Yeah?"
"Who were you staring at for like 5 min-Ohhh. I guess you've seen Alex." Kelley says with a smirk looking over and the group of girls.
I nod my head. "She's beautiful." I breathe out.
"Yeah she's quite the looker isn't she? Too bad she's straight as a pole." Kelley points out.
I sigh, disappointed. "Honestly should've seen that coming." I say.
Kelley shrugs and gestures for the bar tender, Mike. Mike comes over and Kelley asks,"Can I have a beer please?" He nods once and and brings her one. "10 dollars." Kelley gives me an exasperated look. "I'll take one too." I say to the tender. Mike hands me a beer. "She with you?" He asks pointing to Kelley. I nod and smile. "On the house." He says with a smile. He walks away and Kelley gives me a shocked look,"Tobin you dog!" She exclaims while smacking my shoulder. I laugh and take a sip of my free beer. "What can I say? Everybody loves me." I say jokingly.
We go back and talk about work again when Kelley says,"Hey look," She points out Ali and Ashlyn,"I think they're going to go say hi to Ali's friends. Let's go with 'em." She says as she starts getting up.
"Yeah okay." I agree and quickly get up, eager to talk to Alex.
"Remember, straight as a pole." Kelley sings to me as we get closer to the group of friends.
"I know." I mutter back, my eyes already on Alex.
"Tobs! And Kelley! Come meet Al's friends!" Ashlyn gestures us over.
As we step in with the rest of them I give a slight wave to the girls. Kelley gives them a smile. "Sup I'm Tobin." I say. I lock eyes with Alex as Kelley introduces herself.
"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Julie and this is my girlfriend Christen." Julie, the blonde one, says sticking out her hand for Kelley and I to shake. Christen gives us a warm smile.
"What's up bitches I'm Sydney and I'm ready to get my party on!" The dark skinned girl exclaimed. I laugh and look over at Kelley who is giving Sydney an amused look. I have a feeling they'll get along quite well.
I look over to Alex and wait for her to introduce herself, even though I already know who she is.
"Hey, I'm Alex Morgan." She says, giving me a smile.
My knees turn to jello at the sound of her raspy voice.
"Tobin and Kelley here sometimes joins me out in the waves." Ashlyn informs them, while scooting closer to Ali and putting an arm around her shoulder.
"Oh so you surf?" Alex asks me while giving me a smirk.
"Little bit." I say notchantly, giving her a smirk in return.
"That's...cool." Alex drawls out.
"I-uh-surf too you know." Kelley points out.
I see Alex's eyes move down my body, as if she's checking me out.
But that can't be...Kelley said she was straight?
I shift awkwardly, my confidence wavering with Alex's eyes on me and suddenly look down to see if I looked presentable. I had on a pair of tight, ripped jeans and a nice, flowy sleeveless shirt with a pair of heeled boots. Luckily, Kelley persuaded me in putting on a little bit of makeup and actually doing my hair.
Alex's gaze meets mine and I quickly look over to Ashlyn who started talking again. Kelley, who apparently saw what Alex just did, nudged me and gave
me a look.
"Why don't we go find a place to sit?" Ali suggests after a couple of minutes of us standing around and talking.
"That sounds like a great idea." Alex says. Ali and Ashlyn turns around and start walking deeper into the club. The rest of us follow them, except for Hope of course, because she has a job to do. Once she's off though she'll probably join us much to Kelley's delight.
Kelley walks closer to me and leans in to whisper in my ear,"I saw the look Alex was giving you."
I feel my face go red and I whisper back. "You saw that too?!" I whisper back at her ,"I thought you said she was straight." I say into her ear as we continue walking, following the backs of Ali and Ashlyn with Syd and Alex following us.
All of a sudden I feel something touch my butt. I turn around quickly ready to punch whoever just disrespected my personal space in the face when I meet face to face with a smirking Alex Morgan.
"Sorry, I was pushed." She says, innocently. My eyes flicker to Sydney and see she's giving Alex and amused look. I go back at and see Alex looking at me with daring eyes. Daring me to say something other wise.
"Oh...that's okay. It's cool." I stutter out. Alex gives me a nod and I turn back around and continue walking with Kelley. We finally reach a booth were we could sit. Ashlyn and Ali squeeze into a chair that's next to the booth. Sydney ran off to start dancing with her boyfriend Dom, who arrived just as we found the seating area. Julie and Christen sat on one side, while I sat next to Kelley on the other side. I figured Alex would either go and join Sydney or squeeze in with Julie and Christens. Instead, she squeezes into the space next to me, practically in my lap.
"Hope it's okay if I sit here." Alex says.
I nod in response, not being able to trust my voice with Alex so close to me.
"So, Tobin, Ashlyn mentioned that you play soccer in an adult league?" Christen asks while Julie grabs her hand.
I nod. "Yeah I do. Kelley, here, plays with me too. Hope, the bouncer you guys were talking to, is our keeper." I say. I feel Alex's eyes on me as I talked.
"Really? That's so cool!" Christen exclaims.
"No wonder your so fit." Alex says out of the blue. I choke on my drink and blush. "Uh yeah I have to keep my fitness up for the team I guess." I say.
Alex leans over, getting closer to me. "Can I have a drink of that?" She asks pointing to my beer.
I see Julie and Christen give Alex a look and I feel Kelley's curious eyes on us.
"Uh sure?" I say, unsure of what exactly is happening.
Alex slowly grabs the beer and places it on her lips. I watch as she takes a sip and see her features form a grimace at the taste.
"Not your type?" I ask, laughing a bit.
"Oh no, It's definitely my type." Alex says looking directly in my eyes. I shift uneasily, confused on what exactly we're talking about now. Julie clears her throat and Christen lets out a chuckle. Suddenly, Sydney comes bounding to the table, with Dom and another man I don't recognize behind her.
"Hey guys! This is my boyfriend Dom, and his friend Servnado!" Sydney explains.
"Hey Tobin." Dom says giving me a smile.
"Sup Dom." I say nodding my head at him.
I look over at Servando and see him eyeing Alex.
Of course.
But when I look over at Alex, she's staring up at me with amusement in her eyes.
"Ahem. Alex," Sydney coughs out, "This is Servando. Remember?" She asks giving Alex a pointed look.
"Hm? Oh, hey Serv." Alex says absentmindedly.
Servando smiles sheepishly. "Do you want to dance?" He asks her.
A conflicting look crosses Alex's face. "Um, sure." She answers once she sees Syd's deathly glare that was directed to her.
Of course she chooses to dance with him instead of hanging out with me. She's not gay, don't let get your hopes up.
I watch as Dom and Syd make their way to the dance floor with the new couple in tow.
I look over at Kelley and see she has her 'thinking face' on.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I ask her. Julie and Christen are having their own conversation on the other side of the booth in hushed whispers.
"I-just-I was pretty sure Alex was straight." Kelley answers, flabbergasted.
"Who says she's not?" I say, pointing over to Alex grinding over Sevando's front. For some reason the sight bothers me and I quickly look away go get the sinking feeling out of my stomach.
"I swear you're the most oblivious person on this planet. Have you seriously not noticed her-" Kelley starts, but is interrupted by Ashlyn who comes over with Ali.
"Guys! You need to come on and dance!" She exclaims, giving Ali and big kiss on the lips in front of us before they both bound away to who knows where.
"I guess that means they're finally together." Kelley mutters.
"Oh yeah." I reply with a smile, happy for my friend.
Julie gets up. "Christen and I are gunna go over to the bar." She announces.
Kelley gives the OK sign and we watch them walk off.
"I'm gunna go see if Hope is off." Kelley tells me before she gets up and practically crawls over me.
"Dude!" I say laughing, "You could've just asked me to move and I would've!"
"Yeah but where's the fun in that Tobito?" She asks before running off to her lover.
I roll my eyes and look around the club again. I lock eyes with a woman who's sitting with a group of friends on the other side of the bar. I awkwardly look away and take a drink of my beer. I look up again and suddenly I see the same woman walking over to me.
Oh god is she coming over to me?
"Hey," She says giving me a small smile, "Are you here alone?" She asks.
I blush as she sits down next to me. "Uh-no actually. My friends are out there dancing." I say, gesturing over to Ashlyn, Ali, Syd, Dom, Servando, and Alex who are all dancing in a group.
"Oh I see." She shifts closer to me so our legs are almost touching. "I'm Sarah, by the way." She says, sticking out her hand for me to shake. I take it and introduce myself as well, "I'm Tobin." I say giving her a smile. "Tobin," She repeats, "That's a cute name."
I blush. "Yeah well they only give it to the cute people." I joke.
"Ain't that the truth." Sarah says, giving me a wink.
After talking about our jobs for a bit she asks me, "Are you going to dance?"
"I don't know," I say shrugging my shoulders. "Maybe."
"Alone?" She asks.
"Huh?" I say, confused. Sarah laughs. "I meant are you going to dance alone?" She asks again.
I look over back at the dance floor and see Servando and Alex still having the time of their lives. My stomach clenches when I see Servando pull her closer. Suddenly, as if she sensed me looking at her, she turns to meet my gaze. She looks over to me and gives me a smirk, but it falters once she sees Sarah next to me and how close she is.
"I-Uh-I don't know." I say, turning back to face Sarah.
"C'mon," Sarah says, getting up and extending her hand out to me, "Let's go dance."
I nod and take her hand as she leads me to the dance floor. At first, I danced a little awkwardly, but after a couple minutes I started to feel the beat and got into it. Sarah was a great dancer, I couldn't help but be impressed. I look over her shoulder and see Hope and Kelley snuggled up in a booth. Kelley catches my eye and gives me a wink and a thumbs up. I wink back and carry on dancing.
A couple minutes later, I look over to my group of friends and see everyone dancing. Even Christen and Julie got in the action. The only couple that wasn't there, was Servando and Alex.
Oh. I guess she went home with him. I think sadly.
I shake the thought from my head and focus on Sarah and my dancing. Moment later I feel a body pressed up against my back. I roll my eyes at the fact that for the second time today, my personal space has been invaded. I choose to ignore it and continue dancing with Sarah. Eventually, noticing my discomfort, Sarah stops dancing and look over my shoulder to get a look at who's behind me. Once she does, her face hardens and I stop dancing and turn around to see who's she's looking at.
"Toooooby finally your done dancing! I've been waiting for aaaaages!" Alex exclaims holding onto my bare arm.
My skin shivers at the contact as I try to interpret what's happening. I start to feel lightheaded once I figure out that Alex has been dancing on me this whole time. Sarah steps next to me.
"Im soooo drunk right now, Toby," She says. My eyebrow crinkles in confusion, "But you haven't had anything to drin-" I start. "Shhhh," Alex says as she puts a finger on my lips to stop me from talking. My breath hitches in my throat and I swallow hard.
"Come with me outside so I can catch my breath." Alex continues. She leans in and whispers into my ear, "But leave your...friend." She says looking at Sarah.
I turn to Sarah and she gives me a nod. "Go help your friend Tobin," She says with a forced smile. "We'll meet up later." She finishes. I smile and thank her. Sarah leans in and gives me a lingering kiss on the cheek. It doesn't give the same affect Alex's touch gave me, but it was still nice. Alex, who's been standing in front of us impatiently, pulls me away by my hand from Sarah after the kiss.
She forges through the crowd and I say, "Alex are you sure your drunk? You're navigating pretty well." All I get is a smirk in return.
As we make our way outside once again I noticed that everyone's attention is on Alex. Women are looking at her enviously while men's eyes fill with lust. I glance at Alex and see she's walking with such confidence you can't help but wonder if she knows the effect she has on people and she's basking in it, or if she's oblivious to the attention.
Once we get outside we sit down on a bench. I can still hear the music thumping from inside, and I drum the rhythm on my leg with my fingers out of nervousness.
"Where's Servando?" I ask stupidly.
"Don't know don't care." Alex replies shortly.
"I-I thought you guys were together?" I ask, shocked and slightly happy at the fact that Alex seems disinterested in him.
Alex laughs and says, "Nope."
The air between us seems to thicken and I see Alex shift closer to me.
"What about you?" She asks, looking me in the eyes.
"What about me?" I ask, uncertain in what she's asking.
Alex leans in closer to me. "Are you with that girl you were dancing with?"
"Who Sarah?" I ask. Alex gives me a look of annoyance and nods. "N-no. We just met today." I say.
"Oh so you're not interested in her?" Alex asks, putting a hand on my leg.
"I mean...no?" I stutter out. Alex being this close to me is messing with my brain.
"Good, good." She pauses before beginning again, "Are you...attracted to anyone right now?" Alex asks with a sly look.
I feel my face heat up and palms start to sweat, fully aware that Alex's hand has moved up my leg a couple of inches.
"Y-yeah." I admit.
Alex's eyebrows quirks up. "Are they here? In this club?" She asks with a knowing smirk.
I stare her in the eyes. "Sort of." I admit, giving her a smirk.
Surprised by my sudden confidence I see a faint blush on Alex's cheeks. I smile to myself in accomplishment. This whole night she's been teasing me, an now, she's speechless.
Finally, she asks, "What are you going to do about it?"
I swallow slowly. "There's nothing to do. There's no point." I say, thinking about all of the people inside of the club thats enraptured with the beautiful Alex Morgan.
There's no way she's attracted to me when there's tons of better people after her.
Alex looks a little disappointed when I admit this. "And why not?" She asks.
I sigh, but still hold her gaze. "Because everybody's watching her."
Alex doesn't say anything for a while and we just stare at each other. Then she started moving slowly to me, closer and closer. At the end she's close enough to where I can feel her breath on my lips.
My heart nearly stops in my chest and my eyes are glued to hers. From this distance I can make out her gleaming gray/blue eyes.
"But she's looking at you."
And she closes the gap between us.