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Love happens when they’re lying on their stomachs over a container of Talenti ice cream--pistachio, because it’s Alex’s favorite.
“Stick to your side,” Alex complains, hitting Tobin’s spoon with her own.
“I bought it,” Tobin says with a laugh, but she complies. “I’m done with it, anyways.”
“Yay. More for me.”
Tobin sets her spoon down on the napkin and flips onto her back and stares at the ceiling.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Alex asks.
“My thoughts are definitely worth more than a penny. A nickel, at least.”
“I’m in grad school, spare me the four cents.”
Tobin clicks her tongue in response, pretending to think about it for a second. “Mmm… I dunno, I already bought you that ice cream.” She laughs when Alex flicks her forehead. “Fine, fine.”
She turns back around to get a better look at the girl sprawled out across from her. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just happy, ya know?”
Alex looks at her with her spoon sticking out of her mouth. “I spent a penny on that?”
“Yeah. You got ripped off, for sure.”
“I want a refund.” Her eyes dart down to the ice cream, and Tobin knows without asking that Alex is debating on whether or not she should save some for tomorrow or finish it off and make Tobin buy her another container.
Tobin takes advantage of this moment to really look at the girl sitting across from her, paying special attention to her eyes. Blue’s always been her favorite color, but Tobin definitely isn’t being biased when she says it suits Alex well, because it does.
Her favorite color on her favorite person. Pretty cool stuff.
Alex sighs and brings Tobin back into the moment. “You know…”
“What’s up, Al?”
“I think you’re selling yourself short. Your thoughts are definitely worth more than a nickel.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Like, a dollar coin, for sure.”
Alex’s eyes light up at her own joke, as they always do, and Tobin tries her best to keep her ‘that-wasn’t-a-good-joke-Alex’ face on. It doesn’t last long--she can’t help but smile when her best friend bursts out in laughter. It’s a dumb joke, but it’s endearing, and her laugh brightens Tobin’s spirits and settles her heart in a way she can’t quite explain.
Because while Alex’s eyes might be Tobin’s favorite, it’s her laugh that brings Tobin home.
If that’s not love, then Tobin isn’t quite sure she could handle what it actually is.
+
Alex Morgan tagged you in a post.
Tobin picks up her phone, flicking her thumb across the screen before she can smile at the name. It’s a photo with, ‘First person to come up @T has to buy you tacos’ written on it in Comic Sans.
Laughing, she flips over to iMessage, and instinctively hits the first chat in her inbox.
Alex
Today 9:27pm
tacos?
It’s the rule, Tobin. I don’t make the rules.
haha, well
i’m free tomorrow for dinner?
It’s a date.
cool.
Tobin chews on her lip for a second before deciding to be brave.
is this a ‘i’m picking you up at 6’ kinda date?
Read 9:31pm
Ah, shit.
“It’s over,” she groans.
Kelley pops her head in her room just a few seconds later. “What’s over?”
“Go away.”
“Oooh, a girl? Is it Alex?”
Another groan.
“Mmm,” Kelley sympathizes before inviting herself onto Tobin’s bed. “She’s pretty. And into you.”
“She just left me on read.”
“Yikes.”
Kelley’s not very good with comforting words, so instead she plays with Tobin’s hair, and Tobin lets her, appreciating the thought.
+
“She’s not that pretty.”
“Yeah. And her farts smell bad.”
“Kell, everyone’s farts smell bad.”
“I’m trying here.”
+
It’s another 12 hours before Alex replies, and when Tobin sees the name light up her screen again, she embarrasses herself in front of her co-workers by falling out of her chair.
“You okay, Tobin?” Christen asks, peering up from her cubicle.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Is it Alex?” Christen cringes when she sees the look of surprise on Tobin’s face. “Kelley mentioned it at breakfast this morning. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, I’ll beat her up for it later.”
“Okay.”
Tobin stares at Christen for a few seconds before asking, “Wait, what do I do?”
The sweet girl laughs, saying, “Open it!”
“Oh. Right.”
Alex
Today 9:49am
Yes.
If that’s okay.
Tobin’s face visibly relaxes, and Christen not-so-subtly reaches for her phone to text Kelley.
Kelley Maureen
Today 9:49am
What’d you tell her?
That she was being stupid.
Mm. True.
Glad it worked out.
So.
.
.
.
Tacos?
Only if it’s a ‘pick me up at 6’ kinda thing.
Sweet. Pick you up at 6.
+
“You’re taking her to a food truck?”
“Is that bad?”
+
Tobin finds herself driving Alex to a restaurant that Kelley and Christen picked out for them, while Alex absentmindedly scrolls through her phone, trying to pick a song to fit the mood.
“Tobin, do you know where we’re going?”
“Nope,” Tobin emphasizes the last syllable, popping her lips. “But Siri here does.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need me to navigate.”
“Don’t you worry, Al. Just focus on DJing, because you’re kinda slacking right now.”
“Well if you weren’t driving in circles, maybe I could stop worrying and focus,” Alex teases before finally settling on a song and clicking off her phone.
It’s routine. One of them drives, and the other picks the perfect song for the occasion.
This one’s a little slower, and the clean musicality automatically gives the artist away.
“Ed Sheeran?”
“Yeah.”
“Nice.” Tobin smiles, because Alex knows she loves Ed Sheeran.
We’re not, no we’re not friends, nor have we ever been.
We just try to keep those secrets in a lie,
And if they find out, will it all go wrong?
And Heaven knows, no one wants it to.
“I haven’t heard this one.”
“It’s my new favorite one by him. I think it’s on a deluxe album, or something. It’s called Friends.”
“I like it.”
Alex tries to hide the smirk that appears, and Tobin does her best to not notice it.
+
“Definitely better than tacos.”
“Yeah?”
“M’hm. I still want tacos, though.”
“Noted. Maybe for our second date.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
+
They don’t get tacos until their ninth date.
Alex is grateful they’ve even gotten to the ninth date, so she doesn’t bring the tardiness up.
She’s also grateful Tobin never mentions Alex left her on read before their first one. She quietly vows to never do that again.
+
Tobin barges into Kelley’s room, ignoring the “Hey!” from Christen when she shimmies in-between the two.
“We could’ve been doing more than making out, you know,” Kelley grumbles.
“I would’ve known. You’re loud.”
Tobin puts her arm up just in time to protect her face from the pillow flying at it.
“Get out.”
“It’s about Alex.”
“........”
“You can stay.”
Tobin flips around, burying her face into one of Kelley’s many pillows. “I wanna tell her I love her.” she muffles out.
Christen laughs and asks, “What was that? Couldn’t quite hear you there.”
“Please don’t make me say it again.”
Christen lays down to hug her, prompting another, “Hey!” this time from Kelley.
“So you want to, but are you gonna tell her?” Christen asks, shifting over so Kelley can join in on the hug.
Tobin shakes her head, leaning into Kelley. “Too embarrassing.”
Kelley laughs, and Tobin’s head moves as Kelley’s chest does. “Can’t be as embarrassing as when Christen told me.”
“Want me to take it back?” Christen warns.
“Nah. I liked it.”
“Mm. Thought so.” Christen turns her attention back to Tobin. “So…”
“How should I tell her?”
Christen doesn’t respond, and Kelley doesn’t have a joke for this one.
“Well,” Christen says, a full awkward minute passing between the three of them. “That’s up to you.”
+
Tobin tells her in their own special way.
It’s their 15th date. And Tobin only knows that because Alex starts every date with, “It’s our ___ date,” before playing Tobin a song.
But this time, Tobin says it. She’s in Alex’s apartment, her roommate Syd gone for the weekend. It tumbles out, and Alex can’t decipher what she said.
“What?”
“It’s our 15th date.”
“It is,” Alex muses.
“Can I play you a song today?”
Getting the go-ahead, she presses play on the song she’s had queued up for almost a week.
“Ed Sheeran?”
“Yeah. Cheesy, I know.”
And I will fall for you
And I will fall for you
If I fall for you
Would you fall too?
Tobin plays with her nail beds, unable to look Alex in the eyes as the song resolves its final chord. Alex doesn’t say anything either, so letting her nerves get the best of her, Tobin blurts out, “You can pick the next song.”
Alex sweetly smiles, takes the phone from Tobin’s hand and clicks ‘replay.’
She moves herself next to Tobin and lifts her arm, settling into the familiar curves of Tobin’s side.
“I like yours just fine.”