Consequences
The next morning, Christen wakes up to the sound of someone banging on her front door. Before she can get up to answer the obnoxious knocking, Kling bolts out of her room and rushes over to the door, cracking it slightly and sticking her head out.
“Oh, hi Mark,” Kling says awkwardly, not planning on interacting with her coach while in her pajamas.
“Hello Meghan,” Mark states flatly. “Is Christen here?”
Meghan turns her head inside and sees Christen standing against her bedroom doorway shaking her head. “Um, actually, she’s in the shower right now,” Kling answers, turning back around to face Mark.
“Well, when she’s done, tell her to come meet me outside the building. I need to have a word with her,” Mark says sharply.
“Yeah, okay. Will do, coach. Uh, see you later,” Kling mutters, closing the door and walking over to Christen.
“What was that about?” Christen inquires nervously, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I have no idea,” Kling responds, “But coach wants you to meet him outside ASAP.”
“Fuck, you don’t think this is because of, you know, uh, the kiss, do you?” Christen frets, scrambling to her dresser to put on jeans and a hoodie.
“Could be,” Kling acknowledges with a sympathetic smile. “I mean, I’m sure the press is all over it. No pun intended.”
Throwing Kling a glare, Christen clenches her jaw and groans. “Ugh, why do I get myself into these situations?”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Chris,” Kling reassures her friend, rubbing her back. “You just got caught up in the moment. For what it’s worth, I think you and Tobin would make a pretty great couple.”
“Thanks, Kling, but I have a feeling that’s not going to work out,” Christen laments, hugging the defender before heading out to meet her coach.
“Good luck!” Kling yells after the forward as she closes the door to their apartment.
As Christen makes her way outside, a million thoughts run through her head. Why did she kiss Tobin? Does she regret it or not? Is she attracted to Tobin? Will she be benched because of this? Is Mark pissed? Of course he is. You just got here and you already managed to fuck things up, Christen scolds herself. But before she is able to punish herself too much, Christen sees Mark standing on the sidewalk outside of the apartment complex. Taking a deep breath, she makes her way over to her new coach.
“Hi Mark,” Christen says hesitantly. “Kling said you wanted to speak with me.”
“Hello Christen. Yes, we need to talk about what happened at yesterday’s match,” Mark declares, not wasting any time. Christen bites her lip nervously.
“First, I just want to make it clear that I have absolutely nothing against the LGBTQ+ community. You and Tobin are both adults and it is none of my business what you do off the field.”
Christen, slightly red-faced, breathes a sigh of relief and nods her head.
“However,” Mark continues, “I do care about what you choose to do when you are on the field. And what you did yesterday was unacceptable. Because of that kiss, the media is going absolutely crazy. I’ve already received 27 calls this morning from reporters asking about you and Tobin. My job is to coach a professional soccer team, not answer questions about player relationships.”
“I’m so sorry, Mark,” Christen confesses, “I didn't mean for this to happen, but I can promise that it will not happen again.”
Mark contemplates for a moment and then says, “I could easily bench you for this you know.”
“Of course, I understand—,” Christen starts.
“I could bench you,” Mark cuts her off. “But I’m not going to do that.”
A wave of relief rushes over Christen’s face.
“Look, Press. You’re one of the best forwards out there, and that goal you scored yesterday gave us the win. You are an asset to this team, and it wouldn’t be fair for me to bench you. You made a mistake, and that’s that. Let’s put what happened yesterday behind us and focus on preparing for Orlando next week.”
Overwhelmed, Christen hugs her coach. “Thank you so much. I will not disappoint you, on or off the field.”
Mark gives a small smile and offers, “I know you won’t Christen. See you at practice.”
“See you then,” Christen returns with a grin, turning to head back to her apartment.
“How did it go?” Kling asks nervously as Christen enters the apartment.
“Much better than I thought,” Christen replies, relieved. “He was obviously upset about the kiss, but he’s not going to bench me or anything. I just have to make sure that doesn’t happen in front of thousands of people again.”
“Girl, you are lucky,” Kling sings. “Although it might be harder than you think to keep your cool.”
“What do you mean?” Christen asks with concern.
“Speaking from a purely observational standpoint, Tobin’s pretty sexy when she’s on the field. You might have a tough time keeping your paws off is all I’m saying,” Kling shrugs her shoulders and smirks at Christen.
Christen laughs and nudges her friend in the stomach, rolling her eyes.
Meanwhile, upstairs, the wheels are turning in Tobin’s head.
“Okay okay, but do you think it really meant something? Maybe I was just the first person she saw and she got excited,” Tobin pesters Allie, who had been listening to Tobin go back and forth about the kiss all morning.
“For the last time, Tobin, go ask Christen yourself. You already know what I think—that you are both into each other but neither of you is brave enough to admit it,” Allie recites with an eye roll. “I love you, Harry, but you overthink things way too much.”
Tobin opens her mouth to speak and then decides against it. Instead, to Allie’s surprise, she stands up from the couch, slides on a pair of flip flops, puts on her PDX snapback, straightens her TWLOHA muscle tee, and silently walks out the door.
About a minute later, Tobin arrives at Christen and Kling’s apartment downstairs. She hesitates a moment before knocking on the door.
After a few seconds, Christen opens the door and looks at Tobin with a surprised expression.
“Oh, hi Tobin. What’s up?” Christen asks, attempting to appear nonchalant.
“Uh, well, I kinda have something to ask you,” the midfielder stutters, meeting Christen’s gaze. “Would you maybe want to go on a date sometime? With me I mean.” Wow, real smooth Tobin, she thinks to herself.
Christen bites her lip nervously and hesitates.
“Like, you totally don’t need to say yes, I just thought, maybe, since you kissed me and stuff—,” Tobin tries to retrace her steps.
“No no, I want to,” Christen assures the nervous train wreck standing in her doorway. “It’s just that, this morning, Mark came to talk to me about what happened yesterday so I just have to be super careful about mixing my personal life with soccer.”
Tobin gives a disappointed nod. “It’s alright, I understand. See you at practice.” As she turns to head back upstairs, a hand grabs her shoulder.
“Hey wait,” Christen says with a smile. “I just said I need to be careful. I never said no.”
Tobin spins around. “So is that a yes then?”
“Yes,” Christen replies, a glimmer in her eye.
“How’s Friday night?” Tobin asks.
“Perfect.”
“It’s a date then,” Tobin confirms proudly.
“Can’t wait,” Christen affirms with a huge grin.
Tobin turns and walks back to her apartment, a goofy smile on her face the entire time.
On Friday morning, Tobin wakes up and notices a notification on her phone. Upon seeing that it’s a text from Christen, she smiles crookedly. The message reads:
So what should I expect for our date tonight?
It’s a surprise ;) Just bring a jacket and comfortable shoes. I’ll handle the rest is Tobin’s reply.
Tobin had stayed up late the previous night bouncing ideas off of Kling and had come to the consensus that she would pick up some bread, cheese, wine, and dessert beforehand and then take Christen on a short hike to the top of Mt. Tabor where they would have a picnic and watch the sunset over Portland. As she sits up in her bed, Tobin feels a sense of joy pour over her as she thinks about the evening she has planned with Christen.
During a scrimmage at practice later in the day, Tobin and Christen both play incredibly. They are each on top of their game and are connecting especially well with each other. The two footballers fall into a rhythm with one another as they create several give-and-go’s and Tobin notches an assist on a goal by Christen.
“Damn Tobs, what did you have for breakfast this morning?” Kling asks her friend as they walk in front of Christen and Allie back to their apartments. “You killed it today.”
“I just have a lot of energy I guess. And I’m pretty excited for tonight,” Tobin confides in her close friend.
“I’m so happy for you, dude. You’ll have to tell me all about it tomorrow,” Kling demands, patting the midfielder on the back.
“I guess I don’t really have a choice in the matter, anyway,” Tobin sighs with a sideways glance at Kling.
“You really don’t,” Kling confirms with a smug smile.
At 6:17 P.M., Tobin gets back to her apartment after buying picnic materials at the grocery store. She piles the food and wine into a backpack along with a blanket and walks over to her dresser to change. After careful deliberation, she decides to go with a pair of tight black jeans, a white v neck, and a black leather jacket. She then walks into the living room with her backpack, where Allie is sitting on the couch watching TV.
“Wish me luck, Al,” Tobin urges, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
“Damn, Tobin. You look sexy as hell,” Allie exclaims as she turns her head to face her housemate.
“Thanks,” Tobin replies with a wink.
“Have a great time tonight. You deserve it,” Allie says with a genuine smile.
Tobin returns the smile and heads to the door.
Christen, meanwhile, is eagerly awaiting Tobin’s arrival. Not having a clue what the date will entail, all she can do is hope that Tobin doesn’t have something too crazy in mind.
“You sure she didn’t tell you what she planned?” Christen asks Kling for the third time.
“Chris, relax. It’ll be fun,” Kling offers, dodging the question as to not reveal Tobin’s romantic evening.
Before Christen can ask for a fourth time, there’s a knock at the door. Christen walks over and opens the door to find Tobin standing with a subtle grin that quickly turns into a jaw-drop.
“You look beautiful,” Tobin musters as she takes in the view in front of her. Christen is wearing a black v-neck dress with boots and a leather jacket of her own, and her hair, slightly wavy, is pushed to one side.
“Thanks,” Christen accepts humbly, moving her eyes up Tobin’s body. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”
The corners of Tobin’s mouth curl into a smile. “You ready?”
“Yep!” Christen replies as she waves goodbye to Kling.
“Later Kling,” Tobin waves to her friend.
“Have fun you two,” the defender teases as Christen and Tobin head out.