I Love You
A couple days later, once the team has arrived back in Portland, Christen is in her bed watching TV. As she’s about to start her third episode of Scandal for the day, Kling barges into the room.
“Okay, time for an intervention, Press,” Kling declares, taking the laptop out of Christen’s hands and placing it on the bedside table.
“Hey, I was using that!” Christen whines. “And what are you talking about? I don’t need an intervention for anything.”
“Christen, it’s 1pm. You’ve been sitting in bed awake for four hours. You never do that. Plus, it’s our day off. Are you and Tobin okay?” Kling asks with a concerned tone.
“We’re fine, I’m just a little annoyed by what she told that reporter the other day,” Christen admits with a sigh. “I just wish she wouldn’t try to hide our relationship.”
Kling’s mouth curves into a smile.
“Why are you smiling?” Christen snaps.
“I take it you haven’t been on Instagram today?” Kling prompts, still smiling.
“No…why?” Christen asks with a frown.
“Just check,” Kling says, patting Christen’s leg through the blankets as she stands up and exits the bedroom.
Hesitantly, Christen unlocks her phone and opens Instagram. She sees a notification that someone tagged her in a photo. She clicks on the photo and her heart melts. Tobin posted a picture of herself hugging Christen from behind (both smiling from ear to ear) from their friend’s wedding a couple months earlier, with the caption: “So proud to call her my girlfriend.” Christen smiles and takes a deep breath. She’s surprised that Tobin used social media to reveal their relationship, but she’s happy that there’s nothing holding them back from moving forward now.
As if on cue, Christen’s phone rings; it’s Tobin.
“Hey,” Christen says softly as she answers the call.
“Hey Chris,” Tobin responds nervously. “Did you see the picture?”
“Yeah, just now,” Christen answers with a smile. “I’m surprised.”
“I just wanted to show you that the last thing I’m trying to do is hide this, us, from anybody. I am so happy and lucky to have you as my girl, Christen,” Tobin says earnestly.
“I’m just as lucky,” Christen replies softly. “Do you want to come over? I miss you.”
Tobin bites her lip. “I can’t right now, unfortunately. I’m running some errands downtown. Are you doing anything tonight though? How does a movie night at my place sound? Allie’s with Bati tonight so we’d have some time alone.” Tobin suggests seductively.
Christen inhales sharply and grins to herself. “That sounds perfect.”
“Great,” Tobin says with a smile. “Wanna come over around 8?”
“Sure. Can’t wait to see you babe,” Christen adds giddily.
“You too. Bye Chris.”
“Bye Tobin.”
After they hang up, Christen gets out of bed and prances into the kitchen where Kling is making a smoothie.
“You two make up?” Kling asks with a grin as she turns her head toward Christen.
“I think so,” Christen says happily as she comes up behind her friend and hugs her, kissing the defender playfully on the cheek.
“What was that for?” Kling laughs, pouring the smoothie into two glasses and bringing them over to the kitchen table.
“I’ve just realized that I’m in one of the best places I’ve ever been in my life right now, and I want to share that with my favorite left back,” Christen smiles at Kling as they both sit down at the table.
“I’m happy that you’re so happy, Press,” Kling returns the smile. “So, what did you and Tobin talk about? Did you see her picture?”
“Yeah, I did,” Christen answers, shaking her head. “We’re all good now. We’re gonna watch a movie at her apartment tonight around 8.”
“I wonder how much of the movie will actually get watched,” Kling jokes with a wink.
“Ha ha, very funny,” Christen remarks sarcastically, although she secretly has the same question.
Tobin roams the streets of downtown Portland aimlessly after shopping for groceries and getting her car fixed after putting off an oil change for six months.
“Oh my god, that’s Tobin Heath,” Tobin hears a girl whisper excitedly to her friend as Tobin walks past. Tobin stops and turns around, walking up to the two young girls.
“Could—could we get a picture with you?” one of the girls asks nervously.
“Of course,” Tobin replies, smiling at the youthful excitement in front of her.
Tobin stands next to the girls as one of them takes a selfie and then steps back.
“Oh my god, thank you so much, Tobin,” the girls exclaim. “I hope we can see you play in person sometime!”
“Have you guys not been to a game?” Tobin asks with a raised eyebrow.
The girls shake their heads glumly.
Tobin contemplates for a moment and then reaches into her back pocket and pulls out two field seats for the Thorns’s next home game against the Flash and hands one to each girl.
“Here, take these,” Tobin says with a smile. “Front row tickets for next week’s game. Make sure to say hi.”
The girls are speechless and barely get out a “thank you” as Tobin continues down the street toward her car, smiling all the way there.
Tobin gets home around 3 and decides to go for a run along the river. As she jogs along the path, absorbed in the tranquil music coming through her earbuds, she accidentally bumps into another runner.
“Whoa, sorry,” Tobin stutters, startled. Then she looks up and laughs.
“You should really watch where you’re going, Heath,” Mark, her coach, says with a chuckle.
“Hey, it’s good to see you Mark,” Tobin says with a grin, “It’s been too long. A whole day without practice can really feel like a long time.”
“Please. You don’t take a rest day anyway,” Mark scoffs, pointing out the fact that Tobin is on a run on her day off.
“Touché,” Tobin concedes.
“I’ll let you get back to your jog, Tobin. See you tomorrow at practice,” Mark waves as he jogs off in the opposite direction.
“See ya Mark!”
Tobin smiles and shakes her head, puts her earbuds back in and resumes her workout. She runs three more miles and then heads back to her apartment to shower and get ready before Christen gets there.
Right at 8, there's a knock at Tobin’s door. The midfielder pops up from the couch, where she’s been watching SVU, and gives herself a once-over in the mirror before opening the door to her girlfriend.
“Hey beautiful,” Tobin says with a warm smile as she welcomes Christen with a kiss on the cheek.
Christen’s lips curve upward as she enters the apartment, following Tobin to the couch.
“I know we’ve seen each other since Orlando, but that stupid interview threw everything off. I’ve missed you, babe,” Tobin confesses openly as she and Christen sit facing each other on the couch.
Christen stretches out her legs in front of her and can’t help but blush hearing Tobin call her babe. It’s still a new feeling, and the excitement she feels whenever she’s with her girlfriend makes her feel like a kid again.
“I’ve missed you too, Tobs.”
Tobin smiles and repositions herself so that she’s lying face up with her head on Christen’s thighs. Christen begins stroking Tobin’s hair.
“How was your day?” she asks, genuinely interested in Tobin’s response.
“Really great,” Tobin answers with a grin. “A bunch of nice little things happened.”
“Like what?” Christen asks sweetly.
“I saw Mark while I was running along the river,” Tobin snickers. “And I bumped into a couple fans downtown and gave them tickets to next week’s game. The look in their eyes—it was pretty cool to be able to make those kids so happy,” Tobin recounts pleasantly.
Christen continues running her fingers through Tobin’s long brown hair and realizes just how happy she is to be in this moment. The more she learns about what makes Tobin tick, the more she falls for the girl.
“That’s really sweet,” Christen responds.
“Want to start a movie?” Tobin asks, moving back to a sitting position.
“Sure. Which one?”
“I was thinking of this classic,” Tobin says eagerly, pulling out Bend It Like Beckham.
Christen laughs. “Of course you would pick that.”
“What can I say?” Tobin asks rhetorically, sliding in the DVD. “I’m a footballer.”
Christen smiles and rolls her eyes.
Tobin walks over to the kitchen and opens the freezer, taking out a pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. She gets two spoons and returns to the couch.
“Here,” Tobin says, handing Christen one of the spoons and the pint.
“Coffee, my favorite!” Christen exclaims. “Thanks Tobin.”
“My pleasure,” Tobin smiles.
The two of them curl up next to each other and Tobin starts the movie.
About halfway through the movie, the pint of ice cream is empty and Christen’s head is on Tobin’s shoulder, and Tobin’s hand is tracing circles on Christen’s thigh. Tobin turns her head and looks at Christen, who returns the gaze. They hold their eye contact for a moment and then Tobin leans forward and kisses Christen’s lips, tasting the coffee. Christen kisses back and places one hand on Tobin’s cheek and the other on her waist. Tobin places an arm around Christen’s torso and uses the other to slowly guide Christen’s back down onto the couch.
The kissing heats up as both women slide their hands over each other’s bodies, feeling their partner. After a couple minutes, Tobin pauses and removes her shirt, exposing her toned stomach and back.
“Is this okay?” Tobin asks carefully.
Christen smiles and nods, pulling Tobin back on top of her.
Tobin moans softly as Christen kisses her neck while tracing the muscles of her abdomen. Tobin starts to lift Christen’s tank top over her head, silently asking for permission first.
“Wait,” Christen mutters as Tobin tosses her shirt on the floor.
“Too fast?” Tobin asks, concerned.
Christen shakes her head and bites her lip. “No, I just want our first time to be in a bed.”
Tobin’s eyelids flutter and she smiles. “Of course, beautiful.”
Tobin takes Christen’s hand and leads her to her bedroom. She closes the door softly and gently leads Christen down onto the bed, kissing every inch of the forward from her stomach to her mouth.
“I love you Tobin,” Christen sputters.
Tobin looks up into Christen’s green eyes and smiles. “I love you too, Christen.”
With that, the midfielder leans back down and kisses her girlfriend on the lips again, knowing that despite being an Olympic gold medalist and World Cup Champion, she has never been this happy before.