Chapter 8
After regaining her composure, Alex noted 2 very important things:
- She just lost at her own game
- Tobin had taken her to Dave and Busters.
Only Tobin Heath would think it was appropriate to take someone to Dave and Busters for a first date. Alex held a confused gaze as they walked in synchronized steps towards the building. Tobin, noting said gaze immediately regretted her decision to take Alex to D&B.
“Ohh, what’s wrong you don’t like it do you.” Tobin groaned, stopping her strides completely.
Her heart rate was rapidly increasing and she felt as if she as on the verge of a panic attack, of course, her first date in two years and she’d already fucked up.
“I knew I should’ve stuck with dinner, maybe it’s not too late we can sti-“ Tobin shot out quickly, fumbling in search for her phone, while pacing around in somewhat of a frazzled state
“Tobin!” Alex shouted, stopping Tobin’s stupor.
“It’s fine, it’s just that no one has ever taken me on a date to Dave and Busters.” Alex admitted through red stained cheeks. Tobin, after hearing Alex’s explanation was equally flushed and cursed herself for getting so worked up so fast.
“Really?” Tobin asked, returning her phone to her pocket, and replacing her panic with a smile.
“Yeah.” Alex breathed back, taking Tobin’s hand in hers, leading them both inside.
**
Half way through their date, Tobin realized that taking Alex to D&B was actually a really bad idea. Not because there were awkward moments or anything, but because she was competitive. Really competitive.
Tobin won their first round of air hockey in style, coolly beating Alex 7-4. Tobin tried to make a joke out of it, but the death glares she’d been receiving turned from endearing to scary in a matter of seconds.
” Let’s play again.” Alex said blankly. And Tobin quickly complied, swiping her card in the machine.
Alex won that round 7-6, and Tobin, letting her competitive nature show as well, insisted that they had a rematch, which Alex won, slaughtering Tobin 7-1.
Tobin decided that she would reclaim her honor in a round of skee ball, which she did, beating Alex out by at least 5,000 points, before deciding that they had played enough games against each other, and that it would be good to end on a tie. (Honestly she was just scared that if she won another thing Alex might eat her).
The mood of the night noticeably lightened up after that, with the couple teaming up to master most of the games available, to the dismay of most of the bystanders. Alex even ended up winning the jackpot in one of those outrageous chance games that absolutely no one won.
It was a night of lights, smiles and chicken wings and the look on Alex’s face when she won the jackpot was proof enough that she had chosen the right place for their first date.
Alex and Tobin both ended up cashing out a small amount of their tickets, each redeeming a small silly little token to remember their night before giving the majority of their tickets away to some random little kid who looked at them like they were some kinds of gods.
**
Alex let out a loud sigh when they were both safely in the car, turning to Tobin who was strapping herself in.
She didn’t say anything, she just looked at Tobin and smiled in the silence of the car. After Tobin ensured that she was securely strapped in, she turned to Alex, who just happened to be looking at her with the biggest smile on her face. This caused Tobin to smile in response.
“What?” Tobin chuckled, making eye contact with Alex.
“I had a great time tonight, that was definitely one of the best first dates ever.”
“One of?” Tobin teased.
“Yeah like number 9 … out of nine …” Alex tried to deadpan, but ended up laughing.
“I’m kidding; it was definitely number one.” Alex said before instinctively leaning over the console to place a soft kiss on Tobin’s cheek.
“I’m glad you had a good time, especially since it was your first D&B first date experience, stick around and maybe you’ll have some more firsts.” Tobin said, leaving too much room for interpretation before starting the car.
Soon, the drone of the engine lulled Alex to sleep and Tobin would find herself glancing over often to catch a glimpse of Alex. Sleeping Alex really wasn’t much of a new sight to her, given that they slept together and Tobin would often wake before Alex, but each time she saw Alex in such a state, it would make her feel so weird. She got this warm feeling that started in her stomach and grew to her throat which simultaneously made her heart spike, she wasn’t sure if it was a pleasant feeling or if it made her feel sick; it made her feel so good and so odd at the same time. Which was also weird because Alex looked about as angelic as a bear wolfing down a fish when she was sleeping; there was often hair strewn everywhere and her mouth would be slightly open and the faint rumble of a snore could also be found somewhere in there, but it all made Tobin’s heart race just the same.
Tobin sighed to herself before looking to Alex again, who had recently begun to stir.
“Alex, we’re home.” Tobin said gently.
“Will you give me a piggy?” Alex mumbled, and Tobin let out a small chuckle.
“Alex, it’s literally like a 10 step walk.” Tobin tried to reason, but Alex groaned.
“There’s stairsss, Toby.” Alex whined, and Tobin sighed again, knowing she had already lost. It was a habit Alex had developed in the past few weeks, she knew that Alex only used the name Toby when she really wanted something.
Tobin found herself moving around the car to open the door for Alex for the second time of the night, squatting to Alex could easily hop onto her back.
Tobin definitely did not miss the way she felt Alex smile into her back as she trudged the distance to the house in the darkness of the night.
Tobin deposited Alex onto the bed before plopping down on her side in an attempt to recollect herself.
“I really need to start running again.”
A muffled thanks Toby came from the other side of the bed and Tobin turned her attention to the sound.
“For everything.” She mumbled again and Tobin’s heart just about grew three inches.
“For the second date though ....” Alex started, voice getting thick with sleep. She took a long break, leading Tobin to believe that she might have fallen asleep.
“Make sure you kiss me.”