Tobin 2, Alex 0
Tobin woke the next morning feeling wonderful, it was as if she woke on a bed of sunshine and rainbows while unicorns pranced around singing beautiful songs.
Alex was still asleep, looking as she often did in the morning, angelic, although Tobin was sure she could see the slightest bit of dried drivel on her cheek, she still looked beautiful. Tobin soon found herself starting, thankful for the soft light the morning sun provided as it shone on Alex’s soft features.
The vibration of her phone steered her attention away from the sleeping beauty and Tobin groaned at the caller ID.
“Mom”
“Mom, it’s way too early for you to be calling me you know.” Tobin groaned, voice still laced with sleep.
“And good morning to you too Tobin.” She replied sarcastically.
“Just calling to remind you of our lunch plans today, bring “my Alex””
“It’s just Alex mom.”
“Okay, bring Alex, I’d love to meet the new object of my daughter’s affections.”
“It’s not like that mom.” Tobin tried to defend.
“So what is it like then?”
“If I tell you, promise you won’t get mad.” Tobin warned, and her mother agreed.
“Okay, so remember when I told you I was going to Vegas? Well I had a tad bit too much to drink, and so did she – “
“ugh, you two aren’t in some kind of sex pact are you?”
“Mom, I think it’s called friends with benefits, and no, we got married, by accident.”
There was dead silence on the line for a while, and then, as if someone had lit a firework, and slowly waited for the time to trickle down towards the explosion … boom.
“TOBIN P HEATH, THAT IS BY FAR THE SINGLE HANDEDLY MOST IRRESPONSILE THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE! HOW DOES ONE GET MARRIED ON ACCIDENT! I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE MADE YOU STUDY ACCOUNTING!” Half way through her mother’s rant Tobin put the phone on her stomach and let her mother yell.
On the other side of the bed, she heard giggling and turned to find Alex’s azure eyes squinted in laughter, Alex’s laugh was so contagious that she joined in too, but ultimately cautioned her to be quiet to ensure that her mother didn’t hate them both.
“I’m sorry mom” Tobin said sincerely, bringing the phone back up to her ear
“Well do you at least like her?” Her mother questioned lowly.
Tobin turned to look at Alex, who had her phone in one hand and Tobin’s other hand in the next idly tracing patterns on it. It felt a bit too intimate to be platonic, but Tobin let her do it anyways.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to yet.” Tobin replied honestly.
Her last relationship had been so mentally and emotionally draining that Tobin would be content with not being with anyone for the rest of her life.
“Well, okay Tobin, see you soon, this is a nice place so please leave your hat at home, and wear shoes
!” Her mother said before hanging up.
Tobin now turned all of her attention to Alex, moving to her side to face her fully.
“Soo.” Tobin started, watching the way Alex’s fingers moved so expertly over her skin.
Alex met Tobin’s eyes to find that they were watching her hands and quickly retracted them. “Shit, when did I even start doing that?” Alex thought to herself.
“It’s Sunday.” Tobin stated.
“Yes I know.” Alex said, wanting Tobin to arrive to her point quickly.
“My mom still wants to have dinner or lunch, you know, before she leaves.”
“And what does that have to do with me?” Alex asked innocently, resuming scrolling on her phone.
“She told me to bring you, you know, so she could meet my wife.” Tobin joked.
“Hmmm, well I don’t know, the thing I was gonna do today sounds better.”
“And what’s that?”
“Lounge around the house all day.” Alex deadpans, leaving Tobin open mouthed, before quickly recovering.
“Please come.” Tobin whines, “I’ll do anything.”
“Anything?” Alex asks, with her interest in the conversation at hand suddenly rising. She sets down her phone, and diverts all of her attention to Tobin.
“Anything.”
“I’ll think about what I want and get back to you later.”
**
After breakfast, the pair found themselves searching for something to do until they had to meet Tobin’s mom for lunch. Tobin was not particularly looking forward to it, knowing how protective and sometimes inappropriate her mother could be when it came to meeting Tobin’s friends; It also didn’t help that her mother and Alex didn’t have the most ideal first meeting.
“Do you wanna play some soccer?” Alex asked from her place on the couch, turning from the television to look at Tobin who was entering the room. “I mean, we don’t have to if you don’t want, but I mean it would be cool.” Alex said stumbling a bit over her words. She knew the subject of soccer was a bit of a soft one considering Tobin stopped playing as a result of her infamous ex. Their breakup was still a bit of a mystery to Alex, as Tobin never really liked to bring it up, and on the one occasion that Alex did, Tobin was very cryptic, and appeared to still be slightly affected by said break up.
“Yeah sure, ever since we had that talk in the kitchen, I’ve been thinking about it more often than not.” Tobin admitted, swallowing her the fear that threatened to spill over into the conversation. It had been long enough, surely she could enjoy a quick round of soccer, and not be haunted by her ex “I think I have a ball in the garage, let me put some air in it, meet me outside.”
**
Initially, the feeling of the ball at Tobin’s feet was foreign, like a knife in the middle of a drawer of forks, it was definitely odd, but after a few failed attempts at juggling, Tobin soon found the rhythm that she had shelved all those years ago, it was riveting.
Tobin marveled in the way the ball skidded over the grass, and the sound it made when she hit it just right, she felt like she was in college all over again. She felt almost at peace with herself, a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
**
Alex keenly observed Tobin as she toyed around with the ball from the other side of the sliding doors that separated the house from the backyard. Tobin looked so content and at ease that Alex contemplated going outside and spoiling the moment.
She decided to stay inside for a while longer, watching Tobin in silent appreciation as she skillfully maneuvered around the backyard with the soccer ball. “If she can do this, I can’t even imagine what she was like in college.”
Eventually, Alex joined Tobin outside and they passed around for a bit before Tobin suggested that they try a few 1 v 1’s. Tobin set up two make shift goals a few yards apart. “Okay, first to five, and it’s just a FRIENDLY game Alex ...” Tobin said emphasizing the friendly part, “So don’t go all Dave and Busters on me.”
Alex herself dabbled a bit in soccer, but never really got serious enough about it to be as good as Tobin.
Surprisingly to Alex, she managed to get a few points off of Tobin, but Tobin ultimately came out as the winner, and strangely enough, Alex wasn’t upset about her loss. She figured getting to see Tobin genuinely happy like this was a win in itself.
**
“Thanks for today.” Tobin said, turning around to meet Alex’s eyes as they walked inside, now preparing to get cleaned up for their already scheduled lunch.
Alex stopped to look up at Tobin, who still wore a trace of a smile, even though they had finished playing around a few minutes ago. A few loose hairs stuck to her face and beads of sweat were rolling down her temples, Tobin was so effortlessly attractive.
“Glad I could help.” Alex replied, reaching to brush a few of Tobin’s wild hairs to the side.
Tobin didn’t say anything smart or witty like Alex was expecting her to, instead she held Alex’s gaze, reveling in her icy pools of blue that somehow managed to keep Tobin warm.
“You see something you like Heath?” Alex asked, only half joking, it wouldn’t upset her if she got a reply though.
“I’m not sure yet.” Tobin said quietly, eyes still locked intensely with Alex’s, effectively burning any hopes of keeping this conversation light.
“Well …” Alex started, taking a step closer to Tobin, “I figured out what I want you to give me, since you know, you promised me anything …” “Maybe it can help you out too.”
“And what’s that?” Tobin asked. Her and Alex were sharing the same breathing space, much so that Tobin could hear Alex inhale and exhale. Her pink lips were slightly parted, in preparation to elaborate on what ever plan it was Alex had for Tobin.
“I want for you to kiss me.”
Tobin obliged, but she did it rather slowly, taking her time to brush her lips over Alex’s before capturing them between her own, Alex was such a tease and Tobin wanted her to feel exactly how she did that night in the car, she wanted Alex to feel just about every particle on her lips, before Tobin rudely pulled away, in some kind of sick revenge.
And from the way Alex’s breathing increased when their lips finally connected, Tobin got the impression that she felt everything, which is why she pulled away, right when Alex moved her hand into Tobin’s hair to deepen the kiss.
Tobin gave a lopsided grin to Alex, who had the cutest expression which was somewhere between lust and disappointment.
“Lunch is at 2, you better get moving. If you’re lucky, I might even kiss you again after.” Tobin teased before bolting up the stairs, mostly out of fear for what Alex would do if she got her hands on her.