Christen's POV
"You okay?" JJ sat down next to me on the field, as I was stretching out my sore ankle. I nodded as I tried forcing my most genuine smile, but she saw right through it.
"Chris, don't push yourself. You'll get back, but if you keep pushing it you're causing more harm than good." Julie spoke serious, and I let out a deep sigh in response.
"I know that." I mumbled out, now resting my leg on the grass. My ankle was clearly swollen, something it's been after every game, and even though it's getting better, it's not getting better fast enough. The Olympics are closing in, and I need my ankle to be good right now.
"It's just frustrating." I added, closing my eyes as I tried not to think about the pain too much. Julie was the one to sigh now, then giving me one of those looks that I've been getting a lot lately. She feels sorry for me, they all do.
"You excited to see Tobin though?" I felt the corners of my lips turn upwards just from hearing Tobin's name. It's been about a month since I've seen her, and even though we talk every day I still miss her like crazy.
We're playing the Thorns on June 12, but Tobin is getting here on the 8th. She got permission from her coaches to get on a flight a little early, seeing as their schedule has been crazy the first weeks and they all feel kinda bad for dragging them around everywhere. For me personally it would make the whole thing ten times better. A week isn't nearly enough, but it's all that we can hope for at the moment.
"So excited." I answered Julie's question after some moments of drifting away, and the smirk on her face told me she had noticed.
"Remember there's a game to play though, you can't stay in bed all day." She joked, still with that smug face. I let out a full on grin now, pushing JJ playfully in the shoulder.
"I'm not making any promises." I joked back, getting the reaction I was hoping for from Julie. "Ugh, okay, never mind." She made a grossed out grimace, and I was satisfied seeing as I knew she hates when I play along.
**
'Lindsey just dropped me off and I'm about to board, see you in a couple hours beautiful' I got back in the locker room and saw a text from Tobin when I found my phone. My smile grew wide again, and I felt butterflies in my stomach like some teenager in love. It was almost an hour since she sent the text, meaning after I get home and change I can drive straight to the airport and pick her up. I was beyond excited.
I tried my best not to rush, knowing that if I did I would have to wait longer at the airport, but it was practically impossible. I couldn't wait to hug her again, to feel her strong arms around me and hold me tight.
"Flight from Portland will be landing in 15 minutes." The voice on the speakers spoke as I entered the crowded and busy Chicago airport. As I was waiting impatiently by the exit were Tobin will soon come out, I noticed a couple soccer fans recognizing me.
"That's Christen Press."
"Oh my god, Christen, can we say hi?"
"Don't bother her, I'm sure she's waiting for someone."
I couldn't help but smile as I overheard the conversation, and I was pleased to hear how polite they were. They didn't want to overstep and I appreciated that, but it honestly just made me want to say hi to them even more.
"Hey, I like your jersey." I turned around and smiled to the small group of about five girls standing there. I noticed one wearing a national team jersey with the number 17 on it, and it made me happy to see. The girls all looked somewhat terrified that I spoke, but also ver happy that I did.
"H-Hi! We didn't mean to-"
"Thank you, I'm glad you like it."
The girls spoke over each other, and I just kept the smile on my face. One of them started fumbling with her phone and I figured she wanted a picture but was too shy to ask.
"You wanna take some selfies?" I asked, seeing their faces all light up with happiness. They all nodded eagerly and started posing around me. I smiled and laughed with them on the pictures, and hoped they wouldn't turn out too bad. Airport pictures usually do though.
The little distraction had surely taken up my mind, and time had passed rather quickly. Before I got to truly ache from impatience, people started coming out from the gate and Tobin was one of the first to arrive. I felt my heart smash against my chest as a response to the beauty walking towards me with the biggest smile on her face.
My first reaction was to run over to her and give her the biggest hug, but when I got to myself again I realized where I was and who was standing next to me and I second guessed my decision. The girls all followed my smiley face towards the other soccer star, and their huge grins grew even wider at the sight approaching them.
Tobin's reaction were similar, only her smile faded slightly when she noticed I wasn't alone. I could only hope it was because she too had wanted to hug me a little closer than the fans would find completely friendly.
"I made some new friends." I smiled as Tobin got closer, and the girls all giggled like crazy over seeing Tobin. I probably was too honestly, so I don't blame them.
"I can see that, hi, nice to meet you." Tobin smiled politely and gave the girls a hug as they each waited patiently for their turn to hug their idol. Seeing Tobin interact with fans is usually one of my favorite things, but right now I was mostly jealous of how she hugged them tight one by one. It was my turn.
Tobin's attention seemed to slowly shift over at me, and we definitely both found it hard to not jump on each other right now. The way she was looking at me, eying me up and down, it made my heart ache for her closeness. It had been way too long, and she was way too close for me not to feel her right now.
Like she was reading my mind, causally while still talking to the girls, she moved closer to me. When the conversation made it seem natural, she turned to me and smiled.
"Hi." She said quietly, saying a million more things with her eyes. I couldn't stop myself from leaning forward and hugging her, trying my very best to keep it as friendly as possible. I wrapped my arms around her, and felt her closeness for just a few seconds. After that it was enough for me to make it until we got back home. I pulled away too soon, both of us smiling like idiots.
"It was lovey meeting you, but we have a reservation to catch so we have to get going." Tobin politely excused herself with a lie, and I was beyond grateful. The girls seems to be perfectly okay with it, all of them smiling. I wasn't sure if we had missed something, but at the time I couldn't find it in me to care.
Tobin and I hadn't really spoken about being public yet, but I just figured it was better to keep it down low for now. I'm not a PDA person in general and right now with this whole thing it's probably not a good idea.
We said our goodbye's and left after Tobin got her suitcase. The fans wished us luck for the upcoming game, without asking questions to why Tobin was here almost a week beforehand. It could be slightly tricky to explain, but I mean friends can fly across the states for each other too, right? Yeah, hard one to explain.
We made it to the car without too much trouble, and as soon as we sat in I let out a relived sigh. I looked over at Tobin as she closed the door on the drivers side of the car, and we both smiled.
"I missed you." She spoke up, leaning her head back and clearly not rushing to leave. She reached her hand out, and took mine in hers. I couldn't take it any longer.
"Come here." I whispered impatiently, and pulled her closer to me. She smile widely at my response, obviously having tried to get it out of me how much I wanted to feel her.
I met her halfway and our lips crashed in a soft but passionate kiss. I could feel her smile and I'm sure I was just as happy. The initially gentle kiss quickly got more heated and I felt everything inside me burn with every move. I had longed for her lips for so long, and I suddenly felt more alive.
"Can we finish this at home?" I pulled away rather sudden, knowing that if we didn't stop now I wouldn't be able to and this was not the place. Tobin stopped just inches from my face, nodding in agreement as she smiled.
"God, I missed you." She breathed out, before giving me a quick peck on the lips and sitting back down in her seat.
**
"Hold on, Horan's calling." Tobin sat down on the couch next to me, and I waited with turning on the movie. She answered the phone and put it on speaker, placing it down on the table.
"Miss me already?" Tobin spoke up, getting a short laugh from the other end. I giggled probably too much at Tobin's joke, just like I always seem to do.
'You wish. So how's Chicago, how's Pressy?' Lindsey asked through the phone and I was quick to answer her back. Tobin gladly let me.
"I'm great, and you know I love you Lindsey, but you've had my girlfriend for way too long and it's my turn now so get right to the point, will you?" I looked over at Tobin as I spoke and she had a huge grin on her face.
'Woah, okay. I can respect that. I was just causally scrolling on Tumblr just now, and well not to freak you out but people are going crazy right now. Apparently some fans saw you at the airport and then something about a fancy dinner reservation and so on.' I looked over at Tobin again and we both had the same expression on our faces. Shit, we didn't think about that. We both just let Lindsey talk.
'It was all topped with a blurry picture of you guys in a car, I mean it hasn't been confirmed, but it's pretty easy to jump to conclusions.' Lindsey paused and I wasn't quite sure what to say. I guess we should've thought about that more, maybe at least had a conversation about how to handle those situations.
'I just thought you wanted to know before you get asked in an interview or whatever.' She ended, now waiting for our response.
"That's.. Okay, thank you." Tobin seemed to be at a lack of words too, and I let out a sigh.
'For the record, you look adorable. It doesn't have to be a big deal, just agree on where you stand and what to say, that's all.' Lindsey was calm and cool about the whole thing, and it made it easier. She was right.
We just need to talk.