More than meets the eye

Chapter 13

Tobin chose not to make her presence known until she was sure that Alex was done with her speech. She had heard everything from the beginning. From Alex's friends accusing her of abusing Alex all the way to her girlfriend sticking up for her and telling them about what's really going on in her family life.

When she stepped into her apartment, all eyes were on her. Her girlfriend's teammates were looking at her with guilty expressions on their faces. What the old Tobin wanted to do was tell them that they deserved to feel guilty, but the new one couldn't even blame them. They were just protective of Alex. So was she. She could never blame them for wanting to make sure Alex was okay.

"Um...hey," she said awkwardly. Tobin shuffled around the many players, put Alex's shopping bags in her room, then came back into the living. She stood uncomfortably, shifting her weight from side to side.

"How much did you hear?" Alex asked. The soccer player's eyes were a bit watery, but there were no signs of tears that had escaped and she was still standing with her arms folded from her speech.

"All of it." it was a statement, but Tobin said it like a question. She rubbed the back of her neck.

Silence washed over the group.

Lauren was the first to stand up and go over to Tobin.

"I'm sorry for having so little faith in you," she apologized. "I think we all are. Right guys?" The team nodded simultaneously.

"Its cool," Tobin said. She held her hand out for Lauren to shake, but the midfielder pulled her into a hug instead. Tobin looked at Alex with her arms limp at her sides, as if asking for permission to hug back. When the forward nodded, encouraging her to embrace Lauren, she did. Alex smiled.

Lauren released Tobin.

"Can I ask a question?" Ashlyn asked. Tobin shrugged. "So you two," the goalkeeper gestured between Tobin and Hope, "like live together?"

"Yeah."

"How'd you get this apartment? You must have saved up a lot of money."

"Actually my dad got it for me."

"That was cool of him," Heather spoke up.

"I mean it was after I had been living outside and at Hope's place for year and a half, so I guess."

"You lived outside? Like on the streets?" Tobin nodded.

"My parents, well more like my mom, kicked me out when I was 16 because I realized I liked girls," she shrugged. After the talk with her mom, it didn't bother Tobin so much to talk about it compared to when she told Alex when they first met.

Alex's teammates were shocked at this. No one knew that Tobin had gotten kicked out of her own home. Especially not anyone at school. Sure rumors were thrown around here and there, but no one knew for sure.

"That's terrible," Ali frowned.

Tobin stuffed her hands in her pockets and shrugged again.

"It was a long time ago."

"And what's your story?" Sydney asked Hope.

"My dad is in and out of jail. My mom's an alcoholic."

They finally understood why Tobin and Hope acted the way they did. No one imagined that they had been through so much at a young age.

And more importantly, they finally found out why Alex was the way she was. Uptight at times, high strung, and always feeling the need to prove herself. They understood why she was always out of practice by a certain time and why she pushed herself so hard.