Good Company (Preath)

2

Christen's POV

The rest of the team had shown up to Kelley's house and needless to say, some of them were pretty drunk. I decided that I wouldn't have anything to drink just in case of an emergency and I needed to drive someone to the hospital. I sat on the couch talking to Julie, who was a little tipsy. She was talking to me about her boyfriend, just like everyday. "Chris, he's so sweet" she said giggling a little "today when I opened my locker there was a dozen roses from him sitting there!" She finished. "Uh huh that's great JJ" I said, scanning the room. Kelley and Ashlyn were slurring the words to the song playing through the speaker, Pinoe and Allie were cracking up on the floor, Alex and Cheney were yelling at them to shut up because of their headaches, and the rest of the team was just scattered about. The only one I didn't see was Tobin. It was really strange, she was usually the one who wanted to party. I realized that Julie was still talking and I completely spaced out. "Hey JJ can you hold that thought for a second, have you seen Tobin?" I said, giving her a quizzical look. "Tobs? The last I saw her was like half an hour ago" she responded. "Oh, I have to go to the bathroom" I lied, getting up quickly.
I began to walk through Kelley's house, I've known her for a while so I basically know where everything is. I was going to see where Tobin was. Yeah I know we kinda don't like each other but I'm a little worried because she's been gone for a while according to Julie. I decided to check Kelley's room first, but she wasn't in there. My next stop was the bathroom but nobody was in there either. I had spent a good amount of time checking all the rooms until there was only one left. I opened the door and walked in, but I didn't see anyone. Just as I was about to walk out I heard someone sigh. I quickly turned around and noticed that the sliding glass door that lead to Kelley's balcony was slightly open. I walked over to it and noticed a familiar midfielder sitting in a chair looking at the view. Am I going to regret this? I questioned myself. But before I could think anything else I had stepped outside.
.
.
.
Tobin's POV

I had finally found the time to sneak out of the living room. I didn't really have anything to drink and everyone was a bit too crazy for me so I went to Kelley's guest room to get some air. I knew that room had a balcony because I've stayed with Kelley before. I was sitting there for a good thirty minutes just thinking about how weird my day was. Could I possibly be starting to warm up to Christen? The girl that I've hated since eighth grade? I let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed my hands through my hair. Man I need to figure this out. Just as I finished that thought, I heard the glass door open, I thought it was Kelley so I didn't bother turning my head to look. That was until I heard a familiar voice that wasn't Kelley's. "Can I join you?" She questioned. I quickly turned my head and was met with a pair of bright green eyes. We stared at each other for a minute or two until I finally nodded.

She walked over and pulled out the chair that was beside me. She looked out to the view of the city. We sat in silence for a while until she finally spoke up. "What're you doing out here Tobs" Christen questioned. I was a bit taken aback because she never used a nickname for me. It was always just Tobin. "I just needed some fresh air, everyone was getting a little too wild for me." I responded, turning my head to look at her. "You mean you didn't have anything to drink?" She sounded surprised. "No I uh, I have a lot going on and don't think alcohol would be the solution" I said with a slight chuckle. "Yeah that makes sense", as she finished that sentence I couldn't help but study the details of her yet again. The way the corners of her mouth slightly turned up whenever she talked, and she always had a constant smile, whether it was a small one or a big one. We sat there for a while just looking at each other, it felt like she was looking right through me, I had to say something to break the silence. "I guess we never finished our conversation from earlier." She immediately tensed up at the mention of it. "Y-yeah I guess not" was all she could stutter out. "Do you want to finish it?" I questioned.
"Yeah".
.
.
.
We had spent a good amount of time talking out our differences and why we hated each other so much. "So I guess 14 year old me didn't like you because you were new and upset the balance of our team" I said laughing a bit and how ridiculous that sounded. Christen giggled at my remark "yeah the first day of practice you slide tackled me pretty hard and I immediately thought I Do Not like this girl". We both realized that we could've actually been really good friends, and the only thing that held us back was a stupid grudge from middle school. In just the twenty minutes I spent talking to her I forgot all about it. I felt so drawn to her, like she understood me. Not going to lie, she is pretty attractive. As Christen was recalling one of our games where we had a disagreement I cut her off. "Hey Chris?"
"Yeah?" She questioned. "Would you want to hang out sometime? Just us?" I felt pretty nervous about that question because we just became friends, despite knowing each other for years. "Or uh if you don't want to don't worry about it" I continued, anxiously playing with my hands.
.
.
.
Christen's POV

I could easily tell that Tobin was nervous. Her question did kind of surprise me a little bit, because she was always the one that hated me the most. I looked down and noticed that she was fiddling with her hands, anxiously awaiting my answer. I reached out and set my hand on hers, trying to calm her down. She looked up at me and our eyes locked. "Yeah, I'd love to" I replied. I could visibly see her letting out a deep breath, as if she was holding it. "Hey uh, I don't think I have your number" I said thinking about how ridiculous that was, we had known each other for three years and neither of us had each other's number saved. "Oh yeah, here you go" she pulled out her phone and handed it to me. I put my number in her phone and she did the same with mine. Once we finished that we resumed to sitting in silence. I don't know what came over me, but I put my head on her shoulder, still staring off into the distance. I decided to close my eyes, and was almost asleep when Pinoe came stumbling out to the balcony. "Hey Kel! I found 'em!" She slurred over her shoulder. Kelley then appeared in the doorway "come on guys, we're gonna watch a movie" she mumbled before stalking away. I got up first and began to walk back inside, but as I got to the doorway I noticed Tobin still sitting. "You coming?" I asked, and with that she jumped up and followed me inside.