Falling For You - Preath

Chapter Ten

*Christen's POV*

I suddenly woke up from a jolt on the bus and found myself leaning on Tobin's hand. Her hand was supporting my head and her elbow was on the arm rest, and she was sleeping with her mouth slightly open. When I picked my head up her arm flopped down and woke her up. I quickly shut my eyes, hoping that she wouldn't notice that I saw her. Hearing her shift a little in her seat, I slightly opened one of my eyes. She was on her phone so I relaxed a little. I still felt things for her and I didn't know why. I only had her for a little and it came crashing down so fast. I didn't even officially end things with her so I didn't know what we were. One thing was for sure. We weren't happy like this, and that's all it took for me to take another look over in her direction. My phone rung with a text and Tobin looked down at my phone.

Mal: alex wants to text you but you blocked her?

Me: oh yeah. Hold on.

Me: tell her it should work now.

Feeling a little ashamed for the way I acted I soon got a text from Alex.

Alex: hey I know you probably don't want to talk to me but I think you should know that I forced Tobin to kiss me. Not forced but I kind of blackmailed her. I feel terrible. I think you should know that she only kissed me because she thought it would make me go away.

Me: she still kissed you though

Alex: I know. I thought it would make it easier for you guys to resolve things if you knew what really happened. I'm feeling a little embarrassed telling you this but I have to get over her. If I can't be with her I'm glad it's you. Try to work things out with her. She loves you. More than anything in the world.

Me: thanks Alex, it means a lot to know that you're being honest. I'm sorry you can't be with her. I know how it feels.

Alex: I hope this cleared things up

Me: yeah I guess it did :)

Alex: thanks for talking to me, maybe talk to Tobin? She's been lookin lonely this whole bus ride ;)

Me: haha. maybe I will.

I put my phone down and I looked over at Tobin who was just fiddling with her fingers and tapping her foot. How insane would I be if I- and right then and there I stopped her hands from twirling and I grabbed her hand. I held it on the arm rest and Tobin looked at me, very confused.

"What's going on?" She said, pulling away slightly.

I let her pull away a little and responded, "Alex told me why you kissed her. She told me everything. I'm mad that you made that kind of choice but I can't be mad that you wanted her to get over you. This is me giving you your last chance, Tobin" I said, beginning to tighten my grip around her hand a little more. "I'm scared to lose you forever"

And with that Tobin leaned in and hugged me in the most welcoming way. I missed her scent, her touch, her. This is what I was here for. I was on this Earth for Tobin Heath. The second time she did something like this I vowed to never go back but I realized that mistakes happen. Still, no one else had a touch like hers, no one else made me feel this way.

We were basically to the field so we sat in a comfortable silence and waited it out. Tobin was to be benched during the game since we were late for a practice but miraculously, she found a way for me to play. I'd be joining the team during halftime so I had a little bit of time with her before I'd sub in.

The game was slow, we kept having trouble with getting the ball towards the forwards, mainly cause Puerto Rico's defense had been stepping it up. Alex scored during the 32nd minute with an assist from Horan and it let everyone sit back in their seats and relax a little. At halftime the score was 1-0 US, and Jill notified that I'd be subbing in right away. I would play forward with Alex by my side and Jill hopefully would play me the whole 45 of the second half. The whistle blew and after a friendly look from Tobin, I was off.

I got a long ball from Carli at the 61st minute but a defender fouled me and earned us a free kick from right outside the box. Kling was going to pass it over to Alex and she would figure out a way to put it in the back of the net but right before Kling was going to take a shot, Jill called for a sub and she subbed out Alex for Mal. I knew she had good instincts so I trusted she would find a way to score.

Kling signaled to take the kick and suddenly she hit a ball towards me. Falling right at my leg, I took a good touch, took the ball away from two defenders and shot it straight at the far post with every bit of energy I had in me. Boom. The stadium went crazy and I ran over to my teammates and we all hugged, patting each other on the back and saying "good job".

After our little celebration, Puerto Rico took control of the ball and immediately ran towards our goal, they had a good shot but it was easily blocked by Julie. Hope gave her a pat on the back and the game resumed.

By the 87th minute, everyone was tired and there hadn't been any interesting plays. Puerto Rico had a corner kick and almost got in goal, just blocked by Hope. She threw the ball to Kelley who possessed it for a little, giving me and Mal some time to run up the field. Then she passed us a long one. I was running towards the direction of the ball and as soon as I know it, the ball is at my feet again. I still had some distance to cover and defenders to get over so I passed to Mal. She controlled the ball, giving me time to run up closer and she passed back. I took the ball and dribbled up to the edge of the box and the goalie was coming at me. I dodged her and took an easy shot at an empty goal. 3-0. The crowd blew up in roars again, cheering at the goal. Running to Mal, I put my arms out and ran around like I was flying. Moments like these were what I played for.

The game stayed at 3-0 until the referee blew the whistle. A short celebration followed a small team huddle.

"That was good work out there girls. Nice to see the defenders getting some action and great teamwork on the ball. Forwards were great, and had great chemistry with the back line and midfielders. We need to work on keeping the ball on the opposing side for most of the game, it allows for more goals. Other than that, I thought it was a good game. Not letting them score was huge. Great work" Jill said happily. "Go ahead and shower, ice bath, do whatever, tomorrow is recovery so no practice, but there's team bonding at 11 after breakfast. You're free to go"

I started to disappear into the crowd looking for Tobin but was stopped by Jill.

"Hey Christen, I saw the way you played today, I'm starting to finally see more opportunities being given to you. Are there any midfielders you want on the pitch with you during the next game? I want you to have more chances with the ball. Who do you think would give you that?" Jill asked me, taking out the journal she wrote notes in.

"Uh I think Tobin would be good. She's the midfielder that's most confident in me I think. If you could start her with me, that would be awesome" I said honestly. I wanted Tobin with me. Jill hardly started her and I wanted her to start with me. We had chemistry on and off the field and I wouldn't let it go to waste. She believed in me.

"Okay. I'll make that happen. Make sure to pair up for practices, get everything synced" she reminded while dismissing me.

I walked into the locker room with my bag and couldn't wait to tell Tobin the news.

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Authors Note: kind of short but this is the moment you've been waiting for!! everyone's been worried that this would be talex. Don't worry young ones. This is all preath.

anyways I hope u guys have a good day/night. Thanks for reading, make sure u vote and comment.