Work Text:
Oslo, Norway
“With two gold medals to your name, you could become the first female to ever three-peat the gold medal in half pipe. Any thoughts regarding that?”
The reporter has an enamored look on his face, as if that wasn’t the question that Tobin had literally been asked over and over again for the past 4 years. She had solidified herself already as the greatest female half-pipe snowboarder in history, current Olympics aside. Her name would go down in history, right next to Shaun White’s. She’s fully aware no female has ever won the gold medal in women’s half pipe 3 Olympics in a row. She’s fully aware she was the first to three-peat in the X Games, and she’s fully aware she’s going for an absolute historic run.
The last thing she really needs or wants is the pressure of others added to her own. But that’s part of it.
The X Games had been just like this, the pressure of three-peating pounding into her from all sides as she made her runs. She’d succeeded, but just barely, as the mountain of new talent began to grow taller, and Tobin’s own age began to become a factor. At 25, she’s by no means old. But she began her rise to the top at 17, which is exactly what the next generation is attempting to do by trying to dethrone her.
“Ahhh, I guess just what you said before, ya know? I’m beyond excited at the opportunity, and the competition this year is just… insane. Harder than it’s ever been.” She answers, looking next to her at her Team USA teammate, Sophia Smith. “So, I’m just here to compete and give my all at least one more time.”
She moves to stand, signaling that she’s done answering questions for now. They had not been informed of the impromptu press conference that they were walking into after breakfast, so Tobin and Sophia both were beyond ready to get out of the small room and away from the cameras and microphones. They had arrived in Oslo just two days before, and most of Team USA had been struggling with jet lag from the flight, but Tobin felt like she had it the worst. Her bed had been broken when she had walked into her room, and the shower didn’t have any hot water. She had thought she was being blessed with a room to herself, but it turns out, it was actually a curse.
“How do you always keep your cool in interviews?” Sophia asks, bumping her shoulder into Tobin’s as they walk down the hall towards the elevators, heading up to their rooms to change for practice runs. “I mean, what kind of idiot asks if you have any thoughts on your potential to three-peat? Of course you have thoughts, we all have thoughts.”
Tobin laughs, looking at her young friend. She’d never really gotten along with her Team USA partners, most of them being too competitive and not actually wanting to get to know Tobin. But Sophia is so much like her, just in love with the sport and excited to have the opportunity to be where she is, doing what she loves.
“Honestly, I have no idea.” Tobin answers with a shrug, walking into the elevator and pushing the button for the 9th floor. “All reporters are kind of the same, they ask the same scripted questions. I think after a while, you just get used to giving the same answers in different ways.”
Sophia hums in response, nodding along as she thinks back to the other interviews they’ve done. Her face drops.“They really do ask the same questions, don’t they?” She says with a sudden look of understanding on her face. They both start laughing, as Sophia has this epiphany.
“You wanna see something ridiculous, go watch the ice skating interviews.” Tobin says, just as the elevator door opens.
“Typical Tobin Heath, always mocking the ice skaters.”
“Shit.” Tobin mutters, pushing past the two figure skaters that had been waiting for the elevator.
“How is it that every time I see you, you always manage to have something terrible to say about the sport that I’m a part of? Literally every time.” One of them continues, the same one who had spoken when the elevator doors first opened.
Sophia doesn’t know these skaters, she doesn’t follow the sport, but she feels like the girl is being unfair, since she doesn’t seem to realize they were talking about reporters, not skaters. “Hey, no we weren’t—“
“And teaching the next generation to do the same? Really?” The green-eyed woman continues, pulling her bag further up her shoulder. “Should have expected that from you. Something about being an Olympian that makes you a pretentious ass.” She finishes, backing into the elevator at the beckoning of the skater with her. She pushes a button, presumably for the lobby and glares at Tobin as the doors shut.
“Wow, you really hate Tobin Heath, don’t you?” Lynn asks, with a sad laugh. “That was kind of… rough.”
Christen sighs in response, annoyed with the fact that of all people, they had to run into freaking Tobin Heath. “Yes, indeed, I really do hate Tobin Heath.” She says, running her hand over her face.
Truthfully, she’d hated Tobin Heath for as long as she can remember. Eight years, she supposes, since that’s how long they’d both been participating in the Olympics, both of them getting their first qualifying at age 17. They’d met that first year, accidentally, on the plane from Denver to New York where they’d catch the flight with the rest of Team USA. First impressions were good for both, and they’d both believed that maybe they’d found their first friend in all of the Olympic chaos. But instead, they’d found a long-lasting enemy.
“Can I ask why?” Lynn pushes, as they exit the elevator and head toward the rink for their scheduled practice runs. Lynn was looking to medal in her first Olympics and Christen was looking for her first gold. “I mean, I’ve only seen her interviews, but she seems like an okay personnnn, ok maybe not?”
Lynn curves her words from the death glare she gets by insinuating that Tobin Heath is a good person.
“Listen my friend, I know this is your first Olympics.” Christen says, patting Lynn on the back like a little kid. “But trust me… that woman is the devil.”
__
“Mmk, It’s been an hour, that’s long enough for me, you know I can’t hold it in. What the hell is the deal with you and the figure skater?” Sophia asks, as they get taken to the top of the pipe by a snow mobile. They’d been running practice runs for 30 minutes, and Tobin had really hoped that Sophia had forgotten the entire exchange that had taken place.
She wanted to forget the entire exchange, annoyed that once again, she’d run into the ‘Perfect Princess Press’ on her first full day around the Olympic village.
Practice runs were her second favorite method of stress relief when she gets to the village, but this time, the stress was just multiplying and sitting squarely on her shoulders as she tries to make her runs.
Tobin sighs as they slide away from the snow mobile, waiting at the top to be signaled that they can take another run. She looks down, noticing that there are technicians in the middle of the pipe, likely repairing the dip in it she noticed on her last run down. That meant they’d likely be here for a while, so she sighs again, as she sits down in the snow, patting the spot next to her for Sophia to join her.
“Oooo, am I getting a Tobito story time?” Sophia grins, settling down.
“First, don’t call me ‘Tobito.’” Tobin laughs, as she pulls her goggles and helmet off. She settles back in her hands, leaning and letting the sun warm her face. “Second, its not a story time because there’s no story. She hates me, I have no idea why, the end.”
“Who is she?” Sophia asks, copying Tobin’s position. “I don’t watch a lot of figure skating.”
“Christen Press.” Tobin answers, quietly. The other Team USA boarders know about the feud between her and the curly-haired woman, so the last thing she needs is them butting in, thinking she’s talking shit about the skater.
But Sophia has other plans. “CHRISTEN PRESS?!” She nearly screams, getting a gloved hand over her mouth. She muffles an apology, promising to keep her voice down at Tobin’s command. “That’s Christen Press?!” She whispers now, noticing that two of the men’s boarders are eying them from across the front of the start point.
Tobin sighs for what feels like the 10th time that day. “Yes, that’s Christen Press.”
“Damn. The same Christen Press that won silver at 17 in her first Olympics? Then tore her ACL last Olympics?” Sophia pushed for details.
“Yep, the very same Christen Press.”
“… what the hell did you do to make her hate you?”
__
“You’re over-rotating.”
“Yes, I’m aware, thank you.”
“You’ve done it 3 times in a row.”
“Yes… I am aware, thank you…”
“You’re going to fall if you don’t-“
“Are you my coach now?”
Lynn laughs, gliding across the ice past her friend and USA teammate. “Nah, if I was your coach, I’d have told you to take a break a long time ago.”
Christen smirks. “Why didn’t you?”
“I knew you wouldn’t listen to me.” Lynn laughs again, pushing to the side to restart Christen’s music. They’d been at it for over an hour and Christen had yet to land her double axel, which baffles Lynn. That’s an easy move for someone as experienced as Christen, yet she’s over-rotated every time. And when she gets to that part in the song again, she over-rotates, again.
“Okaaaay.” Lynn stops the music, gliding over to her friend that’s on the ground still. “Talk to me, what’s going on?”
Christen grunts in annoyance as she reaches for Lynn’s hand to stand on the ice again. Truthfully, nothing is ‘going on’ that she can think of. Her knee feels fine, it feels good, thanks to the team trainer. Her skates are freshly sharpened, gliding across the smooth ice. She feels good, she slept well the night before, thanks to the room to herself that she was somehow blessed with. There is nothing that should be standing in the way of her completing something that should be a intermediate level trick. Nothing except…
“Fucking Tobin Heath.” She grunts in anger this time, taking off away from Lynn on the ice, gaining speed to attempt the trick without music. She under-rotates this time, landing awkwardly, before taking off and trying again. She can hear Lynn in the background, calling for her to stop before she hurts herself, but she can’t see or think straight. She tries again and again, landing the trick properly every time, finally. She skates over when she’s done, sliding across the ice and sending flakes onto Lynn’s ankles when she comes to a halting stop. “I’m good.” She lies, trying to make both Lynn and herself believe it.
“Oh honey… you are so far from good.” Lynn responds, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the side after noticing their time was up. They get off the ice, just as a few of Sweden’s solo skaters arrive, grabbing their bags and heading for the changing room. They change in silence, Christen thinking back to all of her struggles today and trying to determine what really was the cause of it. There’s no way her annoyance with an insignificant snowboarder could possibility be—
“Tobin Heath is so far in your head that you’re struggling to land a double axel?” Lynn asks, as they walk out of the locker room and begin to make their way back to the village.
“Ughhh…” Christen groans, dropping her head on Lynn’s shoulder at the crosswalk stop they’re standing at. “How is that even possible? It’s never been a factor before?”
Lynn gawks at her. “You’ve had these interactions before?!”
“Every Olympics.” Christen confirms, taking off again towards the village, ready for a shower and an afternoon nap to hopefully calm her down. “Actually, at least twice every Olympics.”
Lynn doesn’t respond, verbally at least, choosing to simply nod and continue to walk. They walk in silence until they get to the building they’re staying in, walking into the lobby to find none other than Tobin Heath standing there, having a heated conversation with a Team USA official. There’s an IOC official standing with them as well, that Christen doesn’t notice at first.
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Christen whispers, thankful that there’s no reason for her to have any interaction with the clearly unhappy snowboarder.
No reason, that is, until she hears the USA official call her name.
“Ahh, Miss Press. We were waiting for you. If I could have a moment of your time, please?” The balding man says. There’s no room for argument, and truthfully, she has no reason to argue, so she walks slowly to where the two men are standing with Tobin.
“Can I help you?” Christen asks, eyeing a down-trodded Tobin Heath next to her. She notices there’s no fire behind her eyes like usual, and if anything, she just looks defeated and sad.
“Yes, you can actually. We understand you were assigned a solo room?” The official asks. She looks down at his lanyard, noticing his name is ‘Bob’ which she can’t help but find completely ironic.
“Ah, yes. I was.” she answers, noticing the stiffening of the woman next to her. What could possibly be the reason for all of this, she thinks.
Bob nods in response, turning to the IOC official behind him and speaking directly to him. “Ok, I will take care of this. We’ll put Heath in Press’s room until the repairs can be completed. No problem.”
Christen’s heart drops at the words.
Heath…
In HER ROOM.
Absolutely not.
“Umm, I think there must be some sort of mistake here.” She says, getting Bob’s attention as the IOC official nods and walks away. “You want to put her…” she points at Tobin who has remained silent throughout the whole conversation. “In MY room?”
“Miss Press.” Bob starts, and Christen can already tell she’s about to get sweet-talked. “Miss Heath’s room has several repairs that need to take place. Her bed was broken when we got here, she has no hot water, and just now, the fire sprinkler system went off without reason.”
Christen fully looks at Tobin for the first time and notices that she’s soaking wet. Her clothes are wet, her hair is wet, and she still just look sad. It almost causes her to feel sorry for the other woman.
Almost.
“Are there no other snowboarders without a roommate?” She asks, because she can’t help it. She can feel the eye roll from Tobin, because she’s dragging this on.
“No, there are no other female snowboarders without a roommate.” Bob responds, now beginning to get annoyed. Just as Christen is about to ask another question, Bob cuts her off. “Listen, I know you may view this as an inconvenience, but we just need to place Tobin in there for a day or two until the IOC can have the room repaired. Not to be rude Miss Press, but the decision has been made and it is not optional. Have a good night.” And with that, Bob hands Tobin a keycard, and walks away.
The two stand there in silence for several moments before Tobin breaks it.
“Look, I know you hate me, but—“
“Damn right, I do.”
Tobin just stares at her, a look of shock and frustration on her face. She shakes the hostility off though, choosing the high road in the conversation. “I’m as thrilled about it as you, but I just need a place to shower and sleep. You won’t see me other than that.”
“I better not.”
__
Day one of sharing a room with Tobin Heath had been as good as could be expected. Tobin had made good on her promise that she wouldn’t see her if at all possible, and while Christen wanted to not care at all, she couldn’t help but wonder where the other woman was going when she didn’t have training.
Day two was similar, only Christen saw a little more of the woman, due to how late she slept. This caused an argument when Christen (maybe on purpose) opened the curtains at 5am for no reason other than to annoy the sleeping woman who had no responsibilities until 10am that day.
Day three is when things really started to go sideways. There was no word of Tobin’s room being ready for her to move back in, and to make matters worse-
“This is a code red lockdown, I repeat. This is a code red lockdown. All athletes are to remain in their own rooms until further notice.”
The speaker sounded out the prerecorded message for the last time, as Tobin sighs, settling back on the previously unoccupied bed in the room. Of course, the moment they walked into the room, the IOC decided that was the perfect time to run a drill that didn’t allow them to leave their room for several hours.
Their door had automatically locked, and while they could still get out, Tobin would be running the risk of getting caught by an IOC official if she tried to leave.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Christen groans, dropping down on her own bed and refusing to even make eye contact with Tobin.
They both lay on their respective beds for several quiet moments, before Christen is the one to break it this time.
“Why couldn’t you share a room with one of the male snowboarders?” She asks, sounding even more annoyed now than she had before.
Tobin scoffs at the question. “Ahh, because that’s hella-weird. How would you feel about sharing a room with a male figure skater?”
“Not bad, actually. They’re mostly nice, gay gentlemen. I’d feel better about it than I do about sharing with you.” Christen responds, glaring again.
“Well, feel free to go do that then.” Tobin retorts, sending daggers back of her own.
“Oh, screw you. This is my room.” Christen responds, grunting as she stands and grabs her things to go take a shower. She can feel Tobin’s eyes on her as she sifts through her bag. “And stop staring at my ass!”
Tobin laughs, actually laughs, and Christen is about to go off on her. “Sorry, there’s just so much to stare at. And not a bad view.”
Christen humphs annoyed, for what must be the 100th time since stepping into the room with Tobin the first time, and stomps off to the bathroom to take her shower. When she closes the door, she can’t help but lean against it, pondering Tobin’s actions and words just now.
Why would Tobin even be looking at her like that or say things like that? She’s straight, that’s what Christen had always believed. That’s one of the reasons she hates her, Tobin had led her on before their first Olympics, then had promptly started flirting with guys when they had gotten into the village.
She’s a jerk, a player, who messes with people’s feelings. That is who Tobin Heath is.
And one long glance at Christen’s ass isn’t going to change that.
__
“Is it just me, or is this the longest lockdown drill ever?” Tobin asks, as Christen steps out of the bathroom. She thinks she hears Christen groan at the realization that the lockdown had not been lifted while she was showering, and she definitely hears the bathroom door close again.
“I don’t know Tobito, all I know is Alessia from Team England was looking for you earlier.” Sophia says through the phone that’s on speaker. “Said she needed to give you something.” She explains further, the teasing in her voice evident, like she’s raising her eyebrows as she says it.
“Soph, stop. It’s not like that.” Tobin laughs. “Also, I think they’re technically ‘Great Britain’ not ‘Team England’.” Tobin says, smiling. “She probably just wants to give me the college textbook she borrowed last semester.”
Christen hears the conversation, and the feeling of confusion continues to mount within her. If Tobin is straight, like Christen believed, why would the person on the phone even be joking with Tobin about another woman. And if she’s not straight…
Not, she has to be. All the rumors, all the stories. There’s no way.
The feeling of relief also floods through her when Tobin says that the woman just wants to give her a book. And why she feels relieved, why she cares what Tobin does (or who Tobin does) in her free time, well she’ll unpack that another time.
“Ew, that’s… anticlimactic.” Sophia says.
“Yeah, sorry to bore you with the actual details of my day-to-day life.” Tobin laughs again. She finishes up the check-in call with Sophia, who had been unfortunate enough to have the rudest boarder on their team as her roommate that she’s currently stuck with. Carli had always done well in qualifying, but when it came time for the actual games, well, she disappears.
“Who are you boring with the details of your life?” Christen asks, stepping into the room. She’s shocked herself by asking, though she had promised herself that she’d try to be a little more cordial after their loud argument about the curtains the day before. She wasn’t trying to cause anyone, least of all herself, a shot at their gold medal. And ruining sleeping patterns is a great way to throw someone off.
Tobin looks over to see the green-eyed woman freshly showered and dressed in Team USA leggings and a t-shirt. Her hair, normally straightened and up, is down and wildly curly like Tobin has never seen. “Ahh, Sophia. She’s a first year.”
Christen hums in acknowledgment. “She was the one with you at the elevator a few days ago.” Christen both asks and states.
“Yeah…” Tobin answers, sitting up now. Not knowing how long this current diplomacy is going to last, Tobin uses it to clarify the situation that Christen just brought up. “She was trying to tell you that you weren’t hearing what you thought you were hearing when the elevator doors opened.”
They’re both sitting on their beds, facing each other now, leaning against the walls behind them.
“Oh? And what were you actually saying?” Christen asks. She wants to be snippy and dismissive, but she supposes she is genuinely curious.
“We were talking about reporters.” Tobin explains. “How they always ask the same questions, just worded a little differently.” Tobin sighs, continuing. “I was telling her to watch a figure skating interview, because those reporters are the worst.”
Christen studies Tobin’s face, contemplating whether or not to believe her. On one hand, it’s completely plausible. Sophia didn’t even seem to know who she was, so why would she come to defend Tobin against her and lie for her. On the other hand, she doesn’t trust the honey-eyed woman in front of her. She could have poisoned the mind of—
Wait, since when do I even know what color her eyes are?
Christen nods, dejectedly as she accepts the answer given. It makes sense, she’d seen Tobin get ambushed with an interview this morning. Then, it hits her.
“How do you know what figure skating interviews are like?” She asks, the curiosity overwhelming her now. To know what figure skating interviews are like, one would have to have watched or experienced a figure skating interview.
“Uhhh.”
Tobin thinks about lying. This is Christen Press, the woman who hates her, the woman who despises her. The truth will likely just be twisted and turned until its not recognizable anymore.
But ultimately, she can’t help but tell the truth.
“I watch your interviews.” She says.
Christen looks shocked, beyond belief.
“You watch MY interviews?” She asks, confused.
“…Yeah, I do.” Tobin answers, nodding. She slinks down a little on her bed, as Christen’s eyes bore into her.
“… Why?” She finally asks after a few moments of silence. “Why do you watch my interviews?”
It’s a fair question, one Tobin knew would be asked if she answered honestly when she was asked the question to begin with. Really, she wishes she had just kept her mouth shut from the beginning when Christen had asked about Sophia, but she hadn’t, so here they are.
“Well…” Tobin starts, trying to figure her way around what she’s going to say. Tobin almost just walks out then and there, but there’s nowhere to go. Plus, there’s something in the way Christen is looking at her that compels her to continue.
“I was always… interested in you. Always wanted to know how you were doing, especially after last Olympics and your knee.” She starts, and she sees Christen is definitely still focused on her. “We… we were almost friends that first year, and then… I don’t really know what happened, but suddenly you hated me. But I didn’t hate you… I don’t feel like I could if I wanted to.”
“Wait…” Christen holds her hand up. This bitch doesn’t know what happened? “You… you’re saying you don’t know what happened? That’s what you’re telling me?”
The confusion that has become a permanent part of Tobin’s face is evident once again, as if she really doesn’t know what Christen is saying. “I… don’t, Christen. One day we were getting to know each other, the next—“
“The next, you were fucking Jason Parks from men’s hockey!”
There’s been few moments Tobin has been stunned to silence in her life. Though she chooses to be a woman of few words, she rarely has nothing to say.
But in this moment, she has nothing to say. Though not for lack of trying.
“I… you… no, we… WHAT?!” She finally gets out after a lot of trying.
Christen sighs, throwing her hands up in the air. “We were… I don’t know, vibing? Getting to know each other and whatever. I thought you were… interested. Then suddenly…”
“I did NOT fuck Jason Parks!” Tobin finally, FINALLY, gets out. The thought alone makes her want to hurl. “Why the hell would you think I was doing THAT?”
“Jason Parks said you did!” Christen responds, louder than necessary.
“When did Jason say that?” Tobin asks, the confusion mounting, her anxiety growing.
“He said it the day after you spent the night with him.” She answers, calmer now, crossing her arms.
Tobin sighs, taking off her beanie and running her hand through her hair. She starts pacing back and forth in the room, as if she’s realized something. “Have you… heard anything else about me? Anything else like… that?”
It’s Christen’s turn to be confused, as if Tobin doesn’t know her own reputation in Olympic villages. “Yeah, that you fucked the whole hockey team in one Olympics.”
“Jesus Christ is Lord, what the hell?” Tobin screeches, tripping over the suitcase at the end of her bed. She stares back at Christen, her jaw agape.
“Tobin, why are you acting like you don’t know this?” Christen asks, genuinely.
“Because I DON’T!” Tobin yells, and Christen thinks she might be hyperventilating. She walks over to the woman that’s freaking out, calmly setting her hand on her back. “Hey, it’s not a big deal to sleep with people, if that’s what you want to do—“
“Christen. Hear me loud and clear.” Tobin says, getting her breathing under control and looking at the other woman. “I am fully, completely, 1000% gay. Very much not interested in men, haven’t been in like… ever.”
A short silence descends upon them as Christen processes what Tobin just said. “So, you didn’t…?”
“Oh, hell no.” Tobin answers before she gets the question out. “I would literally *never* sleep with him or any of the men’s team. The women’s team? That’s definitely a maybe, can’t say I haven’t thought about that.”
There’s a silence between them again, before Tobin makes one final point. “Chris, look at me! I’m like the token gay friend!” She says, gesturing down to her outfit of choice.
And that causes Christen to burst into laughter, practically cackling at the response Tobin gives. She’s bent over, laughing at the situation they’ve found themselves in, at the way Tobin responded.
“So you thought I blew you off and went and slept with the men’s team? And that’s why you started ignoring me?!” Tobin asks, Christen continuing to laugh as she does. “And I went and bro’d out with them and caught myself a reputation as the local snowboarding slut.”
Christen is now laughing so hard she can’t breathe. Soon they’re both laughing, doubled over distracted enough that they almost don’t hear the alarm system go off again.
“This concludes the test of the emergency system. You are now free to exit your rooms and resume regularly scheduled activities.”
The sound of it brings them back to the present, calming down some and looking at each other with new eyes. There’s a brief moment where Tobin thinks maybe they have a chance to… not hate each other.
Then the door flies open.
“Whewww, that was a long enough drill to make me claustrophobic.” Lynn says, screeching to a halt at the sight in front of her. “Uhh, what the hell is your sworn mortal enemy doing in your room?”
Christen tries to catch her breath, internally groaning at Lynn’s name-calling. As much as she did hate Tobin Heath, she feels like maybe they just pushed past all of that and had a real moment together. Maybe the truth really did just set them free, like the old saying goes.
And Lynn definitely just ruined it.
“I’m gonna go.” Tobin says, slipping into her slides. She grabs her phone, her room key, and her badge and heads out of the room before Christen can even say anything.
“Ughhh…” Christen groans, flopping her face down into the pillow on her bed and screaming into it.
“What the actual hell did I just walk into?”
__
“So, you’re sharing a room with Christen Press…?” Sophia says, taking a bite out of her taco. “Who hates you…” she says with a mouth full of grilled chicken and cheese. “And you guys…?”
“Talked.” Tobin finishes for her, just so she doesn’t have to see her chew and talk at the same time. “We talked, that’s all.”
Sophia nods, but doesn’t quite let it go. “Seems like a big deal, considering she didn’t want to talk to you before.”
Tobin sits back in her chair in the cafeteria. The truth is, she’s been replaying the afternoon in her head for several hours now, trying to process what the hell had happened. One minute, Christen was disgusted at even having to look at Tobin in her room, the next, she’s willingly starting conversation with her. Then she found out that the men’s hockey team started a rumor that she’s a hoe. Then Christen’s skating friend had walked in, called Tobin her ‘mortal enemy’ whatever that means, and Tobin had bolted.
Bringing her to now, where she had gotten Sophia to come get dinner.
“I don’t know, Soph. The whole situation is just…”
“Awwwkwwward.” Sophia says, her mouth once again full of taco.
“Yeah, awkward.”
“I think she was referring to me standing behind you.” Tobin hears the voice and clenches her eyes closed, hoping if she shuts them hard enough, what’s happening won’t be true. She squints them open, turning her head to see Christen and Lynn standing behind her, looking down at them both with their food trays in their hands. “Your table is the only one with seats available, so, do you mind?”
Tobin scoots to the edge, making plenty of room for Christen to sit next to her, Sophia doing the same on the other side for Lynn.
“I guess everyone came to eat at the same time because of the drill.” Lynn remarks, sitting down. “Hi, I’m Lynn.”
“Sophia.” Sophia responds, this time choosing to chew her food and swallow before shaking the outstretched hand next to her.
Lynn nods, smiling, “Nice to meet you.”
Christen watches the interaction, thinking its nice to see two first-time Olympians meeting each other. It takes her back to the first Olympian she ever met, the one currently sitting next to her with anxiety flowing off of her.
“You don’t have to sit with half your ass hanging off the edge of the bench. I’m not gonna bite you, you know?” Christen mutters, keeping her voice down as the other two girls launch into a full conversation, getting to know each other and trading first-time Olympian stories.
She feels Tobin relax, settling into her seat, before she chokes as she hears the whispered response. “You could if you wanted to, I wouldn’t mind.”
The coughing fit she’s launched into, well, she’d chew Tobin out for later.
“Oh my gosh, Chris are you ok?” Lynn breaks from her conversation with Sophia to check in on the choking girl across from her. Christen had been taking a drink when Tobin had responded, and it had fully gone down the wrong pipe, sending her into a fit. She takes a few deep breaths, noting the smirk on Tobin’s face as she takes a sip of her own drink.
“I’m good.” She croaks, drinking her water to clear her throat, turning and glaring at the woman next to her.
The rest of their dinner is eaten in relative peace and quiet, Sophia and Lynn carrying on their own conversation. When they’re done, Tobin declares she’s going to watch the men’s qualifying half pipe that’s taking place, and she’s shocked when the person she least expects responds.
“I’ll come with you.” Christen states, rising from the table with her and walking in front of her over to the tray return.
Tobin looks over at Sophia and Lynn briefly, both shrugging their shoulders in confusion with Tobin.
“If you don’t hear from me be 10pm, send out a search party.” Tobin mumbles to Sophia, who laughs and nods in agreement. Tobin walks over to the tray return where Christen is waiting, setting her tray down and stopping to look at the other woman.
“… What?” Christen finally asks, seeing the quizzical look on Tobin’s face.
“Why are you willingly choosing to come with me?” Tobin asks, confusion evident.
Christen shrugs, turning and walking towards the exit with Tobin trailing behind. They walk in silence across the village, making their way to the half pipe as they hear the sounds of the qualifying beginning. She does eventually break the silence and answer the question, surprising herself yet again. “Maybe I’m not done with our conversation from earlier.”
—
“So, how is it that the rumor went around that your slept with the whole men’s hockey team and you didn’t even know it?” Christen asks, still smiling and laughing a little at the thought of their conversation from earlier.
Tobin throws her head back up to the dark sky, little snow flurries falling around them. “I don’t know.” She says, truthfully. “I beat Jason at a game of pool the first few days in the village, and turned down his many advances, so maybe he got mad and spread the rumor?” She shudders at the thought of all of the times Jason tried to flirt with her.
Christen nods. She remembers a little about Jason Parks, and she remembers him being a jackass, so it didn’t seem very far fetched. The men had lost gold that year, and Jason hadn’t been invited back to a USA camp since.
Maybe Christen’s kept up with him, unnecessarily.
“Better question, you thought I was interested in you?” Tobin asks, the smirk from before returning to her face.
This time, its Christen’s turn to sputter and mumble, not knowing what to say.
“Cause you’d be right, if you thought that.” Tobin continues, putting her out of her misery.
They’re walking through the snow, around the village, when Christen puts together what Tobin just said with what they were talking about before. “That’s why you watched my interviews.” She says, quietly.
“I was always interested.” Tobin nods. “But you hated me. Though… maybe not anymore?”
“Maybe not anymore.”
__
“You gotta work the hill, baby!!” Tobin yells, screeching to a halt and sending snow flying in front of her. She rips her helmet off, looking at the scoreboard to see herself slide into first place in qualifying, unseating Norway’s top boarder. “Let’s goooo!”
It was the round of qualifying, and though Tobin didn’t necessarily feel the need to be the top seed, she was grateful that was how it was playing out, since she hadn’t even pulled out half of her best tricks. She hadn’t been lying when she had told the reporter the morning before that
“Tobes, that was so smooth!” Sophia called over to her as she walks back to where all the qualified participants were. Sophia’s run had gone really well, currently settling her into 3rd behind Tobin and the Norwegian boarder. “What the hell, dude? You didn’t look this good in practice.”
Tobin laughs, because she knows the exact reason she’s doing so well.
The days leading up to this had been something Tobin hadn’t even dared to dream of. She kind of assumed she and Christen would always be enemies, that she would never get the chance to clear the air with the curly-haired woman. But instead, she’d spent almost all of her free time the past week getting to know her and moving past all the anger and hatred that had once permeated their conversations. She’d never dared to hope for friendship with the woman, but now she finds herself on the edge of something else entirely.
They’d talked, really talked. They’d learned so much about each other, about their families, their personalities. They’d talked about home, learning they both still lived in Denver, though Christen longs for the days she can move back to Los Angeles. Tobin agrees, stating how much she loves the sun and to surf.
They’d progressed past the hatred, past the hostility, and into a real friendship - all thanks to the clarifying that no, Tobin hadn’t slept with the whole men’s hockey team, she was just a bro who hung out with the bros.
And since they’d actually become friends, Tobin had been present for Christen’s short program the night before.
She’d watched in awe, as Christen took the ice, gracefully going through the motions of her first routine. It’d taken her a while to understand how skating really works, how there’s aren’t ‘qualifying rounds’ inside of the games, but instead, everyone is medal eligible from the moment they take the ice, and it’s up to them to prove they can do it. To prove they’re good enough.
Christen had silenced any doubt that she was the best skater present at the Olympics, easily gliding into first place on the leaderboard after the entire round of shorts was completed. When the evening was all said and done, Tobin had been close enough to listen to an interview Christen and Lynn were having with their coach, laughing at the ridiculous questions being asked by the reporter. At one point, she even thinks Christen had smirked up at her.
Just as the interview was finishing, a male skater named Thomas had come over and promptly pushed his way right up to where Christen was standing, throwing his arm around her shoulder and smiling for the cameras in front of them still. It pushes Lynn out of the camera shot, so she takes the opportunity to come meet up with Tobin, who she’d also formed a friendship with.
Tobin remembers reading about a supposed romance between Christen and this guy, but she’d never actually seen them together. And judging by the look on Christen’s face, she had no interest in the guy draped over her. But the cameras did, because everyone loves a good Olympic romance.
“Thomas, did you come here to watch Christen perform tonight? What are your thoughts on her performance?”
Literally the dumbest questions.
“Of course, I came to watch the greatest women’s skater at this Olympics.” Thomas responds with an easy smile. Tobin feels an annoyance that she can’t fully describe, rising to the surface.
Jealousy. That’s what the feeling is. It hits her like a freight train.
“She’s my favorite to watch, as I’m sure a lot of people agree. I’m just glad I get to see her when the lights and the cameras are off.” He says, pulling her closer. The only saving grace Tobin feels in the moment is the absolute look of annoyance and disgust on Christen’s face. She wonders if her and Lynn are the only ones that can see it.
“You should go rescue her from this interview.” Lynn whispers, leaning in.
“By doing what?” Tobin quietly responds. “Waltzing in and pulling her away?”
“I don’t think she’d complain if that’s what you did.” Lynn states before grabbing her bag and turning towards the locker room. “Before? Yeah, you’d have been the greater of two evils. But now you guys are like… buds or something.” She says walking away.
Tobin doesn’t have much time to process any of it before the cameras are dropped and the mix of staff and media begin to walk away. Thomas drops his arm off of her shoulder, and just as Tobin is about to close the distance from the shadows where she was waiting, she hears Christen go off.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Tom?” She says, physically putting distance between the two of them. “You have no right to come over here and crash my interview. We’re not together, so stop making it seem like we are.”
“Everyone loves a good Olympic romance, Chris. Just play along.” The guy says, and suddenly, Tobin feels like maybe he’s a complete creep and maybe its time she intervenes. So right as Christen is about to respond, Tobin emerges from her hiding place, stepping to Christen’s side. Christen automatically deflates, which Tobin notes to bring up later.
“Hey, great job out there, babe.” Tobin says, not even acknowledging Thomas, leaning in to give Christen a hug. It’s the first time they’ve ever hugged, and Tobin feels warmth through her, even if it is a little bit fake.
Christen sighs, understanding what Tobin is doing and being immensely thankful for it. “Thank you.” She hugs back with tightness, enjoying both the look on Thomas’ face and the hug she’s getting that’s causing it.
Thomas stomps off, unsurprising to them both. “Excuse me, where were you like five minutes ago? Could have used your help then.” Christen laughs, pulling out of the hug to look at her enemy turned friend.
Tobin smiles, “Lynn told me to intervene, but I didn’t really know what to do.” She says, grabbing Christen’s bag for her and walking toward the locker room with her.
Christen groans, throwing her head back. “Please feel free to intervene any time.”
While she was ecstatic from her placement in the short program round, Christen only had a few days to prepare for the final round, her long program.
She had trainings scheduled whenever the ice was free, which was exactly why she wasn’t present to see Tobin’s qualifying run.
Or so Tobin thought.
“She did look pretty good, didn’t she?”
Tobin hears the voice, and instead of a groan and a frown like before, she smiles brightly and turns to see the green-eyed figure skater standing there, her Team USA parka zipped up and Tobin’s favorite beanie on her head.
“I was looking for that beanie this morning.” Tobin laughs, walking away from Sophie who eyed them carefully before gaining the courage to walk over to start up a conversation with a male snowboarder she’d been watching, leaving the two women alone.
“I stole it, I couldn’t find my Team one, and it’s cold out.” Christen smiles, noting the headband around Tobin’s ears and her hair pulled back, leaning in for a hug, because they do that now.
“Yeah, my head feels that it’s cold out.” Tobin jokes, as she grabs her board from the ground and gestures for Christen to walk with her to the equipment manager. She checks her board in, writing down the time, and signs her name, smiling at the Olympic worker as he carefully stores her board. She had other ones with her, but that one is her favorite.
“Well, we don’t want your head to be cold, so back to the room for dinner?” Christen asks, tilting her head in the direction of one of the restaurants that athletes could order food to go, for when they didn’t want to eat in the cafeteria.
Tobin groans in agreement, the cold and fatigue of the day settling in. “That sounds amazing.”
Before they know it, they’re back in the room, sitting on Christen’s bed, eating burgers and fries and discussing some of the other sports that they’ve gotten to watch so far. Tobin swears the women’s hockey team could go back-to-back, even if they lost to Canada in the preliminary round. Christen says if she had to give up skating for another sport, she assumes it would probably be skiing or curling.
“Curling?!” Tobin laughs, almost choking on her fry.
“I just think it’s graceful.” Christen retorts.
“They are literally sweeping ice.”
They watch some events from the day on their phones, listening to the commentators reactions from both of their first place qualifying. When Tobin switches to a different sport, Christen almost jumps pointing her finger at it.
“I swear luge is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.” Christen says, stealing a fry from Tobin’s plate. “How the hell do they not fall off? They’re literally sliding down a frozen water slide on a long trash can lid!”
“I don’t know, but speed skating freaks me out. Those skates are so long and sharp. Remember that time they all crashed and the guy in last won gold!?” Tobin laughs out loud so hard at the memory that she falls backward on the bed they’re sitting on, considering what it would take for that to happen in her own sport. It would probably be the only way Carli could win gold.
“Oh my gosh, yes!” Christen joins in on the laughing, leaning over until they‘re both laughing at the image and at each other. Only then do they realize how close they’ve gotten, with Christen leaning down over the top of Tobin. The only time they’d been this close before was when they’d hugged, both times being in public, and their faces not being this close.
They both slowly stop laughing, the mood in the room going from light and silly to serious and overwhelming in a matter of minutes.
Neither is sure who leans in first, but before they know what’s happening, their lips are meeting for the first time, and Tobin swears its like nothing ever before.
While she’s not the slut that the hockey team had made her out to be, she’s certainly not a virgin, and her lips have met many before this. But nothing in her past, and nothing in her future, could ever compare to what was happening right now. Christen’s lips were soft, pillowy, and perfectly molded to Tobin’s. They kiss for a few moments, nothing heavy, just light and sweet, before they pull back. They search each other’s eyes carefully, both seeing nothing but want in the reflection mirrored in their own eyes.
Christen is definitely the one who leans back in this time, bringing her hand to Tobin’s jaw and giving Tobin the silent permission to put her hand on Christen’s waist and encourage her to come closer.
This kiss isn’t light and airy like before. This kiss, or series of kisses, is heavy with want and desire, as if years of pent up yearning are suddenly rising to the surface and threatening to burst forth all at once. Which is essentially, exactly what is happening. Christen’s tongue is pushing for entrance into Tobin’s mouth, and who is Tobin to deny such a request. The moans in the room are indistinguishable from each other, as they both groan at the contact.
Suddenly, the kisses aren’t enough anymore, and both begin to tear at the clothes that separate their bodies from each other. The empty food tray is knocked off the bed, the few remaining fries forgotten. Tobin’s shirt is on the ground before she even realizes, and her hands are pulling Christen’s leggings down and off and settling on her ass. They break apart, momentarily eyeing each other and leaning forward their heads together. Christen’s hands are on Tobin’s face, as she’s pitched in her lap, Tobin’s hands still firmly in place on her bottom.
They both sit there for a moment, catching their breath and waiting for the other to speak aloud the consent for them both. In the end, neither say anything, but Tobin nods as she leans in again, placing a small kiss on Christen’s lips.
The rest of the clothes separating them from skin contact are peeled off, leaving both of them bare and touching each other. Tobin lays back on the small bed, pulling Christen with her as she continues to kiss her mouth, neck, and face. She grabs onto Christen tightly, before quickly flipping them over in the bed, putting herself on top before she promptly begins to kiss her way down Christen’s body.
If she had any fight in her, Christen would use that fight to make this moment last. However, at the first touch, she feels how quickly that will all come crumbling down.
It doesn’t take much at all, a few flicks and touches before she feels herself giving into the pleasure and crashing over the edge. She wants to be embarrassed, but combining her lack of partners with her strong, lasting desire for the woman with her, she knows she never stood a chance.
It makes her feel a lot better when she flips them over, and suddenly, Tobin is the one who doesn’t last long at all.
They go on into the night, familiarizing themselves with every inch of each other’s bodies, bringing each other to their peak, evening coming together once. And with every touch, every look, every kiss - Christen feels a little bit closer to home.
__
“Tomorrow, Tobin Heath will take on the half pipe for her 3rd gold medal, looking to make history once again in women’s snowboarding. We have several other major events still to come, but tonight, all eyes are on Christen Press, as she attempts to win gold for the first time in her Olympic career and reclaim the figure skating throne for Team USA.”
Tobin is close enough to the American commentators to hear what they’re saying, her eyes though are focused on Christen, who’s on the side of the rink preparing for her long performance.
They’d awoken this morning tangled together on the small twin bed, to the sound of an IOC official pounding on the door. Tobin had managed to throw on a shirt and some sweats, opening the door slightly to find out what the man wanted.
It turns out, after almost a week, her room was repaired and she could move back in whenever she wanted. But one look at a sleepy Christen told her that wasn’t going to happen, and that they’d both much rather stay and share the room.
They’d spent the day together, minus a short training session for Tobin while Christen did some meditating. They’d eaten meals together, walked the village together, and Tobin had even walked Christen to the locker room for her to get ready for the evening. She felt like a kid in high school, walking her crush to class.
As nervous as Tobin was for her own final tomorrow, it didn’t compare to what she was feeling for Christen in the moment. All she wants is for the beautiful, green-eyed woman to win her gold.
She hears the announcers comment that Christen is up next, so she shifts her back, straightening out, to get the best view of the full rink in front of her. She sends up a prayer, that the woman will be safe and stay injury free, but mostly that she will feel joy and peace as she gives 100% to the sport she loves.
Christen glides onto the ice, her black and white leotard striking against her dark skin and the white ice beneath her, coming to a soft stop in the middle of the ice as she poses for her music to begin. It will all come down to this for Christen.
Her short program had been to a slow waltz, which from most of what Tobin had seen of figure skating, she figured was pretty normal. So she’s surprised to hear an arrangement of the familiar tune of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” begin to float through the rink as Christen begins to glide across the ice.
Christen skims along at the slow beginning of the song, picking up speed as the tempo of the song increases with the first verse, vaulting into her first jump, a double axel, at the first “can anybody find me?”, landing it perfectly.
She continues to make moves that Tobin doesn’t even know the names of, spinning around and around with a fierceness in her eyes as the song goes on and on. Tobin can’t help but smile and laugh a little at Christen’s air guitar when the song comes to ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah’ right before the instrumental bridge.
The pinnacle of her performance comes on the last ‘can anybody find me?’ When she launches into a quadruple axel, the hardest jump in figure skating. Tobin sucks in her breath so hard, she can feel Sophia grab her arm to calm her down, or to balance her own edgy feeling.
Unsurprisingly, Christen lands the jump perfectly, likely solidifying her place a top the medal podium at the end of the night. The audience in the rink goes insane at what they’ve just seen, Christen being only the second woman to ever land the quadruple jump in the Olympics.
The song slows to the ending, as Christen spins out her performance to the sounds of ‘Find me somebody to love’, repeating over and over, coming to a graceful stop as the song ends. She stays still for a moment, as roars of applause sound around her, the audience standing to their feet as flowers are thrown into the rink at her. She beams, not just at what she’s just accomplished, but at the reception she feels from both friends and competitors alike. She’s done the impossible, coming back from the worst injury imaginable, and surely winning gold.
She takes her bows, looking up to find Tobin in the stands beaming back at her with a huge smile on her face, applauding and cheering with Sophia next to her, jumping up and down. It makes her smile and laugh even more.
She hadn’t been worried. She’d known that she had a real chance this year.
But landing the jumps she did, locking her name in history? That was an unexpected bonus. Even more unexpected than the romance she’d found in the process.
Ok, maybe not.
Christen exits the rink, coming to stand next to her coach and Lynn as the judges deliberate for a score for her. Lynn was currently in first with four other skaters still to go, but she knows she’ll be in second after the scores are announced.
Sure enough, Christen’s rounded score lands at a 179.41, blowing all other skaters almost out of competition. Lynn is solidly in position for silver, but the remaining skaters will have to skate with perfection and extreme levels of difficulty to even have a prayer of catching Christen. The roars from the crowd, one specifically from Tobin Heath, can be heard by Christen as she hugs her coach, her teammate, and England’s skater, Leah, who’s sitting in position for bronze.
And later, when the USA flag is being raised into the rafters of the room, Christen stands on the top watching and listening to the National Anthem. She feels the weight of the gold medal on her chest, and as much as she wants to focus on the flag in front of her, she can’t help but focus on the smiling woman in the stands.
__
“Christen, the song choice, ‘Somebody to Love’, was that always the song you were going with for your long program, or was that a last minute change?”
Tobin rolls her eyes, once again annoyed with the stupid questions figure skaters get asked. She leans against the pillar, waiting for Christen to finish so they can head back to their room and she can give her the foot massage she promised if Christen won gold.
She’d given it to her no matter what, but it was more fun this way.
“Ah, most skaters come in with a few song choices. I decided a few days ago which song, after the short program was completed.” Christen answers, scratching the back of her neck, waiting for an elaboration on the question that she knew was coming.
“Anyone who influenced that song choice?” The same reporter continued.
And there it was.
“Ha, uh no, definitely not.” Christen answered with a smile. “I am… doing okay in that department.”
A wave of hands raised at the answer, everyone dying to know what she meant by the response. She was America’s sweetheart of figure skating, so everyone wanted to know who had her heart. When the USA official signified that she was done answering questions, several reporters began to shout questions out.
“Is it Thomas?”
“Are you and Thomas the new figure skating power couple?”
“Can we expect you and Thomas to compete in couples skating next Olympics?”
Christen laughs, pausing for a moment and leaning into the microphone one more time. “I wouldn’t skate with Thomas if it was the last gold medal to be won.” And with that, she almost quite literally drops the mic, stepping off of the platform in search of her favorite snowboarder. She knows she’ll probably get an earful from her manager later, but she can’t care in the moment.
She rounds the corner, still smiling at the frenzy she’d left the media in, before she hears the snickering she’s looking for behind a beam in the hallway.
“You know, Thomas might take offense to that. I can’t believe you wouldn’t skate with him!” Tobin teases, grabbing at Christen’s hands as she comes from around the corner of the beam.
“Ugh, not you too.” Christen groans, dropping her head onto Tobin’s shoulder. “Really its not about him, I just can’t see myself doing couple skating.”
“Maybe you just haven’t found the right partner.”
Christen leans back, looking at the warm eyes, bright smile, and slightly crooked beanie. “Maybe.”
__
“Oh my gosh, right there…”
She takes a deep breath, sucking in air and arching her back. “Just like that.”
“Fuck, Tobin.”
She hears the chuckles coming from the other woman who’s at the other end of the bed, her feet propped up in Tobin’s lap as Tobin uses her thumbs to massage the aching muscles in her feet. She decided she never wanted another massage from anyone again, because Tobin has ruined her for anyone else’s hands.
In more ways than one.
“You were beautiful out there, tonight.” Tobin says, quietly, her hands still working out the kinks and soreness in Christen’s feet. “You were graceful and strong, the perfect combination. And your stunts…. Chris they were insane.”
Christen can feel her face blush with the praise, smiling at the other woman. “Thank you.” She says, “Thank you for being there. For supporting me. I’ve never had that before.” She admits. “Well, my parents have been in the past but couldn’t make it happen this year. It meant a lot to me that you were there.”
Tobin smiles in return, thinking about meeting Christen’s parents one day in the future. “I’ll be there as long as you’ll let me be there.” Tobin states, hoping Christen will take the bite and they can have the conversation she’s been thinking about. And it works.
“Yeah?” Christen tilts her head to the side, as if reading Tobin’s mind and seeing what she’s thinking. “You want to be there in the future?” It’s said with a smile, but Tobin doesn’t miss the fear behind the question. Fear of rejection, fear of passiveness.
But she’s not afraid of her answer. She stops what she’s doing, placing Christen’s feet on the bed and moving up the bed so their faces are next to each other’s. “I want to be there all the time.” She leans in, giving a gentle kiss to Christen’s lips. They’ve only been doing this for roughly 24 hours, but Tobin knows that Christen’s lips on hers is the best feeling in the world.
“It’ll be hard, you know.” Christen warns, pulling back just enough to make eye contact, to be serious for a moment. “Figure skating is… grueling.”
“So is snowboarding, you know?” Tobin counters, a smile threatening. “We both live in Denver, we both train in the cold. We both want to move to LA when we retire, and I imagine we probably have similar ideas of when we want to do that. I think we can make it work.”
Christen just smiles in return, leaning back in for more kisses. “Yeah, I think we can make it work too.”
__
“Oh my gosh, I don’t think this is going to work.”
Lynn bursts out laughing at her best friend, throwing her head back. They’d been standing at the finish of the half pipe for 10 minutes and they’d watched two competitors take their first runs. Already, Christen is freaking out.
“We have a lot more to go, you can’t back out now.” Lynn pushes.
“I’m not backing out, I just… don’t want to watch.” Christen counters, seeing little Sophia flying through the air on her first run. Christen doesn’t understand snowboard tricks at all, only that then do little spins and flips in the air and then attempt to not slam into the top of the half-pipe when they’re landing. A French competitor had done that already, knocking herself out, literally.
They watch the first two rounds, Tobin and Sophia battling with Norway and China’s top boarders. Heading into the final round, Tobin sits confidently in first with Sophia in third. Based on the leader board, Tobin will go last, meaning she’ll know the exact score she’ll need to win gold.
Lynn gets the idea to pull out her AirPods and her phone to listen to the American broadcast while they watch the event live in person, handing an earbud to Christen. Since neither of them have any clue, she knew it would help them understand how the judges score the different jumps and tricks.
Sophia is up first, sitting in 3rd place. Christen and Lynn watch on the phone as the zoomed in shot shows her turn back and smile at Tobin who’s perched in the waiting area. She gives a ‘Shaka’, popping her headphones in and sliding down to the start point.
In the end, her run leaves the judges wondering how Tobin can possibly pull out a gold medal. Sophia completely blew everyone away, launching herself into first with just two boarders to go. Tobin jumps up and down when Sophia’s score comes up, ecstatic for the young boarder and knowing there’s no one she’d rather lose to than her.
In the time it takes the Norwegian boarder to take her final run, one that bumps Tobin into 4th position before her final run, Sophia has received a ton of high fives, checked in with their coach, and is now standing with Christen and Lynn behind the barrier waiting for Tobin’s final run.
“Come on, Toby!” Sophia yells, as Tobin slides into the starting position, though she knows the older woman can’t hear her.
Tobin is standing at the top, looking down at the half pipe in front of her. This run doesn’t just decide if she’s a three-time gold medalist, it decides if she medals at all in these Olympics. She decides to go for her hardest run, one she’s never completed in competition. And when she boards down to the drop in point, her first trick signifies to Sophia that’s exactly what she’s doing.
“Holy shit, Tobes.” Sophia whispers, just loud enough for her friends to hear.
“What… what holyshit? Why are you saying holy shit?” Christen asks, confused.
Sophia bites her bottom lip, watching Tobin spin into the first of her back-to-back frontside, corkscrew 1440’s. “This is her hardest run she’s ever tried. She’s never completed it in competition.”
Christen gasps softly, looking up at the woman flying through the air into her second 1440, landing it strongly and picking up speed. “Come on, Tobes.”
After a few more tricks, Tobin was coming down into her last build up, knowing she had one chance for gold, one trick left to seal the win. She takes a page out of the Shaun White playbook, putting all her speed and power into a double McTwist 1260, a trick she’s never landed in competition before. She can’t see the ground coming out of it and almost panics for a second, thinking she’s ruined her chance at first place. But instead, she trusts her instincts, planting firmly on the end of the pipe and coming to halting stop as she falls to her knees, shocked at the fact that she completed the run.
The crowd roars to life as Tobin has done the impossible, what will likely be considered the greatest female halfpipe run in the history of the Olympics. She stands to her feet, peeling off her helmet and goggles, as she unstraps her board and waits for her score to push through.
Christen, Lynn, and Sophia all stand behind the barrier, waiting for the score to be announced so they can push through and tackle Tobin in a group hug. Christen may not know a lot about snowboarding, but the announcers on the American broadcast and Sophia’s utter shock at the run they’d just watched, tells her enough to know Tobin’s locked in the gold.
And sure enough, her score pushes through as the highest ever in women’s halfpipe history, Olympics or X Games. She’s three-peated gold, the first woman to ever do so. And just like Christen, Tobin’s teammate takes silver right behind her.
Her three friends burst past the standing gate, into the waiting area where Tobin is and they topple her over when her score pops onto the screen.
“You did it!” Sophia screams, hugging Tobin’s neck.
Tobin laughs, wrapping an arm around Sophia and an arm around Christen, assuming Lynn is in the pile somewhere too. “Sorry to knock you out of first kid, I really didn’t think I’d land that last 1260.”
Sophia laughs with her, rising and giving her hand to help Tobin stand too. Christen puts an arm around her waist and they all smile for the cameras in front of them as the lights flash around them.
__
Interviews are done, and Tobin’s medal ceremony lasts forever, according to the snowboarders account later when the two of them are alone in their room once more.
“I can’t believe you decided your last run of the day was the time to attempt a trick you’d never landed before.” Christen laughs, throwing a pair of leggings into her suitcase, trying to begin the process of packing. They’d managed to land tickets on the same flight back to the US, mirroring their first Olympics all those years ago.
“Yeah, well. I still can’t believe you actually thought I was straight.” Tobin retorts from the bathroom as she walks out with freshly washed hair, dripping down on her shirt. “I mean, what the hell, Chris?”
Christen throws the leggings in her hands at Tobin, grinning in annoyance. “Jason was very convincing, okay?”
“Thomas wasn’t.” Tobin retorts, with a laugh.
“Okayyyy, enough of that.” Christen smiles.
They dance around each other, packing their things before settling into one bed together, Christen practically on top of Tobin because the bed is so small. They talk for a few moments about plans when they get back to the US, about visiting Tobin’s parents on the East Coast before flying to Denver. It feels too soon, but it also feels exactly right, so Christen can’t help but feel ready and excited. They’ve already discussed a trip to LA for a vacation in the spring, when Tobin will undoubtedly get to meet Christen’s family.
Just as they’re drifting off to sleep, she hears Tobin whisper, “Best Olympics yet.” And she can’t help but agree.
__
4 years later
Ottowa, Canada
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“Tobin, you’re the most decorated female snowboarder to ever shred the halfpipe, what’s running through your mind this Olympics as you go for four golds in a row?”
Tobin adjusts her sleeping one year old on her hip, getting a better grip on the little girl who had insisted she wasn’t leaving her momma’s arms even though the temperature was very cold in the bitter Canadian air. At 29, Tobin was set to compete in her last Olympics, already set to move into a coaching position after the games are over. The only things running through her mind right now are-
“Well, obviously as always, I want to give my best to the sport. So that’s always running through my mind when the games come around. I’d say the only other thing on my mind right now would be finding this baby’s other mom and getting her down for her nap.” She says with a smile and a laugh, signifying the end of her interview. The reporter nods at her with a smile, as she backs away, searching the crowds around for the one woman she really needed.
“You’ve always loved a good interview.” Christen laughs, sneaking up behind her and wrapping her arms around her waist. The sound causes the little head to pop up, hearing her mother’s voice and promptly reaching her arms out for the curly-haired woman.
“Hello, my sweet baby.” Christen coos, grabbing the little mini-Christen and tucking her safely in the warmth of her chest. “You ready to go lay down?”
“If you’re asking me, the answer is ‘hell yes’.” Tobin jokes, not hearing the others coming up behind her.
“Oooo, nap time in the Press-Heath room!” Sophia laughs, her friend and Olympic newbie Trinity joining in. “Yesss! Baby snuggles!”
Tobin groans, “How do you guys always manages to show up and ruin the moment?”
“We have great timing.” Lynn chimes in, her husband in tow behind her. “What can we say, you’re living legends and we just want to be around you.”
Christen laughs at her friends and family, a contented smile coming to her face as she looks over at the love of her life. They’re here, competing in their 4th Olympics. Christen is there to silence the doubters that say she can’t possibly win gold after giving birth a year ago. Tobin is there to pass her legacy onto the next generation.
Their daughter, Sophie Lyn Press-Heath, is with them every step of the way. Mostly because she’s incredibly attached to both of her mothers.
And if you asked how the hell Christen had gotten here, standing next to the woman she hated 4 years ago, in love and happier than she’s ever been? Well.
She’d tell you there’s just something about being an Olympian.