Work Text:
1.
Tobin isn’t a fan of flowers. Sure, they’re pretty to look at, but that’s pretty much all they’re good for. They only last a couple of weeks in a vase at most, and there are much more practical ways to show someone you like them.
Like a mixed CD (if anyone still does that these days) or a really good book you think they’d enjoy. Or even better, a really good meal, because whoever said that the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach clearly knew what they were talking about. Nothing says you care better than a really solid cheeseburger, if you ask Tobin.
But Alex loves flowers, often lingers by the flower stands at farmers markets and keeps a fresh bunch in a vase on her dining-slash-work-table in her studio apartment. So Tobin stops by the flower shop and picks up a small bouquet on the way to Alex’s. Kelley says she shouldn’t show up empty-handed anyway because they’re finally trying out this dating thing (or as Kelley put it — fucking finally!), and this is supposed to be different from all the other times they’ve hung out.
Tobin thinks her fumbled doyouwanttogoonadatewithme a week ago and putting on a fresh pair of jeans are enough indication that tonight would be different, but she listens anyway. Just like she listens when Kelley texts to remind her to pick the flowers herself, because Are you dating her, or is the florist dating her? — a horrible idea in hindsight because Tobin knows nothing about flowers or what Alex likes and ends up choosing a mishmash of types and colors.
(And there better not be roses in there. Roses are basic. Are you basic, Tobin Heath?)
She briefly wonders why she’s even taking advice from someone who thinks wow, you’re hot is an appropriate conversation opener. But she’s already on Alex’s doorstep and it’s too late to stash the flowers anywhere, so here goes .
She knocks and waits, as if she and Kelley hadn’t been given keys to the apartment months ago, as if Alex hasn’t gone home one too many times to find the two sprawled on her couch watching television and munching on her cereal.
Alex appears and she looks — well, the same. Tobin isn’t sure what she expected. She’d spent the past week psyching herself up for this and worrying about how much things could change between them. But Alex looks like her usual self in her skinny jeans and tank top and it —
It takes Tobin’s breath away anyway.
“I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to dress up,” Alex admits shyly, “You never told me where we were going, and I figured — sorry, I can go change —”
“No!” Tobin shouts, and Alex falls silent staring at her. Tobin clears her throat. “I mean — sorry. What you have on is perfect.”
Alex looks a little confused then, because Tobin’s wearing a blazer and a nice shirt that is actually ironed and this is Tobin, who doesn’t even get this dressed up for work, and damn it, this is the last time she’ll let Kelley dress her for anything.
“Sorry,” she says again, scratching the back of her neck and chuckling nervously. “I was going to take you to the pizza place around the corner you’ve been wanting to try, but Kelley told me to make reservations at Giovanni’s. So uh, what you have on is perfect, unless you want to go to Giovanni’s? They’re both fine, I mean, I don’t mind… either way.”
Tobin feels the heat creep up her neck when she realizes she’s babbling, and it gets worse when she also realizes that she’s still holding the flowers.
“Here, uh, these are flowers,” she mumbles, all but shoving them into Alex’s hands. “I mean, I wasn’t sure what kind you like, but you like… flowers. I think these are gardenias, and the florist said these are tulips…” She trails off when she realizes she doesn’t remember the third type she had chosen (and that Alex probably knows what each of them are anyway). “Anyway, uh. So flowers… for you.”
She clamps her mouth shut and looks down. But when she looks up at Alex again, Alex is smiling that smile that she has only reserved for Tobin, and Tobin thinks that maybe she hasn’t messed up too much before they’ve even had their first date.
Alex pulls her in by the lapels of her blazer and kisses her then, and Tobin finally lets herself relax, smiling into the kiss. It lasts longer than Tobin expected for their first kiss, but it’s still all too soon when they separate, because whoa.
And when they’re staring at each other with the same goofy grins on their faces, Tobin is reminded that this is one of her best friends, and as much as things are about to change, some things will stay the same. And that sometimes, change can be good. Very good.
“Just let me put these in a vase,” Alex says breathily, reaching up to wipe her lip gloss from the corner of Tobin’s mouth. She turns around to unlock the door and Tobin takes a step back to wait patiently, previous nerves gone (mostly). Just as Alex is about to go into her apartment, she turns around and smiles at Tobin again.
“I like ranunculus,” she says. “For future reference. And pizza sounds great.”
+
“A secret love,” Alex says later as she’s stealing the last mozzarella stick from Tobin’s plate. “That’s what the gardenia means. And tulips are a declaration of love.”
A great tactical move, because Tobin is too distracted by the new information to notice her now empty plate, and —
“Wait!” Tobin blurts out suddenly, and Alex freezes mid-chew. “Flowers have meanings?”
Alex relaxes, nodding. She swallows and wipes off her greasy fingers with a napkin, smiling at the way Tobin’s brows are furrowed like she’s thinking too hard.
“How about the third kind? The um —” Tobin falters, racking her brain again but still coming up empty.
“The Scabiosa,” Alex supplies easily. Tobin wrinkles her nose at the name and Alex chuckles. “They’re also known as pincushion flowers.”
“Right, those. What do they mean?”
“Oh,” Alex says, biting her lip. “Uh, I don’t remember.”
Tobin looks unconvinced.
“Don’t worry about the third one,” Alex insists, but Tobin remains deep in thought.
“So you’re saying that — by giving you those flowers, I was declaring my secret love for you?”
“Were you?” Alex teases.
“Oh. I uh.”
“Hey,” Alex says, reaching for Tobin’s hand. “Sometimes flowers are just pretty.”
“You’re pretty,” Tobin mumbles. It’s soft, but Alex hears it. She smiles, feeling completely endeared by this version of Tobin she’s never seen before.
“Who needs flowers with a charmer like you?”
+
Kelley comes home from her daily run to find a series of Snaps from Tobin from earlier in the day. She opens the app and finds two videos taken at a flower shop with the captions SOS and flowers r stupid, followed by a selfie of a confused Tobin and a picture of the florist (a pretty cute florist, Kelley thinks) captioned my hero.
Checking the time and figuring that Tobin should be back from her date by now (unless she managed to get some — in which case, go Tobin ), she sends a quick text to check in.
Tobin Heath
Today 10:32pm
How was the date?
I declared my unfortunate secret love to Alex.
What?
Did you know flowers have meanings?
I’m pretty sure Alex knew what the scab flower meant
What
Wtf is a scab flower
Why would you pick something called a scab flower
It’s also called a pincushion flower or something. Idk. It was pretty!
But I googled it and it means unfortunate love
Alex said the other two I picked out mean secret love and declaration of love
Two out of three isn’t too bad right?
Omg just figure out what her fave is and get that
Is2g why are you such a gay disaster
I just want her to like me :(
P sure you don’t have to worry about that
Yeah?
Kelley groans, regretting that she asked at all.
Stop being gross and go to sleep
Delivered
+
Alex Morgan
Today 10:48pm
Sooooo, how was the date?
<3 <3 <3
Barf
Delivered
+
I told her she had nothing to worry about, Kelley thinks as she sets her phone aside and gets ready for bed.
But just in case, Kelley pulls up her Amazon app and orders a book on flower meanings for Tobin.
These two, I swear to God. At least Amazon Prime has its shit together.
+
2.
Alex likes ridiculous flowers.
At least, that’s what Tobin thinks she said.
She hadn’t exactly been paying attention during that first date because she had still been reeling from that kiss, and damn it, why did Alex have to like flowers with more than two syllables anyway?
What’s wrong with lilies or roses or tulips, she’d grumbled to Kelley the next day, who grumbled right back about romance being dead and told her that she is the worst girlfriend ever.
Not a girlfriend yet, Tobin points out, because one date doesn’t really mean they’re going steady or anything. Kelley tells her it’ll be a not a girlfriend ever if she doesn’t get her shit together and figure out Alex’s favorite flower.
Alex gets caught in the rain without an umbrella a week later (because really, how often does it rain in LA?) and catches a cold.
Tobin shows up with some chicken noodle soup and a bouquet of the most ridiculous-looking flowers she finds at the flower shop. Alex manages a smile between coughs and lets Tobin feed her the soup, and Tobin strokes her hair until she falls asleep.
Alex wakes a couple of hours later and finds Tobin sprawled on her couch shoving fistfuls of cereal into her mouth as she watches a soccer game on mute. The crunching sound negates the lack of volume from the television, but Alex smiles at the sentiment anyway. She drapes her blanket over her shoulders and joins Tobin, who makes room for her as she lays her head on Tobin’s lap, and they watch the rest of the game together.
Tobin hits her snooze button one too many times the next morning and doesn’t get the chance to drop by on her way to work. There’s a deadline that keeps Tobin busy all day, but when she finally gets the chance to check her phone there’s a picture of an empty takeout bowl in her messages and a thank you :), and Tobin is relieved because she hadn’t even had the chance to check that her Eat24 order for soup had gone through.
Tobin is still stuck at work when seven o’clock rolls around, so she sends Kelley to check on Alex and venmos her enough money to pick up dinner for two.
Kelley texts her later to let her know that Alex is feeling much better, and saw your ugly flowers by the window, Al must really like you , so even if Tobin is tired and cranky from running around all day, she warms at the thought that maybe, just maybe, she’s not the worst not-yet-girlfriend in the world.
+
3.
There’s a bouquet sitting on Alex’s desk when she returns from her lunch break the following Wednesday. She doesn’t need to look at the card attached to know who it’s from - there’s only one person who’d be sending her flowers (only one person she wants to be receiving flowers from). She tucks the card in her pocket anyway, rolling her eyes at the wiggling eyebrows attached to the face that pops into her cubicle.
“Go away, Syd,” she mumbles, bringing the flowers to her nose. The action serves multiple purposes — the flowers smell good and they do well to cover the redness on her cheeks.
“You holding out on me, Morgan? Who’s got you smiling like a fool?”
Not well enough, apparently.
She sets the flowers down and shoos Sydney away, turning to her computer to pretend to get back to work. It’s only when Sydney’s finally back in her own cubicle that Alex finally digs into her pocket for the card.
Have a good day at work! Dinner tonight? -T
The message has her grinning again, and she glances back towards the flowers. They’re arranged carefully by a professional, but there’s something… random about the selection that’s just so… Tobin.
Alex knows that ranunculus are still her favorite type of flowers, but she also thinks that if she were to have a favorite type of arrangement, it’d be the Tobin Heath kind.
+
Interlude
The door to the flower shop dings and the florist looks up to see one of her sort-of regulars. There’s a mutual nod of acknowledgement, and she smiles encouragingly towards her display and busies herself pruning her azaleas.
By now, she’s used to the woman coming in and staring at her options confusedly before seemingly picking flowers at random and handing them to her to wrap up. She’d casually asked if the woman needed suggestions once, but the woman had shrugged helplessly and said she had to pick them herself.
She’s not one to ask questions but she’s been in the business long enough to know when her customers are buying for their special someones. She loves when they become regulars, and not just because it’s good for business.
(Except for that one guy who frequently orders identical bouquets to be delivered to two different addresses — she’s been tempted to accidentally switch the cards a few times.)
The woman (Tobin, she learns at some point) had mentioned something about an Al liking ridiculous flowers, and while she finds it appalling that this Al person’s favorite type of flower is “ridiculous” (That’s not even a real type! What even is considered ridiculous!?), there’s something so earnest about the way Tobin picks her flowers that has her rooting for her, even if the arrangement can be a tad tricky to make presentable sometimes.
(The fact that Tobin insists on tipping even when told it wasn’t necessary doesn’t hurt.)
She just hopes the flowers aren’t displayed anywhere publicly or anything. Harris Flowers has a reputation to uphold.
+
4.
“You don’t have to get me flowers every time, you know.”
Tobin stops, puckered lips hovering midair before she pulls back uncertainly.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” she clarifies, reaching out to squeeze Tobin’s arm reassuringly. “We’ve just been seeing each other a lot lately, and I’ve sort of run out of vases… and room.”
“Oh.” Tobin looks behind Alex, and sure enough, there are now two vases on the table — three if you count the jar that’s being used as a vase right next to it — all taking up most of the already-small table space.
Wow, that’s… a lot of color crammed together.
She reaches up to scratch the back of her neck awkwardly, suddenly unsure about what to do with the new bouquet in her other hand.
“Hey.”
Tobin looks up just in time for Alex to gently pull her forward by her shirt and kiss her (but not in time for the flowers to not get smushed between them).
“These are lovely,” Alex says when she pulls away, reaching for the flowers that have miraculously stayed completely in tact. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Tobin manages to respond, still a little dazed. Apparently those flowers are better at keeping it together than she is.
“I just don’t want you to spend all this money on me. And I know flowers aren’t really your thing.”
“They’re yours, though,” Tobin insists.
“They are. But I kinda have a bigger thing for you, so I think I’ll be okay if you just bring yourself.”
Alex smiles warmly before moving to her kitchenette, rummaging around for another makeshift vase.
+
They’re settled on the couch watching TV later when Tobin’s stomach grumbles loudly. Chuckling, Alex reaches for her phone and pulls up her Eat24 app. Tobin protests, pulling out her own phone, but Alex snatches it away and places it on the coffee table.
“You bought me flowers. I get to buy dinner.”
“But —”
“Hey, I want to be able to spend money on my girlfriend too.”
Tobin grins.
“Your girlfriend, huh?”
“I don’t just spend money on anyone, you know.” Then, “Cheeseburgers sound good?”
“Yeah,” Tobin says, grin still firmly in place. “Sounds great.”
Her phone remains on the coffee table the rest of the evening.
+
5.
“It’s closed!”
“Huh? What’s closed?”
Kelley pulls her phone away from her ear momentarily to check the time, and damn it, Tobin, it’s eight o’clock on freaking Saturday I just got in four hours ago w h y —
“That place I usually go to is closed — and I was supposed to meet Alex half an hour ago for breakfast!”
Fuck, the room is still spinning. Ugh, I swear to God, Tobin.
“What the fuck are you doing planning breakfast at seven-thirty?”
“She has a flight to catch later. She’s going to Orlando for some big business trip.”
Kelley brightens at the new information.
“Ooh, Disney World. And Harry Potter Land. Tell her to get me —”
“Kel, focus!”
“What? You’re the one wasting time talking to me when you could be Yelping other flower shops. I thought you weren’t doing the flower thing for a while, anyway?”
“I wasn’t. But today is important.”
“What, were you hoping to get laid before her flight?"
“Kel!”
Kelley presses her palm against her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. She really isn’t awake enough for this. Isn’t sober enough for this.
“Just find another place and get her some type of ranunculus,” she says offhandedly, because it’s not like Tobin’s dilemma is really a dilemma. Not like figuring out the pros and cons of staying in bed versus getting up to look for some Tylenol.
“I… What?”
“You know, her favorite.”
There’s a slight pause, and Kelley continues her internal debate.
The bed is warm and comfy, but ugh. Maybe if I run and get it and jump back into bed, it’ll feel like I never left.
“...You know her favorite flowers?”
I’m pretty sure I was having a bomb ass dream, too.
“Yeah, Tobs, I asked her that one night you made me bring her dinner.”
“But that was — why didn’t you tell me!?”
Okay, I’m going to need that Tylenol. Or another shot of Fireball.
“How have you not figured it out!?”
Kelley sits up, swinging her legs over to the side of her bed, wincing at the cold floor that greets her bare feet.
“How was I supposed to — nevermind. I’m going to look for another flower shop on Yelp.”
“Mmkay.” Kelley finds her bathroom relatively easily, going straight for the medicine cabinet and finding her trusty bottle of Tylenol. She twists the cap open and tilts the bottle just enough for two pills fall into her eager hand. She gives herself a mental pat on the back for not dropping them.
Hand-eye coordination, sucka!
“Kel? You still there?”
“Yeah,” she mumbles as she pops the pills into her mouth, cupping her hand under the faucet to catch some water to wash it down with . “What’s up?”
“Uhm, what was it again?”
“Oh my God, Tobin. Ranunculus.”
“Right. Thanks, Kel. Sorry for waking you.”
“Mhmm. Bye, Tobs.”
She’s back in bed and snuggled under her covers when her phone buzzes to alert her of a text message. Groaning, she burrows her head into her covers and reaches out blindly, searching for the phone she’d dropped somewhere next to her.
Tobin Heath
Today 8:07am
Actually, can you spell that out for me?
R
A
N
U
N
C
U
L
U
S
Thanks Kel :D
I’ll bring you coffee after brunch.
Make sure you come after 12.
And make it a venti.
Delivered
+
Kelley doesn’t wake up for another three hours. She’s casually browsing through her Facebook feed when her eyes zero in on a notification:
Alex Morgan and 2 others have birthdays today. Send them good thoughts!
Well, shit, Kelley thinks. I wonder if Tobin will let me chip in on an extra big bouquet.
+
Tobin appears at her door five hours later with a venti soy latte and a bouquet of buttercups.
There’s a sad smile on Tobin’s face that Kelley doesn’t notice at first, too preoccupied with the steaming cup she’d plucked from Tobin’s hand.
“I know I’m awesome and all, but buying me flowers while your girlfriend’s gone? Are you sure you can handle this double life?”
She’s taking her second sip when she realizes that Tobin hasn’t responded.
“Tobs?”
“We got into an argument.”
Kelley shrugs, because okay, she’s never seen them fight in the years she’s known them (unless it’s for the remote — though Kelley usually wins those because it eventually ends with the two all distracted and googly-eyed at each other), but she can’t really see either of them staying angry with each other very long.
“Couples fight.”
“We never fight.”
“You’re a couple. You’ll fight again. Was she mad you didn’t bring a present or something?”
“No, I gave her her present last night, but I didn’t want to show up empty-handed on her actual birthday. She was really stressed out about the traffic and some other work stuff and kinda blew up at me for being so late.”
“ It’s probably not a big deal, dude. I’m sure she just wanted to spend time with you before she had to leave.” Kelley takes a step back, motioning for her friend to follow.
“She told me they might transfer her there for a year,” Tobin says when they’re both seated on the couch, “and I lost my cool.”
“And the flowers?”
Tobin shrugs. “She forgot them when her Lyft came.”
Kelley winces. Alex can be pretty hot-headed sometimes, and she can already imagine how Tobin must have looked when Alex left. (Like a kicked puppy, so really, she doesn’t even have to imagine it because that’s the look Tobin is wearing right now.)
“She’ll be back in a few days,” Kelley says, trying to lift her friend’s spirits. “You can get her flowers again. Or have flowers sent to where she’s staying, if you wanna be gross like that.”
“Yeah,” Tobin says, but she doesn’t look convinced.
“Why are you so stressed out?” Kelley asks, taking another ship of her latte. “You’re usually not like this.”
“I just don’t want to mess it up.”
“You won’t,” Kelley insists. “It’s just a stupid fight. I’m sure she feels just as bad about it. Just… give her time to cool off.”
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s a stupid fight. She should have told me.”
“Right,” Kelley says, glad to have lifted her friend’s spirits. “And once you’ve had a chance to talk —”
“— I mean, a year? A whole year? She decided to wait until she’s about to leave to even bring it up. I don’t even think she planned on telling me. She only brought it up because she was mad at me. That’s pretty messed up, Kel.”
Oh, shit.
“Tobs, she’s coming back. You said that moving thing isn’t even decided yet. Maybe she wanted to be sure before —”
“She shouldn’t have dropped it on me like that. We could have talked about it. I wouldn’t have told her not to go.”
Abort. ABORT.
“Tobin —” Kelley starts, but Tobin stands up abruptly. It surprises Kelley, who almost knocks over her precious cup of coffee.
“Thanks, Kel,” Tobin says, flashing Kelley a small smile. And with that, she walks out, leaving the buttercups on Kelley’s coffee table.
“Um, you’re… welcome?” Kelley says as the door shuts, trying to figure out what just happened. She checks the time on her phone and wonders if it would be a bad idea to swap her coffee for something stronger.
Like something with four shots of espresso. Or whiskey. She’s not picky.
But first, she has to find a damn vase for those flowers.
+
Interlude 2
Hey, it’s me. You’re probably asleep now, but I just wanted to let you know that I got to Orlando okay. My connecting flight was delayed, but — anyway. I’m sorry about this morning, Tobs. I was — I shouldn’t have lashed out like that. Call me when you get this?
+
Hey, it’s me again. Not sure if you got my voicemail but I wanted to talk about what I said yesterday. Just… call me back?
+
Alex Morgan
Today 8:38am
Hey, I got your voicemail.
We should prob wait for you to get back to talk tho.
Oh okay.
Are we okay?
Yeah, Al. Don’t worry about it.
Have a good day at work
You too.
Miss you
Miss you too
I never got to say thanks for the flowers <3
:)
Delivered
+
They don’t text the remainder of Alex’s trip, save for a few good morning and have a good day at work texts. It makes Alex nervous, to say the least. She wants to apologize properly, but Tobin wants to wait until she gets back to talk. She’s never been the patient type, and it takes all of her restraint (and a few choice words from Kelley) to not force a phone or FaceTime conversation.
She’ll be here when you get back, Kelley had said. It’s not a big deal. You know Tobin can’t stay mad at you.
I’m mad at me, Alex had replied. How do I fix this?
Kelley’s response? Not with flowers.
Then: I hear she likes cheeseburgers.
+
(1.)
She’s late again.
It’s only kind of her fault this time — work ran late, and she needed to stop for gas — but she’s here, at the airport… empty-handed.
She finds Alex sitting on one of the chairs at the arrivals lobby, scrolling through her phone.
“Hey,” she says, greeting coming out breathily, having jogged most of the way from the parking lot — only to slow down to a speedwalk after almost knocking over an old lady who mustered up quite the glare.
Alex’s face lights up at the sight of her. “Hey,” she echoes shyly, putting her phone away as she stands up.
They stand there, staring at each other for a few moments like two awkward teenagers about to go on their first date. Then —
“I’m sorry.” “I didn’t bring any flowers.”
“What?” “What?”
Tobin groans internally. Worse than two awkward teenagers on their first date.
“I’m sorry,” Alex says again. “I shouldn’t have sprung it on you like that. It’s not even a sure thing, and they’re not going to decide for another few months, and even then, I could say no —”
“Okay,” Tobin responds easily.
“Okay?”
Tobin shrugs. “We have a few months to figure it out. And this… this is still new, anyway. Whatever you decide, I’d just like to be a part of the conversation.”
“Oh,” Alex says, surprised. “That’s very…”
“Mature of me?” Tobin teases. She shrugs at the guilty look on Alex’s face. “I’ve had a few days to think about it.”
“Me too,” Alex confesses. “I haven’t stopped thinking about our fight. It was kind of distracting, really.”
“Well, maybe we can stop thinking about it, at least for today,” Tobin offers.
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
Then they’re standing there, staring at each other, identical grins on their faces. Alex is the first to break — because these four days have felt like some of the longest days of her life — and she pulls Tobin into a hug.
Tobin sinks into it, curling her fingers around the back of Alex’s shirt.
“Hi,” she mumbles into Alex’s shoulder.
“Hey,” Alex mumbles right back, tightening her hold just a little.
Then, “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
+
They get caught in traffic on the drive back to Alex’s apartment, but neither of them complain, both content to be in each other’s presence again.
“Kelley said she was going to pick me up because you had to work late,” Alex says.
“I wanted to surprise you,” Tobin says, shrugging. “I did end up leaving work later, though. I didn’t have time to stop by and pick up flowers on the way. I didn’t want to be too late again.”
Tobin is about to sneak a glance to her right when she feels Alex’s hand on top of hers.
“You didn’t have to bring anything. I’m just... I’m glad you’re here.”
Tobin smiles at that, and she doesn’t have to look to know that next to her, Alex is smiling too. She lets go of the gear shift, turning her hand to intertwine their fingers. They don’t let go of each other’s hands the rest of the drive back.
(end)
Bonus
Tobin is the first to notice the bouquet of purple flowers in a vase next to a takeout bag and a book on Alex’s table when they walk through the door.
Curious, she walks to the table, picking up the book first to read the title: In Full Bloom: Becky Sauerbrunn’s Guide to the Language of Flowers. Even more curious, she opens it to the first page, only to have a piece of paper slide out.
“What’s all this?” Alex asks, making her way over. Tobin shrugs, bending down to pick up the paper.
It’s a note. Alex leans in, reading it over her shoulder:
T: Buttercups can only work so many times. This will come in handy the next time you fuck up.
A: You owe me $5.89 for Tobin’s cheeseburger.
- America’s #1 wing(wo)man
PS: Nothing says I’m sorry like purple hyacinths apparently. I guess you learn something new every day.