Family Is All It Takes

Brandon stood off to the side of the club, watching the majority of the team celebrate their win against the Boston Bruins. He should be excited; after all, he’d scored a goal and an assist that night. But his heart just wasn’t in it.

His eyes skimmed across the room, taking it all in. There was James and Tyler on the dance floor, each with a bottle blonde. Then there was Sidney, Kris, and Geno talking over their beers. Brandon could see Marc- Andre and Vero sitting together in the corner talking with another girl whose face he couldn’t see. Everyone was occupied but him.

Brandon saw a few girls off to the side of the club, all of them with their eyes trained on him. He allowed himself to look at them for a few moments to see if there was any possible way to get his mind off of Mac. There wasn’t.

None of those girls had her long, wavy hair or beautiful eyes. They didn’t have her death stares or her laugh. They weren’t her. That was something Brandon just couldn’t get away from. There was only one Mac in the world and she just so happened to live in Pittsburgh. But right now, she wasn’t even there. Brandon had let her get away and he just couldn’t forgive himself.

Letting his eyes graze across his teammates once again, he nearly choked on his drink. Hugging Sidney was the one woman he thought he would never see again.

Mac was there.

*****

It had been a last second decision for Mac to go to Diesel that night in the hopes that the team would be there. Of course they were because it was a tradition started long before Mac had met the team. She knew she wasn’t ready to face Brandon, but that didn’t matter. Mac needed to face the music.

Talking with Marc-Andre and Vero, Mac refused to turn around with the possibility of seeing Brandon. She had seen him out of the corner of her eye when she walked in and had immediately gone the other way in the hopes of buying herself a little more time.

Hugging the boys hello, Mac saw Brandon make his way over to them. This was it, her time to make everything right. Or at least attempt to.

“Welcome back,” Sidney smiled into her ear. “He’s been a wreck.”

Mac sighed. “I doubt that. He’s probably moved on.”

“Trust me,” her friend said. “He hasn’t.”

And just like that, as though it was as effortless as a play in a hockey game, the rest of the team vanished into the crowd, leaving Mac and Brandon face-to-face.

*****

“You came back,” he said quietly. “Why?”

Mac didn’t look at Brandon. “My family brought me back.”

He took in her now shorter hair. It no longer flowed all the way down her back. Now, it stopped at her rib cage and was lighter thanks to the North Carolina sun.

“Where’d you go?”

“Carolina. But come on,” Mac sighed. “You knew that.”

“You didn’t have to tell them to not talk to us,” Brandon said shaking his head.

“I didn’t,” Mac insisted. “They thought it was what I wanted. It wasn’t.”

“Why’d you run away?” he asked grasping her arms. “Why couldn’t we work it out?”

“I was scared,” Mac admitted. “I was scared that I was losing everything I had worked for. I felt choked and caged. I needed to breathe.”

“They were all worried, you know. Your family, I mean,” Brandon said trying to mentally tell Mac to meet his gaze.

Mac nodded. “I’m sure they were. I wouldn’t expect them to be any less.” She took a shaky breath before drawing her eyes up to Brandon’s. “Were you?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. His hands trembled against Mac’s upper arms. “I was terrified you wouldn’t come back.”

“I’m here now,” she assured him. “I don’t have plans of going anywhere anytime soon.”

“What about work?” he asked with wide eyes.

“They’re interviewing for a new editor,” she smiled. “I’m at the top of the list.”

“That-that’s great,” he smiled back falsely. Working at the paper meant they couldn’t go back to the way he wanted things to be.

“Come on,” Mac offered her hand. “I owe you a drink. We have some things to talk about.”

*****

“I want to apologize,” she said as they settled onto stools at the bar. “I feel like I owe you that much.”

Brandon nodded but didn’t look her in the eye.

“I’m sorry I left so suddenly. I’m sorry I ran away. I’m sorry that things didn’t go the way either of us had hoped,” she rambled on. “But mostly, I’m sorry if I hurt you. That was never my intention in leaving.”

“I know,” he nodded. “I just felt like I should have done more to keep you here, offered you more.”

“You offered me more than I could ever have asked,” Mac assured him. “I just wish I had taken it.”

“How’s Jake?” Brandon asked trying to change the subject.

Mac smiled. “He’s good. Getting big. He’s, uh, actually with Langley’s parents tonight.”

“Really?” he asked incredulously.

“Yeah. Crazy, right?” Mac laughed. “They feel bad about what their son did and they want to try to make amends for it.”

“That’s… good,” Brandon consented. “Are you okay with it?”

“I guess I have to be,” she shrugged. “I mean, it’s one thing to deny Langley because I have custody. But it’s another thing entirely to deny them, you know?”

“Why did you really come back?” he blurted.

Mac looked at him with her head cocked to the side. “It wasn’t good for me to keep Jake away from here for so long. But more so, I just couldn’t stay away.”

“From what?”

“My family.”

Brandon tried to not let his face fall. Of course it would be the team that made her feel obligated to come back.

“And you,” she admitted quietly. “I just… couldn’t.”

Brandon took that statement in before letting a smile creep across his face. Looking at Mac, he saw an identical smile on her tanned face along with a pink blush.

Maybe things weren’t going to be perfect. But you know what? That didn’t matter to Mac or Brandon. They would make it work. And at the end of the day, they had everything. Family.