Home.

The traffic in downtown Pittsburgh was just as Mollie Holden had left it.

Bumper to bumper, loud, slow moving, all brake lights and turn signals.

Not that the traffic in Baltimore had been any better. But at least in that city it was new and refreshing, in Pittsburgh it was just an annoying part of her hometown.

Glaring out the front windshield the tail lights on the Toyota in front of the girls car flashed for the fifth time in under ten minutes, slamming her palm on the steering wheel the young woman groaned. "Oh, come on!!"

She was running late. Typical for her, but the couple she was meeting wouldn’t be happy with her if she kept them waiting much longer, "Hey Siri?"

"Yes, Dr. Holden?" The car's speakers responded to her voice as she continued to weave through the night's traffic.

"Text Nathalie Lemieux."

"And what would you like to say to Nathalie Lemieux?" The car asked.

"Running late, be there in 10. Sorry." Cringing Mollie knew a text wasn't going to help her case any but it's all she could manage at the moment.

"Ready to send?" The voice asked as her car slowed at yet another red light.

"Yes." Pulling down the car's visor she took a look at her reflection in the mirror. Thankfully the mascara she wore was still intact but the eyeliner she had applied over 12 hours ago had smudged a bit over the workday. Using the pad of her fingers she rubbed at the smudged liner until the light turned green.

Five minutes later the destination was in sight, an overpriced steakhouse that Mario and his best friend, her father loved. After climbing out of the car she shrugged out of the white lab coat she had been wrapped in all day, straightened her tan pencil skirt, and tucked the maroon blouse she wore in tighter around her sides. When she was properly dressed she ran her fingers through the curls that were kinked laying at her neck before fetching her black purse from the depths of the car's backseat and slammed the door.

Inside the restaurant the lights were dim and the waiting room was packed but Mollie knew better than to check the waiting room, the Lemieux's would not be left waiting. The sound of her high heels clicking on the hardwood floor gave the woman a powerful feeling as she approached the hostess stand where a young girl maybe 20 smiled up at her. The girl's face lit up from the computer screen in front of her. "Hello, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm meeting a couple. Their last name is Lemieux."

Like a deer in headlights the girl's eyes widened at the mention of the all-mighty last name, "Yes, of course they were expecting one more." She looked around for one of the other workers, "Anna, will show you back to them."

"Thank you."

The girl Mollie presumed to be Anna, also dressed in all black appeared and began to lead Mollie through the restaurant. Once they got to a set of large double doors the girl stopped, "The Lemieux's are in here, Ma'am."

Raising her hand to push the door Mollie gave the younger girl a small smile, "Thank you, for showing me back."

The girl nodded walking away as she slowly pushed the heavy door inward prepared to meet the faces of two of the most important people in her life aside from her own parents.

What she saw instead were three faces, one of which she hadn't seen or heard from much in nearly two full years.

"Oh, there she is!" Nathalie stood her chair squeaking as she rose so quickly, her arms extended for a hug as the girl got closer. Her husband stood next standing directly beside his wife with a large smile on his face as well, the third person at the table remained seated looking just as bamboozled as Mollie felt.

Once she was wrapped up in the older woman's arms with her heart racing, thundering in her chest she finally found the words and ability to speak, "Hi, Nat. So sorry I'm late, the traffic is awful."

"Oh nonsense dear, no need to apologize we haven't been here long." Having known the woman since she was 5 years old Mollie knew Nathalie was lying, the Lemieux's were notoriously early to everything.

Escaping the woman's grasp to only be wrapped up in Mario's Mollie felt her body relaxing in his safe and warm hug, "How's my girl?"

"I'm good, a little all over the place from the move but that's to be expected I guess." she gave him her best "everything is fine" smile that she could muster up as he released me from his grasp.

Turning to face the other guest she expected for him to still be seated. But there he was now standing only a few inches away from her with a coy smirk on his lips. "Hey, Sid."

Saying his name left a weird taste in her mouth. What was he doing here? Didn’t he have hockey to play or something.

What in the world were the Lemieux's up to now?

"Hey, Mollie. Long time no see."

Mollie smiled, laughing lightly at his joke even thought it wasn’t funny to her in the slightest. The two then exchanged what could have been classified as the most awkward hug in all of North America, a quick embrace that left both Sidney and Mollie even more confused.

Minutes later the four adults were seated, Mollie stomach knotted with nerves as wine was poured from the bottle that sat in the middle of the table. Staring at her full glass hands jittery in her lap silence washed over the room. From the corner of her eye Mollie could see that Sidney was watching her and the Lemieux's were watching them both.

So much for a relaxing "welcome home" dinner.

Burying her face in the large menu Mollie tried to distract herself from her surroundings. Steak or salad? A decision that was much easier to focus on rather than trying to figure out what kind of setup she had been thrown into.

"So, Mollie dear, how are you settling in at the practice?" Nathalie's voice broke Mollie's game of eeny-meanie-miney-mo. Her green eyes popped over the top of the menu looking directly at the older woman across from her.

Feeling the pressure to put down her menu and have a full conversation Mollie folded the black monstrosity laying it down on the table in front of her, "It's taken some getting used to, going back to a clinical setting instead of a hospital but I like it. Better hours that's for sure."

"And you're your own boss too, that's a plus." Mario added tipping his glass of wine at her for emphasis.

"That's definitely a perk too." Mollie smiled then picked up her own glass of wine, taking a sip and nearly choking on it when Sidney spoke directly to her.

"How was Baltimore? I've heard great things about the city."

It took everything in the five foot five girl not to toss her glass of wine at the boy sitting next to her. How was the city? Great things? Wow, maybe if he'd tried to visit her during her two years there he would have his own opinions on the city.

Turning towards Sidney she gave him her best fake smile, "Well, it's beautiful. You should see it one day. Mario you enjoyed visiting up there, right?"

"I did, your father and I played quite a few rounds of golf when we visited you. Great city, amazing seafood."

Sensing Mollie's hostility Sidney downed half of his glass of wine in one gulp, "Sounds like a great place, what made you leave? It was Hopkins after all."

She tensed at the world Hopkins, but before Mollie could conjure up another smartass response their waiter returned to take their orders. Once he was gone Mollie's cellphone began to ring, another welcomed interruption. "I'm sorry, I'm on call."

Rising from her seat she tossed the black cloth napkin from her lap onto the table, "Dr. Holden?" The trio still seated watched as she vacated the table and walked towards the other side of their private room.

"Sid, son, I know she's a bit.." Mario paused and looked at his wife for help.

"She's still a bit angry at you, there's not really any way around that, sweetie." Sidney nodded understanding the woman, he knew exactly why Mollie was angry at him but he had been optimistic that the anger would have subsided a little over the past few years.

"I got that, I just don't know what to do about it."

Mario and Nathalie shared a look that made Sidney even more nervous, "Well, that's why we asked you both here. We thought it might clear the air, but obviously that's not going to happen in one evening."

Sidney opened his mouth to add to the conversation when he saw Mollie walking back towards the table, she plopped right into her seat tossing her phone into her giant purse as if nothing had happened. "Sorry about that, duty calls."

"Don't worry about it, I love seeing you work, makes it all so real that you're a doctor now Mols. It's very impressive." Nathalie tapped at Mollie's hand and Sidney watched as the girl's cheeks flushed, she still hated being praised.

"Thank you, sometimes I like forgetting, makes me feel younger."

"Darling, you know nothing about being old. You two aren't even 30 yet, plenty of life left to live."

"Plenty of Cups left to win right, Sid?" Mario added and Mollie rolled her eyes, she had wondered how long it would take for hockey to come into the conversation.

"That's right, the season is young who knows we could make a run for it this year." Sidney, always was one to be humble when it came to hockey. But selfish when it came to other things, things Mollie knew all too well.

Soon their entrées arrived and the sounds of eating replaced the conversation, small talk was made here and there but for the first time that night Mollie wasn't tense. She ate without side-eying Sidney and laughed at the older couple across from her with her real laugh not the fake chuckle she'd used during the earlier part of the evening.

Once their plates were whisked away the silence fell over the room again.

"Say, Mollie, when was the last time you took in a Pens game? Has to be years, no?" Mario pointed his now glass of scotch towards her.

Gnawing at her lip Mollie thought deeply trying to remember the last time she had watched a Penguins game in person. Each time she had visited Pittsburgh over the past two years she had much better things to do than watch a hockey game. Watching them on TV was another story, those? She watched those religiously, when she had time of course. Residency doesn’t allow much free time. "Live? Oh gosh, it has been years."

Reaching inside his sports coat Mario retrieved an envelope and pointed it across the table towards Mollie, "These season tickets should fix that, get you back in the arena where you belong."

"Thank you, I'll have to break out my old 66 jersey then." Mollie took the envelope tucking it into her purse with a wink.

"Speaking of hockey games, we should get our current captain off to bed. Sidney, good luck tomorrow." Nathalie smiled over at Sidney who had sat silently during Mario and Mollie's ticket exchange.

"Thank you, Nat. We'll need it I'm sure, it’s the Canadiens after all."

Before she could even stop herself Mollie's mouth opened and the words flew out, "You don’t need luck, Squid, you have the talent."

Squid.

No one had ever called him that except for her, he hated it, she loved it. And it had definitely just fallen out.

No one had said that around him in two very long years.

So long now that Sidney had forgotten how sweet that nickname sounded coming from her lips.

Her cheeks warmed up and Sidney smiled, "Thanks, Mols."

Mollie gave him a nervous and unsure smile before standing and reaching for her purse from under the table. Throwing the bag over her shoulder she crossed the table to give Mario a hug, "Thank you, for the tickets and dinner it was lovely. I guess I'll see you two tomorrow?"

"Yes, you will. Let's do this again, soon? Now that you're home we can get together more often."

"Absolutely." After hugging Nathalie one last time Mollie was free to go, completely forgetting about Sidney as the Lemieux's set off for the back entrance of the restaurant. Assuming he too took the VIP treatment by parking in the back she began walking through the restaurant and out towards her car.

When she hit the pavement of the vast parking lot she heard footsteps close behind her, turning quickly Mollie looked behind her relieved to see that the figure was only Sidney. "Jesus, you scared me!"

Sidney pulled his hands from his coat pocket, "Sorry, it's just me."

"Well that's reassuring, I didn’t want to get mugged my first month back at home."

For the first time that night Mollie heard it, Sidney's true laugh, the deep boyish chuckle that made one side of his lip curl up and showed off his teeth.

"No of course not, you should try and wait 'til your second or third." Jokes were never Sid's forte and it was good to know he hadn't gotten any funnier while she was away.

"Hilarious, Crosby."

Approaching her black A4 Mollie unlocked the doors the lights flashing and bouncing off the vehicles that surrounded it.

Standing back eyeing the car Sidney mocked, "Oh, an Audi. Look at you Dr. Holden."

"Says the man who drives a new Rover every two years."

"Touché. But seriously, Mols?" Sidney stopped, rubbed the light stubble that was growing on the side of his face, "I just want to say that I am really proud of you." His words were out of nowhere especially after how cold she had been towards him during their dinner. "And, I'm really sorry for how we, y'know ended things."

And there it was.

"How they ended things" was a terrible description of what had truly happened between the two of them but if that's what he wanted to call it then so be it.

Mollie squeezed her green eyes tight as she reached for the driver's side door handle pulling the door open just a bit before looking back at Sidney. She'd seen that look on his face way too many times, a mix of sadness and anger, with a splash disbelief.

She took one big deep breath that was so loud Sidney could hear her inhale and exhale before simply telling him, "Yeah, me too. "

And just like their relationship the conversation was over.

Mollie opened the door to her sports car and climbed into the driver's seat, before she shut the door she noticed he was still standing there. Reaching for the door handle she gave him a light wave, "Goodbye, Sidney."

With a turn of the key the engine roared to life around her, putting the vehicle into drive she did what she thought she'd never have to do again. For the third time in her life, Mollie Holden drove away leaving Sidney Crosby standing there in her rearview mirror.