It has been a couple of days since your return to Pittsburgh and you are still trying your best to avoid Evgeni. You get the feeling that you are being a little stupid. You are glad that there is finally a lull in the schedule. You start to reflect on the past two months and all of the stuff that has happened. Then disaster strikes. You start thinking about your time in the German ice hockey league. You can feel the tears fighting their way up. You quickly try your best to wipe them away. Despite your best efforts there is no way for you to get them away. You find yourself drawn to the TV room where Evgeni is watching a Russian movie. You very timidly clear your throat. Evgeni pauses the movie and he looks towards you. You decide that it would be better if you just jumped in.

"I owe you an apology," You announce as you try your best to clear the next wave of tears.

"No I owe you one," Evgeni retorts. He shuffles over so you can have a seat on the couch.

"But I was being stupid and I feel bad," You say as you sit next to him.

"It was my fault but that is not what you want to talk about," He responds as he wraps one of his arms around you. You are impressed that he knows. Well you might as well tell him.

"Do you ever miss home?" You begin the process of talking.

"No because there is nothing I can do until the summer," He is right. You soon find yourself buried in his chest. There is something about being curled up in Evgeni's chest that reminds you of home even more. You try your best to get rid of the tears for the third time.

"You can cry if you want," At least Evgeni doesn't mind. You are glad that he is understanding. Evgeni puts on an English movie so that you can both enjoy it. The good thing is all is forgiven for now.

"Thank you Evgeni for being a good listener," You whisper.

"Glad I could help," He responds. After watching the movie you are thinking about what you could cook for lunch. You find yourself looking up a Gnocchi recipe on your phone. Thankfully Evgeni has all of the ingredients. You get to work on trying your best to make the food. Speaking of Evgeni he has joined you.

"So Mia what are you making?" He asks as he surveys the mess you are making.

"I am attempting to make some Gnocchi," You respond.. You are being careful as you get the pasta ready to form into the Gnocchi shape. You are stunned by the fact that Evgeni has wrapped his hands around yours. You are surprised at the gentleness of his manipulation of your hands. You find it odd how he has forgiven your behaviour over the past couple of days but like he said it was his fault. You still shouldn't have gotten petty over him protecting you. You get the feeling that it was his instinct.

"There you're done," Evgeni breaks through your thoughts. You set the Gnocchi to cook. You set a timer on your phone so you don't forget about the food.

"I'm sorry if they turn out to be a disaster. Someone else used to cook in Red Bull Munich," You remark. Hopefully your cooking is good enough.

"Don't worry it should be fine," Evgeni responds. You soon start thinking about how your former team is doing without you. The thought makes you giggle. You have decided that you are going to spend a majority of the summer back in Germany. It doesn't take long for the Gnocchi to finish cooking. You plate it up. Both you and Evgeni take a seat. You pass him one of the plates. He gets to work on eating it.

"It's perfect," Odd you thought it was going to be a disaster. You also get to work on eating the food. He is right you did do a good job considering it is your first time cooking anything more complex than a microwave meal. After thirty minutes of socialising with Evgeni you are thinking about what you can do next. You have always hated when you have a lull in the schedule but with your old team it was always filled with some kind of shenanigans. Your thoughts are interrupted by a text from Sidney.

"Hey Geno did you get a text from Sid?" You ask.

"Yes I did. Let's get ready," He responds. You get the feeling that the text may actually be from Iggy but you figure you will find out. You grab a couple of things and you join Evgeni in the car. It doesn't take long for you to make it to the meeting point. Sidney and Iggy are already there.

"Hello Sid, Igg," You greet the couple. The others soon make their way to the meeting point. They are just as confused as you are.

"So cap why did you summon us here?" Matt asks.

"Since there is a lull in the schedule I thought we could do a team building exercise that isn't practice," He outlines the plan. You get the feeling that an escape room may not be the best idea but you are happy to give it a go. Thankfully it doesn't take long for Sidney to get the group divided into two teams. One team is gathered around Sidney and the other is gathered around Evgeni. At least you were put into Evgeni's group.

"Has anyone got any suggestions?" Jake asks.

"One of us should keep track of the clues," You take charge. After your suggestion it doesn't take long for your group to start. You are working with Jake who is struggling with a clue for a lock code.

"Here let me," You offer because you get the feeling that it is a little too obvious for Jake. He passes you the lock and you input the code. There is a click as the lock releases. You quickly get the key Evgeni who is making sure everything is together.

"How did you figure the clue out?" Jake asks. He is clearly stumped.

"The best players in the league so I tried Sid's number with Ovi's number. It was an educated guess though," You respond. After ten minutes of working together your group has finished. However the other group is still going. You start to think about what they could be stuck on. You find yourself clinging to Evgeni's arm. Hopefully the others don't notice. Your thoughts are interrupted by some bewildered conversations.

"So how did you end up beating us Geno?" Sidney asks as he shuffles towards you and Evgeni.

"Mia and the others were quick enough," Evgeni responds. You get the feeling that the escape room was a good idea. The thought makes you smile. You decide to eavesdrop on the teasing between Sidney and Evgeni. You may hate the fact that you left everything behind in Germany but you are glad with the people that you have ended up with.