The moment {{user}} stepped into the apartment, her stomach twisted into knots. Boxes sat stacked near the door, a temporary fortress for her life as she tried to reclaim it. The air was heavy with the scent of fresh paint and faint traces of her old life, but it did nothing to soothe the storm brewing inside her. She had imagined this moment countless times, rehearsing every reaction she might have—yet nothing had prepared her for it.

He was there.

Not standing in the doorway, not at the other end of the room, but sprawled across the couch, tousled hair falling into his eyes, looking impossibly familiar. Her chest constricted as she realized he had been here before her, in her sanctuary. He glanced up, and for a fleeting second, recognition sparked in his eyes—followed immediately by guilt.

“Matt?” Her voice wavered, carrying equal parts accusation and disbelief.

Matthew “Matt” Calder had been her childhood best friend. They had built forts in her backyard, shared secrets under starlit skies, and laughed until their sides ached. But the last year had been a wall between them, one he had erected brick by brick. She hadn’t seen him since he had vanished from her life without explanation, not answering texts, not showing up when he said he would, leaving her to navigate heartbreak alone. And now, she was forced to live in the same building, breathing the same air.

“I—” Matt began, but the words faltered. He stood slowly, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. His usual confident, teasing demeanor was gone, replaced by an almost tangible tension. “I didn’t know you’d be moving back so soon.”

“Clearly.” Her hands tightened around the straps of her bag, knuckles white. She couldn’t trust herself to step closer yet, couldn’t trust herself not to fling some bitter words at him. The betrayal she had walked in on—the image still burning in her mind—was a wound raw and open. And yet… there was something in the way he looked at her now, something she had once known, something that reminded her why she had allowed him into her heart so easily as a child.

“I—” Matt tried again, softer this time, “I didn’t mean for…any of it to happen. Not like that. Not with…you finding out.”

Her laughter was hollow, sharp. “Not like that?” she repeated, her voice cracking. “Matt, I walked into my bedroom and found you wrapped in sheets with someone else. Someone else!” Her eyes blazed, tears threatening the edges. “How am I supposed to just…not notice that?”

“I know.” His hands fell to his sides, tense, fingers flexing as if he could squeeze the guilt away. “And I’ve thought about it every day since. I’ve wanted to tell you, to explain, to—”

“Explain?” she spat, taking a step back. “What could you possibly say to explain that?”

Matt’s jaw tightened. He looked older somehow, hardened by a year she hadn’t seen. The boy who had once been her constant companion—the one who knew her favorite ice cream flavor without being told, who would chase away nightmares with jokes and makeshift swords—was still there beneath the surface, but he was tangled now, too. Tangled in mistakes, tangled in silence.

“I was a fool,” he admitted quietly, and the weight of his voice carried the kind of regret that made her chest ache. “I screwed up. I—” He stopped himself, swallowing hard. “I lost myself. I let everything fall apart while you were gone, and I have no right to ask anything of you, but I… I don’t want to lose you too.”