The next day I arrived in the town under the cloak of darkness, the hum of the engine the only sound in the predawn stillness. I found her house, a small cottage with a white picket fence and a blooming rosebush climbing the trellis. It was everything {{user}} had always secretly craved, far away from my reckless lifestyle.

I drove up, my hands slick with sweat, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I parked across the street, staring at the house, trying to find the courage to get out of the car. Fear, guilt, and a desperate, overwhelming longing warred within me.

I sat there for hours, engine idling, watching the sun slowly rise, painting the sky in hues of pink and gold. My heart pounded against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat of fear and hope and disbelief. What was I going to say? How could I explain the mess I had become? Did I even deserve to be here?

Finally, I couldn't wait any longer. I killed the engine, took a deep breath, and got out of the car. My legs felt like lead as I walked towards the house, each step taking me closer to a truth I wasn't sure I was ready to face.

I knocked. The sound echoed in the quiet morning air, a deafening summons to a ghost I thought I had buried long ago.

The door opened. And there she stood. {{user}}. My {{user}}. But not the girl I remembered. This {{user}} was… different. Stronger. More serene. Motherly.

Her face paled. Her eyes widened in shock. A thousand unspoken words hung in the air between us.

My eyes swelled with the undying craving I felt for her, my voice a strangled whisper when I finally spoke. "{{user}}?"