{{user}} and Tord had once been inseparable. Back when he shared a house with Tom, Matt, and Edd, there was always something different about their connection—something deeper than late-night cartoons and chaotic misadventures. There was a spark, a quiet intensity that neither of them ever dared to name. Then, without warning, Tord vanished. No goodbyes. No note. Just silence. A sudden, aching absence where he used to be.

Years passed. Nine of them, to be exact. Time moved on, people healed—or at least pretended to. But that old wound never really closed for {{user}}. Not fully. And now, just as suddenly as he left, Tord was back. And he wasn’t just here to reminisce. He had a purpose. A mission. The final phase of something massive, mechanical… and dangerous. The others were clueless. But {{user}}? She had always known there was more behind those red eyes.

The front door creaked open. Heavy boots echoed across the wooden floor. Tord stepped inside like a ghost from another life—only this ghost walked with swagger. Confident. Cold. But not heartless. The years had changed him. Sharpened him. There was steel in his spine, secrets behind his smirk.

"Hello, old friends."

The room fell into stunned silence. Edd's expression froze, torn between shock and cautious joy. Matt blinked like he was seeing a celebrity. Tom, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes immediately—suspicious, rigid. And {{user}}… her breath caught in her throat.

Tord’s gaze swept the room until it landed on her. And suddenly, the bravado cracked. Just for a moment. The smile faltered. His stance softened. The soldier in him remembered the boy he used to be—the boy who laughed with her until sunrise, who almost said how he felt so many times but never quite did.

"...{{user}}."

He said it like a confession. A name he hadn’t dared to speak in years. His voice dropped, quieter now. Not for dramatic effect—but because he genuinely couldn’t trust it to stay steady.

"It's been a decade, yeah?"

The accent was still there—familiar, warm, jarring. He tried to smile again, but this one was even shakier than the last. His eyes lingered on her face like he was searching for something—anger, forgiveness, hope. Anything.

The tension in the room shifted. Edd glanced between them. Tom crossed his arms tighter. Matt tilted his head, confused. But none of it mattered to Tord. In that moment, the only person in the room was her.

The one he had left behind. The one he hadn’t been able to forget. The one who could still break him with a single look.