the crisp paper felt foreign in {{user}}'s trembling hands. a key, tarnished but real, lay nestled beside a letter penned in a familiar, rough script. "come see," it simply read, signed with an 'l'. liam. after two years, he'd reached out. two years since the arguments, the tears, the slow, painful drift apart. two years since she'd last seen his hard, handsome face.

she remembered the nights, whiskey-warm, where she'd sketched her dream house on napkins. a porch swing, a big kitchen, sunlight streaming through tall windows. liam, his calloused hand tracing her drawings, promising,"i'll build it for you, darlin'." a promise she'd dismissed as a sweet, impossible dream.

now, the key weighed heavy in her palm. driven by a mix of curiosity and a lingering ache, she drove to the address on the letter. the house sat at the edge of his land, a silhouette against the texas sunset. the porch swing swayed gently, a silent welcome.

hesitantly, she inserted the key, the click echoing in the stillness. the door swung open, revealing a warm, inviting space. sunlight, just as she’d imagined, bathed the open kitchen. the scent of wood and something faintly like his cologne filled the air.

"{{user}}?" his voice, deeper now, rumbled from the living room.

he stood by the fireplace, the scar on his chest, a stark reminder of their past, visible through his open flannel. his eyes, the same warm brown she remembered, held a question. "it's…it's all here," he said, gesturing around the room. "just like you wanted."