"You built my fucking house." I step forward, staring up at it in awe. Even in the dark, I can see it—my house, exactly how I imagined it. I can only guess how much more surreal it'll look in daylight.

"No," Everest corrects, his voice firm. "I built my fucking house."

I snap my head toward him, eyes narrowing. He knows damn well this was my design, drawn with my paper and crayons all those years ago. Sure, he was the one who decided where to build it, talking about how we'd live here after we got married, had kids, settled into that crazy future we planned. But this? This was mine.

I stomp up the porch steps and shove the door open, and the second I step inside, my breath catches. I know this house. The walls, the floors, the way it all comes together—I know it, because I fucking built it.

"I'm guessing you like it?" Everest says from behind me.

I spin around, my chest tight, and before I can stop myself, I throw my arms around him. He smells the same, feels the same. For just a second, I let myself sink into it—let myself feel. Then I pull away, walking deeper into the house, fingers grazing over the surfaces like I need to prove to myself that this is real.

"Why did you build it?" My voice is quieter now, but the weight behind it is undeniable. "With all the hate you have toward me, why the fuck would you build this? The house we planned when we were still together?"

Everest exhales, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "I missed you, Avery," he admits. "I needed something to focus on after I got out. Especially after I found out you were happy without me."

I frown, eyebrows knitting together. "How do you know I was happy without you?"

He steps into the kitchen, grabs a beer from the fridge, and pops the cap off before answering. "Because I fucking saw you," he says simply. "First thing I did when I got out was look for you. I didn't give a shit how long it had been—I was gonna find you and bring you home. But then I did find you." His fingers tighten around the bottle. "You were in some coffee shop, smiling, laughing with him. It was like a fucking movie scene, right in front of me. And I just stood there, watching the love of my fucking life move on like I never even existed."

Something snaps inside me, and before I can think twice, my hand flies across his face.

His head barely moves from the impact, but his jaw tenses as he looks back at me, expression unreadable.

"Why the fuck didn't you say something?!" I scream. "Why didn't you grab me, take me home, do something?! How could you just fucking walk away?!"

Everest moves toward me, but I stumble back, hands shaking. "Don't fucking touch me," I seethe, voice breaking. "You think I was happy? That smile, that laugh—it was all fake! A fucking distraction! You really think I didn't fucking miss you?!" My throat tightens, and I force the words out before they choke me completely. "You were taken away, and I thought I'd never see you again! I fucking loved you, Everest!"

I squeeze my eyes shut, swallowing the lump in my throat. I can't look at him. I can't.

I know it's not his fault. But fuck, he could've done something. He could've stopped all of it.

Everest's voice is raw, like he's barely holding himself together. "I didn't know, Avery... If I had—"

"But you didn't," I cut him off, voice barely above a whisper.

Silence. Thick. Suffocating.

Then, he does something I never fucking expected. He drops to his knees in front of me. His hands clench into fists, his entire body shaking as he looks up at me.

"What happened to you?" His voice cracks. "Please, Avery... I'm fucking begging you."

I want to tell him. God, I want to tell him so fucking bad. I want him to know what I went through. What I survived. I want him to know how fucking broken I am, how much it wrecked me. But if I say it out loud, then it's real. And if it destroyed me... I can't even imagine what it would do to him.

So I swallow it all down.

"Can you take me home?" My voice is steady now, even though everything inside me is crumbling.

Everest's jaw tightens. "Avery—"

"Can you or not?" I force my expression blank. "If you can't, I'll get someone else to."

His nostrils flare, but he nods. "I'll take you." His voice is quiet, resigned. "I'll get my truck. Stay here?"

I nod, sinking onto the couch, staring at the wall.

I hear his footsteps, hear the door click shut behind him. But even after he's gone, his presence lingers. Heavy. Familiar.

And for the first time in years, I let myself wonder—what if?

What if he had come back sooner?

What if we had never lost each other at all?

—————————

I was very pleased to see that I woke up in my own bed in my own home. I don't remember coming here but I very well remember passing out on the couch.

After my shower I went down stairs to the kitchen to find a sticky note on my fridge.

"Hoping we can talk more. Maybe over dinner or somethin." - Sin

I tore it off the fridge and crumbled it, throwing it in the trash.

I check my phone and see a text from Brooke, asking if I want to go out tonight. I decline, telling her I think I'm coming down with something—which, honestly, I probably am.

As the morning drags on, I start feeling worse. My body aches, my head pounds, and I know I won't make it through the day without doing something to help. I take some Advil, hoping it'll take the edge off, and decide to walk into town to pick up a few groceries.

That's exactly what I do. While I'm out, I stumble across a Panera and figure some soup might help. I stop in for lunch, letting the warmth settle in my stomach, then grab some takeout for later before heading home.

————————

"Everest where are we!?" I yell ahead completely out of breath as we practically walked up a fudging mountain.

"Come' On Avery it's right up here!" I roll my eyes and finally catch up to him.

"Isn't it beautiful?" He asks looking down at me.

I scrunch my eye brows and look ahead of me and see exactly what I've been seeing since I started walking up here.

Trees.

And bugs.

"I see woods." He scoffs and pulls my arm closer into it till we come to an over look of the lake.

"Ok now I see a lake."

"Avery really look. Look where we're standing and the amazing view." I open my eyes bigger just to be sarcastic.

"Ok I see it. Now can we please go back down. I'm getting eatin alive up here." I say smacking a mosquito off my arm.

"Obviously your not seeing it!" He yells as I walk away from him.

"HEY!" I yell and smack his back as he grabs me and throws me over his shoulder.

After he sets me down. I give my a deathly stare and cross my arms.

"Will you please just fuckin look!" I gasp at his fowl language and hit his chest but all he does is turn my head towards the area I've been told to look at for the past 10 mins.

"Can you please just tell me what I'm looking at Everest!?" I feel him bend down to my ear from behind me and whisper.

"This is where We're buildin our home."

———————————

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

I jolt upright on the couch, disoriented for a moment before realizing I must have fallen asleep after getting home. My body feels heavy, my head still foggy with exhaustion.

Then, the sound of loud, relentless knocking pulls me from my daze. I turn toward the door, watching it rattle like someone's trying to break it down.

"Jesus Christ, I'm coming!" I groan, dragging myself up and unlocking the door before swinging it open.

And, of course, standing there in all his pissed-off glory is none other than Everest Green.

I frown and go to slam the door in his face, but he catches it effortlessly, pushing his way inside and following me straight into the kitchen.

"What the hell were you doing!? I was knocking for twenty fucking minutes!" His voice is sharp, irritated.

I roll my eyes as I turn to make myself a cup of tea. "I was sleeping, Sin." My voice comes out hoarse, my sinuses stuffed. I sniffle, irritated at both him and the fact that I still feel like shit.

His expression softens slightly. "You sick?"

I look up at him and give him a look that practically screams obviously.

"Why didn't you call me this morning?" he presses.

I take a slow breath, already done with this conversation. "Didn't know I was supposed to," I mumble, picking up my tea and heading toward the stairs.

"Avery, didn't you see the sticky note?"

"Yes, I saw it. I read it. And then I threw it away."

I keep walking, not bothering to wait for his response, making my way down the hall to my room. Just as I reach for the door handle, his voice rings out again, sharper this time.

"Avery, will you just fucking stop for a minute and look at me!?"

I sigh, exasperated, and crack my door open just enough to turn and face him. "What?" My foot taps impatiently against the floor, and his eyes flick down to it before meeting mine again.

"I want to talk."

I let out a humorless laugh, giving him a sarcastic smile as I hand him my mug. "You can either stay here or go back to wherever the hell you came from. I'm taking a shower."

And with that, I close the door in his face, this time making damn sure to lock it.

2 a.m.

Declare victory

Don't let him break you.