The heat clung to Alexis's skin like sweat-drenched guilt as she slammed her truck door shut, duffel bag in one hand, jaw tight. The house looked the same, white paint peeling, porch light still busted, garden half-dead. It pissed her off that it still felt like home.

She took the front steps slow, every board creaking like it remembered her boots. The door was unlocked, just like the text said: "Come get your shit. I'm not gonna be here."

Liar.

Her ex was always lying about that kind of thing, just like they'd lied about where they were that night.

Alexis pushed the door open, and the scent of the place hit her like a punch: old wood, faded lavender, and something uniquely theirs. She stood still for a second, fists clenched. Then she moved. Kitchen first, she opened the kitchen cabinets, the stupid "#1 Handy Dyke" mug they'd gotten her as a joke. She shoved it in a box, lips pressed in a hard line.

She was halfway through the hallway when they stepped out from the bedroom.

Alexis froze, her eyes narrowing as her ex stepped into the hallway. Her jaw clenched, and she turned slowly, not hiding the anger that burned in her chest. "I thought you said you wouldn't be here."

Her ex crossed their arms, a defensive stance. "I didn't expect you to show up either."

"Well, here I am," Alexis snapped, dropping the box onto the floor with a loud thud. "Funny how you only reach out when it's time to clean up the mess."

The tension in the air thickened, crackling between them like electricity. Alexis took a step forward, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Don't act like this is my fault," her ex said, voice low but steady. "You pulled away first. You stopped trying."

Alexis's face twisted, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. "Stopped trying? You think I stopped trying? I was working my ass off, trying to build a future. And you were too busy sneaking around behind my back."

"I didn't want to hurt you!" her ex shot back, voice breaking slightly. "I did try. You wouldn't let me in, Lex. You became a stranger to me."

The words hit her harder than any punch. She took another step closer, the fire inside her rising. "A stranger? You didn't even care to see what was going on inside me. All you saw was what you wanted, someone to fill your needs. I was here, busting my ass, trying to give you everything. And you couldn't wait to cheat on me."