It all began when two people fell in love…well, maybe not love, but they at least liked each other enough to enter into a landlord-tenant relationship. Like so many relationships, they did not live happily ever after, only here the breakup plays out in a summary ejectment case. With G.S. Ch. 7A, Art. 19 and Ch. 42 as our guides, let’s explore the life of a summary ejectment case from the beginning to the middle to the end and discover what twists and turns lie ahead from the clerk’s office to small claims court to district court, and even possibly the court of appeals. For illustration purposes, we will follow a case between two former lovers who find themselves at odds over whether the ex-girlfriend is a tenant in the house owned by the ex-boyfriend. Our example is loosely based on the facts in Bradley v. Tapia, 277 N.C. App. 385 (2021) (unpublished). Prior to this case, no North Carolina case law addressed this type of shared occupancy between romantic partners. Let’s call our couple “Nikki” and “Victor” as we explore the days of their lives.