All Chapters of The Guy Who Lives Next Door : Chapter 41 - Chapter 44

The knock came just after midnight.Ruby was half-asleep, tangled in her blanket, her phone face-down on the nightstand. For a moment, she thought she’d imagined it—some leftover echo from a dream.Then it came again.Three slow knocks.Not urgent.Not polite.Heavy.Ruby sat up, heart thudding. The house was quiet, her aunt already asleep down the hall. She slipped out of bed, bare feet cold against the floor, and crept to the window first.The porch light cast a pale yellow glow.And there he was.Kai Kingston stood on her doorstep like he didn’t belong to the world anymore.His hair was messy, jacket hanging open, tie loosened and crooked. One hand braced against the porch railing, the other hanging uselessly at his side. His head was bowed, shoulders slumped in a way she’d never seen before.He looked… broken.Ruby’s breath caught.She hurried downstairs before she could think better of it.When she opened the door, the smell hit her first—alcohol, sharp and unfamiliar on him. Kai

Morning light crept through the blinds, casting stripes across the floor. Ruby sat at the kitchen table, her coffee untouched, staring at the steam curling from the mug as if it held answers.The night replayed in fragments: Kai on her couch, eyes raw and unguarded, words spilling out in ways she hadn’t expected. The boy behind the legend, vulnerable and honest. And yet, the memory left a strange ache in her chest, a mix of sympathy, fear, and something else she refused to name.She glanced toward the hallway. Kai’s jacket was gone, shoes neatly by the door, but the lingering weight of him was everywhere. She shook her head, trying to focus on the mundane—breakfast, school, anything else.A knock at the front door startled her. She jumped, spilling a bit of coffee on the table. Her heart rate picked up before she even realized it was Theo.“Morning,” he said, casually leaning against the doorframe, backpack slung over one shoulder. His sharp eyes immediately found hers. “You look… dif