Always You ♥️

CHAPTER 1

The New Neighbor

The moving truck arrived just after sunrise.

Finn stood at the edge of the living room window, still in his pajamas, watching as the large white vehicle slowly reversed into the driveway next door. The sound of its engine broke the quiet of the street, disturbing the usual calm he had always known.

Seattle was always like this—quiet, predictable, safe. That was what his mother used to say when they first moved here years ago.

But today, something felt different.

“Finn! Don’t just stand there, come help with the boxes!” Orla’s voice called from the kitchen.

Finn didn’t move immediately. His eyes stayed fixed on the house next door. It had been empty for months. No lights. No movement. No sound. Just a house that looked like it was waiting for someone to remember it existed.

Now it was alive again.

“I’m coming,” he finally answered, dragging his feet away from the window.

Outside, the morning air was cool. The grass still carried drops of dew that shimmered under the early sunlight. Finn stepped onto the porch just as his father, William, carried a cardboard box from the car.

“New neighbors?” Finn asked, squinting toward the house.

William followed his gaze and nodded. “Looks like it. Reed family, I think. Your mother heard it from Mrs. Peterson.”

Finn didn’t respond. He wasn’t particularly interested in new neighbors. Kids came and went in this neighborhood. Some stayed. Some didn’t. It never changed anything.

But still, his eyes kept drifting back.

There was a strange feeling he couldn’t explain. Like something important was about to happen, even though nothing had happened yet.

“Finn!” his younger brother Nathan shouted from inside the house. “Mom said you’re supposed to carry my school bag too!”

Finn rolled his eyes and turned back inside.

The morning continued like any other morning. Breakfast. School uniforms. The usual chaos of a family getting ready for the day. Nathan complained about everything as usual, Marcus was already glued to his phone, and their parents tried to keep the peace.

But even as Finn ate his toast, his mind wasn’t fully at the table.

It kept going back to that house.

By afternoon, the moving was in full swing.

Finn stood outside again, this time pretending he was just getting fresh air. But really, he was watching.

Boxes were being carried inside. Furniture followed. A woman stepped out of the car first. She looked tired, her hair slightly messy, like she had been awake for a long time. Behind her came a man Finn assumed was her husband, and then more movement inside the vehicle.

Then he saw her.

A girl.

She stepped out slowly, almost hesitantly, like the world outside didn’t fully belong to her yet.

Finn didn’t know why he noticed her so quickly.

Maybe it was the way she didn’t rush like the others. Or the way she paused before looking up at the house, as if she was memorizing it. Or maybe it was just that she didn’t smile.

She looked… quiet.

Not shy exactly. Just distant. Like she was thinking too much to fully exist in the moment.

She didn’t look around like Nathan would. She didn’t wave or laugh or explore. She just stood there for a few seconds, then followed her parents inside.

And just like that, she disappeared behind the door.

Finn blinked.

Something about her stayed in his mind longer than it should have.

“Finn!” Nathan shouted again, throwing a small stone at him from across the yard. “Stop staring like a weirdo!”

“I wasn’t staring,” Finn replied automatically, even though he definitely had been.

Nathan smirked. “You were. At the new house. You like someone already?”

Finn scoffed. “You’re eight. Shut up.”

But even as he said it, his eyes drifted back to the window of the house next door.

One of the curtains moved slightly.

He wasn’t sure if it was her.

But his chest tightened anyway.

That evening, the neighborhood settled into its usual calm again. The moving truck left. The noise faded. The street became quiet once more.

Dinner was loud inside Finn’s house. His mother talked about unpacking plans, his father discussed work, Nathan argued about nothing, and Marcus barely listened.

Finn ate quietly, pushing food around his plate.

After dinner, he went upstairs, but instead of going to his room, he walked straight to the window.

The house next door was lit now.

Warm yellow lights glowed through the windows, turning it from an empty structure into a home.

Finn stood there longer than he meant to.

He didn’t even know what he was waiting for.

Then it happened.

A curtain moved again.

And for a brief moment, he thought he saw her silhouette.

Small. Still. Watching.

His heart did something strange.

He didn’t understand it.

He was only eight.

But for some reason, he didn’t look away.

Instead, he stayed there, staring at the window across the darkening street, wondering why a girl he had not spoken to, not met, not even properly seen… already felt like she was going to matter.

And in the house next door, Lydia Reed stood behind her curtain, looking out at the boy across the street without knowing his name.

She only knew one thing.

He was watching.