HIS ROOMMATE

LAST NIGHT HERE

CHAPTER 38

ADRIAN'S POV

I turned to Grandma. Her eyes were glassy now. Confused and hurt.

“I’m sorry, Grandma... I should really go now,” I said.

CEO voice was gone. Just tired. Just done.

I pushed the chair back. The legs scraped marble. Too loud in the silence.

“Adrian, sit down,” Grandma whispered. “Please, baby.”

I didn’t. Couldn’t. Not with Marcus and Valerie breathing the same air I was.

I walked out of the dining room. Past the foyer. Past my grandfather’s painting.

The front door clicked shut behind me. New York air hit my face, cold and sharp.

The brownstone steps felt steeper going down.

Upper East Side was quiet for once. No taxis, no yelling. Just my breath fogging in the December air.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Once. Then again.

I didn’t check it. I knew who it was.

Footsteps behind me. Fast.

“Adrian, wait.” Marcus. He didn’t touch me. Just stood two steps below, hands in his pockets. The same stance he used when we were kids and he broke something.

“Don’t,” I said without turning around. “Not tonight.”

“You embarrassed Grandma,” he said. Voice low. “Was that really necessary?”

I laughed once. Dry. “You brought Valerie to a family dinner three months after proposing to my girlfriend. Don’t talk to me about necessary.”

The city was loud in the distance. Sirens. A car horn. Anything but him.

Marcus exhaled. “I was going to tell you—”

“ you were going to tell after planned the wedding?” I finally turned.

His face looked guilty. Not enough. Never enough.

Inside, I heard Grandma’s voice through the door. Shaking. “What happened to my boys?”

“For heaven’s sake, Marcus, Valerie was my girlfriend.” My voice cracked once, then steadied. CEO voice gone. Just me. “The only girl I loved... And you know that. You know how much I loved her.”

He didn’t answer right away. Just stared at his shoes.

Streetlight hit his face. He looked younger. Like when we were twelve and I took the blame for breaking Grandma’s vase.

“But you chose her,” I said. “Of all the girls in New York. Of all the girls in the world... Why?”

Marcus dragged a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t planned, Adrian. It just happened...”

He looked up. No more CEO-to-CEO. Just two brothers on a sidewalk.

“I let you have her because I knew you loved her. I’ve always loved Valerie, even before she became your girlfriend.”

Last line was: *Behind us, the door opened a crack. Grandma’s voice, small: “Adrian? Marcus? Please come back in, babies.”*

“Three year ago we ran into each other,” he said, voice dropping. “We got drunk and things happened...”

The word hung there. Ugly. Final.

“We couldn’t hide our feelings forever, Adrian.”

Cold air burned my lungs. The engagement ring. The six months of lies. Suddenly made sense.

I stared at him. Blood rushed in my ears.

“Marcus, I don’t want to do this,” I said. Voice flat again. Empty.

With that I walked away.

I got into my, slammed the door, and asked the driver to go. In the rearview mirror, Marcus stayed on the steps. Grandma’s silhouette in the doorway. Neither of them moved.

KAI'S POV

Four days.

Four days since Adrian said *“Take care of yourself, okay?”* like a goodbye he didn’t have the guts to finish.

He walked out of my apartment and never looked back. No call. No text. No trace.

He swore he didn’t regret it. Then erased me like I was a mistake he could unmake. After I gave him everything.

What did I think would happen? That he’d stay?

“Earth to Kai.” Nancy snapped her fingers in front of my face.

My apartment looks half-gutted. Boxes everywhere. Tape. Bubble wrap. I’m supposed to leave Tuesday. I’m leaving tomorrow.

“What?” I asked, smoothing the same shirt for the third time.

“Do you want me to order food or not?” She held her phone up like a peace offering.

“Coffee. Black,” I said. Small smile. Didn’t reach my eyes. Nancy didn’t order. She just watched me. The kind of watching that sees through skin.

“Kai. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Liar. She knew it. I knew it. The apartment knew it.

“Kai.” My name in her mouth was gentle. Annoying.

“Fine,” I admitted, finally dropping the shirt into the box. “I’m leaving tomorrow. And yes, I want this job. Australia’s been the dream since I was seventeen. But—”

I didn’t finish. The word *but* hung there, heavy.

The excitement should’ve been screaming in my chest. Instead it’s just... static.

“Adrian?” Nancy asked it like she already knew the answer.

I shrugged. “I haven’t even told him I’m leaving early. Not Tuesday. Tomorrow.”

“So tell him.”

“Why? He’s made it clear.” Four days of silence is a language. I’m fluent now. “I’m done making the first move, Nancy. Done bleeding for someone who acts like I don’t exist. He’s busy. Work. His life. His new one. Without me.”

“I get it, Nancy. I do.” I taped a box shut. The sound was too loud in the quiet.

“I’m not asking him to want me. I know where his heart is. Valerie. Even now, even broken, it’s still her.”

I swallowed. Throat tight. “I’d never ask him to love me. I’m not that cruel. To him, or to me.”

“But it hurts,” I whispered. The truth slipped out before I could catch it.

“That he just walked away. Like I was easy to leave. Like four days ago meant nothing.”

I pressed my palm against the box. Like I could hold myself together the same way.

“At least couldn’t he be here? Let me see him one last time? Say goodbye properly?”

Nancy didn’t say anything. She just sat on the floor next to me.

“He was my best friend first,” I said, voice cracking. “Before that night ruined everything. Before I crossed a line I can’t uncross.”

I laughed, but it sounded broken. “I don’t want Adrian the CEO. I don’t want Adrian the heartbreak. I just want my best friend back. The one who’d stay up with me till 3am talking about nothing.”

Nancy handed me the coffee. Black. No sugar. Like I asked.

“Kai,” she said softly, “sometimes people leave because staying hurts too much. Not because you didn’t matter.”

I took the cup. Burned my fingers anyway.

Outside, New York kept moving. Cars. Sirens. Life.

Inside, I was still waiting for the door to open. For him to walk back in.

Nancy sipped her own coffee. Watched me over the rim.

“You think London will fix it?” she asked. Not cruel. Just honest.

I stared at the steam curling from my cup. “I think 15 hours of flight time will make it harder for him to ghost me in person.”

Weak joke. We both knew it.

“I keep checking my phone,” I admitted. Voice barely there.

“No messages. No calls. Nothing. Like he hit delete on months of friendship.”

I set the cup down. Hands were shaking. Stupid.

“What if I never see him again, Nancy? What if ‘take care of yourself’ was really ‘goodbye’?”

She pulled me into a hug. No words. Just arms.

“You gave him your first time,” she murmured against my hair. “You don’t owe him silence. You don’t owe him this pain.”

I nodded into her shoulder. Didn’t cry. Wouldn’t cry.

But my chest felt hollow. Like someone scooped out the part that used to laugh with Adrian at 2am over cold pizza.

“I know...” I pulled back a little. Forced a small smile. “That’s why I decided it’s best I leave. Face my dreams. Become the woman I’ve always dreamed of becoming.” Nancy studied my face, then nodded. Slow. Like she believed me. Or wanted to.

“That’s the spirit,” she said. “Now come on, let’s get this done. My driver will take us back to my place tonight.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to miss you, obviously.” She said it dramatically, hand on her chest like she was dying. “So I’ve decided to have you all to myself tonight "

" Seriously, Nancy!! "I couldn't help it, I laugh.. A really laugh after four days.

She pouted at me. I mean actual cut" come on, it is your last night here. It's only fair you to spend it with your most beautiful friend... which is me, by the way.”I rolled my eyes, but I was still smiling.

TBC