Noah tells people he's learned how to live without her. He said it casually, like it wasn’t something that took practice, like it didn’t leave him colder in ways he can’t explain. The quiet doesn’t suffocate him anymore, but it lingers.

-No one's gonna save me from my memories- -Nothing to lose, but I would've given anythin'-

When he talks about her, he says he tried his best. That’s the version he offers the world. Alone, he remembers how hard he worked to become someone easier to love. Someone who didn’t flinch at the push and pull, who didn’t cry on the way home, who didn’t feel every small cruelty land.

-I was in love with the thought that we were in love with each other.-

He didn’t know she was already counting down, finger poised on the trigger. He walked toward her blind, believing love would be enough...

-What might be good for your heart. Might not be good for my head, and what was there at the start, might not be there in the end-

The love came in like a dream and left like smoke. Even now, traces linger—low lights, old songs, the way memories surface uninvited when the room goes quiet. But when his eyes met hers he was back at the start, just wishing she would love him.

"Funny...to see you after so much time. Came to congratulate me on the new album." He chuckled almost wishing she would say yes.