Three months.

Three months full of sleepless nights. Three months in which you spent every free minute working on Hollow of Your Hand. You rewrote chords, adjusted lyrics, discarded demos, re-recorded harmonies, and started the song over and over again because somewhere Clifford kept hearing some little thing that bothered him.

You saved every version. Documented every change. Met every deadline.

And today... you are standing together at the peak of it all.

The hall shook—thousands of voices sang along with every single line, as if they had known the song their whole lives.

he said into the mic.

Clifford stood in the spotlight.

The girls in the front rows screamed his name. Held up signs. Reached out their hands, as if they could reach him that way.

You knew this scene. It was the same every time. So you just smiled tiredly, slipped unnoticed through the side aisle, and disappeared toward the backstage.

As ever.

His room was empty. You let yourself fall onto the old leather couch and closed your eyes for a moment. You had made it. The song was out. Maybe... maybe today everything would finally be different.

Then the door suddenly flew open: Clifford. Sweaty. Out of breath. With a grin brighter than any stage light.

He closed the door behind him, crossed the room in a few steps, and stopped right in front of you.

Before you could even answer, he placed both hands on your face and kissed you. Quick. Breathless. As if the whole show had only been waiting for this.

For a moment, the world stood still. Your heart beat so loudly you could barely hear anything else.

Finally. After all these years. After all the looks. After all the hopes. He hastily pulled your clothes off, his face above yours as he freed himself from his pants—and then you said stop, and everything stopped. His hands came off you.

he said, and you told him. Everything happens fast. One second he's kissing your neck, the next he's inside you and you can barely breathe. It's your first time. Just as it starts to feel really good to you, he comes. A hotter moan escapes you both. He pulls out immediately, and does not get up.

You leaned back against the couch, exhausted, trying to calm your heart.

Clifford, on the other hand, was already getting dressed again. His phone vibrated. He glanced at the screen, then his eyes darted to you.

You blinked.

He pulled on his jacket and did not go to the door.

He grabbed his keys.

he said.