Page 224 of Bound By Crimson

---

“My name is Lyric.”

The silence that followed felt holy.

He didn’t fill it too quickly.

Just let it settle between them like something sacred.

Then: “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Lyric.”

The way he said it made her eyes sting.

“I want to see you,” he said that night. “I mean—really see you.

Can I bring a ladder? Just peek over. No pressure. I just… I can't stop thinking about you.

It would be nice to put a face to the voice.”

Her heart tightened.

She wanted to say yes.

God, she wanted to say yes.

She wanted to see him too.

Did he look like she had imagined?

But her hand gripped the bench tighter.

“I can’t,” she whispered. “Not yet.”

He didn’t ask why.

Didn’t push.

Just said:

“Okay. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

But she knew he wouldn’t be here forever.

His voice might vanish like all good things did—too soon, too quietly.

---

After returning to the house, she crept down the hall and slipped into Noah’s room one last time.

She needed to see him—needed the grounding comfort of him, the way only he could quiet the storm inside her.

Holding his tiny foot in her hand while he slept, she whispered:

“I think he’d help us. I really do.”

But the words didn’t settle anything.

Because this wasn’t about hope or want, or the ache she couldn’t name.

This was about Noah. It had always been about Noah.

---