The apartment was quiet except for the faint hum of the city outside. Gabriel's steady breathing told her he had already fallen asleep, phone still in his hand.
Eleanor closed her eyes, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. And, as often happened when she lay beside him, her mind slipped back to the beginning—back to when his smile was enough to erase every ache in her bones.
---
Flashback – Schoolyard, Age 12
She remembered the boy with the messy hair and the hole in his shoes. Gabriel Graves, the boy who borrowed her pencils and grinned when she scolded him for never bringing his own.
"Someday I'll be famous," he had declared, chest puffed out, eyes sparkling with childish certainty. "I'll sing on the biggest stage in the world."
Eleanor had laughed, swinging her legs from the low wall they sat on. "Then I'll clap the loudest."
Even then, she had believed him.
---
Flashback – Age 14
His parents hadn't. She still heard their voices sometimes—sharp, dismissive.
"Stop wasting time on music. Get a real job. Help the family, Gabriel."
They had shaken their heads at his foolishness, their words cutting him down until his shoulders slumped with shame. Eleanor had found him behind the school one day, fists clenched, eyes wet.
"They'll never understand," he had whispered.
She had taken his hand, threading her fingers through his. "Then I'll understand enough for both of them."
And she had meant it.
---
Flashback – Age 15, The Audition
The memory of the school auditorium still burned inside her. The way her voice had risen, trembling but strong, filling the hall. The scouts had leaned forward, nodding, whispering to each other—She's the one.
But then came Gabriel's turn. His voice cracked. He stumbled. His dream slipped through his fingers, and when he came off stage, tears streaked his face.
"I can't do this. I'll never be good enough."
Her heart had broken at the sight. And in that moment, her own dream—her stage, her spotlight—meant nothing.
She had stood before the scouts, her voice steady though her hands shook. "If Gabriel isn't chosen, I won't go either."
They had hesitated. Then, reluctantly, they had taken him.
Eleanor had smiled, even as her chest felt hollow. Because his tears were gone. His smile had returned. And that was worth more than any stage.
---
Flashback – Ages 15–17
She saw herself running between school and part-time jobs, ink stains on her fingers from scribbling lyrics in the margins of notebooks, passing her notes to Gabriel so he wouldn't fall behind.
She remembered her parents' tired faces as they came home from the factory, their clothes smelling of grease and smoke. Money was always short. The weight of bills always heavy.
Life had been hard, cruel even. But Gabriel's smile—bright, boyish, unshaken—had been her sunlight.
For Eleanor, struggle was her every day. For Gabriel, music was his only chance. She couldn't let him lose it.
---
The flashbacks faded as her breathing slowed in the darkness.
Beside her, Gabriel shifted in his sleep, unaware that the girl lying next to him was the reason he had ever reached a stage, the reason his songs existed, the reason his dream was alive.
And Eleanor, even now, believed it was enough.
---
✨ End of Chapter Three