Giving Chase (Incendiary Ink #1)

30. Whispered Truths – Eliza

Whispered Truths

ELIZA

Ryan takes Off the Record first, his easy charm bringing fresh life to a song I've known since its birth in that late-night studio session. Jake follows with Burning Bridges , his rougher edge perfect for its angry heartbreak. The crowd is loving all of it, and I can’t help but feel the energy of the room lift to levels I don’t think we’ve seen tonight.

Then the lights dim.

A single spotlight finds Chase as the opening notes of Whispered Truths fill the arena, and the crowd goes crazy. My heart stops as his eyes find mine. This song - this song I've heard a thousand times, that I've watched crowds sing back to him in stadiums across the world, that I never knew...

In the silence between words,

In the spaces we don't fill,

There's a truth we've never heard,

A promise we can't fulfill...

Oh god. Every board meeting. Every studio session. Every time we chose silence over truth. My hands start shaking as the next verse strips away years of carefully crafted denial.

Drowning in expectations,

Reaching out as we both fall,

Every single complication

Echoes down this empty hall.

The crowd joins in on the chorus, thousands of voices singing our pain back to us. Michelle grabs my hand as the sound washes over me - all these people, all these years, singing about us without knowing. The way he's looking at me now, no substances dulling his eyes, no pretense left between us...

Whispered truths that we can't face,

Holding on just to let go,

Trading tomorrow for some kind of grace,

Always pretending not to know.

Not to know…

Tears blur my vision. I remember when this song first hit the charts. Remember watching him perform it at the Grammys, thinking it was just another brilliant piece of songwriting. Never realizing he wrote it after a night I told him we needed clearer boundaries. After I chose the label's interests over him. After I...

The arena is deafening now, every voice lifted in a chorus I finally understand. Through the wall of sound, through the tears, through years of mystery finally solved, Chase's eyes hold mine. Singing our story to the world. Singing it to me.

Finally.