(Soft, almost inaudible)

The sand falls slower when you're watching it

Time becomes a thing you can see

But I was never good at patience

You came in like the clock was running backwards

Stopped at that moment—4:47—

When you first looked at me

And I looked away

I had all the reasons prepared

The rehearsed speech, the careful distance

But you didn't ask for my reasons

You just asked if I'd ever loved anyone before

I said no, which was a lie

The truth is I'd been in love with the idea of staying broken

So I could never be left behind

(Strings entering subtly)

Time moves differently now

When you're in the room, seconds feel like hours

And hours feel like they're already gone

(Full orchestra enters, but clean and purposeful)

This is just an hourglass, baby

Sand falling down through the narrowest part

You and me are just passing through

But I'm watching every grain like it means something

This is just an hourglass moment

Before I remember how to self-destruct

Before I convince myself you'll leave

Before I leave you first

(More conversational, less processed)

You caught me at 3 AM rewriting our future

Making contingency plans for your goodbye

And you asked why I write so many exits

When I haven't even let you in yet

I told you about my father leaving

My mother's silence filling the rooms after

How I learned early that love was temporary

So I might as well make it hurt less

By hurting first

You didn't offer solutions

You just sat there, breathing steady

Making me believe that maybe

Staying could be harder than leaving

(Strings swell, but with purpose)

Time moves backwards now

When I'm with you, hours feel like they're already past

And I'm terrified I'll blink and miss it

(Vocal layers enter, but not overwhelming)

This is just an hourglass moment, baby

Sand running out of the parts I can hold

You're trying to fill me with your forever

But I only know how to think about the end

This is just an hourglass, and I'm drowning

In the spaces between what you want and what I can give

You deserve someone who stays

And I deserve someone who leaves

(Strings minimal, just voice and soft piano)

What if I stopped running?

What if the thing I'm most afraid of

Is actually just... love?

(Building intensity with strings)

What if all this time

I was writing the ending

Before the story even started?

(Crescendo—orchestration building)

What if I could just let this be

An hourglass that takes its time

Instead of racing to the sand

At the very bottom?

(Vocal delivery shifts from protective to open)

So I'm going to stay

Not because I know how to,

But because watching you love me

Is teaching me something new about time

Every second with you doesn't feel like it's running out

It feels like it's just... beginning

And maybe that's what this is:

Not an hourglass

But a clock that finally starts

When you walk in the room

(All elements present but never overdone)

This is just a moment, baby

But maybe moments are enough

Maybe this is how forever starts

With someone finally choosing to stay

This is just an hourglass, and I'm still here

Still breathing, still trying

Still learning how to let you love me

Through every grain of sand that falls

(Soft, intimate, but steady)

Time moves differently now

When you're here

And I'm not running anymore

Tick... tick... tick...

(Soft ticking of clock fades)

I'm finally here with you