lyricist. timothée chalamet

xxx.

xxx.

cora found herself at the piano as she often did the past few nights. she was constantly creating new melodies and little things but she never could get the lyrics quite right. that was mostly troye's part in the writing process — he would bounce around a couple little words or phrases and his sister would build off of them. they were a team and worked best together.

lately, though, she found herself wanting more. she wanted to write for herself and sing her own songs, but she felt that troye was the only one who could really put passion into them and share them with the world.

"you okay?" troye's voice raised above the light sounds of cora tapping the piano keys. she turned her head and shook it.

"far from it," she replied.

he joined her on the bench, his hands resting naturally on the smooth white blocks while waiting for her to continue. cora was always good with words no matter how much she doubted herself.

"rose reached out to me. she was not happy."

"fuck her then." troye let out swiftly. his sister raised her eyebrows and he nodded. "sorry. go on."

"she claimed i spend too much time trying to fix things in my life and other people's lives but i fuck everything up. i know i shouldn't listen to her because we all know she's crazy, but her words struck home."

troye had been waiting for her to say this — he had been waiting for his sister to realize how little she valued her presence. she spent all of her time trying so very hard to make everyone else around her happy, and too little on her own happiness. she claimed that seeing their happiness was enough for her, but he could tell it was contributing to her mental health decline. it had been that way ever since landon died.

cora met his gaze and he quickly avoided her eyes. "fuck. she's right."

"i didn't say that," he replied. "look, cor, you just need to spend some time focusing on yourself. you do everything for other people but do really little for you. take a break from work, travel a bit, spend time with timothée."

"i can't even look at him without feeling like i'm gonna do something wrong," she said. her fingers gradually moved to play different chords. "i don't even know if it's gonna work out between us."

"you love him, don't you?" troye knew love when he saw it, but he was unsure of whether she did.

she used to. she used to look at landon and know how much she loved him and know that he was perfect for her. he was the missing piece that she needed to build her up from this brokenness that she constantly felt, but when he took his own life, she crumbled again. every single stable piece she put into place were knocked down in one sweep. troye knew how scared she was to risk that again, and he knew that she was so scared that she blocked out every meaning of true love from her mind.

he watched her wince before responding.

"i love everything about him, but i don't know if i love him or just the idea of him."

she played a couple chords and hummed lightly to avoid his stare. eventually, she turned back and said, "i'm confused, troye. i don't know what to do."

he gathered her into his arms, holding her as close as he could. it was rare that he had heart to hearts with cora since she was so closed off. but he saw her change and open up as she got to know timothée, and he knew that he needed to make their first talk worth something.

"when i don't know what to feel, i write." he released her from his grip. "be a lyricist, cora, and write the best damn song anyone's ever heard."

she smiled at him. she loved troye with everything in her — she knew that for certain. it was a love that was irreplaceable. he took her in when she moved away from australia and gave her the best opportunity she could ever ask for. he meant the world to her and she never wanted to disappoint him.

"i have a little something i started last night, but i don't know if it's worth working on."

troye nodded at her, urging her to go on. cora placed her hands on the keys and started to play.

"oh ... the jewel of california. oh, i wanna ... and drown me in your water." she hummed over parts that were unwritten, focusing on the smaller parts she jotted down in a notebook after not being able to fall asleep. "and my boy like a queen, unlike one you've ever see. he knows how to love me better."

she stopped playing to say, "there's a couple more lines in the refrain and then it goes into a chorus."

he sat back a moment, reviewing the song over and over in his head. "fuck man that's good. can we fit it on the album?"

"don't rush me," she joked. "but i'll try to finish it as soon as i can."

"just write at your own pace. and write down everything you feel. maybe it'll help."

he kissed the top of her head before getting up to leave. he turned back before he reached the door. "cora?"

"yeah?"

troye smiled. "sing it for timothée."