Page 116 of The Sound Between Us

“Everyone, this is Harry,” Seren says, like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

Not Harrison.

Not Harrison Carter.

Just Harry.

Kimba cracks first. A snort, then full-on laughter she tries to stifle behind a napkin.

“Did you get it on the Ring doorbell?” she wheezes.

Damon pulls out his phone, squinting. “Yep. Decent lighting, too. That’ll go viral in a heartbeat.”

“Dad.”

“What? Romantic declarations in the rain? We’re sitting on content gold.”

“Damon,” Kimba warns, still laughing. “Let the poor man eat before you sell his dignity.”

“Thank you,” I say, sliding into the empty seat beside Seren. Like it was waiting. “For this. For letting me crash whatever this was meant to be.”

“Well, Harry,” Damon says, passing me a plate stacked high with roast beef, “I hope you like traditional British cooking. Mrs. Martin thinks coriander is a foreign plot.”

From the kitchen doorway, a woman beams at me like I’ve done something heroic.

“Welcome, love. Anyone who makes our Seren smile like that’s family already.”

I glance at Seren.

She’s smiling—really smiling. Not the polite, public kind. The one I used to see in the quiet between shows.

It knocks the breath right out of me.

Felix, mouth full, waves his fork like a sceptre. “So, are we just going to ignore the fact that Harry here abandoned a sold-out world tour to confess his love in the rain?”

“Felix,” Seren warns.

“I mean—it’s very cinematic. Very reckless. Very… stupid, from a career perspective. But still.” He raises his glass. “Respect.”

“The tour was winding down anyway,” I say, maybe oversharing. “A few dates left. And it turns out love songs hit different when you finally know what love is—and then screw it up.”

Hailey leans forward, eyebrows hovering somewhere between suspicion and Botox.

“You left Elementary? For her?”

The question lands with a thud.

“Yeah,” I say. “Some things are bigger than contracts.”

“Even Glastonbury?” Hailey asks, sharp as glass. “Because I heard⁠—”

“Hailey,” Damon says, a little too softly.

She ignores him. “We’ve been offered the headline slot. The final show. The end of Elementary.”

Everyone’s watching me now.

Even Felix puts down his fork.