**🎤 Hilarie Burton**

**Genre**: Alt-Country / Americana

**🎵 Song 1: _“Third Time Talking”_**

_(Narrative Arc)_

**[Verse 1]**  
The first time, I shut down,  
The second, I blamed my skin.  
By the third, we found the words,  
To let the healing in.

**[Pre-Chorus]**  
Every ache felt like a funeral,  
Every silence, a scream.  
I carried guilt like armor,  
In a war without a team.

**[Chorus]**  
Third time talking,  
Still breaking.  
Third time crying,  
Still aching.  
But we found a way to speak,  
Even when the words were weak.

**[Verse 2]**  
No romance, just science,  
Needles lined the shelf.  
I wasn’t making love,  
I was trying to fix myself.

**[Bridge]**  
We learned to speak through sorrow,  
To hold each other tight.  
Even when the morning came,  
And nothing felt quite right.

**[Outro]**  
Third time talking,  
Still remains.  
Third time loving,  
Through the pain.