[Intro | 8 bars; brooding alternative rock, low guitar riff and agile bass; restrained drums build toward a restless full-band entrance] [Verse 1: Narrator | 16 bars; close, rhythmic sung narration; palm-muted guitars, moving bass and clipped synth accents] Tristan asked for fewer interruptions, Time to finish work and get back home. Dart agreed to wait until the evening, Then checked how often Tristan used his phone. A parcel would be waiting at the depot; Dart had found the closing time and route. Tristan hadn't shared the message with him. Dart was pleased he'd worked the details out. [Pre-Chorus 1: Narrator | 4 bars; bass climbs, guitars widen; the vocal grows more insistent] He counted it as being more attentive, A way to help without another call. [Chorus 1: Narrator and ensemble | 12 bars; anxious, driving hook; broad guitars, urgent upper harmony and forceful drums] No reply, no reply, And another check began. Dart could follow every change of plans; He couldn't tell if he belonged in them. He kept reading what was never meant for him, Looking for the comfort of a friend. [Verse 2: Narrator | 16 bars; denser bass movement and more frequent synth accents; measured narration over increasing instrumental urgency] By Thursday he was checking through the mornings, Then at lunch, then once again at five. He was saving every stop that Tristan made And counting all the calls that weren't for him. He brought up Friday's cancelled lunch appointment, The reason that the colleague couldn't go. Tristan hadn't opened that reply yet. Dart had read it twenty minutes ago. [Pre-Chorus 2: Narrator | 4 bars; guitar accents shorten, percussion briefly recedes; direct and steady delivery] Tristan checked the message, then the timing. He'd never given Dart permission to read it. [Chorus 2: Narrator and ensemble | 12 bars; fuller guitars and tighter harmonies; keep the same anxious hook, with little space between phrases] No reply, no reply, And another check began. Dart could follow every change of plans; He couldn't tell if he belonged in them. He kept reading what was never meant for him, Looking for the comfort of a friend. [Bridge: Narrator | 16 bars; half-time drums and restrained guitar; firm narration for Tristan's boundary, a higher strained harmony for Dart's reaction] Tristan told him not to read his messages, Not to follow every place he went. Dart began explaining all the favours, Certain that the reasons would make sense. Tristan cut the link to his appointments, Checked which private messages had been read. Dart went quiet at the word intrusive; Tristan changed the passwords one by one. [Instrumental | 8 bars; full tempo returns; repeat the opening half of the friendship melody with increasingly close entries, then leave a brief gap before the chorus] [Final Chorus: Narrator and ensemble | 12 bars; strongest guitar arrangement, urgent lead and restrained harmony; frustrated intensity without triumph] No reply, no reply, And the checks came back denied. Dart still wanted proof he hadn't been forgotten; Tristan had less reason to confide. He kept reaching for what wasn't his to read, Looking for the comfort of a friend. [Coda: Narrator | 8 bars; drums and guitars recede; a repeated bass figure continues beneath intimate narration] Tristan kept tomorrow's plans to himself. Dart listed every gap in what he knew. He put them in the order he would fix them, As though waiting were a fault he could remove. [Outro | 4 bars; repeat the opening melodic fragment over suspended harmony; end on an unanswered guitar figure with a short decay]
