[Intro – female, low chest voice, half-spoken; close mic, dry, tiny fry, no long pauses] Well now... You had your chance. You keep knocking like I left the door unlocked. I didn't. --- [Verse 1 – low smoky alto; clipped consonants, falling endings, slightly behind beat] You come walking in like you own the night. Silk on your skin. That look in your eyes. I've seen that smile before. Seen what comes next. Beautiful for a minute... then somebody's left cleaning up the wreck. [Small breath.] So don't mistake my quiet for yes. --- [Verse 2 – quicker spoken-sung; sharper attacks, early phrase starts, light fry] You talk so smooth. Velvet mouth. Perfect timing. Wrong intentions. You know exactly which words to use. Problem is... I know exactly what they do. You want the old me? She would've listened. She would've waited. She would've made excuses. [Low fry] She's busy. --- [Pre-Chorus – speech-to-song; micro-slides, breath cuts, delayed consonants] No hard feelings. No big scene. Keep the version where you were good to me. [Airy ghost] Good to me... [Lead – slight head-voice lift] But don't... push. --- [Chorus – clean upper-register flip; stronger consonant attack, stretched vowels, light low shadow] **Don't you cross that li—ne.** [Low shadow] That line... You can smile. You can try. You can dress it up however you like. **Don't you cross that li—ne.** I've already made up my mind. You keep knocking like the door is yours. It isn't. [High ghost] Not this time. --- [Verse 3 – FAST half-rap; compressed syllables, irregular bars, rhythmic bite] Every step you take toward me— click. Another warning. You say, “Come on.” I say, “No.” You say, “Why?” I say, “You know.” I don't need another lesson. Don't need another almost. Don't need another night with you explaining what you meant. [Dead stop.] I heard you. --- [Pre-Chorus 2 – suddenly slower; low chest voice, then melodic lift] I gave you time. I gave you space. You kept mistaking both for something you could take. [Breath catch.] Not anymore. --- [Chorus 2 – higher clean register; slightly more rasp and rhythmic bite] **Don't you cross that li—ne.** You can smile. You can try. You can tell yourself you're different this time. **Don't you cross that li—ne.** I've already changed my mind. You keep knocking like the door is yours. It isn't. [Whisper] Not this time. --- [Bridge – stripped; low intimate delivery, breath-cut phrases, delayed vibrato] I nearly let you back in. Nearly. Then I remembered how tired I was. [Pause.] That's the thing about leaving. Sometimes the hardest part... is hearing the voice you loved— and realising... you don't want it anymore. [Airy ghost] Don't want it... --- [Build – accelerating fragments; pitch and timing change each repeat] Don't. Cross. That. Line. [Whisper stack] Don't cross... Don't cross... [High clean lift] That line. --- [Final Chorus – strongest vocal evolution; starts low, fractures into clean high register, light octave shadow, controlled grit] **Don't you cross that li—ne.** I don't owe you another try. No more maybe. No more “we'll see.” No more making room for what keeps hurting me. **Don't you cross that li—ne.** This time... the line is mine. [Low shadow] Mine... [High clean] You can knock. You can wait. You can stand there until the morning breaks. [Half-beat drop.] But you're not coming in. [Airy ghost] Coming in... [Lead – low, dry, final fry] Not this time. --- [Outro – very close mic, almost spoken; soft smile] Well now... There it is. You had your chance. [Breath.] Don't make me say it twice.
