The dim glow of the studio's ambient lighting cast soft shadows across the walls as Cat sat hunched over her notebook. The desk was cluttered with crumpled drafts, coffee cups, and her phone, which she had been using to record snippets of melody. Her pencil tapped against the page rhythmically as she sang a line quietly to herself, then erased it with a frustrated groan.

The lyrics for her next new song, Honeymoon Avenue, had been coming together easily enough. The words spilled out of her like a diary entry—nostalgic, bittersweet, full of longing for simpler, happier times. But the music wasn't clicking. Every chord progression she tried felt wrong, too heavy or too light for the mood she wanted to create.

"Ugh," she groaned, slumping back in her chair and glaring at the blank space on the music sheet in front of her. "Why is this so hard?"

She glanced at the clock. Almost 1 p.m. She'd been here since early morning, chipping away at the song with little to show for it. The producer, Sam, had stepped out for lunch, leaving her to wrestle with her thoughts in peace. Or so she thought.

The door to the studio creaked open, and Cat turned to see Andre poking his head in, a sandwich in hand and a grin on his face.

"Yo, Cat! Thought I'd find you here," he said, stepping inside.

"Andre!" she said, her face lighting up. "What're you doing here?"

"Lunch break," he said, holding up his sandwich as proof. "Figured I'd swing by and see what my favourite superstar-in-the-making is working on." He glanced at the cluttered desk and raised an eyebrow. "You look like you're fighting the song and losing."

Cat sighed dramatically. "It's this stupid backing traxk. I have a load of the lyrics, but I can't figure out how it's supposed sound. Like, I know it in my head, but it won't come out right."

Andre took a seat at the piano bench, setting his sandwich aside. "Alright, let's hear it. What've you got so far?"

Cat hesitated, then grabbed her notebook and moved to sit beside him. "Okay, so it's called Honeymoon Avenue. It's kind of this idea about… wanting to go back to a time when everything felt perfect. Like, the honeymoon phase of love, you know? But now it's like…" She paused, searching for the words. "Now it feels like we're stuck in traffic, trying to get back there, but we can't."

Andre nodded, his fingers idly pressing a few keys. "Alright, alright. I'm feeling that. Let me see those lyrics."

Cat handed over her notebook, and Andre scanned the page, humming thoughtfully. Then he turned on the piano, finding around with the sampler until he landed on a electronic synth sound.

"What about this?" he asked, playing a handful of chords, humming the tune overtop

Cat tilted her head, listening intently. "Oh I like that! But it's still too happy. It needs… I don't know, a bit of sadness under it. Like, it's pretty, but there's this ache, you know?"

Andre nodded, his hands moving to experiment with different variations.

For the next hour, the two of them bounced ideas off each other. Cat would sing a line, Andre would record it, he played the synth tune out, added some artificial strings too it, drums and bass too, and they laughed and groaned in equal measure as they fine-tuned the song.

"This is sounding so cool!" Cat exclaimed, her voice rising with excitement as Andre played the final iteration of the drums beat over the chorus they'd now pulled together.

Andre grinned, his fingers dancing over the keys. "Now that's a chorus."

Cat clapped her hands together, practically bouncing in her seat. "Andre, this is it! This is exactly what it's supposed to sound like!"

The studio door opened, and Sam walked in, a cup of coffee in one hand and a bemused look on his face. "What's going on in here?"

Andre froze, his hand still on mouse of his computer, and gave a sheepish smile. "Uh, just… helping Cat out."

Sam's eyes narrowed as he spotted Andre sitting his desk, now slightly askew with new settings. "Andre. Are you… touching my equipment?"

Cat jumped in quickly, her voice hurried. "Wait, wait, before you get mad—just listen!"

Sam sighed but folded his arms, gesturing for them to go on and Andre played the mix out loud.

"I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper to bumper traffic

I'm under pressure 'cause I can't have you the way that I want

Let's just go back to the way it was

When we were on Honeymoon Avenue

Honeymoon Avenue, baby

Coastin' like crazy

Can we get back to the way it was?"

When they finished, Sam's expression shifted. The annoyance melted away, replaced by something close to awe. "You two came up with that… in an hour?"

Cat nodded eagerly, and Andre shrugged, trying to play it cool. "What can I say? Inspiration struck."

Sam was quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Alright. Andre, you're on. If you've got an ear like that, I want you shadowing me for the rest of this album."

Andre's jaw dropped. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Dead serious," Sam said. "But no more messing with my mixer without permission."

Andre grinned and held up his hands in mock surrender. "Deal."

Cat beamed, clapping her hands together. "This is perfect! I knew you two would get along."

As Sam started tweaking the mixer settings to refine what they'd created, Cat leaned back in her chair, watching her lyrics come to life with a warm sense of pride. She was helping Andre out with reaching his dreams, and that felt so so amazing.