Itâs Never Over | s. laforteza
Song Playing: Lover, You Shouldâve Come Over â Jeff Buckley | decode â paramore
paring: sophia leforteza x gn!reader summary: you had left sophia in LA to start a band with your close friends. she stayed leaving you voicemails, hoping youâd pick up. this voicemail was no different.. but she drops not so small surprise at the end. genre: angst, hurt/comfort, estranged relationship word count: warnings/tags: use of âynâ, college student!sophia, rockstar!yn, brief ningning x yn if you squint, ynâs so hayley williams coded, sophia misses you so much. a/n: might as well add onto the mom!sophia agenda. and can you tell i'm in love with paramore? expect more paramore au content soon!
hey, yn.. i don't know why i'm still leaving voicemails.. it's not like you're listening to them anyway.
but i hope you're doing okay.. i haven't heard from you since your little band dropped riot. i guess living that rockstar life's got you busy, huh?
i heard that track you guys did for that vampire movie in the grocery store yesterday. dani said you're growing more angsty with every song you put out.. but i'm proud of you regardless.
[sigh]
i feel like i'm stalling so let me just cut to the chase..
i had something to tell you the night you left for new york to start that band of yours...
remember when i told you i was sick that one time?.. that stomach bug i caught from eating manon's food?..
it really wasn't a stomach bug, yn..
[pause]
i was pregnant... just a few weeks then..
i had the baby when you were on tour for that first album.. and ironically, one of your songs came on the radio at the hospital.
[chuckle]
...
her name's salem..
she's about four years old now.. has your eyes.. your laugh.
she knows who you are.. she always tells people that you're her star.
[a longer pause]
i heard you're in LA for a show.. maybe i can drag the girls with me.. show my face and what not.
...
i miss you, yn. call me back when you get the chance..
the hallway was loud, but yn couldnât hear anything.
not really.
they sat hunched in the greenroom, phone still pressed to their thigh, sophiaâs voice still clinging to the insides of their skull like cigarette smoke. their in-ear monitors buzzed faintly from the tech table beside them. they were due on stage in seven minutes.
but time felt stuck.
like a pick jammed between strings.
âyo, weâre on inââ yizhuoâs voice cut in from the doorway, but the second she saw ynâs face, she stopped short. âhey.. you good?â
yn blinked. their eyes stung.
they shouldâve known. or at least checked. all those voicemails â ignored, deleted, skipped. that whole year sophia kept calling, leaving breadcrumbs in the dark while yn lit match after match to burn their way forward.
they rubbed a hand down their face. âyeah,â they said. âiâm good.â
yizhuo didnât move. âis it her?â
yn nodded once.
then, barely above a whisper: âi have a daughter.â
the silence stretched. even the hallway seemed to hush.
âoh,â yizhuo breathed. she stepped in slowly, crouching down in front of them. âyou wanna bail? iâll cover. iâll fake a stomach bug... hell, iâll pull the fire alarm.â
yn let out a weak laugh â the first crack of something real in their chest. âno. i need to do the show.â
âsure?â
âI have to.â
because what else was there to do but play?
to pour every feeling â the grief, the longing, the regret, the hope â into the mic and hope Salem would hear it one day and understand.
yizhuo pressed her forehead to theirs for a second, quick and grounding. âthen go give âem hell.â
yn stood. shoulders squared. jaw set.
the lights were already dimming beyond the stage doors.
and somewhere in the crowd, maybe behind the barricades or just outside the venue, sophia was there. with salem.
waiting.
the first chords hit like muscle memory.
pressure bled into emergency, then into misery business, and YN tore through each song like they were exorcising something â sweat-slicked, breathless, cracking at the edges.
but focused.
tight.
every scream, every note curled off their lips like a confession. the crowd was a blur of lights and hands and mouths yelling lyrics back at them, and somewhere between the third and fourth song, yn finally let their shoulders drop.
the music held them.
it always had.
they hit the break before the final track and stepped forward, fingers flexing around the mic stand, eyes squinting under the pulsing stage lights.
âthis last song,â yn started, voice still hoarse from the verse theyâd just shredded, âis a little different from the others. we wrote it for a movie about vampires.â
laughter, cheers.
âyeah,â YN smiled a little. âdidnât think weâd ever be on a soundtrack... let alone that one. but when we wrote it, i was thinking about how hard it is to understand the people you love â even when you think you do. especially when they change. or when you do.â
their eyes scanned the crowd absently, words tumbling like muscle reflex.
âso... this is decode. hope you feel it.â
the guitars came in slow, simmering. the synth rippled like dusk over water.
and thenâ
a flash of pink hair in the front section.
a girl on someoneâs shoulders, tiny headphones clamped over her ears, grinning like she owned the sky.
and Sophia.
holding her from behind, eyes wide.
manon was beside her. dani, lara, and yoonchae too â all of them watching, some with hands clasped over their mouths, some just swaying gently with the crowd.
but yn could only see her.
Them.
salemâs eyes â their eyes â stared back.
sophiaâs mouth moved around the lyrics, barely audible, but yn didnât need sound. they knew them already.
iâm screaming I love you so.
the words punched out of their chest harder than they expected.
every strum, every line, cracked with new meaning. years of longing rewired themselves mid-song. and as they reached the bridge, yn stepped closer to the edge of the stage, gaze locked with sophiaâs, salemâs hands reaching out.
their voice trembled, but they didnât stop.
how did we get here when I used to know you so well?
and for the first time in a long time, YN didnât feel lost.
they felt seen.
they finished the song with a quiet, shaking exhale.
and the crowd roared.
as soon as the last chord faded, YN was moving.
they didnât wait for the encore chants or the half-hugs from bandmates. they tore the in-ears out, shoved their guitar at a startled tech, and bolted past the backstage corridor like their body knew where it was going before their brain could catch up.
the hallway blurred. someone called their name. they didnât stop.
out the side doors. Into the humid LA night.
the parking lot buzzed with post-show energy â crew unloading gear, fans screaming behind fences, neon venue signs flickering above.
and thenâ
there.
by the streetlamp near the side gate.
sophia.
still in that soft sweater from the photo she sent yn about a year ago. her arms were around salem, who was propped up on manonâs hip, babbling something between yawns and giggles.
manon was the first to see them.
she nudged daniela, who turned, then elbowed lara. then yoonchae looked up from her phone and blinked like she couldnât quite believe it.
âsoph,â manon murmured, nudging her gently. âlook.â
sophia turned.
her breath caught so visibly it felt like the whole parking lot exhaled.
she didnât move at first â just stood there, frozen, like if she blinked yn would disappear again.
âhi,â yn managed.
their voice cracked. their whole chest cracked.
sophia stared for another second. then another.
then she walked.
fast.
by the time she reached them, ynâs hands were already out, fingers twitching like they didnât know where to land â her arm? her shoulder? her cheek?
but sophia didnât give them the chance.
she shoved her hands against their chest and said, half-laughing, half-sobbing, âyou asshole.â
then she threw her arms around their neck and held on.
and yn â dizzy with every scent and warmth and weight they thought theyâd lost â hugged her back like it hurt.
which it did.
because this wasnât a dream.
because she was real.
because she came.
salemâs little voice piped up behind them. âmommy said you were magic.â
yn pulled back just enough to see her â still on manonâs hip, squinting curiously at them.
And yn swore their heart stopped.
âhi, salem,â they whispered.
salem grinned. âi saw you! you screamed a lot.â
they choked on a laugh. âyeah⊠i do that.â
âsometimes I scream too,â she said proudly. âwanna hear?â
before she could demonstrate, sophia kissed her daughterâs head and gave her a gentle look. âletâs give them a second, baby.â
manon shifted salem into ynâs arms with a practiced ease. âsheâs heavier than she looks.â
yn didnât even notice. didnât feel anything but salemâs arms around their neck and the tiny heartbeat thudding against theirs.
âyou gonna say something profound?â dani teased, nudging sophia gently. âor just keep crying into their hoodie?â
âshut up,â sophia sniffled, laughing a little as she wiped her cheeks.
lara linked her arm with yoonchaeâs. âweâll be by the car.â
the girls gave them all a moment â drifting away slowly, but not without a few meaningful glances and soft smiles over their shoulders.
and then it was quiet again.
just them.
sophia. yn. salem.
and all the time they thought theyâd lost.
they walked without speaking at first.
sophia beside them, her arm brushing ynâs every few steps. salem curled in ynâs arms, thumb in her mouth now, her cheek smushed gently against ynâs chest. the adrenaline of the show was gone â replaced by something quieter. heavier. more sacred.
the sidewalk was slick with night air, streetlights casting gold across the parked cars and backstage fencing.
âyou knowâŠâ sophia finally said, her voice low, rough around the edges, âyou have some explaining to do, yn.â
yn swallowed hard.
she didnât sound angry.
worse â she sounded tired.
âi know,â they said softly.
sophia stopped walking, turned to face them. âyou had to know something was wrong when I told you I was sick that night.â she said, referring to the voicemail she had left them.
âi did.â
âbut you left anyway.â
yn looked down. salem stirred slightly in their arms, her breath even and warm against their neck.
âi didnât want to go,â they said. âbut i thought⊠i thought it was just nerves. or food poisoning. i didnât thinkââ
âthat I was carrying your daughter?â she cut in, not sharp, but precise.
yn flinched.
sophiaâs eyes glistened under the streetlight. âI called you, yn. for weeks. i left voicemails until my voice gave out. i went to every show announcement page just to track where you were. i watched bootlegs of your sets, just to feel closer... all while i was bleeding in a hospital bed. alone.â
iIâm sorry,â yn said, hoarse. âi was scared. and selfish. and i thought⊠maybe not hearing your voice would hurt less than hearing it and knowing i couldnât come back yet.â
âdid it?â she asked quietly.
âno.â
silence stretched between them again.
âyou missed so much,â she whispered.
âi know.â
âi had to be strong every day, even when i didnât want to be... i had to be mom and dad.. a nurse and grown-up, even when i was still just a stupid college girl with lecture notes in her diaper bag... and still i played your music for her. i let her fall in love with you.â
yn looked up sharply at that. âwhy?â
sophia smiled, but it was sad. âbecause I never stopped loving you.â
that broke something in them.
yn stepped closer. not too close. not without permission. âi want to know her. i want to know you again, soph. if youâll let me.â
sophia blinked slow, like she was holding back everything her body wanted to do. scream. cry. collapse. forgive.
she reached out and brushed her fingers across salemâs hair. âletâs start small, rockstar.â
then she looked up at yn.
âyou can walk us home.. my apartment's not that far from here.â
sophiaâs apartment was smaller than yn remembered.
or maybe they had just grown too much â in distance, in guilt, in time.
the space was warm, lived-in. a scatter of childrenâs books on the coffee table. a pink hoodie tossed over the arm of the couch. fairy lights strung up around the window, dimmed low now, like even they didnât want to intrude.
salem had fallen asleep halfway through the walk. she was still curled in ynâs arms, her fingers fisted into the fabric of their hoodie like she knew exactly who she was holding â like she'd always known.
âhere,â sophia whispered, pulling the soft gray blanket off the back of the couch. she draped it carefully over salem after yn laid her down.
for a long moment, they both just stood there â watching her breathe.
sophia crossed her arms over her chest. âshe likes when you sing.â
ynâs lips parted, startled. âyou really play my stuff for her?â
sophiaâs gaze didnât leave salem. âyeah. at bedtime sometimes. when sheâs scared. or after a tantrum.â
she smiled faintly. âthe softer ones. not the ones where you're yelling about feeling the pressures and all that crazy shit.â
yn snorted quietly. âfair.â
a beat passed.
then sophia walked over to the kitchen counter and poured herself a glass of water. she didn't offer yn one. she didnât have to. it wasnât hospitality tonight. it was survival.
âdo you know what it feels like to fall asleep next to a voicemail?â she asked, not turning around. âto let someoneâs ghost read bedtime stories to your daughter because the real thing never called back?â
ynâs throat closed.
âi donât expect you to forgive me,â they said quietly.
âgood,â sophia replied, taking a slow sip. âbecause i havenât.â
she turned then, eyes shining in the low light. but there was no rage there. only grief. only bone-deep tiredness.
âi missed you every single day,â she said. âbut i had to grieve you like you were dead... necause you were gone. and now youâre standing in my living room, holding her like itâs the most natural thing in the world, and I donât know whether to fall apart or push you out the door.â
âiâm not going anywhere,â yn said, stepping closer. ânot this time.â
she didnât speak.
instead, she walked past them â slow, deliberate â and sat on the edge of the couch, beside salem. her fingers brushed the little girl's curls from her forehead. her whole body softened just from the contact.
yn sank to the floor in front of them. they looked up, chin resting on the couch cushion, studying sophia like a prayer they were scared to say out loud.
âi want to help,â they whispered. âwhatever that looks like... i know i have no right to ask for a second chance... but i want to be here. for her, for you. even if i have to work my way up from the sidewalk.â
sophia looked at them for a long time.
and for a second, she looked like she might cry again.
instead, she whispered, âshe calls the moon her ânightlight star.ââ
yn blinked. âthatâs beautiful.â
âshe gets that from you,â sophia said. âshe says it sings to her... like you do.â
the silence between them filled again â but it wasnât heavy this time.
it was more sacred.
sophia leaned back on the couch and tilted her head toward the ceiling. âyou can crash here tonight. the couch pulls out.â
âokay.â
âiâm still mad at you.â
âi know.â
she looked at them again â really looked.
but there was a softness now. a thread of something old, something forgiving, maybe not fully healed, but not as shattered as before.
and under the blanket, salem shifted in her sleep. a quiet hum left her lips.
âsing to her?â sophia asked softly. âlike you used to.â
yn nodded.
they hummed a familiar tune under their breath as they moved closer to sophia, resting their head on her leg.
and as they sang, salem sighed in her sleep, curling deeper into the couch.
sophia stayed seated beside her.
listening.
eyes closed.
just like old times.
except this time, yn was here instead of in salem's radio.
katseye, jeff buckley, AND paramore. my niche











