I dimmed my light so you could shine brighter
Told myself “patience,” kept rewriting the chapter
Gave you my Sundays, my secrets, my skin
While you gave me “maybe” and a half-hearted grin
I wore your silence like it was couture
Called it “complicated,” said I could endure
(Pre-Chorus)
I was begging for crumbs, calling them feasts
Turning your “almost” into my beliefs
(Chorus)
Real love don’t ghost in the night
Real love don’t keep you up wondering if you’re right
Real love don’t leave you small, on your knees in the rain
Real love don’t make you question your worth just to stay
Real love won’t play that game
No, real love won’t play that game
(Verse 2)
I practiced smiling in pictures alone
Memorized the way you never picked up the phone
Built a cathedral out of every “if”
Knelt at the altar of your what-might-have-been
I was holy with hoping, a saint full of shame
Loving you harder every time you forgot my name
(Pre-Chorus)
I mistook being chosen last for being chosen deep
Traded my crown just to be your best-kept secret
(Chorus)
Real love don’t ghost in the night
Real love don’t keep you up wondering if you’re right
Real love don’t don’t leave you small, on your knees in the rain
Real love don’t make you question your worth just to stay
Real love won’t play that game
No, real love won’t play that game
(Bridge – stripped down, almost spoken)
One day somebody’s gonna look at me
Like I’m the answer, not the maybe
Gonna hold me like I’m already whole
Not a project, not a placeholder, not a heart on parole
And I’ll wonder why I ever thought
Your half was all I was worth
(Build back up)
Yeah, real love won’t make me beg
Real love won’t make me shrink
Real love won’t treat my heart like a game
That it never planned to win
(Final Chorus – big, defiant)
Real love don’t ghost in the night
Real love don’t dim somebody else’s light
It don’t leave you drowning in the mess it made
Real love don’t make you feel unworthy of being saved
Real love won’t play that game
Thank God… real love won’t play that game
(Outro – soft but certain)
I’m done playing.
I’m ready for real.
