Fortress With Cracks

[Verse 1]
You say their name then bite your tongue
Heart does math that you don't trust
Every kiss once cut too deep
Now you guard the gate and lose your sleep
You cancel plans then pace the floor
Hope pressed up to the hotel door
Tell yourself that you're just fine
But your chest keeps drawing battle lines
[Chorus]
I build my walls up high
Stacked like bricks of every goodbye
Wanna let you in
But I still bleed
Trying to break myself
Just to see what love could be
(what love could be)
[Verse 2]
You let them see you halfway through
Laugh at jokes
But you watch the room
Clock the exits
Read their eyes
Already braced for the goodbye
You hand them pieces
Never whole
Test their hands with scraps of soul
If they flinch
You say "I knew"
If they stay
That scares you too
[Chorus]
So I keep my walls up high
Stacked like bricks of every goodbye
Wanna let you in
But I still bleed
Trying to break myself
Just to see what love could be
(what love could be, oh)
[Bridge]
Is there a way to fall
And not relive it all?
Can I trust one touch
When I’ve been hurt this much?
[Chorus]
Yeah
I keep my walls up high
Stacked like bricks of every goodbye
Reaching through the cracks
But I still bleed
Trying to break myself
Just to see what love could be
(what love could be)
Just to see what love
Could ever be with me

Moody alt-pop ballad with intimate male vocals over pulsing synth pads and soft piano. First verse stays sparse and close-mic’d; chorus blooms with layered harmonies, distant reverb, and a deep, steady kick. Second pass adds subtle guitar swells and airy vocal ad-libs, ending on a stripped, fragile refrain that feels half-whispered.