Pull back the hurt

She wore a joke like a leather jacket

Every word had a sharpened edge

Laughin’ loud so nobody’d ask it

What she buried in the wreckage

Had a way of turnin’ hearts to punchlines

Kept ‘em all at arm’s length, safe

Every scar got wrapped in one-liners

Every truth got dressed in fake

But I saw the cracks behind the clever

Heard the tremble she disguised

Yeah, she let me in a little never

Thought I’d be the one she’d try

And she said, “I don’t do soft or honest

I don’t stay and I don’t fall”

But her guard came down in small, slow moments

Like she was climbin’ off that wall

Now she’s halfway out and halfway in it

Tryin’ not to break what’s real

Fightin’ every instinct sayin’ “end it”

‘Fore she feels too much to heal

She’s scared she’ll turn love into damage

Like the ghosts she can’t outrun

So she’s packin’ up her heart in panic

Right when it’s just begun

I tell her, “You don’t gotta be bulletproof

You don’t have to fight alone

I ain’t here to use or misuse you

I’m just here to call you home”

Yeah, she’s learnin’ how to lay it down

Every shield and every scar

But she’s tremblin’ at the thought right now

Of how close we really are

And she said, “If I stay, I might destroy this

If I go, I’ll lose it all”

So she’s standin’ on the edge of choices

With her back against the wall

But I’ll wait right here in the silence

While she figures out her heart

‘Cause love ain’t loud like her defiance

It’s quiet… but it’s strong

And if she runs, I’ll leave the light on

If she stays, I’ll hold her through

Every joke she don’t need to hide on

Till she knows this love is true

:::