Rooms I Kept Locked

[Verse 1] You used to ask about my day I’d tell you where I’d been The traffic and the weather Never what was happening within You’d leave a space beside you I’d sit down with something rehearsed I could talk about almost anything Except the thing that hurt [Pre-Chorus] I wanted you to know me Then hid when you got close How could you find your way inside With every doorway closed? [Chorus] There were rooms I kept locked Even when you called them home You were standing right beside me Still I made you stand alone I kept saying, “It’s nothing” Till nothing filled the house Now I’m opening every door And you’re not here to hear me out [Verse 2] I learned to watch your expression Before I chose my words Changed the subject with a question Swallowed what I thought you’d heard Some days I couldn’t tell you Some days I chose not to I’m trying to know the difference Without making an excuse [Pre-Chorus] I don’t have every answer For how I let us fall But I can name the things I did Without explaining them away [Chorus] There were rooms I kept locked Even when you called them home You were standing right beside me Still I made you stand alone I kept saying, “It’s nothing” Till nothing filled the house Now I’m opening every door And you’re not here to hear me out [Bridge] I wrote, “I’ll tell you everything” Then watched the cursor blink Was I ready to be honest Or afraid of what you’d think? I put the phone down on the table Took a notebook from the shelf If you never read these pages I still owe them to myself [Breakdown] What I wanted What I feared What I did While you were here No crossed-out lines No softer names I leave the words And face the page [Final Chorus] There were rooms I kept locked Even when you called them home You were standing right beside me Still I made you stand alone I won’t say, “It’s nothing” When the truth is hard to tell You don’t have to come back through them For me to open them myself [Outro] Your coat is gone The hook is bare I start a sentence Leave it there Then take a breath And write the rest