[Opening Hook - bass and a fast low cello pulse hit immediately; vocal is low, clear, and decisive with no soft intro] You don't need me to stay. That's how I know I want to. No promise holding me here, no debt I have to answer to. I could leave. You could too. And every day we don't, I choose you. [Verse 1 - dry drums lock into the cello ostinato; guitar flickers underneath while the vocal turns quicker and conversational] I used to think love was proven by how much I could endure, how many times I could say, “It's fine,” and make myself sound sure. I could turn being needed into a reason not to go, call it loyalty, call it patience, anything but what I know. Sometimes I stayed because leaving felt worse than staying did. I got very good at finding reasons that had nothing to do with me. [Refrain - percussion tightens and the bass climbs; vocal becomes more melodic but stays restrained] Now I know the difference between being needed and being known. Between staying because I have to and staying because I don't want to go. [Chorus - full drums and cello drive forward; the vocal opens into long, strong phrases without turning into a power-ballad belt] I've got reasons of my own now. I don't need you to give me one. I like who I am beside you when the proving part is done. I like knowing I could walk away and still wake up wanting you close. For once I'm not staying because somebody needs me. I'm staying because I don't want to go. [Verse 2 - the groove gets leaner and faster; vocal has more warmth and natural rasp] You don't ask me to get smaller just to fit inside your life. You don't make staying feel like a favor or leaving feel like a crime. You let me have my own mind, my own bad days, my own space. And somehow all that freedom doesn't make me want escape. I thought love had to hold on tight or everything would come undone. You gave me room to choose you. I keep choosing you because I can. [Bridge - drums drop to floor toms and pulsing bass while the cello keeps moving; vocal starts exposed, then gains force] Maybe love is not endurance. Maybe leaving isn't failure. Maybe staying means more when either one of us could go. I don't want to need you so badly I disappear. I want to want you with both feet under me, and still pull you near. [Final Chorus - full rhythm returns harder; cello rises in register, harmonies widen, lead vocal sounds certain rather than triumphant] I've got reasons of my own now. Not because I'm scared alone. Not because you need me here. Not because I owe you home. I like the way we keep choosing what nobody makes us choose. I know I could build a life without you. I just happen to want one with you. For once I'm not staying because leaving would hurt too much. I'm staying because this is the love I would still reach for if nobody asked me to. [Coda - drums cut abruptly; bass and cello continue for a few bars while the vocal drops back to a natural low register] You don't need me to stay. I don't need you to ask. Maybe that's the first time staying has ever felt like mine.
