I know your tired voice at night The one you use when something hurts I know when you are holding back And trying not to make it worse I know the way you lose your place Halfway through the things you say You look at me, then look away As if the truth might make me stay You do not have to ask me You do not have to know There is one thing beneath it all I have been trying to show I love you Not because it is easy Not because we always know what to do I love you When the words come out badly When there is nothing left but the truth I love you And I need you to hear it Before I find another way not to I love you I love you I have seen you lose your nerve Then laugh before you let it show I have watched you close yourself When you were frightened I might go And I have not been good at this I know the distance I can make But even when I turn away You are the thought I cannot shake You do not have to fix me You do not have to try I only want to say the thing I hide when you are by my side I love you Not because it is easy Not because we always know what to do I love you When the words come out badly When there is nothing left but the truth I love you And I need you to hear it Before I find another way not to I love you I love you If I am quiet, do not mistake it For something leaving me Sometimes the deepest thing I feel Is hardest to let you see So I will not dress it up tonight I will not make it small You are the person I reach for Before I think at all I love you Not because it is easy Not because we always know what to do I love you When the words come out badly When there is nothing left but the truth I love you And I need you to hear it There is no better way to tell you I love you I love you
