Verse 1
You said you knew me better
Knew what I really meant
Turned every line I drew for you
Into something you could bend
You called my no a game
Called my distance playing hard
Like wanting you beside me
Meant you owned every other part
You said, “I won’t touch you”
So I let you through the door
I believed you when you promised
That a movie meant no more
But every time I drew a line
You moved it inch by inch
You didn’t listen when I resisted
You just learned how to manage it
Pre-Chorus
You’d push until I pulled away
Then promise you would stop
Wait until I trusted you
Then take another step across
Chorus
You don’t get to rewrite my no
Just because you didn’t like it
You don’t get to call it yes
Just because I went quiet
I could let you in my house
I could kiss you, I could stay
I could like you, I could want you
And still not want you that way
And if my body stopped fighting
When fighting didn’t make you go
That wasn’t me saying yes
That was me surviving no
Verse 2
I know the question people ask
’Cause I asked it every night
If it really hurt me that much
Why’d I ever go back twice?
So I put myself on trial
For every call and every text
Like going back erased the last time
Or gave permission for the next
Maybe staying made it smaller
Maybe leaving made it real
Maybe acting like it didn’t hurt
Was the safest way to deal
I thought if I could make it normal
Then maybe I could call it fine
So I carried all the blame
For every boundary you crossed of mine
Pre-Chorus
I thought I should’ve screamed louder
I thought I should’ve run
I counted everything I could’ve done
Instead of what you should have done
Chorus
You don’t get to rewrite my no
Just because you didn’t like it
You don’t get to call it yes
Just because I went quiet
I could let you in my house
I could kiss you, I could stay
I could flirt with you at midnight
And still not want you that way
And if my body stopped fighting
When fighting didn’t make you go
That wasn’t me saying yes
That was me surviving no
Bridge
I was allowed to change my mind
I was allowed to let you in
I was allowed to want your arms
Without wanting anything else from them
I was allowed to trust your word
When you promised I was safe
I shouldn’t have needed perfect fear
For you to believe what I said
No doesn’t need a slammed door
No doesn’t need a scream
No doesn’t disappear
Because you wanted something from me
And freezing isn’t wanting
Fawning isn’t consent
Going back doesn’t change
What no already meant
Breakdown
I know what I said
I know what I meant
I know what you promised
I know where it went
I know I pushed away
I know I told you no
And I know going still
Was not permission to keep going
Final Chorus
You don’t get to rewrite my no
I won’t help you justify it
I spent too long rewriting myself
Just to make your version fit
I could miss you and still mean it
I could want you and still leave
I could come back after you hurt me
And it wouldn’t change a thing
Because my body stopped fighting
When it learned you wouldn’t stop
You mistook my survival
For permission that you got
But I know what happened now
And I finally trust what I know
My voice still mattered
When you ignored it
And no
Was always no.