Work Text:
in the silence of our distance, kept at arms length out of fear, i will stay.
everyone else who you've ever loved has left; i will not be like them
unlike all the others who saw the hurt inside you and abandoned you; i will stay.
so many clamoring voices around me whisper that i should leave, should move on, should find another; they don't understand- don't understand that despite all the empty promises to others that i've made, this one i made to you, that i'll keep til i die; i will stay.
when i promised forever, i meant it; when i said always, i meant it.
you say softly, over and over, you hold no possession over me; that if another should catch my eye, appeal to my heart, that i should pursue them; i suppose you are like the others in my life in that way; you don't understand that i will stay.
because even through all of this, all the pain you've felt, the suffering you've endured, you're still here- still yourself despite everything.
trust in others can be easily broken when, all your life, the ones you should be able to love and trust without doubt have broken it.
so many times you've been proven right at your own expense; you believe yourself unlovable and unworthy of the effort of others.
so you push away, shut out, isolate; through all of it, you expected me to leave; but i didn't.
i stay because i want to; i see the man you could become, the love you have to give, the passion for life you just have to rekindle. it's all there, within you.
unlike many, i will always choose you; i hope that in my efforts to prove this to you, to stay steady beside you, you realize that to the right person, to the right people, it is never too much to ask.
you say i deserve someone who will love me as i want, perhaps more; but you forget, i think, that you did too, maybe even still do.
so many things even i didn't know about myself, you know; in some ways, you know me better than i do.
there's always a ‘maybe’ in my mind; that if at the end of this path, you don't want this, want me, perhaps someone could love me as you did; but i don't want that.
i never knew so many things about myself that i discovered with you.
i'll say it until my throat is raw, until I drown in my own blood, until the winds echo with it through the trees; you are enough for me.
i will always stay. it will always be you and no one else. you are the sweetest song, the deepest ocean, the softest breeze, the warmest sun; in your presence, i revel.
your laugh sounds deep in my chest, your smile lights the way in my mind, your voice guides me home.
all of this and more, more words i don't yet know and feelings i'll never be able to put to them; all of this to say one thing to you, my love.
i will stay. forever and always.