The third chair

Lyrics

[Verse 1] There was a third chair at the table We called it something brave Said that honesty could hold us Through the rules we'd have to make I thought we knew the difference Between freedom and betrayal Thought that naming all the boundaries Would be enough to keep them stable I wasn't trying to lose you I was trying to understand How a love could change its shape Without slipping through my hands [Pre-Chorus] But somewhere in the conversations I stopped hearing where I stood And you kept explaining everything Except the things you should [Chorus] Jenna wasn't just a stranger She was someone I once knew There were feelings, there were questions There was me and there was you And somewhere in the middle I became the one outside Trying to find the truth In everything you wouldn't clarify Three names inside a story But the promises weren't the same I could understand the confusion I couldn't understand the pain [Verse 2] You told me it was just friendship Said that nothing crossed the line But the way you spoke between us Made it harder every time There are things that happen slowly Till the room no longer fits Little changes in the language Little things that don't make sense I could own my own confusion I could question my own part But I shouldn't have to disappear To prove I have a heart [Pre-Chorus] And I don't need to make her evil To admit that I felt betrayed The truth is complicated But that doesn't make it safe [Chorus] Jenna wasn't just a stranger And you weren't just some man You were someone I had trusted With the life we had at hand And somewhere in the middle The whole arrangement came undone I was reaching for the person Who had always been my one [Bridge — Spoken-Sung] I was willing to talk about the hard things Willing to say when I was scared But openness isn't permission To pretend that no one cared You can't call every question jealousy You can't make every boundary wrong You can't ask me to be understanding While you leave me standing alone And I still remember the moment When the question stopped being why You chose to live with Jenna And I had to live with goodbye [Final Chorus] There was a third chair at the table But I never lost my name I was never just an obstacle In somebody else's game I can grieve the broken friendship I can grieve the love I knew And still know the hardest part Wasn't her It was you [Outro] Three chairs Two people gone quiet One woman Still trying to understand why.