Bellflower Café

A quiet Bellflower night

“Just a drive,” you said

I said yes so easy

You felt calm instead

No big act, no sharp edge

No hands trying to prove

Just the way you listened

Made the room feel smooth

You noticed when I paused

You let the silence breathe

Didn’t pull the words out

Didn’t make a scene

You don’t owe me a performance

You don’t owe me a show

You don’t owe me a performance

You can just be you, you know

Amber lights above us

Rain tapped the window glass

We talked about old songs

And why some good things pass

People stay too long

In rooms that wear them thin

You didn’t tell me what to feel

You just let me in

I kept waiting for the catch

For the favor in the room

You just kept on remembering

The little things I said too soon

You don’t owe me a performance

You don’t owe me a show

You don’t owe me a performance

You can just be you, you know

Parked beneath dim streetlights

Four hours slipped away

I never once shrank down

Just to keep the peace that way

You walked me to the doorway

No push, no borrowed kiss

Just, “I had a really good time with you”

And I believed in it

You don’t owe me a performance

You don’t owe me a show

You don’t owe me a performance

You can just be you, you know

You don’t owe me a performance

And that’s the thing that stayed

I felt seen in Bellflower

For the first time in years that way