Nobody Told Me the Rules - A2

Verse 1

Nobody handed me a map,
Or told me where the lines were drawn.
All I knew was sparks could fly
And somehow disappear by dawn.

They taught me “Don’t get someone pregnant.”
They taught me “Wear protection, son.”
Nobody ever pulled me aside
And said a goodbye might become someone’s scar.

Pre-Chorus

You were already seeing forever.
I was only seeing tonight.
I was only looking for a moment,
You were looking for a life.

Chorus

Nobody told me the rules.
Nobody said what a goodbye could cost.
I thought two people chasing a feeling
Could walk away and not leave scars.

I wasn’t keeping score.
I wasn’t thinking that far.
I was just another young fool
Who didn’t know the weight of a heart.

If I broke your heart…
I wish I’d known.
I’d have carried yours
Like it was my own.

Verse 2

Sometimes it wasn’t even about you.
Sometimes it was rent and gasoline.
A beat-up truck,
A part-time job,
And chasing half-forgotten dreams.

I loved my freedom,
Loved my friends.
Thought a girlfriend meant losing me.
I couldn’t explain why,
I just wasn’t ready… to see what love could be.

Maybe somewhere there was a woman
Who could’ve made me finally see.
But I was too busy chasing freedom
To understand what love was asking me.

Pre-Chorus

You heard “goodbye.”
I meant “not yet.”
Those are different words…
I hadn’t learned that lesson yet.

Chorus

Nobody told me the rules.
Nobody warned me hearts don’t heal the same.
I only knew I didn’t want forever,
I didn’t know that sounded like pain.

I wasn’t chasing trophies.
I wasn’t trying to win.
I was just another kid
Trying to figure out who I was becoming.

If I broke your heart…
I’m even more sorry now.
Back then… I didn’t know
The heart I held that night.

Bridge

Looking back,
I can finally see
What twenty-year-old me couldn’t understand.

Love isn’t measured
By the night before…
It’s measured
By who reaches for your hand
The morning after.

Final Chorus

Nobody told me the rules.
Maybe that’s no excuse at all.
Maybe growing up
Is learning how
Someone else can feel
The pain you never knew.

If I could meet that younger version,
I’d tell him what no one told me:
Desire is easy.
Hope is fragile.
And every goodbye
Leaves a ghost behind
In somebody’s heart.

So before you touch a heart…
Know what you’re offering.
Because what feels like a moment
Might become someone’s ghost.