Improved version of " Not Outright love ❤"

It's poetic, unique, and deeply ties into the final line of the chorus. It’s intriguing and emotional enough to invite listeners in, wondering what “not outright” love means.

We met as classmates as like shy and still,
Too timid to speak but hearts would fill.
As time passed and days went ,
We crossed paths often and with pace.

One day I asked to borrow your notes,
You gave them with silence and with no grand quotes.
But when I returned them you smile ,
In that small moment something swayed.

I switched to a different teacher's class,
And found you there, like shadows cast.
You followed, quiet, but didn’t fall"
No words, no signs"just watching all.

You talked to my friends, made reasons up,
To stay around, to not lose luck.
We studied near but never side by side,
Yet somehow fate would still collide.

You found your way to sit so near,
Though courage never did appear.
Your eyes would search when mine looked away,
But words had nothing to say.

Then came the dance a short lived chance,
We stood like statues in a trance.
You played a tune upon your guitar,
And sang a song that reached through heart.

Everyone cheered, and so did I,
My heart beat louder, though I don't know why.
You followed your heart, took a brave new start,
Wrote a love letter, straight from the heart.

I read it once, confused and shy,
“Who could’ve sent this?” I wondered why.
So I crumpled it up unsure and torn
A moment gone but love not yet born.

You never came not after that day,
A silence hung in the words we didn’t say.
I wish you'd stayed or I had known
That love was near not overblown.

Now all that’s left is a desire
For a love that stayed not outright at all.

Reviews

[Lorry]

The pain of unrequited love, be it through shyness or any other unknown reason is never quite forgotten and can still cut you like a knife years later.
We grow, we age, and allegedly get wiser as we do but we are never let to forget those first stirrings of love.

[Neha agrawal]

Absolutely — that’s beautifully said. Unrequited love leaves a mark that time doesn’t quite erase. It’s not just the absence of reciprocation that hurts, but the what-ifs that linger: what if I had spoken up, what if they had felt the same, what if timing had been kinder?

Even as we grow older, gather wisdom, and perhaps experience deeper, more mature forms of love, there’s something about that first, unreturned affection that stays rooted in us. It’s innocent, raw, and painfully pure — and the memory of it can still pierce through the years like a song you thought you’d forgotten, playing unexpectedly on a quiet evening.

Sometimes, it’s not about wanting that love back — it’s just about remembering how deeply you once felt. And that, in itself, is both beautiful and quietly devastating.