Kelsea Ballerini Confirms She and Boyfriend Chase Stokes Have Moved in Together: ‘We’re Unpacked, Baby’ (Exclusive)

Kelsea Ballerini and boyfriend Chase Stokes are getting serious.

On her new song “Baggage,” the country star, 31, teases a new relationship milestone.

“Boy, I know the weight and gravity / Of keychains with same keys / But if you want that welcome mat / Then roll it up with me / Clear out a drawer, clear out a shelf / I wouldn’t wanna do it with anybody else,” she sings. “I got baggage, but I’m moving in.”

So, are the country star and her Outer Banks actor beau, 32, cohabitating these days?

“Oh, we’re unpacked, baby!” Ballerini — who began dating Stokes in January 2023 — tells PEOPLE.

“Baggage” — which the singer describes as “blissful acceptance” — is one of the standout tracks from Ballerini’s excellent fifth album Patterns, which she released on Friday, Oct. 25.

Ballerini gets vulnerable on the album, opening up about moving on from her divorce — she ended her marriage with singer-songwriter Morgan Evans, 39, in August 2022 — and opening her heart up to love again.

“I think for me, going into this next chapter of my life — and you hear this on ‘First Rodeo’ — at first I kind of felt very timid and very like, ‘Oh God, am I damaged goods?’ ” Ballerini says. “And then with ‘Baggage,’ it’s kind of that juxtaposition of: what I am, who I am, and this is what I bring to the table, and I’m not going to apologize for the path that’s gotten me here. I’m proud of my journey and take it or leave it, but I hope that you’ll take it.”

Stokes — who appears in his girlfriend’s new music video for “First Rodeo” — supported Ballerini’s latest project on release day.

“Humanity, authenticity, honesty, and a s— ton of vulnerability,” Stokes wrote on his Instagram Stories. “KB, you’re a once in a lifetime type of human being. This record is more than a record. It’s a soundtrack to our human experience summed up into 15 tracks. You made something impossible, possible. Thank you for geting yourself to the world. Thank you for letting me in yours. Patterns, is out now. Please go give it a listen and enjoy. Ps. I love the s— out of you.”

Patterns follows Ballerini’s heart-on-her-sleeve 2023 EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, which earned a Grammy nod for best country album in February.

“I think this thing happens when you turn 30 where you kind of assess your life,” says Ballerini, who adds that she feels “naked” on the album. “And I came up for air and I was like, ‘Okay, all right, let’s take a little inventory here. What in my life right now do I love? What feels uncomfortable? What have I contributed to both of those things? What are my patterns? And then what do I want to work on and edit on myself? And then in my closest, most interpersonal relationships, what do I want to edit and challenge and celebrate also?’”

The “Miss Me More” singer — who will celebrate the release with a sold-out album launch concert at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 29, before kicking off her first-ever headlining arena tour in January — did a lot of self-discovery while making Patterns.

“One thing I’ve realized about myself is in any relationship in my life … as soon as something feels scary, like it could go wrong, my habit and my unhealthy pattern is to just be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to jump ship so I hurt myself and they don’t hurt me,’” she says. 

Ballerini adds: “I’ve realized that that really doesn’t serve me, and sometimes the best thing that can happen for a friendship or a relationship or an opportunity is to have the hard conversations and work through a turmoil moment,” Ballerini adds. “When you come out on the other side of that, there’s so much beauty in that, and there’s so much mutual respect of that fight for each other. And I think that’s, in my personal life, a thing that I’m really proud of finally tackling.”

Patterns is out now.