‘'Expectations’‘ is one of the three songs that premiered on Jauregui’s support slot on Halsey’s 2018 Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour in Latin America. It had its official release on the 24th of October later the same year.

The song describes a relationship in which the other person does not appear to care about their significant other as much as the other does. ‘'Expectations’‘ expresses the struggle of wanting to change the situation, but being unable to do so. According to Lauren, it was an easy song to write and record. In an interview to MTV, she revealed that she wrote Expectations in 30 minutes.