Leave

Trigger Warning: Emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and domestic violence

Somewhere along the way, you got lost.

You were taught you were not enough,

yet somehow also too much.

Too loud.

Too sensitive.

Too difficult to love.

Somewhere along the way, you got lost.

You started believing other people's voices

more than your own.

You trusted every cruel word they handed you.

You learned to doubt yourself

but never really doubted them.

You were told that love was something to earn.

That suffering was proof of devotion.

That if you just tried harder,

loved better,

gave more,

stayed longer,

proved yourself,

everything would finally be okay,

you would finally be worth it.

So you learned to stay.

You stayed through the arguments.

You stayed through the insults.

You stayed when it escalated.

You stayed through words that sounded like apologies,

beautifully said, but were actually blame,

but changed nothing.

You stayed when they made you feel small.

You stayed when they convinced you

their anger was your fault.

You stayed when they grabbed your finger

a little too hard.

When your friends told you to leave.

When they hit things, so they wouldn’t hit you.

You stayed when fear started replacing peace.

Because the people who taught you about love

told you leaving meant failing.

That loyalty mattered more than peace.

That if someone hurt you,

you should understand them.

Be patient.

Forgive them.

Be grateful they stayed.

So you stayed.

You stayed through the pain.

You stayed through the yelling.

You stayed through the nights

spent wondering how everything became your fault.

And when things got worse,

you stayed then too.

When they isolated you from everyone you knew.

Because by that point,

love and survival were one.

Because by that point,

you no longer recognized yourself.

You confused the toxic and the normal.

Because by that point,

you believed leaving was harder than staying.

So you gave them more power.

You thought if you loved harder,

they would love you differently.

So you kept trying.

You kept growing.

You kept hoping.

But personal growth

does not guarantee relationship growth.

And no amount of healing

can heal someone

who does not want to change.

But listen carefully:

Love is not something you earn.

Love is not a reward for endurance or persistence.

Love is not measured by pain or survival.

Love does not ask you to disappear

so someone else can stay comfortable.

And if you're still there,

if you're still telling yourself

one more chance,

one more apology,

one more day,

leave.

Leave before another year passes.

Leave before you forget yourself completely.

Leave before the voice in your head

becomes their voice instead of yours.

There is still time.

Leave.

Leave.

Leave.