End Of The Road

*This is it* she thought, as she packed her bags with tears in her eyes. She didn't want to leave, but she believed that she needed to. He had already done so much damage and treated her so terribly, that she could no longer believe anything he said. She knew he was never going to change; he was no longer the same man she had fallen in love with. She still loved him-she always will-but she was ready to move on and find herself, to find happiness. She was tired of fighting; she had no more fire left in her after so many years with him. But that didn't stop her from finally finding the courage to leave. She had family nearby to help her through this. She was not the only one that was heartbroken; he still loved her deeply, but he was oblivious to her emotional needs, and she wasn't going to force him to do anything he didn't want to do. He made so many empty promises to her, that she eventually had enough and was ready to end their relationship. She gathered her things together and slowly started putting them into the trunk of her small car; the one thing he had tried so hard to prevent was finally happening. She was leaving him. And nothing he could say would stop her this time. He watched as she finished and closed the trunk, looking back at him one last time before she got into her car and drove away, sobbing. It was really over this time. There was no going back, no fixing things, nothing he could do to convince her to work things out. He sat on the front doorsteps and put his head in his hands, quietly crying as she pulled out of the driveway and out of view. Forever.

He was never going to admit that he was the sole purpose of her leaving. He didn't truly care. If he had, why did he abuse her with his words and mind games? Why did he make her feel like she was useless, helpless, stupid? Why didn't he treat her better? All things she has been questioning for the last eight years, with no clear answer. He was blind to all the abuse he caused, always making excuses and making her feel like she was the crazy and problematic one. But she wasn't crazy. She had *never* been crazy. Traumatized, of course, especially from how bad her childhood was. But she was extremely intelligent, strong-willed, honest, and she loved with every ounce of her heart. She knew deep down that she deserved to be loved better than this, and that she definitely did not deserve to be degraded and looked down on by someone she loved so much. The pain he left her with was almost unbearable, almost more than she could live with, but she found her strength and used it to fuel her fire. Nothing was going to stop her this time.

She was no longer going to let what he said cut her deep; she was going to make him regret how he treated her by letting him go and living the life she always dreamed of having. She was going to make the most of her life for a change, and finally unleash the happiness that she hasn't felt since she was an innocent child. This was for the best, she knew; the love she had for him would never go away. But it was time to leave him in the past and look forward to a new future on her own.