Naked Truths- the rewrite

It starts slow.
They never show their full intentions in the beginning.
They hide behind the disingenuous guise of a good man.
A good woman.
A great fucking person.
They love dump and bring you up on this pedestal of acceptance and comfort.
They begin to feel like the home you never had growing up.
A love so perfect and pure that you don’t scrutinize the excessive drinking,
the screaming,
the put downs and projections of their own insecurities.
You recall how he used to hold you as you poured your heart out,
telling him all the ways you've been hurt by an ex lover so cruel.
The way their fists and lies entwined under your skin leaving dragon armor to sprout from your pores.
You recall how you sobbed in his arms about how they made you despise yourself so much you took a razor to your skin.
Determined to carve out a more beautiful, more worthy version of yourself.
He kissed the scars on your arms and you felt seen.
[He strikes you in the face and all you see are the stars]
Understood.
[His hands wrap around your throat as your child screams in your arms]
Loved.
[You feel the flutterkicks of your unborn dancing aross your stomach as you flee]
In one fell swoop he took your communication,
your autonomy
your fucking soul and you are left lying awake at night terrified of any sounds or movement from him.

“You’re acting like I beat the shit out of you.”

Those words echo in your mind.
The concept of NO.
The boundary you so clearly remember setting is now completely gone.
You don't know exactly when it happened or how you got here to this exact point,
but your NO went from an absolute,
to a discussion,
to a fuck you.
And you never saw it coming.
You hold your ragdoll bones tighter in the dark hoping that it'll keep you together.
Your internal screams ricochet off the inside of your skull
“I don’t belong to you!
I am not a flower to be plucked!
I am not an object to keep locked away!
I AM A FUCKING PERSON”
I have, and always will, deserve better than this.