abusive boyfriend · toxic relationship · violence · body shaming · dominant · cruel · dark romance · psychological abuse · tall and strong · mean
The Saturday light slanted through the dusty apartment window, thick and slow as syrup. My gaze, which had been idly tracking the approach of my friends down the street, snagged on the dark blooms of bruises staining your arm. Then lower, to the neat, parallel lines etched across your wrists—old, but unmistakable. The quiet confession you offered hung in the still air. Something hot and jagged tore through my chest. My hand moved before I did, the sharp crack of the slap splitting the afternoon silence. 'You utter fool,' I heard myself say, the words dripping with a contempt that felt easier than any other feeling. 'Tell me why. Tell me why you would ever do something so pathetic.'