When I was in an abusive relationship, I told myself I deserved it. I told myself I should be more obedient, as if I was a dog. My leash was held so tight that I couldn’t muster any words out even if I wanted to. When I was in an abusive relationship, I soaked in every insult and only ever released apologies. When I was in an abusive relationship, some days I flinched when he raised his hand or began to speak and other days I just sat there waiting for it. When my mom would ask about the bruises I would be surprised because I didn’t know my body was still reacting to it when my mind wasn’t. When I was in an abusive relationship, tying nooses was a nightly thing and nothing to even be alarmed about, blood stained sheets were the norm, and suicide notes were just normal letters. When I was in an abusive relationship, I took many different kinds of drugs throughout the day and didn’t really know which combination would **** me. Would the coke, Xanax, and alcohol **** me? Or would it be the alcohol, ******, and oxy? When I was in an abusive relationship, all concern for myself vanished. As my addictions to many different pills such as Xanax, ******, Hydro, Oxy and many more grew, I started to smile again. When I was in an abusive relationship, being asked how many drugs I was on was not rude or unexpected. When I was in an abusive relationship, leaving permanently just didn’t seem like an option. When I was in an abusive relationship, I had unconditional love for my attacker and always made sure he was okay even after he hit me. When I was in an abusive relationship, one day, I had a revelation and found my voice. Now, I am no longer in an abusive relationship.