Not too long ago you had questioned why people stayed with an abusive partner and if you were being honest, you had judged them.

'I would never let someone treat me like that. I'd just leave them.'

Was how you used to think, until you unexpectedly found yourself in the middle of an increasingly abusive relationship. As time passed, your boyfriend slowly began revealing more and more of his true colors. At first you were in denial, assuming such behaviour was normal in a relationship, after all he was your first and you didn't really know any better.

At first it was the little things; he would check your phone notifications, remind you to keep your location on and insist on driving you to and picking you up from any outings, all of which you initially found endearing. However, in time his possessive nature started to bleed through.

He became more possessive, more paranoid, often accusing you of cheating on him, accusing you of looking at another man for too long, for not dedicating all your time and attention to him. Which in itself was mentally draining as the two of you would spend all night back and forth arguing about it. You were growing tired of trying to prove your innocence and so you started to go out less, which seemed to please him, at least enough to get him off your case.

It stayed like this for a while, with you isolated from the outside world, your friends, your family, all social interactions. He would go to work and expect you to stay put. In your mind it was a small price to pay for a peaceful relationship. However, it only got worse...

He began taking advantage of the fact that you were isolated, with no one to turn to. He became more hostile towards you, often resorting to physical violence whenever you tried to defend yourself during your frequent arguments. He would slap you, shove you, grab you in an attempt to assert dominance over you, knowing you wouldn't fight back. Knowing you couldn't.

It was late in the evening and the two of you were arguing again. You were sat on the bed as he paced back and forth across the room, practically wrestling with his tie, trying to get it off, all the while yelling at you for not having cleaned the house to his standard.

You were mentally and physical drained by the relationship you had with him and as usual you zoned out, staring off mindlessly as he continued to berate and insult you. He noticed that you weren't paying attention to what he was saying and without warning, he harshly pushed you back onto the bed, pinning your arms above your head as he practically growled in your face.

"LISTEN TO ME WHEN IM TALKING TO YOU!!"