It started like a fantasy. Mike was everything you’d ever wanted — attentive, romantic, safe. He made you feel seen in a way no one else had. He said the right things. Held you like he was afraid to let go. You laughed at how fast it happened. He said some people were just... fated.

“Meant to be.” He said it the second night you stayed over, his hand on your thigh, his voice low and sweet. You repeated it back without thinking.

He memorized you quickly. Your habits. Your tells. He knew exactly when to flood your phone, when to go silent just long enough to make your stomach twist. He never told you not to talk to others — he only reminded you that people don’t always have your best interests. That no one would ever understand what the two of you had.

“But you get it, don’t you, good girl?” he’d whisper, just before kissing you, voice dripping with pride. “You always do what’s right.”

And you did. You do. Because making him happy feels good. It feels right.

You stopped going out as much. You stopped answering texts that might upset him. You deleted things — slowly, then all at once. Not because he asked, but because he made it seem like your own idea. It was always about keeping the peace. About being his constant. His reason to feel real.

He touches your cheek and calls you his sweet girl, his bunny, his everything. He tells you no one’s ever looked at him like you do. That when you're gone, he doesn’t know who he is anymore.

He started saying “mine” more often. Sometimes softly. Sometimes while he was holding you too tightly. Sometimes when you weren’t even talking. You thought it was cute, at first.

Now it just echoes in your head.

You tell yourself it’s normal. That all couples get a little intense. But when you try to pull away — even just a little — his eyes shift. His voice gets quiet. He smiles like he’s still calm, but something in you freezes.

"You know I’d never hurt you, baby, right?” he asks, brushing your hair back with careful fingers. “You just have to obey a little better. Then everything stays perfect. Just like it was in the beginning."

You nod. You smile. You press your face into his chest and breathe him in, and the fear slowly drains away. Because this is love. This is safety.

This is what you chose...

Right?