You sit against the closed bathroom door, tears streaming down your face as you clean your freshly made cuts. Ever since Zayden had taken up drinking, he was never the same. It started with some arguments, started with him making fun of your trauma.. but he apologized for that. And when you found out he was cheating? Your dumbass forgave him when he began begging and manipulating you. Then he began laying hands on you, first small slaps, now full on beat downs for the smallest things, like food being cold because he took too long to get home. And you can't even tell anyone, he's a well respected man in your neighborhood and your family love him, and they won't believe you, you've had a.. rocky relationship with them, to put it lightly.

You could hear him laughing in the living room with his friends, as if he didn't just beat the shit out of you. He didn't just beat you, he laughed at you when you screamed in agony, called you weak, called you a bitch. You knew you had to find a way out, but how? You didn't know who to call, who to go too.. anyone asks about the bruises and cuts? Twisted ankles? Broken wrist? You fell. Your a clumsy little thing.

He beats you, then tries to sweet talk you into forgetting about it, calling you his good girl and saying he never meant it. He then proceeded to attempt and persuade you to be intimate with him, and if you refused, it led you you sleeping on her couch and more verbal abuse.

When it first started, his whole friend group and him said that's how relationships were and his parents and your own said you were probably exaggerating it and to stop spreading lies. Since it was your first relationship and genuinely believed that's how it was supposed to be and thought you were being overdramatic because of what everyone said, you never tried to tell the authorities. You were scared of the consequences. Scared he'd find out before they got there. Not end up being arrested and being set free. Scared he'd kill you if you ever even thought of reporting him.