When you're young, you're naive

You think about love

You dream about love

But you don't know love

I thought I knew love

I was wrong

You'd tell me

"You love me, so you shouldn't talk to your friends"

"Your friends don't like me, get rid of them"

If I denied you, you'd threaten me

You'd lay on the ground

You'd take your weights

You'd pretend to drop them on your head

Because I thought I loved you

I stayed

Through mental abuse

Through physical and sexual abuse

I stayed

I was afraid of you

I stayed out of fear

Then you gave me the chance to leave

I thought I was free

Through the next few years I suffered

I had flashbacks

You stalked me

You threatened me

You apologized

You threatened me again

You kept up your games

Because you loved me

You loved playing with me

I was the mouse, and you were the cat

I feared you until I found love

I found someone who respected me

Someone who held my hand when I cried

Instead of tearing me down further

Someone who I could trust with my life

He built me up to defeat you

He showed me that I was stronger than the fear you created inside me

He made me who I am today

Because he loves me

And you never did