Emotional Manipulation

There was him.

He wasn't what everyone thought he was.

He was everything that everyone thought he wasn't.

There was they.

There was a "they" to him, but nothing but a him to her.

She thought she loved him.

He knew he loved her.

There was fear.

A fear that developed slowly, but not expressed.

It kept her coming back.

There was the fear of leaving and the fear of staying.

There was it.

It was hard to describe, a barely noticeable manipulation.

It was so microscopic, it made her think it didn't exist.

He made her think it didn't exist.

There were punches.

A car hit so deeply it felt like it was her.

The last time the fear of staying outweighed the fear of leaving.

There was time.

A final decision to use time and space to bring her back.

Time to start again, so she did.

There was her.

She wasn't what everyone thought she was then

She was what she thought everyone wanted her to be.

But now, she's free.