Before and after my first breakup

****TRIGGER WARNING IF YOU’RE EASILY UPSET BY MENTIONS OF ABUSE****

This was me about 6 years ago, with my first boyfriend (I cut him out obviously.) In the two years of dating him, he raped, assaulted, and emotionally manipulated and abused me daily. The first couple months he spent grooming me, convincing me that he was the only person who could ever love me. I was emotionally abused by my family, and betrayed by almost every friend I ever had, so I was extremely vulnerable and desperate for anyone to love me. Every time he raped me I cried and asked him to stop until I just gave up and laid there. He distanced me from my friends and treated me like property. He finally broke up with me after nearly two years, and I felt so relieved I sobbed for hours. I was finally freed of him. In the picture above, I was crying just before my friend took the picture because he had just assaulted me in the empty stairwell only a minute before. I cried all the time, and I was lucky to get even an hour of sleep most nights.

This picture was taken a WEEK after he broke up with me. Only one week. I was modelling for my friend’s photography portfolio. For once I felt free, I felt beautiful, and I felt like people cared about me. That break up was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

And this is me now. I’m happily married, I smile more than I cry, I don’t self-harm anymore, and I’m on good terms with my family. If someone makes you feel the way I felt with my ex, break up with them, as quickly and as safely as possible. No one deserves to go through what I and tons of other girls went through. You can get out of that relationship, the world will not end. I love you all, and I hope you all end up happy 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜