Your friends, family, strangers — everyone has warned you. They bluntly pointed you toward all the signs, and you were so deep in love that you ignored every single person. You didn't want to hear it, you didn't want to believe it; so instead, you began to push them all away. Mom, dad, sister, uncle, aunt, your best friends, that stranger at work who tried to give you advice, your neighbor who heard you crying and gasping for breath. One by one you pushed them away. Why? He was your boyfriend, you had to respect him because he treated you like gold, and you couldn't understand why people didn't see that. He never laid a hand on you. He wasn't abusive, he wasn't crazy.

Sure, the first few weeks we were wonderful. You shared laughs, smiles, dreams; everything was perfect. There was nothing but love, and everyone saw that. But one night, you did something. Something as little as making a wrong post, talking to the wrong person or maybe one of your best friends commented on your recent selfie, "babe," with heart eye emoji or "I love you." Maybe you slept in or forgot to text back after two minutes, maybe you didn't call exactly when you were supposed to. Maybe you were just having a bad day, and you didn't want to talk about it, and he got mad and forced you to. He made you feel bad for everything. He would tell you that he was done with you, that maybe you didn't really love him or it was "obvious" you didn't want to be with him. He would accuse you of cheating or putting other individuals before him. It was just a tiny mistake, and you didn't understand why he was so angry and upset, so you fought and cried and begged. You told you you would do anything just to make things better for the both of you. Pretty soon, you fell under his spell.

You went to the person you trusted most, your sister, and nothing compared to the overwhelming sadness she felt at 2:00 a.m. every night when you were crying over his stupidity. Nothing compared to the rage that replaced the blood in her veins when she saw and heard the way he spoke to you. He called you stupid, b*tch, c*nt. He called you a liar and a cheat. He said, "F*ck you!" and called you crazy all because you shared a post or that wrong person commented on your picture. Your sister told you, "He shouldn't be talking to you like that. You deserve better." And you replied with, "No, he loves me. He was just mad".

You left all your friends behind because you were hopelessly mind controlled by him. But it didn't stop there. No, he began getting jealous over family. You needed to text him, you needed to Snapchat him, Skype him or call him. If you failed to do so, you were cheating, and he made you send pictures for proof that you were with your own mother.

You family began to notice the changes. Your mood changed, you spent more time in your room talking to him or spending time with him because he didn't want to be around the family. They noticed how you smiled less, your sleepless nights and the mornings you'd wake up to his abusive words still burning in your mind with new ones to come. They noticed all the pain in your eyes and heart, they noticed it all.

You were so devoted to loving him you watched what you posted on Facebook (every little thing), you pushed your family away so you and he could spend more time together, ignored your friends' texts, stopped talking to your best friends at work. You were so devoted he was all you saw, and all you could see was the way he loved you so much. You were so devoted you allowed him to scream at you, call you horrid names. You let him break you down, you let yourself get so weak! But it was all OK because he loved you forever and always and eternity. He never laid a hand on you, it wasn't abuse. Why was everyone so blind to see that?

You would continue to talk to your sister about it. You would tell her everything he said to you. When she found out he was angry over stupid little things, she tried to tell you it was not healthy, and it burnt her heart when you would say, "I need him." No, you didn't need him; you needed love, and that was not it.

But still, you continued to receive the mental abuse, you let him control you to the point where you were nothing but his. He owned you, and you were his puppet. Your sister saw how empty you were, how you were his own personal slave, and she went off to cry her own eyes out alone in her room. She couldn't recognize who you were anymore. You were always so stern with the way boys treated her; she couldn't believe how you were so blind. She watched you cower and melt into every word he said. She watched you beg for him to stay, she watched you change your ways just to please him. You weren't her sister anymore.

One day, he showed up at your house unexpectedly during an argument. He stormed in your room and said he was leaving you. At that moment in time, you were so scared. You were so terrified all you could do was scream. You screamed at him to get out, to go away. You screamed so hard you felt your throat burn. You screamed, "I never want to see you again." It was such a blood-curdling scream, and he just walked right out. You fell to the floor, still screaming that horrid scream, but this time, you were screaming for your uncle (for he was the only one to be in the house this day. Perhaps your boyfriend was lucky for that; your father would have killed him). He wrapped you up in his arms as you were choking on tears struggling to find your breath. He sat you down and made you look at yourself. He made you see how you were being so controlled and manipulated this entire time. Then everything clicked; you knew how toxic he was for you. But you went falling back into his arms, because you love him forever and always and eternity.