The Person Who Would Have Hated You for Me

You know the saddest part is, if we went back to the beginning, to when we first met, and I told you everything you did to me without telling you who did it, you would hate that person.

You’d say, “Why would anyone do that to you?”
You’d say, “You deserve so much better than that.”
You’d tell me to leave.
You’d probably get angry on my behalf.

And I’d sit there, listening to you defend me against you.

Because the version of you I met would have never done what the version of you I loved actually did.

That person would have been disgusted.
That person would have promised me it would never happen.

But it did happen.

And you were there for all of it.

The silence when I needed a word.
The way you made me feel like I was too much for asking for simply the bare minimum.
The nights I stayed up wondering what I did wrong, when the truth is, I was just loved by someone who stopped trying.

So no, I’m not angry anymore.

I just miss the person who would have hated you for me.

And somewhere along the way, you stopped being them.