go to the game. i mean it. go out with the boys on friday, take the guys' trip, stay out late, have the extra hour, come home loud and happy and tell me about the stupid thing your friend said. i don't want to be the reason you stopped having a life. i've seen those men. i've seen the ones who sit

he'd forget to pick up my daughter from school. every time, i'd have to leave work early and rush over, and she'd be sitting alone on the curb. every time, he'd apologize. "i lost track of time. it won't happen again." and every time, i'd forgive him, because i wanted us to work. but it kept happen

my dad never apologized for anything. after every fight, he'd just walk into the kitchen the next morning, make pancakes, and act like nothing happened. no sorry. no conversation. just pancakes. i grew up thinking that was normal. then i started dating someone who did the exact same thing. after ev

my boyfriend got upset last week because i didn't tell him i'd been feeling sick for three days. he wasn't angry. he was hurt that i didn't let him take care of me. he said, "i want to know these things. i care." and i realized i'd gotten so used to not mattering that i didn't think to tell him. my

every night it was the same routine. he'd barely talk to me all day, maybe a meme or a "what's up," and then at midnight i'd lie in bed with a paragraph typed out. that i missed him. that i felt alone even though we were together. that i needed just a little more. and every night i'd delete it and

i've told him how i feel so many times that the words don't even feel like mine anymore. i've written letters. i've cried on his doorstep. i've texted him at midnight. every time, he'd give me just enough hope to keep me there, and never enough to feel secure. last week i opened our chat to send an

i was always the one reaching out. inviting him to things, asking about his life, remembering details he mentioned once. for months, i tried to build something real. he'd let me in a little, then pull back for weeks. last month he texted after three weeks of silence, "hey, what's up?" like nothing

for months i tried to make him understand. i explained why his jokes about my weight hurt. i explained why i needed him to call when he'd be late. i explained, explained, explained. he'd nod, say sorry, and then do it again. last week he made another joke at dinner, and i didn't react. on the drive

i loved him with everything i had. i defended him when my friends didn't trust him. i forgave him when he lied. i stayed up waiting when he came home at four in the morning smelling like someone else's perfume. i gave and gave and he took. when i finally left, i had nothing left. two years later, h

my girlfriend sent me "k" instead of "okay" yesterday and i spent four hours spiraling. i replayed our last conversation. i wondered if i'd said something wrong. i wrote three different apology texts for things i didn't even do. by the time she called, i was convinced she was breaking up with me. s

my dad passed in march. my best friend moved overseas in june. my relationship ended in august. by september, i was sitting alone in my apartment realizing there was no one left to call. not because people didn't care, but because life had moved them all somewhere else. i remember lying on my kitch