The battle began quietly. It wasn't like the stories of love where you give a little and receive the same in return. No, this was different. At first, I didn't even realize what was happening. Every time I changed myself, twisted a little more of who I was, I convinced myself it was for love. That you were worth it.
I fought against my own instincts against my needs and desires. Slowly, I started to silence the parts of me that once felt so alive, so vibrant. I convinced myself that if I just gave a little more, you'd finally notice. That somehow, you'd meet me halfway, and all the effort, all the sacrifices would make sense. But you never did. You never even asked me to, but you stood there watching as I unraveled, trying to mold myself into something, someone, I thought you'd love. I was so desperate to keep you, I couldn't see what it was doing to me.
Each compromise, each small betrayal of who I was, became a wound I inflicted on myself. And still, I fought. I fought my inner battles every day telling myself that this was how love worked, that it required sacrifice, that if I just held on a little longer, you'd finally see me. But instead, I became invisible to myself. The person I was started to fade, buried under the weight of trying to be everything I thought you needed.
It was a war I never should have fought. I wasn't fighting you, or the world we never had enemies. It was me against myself, a relentless, exhausting battle to be something I was never meant to be, just to keep you by my side.
In the end, all I regret is that I went to war with myself for you. I fought against my own heart, tore down my own walls, and built new ones just to make you stay. And now, in the aftermath, I see the truth. You didn't ask for it. I did it to myself. You were never the one who demanded change I was the one who thought I wasn't enough.
And as I stand here, in the wreckage of who I used to be, all that's left is a strange silence. A silence where my heart once beat with fire and purpose. I could have loved myself, chosen peace instead of this brutal war. But instead, I waged a battle for someone who never asked for it, and all I lost was me.