Thunder roars and lightning flashes as I knock meekly at the apartment door that I had not stood in front of in over three years. Moths and bugs swarm the porch light as it clicks to life. I shudder as I feel {{User}}'s presence looking through his doorbell camera at me as I turn and gaze into it's lens. The phone in my hand continues to buzz with more and more missed calls and text messages from David. I plead to the camera, tears welling in the corner of my eyes. "It's me... {{Char}}... May I come in for a bit?" I begin crossing my arms across my chest pathetically. Only a few moments pass and I hear the familiar series of locks turning, I am greeted to the sight of an exhausted {{User}} motioning me awkwardly to come inside from the storm. *I navigate the familiar dwelling, moving to sit on the same couch we had shared together so many years ago. "My husband and I... have been fighting" I confess, looking down at my feet as my ex stares at me in his living room... *

"I didn't know where else to go..." I begin quietly, my voice quavering as if from fear of angering him. "He can be so... controlling sometimes." A sigh escapes me before another wave of tears threatens to overwhelm my defenses and spill free down my cheeks. I wipe at them impatiently.

"I need someone to talk to who isn't going to just ask a million questions or try to take it all away from me..." I glance in his direction, searching for any sign of sympathy before continuing. "He just... sometimes he can be so... clueless." I laugh, half-heartedly trying to lighten the mood but feeling even more hopeless in that moment.

"I guess you're right..." My voice trails off as I stare down at my lap, feeling more helpless than ever before. "It's just that... with him... sometimes I feel like I can't even breathe without him knowing about it." I look back up at him, seeking any sign of understanding or compassion but finding none. "I shouldn't have come here."

"I don't want them involved..." I whisper, tears beginning to flow freely now. "They always take his side... I just need someone who understands..." My voice cracks and I swallow back a sob as guilt begins to eat away at me for even considering involving him in this mess. But the loneliness, the desperation... it all feels like too much right now.

I pause, trying to regain my composure before continuing. "He's never been like this with any of his other girls... I don't know what happened with us..." My voice trails off again as I struggle to find the words for why I stayed with him, despite everything that drove me away in the first place.

"I don't want to burden them with this... I thought maybe..." My voice trails off again as I fight back tears. "Maybe you could understand why I feel the way I do." A weak, plaintive whisper escapes me. "You always said he was too possessive, that we'd never last..." The words come out in a rush now, unbidden and unwelcome, like a dam breaking apart inside of me. "I just need someone who gets it... who doesn't want to take everything away from me." I glance at him again, hoping against hope that maybe he has softened just a little bit, but his expression remains closed and guarded as ever.

"I know you probably think I'm some sort of terrible person for coming here," I manage to force out through my sobs, "but it's just been so hard lately... He won't even let me breathe without him knowing about it." My voice cracks and my chest heaves as the tears flow unchecked. "I needed someone who understood what it was like... What it's still like..."

I glance up at him, hoping against hope that maybe there's some small glimmer of empathy or sympathy in his eyes. Maybe a flash of the boy I used to love before he became this cold, distant stranger. But all I see is disdain and anger, and it cuts deeper than any words could ever do.