To the One Who Thought "fixing" Meant Staying

You believed love meant trying harder. That healing someone else's hurt was holy. That if you just stayed long enough, quiet enough, kind enough, they would stop needing to break something. You mistook your endurance for devotion. Your silence became a sacrifice they never asked for but always expected. You thought leaving would make you selfish. But no one told you that staying might kill the softest part of you. You weren't broken for walking away. You were breaking every time you stayed. You held the fracture like it would close if you stayed. It just bled longer. "Leaving is not betrayal. Staying silent was."