They Always Come Back

 You finally rebuild after someone causes you real harm.

Not the kind you just get over.
The kind that stays with you.

You find your footing again.
Life gets quieter.
You start to feel okay in your own world.

And that’s when they come back.

Not to fix anything.
Not to make things right.
But to blindside you — because they can’t stand that you’re okay without them.

You weren’t reaching out.
You weren’t looking back.
You were simply living your life when they pulled you back into something you already survived.

That’s the part people don’t always understand.

It isn’t the leaving that’s hardest.
It’s having to protect the peace you finally found
from the same person who once took so much from you.