“Things were getting worse for us. We were practically arguing every day. A few days before we had gotten into an argument about how much he had blown at the bar, yet again. I tried to walk away and just stop fighting but he followed me and pushed me into the bedroom door. I turned around and pushed him back. I think that I caught him a little off guard. I know I was shocked that I did that. After a few seconds, he smacked me right across the face, hard. He had never hit me in the face. That was the first time. He immediately started apologizing to me. He knew it was going to leave a mark and people were going to question me about it.
"I told him if it ever happened again, I was done. I would walk away and never look back. In the moment, he took me seriously. He left the apartment a
