People hate being forced out of their comfort zones. They hate anything that challenges their core beliefs and the way things should be. Perhaps that was why he found himself alone most of the time these days; it seemed that everyone he had come to love had left him, and those who hadn’t completely left had distanced themselves from him to avoid the situation completely.

He supposed he could understand why.

It was easier for people to look at him and see a monster than it would be for them to look at her and see one. It was easier for the people who had known the both of them to believe that he could be the one to blame. He had never tried to hide the darkness under the surface of what was a genuinely cheerful person, never shied away from his own faults and demons. Perhaps it was that willingness to be honest and open that had proved to be his downfall in the end.

It was uncomfortable for anyone who looked at them to believe that perhaps he had been the one made into a victim. Hell, it was uncomfortable for him to come to terms with that line of thought. He couldn’t so much as bring himself to say the word abuse aloud to other people, no matter how often the reminders of it floated around his head. Instead of standing his ground, he’d let them all go, let them believe whatever it was they were going to believe. Any word he said against it, any proof he would try to bring forward in his own defense would only confirm his guilt in their mind. So he didn’t defend himself, and let them all walk away with hatred inside of them for him. They were going to believe what they wanted to in the end. They were going to believe whatever they were most comfortable with.

He should have spoken up when he’d had the chance. He should have offered to open up about what had happened to him, get his side of the story out before she had the chance to take all that she had done to him and twist it until she was the abused, and he the abuser. But now it was too late. Someday soon, she’d tire of playing her games with the people they had known and bring it to all the people who had once had their eyes on him. Just as she had once tired of playing her games with him. He would wake up one day and be hated by everyone.

After all, people hate being forced out of their comfort zones, and you should always believe the victim.