#the warning is just so everyone else know I'm standing prone and ready to unplug at a moment's notice

[anotherhumanpet]

Content warning for domestic abuse

During his sophomore year in high school, Jaden entered a romantic relationship with a girl named Angela.

Things between them went well for a time, and he even confided into her about his pansexuality at some point. But it didn't take long for Angela to reveal some of her truer, nastier colors to Jaden.

She was one of those types of girlfriends who wanted her boyfriend to be attached to her hip at all times. So all their activities had to be done together, always; no matter what. When Jaden didn't want to comply, for whatever reasons he had, she'd hit him while half yelling, half whining to him about it. They'd argue, things would escalate, and it would end with him either relenting into her demands or them having a prolonged fight about it until he finally relented.

Eventually though, after reaching out to Penny and gaining the support of his sisters, Jaden called things off with Angela. Then, it was a mad dash to come out to his parents before the high school rumor mill could reach them because he knew Angela would out him as a means of revenge for breaking up with her. And she did just that, and then some.

On top of there being a rumor about his queerness, Angela twisted their story around and claimed that it was Jaden who was physically abusive towards her, not the other way around.

Jaden's social standing fell apart rather quickly after that, and only a few people who knew the truth/believed him when he said it was really her who was abusive stuck around him after that. Those few people would wind up being the friends Jaden carried into adulthood and bonded deeply with - in spite of or maybe even because of Angela.

It's been years since he's dealt with Angela and the fallout of her abuse towards him. Jaden considers himself moved on from it and healed nowadays, and this is a mostly true statement. He's less afraid to stand up for himself, should he ever find himself in such a position again. Part of the reason why things got so bad between them was because Jaden was genuinely afraid to hit a girl and she had power over him in knowing his closeted status. Now, he wants the world to know of his queerness, and if a girl throws the first punch then he'll throw the last one without a care about what anyone thinks of it.

But he has emotional walls set up too and isn't completely aware that they're there. Angela's torment has pushed Jaden into holding himself more guardedly while keeping others at distance. It's safer that way. People can't hurt you if they don't get in at all. He's also sensitive to any sort of perception that makes him out to be a bad and-or abusive boyfriend too because he doesn't want to be caught in the turmoil of those kinds of rumors again. He doesn't want to be that sort of person either. His love language is doting because he cares and because he wants to be the opposite of the worst thing he could be.