Me and my boyfriend have quite a physical relationship. We're always joking around with each other and we're quite touchy-touchy.
Today he finally got round to doing the dishes I asked him to do and I came up to him, half-jokingly saying that he missed a few things like straightening out the tea towels instea of scrunching them up, etc. I approached it jokingly because he knows it's my domain and I hate having to correct things he does when it's not even supposed to be my responsibility at that time. He started to get a bit annoyed but still looked like he was joking around too and then proceded to get up and push me out of the room, hitting me on my ass and arms three times. They weren't gentle either, like proper slap-type feelings. He has jokingly tapped me before but never like this. So I felt kind of alientated by that.
I go back in the room and address the situation again, still thinking he was in a joking kind of mood. Lie I'm still laughing at this point and I thought he was too. Then he gets up, grabs a glass of water, chases me into the bedroom and throws it at me, slamming the door behind him.
I felt so violated. We've thrown water jokingly at each other before, but this time it felt like it came from a place of hate. I never thought he would be one to react to feelings of frustration with physical violence. But I feel like he did. I don't know how to feel. Is this domestic violence?
If so, how do I address it? I just told him how it made me feel and he started going on about how I made him feel about my criticism of his washing up skills. But I said that me coming in with some lighthearted feedback on what is my main domain didn't quite warrent being slapped three times and have water thrown at me. I feel so sad that he would do this. He is not a violent person normally. It worries me that he jumped to violence instead of using his words and clarifying that he was actually pissed off and not joking.
