Rihanna has confirmed that she is back with her former boyfriend, Chris Brown, who assaulted her in 2009. "Even if it's a mistake, it's my mistake," the 24-year-old singer said. "He made a mistake, and he's paid his dues."

Rihanna's interview, in the new issue of Rolling Stone, answers months of speculation about the pair's reconciliation. Over the past few months risqué tweets and paparazzi photographs suggested they were back together. "When you add up the pieces from the outside, it's not the cutest puzzle in the world," Rihanna admitted. "[But] I wasn't going to let anybody's opinion get in the way of that."

"I decided it was more important for me to be happy," she told the magazine. "After being tormented for so many years, being angry and dark, I'd rather just live my truth and take the backlash … Sometimes people need support and encouragement, instead of ridicule and criticism and bashing."

According to the police report about the events of 8 February 2009, the couple argued after Rihanna discovered Brown had received a text from an ex-girlfriend. Brown then assaulted the Umbrella singer. Police were called when a witness heard her screams.

Though he initially denied the assault charges, Brown eventually pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to one year's probation and domestic violence counselling. He has since been involved in violent incidents involving fans, interviewers, Drake and, last weekend, Frank Ocean.

But Rihanna insists Brown has changed. "He doesn't have the luxury of fucking up again. That's just not an option," she said. "I wouldn't have gone this far if I ever thought that was a possibility … You see us walking somewhere, driving somewhere, in the studio, in the club, and you think you know. But it's different now. We don't have those types of arguments any more. We talk about shit. We value each other. We know exactly what we have now, and we don't want to lose that."