The next day Hope was relieved when she didn't have to watch Sweeney kill. Mrs. Lovett wanted to go shop around the market and convinced Sweeney to go so they all made an outing of it. Hope thought Sweeney only went because Mrs. Lovett wouldn't leave him alone until he agreed. Sweeney stayed close to Hope to make sure she didn't run.

"Do you have to watch my every move?" Hope whispered to Sweeney.

"I don't trust you."

"Well, you're making me uncomfortable."

"Good."

Hope tried to ignore Sweeney, but she could always feel him staring at her.

As Hope was looking at the stores she saw someone she didn't want to see. She tried to turn the other way so he didn't see her, but it was too late.

"Hope, it has been awhile since we last met."

"Indeed it has, Turpin."

"I went by the bakery the other day, but Cody said you quit. Why is that?"

"It doesn't matter to you why I quit. And why were you looking for me?"

"Do I need a reason to see you?"

"Yes. You never wanted anything to do with me then and I doubt you want something to do with me now."

Turpin was about to say something, but at the moment Sweeney walked up next to Hope. Turpin didn't seem too thrilled about seeing Sweeney.

"So, you're friends with the barber?" Turpin asked Hope.

"We aren't really friends."

"She is my assistant." Sweeney said.

"So you left the bakery to work for a barber? You never did make the wisest choice."

Hope looked away. She never did like Turpin and the only reason she put up with him was for…

"We need to get going." Sweeney said as he grabbed Hope's arm.

Hope could tell that Sweeney didn't care for Turpin…then again who did? Though it seemed Sweeney really didn't like him. Hope could see hatred in his eyes.

Soon the four of them left the market and went back to the shop. Hope didn't like being in the room with Sweeney. He was quiet and she wasn't sure what he was going to do. Some times she wanted to know what he was thinking.

After moments of silence Sweeney final spoke. "What connection do you have to the judge?"

"Why do you care?"

Sweeney grabbed Hope by the neck and pushed her against the wall. "You will tell me how you know Turpin."

For the first time Hope wasn't going to let Sweeney hurt her like this. She kneed Sweeney in the stomach. Sweeney let go of Hope as he clutched his stomach.

"You don't need to know. That is my business."

"Stupid girl." Sweeney took out his razor and put it against Hope's neck. "I can kill you at any moment."

"Then do it. What are you waiting for? Kill me. KILL ME!" Sweeney didn't move. He just kept his razor to her throat. "You threaten to kill me, but you don't. Why is that? Just kill me and get it over with."

"You aren't afraid to die?"

"Why should I be? I have nothing to live for and if you kill me then I can finally be with my family."

Sweeney took his razor away from Hope's neck. For the first time he was starting to wonder what happened in Hope's past.

"If you threaten to kill me then you better kill me. If you don't plan on killing me then stop threatening me."

"Fine, I won't threaten you." Then Sweeney went over to the window and looked out.

Hope wasn't sure she heard right so she decided to ask. "Did…did you just say you won't threaten me any more?"

"Do you have hearing problems? Yes, that's what I said."

"So then that means you aren't going to kill me?"

Sweeney looked at Hope. "For now anyway." Then he looked back out the window.

Later that day a customer came in and like all the others Sweeney killed him. Hope turned her back every time, though she still felt guilty and didn't know what to do. After Sweeney finished killing his last customer for the day Hope looked at him.

"Um…Why do you kill? Is there a reason or do you just do it for fun?"

"It's none of your business."

"You can't keep it a secret forever. I will find out some day."

It has been a few weeks since Hope became Sweeney's assistant. Keeping to his word Sweeney hasn't threatened Hope which surprised her. Hope had tried escaping once more, but again she was caught by Sweeney so Hope stopped trying.

Sweeney was looking out the window like he always did. Hope was sitting on her mattress and Mrs. Lovett came up to bring them food.

"I can't believe today is the fifteen already." Mrs. Lovett said, trying to make a conversation.

Hope looked at her. "What did you say today is?"

"The fifteenth. Are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Fine…just fine."

The day was coming up. Just three more days. Hope wasn't looking forward to it and if she could she would skip that day. However she can't so she would just have to live that day.

"Hope, are you all right?" Mrs. Lovett asked again. "You spaced out there for a minute."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think." Hope said the last part to herself.

Hope wondered if she could get away from Sweeney for that day. Just for one day and then she would come back. She had to escape and she was praying that she wouldn't get caught.

The next day started out like any other day. Sweeney rudely woke Hope up, gave her some food (not pies since Hope kept refusing to eat them) and then they began work.

"Can you try not to get so much blood every where when you kill?" Hope asked after Sweeney killed someone.

"No." Sweeney answered as he cleaned his razor.

"I'm tired of cleaning up after you. Why don't you clean up your own damn mess?"

"Because you aren't useful anywhere else and besides I need to keep an eye on you."

Hope hated hearing that she wasn't useful. She's heard it practically her whole life and she was tired of it. "I am too useful. Just because I can't do what you do or anyone else doesn't mean I'm not useful. You don't know what I can do. I have my own talents that make me useful and you have yours."

"Are you finished?" Sweeney asked. And though he didn't show it he was taken aback by her outburst.

Hope sighed. "Yes." Then she went back to cleaning the blood.

Just then Mrs. Lovett came in. "How are things in here?"

"Just peachy." Hope said sarcastically.

"Well, if you two don't have anything to do then why don't you join me and Toby for a picnic?"

"More customers will come." Sweeney said.

"There is no harm in taking a break."

"We took one yesterday when we went to the market."

"I've packed enough lunch for the four of us."

Sweeney knew Mrs. Lovett wasn't going to give up just like yesterday so he decided to go. He wasn't happy and he preferred to be slitting throats then going on a picnic.

"Cheer up, Mr. Todd." Toby smiled. "This is going to be fun."

Hope was enjoying her time out…well, as much as she could with Sweeney always watching her.

When they got to the park Toby picked out a place to sit and then Mrs. Lovett set out the blanket and the food.

"Help yourselves." Mrs. Lovett said.

Hope reached into the basket, hoping the food wasn't pies. To her relief it wasn't so she started to eat.

After awhile Mrs. Lovett started talking about living by the sea. It was obvious that she had feelings for Sweeney, though Sweeney did not share those feelings.

"Hope, do you want to go for a walk?" Toby asked after he was finished eating.

"Sure." Then the two of them went off.

Sweeney went to go after them, but Mrs. Lovett pulled him back. "Let them go. They'll be fine."

"Hope, do you have a family?"

Hope wondered why Toby asked, but she told him anyway. "No, I don't."

"I don't either. If you could would you go back and change things. Or if you couldn't would you want to go back and spend some time with your family?"

"Probably not. If I went back to change things then I wouldn't be the person I am today. Things might have ended up worse if my family was still here. And I wouldn't want to go back and spend time with them because I couldn't stay forever and when I come back without them I would be devastated and I don't think I could bare that."

"Well, I can understand the last part, but what if things turned out better if your family was still around?"

"I doubt things would have been better?"

"Why?"

"Don't worry about it."

"So why did you decide to work for Mr. Todd?"

Hope laughed. "You're curious, aren't you? I didn't have a choice really."

"Why not?"

"I have to make a living some how and Mr. Todd was the only that would hire me." Hope lied. "Not exactly what I want to do, but it will do until I save enough money." Though Sweeney never gave Hope any money.

Soon they all headed back to the shop and it wasn't long before a customer came for a shave.

"I came by earlier, but you weren't here." The man said.

"Yes, I was out with friends."

"That's nice. It's good to have friends."

Like with every customer Sweeney killed him and after every kill Hope would clean up; she still hated doing it.

"What did you and the boy talk about?" Sweeney asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"You didn't tell him anything that you might regret telling him, did you?"

"Like I would tell him we are up here and killing people…well, you killing people and me cleaning up your mess." Sweeney glared at her. "We talked about family, ok?"

After a few more killings and Hope cleaning up it was time for bed. Hope didn't feel as uncomfortable as she did the first time she started staying here, but she was still uneasy about sleeping. She always had this fear that Sweeney would kill her in her sleep.

~Dream~

Hope was looking out the window, watching a group of young men that were causing problems.

"I'm putting a stop to this." Someone said.

Hope turned around and looked at a man. "Tristan, please don't. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't worry I'll be fine." Tristan kissed Hope. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Just come back to me safely."

"I will, Baby." Then Tristan left.

Hope looked out the window to keep an eye on him, praying he would be all right. Tristan walked up to the group and was telling them to stop causing problems and to leave. Then group just laughed as they encircled him.

One of the men hit Tristan from behind and then another man hit him and soon they all ganged up on him.

"Tristan!" Hope yelled. She ran out of the room and outside, but by the time she got there the young men were gone and Tristan was lying on the ground, bleeding.

Hope ran to his side and held him in her arms. "Tristan, please be all right."

"I'll be fine." Tristan said weakly. "This is just a scratch."

"We need to get you to a doctor."

Tristan tried to sit up, but pain shot through his body and he fell back down. "Yeah, I guess that would be a good idea."

~End of Dream~

Hope awoke and looked around the room. She was back in the shop. Hope laid back down as tears rolled down her face.