Peyton whimpered as she tried to move yet again but it was simply too hard. She tried to let out a scream but it was impossible for the gag tied securely around her mouth. There was nothing to do and nowhere to go and it had started hours before in the late night presumably when Derek had gotten off from TRIC. She had been asleep as usual, anything to avoid contact with him. But she thought she had heard something like a pulling at the door. By the time she got up to investigate, Derek was inside, angry and antsy as ever…

In his many moods during the month and a half of her capture, she had never quite seen him like that. He had paced the small perimeter for hours, nervously talking to himself, hands fidgeting as he took turns between chain smoking cigarettes and drinking shots of whiskey straight from the bottle. He had ignored her for the most part, barely even acknowledging her presence until he gave her a scary look and said, "We've got to get the hell out of here."

Peyton's heart had pounded. In a way, it was good news and bad news. She hated the place where he had her. It was dirty and too small. She had prayed every day and night to leave it. Now they were. All of a sudden, they were and Derek seemed none too pleased about it. Then came the other side of the story. No matter what, unfortunately, she would still be with Derek. At least at that house, she had grown somewhat accustomed to her surroundings. Although dismal, they were at least familiar. Unexpectedly, Peyton felt frightened at the thought of a move.

"Where are we going? Derek, what are we doing? Why? What happened?"

The questions tumbled out of her mouth all at once.

"You saw them, didn't you?" he turned to her with a sinister look and growl.

"Saw who? What's going on? What are you talking about?"

She appeared genuinely surprised but Derek had bigger plans to make, ones that did not include deciphering whether or not Peyton was trying to trick him at the moment.

"Nothing. Just, just go over in the corner and sit down and shut up for now. I need to think and you're not helping."

At first Peyton did as she was told but she stopped dead in her tracks as she felt her heart drop. It was all coming together. The pulling at the door, Derek's nerves on edge, him accusing her of seeing "them".

"Somebody was out there, wasn't it?" she asked softly.

"Not now, Peyton," he lit another cigarette.

No. She couldn't let that one go. Not even if he yelled or God forbid, started beating her.

"It was. Oh my God. Somebody was here. They found us. They found me."

"You don't know what you're saying."

"Was it Lucas?"

There it was, just like that. She'd had to know.

"What?"

She had uttered the magic word, the one that could and would surely set him off.

"Derek…"

"What did you say?" his eyes darkened.

"I have to know. You, you have to tell me the truth. It was him, wasn't it?"

"Shut up, Peyton! Just shut up!"

"No!" she yelled stubbornly.

Derek, now in a rage, marched right up to her.

"Fine. Have it your way, Peyton. I'll gladly shut you up."

He reached out for her and she tried to squirm away but the place was too small and cramped. When she realized running was no good, she tried to fight back. It was a valiant effort, shaking him as she took a bite out of his right wrist. But her victory would be temporary at best. He put her in a choke hold, laughing as she desperately tried to get away with no success. And then to punish her, to add insult to injury, he snuffed out the burning cherry of his cigarette right on her exposed shoulder. Peyton screamed out in pain, sinking to the floor.

"Why?" she cried. "Why do you do this to me?"

Her cries went unheard. Grabbing a few pieces of rope and improvising by tearing the shirt that covered his wife beater, he neatly laid each piece beside her as he knelt down.

"You talk way too much, Peyton," he calmly reprimanded her. "Sometimes I just don't know what to do with you. First of all, I don't want to hear Lucas' name again or anymore about that nonsense that he somehow came here to rescue you. I mean, fat chance! But since you won't be quiet and leave me alone, I'm afraid you leave me no choice. I have to plan some very important stuff out right now. Then I'm gonna go out for a while and make sure we have everything we need. When I get back, you and I will leave. Now that's the plan and it's my decision and that's final! Obviously, I can't trust you to behave so I'm gonna have to tie you up."

She had begged and pleaded but it was of no use. Brutally he had hogtied her hands behind her back, linked to her ankles. The rope was so tight it had immediately torn at her tender flesh. When she yelped, he had cruelly used his shirt as a gag, stuffing it in her mouth leaving little room for breathing and no room for noise making. He used the other piece of fabric to cover her eyes. Finally, he had dragged her into the corner, face down with a blanket callously thrown over her. She had lain there quiet and frightened out of her mind for what seemed like forever. Time ticked away and then, he was gone…

It was a tough feat, but she had managed to roll out from under the blanket. She had tried to loosen her arms and legs, somehow remove the gag and blindfold but it was of no use. Every part of her body ached and she felt sick to her stomach. Those were the desperate times she actually prayed for his return. But it would be a while longer. The eerie silence was deafening. Bleeding, crying, and all alone, her worst fears began to consume her. How much could one person take? And just when she felt like she might lose it, she heard the door swing open. After a few minutes, footsteps bounded towards her, methodically releasing her from her animal like captivity.

"Hey beautiful," he leaned in giving her a sweet kiss like nothing had ever happened.

Peyton gasped for breath, clutching at her throat, feeling the still painful burn on her shoulder as she massaged the broken parts of skin that bore ugly ligature marks.

"Derek…" she called out.

"I'm sorry about that, Peyton. I know you don't like being tied up but I had no choice."

"If you…if you, really loved me you wouldn't do this to me."

"If I loved you? That's crazy talk. Of course I love you. You have no idea just how much. That's why I'm doing this, for us. Today is a new beginning. We're going to leave this dump and everything will be better, I promise."

"Where are we going?" she inquired cautiously.

Derek handed her a bag. Inside were jeans that actually fit and a Led Zepplin tee shirt, also her size, along with a pair of brand new Converse and a female hair tie.

"See all the cool stuff I bought for you? Let's go in the shower and get cleaned up. When we're changed, I'll explain everything."

Peyton reluctantly nodded. She longed for a bath but at the same time she dreaded it. Usually he watched her but it would be much worse. He disrobed and actually joined her. Peyton never turned around, tears spilling down her cheeks as she felt his calloused hands rubbing all over her. When it was done, they stepped away from the freezing stream of water and toweled off before changing into fresh, clean, new clothing.

"Are you gonna tell me now?" Peyton looked away.

"A promise is a promise, right?" he sat close beside her. "Alright. We're not in Tree Hill now but we're still pretty close by. Today we're leaving, headed west. I saved up enough money and I figured we can drive through the night until we get to Tennessee. We can't stay too long, though. I did find us a nice little low key place in Arkansas, right off the 40. There we can get jobs. It'll be cool, like our own little family. I mean, you might have to cut off your hair and dye it a darker color…"

"Derek…"

"Relax, sweetheart. I'll probably have to do the same thing, you know, in case those meddling assholes still keep bothering us. Don't worry, it's just hair. It'll grow back. Besides, you'll still be beautiful to me. Nothing will ever change that."

"I don't want to go," she shook her head, emphatically.

"Peyton, please don't start. Please. Why are you deliberately trying to start a fight at this very moment and ruin our romantic road trip?"

"You said we'll have to disguise ourselves in case the meddling assholes keep bothering us."

"Yeah. So?"

"So just who are these meddling assholes? My dad? The police? Lucas?"

"Peyton…"

"You told me the other day that my story was old news, that people in Tree Hill had stopped looking for me because they thought I ran away. That was a lie, wasn't it?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"They are still looking for me. Everyone is, aren't they? And last night? That was them. I know it was. They closed in on you and you panicked. That's why we have to take off today."

He smirked at her.

"Smart girl. Congratulations."

"They found me," she smiled with elated relief.

"Not so fast. We're leaving soon and that's the end of it so don't start your whining or your fighting. You're going."

Peyton sucked in a breath. It was hard to contain her joy. They had never stopped looking for and look how close they had come. They would never give up and she had been a fool to believe Derek's pathetic lies. Besides, he was being so paranoid, maybe there was other stuff he wasn't telling her. It had to be something that had lit such a fire under his tail. Maybe her best bet was to calmly go with him. Maybe her only chance at escape, at survival lie outside that house, if she played her cards right. There would be a time when he wouldn't be watching, when he would slip up. Then Peyton could make her move.

"Fine," she looked right at him, resigned. "I will go with you."

Derek shot her a skeptical look.

"We're gonna get some last minute stuff together and then we'll go soon."

"Okay."

Her mood had drastically changed but Derek wasn't a complete fool.

"I'm not stupid, Peyton. Listen to me and you better listen good. I won't let them take us. I won't let them keep us apart. I love you. You better not try to get away because I won't let you. And if anything happens, if we get caught, if they find us…I will kill you, then I'll kill myself."

The words were meant to intimidate her but at the same time she knew they rang true inside his twisted mind. Derek had meant every word he had said.

"Sort of like Romeo and Juliet?"

Derek smiled.

"Not exactly but close enough. Two star crossed lovers, that's perfect. Romeo and Juliet."

Peyton nodded. She knew she would only have one shot and she would have to make it work.