It had been seven days since Peyton was brought back to this hellhole after the miserably failed escape. Seven days, and she hadn't uttered a single word. She was determined to show the monster how much she despised him, but it was exhausting. She was getting lonelier than ever. And he was getting on edge because of her behavior. But she knew she couldn't keep it up much longer. She was losing the fight. It was starting to become obvious to her that no matter how much she ignored and despised him, he still wouldn't give up his twisted love for her, and she felt herself slowly breaking.

Peyton had just taken a shower and put on some stupid dress he made her wear. Derek was now leading her into the living room, and her body ached when she walked, as she had not yet recovered from the brutal beatings. He seemed distracted by something, and didn't pay much attention to her as he let her sit down in the couch by the TV, while he walked over to the kitchen table. Peyton carefully watched him from the corner of her eye, wondering what he was up to now. It seemed like he was packing something; the table was covered with food and other goods, and he was packing it all into a basket.

Derek could feel her eyes staring in his direction and he smiled to himself. He knew this would finally change her mood. She'd been moping all week, but now he was sure she'd be happier. He would do anything for her, and he hoped she realized that. She must understand that every single thing he did, he did out of love for her. He looked over at her, and Peyton hurriedly looked away. The movement hurt him. He didn't want her to be afraid of him, but he kept his temper. He wouldn't let her ruin another perfectly romantic evening.

Derek finished packing the basket, and started approaching Peyton. Her body stiffened as he came closer, and she saw him holding a rope in his hands. She eyed it carefully. She hated it when he tied her up. Her wrists still hurt from the previous night when he'd tied her to the bed yet again.

"Honey, we're going outside for a little bit." He tilted her chin backwards and made her look at him. "I've prepared this romantic picnic for us, and I really want you to act properly, okay?"

Peyton stared him bitterly in the eyes, but nodded warily. Then she took a shuddering breath, trying to build up the courage to speak to him.

"Please don't tie me up." Her voice was pleading, and she felt ashamed of herself for sounding so weak.

Derek suspiciously looked at her. She looked pleadingly up at him. "I wish I didn't have to, but I can't trust you after what you did. I really don't feel like spending the whole afternoon running after you."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "I promise I won't run. I promise, Derek, just please… let me have some freedom."

He watched her skeptically. It could be a game, she could be tricking him, but as he looked at her, she seemed so truthful. It was beautiful, she was so beautiful, and he felt himself soften up. He let the rope fall to the ground, and Peyton looked at it with relief.

"Fine, Peyton. But listen carefully; if you try to run or try anything, I'll make sure you never try again. You hear me?"

She looked at him with frightened eyes and nodded without a word.

"Good. Let's go outside then."

He took her hand with a smile and led her outside the door. The fresh air felt so strange to her face, and she took a deep breath. She hadn't been outside since her escape, and that time she hadn't really had the chance to enjoy the nature. The sun was shining so brightly on her pale face, and as Derek led her over the grass to a specific spot, all she did was stare up at the sun and took it all in. Derek put down a big blanket on the grass, which they were probably going to sit on, and he started taking out food from the basket. Peyton stood beside him, but couldn't keep her eyes off the sky. She watched some birds fly so freely off to the distance, and she wished she could be part of the flock.

"Come on, sit down with me."

Peyton looked down from the sky, and saw that Derek was already sitting there with two sandwiches in his hand. Peyton anxiously sat down at the other end of the blanket, hoping he would keep his distance for now.

Even though she'd been around him for a month now, he still creeped her out beyond imagining. He had been watching her possessively for so long, and now that he finally had her, his delusional relationship with her was only growing stronger, day by day. It was suffocating her.

"Here," he said and gave her one sandwich. "It's strawberry jam and cheese, just the way you like it. You always used to order that at Karen's café for lunch."

Peyton tried to shake away the goosebumps she got from the fact that he knew that. She should have learned by now that he knew the smallest, creepiest details about her; from what shampoo she liked to what make-up products she wore.

He smiled at her as she took a bite from the sandwich. "Baby, don't look so petrified. I know you. I've loved you from afar for so long. When I stumbled over your website, I was bewitched. Your beauty was just breathtaking. You gave my life purpose; you gave me a light in the darkness. We are so much alike, you have no idea..."

Peyton tried not to roll her eyes. Now he started again with another one of his sick love confessions.

"We are nothing alike," Peyton said coolly. "I don't even know your real name…"

Derek looked at her. "That really doesn't matter, honey. I'm Derek now, I'm your Derek, the one you know and love me as. A name doesn't say anything about who I am. My love should say it all, and nothing else matters." He leaned forward and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"I remember watching you one night at Tric, at that costume party, if you remember. You spent most of the party huddled away in a corner, and you looked so sad. It was like no one paid attention to your sadness, all of them were too busy with their own ridiculous drama. But I saw, I understood. I wanted so badly to go over to you and let you know. I understood your pain." Derek took a deep breath. Peyton felt herself growing queasy. Any time he started talking about when he used to watch her, it creeped the hell out of her.

"You looked so beautiful that night, Peyton. Your angel costume was so dark and it expressed your pain so clearly. And you looked sexy as hell, not to mention that too." He smiled seductively at her. "When I saw that picture hanging in your room, the one of you that Ellie drew, I fell in love with it. And you gave it to me. It made me so happy. And I understood right then that you had just invited me to be yours. You let me in so easily, and I knew that you loved me back; it was as obvious as night and day." He smiled at her with tearful eyes, but Peyton closed hers in repulsion. She didn't want to listen to this.

She had lost her appetite by now and put the sandwich down.

"Not hungry anymore?" Derek asked sweetly. Peyton shook her head, still with her eyes closed. She felt sick.

"Oh well." The next thing she heard was clinging of glass, and the sound of something being poured into them. Peyton opened her eyes to see Derek holding two glasses filled with wine. He held one glass to her, and she took it.

Derek watched her with lustful eyes as she took a small sip from the wine. She kept her eyes anywhere but at him.

"Do you like it?"

Peyton's eyes moved over to him. He was smiling at her.

"What?"

"Do you like the wine?"

She raised her shoulders and looked away from him again with a sigh. "I guess.."

Derek was displeased. "Please don't be like that, Peyton. I'm really trying here. This is supposed to be romantic, don't ruin it." He moved closer to her and kissed her gently on the shoulder.

Peyton closed her eyes and waited for him to stop, and once he did, she put the glass to her mouth and emptied it all in one mouthful. Now that she had the possibility to numb her senses with some alcohol, she wasn't going to pass it away.

"Hmm, that was fast. Here, let me pour you some more." He took the bottle of wine and filled her glass again.

Peyton looked at the ground. "Did you know…" she took a shaky breath, "that I used to love driving around in my car?" She looked him in the eye, and saw he seemed surprised. "I could drive anywhere, I didn't really care where the road took me. I had the music blasting on the loudest, and I just drove. I loved the privacy… it was even more sacred than my room. I could just clear my head and think, or I could shut out all thoughts. I shut out the world around me, and it was the best feeling. I used to love it." Derek looked at her with entranced eyes. It wasn't often, if ever, she told him something like this.

"I loved it, Derek. Now here's something you don't know about me: Ever since you brought me here, you've taken away everything that I love. You've stripped away every single thing that makes me who I am. I'm not myself anymore. And you don't even realize that."

He looked uncomfortable, but shook his head after a moment. "But that's what true love is all about, baby. Making sacrifice for the ones you love."

"And what have you sacrificed?" she asked bitterly. "What did you sacrifice when you so lovingly brought me to this godforsaken place? Huh?" Her voice was shaking from hurt. All he had sacrificed was her life. He had made the choice of sacrificing her happiness for his own gain, and there was nothing loving about that.

"You didn't give me a choice. You made me sacrifice my whole life and sanity by making me fall in love with you!" His voice got raised, and he tried to calm himself again. He sighed.

"We both have lost a lot sweetheart, but we have each other. We have a new life now, and that's what matters. I love you so much Peyton, and I desperately want you to be happy… here, with me. I miss your beautiful smile and I hate it when you're always moping. Why can't you smile again?"

"You make my skin crawl, Derek, that's why! The way you think of me, the way you look at me… I don't feel that way about you. And I never will. All you do is scare me, and I don't want to be here with you."

She could see his attitude changing, fast. He was becoming angry again, and she swore to herself.

"Well, if I can't have you, no one else can either!" he said loudly, his voice ringing through her ears. He grabbed her shoulders tightly and started shaking her. "No one else can make you happy, Peyton! I saw the way that prick Lucas hurt you! I watched you show up at his house one night last year, and that slut Brooke was already there, and when you left a few moments later, you were crying! I wanted to kill him right there for making you hurt that way!" he continued shaking her, and her wine spilled everywhere.

"And then there was that inconsiderate bastard Jagielski! He never cared enough about you to stay with you! He was too busy chasing after that whore ex of his with that ridiculous baby, as if some baby was more important than you! I watched you at Tric that night when he left you, and you were crying your eyes out over another guy!" his voice was shaking from anger and desperation. "I promised myself right then that I would never make you hurt that way. I would show you how much you're worth, how amazing you are! So why won't you see it?! I love you!" Derek was boiling and Peyton felt herself shivering. He got so scary sometimes.

"Remember Peyton, you're mine forever, and if you don't realize that soon, that's too bad for you! End of discussion, we're not talking about this anymore. Let's just fucking enjoy the rest of the day, okay?"

Peyton kept her mouth shut as a silent tear fell down her face. She wiped it away, angry with herself for crying again. She was sick of crying because of that psycho.

It stayed quiet for a while, as Derek tried to calm himself. His hands had clenched into fists and he'd been so close to hitting her again. She just made him so desperately angry sometimes. But he needed to control himself.

"Although you say you love me, you have a fucked up way of showing it…" she mumbled bitterly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just thinking about how much I love you," she said with a big, fake smile, her voice oozing of sarcasm. To her surprise, Derek smirked.

"Hm, still feisty. I thought you'd lost that about you. I'm glad to see it's still there." He just had to smile to himself. He loved the way she could become so stubborn and sarcastic sometimes… even though she could piss him off for it, he still loved that about her.

It got quiet again. Peyton shifted uncomfortably, wanting to ask him something, but was scared his temper was still in the danger zone.

"Are you really expecting me to forget everything about my life and never mention it again?" she asked at last, fear covering her voice.

Derek looked at her, and his mouth widened to a smile. "Your previous life, honey. And yes, the best way to move on in this life, is for you to forget about everything you thought you loved before. Then it'll get much better, I promise." He sounded so sure of himself.

Her lips were quivering as she whispered, so silently he wouldn't hear; "I'll never forget… never."