Peyton Sawyer was 18 years old. Two months ago, she had thought her life was just about to begin. If only she had realized it was nearly over. What she knew as normal no longer existed. It had all been taken away from her… Or she had been taken away from it.

Now the future scared her. All she could see was darkness ahead. There were no dreams, no hopes… only him. And it scared the hell out of her. She was scared she would become a different person, that he would change her. And she tried to fight it, but deep within she knew it was a lost cause. He would never stop. But she was stubborn and would not give up.

As time went on, things only got harder. Peyton missed Tree Hill more and more, and the fact that she was never going home again stung in her chest, and left her depressed and scared. And the fact that she didn't have any company, any sort of social life with anyone other than Derek, was making her so lonely it was driving her crazy. Every once in a while, her grief and desperate longing for freedom would have her break down and scream and plead for Derek to let her go. To her growing frustration, he never took her seriously.

"Please, Derek… please, please let me go home! I'm begging you! I want to go home! I'll do anything!" she shouted, tears flooding down her face. This was one of those occasions where Peyton had had enough of everything. She had tried to let him do his thing for a few weeks now without fighting back, but all that did was build up her anger and desperation until it finally became too much for her. Derek only stared at her, as if she was some silly little child.

"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME HERE!" she screamed angrily, pulling at the fabric of his shirt. "This- this is not normal! No one lives like this! Please, please…" Peyton fell to her knees in front of him, shaking with tears. She pleadingly looked up at him. "Derek…" she sobbed. "I'll do anything… please. I won't tell them you harmed me or anything. I'll tell them whatever you like! Just please… I want to see my dad… my friends…"

Derek rolled his eyes, growing tired of her begging. "That's enough, Peyton. Stop it. You're staying here with me, and that's final." His voice grew irritated and his determination filled the room, letting her know there was no point. Peyton continued to tremble and sob on the floor, hating him more than ever. Derek pulled her to her feet and grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him.

"Are you gonna stop being a crybaby now?"

Peyton answered him by furiously spitting him in the face.

"Okay then, as you wish," he said, his eyes burning dangerously. Peyton watched in terror as he wiped the spit from his face, put his clenched fist in the air, and then hit her hard, his fist connecting with her jaw. She fell to the ground again, whimpering in pain and anger. "I HATE YOU!" she screamed.

"We'll see about that," he said angrily and grabbed her by her hair. He didn't like being talked to like that. He hated the way she acted towards him with such hatred, and he made her pay for it whenever her behavior didn't please him. She screamed as he yanked her to her feet again in a painful grip. Black spots covered her vision and a throbbing headache was starting to form in her head from his hit. His grip on her hair made her tear up. He pushed his lips onto hers forcefully, making her wince, and she fought angrily against him. "Ugh, stop it! Don't!"

He let go and looked at her with a cold stare. "You will learn to behave in this house, Peyton. I won't let you act like a childish little brat anymore. I've allowed you some time to deal with this change, but I think you've had more than enough time now. You're living by my rules, and I will make sure you follow them." She met his cold stare with her own hatred, her heart banging in her chest.

"Now, you're gonna have to go to our room for a while, as I have some things to take care of. You can think about how you're going to change your behavior in the meantime."

He grabbed her by her arm, holding her much harder than needed and dragged her into her prison of a room, with her struggling against him relentlessly, tears welling up in her eyes from the pain in her arm.

"What are you "taking care of"?" she spat at him.

"I'm just going out. I'll be gone for a while, so I've left some books for you by the nightstand. And also some sketchpads… you haven't drawn in a while, so I figured that'd be good for you." He smiled at her and dragged his fingers through her hair. "And I really hope you've cheered up and done something about your behavior by the time I get back, or else there'll be no time for your presents," he said and winked, as he was locking the tight chain around her ankle.

"What presents?" Peyton said, thinking it could be nothing good.

"It's a surprise, baby," he answered and kissed her cheek.

She flinched away and looked at him. "How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know, Peyton. Maybe a few days, so I've also left a box of water and some food over in that box, okay?" he said and pointed to a box standing next to the wall. "Make sure you eat something, you're looking way too skinny, honey. Now be good."

He patted her head and turned to leave, leaving her chained up in her windowless room once more.

Be good. How was she supposed to be anything other than "good" when she was left here, not being able to do anything? And where was he going if he was going to be away for several days? Maybe she'd find out when he got back… Although she would prefer it if he never came back.

In the many occasions of being left in her room for hours, it always made her restless. All she could do was think, all alone with her own mind, and that really was the worst torture. She'd try reading, but it didn't help distracting her mind from her thoughts. She'd wonder how her dad was dealing with this, and she wondered if he was still trying to find her. If they all were. Maybe they'd given up? Maybe they all figured she was dead by now? The thought of the people she loved giving up on her and moving on in their lives scared her immensely. She didn't want to be forgotten. She wanted to move on in her life with them. Her stomach tied into knots, as she lay there restless on the pillow, a blanket curled protectively around her fragile body. The first few times when she had been left alone in this room, she would spend most of her time trying to distract her mind by finding a way to get out of the chain; by using broken fingernails or tiny pieces of wood that she'd scratched off the nightstand as a key, but eventually she had realized it was hopeless.

She thought of Derek. She wondered how this whole scenario looked like in his head. It seemed like he saw all the people in her life as villains, with him as her savior. All the people who had apparently hurt her, he was saving her from. It was all so wrong.

She realized that Derek would probably treat her gentler, trust her more, if she somehow tried to convince him that she did love him, and she did understand him, but doing that would mean she would have to act like he didn't actually repulse her. Like she didn't hate him. And the lengths she would have to go to convince him of this made her shudder. That was not something she was willing or able to do as of yet, and probably never. She would never be able to do that with him of her own free will, as just looking at him made her sick, and having to force a smile to him almost made her throw up in his face. Starting to act like she wanted to be part of this "relationship" would also mean that she'd given up… and she wasn't ready to do that. She wasn't ready to welcome this new life.

Hopeless thoughts occupied her mind as ever before, but eventually she fell into a restless slumber, where her usual daydreams came to life once again, and she was wrapped in the safe arms of the person she did love. He brought her far away from this hell… he was always saving her. At least in her dreams.

X

Laughter and a buzz of voices echoed through the crowded room. Then there was the sound of clinging of a glass, and everyone in the overly full café silenced to listen to the person standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey everyone. First of all, I would like to congratulate my brother Nathan, Skills, the rest of the team, and of course Couch Durham for an amazing win. You all deserved it so much. I'm really proud of all of you. It's too bad I didn't get to be part of this fantastic final game, but you guys really outdid yourselves, even without me," Lucas smiled jokingly and nodded towards his friends, as the crowd was staring up at him with bright smiles. They were all gathered in Karen's Café, celebrating the win of the state-basketball championship.

"As most of you know, not everyone are here with us tonight. We've had to deal with some great loss this year, holes that never can be filled again… And it's a shame they can't be here with us tonight. Like the loss of our classmate, Jimmy Edwards. No matter what he did, he was still our classmate and friend, and he's not here with us anymore. And there was my uncle Keith…" Lucas glimpsed over at his mother standing by the counter, and saw her tearful eyes, but she smiled at him.

"… Keith is someone I would have loved to have here with me tonight and every night, so he could help guide me through difficult times with his wise words. He really was a great father figure, and he would have made an amazing husband to my mom. I miss his guidance in my life, but he taught me well and I will never forget the way he wanted me to live my life." Lucas inhaled a shaky breath before continuing. "A dear friend once showed me this quote, and it speaks particularly much to me these days: "I guess by now I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone-you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence."

Well, this friend of mine, she definitely knows what she's talking about, considering she'd lost two moms by the age of 17. But now she is lost as well. Peyton Sawyer, who in a way… was my best friend. Is my best friend. My soulmate. The love of my life. And I won't be ashamed to admit it anymore. I only realized it too late. But I won't lose her. I'm not going to live with that gaping hole in my gut for the rest of my life, because I'm convinced she's still out there. And I'll get her back. I'm sad I didn't get to spend tonight with her, celebrating this amazing victory… and getting to tell her that she's the one girl in my life. But I will get the chance to tell her. Couch Durham recently described his love for his late wife Camilla, how nothing and no one could come between them in the end, and the only thing I could think about is the fact that this is the kind of love I share with Peyton Sawyer. She's the one I want next to me when my dreams come true, and she's the one I want next to me when they don't. She's the bravest girl I've ever met, and if you could all raise your glasses, I would like to dedicate this drink to Peyton Sawyer. Our missed friend, classmate… and love. To Peyton Sawyer."

The crowd all mumbled her name with him, and they drank to Peyton.

"That was… beautiful Luke," Haley mumbled as he sat down next to her. Her face was wet from tears, and once he was sat in his chair, she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thanks, Hales," Lucas said, and she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I feel s-so bad! Peyton should b-be here! It's all so wrong! How are we supposed to be happy when she's out there?" Haley sobbed, her hormones making her more than a little emotional. "I-I loved your speech, Luke. And I'll pray for you to get Peyton back, I will. So that you can finally t-tell her how you feel… something we've all been waiting for since 8th grade!"

Lucas' cheeks flushed somewhat, but he smiled at her as she let go of him. "I love you Haley. Thanks for being my best friend."

She dried away her tears with her jacket and patted his cheek with a small smile. Then she grimaced and abruptly stood up. "Sorry, pregnant lady to the bathroom!" The next thing he knew, Haley had hurried away.

Further down the table Lucas could see Brooke trying to get his attention, and he looked at her. She waved for him to come over to her. He realized she also had stains of tears on her cheeks, but she was smiling at him.

"Hey Luke," she said once he'd reached her. "That was really beautiful… I'm happy for you, I really am. I guess I always knew deep down that it would always be you two in the end. It took you hell of a lot of time before you realized it yourself though."

Lucas smiled and raised his shoulders. "Yeah…"

"Look, I'm thinking of leaving now…" she continued. "It just… feels kind of wrong being here without her. Do you think you could follow me outside?"

"Of course."

X

Derek smirked, feeling more than pleased with what he was seeing. He sat in a black rental car, his face covered under a hoodie and wearing a pair of sunglasses. He looked at the other side of the road, at the small café stomped with people, and the two very familiar people leaving together right now. He picked up his camera and focused it on the two people; the two people he probably hated most in the world. Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott. A throbbing headache formed in his head from only looking at them, and he wanted nothing more than to go out of his hiding place and kill them both right there. But he knew better. Seeing them together like this was something he could use to his advantage.

As the two people stopped walking for a moment, and turned at each other in deep conversation, Derek snapped his first photo. As he looked over at them, it seemed like Brooke was crying, and he smiled brightly at this. He hoped that bitch was hurting as much as she had made his dear Peyton hurt. Lucas put a hand on Brooke's shoulder, and Derek snapped another photo. The two people soon embraced in a hug, and Derek could never have been more pleased. This would be even easier then he'd expected, the way they were throwing themselves at each other. He made sure to snap a bunch of pictures, and then the two people let go of each other and walked in different directions. As Derek watched Lucas return into the café, he couldn't stop smiling to himself. Peyton's mind would definitely change about him once she saw these pictures. She would soon forget all about that pussy-whipped asshole Lucas Scott.

A/N: Quote about loss taken from the book Evermore.