Because you loved me

12

Drake had made one thing very clear to himself on his flight away from the queen.

Derek drove determinedly down the road, his eyes concentrating on the pavement in front of him as the small voice in the backseat asked him question after question. He had no answers for her just yet, so he just continued to drive and let the little girl ask her questions. She didn't appear to be upset or sad. She was merely concerned, and she was not about to let Derek get away with not answering her questions.

"DD... please answer me... why are you so mad at mommy? Why did we leave? Why can't we have breakfast? Why are we having lunch instead? Why is Mister Mark going to take me? DD? Please? DD...?"

Her questions rattled on with each mile, and he couldn't honestly even say that he knew where he was going, and the farther he drove, the more frantic the little girl became, until she asked the one question that Derek had been dreading.

He made sure that no matter what was happening between the queen and himself, that the princess understood where he stood... that she knew that there were good things and bad things that a princess can do... and that anger never solved anything.

DD... why are you so mad at me?" She exclaimed loudly, surprised as the car was suddenly pulled over onto the side of the road. He stopped the car and stared ahead, and suddenly the onslaught of questions were silenced, and Derek just sat in the car, with the only sounds being the turn signal, and the sound of the cars speeding past them as Derek snapped off his seatbelt and turned around in his seat, kneeling down on the seat, he watched her eyes widen as she sat back and her jaw drop.

"Zoey." He said softly as he looked her directly in the eyes, his voice as soft, tender. "I am not mad at you, Zoey." He whispered. "I am not mad at you, and mommy is not mad at you... there are just a lot of things right now that are so much bigger than us that are happening... and I don't know how to explain them to you, and I don't know... how to feel about them, and I don't... want you to ever, ever think... that this is about your mommy or me being angry at you."

"So you're not mad at me that I pushed mommy?" She whispered.

"Not mad, Zoey..." He shook his head. "Disappointed." He nodded as her head bowed in shame. "You should know better than to push anyone down... and especially not someone who is..." He wanted to say weak, he knew that wasn't the right word, and he refused to use that word to describe Meredith. "Especially not your mother, Zoey..." He shook his head as he watched a tear escape the little girl's face. "Now don't you start crying... we're just talking here..." He said as she lifted her eyes to his.

"Why did we leave mommy's house?" She whispered. "You looked so mad at mommy... you looked so mad, and you didn't say goodbye... and you didn't give her a kiss goodbye... and she looked so sad, DD. She looked sad, and you were so mad."

"I was upset because she didn't tell me about falling last night. Mommy needs special attention sometimes, Zoey... she just needs to be looked after because we love her."

"Because we don't want her to get sick again." She nodded as Derek nodded too.

"Exactly." He said with a soft sigh.

"So if I pushed her and she hit her head, she could get sick again?" Zoey asked as her lip started to tremble and her eyes filled with tears.

The fragile soul...

"No... no, sweetie... no..." Derek whispered as he reached back and touched the little girl's face, setting his fingertips on her chin as she looked up at him. "You did not... hurt mommy." He whispered. "I'm worried that sometimes mommy tries so hard to get better... that she's going to hurt herself." He said.