The three days pass quickly, and as I promised, I ate and spoke to Zemo more, not by much though. He often tried to sit too close or hug me and I would quickly move or go up to the room.

He always seemed disappointed when I would do so, and it made me feel like shit.

"Morning, Darling," Zemo's voice slowly brings me out of my dreamless slumber, "we need to get ready to leave."

My eyes peek open and I find Zemo standing beside the bed.

For a while we had shared the bed, but not since I broke us both. Zemo had been sleeping on the couch.

I see that he's already dressed and ready.

I push the blankets off and groggily get up, the oversized shirt I'm wearing hanging off my shoulder. I shuffle over to the dresser and pull out one of the sets of clothes Zemo had bought for me; a simple pair of black, skinny jeans and a deep purple blouse. I grab my undergarments and shuffle to the bathroom.

"I'll put the suitcases in the car and make us some breakfast," Zemo says. He looks like he might take a step towards me but I close the door before he can.

"I'll be down in a bit," I say through the door, my hand still on the wood as I rest my forehead against it with a sigh.

I hate this.

I hate wanting him.

I hate loving him.

I hate that I'm going to lose him.

I hate it all.

Helmut's POV
I put the last of the bags into the car and head back in to make something for the two of us to eat.

I hear the shower running upstairs and contemplate going back up. I doubt she would be happy about it though.

I sigh and start to make some toast and eggs for when she comes down.

A few moments pass until I hear her start to sing upstairs.

"Hold me close and hold me fast
The magic spell you cast
This is "La vie en rose"
When you kiss me, heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see "La vie en rose""

I stop what I doing to listen.

"When you press me to your heart
I'm in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak, angels sing from above
Everyday words seem to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
"La vie en rose""

It's not the first time I've heard her sing, but the song almost brings me to tears. It's the same song the Milo woman told me to play in Germany.

She begins to hum the same tune of the song and I let out a shaky breath.

I quickly go back to the eggs to stop them from burning and swipe away the stray tear from my cheek.

The water turns off as she finishes her song.

How can she sing a song like that when she won't let me do as it says?

I put the eggs on the plates along with two pieces of toast each as she walks down the stairs.

"Breakfast is ready," I say as I set the plates next to each other on the table.

She picks up one of them and moves it to the opposite side of the table before sitting down.

I sigh and sit across from her as we begin to eat in silence.

I hate this.

"Did you sleep okay?" She asks suddenly.

She's actually starting the conversation for once?

"I suppose," I answer and cleary throat, "did you?"

"I guess," she shrugs, still looking down at her plate.

There's a pause.

There always seems to be more silence than words in our conversations now.

Why can't we go back to how it was?

"What part am I supposed to be playing when we get there?"

I look at her, unsure how she is going to react.

"My wife," I say, watching to gage her reaction, "Baroness Y/n Zemo."

She freezes and her hand shakes slightly.

"Okay," she clears her throat.

"We need to being playing our parts the moment we land," I continue, "the people we are meeting will be watching so we can't slip up."

I reach into my pocket and pull out a small black box, setting it on the table in front of her.

She stares at it before setting her fork down and slowly reaching for it.

She opens it and I can hear the small gasp.

She pulls out the ring and sets the box back on the table.

"You could have just gotten a cubic zirconian instead," she says softly.

The ring has a silver band with her birth stone in the middle and two of small topaz stones on either side of the larger stone; my birthstone.

"You didn't need to waste your money," she murmurs putting the ring back TV box and sliding it back to me.

"It wasn't a waste of money," I slide it back to her, "put it on."

"I will on the way there," she pushes it back to me.

I concede with a sigh and put the box back in my pocket.

"Alright," I stare down at my plate.

I don't have much longer before this is over, and I can't just trick her into staying or lie to her about helping her. I have to be honest with her.

"I don't want you to leave," I say looking up at her.

"We don't have a choice Baron," she grits out, her grip on her fork becoming tighter, "it's going to happen, wether you help me or not."

She closes her eyes a swipes away a tear.

"Then I'm not going to help you."

Her gaze shoot up to meet mine.

"You said you would."

"I know I did," my voice shakes a bit, "but I can't."

"Why not?" She snaps.

"Because I love-"

"Don't say it!"

Tears fall from her eyes.

"No I will," I lean forward, "I love-"

My words are cut off as her hand comes in contact with my cheek.

She slapped me.

She just slapped me.

I look back at her and she stares at me angrily, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I said don't say it," her voice is weak. She gets up from her seat and heads for the door, "let's go, the sooner we get this done, the sooner I can go home."

She walks out, slamming the door closed behind her as I sit at the table staring after her still in shock.

Why won't she just stay?

~~~~~~~~~~
Please don't kill me
🥺
👉👈