Confessions
Part of her wishes she hadn't come here. It's the part that had her feeling unsettled and paranoid as she entered her old favourite Cafe but the bigger part of her was certain, this was the right thing to do.
She had to tell him first, right? It wouldn't be okay for him to hear it from other people, would it?
No, she's right, it would break him to hear it from someone else. This is the right course, she's sure.
She's thinking so hard she almost misses his lean frame at a corner table. Corner tables used to be their thing. Shit, this was a bad idea.
Still she pushes on, smoothing the front of her dress and hiding the diamond on her left ring finger well within the depths of her coat pocket.
He looks up as she approaches, a look in his eyes, almost bitter. She can't blame him. She's aware of how expensive she looks, dressed in complete designer, though understated and without a branding mark to be seen, the look was distinct and undeniably rich. Rich in a way she hadn't been before, and the person she was meeting knew it.
She smiled when she reached him, "Hey, I'm sorry to keep you waiting."
She was almost always late to most things, he knew that. He knows that she knows, he knows that and how awkward it was to even apologise but one had to say something.
"It's alright, the usual." It has deeper implications than she can stand right now. "Are you good?"
She blows out a breath it feels like her heart is trying to break out of her chest, "I'm doing good, thank you, finally got published."
The waiter comes, she orders a cuppachino despite knowing there was no way it would get past the nervous twisting in her stomach.
She feels relief when he grins, happy for her, though she wonders if she should have shared that. "I feel like I'm getting there, so good. How are you?"
"Good, nothing much that's new. Sis has a baby girl now. She was asking about you." He doesn't look at her for the last part. Fuck.
"I..." don't know what to say.
Just tell him, a cruel part of her demands. End this now, it's gone on too long.
He'd always been waiting on her, even though she's begged him every step of the way not to. Noah has been her friend since childhood and both their families had hoped for a romance between them from their teen years, something she had tried and failed to entertain. Even after she met Steven, Noah'd still had hope that she'd come to him eventually, that she'd be happy with him.
She closes her eyes, its the only way she'll be able to get it out, "Noah, Steven proposed."
When she looks up, his jaw is clenched shut. He looks- gutted.
"And you said yes." She nods.
"Y/n you barely know him!"
"I do know him, Noah, and I love him and I'm sorry I just couldn't- I had to say yes. I wanted to." She admits.
She really does love Steven. He is the one she'd been waiting for, the reason she couldn't settle before she'd met him.
Steven is her soulmate and he knew it too. It was first thing he'd said the moment he first laid his eyes on her, "You're here." he'd said, "You're finally here."
She had lied to him to come here, told him that she was going to meet her girlfriends, to break the news. She prays for forgiveness.
"Noah," she tries again, "I'm sorry."
He stands and grabs his keys. She's grateful, there honestly wasn't anything left to say. She hates feeling guilty about her joy. And she is happy. She truly loves Steven and he loves her, she's sure if it.
"Congratulations, Y/n, I sure hope you don't regret it." He throws at her and leaves.
As he walks, she flags the waiter, he brings the bill looking sorry for her. If only he knew. She adds the tip and taps her black card, a gift from Steven.
Just as she walks out of the Cafe, her heart stops.
Yves Barron is standing there. Attempting to look casual or as casual as any military trained security forces can look in a flowery glass covered lane in New York.
Yves is one of Steven's closest employees. They'd met in military service in the 'early days', as her fiancé liked to phrase it when he described the times they'd formed the bonds that helped them keep each other alive. He was the one who usually followed Y/n around when she couldn't convince Steven to just not. She'd made a show of protesting a few weeks ago though, had made Steven promise to let her be. No more guards and no more shadows watching her. Guess she wasn't the only one who broke their end of the deal.
She doesn't realise she's frozen until she hears,
"Y/n? Ma'am? Good Afternoon, I've been sent to drive you to the penthouse, evening traffic will be a nightmare soon. Shall we?"
She knows it's not a question, "Yes- of course Yves but my car, I drove here."
"Not to worry ma'am, we'll ensure your car gets back to the garage."
The short walk to the streetside parking has chilly sweat running down her back. She tries not to feel like she's done anything wrong but her pounding heart betrays her.
Yves holds opens the back door of the the Maybach. He goes to seat himself after closing her door.
The SUV peels out of the mall parking lot.
The drive is as silent as a funeral. Steven must know exactly where she's been. It's the only explanation. He'd thought well ahead to send Yves too. Having full knowledge of her, he knew if she'd had any chance she'd probably have fled from the consequences of her actions.
Steven had found out about Noah's love for Y/n a few months into their relationship, no thanks to her younger sister's loose tongued approach about Y/n's only past relationship. Her mothers protests about them being childhood friends, practically family, did not persuade Steven. His possessive personality had immediately made Noah (and her family's clear familiarity with him) his personal enemy. He'd been trying to erase him from their minds ever since.
Sad as it may seem, he'd been doing so well at it too. Even her Mom had ended up falling for Steven after vowing not to like him, because of Noah again. He'd effectively kicked Noah out of their lives and she'd allowed him to.
Her mind, so sure before, is now turning on itself.
What had she been thinking? Shouldn't she have known it wouldn't end well? She should have let Noah find out on from the headlines on social media like everyone else.
Now she'd broken both promises Steven had ever asked of her; Don't lie to me and don't go behind my back.
Soon the car pulls into the underground lot of the Apartment building and she's not sure whether to be relieved or afraid.
Steven had never shown the signs of being a violent man in the five months she'd known him but he's never hidden his possessiveness of her.
In fact he'd said-- no she can't think of it now or she'll die, and she can't die, she has to fix this mess she'd made.
The elevator ride up is torture, Yves keeps his eyes respectfully averted but she feels another set of eyes bearing down on her. She doesn't dare look at up, keeping her eyes down despite knowing he hates it when she does that. She'd had his hand under her chin enough times to know that he preferred her with her head held high at all times.
The diamonds in her ring sparkle against the lights, she wants to run.
Inevitably the elevator doors pull apart and her eyes land on Steven's muscular form standing before them. His furious eyes seem to dare her to try. Not wanting to test fate her legs carry her quivering heart her into the double volume living room.
"Thank you, Yves, you can take off for the rest of the day."
The man; who'd never been a man of many words; salutes his boss and sets the metal box back on its downward path.
Steven can see her hands; pale nuckled and clinging to her handbag's strap for dear life. The fear in her eyes is plain and it's making him angrier than he thought he could get. He feels like his chest is burning. As if he could ever dream of hurting her. Funny too because she'd hurt him the first chance she got. The silence in the room is close to screaming when he breaks it.
"So that's what you lied to me for?" He sounds tired, and disappointed in her, it pulls her heart to pieces.
"No, no Steven, please, I can explain, it's not what you think." The words aren't coming fast enough, "I just wanted to break the news about our engagement, I just thought it would be better if he heard it from me first that's all."
His eyes freeze even further, it makes her more afraid.
"So you left our home after the night of our engagement to meet with your ex, tried to lie to me about where it is you were going and you want me to believe you two had tea and he helped you chose wedding doilies?" He chuckles.
She tries to find the words to explain-before she can speak, she's shaken by his vice grip on her arm, he tilts her chin toward his, gripping her jaw.
"Y/n are you still in love with him?"
"Steven, no!" She hates even the mention of it.
His grip on her tightens, "Don't you dare lie to me!"
"I'm not lying, I swear! I just- I know how it may look but I was only trying to make things right between Noah and I as friends, I promise. Please don't be angry with me, please." She knows she probably sounds pathetic but it's true.
He listens until she's done.
"You wanted to make things right." He says and chuckles again. "Fine, allow me to do the same."
He let's her go and takes his phone out of his pocket and puts the sleek device to his ear, "Bucky, you still have your eyes on the target, correct?"
At this point she's panicking, it didn't sound good. "Steve, don't-"
"Good, shoot him." He finishes.
Screaming.
Somehow she's already in front of him, trying to reach for the phone, why must he so tall?
"No!"
He hangs up. Oh no, oh god, no.
"No! Bucky, damn you! Stop him!"
"You don't want me to be angry so I got rid of the problem. I remember telling you that I won't stand for anyone trying to come between us. I told you, to never ever to lie to me but you broke your promise because of him.."
She remembers clearly, the night he told her that.
"No, no, Steven I'm sorry, please listen to me, I'm sorry but don't this, please, not to Noah."
She's feels like she can't breathe right, her eyes are blurry and her knees feel weak; they give, she feels him hold her up.
If there's one person she knows who would do anything for Steve it would be Bucky, she knows he's hard pressed to follow this order, she knows how very capable of it he is.
"No darling, stop, you'll make yourself sick." He's trying to wipe at her tears and she's trying to push him away but he's too strong.
"You shouldn't have lied to me, baby." He succeeds in wiping her tears after subduing her struggles. "But I'll choose to forgive you because I know you're still so young, kind hearted, and you just had a moment of weakness." He kisses her forehead even though she can practically hear his molars grinding.
"Steven no, please, Noah has a family, they need him! Besides you're right; I'm the one who did this so leave him out of this, take your anger out on me, not him!"
He looks unmoved.
"This conversation is over." He says, sits her on the couch and turns away. Unwilling, it seems, to even look at her.
"Jarvis, remove Y/n's access to the elevator and all the communication lines. She is no longer allowed to leave the penthouse without my explicit permission nor contact anyone, except me, until further notice. Activate all her security footage and stream it directly to my private feed."
"Noted, sir." The AI responds through his eerily human sounding voice.
She watches him caging her in but all she can think about is how she can't give up on Noah's life. She has to try everything possible to stop this or she could never forgive herself, or him. She stands and stakes a step toward him as he turns toward the elevator, praying to all of the heavens.
"Daddy," his shoulders tense as he stops, "daddy, please don't go, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I lied to you. You're right I just -" She forces the words out, "had a moment of weakness but I just had to tell him that I chose you, I love you, and I know it's all my doing, but please don't."
He turns and eyes her warily, his voice is grave when he speaks,
"This is the price for peace."