Happy New Years to all :)
My resolution- try not to draw things out so much in my writing.
Oh well, this chapter we get somewhere for a change!
-Ellie

Secrecy involves a tension which, at the moment of revelation, finds its release- Georg Simmel

Adele had gotten in the jeep with Bill at 2 in the afternoon.

It was 2:15 when she had finished reading the letter.

And it was 2:18 when he had first asked her who she was.

It was now 4:19 and she hadn't yet said a word.

The roaring of the jeep's engine broke what would have been an unbearable silence, and Adele stared out the window, trying to show Bill her tears.

Bill sighed, he didn't like long silences.

He liked loud noisy boisterous conversations.

He liked playful arguing and bickering.

Hell, he even liked a full out brawl compared to this silence.

So he tried again.

"Adele, I promise- I won't judge you. I'm the last guy who would; I mean I grew up half homeless on the streets in
South Philly. Just tell me who you are, Eddie, I promise it's not as bad as you think."

Adele scoffed bitterly, "Oh I'm sure that it is."

Bill threw a hand in the air, "Then your friend?" He attempted. "Tell me about your friend Adelheida! What's her deal?
She's got an inheritance in Bertchesgarten?"

Adele shook her head in defeated, her hands coming up to support her heavy head.

This was so much worse that she thought.

He had no idea.

"Com on Eddie!"

She stared pleadingly at him, her eyes begging. "Bill, please. Just let me out of the car-"

His eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly hit the automatic lock in the car, hoping she wasn't suicidal enough to try to jump.

"Eddie! Stop this!" He scolded. "There's no need to be dramatic."

She slammed her head back into the seat violently. "Just let me out. It's bad Bill. Really really bad. Just let me out of the car and I'll go."

He sighed and stepped on the gas.

"You don't make things easy on a man." He noted, raising an eyebrow. " We've been driving for over two hours, and we're halfway to Reims. There's no way that I'm letting you out in this territory."

Again, she snorted, rolling her eyes as he continued. "So how about you just tell me who you are, and who Adelheida is, and when we get to Reims you can run."

Adele took a deep and shaky breath, and closed her eyes resignedly.

"Ok." She began, running a tormented hand through her hair. "For starters- Adelheida is not my friend."

She paused, and started down concentrating at the floor before continuing. "I'm Adelheida."

The car jerked a little bit as Bill's foot left the gas pedal.

He turned to her, eyes widened. "Well, hey!" He told her encouragingly. "There's a start."

Adele nodded, and locked her jaw.

Just admitting her real name hurt her.

Because it wasn't her.

She was not the person Adelheida was.

She was Adele- Adelheida had been long abandoned.

She began sobbing again, and suddenly, miraculously she found the words.

She didn't know how but they came to her.

The one story she didn't want to tell- she found the words to tell it.

Holding a shaking hand to the door handle she began.

"My name is Adelheida Konstanze Goebbels."

Bill's brow furrowed in contemplation. "That name sounds familiar…"

She sighed in sad exasperation, and her face wrinkled in despair. "You who Adolf Hitler is?" She asked sarcastically, flinging a hand out in a derogatory motion.

He eyed her nervously, "Hell yeah I know who Hitler is. Whole damn reason for the fucking war."

She smiled, her teeth exposing in angry fashion. "Then you should know the Goebbels!"

His eyes were uncertain and he could feel his own heart beating a bit quicker. Who the hell was this girl?

She coughed, and began again- her steel blue eyes harsh and brooding.

"So the Goebbels are Hitler's first and foremost advisors. Joseph Goebbels is the minister of propaganda, and one of Hitler's top advisors. And Magda…"

She snorted in disgust, her nose wrinkling slightly. "She's Hitler's own personal whore of the empire. She's the trophy wife of the Third Reich."

Bill's jaw was clenched, and his hands gripped tightly to the wheel. "And you said you're a Goebbels?"

She looked at him intently, anger and sadness radiating from her deep blue eyes. "Yeah. By birth alone. My mother- Magda gave me up because her marriage to my father Gunter Quandt was falling to pieces. It was her fault."

Bill sucked in air rapidly and whistled it out sharply. "She gave you up? Her own baby? She had tons of money though didn't she? It ain't like she couldn't feed you."

Adele nodded. "Yeah, but I was just born and reminded her of her struggling marriage."

The jeep suddenly turned onto another road, and Bill stared over at her. "What about your brother?"

Adele snorted, "Oh she kept him. He was a good son. She didn't need a daughter."

"So how'd your other family find you?"

Adele smiled fondly, "They were returning from traveling in Poland visiting relatives. They were in a crowd and she pushed me into my new mother's arms, with a piece of paper saying who she was and thank you- as if no one would object."

Adele shook her head in disgust "She was so vain. She never thought about who burdensome another child could have been. But my new parents were extremely kind, and decided to keep me. They took my name and came up with the French version of it- but they never lost my birth certificate or any of the papers my mother sent with me. My mom was already 8 months pregnant with Tristan, so I had a brother in no time at all. They were kindest people I've ever known- and when you ask me who my parents are, I never ever say Magda Ritschel and Gunter Quandt. I say Henry and Nathalie Roux, because they acted like my parents.

Her fist were still clenhed tightly to the doorhandle, and she squeezed it, as if for strenght.

"They loved me like parents should. They're my parents- no matter what the hell my birth record says. They are my parents."

Bill nodded, and Adele looked up at him, her eyes guarded. "So do you want to just let me out of the car, or would you rather shoot me?"

He shook his head. "No. I don't care. You're still Eddie to me."

She gave him a small, saddened smile. "No I'm not." She whispered, her voice barely audible above the roaring of the jeeps engine.

"You're sitting there wondering if I'm a spy, and if I killed your brother intentionally, or if I'm part of the SS, or-"

Bill held up a hand, "No. No I'm not." He fixed her with a knowing glare. "I don't believe in judging people by where they're born. You weren't even a year old when your mom gave you up- you're not a Nazi."

She smiled again, staring out at the setting sun. "But it's who I was born as. You can never truly escape that. It's my legal name, my legal home is in Bertchesgarten, as is my inheritance. I- I'm German, I'm not French. I wish to hell that I was."

Bill stroked her shoulder gently, pressing lighter and then harder to relieve the tension. "So you're German? Well, God, I'm Italian and they're in the axis powers too!"

She rolled her eyes, "But I mean I'm- I'm bad German. Like Aryan bred German."

His free hand stroked her blonde hair gently. "I knew you weren't French!" He whispered, his eyes twinkling.

She whirled around to face him, tearing her eyes from the sunset. "So you're not mad? Scared? Angry? Upset? Betrayed?"

She held out her hands to signal she was giving him the opportunity to accept these emotions.

He shook his head and made another turn. "Nope. I'm good."

She folded her arms, and huffed. "I lied to you and you don't care. I'm a German- and you don't care? You are known in the entire 101st for how much you hated Germans on D-Day."

He pulled off his sunglasses, and tilted his head to meet her icy gaze. "But see, they believe in Hitler, and Magda, and Goebbels- you don't. You realize that it's not right. And that's not you. You're alright, you're still Eddie to me."

She smiled gratefully at him, and suddenly she noticed that the car had stopped moving.

He hopped out of the jeep, and vainly straightened his jacket, before coming to Adele's side of the jeep and opening
the door.

He offered her his hand as she stepped down from the jeep and she looked up and around at the bustle of the city.

He looked down at her, and she smiled up at him. "So I can run now?" She asked quietly, checking the streets.

He nodded and stared down at her beautiful hair blowing in the cool evening breeze. "Yeah. I'm a man of my word, and you can run."

She glanced up and down the street, and then back up at Bill, a fait smiled dancing on her pink lips. "I have nowhere to run."

He winked at her, and lowered himself a bit. "Except to me!"

Giggling, she ran to him and he picked her up in his arms, throwing her a little.

"Bill!" She squealed gleefully, her blue eyes bright in the last light of day. "Put me down! Me mettre maintenant!"

He grinned confidently at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh you don't have to speak French anymore!" He joked sardonically. "You can cut out the act!"

She began slapping at him even though he still held her, now against his hip. "I really know French! I don't know much German at all!"

He smiled cockily at her, the corners of his mouth seeming to slide continually upwards as he beamed at her. "Say I
love you Bill Gaurnere in German."

She blushed, and kicked at him. "Put me down!"

Hs hook his head stubbornly, his evil grin still prevalent. "Not until you say it. Say I love you Bill Gaurnere in German."

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms as he looked up into her sapphire eyes. "Ich liebe Sie Bill Gaurnere." She muttered quietly, looking away from him.

He shook her a little, bouncing her on his him in an attempt to catch her gaze. "Say it again!" He prompted, smiling boldly up at her.

She kicked him- hard. "No! You said you'd put me down, and 10 minutes ago you said that you were a man of your word!"

Groaning, he set her down on the ground, and she grinned when she felt her toes finally touch the cold cobblestone.

"Ich habe Sie getreten und Sie haben zugehört. Interessant." She mused haughtily, placing a contemplative finger to her chin.

He raised a scolding finger. "In English. Or even French. Hell, I like French better than that shit you just spoke."

She grinned. "I said, in German, I kicked you and you listened. Interesting. I should do it more often."

He stepped closer to her and she looked up at his muscular figure, and broad shoulders and she suddenly slung her arms around them.

"Say it." He whispered, pressing a hand to her cheek. "Say I love you Bill Gaurnere in German."

She shifted bashfully away from his touch, and looked up at him.

"No." She breathed, as she stood up on her tip toes, and ran her fingers through his dark hair. "I want to say it in English."

He raised an eyebrow at her, as his lips grazed down her smooth jawline and the wind tousled her hair gently.

"I love you Bill Gaurnere." She breathed, taking in his sturdy figure, the closeness of their bodies, his scent, and the rays of the sun that beamed over the top of his thick dark hair.

The wind ruffled her skirts, and his hands flew to her sides and pulled her even closer as their lips crashed together, and his hands were on her back.

Breathing heavily, she stepped away from him, her blue eyes dancing and twinkling. "I love you Bill Gaurnere."