Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RESIDENT EVIL, NO MATTER HOW MUCH I'D LOVE TO, OK???? *sniff,sniff*

"You are invited to the BSAA Grand Ball…blablabla….must wear formal attire…WHAT?!"

Chris Redfield choked on his coffee in shock.

"I'm gonna receive an AWARD?" he shrieked in an unmanly way, causing his best friend and old partner, Jill Valentine, to laugh. She was having breakfast with him, which she now does every other morning, and the same goes for lunch and dinner. She was living in the apartment next to his, and due to loneliness, both of them usually got together to spend some quality time after not seeing each other for 2 years.

2 whole years.

Jill was assumed dead after what happened on a mission with Chris in the Spencer estate. Albert Wesker, their enemy, had killed Ozwell .E. Spencer, the man they were supposed to arrest. They were just about to kill him when the tables had turned and Wesker had tried to kill Chris. Jill, in panic, did the only thing that came to her mind; she ran and lunged forward, throwing her weight into him and causing him to drop Chris. Both had crashed out of the window and had fallen into the depths of the cliff below; devastated, Chris immediately ran out and climbed down to search for them, but they were never found.

Then while on a mission in Kijuju, 2 years later, he found out Jill was actually alive, and got distracted, focusing only on finding Jill, which led him to know she was working for Wesker and under his control. He was so relieved to see her alive…but again, devastated when he saw a mechanism stuck on Jill's chest which was controlling her and causing her pain. He and his new partner, Sheva Alomar, had managed to rip the thing off her chest, and got her back to normal. Then she helped them by telling them how to kill Wesker, and now the world was safe again. Now they could get back to their normal lives.

Jill had decided that she wanted to live in an apartment near Chris and he was enthusiastic, telling her the apartment next to his was empty. So she moved in after getting her stuff (which was only a few possessions, but lucky for her, the apartment already had furniture and other necessities needed) and now they were neighbors.

It had been two months after the incident, and Jill got over most of the guilt of almost helping her enemy destroy the world and attempting to kill her best friend and his partner. She still had some nightmares, though; but at least Chris was there to help her go through it all. Now they were closer than ever, doing shopping together, watching movies and even cooking. It was as if they were a couple…

Jill shrugged this off. Yes, she cared about Chris more than anything in the world, but did that really meant love? She's never had any real family before…

"Hey, you're invited too." Chris's voice broke through her thoughts, and she snapped back to reality. He handed Jill the letter, and showed her a column of listed VIP guests who were invited. Her name was written below Chris's name.

"Yeah, I know. What I didn't know was we had to bring a partner to the ball."

"What?!" Chris once again choked on his coffee. God, this morning had a lot or surprises.

"Yeah. See here?" she showed him a section of the letter. "You must bring a partner."

Chris grabbed the letter and read it aloud. "All guests must bring a partner for the ball…"

"Read the bottom part," said Jill calmly, smiling as she sipped her coffee.

"Whoever doesn't bring a partner is going to DIE ALONE? Who wrote this?"

"The captain. You know how he still loves to joke around with relationships." She gave him a grin and proceeded to grab her empty plate and mug to wash. "So, who are you planning to ask?"

Chris was thoughtful for a while. Of course, he'd want to ask Jill…but what if she already had someone else in mind?

'Wait, she couldn't have. I mean, who would she ask?' his mind immediately began shuffling through some images of men she had met before and so far, he only found Carlos.

Ooohh, that could be a problem.

Carlos Oliveira was an ex- U.B.C.S mercenary who worked for Umbrella; after finding out what Umbrella was up to, he had quit his job and joined the B.S.A.A.

The ladies always swooned when he was near. But he only had his eyes set on Jill, and he was sure of it. Especially now that Jill was back and gorgeous than ever, with her blonde hair now slightly turning brown and her beautiful face still lovely.

"Well?" she asked, snapping Chris out of his thoughts.

"Meh, I've got no one in mind. Not yet, anyway. You?" he replied, knowing what she was going to say.

"No one. I think I'll just…you know…wait for the right guy. It's not until Saturday, right?" she said, not looking at him. In secret, she was blushing; she really wanted to ask Chris. But what if he asked someone else?

"Well, you have two days; today and tomorrow." He grinned at her as she grabbed his plate and mug to wash.

"I know." She sighed. Today was Thursday, and she was going to go to the B.S.A.A headquarters with Chris tomorrow. Maybe she could ask him later…

"Okay, then. Since we don't have anything to do today, why not go buy clothes for the ball?" Jill asked after putting the clean mugs and plates back into their respective cupboards.

"Sure. We need them, anyway."

Kind of short, I know, but next chapters will be longer. Please, please, REVIEW!

By the way, I know that Carlos was actually taken by Umbrella, but I decided to add him in anyway. Without him, this fanfic is a total floomph. ^_^

Oh, and I don't need to explain everything, right? Most of you(ok, maybe all of you) have already knew what happened in RE5 anyway, so yeah. Lack of details.

So,

RRRRRREEEEEEEVVVVVIIIIEEEEWWWWWWWW