To be honest, Rebecca Chambers hated going to the Ladies of Avalon's Book Club. First of all, there were actually no books involved. Secondly, it was usually just to complain about their children, and seeing as she was only 25 and quite single, Rebecca had none. Thirdly, they very much liked to gossip, and Rebecca had never quite taken to this.

But, they complemented the flowers in her yard and often brought up events where a florist would be needed, and Rebecca (a florist) always had a card or two at the ready.

Today, the subject of their discussion was Albert Wesker, a recluse (and quite often called the Boo Radley of Avalon, their little isolated suburb where Rebecca was surprised they even knew who Boo Radley was), and apparently a father, or at least a guardian. Being Wesker's neighbor, she had noticed the little boy who had appeared last weekend. Wesker had been there for two straight days before his car started disappearing off to work, wherever that was. Due to her living room window, she could see the boy most of the time-he opened the curtains to their living room to let the summer light in. He just read, mostly, but sometimes he sat at the piano.

In any case, she didn't understand their need to talk about him. They didn't know the boy's name, and it wasn't like any of them had the guts to go to Wesker's house themselves. From what they'd all seen, he was a brooding giant, built like the Terminator.

Rebecca took a sip of her iced tea and quietly sighed. Suddenly, Millie, the ringleader and usual host of the book club, looked over to her.

"You live next to him, don't you? Surely he must have said something to you." Her voice sounded full of accusation-she was probably still upset that Rebecca had won the tulip contest last month.

She shook her head. "I believe the only thing I've ever said to Mr. Wesker," she couldn't bear to be disrespectful and simply say 'Wesker', "was 'Happy Easter'."

"What's the point of having a young lady living next to the most elusive member of Avalon if she doesn't do anything?" Laura said before sighing dramatically.

Rebecca didn't say anything for a moment. She'd only moved here in February, buying the house from an old man and his son, who were both moving down to Florida. "Like you said, he's very elusive. I've only seen him a handful of times."

"I want gossip," Pamela said. "All of the juicy details of his life. For example, where did he get all of those muscles?"

"He must be some sort of government agent," Amelia, Pam's sister, said.

"And is he married? We need to find out where that boy came from," Heidi told her.

"Darling, you must simply find out," Millie said, leaning over and putting her hand on Rebecca's leg. "After all, we give your shop so much business, it's the least you can do in return." Her nails lightly scraped her thigh and the younger girl tried not to shake.

"I'll see what I can do," she said softly. She wouldn't say that she was scared of Wesker, but he didn't seem like the friendliest man in the world. She imagined it was worse to upset Millie further, though.

When she got home, she sighed and got herself a bottle of water from the fridge. She looked out of the kitchen window, looking at the view of her backyard. It was filled with flowers, a stark contrast to Wesker's yard, which was devoid of any colors besides green, grey, brown, and the white picket fence. The grass wasn't even that well kept, and the ivy was climbing up the trees, and, more than likely, starting to kill them.

Twisting her short hair around her fingers, she sighed. She was about to hunt around for her lemon bar recipe when she saw a movement in her neighbor's yard. It was the boy, dressed in a u-shirt and cargo shorts, moving towards the fence. He peered over it, looking out into her yard. He looked up at her apple tree, which had a few branches hanging over to their yard, before walking away, presumably to back inside.

She drummed her fingers on the counter as she thought out loud. "Well, if the lemon bars go well, maybe I'll make an apple pie."

It was nearing sun down when Wesker came back from work. It hadn't been too much of a trying day, the worst part was when Birkin would not stop asking questions about Jake.

He took a deep breath before getting out of the car.

The boy was his son, his mother his girlfriend a few years ago. Apparently, she had passed away, and Jake's uncle had finally decided that it was time to reach out.

Now, he had a nine year old son who wanted nothing to do with him in the slightest.

"I'm home," he said, voice gruff. He wasn't sure if Jake even cared-he didn't always respond.

"I started dinner!"

All Wesker could think that the boy would probably burn himself and not even tell anyone about it, and quickly took off his shoes.

As soon as he walked in, he prepared himself to survey the damage, but saw that all Jake had done was start to soak chicken in water and salt, as well as get a pan ready for the oven.

"I thought baked chicken would be good," Jake said, sitting on the counter. "I mean, I like it, and I assumed you like chicken since it was in the fridge. And maybe we could have a side of applesauce and some veggie or something."

"That sounds well-rounded," Wesker commented. What was he supposed to say? Up until last week it had been frozen entrees at midnight, which was fine for one person. Now, he had to think about what a growing boy would want, and the nutrients he needed.

Jake smiled, even though Wesker could see it.

They both didn't know what to make of each other-how would they? They only realized that each other existed a few days ago. It was slow going, but Jake was confident that they would find a way to get along...eventually, at least.

They had just finished dinner when the doorbell rang. Jake went to go answer it as Wesker had his wrists deep in soapy water. The older man sighed and dried his hands, not even wanting to know which of the neighborhood ladies were trying to snoop around this time.

They hadn't tried in years, not since he first moved to Avalon, but he always felt like he was being watched. It was creepy, to say the least. The ladies always came on too strong for him to even think about getting to know them.

Jake had just opened the door when Wesker started coming down the hallway. Doing so revealed that it was the new girl from next door-Rachel? Rita?

"Oh, hello! I'm Rebecca Chambers, your next door neighbor. I just wanted to bring over some dessert and flowers and introduce myself," she told Jake.

"I'm Jake Muller, and I just came here from New York, and wow you're pretty just like your yard and your apples looks so good and-"

"Jake," Wesker said, probably sounding a little exasperated.

Rebecca looked up from the boy to smile at him. "Hi, Mr. Wesker."

"Hello. Would you like to come in? We can all have some of the lemon bars you brought."

"Oh, sure." She seemed shy.

It made Wesker suspicious-but then again, it was probably bad to not be suspicious of women who show up at 8 o'clock at night with food and flowers.

Jake stepped back so she could step in, before closing the door. She looked around the hall, seeming surprised. Wesker liked to think that for someone who doesn't spend a lot of time in the house, it looks very nice, if not just a little bit dusty.

He eyed the flowers in her one hand. They were stalks of lavender and yellow roses, which he assumed she had gotten straight from her backyard. They rested in a simple clear vase, and, considering the simplicity, were beautiful.

She set them down on the dining room table after asking Wesker if that was alright. Jake went to go get dessert plates and some utensils, while Wesker stayed in the room with Rebecca.

"I'm assuming you're a florist?" he asked her after a moment.

"Oh, yeah. I own the shop downtown."

For any other person, they probably would know exactly where this shop was downtown, but he hadn't been downtown in years, and only needed flowers for the Birkins' birthdays and anniversary.

"What do you do?" she asked.

"I work at Umbrella Pharmaceuticals."

Rebecca had caught the drift that Umbrella had kept this area afloat during the recession, so they were kind of a big deal.

"Oh, so you're not Black Ops or something?"

"What? Where did that come from?"

"It's just something the ladies like to throw around," she said, embarrassed that she had even mentioned it.

"At their book club?" he asked, before sighing. "They're so nosy."

"Tell me about it."

Just then, Jake came back with everything. "The kitchen is so huge that I forgot where the plates were," he explained as he set it down on the table before taking his seat.

They all made a little bit of small talk. All Rebecca got from it was that Wesker had the most amazing green eyes, Jake was in fact Wesker's son, they both liked apples, Wesker hardly went away on business trips and just worked long hours, and they didn't watch TV.

What the other two got from it was that Rebecca was from the West Coast, so now living on the East Coast was a huge change, her shop did floral arrangements for all sorts of occasions, she had no family nearby but some friends, she made her own hours but did work a lot, and she prefered music over TV.

By the time, it was nine o'clock. They exchanged good nights and the promise of returning the dish and the vase, but she said that they didn't have to.

As soon as Jake saw she was down the driveway, he turned to his dad. "We have to have her over again and soon."

Wesker nodded, agreeing full heartedly. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something felt off about it. "We'll invite Rebecca over for dinner soon."

"Sunday?" Jake asked.

"We'll see. Go get ready for bed now, alright?"

"Yeah. Uh, g'night Wesker."

"Good night, Jake."

It was nearing midnight when Wesker looked out of his bedroom window. He didn't expect to see much, but then he saw a room in Rebecca's house with the lights on, right across from his. He could see the bed and, a little further away, Rebecca sitting on a stool, her back to him.

He wondered what she was doing, and told himself to remember to ask her about her hobbies.

He stood there for a moment longer before pulling himself away from the window. He quietly went down the hall to check on Jake, and, seeing his son in bed, went to retire himself.

Author's Note: Thanks for taking a look at my story! Feel free to review (the good, the bad, the ugly, the flames, the comments, the questions I take it all so don't be afraid!) ^_^

I hope y'all have a great day!

~HolleringHawk65