Chapter One:
Claire Redfield could count on the fingers of one hand the days she had experienced like this one: the quiet early afternoon sun gave warmth to the cool breeze blowing through the grass and the sky was a light airy blanket of blue (that of course, matched her blue and white checkered sundress). As she looked around, she was suddenly tremendously aware of just how lucky she was. Truth be told, a few years ago, she wondered whether there would ever be days like this for her. It was hard to imagine a life of leisure, of light-heartedness, of playing hooky on one's birthday when you're facing a six-foot tall viral killing machine… If she allowed herself the deception, she might deem her life normal.
Movements at her side made her look towards the disturbance in her reverie and she saw Leon Kennedy scooting closer towards her.
"So, are we having a happy birthday yet?" Leon asked her.
Claire gave a soft giggle. One that formed in her chest but did not escape any farther, not breaking the barrier of her lips. "Yes. It's great."
Leon 'tsk-ed' and shook his head. "Hmm, you know, I really don't believe you."
Even though she expected it, he had done it a hundred—no, a thousand times before, she didn't catch him. With lightning quick precision his hands were at her stomach and his fingers danced wildly around her waist. She bit her lips and forced down the shrieks of laughter fighting their way out.
"Leon! Hey, wait—I—" she sputtered.
Of course he didn't stop; instead, he lowered his lips to her neck and blew a loud raspberry at the base of her collar bone.
"Aaaah! Okay, hey, stop it, that's enough!" she barely got the last sentence out; nearly every syllable was punctuated with a fit of laughter. "Leon, PLEASE, STOOOOOOOOOP!"
"I didn't realize your voice could get so high." Leon remarked, his digits still tangoing over her body, on the side of her ribs this time.
The tickling fit lasted much longer than usual. Just when Claire thought her lungs and abdominals would explode, Leon relinquished his hold on her. A few rogue laughs escaped her in a gasping cough, and she rolled halfway over to catch her breath.
"Oh, Leon," she panted. "You are horrible."
Leon shrugged. "I've been called worse."
Though still partially winded, Claire slid closer to him and rested the side of her head on her hand, her upper body propped up by her elbow.
"There's that Redfield smile that I love." Leon said, as if he had just found something in the attic that he had been searching for months to recover. He bent down to kiss her forehead softly. "And I should be seeing that even more today…a face as beautiful as yours is where smiles belong."
Claire laughed, her head tilting back. "Right…what would Sherry say… 'gag me'?"
Chuckling at her impersonation of the young girl, Leon bent once again to gently nibble on Claire's neck. Something that he knew she loved and that he had been doing ever since he discovered it. Claire relaxed her body into his arms and the two of them began a kissing marathon that would make even the most seasoned romance novel enthusiast blush.
"I'm glad no one's here." Leon mumbled as he half sucked, half kissed his way down to her breasts. "I can make love to you all that I want."
"Leon." Claire said, giving him a look that she hoped was stern. Leon met her gaze with one of his own that was equally serious before he smiled and laid his head on her breasts, closing his eyes.
"I'm only joking." he replied, breathing in the smell of her body; then he added, "--but just barely."
Exhaling heavily, Claire sighed and propped body up on both elbows so she was gazing down at his bright red hair. "This day is so wonderful, I don't want it to end."
"Good. We'll just stay here, right here, forever." he told her.
"Yeah, but Chris is taking us to dinner tonight. Damn, my brother always manages to screw things up."
"Amen to that." Leon replied, pressing himself against her. "But you've probably got a point. We should be heading back home to get ready."
It took a little while in between collecting the blanket, picnic basket (filled with moderately priced wine and chocolate dipped strawberries), and the numerous kisses Leon kept pulling her in for, but eventually the two made it back to the car. They had parked in a more secluded area of the park so as not to be disturbed.
As Leon drove down the road, Claire reached into the glove box and pulled out a white envelope.
"What's that?" Leon asked, noticing what she was holding.
Claire puckered her lips in a secretive way and shrugged. "Oh, nothing...just a birthday card from your mom."
Leon's eyebrows rose. "Oh, that was nice of her. How wonderful that it came on time. Mine are always a couple of days late." he laughed. "Anyway, what does she say?"
Claire's eyes scanned the card as she paraphrased its contents, "Well, she wishes me a 'happy birthday', she send her love--to you as well--the O' Gradys from next door are moving out at the end of the week--"
"The O' Gradys are moving?" Leon interrupted. "Damn, they've been there forever."
"She also sent something else with the card--she says I may enjoy it."
"I always wished they would move away." Leon said, his eyes focusing fiercely on the road before him. "They were awful."
"Are you listening anymore?" Claire asked.
"You know, they tortured animals for fun." he declared then caught himself. "I'm sorry. What?"
Claire grinned impishly and held up a small 2x3 inch glossy paper and showed Leon what she was talking about. It was a picture of a young boy, about seven or eight with deep blue eyes, fiery red hair with a smile that betrayed the fact that he either hated getting his picture taken or the shirt and tie that his mom picked out.
Leon grimaced and shook his head. "That's not a five dollar bill."
Claire giggled. "You look so cute!"
"That's not me. I swear. That's the kid mom and dad were ashamed of and kept secret for years." Leon shook his head again and made a grabbing motion for the picture.
"Hey--no way! This is mine." Claire said, pulling it away, protectively. Then she promptly inserted it into the top of her blouse, between her left breast and bra.
Leon scoffed. "Oh yeah, put it there. Like I'm not going to get to it later."
"Keep that up and you won't." Claire replied smugly.
If he had not looked so serious, Claire would have thought Leon pouted through the rest of the drive home. He did seem more cheerful when they parked and headed up the stairs to their apartment. Claire couldn't help but notice that he climbed the steps faster than usual and with more bounce.
"What are you, training for a marathon?" she asked, following him.
"Oh. Sorry." he said, smiling and extending his hand to her. One of the first gestures he ever made to her and that he still offered to this day (of course, now there were no more mutated creatures chasing after them).
They climbed the rest of the stairs and Leon slipped the keys into their door.
"Come on," Leon whispered slyly as he pushed the door open. "Don't we have time for a little fun before we have to meet Chris and Jill?"
Claire smiled, her heart already beating faster. "Well...maybe."
She had barely gotten the sentence out when a loud chorus of voices chimed, "SURPRISE!"
Claire froze, her mind registering the fact that there were others in the house with them. She saw her brother, Chris, along with Jill Valentine, Rebecca Chambers, Sherry Birkin, Barry Burton, Carlos Oliviera and a few other people whose faces she recognized but did not really know personally. Confused, she turned to Leon, who was grinning at her.
"Happy Birthday...again. Did we surprise you?" he asked.
"Well. Um, yeah...I suppose." she turned back to the group of people and noticed the large cake sitting in the middle of the coffee table. "Wow. You guys...this is...I'm just... speechless." she shrugged. "Th--thank you."
To save herself from the awkward moment, she grabbed Leon into a hug and whispered sharply to him, "Baby, a surprise party?"
She felt him shrug. "Why not?"
Her face was flushing as she greeted her guests and went through the ritual of exclaiming how surprised she was and how happy she was that everyone was there.
"Thank you for coming." Claire said to Chris and Jill when she reached them.
"It's not a problem, Claire." Jill replied, giving her a hug. "Happy Birthday."
"Hey sis." Chris said, hugging her as well. "Another year older."
"But still younger than you." she observed.
As what usually happened when the gang got together, they all sat around on chairs and couches and talked about how their lives were going. Well, the women did. The men were slightly less vocal; On request, Leon had turned on the stereo and it was now playing Run DMC music and Chris and Carlos were battling it out with their old school break dancing moves. Before too long it would turn into a bitter competition and the two wouldn't speak to each other for weeks.
"What do you know about break dancing?" Chris asked, jokingly.
"About as much as a white boy like you does." Carlos replied.
"Keep it clean, boys." Barry, the designated referee, ordered, keeping an amused eye on them.
Claire sighed, as she watched Chris execute some rusty but passable uprock footwork. That got the attention of everyone in the room and they quieted down to watch. Carlos frowned and followed with his own opening, equally as rusty but not too bad.
"Oh God...this is so embarrassing!" she declared, putting her face in her hands. "My brother and Carlos are breaking at my party. Somebody please kill me."
Leon came up to her, his eyes still on the festivities in the corner. "Get a load of the two of them. I guess we'll have to clean the floors for scuff marks after this, huh?"
"I can't believe you're condoning this." Claire said.
"Relax." Leon encouraged, nudging her playfully. "If anything, we get to watch them make complete fools of themselves...and maybe pull a muscle. Good times all around."
"Easy for you to say. You're not related to either of them."
"Or dating them for that matter." Jill said warily, massaging her temples and looking at Chris. "I knew I shouldn't have let him rent You Got Served."
"It started way before that, believe me." Claire said.
Leon shrugged, still watching Carlos and Chris who were now alternating between various pop and lock moves. "Come on, give the guys some credit. They aren't half bad."
"Why don't you go join them?" Sherry piped up.
Leon froze. "Me? Uh, no thanks."
Just as expected, the competition intensified and soon the living room had been cleared and the two were moving into the power moves. Chris had dropped into a flare and ended spinning around on his back. He got up looking a little breathless and Carlos laughed.
"Yeah, hot moves but remember that you're getting old Redfield. You're going to go home and have to take Tylenol after that." Big words which he followed with the worm and somehow ended up tangling on the floor.
"Tylenol, huh?" Chris said, laughing.
There was some scattered applause from their audience and the two agreed that the whole issue was old and stopped. They spent the rest of the evening sitting down and massaging their sore muscles.
The party dispersed at nearly two in morning. Claire yawned as they tossed a few garbage bags into the kitchen.
"I'll take those out tomorrow." Leon replied, yawning once himself.
"Did you plan the party too?" Claire asked him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Most of it." he said, looking down and gently kissing her forehead. "But Chris and the others helped a lot too."
Claire smiled. "You're too sweet."
She felt Leon's hand move to her breast and placed her own over it. After a few heated kisses, Leon broke away and slipped something from her bra.
"I told you I'd get it back." Leon said, holding up the picture.
Claire rolled her eyes. "You spend all evening planning your attack? Come on, give it back."
Leon shook his head. "Nope. This kid goes into a box and doesn't come out until all that's left in the world are Twinkies and Little Debbie oatmeal cookies."
"But why?" whined Claire, pulling him in for a hug.
"Because I like them." Leon replied slyly. "Oh, you mean the picture? Because I don't want you to wake up one day and realize you're dating a dork."
Claire blew a raspberry at him. "You're no dork."
"I know every line from every Star Wars movie ever made."
Claire cocked her head to the side. "That...can be sexy."
"Right. If you find that sexy, then you're the one with a problem." he said, laughing it off.
"Come on, baby, let me have the picture back." she said, rubbing his shoulders.
Leon was stubborn about the issue for a few more minutes before he surrendered the picture back. Claire gleefully took it and skipped to the living room, pulling out a photo album. She slipped the picture next to one of her when she was around the same age. "There. You see. It's not that bad. At least I'm not blowing it up to 200 times its size and displaying it over the fireplace."
"True." Leon said begrudgingly.
Claire smiled down at the two pictures. "We look cute together."
"Mhmm." Leon replied, his lips pressed into a firm, straight line.
Claire was quiet for a moment studying the two pictures. She looked at Leon and began to wonder what he was really like as a kid. He told her a few light-hearted stories about growing up but never went into too much detail. She began to wonder what it would have been like...if they had grown up together. Had they been childhood sweethearts instead of strangers who met in the middle of a zombie infested city.
A laugh she hadn't known would be coming made Leon glance at her.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"I was just thinking." she said.
Leon prodded, "About?"
"Oh...what it would have been like to grow up together. If we knew each other when we were younger. That kind of thing."
"Mm." he nodded.
Claire scooted against him. "What do you think it would be like?" she asked. "Do you think we'd still be together now?
Leon smiled and shook his head. "I don't know...probably...probably not."
His words made her freeze for the second time that night. "I'm sorry. What?"
"I don't know if we would be together today...had we known each other back then."
It was a simple statement; quite possibly true but it still irked Claire none the less. She had expected him to humour her and say that of course they would still be together. She hadn't expected that answer from him.
"Really? Why not?"
"I was too shy back then." he replied with a smile.
"You? You were shy?" she said. "Right. You're on a first name basis with the cashier at the supermarket. He's like your best friend--and he doesn't like anybody."
"Well. Maybe I wasn't too shy...but I definitely wouldn't have had the guts to talk to you about anything. I'm sure you would have been one of those girls that was clearly out of my league." he told her.
"I would not have been." she assured him.
Leon sighed. "Well, you know what, even if we didn't know each other back then, at least we're together now. Isn't that all that matters?"
Claire nodded quietly, forcing a smile onto her lips.
"Hey, come on." Leon whispered softly. "We have each other right here and now. I wouldn't have it any other way. Would you?"
"No. I wouldn't." she said. "I couldn't even imagine it."
Leon nodded. "Let's go to bed."
Lying in Leon's arms that night, Claire was still wondering about the matter. She and Leon had been through so much together, it was hard to imagine a life without him. Had things turned out differently somewhere along the road, they might not have been together today. It made Claire shiver to think about it. But it didn't stop her from dreaming about it...
We'll see how this story goes. I have to give credit to Santiago, who shared this great idea and has given me permission to use it first :)