Shared Pain

Claire Redfield laid faced down on her bed, head buried in her pillow, and tears in her eyes. It had been a week since she had escaped from the island with her brother Chris, but although she had succeeded in finding him she had lost someone very dear to her; her friend Steve Burnside who was also, her first love.

"Claire, please come out! You've been in your room for a week now!" came her brother's voice from down stairs. She wouldn't come out she was as depressed as depressed could get.

When she had first met Steve back on the island, she admitted that she didn't like him very much, but when she was about to be killed by that Hunter, Steve came through for her and saved her as well as from that zombie; who was tragically his own father. Although he had saved her he was still torn up from losing his father.

Claire understood the pain of losing your parents since she had lost both of hers; incidentally they found out that they had something in common. As she got to know him more, she began to understand him better; he was just like her.

He had lost both of his parents and had been flung into a hellish predicament in which he had to fight to survive. Claire couldn't say that about anyone else. The more time they spent together the more she grew to like him, maybe even love him.

But all her dreams shattered when she witnessed Steve lying in her arms, dying.

"Steve you've got to hang in there, okay? My brother came. We're getting out of here." she said on the verge of tears.

"I'm glad…your brother kept his promise, I'm sorry…I cannot." Steve said with a brave smile.

"W-what? What are you saying?" she asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

"I'm glad that I met you. I…I love you…Claire…" it was then that Claire realized that she was in fact, in love with him; and that the one she loved indeed loved her back. She had found the person she wanted to share her life with and it was this boy.

"Steve?" She tried to tell him the she loved him, but he wouldn't wake up; he was dead. "Steve?! SSTEEEVVVEEE!!!!"

Claire woke up with a jolt and realized she had been dreaming. "Steve…" a fresh round of tears had threatened to come out, she freely accepted and cried her heart out for the boy she couldn't be with…ever.

"I'm glad you were able to come by since I know she'll talk to you." said Chris as he let someone inside. "I just hope I can help her." said Leon S. Kennedy as he walked inside. Chris knew that he could depend on Leon with these kinds of situations, he couldn't put his finger on it but for some reason Leon was always able to make people feel better about themselves, well there was only one way to find out. He led Leon up to Claire's room and opened the door, there he saw Claire, with her face still buried in her pillow refusing to look at them.

"Claire, Leon's here." said Chris but she still wouldn't look at them

"Hi Claire, I heard you weren't feeling well so I stopped by to see you." said Leon, but she still wouldn't look at them.

Chris sat on the edge of the bed and began to rub her back. "Come on Claire I know you're upset about Steve, but that's no reason to just shut yourself up in your room feeling sorry for yourself. You have to learn to move on."

At this Claire's eyes shot open. How dare he say that so easily? How dare he just assume that she would get over it? How dare expect her to move on; move on without the one she loves.

Claire shot out of her bed and glared at her brother; eyes filled with hate and pain. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!!!? YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LOSE SOMEONE YOU LOVE!!! NO ONE DOSE!!!"

'That's not true…' thought Leon; he knew exactly how she felt.

"Now wait a minute Claire I never said--" Chris tried to say but Claire interrupted him.

"SHUT UP!! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT A RUB ON THE BACK AND MEANINGLESS WORDS IS GOING TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!!!?"

"Claire, will you just let me talk!?" Chris tried to reason.

"NO!! HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO GET OVER IT HUH!!!? HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO MOVE ON NOWING THE ONE I WANTED TO SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH IS DEAD HUH!!!?" Claire continued to shout at Chris who, by now, had wide eyes.

"I JUST LOST THE ONE PERSON THAT I CONSIDERD MY ONE TRUE LOVE AND YOU THINK I SHOULD 'MOVE ON'!!!?" YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND NO BODY UNDERSTANDS HOW I FEEL!!!" Claire raged, while all the while, Leon's rage was building up.

'How dare she say that? Dose she honestly think that she is the only one who has ever lost someone she loves!? Dose she honestly think that she is the only one who has ever felt love!? She's wrong! She's stupid and snotty and wrong!' Leon continued to rage in his mind while clenching his fists.

"Claire I'm trying to help you!! Can't you see--?!" but Chris didn't get to finish.

"I WILL NEVER MOVE ON, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!!!? I WILL NEVER GET OVER HIM!!! I'AM SO SICK OF YOU AND EVERY BODY ELAS TRYING TO TELL ME TO DO SO!!!! I DON'T CARE IF I DIE, I'D RATHER DIE THEN LIVE IN A WORLD WITH PEOPLE THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND ME—

"SHUT UP!!!" Leon shouted at the top of his lungs.

Claire and Chris both froze at Leon's sudden out burst; what was once a noisy bedroom had now fallen silent.

Leon had never shouted like that before, not to his friends at least; he was usually the one who stopped the shouting. Leon was incredibly angry, his face was as red as a tomato; his fists were clenched so much that the two siblings could see blood coming out from his hands.

"DON'T YOU EVER SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN CLAIRE!!!" Leon shouted at the once in raged girl.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHOS SUFFERING!!!? YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS EVER LOST SOMEONE YOU LOVED!!!? He asked while on the verge of tears.

"WELL YOU'RE WRONG!!!" He said only seconds later, he didn't give her a chance to answer.

"BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!!! I TOO HAVE LOST SOMEONE I LOVE!!! SO DON'T YOU EVER ASSUME THAT YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE SUFFERING BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN SUFFERING A LOT LONGER THAN YOU!!!" by now, Leon had tears running down his red face.

He hated this, he hated looking weak in front of people, especially in front of that selfish brunet that he once called 'his friend'. He sharply turned around walked out the door and slammed it shut. The two sibling, who were now in shock by there friends sudden out burst stayed frozen on the bed as they heard the front door open and shut.

Claire felt like such a bitch. Here she was feeling sorry for herself over Steve's death, while all the while Leon had been suffering the same pain as her only he had found the strength to carry on, or at least he did. She leaped off her bed and ran out the door leaving a still shocked Chris behind. She hoped she wasn't too late.

--

Outside, Leon was kicking and punching trash cans, causing more blood to drip out of his already bloody hands.

'Stupid Claire, who dose she think she is!?' Leon thought to himself still angry about the whole situation.

'Dose she honestly think that world revolves around her, that everyone should just stop what there doing just because she lost someone she cared about when they never did that for me?! She should be grateful that she has someone like Chris who's there for her when I never had!!' his thoughts were interrupted by a timid voice.

"Leon?" it said.

He turned around and saw Claire standing behind him with a sad face, hands behind her back. A small bout of anger builds up inside of him when he sees her.

"What do you want?" he asks rather harshly.

"I'm sorry Leon." Claire said which made his face soften.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm sorry about the things I said back there. I acted like a selfish brat feeling sorry for myself, when all the while you have been suffering as much as I have. I'm so sorry." said Claire, as tears streamed down her eyes.

Leon was stunned to hear this. He walked over to her, whipped away her tears and pulled her into a tight embraces.

"It's alright. I'm sorry I yelled at you." he said as he hugged her tighter. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Claire broke the silence.

"Leon, about you saying that you lost someone you loved, who was it?"

Leon sighed; he figured that he should tell her. He sat down on the ground, taking her with him and began to speak.

"It was back in Raccoon City. I met this woman named Ada Wong; she was looking for her boyfriend, John, so I decided to help her." By now fresh round of tears began to well up in his eyes.

"We found our way to the sewer and Annette Birkin was there; Ada chased after her but she began shooting, so I jumped in front of Ada and took the bullet." Claire nodded, remembering Leon saying this to her when she found him in the sewer.

"When I woke up she was gone so I went to look for her. When I found her she healed me and told me that John was dead. We kept on going until we found a train that lead to the Umbrella chemical plant." Leon paused for a moment remembering the final moments he spent with her; the tears were starting to make themselves known.

Claire could see that Leon was struggling with his memories, so she took his hand in hers and began to stroke it while wiping off the blood with her handkerchief.

"Go on." she encouraged him. Leon placed his hand over hers and continued.

"While we were on the train, William Birkin attacked us; he hurt Ada badly. I was able to get rid of him, but Ada was in bad shape. I stayed with her until she woke up; when she did she kept telling me to leave her and to save myself." Claire continued to rub his hand.

"I'm listening." she said.

"She kept telling me that I would be endangered if I stayed with her, that she really enjoyed being with me and that she didn't want to lose me. When she said that, I actually felt that she meant it, like she…loved me." Leon paused to wipe a few tears away.

"But I wouldn't leave her; I promised her that we would escape together. So I decided to have her rest on the train while I went to find something to treat her wounds."

"When I was in the chemical plant I met up with Annette; she told me that Ada was a spy sent to steal the G-virus. I refused to believe her, then that monster came out of nowhere and tried to attack me. Annette ran off somewhere and I tried to fight him off; I had no luck though."

"I thought I was going to die, just then Ada showed up and started shooting it. He went after her and grabbed her by the neck." while saying this Leon's voice was beginning to break. Claire held his hand tighter.

"She started shooting at its head. It then threw her against a machine and fell into the sulfur below. I ran to her and held her in my arms." Leon could remember that day completely: the monster, the blood…the kiss.

Leon steadied Ada in his arms, trying not to make her injuries worse. "Ada…" Leon tried to speak, but his voice was shaking.

"Leon…You can es…escape now." Ada said to him with a weak voice.

"No. We're a team. I-I can't just leave you here like this!" Leon said on the verge of crying.

"I'm…" Ada tried to speak. "…just a woman. Who fell in love with you."

At hearing this Leon froze. She loved him. She really loved him the woman that lay dying in his arms loved him and he couldn't be with her; there was nothing he could do to save her.

With her last remaining strength, Ada lifted her hand and placed it on Leon's cheek. Leon all too willingly leaned forward and kissed her. Long and hard.

When he pulled back she took her final breath and went limp in his arms. She was dead; the woman he loved was dead.

"Ada, no. AAADDAAA!!!!"

By now Claire was wide eyed with her hands over her mouth. 'My gosh, Leon.'

Leon began to shake from pain and sorrow. "So now you know Claire. Now you know that your not the only one who has suffered the lose of someone you love." while saying this, a waterfall of tears began to pour out of his already red face.

At that moment, Claire threw herself onto Leon and cried in his shoulder; he too did the same thing.

At that moment they had forgotten everything. They had forgotten they were outside, they had forgotten that Chris was still inside waiting for their return, they had forgotten about Raccoon City, Rockford Island, the G-virus, Umbrella and everything else. All they knew was that they were two best friends who had one thing in common…a lost love.

A/N: In case you were wondering, I got the whole 'stupid and snotty and wrong' line from my brother's Code Veronica book. Just so you know.