This chapter is simple, but I feel that it conveys a sense of Robin's relationship with Chris and vise versa.


It was early spring, just before the tiny green leaves unfurled in a renewing, hypnotizing way that bewitched the mind and the blooming buds burst into a splendid display of color that distracted even the most studious mind. The day was unnaturally arid for March, and it was made even steamier by my dear father's exceptionally attractive friend, Chris Redfield. I was a mature fifteen, going on sixteen, and I've had the world's biggest crush on him ever since the day I first laid eyes on him four years ago. A fond memory to be sure, the day I first met Chris... It was shortly after arriving home for the first time, though it's so close to that time, I can scarcely recall it, but I do remember meeting Chris. It was my father's retirement, and no one knew he had adopted me yet, but there was a small party waiting for us when we arrived at the house, and all of his old friends were there... Rebecca Chambers, the young medic who escaped the mansion along with my father, Chris, and their partner Jill Valentine, was the only one there that was close to my age, as she was only breaching the range of twenty. I think that something might have been going on between Chris and Jill at the time, but I'm not really sure. I think that his sister, Claire Redfield, was under the same impression as me, but I didn't really speak to her because she was so busy talking to her friend 'Leon'. Well, I barely spoke at the time anyways, but if I were a little chatterbox, I still would have only exchanged a few words with her. Jill was polite and seemed kinda cool, but Chris was the one that had me from the beginning. I told myself that it was nothing, just an innocent infatuation, but even so, he was a fire burning in my soul, consuming my every breath, tormenting me with the lure I could never try to catch. Oh, how much I would have done for that man!

"Robin?" Chris worriedly pulled me from my recollections as I zoned out in in the middle of our lesson, gently shaking my shoulder.

I looked up at him dreamily, pushing away the college entrance textbook I should have been reading, "Sorry, I was just thinking...Never mind, it's not important. So, professor Redfield, why are you helping me study again this week? Don't you have a job to do?"

We both knew the irony behind my words, and we shared a laugh because of it. He had a really great government job where he saved people from viral outbreaks, such as what happened in Raccoon City, or what had reportedly happened to me. I know he had such a great job because I often spoke of joining the BSAA and joining him in the field someday. Everyone in our lives knew that I really would help him someday too, and most of them often spoke as if I was already in the BSAA, and if it weren't for my overprotective father, I already would be a member. I understand why he wouldn't let me join yet, that he was worried for my safety knowing what I would have to go through from personal experience, but it was was going to happen one way or another, and he knew it; he was just hoping that I would find something else to do with my life instead.

Chris smirked at me as if he knew something I didn't, "Little bird, you just graduated from high school, so why don't you just enjoy your free time?"

It was true, I had graduated from high school a few years early, but I had no intention stopping my ambitions for anything, "So, what is it that your going to this time?"

"Robin," He could never lie to me, and every time he tried, I always saw through it, but then again, the reverse of that was also true, "I'm going away for a while."

On one hand, I loved it when he left for work because then he would always come back with such interesting stories, but on the other, it made me feel like some insecure housewife with the way I hated seeing him leave, because I never knew if I'd see him alive again, "So, where to now?"

"A small town in Africa." He recalled from the details of his report, "Anyways, I shouldn't be gone too long."

"So why tell me?" I was upset that he didn't tell me sooner, or rather that my father didn't tell me after Chris had already left, which I preferred.

"Robin," He scolded me, "I know how you get when I leave... I just don't want you to waste your time waiting around for your time to come."

That wasn't even close to the reason why I sulked around the house when Chris would go to work. I would mope around the house because we were actually pretty close considering that he was supposed to be my father's friend, and to me and shelled life, he was my best friend. Sad, I know, when your best friend is about twice your age and has no idea that you think of him that way, but there you have it. I wasn't conceited enough to think that he felt the same about our relationship, but I could see that he still cared for me, and even if it was just as the daughter of an old family friend it was more than enough for me. After four years, I've learned to settle with the hand I've been dealt.

"So," I was not dumb enough to squander what time I had with Chris by being cross, "Africa huh? Maybe you can find a small fortune and share it with us. I suppose that you might also want enough for that sister of yours too."

He smiled, glad to see that I was being mature about this, "Little bird...You're something else."

"I'm still mad at you. Just not mad enough to scream and shout," I grinned back playfully at him slamming my book closed and shoving it way from me, "I think I've had enough of this accursed book to last me a lifetime."

"Giving up already? You really are a teenager!" He laughed.

"Shut up!" I blushed, hitting his bulging biceps.

"Little bird, little bird, I think I should probably start calling you lady bird, shouldn't I?" He stopped chortling to himself and looked at me seriously.

I was about to answer him, when of all the people for all the reasons, my father came into my room with lunch, "So, how's the studying going?"

"..." I looked at him blankly, upset that he had interrupted Chris.

"Great, I was starving!" Chris hurried up and took the plate of sandwiches from my father and began eating one right way, almost as he were glad for the interruption to cover something he didn't want to say.

My book was pushed away, so he clearly had another reason for the intrusion, "Someone's here to see you Robin."

"Who...?" I questioned myself more than my father, but of course he would answer me anyways.

"A boy from school, Darren or something like that..." He struggled to remember the boy's name, "Well, he's in the living room, so why don't you smarten up and go talk with him?"

Eww. Drake was a senior from the high school I went to, the sporty guy on the lacrosse team, but he was such a jerk! He would shamelessly flirt with all the girls, pick on the little freshmen, and would tease the artsy or smart people. Sure, he was obviously good-looking with short brown hair and a nice frame, and he wasn't that stupid himself, but he was no Chris. Chris was nice to everyone, and he never flirted, and to top it all off, he was genuinely concerned for others.

"I'll be right there," I groaned in disgust and ran my fingers through my hair, following after my father.

Chris's POV:

Much as I hated to admit it, Robin was almost all grown up now. My dear Little Bird was becoming a woman right before my eyes, wasn't she? Maturer than ever, her mind was sharpening and beginning to set, her body was changing, and now, she was even attracting the opposite sex. True, Robin never was much of a child, not after what she's been through, but still, her continual development never ceased to amaze me. And now, now that she was attracting the attention of boys...Well, it just didn't sit right with me. I wasn't even her father, but I've known Robin for what felt like years longer it really has been, and I couldn't help but care about the girl. Robin was very important to me, more than she should have been...

I remember Kathy, Barry's wife, joking a short while ago about all the time I had spent with her daughter. Barry, Kathy, Jill, and I had been drinking one night after the girls had gone to bed, and we were reminesing about the old days when the conversation shifted over to Robin, which it tended to do that more than I would have liked it to. I had almost choked on my drink when she brought it up, but Jill covered for me yet again. To this day, I still don;'t know how Barry reacted.

"I wonder sometimes who Chris really comes here for? He visits more often now than he used to, in fact, he practically lives here!" She was laughing, but ever since then, I've secretly had to question myself.

Jill ignored me as I choked on my drink, "Everyone seems to come here more...It's just so cozy."

Kathy nodded, taking another sip from her glass, "Barry did good when he brought that girl home. She's not the most open of people, but when you get to know her, she just light's up."

"Robin's a good girl," I agreed, changing the subject, "Just like her sisters."

Sure, I had started to visit Barry more often, and it seemed as if I did practically live there, but the same could be said of anyone who visited the Burton household: They were all charming people. But it was more than that, because I had found myself talking more and more often to Robin, and lately, I had come over strictly to see her. I had told myself on countless occasions, and Barry more than once, that I was only trying to help her study so that when she could join the BSAA, she would have a better chance, and that my intentions were purely those of a friend. By this point, we all knew that Robin and I were friends, they just weren't aware of how close.

But that Derrek boy or whatever his name was? I'd never heard Robin speak about him before, and she would usually tell me about her days, so what the hell did he think he was doing, coming over here to her house? However, Robin clearly didn't seem to mind the surprise visit, because she went to greet him right away, and she was even combing out her hair for the creep! So it was with her fingers, but still, she took the effort to make herself at least a little more presentable. Maybe she didn't share everything with me, but then what was she getting into at that school? I had always thought that she had a lousy social-life...