This is a revised, and slightly different version of "How Can I Not Love You?" which I posted from a different account. If any of you have read that before and liked it enough to read the whole thing, feel free to read this. I feel it's a bit more detailed and it may differ a bit in storyline so it's worth a read. Those who have not, you're welcome to read also, but be warned. This is incest, Claire x Chris incest to be specific. So if that sort of thing grosses you out, hit the back button to return to the long list of fanfictions to choose from to find something that doesn't give you the same reaction. Anyways, R&R!

After watching more than enough television, Claire decided to step out for a walk. She needed to clear her head. Just for a little while

before having to face Chris again. Chris, still at their apartment, began to gather various ingredients and tools to begin cooking a home

cooked meal, which neither of them had gotten to partake in in quite some time. He peeled potatoes, cut them into pieces, than mashed

them in a bowl, and proceeded to cook them in a pot on the stove. Then he prepared a pot roast and put it in the oven. Finally he put a

cold package of peas into another boiling pot of water and let them simmer over the flame. Having everything cooking, he then went into

his room to grab two things he had been keeping for a while. One was kept in the cabinet near his bed, and it was a bottle of wine he

had been saving for a special occasion. He hadn't really had much to celebrate in the past, but tonight, he wanted to make it up to his

baby sister for all the heartache he had caused her. He then grabbed a box, which was wrapped in red, glittery wrapping paper, and had

a silver bow on top of it. It was a gift for her, which he had bought back before his days as a S.T.A.R.S. member. He had planned to give it

to her much earlier, but when the missions started to roll in, his time was limited, and he hardly ever saw her. So the gift remained

untouched, and ungiven. Having retrieved these two things, he returned to the kitchen, and placed the bottle of wine on the table. He

put the gift under the table, near his usual chair, and then began to set the table with silverware, plates, and wine glasses. He even set

up a few candles, and lit them, since it was going to get dark soon, and the light was much too bright for such an occasion.

Sometime later, Claire came into the apartment, with the smell of mouthwatering foods hitting her immediately upon entering. "What

smells so good?" She asked, walking further into their home with her eyes curiously wandering about. Chris smiled at her, who sat in his

usual chair at the table. "It's been a long time since we've eaten dinner together. So I figured I'd cook tonight." She sat down in her usual

chair, across from his, and marveled at the nice display on the table, as well as the food sitting on the counter as well as on the stove

top. "I… I don't… know what to say…" She sheepishly admitted, utterly speechless by her brother's kind actions of the evening. "Well, it's

okay. You can thank me later when the shock wears off." He joked, as he got up from his seat and began to fill both their plates with

spoonful's of mashed potatoes, a thin slice or two of pot roast, and a helping of green peas. He returned to his chair after serving, and

then proceeded to open the wine bottle, pouring her a half full glass first, and then himself. Claire finally found the right words after

having a moment to process everything. "Thank you so much… you didn't have to do all this." He smiled at her again. "I know I didn't

have to. But I wanted to. And well, you deserve it, sis. It's not often I'm here, and I do apologize for that. But when I am, I should treat

you like the princess you are." She waved her hand at him, lightly laughing at his nickname for her. "Oh stop, I'm not a child anymore,

Chris." He laughed along with her, and the two began to quietly take their first few bites of food, as well as a sip or two of their wine.

"How is it?" He asked. "It's so good! You should cook more often." She cooed, smiling from ear to ear. Chris was more than happy to see

her enjoying his hard work, as well as smiling again. He missed her smile. Every time he was away for work he thought of her. Her hair.

Her eyes. Her scent. Her laugh. He missed it all. And here he was, getting to take it all in for once. It felt good, that was for sure. "Sure

sis. I'd love to, as long as I get to see that beautiful smile every time I do." And he meant it. He totally would, as long as it made her

happy. After the two finished off their plates, and about half of the bottle of wine, Claire gathered their plates and silverware and

glasses. "Since you cooked, I'll do the dishes." She stated. He gave a brief laugh. "Thanks sis." After rolling up her jacket sleeves, she

began to wash dishes while humming softly to herself. He smiled. Tonight had gone well. But as he looked down, he saw the bow

attached to the wrapped present, and he silently swore to himself. He had forgotten to give it to her. He looked back over at his sister,

and parted his lips to call out her name. But he was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. "I'll get it." He said, sighing in annoyance, as

he got up from the table and walked over to the ringing line. Claire couldn't help but hear his responses to whoever called. The phone

was in the living room, which was not too far away from the kitchen where she stood washing dishes. She wasn't sure who it was, and

what they wanted. But she could hear her brother's responses.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi! Long time, no talk. How are you?"

"Big news huh? What's going on?"

"Oh you wanna come over here? Sure. It must be something big I'm guessing if you wanna tell me in person."

"Alright. I'll be waiting for you then."

"Seeya."

He hung up finally, and before she could even ask him, he walked back into the kitchen, where she was rinsing off the soapy dishes, and

said, "Sis, would you mind if a friend of mine came over for a bit?" She kept her back turned to him as she continued rinsing dishes in the

sink. "Who is it?" "It's Jill. My partner from S.T.A.R.S." Though he didn't talk about his work to her much, she still knew of Jill Valentine quite

well. He mentioned her every time he did talk about work around her. She had a feeling that her and him were crushing on one another,

seeing as Jill was apparently single, young, and though Claire had not met her before, she guessed she was probably smoking hot,

seeing as S.T.A.R.S. members had to be in tip top shape. "Sure. I don't care." She was careful to keep her voice as kind as possible

though inside she felt things totally different. As soon as all the dishes were rinsed from their soapy bubbles and foam, she dried them off

with a towel hanging over the side of the sink, and then put them in the cabinet to her right, one by one. Claire went to her room,

grabbing her keys and her wallet, and then went straight for the front door. "Claire, where you off to?" Chris asked, his concern growing

again by the return of her distant behavior. "Out for a drink." She answered nonchalantly. As her hand turned the doorknob, he walked

over to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "At what bar?" She let go of the doorknob, and turned to face him, and put her hand on her

hip as she objected, "Chris, I'm old enough to take care of myself. I'm a big girl now." Her voice was dripping with attitude. He withdrew

his hand. "I just wanna make sure you're safe. In case I need to go and get you later or something. I don't know how well you handle

your liquor." She rolled her eyes. "I can handle my liquor just fine." As she noticed that he was about to raise his arm up to say something

else, she cut him off, "J's bar. That's where I'll be." With that, she left the apartment, her boots clicking across the hard marble floor out in

the hallway.

Chris watched hopelessly as his sister's figure disappeared out the door and into the night streets. What just happened? Had he said

something wrong? Or maybe it was something he did? Whatever it was, Claire was clearly upset, and was going to drown those troubles

in alcohol at a bar a few blocks away. He wanted to go after her, to convince her to come back home and talk to him about whatever it

was that was bothering her all of a sudden. But as Claire coldly stated to him earlier… Chris, I'm old enough to take care of myself. I'm a big

girl now. She was right. Even with his big brother instincts burning inside of him, those instincts that always wanted to protect her, she

was right. He sighed, retiring to the table where they had been very recently having the nice home cooked meal he prepared. Looking at

the wine bottle sitting on the table, he grabbed it, and shook it gently to see how much was left. The bottle was nearly half full. He

shrugged, and got up to grab one of the wine glasses in the cabinet. He sat back down, and poured himself a glass, sipping it slowly after

pouring. He felt guilty all over again, just as he had felt earlier, when Claire flinched and jumped at his acts of affection. She never used to

do that. She used to smile and talk to him, and she would even initiate some of their affections. Lay her head on his shoulder. Grab his

hand while they were walking somewhere together. Hug him when she said good morning or good night to him. It seemed that ever

since their reunion on Rockfort Island she had been acting strangely. Not so much on the island, probably due to the outbreak at hand.

But more so after their escape.

Chris couldn't have been happier when they made it off the island. When they landed, they flagged down a cab and were brought to an

apartment that Claire had been living in mostly, since he was away a lot. They got home late, around eleven. Surprisingly though, he wasn't

quite ready to crash in his bed which he hardly got to enjoy. He turned on the TV to watch a little mindless programming to get him more in the

mood to go to sleep. Claire sat down beside him, after getting a cold can of cola from the fridge. As she took a sip, he grabbed her hand, which

was lying lazily on the couch beside her leg. "I'm so glad I'm home with you. For the first time in a while. A long while." He looked over at her, a

smile glowing on his face. Something people didn't see a lot of him from him. But his smile was short lived, as soon after he intertwined their

fingers and said his sweet words, Claire spit out the few sips of cola she had residing in her mouth, and began to cough, trying to regain her

breath. "Claire, are you okay?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing with worry. She eventually stopped choking from the soda that had gone down

the wrong way, and then stood up to walk over to the kitchen to grab an empty glass, which she filled with cold tap water. She drank it slowly to

ensure she wouldn't have another choking fit, and after removing her lips from a side of the glass, she regained her breath.

"Sorry about that. Drank it too fast." She apologized, putting the half full glass of water down on the counter in the kitchen. "It's alright. But are

you sure you're alright?" He asked, somewhat unconvinced. She nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." His smile returned, having been assured that all was

well. "Sis, you want to watch a movie or something, since we're both still up?" "Oh um… no, I think I should turn in. You see, I'm exhausted,

and haven't had a real bed to sleep in since I got held prisoner on that nightmare of an island." His smile faded from his face again. That seemed

to be happening a lot tonight. "Oh… well alright sis. Get some rest, you deserve it after the last few days you've had." He trailed off. He was

disappointed and wasn't hiding it well. But he regained composure a few seconds later. "We'll have tomorrow to watch something together. And

many more days too." He was optimistic. He always had been. It was the only way he remained sane in the situations he had faced on the

force. But he took that from his days of work, and began to see everything that way. Even everyday life.

He got up from the couch as well, walking over to where his sister stood by the kitchen counter. "Goodnight sis." He murmured, pulling her into

a hug. She stiffened against him. She hardly even returned to his affections. He felt his disappointment from earlier returning. He didn't

understand why she was acting this way. Was it because he had been gone all the time before? Was she angry with him? Upset? Disappointed?

Or maybe she just felt disconnected because he was gone all the time. Like she couldn't depend on him. He felt his stomach twist and turn with

guilt. He didn't mean to make her feel like she was second to the job. That certainly was not true. And it never would be. No matter how good he

was at it. But did she know that? It seemed she didn't from the way she was distancing herself from him. He eventually let go of her, and let

her retire to her bedroom. Once the door closed behind her, he returned to his spot on the left side of the beige couch, and grabbed the remote

so he could flip channels until he found something he liked enough to watch until he got tired. All the while though, he couldn't help but feel

guilty. He felt like the worst older brother in the world, always leaving his baby sister behind, without a word of reasoning or explaining. He never

even told her where he was, what he was doing, or when he was going. Truth is, he wasn't allowed to. The S.T.A.R.S. force was all about secrecy

within the group and its members. But still, he wanted to be honest. He wanted to be able to tell her anything and everything. He trusted her

like he did no one else. Always had since they were children and their parents died. He just wondered if she felt the same anymore.

While spacing out, and living somewhat through his flashback, he had gone through about two glasses of wine. As he reached for the

bottle to pour himself a third, he heard a knock at the door. He got up from the table, and walked straight to the door, asking "Who is it?"

before opening it after the visitor answered, "It's Jill." The two hugged immediately. "It's great to see you again, Chris." He smiled. "It's

great to see you too, Jill."