"Chris...?" Claire meekly called out, poking her head into the S.T.A.R.S. office.

Not hearing a response, Claire entered the room and looked around, holding the bag that contained her lunch and the book she wanted to tell her big brother about.

The office was completely empty. Walking over to her brother's desk, Claire spotted a small note underneath a coffee mug.

"Sorry, Claire." She began reading aloud. "There was a tram accident up in the Arklays, so I had to leave. We can have lunch another time."

"Oh..." Claire placed the note back down after writing a brief confirmation at the bottom of the piece of paper, letting her brother know she read his message.

Looking down at her feet, Claire felt a wave of disappointment wash over her. She understood that her brother was a busy person, and that saving people was far more important than having lunch with her. But she still felt sad.

As she left the S.T.A.R.S. office, Claire could overhear some R.P.D. officers discussing various topics.

"Hey, would you like to have lunch together?" One office asked a friend of theirs.

"Sure!" Another happily replied. "We can talk about that cute new rookie."

Feeling herself tense up at the doorway, Claire walked out into the hallway as other police officers were filtering from room to room.

As she walked down the stairs to the ground floor, she ended up hearing people talk about her.

"Isn't that Redfield's little sister?" A secretary asked a colleague.

"Oh... Hey..." A passing officer said as he looked at his superior. "Do you think she's lost?"

At every word, Claire felt more and more anxious, just wanting to curl up into a ball and hide behind the long, auburn curtain of her hair. But in just a few more minutes, she'd be free of everyone else's voices and she could be at peace.

As she neared the R.P.D.'s entrance, she overheard the desk sergeant whisper to another officer. "The poor dear, it must be hard for her to get around without any help."

Feeling her stomach knot up, she quickly walked through the door and towards her sanctuary, the garden close to the police station.

Sitting down on a bench among the flowers and plants, Claire let out the breath she was holding since she left the S.T.A.R.S. offices

"I made it." She proudly said to herself as she placed her bag onto her lap and opened it up.

Placing her lunch next to her on the bench, Claire pulled out the book she wanted to share with her brother, and hopefully have him read.

Brushing her hand over the cover, Claire read the words aloud through a light whisper. "Look me in the eye..." The cover had a picture of a frowning man on it, his face scrunched up and his eyes firmly closed.

Looking at the book, she thought about what she overheard the desk sergeant say. Feeling herself begin to tear up, she tried to steady her breathing, but it didn't work. As she held the book by the spine tightly in one hand, she brought the other one up to her face.

She tried talking to herself in an attempt to calm down, as she brought the hand that had been holding the book up to her chest. "I-I... I'd... I'd be..." Claire could feel hot tears run over the hand she brought up to her face. "I'd be happy with just... just one friend..."

Her eyes blurry from all of her tears, she heard footsteps nearby. Gasping, Claire quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve while whispering to herself. "I can't... I can't let anyone see me like this."

Hearing the footsteps get closer and closer, Claire rubbed her eyes harder. "Please... just leave me alone." She plead in her mind, not wanting anyone to go around telling the everyone that she was crying by herself.

The sound of the footsteps ceased, and Claire let out a sigh of relief, as she lowered her arm to allow her tears to continue to flow. But as she raised her head, she saw a small white square in a large hand.

"H-Huh?" Claire looked at the corner of what she could now see was a handkerchief, she had to squint slightly to make out the embroidery, but she could read the initials on it. "L.S.K...?"

Realizing that someone was standing right in front of her, Claire traced the hand back to its source, her eyes running up a muscular arm that belonged to a very tall man in a police uniform.

Claire 's teary blue eyes meeting his compassionate light blue ones, the man standing in front of her smiled empathetically. "Hello."

Claire sat, staring up with watery eyes at the man standing before her. The moment of surprise from his presence passing, she quickly lowered her head back down to hide her disheveled state.

While she held her head down, Claire heard the man begin to speak. "Are you okay?"

As she opened her mouth to make an attempt to address him, Claire found it even more difficult to speak to someone than usual. With her words caught in her throat, Claire simply nodded in the affirmative.

Out from under her bangs, Claire could see the man kneel down beside her. Her hands had been quivering since she began crying, and despite her best efforts to hold them in place and not seem like she was falling apart in front of a stranger, she was failing.

As teardrops fell on her shaking hands, Claire 's vision was once again filled with the sight of a pure white piece of cloth. "Here." The man offered. "This is the least I can do."

Unable to look at him directly, Claire shook her head vigorously as she finally found the strength to speak.. "B-But... I couldn't... a-accept... such a... clean..." She was close to hyperventilating, having difficulty uttering more than a single word between breathes.

Closing her eyes while her breathing continued to hasten and her tears still flowed, despite her best efforts to stymie them. Claire felt something make contact with her left cheek while raising her head up delicately.

As Claire 's eyes opened, she was greeted by a kind, warm smile as she looked into caring eyes.

While they continued to stare into each other's eyes, the man tenderly brought his handkerchief up to her face and wiped away the tears pooling below her right eye. As he moved over to her left, Claire couldn't do anything besides look at the kind person in front of her. His palm was a bit rugged, but he was so gentle and his hand felt so warm against her cool cheek that Claire didn't have the slightest desire to pull her face away from his hands.

After he had finished wiping away Claire 's tears and pulled his hands back, the man smiled brightly at her. Claire looked off to the side out of embarrassment while sneaking the occasional glance at him.

"Here. Please, take it." The man offered as he held the slightly damp handkerchief towards Claire .

Claire looked away from him completely this time. "I-I... couldn't... possibly..."

Still holding his handkerchief out towards her, his sympathetic smile didn't falter for a moment as he put the embroidered piece of cloth in her hands. "A handkerchief that goes unused is a thing to be mourned. Especially one that is not allowed to dry one's tears."

Feeling her grip tighten around the soft fabric in between her slender fingers, Claire turned back towards him while looking down slightly. "Th-Thank you... v-very much..."

The man stood back up. "Think nothing of it." Dusting his pant leg off from kneeling down, he continued. "Would you like me to walk you to the home?"

"O-Oh..." Claire patted her face with the handkerchief she was given. "N-No, thank you."

"Are you sure? It's no problem." He said.

"Y-Yes..." Claire paused as she thought of some sort of excuse to give to the man that was so kindly showing concern for her. "I-It's just... It's just a-allergies."

Claire could feel that her lie was easily detected by him. "Ah, I see." She heard him say. "If that's the case, then I hope you feel better soon."

"Th-Thank you..." Claire 's gratitude was both for his well wishes, as well as for the consideration he had for not pressing her on such an obvious fabrication.

"You're very welcome." He replied, and as he opened his mouth to say something else, the sound of a his radio cracking to life broke his train of thought. Noticing Claire 's lunch sitting next to her, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh! It seems like I lost track of time again today." Laughing to himself, he turned back towards Claire. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." Nodding to Claire politely, he smiled. "Enjoy your lunch, and have a lovely day."

"Y-You too." Claire nodded back to him. "Th-Thank you."

As the man turned to take his leave, Claire looked back down at the handkerchief in her hands. "L.S.K..." Bringing her head back up to ask him a question. "E-Excuse me..." But by the time she called out to him, he was already out of earshot.

"Oh..." Claire gently muttered to herself, she was curious what the compassionate officer's name was, she hadn't noticed the nametag on his uniform. Considering the time, it would be best for her to eat and then head back to her brother's house. So she put her book back into her school bag, but as she did, the handkerchief the officer had given to her fell onto her lap.

Lifting the piece of fabric up in her right hand, while her left gripped the metal feather on the necklace she wore. Claire looked at the initials on the handkerchief, as a light blush graced her cheeks.

~o~O~o~

Author's Note

Hello, everyone. This chapter is actually a revised version of two different chapters from my main story, Auburn Eyes. I hope that you enjoyed this, and if you'd like to read more wholesome content, feel free to take a look at Auburn Eyes, I'm quite proud of it. Thank you, and have a lovely day.