Here we go again! It has been two freaking years since I started writing this story. Unbelievable. I want to apologize to everyone who's actually waiting for an update. (I've been waiting myself, ha!)
I will finish this story, promised. It just takes some time when you have sooo many other things to do.

So here it is. Chapter 6. Enjoy...as always, I am looking forward to some reviews. Thanks for reading!

~Caddy

For everyone who kind of forgot what happened in the previous chapters and doesn't want to go back, a little heads up:

Chapter 1: Piers meets Claire at the BSAA, he sends her the infamous mail, asking for pictures of her brother.

Chapter 2: They meet up at a bar. They get along very well. Leon interrupts their 'date'.

Bonus chapter: Piers is back at home and thinks about the evening with Claire., realizing he likes her.

Chapter 3: They meet up at Piers' place. Again, they get along very well and start to make out. Claire doesn't want to stay and leaves in a rush.

Chapter 4: Claire has lunch with Chris at her place. She finds out that he didn't tell Jill about the Edonia mission. Jill shows up for a surprise visit and Chris leaves. Jill is sad and disappointed thanks to Chris and advises Claire not to see Piers any longer.

Chapter 5: Claire meets Piers at a café and tells him she doesn't want to see him again.


Work managed to distract him from everything that was going on in his mind. Though he had expected to feel like shit this morning, he simply felt...nothing. There was an emptiness inside of his chest that was hard to grasp for him.

And this sensation made him wonder if Claire was right about what she said. They were nothing but strangers, so it didn't make a difference if she disappeared from his life. Maybe she was simply a someone that he'd keep in good memory. That's all.

The weird thing was that he just couldn't stop thinking about her.

"You look like shit, Nivans. Everything alright?" it was Finn who jolted him out of his daydreams.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine.", and it was no lie. He might still be brooding about what happened last night, but for now he was feeling okay.

"You don't look fine to me. Wanna join?", Finn held up a pack of cigarettes right in front of Piers' face.

"You know we are not supposed to smoke here.", Piers answered, but his eyes said something else.

"No one's gonna know." Finn was right. And even if, they wouldn't get fired for smoking a cigarette at the back of the BSAA headquarters. Those words were everything that was necessary to convince him. A cigarette might help him to get rid of this tension inside his chest. Piers shrugged, got up from his desk and followed Finn out of one of the emergency exits.

"So what's up?", Finn asked again. And Piers knew that he wouldn't back down unless he got a satisfactory answer. By now, Piers knew him well enough to know that he wasn't nosy, even if it might seem this way. His heart was in the right place and Finn was genuinely concerned about Piers' wellbeing. So he decided to share his story with him. At least parts of it.

"Shitty weekend."

Only Sunday night though...

After lighting his cigarette, he handed the lighter over to Finn. "Hmm...how so?", Finn replied as he blew out the smoke from his first drag.

"Got turned down pretty bad.", Piers tried to make it sound as if it was no big deal.

"You? Piers fucking Nivans? No way. I'd let you have my sister if I had one.", he laughed. Piers didn't miss the irony of this statement.

"Good to know... ", in the corner of his eye he saw the door open they had used to go outside just a few moments ago. Finn instantly dropped his cigarette on the ground and immediately stepped on it.

"Captain!", he exclaimed surprised and with a forced happy tone in his voice.

"What are you doing here?", Chris asked and he didn't sound happy at all. Finn didn't say anything. Piers simply held up his cigarette. There was no point in denying.

"I see. Got one more? It's not even noon and I feel like strangling someone." Finn offered him his pack of cigarettes. "For the record: This never happened.", Chris said as he lit up his cigarette. Piers noticed a slight slur in his voice and now that he was able to look at him a little closer he could see the weariness in his eyes. He had a hangover. That was one thing he was certain about.

Awkward silence ensued. It wasn't the presence of their Captain that made them feel uncomfortable, but the sheer fact that, right now, he was clearly in no condition to be at the HQ. After a couple seconds Finn dared to light another cigarette for himself. He had probably decided that it was alright as long as the Captain was there with them. "You two look like you had an equally disappointing Monday.", Chris said to break the silence.

"Lieutenant Nivans got his heart broken. So, I'm doing what any good team mate would do.", Finn said before Piers could even think of an answer. Maybe he should have just made something up instead of telling Finn about his state of mind.

"Can you imagine, Captain? Who could say no to that face?", with his free hand, Finn attempted to touch Piers' cheeks. But he dodged away from him.

"Don't touch me, man.", Piers replied annoyed. Chris Redfield was right about the last person he wanted to be counseled by.

"It was just a luckless effort to smitten a girl that's way out of my league.", Piers explained "That's all." But Chris didn't even seem to listen. He was just staring into space.

He then changed the subject without acknowledging what Piers had said.

"I just tried to call my sister at TerraSave. There's something I need to...I...whatever. It doesn't matter. Her boss told me she never arrived and she is not picking up her phone.", Chris explained…and the emptiness in Piers' chest made way for a different feeling. It was the uneasiness he expected to feel in the first place.

"It's probably nothing, but I just wanna check if everything is alright.", Chris continued.

"I can do that.", Piers said without a second thought. Chris raised his eye brows.

"I mean...," Piers began his sentence, not really sure where to go with it "No offense, Captain, but you don't look like you should participate in traffic right now.", he felt a nudge from Finn, but he was just saying the truth.

"That bad, huh?", Chris asked and took a drag from his cigarette. Piers nodded.

"Yeah, whatever. I appreciate your help. I'll send you her address."


The events of the last day made it hard for her to fall asleep, every time it felt like she was finally dozing off, she was wide awake again the next second. Starting anew to roll around in her bed sheets. It was one of those nights that felt like she couldn't catch one whole minute of sleep. Her thoughts jumped back and forth between her talk with Jill and the meeting with Piers. Both made her feel equally sick.

When she opened her eyes for the next time, her bedroom was already lit by the winter sun's light. Around this time of the year, the sun wasn't up until after she left her house…usually. It took her a couple seconds to realize what was going on, and then she jumped right out of her bed and checked her alarm clock. At this exact moment she was already one hour and 22 minutes late to work. She put her unkempt hair in a messy bun and skipped her habitual morning routine. A quick cold shower made up for the coffee she missed and the clothes that were lying on top in her laundry basket had to suffice for the day.

It was only when she went for the door and took a look on her phone after she took it from her nightstand that she noticed two unanswered calls from her boss and five from Chris.

It is one thing you didn't set your alarm, but how did you miss those?

While checking her display and contemplating who to call back first, Chris took the decision away from her. He was calling her again.

"What is it?", she answered in a rushed voice while she tried to balance the phone in her hands and put on her jacket at the same time.

"Where are you? Are you alright?", he sounded hoarse.

"Uhm, yeah…I'm home. I overslept.", she tucked her phone between her ear and shoulder as she tried to put on her boots.

"I was getting a little worried when I couldn't reach you and no one at TerraSave could tell me where you are.", Chris explained. This wasn't new to Claire and a mannerism Chris just couldn't get rid of. Ever since Claire was abducted and taken to this godforsaken island somewhere in the southern hemisphere, he was a paranoid when it came to her.

She concluded that he wouldn't have noticed her absence if he hadn't tried to call her in the first place, so she was wondering about the urgency of Chris' call.

"What can I help you with, Chris?", she asked and apparently he was taken aback by her straightforwardness. She could hear him breath on the other side of the line, struggling with what to say next.

"Uhm…do you think you can come by the HQ later today? I think I need your help.", his voice was almost a whisper. It wasn't the kind of whisper one would use to keep other people from hearing his words; it was like he didn't even want to hear them himself. That's how Claire new this meeting had not much to do with work.

"Jill?", she just wanted to know if her hunch was right.

"Mh.", that was his way of saying 'yes'.

"I'm on my way. I'm already two hours late for work anyways. This won't matter.", she said as she stepped outside her door. She was blinded by the sun reflecting on the freshly fallen snow and the cold wind made her skin crawl.

"Thank you, Claire. One more thing…I might have sent Piers to check in on you.", and suddenly the world wasn't as cold anymore.

"You did WHAT?", she didn't have enough time to get mad at him at this point. Piers was already standing on the other side of the road leaning against his car.

"Old habits die hard, sorry.", he hung up.

She wasn't sure what upset her more - Her overly protective brother or Piers standing in front of her house barely twelve hours after she told him to get out of her life.

"What part of l 'leave me the fuck alone' didn't you understand?", she asked on her way over to him. Keeping up the tone she used when she left the café last night.

"I'm just following orders.", he said with a shrug. "I was told to check in on you. You seem alright, so my job here is done.", he said and opened the driver's door to get back into the car.

"Wait.", she said softer than before…she didn't know why, she just knew she didn't want him to go just yet.

Stupid Claire, you know why.

He turned back around and she was convinced that she could see a smile in the corner of his lips.

"Can you give me a ride? I need to talk to my brother.", her cheeks started to glow.

Good safe

"Get in.", the slight tone of disappointment in his voice told Claire that he was hoping for something else.

Inside, the car was still fairly warm, which meant that he couldn't have gotten here a long time ago. The first few minutes of the drive were mainly awkward silence paired with cheesy Christmas music that was playing on every radio station. It reminded her of two nights ago with Piers and pizza and wine and it made her wonder if he had similar associations. She wanted to say something to make this whole drive a little less awkward, but didn't know where to start. Especially since it was her who the awkwardness by her behavior last night…Small talk with a guy she dumped because she was afraid of her feelings for him wasn't one of her strengths…obviously.

Her phone buzzed again, this time it was Neil. After Chris' call and Piers standing in front of her house, she forgot to get back to him.

"Oh, shit…Hello?", she said in an apologetic voice as she answered her phone.

"Claire, where are you?", he sounded neither upset nor worried. He started the call like a casual conversation.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to set my alarm last night. I…have some things on my mind right now.", she knew that Piers was listening and she was certain that he was aware that he was at least one of those things on her mind. Neil let out a soft chuckle.

"That's fine. When are you gonna be here?"

"Something important just came up…and I was wondering if I could get the day off. I know it's pretty spontaneous, but there are some things I need to handle right now. ", Chris was her top priority right now. Even if she didn't know what exactly he needed her for, she wanted to be there for him.

"I could really need you here today. Things are pretty wild these days, especially concerning the BSAA Edonia mission."

"I know…I know. And I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise.", she didn't want to beg, but there was no way in hell that she'd go to work today.

"Just don't miss the Christmas party next week."

"Thank you, Neil. I won't. Bye.", she hung up, let out a deep sight and leaned back in her chair. She was glad that he didn't ask any questions. One thing less to worry about.

"Rough night?", Piers asked and took a sip from his disposable coffee mug.

"Rough morning.", as she looked over to him, she wondered if she could get one of these coffees before she'd meet with Chris.

"Same here. But at least I made it to work in time.", he smiled.

This smile is gonna be the death of me

"Just rub it in, I deserve it.", it was hard for her to stay mad at him, but being mad made it easier to keep her distance.

"This is no business work related trip to the BSAA, I assume?", Piers asked, probably referring to her phone call with Neil. And now that he mentioned it, she probably could have made something up about meeting with her brother in preparation for Edonia.

"Sometimes your work life and your private life get mixed up. Especially when your brother is the Captain of a Special Operations Unit at the BSAA. That's where the fun begins.", she was aware of the ambiguity of her words.

"Especially when your Captain's sister makes it hard to focus on work.", his words were followed by silence.

"Sorry, I didn't want to bring this up again. I understood you loud and clear at the café.", for a split second he looked over to her as if he knew that he wouldn't get a reply from her…as if he tried to read in her face what was going on in her head, because he was sure that she wouldn't say it out loud. And if he was truly capable of doing this, he would have seen a mixture of guilt, regret, longing and…hope.

She kept quiet. Even if she wanted to tell him that she was feeling the same. That he was constantly in her thoughts since Friday night, that she was happy to see him again…she couldn't take back what she said before. She struggled to stay away from him… she could tell herself a hundred she was over it. She wasn't. And now it was hard for her not to let him know.

When they finally arrived she simply thanked him with a smile. The one she got in return made her heart race again.


She could hear familiar voices when she exited the elevator; some people were standing in the hallway right in front of Chris' office. She pushed them to the side to see what was going on, Piers following right behind her.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Redfield?", she heard Jill screaming from inside of the room. The door was half open.

"What do you want from me?", Chris yelled back.

"How can you do this? Just look at you. Don't you know that I can tell you got drunk last night?"

"That's none of your business.", he brushed it off. Now his hoarseness made sense.

"You are in no condition to go on a mission, much less leading one.", Jill said and the door opened up just a little more, but she didn't leave the room yet.

"What do you know, Jill? You haven't seen the real world since Africa.", he replied disparagingly.

"What do I know?! I've been there! I've been there with you. Raccoon, Russia, Africa. You name it. Do you think I'm blind? I know what kind of shit you are getting yourself into.", Jill argued and she still wasn't done.

"Remember when we promised each other not to do mission like that anymore? Running away is typical for you. Risking your life and breaking promises. The old Chris wouldn't have done this.", when Jill was done, there was silence.

"This has nothing to do with running away.", Chris said after a while that seemed like an eternity.

"I'm just going on with my life in a way it would look like without you anyways.", the coldness in his voice made Claire shudder.

"Isn't that what you want?", Chris asked.

"What I want?!", her question was followed by a sarcastic laugh.

"You don't seem to understand what I want and you never got yourself through to ask me. Is this all my fault? Poor traumatized Jill. No one can decide whether to help her or not…but instead you just assume things and run away when things get heavy."

"I can't help you. And that's indeed your fault, not mine. Don't forget that it was you who turned your back on me. I didn't make you this distant cold-hearted bitch that you are today.", Claire covered her mouth at those words, she could feel how Piers softly laid his hand on the small of her back. His touch was soothing, but didn't make the situation any better.

"How convenient for you that this bitch saved your goddamn life and everything that happened afterwards made her this cold-hearted and distant. You're very welcome. Go to hell, Redfield.", she left and started walking towards the elevator Claire just arrived from. Their eyes met for a second, but Jill just kept on walking right past her.

"I'll see you there.", he yelled after her, then looked around and noticed all the people starring at them.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work."

Claire was shaking and she could only assume how Jill was feeling right now. She wanted to go after her, but she also needed to see her brother. She turned to Piers.

"Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Please.", she put so much emphasis in this last word that it almost sounded like a beg. Piers looked distressed and his face just seemed to ask one question. 'How?' but he nodded and followed Jill down the hallway. Claire entered her brother's office.

"Chris, what in God's name did just happen?", his face was red and his eyes were glistening as if he was close to cry. This fight had not failed to leave a mark on him.

"What are you doing here?", Chris looked at her as if she just arrived from another planet.

"What am I-? You asked me to come and talk to you, not even half an hour ago.", Claire started to wonder if her brother was losing his mind.

"I guess you are a little bit too late, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Apparently I left a voicemail on her phone last night.", the rage hadn't left his voice yet.

"Oh no...", she knew where this was going.

"I wanted to tell her, you know? So I guess I just did it after my last shot or somewhere in between? I can't remember... She is just so goddam stubborn that it's impossible to talk to her without her freaking out. It's smarter to keep my mouth shut.", he tried to explain. Claire thought it was weird that Jill said almost the exact same thing to her about Chris.

"I know she listens to you; she used to listen to me as well, but those days are long gone and now it doesn't matter. I can't wait for that mission to start. The sooner I'm out of here, the better.", Claire wondered if he could hear how her heart broke in her chest at those words.

"You know what? Maybe Jill is right. Go to hell.", she turned on her heels.

"Claire, wait. That's not what I meant…"

"I don't care what you meant.", she said while opening the door to the hallway.
"Learn to treat the people in your life with the right amount of respect. Then we'll talk."

"Claire…"

"Sober up. I'll deal with you tomorrow.", she said and slammed the door shut behind her. He did not follow.

In a half jog she went down the hallway to go after Piers and Jill. On her phone she had received a text from Piers that simply said "Garage". The elevator took her to the basement floor and to find what she was looking for, she just needed to follow their voices. They were arguing.

"You two should get your shit together. If you can't do it for the sake of the BSAA then do it at least for Claire.", Piers was fairly calm and reasonable while discussing with Jill.

"Why are you getting involved, Nivans? You should know your boundaries.", she, on the other hand, still sounded furious, though also at the verge of crying.

"And you should stay professional on BSAA grounds and not fight like children for the whole world to hear.", Piers replied. Before Jill could open her mouth again, her eyes met Claire's.

"He's not wrong about that, Jill.", Claire said and made a step toward her friend.

"And that makes it better how?", Jill's voice broke. It wouldn't take much more to make her burst into tears Claire wanted to get her out of this place before that would happen.

"Let me drive you home.", Claire offered.

"I can do that myself. Just leave me alone", Jill grabbed her car keys from her pocket and let them fall right to the floor. Piers picked them up before she could…and handed them over to Claire.

"We both know that is not what you want.", Claire used the remote to open Jill's car. Tired of fighting, she sighed, bowed her head and walked over to her car.

Before Claire followed her, she looked at Piers. She knew that Jill needed her right now, but she was hurting too…and being comforted by Piers sounded a lot more inviting than analyzing Chris' behavior with Jill.

"You think you can handle my brother?"

"I'm not sure if I have a choice right now.", he laughed. She liked his sense of humor even in a situation like this.

"Good luck.", she tried to reply with a hopeful smile.

"Same to you.", he nodded toward Jill's car. For a moment Claire wanted to lean in for a hug. A goodbye hug, a hug of comfort. Whatever. But she didn't. Unsure what to do or say next, she simply returned his nod and went over to the car without another word.


"I'm sorry, Claire…so sorry that you had to see that.", they had barely left the garage when Jill started to sob. Claire was actually impressed that she had managed to hold it in for so long. While Jill cried into her hands, Claire remained silent. There were no words of comfort she could think of and she knew that Jill didn't like to be wrapped in hugs and be comforted like other people did…not since she had been with Wesker. She just hoped that Jill was comfortable with her being around. After about five minutes of silent crying Jill finally found her voice again.

"Did you know?", Claire knew what she was referring to…Edonia...and Jill wouldn't like the answer. But lying wasn't an option.

"Yes.", she heard Jill exhale sharply, but before she could comment Claire went on. "…but it wasn't until yesterday when Chris told me that he kept it a secret from you."

"It doesn't really matter anymore, does it?", Jill asked and looked out of the window, she seemed to fight with her tears once again.

"How did you find out?", Claire wanted to know. Chris mentioned some sort of voicemail.

Jill let out an sarcastic laugh before she answered.

"He got shit drunk with Leon and decided that 3 in the morning is a good time to call me and talk about Edonia.", so Claire's interpretation was right.

"His call didn't wake me up, I heard the message he left this morning.", she paused. "I'm gonna leave NY, Claire. I went to HQ to turn in my notice then I decided to confront Chris and you heard how that went.", Jill's voice was solid again, but now Claire felt like crying.

"You don't have to go. I'll be here for you…you can come with me to the TerraSave Christmas Party. Moira will be there too.", this was the smartest thing she could come up with.

"This has nothing to do with you. I just can't stay in this city any longer. I need some distance.", for the second time this morning Claire felt a stinging pain in her chest. It wasn't as bad as when her brother said he couldn't wait to go, but it came pretty damn close. She wondered if Jill had been planning to leave New York without saying goodbye.

"Where are you going?", Claire knew she made up her mind. Though she wanted her to stay there was nothing she could do.

"I'm gonna visit my Dad at some point.", she answered. Claire knew that Jill's father was in prison for the rest of his life. She rarely talked about him and she probably wouldn't change that now.

"Maybe I'll go and see Barry and Becca. I don't know yet. I guess I can do whatever I want...I don't have a job anymore."

"You're leaving today?", Claire knew the answer, but she wanted to ask anyways. For the sake of the conversation.

"I need to pick up some stuff at home, then I'll hit the road."

"And you want to go like this. Without sorting things out with Chris?"

"Things are sorted out. I don't think there's anything else left to say."

Claire knew a discussion was to no avail. Unless her brother would turn up at Jill's doorstep and apologize on his knees to beg for her forgiveness, they'd be parting ways like that. And it was highly unlikely that this would happen.

"What did his voicemail say?", Claire asked and dreaded the answer.

"Some parts were hard to understand, but it was pretty much three minutes of. 'I'm going to Edonia and you can't stop me. I didn't tell you because I know you'd snap.' Oh, and according to his jabbering, it was Leon who convinced him to call me."

Those two drinking together never ended well.

"I'm pretty sure he didn't tell him to call you in the middle of the night, he probably just suggested that it's better to hear it from him than from anyone else.", Leon and her thought alike in a lot of matters. So this wasn't any different.

"Well, I heard it from him and he was right. I fucking snapped. I am furious and hurt and disappointed and devastated, but I'm glad that I know now.", she sighed.

"You wanna know why I was at HQ this morning? Chris called me to come see him and talk about you. But you were a little faster than me. I wish I would have been there sooner to prevent what happened.", Claire wondered if this scene would have played out any differently if she had been there from the start.

"It had to happen eventually. There wouldn't have been anything you could do. This is your brother's fault…and mine.", Jill concluded.

"I agree with you in a lot of things and I share your opinion on these missions being too dangerous…", Claire stopped. She needed to think about her next words thoroughly.

"But...?", Jill couldn't hide some anticipation in her voice. And it wasn't the good kind of anticipation.

"But these missions are one of the few things that make him feel alive. He chose this way of living. You both did.", Claire wasn't sure if this was the right moment to talk about this subject. But Jill would leave today and she needed it off her chest.

"This was a long time ago. Things are different now."

"Are they? To me it seems all the same. Chris changed, sure. He drinks more, but he always liked to drink. He isn't as carefree as he used to be in his early twenties but this applies to all of us.", Claire started to explain. She didn't want to diminish the awful things her brother said to Jill, she just wanted to help her understand.

"I think he is fit to lead this mission, Jill.", Claire finally said. Jill took some time to answer.

"You saw him, right? He's their Captain. Their lives depend on him and he shows up hungover to work.", Jill argued.

"I know. And I agree that this is highly unprofessional, but I've seen him a lot worse and he always managed to see through his operations."

"When? I can't remember ever seeing him worse than this.", Claire could hear that Jill was close to tears once again.

"You couldn't. You were missing, presumed dead.", Claire had pushed these dark times away from her. She had tried to be strong for Chris...but not only had he lost his longtime partner, she had lost her closest friend.

"Oh.", was all Jill managed to say.

"When he left for Africa, I was sure I wouldn't see him again. It sounded like a suicide mission to me. But he came back and he had found you. He just couldn't handle the way Wesker changed you. You know that he always blamed himself for what happened to you.", Claire had never talked about this with Jill, but when she had to stay at the hospital for a couple weeks after their return from Kijuju, Chris went through hell once again. He couldn't bear to see in this state. More than once Claire heard him say 'It should have been me' when he came back from a visit. This was the time their relationship got their first cracks. He couldn't get himself through to see her as much as she had needed him to. He avoided her so he wouldn't have to face what Jill had become in her absence. After she rejoined the BSAA, she was the walking and talking proof of his failure at the Spencer Estate.

"I would jump out of this window a hundred times more if that would save his life.", Jill said barely audible.

"You should tell him, not me."

No reply. Jill didn't say another word for the rest of the ride.


Claire was sitting on Jill's couch and rested her eyes while Jill herself was busy cramming together whatever she would need for her road trip. When the phone rang, Chris was the first person that came to her mind. But she was wrong.

"Piers…everything okay?", she asked and without even hearing his voice, her heart started to beat faster. Weirdly enough, it felt good after a morning of heartache.

"I'm calling to ask you the same.", he replied. How cute that he cared like this while he probably had his hands full at the BSAA right now.

"I'm at Jill's. She's packing.", saying it out loud sucked even more than just thinking about it.

"I heard she quit. So she's ditching NY?"

"Seems like it."

"Are you alright?", it wasn't just an empty phrase. She was convinced that he actually cared how she was feeling, so she decided not to lie about it.

"No, not really. Rough morning indeed.", she admitted.

"You can say that again. Things around here haven't really calmed down yet either.", Claire wondered if he wasn't only calling to ask her how she was feeling, but also to share some of his baggage with her.

"What happened after we left?"

"I sent him home, what else could I do? I offered to take his command for the rest of the day. That's not something I can't handle, but the scene they caused here left a lot of people losing their heads about Edonia. I'm not sure if we get to fix this before we're actually leaving.", he couldn't hide his frustration in these words.

"If half of the stories Chris told me about you are true, you won't have any problems getting your men back on track.", Claire encouraged him and when she looked up, she noticed that Jill had stepped back into the living room.

"Thank you, Claire. Gotta go back to work. Call me if you need anything.", he hung up before she could say goodbye. This call left a pleasant feeling in her belly, a feeling she had a couple times in the past days. It made her smile for the fraction of a second.

"You like him.", Jill commented. Claire didn't know how much she heard of the conversation, but apparently it was enough to know who she was talking to.

"Is it that obvious?", she asked and rolled her eyes. The more she tried not to like him, the harder it got. Jill smiled empathetically.

"We never got to talk about yesterday. From your text it sounded like you broke things off with him.", Jill sat down next to her.

"I did. But he was standing in front of my house this morning, because Chris told him to check on me, because I overslept and he couldn't reach me.", Claire explained.

"Sounds like him."

Claire told Jill the story about her meeting with Piers at the café and how she was unable to sleep with everything that was going on in her mind.

"This is my fault and I shouldn't have gotten involved. The problems Chris and I have can't be have transferred on you, I was too occupied with my own thoughts to see it.", she took a deep breath before she continued. "Piers is a good kid. It takes some balls to talk to his superior the way he did today. I can tell that he cares about you.", Jill finished.

"It has been a while since I felt something like that for anyone.", Claire admitted. After Jill's words from before she'd expected her to react with a smile, with some words of assurance. Something like 'Forget what I said yesterday. Go for it!' But nothing. She just nodded. Apparently, she still couldn't bring herself through to encourage Claire's connection to Piers.

"You ready to go?", Claire asked after an eternity without an answer. There was nothing else to discuss.

"I think so."


Jill insisted on driving Claire home and since her mood seemed to be somewhat stable, Claire didn't object. The drive to Claire's place was a lot quieter than before. Every word that came to Claire's mind had either something to do with convincing Jill to stay in NY or convincing her to talk to Chris. Both wouldn't happen.

When it was time to say goodbye, it hurt Claire even more than she would have expected. While she secretly wiped some tears away from the corner of her eyes, she literally had to bite her tongue to avoid asking Jill when she would return to this city. She feared the answer, so she preferred rather not to know.

"Take care of yourself.", Claire tried to keep a stable voice.

"Same goes for you, Redfield.", Jill leaned for a hug which Claire returned without hesitation.

"What shall I do without my Valentine?", Claire asked in a fake dramatic voice to hide her sadness.

"I think you'll be able to find a replacement.", she had a smile on her face. And Claire understood. Those were the words of assurance she had needed earlier.

"I'll let you know.", Claire replied as they parted their hug.

Even after Jill's car had long disappeared from Claire's field of vision, she kept standing in her drive way, staring off in the distance. Minutes and people passed by.

What now?

She could feel how her fingertips turned numb from the coldness, but she couldn't get herself to move.

Jill's words lingered in her mind. This wasn't about finding a replacement for her, but creating a little space in her heart for someone new.

Piers...his name echoed in her thoughts. Along with Jill, Chris, Sherry and Rebecca, was one of the few people in this world she could truly be herself around. That was something she couldn't throw away so easily...something she just shouldn't throw away. Maybe it wasn't too late yet.

As if remote-controlled, she walked inside her house. The new determination helped her to come to the realization that just because her brother and Jill were miserable, she didn't have to be.

And after a long and warm shower, Claire new what she had to do.