A/N: Sorry for such the long update! Please forgive me :D

All Hallows Eve : Chapter 10

"Why can't we just leave her in the basement?" HUNK pleaded as Chris carried Ashley's unconscious body onto the back patio. "This is inhumane!"

"Because I don't want this tramp puking all over my shit." Chris gently laid Ashley onto the lounge chair.

"But what if it starts to rain!?"

"Maybe it will sober her up a bit," Chris jumped back as Ashley groaned and pulled at her imaginary skirt.

"What are you looking at?" She muttered. "Stop it, you pervert!" Was she having some sick sex dream? Steve could have sworn he saw a shimmer in Barry's eyes as he watched Ashley on the chair. God, he was disgusting.

Chris glared at Leon. "Kennedy, this is all your fault."

Leon had his head poked out the backdoor trying to hide behind his hands. "I can't help it that I'm so damn irresistible."

Chris let out a dramatic sigh. "Why don't we just call it a night?"

"NO!" Nearly everyone said in protest.

"The night has only just begun!" Barry protested and threw an arm around Chris. "And I will be more than happy to keep an eye on this little lady…"

"Plus, Wesker will be here soon." Claire giggled from inside the house. She stood beside Steve, and he noticed that she was rather close. He could smell the alcohol on her breath. Her hand then found the small of his back of support. He wondered if she could feel the shiver than ran up his spine.

"Let's go back to those video games or something else. I don't want any more trouble to happen tonight." Chris ran his fingers through his hair and Barry tightened his grip around Chris's shoulders.

"We're going to play the one with the hot guy on the front. No questions asked." Leon headed towards the stairs and HUNK closely followed behind, suddenly forgetting about the unconscious Ashley in the backyard.

The rest of the group made their way back into the basement. Leon and HUNK both sat on the floor with their noses nearly touching the TV. Steve slumped down on the couch and Claire sat right next to him, incredibly close yet again.

"This guy looks strikingly familiar," Leon stared at the screen as HUNK played. "He's almost as hot as me!"

"Are you sure you're straight?" Barry asked as he threw himself into the recliner with a beer. "Hey Chris! Make sure to bring down some more pizza!" Chris and Jill were still upstairs.

"Okay, this hoe with the chainsaw needs to BACK THE FUCK OFF!" HUNK screamed as flailed the controller around with his crazy arm movements. But Steve was paying little attention to the screen. He was more concerned with the fact that Claire's hand was on his knee. He didn't know if she had purposely put it there or not, but he sat straight up in anticipation.

"So are you and Rebecca a thing?" Claire suddenly asked. If she was still drunk, her words didn't show it. She seems completely sober now other than the fact that her hand was on his knee.

"No, she's just a friend," Steve swallowed loudly. "If even that…"

"She likes you," Claire began to drag her finger in a circle around his knee cap. "I hear her talking about you all the time in the locker room."

"You have gym class with her?" Steve asked desperately trying to ignore Claire's fingers.

"Yeah. She and I are on the same volleyball team during class. And then afterwards we all pile in the locker room and take showers to wash all the sweat off ourselves." Claire was watching him closely for a reaction but he kept a straight face. She should have been paying attention to the erection he was trying so hard to not have. Think of Leon and Luis. Think of moldy fruit. Think of a naked Ashley with crabs. ANYTHING! He shouted at himself. He tried to turn his attention back to the game.

"That's cool. Us guys shower after gym class too." He heard his voice crack several times. Claire watched him for several seconds without saying anything, but continued to stroke his knee with her finger. Her thumb was now rubbing the inside of his leg. HUNK was now fighting some giant and a dog was helping him out. Steve had always wanted a dog, but his parents were allergic. He wondered why the Redfields' didn't have a dog. Maybe Chris was allergic. Yeah, Chris was probably allergic. Claire couldn't be allergic. Steve imagined her cuddling the cutest little puppy as it licked her face and she laughed… He shook his head. STOP IT!

Claire laughed in his ear. "Trying so hard to be a gentleman instead of wanting all the dirty details about the locker room."

"Well, I assume it isn't much different from ours other than the fact that you guys have boobs and we don't," Steve smiled in hopes that she would laugh at his stupid joke.

She did laugh but it was more of a pitty laugh than anything. "You are so lame."

"It's okay, you can laugh at my terrible sense of humor," Steve laughed as she tightened her grip on his knee.

"You're really weird," She said for the second time that night as she looked directly into Steve's eyes. "But you're a cute kind of weird."

"Thanks?" He grinned.

She laughed yet again. "It's a good thing, I swear!"

"Oh okay. You just insult my jokes, call me weird, and then accept me to believe that being weird is cute." Steve loved making her laugh. If making Claire laugh was his full time job, he would be the happiest boy around.

"Jesus, you two. Why don't you just go make out in the closet already?" Barry grumbled as he started to head upstairs again, probably heading for Ashley.

Steve forced himself to laugh at Barry's comment, but Claire wasn't laughing.

"Do you want to?" Her face was completely serious and her hand dropped to her side. Steve felt his heart drop deep into his stomach. He felt that his world had suddenly stopped around him and the only words he could process was total nonsense.

Before he realized what was happening, Claire was holding his hand and leading him to the storage room in the back of the basement. She pulled him into the darkness before a light bulb above them suddenly came to life. Once his eyes adjusted around him, he took in all the boxes and old toys that surrounded them. Claire was standing with her back to him. Steve tried to ignore the way her jeans hugged her hips. But when she turned around, her tone had totally changed.

"This was Chris's," she pointed to an old Jack-in-the-Box that sat on a dusty book shelf. "He's been terrified of clowns ever since our aunt gave this to him for his fifth birthday."

"I didn't think Chris was afraid of anything," Steve whispered. He didn't have to be quiet but he felt that he needed to preserve this moment somehow.

"That bear belonged to my mother before she gave it to me," She walked over to the worn brown teddy bear and brushed some dust off its head. "I don't know how it ended up down here. Chris tried to keep everything of our parents tucked away after we moved here. He didn't want to be reminded of our old house and our old life."

"That's so sad."

She shrugged before she began to walk down a line of shelves into the darkness. She dragged her hand along the boxes as she went like she was taking in their memories. She disappeared behind the shelves.

"Claire?" Steve said after a few second of completely silence. There was no response. "Claire?"

He started down the line of shelves where she had disappeared and turned the corner which lead into more darkness. A small window badly lit the back hallway.

"Claire?" He whispered yet again, cursing HUNK for making them play those silly video games. He was almost certain a monster was going to jump out of the dark. He stopped in his tracks and listened. She couldn't have gotten far, unless for some reason she climbed out the window.

He jumped at the sudden warmth on the back of his neck. An oh-so-familiar laugh filled his ears.

"Rather jumpy tonight, are we?" Claire whispered with a smile. Steve backed up against the shelf and found himself trapped against the wall. Claire filled in the empty space before him. Instinctively, his hands went to her hips and she leaned into him. Was this really happening?"

"I'm really glad you and Rebecca don't have a thing," Her lips dragged across his ear as she spoke. He felt goose bumps cover every inch of his skin.

"So am I," he heard himself say. Her hands moved up his arms and she smiled at the touch of his goose bumps. They found their way to the nape of his neck and she toyed with a piece of his red hair.

"You don't have to do this, you know," This time her tongue flicked his earlobe.

"Yes…" His hands fit perfectly onto her hips and around her ass as he cupped it in his hands. There was nothing on his mind. Nothing mattered other than this moment.

"I really do like you though…" This time she nibbled on his ear.

"Please," he nearly whimpered. He wanted her so bad, but he didn't want to scare her off. He was going to wait until the very end, when she couldn't resist herself anymore.

"Even if you are a zombie pirate." Her face hovered right in front of his and he could taste her breath. A mix of Claire and… alcohol.

"Claire," He was back to reality. "Claire, you're drunk." He reluctantly pushed her away.

"So?" She tried to throw her arms back around him. "I really like you, Steve."

"Then please don't be drunk when you tell me." I could hear the pain in his own voice as he pushed her away.

"Steve…" she chased after him as he headed towards the door. "Steve, wait."

"No," he turned around with his back to the door. She fell into his arms. "I won't let this happen while you're drunk."

"I really like you," She muttered into his neck. "You're different from most boys. You're different from Leon. You don't pry at all. You don't ask me for sex. You just want me, and I just want you."

"Please don't bring Leon into this," Steve felt in the bile in his throat knowing that Leon had already claimed Claire. Leon had gotten here first.

"I really like you…" She repeated yet again. "You want to know what I'm scared of? I'm scared of never falling in love with the right person. I'm afraid that I'm going to end up with someone like Barry who doesn't appreciate me at all. I'm afraid that I won't fall in love."

Steve's throat tightened. "I like you too, a lot, but not like this," He so badly wanted to kiss her but he refused to look down into her watering blue eyes. "I'd love to be with you if you tell me these things when you're sober."

And with that, he quickly pushed her off him and slipped back into the game room without another word.

A/N: Drama bomb! Oh goodness. Well, I feel rather bad for the two of them. Sorry this was such a sappy chapter, but they are the main love interest of this story. Anywho. As always, leave suggestions about what you want to happen next. Get ready for Officer Wesker who will be around soon enough… PLEASE REVIEW