Family Ties
To Accomplish a Dream
by: Hotaru
Notes and the likes: Cough cough cough. Christmas is almost here, I'm learning to knit. HuZzAh! Christmas has past, the scarf i'm knitting for my boyfriend is coming along well. almost a foot long.
-=-
"I'm home!" Claire announced cheerfully, closing the front door of the house. Shrugging her coat off, she tossed it over a chair and went into the kitchen. "Chris?" She called, walking to the stairs that led upstairs. Frowning at the silence, she went up to the second floor. Sherie's room was empty, the guest room was empty. Claire paused outside Chris's room and pressed her ear to the door. Talking. Raising her hand, she rapped at the door with her knuckles. "Chris? Is that you?" She asked.
"Claire? What? What is it?" Chris asked frantically.
"Nothing...I was just wondering where everyone was. Open the door.
"N-no. Ah, Sherie went out awhile ago. You gonna start on dinner?"
Claire crossed her arms. "Chris...what are you hiding? Why won't you talk to me face to face?" She asked, tempted to turn the knob.
"Nothing, you just caught me at a bad time. I'll be down in a bit." Chris replied.
"Where's Jill? Did she go out too?"
"N-no. We're talking, it's kind of personal so can you give us a few minutes?"
"Yeah..sure."
Snickering, Claire went down to the kitchen. That's when she noticed a note on the table. "Hey guys, I'm going out on a date. Don't know when I'll be back. Sherie." Claire read with a smile. "How cute." She remarked, putting the note in her pocket, reminding herself to put it in a scrapbook.
-=-
"..so one time, I stayed up til like three in the afternoon, right? And I went to sleep and didn't get up til like...eleven." Peter told, washing his food down with the remainder of he soda.
"Why?" Sherie asked, crumpling a napkin.
"I had to help someone move, and for some reason thought it was a good idea to not go to sleep."
"I bet it was hard to get back into a sleep pattern after that."
"Oh yeah. I can't remember exactly...but I don't know."
"Can I get you guys some dessert?" Peter's waiter friend asked, taking their empty plates.
"Ah..I'm pretty full." Sherie replied. She scarfed down her meal quickly, seeing how she didn't eat much that day.
"We can share something if you're not that hungry."
"Sure, get whatever you want."
Peter glanced at the dessert menu before deciding on a giant brownie topped with ice cream and chocolate syrup. "That sounds good." Sherie smiled.
"Yeah. Probably has like a thousand calories, but..who cares." Peter replied.
"So. What do you do for fun?"
"Eh. I don't really have much free time to do things I like. What about you?"
"My daily activities include sulking in my room and...that's about it."
"So these shooting range excursions aren't a regular thing?"
"Oh, God no. This was the first time I went. Claire didn't want me to go for the longest time. But since I brought my grades up, Chris took me."
A positively decadent brownie was placed in front of the two with forks. "Oh boy. I'm going to regret this later." Sherie said, taking a part of the brownie and biting into it.
"Just...run or something to work it off. Not that you need to, or anything, but...you know..yeah." Peter stammered, blushing slightly.
"Aw, you're blushing."
"I am?"
"Yeah. Your ears are turning red. That's so cute."
-=-
"I wonder if they're worried about me." Sherie said to herself as they walked, hand-in-hand to the train station.
"You haven't been gone that long." Peter replied, glancing at his watch.
"Yeah. Knowing Claire, she'll ask Chris where I went, he won't know and hell will break loose. I bet Leon's out in his squad car looking for me by now."
"At least you know they care about you."
"Yeah...I guess it's kind of weird. Growing up with no one, then all of a sudden having all these people that care. I'm sorry if I sound selfish or something...I don't want to give you the wrong impression or anything."
"No, you're not. I get what you're saying. It's not your typical white-picket fence family that's always so happy and the concept of being unhappy is alien to them." Peter said.
"Yeah. I hate people like that. Never knew what it was like to be alone, or deal with hardships and stuff. They breeze on through life without a care in the world, you know?"
"Mm-hm." Sherie's cell phone started ringing, just as the train station loomed into view.
"Sorry.." She apologized, pulling the phone from her pocket and answering it. "Hello?"
"Sherie, where are you?" It was Claire. She didn't sound _too_ frantic.
"I'm...out. Going to the train, heading home. Why?"
"Chris had no idea where you went. Are you alone?"
"Noo..."
"Who are you with?"
Sherie rolled her eyes. "A guy." She whispered.
"A guy!? Who? What guy?"
"Look, I'll tell you when I get home. We'll be on the train in a little bit, so just relax and I'll see you when I get home, okay?"
"Alright. Chris, I'll never forgive you for letting her go out with a guy!" Claire said, as she hung up the phone. Poor Chris.
"Sorry about that. She was freaking out." Sherie apologized.
"Don't worry about it. Is she gonna give you a hard time about this?" Peter asked.
"I don't think so. I hope not. I thought she'd be happy that I was finally dating. And what's going to happen when she moves in with her boyfriend? I really don't think she's gonna be so obsessive once she doesn't have to see me everyday."
"Well, she'll probably have her brother keep her on top of things."
"Yeah, probably. But I think it'll be nice, just me and Chris. Something different at least."
"Will he be able to handle everything? Seems like your house was matriarchal."
"I think we'll be okay. I mean, I know how to cook..sort of. I can cook a few things, but I'm not a big fan of cleaning anything. When you see my room, you'll probably be horrified. Crap everywhere." Sherie babbled. "You want to meet everyone?"
"Ah...you sure they won't try to shoot me or something?" Peter asked, half joking.
"Nah. You know Chris, he actually is happy for me. I think you should meet them, just to get it out of the way. I think Claire'd be a little calmer if she knew what a great guy you were."
"Thanks. You've been feeding me compliments left and right, I kind of feel bad."
"Why? You don't have to return them, I'd be embarassed."
"Well I don't want you to think I don't like you...cause I do."
Sherie smiled. "Good. I like you too." She replied. They sat down on a bench, and waited for the train to come. "Hey, check out that guy over there. Looks kind of weird, doesn't he?" Peter said lowly, talking about a man on the other side of the train tracks.
"Yeah. Why's he looking at us?" Sherie questioned.
"I dunno, maybe he's just some weirdo."
"I hope the train comes anyway...I'm getting shivers, watching him watching me."
"Don't worry about it. I won't let him do anything." Peter said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
-=-
The train came about ten minutes later, the man on the other side didn't move one inch the entire time. Peter and Sherie walked together towards the Redfield's house, Sherie looking back every few minutes. "I told you not to worry." Peter said, as she turned around again.
"I can't help it. The guy gave me the creeps." Sherie replied, shivering. Peter took her hand and squeezed it.
"We're almost to your house, anyway, right?"
"Yeah. Why is it so dark? Why aren't any of the street lights on?"
"The government wants to freak you out, that's why."
Sherie slapped his shoulder, but sighed in relief when she saw the lights on in her house. When they got to the door, they stopped. "Alright, let me just prepare you for what'll probably happen." Sherie said.
"Okay..." Peter replied slowly.
"Chris will recognize you, and be happy for me. Claire will freak out internally but be nice to you out of courtesy. Jill will probably be indifferent. Interested, but not too interested. And I don't know if Leon's even here...but..prepare yourself."
"Okay, all ready."
Sighing, Sherie turned the door knob and pushed the door open. "I'm home." She announced, shrugging off her coat and hanging it up.
"It's about time!" Claire replied. Sherie turned into the living room, Peter hung back in the veranda.
"Relax, it's not like we had any plans." Sherie retorted. Jill leaned back, looking behind Sherie.
"Who's the wall flower?" She asked with a small smile.
"Ah, hi. I'm Pete, a friend of Sherie's from school. Sorry about getting her home late." Peter answered, stepping into the room. Claire smiled slyly, Chris nodded and Jill smiled and extended her hand. "I'm Jill, Chris and I used to work together." She replied.
"I'm Chris, used to work with Jill. I don't think we ever were formally introduced." Chris said, getting up from the couch to shake the boy's hand.
"And this is sweet, over protective Claire." Sherie concluded. Claire scowled at Sherie, but shook Peter's hand with a smile.
"Nice to finally meet you. You want anything to eat or drink?" She questioned.
"No, thanks, I'm still pretty full from dinner." Peter replied graciously.
"Here, come sit down." Jill said after a few moments of silence, scooting over on the large couch. Sherie and Pete walked around the couch and sat down awkwardly.
"Jill, remember the restaurant we went after Claire got out of the hospital? It's where Peter works." Sherie said, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Oh really? How long have you been working there?" Jill replied.
"Not that long, less than a year." Pete replied.
"You like it there?"
"Yeah. It does get tiring though, walking around in circles every day, but it's fun."
"You're a waiter?"
"Yeah. It'd be cool to be a chef, but I'd have to go to school and everything for it."
"It's not something you'd look to pursue?" Chris added. Peter merely shrugged.
"I'm not really sure. There's a lot of expenses I have to take into account as it is, so...I don't know." He answered.
Just then, someone opened the front door. Everyone turned around to look in the veranda to see who it was. "Leon?" Claire called, appearing from the kitchen. It indeed was the officer. "Oh my God! What happened?!" Claire exclaimed, running over to him.
"Some fucker ran a red light and totalled my fucking car." Leon replied, as Claire led him to a chair.
"Your head is bleeding really badly. Do you want to go to the hospital?" She asked worriedly, pressing a hand towel against his wound.
"Nah, I should be alright. God...my car is ruined." Leon moaned.
"Aren't there camera's at all stop lights?" Peter questioned.
Leon turned. "Who are you?" He asked suspiciously.
"He's Sherie's friend, they just got back from a date." Claire replied. "But he's right. You, as a cop, should know about that."
"I know, I know. I'm just a freaking wreck right now." Leon muttered.
"Where's your car now?" Chris asked.
"At the scene. One of my friends dropped me off here, but I have to get back there once my head's patched up." Leon replied, as Claire went to get some bandages.
"The guy that hit you, did he leave or is he arrested..?" Sherie asked.
Leon sighed. "He ran like hell. The whole front of his car was totally destroyed. He drove it as far as it would go before hoping out and taking off on foot." He replied.
"Maybe he didn't have insurance or something and couldn't afford to pay for the damages." Pete offered.
"Yeah. He didn't think that we'd find his car and run the plates. Stupid idiot."
"Where did he hit the car?" Jill questioned.
"From behind. He turned onto the street I was on, speeding of course, and slammed right into the back of my car, thus causing me to crack my head into the windshield."
"I bet there's a giant crack in it." Sherie chuckled.
"I'm glad _you_ find this amusing. Why don't you take your boyfriend to your room or something?" Leon spat.
"No!" Claire said, appearing with the supplies.
"Fine." Sherie replied, standing up and heading upstairs with Peter in tow.
"I'm sorry about that. They're all giant psycho's." Sherie apologized, once they reached her room.
"Don't worry about it. Sucks what happened." Pete said, glancing around her mess of a room.
"Yeah. He's a cop, though, so he should get a break. And he can always use a cop car until he gets his fixed."
"Oh, he's a cop? Interesting."
"Yeah, he actually was in the R.P.D. when everything happened. He was a rookie at the time, though. Sorry about my room being a mess. I hate cleaning and I didn't think you'd be coming over."
"That's okay. It's just clothes, anyway." Peter smiled.
"Thankfully nothing embarassing. Oh, damn. It looks like it's starting to rain." Sherie said, looking out the window.
"Don't worry about it. It's not that far to the bus stop."
"I can ask Claire if she can give you a ride. I'd feel horrible if you got soaked."
"It's okay."
Sherie layed width-wise across her bed. "I hate when it rains." She sighed.
"Why's that?" Peter asked, sitting beside her.
"Cause it makes me think."
"Thinking's not always a bad thing." He said jokingly.
"Shut up." Sherie said, lightly shoving him. "I mean thinking about the past."
"Oh. You can just try an' distract yourself."
"Yeah..."
Sitting up, she leaned over and pulled something from the drawer in her night stand. It was the locket that used to contain the G-Virus sample. "There's a pic of my parents in there. You wouldn't think it from looking at them, but they were horrible people." She sighed.
"You all look so happy." Peter said.
"Yeah. It was such a front. That's all I have left of them. Fake happiness."
"Then why do you keep it?"
"It's all I have left. No pictures, hardly any memories. Birthday parties at the louge at their stupid lab. They hardly showed up. They'd have a party at home a few weeks later when ever they got time off of some shit like that."
"The last birthday party I had was when I was eight." Peter interrupted.
"What?" Sherie questioned.
"When..when my mom died, my dad went through this faze where he didn't do anything. My birthday rolled around and he just kind of stared at me whenever he'd see me. No presents, not even a "happy birthday". The next year or so he'd say it, but never did anything significant. I hate my birthday."
"Why? Cause it just brings up bad memories?"
"Yeah. It reminds me that another year has passed, another year gone, and it just reminds me of all the shit I never accomplished."
"I'm sorry." Sherie said, taking his hand.
"My birthday's next week, so I was thinking you could come over and we can watch a movie or something. Nothing special..but it'd mean something." Peter said quietly.
"Really? You'd want me over for your birthday?" Sherie asked, sitting up, resting on her elbow.
"Yeah. Better than 'celebrating' alone, right?"
"Okay. It's a date."
There was a knock on Sherie's door then. "Why's this door closed?" Claire asked, thrusting the old wooden door open. "What's going on?" She asked suspiciously.
"We're talking. That's all." Sherie replied stoically.
"Well, I think it's time Peter should be going. It's getting late, and raining like mad outside."
"Yeah, my old man's probably just realizing I should have been home awhile ago." Peter said, standing up.
"I'll drive you home." Claire said, nodding towards the hallway.
Sherie got up off the bed and hugged Peter, while Claire eyed her incrediously. "I'll call you to figure out next week, kay?" Peter said. Sherie nodded and kissed his cheek, following him and Claire downstairs. Leon had left, apparantly, and Jill and Chris were talking quietly, while the news was on the t.v. "Alright, I'm gonna drop the kid off, swing by the deli, then I'll be back, kay?" Claire said, pulling on her coat.
"Sure." Chris said, eyes flicking upwards momentarily before focusing back on Jill.
"..bye." Claire mumbled, wondering why her brother was acting so weird.
Peter and Sherie shared and umbrella as they ran to Claire's car. The back seat was a mess, covered with newspapers, food wrappers and soda cans. "You really should clean your car more often, Claire." Sherie chastized, brushing the garbage onto the floor.
"Yeah, I should." Claire said, shaking the rain from her hair. "So where do you live, kiddo?" Sherie rolled her eyes.
"Rockfort Street." Peter replied, buckling himself in.
The name sent shivers down Claire's spine, and she fell silent. They were sitting in silence for a minute or so before Sherie shook Claire's arm. "Claire..? Are you okay?" She asked. Claire shook her head and smiled.
"Yes, fine. I'm just feeling a bit unnerved because of what happened with Leon, I guess." She replied, starting the car. "I can't believe how hard it's raining. But as they say, April Showers..."
"I wish it would snow at least once more before the Spring." Sherie sighed.
"Why? It's such a hassle, shoveling, and laying down salt." Peter added.
"Oh. Well, shoveling can be fun too. But I guess if you have to shovel several times a day, then it can suck."
"That's why it's good that we have two men in the house. They can take shifts, while we stay warm inside." Claire kidded.
They came to an intersection, where a fire hydrant was open, and water was pouring into the street. A large puddle had already formed. "Shit. I don't know if I can make it through that." She said to herself, slowly moving the car forward.
"I don't want to get out and push." Sherie said, peering out the window to see how deep the water actually was.
There must have been a pothole of sorts hidden beneath the water, for Claire's car stopped. They could hear water gurgling and splashing as she pressed on the accelerator, but the car did not move. "God dammit." Claire spat, putting the car in reverse. Nothing.
"I can get out and push you through." Peter offered, unbuckling his seat belt.
"No, you don't have to. I can keep trying." Claire said, putting the car back into drive.
"You're gonna kill it if you do. Don't worry about it." Peter insisted, opening the door, and going to the back of the car.
"How would you like to have a sleep over?" Claire asked, slowly pressing on the accelerator again.
"What? Why?" Sherie questioned.
"Well, we aren't getting any where, so I was gonna tell him to push us backwards."
"Sure!"
Claire rolled down her window, and stuck her head out into the pouring rain. "Push it from the front." She said loudly.
"What?" Peter called, blinking the rain from his eyes.
"Push it from the front! We're not moving!" Claire repeated. Nodding, he went to the front, and sure enough, the car slowly started to roll backwards. "There we go." She waited for him to get into the car, before making a K-turn and turning back home.
"Well, we can't go that way, and you're already soaking what. You wanna stay over tonight?" Claire asked.
"Ahh...would that be alright with everyone?" Peter questioned.
"Yeah, it's fine. Hopefully some of Chris' clothes will fit you, and you can wear them while I wash yours."
"Great. Thanks."
To Accomplish a Dream
by: Hotaru
Notes and the likes: Cough cough cough. Christmas is almost here, I'm learning to knit. HuZzAh! Christmas has past, the scarf i'm knitting for my boyfriend is coming along well. almost a foot long.
-=-
"I'm home!" Claire announced cheerfully, closing the front door of the house. Shrugging her coat off, she tossed it over a chair and went into the kitchen. "Chris?" She called, walking to the stairs that led upstairs. Frowning at the silence, she went up to the second floor. Sherie's room was empty, the guest room was empty. Claire paused outside Chris's room and pressed her ear to the door. Talking. Raising her hand, she rapped at the door with her knuckles. "Chris? Is that you?" She asked.
"Claire? What? What is it?" Chris asked frantically.
"Nothing...I was just wondering where everyone was. Open the door.
"N-no. Ah, Sherie went out awhile ago. You gonna start on dinner?"
Claire crossed her arms. "Chris...what are you hiding? Why won't you talk to me face to face?" She asked, tempted to turn the knob.
"Nothing, you just caught me at a bad time. I'll be down in a bit." Chris replied.
"Where's Jill? Did she go out too?"
"N-no. We're talking, it's kind of personal so can you give us a few minutes?"
"Yeah..sure."
Snickering, Claire went down to the kitchen. That's when she noticed a note on the table. "Hey guys, I'm going out on a date. Don't know when I'll be back. Sherie." Claire read with a smile. "How cute." She remarked, putting the note in her pocket, reminding herself to put it in a scrapbook.
-=-
"..so one time, I stayed up til like three in the afternoon, right? And I went to sleep and didn't get up til like...eleven." Peter told, washing his food down with the remainder of he soda.
"Why?" Sherie asked, crumpling a napkin.
"I had to help someone move, and for some reason thought it was a good idea to not go to sleep."
"I bet it was hard to get back into a sleep pattern after that."
"Oh yeah. I can't remember exactly...but I don't know."
"Can I get you guys some dessert?" Peter's waiter friend asked, taking their empty plates.
"Ah..I'm pretty full." Sherie replied. She scarfed down her meal quickly, seeing how she didn't eat much that day.
"We can share something if you're not that hungry."
"Sure, get whatever you want."
Peter glanced at the dessert menu before deciding on a giant brownie topped with ice cream and chocolate syrup. "That sounds good." Sherie smiled.
"Yeah. Probably has like a thousand calories, but..who cares." Peter replied.
"So. What do you do for fun?"
"Eh. I don't really have much free time to do things I like. What about you?"
"My daily activities include sulking in my room and...that's about it."
"So these shooting range excursions aren't a regular thing?"
"Oh, God no. This was the first time I went. Claire didn't want me to go for the longest time. But since I brought my grades up, Chris took me."
A positively decadent brownie was placed in front of the two with forks. "Oh boy. I'm going to regret this later." Sherie said, taking a part of the brownie and biting into it.
"Just...run or something to work it off. Not that you need to, or anything, but...you know..yeah." Peter stammered, blushing slightly.
"Aw, you're blushing."
"I am?"
"Yeah. Your ears are turning red. That's so cute."
-=-
"I wonder if they're worried about me." Sherie said to herself as they walked, hand-in-hand to the train station.
"You haven't been gone that long." Peter replied, glancing at his watch.
"Yeah. Knowing Claire, she'll ask Chris where I went, he won't know and hell will break loose. I bet Leon's out in his squad car looking for me by now."
"At least you know they care about you."
"Yeah...I guess it's kind of weird. Growing up with no one, then all of a sudden having all these people that care. I'm sorry if I sound selfish or something...I don't want to give you the wrong impression or anything."
"No, you're not. I get what you're saying. It's not your typical white-picket fence family that's always so happy and the concept of being unhappy is alien to them." Peter said.
"Yeah. I hate people like that. Never knew what it was like to be alone, or deal with hardships and stuff. They breeze on through life without a care in the world, you know?"
"Mm-hm." Sherie's cell phone started ringing, just as the train station loomed into view.
"Sorry.." She apologized, pulling the phone from her pocket and answering it. "Hello?"
"Sherie, where are you?" It was Claire. She didn't sound _too_ frantic.
"I'm...out. Going to the train, heading home. Why?"
"Chris had no idea where you went. Are you alone?"
"Noo..."
"Who are you with?"
Sherie rolled her eyes. "A guy." She whispered.
"A guy!? Who? What guy?"
"Look, I'll tell you when I get home. We'll be on the train in a little bit, so just relax and I'll see you when I get home, okay?"
"Alright. Chris, I'll never forgive you for letting her go out with a guy!" Claire said, as she hung up the phone. Poor Chris.
"Sorry about that. She was freaking out." Sherie apologized.
"Don't worry about it. Is she gonna give you a hard time about this?" Peter asked.
"I don't think so. I hope not. I thought she'd be happy that I was finally dating. And what's going to happen when she moves in with her boyfriend? I really don't think she's gonna be so obsessive once she doesn't have to see me everyday."
"Well, she'll probably have her brother keep her on top of things."
"Yeah, probably. But I think it'll be nice, just me and Chris. Something different at least."
"Will he be able to handle everything? Seems like your house was matriarchal."
"I think we'll be okay. I mean, I know how to cook..sort of. I can cook a few things, but I'm not a big fan of cleaning anything. When you see my room, you'll probably be horrified. Crap everywhere." Sherie babbled. "You want to meet everyone?"
"Ah...you sure they won't try to shoot me or something?" Peter asked, half joking.
"Nah. You know Chris, he actually is happy for me. I think you should meet them, just to get it out of the way. I think Claire'd be a little calmer if she knew what a great guy you were."
"Thanks. You've been feeding me compliments left and right, I kind of feel bad."
"Why? You don't have to return them, I'd be embarassed."
"Well I don't want you to think I don't like you...cause I do."
Sherie smiled. "Good. I like you too." She replied. They sat down on a bench, and waited for the train to come. "Hey, check out that guy over there. Looks kind of weird, doesn't he?" Peter said lowly, talking about a man on the other side of the train tracks.
"Yeah. Why's he looking at us?" Sherie questioned.
"I dunno, maybe he's just some weirdo."
"I hope the train comes anyway...I'm getting shivers, watching him watching me."
"Don't worry about it. I won't let him do anything." Peter said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
-=-
The train came about ten minutes later, the man on the other side didn't move one inch the entire time. Peter and Sherie walked together towards the Redfield's house, Sherie looking back every few minutes. "I told you not to worry." Peter said, as she turned around again.
"I can't help it. The guy gave me the creeps." Sherie replied, shivering. Peter took her hand and squeezed it.
"We're almost to your house, anyway, right?"
"Yeah. Why is it so dark? Why aren't any of the street lights on?"
"The government wants to freak you out, that's why."
Sherie slapped his shoulder, but sighed in relief when she saw the lights on in her house. When they got to the door, they stopped. "Alright, let me just prepare you for what'll probably happen." Sherie said.
"Okay..." Peter replied slowly.
"Chris will recognize you, and be happy for me. Claire will freak out internally but be nice to you out of courtesy. Jill will probably be indifferent. Interested, but not too interested. And I don't know if Leon's even here...but..prepare yourself."
"Okay, all ready."
Sighing, Sherie turned the door knob and pushed the door open. "I'm home." She announced, shrugging off her coat and hanging it up.
"It's about time!" Claire replied. Sherie turned into the living room, Peter hung back in the veranda.
"Relax, it's not like we had any plans." Sherie retorted. Jill leaned back, looking behind Sherie.
"Who's the wall flower?" She asked with a small smile.
"Ah, hi. I'm Pete, a friend of Sherie's from school. Sorry about getting her home late." Peter answered, stepping into the room. Claire smiled slyly, Chris nodded and Jill smiled and extended her hand. "I'm Jill, Chris and I used to work together." She replied.
"I'm Chris, used to work with Jill. I don't think we ever were formally introduced." Chris said, getting up from the couch to shake the boy's hand.
"And this is sweet, over protective Claire." Sherie concluded. Claire scowled at Sherie, but shook Peter's hand with a smile.
"Nice to finally meet you. You want anything to eat or drink?" She questioned.
"No, thanks, I'm still pretty full from dinner." Peter replied graciously.
"Here, come sit down." Jill said after a few moments of silence, scooting over on the large couch. Sherie and Pete walked around the couch and sat down awkwardly.
"Jill, remember the restaurant we went after Claire got out of the hospital? It's where Peter works." Sherie said, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Oh really? How long have you been working there?" Jill replied.
"Not that long, less than a year." Pete replied.
"You like it there?"
"Yeah. It does get tiring though, walking around in circles every day, but it's fun."
"You're a waiter?"
"Yeah. It'd be cool to be a chef, but I'd have to go to school and everything for it."
"It's not something you'd look to pursue?" Chris added. Peter merely shrugged.
"I'm not really sure. There's a lot of expenses I have to take into account as it is, so...I don't know." He answered.
Just then, someone opened the front door. Everyone turned around to look in the veranda to see who it was. "Leon?" Claire called, appearing from the kitchen. It indeed was the officer. "Oh my God! What happened?!" Claire exclaimed, running over to him.
"Some fucker ran a red light and totalled my fucking car." Leon replied, as Claire led him to a chair.
"Your head is bleeding really badly. Do you want to go to the hospital?" She asked worriedly, pressing a hand towel against his wound.
"Nah, I should be alright. God...my car is ruined." Leon moaned.
"Aren't there camera's at all stop lights?" Peter questioned.
Leon turned. "Who are you?" He asked suspiciously.
"He's Sherie's friend, they just got back from a date." Claire replied. "But he's right. You, as a cop, should know about that."
"I know, I know. I'm just a freaking wreck right now." Leon muttered.
"Where's your car now?" Chris asked.
"At the scene. One of my friends dropped me off here, but I have to get back there once my head's patched up." Leon replied, as Claire went to get some bandages.
"The guy that hit you, did he leave or is he arrested..?" Sherie asked.
Leon sighed. "He ran like hell. The whole front of his car was totally destroyed. He drove it as far as it would go before hoping out and taking off on foot." He replied.
"Maybe he didn't have insurance or something and couldn't afford to pay for the damages." Pete offered.
"Yeah. He didn't think that we'd find his car and run the plates. Stupid idiot."
"Where did he hit the car?" Jill questioned.
"From behind. He turned onto the street I was on, speeding of course, and slammed right into the back of my car, thus causing me to crack my head into the windshield."
"I bet there's a giant crack in it." Sherie chuckled.
"I'm glad _you_ find this amusing. Why don't you take your boyfriend to your room or something?" Leon spat.
"No!" Claire said, appearing with the supplies.
"Fine." Sherie replied, standing up and heading upstairs with Peter in tow.
"I'm sorry about that. They're all giant psycho's." Sherie apologized, once they reached her room.
"Don't worry about it. Sucks what happened." Pete said, glancing around her mess of a room.
"Yeah. He's a cop, though, so he should get a break. And he can always use a cop car until he gets his fixed."
"Oh, he's a cop? Interesting."
"Yeah, he actually was in the R.P.D. when everything happened. He was a rookie at the time, though. Sorry about my room being a mess. I hate cleaning and I didn't think you'd be coming over."
"That's okay. It's just clothes, anyway." Peter smiled.
"Thankfully nothing embarassing. Oh, damn. It looks like it's starting to rain." Sherie said, looking out the window.
"Don't worry about it. It's not that far to the bus stop."
"I can ask Claire if she can give you a ride. I'd feel horrible if you got soaked."
"It's okay."
Sherie layed width-wise across her bed. "I hate when it rains." She sighed.
"Why's that?" Peter asked, sitting beside her.
"Cause it makes me think."
"Thinking's not always a bad thing." He said jokingly.
"Shut up." Sherie said, lightly shoving him. "I mean thinking about the past."
"Oh. You can just try an' distract yourself."
"Yeah..."
Sitting up, she leaned over and pulled something from the drawer in her night stand. It was the locket that used to contain the G-Virus sample. "There's a pic of my parents in there. You wouldn't think it from looking at them, but they were horrible people." She sighed.
"You all look so happy." Peter said.
"Yeah. It was such a front. That's all I have left of them. Fake happiness."
"Then why do you keep it?"
"It's all I have left. No pictures, hardly any memories. Birthday parties at the louge at their stupid lab. They hardly showed up. They'd have a party at home a few weeks later when ever they got time off of some shit like that."
"The last birthday party I had was when I was eight." Peter interrupted.
"What?" Sherie questioned.
"When..when my mom died, my dad went through this faze where he didn't do anything. My birthday rolled around and he just kind of stared at me whenever he'd see me. No presents, not even a "happy birthday". The next year or so he'd say it, but never did anything significant. I hate my birthday."
"Why? Cause it just brings up bad memories?"
"Yeah. It reminds me that another year has passed, another year gone, and it just reminds me of all the shit I never accomplished."
"I'm sorry." Sherie said, taking his hand.
"My birthday's next week, so I was thinking you could come over and we can watch a movie or something. Nothing special..but it'd mean something." Peter said quietly.
"Really? You'd want me over for your birthday?" Sherie asked, sitting up, resting on her elbow.
"Yeah. Better than 'celebrating' alone, right?"
"Okay. It's a date."
There was a knock on Sherie's door then. "Why's this door closed?" Claire asked, thrusting the old wooden door open. "What's going on?" She asked suspiciously.
"We're talking. That's all." Sherie replied stoically.
"Well, I think it's time Peter should be going. It's getting late, and raining like mad outside."
"Yeah, my old man's probably just realizing I should have been home awhile ago." Peter said, standing up.
"I'll drive you home." Claire said, nodding towards the hallway.
Sherie got up off the bed and hugged Peter, while Claire eyed her incrediously. "I'll call you to figure out next week, kay?" Peter said. Sherie nodded and kissed his cheek, following him and Claire downstairs. Leon had left, apparantly, and Jill and Chris were talking quietly, while the news was on the t.v. "Alright, I'm gonna drop the kid off, swing by the deli, then I'll be back, kay?" Claire said, pulling on her coat.
"Sure." Chris said, eyes flicking upwards momentarily before focusing back on Jill.
"..bye." Claire mumbled, wondering why her brother was acting so weird.
Peter and Sherie shared and umbrella as they ran to Claire's car. The back seat was a mess, covered with newspapers, food wrappers and soda cans. "You really should clean your car more often, Claire." Sherie chastized, brushing the garbage onto the floor.
"Yeah, I should." Claire said, shaking the rain from her hair. "So where do you live, kiddo?" Sherie rolled her eyes.
"Rockfort Street." Peter replied, buckling himself in.
The name sent shivers down Claire's spine, and she fell silent. They were sitting in silence for a minute or so before Sherie shook Claire's arm. "Claire..? Are you okay?" She asked. Claire shook her head and smiled.
"Yes, fine. I'm just feeling a bit unnerved because of what happened with Leon, I guess." She replied, starting the car. "I can't believe how hard it's raining. But as they say, April Showers..."
"I wish it would snow at least once more before the Spring." Sherie sighed.
"Why? It's such a hassle, shoveling, and laying down salt." Peter added.
"Oh. Well, shoveling can be fun too. But I guess if you have to shovel several times a day, then it can suck."
"That's why it's good that we have two men in the house. They can take shifts, while we stay warm inside." Claire kidded.
They came to an intersection, where a fire hydrant was open, and water was pouring into the street. A large puddle had already formed. "Shit. I don't know if I can make it through that." She said to herself, slowly moving the car forward.
"I don't want to get out and push." Sherie said, peering out the window to see how deep the water actually was.
There must have been a pothole of sorts hidden beneath the water, for Claire's car stopped. They could hear water gurgling and splashing as she pressed on the accelerator, but the car did not move. "God dammit." Claire spat, putting the car in reverse. Nothing.
"I can get out and push you through." Peter offered, unbuckling his seat belt.
"No, you don't have to. I can keep trying." Claire said, putting the car back into drive.
"You're gonna kill it if you do. Don't worry about it." Peter insisted, opening the door, and going to the back of the car.
"How would you like to have a sleep over?" Claire asked, slowly pressing on the accelerator again.
"What? Why?" Sherie questioned.
"Well, we aren't getting any where, so I was gonna tell him to push us backwards."
"Sure!"
Claire rolled down her window, and stuck her head out into the pouring rain. "Push it from the front." She said loudly.
"What?" Peter called, blinking the rain from his eyes.
"Push it from the front! We're not moving!" Claire repeated. Nodding, he went to the front, and sure enough, the car slowly started to roll backwards. "There we go." She waited for him to get into the car, before making a K-turn and turning back home.
"Well, we can't go that way, and you're already soaking what. You wanna stay over tonight?" Claire asked.
"Ahh...would that be alright with everyone?" Peter questioned.
"Yeah, it's fine. Hopefully some of Chris' clothes will fit you, and you can wear them while I wash yours."
"Great. Thanks."