Disclaimer: Resident Evil is property of Capcom.

XII

f r o m t h e b o t t o m o f m y … s t o m a c h

Chris woke up earlier than expected, the clock giving 5 AM with red, bold characters. He took a quick glance to his side, checking that Jill was still sleeping besides him. He had grown quite paranoid ever since he lost her, fearing he would lose her again if he got distracted. Chris always made sure she was near him—so she wouldn't disappear like a fleeting dream. The young woman moved a little in her sleep, and tossed to the other side, sleeping peacefully.

The sun was still making its way up to the sky when he was fully dressed, ready to check on Claire. It was an habit he had since their parents died; every morning he would get up and make sure she was still in her room, safe and most importantly, alive.

He opened the door slowly, not really hoping to wake her up. However, how could he do that if she wasn't sleeping in there in the first place?

Leon's first thoughts when the sun rays hit his face were to naturally turn over to the other side and keep sleeping, but doing so was very awkward to begin with. First, he felt like if he was going to fall over the edge of the bed, due to the fact that he was sleeping in less than half of the bed and second, because he was sharing the bed with none else than Claire. She moved so damn much in her sleep—he had to actually dodge her movements to avoid getting hit by one of her legs—he even thought of getting up and sleeping in the floor, he didn't care; except that red-head besides him had a strong grip to his arm, refusing to let him go.

So yeah, it was odd waking up besides her, but by no means it felt wrong. He admired her sleeping form for what seemed like minutes, feeling bold to actually bring his hand to Claire's face. She moved, mumbling something under her breath and Leon quickly placed his hand back to a safe spot. He needed his hand.

He certainly didn't expect opening his eyes in the morning, considering the huge threat Chris gave him the day before. Leon was at peace with himself, it's not like they did anything to begin with, besides sleep.

"Good morning!" a voice came from outside the door, followed by a knock. It was clearly Chris' voice and Leon was very close to experience a heart attack, "Kennedy, get your ass off that bed, I need your help with something!"

Leon struggled with Claire, who didn't budge at all. He clicked his tongue and decided to play a little dirty; even it meant to save his life. He placed both of his hands at Claire's sides and began tickling her—it look less than a second to have her up, arching her back and her eyes ridden with the most pure anger he had seen in a long time. He was sure she was about to curse him when she fell of the bed, dragging all of the blankets along into the floor. Her swearing was muffled, thankfully.

"Uh, sure," he said, giving Claire the most clear signal to shut up. Please shut up. "Coming down in a bit," he added, keeping his voice stoic as usual.

"Roger," Chris finally said.

He thought he was safe from danger now, but Leon saw when the red-head in the floor flashed a devilish grin at him.

She isn't. She can't—

"Good morning to you too, Chris!" she said cheerfully as the most innocent girl on the whole world.

Leon actually held his breath, waiting for the gruesome finale. Chris would kick the door down, take Claire in his arms and then instruct him to leave and then it would be the just two of them—Kennedy versus older Redfield. Chris would win, probably deprive him from having children and he would never see Claire again, even if it was her fault to begin with.

But none of the above happened; in fact Chris just laughed at the other end and… left.

"What just… happened?" Leon said after a few moments of utter shock.

"I told you it'd be alright," Claire got up, stretching while walking and speaking carelessly, "You can breathe again, missy,"

"Claire, have you any idea of what you just did?" the ex-cop was still sitting on the bed, pondering the possibility of not leaving that very room for the rest of the trip, or leaving the house entirely.

"Sure, sure. Beware, Chris keeps a Rocket Launcher in the trunk of his Toyota," Claire smiled brightly before disappearing into the bathroom.

You never know…

The rest of the day was bizarre, mostly because every time Chris looked at him, he kept picturing him with that Rocket Launcher in his hands. They spent the entire afternoon figuring out how to set up their rusty barbecue in the courtyard, and when they were finished it was already dark. Claire and Jill had gone to the supermarket earlier to buy some steaks and more beers, and later helped to cook them.

They ate like pigs, and Leon felt that the steaks were a little over done for his taste, with an odd flavor in-between, but he didn't say anything. The last thing he wanted was to set off the bomb Chris had under his sleeve.

Little did Leon know that the former S.T.A.R.S member had already done so a while ago.

It was almost midnight when Claire and Jill finished placing everything back in its place, but it seemed that the red-head was a little into the angry side. Apparently, Chris had fallen asleep in the sofa and Leon had disappeared somewhere else, leaving the two women to pick up the entire mess. Even if she was upset, she refused to let Jill help as she looked worn out—but the brunette was also stubborn and in the end, they finished cleaning up together.

"Chris," Jill began, doubt feeling her voice, "He told me that he found you sleeping with Leon in the morning, mind explaining how does that work?"

Claire chuckled, putting aside the last piece of china they dried.

"Well, it was just that, sleeping" she shrugged, "It was nothing serious, Jill. Leon and I are… just friends."

Jill couldn't help but to think something completely different. It could be said that her and Chris started out the same way as they younger couple did. It was so written.

"Tell that to your brother, he exploded afterwards," the older woman smiled apologetically, placing some stray hairs behind her ear. She seemed to be thinking of something.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Jill?" Claire spoke, her voice eventually falling into to a worried tone.

"Actually, Chris… put something extra in Leon's—"

"You've got to be kidding me," was the last thing Claire said before setting out to search for her friend.

Leon closed the bathroom door after him. He held his stomach and furrowed his eyebrows together in a deathly expression. Yes, he was in pain, but also he was so damn pissed.

"Oh my God, Leon," Claire came through the door, quickly hurrying to his side and helping him stand, "What did he do to you—Are you alright?"

"Chris, you better grab him, because I'm going to kill—damn it, it hurts." Leon held his guts one more time, Claire leading him to the bed to lie down for a while. "Thanks, Claire. Ugh."

"Didn't you feel something funny in the food, Leon? I thought you were a professional," she chuckled, patting his head in the process.

"I had priorities—like watching every of his moves. When did HE—ugh—have the chance to slip it?" Leon had kept his eyes on Chris the entire time, he would've known.

"Well, he got some help along the way," she said nervously, remembering Jill's embarrassed face while confessing it.

Leon winced, again and Claire felt her heart sink.

"This is my entire fault. If I hadn't slept with you…" she watched his crooked smile, followed with a throaty laugh.

"What, are you regretting it now?" he loved all these implications that were actually empty. It made him happy and sad at the same time.

"Maybe, since I won't be able to do so anymore. You'll have to take over up the whole bed and no way am I sharing it with you. Not with your stomach. " Claire smiled, getting up.

"Hey!" Leon groaned, unable to move because of the pain, "Would you at least be kind enough to give me something for it?"

"Sure, I'll go get a pill," Claire was about to leave when he called out for her.

"Claire… thanks, my stomach will appreciate it." Leon let himself fall completely on the bed, hand over his gut.

"I hope that teaches you not to get on Chris' bad side, Kennedy," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"But you just said it was your fault."

"Be right back," she countered, ignoring him and leaving the room.

"Claire!"

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Author's Note: This is one is short and kind of silly, I don't know why. I felt like the character were a little OOC for my liking, but oh well... trying is learning. Hope you guys enjoyed this one and we'll getting up to par to the shot I'm actually writing, one more chapter and the updates will begin to be more sporadic. Anyways, if you have any questions, critiques, suggestions and the like, feel free to review.