It was mid-afternoon by the time Leon and Claire finished up retrieving most of Helena's belongings from her apartment. The only thing left was some furniture and her bed by the time all was said and done. Claire took off shortly after and said she would meet back with Leon and Helena sometime over the weekend because she was going to see Chris and Jill. As a parting gift, Claire gave Helena a couple hundred bucks so she could get herself supported while living with Leon. Helena protested but Claire was persistent. Now it was just Leon and Helena alone together sorting through the spare bed room he had. Helena couldn't believe all the boxes that were piled up in there; he must have had at least five years worth of stuff. Helena came across old sketch books, CDs, music sheets and some remnants from Raccoon City. She could tell based on the stuff she found that Leon wasn't kidding when he said he was a nerd. She smiled a little bit now trying to imagine what he must have been like when he was younger.
Leon was digging things out of the closet while Helena came across some old VHS tapes. She could remember being a kid and having these lying around her old house all the time. Gently, she wiped off the dust on one of them and giggled, catching Leon's attention.
"You still have films about plays you were in while you were attending high school? That's cute."
Leon shook his head feeling slightly embarrassed. He went over and retrieved the tape from Helena looking at it.
"My mom always wanted to record any event I was in. She got out of hand with it sometimes though. I think I played Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was my junior year we performed that one."
"Wait, wasn't he the carpenter who had to dress up as a woman for the play within the play?"
Leon laughed a little before responding.
"Yeah that's the one. I also had to understudy the guy who played Demetrius. The other kid who played him eventually got sick during the final week of performance and at the last second I had to play two characters. It was a nightmare."
Helena laughed picturing Leon with a high pitched voice dressed in drag in the play. She really wanted to watch it now, and then a thought occurred to her about the other character Leon understudied.
"In the play wasn't Demetrius in love with—"
"Helena…"
"Yeah…"
They both became silent for a while and the situation was slightly awkward at this point. Helena's face slightly blushed a bit and Leon tried to keep himself together. Leon just wanted to go up to her and kiss the passion out of his body, but couldn't muster up the courage. The eye contact between them was intense and Helena felt like she was deer in the headlights. There was a lot of tension in the room at that moment and they both wanted to find a way out of it.
"I left something back in your apartment. I better go find it. Keep on cleaning without me."
Before Helena could speak, Leon left the room and she could hear the door shut. She sat on the floor breathing in deeply feeling like she just got out of a choke hold. At that moment she began to wonder why Leon decided to leave out of the blue and a part of her knew he must have liked her a little bit. She smiled inside and continued to pick up some of Leon's old stuff, trying to not get her hopes up to high.
Leon closed Helena's apartment door and sat down on the ground trying to release the tension he felt in the room with her. He found the situation ironic though and couldn't help but smirk at the thought. He then pondered in his thoughts about the weekend, knowing it was Helena's birthday and knowing that Chris, Jill, and now Claire were going to be there to celebrate it. Leon didn't plan on that happening but once Claire found out she was persistent on making their day be a bash. Leon then recalled the conversation the two of them had as they packaged Helena's items.
"Helena seems really nice."
Claire said as she began to fold some of Helena's clothes and placed them into a nearby box gently.
"Yeah she really is. I think you'd like her."
"Trust me we really hit it off quite well."
"Oh, is that so? I didn't think you were one for socializing with others of your kind Claire."
Leon smirked and she rolled her eyes and got up to sit across Helena's table from him. They both got a drink of water and decided to take a five minute break to catch their breath.
"Well Leon, I didn't think you were one to break into a woman's house, throw her things into your apartment and then tell her move in with me now."
"It's not like that Claire. I asked her last night and things just went on from there."
Claire smiled mischievously with Leon knowing full well she was trying to nitpick at his mind. Claire always had a habit of doing that in order to get information from others, whether she was playing or not. In a way being open minded and sociable has helped her cope over the years from Raccoon City and other various nightmares she had been thrust into. Besides it beats being stuck in the dumps all the time like she used to be.
"Leon you know she is quite pretty."
"What are you getting at Claire?"
"I'm just saying it might be time you finally do something about it."
Claire took a sip of water seeing the embarrassment and frustration hit Leon. She smirked to herself, she managed to break him.
"Claire I don't know if I want to talk about this with an ex."
"Leon you know I have no hard feelings about what happened between us. In fact I am promoting this pairing and I will go down with the ship."
"Claire it's really complicated. I know you are trying to help but it's getting a bit tiresome."
Claire sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't going to let him slip that easily. Also she couldn't help but feel bad for Helena. During the conversation the two women had earlier, Claire could tell she was saddened by the fact that Leon wasn't doing anything to get a spark or even chemistry going on.
"Look I'm not trying to butt into your personal life or anything but I know you like her. Leon I even knew you had the hots for Angela way before you even noticed. Why not give it a chance? "
Leon stared down at the table sighing while wiping the sweat off of his face.
"Look it's not that I don't like her alright? I just don't want to rush into anything too quick. Besides I don't think she likes me aside from our partnership."
"Ugh, you can be so dense sometimes! You never think you are good enough except for Ada, I swear. Look, I know I am breaking strict "girl" code as you have called it once but Leon she wants you!"
"How would you know this? You can't tell me that after two hours talking you got that much information from Helena."
Claire smiled with pride.
"I'm just one of those people whom others like to come to tell personal things. Leon you need to make a move while you can because she could be gone at anytime. C'mon, don't you think you would regret not even talking about it with her just to check?"
Leon sighed and knew Claire was right. He really didn't know how much time he might have with Helena since Ada dropped by those many months ago to bare him with bad news she was going to kill her. Though Leon was confident he could keep Helena safe, the truth was he worried it wouldn't be enough to keep Ada at bay especially with how intelligent and resourceful she was. Leon turned and gave Claire a stare, and she could have sworn he was tempted to slap her upside the head for confronting him.
"I'll give it a try."
"When will you?"
"Her birthday is coming up…I'll try then."
Claire nodded her head in approval then thought back to the package. Claire's mood changed and she smacked Leon across the face taking him aback.
"Claire! What the hell was that for?"
"That's for spending over one thousand bucks on a customized gun for Helena! You never did anything like that for me when we went out!"
"I just never thought you were a gun type gal!"
"Bastard!"
Leon was still clenching the side of his face while glaring at Claire who by this time smiled at him and took the next box of Helena's clothes to Leon's apartment. Leon shook his head still feeling the sting from her touch. He rolled his eyes casually.
"Women."