"Claire! Honey! WHERE THE HELL IS MY WORK SHIRT!?!" Steve Burnside bellowed atrociously as he pillaged through their room in the tiny apartment. "CLAIRE! WHERE'S MY-"

"It's right here, Steve." Claire Redfield sighed as she held out his dark blue shirt, which he promptly snatched from her grasp.

"It's about time." Steve mumbled without much gratitude as he hurried to put it on. "Dammit woman, I'm late for work. Didn't you iron this last night?" he asked, as he grabbed his hat.

"I tried, but I fell asleep." Claire said, rubbing her eyes.

Steve scoffed under his breath and gave her a hard kiss on the cheek. "Have dinner ready before I get home."

"Yes, dear." Claire said, forcing a smile.

She watched as Steve hastily sped towards the door. Claire suddenly realized she had forgotten something.

"Steve! Honey!" she followed after him just as he was halfway out.

"What?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"I almost forgot... I love you." she said smiling decorously.

"Yeah... right back at you." Steve replied, throwing a hasty half smile as he shut the door behind him.

Claire stood for a few moments, rooted in place, before deflating like a balloon onto the couches back. She wasn't surprised at Steve's distance that morning. It had been like that the past few years. She and Steve had been together for eight years. She was twenty-nine, soon to be thirty, and found it almost unbearable that he could think she was losing her sex appeal.

Claire waited in the silence trying to collect herself before she started to clean. In the beginning, when Steve was first pursuing her, he was so sweet it was unbelievable. He wrote her poems, bought her gifts and showered her with compliments left and right. Finally she gave in to his courtship rituals and they became an item. Now, Steve was a walking contradition. He wanted her to keep svelte, yet he didn't want her working out at a gym or running around the block or swimming at the pool. Anything that would put her in the prescense of lonely, elligible men. He loved her, yet he could still found something to complain about incessantly. It was so puzzling how a man could change so fast. How could he be so nice in the beginning, and so possessive later?

They barely went anywhere and talked about anything anymore. He never did anything romantic excepto ask her which movie she wanted to rent at Blockbuster. Sometimes he would just go ahead and buy one, only it would be something like 'Party Girl IV'... maybe 'Taboo III'... That was the basically the only thing that got Steve's attention

when he got home. The only time he ever gave her any affection was when they were making love. Although Claire could scarcely call last night making love. Steve was so rough with her. His hands moving callously over her soft skin. His teeth cutting into her flesh hard enough to draw blood. And he took her so cruelly that she thought she would never walk again. She wanted so badly to cry.

Shaking her head, she let a few tear drops fall. What had happened to her? She used to be so tough. So strong. Now it was as if she needed Steve for everything she did.

She didn't or couldn't have an opinion on anything. It was always Steve's way or no way at all. Truth be told, it was getting tiring. But she just couldn't find it in her heart to leave him. She loved him too much to do that... didn't she?