A/N. This is my first Resident Evil fic. I plan on it being more of a dramatic romantic story instead of an action one. This first chapter is one of those chapters where you really have no clue where the story will end up going, but hopefully over more time and more chapters it will get better.

World of Make Believe- Chapter 1-

He said he'd call…he said he would…

Claire laid back against her couch and couldn't help but stare at the phone out of the corner of her eyes. When was the last time she saw Leon? Psh she could barely remember. How many years had it been? However the last time she had talked to him was a few weeks ago…apparently he had just returned from Europe with President's daughter…

'It had been a normal day. Claire had just finished her shift as a waitress at the local restaurant. It was raining and finding a Taxi in New York City had proven to be impossible for her, so she had no choice but to walk home.

"You look like a wet rat." Chris had mumbled when she had returned home. Her beloved brother would stop by her place on occasion to have dinner with her or just make sure she was fine economy wise. However she would always refuse to take any of his money, she worked hard for what she earned, and so did he. She didn't want to have him go out of his way for her.

"Chris…shut up…" was all she had said back to him, but of course that had caused him to grab her and playfully toss her onto her own couch. The two engaged in a harmless sibling fight before Chris had finally "left" the fight saying he was hungry.

She let the water from body soak into the couch as she heard Chris call out to her from the kitchen.

"Claire! What do you live off of? Microwave pizzas? You have nothing that can be used for cooking!" He stood over her again a grin on his face.

Of course there wasn't much in kitchen , Claire wasn't one to cook. She rolled onto her back to face her brother and glared, "I'm fine with it, I'm not gonna die of a heart attack anytime soon! And by the way microwave pizzas are perfectly fine!"

"Yeah, well Emeril would kick your ass! I'm gonna have to go to the grocery store." She saw him leave her sight and heard him start to gather his jacket and car keys, "So since I'm making the trip I get to choose what we have!"

"You suck…did you know that?" She called out.

Before he walked out the door he called out to her still form, "Yah know, I've really asked Jill to keep that stuff private." That was Chris, always ending an argument with a joke or a comment that would really make your skin crawl.

She heard him leave, she heard his footsteps echo down the apartment hallway, she swore she had even heard him start up his truck outside in the parking lot. All she heard afterwards was silence, it clung to the room and in her mind, she remembered praying for the silence to leave.

The phone.

Her prayers were answered minutes later by the phone that was on the table besides the couch she had been lounging on. The loud ringing had caused her body to serve with adrenaline, she nearly jumped from the soft cushions to reach for the receiver.

"Huh hello?"

"…Claire?" Came an unsure voice from the other end.

"Yes, this is she."

"Claire Redfield?"

She laughed slightly, "Yes, and this is the only Claire Redfield here sir." She couldn't really recognize the voice, she began to twirl the coiled phone cord between her delicate fingers.

"Claire, it's Leon"

Surly she had had wrong. Leon? Leon Kennedy from Raccoon? That was the only Leon she'd ever met. The last time she had heard from him was a while after the whole Rockfort Island ordeal. She had gotten a chance to explain the hellish event, sadly Leon hadn't had the chance to explain everything that he had been doing. He had something going on with the US government…

"Claire?"

"I…I'm sorry…what did you say your name-"

"Claire…" a soothing laugh filtered from the phone into her ear, "It's me Leon. Do you remember me?"

Leon…was it really Leon? Or was this some cheap trick some asshole was playing just to get her heart broken? But then who really knew about her in New York? Not many people knew her and Leon wasn't someone she'd ever talked about.

"Leon?" She breathed, "…shit."

He laughed, "Yeah…" She hadn't seen him laugh much in the time that she had spent with him long ago. Hearing it now made her wish she had heard it more often, "Yeah it's me. Wait…haven't you turned on the new lately?"

Of course she hadn't, after a day of frustrating work situations, her irritating boss and no transportation home, listening to reporters babble on for hours was not on her to-do list. "Umm no, no I haven't."

"Turn it on. Now."

Still holding the receiver close, she sat back down onto the couch and reached for the remote placed on the coffee table in front of her. She turned on the TV and turned to the local News station. After a few moments she realized what the main and only story that was being talked about, "What?"

"Just keep watching." The voice from the phone told her.

She did, and the words of the reporter got stuck in her head. "The White house can sleep soundly now that beloved Ashley Graham has returned safely. Young Graham, who had been abducted, was returned by one of the Government's Agents. Little is known about the abduction and the name of the agent has not been released. We are now awaiting the words of a representative of the President, to help explain…"

"Claire?" Leon's voice broke her away from the TV, "Are you still there?"

"Yes, yes!" She babbled, nearly dropping the phone in her lap, "Yes Leon I'm here!"

"I guess there needs to be an explanation huh?" Claire could hear new voices in the background of their conversation, wherever Leon was, he wasn't alone.

"You're damn right there needs to be an explanation. What the Hell is-"

"Claire." He interrupted, "Claire I need you to listen to me. I have to go now, I don't want to leave but it's impossible for me to stay on the phone now. I'll be calling you later on ok?"

Leaving now? Why did he have to? He just called, she had so many unanswered questions! "Leon I don't fully understand."

"And that's understandable!" The voices in the background were more vocal now, "But I promise that I will be contacting you again soon. I promise that! Have I ever broken a promise?"

In the past when they were still together, and the dangers of Umbrella still lingered wherever they went he would often say things such as 'Everything will be fine.' and 'You're strong, you can get through this.' Looking back on it he was right, she had been able to continue with her life. All the terror had seemed to leave. "I believe you."

"I believe you." Was the last real thing she said. At the time she did believe him. He said he'd call so she waited by that phone every chance she got. The first thing she did when she got home from work was check her answering machine, sadly she'd be disappointed by only hearing from her landlord, or salesmen. Every time she rushed to the phone and heard someone other than Leon her hope slowly crumbled. She had always said to herself "Next time, the next time I pick up the phone I'll hear his voice." What was taking so long?

She had said those things to herself a lot, until after a few weeks her thoughts had been "Maybe he forgot, or maybe he changed his mind." It was only natural for her to think like that. It was as if she was back in high school and she was the somewhat popular girl who was glued to her couch every night, waiting and hoping for the call from that certain boy.

That thought didn't last long however. The past ran back up to the present, bringing back memories of the Leon she once new. He wasn't one to pass aside someone important in his life. Well…not that she thought that she was really important to him, but he wouldn't be that careless. Even if it took months, she believed that she would hear from him again.

Than there was Chris. He had come home later the night that Leon called with an armload of groceries and, like she had been, covered with the evening rain. She had made the decision to not tell Chris that Leon had called. She would rather wait for the next time she talked to him to inform Chris that he was back. What would telling Chris really do? Nothing good that's what. The way she remembered things, her dear brother was never to fond of Leon. Whether it was just their personalities clashing or his overprotective brotherly instincts telling him that Leon was too close to his sister, it was made obvious that Chris wasn't too upset that he had left to begin with.

So that evening had gone smoothly between the Redfield siblings. Chris had made a batch of ravioli, instead of having Claire attempt to be the "Redfield chef". The conversation between them had consisted on how Claire's boss was an asshole, how she should let Chris lend her money and how Chris and his girlfriend Jill Valentine were always there for her. Even though many topics came up, she never got the thought of Leon Kennedy out of her mind. Claire wondered if he was thinking about her too.

An official Government Agent who had been declared a hero thinking about 'lil 'ol me? Sure, what are those odds. That man probably has the whole world in his hands, money, respect, he probably even has a bunch of gorgeous women at him. Why could I give him that he doesn't already have?

She had to set those thoughts aside, she couldn't just let them eat away her mind. She had enough frustration, she didn't need any more. Sighing, she lifted her tired body from the couch and reached for the remote and turned on the TV. The o-so-familiar news story filtered into her apartment.

"Today in the White house Miss Graham-" The screen went black before the woman could even finish the sentence. The TV's remote was soon thrown at the screen where the woman's head had once been seen. It hit the glass with a loud "tink" and was followed by the loud ringing of the phone.

The familiar ringing nearly made Claire fall from the couch. Sure, she knew by now that it was probably not "him" but that didn't mean that her nerves were going to calm down.

"Hello?" She said quickly.

"Hi Claire, It's Jill!" Ah Jill Valentine. How could Claire not be happy to talk to Jill? Whenever Chris wasn't around Jill was always his backup. A few months ago Jill had moved in with Chris to take their relationship to the next level. Of course Claire was happy for them, but she wondered if the love birds would spend the majority of their time with each other and let her be the occasional third wheel. Even though she was always the third wheel wherever they went Claire didn't feel distance growing between her brother or his girlfriend.

"Hey Jill What's up?"

"Well, you know tomorrow I have the day off, but Chris has a full day shift. Since I don't want to spend the whole day doing nothing I was wondering if you wanted to do something."

"Jill" Claire sighed while sinking back into the soft confinements of her couch. "I planned to sleep in sooooo late tomorrow, yet you want to drag me outta my lovely apartment! How can you even think of doing that to me?" She said sarcastically.

A soft laugh came from the other end, "Ah you Redfields. Sloth is definitely your family Sin. Come on Claire! It doesn't have to be for hours, we can go out for a quick lunch, maybe a 'lil bit of shopping. Come on, I need to fill you in on things."

Go hang out with Jill or Sleep? Go hangout with Jill…or sleep? …Sleep, Jill. Jill, Sleep. "Fine, uhmm yeah I'm sure we can do something along those lines. How about I call you tomorrow to tell you when a time is good for me. Is that alright with you?"

"Fine with me, I-" There was soft rustling from the other end and than a "thud", "Sorry Claire, I'm just watching the Ashley Graham thing on the News. Have you seen any of it recently? The whole thing is weird."

"Uh yeah, just one of those stories that'll be on forever. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I want to catch up on some Zs." Claire started to twirl the phone cord between her fingers.

"You do that Claire, you do that. You seem to need a rest anyways. Good night!"

"'Night Jill."

A soft "click" filled Claire's ears and was soon accompanied by silence. She softly hung up the receiver and allowed her head to rest in the palms of her hands. Sleep, that was one of her favorite things in life. Even though Jill was correct when implying that she was lazy, she didn't give a damn. Sleep was a way to get away from the stress, sometimes she didn't even dream, there were no thoughts of Leon's call or of her job or any terrible horror that could happen tomorrow, or the day after that, or next week. It was just a time for her to seep away from life, with the pleasant fact of not being dead.

A/N ...Well?