IMPORTANT!

CHAPTER 18 IS A LONG (NOT-ANYMORE) PARENTHESIS IN THE STORY.

Originally, it was meant to be a stand-alone spin off, "a party without plot to avenge Jill's honour", that wouldn't add any drama to the main story. But, when I reimagined all the rest of Act 2 and 3, this normal teenage party seemed to me the perfect ambience in which I could mess up the plot and ignite many new dramas – and have some fun along the way. That's why I profoundly edited it and totally merged it into OMIYS.

As I don't want to bore you with a super long chapter (risking that some important details - clues - would go unnoticed) I split it into 3 segments. I'll share one part a week, so that you can take your time to read each section without forgetting what happened... on previous episodes. I hope this makes up for the long wait, after all it's like having three new chapters in less than a month!

P.S. it turns out being pretty useful now that we're almost all locked down, right?

Chapter 18 – Freaky Friday (1 of 3)

Part 1 – See you at Claire's!

"I think that's way toooo much for us, Mom!" Claire bemoaned.

"Oh, please!" Lily scoffed, rocking the pan. "You're having five guests tonight!"

"Five girls! Not five sumo fighters!" Claire pointed out, arms crossed over her chest. "And they're bringing take away food, by the way!"

Claire should've known she better not tell her mother she was having a sleepover with the girls, not until her friends were about to come over. Same old story, every time: the slightest mention of guests and Lily would just pull out the kitchen apron, entrench behind the hoven and prepare tons of food.

But this time... it wasn't like all the other times.

This time was special. Meaningful.

It was the very first sleepover Claire had held after weeks of self-seclusion and loneliness, the first time she took her friends home for an only-girls night. And Lily felt some sort of obligation towards her daughter and her girls too. After all the troubles that had messed with Claire and, therefore, with her friends, that was the occasion for her to symbolically come back and bond with her girls all over again.

A rebirth as a teenage girl.

And – last but not least – a chance to recuperate the horrible Halloween that an inopportune storm of just two days before had forced all of them to spend at home.

That's why Lily had spent the last hour sautéing some delicious finger foods she had found out on a trendy cooking website. And she didn't want to hear of Claire telling her they had collected money for some Japanese take away to pick at whilst all clustered in front of a teenage movie drama, floating on a sea of pillows and blankets in their cosiest pyjamas, hot herbal infusions and lots, lots, lots of gossip everywhere.

"Don't you worry. No one will get fat because of one or two tapas." Lily sneered.

Chris had just returned home from a long, strenuous run and was dripping sweat in his red and black loose tank top and matching fitness shorts. As he emerged from the front door, his ears were met by the shrill chatting of… girls?! His eyebrow jolted up in perplexity at the very first yell.

He took few steps towards the wide arched entrance of the dining room and the sight of the just arrived girls simply unravelled before him like springtime lingering behind the latest winter cloud. The whole squad was there: Jill, carefully pulling the food boxes out of the paper bags; Rebecca, staring at the food like a hungry wolf; Sheva compulsively texting; Ashley, idly sitting on a chair and, lastly, there was Claire, busy arranging her mother's tapas onto a serving tray.

"Hello everyone!" He politely waved, panting a little and not concealing a note of surprise in his voice.

"Hi Chris!" They replied almost in unison, taken aback by his sudden appearance – Ashley in primis.

"Hello there, big boy!" the outsider voice of Moira Burton reached him from his right where she lazily had slanted against the wall, arms crossed and a smug expression printed on her face.

"Hey, tomboy! What's going on here?" Chris asked, tracing a fast circle in the air with his forefinger.

"Last minute sleepover, dude." Moira smirked and shrugged at the girls with a wave of the head.

"Sleepover, uh? I see..." Chris mumbled, glancing at his sister's curved back leaned onto the big table.

As Lily overheard her son's voice from the kitchen, she called him to come over. Obediently he crossed the dining room but didn't miss the chance to slap a playful yet implicit sound pat on Claire's butt as he passed behind her. At her protesting "hey!", he winked and grinned, with an expression that had all the sarcasm of an invisible air-quote.

Glad you "informed me in advance"!

"Hey darling, you're so sweaty!" Lily said once he was nearby.

"Yeah Mom... I ran for... well... woah! 5 miles!" He proudly exclaimed, glancing at his fitness watch and wiping rivulets of perspiration away from his temples.

"You'd better have a warm shower soon otherwise you'll get a cold." She motherly suggested.

"Sure thing. I stink!"

Lily let out an agreeing laughter and continued "anyway, tonight me and Dad are going out for dinner. He wanted to free the house for the girls so they can have fun without the... elders." she chuckled.

"Oh, that's great Mom! I can't even remember the last time you two went out on a date!" he cheered and smacked a sound peck on his mother's cheek.

Lily laughed heartily as she heard her simple dinner and theatre with her husband being called a date. "Will you have dinner with the girls or do I have to prepare you something before I leave?"

He was going to reply that he didn't need anything, that he might cook something by himself later on or just order a pizza, but he was preceded by a squealing Ashley that, from the big table, had overheard the conversation.

"Of course Chris can eat with us, Mrs Redfield! We have brought so much food, and you have prepared so much more! There's plenty for him too!" She had put on her nicest smile and smarmily blinked her eyes at the blonde woman and her handsome young son.

"Chris if you want you can have dinner with us." Claire stated. "Ashley's right, there's too much food for just the six of us." Slight, pointed, unconcealed sideswipe to her mother's exaggerated sense of proportion when it comes to food. She knew that after all the weeks when he had been forced to be around them and their girlish talking (mostly about himself), maybe Chris wasn't really amused by the idea of a whole night surrounded by her friends, but she didn't want him to have dinner all alone either. After all, his presence would surely make them avoid talking smut about him and that was a good advantage for her, because hearing praises about his physique would just turn on her desire and fantasies – and with the girls around that was to avoid.

"Ok, Claire... I'll dine with you tonight!" He said right before disappearing in the staircase for a needed shower before the sweat would dry out on his skin. The idea of a lonely pizza wasn't entertaining him at all… as well as a girly night didn't tickle his enthusiasm at all, but all that food... damn, it was too inviting to be ignored!

Ashley turned to look at the other girls with a victorious grin, clapping her hands and leaping on her toes like the overenthusiastic teen she was. But she wasn't the happiest in that room. Another girl was happier than her for that unexpected – but secretly hoped – twist, even if for a whole different reason.

It was Rebecca.

Having Chris with them for the whole evening was a too much of a precious occasion to spoil it. She'd have had her subject of investigation under her constant and heedful observation.

Rebeck Holmes was sure that on that night she'd have collected enough evidence to show everyone she was right and solve the Mysterious Girl case once and for all! She foretasted the satisfaction of slamming the fact that Chris had a crush on Jill right in the face of Ashley and Sheva.

Cool down, Becca. Prejudice only leads to greatest mistakes!

She took mental note of not taking anything for granted, but inside she hoped as never before that she was right. Jill had done so much progress about her crush in those last days... who knows, maybe the time had come for her to face the truth and open up to possibilities.

Part 2 - Lip-lock, door lock

Chris stood before the steamed mirror, vigorously rocking a towel over his drenched hair when he heard a knock on the bathroom door. He made haste to wrap the big cotton cloth around the waist and opened.

"Chris I have to ask you a thing…" Claire uttered quite loudly making her way in, waving a finger before her pensive nose, while Jill and Rebecca disappeared in the distance behind the corner of the wall.

"I'm all ears." He said.

Chris couldn't restrain a gasp as Claire literally assaulted him, wrapping his neck in her arms and pulling him down to hungrily kiss him on the lips. While he instinctively slid a hand over the curve of her back to draw her closer, he crashed the other against the door to fucking slam it closed and kept it pressed on it lest someone walked in.

"Sweetheart!" he managed to whisper, overly surprised and breathless, pulling away to free his lips just for a few instants. "Hehehey! Hold down!"

Claire occupied his mouth with her lust for a little bit more, purring like a cat eating her favourite food. She was so turned on that even got Chris's back to crash onto the door almost losing balance under her onrush.

"You shouldn't leave your guests alone." He smiled, caging her torso in his firm, tender hold.

"I know Chris. I just wanted to kiss you now that you're alone up here as we won't have the chance for the rest of the night." She whispered back.

"I wonder why." He sarcastically growled.

"Sorry, I should've warned you…" she cooed.

"Yeah, a tip-off would've been appreciated." He moaned, giving her a dirty look.

"Would it make a difference if I tell you that we put it up in like… ten minutes?" she maliciously grinned.

"That's a record for you all!" he snickered. "You girls take so much time to fuckin-"

Claire resumed her hungry kissing before he could say anything mean about her friends' habit to take hours to plan what to do.

"Mmh... Baby, I love when you're so horny..." he smiled against her lips.

"You aren't, though." She said, smirking in lewdness and rubbing her hips against his.

He looked down and laughed with a headshake. "I had to rub one out. I can't just hang around you for the rest of the night with my dick loaded like a machine gun!"

"Such a pity! I hoped I got the chance for a quick blow job..." she teased while gently patting on his groin.

"You know quick and blow job cannot be in the same sentence when talking about me, Claire." He breathed out in a gruff voice as he grazed her earlobe with his lips. Tilting his head back from her neck, he added "And by the way, we can't right now. Especially not with Jill and Becky upstairs!"

"You're right. But don't worry, they can't hear our smooching." She winked pursing her lips in a kiss and brushing his mouth. "They're in the guests' room now."

"What for?"

"Oh, we settled to do the sleepover down in the living room, so you can stay with us. We'll turn it into a super cosy room, with blankets and pillows!" she enthused.

He scratched his stubble a bit, eyes closed, while thinking about the night awaiting him ahead: Claire, food, movie, sofa, pillows… perfection. Then girls, girls' chitchats, girls' gossip, girls, Ashley's annoying voice, girls... he mumbled about the nightmarish occurrence of that night ending up with some pink nail polish drying out on his manly feet.

Not again.

Claire left the bathroom to go to Girly Room and grab her big padded blanket and as many pillows as she could find. Chris followed her barefoot, giggling something about himself, sheikhs and oriental harems.

"Chris, can you please take those square cushions in my closet?" Claire asked while forcefully peeling the blanket away from her bed.

"Sure."

Chris pushed the curtain's tingling pearl strings aside and him, his brawns and the towel disappeared into the closet.

"Found 'em? They're on the top shelf!" Claire yelped, striving to roll up the thick cover.

As she received no answers, a dubious eyebrow jumped up and the blanket slid to the ground.

"Chris...?" she called out, approaching the closet veiled entrance.

What she saw in the narrow space between the high shelves as she stepped in, left her speechless.

A towering Chris stood mother naked and silent before the wall-wide mirror with the white towel scattered on the floor around his feet. A hand was surfing through his chest, cautiously palming his own muscles.

"Missing old times?" she smiled.

His reflected serious gaze shifted to her sweet one. "I just wanted to see me in this mirror." He murmured.

Claire's soft smile disappeared behind the reflection of his shoulder just to morph into a warm kiss on his meaty shoulder blade. She pressed a cheek on his back and smiled anew, wrapping her arms around his torso, hands wandering on his sculpted chest and lacing with his.

"It's the first time I see myself full-size since... I can't even remember." He continued.

"Honey…" She purred. "You could come here anytime you wanted."

"I know. I guess I just feared I'd not bear to... see Chris and not Claire anymore." He confessed and, tightening his caring grab over her hands, he added. "I mean, I already saw myself in the bathroom but… this mirror… in this mirror I was you. I took you here. Every night."

"And how does it feel now that you see yourself and not my body anymore?" she softly asked, keeping pecking at his skin.

"I'm fine. It actually feels better than I thought!" he smiled, letting his eyes run down his whole nudity. "I'm a man again." He smiled at his penis.

"You know, Chris... it took me a few days to get used to seeing myself in that glass again." She sighed. "I lost count of all the jumpscares I got!"

"C'mere." He muttered, making room for her to stand before him. Now it was him to hug her from behind. An enfolding, warm, totally-Chris-like embrace.

"I never looked at myself in it when I was in your body, you know?" Claire said. "But now… now this mirror is the proof that I'm fine. Every day, it tells me that the worst is over. That I am Claire and I'm back in my body." Her voice flickered only that little bit the fulfilling wholesomeness of his touch allowed her.

Chris pressed a meaningful kiss on her hair and, staring at her through the glassy surface, he gruffly susurrated with the most candid tone "I want to fuck you here."

"Such a pity you just jerked off." She purred as the shivers he elicited down her spine let her speak again.

"Well, we got plenty of time. And the fucking house is full of people tonight, by the way." He growled. "But I'll fuck you here."

Of course he hadn't felt the lack of Claire as he had taken her every night in that last week down in the basement. Since that first time on Saturday night, they had begun to sneak downstairs at a very late hour and made love either in the little bathroom or on the comfy bench. Though, when desire would turn over them during daytime they had to take his car and go somewhere else as they couldn't risk doing it at home whilst their parents were around. What if they called them? Or worse, if they entered the bedroom in the middle of the intercourse?

Thus, it had been a week full of car fucks, basement floor fucks, but no comfortable sex in bed. And, honestly, they were beginning to miss it.

Unfortunately, on that night they weren't getting any as well. Instead, they had to pretend they weren't drooling over the other and do it convincingly.

Chris despised it. He already had to pretend and fake every morning at school – even if only in the brief moments they'd meet – but doing it at home too… it was unacceptable. Home was their haven, their love nest, in which they just had to disappear upstairs for some hot cuddles in the afternoon or downstairs for some raw sex by night. And on a night their house was parents-free he'd rather romantically fuck her in Girly Room, not giving a shit about the mattress' fucking springs and showing off how good he'd make both the bed and his sister squeak.

The idea of masturbating the night away entertained him even less than a girlish party.

Chris was the first one to exit the closet, whilst re-wrapping the towel around his waist, and gasped loudly as Girly Room's door abruptly was thrown open and Rebecca and that ambulant pile of pillows and covers formerly known as Jill noisily rolled in.

Jesus Christ!

One second earlier and they'd watched him fully naked!

Jill was so not expecting to find anybody else than Claire in there – let alone that modern times' Adonis of a barenaked Chris – that she simply tripped on the hem of the blanket she was carrying and fell face forward on the ground, pillows bouncing and rolling all around.

She implored the Lord to take her life away in that very moment.

"Ouf… these pillows may be fluffy but they're pretty heavy!" Becky had said, just few minutes before, staggering towards the guests' room's door, all her upper body engulfed in a huge pile of fabric. Who might ever want eight pillows on their bed?! What kind of perverted guests attended the Redfields' house?

"Where do you think you're going?" Jill laughed. "Claire said to pick the blanket too!"

"Oh, geez! No!" Rebecca cried.

"Come here, we can use it to do a bundle!" Jill's gumption suggested.

Rebecca was more than happy to throw her squashy load on the blanket and helped her friend to roll it into a giant ravioli of softness.

"You sure we need the blanket too?" Rebecca questioned.

"If you don't trust my memory, go ask Claire then!" Jill eyerolled.

"On my way!" Rebecca cheered as Jill wrestled with the mass alone.

The bedroom she ignored was named Girly Room, had the door slightly open and the lights on.

Claire must be in there.

She peered into it but it was desert. The rosy blanket laid scattered on the floor but there was no trace of the ginger-head.

Maybe she's downstairs.

And she was going to turn on her heels hadn't she heard a voice coming from the closet. Rebecca, as the little investigator she inwardly was, eavesdropped without the slightest hesitation.

"I never looked at myself in it when I was in your body, you know?"

It was Claire. Who was she talking with? She heard her mention a… mirror? …being the proof of something? …I'm back in my body? The hell was she saying?!

Hadn't Rebecca been so well informed about Claire's life, she'd have thought her friend was rehearsing some sort of theatrical piece. But she knew she hadn't got any role for the Christmas ballet recital in account of her bad muscle tear!

What. Was. Going. On?!

She stepped inside, cautiously, determined to uncover the mystery, but when a low, gruff whisper of Chris rumbled indistinct in the air, she froze.

She didn't get his words, however… it didn't sound as his usual. It was low… warm… breathy… intimate. Something in Chris's tone put her in keen discomfort, but she couldn't get to guess what. Though it was enough creepy for her to make up her mind to let down any investigation and turn on her heels as fast as a tornado, as if she suddenly feared to be discovered by him. The nice girl realized she had been actually furtively sneaking in someone else's house!

J-jerk o-off?! The hell?!

Those words ran faster than her.

Claire! You dirty girl!

Rebecca's jaw dropped in dismay as she heard Claire talking about masturbation with her brother and she couldn't help but wonder how damn close their siblinghood was if he informed his sister about his... sex... routine?!

Ok, Becca. That's none of your business… whatever… whatever it is! Now, close the door, you stupid snooper! Good… like this… Just make non effin' sound and…

"Thanks for the help, you lazy bitch!" a vagrant mount of softness huffed, shambling towards her. "Now you take this bulk downstairs!"

"No. No wait! Stop! Stop, Jill!" Rebecca had lowly cried before the blind mountain inevitably had squashed her onto the half-closed door.

Now the quartet stood silent in Girly Room. The boy, on his side, was pretty embarrassed and surprised, Jill was waiting for the stairway to heaven to appear for her and Claire was seraphic and relaxed as a Buddhist monk. Only Rebecca was still trying to figure out what the hell her friend had just told, and she was even more astonished now that she'd seen that Chris was barenaked!

"Jill!" Chris exclaimed in concern as he knelt to ease her up. "Are you ok?"

Jill rolled on her back and covered her face with a pillow. "I'm alive." Unfortunately.

"Here, let me help you." He said, lifting her in his arms and standing up. Such an unnecessary show off of his brawns!

Jill didn't imagine him to be actually that strong and that unrequested act of kindness had the effect to make her blush even more. He eased her on her feet and with his most charming smile he left the room, reassuring everyone he'd have brought also his pillows downstairs.

"Are you still breathing?" Claire insinuated, nudging at her friend in malice.

A still awestruck Jill cleared her throat and combed her short hair with the hand. "Kind of." She smiled and that was the boldest crush-admission she'd ever done.

"You almost had a stroke!"

"Prepare your ears for Ashley, instead!" Jill cackled. "I cannot even imagine how high she will scream when we'll tell her that she's missed a barenaked Chris."

"Do we necessarily have to tell her?" Claire sarcastically wondered.

"Of course!" Jill yelled, eagerly rushing outside. "I don't want to miss the scene!"

"WHAAAAT THE FUUUUUUUCCCKKK?!" A dumbfounded Ashley screeched, making more than one ear bleed.

She just stood there, in the middle of the living room, pillows in hand, jaw dropped, eyes blinking in disbelief, at a complete loss for words while the other girls were busy disposing of everything for their sleepover.

"You heard well, Ash!" Jill snorted with an eye roll, failing to hide a bit of vengeful satisfaction. "He was in fuuuull display!"

"Claire, you were there too, right?" Ashley asked, once she recovered her speech.

"Yeah...?"

"And you can confirm that he was actually with only a towel on?"

"Yup."

Ashley had to sit down on the armchair, mulling over what they told her and mentally cursing herself for having preferred to lay down on the couch to put her lip-gloss on instead of going upstairs.

"How I wish I was you, Claire!" She lastly said.

"Why?" Claire asked, gulping down a gasp.

"Because you live with him!" she squealed. "You can always see Chris going around shirtless or enter the bathroom while he's in the shower and things like that!"

"If I were you, I wouldn't envy her!" Jill intervened, grimacing in disgust at the blondie.

"What? Why?" Ashley asked, her dreamy eyes bouncing to the brunette.

"Because Claire is his sister..." Jill eyerolled as she was explaining what was quite obvious "…she just doesn't watch her brother naked! I know you're an only child but this should be clear even for you. If you have a crush on a guy, his sister is the last person on Earth you should envy! No shit! 'Cause she's the only one who can't watch him and who he doesn't watch at all!"

"In fact, I saw nothing of what you mean, you little pig!" Claire intervened, maliciously swinging a finger at her friend. She faked a naivety air but inwardly laughed at the conversation going on. Oh, if only they knew the truth... they should really envy her! Watching was the least she had done to their crush!

"Well… If I were his sister I'd totally sneak in the bathroom while Chris is showering!" Ashley daydreamt. "I mean, he's the hottest guy in our school!"

"After Leon!" Rebecca replied faking a cough.

"I'll leave him to you, Beck, and keep Chris for me." Ashley stated.

"'Sup Chris!" Moira waved looking somewhere past Ashley, making the blondie turn around with a huge ashamed gasp lest her crush had heard her from behind.

"Oh you total… BITCH!" she yelled at a rolling off for laughs Moira as she realized she had been bamboozled.

"You should see your face right n-ahahahah!" the young Burton managed to spell, wiping away her laughter tears.

Part 3 – Bare banality

The girls had gone to Girly Room to put their pyjamas on and get all geared up for the sleepover.

From Man's Cave, Chris could hear their laughs mix up into an indistinct vociferation that swayed like a spirited, warm country breeze in a continuous rising and fading in volume. It was just a matter of minutes and the feminine wind would've crammed the whole house, trapping him in a tornado of chatter and other idiocies.

Chris frowned and huffed.

He could easily picture himself surrounded by all those girls who'd have never stopped chit-chatting and gossiping and bickering for a single moment like… like… like… ugh, he sighed in surrender.

Truth be told, he couldn't really despise their company – let alone after a whole month with them – he had to admit they were a bunch of exquisite souls and he was immensely grateful that Claire could call them her friends but… but on that night, notwithstanding how he cherished them, he was annoyed by their presence.

On that night they were undeniably a hindrance.

He grimaced in self-loathing when he thought he wanted the girls gone immediately.

You selfish bastard! Only God knows how fucking much she needs this night with them and all you can think of is yourself!

Chris massaged the back of his neck and sighed, reclining his head back to rest his nape on his fingers. His muscles were stiff and tense and that little massage gave him some relief.

Nonetheless, his frown deepened.

But his scowl couldn't last much long, for as soon as he heard Claire's joyful, crystalline voice, a soft smile bloomed on his face and forced his eyebrows to unwind.

She was just on the other side of the narrow wooden wall that separated his room from her closet. Putting his white undershirt on, he sat on the edge of his desk and listened. She sounded so happy and bright!

Chris, instead, he was feeling blue under his olive skin.

It was something indefinite, formless, whose outline eluded his mind but whose presence he could feel dense, constant and… grey.

Disquietude had caught him at first when he had come back from his run to a crowded home; then in the bathroom, when the chance that his sister would replicate Monday's imprudence made his heart race in fear; lastly, in the closet when by a chance Jill and Becky hadn't caught him wholly naked compelling him to invent a hasty lie to justify his nude presence.

The risk of being caught was a constant in his life lately and it had raised incredibly on a night that was no exception to the rule. And he felt every ounce of it. It was a little weight pressing on his chest, making him feel halfway between slightly fatigued and sombre.

Even though, on second thought, as long as he'd have kept his hands off her sister's most intimate body parts he had nothing to actually fear. How could anybody suspect such a thing?

Nevertheless, he felt uneasy, he was on alert. His guilty conscience feared that a too intense gaze, a too enamoured smile, a too carnal caress would've revealed everyone their secret.

Foolish.

For weeks and weeks they had been only plunging into the chasms of a psyche strained by the grievous tragedy then and by the degenerated affection now. Notwithstanding the worst apparently seemed to be gone, none of them had missed to notice how the other was still suffering somehow.

On the last tempestuous Halloween, for example, the attentive and heedful Chris didn't miss how his sister, while having dinner, stiffened and was in a cold sweat anytime thunders and lightnings – so similar to the lab's explosion – made her jump on her seat. To comfort her and ease the noticeable trembling of the flatware she held, an undercover caress on her thigh was all he could momentarily do. At least until she'd begged him to fuck her hard against the bathroom wall later in the night.

Nor did Claire fail to keep an eye on him as well.

More than once she had met a just waken Chris in the morning with the sunken, dark-circled eyes of whom had "slept" a tormented slumber. He had confessed her – even if she feared he had overly sugared the pill – that he still had some tremendous nightmares that would make him wake up drenched in sweat and panting, just like he had suffered during the switched time. As if no shit had been fixed at all. The scariest the bad dream, the fastest he'd text her to meet downstairs, the roughest he'd screw her, seeking solace. Nocturnal sex was the best way to postpone the inevitable reunion with his inner demons as much as possible and sedate them a little.

For the Redfield siblings, sex had become a palliative without which they couldn't stand the weight of all the past torments, whose remembrance was still so vivid in their minds.

But there was something else, beyond all of this, that worried his mind. It was something his heart plainly knew by then but that he hadn't still put into words. And certainly he didn't expect that such a simple yet tremendous truth would disclose to him so banally. Simply by listening to her laughter through a wall.

He was in love with Claire. Madly. Immutably.

He loved her with every shred of his flesh, every drop of his blood. He loved her of that heart-wrenching love that hurts and heals and kills and nurses and tears. In his misery, she was all he needed.

He stood up from the desk and walked to his drawer to pick some sweatpants, mulling over that sudden revelation. Pure blatancy, yet sensational.

Love. When Cupid shoots his arrows he's not one for subtlety, but on that time that winged little brat must've been on some acid trip when he stopped at Redfields as he had made a brother fall in love with the bloody blood of his blood!

But Love has its reasons that Reason knows not, a poet once said. And there were absolutely no reasons for him not to love her, for the only real barrier that could prevent their siblings' love to become erotic had been destroyed almost a week before.

His love had changed. And it now was the most fulfilling emotion he had ever experienced. He loved her, heart, soul and body. She made him feel complete. Irrelevant was that he wasn't loving her as a brother anymore. Then again, that worry didn't even cross his mind. To him, what he felt and had just figured out, was the most natural of feelings. Something it couldn't not be.

He couldn't not be totally hers.

A knock at the door broke the enchantment, but not the raptured gaze on his face. The door opened a little and Claire poked her head in. "Hey, we're ready to get started!"

"I'll be right there." Chris replied. I love you.

"You alright?" she whispered, getting suspicious by the contrast of his look to his sweetest smile. She feared he felt compelled to stay with her and the girls just to please her and their mother.

"Yes." I love you.

"You sure?" she questioned, with an eyebrow quirked in concern.

"Yeah!" he giggled, smiling warmly. I love you!

"Ok, then… we'll be waiting downstairs. Just… you just make sure to don't forget to wear them, ok?" she sassily winked, pointing at the sweatpants he held.

"No shit! I don't want to be raped!" he joked, hurrying to put his pants on. "Ashley kinda scares me."

Claire sent him a quick kiss and closed the door.

Chris's smile beamed lonely in an empty bedroom.

Yes, he had fell – throat deep – in love.

He loved her, he craved her, yet he wasn't supposed to satisfy his longing nor his relief-hunger on that night. But maybe… maybe not everything was lost. Claire might've had the goodtime she deserved. After all, above his own needs and worries, he wanted her to be happy. But who ever said he couldn't be as well?

Walking fast under the invisible lightbulb that had lighted up over his head, he grabbed his phone from his nightstand and texted his friends on their "Buddies Of Wine" group chat. Maybe one of them would come over and help him deal with all those girly hormones in the air.

Chris Redfield's not gonna fight this war alone!

"Kids, me and Lily are leaving." Robert said appearing at the bottom of the staircase while Chris hopped down the steps. "We'll be home pretty late as the show we chose won't start before ten o'clock so..."

"Have fun, see you later!" Chris smiled.

"I rely on you, son." Robert stated planting his dark blue eyes right in his firstborn's ones. "I know they're too grown up for a babysitter but…"

"Don't worry, Dad." Chris nodded. "I'll look after them while pretending to be housesitting. They won't notice!"

Robert chuckled and shook his head.

"Hey! I can multitask!" Chris ironically protested.

"Never doubted it for a single moment, son." Robert cooed. "I was just wondering who of us got the worst plans for the night." He scoffed winking towards the crowded living room, making sure to talk enough low not to be heard by his wife.

"Let me guess…" Chris smirked. "Vintage black and white mute dramatic shit?"

"Yeah…" his father sighed. "Total garbage by mitteleuropean intellectuals. But your mother loves it, so…"

Chris chuckled and patted his Dad's shoulder in encouragement while accompanying him to the garage door. Maybe his own night wasn't that bad after all.

Part 4 – Harem

It was 8 p.m., they were all gathered in the living room, ready for the sleepover. The two sofas had been moved a bit to make it easier for everyone to watch the tv. The food had been arranged over the black glass round coffee table, soft blankets were spread over the carpet and pillows were scattered all around. It only remained to pick a good movie to watch.

"Oh yes! Yes please! Freaky Friday!" Rebecca hollered from the two-seater sofa she shared with Sheva, as Chris was scrolling down the movie gallery.

"Hell no, Becky!" Jill snorted from the other bigger sofa, outstretched next to Claire. "Not another time! We've watched it like fourteen times!"

"I'm with Jill!" Sheva admitted, raising a hand.

"But it's fun! Please!" Rebecca begged.

"Freaky Friday is such a stupid movie!" Ashley argued from the armchair, crossing her feet upon the bordeaux pouffe.

"Say that again, Graham!" Rebecca threateningly riposted.

"Girls!" Chris said, clearing his throat from the big blanket he was laying on before the three-seater sofa, feeling the responsibility to stop any quarrel before they'd be at daggers drawn. Unfortunately, his knowledge about girlish movies stopped at the Disney's princesses classics his sister used to watch when she was a child. "The hell is Freaky Friday?"

"It's a masterpi-" Rebecca tried to explain.

"Mother and daughter switch bodies, Chris." Claire quickly said from behind him, resting her warm hand on his shoulder. "Just that."

The siblings exchanged a quirky look. "Does a movie about that even exist?!" he lowly gushed and turning to Rebecca he apologised "Sorry, Becky. The plot sounds silly and lame." No way I'm watching a movie about my life!

Taking advantage of apparently having Chris against Rebecca, Ashley peeled off the comfy backrest of the armchair in which she had dipped into and uttered "I suggest Mean Girls!"

"Haven't we got plenty of them tonig- ouch!" Chris sassed or, at least, he tried to as Claire slapped his nape from behind to shut him the fuck up.

"The Princess Diaries, girls." Jill proposed. "It's a classic and we haven't watched it in a year or so."

Thankfully her linear reasoning seemed to content everyone. Even Chris, but only because he couldn't bear any more of that catfight – oh, and because he had no clue the plot was even sillier than Freaky Friday.

"So y'all ok with that?" Chris asked, eying each one of the girls as he was the one holding the remote.

Everyone nodded.

"To me they're all trash the same, dude! I'm here for the food." Moira replied at Chris's questioning look he addressed her from her side, as they shared the same blanket on the floor. "But it's still better than Freaky Friday."

Finally, the movie began. Claire had adjusted a pillow behind Chris' neck so he could rest his head on it. Every now and then she'd lean on it and pecked at the crown of his head or streamed her fingers through his hair or just caressed his bearded cheeks, while he would play her with tapas and other delights she'd just eat from the same pair of chopsticks they shared or straight from his fingers.

"Remind me to manicure you tomorrow." She said, kissing his ear.

"Yeah. I totally need one." He agreed, accurately scanning his fingertips and obtaining a swirl of head turning towards them in incredulity.

Chris Redfield gets a manicure?! Since when?! Can he be any hotter?! That was – more or less – what everyone thought. He had just given them another vision of him to drool for… he'd be the perfect boyfriend for sure!

He smiled and tilted his head back to kiss her under her chin. In spite of all his previous anxiety about drawing unwanted attention to their intimacy, now he felt better. Claire was literally covering him with affectionate cares and not a single eyebrow was quirking in suspect! He could afford to return her as more love as he could then. Yeah, that night was bad at all!

It was such a tender vision: two siblings being loving and affectionate to each other – maybe a bit too much but still it was lovely. So lovely and enthralling that it gained many envious looks by the other girls. Well, basically two.

Ashley often peeked at them, shaking her head to such a waste: the only girl who hadn't a crush on Chris and had no reasons to seek his attentions, was the only one allowed to touch him, hug him, kiss him on the cheeks and the only one to actually get his cares. Or looks. She'd have given anything to be that girl now.

Jill as well would think quite the same. She looked intensely at that brawny body outstretched on the ground, at the muscular arms crossed on his wide chest, at every single movement of his hand picking food to bring it to his sexy lips.

If Ashley envied Claire, then Jill was envying those surimi so bad!

Chris could feel the repeated looks from Ashley while she talked but ignored them systematically. He had caught Jill peeking at him too but he didn't mind that – it was Ashley the annoying one. Jill would just glance, enjoy the sight, suppress a sigh and continue her doing without making it obvious.

The only glances he was oblivious of were Rebecca's.

The girl, with the precision of a Japanese train and the discretion of a secret agent, kept an eye on him all the time from the perfect overview she had of her human specimens: Chris on the ground, Jill on the sofa behind him, Ashley on the armchair by his left.

Rebeck had smartly taken seat on the two-seater sofa, right next to Sheva, also because she hoped Chris would've sat on the other one… if not purposefully between Jill and Claire, at least accidentally next to... his secret Valentine! Oh, Chris choosing to sit next to Jill would've been such a hard evidence! The smoking gun she sought for her theory! Unfortunately, so far she hadn't been much lucky. The apple of discord had sat on the blanket, equidistant from the contenders, and the only two people he was interacting were only Claire and Moira.

Lesbian and sister.

Her investigation was deadlocked. But the night was still young and Rebeck Holmes full of resources.

After a while, no one was paying much attention to the movie anymore as the girls were all busy gossiping about... everything. That is to say mostly boys, couples, other girls, fashion, actors, girly things and oh-my-God-have-you-heard-that. Not a single one of these topics could've even slightly interested Chris, at all. He was silent, still on the ground, focused on scooping out the Lily's nachos bowl along with Moira. The tomboy. His favourite teacher's daughter. His alley against the girly forces of teenage fangirls.

When he had enough of being half laid on those blankets he just stretched his arms over the head and curved his back to give some relief to his sore spine, regretting it in the making as he heard Ashley fall silent mid-sentence.

C'mon girl! As if you'd never seen a man before!

Rolling his eyes, he stood up and took a seat between Jill and Claire, throwing an arm around each girl's shoulders. "Ponytail, Bob, I'll keep your necks warm if you'll feed me. Deal?" he laughed, sneering at his recently gained knowledge of female hairstyles names.

"Deal." Claire agreed, shoving a tapas into his greedy mouth.

Score to Jill! Becky thought but her contentment didn't last long as, whilst the now-pretty princess on screen underwent a massive dose of aesthetic treatment, the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" Claire wondered raising a brow at her brother. It was almost ten o'clock and she wasn't expecting anybody else to come.

"Oh, I called for back-up reinforcements!" Chris eagerly giggled while gambolling to the front door.

You see? I haven't forgot about my Incestfield! Bad Romance might still be going but… I can multitask too!

Even though it might seem the opposite... I'm fond of teenage movies. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this story XD this is escapism at his best.

Sorry for the B.O.W. group chat name, but I love Easter eggs [someone at Capcom – which holds all the copyrights bla bla bla – is really proud of their little eggs-scattering fangirl].

See you in (about) seven (maybe ten) days for part 2 of 3!