What would Chloe get home to? What levels of anger and boulder punching fury was she to be met with?

Weeeee I'm back! I was on hiatus indefinitely, but it only lasted a week XD I really need to chill the hell out, don't I?

Not much to say except Happy Birthday MIH/LML Claire!

And also, it was one year ago today that I uploaded the first chapter to Let Me Live! Holy moly!

The street below thrummed with traffic and activity as collective lunch breaks drew to an end, and office workers scurried along the sidewalks back to their shiny, overly polished desks with their sub sandwiches and to-go coffee cups with the little band of corrugated cardboard hastily slipped on. Rapid fire shouts and shrills pierced the air, drawing the attention of a man from a balcony several floors up. A taxi screeched to a halt as it clipped the rear wheel of a cyclist, who brazenly threw a hand at the driver, along with choice words. The driver returned words of a similarly colourful nature, and sped past the cyclist as he attempted to straighten the buckling out of his rear wheel. An elderly woman appeared onto the street from a nearby confectionary store to check on the man, but he dismissed her, removing his helmet and shades to look down the street, to the taxi that had already disappeared around a block. He bounced his bicycle once on the ground before shaking his head.

The man on the balcony in turn shook his own head. The executive decision to remove that cycle lane was a dumb idea, he thought. His phone buzzed against the glass table top, and the screen lit up with a grey notification box. His zippo clacked closed and gently clattered on the glass next to the phone as the same hand unlocked the screen, and tapped in the four digit passcode. 0609 was probably very obvious, but not obvious to the very people whose eyes he kept his messages away from. Not even the main reason for his passcode knew what it was. He tapped once more, and the message appeared in full on his screen;

I've spoken to Chloe. I'd like for you and her to talk. Tonight. She didn't start the fight at school, from what Ms Peck told me, but we should give her a chance to speak and explain herself. Please don't rip her face off.

Chris Redfield sighed and locked his phone screen again, only for a new message to ping through. He unlocked it again;

I don't know how much more I can tolerate you both fighting. Once Chloe is in bed and asleep I want you out on the balcony. We need to talk. ~

He scoffed and violently pressed his cigarette to his lips, breathing in the nicotine.

"We need to talk" he echoed as the smoke left his lips, mimicking Claire's voice in a high pitched, condescending manner.

How many times did she think they "need to talk"? She would always say she doesn't want him to rip Chloe's face off but the "talks" he had with Claire mostly ended in the same way, not to mention all of the things Claire would reiterate to him about Chloe's thoughts. Bad uncle. Bad person. Shitty role model. Egotistical jerk. His fights with Chloe weren't even as bad as she made out to him, to everyone else. She was blowing things out of proportion again. He stood up from the seat and leant against the door frame of the apartment.

He wasn't a betting man but he sure as hell would put good money down that the family feud would be resolved if he could just tell Chloe the truth. But with her now being a fifteen year old teenager, independent, confident and strong-willed, he would bet even more that she wouldn't take kindly to the truth. He glanced at the photos of her on the wall above his desk, in plain wood frames. One was of all three of them when Chloe was only a baby, all three unaware that Jill Valentine had taken the photo on a sunny day in the park, another was of her with him on that Christmas that she got her first bicycle. Another was of her a few years ago, proudly holding up a certificate and showing off her brand new karate black belt. He had his hand firmly gripped on her shoulder; he beamed more than he could ever remember in that photo, and he knew he would be just as proud if she successfully graded to second degree black belt soon.

He removed his glasses and closed his eyes. Potentially, what were the chances of Chloe even existing if not for the events that occured on this day nineteen years ago? Wasn't that the start of it all, the eventual lead up to her?

He slowly breathed in more of his cigarette, never taking his eyes from the photos. It was too late for her to know the truth, she was too old now. He knew that she would hate him even more if she were to find out at this stage of her life. He ran a hand through his hair and looked out to the city. Was that tears stinging his eyes, or did he accidentally blow cigarette smoke in them?

The tinted glass ashtray received the spent cigarette as Chris furiously twisted the tiny embers out. Claire. She didn't have a fucking clue what he was going through. Their parents raised them to be truthful, to never lie, yet she had forced him to live a lie, and he and Chloe were the victims. Sure, well before Chloe was born he too had lived a lie, he had lied to Claire; he utterly ruined his sister, he even almost put her into an early grave. But eventually he came clean to her, and he changed his ways. The difference here was that he was only living his own lie back then. Pain was caused, scars may still remain, but the open wounds of his erroneous lifestyle eventually scabbed over and healed.

She had no idea of the pain he was having to endure now just to please her. Was she punishing him for the pain he caused her? He placed enough trust in Chloe even years ago for her to know the truth, but Claire never did, still didn't and likely never will. She didn't trust her OWN fucking daughter.

He thought back to over seven years ago, when he shot "Mia" in front of Ethan Winters. He never was truthful to Ethan for his reasons, only when it was too late. He was just as much of a hypocrite. He scratched at his greying stubble and looked about the balcony. Two birds flitted to the little bird house that he had built many years before upon Claire's request. How many generations of the same bird family had nested here? He had lost count over ten years ago.

Sure. He'll talk to her alright. But the outcome will likely be no different. Claire will be right, no matter how wrong she actually will be. He lifted his cup of coffee from the balcony table and sat at the computer in the living room corner, but when the blistered scabs across his back stuck to the cold leather, he reassessed his choice of clothes, or lack of, and pulled his shirt on. Chloe didn't need to see the long, deep scratches on his back.

Chloe stepped into the apartment after her mother, but she took no time in looking for Chris, and dove into her own room, closing the door and pressing her back against the wood. She immediately heard a deep bark and scratching at the wood behind her, and she cracked the door back open to allow Thor in, but in glancing up she could see Chris at his desk in the corner of the living room, looking in her direction. She furrowed her brows and closed the door again.

Thor bounced merrily on his paws around the room, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth as if she had just offered him a tasty piece of chicken. Chloe set her school bag onto her desk, and paced over to her bed, lightly brushing her fingers through Thor's fur as she walked by him. He barely gave her a second to sit down before he heavily flopped his head into her lap, and he shifted his big brown eyes up to her.

"Am I worrying you again, boy?" Chloe spoke quietly. He snuffled at her, and pressed his nose into the bloodstains on her jeans. She scratched behind his ears, but poised her own when she heard voices beyond her door.

"Why are you surprised, Claire? I've been warning you for years that she'll be exactly like you. You had just the same fucking smug and bratty attitude as her when you were fifteen. Like mother, like daughter." Chris' words cut her like a ligature to the throat. Smug? Bratty?

"I'm not the only one capable of speaking to her, Chris. But for now just give her some time to chill, she's had a bad day."

Chloe grinned open mouthed at Thor, fighting back an audible laugh that almost escaped her throat. Bad day was one way to put it, but she so wanted to walk straight out of her room, get into Chris' face and tell him to call her smug and bratty to her own face rather than to her mom. What a spineless dick. Legendary hero Chris Redfield? What fucking lies had he told the world, really? Captain Golden Balls, the abusive puncher of boulders and regular jackass. Whose dick did he suck decades ago in the BSAA to get so renowned?

She untied her boot laces and kicked them off, socks included, before peeling her blood stained jeans from her legs, and she slipped on a pair of charcoal coloured cotton shorts, but raised voices made her freeze in place mid dressing.

"Stop letting her walk all over you, Claire! She's got you around her finger!"

"She is NOT walking all over me!"

Chloe felt the crawlies return with a vengeance, and her lungs began to burn from her increased breathing rate.

"I don't give a fuck what happened, she can't be fighting at school!"

"Oh sure, like you're the best person to talk about fighting, Christopher!"

"Don't give me that shit, Claire! You always make it sound like I'm lecturing her!"

Nope. Bullshit. She pushed herself to her feet, the pink and red circular rug dampened her raging footsteps as crossed the room in a second and banged her fist angrily against the door.

"All you DO is lecture me! You're not my dad, Chris! Stop trying to act like you are!" she shrieked through the wood. The crawlies wiggled and squirmed under her skin and she hit the door again. Silence followed as she threw herself face down onto her bed, desperate to fight back the furious tears that had formed. Thor whimpered at her side and squeezed onto the peach coloured sheets next to her, licking her ear. She focused on her breathing, just like Ms Chambers had tried to teach her. She couldn't let herself get too worked up. She couldn't. Chris wasn't worth the repercussions if her emotions became too much for her to handle.

"This is your fault." she heard Chris growl at her mom, and no other words were exchanged between the two. She wanted to get up again and demand to know how ANYTHING was her mom's fault but…

"Thor?" she rolled onto her side and pulled the thick coated big boy into her. "Thor…you're a good boy." He smacked his jowls together and softly whimpered at her. She grabbed more handfuls of his black and brown coat, and buried her face into his neck.

"You're the best family member I have, boy. You don't judge me. You don't shout at me."

Thor rested a large paw on her arm as he allowed her to cry into his fur.

She gasped for air as she bolted her head up, and Thor also shot upright, looking at her with concern. She yawned and rubbed her eyes before glancing around her room; had she fallen asleep and almost suffocated herself in Thor's fur? What a dumbass. She ruffled his ears.

"Didn't mean to scare you, boy."

Thor responded with a pseudo sneeze and a single powerful swish of his tail. She strained her ears to listen for activity in the apartment, but there was nearly nothing. But wait? Was that Chris' guitar amplifier on low? She crept to her door, crouched down and opened it just enough to see him strumming his guitar, his head held down. Meat Loaf. Which one was it again? Bat Out Of Hell? No… not that one… Oh? He had the song playing quietly too? Her blue eyes flickered with recognition.

She closed the door again, silencing the click with her palm, and sat at her keyboard, listening to the guitar strings under Chris' hand. She flicked the On button, wiggled on the stool and flexed her fingers.

OK.

She waited, listening more, checking the volume was low enough; she didn't want Chris to know what she was doing. Her fingers rested lightly on the keys, waiting for that first verse to approach. At the first sound of Meat Loaf's voice she let her fingers delicately play the chords, tapping the gentle high notes at the end of each group of lyrics. She wasn't even sure if she was keeping in time to the song; she could barely hear Meat Loaf's voice. That upbeat part was fast approaching, if she was in time and Chris was still going to play guitar, then as soon as the eccentric chords kicked in so would his guitar.

She played the last notes before the instrumental break, and as she heard Chris' guitar come alive at the exact moment she was expecting it she couldn't help but grin to herself. She sang the song in her mind as her fingers continued to splay across the keys, as the guitar continued next door.

After a few minutes the guitar's main segment began. She may have a huge, somewhat unexplained grudge against Chris, but he wasn't a garbage guitarist, and he still tapped on the strings like a semi decent guitar hero.

Finally, nearly twelve minutes later, Chloe began the gentle wind down of the keys, soft and sweetly melodic, and like most of her lengthy piano playing (or keyboard in this case; no room for a piano in the apartment right now) she was fully drawn in, completely and utterly pulled into her own playing. Each note had beckoned her further and further, deeper and deeper into her own little world full of powerful chords and musical notes and the sheet music that she projected into her own mind's eye. And she was about to find out that her distancing from the real world showed.

"Your grandfather loved Meat Loaf." A voice began behind her, seconds after the last notes were played. She jumped with a start, smashing her knee into the underneath of her keyboard and twisting around, vigorously rubbing the hot pain in her knee cap.

"Chris." She confirmed bluntly. He was perched on the edge of her bed with his fingers lightly clasped together, his eyes struggling to relax on her. Thor was wildly wagging his tail at him, nuzzling his hands.

"Yup. It's me. I heard you playing along with me." Chris waved a hand towards the keyboard before scratching Thor's scalp with his fingertips.

Chloe blushed pink in the cheeks and quickly shifted back around to face the keys.

"Actually I had stopped playing like five minutes before the end of the song." Chris confessed, "I wanted to listen to your playing. I hope you don't mind too much."

Chloe said nothing, freezing up like a rabbit in a flashlight beam with a laser sight trained between its eyes. Was the volume too high on her keyboard after all?

"Your mom could never share this album with our father; he died a year before its release. She's happy that she could share it with you. By the way, does she know you can play the piano in his songs as perfectly as you did?"

Chloe still sat silent, picking a rogue piece of fluff from the keyboard speaker.

"Oh…does she not know that you can play Meat Loaf songs?"

"I…I haven't told her…" Chloe answered quietly, "she hasn't really listened to me play."

"She'd love to hear you play." Chris said. Chloe shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe. But whenever I ask her to watch or listen, she goes off and does something else."

"She used to enjoy me playing guitar. She would sing along." Chloe heard Chris chuckle to himself. "Years ago, God, when I got back from a mission in Africa, I remember playing Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses. She belted her lungs out. But now?" He sighed. "She has no interest anymore."

"Why do we always fight, Chris?" Chloe asked. Chris sighed, and she heard her mattress springs squeak, probably he shuffled.

"I wish I could say, pebble. I really wish I could."

"We both know that we will eventually turn this around into a fight again. We always do."

"We can both stop it though, Chloe. I don't want a fight, and I assume you don't either."

"I don't want to fight anymore. But as soon as we try to stop, it goes bad again."

"Well, we can always try our best to stop it."

"But it will never work, Chris."

"Then we'll have to find out exactly what is stopping from making it work out for us." Chris said. Chloe said no more, and the thick tension between them wrapped around her already crawling skin. Chris attempted to steer the subject.

"Play a classical piece. Let me try and guess what it is."

"You? Guess a classical song? No way." Chloe sneered, tilting her head. The bedsprings creaked; he probably sat up straight in his usual posing way.

"Try me."

Chloe sighed sharply and wiggled in her seat. She played a piece; slow, sombre and mournful. She heard her bed creak again and Chris appeared in her peripheral vision as she approached the end of the segment.

She rested her palms on her knees upon completion (she only played a minute or so of the piece), and Chris knelt down beside her. The muffled sound of the apartment door opening and closing made them both glance to the bedroom door, but Chris quickly turned his attention back to his niece.

"Moonlight Sonata. Brings back memories from when I was a cop. But you normally try to play Für Elise, right? Are you still struggling with the second half?" he said softly. His meagre knowledge of a Classical composition surprised her, but she didn't look at him, merely nodding her head slowly. She couldn't. He's probably being nice now, only for him to turn later. He always does it. She felt a finger on her chin, and her head was gently pushed to face him. She avoided eye contact, focusing on something beyond his ear, but she could tell, even through the glint of his black framed glasses, that his eyes were fixated on her nose.

"Your nose looks alright. The Redfield genes held it together well." He smiled, but she twisted her lips at him. Her nose. She loved that she shared many features with her mother; the same hair type, the same face shape, the same smile… the same un-ladylike "mess with me and I'll kick your ass" attitude. But hated that all three of them had the same shape of nose. The Redfield nose. She hated that the genes were strong enough that she somehow had one or two of her uncle's stupid features, some that not even her mother had. However, she knew it could happen, she had seen it with Corey. Even she herself had more of Chris' eye shape than her mother's. Genes are crazy things, she thought.

"Why are you even here in my room, Chris?"

Chris straightened his back and breathed in deeply.

"I wanted to tell you that your mom and I want to speak to you about today. You were asleep earlier and I didn't want to disturb you." He nodded his head at the door. "That was her coming back from the hot tub, probably."

Chloe pouted. She thought her mom was going to let her go to the hot tub with her? She went without her?

"You mean that Mom has told you that we need to speak? Why are you being nice to me? You don't care about me."

"Chloe, I care. You know I do." Chris replied softly.

"But you don't!" Chloe whined, "You always jump to conclusions and then make me out to be the jerk! Mom tells me you hate me!" Chris stared at her, his mouth slightly agape at her words.

"Then come into the living room and tell us what happened. I'm not going to raise my voice, Chloe. Not this time."

"How can I be sure?"

"Because your mom would kill me."

"Oh, so has Mom made you promise to not shout at me?!" Chloe snapped as she flapped a hand at him in frustration.

"No promises were made, can we all just hear what happened? You don't want me jumping to conclusions, so surely you'd love to tell us what the deal was if you've done nothing wrong."

Chloe could hear it. He wanted to raise his voice, and she was surprised that he had kept his word for at least ten seconds. She sighed heavily at him. She wanted him to hear her contempt. She pushed away from her stool and marched herself into the living room, throwing herself into the sofa nearest to her room. If she needed a quick exit then she could at least get it. Chris followed and sat opposite her while her mom stepped through from the kitchen, slowly lowering herself to the middle sofa.

"So," Chris began, "What happened?"

"You know you're gonna blow this out of proportion, Chris." Chloe responded.

"Only one way to find out." Chris said.

"Chris…" her mom sighed, rolling her eyes.

"You're starting already, Chris…" Chloe grumbled.

"For fuck's sake, you two, for once can we just speak amicably?" her mother snapped, and her louder than usual tone made Chloe flinch. Her mom saw this, and immediately began to make a diffusion attempt.

"Chloe. Tell us what happened. Why were you fighting?" she asked. Chloe leant back into the cushions and stared up at the ceiling.

Right arm, parallel, block attack away from my body, Chloe thought, as Uncle Chris stepped in with a chest level punch. She deflected it alright, but she was so absorbed in her successful deflect that she completely missed her leg being swept out, and she crashed down hard onto her back. She silently thanked the fact that Uncle Chris had firmly insisted that she wore a gum shield; slamming the plastic shield against her tongue hurt enough without actually biting into her tongue, which she was sure would've happened. A hand appeared in her view.

"Never let your guard down, Chloe. Letting your guard down for even a second can lead to severe consequences." Chris stated.

He flexed his fingers, inviting her again to grab his hand, and she smiled cunningly at him. She pulled her knees to her chest, twisted, and locked her legs around Uncle Chris' upper leg. With a swift twist of her body she reached for his faded black belt, twisted once again, this time away from him and threw him over and down next to her. His own bulk swung him round further than Chloe wanted; his face hit the foam mats with an almighty crack, and she suddenly feared that she had done some nasty damage. She quickly stood up in horror and stepped beyond his reach, unsure of his reaction. Oh God he's gonna be livid, she feared. He rolled over to reveal a bloody nose, and a thin, slimy trickle of blood on his lip; he wasn't wearing a gum shield himself, she realised. He touched his face and observed the blood on his fingertips, and Chloe stepped back more as he stared at her with wide eyes.

And then he laughed.

He fucking laughed as blood flowed out of his nose, as bloody saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth. Chloe smirked, just a little, and straightened her posture before bowing to him in the way he had taught her in his one-to-one karate classes.

"Never let your guard down, Chris. Letting your guard down for even a second can lead to severe consequences." She echoed him smugly.

He laughed harder, so much so that every time he tried to stand, he'd fall back down again. She looked around the room at the other residents using the gym equipment. She had seen in the mirrors that they had watched, and she saw Mia Winters give her a smile and a thumbs up from the treadmill. At least the neighbours knew he was just slightly nuts when it came to melee training. Must be his age catching up with him.

Finally he sat up, and as he pressed his teeth with his thumb he looked up at Chloe, blinking one eye rapidly.

"I think my contact lens got dislodged." he chuckled, and he pressed a finger over his eyelid to relocate the lens.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Chris, I didn't mean to hurt you." Chloe uttered sheepishly, and he laughed again as he stood up.

"Are you fucking kidding me? You took absolute advantage of the situation! Like Chris likes to say; show no mercy!" he exclaimed with his chest puffed out, ignoring the blood that Claire was now going to have to get out of his white karate gi. He flicked Chloe's ponytail playfully and smiled at her.

"My girl." he whispered, but deliberately loud enough for her to hear.

"Well, if I have to be the substitute for any potential child you could've had because, you know, Mom could get laid but you couldn't, then so be it," Chloe leant in with a posture dripping with sass, and smiled at him with raised eyebrows, "Uncle." He smiled faintly and nodded, but Chloe couldn't help but notice a gaze in his eyes that seemed far away from the room. They stared at each other, and Chloe uncomfortably broke the eye contact herself.

Why did Chris give her that subdued look every now and again?

"Chloe?"

Chloe blinked, and she looked back and forth between Chris and her mom.

"I did it again, didn't I?" she grumbled.

"Yes." Chris replied, perhaps sharper than he wanted as he visibly flicked his eyes to Claire; a silent apology, and quietly leant back on the sofa he himself was on. Chloe looked at all three sofas; years ago it used to be one L shaped sofa, a kind of grey shade, but for whatever reason, Claire decided on three identical two seater sofas, all black.

"But Uncle Chris, I can't snuggle with you on these new sofas."

"We can still squeeze onto one together, it's ok, little pebble."

"But there was nothing wrong with the old sofa, Uncl-"

"CHLOE." Chris half shouted.

"Sorry, sorry." Chloe grimaced at his voice. There it was. He raised his voice. She hadn't even begun her story but he had already started. She looked at her mom, and saw that she glared at Chris. Her mother needed no words; that glare that she drove into her uncle like fangs into prey was enough.

"Sorry, pebble," Chris nodded apologetically, "go on. Tell us what happened."

Chloe pursed her lips together and inhaled deeply through her nose.

"Birthday spankings. But not in a nice way." She shrugged and Chris raised his eyebrows.

"Go on?"

"We left Art class. And four girls ganged up on me right outside my locker at the start of lunch."

"The usual suspects?" her mother asked, and Chloe confirmed with a single nod.

"Yeah. Stacey came at me with a craft knife, and I just went into auto pilot." She brought her arms up and motioned her defence technique against the knife. "I went a bit too hard and dislocated her elbow. Mr Bateman says it was broken but I think it was only the elbow out of socket."

"God Dammit Chloe…" she heard Chris breathe.

"So she's out of action, and the other three ran at me and knocked me down. Stacey booted me in the face when she realised I bust her elbow, and they all kicked me once I was on the ground." Chloe paused to watch her mom shuffle in her seat. "I leg locked Tara and took her down, she fell flat on her face." Chloe gazed at the mantelpiece, her eyes wandering over the various nick nacks and that weird bottle of flowers that she had always known to live there. "Skyla tried to slap me as I tried to get up but I ended up scratching her arm to deflect it. Enough that I made her bleed. Nicola tried to get me with a pencil, but I wrist locked her and, well, you could say she stabbed herself a little in her leg, since I didn't touch the pencil itself."

"So you didn't start it?"

"No, Chris, I didn't start it." Chloe locked eyes with him. "I'm not like you."

"Excuse me?" he snorted at her.

"I remember when you told me about your drunk times in Edonia. At least I don't start fights."

"Chloe, that's enough." Claire snapped. Chris held a hand out to her, his face painted with amusement more than annoyance.

"What are their reasons? I say reasons, I mean excuses. What excuses do they use?" Chris asked.

"I don't know!" Chloe shouted angrily, "They bully me for my hair colour, for starters!"

"Your hair is awesome, they're just jealous." Chris remarked.

"And my music taste!"

"Clearly an improvement on theirs, but then again, you DO like BabyMetal…"

"Well Chris if you didn't take me to that festival then I would've never begun to like them, so that's on you."

Chris laughed through his nose and smiled.

"Yeah…I suppose I AM to blame for that…"

"They also bully me because I don't have a father." Chloe continued.

Silence dampened the room, and Chloe watched her uncle look to the floor, and then trade a glance with Claire.

"You can't help that, sweetie. No one can. He's gone. He's not coming back." Claire soothed at her. Chris continued to stare at her mom, and another glance passed between them.

"Kids are fucking assholes," Chris finally spoke, looking back to Chloe over his frames, "They find all of the bullshit things to pick out on people. You're better than them, Chloe. You'll always be better than them."

"And sometimes I feel like I'm living in your shadow, Chris." She looked at her uncle, and neither removed their gazes. Chris' features softened at her words. "They tell me that I can never be as good as you at anything. I try to ignore it, but it feels like some big ass shoes."

Claire quietly excused herself from the room, but neither uncle nor niece diverted their eyes. After a few seconds, Chloe smirked at her uncle, and he smiled faintly back with bemusement.

"What are you thinking, Chloe?"

"I'm thinking that I can't possibly live in your shadow. How can I? It's hard to cast a shadow when you think the sun shines out of your ass." She meant it with a tone of malice, and her mom knew it too as she tore back into the room.

"CHLOE MAY REDFIELD!" Claire screeched, but Chris held his hand up to his younger sister, still smiling.

"That, Chloe, is possibly the best fucking insult I've ever received, and I love it! Nice work!" Chris began laughing, but her mom wasn't impressed. She began to walk around the sofa to Chloe, her eyes on fire, but Chris reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Noooo, come on, Claire, leave her be."

"Are you fucking ser-"

"Leave her be, Claire."

"But-"

"Leave her or go back to the hot tubs to chill the fuck out again. Calm. Down. It's fine." Chris twitched his eyebrows at her, and finally her mother slumped back into the opposite sofa.

"Any more to say, little pebble?"

"Not really. Did I say enough to convince you that I didn't start the fight?"

"I think you did. In that case…" Chris stood up and paced to his desk, but if he thought that she didn't see him squeeze her mom's shoulder, then he thought wrong. He brandished two little white envelopes from his desk, handed one to Claire, and one to Chloe.

"Happy Birthday, Chloe, and Happy early Birthday, Claire."

Chloe was the first to pull out the contents of the envelope, but going by Claire's elated gasp, she saw the same.

It was a ticket, with curly familiar letters along the top, and Mickey Mouse's smiling face below it.

"Disney World?!" Both females shouted at the same time, and Chloe looked up at her mom, each with the same shock on their faces.

"Yup. I got both of you tickets to Disney World! We're going to Florida in a few weeks!" exclaimed Chris. Claire leapt from the sofa she was on and landed on Chris, her arms around his neck.

"Oh my God, I'm such a big kid!" Claire shrieked in delight. Chloe wanted to hug Chris too, but at the same time she didn't. She couldn't explain to herself why she was so reluctant to want to thank him. Disney World tickets weren't cheap! She got up out of her seat and silently withdrew into her room, and remarks from her mother followed.

"Chloe you ungrateful child!" Claire snarled at her, but she didn't look behind her and closed the door, the ticket still clutched in her hand. She scooped her phone from her bedside table and tapped a quick message to Chris;

~ can i see u in my room pls ~

She stared at the screen, waiting, her mother's irritated voice filling the living room beyond her door. Within seconds, the two ticks turned blue, and Chris began typing;

~ Sure thing. ~

As Chloe set her phone down her door opened, and in stepped Chris. She meekly smiled at him before looking away.

"You ok, Chloe?" Chris asked, and he took a few steps into the room. Chloe nodded slowly, and she looked to his feet.

"I'm not ungrateful." she mumbled. Chris took another step towards her.

"I know you're not. I know you struggle to show gratitude and empathy. I can accept that. It's fine."

"Do you think I'm a spoiled brat?"

Chris held the silence, clearly thinking his next words over.

"Hm…I know I've said it before, but…no. Not really. I'm sorry if it's ever upset you."

"Does Mom think I'm a spoiled brat?"

"She…no. She doesn't." Chloe knew that he was lying.

She took the ticket back out of the envelope and examined it closer.

"Excited?" Chris grinned, and he knelt down in front of his niece. The crawlies tickled lightly under her flesh, her breathing rate increased, and she took the plunge. She leant forward and wrapped her arms around Chris' neck and held him tightly, her face buried into the shirt fabric on his shoulder. She felt his hands hover behind her back, and she could feel how tense he was.

This wasn't a common occurrence between them anymore.

"I don't know why, but I find it hard to say thank you. And I find it even harder to say thank you to you in front of Mom. I don't know why. But thank you, Uncle Chris." Chloe whispered into his ear, and she choked on her last words. Chris placed his hands on her back and pressed her against his chest.

"It's ok. Really. That's why you wanted to see me in here alone, right?"

Uncle and niece embraced for endless minutes that seemed more belonging to an eternity, uninterrupted. Chloe didn't want to let him go. She very much had a love/hate relationship with him but she didn't want to break the moment. She missed this; who knew when the next time they could reconcile like this would be? Chris gingerly patted her on the back before pulling away. He looked down at the little pendant that he had gifted her years ago, and prodded it with his finger.

"Pepperoni pizza and Labyrinth?" Chris asked. Chloe twisted her lips in her trademark way and shook her head.

"It's MY birthday, not Mom's. Besides, pepperoni isn't a real pizza and Labyrinth is an overrated pile of garbage. I want to watch one of The Avengers movies and eat a greasy burger and some dirty fries." Chloe quipped, and she felt Chris' body convulse with silent laughter.

"At least we can agree on some things." he chuckled.

"Yeah. But we'll probably be back to fighting tomorrow."

"Probably." Chris sighed. He poked at the pendant again, tracing the heart shape.

"Chloe…there's…" he sighed to himself, "I…I want you to know something. But it's important that…"

Chloe watched him turn his head to the side and blow a breath. She said nothing, watching him, and he looked back to her with a gulp.

"You can't tell anyone, ok? Not even your mom."

"Erm…ok?" Chloe agreed, confused. She heard a creak by her door, but she didn't think Chris heard it. Her mom was standing by the door, she knew she was. And she was listening.

"Chloe. Chloe Redfield. It's…I'm…" he took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes, "The truth is that I am-"

Four bangs in quick succession sounded on Chloe's door, and they both jumped, Chris even more so than her.

"Hey you two, if you want to order out, you need to do it soon! It's a Friday evening and everyone is gonna have the same idea!" Claire shouted.

Chris breathed in shakily. He was angry. But not with Chloe.

"Don't worry, Chris. I have nothing against it." Chloe reassured him.

Chris furrowed his brows at her, waiting for her to explain.

"You were going to tell me that you're gay. It's fine, Chris. I'm not against it." She looked at her door and listened for her mother before holding her lips near his ear. "Momma-bear doesn't know that I have two exes. One a boy, and one a girl. She doesn't know that I'm secretly bisexual. Don't tell her." She pointed to her LGBTQ+ Ally flag on her wall; "She only thinks I'm an Ally."

She ruffled her uncle's hair and exited the room, leaving him still kneeling on the pink and red rug. He chewed his lip and shifted his eyes to the photo she had of them both when he took her to that music festival a few years back.

Chloe just trusted him with a secret. That was the level of trust she really had in him. She had trusted her with one of her closest held secrets yet still Claire was preventing him from revealing his own to her. The fact that she had just confessed to being bisexual didn't even phase him. He didn't care what she did, who she dated, what her plans for the future are, so long as she's safe and happy. He lowered his head onto her bed.

"But I'm not gay." Chris mumbled into the sheets. He sat back up and harshly rubbed his fingers down his face, scratching his nails over his short stubble, and followed her out.

The song for this chapter is Family Portrait by P!nk.

Not related to Xaori's fanfic of the same name but while you're here, go read Family Portrait!

Coming next, a chapter dedicated entirely to the sweetest and goodest boy! ;)