Disclaimer: Resident Evil isn't mine.
Feedback: Thanks to everyone who left a review. You cannot imagine my relief to hear that you guys enjoyed the last chapter. But it also puts on the pressure to make this chapter just as good. Also, I apologize for not being able to give everyone individual feedback, but please know I read and appreciate all your reviews!
CoffeeGrain: I didn't think the chapter was ever going to end, so I'm glad you liked the long update. I never cared for Betty in the movie but I really like writing her in this so you can expect more of her in upcoming chapters.
ck: Of course Chris is going to be coming back! I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the undoubtedly awkward first meeting between him and Alice.
TheQueen: For some reason I was extra relieved to see that you enjoyed the chapter.
Mercs2Girl: I picked the Beyonce song because it's awesome, but I'll admit I would have never heard it if I hadn't seen Obsessed which I only own because Ali Larter is in it. And yes, I did have Alice's voice based off Milla Jovovich's real voice.
WhatHurtsMeMost: Welcome to the story! Thanks for reading!
BleachedBlondeDork: I do not play Deus EX, I'm afraid I don't even know what that is. I must thank you for something though, you have left me a review for every chapter so far, which I really appreciate. So this next chapter is dedicated to you!
xxmadlaxx: It's interesting that you say it reminds you of an indie movie. I got the inspiration for this story from a dream I had and thought it would make an interesting original story. But then I thought about just using Resident Evil characters and making it into an AU fic instead. So like an indie movie, this story could have easily been something that no one ever got to see.
QuincyAdams: Thank you so much for reading, I'm really glad you like the story. It's sort of terrifying for me to put my work out here like this and it really means a lot to hear such wonderful feedback. And sorry to keep you waiting so long for updates, I'll try harder to get these chapters out quicker.
A/N: Chapter title from Gary Go.
A/N2: This chapter isn't nearly as long but I hope you find it satisfactory.
Alice was pulled awake by the sound of buzzing and subsequent vibration of an object against her thigh. She felt extremely groggy and her back was stiff. Without even opening her eyes she knew she wasn't in her own bed, and if the lump pressing into her back was any indication she was pretty certain she wasn't in a bed at all. The blonde wanted to yawn but found it difficult to take a deep breath with a soft weight resting on top of her body and something equally soft and ticklish pressing against her face. It was with curiosity more than discomfort that she finally forced her eyes opened. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the sunlight sneaking through the closed blinds and the first thing she noticed was red. Beautiful, long red hair was everywhere; under her chin, across her neck and rubbing against her cheek. And red hair could only mean one thing, Claire.
The previous night came back to Alice with perfect clarity. She had taken the redhead home after they'd gotten pizza and accepted Claire's invitation to come inside. She had agreed to go out on a date with the beautiful woman after some initial instinctive resistance and they'd ended up making out on the couch for a long time. She couldn't be sure of when it had happened but they obviously must have fallen asleep sometime in the early morning which would explain their current position.
She felt the vibrations in her pocket again and realized it had been her phone that had awoken her before. Using the hand that was hanging over the side of the couch she was able to retrieve the object from her pocket and found she had missed three calls and Carlos had sent several text messages.
Alice where are you?
Seriously, where are you? I'm too hungover to have to go look for you so you'd better be alright.
She sent a quick text saying she was fine and would be home in a while. Returning the phone to her pocket Alice considered the next obstacle in her path. Claire apparently was in a deep sleep, as she hadn't stirred once since Alice had awoken. She didn't want to disturb the redhead but there was no way she could get up without at least shifting the other woman quite a bit.
Before she had the opportunity to consider it further she heard the sound of a door creaking open and feet padding across the floor. A second later a pajamas clad K-Mart came into view. The younger blonde stared at the pair on the couch for a moment, a wide grin appearing on her face and she had to clap a hand over her own mouth to stop the excited squeal from escaping her lips. Noticing that Alice was awake and trapped beneath her sister the teenager let out a small giggle.
"Good morning Alice." She said in a low voice so as to not wake the redhead. "Did you sleep well?"
Alice visibly flushed under the teen's teasing. "Uh, yeah, very well. Do you think I'll be able to get up without waking her?"
"Not a chance, I'm surprised she hasn't woken up with us talking, she's usually a light sleeper. You must be really comfortable Alice." At that moment Alice wished the couch would swallow her and she would disappear. This was turning into the most awkward morning after and she and Claire hadn't even done anything last night! K-Mart seemed to take pity on her then and offered a sincere smile. "I'll leave you alone while you wake her up even though I would give anything to see the look on her face." The younger blonde then retreated quietly to her room.
Feeling slightly more at ease with the teenager gone, Alice became much more aware of the body lying over her own. Claire was attempting to burrow herself deeper into the blonde and Alice instinctually wrapped her arms around the redhead, Claire sighing at the contact. The last thing Alice wanted to do was wake the redhead, but she really needed to get home.
"Claire," she whispered gently into red hair and had to smile when she received a grunt in reply. "Claire," she tried again. "You need to get up Claire." Rubbing her hand over the soft red hair just below her chin Alice waited patiently for the other woman to stir. Whether it was due to the voice in her ear or the gentle caressing of her scalp Alice couldn't be sure but slowly Claire started to wake. When Claire yawned loudly Alice pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head and immediately felt Claire tense in her grasp.
Claire raised her head and Alice found herself gazing into deep pools of blue. The redhead looked confused, not remembering how she had ended up on the blonde asleep in her living room. When memories of the previous night returned Claire smiled. "Good morning," she drawled, fighting off another yawn.
"Morning, sorry I had to wake you but you sort of have me trapped here."
Claire blushed bright red and Alice found it adorable. "Sorry about that, I guess it's hard to get up when you're being squished." The redhead picked herself up and shuffled back so they were sitting on the couch mirroring their position of just a few hours ago. "Do you want breakfast? Coffee? Anything?" The redhead inquired, trying not to acknowledge the awkwardness of the situation.
Alice just shook her head. "Thanks, but I should probably get home and check on Carlos. Make sure he's okay after how much he drank last night." But as they stood up from the couch, Alice noticed the teenager's closed bedroom door. "Uh, K-Mart saw us while you were asleep, so I can stay if you need to talk to her and want some back up."
Claire flushed a little again but shook her head. "That's okay, anything K-Mart related I can handle."
"You sure?" Alice felt partly responsible and given K-Mart's earlier teasing she could only imagine what was in store for the redhead the moment she walked out the door.
"Yeah, it's fine." She walked Alice to the door and followed her out into the hallway, closing the apartment door behind her. The pair stood facing each other awkwardly, neither knowing what to say. "So," the redhead began, biting on her lower lip. "When will I see you again?"
Alice wanted to see Claire as soon as possible but was afraid that saying it would sound clingy and be pushing too much too soon, plus she really needed to do some serious thinking about everything that had happened. "Uh, I think I'm helping K with her history paper on Monday?" She knew it wasn't the answer the redhead had been looking for but Alice didn't know what else to say.
Claire nodded slowly. "Ok, why don't you come here instead of meeting at the diner."
Alice smirked, "You trust me enough to leave me alone with K-Mart now?"
"I have for a while, but I liked getting to see you everyday at work." The redhead admitted freely.
"I liked it too."
"So I could have asked you out weeks ago?" Claire threw up her hands in frustration and Alice reached out, grabbing both and pulling the redhead closer.
"It doesn't matter now." Alice was just happy Claire had asked at all. Her own feelings for the redhead had been escalating at an alarming rate since the night in the alley but Alice was much too protective of herself to actually do anything about it. She didn't want things to turn out like...last time, she couldn't go through that again. But standing outside the Redfield's apartment, staring at the beautiful redhead after one of the most amazing nights of her life, Alice was beginning to believe that things could be different, maybe Claire wouldn't hurt her. "So, about that date. Where are you taking me?"
"That depends, what nights are you free to go out?"
The blonde quickly went through her mental calendar. "Wednesday and Saturday are my free nights this week."
"Okay, I'll let you know the details on Monday." Claire freed her hands from Alice's grip and snaked them around the blonde's neck. "But until Monday.." she trailed off as she leaned in planting a kiss against Alice's lips.
Alice had made out with lots of girls over the years. She may not have been into dating or relationships but she still liked to have fun now and then. But as she kissed the redhead back and let her hands settle on the other woman's waist she knew that kissing anyone else had never felt this right. She mused that kissing Claire could easily become addicting and anything else would probably never be good enough anymore, and that thought alone scared the shit out of her. It was with that fear in mind that she pulled away, trying to ignore the disappointed look on Claire's face.
"Bye Claire," she said softly and received a small smile in response. She waited for the redhead to disappear back into the apartment before she made her way out the apartment building and onto the street.
Alice sat in her truck for over ten minutes, contemplating everything that had happened in the last twelve hours. To say she was confused was a bit of an understatement. She knew she liked the redhead but she was grossly unprepared for all of these feelings that came along with it. Alice slapped herself on the forehead several times, trying to knock some sense back into her stupid brain. She had broken her cardinal rule when it came to girls: never stay the night. Granted she had really only stayed for a few hours but the point was that she had fallen asleep and woken up wrapped up with the redhead and that was just unacceptable. Alice rested her head against the steering wheel but quickly pulled back at the sound of the horn blaring, startling her. "Shit," she muttered to herself and turned on the ignition and began the familiar drive home.
The blonde tried to calm herself down as she drove. There really was no reason to be freaking out, isn't this what she had wanted? Ever since that night at the hospital she had been thinking about breaking her 'no dating' rule but she hadn't actually had the balls to do anything about it, and now Claire had provided the perfect opportunity. She hadn't actually agreed to a relationship with the redhead, just one date and if it didn't go well than so be it, right? But what if it did go well? Claire had made it pretty clear how much she liked her and if the date went well the redhead would undoubtedly be expecting them to have some sort of relationship. Alice wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet. Last night she'd let her guard down and allowed Claire to get too close. She had tried to resist the redhead's advances but deep down Alice knew she didn't want to.
But now, in the cold light of day Alice was faced with the repercussions. She had a date, her first real date in over four years. And while that absolutely terrified her, there was a small recognizable part of the blonde that was also excited. Alice pushed down on the gas pedal a little harder, trying to get home as quickly as possible. She needed help if she was going to do this dating thing right and Carlos with all his romantic obsessions was probably the best person to give her advice.
After parting ways with Alice in the hallway Claire stepped back inside her apartment only to find K-Mart waiting on the other side of the door.
"Tell me everything!" K-Mart squealed, on the verge of exploding due to all her excitement.
Claire laughed. "Nosey much?" She stepped by the teen and walked over to the kitchen area. After a brief inner battle she decided cereal was the best course of action at the moment and went about getting her breakfast; trying to ignore the blonde who was hovering around her, desperate for answers.
"Come on Claire! You have to tell me what happened! I woke up this morning to find you two all snuggled together on the couch and we're not going to talk about it?"
Claire pulled up a stool to the kitchen counter and K-Mart stood on the opposite side, staring at her expectantly, arms crossed and foot tapping with impatience. The redhead took a few bites of her cereal before speaking again. "Alice and I have a date this week."
"Yes!" K-Mart squealed and pumped her fist in the air. "I knew you two would be a perfect match!"
"Calm down K, we haven't actually gone out yet. This might turn out to be a terrible idea, if things don't work out than there goes your tutor."
"Pshh, that's so not important right now." K-Mart bounced up and down excitedly. "So, who asked out who?"
"I did, last night and then I guess we fell asleep on the couch, it was pretty late."
"Yes, I saw. You two looked pretty cozy. Is there anything else I should know?"
"No."
The blonde pouted. "You're no fun, you know that? So where are you taking Alice for your date?"
"No idea yet. I have until Monday to think of something."
K-Mart walked around the counter to get her own breakfast started. "Well I don't recommend going to movies, that didn't work out too well for us last time."
"Thanks for the advice K." Claire huffed as she placed her own empty bowl in the sink.
"Just pick something nice, simple, and fun. You remember what fun is right Claire?"
"I know how to have fun! I had fun last night!" Claire exclaimed loudly and immediately wanted to take it back when K-Mart's eyes widened in interest. "Not that kind of fun, normal fun. We went to a karaoke bar, I had a surprisingly good time, and that's all you need to know."
"You sang karaoke. Oh my god, Alice must have some crazy magical powers over you for you to willingly submit yourself to that kind of embarrassment." K-Mart rubbed her chin in a mock thinking pose. "Then again, I guess she must have liked something you did for her to spend the night on our couch with you sprawled all over top of her."
"Ok! I think I am quite finished with this conversation." The redhead slowly inched herself towards her bedroom door. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to change my clothes and then I have a phone call to make so please keep the noise down." And before K-Mart had the chance to utter another word Claire bolted into her room and slammed the door behind her, leaning against it once she was safe from her sister's inquisition.
For the first time since she awoke the redhead was finally alone with her thoughts. This certainly was not how she expected things to turn out when Carlos invited her out the other day but she couldn't be more pleased. Just thinking about Alice caused Claire to grin like an idiot and she was glad to be in the privacy of her own bedroom. After weeks of second guessing and over analysing she'd finally made her move and her and Alice were finally moving out of the friend zone. And if the kisses they shared last night were any indication, there was not a doubt in the redhead's mind that she and Alice were meant to be more than just friends.
Claire yawned loudly, but continued to grin as she remembered exactly why she was so tired. She eyed her unslept in bed and briefly considered crawling under the blankets for some much needed sleep, but decided against it. She had something to do that took priority over sleep at the moment. She only had a couple of days to try and come up with something good for her and Alice to do on their date. It had to be awesome, but nothing over the top. Claire had a pretty good idea on where to start. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contact list, pushing the call button when she reached the correct number. The redhead had to wait several rings before a groggy voice appeared on the other end.
"Whoever this is had better have a good excuse for calling me at eight-thirty in the morning."
"Otto, it's Claire Redfield. I need a favour."
"What kind of favour?"
"What stuff do you have going on this week?" The redhead knew Otto from when she had worked at the Raccoon City arena as one of her odd jobs last year and knew it would be the best place to find a possible date option. Something simple and cheap that she and Alice could both enjoy without making Alice feel pressured by the romantic connotations of a date.
"Uh, let me think for a minute." There was silence on the other end of the line for several moments before the man started muttering to himself. "..no hockey... concerts, circus? ... Ok, there's some stars on ice show Monday, the Black Keys concert Wednesday, and Cirque du soleil on the weekend."
Claire frowned at hearing the options, there was no way she was taking Alice to see that weird circus thing. She had no idea what the Black Keys were but that seemed to be the safest bet for now. "Is the Black Keys a band?" She asked into the phone and regretted it immediately as Otto sputtered in disbelief.
"Is the Black Keys a band? Yes! And a great one at that! When was the last time you turned on a radio Claire?"
"Okay, okay. Sorry I said anything, calm down Otto." Claire rolled her eyes at her friend's overreaction, it was just music after all. "So, can you get me tickets to that concert?"
"No, it's sold out."
"Come on Otto! I know you probably have some stashed away. And you totally owe me. Remember that time I caught you sneaking backstage during the– "
"Ok fine!" Otto interrupted. "You drive a hard bargain but I guess I can score you two tickets. Will that be all for today? I'd really like to go back to sleep."
"Yeah that's it. Thanks Otto."
"No problem, you can pick them up whenever. But just so we're clear, you and I are totally even now."
"Deal." Claire agreed, and hung up the phone, tossing it onto the bed. If Otto liked the band they must be cool and she didn't have to worry about taking Alice somewhere lame. Now she only had one big problem left, what the fuck was she going to wear?
Upon entering the house Alice was almost immediately met by the concerned face of Carlos.
"You're finally home? I was about to call Betty and send out a search party."
"Don't be so dramatic Carlos. I'm a big girl and can take care of myself."
The dark haired man crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. "I know you didn't sleep here last night Alice, so I'm sorry if I got a little concerned."
Alice knew there was only one way to get Carlos off this big brother kick. "I was perfectly safe, but if you really must know, I was with Claire." Her explanation had the desired effect and the scowl instantly disappeared from her friend's face.
Carlos' eyes bugged out of his head. "All night?"
"It's not what you think. We went out for pizza and then I took her home. We were talking and fell asleep on the couch."
"And that's all that happened?" Carlos eyed her sceptically and Alice silently cursed him for being able to read her so well. She cleared her throat and avoided his gaze.
"We also may have made out for a bit and she's taking me out on a date next week." She spoke quickly but the words were clear enough for Carlos to understand and his eyes again widened in surprise.
"A date? You?" He seemed to be having trouble stringing his words together out of shock. "You do remember what a date is right? Do you know what you've gotten yourself into?"
"Yeah. And trust me, it was a surprise to me too." She couldn't really explain how things felt different with the redhead. "I just think that maybe it will be alright this time."
"I'm not going to lie Alice, I'm really happy for you." He grinned broadly as he pulled her under his arm and led them into the living room. "I'm just sorry it took you so long to get your shit together."
The blonde ducked out of his hold on her. "Shut up Carlos. You don't get to say 'I told you so' just yet. Claire and I haven't even gone out yet."
"Well answer me this; am I correct in that the two of you went out by yourselves for pizza and ended the night with a kiss?" Alice nodded slowly. "Well that practically sounds like a date to me. A boring date, but still. This one coming up is just making it official; so try not to screw it up."
"How do I not screw it up? You have to help me Carlos. I really want to try and make this work but there's always a voice in the back of my head wondering if this really is a good idea or if I'm just setting myself up to be let down again." Alice spoke rapidly, panic clear in her voice. Carlos gently grabbed onto her shoulders, shaking her lightly. Once she was calm again Carlos spoke.
"You already know what to do Alice. Claire likes you, so just be yourself like you always are and I guarantee it will be alright." His voice was reassuring and the blonde felt herself feeling much more at ease. "And while I really don't think Claire is the type of person who would want to purposely hurt you, you have to give her the benefit of the doubt and trust that she won't. Sometimes you just have to see how things play out Alice."
She nodded slowly, taking in her friend's words. It was just one date after all. And if it lead to another date, she could handle that too. She could do this, it was just spending more time with the redhead and that was something she definitely did want to do.
"You're right. Thanks Carlos." She shot him a grateful grin before backing out of the room. "I'm going to go crash for a few hours, I still have to work tonight."
"Yeah, I'm heading back to bed too. I can feel my headache coming back. I'm never drinking that much again."
The blonde chuckled softly. "I'll believe it when I don't see it."
She watched him scowl before heading towards his own bedroom. A yawn then escaped her lips and Alice realized her exhaustion could no longer be ignored and made her way towards the stairs, trying to push all thoughts but sleep from her mind.
Next chapter will be the date. But until then drop me a review.
Also, let me know which you would rather see first; Claire meeting Mrs. Olivera or Alice meeting Chris.
