A/N: Hi all! I hope everyone enjoyed the last update I posted, and I'd really like to hear some of your opinions of the story so far, so please remember to drop a short review after reading! It would be greatly appreciated.

(As a side note, some of the events such as Leon and Ashley's time in spain may be slightly altered from what they were like in the game.)

I DO NOT OWN RESIDENT EVIL, THIS STORY IS MERELY FAN BASED.

Anyway, on to the next chapter :)

*********************************************

The faint smell of gunpowder and ash filled the air, making the inside of my nostrils burn slightly with irritation. We had been hiding out in this cabin for days; the wait for Hunnigan's so called 'extraction' had begun to feel fruitless. I could feel the cabin fever set in deeper with every minute that passed in this tiny excuse for a room. I had been trained for almost any situation, yet for some reason I was unable to break the effect this was having on my mental stability. I could see Ashley was becoming the same way, excessively edgy, irritable, paranoid and restless. I sat at one end of the room and her at the other.

Not a single word had been spoken between us for at least five hours; I felt like I was going out of my mind in this place. I couldn't simply walk outside since this was the first piece of refuge she and I had found in the whole three and a half days we had been trapped in Spain. Salazaar had been in frantics because he wasn't able to track our whereabouts anymore, and thus had taken ampoule measures to track us down; luckily for us however this cabin was almost completely hidden under shrouds of tree and shrubbery, making it almost impossible to notice with the naked eye.

I had disclosed our current locale to Hunnigan over my communication device, however that was moments before the battery cell died, so now we were left in the dark, waiting to be saved from this nightmare.

The moonlight was bleeding through the small cracks between the wooden slats which made up the walls of the cabin. I stared absently as the silver light beamed down onto Ashley's face, lighting her pale skin in strips, leaving some portions covered by darkness. Even though I couldn't see her face entirely, I could see the despair and suffering in her expression. Her skin looked almost translucent in this lighting, she had a blue glow, it was ethereal, I couldn't take my eyes away. She knew I was looking because after a while she looked up so her eyes met my own. I didn't break our eye contact, instead I gave the faintest but best smile I could in such a situation.
'Don't do that.' She whispered, her voice breaking slightly on the last word.
I cocked my head the side slightly in confusion. 'What?' I questioned, my lack of energy showing through all too much in my voice. Her head fell down toward her knees that were pushed defensively against her chest as she sat on the dirty, old oak floor. 'Don't look at me...I look disgusting.'

I stood up slowly, mainly because if I stood too quickly I may fall down from exhaustion. My feet dragged as I made my way over to her, my boots making the softest 'thump' as I walked. I slid down next to her, our backs resting against the wall. I watched as dust particles swirled lazily through the stale air. 'You could never look disgusting.' I said with a slight slur in my voice; I felt like I was in an altered state of consciousness because of this exhaustion; my mind and body craved sleep but I knew if I slept now, I wouldn't wake for hours and right now I couldn't afford to put Ashley in any risk...we were too close to the end for anything to come between us now.

Her eyes were sparkling from tears welling up in them, I reached forward gently, rubbing away a stray diamond-like droplet with my callous thumb. Her face was written with embarrassment, unhappiness and something else I couldn't quite name. 'Leon, I...' She squeaked gently, pushing my arm away. I could see the conflict in her eyes, she was being upset by something.

She propped herself up a little, her face becoming closer to my own as she looked at me. 'What's on your mind, Ashley?' I asked, with utter sincerity; this whole ordeal had made me form a bond with her like no other.

'I love you, Leon.' She whispered to me, her face only inches away from my own.

My mind wanted to tell me that it was the exhaustion talking, making her delirious, but deep down I knew she meant every single word.
I was silent, I stared at her like an animal caught in head lights for a moment before I finally composed myself, and finally comprehended what had just been said. I stood in silence, my legs shaking under the weight of both my body but also of the moment. I could feel her eyes burning into me, she was desperate for me to give a response, but instead I gave her nothing.

Nothing...

At the time all I could muster was a quiet 'No' before returning to my previous position.
I sat back at the opposite end of the room, but this time I didn't look at her, I just sat in the heavy silence that was only broken by her quiet weeping.

That was the night I broke her heart.

I woke early that morning to the sound of my alarm clock.
I was used to dreaming of that night, reminding myself of my mistake. Ashley had never truly forgiven me for what happened, for denying her feelings for me, even though I felt the same way and still did today.

It was a Monday, which meant I had to reassume my position as Ashley's bodyguard for the day. I rolled out of bed, my eyes still heavy with sleep as I stood slowly out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen for my morning coffee and toast. It was cold in my apartment, and during the time I spent chewing on my toasted bread slice I couldn't help but muse over my current life situation. I was going to be thirty one in a few weeks time and I was still alone. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but I was in love and feeling despair over the fact of not being able to be with the woman I desired. Perhaps this wouldn't have cut me so deeply if I actually were a social being and hung out with friends of mine, but I just wasn't that way inclined. I kept to myself mostly, and that's how I liked to live, the only person I had ever met who hadn't tried to change that, and who understood it was Ashley.

After I had my breakfast I headed straight for the shower to try and clear my mind just a little.

The morning wore on slowly, Ashley didn't say a word to me as expected. The job I had been appointed after Spain was purely to guard and protect the President's daughter. That meant escorting her to and from wherever she needed to be, whether that be University, work or even a male friend's house (much to my inner protest) and I was to be in frequent contact with other agents during this time. I often mused as to whether the amount of shadowing I had to do around Ashley was perhaps a tad excessive, however I wasn't a father so I couldn't begin to understand the President's fear of his daughter possibly being put in danger again.

I pulled up in the carpark of the local shopping mall, Ashley grabbed her bag and uttered a 'Thanks' before getting out of the car, I too got out and followed behind her into the Centre. Ashley walked in front of me while I followed behind slowly, watching her small, thin frame as she waltz past the store windows, stopping like every other time we came to stare into the window of the very expensive jewelry store. I knew she wasn't planning to go in there, she did this every time, she would stop and stare at all the diamonds and gold sparkling up at her honey eyes.
I followed her gaze this time, trying to eye off what she was so entranced by, when all of a sudden I saw it, the white gold engagement ring, encrusted with a large diamond in the center of the band that sparkled so bright it reminded me of the sun itself. I watched Ashley as she oogled it silently, forgetting I was even there for a brief moment, dreaming of what could be. I would have loved to have known what she was thinking, but somehow I think I had some idea of what she was going through her mind anyway. I made a point of remembering the ring; Women were enough of an enigma, so I always tried to make a point of actually paying attention to what they liked.

Eventually after visually raking through the window display Ashley moved on once again to her intended destination. I followed behind her quietly, feeling slightly heady as a waft of her rose scented perfume billowed past me.

I followed Ashley into a clothing store while she picked out some things to try on, I of course, stood sternly in the corner, there purely for her security. I waited for what felt like an hour as she tried on dress after dress, I couldn't help but ponder why exactly she was dress shopping, could it perhaps be for an occasion involving another man? I had to shake myself from thinking about the possibilities too much, all it did was throw me into a sense of dread.
Ashley made her way out of the change room wearing a tight little pastel pink dress. The top of the garment was skin tight and formed a 'V' shape on her chest with thin straps that slid over her petite shoulders, the rest of the dress flowed down loosely and ended well above the knee. She did a light twirl in the reflection of a nearby mirror, getting a feel for the dress on her body. I could see her scrutinizing herself, picking at all of the flaws she saw, I wanted to tell her how perfect she looked; I wanted to run my fingertips along the soft silky fabric. She turned and looked at me for a moment, her expression saying all the words she didn't want to. I could see her expression soften as she looked into my eyes. I broke the silence, blurting out exactly what was on my mind in the moment.
"You look beautiful." I said softly, sparking a surprised look from Ashley.
"Thank you." She smiled gently. "I guess I'll take this one then." She said as she headed back into the change room to change back into her previous clothing. I tried to relax my body language as best I could in order to not raise suspicion with what I was about to ask.

"So, what's the occasion?" I said calmly, trying to get as much information as I could.
I watched her carefully to see how candid she was going to be with me.
"Just catching up with some old friends from high school." She said absently, while heading over to the registers to pay for the garment. I was a little dubious as to why she had bought such a glamourous dress for a simple "catch up" however it wasn't my place to ask any more so I let it go.

The drive back to her apartment was incredibly awkward, she made it blatantly obvious she was still mad at me, and didn't want engage in small talk. At this point I was eager for the day to end so I could simply go home and not have to deal with this anymore. Although it may have seemed slack, I was sick of having my apologies thrown back in my face, she could see how sorry I was, it was hard enough for me to express myself, let alone in situations like these, so I was just hoping Ashley would cut me a little slack being it was after all a terrible mistake I made, but I was trying to rectify it.

I pulled the car up slowly outside her apartment. Prior to our fight, I would have escorted her in, and hung around for a chat until my time "on the clock" so to speak, was up, however I could see this would no longer be the case. Perhaps I didn't really understand how much I had upset her, I suppose I wasn't always the best at understanding women, and their complex feelings, but I always tried.

Ashley looked at me for a moment, I could see this awkward change between us was bothering her too. The whole situation was bothering me too much for me to keep my mouth shut any longer, so I spoke.

"Ashley…"I began with a quiet sigh.
Before I could continue the sound of my cell phone ringing filled the internal cavity of the car. I didn't want to answer it, whoever it was could wait.
"Go on, answer it." Ashley ordered calmly. I shook my head however, I wanted to speak to her closely like this while I had the chance. The ringing sound felt like it would last forever. I had a terrible habit of leaving my phone in the open compartment between the driver and front passenger's seat for easy access, rather than being squished away in my pant pocket. Ashley reached for it, looking at the screen to see who was calling. I watched her face intensely as her brows furrowed, her lips tightened and she looked away, handing me the phone as she did so.
"Who's Claire?" She asked quietly, her expression was unreadable at this point.
I swallowed slightly, feeling quite uncomfortable in the moment. "She's uh, just a friend of mine…" I muttered, putting the phone down, not really wanting to look at it myself after the ringing stopped.
Ashley nodded lightly, "I see…well anyway, I should go, thanks for driving me home." She replied quickly, before grabbing her bag and exiting the car.
"Ashley, wait." I almost begged, but it was to no avail, she quickly walked off to door of her apartment, not looking back at me once as she did so.

Everything was going wrong. It seemed almost inevitable at this point that Ashley would become more and more distant from me, and I felt I could do nothing to stop it.

I lifted my hand to start the car once again, but before I could the phone began ringing again. I sighed, picking it up and placing it to my ear, not even bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hello?"
"Hi, Leon…its Claire." The familiar glassy voice spoke.
Even though I was irritated at the situation, I knew it wasn't Claire's fault this had happened, so I tried my best to not let my annoyance translate over the phone to her.
"Oh, how are you?" I asked politely. She sounded nervous, but I wasn't sure why.
"I'm well, thank you. Listen, I was just wondering, if you're not busy tonight, whether you'd like to come out to a local bar with me and some of my friends."
I thought silently for a moment, I wasn't really a fan of grouped social occasions, so this idea didn't really entice me much. "Um, yeah, sure – I guess." I responded, a hint of uncertainty in my voice.
"I know it's a work night, so I promise it won't drag on too late into the evening. Also, I'll just let you know, my brother Chris will be there!" Claire said eagerly. My demeanor changed; I hadn't seen Chris for quite some time, so the thought of catching up with him again did sound like fun.

"Okay, okay. Well, tell Chris I'll be there." I smiled as I spoke. She chuckled lightly, telling me of how she would text me through the details of the bar's location, and then we said our goodbyes.

I placed the phone down, a small smile still remaining on my face after the conversation. Much to my surprise, I was actually excited for tonight.

Woah! Okay, so it has been over a year since I updated this story! I really hope there are still some fans out there who will read this, haha. I had almost forgotten about fanfiction all together, but I kept receiving some lovely reviews for this story, so it inspired me to keep writing. I can't make any promises as to when the next update will be, however I will try to keep it much less of a wait than this one was! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the update, I am actually starting to really plan out a nice plot for this, so please stay tuned for the next chapter.

Thanks again to everyone who reads and especially who review/ favorite/ follow this story, your feedback means a lot!