Hey everyone! I was so pleasantly surprised at the feedback I have gotten so far since the last update. I really hope the plot is interesting and enjoyable for you all to read, and I want to stress again my most sincere thanks to everyone who has been reading/reviewing/favoriting this story!
*As a side note, there may be some course language used in this chapter.*
THIS STORY IS ENITRELY FICTICIOUS AND FAN BASED. I DO NOT OWN RESIDENT EVIL OR CAPCOM.
It was five thirty in the afternoon.
I pulled my car up carefully in the parking lot behind the small corner bar. I made a small exhale before stepping out of the vehicle; what was wrong with me, why the hell was I so nervous to go inside? I opened the solid, old wooden style door to the bar slowly; the atmosphere of the place was already hitting me before I had even completely made it through the doorway. I looked around the large open room, there were clusters of people everywhere, which made it hard to tell which one I should approach.
"Leon!" I heard a feminine voice call. I turned and saw Claire walking over to me, her deep auburn hair was down, flowing onto her shoulders with soft curls that bounced lightly as she walked. I couldn't help but look her up and down, noticing the skinny jeans paired with a casual set of heels, and pale purple cardigan she was sporting - which I had to admit looked very nice on her. I smiled at her warmly, uttered a 'hey' before following her over to a group of people standing around a small table in the far corner of the room.
I glanced at the faces of Claire's friends, realizing that I didn't know a single one, which made me feel slightly awkward and out of place. Claire introduced me to the group, and they were all polite, giving me a wave or a welcoming smile.
"Well, if it isn't Kennedy himself!" I heard a deep voice boom from the mush of people encasing me. I felt a tap on my shoulder, only to be met with the grinning face of none other than, Chris Redfield. "Chris!" I exclaimed in surprise, causing the awkward feeling to quickly dissipate.
"Fuck, man how long has it been since we last spoke - two, maybe three years?!" The brunette piped. I nodded in agreement, it truly had been far too long. While Chris and I had experienced our differences in our work life, we certainly got along great outside of work.
"It's been way too long." I added, as I followed Chris to the bar counter. Before I even got a chance to say anymore he ordered us a beer each, and that was when the conversation really got flowing.
"So, what's new with you lately?" He said casually, taking a swig of his beverage. Chris always was the type to be cut throat about everything he said. He would get straight to the nitty gritty of every conversation, and I quite liked that trait.
"Where to start..." I sighed with a slight chuckle. I spent what felt like an hour telling him about the Spain incident, and how I had now landed a job with the President as a bodyguard for his daughter. After finally concluding everything I had to say, Chris sat there silence for a moment.
"So, is she hot then?" He let out a devilish smirk. I couldn't help but laugh at him; after all these years he was still the same smart-ass.
"Who, Ashley?" I tried to play dumb. He nodded, urging me on further for an answer.
It really wasn't a topic I wanted to delve too much into, especially now of all places, so I nodded meekly, ushering a loud laugh from Chris.
"Don't be so fucking coy, Kennedy. Your secret is safe with me." He said with a wink. I opted to change the subject before it could drag on much further.
"So, how's life with the BSAA going? Still fighting for the good of the human race?" I questioned. Chris shook his head lightly, "Leon, I'm sure you can imagine all the bullshit the BSAA has to put up with daily. I love it, it can just be a drainer at times, y'know?"
I stood there and listened as he told me all about his escapades, and how he now maintained a permanent residence around this area. Chris suggested that he and I should keep in touch since we didn't live that far apart. He apologized for not making contact with me all these years, and I did the same - after all it was a mutual lack of effort.
Before I knew it, the time had gotten to half past seven, and many of Claire's friends had already left the bar. Chris and I continued to talk about anything we could muster at the time, and then he brought up the topic of Claire.
"Here comes trouble." Chris laughed, his eyes darting over to Claire - who was approaching us.
I laughed in response, even though I had this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"What are you two laughing about?" She probed with a half-smile. Chris continued to laugh which only goaded her on further, and thus, ensued a playful bickering match between the two. In an attempt to avoid the heat of it all, I hung back and simply observed them - I knew better than to get between the wraths of the Redfields.
One of Claire's friends called out to her, gesturing to her that she was now going home.
"I'll be back in a second guys, I'll just go say goodbye to my buddy." Claire stated as she walked over to her friends again.
Chris cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly, and then looked at me. "My sister..." He began. "She, uh...always talks about you, y'know. She thinks you're the greatest thing since sliced fucking bread."
I stared at him for a moment, not really certain where he was going with this, however, before Chris could continue, Claire walked back over to us, prompting the conversation to hush completely.
I checked my watch, only to realize the time was now past eight o'clock. I sighed lightly, looking up at the pair.
"I guess I better be going now also." I said with a hint of disappointment. Claire frowned, "Oh, okay. That's fair enough." Before I could react she leant over and embraced me, her slender arms lacing around my shoulders for a brief moment. The smell of her perfume hit me like a brick, almost knocking me senseless with its intoxicating scent. "Thanks a lot for inviting me out, Claire. It was great." I smiled at her.
She let out a very endearing grin at me before responding. "Thank you for coming!"
I nodded at Chris and shook his hand, telling him of how we should definitely catch up again very soon.
**********
The drive home was a relaxing one. For the first time in a long time, I had thoroughly enjoyed a group social gathering. I would admit, it was a big step out of my comfort zone, but I was glad I did it.
Once I arrived inside my apartment I had something small to eat and got ready for bed, and went to sleep.
The next day I arrived at Ashley's apartment like I did every other day of the week. I knocked at her door, but was surprised when she let me in at the greeting I received.
"What do you want?" She hissed at me. My brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean? I come here nearly every day." I responded. Ashley looked down at the ground, her expression was similar to one I had seen her pull before, in Spain. I stepped toward her slowly. "What's wrong?" I questioned. I was so confused right now, I knew she was upset about the business with that James guy, however she seemed more upset than yesterday.
"One of my friends saw you last night at a bar." She said quietly, her expression souring at the words. "Apparently you were there with a girl." Ashley added, and from then on, I saw her expression changed from anger to hurt.
I couldn't believe this. I couldn't believe someone had seen me at the bar and told Ashley about it; things were just getting worse and worse.
"It's not what you think..." I said reassuringly. "She is just a friend from years ago. She just wanted to catch up while she is in town."
Ashley shook her head, her eyes looking away from me.
"How can I know you're telling the truth?" She contended. I stared at Ashley in disbelief, did she really think I would lie. 'Great work Kennedy', 'Now she will never forgive you' was all that could cross my mind. "You think I am lying?" I questioned in disbelief, my icy blue eyes not leaving her for a moment.
She rolled her eyes at me. "Well, after all, you did say Ada was just a friend."
I swallowed thickly, I couldn't believe Ashley was bringing this up. "That has nothing to do with this..." I trailed off, my eyes finally falling to the ground. I watched as tears began to pool in her eyes, I could see she was trying hard to not cry in front of me, to make out she didn't care.
"It has everything to do with this!" She said, raising her voice at me. "When I told you I loved you, you almost enjoyed the fact that Ada was in Spain with us, pandering over you; you rubbed it in my face even though you knew how I felt." The tears began to drop from Ashley's deep honey eyes now, her small, shaky hand wiping them away gently.
I felt terrible, I wanted to tell her how I really felt, but I knew it wasn't the right time. "I wasn't rubbing it in your face, I would never!" I said defensively. "But you can admit she was more than a friend, right?" said Ashley.
I ran my hand through the side of my hair, the situation was spiraling out of control. "Okay, yes. Ada and I had something a long time ago, but that is long gone, trust me."
She nodded. "And this girl from the bar. Who is she?" Ashley said lowly. I wanted to sound the least bit incriminating that I could. "Her name is Claire. I knew her back from when I was a cop. That is literally all there is to it." I explained to the blonde, but her body language told me she wasn't satisfied with my response.
Ashley stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity. 'This silence is never a good thing' I thought, silently begging her to say something.
Her rosy pink lips parted gently, I could see she was calculating her words before she spoke them. "Look...this isn't fair on you or me anymore. I get it - I finally get it. I am tired of the emotional games, Leon. I'm sorry - I won't interfere with your job as my bodyguard, since I trust you to do that better than anyone else. However, as far as our friendship, or whatever you'd call what we have between us goes, I can't do it anymore."
I felt a pain rip through my chest like nothing else I had ever experienced. This was it, perhaps I had been stupid to think Ashley would never give up on me, but she finally had. What happened next I couldn't control. I felt burning in my eyes from tears that threatened to fall any second. I couldn't believe what had just happened. My eyes blurred as tears began gathering in them; droplets that were constructed of nothing but pain, despair and desolation. I turned away from Ashley, not wanting her to see what this was doing to me. I had never been good at expressing my emotions, which was good reason for why it had to come this between Ashley and I.
I knew Ashley could see the lugubrious expression on my face, and I don't think even she knew what to say. There was nothing that could be said, because I had finally lost her.
Nearly two weeks passed and we acted practically like strangers.
I would arrive at her apartment, like clockwork, and from there we would only speak about job related details. The way Ashley conversed with me now was almost exactly like the way she addressed the other agents - impersonal and detached. The change between us was ripping me apart inside; we longer spoke like best friends. We almost acted as if our ordeal in Spain together hadn't even happened.
My life slowly crept back into the routine it was before I met Ashley. I came home after work, ate by myself and made barely any social contact with anyone. I was truly miserable, and I didn't know how to come out of this emotional slump. Claire had been texting me several times over the last few days, but I had been ignoring most calls and texts I received unless they were work related. For all I knew, Claire had probably left to go back to Europe, and I did feel remorseful that I had not given her a farewell.
It was a Friday night, and I sat on my plain looking couch staring at the television - albeit I may as well have turned the television off, being that my eyes were glazed over, and my mind was elsewhere. Any daydream was better than my current reality. My cell phone was ringing but at first I didn't even hear it, although eventually the sound snapped me from my mental haze. I checked the caller I.D to find it was Claire calling, so I decided to stop being a baby, and I answered the call.
"Hello?" I spoke into the phone, my tone uncontrollably flat.
"Leon! Are you okay?" Claire said caringly, I could tell her concern was genuine. I felt bad, I wasn't trying to take any of this out on her.
"Yeah, sorry. I'm fine, just had some…stuff going on lately." I confided to her. I could tell she was quite worried about me.
"Oh, okay. Is it anything you'd like to talk to someone about?" She asked. I normally hated talking about stuff like this to people, but I could see how helpful she was trying to be, so I couldn't shut off completely.
"I…uh, yeah. I guess it would be nice to talk." I said awkwardly. 'Nice one, Leon. How old are you, Twelve?' I thought, mentally slapping myself for sounding so immature over the phone to her.
"Okay, great. Well how about you come around to Chris' place since that is where I am staying, and we can talk there, or I can come to you - if you'd prefer?" Claire asked thoughtfully.
I was beginning to realize just how caring and thoughtful Claire could be. Back in the day I never really got a chance to get to know her like this, and it turns out she has many more facets than I knew.
I pulled my car up outside Chris's place, feeling weird in my stomach as I walked slowly up to the front door.
I rang the doorbell once and Claire opened the door, inviting me in almost instantly. She took me to the living room where we sat on a large black leather couch. The living space was roomy, the walls were cast in an off-white shade that made the room feel light, and easy on the eye.
"Chris has gone out for a while, just in case you were wondering the big loud-mouth was." Claire chuckled jokingly. I couldn't help but laugh with her. She had such an easy-going nature to her, that it was hard to feel awkward around her.
I looked down at the floor then up at her sparkly eyes. "I'm surprised you're still in the States, weren't you only out for two weeks?" I asked, trying not to offend her with my questioning.
"I was, however I just loved being out here so much, and catching up with Chris and all my friends again, that I requested longer leave, and luckily for me they accepted." Claire said, brushing a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy at the news. Claire was a great girl, so it was nice to have a little more time with her. I smiled, "Well, that's great! I'm really glad."
"So, tell me…" She began. "What has got you so blue that you ignored my texts for days?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "Just problems with someone I know."
She looked at me with patience, I could tell she was willing to probe me for information all night if need be.
"Basically, we had a massive argument, and now we are like strangers to one another." I blurted. Claire nodded to show she was listening. "I see…perhaps you just need to give it time?" She suggested. I half smiled, "I wish it were that simple." Claire sighed, "Don't we all."
I didn't really understand what she meant by that, but I let it slide. Thankfully she didn't ask for too many details, so I didn't discuss them. It seemed like she almost didn't want to know, like she would rather be ignorant about who the other party involved actually was. We sat for a while on the couch just talking. It was nice to just talk about everything and nothing, all at the same time. Claire didn't question or judge, she understood always. She told me of hilarious stories from her ventures around Europe that had me nearly in tears with laughter. For a moment I was free. I was free from the miserable cloud that had been suffocating me since Ashley and I had that fight.
I missed her so much…
In this moment with Claire I felt a deep nostalgia. The way she told her silly stories, the way we laughed together, the way she would look at me to make sure I was enjoying the story as much as she was enjoying telling it. All of it reminded me of Ashley.
The moment soured for me, it was nothing Claire did, she was wonderful – there was no denying that.
I cleared my throat, preparing to tell her I had to leave, to make a break for it before this brought back any more painful memories. However, before I could say a word I heard the front door open, followed by Chris' loud voice echo through the house, announcing to Claire that he was home.
Claire and I remained seated on the couch until Chris came through into the living room, his expression changing to an excited one when he caught glimpse of me. I stood politely, shaking his hand.
"Geez, Kennedy. What a pleasant surprise!" He grinned. He looked at the two of us sitting on the couch together and then uttered a quite chuckle. "Nice and cozy over there, Claire?" The brunette laughed. I glanced at Claire whose cheeks were going pink. "Will you shut the fu-" She hissed at him before he cut her off.
"I'm sorry, I'm just joking!" He laughed again. She rolled her eyes and then looked at me with a polite smile, gesturing for me to ignore Chris, even though it was pretty much impossible to ignore someone who spoke as loudly as he did. Claire stood demurely, telling Chris and I of how she was going to get us some drinks and snacks, before heading into the kitchen.
Chris plopped himself onto the couch, his expression reminded me of a child who had just done something bad and found it hilarious. "What this all about?" I said with a smile, gesturing towards his face. He inhaled, sitting forward slightly with a mildly more serious expression this time.
"Look, I was just being a jerk before, but I really shouldn't get involved." Chris said plainly, his eyes looking over to the kitchen entrance to make sure Claire wasn't on her way back.
I cocked my head to the side, "Chris, come on. Whatever it is, just say it."
He was silent for a moment, but continued on in a very hushed voice.
"Okay, okay. Well, do you know why Claire really got extended leave in the U.S?" Chris whispered, his eyes darting over the kitchen yet again.
I shook my head, and replied with a simple 'no'.
He swallowed. I could tell he was apprehensive about telling me whatever he was about to say.
"Well, she told me that the rea - Claire, if you're bringing out corn chips, don't forget the salsa, okay!" He side tracked, shouting his demand toward the kitchen, which followed with a profanity being shouted back by Claire, which I didn't quite catch.
Chris leant back in this time, continuing from where he left off. "She said the reason she took extended leave was because of you." He whispered quickly since Claire was due back any moment. My eyes widened slightly, I didn't know what to say.
"Me…but why?" I said, trying to also maintain a whisper. "Kennedy, she said she lo-" Chris was cut off by Claire walking into the living room, a silver tray in hand, with some small bowls and cups stacked atop. I watched in slight absence as she placed the tray down on the glass coffee table that was about an arm's length away from the couch. I thanked her for the snacks and drink while she sat in a single chair just across from the couch, so that she was close enough to maintain a comfortable conversation.
Chris began to whine about how Claire picked the wrong salsa, however the whole time, I didn't listen to a word. I sat in the living room, and even though I was there with them both in this moment, I wasn't really there. I wanted to ask her, I wanted to know more, but I knew to keep my mouth shut since that would get Chris in trouble for divulging the information to me in the first place.
I looked over at Claire, her glossy pink lips were shaped to a smile as she took verbal jabs at her brother from across the coffee table, her dainty nose crinkling as she laughed at Chris's ridiculous come-backs. I noticed her eyes looking over at me every now and then, only to look away moments later.
My mind was in complete disbelief that this girl would stay abroad because of me.
A/N: So that is chapter five for you all! This update was a little longer than my last updates. I wanted to leave this one on an eventful note since as mentioned last time, I cannot promise when the next update will be. I hope no one is finding the plot disheartening…I have plenty left in store for this story that I hope everyone will stay tuned to eventually read!
Please if you have any comments or suggestions don't hesitate to leave a review. Feedback is greatly appreciated!
Thanks for reading everyone!