Alice's POV

I love it when she's all fired up but usually it's in the middle of a fight, or when she's being stubborn about something, not like this, not because of me. The words are spinning off her tongue, a mix of frustration and passion and its making me realise just how hard this has been on her, and can't do it to her, I can't.

"Claire," I try to stop her, but she doesn't hear me.

"…I don't want to look back to realise it's too late. And I'm tired, tired of pretending, tired of making excuses when a guy asks me out. For once I'd like to tell them truth. I want them to know, I want to look at you from across the room and not worry about who's watching,"

"Claire," I try again, and her eyes soften, she takes a breath. I know she's heard me but there's more to say. I'm left with no choice, be it a good one, but to lean over and kiss her. And I do. A quick, simple, delicate kiss. When I feel her relax against my lips I pull back to look at her, her blue eyes search mine in the dim light, she reads me well and I'm sure she knows what I'm about to say but I say it anyway.

"Maybe now is the right time?"

I feel the frustration slip away from her as her hands move to my waist, smile lines appearing at the corner of her lips, a show of white teeth.

"Kiss me again" her voice is low, she's full of desire and it vibrates through me. Her mouth opens as I move forward pressing my lips against hers, I feel her warm tongue roll against mine, she tastes like beer and gasoline.

My hands move into her long dusky red hair while hers travel along the length of my stomach, fingers pulling and sneaking under my top. My muscles flinch under her touch, my body reacts as her thumb glazes over my breast though barely touching.

There's a sense of urgency as our lips part, she looks around us, she's only just realising I don't have a bed here.

"Where, where do you…?" she says between laboured breaths.

"I haven't made one" I tell her as I reach for her belt and begin unbuckling it, "there's the table next door" I suggest with a grin, and she laughs softly as I unbutton her jeans. "Or there's a chair?" I add as I pull on the zip, revealing the lining of her black underwear.

"Or against the wall?" she says, her voice seductive, inviting.

"Mm," I lean into her, slide my arms around her hips and lift her up off her feet. A moment later her backs on the wall, my thigh tightly pushed against her. I feel her hands on my back, nails gently scrapping my skin, her breath against my lips when she asks me to touch her. I've already unbuttoned her jeans so it's easy enough to slip my hand down between us. The space is quickly filled with heavy breathing, her soft moans and desperate lips. The candles flicker as the air becomes heated, walls creaking around us as if the house is alive. My stomach tightens as she whispers my name in husky broken breaths, the hum of her pleasure urging me on. And as she looks at me in those final moments, just before her head falls back, before she is lost to incoherent murmurs and breathlessness, I know that I love her. I love her.

She rests her head on my shoulder as the air cools, everything suddenly still and quiet, and I can feel each breath warm on my neck, I can feel her lips smiling between faint kisses as she moves down my collar bone. My hands run through her red hair as she moves lower, lifting my top just enough to put her mouth to my stomach, her tongue warm as it eagerly licks my skin. And her mouth is below my navel, her fingers pulling on my pants. Seconds, that's all it takes before I'm rolling them off my ankles and kicking them away. Now my palms are flat on the wall, and her head is between my legs and god I think this might be the only reason I'm alive. And I know that it is by the way my head falls into the crook of my arm above her, by the way my body softly echoes her movements below, and by the final strike that carries my body into a blissful sea of ecstasy. She is the reason.

We are woken by the front door creaking, by voices calling our names. We lay searching one another before we realise they are coming up. We manage to get dressed before the footsteps reach the top of the stairs, before Kyle walks in. Claire's doing up her belt and I'm doing up my boots. Smooth! His eyes circle the room, there's a makeshift bed in the corner, made from the clean linen that Claire stocks downstairs. He smiles politely,

"Are you still free for today's trip?" he asks, his eyes on Claire. She nods and turns to face me,

"I'll be back before it gets dark," and as she steps away I reach out taking her hand,

"Wait," I say gently pulling her in for a quick kiss. She looks in my eyes, a flirtatious smile.

"I'll see you later" she assures me before walking towards the open door. Kyle stands wide eyed, unable to move, or so it seems. By the time he does Claire is gone, and all he can do is apologise.

I hear the front door close and watch them from the window of the bedroom as they walk across the green. I wait, one, two three, she turns and looks up at the window, I know she can see me. I reach for my radio,

"Eyes ahead, Redfield" I tease. The radio crackles,

"Copy that!" she says laughing, and I watch her walk towards the campsite until she disappears out of sight.