I am the crappiest updater in all of updater-dom. I'm sorry. Thank all of y'all who have stuck with this story. I swear on my lucky undies that I will finish this fic one of these damn days. I swear.

Y'all have my eternal gratitude for being so patient with me. And I apologize if this is rough... still getting back into the swing of writing.

"I know." Alice had finally halted, and when Claire followed suit, she faced the other woman.

"You know?" Claire threw up her hands in disbelief. She had finally said it. Those three tiny words that had been hanging between them for weeks, unspoken. It was a line of tension between them, stretched taut nearly to the point of breaking, and she had finally let go. And the best that Alice could counter with was that she already knew? Unbelievable. Claire should have known that she would have an infuriating response. "Is that the best you can do?"

"You were right." Alice shrugged and suddenly found the cracked asphalt beneath her feet extremely interesting. It always amazed Claire how Alice could transition so abruptly. Most of the time, she was a confident, unstoppable force, unwavering and solid. But when confronted with the complication of emotion, became like a cornered wild animal, skittish and awkward. Timidly, she ventured a glance at Claire. "What we want, what we both feel, is dangerous."

Snorting in disbelief, Claire shook her head. "I can't fucking believe this!" The final word came as shout, and she planted her hands on her hips, trying to ignore the scrutinizing gazes that were probably cast in their direction. Her face burned. She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared to wave K-mart off at the sound of rapidly approaching footfalls.

"What's wrong?" The teenager nearly skidded to a halt next to the two women facing off. She had unslung her rifle and held it with the muzzle down, the stock against her shoulder. In other circumstances, it might have been comical. The rifle was cartoonishly large for the slight girl.

Claire wanted to dismiss K-mart, to tell her that this was between her and Alice and therefore not her business. Instead, she blurted. "Alice wants to leave."

"What?" K-mart demanded, snapping her gaze towards Alice. "You can't leave. Why would you do that? We need you. Why now?" Her eyes returned to Claire, suspiciously.

"It's just safer…" Alice almost-whispered through clenched teeth, refusing to look at either Claire or K-mart. "If I'm not around people."

K-mart studied Alice and Claire for a moment, as if trying to puzzle out the truth of what had transpired between them. Claire attempted to steady and slow her breathing, and avoid K-mart's scrutiny by deliberately avoiding her gaze. Which was evidently answer enough for the teenager.

"You've got to be kidding me…" She muttered under her breath. "I can't believe you two are doing this now!" She slung her rifle back over her shoulder. "There is a horde of soldier-zombies probably heading this way, and you two are fighting about this, now? How old are you two? Fourteen?"

"K-mart…" Alice began.

"No! We have fifteen minutes until that damn truck is finished fueling and then we have got to get out of here. So that means we have fifteen minutes to settle this," K-mart held out her hand, palm facing Claire as she began to open her mouth. "You're both idiots."

"That isn't fair," Claire interrupted, her hands balling into clenched fists. She was angry enough dealing with the sudden turn of the tables Alice had pulled on her. Having K-mart scolding and mediating was enough to make her flush as red as her hair.

"Fair is a place where you ride rides and win prizes and has nothing to do with life." K-mart snapped. "Pot, meet Kettle." Her tone abruptly shifted and suddenly she was cordially introducing the two women, as if for the first time. "You both love each other. There. I said it. It's not a secret. Everyone knows. Everyone is also fucking baffled why the hell you two don't get over yourselves and just… accept it."

"The problem isn't admitting it, K." Alice said quietly, raising her eyes but as soon as they made contact with Claire's, she immediately dropped her gaze to her feet again. "All I have done is respect Claire's decisions. Which were correct. It is safer this way. For everyone."

Even as Alice repeated herself, Claire could not, would not believe her. Instead, ashamed, she turned her attention to K-mart who sighed her exasperation, as if profoundly disappointed. The teenager slumped, as if defeated, and she glimpsed over to the tanker truck. "You have ten minutes." She said, leaving a pleading "fix this," unspoken as she returned to her post.

"I'm not afraid of death or dying, Alice." Claire whispered once they were alone. Tentatively, as if the slight movement might cause the other woman to bolt away, she stepped forward, closing the gap between them. Then, as if she were reaching for something so delicate it might shatter at the slightest touch, she grazed Alice's hand with her fingers.

Surprisingly, Alice let her hand be taken in Claire's, allowed her to fold in between her hands and pull it close to her, close to her chest, to her heart, where she held it. "What are you afraid of?" Alice asked finally, ice blue eyes finally lifting to look at her.

Claire felt her chest flutter as she felt those eyes on her, as if this was the first time Alice had ever looked at her. She felt herself blush at the intensity of her gaze, as if those eyes could see through her to every word of unspoken truth that Claire had kept bottled inside, secreted away. "To live, trapped by the Infection, surviving for nothing but another day of fighting and running until I've forgotten everything that once made this…" Her voice broke on the words, but she pressed on. "…life worth living. To live without you."

With her free hand, Alice reached up and cupped her cheek, wiping away an errant tear with her thumb. Their foreheads met, their faces close enough that Claire felt the other woman's breath on her cheek. Claire squeezed her eyes shut, felt more tears slip down her cheeks. In the past, this close contact would have sent her pedaling backwards, away. But now, she felt her chest ache at the closeness, her heart breaking that there might ever be a moment when Alice wasn't this close, a time whenever she didn't hold her hand over heart.

"I love you, Claire Redfield." Alice whispered, and she shifted just slightly. For a terrifying moment, she was sure Alice was still determined to leave, to leave her. That finally confessing their feelings had been a farewell speech. The thought that Alice might leave her, even now, was unbearable, inconceivable. Panicked, Claire began to reach for her, to grasp for her, to stop her from pulling away, but she halted as she felt cool lips on her forehead. "We will find a way. Together." The words were whispered against her brow, and Claire wanted to weep with relief, with shame, with love.

Every thought and emotion since she had met Alice collided all at once. She had struggled for so long to stifle any feeling towards the other woman, to maintain her rigid composure. But her once steadfast resolve had cracked, and through the cracks flooded all the emotion she tried so hard not to feel. Love, she felt it in Alice's touch, her strong hand still on her cheek. Fear, sharp and metallic in the back of her mouth, fear of losing the other woman that was much more real now that the words had been spoken aloud. Safety and comfort, in the steady pulse in the wrist underneath her fingertips. Guilt, that tightened like a clenched fist in her chest that she had ever resisted this in the first place, that she had ever pushed Alice away. Relief. It rendered her helpless to do anything but cling to her lover's hand, to be held, and let the tears slip past her lashes.

"I love you," Claire finally said. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry for—"

"Being an idiot?"

Claire felt rather than saw Alice's smirk against her brow, that insufferable smirk of hers. It caused a swell of affection to sweep over her like a warm tide. "Yes. For being an idiot."

"We're both idiots. We deserve each other."

In that moment, the only thing that could have forced the two women apart was K-mart's warning shout.

But it isn't over yet! Can't make it too easy. As always, thank you, my darling readers. I adore you guys for being so wonderful and supportive. I promise that I won't write anything else until I finish this and LfS.

Oh. And feedback is lusted for.