It's The Wrong Kind Of Place To Be Cheating On You

Title is from 9 Crimes by Damien Rice, gotta love Damien Rice the big ragin' Irishman!

I must warn you, there's a couple of swear words in here. Sorry. Also, again, thanks reviewers! Also thank you anonymous reviewer, since I can't thank you are so sweet! XD Also, last thank you goes to Angelica Burrows. She helped with this storyline a while back, and she deserves the thanks...Enjoy.

"Three eights. I win again!" Anna exclaimed, pulling the large pile of chips towards her from the centre of the table.

"...Remind me again, why are we playing this?" Chris asked, a frown plastered on his face.

"Because what is better than spending your Saturday night getting your arse kicked by a teenager at poker?" Luke replied as he began to deal out the next set of cards.

This was Claire's idea of fun. Claire being Claire pushed the information out of Chris. And knowing what happened with him and Jill, she wanted to keep him out of the house as much as possible. Apparently the only thing she could think of was poker night.

To Chris he was fighting the unwinnable war, and he was tired of it. It was now up to Jill to fight for them, because he was finished. He hadn't heard anything in a couple of weeks, and so each day his love began to fade a little bit more.

Anna's smile dissolved away whenever she looked to her father. She could see the pain he was putting himself through, and it did nothing but sadden her. She was incapable of helping him, and she knew that all too well. Obviously Claire's idea of keeping everyone happy wasn't going quite to plan.

...

"Chris can you help me get some drinks, please?" Claire asked, moving Chris toward the kitchen, so they were now out of ear shot from the other two.

"Did you really need help to get a total of four drinks?" He asked, more demandingly than he had intended to sound. He reached into the cupboard and retrieved the glasses.

"I'm sorry about tonight, Chris. I just wanted to try to cheer you up... It obviously hasn't worked." Claire sighed, and leaned against the kitchen work table. No denying it, Claire hated to see her older brother like this. It was made worse that she was unable to help. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about." He refused to turn to her and busied himself pouring various drinks.

"Come on, Chris. It's upsetting you...Have you talked to her?"

"No. She hasn't talked to me."

"It's a two way thing..." Claire attempted to argue back to him. "You've loved her for so long, Chris... You weren't together. Can't you just forgive her?"

"It's not that easy..." She didn't seem to comprehend how much the kiss really affected him. It hurt him more than he would ever have imagined. And he was unsure why, it was only a kiss. "You don't understand, Claire. You've never been in love!"

Claire was taken aback by his words. Even he regretted saying it when he saw the cut his words had afflicted upon her. She didn't need to be told her relationships weren't the best. It angered her that Chris seemed to take his for granted.

...

Luke had attempted distract Anna from the soon to be argument that was starting in the kitchen by continuing to babble to her. But he could only do so much. Chris and Claire's voices began to rise, and undoubtedly a shouting match was about to begin. The only thing worse than an angry Redfield, was two angry Redfield's.

Anna screwed up her face. She hated to hear anyone fighting, especially when it was two people who love each other. Luke could see her becoming uneasy, he thought maybe now would be a good time for her to leave.

"Anna, do you want me to take you home?" He asked. She nodded reluctantly, and grabbed her green coat of the banister.

Luke shouted into the kitchen that he was leaving Anna home, but he doubted if the two heard...Or if they even cared.

...

"I can't believe you would say that to me? You don't know the first thing about my love life!" Claire retaliated to him. She had become fed up with his negativity, plus it had been a good while since a sibling argument.

"Well you obviously don't understand what I'm going through at the moment." Chris shouted back to her.

"Oh what you're going through? Poor Chris, always the victim. You don't think the rest of us have our own shit to deal with?" Truth be told, Claire hadn't fully got over the revelations about Steve and Sherry. She felt guilty every minute of every day. Chris just didn't seem to understand that. "You didn't even tell me about Sherry!"

Claire threw a punch into his chest in attempt to relieve her anger. It wasn't her full weight and Chris knew this. It barely even hurt him anyway. Her words were much more painful than any hit she could give to him.

"You're so selfish sometimes! I mean don't you think Jill's hurting too?" Claire wasn't finished with him yet. He started the argument, but she be damned if she didn't finish it. "You sent her away in the first place. Make up your mind, do you want her or not?"

"Don't talk about stuff you know absolutely nothing about." Chris warned her.

"I know enough to realise you can be a real dick at times!"

Chris clenched his fists. There was no point continuing on with the argument, he would only get angrier. He made his way out of the kitchen and towards the door, ignoring Claire's words.

"Chris wait, let me take you home at least." Claire softened a bit, although she was still angry. But the thing with sibling fights was they were easily forgiven. He was family, and he still meant everything to her.

"Fuck off, Claire." Chris muttered under his breath, opening the door.

"Don't be stupid, Chris. You've been drinking, you can't drive." Claire's reply to her words was the harsh slam of the front door.

As with most people, Claire's anger quickly transformed into sadness. The fight was unnecessary and really just an excuse for both of them to let off pent up fury, they both knew this. But as always she regretted her words, and began to worry about him.

...

After an hour the door to Leon's house opened. Claire prayed that her brother would have come to his senses and returned. Instead Luke walked through the door, back from leaving Anna off. Claire stood weakly and gave a light smile. Her tear stained face didn't go unnoticed by Luke.

"Ended badly, huh?" He asked gently. She just sobbed slightly and fell defeated into his chest. Strange to think he was the only person she had these days. Leon seemed preoccupied, and Chris had his own problems to deal with. It seemed Claire had begun to depend more and more upon Luke.

He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her small waist. The two never showed signs of intimacy and he didn't know where their limits lay. Claire didn't protest, she found the comfort she needed within his arms. His shirt began to get damper as Claire cried for the loss of Steve and Sherry, and for the pain of her brother.

After a while, she pulled away from Luke's embrace.

"I have to check if Chris is okay. I'm worried about him. I tried his mobile, he won't pick up." Claire's voice conveyed the worry she felt. "Will you try ringing his house and I'll try Jill or something. He's fragile at the moment; I don't want him to do something he'll regret."

Luke nodded and retrieved his phone to call.

Jill began to splash water onto her face, being sick wasn't fun. At least Rebecca was out of the house, so she couldn't fuss over her. Carlos said he was coming over to spend time with her later. The feelings were platonic; after all he had got a girlfriend. Unfortunately her breakup had meant, even if the friends wouldn't admit it, they had to choose a side. They couldn't spend time altogether anymore. And Claire had obviously had to choose the side of her brother and spend more time with him. Rebecca vowed to remain neutral like Switzerland as she put it. But Carlos was the only one who was there for Jill. He was the only one she could talk to these days.

She looked to her phone sitting on the edge of the sink. The amount of times she contemplated calling Chris was unbelievable. But every time she was close to it, her head gave another reason not to. Either he didn't deserve to hear her apology, or she convinced herself he would have moved on by now. Ultimately she was too scared too. But she knew she would have to face her fears eventually.

Jill's phone began to vibrate, and in a crazy notion she thought it might have been Chris. She was right that it was a Redfield, just not the one she longed to talk to.

"Hey Claire. Is everything okay?" Jill answered the phone, and walked out of the bathroom and into the back bedroom of the house.

"Yeah sort of. Please tell me Chris is with you..."

"No, I haven't talked to him in a while. I'm sorry... What's happened?" Jill asked concerned. She could hear the worry in the young girl's voice.

"We got in a fight, I'm just worried about him. I've tried to contact him, but he won't pick up. He's in a bad state..."

"Relax, Claire. He probably just needs time to cool." Jill knew first hand Chris's anger. And she knew sometimes the best thing for him was just to have time to calm by himself.

"Well can you try and call him, please? Just to make sure he's okay."

"Alright. Don't worry." Jill said lightly and ended the call. She walked back towards the bathroom, but began to worry when the door wasn't quite as she left it. She slowly pushed it open, fists at the ready. She screamed when she saw a male figure using the standing to the toilet, immediately they screamed too.

"Carlos? What the hell?" She squealed at him, as her heart began to die down back to normal speed. He turned his head and gave a cheeky smile, and finished off his business.

"I was dying for the toilet, chica. Jeez, you didn't answer the door, so I thought I'd just let myself in." He laughed, pulling up the zip of his jeans.

"And you couldn't have closed the door?" Jill demanded. She let out a light laugh. She was surprised how jumpy she got. But then again she didn't think she'd come upon someone using her bathroom.

Carlos just gave a coy wink, as he began to wash his hands at the sink. His smile began to fade as he caught sight of a certain distinctive object resting against the tap.

"...What is this, Jill?" His voice took a serious note as he lifted the object from the base, and held it before her.

"Carlos!" She shrieked and grabbed the item of him, as red began to form on her cheeks.

"Is it yours? ...I mean it is what I think it is, isn't it?" The seriousness of his voice made her on edge more than anything.

"Carlos, with all due respect, it's none of your business." Jill argued back to him, attempting to fight the tears which were soon to form.

...

"...Tell me you aren't pregnant Jill." Her barrier broke and the tears flooded out.

"I wish I could. But this is the fourth one I've taken..." She sobbed. He tugged her into an embrace, he was upset for her. Jill had been holding the truth off for as long as she could. The fear began to rise with the sickness, she knew something wasn't right.

"Have you told Chris?" Carlos asked gently. She shook her head and continued to cry onto his shoulder.

"I'm so scared. We thought we couldn't have kids, and wouldn't you know it happens at the worst time possible."

"That's life for you, honey...You have to tell him. He has a right to know." Carlos may not have been best buddies with Chris, but a child was a serious thing. The man deserved to know the truth.

"I know. I will..." She grabbed some tissue to mop up her tears. "But I don't know how he'll take it. I mean how would you feel if your girlfriend just announced to you she was pregnant? Especially at a time like this..."

"Well considering we've only been going out for a couple of months. I wouldn't be completely overjoyed. But nevertheless I would want to know."

"I just have to get my head straight and face my fears. Then I'll tell him." Jill sighed, she had never been so nervous in her whole life. She never wanted to raise a child in a broken relationship, that realisation hurt her more than anything. Besides Chris hadn't forgiven her for the kiss, her revelation could just be the final straw for him.

"Chris it's me. I know we haven't been on the best of terms. But will you please at least contact Claire. Tell her you're okay. She's really worried about you, Chris..."

Chris ended the voicemail from Jill, and turned his phone off. The extra alcohol in his system most likely didn't help, but he was getting pretty fed up with various call and texts.

As always, in case of emergency, Chris drowned himself in a pint of beer. It never helped anyone, he knew that. But for the couple of hours or so that he wouldn't remember the previous events, he thought it was worth it. He could feel himself slipping away from being tipsy, and closer to complete drunkenness. And yet he still didn't feel much better.

The barman came towards Chris and set another pint down before him on the bench.

"Whoa buddy. I didn't order this, I was about to leave..." Chris said, attempting to curb the slight slur of his words.

"No. She did." The barman pointed to a seductively posed woman, looking almost hungrily towards Chris. She elegantly removed herself from her stool, adjusted her skirt to maintain her decency and sat next to Chris in a stool.

"Well well, Chris Redfield. This is an original place for you to be." She teased, darting a pink tongue along her dark lips.

"Sophia. I never thought I'd see that face again." He squinted at her. She was just as beautiful as she'd always been; long shiny jet black hair, and beautiful dark brown skin. Shame her personality couldn't match her looks.

The two met in a similar circumstance around a year after Jill's supposed death. They had attempted to have a brief relationship, but even though he and Jill weren't in a relationship at that stage, Jill still had hold over his heart. His body would have loved to be with Sophia when he had the chance, but his heart always stopped him. Because he knew Sophia could never take the place of Jill Valentine.

"What are you pining about? From what I heard you got the woman you wanted." Sophia joked with him. She had heard on the news about Jill's rescue. She was happy for him, after all she had moved on herself.

"Yeah." He replied. He didn't want to talk anymore; in fact he was beginning to feel pretty drowsy.

"Whatever. Let's have fun..." She called over the barman and ordered a series of shots for them, a coy smile forming on her lips. She was just as devilish as she'd always been.

As the night went on, so did the shots. All the events causing Chris's pain began to dissolve further away as he lost more and more of control over himself.

Sorry for the delay.. :/

Artichoke,

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