MINNIE'S POV

July 2, 2013

1:33 AM

HQ medical wing

I have been sitting on this bench in this infirmary for more than 15 hours. When the chopper picked us up, it brought us to a temporary BSAA HQ in India, where a lot of people were brought from China after the attack to inspect them and give them the vaccine. Also, a lot of injured soldiers and civilians were brought here in order to tend to their wounds. Since my injury wasn't serious, I had to wait. For 15 fucking hours! I mean, seriously, people? Just bandage me and I'll be on my way home. I would be capable to bandage myself up, but of course Chris just didn't allow it.

In the meantime, Piers has been going through various tests in order to see whether or not he was still infected. To be perfectly honest, if he was still infected then a simple blood test would show it. And as I heard from Chris, Piers' blood test was perfect, so all these other tests are probably just a formality. *Well, who would've thought? Ada was right.*

- How are you holding up? – I turned my head and looked at a pair of warm, tired brown eyes.

- I'm fine, Chris. How are you? How's Piers?

- They're almost finished with him. – Chris answered sitting down next to me. – It seems that whatever you gave him, cured him. Which reminds me: where'd you get it?

- Ada gave it to me. Jake's blood is of no use, but since my blood is infected with the viruses, she thought that, even in that condition, his blood would cure me from the C-Virus. Mixing my blood with Jake's and infecting Piers with it was just a guess, but I'm glad that it worked.

- Yeah, it was obvious that you were happy. – Chris commented with a smug look on his face. – By the way, you said you'll explain everything about Ada when we get out. So, I'm listening.

- It's a long story, but whatever. It all started… - And so, I told Chris everything that Ada had said to me. About Simmons, her and Carla. – I don't know if everything she said is truth, but I'm pretty sure that at least a major part of it is. I really doubt that she would go this far to save me and then lie about everything.

- I'll let HQ know about this and we'll look into this Carla character. As for your flight back, there is a chopper waiting outside, ready to fly whenever you'll say it. Just make sure you have everything ready when you get back, just in case it takes you longer than expected to fly home. And Piers will be going with you as well.

- Piers? Why? It's not that I don't want him to come, just…

- He could really use a break after everything that happened. Since he refused, I'm sending him with you. – Chris cut me off.

- Miss Sledge? – A young female medic was standing in front of me. – We will now have a look at your wound.

- I walked with her into another room. Just as I thought, it took her about 15 minutes to wash the wound, sew it up and put a bandage on it. I've waited 15 hours for a 15-minute work. Just perfect. I could have been home by now, working on my…

- The presentation. – I said horrified. – Shit! – I quickly grabbed my phone and dialed Kyle's number while exiting the examination room. – Kyle, I need your help. – I said into the receiver once he picked up.

- What is it, apple cupcake? – He answered.

- You have my thesis on your computer, right?

- Yeah.

- E-mail it to me with any sort of example for the presentation slides.

- Wait a sec. You mean you're coming? You'll make it?! That's great! I'll send you everything you need. You should be in the first floor hall at 12:30 PM.

- OK, thanks, Kyle. – I said as I put my cell-phone back into my pants' pocket. Once out of the examination room I saw Piers and Chris standing by the bench that I have been sitting on. I smiled brightly at Piers. – They finally let you go. – His only answer was a nod and an ice cold look. I turned to Chris. – I'm ready to go. But I'll need a laptop and the internet while flying. There's still some work that needs to be done.

- There's everything you need in the chopper. – Chris said. – Good luck, Minnie. And have a safe flight.

- I hugged Chris goodbye and made my way to the chopper with Piers right beside me. He's been acting strange ever since our flight to HQ. *Maybe he's tired.* I thought as we boarded the helicopter. I was doing basically nothing for 15 hours. All that time Piers had to go through a lot of tests and analysis. And I know how those things can make you tired. After all, I've been going through those tests for 3 years of my childhood.

Once in the chopper, I took the laptop and started working on my presentation, while Piers slept quietly across from me.

Who knows how many hours later I was done with the presentation. I asked Kyle to print the thesis for me and have it ready for when I come to the University. He is a real life-saver. I met Kyle at the University. At first, we didn't get along, because… honestly, I don't even know why we didn't get along. We just didn't like each other, that's it. But then I went for a week to the US to see Chris and Claire. It just so happened that Chris had a lot of work to do in the BSAA HQ, so I tagged along to help him. Chris hates the paperwork, so I volunteered to do it for him. And that day Jill came into his office, noting him that there was someone who wanted to talk to him. It was Carlos Olivera, Jill's acquaintance from long ago when they both survived the destruction of Raccoon City. After their talk I had to endure hours of Chris' curses about the guy. I have to admit, the Latino guy was rather good-looking and he obviously knew it, because he was positive that all would die just to be with him. But let's get back to the story. Carlos had important information on Umbrella because he was a U.B.C.S. soldier, so the three of them had a lot to discuss. Meanwhile, I was finishing up the paperwork and had to go to another office and pick up certain documents. And guess who I found sitting outside Chris' office? Yup, Kyle. The guy was shocked to see me there and I have to say that the feeling was mutual. We talked for a bit and when I came back to England we just started hanging around. A few months later we became rather good friends. He's a smart, nice guy, an absolute opposite of his brother. Besides, he was the only one I could speak to freely about all my missions, because he already knew a lot being Carlos' little brother.

So, that's the story about me and Kyle. A lot of people thought that we were a couple. No wonder, actually. Everyone did see us hanging around each other all the time. We actually even talked about this idea of being a couple. But luckily we both had the same opinion about it – it wouldn't work out. We're good friends, yeah, but we're not couple material. We're too much alike; there would be no thrill in our relationship. As for the 'sunshine' thing when I was talking with him – that's just how we communicate. We use cute or absolutely ridiculous words to address one another, just for fun. That might be another reason why people thought that we were dating. Suddenly my phone rang and I picked it up.

- Hi, honey. – It was my mom. – I found your missed call. What happened, sweetie? Are you OK?

- Hey, mom. Yeah, I'm fine. I just called to say that I'm coming home tonight. I have to defend my thesis on Wednesday noon.

- Yes, I remember you saying that it will happen somewhere around these days. I'm sorry, honey, but your father and I had to leave for a mandatory conference, but we'll be back on Thursday and we'll be able to celebrate your homecoming and hopefully your diploma. Good luck, sweetheart. I love you.

- Love you too, mom. Bye. – I hung up and continued perfecting the slides and checking up on my thesis one last time.

I didn't even notice how fast time flew and we were in England's airport. It was 8:00 AM, so I still had some time left to get ready.

Piers and I left the chopper and there was already a car waiting for us. Without another word, Piers dashed towards it and I was trying to keep up with him. Once in the car, I told him my home address and Piers turned on the GPS and we drove off. The ride was awfully quiet. I tried to make small talk with him, but all I got in response was more silence.

Half an hour later we were at my place. I let us in and motioned for him to take a seat in the living room.

- You want tea or coffee? – I asked.

- No, thank you. – Was the curt answer I received.

- O…K… Well, I'm going to take a shower. Make yourself at home.

With that I walked to my room, grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom. I took a long shower, which I really needed after that mission. Piers got lucky in a way, because he had a chance to take a shower before the tests. Speaking of Piers, he was acting weird. Everything seemed to be fine and then he just suddenly turned into this block of ice. Did something happen while he was taking the tests? *I don't get it.* At first, I thought that maybe he was tired, but he slept through half of the flight, so he had to be at least a little bit rested. I guess I'll just have to talk to him about it later. Right now I had to get ready for my thesis.

After I showered and washed my hair, I wrapped myself in a towel and started blow drying my hair. After that was done, I exited the bathroom and went into my room. There I put on my classic black pants, a white blouse and a black jacket on top. I put my hair into a tight ponytail, put on my high-heels and was ready to leave. It was 11:00 AM, so I went into the living room, where I found Piers resting on the couch.

- We can go. – I stated simply. He stood up and turned to look at me. I saw his awe-struck face, but he quickly hid that emotion. Something was definitely wrong with him.

- Let's go then. – He muttered and we left my house and took the car to the university.

The ride was short and yet again very silent. The nerves were getting the better of me (not only because of my thesis, but also because of what's wrong with Piers) and my hands started trembling a bit. We stopped and Piers turned to me.

- Call me when this is over; I'll come to pick you up.

- Where are you going? – I asked.

- The BSAA booked a hotel room for me. Good luck.

- Thanks.

Just outside the car was Kyle, already waiting for me with the papers. He approached me with a smile and greeted me with a hug. I heard the car tires screech and saw Piers speed down the street.

- A jealous boyfriend? – Kyle asked referring to Piers.

- I have no idea what's wrong with him. – I said confused.

PIERS' POV.

I locked the door of my hotel room as I walked in. I saw some sort of papers on the table and picked them up. It was a confidentiality agreement between the BSAA and Minnie that she had to sign. By signing it, Minnie will agree that she will not disclose any information about what happened to anyone and that our mission in China will have to be kept a secret. Unwillingly my thoughts drifted to the black haired girl. I don't know what's gotten into me, but when I saw that guy hug her, I felt anger overflow me. Anger, jealousy, call it whatever you want, but I just couldn't bear the view. I couldn't say yet if I was in love with the girl, but I really had strong feelings for her. The scene in front of the university wasn't leaving my head and I felt how my hands balled into fists.

- I need some sort of activity. – I said out loud as I made my way to the shower.

20 minutes later I was lying on the bed, flicking through the TV channels. Not finding anything good to watch, I settled on a history channel, where a man was explaining about the ancient Egyptian civilization. I felt my eyelids get heavy and I let the sleep take over me.

I was harshly pulled out of the peaceful slumber by the ringing phone. I took my cellphone and answered it, not looking at the caller ID.

- Yeah? – I said still a bit sleepy.

- Hey, it's me. – Came a familiar female voice. – I'm done. You can come pick me up.

- I'll be there in a few. – I said and hung up. Quickly I got out of the bed, put on my uniform jacket, which I received with my new uniform at the medical center, and left the room.

A few moments later I parked by the university and waited for a certain black-haired girl. Fair enough, a few moments later I saw her leave through the front door of the university with him. The same guy from before was walking right next to Minnie, talking about something with her. I felt anger and hurt rise in me as my hands clenched the wheel of the car tighter.

MINNIE'S POV.

- It was awful. – I whined to Kyle, as we exited the building.

- Seriously, Min, stop it! – He said. – I saw your presentation, you did well. You surely passed.

- I don't know, Kyle, I'm not so sure about it. – I looked around campus and saw the same car that drove me here in the first place. – There's my ride. – I motioned towards Piers.

- I've been meaning to ask you. Who is that guy?

- Well, we were on a mission together, so you could call us comrades, I guess.

- Comrades? Or maybe something more? – He threw a smug look at me.

- What? – I tried hiding my already reddish cheeks, but Kyle looked at me with a knowing look. – OK, OK. I do like him more than a comrade, and I thought that he liked me too. But on our way from China something happened to him. He started acting strange, like he was mad or something.

- Maybe he's jealous? – Kyle said nonchalantly as he walked me to the car.

- Jealous of what?

- Ask him yourself. Maybe he thinks I'm hitting on you or something.

- That's ridiculous.

- You know that and I know that. But he doesn't. Just talk to him. – He said as we stopped by the car. – OK, little mouse, good luck. And let me know how everything went. – He winked, hugged me and walked away, and I quickly sat into the car.

- Hi there. – I said as I smiled at Piers kindly.

- Hey. – Was the only answer I received from him as he pressed the gas pedal.

The ride was quiet and a few minutes later the car stopped near a hotel.

- Where are we? – I asked looking around.

- It's a hotel where I'm staying. – Piers answered. – There are some papers you need to sign and I forgot to give them to you when we were at your place. When you sign them, I'll take you home. – With that, he got out of the car and I followed suite.

We took the stairs to the 3rd floor and the second door on the right was Piers' room. He unlocked the door and let me in first, then closed the door behind him. The room was small: a 2-sized bed, a TV, a table in the middle with 2 chairs and a small bedside table. Nonetheless, this room was a lot better than the one we stayed at in Eastern Europe, where we found Chris.

- Here. Sign these and we'll be good to go. – Piers said as he motioned towards a pile of papers on the table.

I approached the table and started signing the papers not even sitting down. Piers was standing in front of a window, his back at me. I looked around and spotted luggage by the bed.

- You won't unpack? – I asked him, still signing the papers.

- No. – He answered not looking at me.

- Why not?

- Don't really have any reason to stay here. I'll take you home and then catch the first plane to USA.

- OK, that's it! – I yelled out, slamming the pen on the table and approaching Piers angrily. – What is wrong with you?! – By this time, Piers turned around and I was standing just a few inches away from him. – What's with the attitude?!

- I don't know what you're talking about. – Piers said with no emotion in his voice.

- Everything was fine a day ago, while we were running around China, trying to stay alive! And now, suddenly you're all silent and cold and you don't even talk to me normally! So cut the bullshit and tell me what's wrong!

- Nothing.

- Nothing?! What's gotten into you, Piers?! You're acting like a little child! I thought we were friends! Fuck friends, I thought we… - I quickly shut my mouth before I could say anything else and then regret it.

- You thought what? – It seemed that my unfinished sentence brought Piers back to reality. – What, Minnie? You thought what?! – Now he was the one yelling. – Tell me! Tell me what you wanted to say!

- Nothing… - I murmured as I turned around and started walking away from him and straight to the door.

- Nothing my ass! – He yelled out as he grabbed me by my arm and turned me around to face him. – You wanted to talk? OK then, we'll talk right now! You wanna know what's wrong? OK, I'll tell you. How do you expect me to act when at first you act like you're into me, you kiss me and then, all of a sudden, when we get out of that hell hole, you run back to your Latino boyfriend! I have feelings too!

- What? – I looked at Piers bewildered.

- Don't start with the excuses, Minnie.

- What excuses? Kyle's not my boyfriend. We're just friends. Are you jealous or something?

- You wish! Then what about the whole hugging and going over his head to help you? Do all your guy friends drop everything when you ask for help?!

- Kyle is the only person that I can talk to about my missions! His brother worked for Umbrella, so he knows what's going on. He's the only person I can go to and cry my heart out after a mission gone bad! He's the only person that's risking his own studies to save my ass from being kicked out of the university because he knows what kind of shit I had and still have to go through! He's all those thing, but nothing more; never was and never will be! And if you still don't believe me, then I was wrong thinking that something could be between us, Piers. – By this time, my eyes were starting to water. – Let me go, Piers. I'll finish signing the papers and you'll be free to leave.

I lowered my head and waited for Piers to let go of my arm. But that never happened. Instead I felt a hand under my chin pulling it up and before I could react, Piers crushed his lips onto mine.

Hi, guys! Here's another chapter. Hope you all enjoy this ^_^ Also, here's a WARNING for the following chapter; as I mentioned earlier, this story is rated M for a reason, and that reason will be in the next chapter. If any of you are feeling uncomfortable reading lemons and stuff, I'll make sure to somehow point out where it ends. So yeah, don't say I didn't warn you ^_^ Thank you all for readin and please review ^_^