Claire was sitting on her couch, relaxing and ready to enjoy her Friday night rituals. Mindless TV shows and junk food sounded perfect to her after the week she had. Just before getting up to gather said junk food, the doorbell rang. She jolted up from where she was sitting, made her way to the door, then looked through the pep hole. Piers was standing there, still bruised from his mission in New York. She opened the door and invited him inside. "Hi. I wasn't expecting company. What can I do for you?" She was taken off guard by his unannounced visit. He smiled and shook his head at her.
"It's not what you can do for me, it's what I can do for you." He held up a Redbox movie. "I owe you for being my own personal body guard while I was in the hospital. I heard you never left my side." Again, he waited for her to smile or laugh, but she didn't. He could tell something was off. "Need someone to talk to?" She thought about it, but ended up shaking her head no.
"I don't want to bring you into my problems." She stared at the ground, blankly. He shrugged it off, not wanting her to reminisce on any of her painful memories. Instead, he put the movie into her DVD player, going to her kitchen to grab some snacks. When he got back, she was curled up on the couch with a blanket over her. "What kind of genre is it?" She looked up at him, questioningly.
"Romantic comedy I think. You struck me as the type who likes those kinds of movies." Immediately, there was a change in the atmosphere. Claire's face turned an off shade of white. "What? What's wrong?" Piers was on full alert.
"Sorry. It's just so close to the anniversary.." Claire trailed off with a sad tone in her voice.
"What anniversary?" He was beyond confused at this point. "I can tell something's bothering you. What's on your mind?" She looked up at him with a painful expression.
"Have you ever been in love?" The question seemed out of place, but he answered anyway.
"Yes. Everyone has the one that got away, right?" He attempted to lighten the mood a little.
"I was in love once. His name was Steve." She stared off for a moment, recalling the past events. "After Raccoon City, I left Sherry in Leon's care and went to go find my brother. I got a lead that he was being held captive at an Umbrella facility in Paris. Really, that was just a decoy, and they captured me. I woke up in a cell on Rockfort Island and managed to escape, only to find out the island was overrun with infected prisoners. In the midst of all that, I met a boy by the name Steve Burnside. I'll spare you the details. Just know that after what seemed like forever, me and my brother were reunited, and Steve died saving my life." Exhaustion swept over Claire after she was through spilling out her guts. She laid her head on Piers's shoulder, closing her eyes. There was an almost calming silence between them while Piers thought of something to say.
"So, the anniversary of his death is soon?" He guessed that was what she meant.
"Yea. It's tomorrow." Her voice was soft and quiet. He had to strain a little to hear her. After a while, Claire sat up, obviously wanting to talk more about it. It was the first time in years she had someone to just sit and talk to. "After Steve, I tried to move on. It was a total disaster. I went on a few dates, but all of them ended in failure. I gave up, and started devoting all of my time to my work. For one of our cases, Terra Save and the US government had to work side by side to help aid B.S.A.A. troops in South America. That was the first time Leon and I had met since Raccoon City. We talked for a while, about where are lives had led us. That ended up with a very drunk night spent together, if you know what I mean. When we woke up the next day, we decided to take things from there. He was the closest thing I had to love since Steve. We dated for about two years. It ended when he saw an old love of his. He thought she had perished, but really, she was alive and well. They crossed paths while he was on a mission to recover the president's kidnapped daughter. When he got back, he just seemed so lost. I made it easy on him, and cut all ties. Haven't seen him since." Her eyes watered, remembering all the past heartbreak she had endured. Piers tried to comfort her the best he could, pulling her close to him.
"I understand how you feel." Claire jerked away for him so he could get a good look at her face. Her expression was in between doubt, and what looked like disgust. "I meant sort of. I sort of know how you feel." He just barely managed to save himself. She took a long and deep breath, giving her lungs a chance to expand. Her heart to heart with Piers had completely drained her, to the point that she didn't even notice the movie had started. The space that was between them quickly vanished when Claire snuggled up closer to Piers and laid her head on his chest. Her eyes lids felt heavy, but she was determined to stay awake to watch the whole movie. Unfortunately, it was in vain. Halfway through, sleep over came her. Piers was trying to decide whether or not to wake her, but thought it was a good idea to let her sleep when he noticed how vulnerable she looked. As the movie reached it's end, he got up, very slowly, and laid her down on the couch gently. He grabbed the blanked and pulled it over her.
"Goodnight, Claire." He said as he got his things. He couldn't help but wander to himself, as he was leaving, how she managed to stay strong through all of her experiences. Even sometimes, the Captain had to sit down due to shell shock. Well, she is one hell of a woman, I'll give her that. He thought as he gave her one last look before heading home.