DEC PROMPT: UGLY SWEATERS/A PUPPY!/MISTLETOE/SNOWSTORM/A CHANCE ENCOUNTER,FIRST/LAST KISS

OPTIONAL GENRE/THEMES: FLUFF/ROMANCE/TRAGEDY

Synopsis: Leon is testing the water, for one last time. Before he accepts whatever is between him and Claire.

#Post-Resident Evil: Death Island #Bittersweet #Alcoholism Recovery

Note: This is far from tragedy. Because everyone knows is temporal. Just a context for those who follow, this happened a couple of months before the event of my other fics, Continuum.

December 2015

The temperature was subzero outside. Only clothed with one layer of outlandish colorfully decorated sweater face of Santa and Rudolph, his body shivered when the sudden draft hit his face. His hand was on the knob when the big mahogany door swung open and the person outside came rushed inside in a hurry. A body smaller than his, came collided with his body hard to the point he had to reverse his left leg to make a wider stance so that both did not plummet to the wooden floor. Leon enveloped her fully just for additional security.

"Oohh... Sorry." Claire apologized and took one step back. The small collision evoked a crooked grin on his face due to great happiness.

"Damn, it's freezing outside." She disentangled herself from his embrace, where he wished she could stay such way longer.

Leon lightly swept the snow from the top of her head. "Why not meet inside?"

"It's just a drop-off." Feeling self-conscious, she straight away tapped her head, in which in the end she was tapping Leon's hand. His grain yet not go away, instead, it grew wider.

Embarrassed, she walked further inside. "You not leaving, aren't you?"

"Thinking about it but..." He saw Claire was about to pass the grand-decorated Georgian archway, so he purposely left the sentence hanging. His heart danced when she stopped exactly where he wanted her to be.

She turned to face him and asked, "But?"

He deliberately delayed his answer, sauntering toward her before squeezing in under the archway. Her brows furrowed and her head slightly tilted, so perplexed by his bold actions. Therefore, he leaned back against the column of the archway opposite her, just to provide her some space. His brain was racking a plan, a calculative one. The idea was not to scare her away from where she was. Armed crossed lazily looking over her between the fringes of his hair. Both hands shoved inside the pockets of his jeans, acting smooth like he usually did with women.

"But not with these ugly sweaters." He raised his arm, the bells that attached to the sleeves jingles. "No way."

"They are not ugly." Claire mirrored Leon, looking down at her sweater. She tried her best to find appropriate words to describe Rebecca's misplaced gift.

"It's..." Gazing at her while she put on her thinking cap, he could not help but smirk mischievously.

"...unique." Leon immediately burst out laughing after he had heard her complete the sentence.

"Yeah, okay. It's ugly.", admitted Claire, joining his laugh.

"Aaahh- finally. We're on the same page."

His smugness was nearly short-lived upon seeing Claire about to move. Straightaway he pushed himself away from the pillar and advanced closer to her. For a moment, the front half of their bodies brushed.

"So..."

She tilted her head, adjusting the tote bag slung on her shoulder. "So..."

"Are you gonna take responsibility for what you drag me into?"

"Into what?" She chuckled, disbelief at his possible assertion. That being so, she reared back to create some space between them.

"You host this Christmas party and manage to wrangle most of us, who hardly call each other. Let alone doing a meet-up. Ergo... obviously...someone gonna pitch in ideas in the name of the so-called Christmas spirit."

"You mean the ugly sweaters?"

His voice dropped low as he spoke. "Amongst other things."

And her brows shot up and asked, "What is this- 'other things'?"

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, he looked up directing her to do the same. In between the Christmas garland and decorations, a nicely put mistletoe was right in the center of the archway.

"Are you-? Did you put this?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you were the one who pointed it out first."

"No, it's not me. It was Sherry who said it first. It was already there when we arrived. So... definitely not the two of us.", denied Leon.

While she tried her best to dig for answers from him. "Then, who put it?"

"How would I know? I don't live here. This is your building. It could be anybody."

"Oh well. I gonna ask Miss Debra then."

Claire shrugged off the back and forth just by mentioning the building owner. However, Leon was far from done with ending the conversation. Leon took another step closer, forcing her back to the column and hugging the tote bag to her chest. Placing one hand just above her head, he leaned closer.

"I think we are forgetting something."

"Are we?"

Claire looked up to face him, biting her lower lip to suppress a smile. He was positive the corner of her lips quirked upward for a smile. Tipping his head low, he was a few inches from her face and his hot breath was faning her face. He was sure she could smell the peppermint in his breath from his new habit of munching Tic Tac all for curbing his addiction to nicotine. Since his sense of smell was tantalized by the mixed aromatic scent of the sweets and cinnamon from her continuous attempts to bake the gingerbread cookies the whole day.

"There's a rule if two people got caught standing under the mistletoe."

"Is it considered a rule though?"

"More like a tradition, to be honest. It's for upholding the essence of peace and love.", clarified Leon.

"Really? I didn't know you were an expert on mistletoe."

"Ermmm- not an expert, just common knowledge."

"Right..." Claire looked at him skeptically.

"So... am I gonna get a kiss from you tonight?" Leon gazed at her with high hope, maybe a little miracle. With him still unmoved from his position, his mouth was mere inches away from her lips.

After a few seconds of shilly-shally, Claire did the unthinkable. She clamped each side of his face which made his heart race for anticipation. On her tiptoe, she proceeded to kiss him. Not his lips, not his cheek, not his nose, not his eyes, not his temple. But it was in fact his forehead. A powerful and lively kiss that she proffered to him. To his dismay, the kinda brotherly kiss that she gave to her brother.

"There. Your kiss." Her smile flashed brightly with contentment, in contrast, the whole situation left him befuddled.

She moved away from the column and started climbing the stairs. In her wake from her leaving, he filled the spot she stood just now. Trying to comfort himself, he leaned forward resting his forehead against the column. What he felt was far from a disappointment and he was already heartbroken by the news of her seeing someone. Now he had to face the possibility of him being taken as a brother. Right then and there, he was praying that this was not a hint of her treating him as an older brother but more of a friendly connotation.

Why is he fooling himself, he asked himself inwardly. Claire was not a cheater, especially not for him. Regardless if it was one-sided, his love for her would be forever more. He must accept the reality, that he was behind time and there was no reversing. Accepting and supporting her was the best he could offer.

"Leon? Are coming back?" She asked innocently.

Cold air rushed in as he inhaled deeply. Psyching himself to be brave on what coming, he cheerfully replied. "You betcha. I'm so gonna beat you in movie bingo tonight."

He walked past Claire and purposedly playfully clashed his shoulder with hers causing the bells to jingle lively. That got him a hearty bright laugh, simultaneously she lighted up the vibrant light attached to her sweater to return his playfulness. Her response made his stomach do a somersault. Without a doubt, he was so in love with her.

Dear God...

Leon wished he had his cigarette. Alcohol was a pass since he was on the road to sobriety. Chewing gum and Tic Tac was not going to mend his heart. He was going to Chris for a nicotine hit for sure, nursing his misery and making it through the night without losing himself. It's all for her.