Chapter Fourteen: New Face

Xavier slept the previous night away like a child on Rebecca's couch with a satisfied grin on his face. Rebecca however, did not. Instead, she stayed up all night sitting in a chair next to the couch and thought about Xavier's upsetting story. Her empathy for him grew dramatically each time the horrible images popped into her head. But at the same time, she was worried. She was never put in such a situation. Rebecca never experienced a person so emotionally scarred that she felt the need to be their support. And it happened so sudden!

Rebecca let out a stress filled sigh and buried her face into her hands. It was at that moment when Xavier slowly opened his eyes and woke up to an early morning. He stretched and let out a yawn that was rather loud, which got Rebecca's attention. She smiled at him warmly.

"Morning." Rebecca said softly. Xavier turned his head at Rebecca and flashed a charming grin at her.

"Morning to you, too." Xavier sat up from the couch and began to rub his eyes.

"Sleep well?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah. I haven't slept this good since...well...forever, really. Forgot what a good night's sleep was." Xavier responded faintly.

"I'm glad to hear. You're feeling okay too, right? Much better than before?" Rebecca asked.

"Much better. Like I said, I haven't felt so good in a long, long time." Xavier said while he scratched his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

They were quiet for a while until Rebecca finally broke the silence.

"You know..." Rebecca paused while examining Xavier closely. "...we never got the chance to get you out of those dirty clothes. It must feel so uncomfortable." Rebecca finished her sentence sounding genuinely concerned for Xavier.

He looked up at her with a smirk and folded his hands together.

"Yeah, but these are the only ones I have." Xavier shrugged with a smirk.

"Can't be wearing the same thing over and over without washing it at least, Xavier."

"I washed them...just in a river, which was last week." Xavier looked a bit embarrassed.

"A river? I-I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound insensitive..." Rebecca immediately felt bad.

"No, no. It's fine, I understand. It's just what I have to do, you know? Like I said, these are the only clothes I have."

"Let's buy you some, then." Rebecca chuckled. Xavier looked at her with an expression of slight surprise, but on the inside he was highly amused.

"Buy me clothes? You'd actually be willing to do that for me?"

"I let you come inside, eat, shower, and sleep. Why wouldn't I at this point?" Rebecca giggled slightly.

"Well, it's just that...not a lot of people on this...er, 'planet' is willing to do such a thing." Xavier lowered his head for a moment and sighed deeply before looking back up at Rebecca in the eyes with a sincere look on his face.

"Rebecca, we hardly know each other and in this short period of time, you did all of this...for me. Most selfish people would call you an idiot, a fool. But...the truth is, you're not. You're an extraordinary person. You could've let anyone in here, anyone with the wrong intentions, anyone with the wrong mindset...but you knew that. You knew that and you still did it. You did it because you care...You weren't looking after yourself. You weren't looking for a reward. You were looking out for others to give them the help that they desperately need, which no one else is able to do. And-." Xavier paused again and looked deeper into Rebecca's eyes. Rebecca at that point was already sold by his words. Tears rolled down to his cheeks as he continued.

"And...I know, this sounds pathetic. Look at me, getting all sentimental over some fucking clothes." Xavier laughed while he wiped away his tears. Rebecca stood up and sat next to him on the couch and placed her hand on his shoulder. The two locked eyes for a long while in silence. He resumed in a very soft tone of voice.

"I thought there was nothing left for me in this world, Rebecca. I thought there was absolutely nothing. But you...you brought light in the darkness. You're the one who helped me escape this...this black hole of pain a-and misery. I now realize that the suffering isn't life. It's part of life. And part of life is overcoming it...overcoming it with someone."

More tears rolled down Xavier's cheeks, but this time it was Rebecca who wiped them away for him. Xavier smiled warmly at her.

"Thank you...for being a human being." Xavier concluded.

Rebecca's eyes filled with tears as well. She grinned widely and spoke in the same tone of voice as him.

"I'll make you something to eat, then we can go out, okay?"

"Sounds great...thanks." Xavier replied.

Rebecca rose from the couch and started to walk away, but was stopped when Xavier gently grasped her arm to get her attention. She turned around and glared at him with a puzzled look, and it was like that for a long time. Finally, Xavier spoke.

"Don't you work or...something?" Xavier spoke cautiously, which made Rebecca let out a faint giggle.

"Yes, but I have a late shift tonight, so we're free for the day."

"Oh. Uh...g-good." Xavier chuckled awkwardly.

"You gonna give me my arm back or are you gonna keep it as a souvenir or something?" Rebecca teased Xavier playfully. Xavier's face immediately turned blood red and he freed her arm.

"Sorry about that. I...forgot." Xavier laughed it off nervously.

"Don't worry about it." Rebecca smiled widely at Xavier before walking off, while Xavier simply sat there closely observing her. Everything went smoothly and he was pleased.

Leon on the other hand felt trapped. He stood around in the bathroom for a couple of minutes. His heart felt like it was ready to explode, his soul ready to be soon obsolete, all because he liked Claire. Leon never put this amount of pressure on himself. Never! Not even on his first day of being a rookie, and becoming a police officer was his lifelong dream. How could a person impact him so much in such little time? How could a person make him feel so out of character? It was like a fantasy to him. Then suddenly, it sunk in. Leon remembered the things Claire said to him back in the hospital.

It all made sense.

The shocked lookalike, the incident that put him in the hospital, the strange sensations that he felt whenever he was around her.

He was scared of messing up. He was scared of messing everything up. If someone could change a person so much, make them care, make them feel, then it's something bigger than anything, even their dream job.

It was love.

Leon Kennedy was in love with Claire Redfield.

He was never in love before, so to him it made perfect sense. If this was just any other girl, he'd still be downstairs with no sense of awkwardness being around her family in her home. But this was different, completely different.

At that very moment, Leon knew what he had to do. That was to face the many obstacles in his way. The challenges, the struggles, everything for Claire. He had to impress her overprotective big brother and prove that he isn't like the others, that he truly cares for Claire. Whatever happened in the past, whether he remembers it or not is just that. The past. History. Behind them in time.

Hiding in a small bathroom from the situation wasn't going to impress anyone.

Leon proceeded to splash some water on his face and looked closely in the mirror. He saw himself. Himself. Leon S. Kennedy. Unlike before, before him was a confident young man with a positive future ahead of him. Kennedy took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door and made his way downstairs.