A/N: I got the idea for this one-shot after listening to the song "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. It's only now that I got the inspiration to write this since today I FINALLY beat RE2 ^_^ Feel free to tell me what you think, and please give me pointers to what I can do better. But go easy on me, I know I'm a crappy writer, so please don't rip me to shreds.

As a side note, I apologize to those that actually liked "I'm With You". I had to delete the story since it's really not going anywhere and I could have done so much better on it. I promise sometime in the distant future I will retry writing the story, and hopefully it will be better than ever.

Disclaimer: There must be something seriously wrong with you if you believe that I own Resident Evil, Capcom, or the song "Mr. Brightside". The only thing I own is the story itself.

Who would have thought my first vacation in years would be at Chris's apartment, celebrating the end to Wesker. The one thing I'm probably looking forward to the most is seeing Claire again; it's definitely been far too long. I can't help but wonder if things would have been different for us if we never separated back in Raccoon…maybe it would have been Claire I kissed, and not Ada.

The apartment door is placed right in front of me, Room 206. Nothing more then a quick rasp of the knuckles and I can hear movement on the other side of the door; someone's coming.

I guess you can't imagine my surprise, when it's none other than Steve Burnside who opens the door. Last I heard Steve died back at the Umbrella Antarctica Base in '98.

From somewhere in the background a voice calls out, "Steve, who is it?"

I'd know that voice anywhere, Claire! Only a heartbeat later, Claire is standing behind Steve, looking over his shoulder to see who the new comer is. It's amazing how beautiful she looks in that pink sundress.

"Leon!"

"Hey Claire, it sure has been a while, hasn't it?"

As Claire leads me into the room, I can't help but notice that look on Steve's face, almost as if he's not too happy that I'm here.

While I'm reacquainted with old friends, I notice Claire dragging Steve by the arm towards me.

"Steve, this is my friend I've been telling you about, Leon Kennedy. And Leon, this is Steve Burnside, my boyfriend."

Whoa, wait; what!? Since when has Claire had a boyfriend? Its official, I have the shittiest luck in the history of timing.

Despite the emptying pit inside my stomach, I try to put up a façade of happiness, for Claire. As I shake Steve's hand, I can tell he's faking it as well. I don't know what Claire's been telling him about me, but it must be something that's enough for him to hate me.

Once the familiarities are made, Steve and Claire run off to the kitchen to get some snacks.

When they return, I'm currently mid-conversation with Jill. Apparently she decided to dye her hair back to brown; I guess blonde just didn't sit well with her. While we're talking, I can't help but notice how Steve and Claire are blatantly being full on "lovey-dovey"; it's actually quite disgusting.

I try my best to ignore them.

It's getting rather late; I'm nearly asleep on the couch that is conveniently placed in Chris's living room when Claire comes to sit by me. Most of the people that were at the party are already gone, with the exception of Chris, his sister, and Steve.

She notices my attempt to hide an on coming yawn. The look of concern in her eyes is enough to twist my heart.

"Leon you look like you're about to collapse! How about you stay here tonight? I'm sure Chris won't mind."

"No thanks Claire, but I think I've been here long enough, I'm sure your brother would love to kick me out by now."

"Fine, but at least let me call you a cab." While Claire gets up to find the phone, I decide to go outside onto the patio. Once I feel the cool air on my face, I let out a deep breath, only to inhale a cloud of suffocating smoke.

Five feet to my left, Steve is leaning against the brick wall, smoking a cigarette. I shake my head in disappointment, and head back inside. Some guy Claire's dating.

The hotel bed provides me with the comfort I've been longing all day. This is definitely one hell of a vacation, I'll give myself that much. I begin to close my eyes when a sickening image begins to play in my head.

Claire and Steve are alone in a dark bedroom; slowly Claire begins to brush her hand against Steve's chest while she leans towards him to ensue in a passionate kiss; now he's trying to take off that pink dress she was wearing earlier in the night.

I can't stand to watch this anymore, it's killing me on the inside, seeing Claire with another man. And to think, that could have been me if I hadn't been so dense to see what was going on between us.

With a jolt I wake up to see that it's close to dawn, the only thoughts in my head, damn I screwed up big time.