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A weekend getaway was exactly what Jill needed. Everything seemed to line up perfectly for it anyways. The STARS Alpha Team was given a week and a half long vacation, Chris’ sister Claire was back in town from college, and Jill had gotten the keys to her dad’s lakeside cabin for a four-day weekend. The cabin itself was small with just one bedroom and a pull out couch for the rare case of company. Chris had volunteered himself to sleep on the couch, leaving Claire and Jill to take the bedroom together.
Usually, that wouldn’t have been a big deal for either woman. Claire was more than used to sharing tight spaces with the occasionally overly affectionate women in her sorority at school. The prospect of sharing a bed with Jill for just a few nights shouldn’t have scared her nearly as much as it did. The issue was, Jill Valentine was definitely Claire’s type. Jill was smart, funny, brave, a little older than her, and definitely one of, if not, the most beautiful woman that Claire had ever met. So, sharing a bed with Jill, even if the brunette assured Claire that she kept to her own space, made Claire’s heart race a little in a way Claire didn’t care to explore.
“When’s the last time someone slept on this thing?” Chris asked as he hit the back of the couch. A little cloud of dust rose and Jill shrugged. She hadn’t slept on that couch since she was around 10 or 11. Once she had gotten a little older, her father took to sleeping on his boat instead of staying inside the cabin at night, leaving the bedroom to her.
“Probably too long. It’s been awhile since anyone’s used this place at all,” Jill said as she looked around the cabin. Everyone’s bags had been brought in already, and they were just waiting for Claire to change into her bathing suit so that they could go to the lake. “I don’t think my dad comes up here much anymore.”
“It’s a shame, this is a nice place. You could build on it a little, have a nice family space,” Chris suggested. Jill mulled the thought around in her head a little. This had always been her father’s space to her. He came here to get away from her mother. It had only become “their thing” whenever Jill had gotten old enough to really start butting heads with her mother. At that thought, she smirked a little, memories of past little fights between them coming to mind. It wasn’t particularly funny, but Jill realized now she had definitely gotten a lot of her attitude from her mother.
“Maybe, but he’d never do that. My dad’s kind of out of the family business.” Jill leaned her back against the kitchen counter as she watched Chris. Lately, he had been musing a lot more about family spaces, which she thought was sweet. However, she absolutely was not going to indulge him on his thoughts of the two of them starting something up again. Jill liked Chris, he was sweet and attractive, but he wanted a lot more than she was willing to give. “He was thinking of selling this place though, I can put in a good word for you.”
“You’d do that?” Chris asked and Jill nodded. He seemed a little surprised, but it didn’t distract from the heartfelt smile on his face. Jill could sense it, the bone-crushing bear hug coming her way from Chris, and yet, there was nothing she could have done to stop it.
“Put me down,” Jill grumbled, pretending to be annoyed. Chris set her down on the ground again and stared at her for a moment like he was contemplating telling her something. Before he could say anything, Claire stepped out of the bedroom. Even if Chris had confessed his undying love for Jill, she wouldn’t have heard a word of it. Every fiber of her being was focused on Claire Redfield and how unfairly hot the redhead looked in the plain black bikini top and jean shorts.
“Am I interrupting?” Claire asked, an amused lilt to her voice. Chris jumped away from Jill, getting just far away enough to catch the heat bubbling up behind her eyes. In a moment of superior self-restraint, Chris just turned his back to both women and made his way outside. He waited for the click of the door behind him before making an audible gagging noise.
“Ick,” Chris said to himself as he walked down to the lake. Inside the cabin, Jill struggled to force herself to look away from Claire. The stray thought of having to share a bed with Claire seemed to do the trick. Jill didn’t want to make things awkward the entire time because she had been a perv and couldn’t stop staring at Claire’s body.
“We should go. I don’t know how buoyant Chris is,” Jill joked. Claire cracked a smile at the joke as she nodded. Jill held the door open for Claire and offered an arm to help her down the steps. Jill walked ahead of Claire to the lake just a little bit.
“Did you bring sunscreen?” Claire asked and Jill froze. She hadn’t thought about that, but when she turned around, Claire was holding a spray can of the waterproof. “How long do you think it’ll be before Chris realizes that he doesn’t have a towel or sunscreen?”
“Probably too late,” Jill guessed. The two of them set up a little spot on the shore. Claire sprayed herself with the sunscreen before joining her brother in the water. Jill watched them for a moment before removing her shirt and spraying herself down with the sunscreen.
Chris could see Jill swimming out to meet him and his sister in the water. Claire caught her brother’s eyes widen slightly and turned just in time to see Jill stand up where the water was just below her hips. Instantly, Claire’s mouth went dry and she lost the bit of footing she had on the rocks under her feet. Chris jumped back and let his sister fall into the water, but of course, Jill was there in an instant to help her back onto her feet. Chris nearly gagged again at the awestruck “my hero” look that Claire was giving Jill.
“You okay?” Jill asked. Her tone was one of genuine concern, which Chris appreciated. He may not have liked the thought of his sister dating a member of STARS, but if he was being honest, Jill was the one who he trusted the most. They hadn’t worked out together, but he knew that Jill was practically perfect for Claire. “The rocks can be a bit slippery. I really should have warned you, sorry.”
“I just lost my footing a little, it isn’t your fault,” Claire told her.
“It’s not really that slippery. I don’t think you need to hold onto her so tightly anymore,” Chris said, noting how both of them were clinging to each other.
“Jealous?” Claire teased. Jill’s ears began turning pink, and it had nothing to do with the sun shining brightly above her. Claire missed the blush, but Chris didn’t. His moment of gloating would come later though, tucked away as a story to be told at their future engagement party one day. He realized pretty quickly that this trip would be full of little moments like that.
It was almost like Claire and Jill subconsciously decided to make a game of flustering each other. Jill definitely took first place in that though. Chris had to admit that despite himself, he had gotten a bit distracted watching Jill cutting firewood for them to have a campfire after dinner. Claire had been barely keeping her composure, but she very blatantly began gawking whenever Jill used the bottom of her shirt to wipe away some sweat from her brow. This seemed to be a nightly occurrence until their last night at the cabin, which was when Chris decided it would be a good time to intervene.
“Are you two done yet?” It came out snappier than he had intended. Chris winced a little at the sound of his own voice, but luckily for him, neither Jill nor Claire noticed. Both of them did look up at him though, annoyed looks on their faces. “This was supposed to be fun and relaxing, but I gotta say, watching the two of you dance around each other like this is neither of those things. Just admit you like each other, kiss, and let me have one night of normalcy here please.”
“What are you talking about?” Claire asked, a nervous chuckle accompanying her question. Jill scooted away from Claire a little, as if she was afraid that she was offending Chris by being in the vicinity of his sister.
“You guys know it’s fine if you go out with each other right? Jill, you’d treat my sister nicely, and Claire, you’re responsible and worry just enough to keep Jill safe. I’d have nothing to worry about because you guys are capable of handling your own bullshit, but not taking any from anyone else. I think you guys are perfect for each other honestly, even if you’re currently acting like hormonal idiots,” Chris told them. Jill rubbed the back of her neck as she took in everything that he’d just told them. Claire was quicker to act, and pulled Jill’s hand into her own with a shy smile.
“Hi,” Jill said quietly. Chris rolled his eyes, never having seen her act quite like that before. Claire leaned forward just a bit and pressed her lips to Jill’s cheek. “You wanna go inside?”
“Nope, not on this trip!” Chris yelled. “Save it for a place I don’t have to be too please. Just set up a date first, for the love of god. Oh, and you’d better not try to sleep with my sister on the first date, Valentine!”
“No promises,” Claire said quietly. Both Chris and Jill’s heads snapped towards her with wildly different looks on their faces.
“That’s it, you have lost bed privileges!” Chris exclaimed dramatically. Both women had assumed that he was joking until bedtime rolled around and the two women found themselves sharing a bed that definitely wasn’t made for three adults.