Does this count as a meet-cute?
Pairing: Jill Valentine x Redfield!Fem! Reader
Summary: You meet Jill on what was supposed to be a night of drinks with just you and your siblings.
Warnings: Chris and Claire speculate about readers sexuality, reader briefly assumes Jill and Chris are a thing, coming out, mentions of homoerotic highschool friendship, drinking, cursing, it's not like sad or anything like that but it's set in the early 2000s and reader isn't very loudly queer (yet)
A/N: This may be a little ooc for everyone bc I am very new to the Resident Evil fandom. I just wanted to write for Jill bc I feel like there's a lack of fics for the beautiful ladies of RE and I'm gay. Don't call me a larper, or do, idc I had so much fun writing this.
also maybe it's time for a master list that isn't just Gracie Wacie.
Chris knows what's happening here. He was aware of it from the moment you, his first baby sister, stepped foot in the bar.
He had invited you here because he wanted to see you, check in on the very normal life you had been afforded. He invited Claire, wanting to have his little sisters in the same room even if only for a couple of hours. But as things happen, Jill ended up tagging along, which was completely fine by him.
Claire had run off to the restroom before you arrived. You stood by the door and made eye contact with him with a giddy smile, reminiscent of when you were kids and you'd wait for him to be dropped off by the school bus.
"There she is," Chris had said, causing Jill to look over to you. And he noticed her reaction, the catch in her breath, the way her jaw dropped slightly. The way her eyes widened and then immediately focused on the beer bottle in her hands.
This is your bar– the one you regular, anyway. And you made that known. Instead of running to your big brother like you used to, you greeted the bartenders, then a couple of other regulars. Then finally, you made your way to the booth.
"Hi big brother," you smiled, pulling him into a quick sibling hug before pulling away. "Where's our baby sister?"
"Bathroom, she'll be back any minute," he let you know.
"Ah," you nodded before turning to Jill. "You must be Jill, my siblings speak very highly of you."
The moment you introduced yourself and sat down comfortably next to Jill, Chris knew it'd be a matter of minutes before you had her wrapped around your finger. He's seen it happen time and time again.
Chris finds it funny in a way. Having been the one to raise you through your most socially formative years, he thinks it's a miracle that you ended up so charming. You and Claire often tell him that he doesn't give himself enough credit. He was just a kid himself, he did a fine job.
Chris knows that new people are your weakness. Or one of your strengths, maybe. And Jill may actually be your favorite kind of new person. You love a puzzle. You like to get too close, pushing conversational boundaries, getting to know a persons brain before you've even memorized their name.
From the moment Chris met Jill, he felt like the two of you had to meet. It's not that you two are incredibly similar, your personalities are very different actually. There was just something that put you and Jill together in his head.
Then Jill came out to him and he had an ohhh moment. He realized what had initially put you and Jill together was pattern recognition. He hadn't realized what the pattern was until Jill gave it a name, and your teenage years started to make a lot of sense. You've never officially come out to Chris, and he knows he could be wrong. Still Jill is such a close and trusted friend, after all of this time, he wanted the two of you to meet.
He tactfully excuses himself under the guise of getting you a drink, and heads over to the bar to watch. Again, Chris has seen you with a new person before, so he's not watching you. He's watching Jill.
You're talking, and you're making her talk back. She thumbs up and down on the neck of her beer bottle. You look down at it, then make a 'yuck' face.
Chris reads your lips from across the room, beer is so gross. This is something Chris has heard from you so many times. Jill laughs, nodding in agreement all while taking a sip from the bottle.
Someone approaches Chris from the side, and nudges him with their arm. He looks down to see Claire knowingly glaring up at him.
"I fucking knew this is what you were trying to do," Claire says, turning to watch the conversation happening at the booth.
Across the room, you lean in close to Jill, talking about God only knows what. Jill registers your proximity, and hides her nerves well, but she's holding on to that beer bottle like it's a lifeline. You're making her nervous.
"Not sure what you're talking about," Chris replies.
"Bullshit," Clare retorts. "You're totally trying to set them up."
"I thought if she met Jill, she'd realize that it's okay to share that part of herself with her siblings," Chris says. "Think Jill likes her though."
"So, are we just going to let Jill keep our sister all night," Claire asks. "I did actually want to hang out with her."
"Give 'em a few more minutes," Chris says, fully sitting down on the bar stool behind him, then turning away from the conversation. Claire does the same.
Jill hadn't realized she had no idea what you looked like until you walked into the bar. She had heard the door open and looked over out of the natural instinct to locate the source of a noise.
When Chris and Claire talked about their sister, the one who wanted nothing to do with the government and all of the stuff you shouldn't even know about, Jill pictured- Well, she pictured Chris and Claire. But you don't look like them- not in a bad way- she just wouldn't look at you and immediately assume you're related to them. That comes with observing you, your body language, the way you act. You're their sister for sure.
Jill knows she had a reaction when she saw you. She also knows that Chris caught it. In the first ten of the sixty seconds you were here before you walked over to the booth, Jill had decided that she'd be respectfully polite to you and nothing more. You're her friends sister, and you're probably not gay. If you were, Jill thinks Claire or Chris would've mentioned that when she confirmed her sexuality to them.
But then you addressed her by name and gave her yours, effectively setting butterflies free in her stomach. Then, you sat down. Next to her. And then Chris walked away, leaving her alone with you and her thoughts about how attractive you are. She's screwed.
She can smell your perfume, your shampoo. Your skin is glowing. She wonders if you look like this all of the time. On top that, Jill studies the way you carry yourself. The words you choose to use, how comfortable you are in conversation with a virtual stranger.
Jill finds herself uneasy in a way she didn't expect. She figured the worst thing that could happen tonight is that you wouldn't like her. She never even considered what could happen if she really liked you.
Jill looks down at the beer bottle in her hand, thumbing up and down on the neck. In the five minutes that she's been aware of you as more than just the third Redfield sibling- technically second, you have eleven months on Claire if Jill isn't mistaken- that bottle has become the most interesting thing in the world.
"Beer is so gross," you laugh, and Jill looks up. Your face is contorted in a look of sheer disgust. It's cute. Fuck, you're cute.
Jill laughs in spite of herself, in spite of how some people would take an ill opinion of their drink order as an insult. She just nods in agreement, taking a swig from the bottle.
"Yeah? What do you drink," Jill asks, her voice teetering the line of a flirtatious challenge. She hears it as it comes out, and decides immediately that she needs to dial it back.
"Amaretto Sour," you say. "It's the first drink I ever tried and I've stuck with it. They're delicious."
They say you can tell a lot about a person by their drink order. Jill wonders if you're as sweet as yours.
She bites her lip, once again looking down at the bottle in her hands. You giggle low.
"You look so nervous," you say, leaning in super close. "I didn't think people like you and Chris were allowed to get nervous. Or are you nervous because of Chris?"
Your eyebrows come together in a pretty question.
"Are you not, um," you tilt your head to the side and Jill gets it. You think she and Chris are together, but as soon as she gathers that, you gather that they're not. "Oh, he talks about you a lot- I guess I just assumed. I'm sorry."
Now you look nervous too. A look Jill deduces you don't wear often. This she can work with. She laughs again. Her shoulders back straighter.
"It's okay, you're not the first person to assume," Jill says, glancing over to the bar. Chris and Claire sit next to each other chatting while waiting for their drinks. "He's a good friend."
"I thought it was odd that he had never called you his girlfriend," you grimace like you feel like an idiot. "But, as I'm sure you know, my brother is odd. So I just thought."
Jill narrows her eyes at you, a small smile playing at her lips. She wonders whether or not you know how adorable you are. She decides that you do, when you smile at her to ease the tension.
Chris and Claire weren't weird when she told them about her sexuality. That, paired with the overall vibe you give off, gives her a hopefully well placed sense of comfort with you. You're not going to judge her.
"I don't actually," Jill considers her words. She doesn't want anything to be left up to interpretation. "I'm a lesbian. Men just, you know, don't do it for me."
You were stoked to see your siblings. Its all you thought about this past week.
But now, Chris and Claire are nowhere to be found and you're sitting next to Jill. Jill who might actually be the most gorgeous woman you've ever seen in your entire life. Toned arms, short hair that was probably born out of practicality for her line of work but is still very chic, her eyes draw you in, her lips are naturally pouty. She's beautiful.
You noticed it practically instantly, having to take a minute to get your act together before approaching the booth. Still, you haven't stopped noticing it. In your defense it's been less than fifteen minutes. You don't think you're being completely obvious. It's not like you're openly checking her out.
You've lived long enough to know not to assume other women are like you. You gave up on it as a teenager, after you realized that kissing practice with your best friend was actually just practice to her. Your parents died long before you knew there was a name for the way you are, and you've never even bothered with telling your siblings. You always thought that you would eventually, but eventually hasn't happened yet. You haven't had a reason. But now, you think a reason is sitting right next to you.
'A reason' has just told you that she's a lesbian. After you assumed she was dating Chris, which you felt bitter about upon seeing her for the first time. Then you felt bad for being jealous of your brother. And now, you know you have no reason to be.
"Oh," is all you can manage as heat rushes to your face and the tips of your ears. You want to have a better reaction, thank her for telling you or maybe signal somehow that you're queer too. But you're shocked.
You can't get over the fact that you have never said it out loud to anyone except for your casual hook ups, and Jill has just said it like it's easy.
"Oh?" Jill questions, she looks less timid than when you first sat down. She now looks like she gearing up to be defensive.
"Not 'oh' like oh," you put emphasis on the last one to that makes it sound mean. You sigh and brace yourself. "Oh, like.."
You trail off, biting the inside of your lip to stop talking. You look over to see Chris and Claire walking toward the booth with drinks in their hands. You feel something that you wouldn't quite compare with shame settle over you. You're not ashamed of who you are. If there's any shame, it's about keeping it from the two people who you know would love you no matter what.
Your thoughts must show on your face, transparent to someone who has undoubtedly felt them before. There's a look of knowing on Jill's face when you finally meet her eyes.
She winks at you. Small, but comforting, signaling that she understands in a way that's not perceivable to your siblings who are now sliding into the booth across from you and Jill. No hard feelings.
"The drinks took forever, I think the guy might be new," Claire says as Chris slides you your drink.
Chris slides another beer toward Jill, then takes a sip of his own.
"He's worked here longer than I've been coming here actually," you laugh. "He's a cool dude though. Just Devin."
You take a sip of your drink, noticing out of the corner of your eye as Jill watches you do so.
"So, what did you two talk about while we were gone?" Chris asks.
Your pulse quickens. An instinct inspired by the sense of understanding you and Jill just established causes you to look to her. Shes looking at Chris and Claire in a way that makes you wonder if she realizes just how cool she really is.
"I was just about to tell her about the time I saw you eat shit during training," Jill takes charge of the conversation. She leans over to you while holding eye contact with Chris. "Two weeks ago by the way."
You and Claire both burst with laughter.
"Yeah, yeah, we can't all be perfect," Chris rolls his eyes.
"I can, because I am," you chime in.
"Oh you're so full of it," Claire laughs.
You hear Jill chuckle lightly beside you and glance over to her. She's looking at you.
"I am," you defend yourself.
"I didn't say anything," she throws one hand up in mock innocence, using the other to press the bottle to her lips.
She's so nice to look at, but your eyes don't linger. You look away just in time to see the tail end of a look your siblings share. Like they know something you don't. It causes you to slightly shrink yourself, putting some distance between yourself and Jill in the booth. It's just a second before Jill says something that makes the table laugh and you feel yourself relax again. You just let the conversation flow.
A couple of rounds later, you're giggly and kindly buzzed. You're pleased with having seen your siblings, but more than that, you're very glad to have met Jill. After years of hearing about her as a part of Chris's life, you now catch yourself wondering if she might become a fixture in yours.
Chris and Jill are laughing about something that happened back in the day. You look toward the bar, at the clock on the wall, and your eyes widen.
"Do you have to work tomorrow?" Claire asks, catching it and pulling your attention back to the table.
"Yeah, I do," you frown, grabbing your bag from the floor and moving to stand. "I gotta go."
Claire boos you, while Chris stands to let her out of the booth. When she stands you put your hands on her shoulders.
"Baby sister, I love you so very much," you say, before pulling her into a hug.
"I love you too," Claire says as you both pull back.
She settles back into the booth as you turn to Chris, about to tell him goodbye.
"I'll walk you," he says before you can start.
"Chris, it's like five minutes away," you start to protest.
"Exactly, which means it'll only take ten minutes of my time to make sure my sister gets home safe," Chris says. "I'm walking with you."
You nod, letting him have it. He really is such a good big brother.
"Right, well," you turn to where Jill sits. "Jill, it was really nice meeting you."
"Yeah, you too," Jill says, dipping her chin in your direction.
"Don't be a stranger," you smile with your final goodbye.
You and Chris walk to the door and out of the bar. For the first minute of the walk to your building, the two of you don't talk. Chris walks closest to the street observing the area. But it seems like he grows tired of the silence, so he speaks.
"So, what did you think of Jill," he asks, glancing over to you.
You look up at him, and see it on his face. He knows, of course he does. He's the only person alive who has known you from the start of your life to this point. Of course he fucking knows.
"Oh, motherfucker," you mutter, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. It's empty at this time thankfully. "Chris-"
"It's not like that," Chris says, and he means it, but he's also trying to calm you before this blows up into something it doesn't need to be. "It's really not like that."
You breathe like you've been punched in the gut, adrenaline starts pumping through you.
"Does Claire know too?" You ask, voice desperate. You cover your face with your hands, peeking through your fingers.
Chris hesitates, clearly not wanting to upset you, but he nods.
"How long have you guys known? What the fuck." You drop your hands, just in time for someone to almost bump into you. Chris guides you out of the way by your upper arms.
"It's not like we knew, we just thought," Chris says. "Jill, she told me that she's gay a couple of years ago, it made me put two and two together."
"A couple of years," you spit out in pure shock. Then you pause, eyebrows coming together as you shake your head. "Jill? Were you trying to set me up?"
Chris doesn't need to say anything, his expression is enough to admit guilt.
"I do just fine for myself," you say.
"It's not like that," Chris repeats. "I just want you to know that it's okay."
"I know it's okay," you say. "I know that."
"Of course it is," Chris sighs, putting his hands on your shoulders. "You know what I'm trying to say. I love you, Claire loves you, I think Jill-"
You hold up one finger at him, and he stops. You shake out of his gentle grasp, and start walking down the block toward your place again. Chris follows close behind.
When you reach the building, you turn to Chris, crossing your arms.
"I don't want you to be mad at me," Chris says, mirroring your posture.
"I'm not mad, I just," you huff vaguely gesturing between the two of you. "This isn't how I thought this conversation would go."
"You can't plan for everything," Chris says.
You roll your eyes and huff. "Goodnight, Chris."
Chris opens his arms, causing you to roll your eyes again. He opens them wider. You relent and step toward him and he wraps his arms around you. After a couple of annoyed seconds, you return the hug.
"I love you," he says. "No matter what."
"I know," you mumble, then pull away. "I love you too. Be safe, call me whenever you can. Tell Claire the same."
Chris nods, gently flicking your forehead to annoy you like he used to when you were kids. You stare at him blankly for a second and then turn to walk up the steps toward the entrance of your building.
"I'm going to give her your number by the way," Chris says from the bottom of the steps, you turn to look at him. "If Claire hasn't already, I'm going to. What you do when she calls is up to you."
Another blank stare, then you turn and walk the rest of the way up the steps and into your building.
When you reach your front door, you dig in your bag for your keys, tears prick threateningly at your eyes. You don't know why you want to cry. That went well all things considered, maybe you're sad, maybe you're happy, maybe you're relieved. Whatever it is, you try your hardest to push that feeling away.
You open your door to the sound of your answering machine beeping. You recognize the voice leaving a message.
"Hey, it's Jill," her voice plays through the machine as you drop your bag next to it. "Look, this is probably positively lame, but I got your number from Claire."
"Of course you did," you laugh like she can hear you. She could, if you'd just pick up the phone, but not tonight.
"I just want to say that I really enjoyed meeting you tonight, and I hope that 'don't be a stranger' request was more than just a polite goodbye," she sort of laughs at herself. "I don't plan to be... a stranger. Anyway, have a good day at work tomorrow. Hopefully I'll see you around. Preferably before the next time they send me out. Goodnight."
You huff, looking at the machine like it's her. You smile in spite of really wanting to be annoyed. It's not her fault that your siblings like to meddle.
Besides, they may be right about this one.
