(You are) The Reason

Snowstorm slows down

The Next Day, Friday November 10th.

Sherry wakes up letting out a yawn as she stretches out feeling so much better than she has in weeks, then she looks over and sees that Jake isn't in the bed with her which made her wonder where he'd gone before she decided if it was time to panic. She slid off the bed brushing her teeth and hair as she rinsed the sleep off of her face making her way downstairs, she looks around for Jake not yet seeing him so she was about to call out for him until she stops walking taking in the sight in front of her; There was a shirtless Jake in her kitchen humming along to a song on the radio while cooking for the both of them, she was captivated by such a small gesture because this was a side of Jake she hadn't seen before. She's used to Jake being on guard and defensive and closed in but here he is, showing himself with his guard completely down and best of all cooking.

She went over to the chair sitting in it so she could watch him in his most relaxed state "Carry on my wayward son, there'll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest, don't you cry no more." He sings while beating his air drums while he's cooking the food, Sherry smiles in awe as she leans her chin in her hands soaking up the pure entertainment. He spins around after turning off the frying pan and he noticed her so he halted momentarily seeing the pure adoration on her face and it made his heart soar, just the smallest gesture from this beautiful woman and his mind was on cloud nine. He coughed to hide the blush spreading on his cheeks as he brought her plate over to her with a warm mug of berry tea to make a nice contrast to the wild snowstorm still brewing outside.

"How long have you been watching me?" He asks earning him a silly smile from her in response and her smile added to the increase in his heartbeat; She was so sweet and insanely gorgeous, he still was mind blown that she'd fell for him the same way that he fell for her. Best of all he was blessed to be back in her presence in the midst of a snowstorm, just like when they first met. However, now they don't have to worry about running for their lives from J'avos and Ustanak. It was just them in her house rekindling everything they had to put aside for the time being eight years ago. Jake couldn't be any happier with where they are right here and now, nothing else in this world mattered more than making up for all of their lost time. 

Jake joins her at the table and he sees her enjoying her food as he wonders if he should ask her about Simmons, but he also didn't want to open any sealed wounds that she might have. He didn't want to intentionally hurt her with his genuine curiosity, however as if reading his mind she looks up after taking a satisfactory sip from her tea with a look of concern and interest. "Jake, I can see the gears in your handsome head turning and I'm concerned. What else would you like to know about me and Leon and the rest of the survivors from Raccoon city?" She asks and Jake's skin grows goosebumps all over in surprise and admiration, she knew he was conflicted without him even saying anything. Gosh, was that attractive and so cool. Their mental link had definitely grown over the years which he found incredibly cool, they didn't even have to talk for her to always know what to say even when he thinks she is clueless. 

"Don't worry about whatever it is, I'm more than eager to tell you what you want to know Jake." He takes a breath at this reassurance before he's poking at his eggs with his fork as he looks up at her. "Sherry, I don't know how exactly to ask this but I was wondering.. who was Simmons to you? Besides your advisor, I mean." Sherry looks up at him with a sad smile before it disappears. "Simmons was .. like family to me, he was like my dad when my father had passed away. They had to protect me since everyone wanted to use me for some kind of vaccine or some kind of virus, he was my legal guardian since my mom trusted him and they had a bond.." She says and Jake processes what she's saying and he can already understand why it hurt so much to find out that he was the man behind the death of the president and the virus outbreak. However, he could feel a 'but' coming in her sentence since she looked rather conflicted with her thoughts.

"Little did I know that Simmons agreed to be my legal guardian so he could earn my trust and use me for all kinds of blood tests and samples, I was merely just his token to try and make the virus stronger. I admired Simmons but younger me wasn't old enough to understand that Simmons was the bad guy, in fact this was new to me until recently. Leon explained everything to me, it's no wonder he was so aggressive when asking for the whereabouts of Simmons back in China. He already knew how horrible Simmons was but since I'd been blind to this mans ways, I'd trusted him with my whole life because to me he'd done no wrong and I saw him like another parent.." Jake can feel the pain in her words and the bittersweet tone as she smiled sadly, he knew how she felt. That's the way he felt about his father, he felt like his father was just a deadbeat but then he finds out that he planned to wipe about the entire world.

Sherry, Leon, Claire, Chris, and Piers too at that. He couldn't imagine a world without any of them but most importantly Sherry now that he'd spent such a long time with her, she grew on him and he had no complaints with that. Sherry finished eating and she went to the room getting dressed in a white blouse and blue jeans, Jake sees her in the midst of putting her shoes on and he's a little confused as to where she might be going. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asked looking over at her, she smiles softly at him as she puts on her coat. "This is Raccoon City news, the snowstorm has slowed so if you plan on going out for any reasons. Dress warm and stay safe, and have a very good Christmas week. Stay tuned for the next news updates." The news reporter says and then Sherry smiles looking at Jake. "I was wondering if you want to come with me, I'm meeting Chris, and Claire. Leon is gonna be there too this time." She says and Jake has to admit, he's not all that happy about Leon being there considering how they'd left things. He hadn't forgotten how aggressive he was with Sherry when he wanted that information about Simmons, Sherry noticed his face and she frowned softly approaching him lacing her fingers through his. "Aww, Jake.. I know you two haven't gotten a chance to hang out with each other but please. For me? I promise everything will be fixed when we get there. What do you say, Jake?" She asks with the softest voice and a pout on her lips, Jake groaned because he knew he couldn't say no when she's being this cute. If she's right then he'll definitely see to it that Sherry gets an apology from Leon, he doesn't care how special Leon might be. 

"Sure, Sherry. I'll go for you. Besides, I wanna see Chris again. We're kind of cool now." He says and she raises an eyebrow to which he smiles placing his free arm around her shoulders. "I'll explain later hun, don't worry." 

Here comes another Raccoon City reunion, this time with Claire and Chris.