Don't. [ Her voice isn't sharp but warm and soft, floating around his spine and then up to his shoulder as she lifts her head to balance her chin along there. ] I'd rather you talk to me about it than let it eat you from the inside out.

[ She knows some of the worst parts of him, and that he would share even a little bit of it with her means more than she's willing to admit. Even if he doesn't know some of the worst parts of her, there's a sense of mutual trust between them, the idea that she doesn't need to worry about judgment or anything like that if and when she comes to him with any of her skeletons.

Which is really fucking terrifying, but that's neither here nor there.

More than anything, Claire wants to help, but, lacking in knowledge of how to do so, all she can offer at the moment is the heavy press of her weight at his back and the warmth of her skin as she separates his fingers with her own and laces them together. ]

I might not always know the best thing to say, sometimes I might actually say the wrong thing, but I want to know about stuff like this, stuff that bothers you. [ She tilts her chin to the side a bit, so that she's able to see his profile more clearly. ] I'm not going anywhere.