"Chris, I know," she says, and for a moment, there's something dark in her expression and tone alike, cast there by thoughts that have swirled through her head on many an occasion. The choice itself isn't being made in the spur of a moment, Claire reminds herself— she's had weeks to turn back, to apologize and try to make up, but the fact that there's just not enough desire on her end to do so already speaks volumes. "I know, okay? I know that I was an absolute... grade A bitch for making you choose. And I know you were being honest. I'm not saying that, like, you don't care about me, or that I don't care about you— god, I'm pretty sure that the both of us love each other, and that isn't going to change, it's just."

Exhaling, she shakes her head, eyes falling to a close as she raises a hand to her forehead and presses it there, trying to sort out the words.

"It happens, right? Break-ups aren't unusual. The way that I forced this to start is... totally unforgivable. I know that. I'm still beating myself up for it. But that doesn't really change the fact that I still don't think we're really right for each other. I thought that maybe— that maybe I was just being too uptight about things, but the truth is that we just don't have anything in common."