"No," Claire quickly protests, shaking her head, fervently enough that a few curls fall out of place, glancing against her cheek. "No, it's nothing like that. Believe me, if I really wanted to go to a party, there's nothing that anyone else would be able to do to keep me away." A wry grin pulls at her lips as she thinks of Homecoming, such a small deal in the grand scheme of things, but at the time it'd been so important. Important enough for her to defy her father, and for what?

So that her uncle could get himself nearly killed, for her sake?

Her eyes carefully meet Chris', willing him to slow down, to listen, even if he may not understand. "It's just really not my kind of thing. Drinking, smoking, it's just like... I'd rather stay at home and, I don't know, read. Bake. Even learn about genetics. Raves just aren't my thing, and going even makes me a little, I don't know. Uncomfortable."