Who: Claire Redfield and Pike. When: Right after this and this. Where: The repair bay What: Uncomfortable conversation brought on by truth serum.
Claire hadn't expected this conversation to happen at all. Least of all like this. That god damned truth whatever had done more harm than good. Not only had she relived Steve's death about nine more times than she wanted to when the guests asked her about it, but when Pike had shown the slightest bit of sign that he was interested in her, she out and told him exactly how she felt.
They'd argued about it on the forums. He thought he was no good for her. She wasn't afraid of him or his past. Yeah, it had been bad, but he wasn't that guy anymore. She could tell. He was a good person, whether or not he wanted to see it. And she wasn't the only one who thought that way. If he wasn't good, he wouldn't be so worried about hurting her. She laughed bitterly. He was another guy in the long line claiming not to want to hurt her but hurting her in the same breath. It had been why she and Leon hadn't worked and inevitably why she and Steve hadn't had their moment before he died. What was it, she wondered, with guys and their complete blindness? In saying 'I don't want to hurt you, but we can't be together' they were doing exactly that. It was no wonder people called women the smarter sex.
Really, though, this was as much her fault as anyone else's. She'd been avoiding the truth for obvious reasons. If she'd just opened her mouth sooner, or something like that, maybe things would have been different. If she hadn't acted like she was in freaking high school - acted her age for once - maybe he would have been more willing to act. But she had reasons. Until very recently, she'd been positive that he didn't want her, couldn't want her. He was the type of guy that a girl like her had one of those long-lasting unrequited things for. That was what she'd expected. Not this. Not that he'd feel the same, but not want to try.
She looked up and realized that she'd gotten to the repair bay already. The moment of truth, more or less. He'd said that he might not be there. She expected him not to, actually. Her stomach was in knots as she stepped inside, looking around and swallowing nervously.