Claire watched him go tense. She'd seen it coming almost a mile away, but she hadn't expected it to impact like it had. She wasn't scared, not by any stretch of the imagination, but she was a bit surprised. So far, she'd only seen his relaxed side. This was new, but sort of expected. But definitely not scary. She was positive that he wouldn't hurt her. So much so that she stepped forward when he stepped back - continued forward until there was only a foot or so of space between them. He was close to the wall now, so really his only option for distance was to bolt for the door. Claire didn't put it past him to do just that, either. But it was a risk she had to take if she wanted her message heard.
When he spoke of being afraid of himself, she felt her chest start to ache a little bit. He'd convinced himself so heavily that all of this was his fault. That he was a monster that was unworthy of whatever good happened into his life that he pushed it away before it had a chance to prove him wrong. Luckily for both of them, Claire was more stubborn than your average everyday good guy.
"Be afraid of you, then," she said. "I can't stop you from that. But that doesn't mean I will," she insisted. She was far from afraid of him. "And me? You don't have to be afraid of me..."
She'd heard the 'I'll hurt you' schpiel before, so many times, that she knew that only half of the worry was her being hurt and the other half was her hurting him. Maybe less than half, but it was still there. "Pike...look at me," she chanced taking another step toward him again, turning his face so that he was looking at her. "I'm not afraid of you. And there's nothing you can do that will make me afraid of you."