Claire releases a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, relieved in a way she hadn't been expecting. There's a version of her living the life John's been careful to avoid telling her too much about, and it settles her to know that whether she stays here in Abraxas or she's forced to go, home will not remain just out of reach.

Adding a splash of gin into her own tea, she smiles, exhaling a soft laugh through her nose.

"What I've built...I thought it was incomplete for a long time. That nothing could feel right, here, without Jamie." After a pause to ship her tea, she finishes her thought, thumb tracing the side of her glass. "I spent so many years of my life believing I needed someone else to be completely myself. It took building all of this to realize I was wrong."

She'd held onto the past so hard, perhaps Boston didn't have to be such a struggle for her, if only she'd known how to let go and rebuild herself.