John lets out a long slow breath at the touch, his hand tightening convulsively around hers. She may not understand the lifeline that she has thrown him, but he appreciates it nevertheless.

Struggling to collect himself, he focuses on the situation at hand. The question presented him. Feeling a bubble of laughter wishing to rise up within him anew. Are they living close? Well, he and Claire certainly have been...

"Closer at times than others," he replies, understanding that his answer is rather vague, and yet. His hand tightens on hers again. "Do -- you honestly wish to know, Claire? It has been a very long ten years, and then some. From what I can recall... You were not very fond of me, when last we spoke."