It was panic, pure and unadulterated clenching at her chest, closing her throat so that she felt like she couldn't breathe. Suddenly the cramped darkness of the club no longer felt like a darkness she could lose herself in, rather it was like drowning with bodies of strangers pressed too tightly against her. She had to escape, the need driving her to forcefully push her way through the crowds and racing up the closest staircase she could find. It was such an abnormal feeling for her, running from this specter of a fear with such terror it rendered her near incapacitated. Nothing mattered beyond the collision of her feet as they flew up the steps, her hand as it groped for the hard metal of the doorknob, twisting and clawing at it until she finally managed to force it open.

The cool air hit her like salvation as she stumbled out onto the near deserted rooftop, the tinkling of fairy lights overhead registering little more than those vague shapes on the other side of the roof's surface. She stumbled slightly, her feet seeming to struggle to adjust to the flat surface after their previous flight. Somehow, she managed to find the glass railing that kept her from running right off the edge. The sharp edges bit into her hand as it gripped the surface with such ferocity that her knuckles shone white despite her paler skin, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she shakily brought her drink to her lips. Warm liquid slid down her through causing her eyes to flutter closed for the first time as she sought some type of control while the tips of her fingers rose to caress the raised skin at her neck.

How long would this last, this paranoia that she could be so easily found as soon as he wanted. The moment she let her guard down, the moment she allowed herself to believe things were safe was the moment it could all be taken away again. She sighed shakily, taking another long draft from a drink that was disappearing far too quickly as her mind continued to race as if in competition with her heart that thudded in her ears relentlessly.

Until that unmistakable voice broke the barrier of silence that had shrouded her, and despite her current state she could feel that familiar warmth flutter in her stomach at the sound of it. For a moment she simply stood there and soaked in the feeling of calm, a moment of serenity in this hurricane of emotions that swirled within her. Her hand wrapped around her neck as she turned around to find him reclined against the bar top opposite her, looking as nonchalant as ever; as if their running into one another atop this bar was as commonplace as the sun rising each morning. She couldn't surprise the slight upturn at his lips into an almost wry smile as she met his crystalline gaze. "Of all the rooftops in all the world." She couldn't stop the sardonic tinge to her voice, sarcasm always a reliable fall back when she felt off balance in her life.

It was tempting to move towards him, that near gravitational pull always there that made it seem like the easiest thing in the world to fall back into their usual state. Yet at the moment she could not seem to pull herself from that ledge, rather lowering the hand which still cradled her drink moving to rest upon its rough surface once more as if stabilizing herself. "Maybe I did see a ghost, probably wouldn't be the strangest sight in this city." Her shoulders rolled with feigned nonchalance that belied the feeling that still rolled in her chest, unsure of what finally rid her of this seemingly unending fear.