You went to your purse, dropped on the ground at some point, and pulled it open. You could hardly see in the darkness, but a small stream of light from between the doors gave hope of escape and just enough of a glow to see by. You raided the bag, trying to find anything you could that would help you out. It was small, so there wasn't much; a few misplaced coupons and receipts, an extra phone charger that was now absolutely useless, an old pack of gum. As much as you dug, you came across nothing that could help you.

Your hands were shaking, but you ignored it, tossed everything back in your bag, and set your sights on the door. You couldn't stay in there all night, you just couldn't, so you would have to get out. It was open the tiniest crack, or maybe it just never closed all the way, and that would have to be enough for you. You took a single deep breath, then set yourself on the door.

It took the better part of an hour to get it open enough to crawl through, or at least you thought it did. You didn't know how time was passing and you were exhausted enough for it to have been three days. The door were only pushed open a few feet, but you thought it would be just enough space-- barely. Your fingers were covered in scrapes, nails chipped and broken, and you thought you could feel blood between them. Your legs were covered in raging bruises from jamming them between the doors to keep the open.

The elevator was stuck halfway past an opening, so you would have to haul yourself up to get out. You weren't sure you could do it. Leo would have picked you up to carry you out, you realized, but Leo wasn't there. You were suddenly struck with how N must have felt when he lost his lover. Did he have to do everything alone? Now more than ever you wanted Leo by your side. You took a second to roll in the warmth of memories with him, of your trip to the coffee shop for the first time as much as your trip to the bedroom yesterday. Was that only yesterday?

You threw the purse out of the opening, and set to following it. You could get your forearms over the floor, but the rest of you wasn't so easy. You shimmied up slowly, pushing off of the open doors with your feet to prop you up as you moved forwards. Head, torso, knees, feet-- finally you lay on the floor under the brilliant fluorescent lights, breathing heavily from exertion. You wanted to curl up and sleep right there, but after a few moments you made yourself get up. Your knees knocked together when you moved, and you almost dropped your purse when you went to pick it up because you were shaking so badly. You tried to console yourself, tell yourself you were fine now, but the adrenaline was leaving your system and all that remained was your distress. The lights seemed far too bright. It had been such a ty Monday.

Getting your phone was the first thing, you decided. You needed to hear Leo's voice, and he was probably worried. A quick glance at a nearby clock told you that it was nearly midnight; he would definitely be worried. You took the stairs back up a flight slowly, through you were nearly running by the time you reached your desk. You fumbled with the desk drawer twice before you could get in into your hands and hit the speed dial. You didn't even have time to register the seven text messages and five missed calls.

“Are you alright?!” Leo's voice on the other end of the line was nearly a roar, a sound so rarely heard that you stopped in your tracks, unable to answer. “What happened? Where are you? I've been searching for ages, I can't find you-” He stopped, voice choked with an emotion that you could feel rising in your throat as well.

“I'm okay now,” you responded after you found your voice again. It sounded pathetic. “I got stuck in an elevator at work, I didn't have my phone.”

“.” You held the phone to your ear with a death grip as you began to head towards the exit of the building again, going down the stairs one by one; had you ever heard him curse before? You heard him panting on the other end of the line and realized he was running.

“Last time,” he said between breaths, “when you were late, you came back unconscious in N's arms.” You took the last few steps to the bottom floor, listening to his soothing but determined voice as you headed towards the glass doors. “That will never happen again.”

You stopped short as Leo skidded to a halt in front of the building, a palm immediately pressed against the glass. You could see him mouth the last few words that you heard on the phone, never happen again seeming to hang in the air. His eyes were wide as he took you in, looking you up and down and lingering on your greasy and bloody fingers and the dirty marks on your pants. He banged his hand on the glass, another show of emotion that you didn't expect, but the doors were locked from the outside and he couldn't get to you. You had no doubt in your mind that if you hadn't been standing right in front of him, be would have broken in to get to you.

You shoved the phone in your purse and ran out the doors into his arms, the strong cradle he provided nearly lifting you from the ground. He felt the way your hands trembled and hugged you tighter, pulling your head to your chest. “It's okay now, it's okay,” he murmured continuously, rocking you back and forth until you calmed down. You clutched onto his shirt as though you had just faced your death. He was late, but Leo had come.

Hi there! Sorry to interrupt your reading (again) but I just wanted to say thanks for a whopping 30 upvotes, 200 subscribers, 150 comments, and 7500 plus views. You are all absolutely fantastic, and I appreciate your support :)

Here is a quick (i promise) poll for the story; I would love to hear what you think about N. http://www.asianfanfics.com/poll/results/106850   If there's something else you would rather see, leave a comment! Once again, thank you all for everything thus far, I hope I can keep giving you something you enjoy!