There are consequences to doing the right thing
Author's Note: Apparently people wanted a sequel, so I started a sequel never thinking it would turn into this. If the first one was a take on the 'have sex or die' theme, this is definitely a take on the 'magic made us do it' theme. Perhaps a bit more in the dubious consent territory than the first one. Split into two parts because it became a monster. The second part will be out tomorrow or the day after (it is in the editing stage at this point). Thanks to all those who enjoyed the first one and pushed for a sequel! This was written because of you!
Exactly one month after she and her friends have saved the world again (okay, maybe not that dramatic - but they did manage to dagger one savage Original and trap one psychotic witch ghost), Bonnie runs into Klaus.
Without warning.
In broad daylight.
On the street of all places.
She is carrying an armload of books for an essay Alaric insists that she write in order to save her grade and intends to stop at the Grill for some take out.
Instead she rounds a corner and collides with the sadistic creature she once had sex with. Books fly, and her eyes widen. "Klaus."
"Bonnie."
He makes a show of being the gentleman, bending over to scoop up her lost possessions. When he extends them to her, she looks at them as if they on fire. He raises an eyebrow. "Really?"
Bonnie scowls now, ripping them from his grip. He merely folds his hands behind his back and regards her with amusement. It does not quiet her temper – being a source of sport for him. "Get out of my way."
"I am not stopping you, love." And to prove his point, he takes a step to the side.
Bonnie pushes past him, picks up her pace and resists the urge to cast a glance over her shoulder.
Because she knows damn well he is watching her.
She can feel it.
X
"Broom-Hilda."
Bonnie just scoffs at Damon's greeting, shoving her books into his arms with enough force to have him stumbling against the open door of the Boarding House. She steps inside, dropping her bag and heads with purpose toward the living room. She can already hear the quiet murmur of Stefan and Elena. Just the pair she is looking for. They both glance up when she steps in, practically seething.
"Bonnie?" Stefan questions as he stands. Elena follows suit.
"Why is Klaus back in town?"
She hears the heavy thud of books hitting floor and before she can blink Damon is invading her personal space. "You saw Klaus?"
"Obviously," Bonnie retorts immediately side stepping him so she can speak to the more rational of the brothers. "By the Grill."
Stefan crosses his arms and tilts his head to the side. Bonnie gets the distinct feeling he is dissecting himself one flustered witch. She supposes she isn't exactly her best at the moment, fists clenched by her sides, chest heaving from the near jog to the Boarding House from the center of town. She hates that Klaus has managed to blow up her perfectly good day in under a minute. "Was Elijah with him?"
Bonnie shakes her head. "If he was I didn't see him."
Elena steps forward, reaching out to touch her arm. Bonnie focuses her attention on her best friend now, seeing a familiar look crossing her face. Oh not this again – I don't have time for this again, she thinks but allows Elena to say her piece anyway. "Are you okay, Bon?"
A familiar question – asked on a near daily basis.
Her friends think she has suffered some trauma.
She supposes she has.
Well, if she really thinks about it – she has suffered many traumas: she has been bitten (and the jerk that did it is standing next to her), she has been beaten, she has short circuited herself to the point of losing consciousness, she has been kidnapped, she has technically died for God's sake. A night of mind-blowing sex is a welcome diversion to the vicious cycle her life seems to be on at the moment.
Even if the partner for that particular event is by all intents and purposes a psychopath.
"Of course she's fine, Elena. Look at her, she's ready to flatten this goddamn house," Damon comments wryly. "She's not going to go cry in a corner somewhere." Bonnie levels a gaze on him, narrowing her eyes in a way that clearly tells him she will flatten him if he speaks about her in that manner again. She takes the slight frown on his face as his white flag of surrender.
With that settled, Bonnie turns to the real matter at hand. "I just want to know what is going on this time. Which one of his demented siblings are we going to have to deal with? Which one of us is going to get hurt trying to help that bastard?" She has her fists clenched so tightly she can feel her nails pressing into her skin.
She won't do it again.
"What if it's none of the above?" Elena asks quietly. All three look to her. She is looking only at Bonnie.
Bonnie sighs harshly.
"Really?
X
In the end it is Bonnie who plunges the dagger into his heart.
It was supposed to be Elena – of all the people who are capable of daggering an Original (damn those pesky little rules) she has the best track record.
Bonnie has her own mission: forcing the centuries' old spirit from its cheerleader host and trapping it once again. Easy peasy right?
The spell leaves Bonnie depleted and she sags against the wall, her eyes on the red head curled in a ball on the floor. She is relieved to realize the spirit's host is still among the living. She gives herself a moment to ensure that she doesn't crumble to the floor beside her before looking back at the battleground. There are four vampires, one hybrid and a hunter tearing the Original's makeshift army to shreds.
And Elena…Elena is on the floor dazed, the dagger a few feet from her.
Bonnie's eyes widen and she springs to action, ignoring her protesting body. She reaches the weapon just as Klaus' baby brother advances on her friend. She leaps, using the force to plunge the dagger home. She falls with him, rolling to the side the moment she can. She watches as he fights fruitlessly against what is coming. Only when his skin is grey and cracked does she breathe again.
Elena crawls to her, touching her face. She glances at her friend and then the two embrace.
It doesn't take the others long to finish off those that remain after the death of their master.
Stefan crouches down, taking in the damage to Elena's face. Bonnie knows that if the vampire lying daggered before her was still alive he would have suffered before ending up in the exact same position. She reluctantly gives Elena to Stefan and remains seated on the floor.
"Make sure you box this one up good and tight, will ya?" Damon says to the two living Originals, giving their brother a kick for good measure. He offers Bonnie his hand and surprisingly she takes it. Once on her feet she surveys the carnage. How they made it out of this with a few cuts and bruises is astonishing.
"He'll not be allowed to do this again," Elijah assures them. He has a look of regret on his face – Bonnie knows that this is not the family reunion he had envisioned when he pulled Klaus from the brink of death over a year ago.
"Be sure of it," she finds herself saying firmly even though Damon has to hold her up.
Klaus reacts to her words. He smiles as he steps over his defeated brother. "Is that your price?"
She screws her face up in confusion. "My price?"
"For being instrumental in his defeat. Is that your price? Ensure that he never does it again?" He asks, his eyes roaming over her. She can feel the blood rushing to the surface of her skin. Good God, why is she blushing? Is it because their little act of sacrifice is still fresh in her mind?
She wonders what he is playing at. She is no mood. She wants a shower. Food maybe. Sleep definitely. She wants to crawl into her own bed and forget the past week has ever happened. She decides that this once she will concede and just give him what he wants. "Yes, that is my price."
Klaus seems to light up at her response. "Fair," he retorts, stepping closer and grinning the moment she raises her chin. "I owe you a debt, Bonnie Bennett." He glances over his shoulder to where Elijah is hoisting the body. When he speaks, he directs it to her even though there are others in the room. "We'll be off now. Until we meet again," he inclines his head a little and Bonnie purses her lips.
Fat chance.
X
Bonnie does not like the idea that he has come back to Mystic Falls because of her.
Clearly that is what Elena meant but she is not prepared to entertain it. Klaus has lived long enough to do many things, to see many more – surely one teenaged witch is nothing more than a slight blip on an overall colorful canvas of experience.
Still – she has to wonder why he is here.
X
No, she has to wonder where he is.
It has been two days since their reunion and there is no trace of him.
X
A week later the others think he is gone.
She knows better.
X
She looks over the map of the town and wonders why she is about to do this.
If Klaus is still in Mystic Falls (and she highly suspects he is), he is not causing any trouble. She has kept an eye on the papers, the nightly newscast, any source of information expecting to read about a sudden rash of animal killings.
Nothing.
Her friends have relaxed, slipping into their usual routines without much thought as to why Klaus would make a 30 second appearance and never be seen or heard from again.
She doesn't believe they are that lucky.
She sighs and holds the crystal over the map concentrating her energy on it. She thinks of Klaus. At first it is the Klaus that everyone knows but it soon becomes the Klaus she knows. She feels the crystal hit the map with a definite thud just as the image of him between her legs fills her mind.
She glances down.
Of course.
X
This counts as one of her not so finer moments.
She realizes this as she pushes open the door to the condemned house. It creaks as it scraps across the dusty floor.
Well…it's too late to back out now.
Still, she should have told someone where she was headed. The last time she entered this place she had ended up trapped in the basement for more than a week.
"Took you long enough, love."
Bonnie freezes, one hand on the door, one foot over the threshold.
Klaus saunters into her line of vision, looking very much like the personification of all things sin. He is slow to approach her and she thinks he is testing her – seeing how close he can get before she moves to retreat. Bonnie stands firm, her fingers practically biting into the wood of the door. "What the hell does that mean?"
He stops in his tracks and makes a face. "Oh sweetheart, you are in a foul mood tonight."
"I wonder why," Bonnie retorts, her voice taking on a haughty tone. She is playing with fire, she knows it. They are not trapped together anymore. He doesn't need her breathing to survive. She knows better than to go around poking things with a stick but she just can't help herself. She has shared a part of her with him and she is loathed to think about it.
She expects him to wrap a hand around her throat.
Instead he laughs.
Not comforting.
"Now, Bonnie, is that any way to greet you lover?" He asks sardonically as he edges closer. She can feel the fight or flight instinct just itching to take over. She considers letting it – but then she isn't quite sure which path she'll take if she does.
"Ex-lover," Bonnie corrects. "One night stand really."
Something crosses his face - anger maybe? She is not sure in the dim lighting. Careful Bonnie, she tells herself realizing he is now too close for comfort. She should leave. Just forget that she ever came here in the first place. In the morning she can pass it off as a product of too much stress and too little sleep.
She sighs inwardly when she can't quite bring herself to move. Instead she stands rooted to the spot as he comes close enough that she can feel his breath on her skin. She shudders and curses under her breath at her involuntary reaction.
Because she knows it speaks volumes.
"Are you telling me I am nothing more than one of Bonnie Bennett's many conquests?" He wonders, his voice a hushed whisper. She can hear the amusement there and contemplates just how far she can throw him.
And just how far she can get before he comes after her.
"More like the other way around," Bonnie says meeting his gaze.
"Ah now, love, are you hurt that I did not call?" Klaus mocks, a wounded look of sympathy playing across his features. He smiles next and Bonnie hates that it makes him look almost…normal. She narrows her eyes and opens her mouth to speak but he shakes his head. "My apologies, Miss Bennett."
The sharp retort dies on her tongue. She screws her face up.
Because he sounds sincere.
Careful Bonnie.
She knows firsthand how silver tongued he can be.
I would worship you - a phrase that will forever be engrained in her mind.
"I survived," Bonnie assures him.
"Would it help my case if I told you that while I did not call I did think of you?" He ponders.
No, it does not help. In fact it has the opposite effect – but he knows that.
"I have become particularly attached to the memory of you moving with wild abandonment while I lie there and watch. There is something about a woman in throes of passion that is quite alluring don't you think?" Klaus asks as calmly as one would ask about the weather.
She shifts from side to side, suddenly wishing that both feet were outside of the threshold. Actually, she wishes she were still in her nice warm comfortable bed instead of listening to him wax poetic about how she had once ridden him until she fell to pieces.
"What? No glib remark?"
"Why are you here?" Bonnie demands. A change in topic is most definitely needed.
"Once again your manners leave something to be desired," Klaus chides. He presses against her now, effectively pinning her between he and the door.
It is her own damn fault – she put herself in this position.
"Why are you here?" She repeats, spitting out each word.
"So very insolent," Klaus continues as if she has not even spoken. He lowers his head, their faces close now. He has a look – one that she realizes she is familiar with. She shakes her head immediately, pushing against him. He slams her back against the door with an easy thrust of his hips. "Bonnie, love, I don't go around sharing secrets especially when they are demanded of me by some impetuous little witch who has more guts than brains. Hmm, did you tell anyone where you were going? No, of course you didn't. Otherwise we would have been so rudely interrupted already. Unwise decision on your part."
For the first time since she has laid eyes on him this night she is afraid.
Bonnie is not in denial about her own abilities. She is powerful. But it's not enough –not with him. Still, she uses what she can to throw him aside, and doesn't wait to watch him skitter across the floor to crash into the fireplace.
She runs.
She wonders how far she gets before he lifts her off the ground. Her feet are still moving as he bands an arm around her waist and pulls her flush against him. She reacts like a wounded animal would, lashing out blindly but he easily stills her. She wishes she could see his face. She wants to see the monster that is about to rip into her throat. He buries his head in the crook of her neck and she tenses.
She expects teeth but gets lips instead. She is suddenly glad that they are not face to face. She doesn't want to him to see the confusion there.
"I did promise not to bite you, didn't I?" He muses, his mouth near the shell of her ear. "I can see now that was entirely foolish of me."
Bonnie doesn't answer. Because the implication of what he is saying doesn't sit well in the pit of her stomach. She is frozen in his grasp, her eyes locked on the trees in front of her.
He chuckles and she squirms as her body reacts to the sound.
"Oh, love, we are in so much trouble aren't we?''
He drops her now. She lands hard on the ground and winces knowing she has a few bruises in the making.
She looks up.
He is gone.
X
Bonnie never tells anyone what she has done.
She doesn't need the lecture.
X
"I am not going," Bonnie insists even as Caroline's features darken. She wonders if her friend knows that this face is scarier than her vamped out. "Caroline…"
"Bonnie, it is the Spring Fling dance. You are going," Caroline says slamming her fist down on the table. Beside her Elena looks up from her Calculus book long enough to raise an eyebrow.
She sighs. "I don't have a dress."
She then realizes what she has said.
Caroline's whole entire being seems to light up. "We are going shopping."
Elena gives a look of pity. "You are in so much trouble."
She is beginning to wish people would stop telling her that.
X
The dress is green ("to bring out your eyes), short ("to show off our legs") and tight ("to show off your curves"). Bonnie isn't quite sold on it but she lets Caroline dress her as she pleases, knowing the blonde has had a rough go of it (what with her ex-boyfriend joining the Cult of Klaus and all).
She even agrees to allow Matt to take her to the dance.
He shows up at her door and she soon realizes her dress has also been designed to make the male population go dumb. She has to prod him to get him going and can't help the small smile that crosses her face as he stumbles over his words.
Minus his failed attempt at being smooth at her front door, Matt proves to be the perfect date. He makes her laugh. He doesn't step on her feet when they dance. Most importantly, he doesn't talk of their disastrous try at a relationship. She genuinely likes Matt, but she doesn't know if she can ever see him as anything other than a friend.
And he seems okay with that.
Bonnie excuses herself after a dance with Stefan and heads for the rest room. Okay, so coming had not been the worst thing that has ever happened to her (not that she will admit that to Caroline – the blonde is well practiced in the fine art of gloating). She is even beginning to become attached to the dress.
She is looking a little worn from a few hours inside a warm crowded gym. Deciding a fix is in order, she reaches into her purse to pull out the necessary supplies. Looking back into the mirror, she freezes.
"Hello, love."
Bonnie can't seem to tear her eyes away from him. He steps closer now, his hands coming to rest the sink on either side of her. He lays his chin on her shoulder meeting her eyes in the mirror. "You look ravishing."
She does not like his choice of words nor the way he stresses them. She takes a deep breath pushing against him, hating the way her backside seems to connect with his pelvis. She narrows his eyes. "Get away from me."
"You know there is only so much rejection a man can take before he does something unpredictable," Klaus tells her as he pushes back, grinding her hipbone into the porcelain sink. She hisses under her breath, maintaining eye contact. "You are driving me crazy, Bonnie. Heaven help those poor unfortunate souls that come across me in such a state."
She knows what he is telling her. Those poor unfortunate souls are just a few feet away dancing to the latest Katy Perry song. She has to play this one carefully. It's not her neck at stake this time. "What do you want?" She asks, her voice without its usual fire.
"Much better," he comments before curling his lips into a smile. He raises his head off her shoulder, tilting it. She watches in the mirror as his eyes roam over her body. It is a blatant appraisal and she resists the urge to squirm under his gaze. "Oh I should think the answer is apparent, love."
Bonnie eyes widen and she shakes her head. "I am not playing this game, Klaus. Tell me what you want."
Klaus narrows his eyes as his body rocks in a chuckle. "How about I show you?" Before she can react, he spins her around to face him, crowding her body against the bathroom wall. He uses one hand to hold her there and the other lands firmly on the flat of her stomach. For a moment they stare one another down and Bonnie wonders just who will give in first.
It turns out – she will.
But only because he is moving his hand lower, sliding it across the satin of her dress.
"No." It's a rather weak protest, especially for her.
"Oh, but you want me to, love," Klaus says as his eyes fall to watch his hand disappear between her thighs. "You wanted me to the other night. You want me to now." She wants to argue but his is already placing his fingers against the damp material of her underwear.
At least he doesn't smile in triumph.
Bonnie reaches now, wrapping a hand around his wrist, her fingers digging into the bone. She doesn't have to the strength to hold him off, but it's the principle of the thing. He still doesn't meet her eyes as he almost tentatively moves fingers past that last bastion of defense. "Klaus," she warns and for good measure heats the flesh under her hand. He hisses but his fingers find that sensitive nub and begins to tease.
She doesn't let up.
Neither does he.
As a result, both strain to keep themselves under control.
"Bonnie," he says through clenched teeth. She is too busy trying not to move her hips against his hand to answer. "Company."
It takes her a moment to realize what he means. Her eyes widen and her hand immediately falls away. He is swift, giving her a shove into the nearest stall and kicking it closed with his foot.
His hand is still planted between her legs.
She watches as the red heels scuff over the floor, turn towards them and stop short. "Oh are you serious?" The judgemental tone cuts through the lust fueled haze he has created in her and she pushes on his shoulder. He responds with a tiny smirk and crowds her into a corner.
"This is not a motel," Red Heels barks.
Klaus continues as if they have not been interrupted and Bonnie hates how she cannot for the life of her get her body to listen to her mind. She squeezes her eyes shut, not wanting to look at his smug face as he brings her off.
God, Red Shoes needs to go before she is witness to Bonnie coming on the fingers of a psychopath.
Thankfully he spares her that particular humiliation and waits until Red Shoes stomps off muttering before delivering the final blow. She bites her lip, tasting blood to keep from letting anything other than a muted groan out.
His hand retracts immediately.
"Open your eyes, Bonnie."
She doesn't particularly want to. She wants to let the remainder of her orgasm thrum through her body and forget that it is he that caused it. She doesn't want to deal with his victorious face and cutting words. She just wants to fix her dress and go back to the dance.
"I can wait all night."
She can't.
She figures she has another five minutes before Caroline heads up the search party. She sighs and lets her eyes flutter open. He chose that precise moment to plunge his fingers in his mouth feigning the same reaction she has seen in those consumed by bloodlust. She forces her eyes away, rearranging the dress (which she will now happily burn after tonight). They both finish their current task at the same time and are left staring at one another.
"Are you going to kill me now?" Bonnie asks dryly.
Apparently she has caught him off guard for he raises an eyebrow.
"I thought about it actually," Klaus says and she tenses, finding herself wondering how much overtime the janitor will get scrubbing her blood out of the cracks in the tiles. "The idea was dismissed just as quickly as it popped into my head."
"Feeling generous?"
"Not particularly," Klaus tells her as he moves his hand, the hand that just gave her an orgasm in the girls' bathroom of all places, up her body to tangle in her hair. He wrenches her head to the side and she begins strategizing. "I see no gain in killing you, sweetheart."
"It would save you from me destroying you down the road," she points out, realizing she has once again strayed into provoking him unnecessarily.
Klaus lowers his head, nuzzling into her neck and flicking a tongue over her thundering pulse. "How I wish I had not agreed to leave your pretty neck intact. I guess I will have to settle for impaling you on my cock."
She tenses, swallows on reflex, and jerks her head from his grasp so she can look him in the eye. "Never going to happen."
A lazy smile appears across his face. "No - not tonight anyway. I can hear that inane blonde friend of yours chattering in the hallway. We wouldn't want her to find us like this now would we? Although, your explanation as to how I was able to easily stick my hand between your thighs might be interesting to hear."
Bonnie places both hands on his shoulders and gives him a solid push. He does her a favor and stumbles backwards. "Go," she orders firmly.
Thankfully he complies and by the time Caroline finds her she has herself under control.
She thinks.
X
Bonnie would rather not think about why she let Klaus touch her the way he had.
It brings up too many uncomfortable questions.
She does however try to replicate the sensation in the comfort of her own bedroom.
She lacks the skill of Klaus' deft fingers.
X
Two days after Spring Fling, Bonnie begins to dream of him.
In her dreams he takes her in every position she can conjure up – sometimes rough and fast, sometimes so gentle and slow that it torturous to endure. She wakes up flushed and filled with the need to seek him out and demand that he make those dreams a reality.
Truthfully, Bonnie is beginning to question her sanity.
X
For the thousandth time in the span of a year, she wishes that Grams was still alive.
Not because she wants to divulge her dirty little secret but because she has a theory and needs another witch to either confirm or deny.
The spell that held them in that room, that required them to come together physically was both old and strong. Surely, there would be some residual effects on the both of them. No doubt it has left a scar and it is that scar that pushes them to act as they do.
Without a witch that she can trust to bounce her theory off of, Bonnie has no other choice but to spend hours pouring over her grimoires in hopes of finding proof to back it up. She finds a few passages here and there that speak to the general idea but nothing specific.
She supposes that is to be expected. There is not going to be a page that reads 'the lingering ties created when one fucks an original vampire to break an invisible lock'.
She will have to take what she can get.
X
After too many sleepless nights, Bonnie does the locator spell again.
This time she tracks him to the ruins of Fell's Church. When she arrives he is seated on one of the crumbling stone blocks, bottle of beer in hand. He raises an eyebrow when she steps into the clearing but does not look surprised.
"Did you know that when a locating spell is performed the intended gets a little tickle in their head that tells them they are being sought out?" He muses as he gives the bottle a toss and stands to his full height. "If you wanted to see me, love, you could have called."
"We never exchanged numbers," Bonnie retorts.
"Mmm, perhaps we should. I can think of an infinite number of filthy little things to send your way," he purrs (or at least it sounds like a purr to her).
Bonnie frowns, tensing herself as he comes close. "Stay out of my dreams," she spits out, effectively stopping him in his tracks. He furrows his brows. "I mean it."
"Oh dear, you think I am to blame for your little erotic fantasies?" Klaus asks.
"Vampires, especially ones who frequently consume human blood, have the ability to enter dreams," Bonnie points out.
"Did you get that off the internet?" Klaus snorts. "Bonnie, love, you are a witch. A powerful little one at that. As much as I would like to be able to manipulate your mind in any manner, you've got it on lockdown."
Her face falls – for he is right.
"It is pleasing to hear that you dream of me," Klaus says with a wide grin. He starts to walk, making slow easy circles around her. "Would it surprise you to know that I dream of you too?" He stops now, directly in front of her. "I have an idea…why don't we share our favorites? I'll start."
"Don't bother," she warns.
"You don't want to hear how I took you over and over again on my little makeshift altar in the quarry?" Klaus asks, sounding wounded. All an act of course. "I thought it was rather poetic myself."
"You're disgusting," Bonnie says automatically. It is what she is supposed to say, isn't it? She is supposed to be appalled at what he is telling her. She isn't supposed to find anything that comes out of his mouth appealing even though at this very moment she would like nothing more for him to describe it in graphic detail using that voice of his.
"And you're alone," Klaus answers, reaching out to flick a piece of hair off her shoulder. "I wonder what it is about me that has you acting in such an unintelligent fashion."
She wants to tell him not to flatter himself, that she has made plenty of stupid mistakes but she knows that they pale in comparison to what she is doing now. And she is not in the mood to have him call her on it. "I'm going home."
And she makes good on her words but turning and heading for the path.
"Wonderful idea. I suppose it would be more comfortable to fuck in a bed then on a cold slab of rock," Klaus says, and she can hear the amusement plain in his voice.
Don't, Bonnie, don't – he is baiting you
She walks, wishing that she had brought a flashlight. She stops long enough to close her eyes and repeat a few well-chosen words. When she opens her eyes there is a ball of light shimmering on the palm of her hand.
Klaus now stands inches from her, his eyes seemingly transfixed by the soft light she has created. She has the urge to smash it into his face but knows it will do no lasting damage. He finally tears his eyes away, raising them until blue met green.
She takes the bait.
"We are not going to…fuck," Bonnie finally manages to get out, her teeth practically gritting over that particular word. She feels as if she has truly sunken to his level of vulgarity now.
He laughed, like she has just told him a cute little joke. "Oh, Bonnie," he chides. "We both know that you are lying. We are going to fuck. We are going to fuck more than once. We are going to fuck until I break you, or you break me…but make no mistake, we are going to fuck."
In the dim light she has created, Bonnie sees no hint of amusement on his face. Just sheer determination.
She needs to get out of there.
She gives into her urge, driving the ball of light into his handsome features. He is left temporary blinded by the bright flash and she runs, not stopping until she is safely behind her door. She leans against it, chest heaving from exertion.
It is only when she calms does she realize that he could easily have caught up to her.