Her chest clenched when he gripped her back as the uncomfortable feeling of anxiety rose it's ugly head. She didn't know what words to say... what wouldn't come out as a garbled mess and probably make things worse? So she simple frowned at the wall behind him, holding him as tightly as she dared.

Times like these were generally what she hated the most... seeing people in pain. Tears only made her want to join in with the crying, and the sobs caused her muscles to clench of their own accord. She couldn't avoid it with other people... she couldn't mask their pain like she did her own.

"C'mon... we should go, yeah?"

Her nerves were electric. The strange giddy feeling she always got when she was out of her element and frightened was seeping in, making it hard for her to think straight. "Ain't nothing up here but dusty old paintings and shadows... i'm sure some fresh air will do you some good."

She didn't move to pull away.. she'd wait until he made the first move.

"C'mon... we should go, yeah? Ain't nothing up here but dusty old paintings and shadows... I'm sure some fresh air will do you some good."

He sniffled and nodded, pulling away. "Yeah..." He felt drained, too tired to do much of anything but she was right. They had to move, not only for his sake but because security would be on it's way to check the noise. A gun had been fired after all, no way they'd ignore that. His grief could wait. On standing he heard the ding of the elevator down the hall. "I think we should take the stairs."he murmured whilst Ace, who had been standing a foot a way from them, fluttered back to his place on his shoulder.

He looked around, waiting for Shelby to stand before feeling his way toward another hallway. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long and they wouldn't get caught where they shouldn't.

Her heart jumped back into her throat for the third time that day, and she latched her hands around her mouth before she could make a sound. Quickly getting to her feet she followed after him, eyes wide and swinging left and right nervously.

The sound of quiet voices cropped up from the hallway behind them, as well as the distant glow from flashlights sweeping around. Chewing on her bottom lip as they moved out of the main room into another hallway, she kept casting glances back. The walls were shadowed and dark, but just enough light filtered in from windows in the bigger rooms that once the eyes adjusted you could see well enough to navigate at least.

She was tempted to fish out of her phone again to use as a light source, but was too fearful of getting caught to actually do it. Her heartbeat was thumping in her ears, her fingertips were tingling with a mix of adrenalin and anxiety...

Her bag bumped into a pedestal as she past, catching a corner and the vase sitting on top rocked to one side threateningly. Reacting in a panic, she reached out and snatched the big vase off its shelf, saving it from crashing to the floor... but filling her arms up with heavy ceramic. She grunted softly from the weight and stumbled to the side a step.

He heard the ceramic sliding before he could see it. Well no, he really couldn't see it. It was too dark to bother with that. But on turning around he could faintly see Shelby struggling with something big. He attempted to gesture to her to just put it down. But he wasn't sure she could even see his hands. There wasn't really time to waste. So instead of waiting for her to handle it herself, he went and grabbed at the large pot.

He fumbles a bit, grabbing the top rim with one hand and the bottom with the other. Carefully he guides the large pot down with Shelby's help. There's no time to put it back on the pedestal. Best to leave it on the ground and hope they don't check for prints. It's a bit much to ask for but it's all they can really do. In the near none existent light of the dim hallway Alex gestures for her to follow again.

The exit is close, the emergency lit sign over the door is bright enough to see around the corner of the long hallway. Almost there, all they need to do now is take the steps and they'd be home free.

Holding her breath was hard, but she was fairly certain that if she let it go now she'd start panting very loudly. With the Vase free from her, and an embarrassed flush adorning her cheeks, she followed on alex's heels as closely as she dared. The moment the red glow of the exit came into focus, she let the breath go in one big (quiet) whoosh.

Thankfully the door wasn't locked, though it did creak agonizingly quietly upon opening. Shelby cast a glance back, but the hallway was dark. The flashlight wielders were more than likely still in the main room, probably only now discovering that there were paintings missing.

The stairwell was dimly lit, only by the eerie red glow of EXIT signs above the door and below. As quickly and sneakily as she could she hurried inside, letting the door creak quietly shut behind her.

"...oh my god... my heart is going like, ninety miles a minute." She whispered, clutching at the fabric of her sweatshirt.

"...oh my god... my heart is going like, ninety miles a minute."

He smiled half-heartedly, still a little torn up inside but at least okay on the surface. "You're okay, right?" It wasn't really necessary to ask. In the dim of the emergency light he could see her. A little frazzled but nothing bad. "C'mon, let's get out of here." He turned and headed down the short flight of stairs, 3 down to the bottom and they were practically back where they started.

"Hey, could you not...tell anybody what happened up there? Actually, after this, maybe it would be best to pretend I never existed?"he said softly. He felt a little bitter about it, Shelby was a good person and he would like to stay with her longer. But it wouldn't be right to continue to mooch off her for one and for two it was the safer option for the both of them if they went their separate ways.