The music is her escape. It always has been. She stands in a shadowy darkness, her eyes closed. And when it starts, she begins to move.
It starts out softly, but soon grows louder, intense in the way that instrumentals always are. She spins, her skirts moving with her in a rainbow of colors. Her eyes remain closed, to leave the outside world just where it is.
She moves with a grace she has practiced to attain, knowing that she should not be where she is, but unable to make herself leave. After all, once she leaves, she will have to face her reality, the fact that her life as she knows it is changing, and she has no control over it, whatsoever.
What she doesn't know is that someone is watching her. And that someone's eyes follow her every movement, waiting for the music to stop…waiting for her to notice him. He is the only one that knows she's here and he has kept her secret because she trusts him, and because he knows her better than anyone else.
He sees her tears when the music finally cuts off; her eyes are open now, and she sees him, but neither of them move. He knows what she's feeling. After all, he is feeling the same way. Their lives have been connected that way ever since they can remember, not only because they're relatives…but because they're twins. Even so, they still know when to give each other room.
This, however, is not one of those times. And even if it were, he wouldn't leave her alone. She's taking their parents' situation harder than any of them and being alone is the last thing she needs. But she comes here to this small dance studio in Queens to escape, just like he plays his video games and watches TV and hangs out with his friends. Thirteen is an odd age to be at, and both of them know it. But they're slowly learning to handle it.
The silence soon becomes too much for both of them. He reaches out to her, silently hoping that she'll just come with him and come home so that their mother can stop worrying. And this time, she does. She comes to stand in front of him, still crying, and he hugs her, wordlessly, letting her hide her face in his shoulder for a few minutes. When she looks up, her eyes are red, but she offers up a faint smile, conveying in that expression that she is grateful that he has come for her, because she doesn't really want to be alone.
Both of them know that when they get home, they'll have some explaining to do. They've been gone long enough that their mother has probably called their father. Neither of them will explain why they took off. But they will say that they are sorry, (even though they're not) and that they should have told someone where they were going. After all, they are cop's kids and they know better than to do things like this. But they don't regret it, even though they know they'll be in trouble. For a little while, this little excursion has provided them an escape from their reality, something they've been needing for a long while.
He leads her out of the studio, and out of the building, both of them still silent, but both of them needing each other now more than ever, whether they like it or not.
The reason for this is that through all of this, at the moment, they are the only constants they have.
A/N: Yeah, so...you guys know SVU's not mine right? Good. As for the fic, it came out of nowhere, so...