Lego

Through Glass

{Luke}

I sat on the floor just watching as she moved around the room to the music. She only had two weeks until her final performance, but she seemed... Frustrated. I'd seen her do this routine so many times. She had asked me to come and watch her practice once she had it pretty much down to a T.

The way she flowed around the room had been effortless, like she was born to twist, turn and jump that way. She was beautiful, majestic; her body was made for this. Her feet never faltered, her steps second nature, the way the floor was her playground. The mirror her friend, the chair her companion.

Not today though.

After watching her practice for some months now, I could see her body was tense, she couldn't seem to run through the routine once without a mistake, or stopping to restart from the beginning after missing a beat, once again. She questioned her steps, changing them slightly then becoming annoyed, going back to the previous ones or opting for something else completely.

She hesitated on her jumps and tumbles, causing her to stumble and fall more than once. I've never seen her fall. She was always so sure, so confidant, so ready to take on anything. This, who I was watching before me, couldn't possibly be the same girl, whoever this was, it wasn't Evie.

She yelled in frustration, as her arm gave out on the chair, making her crash to the floor. She got up grabbing the chair, throwing it aimlessly against the wall next to me. I moved out of the way quickly, her eyes widening when she caught the sight out of the corner of her eye.

She ran to me, quickly getting to her knees, grabbing my face and looking into my eyes. She turned my head slightly, left then right, examining to see if I was hurt. The look of panic, fear and worry in her eyes had me grabbing onto her hands, trying to stop her. I tried telling her I was fine but she wasn't listening.

"Evelyn!" I yelled, getting her to stop and look at me, "I'm okay." She threw her arms around my neck, holding me tightly. I pulled her closer to me so that we were next to each other, keeping her tight against me. I knew something was wrong but I didn't ask, I just stroked her back comfortingly, whispering "I'm fine," and "it's okay."

"How are you and Tracy?" She said randomly, head resting on my shoulder.

"We're good." I smile.

"How long has it been?" She turned to face me, looking up.

"Almost 4 months," I look down at her, "what's wrong? You're never like this when you dance."

"I don't know, for the first time ever, I'm the one that truly needs help, but I don't know how to ask for it." She took a deep breath, shaking her head.

I laughed a little bit, "No, Evie, it isn't the first time. You're just too stubborn to ask for help, you always have been. I'm here though, you can ask me. You can ask any of us. We're all here for you, and we're not going anywhere."

I watched her closely. It was only the second time I'd seen her vulnerable like this, and I was happy that it was me she chose to open up to again. We sat quietly for a while, her head on my shoulder and my arms around her waist, rubbing her back. I waited just as I had done before, then she spoke.

"I'm going to be alone forever." She laughed slightly.

"Not if I can help it," I laugh, giving her a tight squeeze, "so, is that why you're confused then? I thought you had someone."

"I'm confused on what to do about that someone," She sat up, looking straight at me, "everything kind of just... exploded."

"I'm listening." I told her, and I did.