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Their hands clasp together as they swim down into the pool.

Their black bracelets stay tight on their wrists.

Their bare skin feels new and warm.

The strobing neon lights break and scatter across the surface.

The pulse of the music fades and echoes through the water.

Their toes bounce off the bottom of the deep end.

They sit, legs woven together, fully immersed.

Tiny bubbles rise to the surface around them.

The pool is calm.

The water is quiet.

There is nothing down here but them.

There is nothing here but their skin.

There is nothing here but his toes tapping against hers.

There is nothing here but his smile as she scoops his giant frame up in her slender arms and he floats there, her nose against his, all the weight between them washing away.

She smiles back down at him.

Maybe they will never be able to live in peace.

Maybe they will never be safe.

Maybe they will never be free.

But down here, it feels like they are.

There is nothing down here but them.