Once George finished working on Stephanie's violin, and she played a few notes to make sure everything was in fine working order, she began heading back to the Royal Academy to finally get some practice in. However, she was about halfway there when her phone suddenly buzzed with an incoming call.

Stephanie took out her phone and smiled brightly when she saw it was a FaceTime call from her friend Morgan. She immediately sat down on a nearby bench before answering.

"Hey Morgan," Stephanie smiled and waved the moment her friend's face appeared onscreen.

"OH MY GOD, Steph!" Morgan shouted immediately, looking terribly excited about something. Morgan's shoulder-length brown hair and beautiful face hadn't changed a bit, and Stephanie suddenly felt homesick for her and her friends back in Boston.

"Whoa there. What's wrong?" Stephanie asked, giggling slightly in alarm.

"Like you don't know!" Morgan insisted, pointing at the phone screen in mock accusation. "You were on the BBC yesterday and didn't tell me! Marcus said he saw you on their Instagram page today and I told him he was crazy. But he was right!"

"Oh, that," Stephanie rolled her eyes, pretending to seem uninterested. "It wasn't that big a deal."

"What are you talking about? Of course it's a big deal! How did you even get the opportunity to play on the BBC? Tell me everything!"

Stephanie gave her a rather general explanation about how her friend Lydia let her practice at the Royal Academy, and that the BBC people were just there one day and needed a violinist to play alongside the pianist they were making a documentary about. Morgan didn't know who Kyle Lancaster was, though, and she didn't ask, so Stephanie didn't go into detail about him. She felt thankful for that, too, since she wasn't sure if she wanted Morgan to know about her rather complicated relationship with him.

"It sounds like you're having such an amazing time over there," Morgan said, pouting slightly. "I'm so jealous. I can't wait to see you again so you can tell me about all the awesome adventures you're having."

"You can count on it," Stephanie agreed, grinning. "I'll see you at the wedding?"

"Of course," Morgan said, suddenly lighting up. "Tish and I have really gotten into planning recently. Did I tell you I picked out my dress already?"

"Oh my God, no! Tell me all about it!" Stephanie insisted excitedly.

Morgan began to go into what her wedding dress looked like, and Stephanie listened with rapt attention, happy to see her best friend so excited about getting married. Marcus was a great guy, and even though his and Morgan's relationship started off in an unconventional way (though Stephanie doubted anyone else apart from herself knew), they were clearly very happy together. Stephanie couldn't have wished for more for her friend.

The two of them chatted about wedding stuff for the next half hour or so before they said goodbye, and Stephanie made her way back to the Academy, feeling light and happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The entrance hall of the Royal Academy was a bit more crowded than it had been when Stephanie left, which made sense since it was now early afternoon and classes were currently going on. Stephanie figured Lydia was likely upstairs, and she wondered if she could pop by to say hello before finding a practice room.

Stephanie made her way down the corridor toward the staircase, and was rather surprised to notice some more people wearing BBC shirts and headsets milling around and talking with each other. They must have been filming something for Kyle again today, and Stephanie had a sudden urge to see what was going on.

Maybe I'll get to play violin with him again?

She followed a small crowd of people over to the auditorium, where cameras were once again set up around the stage, and BBC producers were bustling around and talking to the cameramen and lighting crew. Three chairs were set up on the stage: Kyle and Chloe sat side-by-side in two of them, and a woman in a smart-looking pantsuit sat in the third, holding notecards and turned slightly so she was facing them.

Stephanie edged her way inside, trying not to bump into the other people standing around watching Kyle and Chloe getting interviewed. The lights of the auditorium stage shone down brightly on both of them, and Stephanie couldn't help but think (rather reluctantly) that they looked good together. Chloe was happily chatting away with the interviewer while Kyle simply sat in silence.

"...And to go from touring all over the world to teaching at the Royal Academy? That must have been such a big change for you." The interviewer, who Stephanie noticed had an Irish accent, continued her line of questioning as she gestured toward Chloe and Kyle. "How has the adjustment been for the two of you?"

Stephanie frowned at the interviewer's question. The way she phrased it made it seem like they were a couple or something.

"Well, it's definitely been different," Chloe said with a tinkling laugh, glancing over at Kyle and smiling at him, as if they were sharing a private joke. Kyle glanced back at her, but didn't return her smile. "Being on tour is an incredible experience - there's really nothing else in the world like it - but it can get really exhausting. It's a rather strange feeling to wake up everyday in the same city and go to the same place for work!"

The interviewer laughed, as did Chloe: she leaned into Kyle and bumped her shoulder with his, as if they were both in on the joke. She then did a rather brazen move and placed her hand on his leg: not so much on his thigh that it looked inappropriate, but enough that it still looked rather intimate. A lot of the people standing around Stephanie clearly noticed it as they began whispering and giggling amongst each other, pointing at the two of them onstage.

Stephanie felt sick to her stomach as she watched them. It was clear as day what Chloe was trying to do, and it made Stephanie want to vomit. Even though Kyle didn't return Chloe's affectionate behavior, he didn't discourage it either, and that was enough to make Stephanie turn around and practically stalk out of the auditorium, nearly shoving over the people in her way.

I need to find a practice room.

Playing violin always helped Stephanie work through her feelings when she was angry or stressed, and she felt that that's what she needed to do right now. She knew she likely wouldn't have difficulty finding an empty practice room today, since everyone right now seemed to be in the auditorium watching Kyle and Chloe.

What a perfectly cute little couple they make.

Stephanie soon made her way into a practice room and began to take out her things. She sifted through her sheet music and pulled out a Beethoven concerto: his music would likely be the best way to help her work through her feelings.

Stephanie began to play, allowing the music to wash over her while deliberately ignoring the images in her mind from only a few minutes ago of Chloe putting her hand on Kyle's leg. That thought made her mind instinctively cast back to the memory of her ex-boyfriend Leon standing before her on the porch of the Willowbrook Inn, his shadowed face distraught as he confessed to her that he had been cheating on her for over a year.

Stephanie remembered standing before him, feeling her heart shattering into a million pieces as she struggled to absorb what he had said to her...

That unwelcome memory caused Stephanie to mess up a note, and she had to stop playing, huffing in annoyance.

C'mon Steph. Pull it together.

Stephanie took a deep calming breath before bringing her bow back up and starting to play again, focusing on the music in front of her. She wasn't sure how long she had been playing for, and she was so focused on her music that she didn't hear the door to her practice room crack open or notice the person standing outside listening to her play.

After several minutes, she paused in her playing, and the person at the door finally spoke up:

"I didn't peg you as a Beethoven fan."

Stephanie startled slightly, and she turned around to see Kyle poking his head into the practice room. He grinned at Stephanie before slipping inside, closing the door quietly behind him.

Stephanie wasn't sure how she felt about seeing Kyle right now, and she turned back to her music. "Why wouldn't I be a Beethoven fan?" she asked casually, twisting the pegs of her violin.

"I dunno. I guess since we played Mozart together, I assumed you preferred his music," Kyle pointed out, smirking slightly as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

Stephanie didn't answer for a moment or two, still avoiding his gaze as she focused on tuning her violin. "I saw you and Chloe getting interviewed in the auditorium earlier," she finally said, figuring there was no point hiding that from him. "Are you finished with that, then?"

Kyle blinked, his smile fading somewhat. "You saw that?"

Stephanie fought back the urge to let out a humorless laugh. "It was hard to miss. There was a huge crowd gathered around the auditorium to watch you two."

"Yeah, I didn't realize the BBC producers had organized that interview," Kyle said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "I mean, my manager told me that I was going to be interviewed by them today, but I didn't know they had gotten Chloe to do it with me. I was sort of surprised, and there wasn't much I could do about it."

Stephanie didn't say anything, though she made a noncommittal sound in the back of her throat as she continued to avoid Kyle's gaze. Kyle seemed to accurately read Stephanie's mood, and he walked closer to her, still gazing down at her.

"Hey... I didn't know she would be there, Steph. Honest," Kyle insisted, and Stephanie finally looked up at him, her expression flat. "Otherwise I never would have agreed to do that interview."

"It's fine, Kyle. The two of you seemed rather comfortable together up there anyway," Stephanie said before she could stop herself. "I understand why everyone wants to see the two of you together again."

Kyle frowned at her, and Stephanie saw a hint of annoyance in his expression. "Well, they can want all they like. Chloe and I are never going to happen, and that's that."

"Yeah, you've said as much," Stephanie bit out, turning back to her sheet music. "Do you mind leaving me alone, Kyle? I'm trying to practice."

"Why are you so upset? Nothing's going on between Chloe and me," Kyle said insistently. "I didn't like that she was acting all affectionate with me in front of the cameras, and I tried to get her to stop, but she wouldn't."

"Didn't try hard enough, apparently," Stephanie murmured under her breath, fighting an eyeroll.

Kyle definitely looked angry now as he glared at her. "You and I aren't even together, Stephanie, at your own insistence – you have absolutely no reason to be upset at me."

Stephanie felt her heart drop to her stomach, but ignored the feeling as she met Kyle's steely gaze. "I'm not upset at you," she lied. "And you're right, I have no reason to be. Now can you go please? I'm trying to practice."

Kyle stared at her for several long moments, searching her eyes for something, but Stephanie kept her face a stoic mask. With a huff and a head shake, Kyle finally turned on his heel and walked out of the practice room, slamming the door behind him.