Eleven o'clock soon rolled around, and Kyle could hear the bustle of students outside the performance hall as classes were dismissed. He checked his watch, realizing that his two-hour masterclass was officially over.

"Alright, I suppose now's as good a time as any to wrap this up," he said, looking back up at the hall full of students, who all started putting their things away. "Have a great day, everyone. I'll see you all this time next week, and I want at least three of you to have pieces prepared to play for me by then."

There was a massive shifting sound as everyone got to their feet, a great rustle of bags and murmuring of voices as all the students made their way toward the doorway. Several eager-looking students approached Kyle and told him how much they enjoyed his masterclass today – these were the same group of students every week, and were clearly hoping to wheadle some information from him about his relationship with Chloe before they departed. Kyle had grown used to this type of behavior, and so he lied and told them he had an important appointment soon, and that he couldn't stick around for too long. That thankfully got the students to leave, and Kyle enjoyed some blessed solitude as he gathered up his things.

About five minutes later, as Kyle was finishing up putting his sheet music away into his bag, he heard the doors of the performance hall open again.

"Kyle?"

He looked up to see Stephanie hesitantly walk in, clutching her violin case in her hand. Kyle felt his heart stutter in his chest as he stared at her: she looked very pretty today in a knee-length short-sleeve purple dress that had a flower pattern on the skirt. On her feet she wore simple brown flats and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and Kyle couldn't help but admire her effortless beauty as she made her way toward him.

"Stephanie," he finally found his voice, and he cleared his throat. "It's good to see you."

"You too," she smiled at him, but Kyle could sense a bit of hesitancy behind her expression. "How was your masterclass today?"

"Oh, you know... incredibly, mind-blowingly inspirational. As per usual," he grinned, and Stephanie giggled. "Have you been practicing this morning?"

She held up her violin case. "I actually auditioned for the quartet this morning."

Kyle blinked, remembering the quartet Professor Lyndon had told them about a few days ago. That must have been why Stephanie looked so nice today. "Oh yeah! I forgot about that – how did it go?"

"I think it went well," Stephanie nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I was pretty nervous, though. I haven't had to audition for anything since music school."

"Yeah, performances are definitely the most stressful part of the job," Kyle agreed. "They get easier over time, though. I think it's really cool that you decided to take the leap and audition, though."

Stephanie smiled gratefully at him, but her smile faded after a moment as she looked down at her feet, not saying anything. Kyle picked up on her mood, and he took a step closer to her, feeling concerned. "What is it?"

"Nothing, I just..." Stephanie shook her head before looking back up at him. "The audition just kind of made me start thinking about the future, that's all."

Kyle frowned at her. "The future?"

"My future. As a potential musician for the string quartet," Stephanie explained. "Don't get me wrong, I would love it if I did get the second violinist spot, but I've been wondering what would happen after that. Lydia was telling me that the Royal Academy's string quartet would travel all over Europe to perform, and I just don't know if I'd be willing to make that sort of commitment. Especially if it's going to make me miss my best friend's wedding."

Kyle nodded in understanding. "I see. So you're debating with yourself about making your move to London more permanent if you were to get this opportunity?"

Stephanie nodded, her shoulders dropping slightly. "Exactly. This would be a huge decision, and I don't know if I'm prepared to take it."

"It is a big decision to make. When I graduated from Juilliard and I was given the opportunity to travel the world to perform, I wasn't sure if I was ready either," Kyle confessed, and Stephanie stared at him. "Going to school in another country was one thing, since there was always the expectation that I would be going home once it was over, but touring the world was different. The stress and uncertainty I knew I would feel would be far more than anything I felt while at school. I had to seriously think about whether or not I wanted to take the risk, but in the end I'm happy I did. If you did get the opportunity to travel around Europe with the Royal Academy, Stephanie, I really think you should take it."

Stephanie smiled at him. "I figured you'd say something like that. Your uncle told me how much you loved being on tour and how reluctant you were to come back home to London for the summer. Is that true?"

Kyle couldn't help but chuckle, feeling amused that his Uncle George and Stephanie talked about him. The thought pleased him for some reason. "He's not wrong. I did grow to love traveling around the world, and it made me remiss to have to come back to London again. But truthfully, I don't have many happy memories here, and I didn't really want to come back here."

Stephanie's smile faded as she gazed at him. "Your parents?"

Kyle nodded, not feeling particularly eager to talk about his neglectful mother and nonexistent father. "Yeah. Did my uncle tell you about them?"

"A little. He told me about how much time you used to spend at his music shop to practice piano throughout your childhood," Stephanie said, smiling slightly at him. "I think it was sweet of him to let you do that."

"Yeah, well... playing piano at Lancaster's was really the only happy moments I had while living here," Kyle confessed, looking down. "I was lucky my uncle was willing to sort of take me under his wing."

"Your uncle loves you," Stephanie insisted, moving forward so she was standing directly in front of him. He gazed at her, noting how she was looking at him, and his heart gave a little flip. "You're lucky to have each other."

Kyle smiled softly. "I know we are."

The two of them gazed at each other for a moment, the silence between them lingering long enough to make Kyle want to lean forward and kiss her. He held back, however, and Stephanie blinked, seeming to come out of a sort of stupor as she glanced down at her violin in hand.

"Um... I should probably go," she said reluctantly. "I was just going to go practice a bit downstairs, so I won't keep you."

"No, please don't go," Kyle insisted. "I actually don't have to be anywhere right now. If you were just going to go practice, why don't we play together right now?"

Stephanie blinked, staring at him. "You mean right here?"

"Yeah," Kyle grinned. "Why not? I had a lot of fun playing that Mozart concerto with you, and I thought we sounded pretty incredible together. Why not see what other pieces we can play together?"

Stephanie smiled at him, and Kyle thought her expression was almost teasing. "Oh, I don't know... the BBC isn't here to film us today. How do you know I wasn't just showing off for the cameras the first time around?"

Kyle couldn't help but laugh. Stephanie, despite how well she had played that day, had undeniably been incredibly nervous to play in front of the cameras. "Well, just pretend we're performing for thousands of screaming fans, and then you'll do great."

"Yeah. All those 'screaming' classical music fans," Stephanie rolled her eyes with a smile. "Somehow I find that hard to believe."

Kyle began to move over to the piano, reaching into his bag of sheet music. "Hey, you'd be surprised. Paganini really knew how to bring the house down at his performances."

"I can't say I know any Paganini, so I don't think we'd be able to play him today." Stephanie moved over to a nearby music stand and set her violin case down.

"It's no problem," Kyle said, leafing through his sheet music. "I've seen Hilary Hahn herself struggle to play one of his caprices, so don't be ashamed if you can't play the stuff he's written. What have you been practicing?"

Stephanie pulled out her sheet music and began sorting through the different pieces she had with her. While sifting through the sheets, she accidentally dislodged and dropped one of them.

"What's this?" Kyle moved forward and picked up the sheet music she had dropped, gazing at it. "'Lovely'?"

"Oh, sorry," Stephanie said, blushing slightly as she tried to take the music back from him, but he moved it out of her reach. "That's the sheet music to a contemporary pop song I like. I don't think you'd want to play that, though."

"No, it looks good," Kyle said, his eyes roving over the music with interest. "Looks like it's in the key of G, with some dynamic melodies... let's give it a go, shall we?"

"Really?" Stephanie asked, surprised. "I didn't know you played contemporary music."

"Not usually, but there's a first time for everything," Kyle glanced up and grinned at her. "I'd like to play this with you."

Stephanie stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Alright, let's do it."

Violin cover of Lovely by Billie Eilish and Khalid

Kyle had his iPad with him, so he was able to find and download the same Lovely sheet music Stephanie had. Once he sat down with the music, he began to practice a bit – Kyle was quite adept at sight-reading, so he was ready for Stephanie's violin after only a minute of practicing.

"Wow, this melody is fantastic," he said with some surprise, playing the chorus. He began improvising some arpeggios along with the more legato portions, and he couldn't help but thoroughly enjoy the sounds being produced. "I can see why you like this song. I can't believe I hadn't heard it before."

"It sounds better with the violin," Stephanie said with amusement, bringing her violin and bow up to her shoulder. "You ready?"

"Let's do it," Kyle grinned, stopping his playing and placing his fingers on the starting position.

They began to play together, easily sliding into the beautiful, flowing melody. Kyle enjoyed hearing how Stephanie's violin played off his piano, and he made an effort to pull back a little in order to emphasize Stephanie's part. Her intonation was excellent, and Kyle couldn't help but think she had improved quite a bit since the first time he had heard her play.

"How are you doing that?" Stephanie laughed in amazement, hearing all the extra notes he was adding to the piano accompaniment. "I don't think I could ever improvise like that."

"It takes a lot of practice," Kyle admitted, playing an impressive-sounding run with his right hand. "As long as I stick to the key of G, I know what I'm doing."

"That's pretty impressive," Stephanie said sincerely, bringing her violin off her shoulder, and Kyle stopped playing too. "I sometimes forget how talented you actually are."

"I think that's a compliment," Kyle teased, getting up from the piano bench and walking up to her. "I don't know if I should be flattered or not."

"Take it however you will," Stephanie smiled at him, and despite her teasing, Kyle couldn't help but feel his heart leap when she looked at him like that. "Regardless, thank you for playing with me. I actually really enjoy playing alongside you."

Once again, Kyle felt his heart leap in his chest. How this girl had an ability to affect him so much was completely beyond him. "I enjoy playing with you too."

Stephanie gazed at him, her green eyes seeming to pierce his soul. He couldn't quite decipher the expression on her face, and he couldn't resist taking a step closer to her.

"What is it?" he asked, a small amused smile breaking out across his face. "Did you want to play another song with me?"

Stephanie didn't respond immediately as she glanced down and shifted her violin and bow to one hand.

"No," she said quietly, looking back up at him and meeting his gaze. "I want you to ask me to dinner again."

Her eyes glowed with a certain emotion, and the small smile on her lips expressed her confidence in her words. However, Kyle felt as if his mind were exploding as his heart rate seemed to reach astronomical speeds.

She wants me to...?

"Ask me to dinner again," Stephanie repeated, gazing into his eyes. "Please?"

Kyle continued to just stare at her, looking into her eyes and trying desperately to see if she was being sincere. The confidence she seemed to express when asking him reassured him, and he couldn't resist the slow smile from spreading across his face.

"Stephanie," he began, and felt pleased as he saw the blush spread across her cheeks. "Would you like to go to dinner with me?"

Stephanie's smile was wide and genuine, and without a word she stepped forward and pressed her lips to his in an exuberant kiss. Kyle felt momentarily surprised, but after a moment he kissed her back, feeling his heart and mind soaring with happiness. He instinctively reached toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body to his; Stephanie reached up with her free hand and cupped his face, brushing her thumb along his cheek, and Kyle was so happy he felt like he might burst.

I'll take that as a yes.