Leonardo was in the practice room by himself. It was mid-day at the college campus, but classes were sporadic, and almost none were being had since most students and instructors were focusing, they got good deals and had enough material and credit to graduate.

Leo was playing a piece that he had been working on for a while. He had never been one to write songs, but it was something he resorted to relieving stress, and by the gods was he stressed.

Al was practicing with Kenneth in one of the many free rooms available at the college, and Leo was glad they would e able to head home early together. As the reality that they would be separated from each other sooner or later dawned on him, Leo had started to appreciate the little time they had with each other in-between all the preparation for graduation.

Leo looked up from his piano when the door to the practice room creaked open. He frowned a bit when he sat a random person walk in, he had been expecting Master Rutherford. All Leo knew was that the person was in the same year he was, and nothing more. The dark-skinned man waved at him with a smile when he spotted Leo at the end of the room. Leo returned the gesture, watching as the tall man made his way over to him before taking a seat on the stray stool in front of the piano he was sitting behind. The man just sat there for a while, not saying anything. Leo stared at him, but after a while, he looked down at the piano keys in front of him.

"What do you want?" Leo asked, having enough of the silence. He looked up just in time to watch the man let out a gasp of shock as he blinked at Leo's forwardness. The man shuffled on his seat before apologizing for zoning out.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm nervous," the man said before letting out an awkward laugh and showing off his teeth. Leo watched as the man stopped laughing. The man cracked his knuckles before adjusting his posture on the wooden stool.

"I know you don't really know me, but I know you—everyone does," the man said as a smile graced his full lips. "I came to ask you something." He went silent as if waiting for Leo to cut him off. When Leo said nothing, he carried on. "I'm starting up an orchestra, and I was wondering if you would consider joining? I'm sure you already have a lot of offers and would laugh at the idea of joining a start-up, but I want to assure you that I've done my research, and I plan to invest as much as possible into it—" the man paused. He then sighed before biting down on his bottom lip. "I want you to join as a partner as well, not just as a musical talent."

Leo stared at the man, observing his brown-eyed hopeful look. Is this what I've been hoping for? He asked himself in his mind as his heartbeat quickened. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. After a while, he opened his eyes up again before casting his gaze to the man.

"Your name?"

"Mason."

Leo cocked his head at Mason, wondering how he should reply. "Where's the orchestra going to be based?" he asked, and the man looked down at his feet.

"I've been thinking of basing it in France. I have family there, but if it's too far from where you want to move to after college—"

"France is fine," Leo said, cutting the man off. Mason looked up straight at him again. His eyes had gone wide with surprise, and after a handful of seconds the shock wore off and a smile took form on his lips.

"Is that a yes to my offer?" he asked, and Leo looked down at the piano keys again, humming as he pressed a couple of keys in succession.

"Possibly," he responded, pressing another string of keys so that music filled the room. "Can you give me more details about it?" he asked, looking up just in time to catch Mason nodding.

"Yeah, if you can give me your email address, I could send you more information," Mason said before reaching into his pocket to take out his phone. He tapped his screen a few times before handing his phone to Leonardo. Leo typed his email address into the blank space on the phone's notepad app before handing the phone back to Mason.

"Since that's all I wanted to ask, I think I'll be going now," Mason smiled at Leonardo before getting up from the stool. Leo nodded, watching as the mad left the practice room, and just like that he was left with just his thoughts again.

Leo was started to question his decision. A lot of start-up orchestras fresh from graduating students didn't do well, and even though he might have written himself up for a lost cause, a part of him was extremely happy.

━━━━━━━━

"How was your day?" Al's voice was small—almost inaudible. Leo hummed, leading the man into his apartment building. They'd been spending more time together alone, away from Esterphina. Leo had been the one driving Al around for the past few weeks, and although Al had protested at first, he seemed to feel a lot better about the arrangement as of recent.

"It was fine," Leo said, smiling as he gave Al's shoulder a squeeze before sitting the man down on the long sofa. Leo watched Al smile as well, and his chest grew tight.

"That's great. I'm glad," Al said as Leo sat on the space beside him on the sofa. Al turned towards the rustling, and soon he had scooted towards Leo before resting his head on the man's shoulder. He hummed, reaching out to feel Leo's face. Al was touchy—mostly because he had to be, but Leo could never stop his senses from getting clouded when Al touched him—even in harmless ways, like trying to find out how he was doing like now.

"How was our practice?" Leo asked, trying to distract himself from his thoughts as Al's fingertips brushed over his brows and then this jaw.

With a small hum, Al shrugged. "Fine," he said, running the base of his thumb finger over Leo's thin lips. "Is there something you're not telling me?" he asked, and Leo stayed quiet, knowing that there was no use to lie to him. He didn't want to talk about the talk he had with Mason either, because he wasn't sure — he couldn't go around getting their hopes up if he wasn't one hundred percent sure how things would go.

Al shook his head, taking his hand away. Leo could see the stress in his body language. "Tell me when you're ready, okay?" Al asked when Leo didn't give him an answer.

"Okay," Leo responded, leaning in before peck Al's lips. Once, twice, and soon they were making out on the sofa with the ticking clock in the background. Leo knew Al was scared. He was scared too. His kisses were raw, sad, and Leo could only kiss him back.

For now. Leo thought to himself. He just had to be sure. As they kissed Leo chuckled a bit against Alejandro's lips as the man reached out to fiddle with his buttons. He held Al's hand to his chest, kissing him deeply

Leo wondered how he could love some so much. He loved the feeling. He loved Al.