Much to her chagrin, Stephanie ended up playing more than just the Mozart concerto in front of the cameras with Kyle. She had initially hoped she could just quickly play the piece with him before finding a quiet room downstairs to get some practice in, which was why she had come to the Academy today in the first place, but that likely wasn't going to happen. Once she and Kyle were finished with the Mozart piece, Brent the producer had eagerly suggested they play another. Stephanie didn't really feel confident enough to play another difficult piece, especially considering how the Mozart concerto was rather tricky, but Kyle suggested they just try playing something a bit easier so she'd feel more confident. Stephanie reluctantly agreed to play Schubert's Serenade with him, which was a beautiful yet simpler piece she still remembered from her music school days.

Franz Schubert Serenade

Despite her nerves, Stephanie couldn't help but think that she and Kyle sounded amazing together. She had played violin with piano accompaniment before (not since she and Lydia were in music school together though), and Kyle was unlike any other pianist she had played with before. It made sense that he was such a famous musician: he played each note on the piano with utter perfection, with just the right amount of pressure and tone while never overpowering the violin. Even the difficult parts that required rubato or accelerando, Kyle always kept the notes in perfect time with Stephanie's playing.

Stephanie doubted she had ever played this well before, even by herself. It was like Kyle's playing brought out the best in her, and she couldn't help but wonder if she did the same for him.

Once they had finally finished playing their pieces, everybody applauded, including the BBC producers and cameramen. Stephanie blushed and lowered her head slightly in an affectation of a bow, and her awkwardness wasn't helped by Kyle, who stood up and gestured to Stephanie with a wide, proud grin on his face. It was as if he were trying to show everyone that she had done all the hard work playing those pieces, which definitely wasn't the case.

Stephanie tried to quietly pack up her violin and leave, but Kyle's students all immediately crowded around her. They eagerly complimented her violin playing, asking how long she had been playing and would she ever consider playing alongside their accompaniment, suggesting different pieces they could play. Many of them also seemed to want to know her connection with Kyle, but Stephanie wasn't quite sure how to answer that. It was nearly 20 minutes before she had been able to extricate herself and leave the auditorium.

Once out of that room, she decided to just go back to Lydia's apartment for the day, figuring she wasn't going to be able to find a quiet place to practice today after all.

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

"Stephanie Lynn Ryan, what the hell did you do today?!"

Hours later, Stephanie had been lazing around in the living room and reading a book, idly petting Leopold sitting in her lap, when Lydia suddenly burst through the front door. Stephanie jumped slightly at her loud demand, almost dropping her book. Leopold let out a meow, annoyed at being woken up, and quickly hopped off Stephanie's lap to find somewhere else to nap.

"Jesus, Lydia! What the hell are you talking about?" Stephanie asked, frowning at her friend. "And don't yell at me like that, I thought I was going to have a heart attack!"

"Well, I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I checked my Instagram feed an hour ago," Lydia insisted, dropping her bag in a nearby chair and holding out her phone. "Have you seen it yet?"

"Seen what yet?" Stephanie asked warily. Lydia moved over to Stephanie and plopped down on the couch beside her.

"I cannot believe you did this today and didn't tell me," Lydia insisted, shaking her head as she scrolled through Instagram. She finally reached the post she had been looking for and held out her phone for Stephanie to see.

It was a video on the BBC official Instagram page showing herself and Kyle playing the Mozart concerto together in the Royal Academy auditorium. Stephanie had to admit, the music they played together sounded beautiful, and the video was very well-edited: the cameras cut to several shots of each of them at different angles, the lighting of the auditorium making the performance look beautifully put-together. After about thirty seconds, the video ended and cut to the BBC logo.

"Wow," Stephanie couldn't help but say, raising her eyebrows. "I didn't realize this was going to be posted online today."

"Steph, this post has been up for an hour, and it's already got twenty-five thousand views!" Lydia said excitedly, pointing to the view counter. "And seven thousand likes! How are you not more excited about this?"

"I was going to tell you about it when you got home," Stephanie deflected, glancing away. "But I didn't realize they were going to post this video on their Instagram page today. I figured this was just going to be some b-roll on a feature they were doing for Kyle or something."

"They're apparently doing an online exclusive series about Kyle's life and career as a famous pianist," Lydia explained. "I'm not sure when it's coming out, but it seems like they made this clip of you two playing as an advertisement for it."

Stephanie blinked, not sure how she felt about that. "Oh."

"Oh, but please tell me what it was like!" Lydia insisted excitedly, grasping her friend by the arm. "Playing with Kyle Lancaster! Oh my God, most musicians today would kill for a chance to play with him! Not saying I would or anything, but I would imagine it's an amazing experience to play alongside someone like him."

"It was," Stephanie confirmed, smiling as she remembered what it felt like to play with him. "He's easily the best pianist I've ever heard, let alone been able to play alongside with. I feel like I really understand now why he's so famous."

"Well, musical ability is one thing," Lydia pointed out with a knowing grin. "Stunningly handsome good looks is another. Luckily, he's got both in spades."

Stephanie let out a snort of laughter, rolling her eyes. "Looks aren't everything, Lydia."

"But they do matter," Lydia said firmly. "Especially for people whose job it is to be in the public eye. Kyle might be talented, but a lot of people also think he's also nice to look at. That sort of thing can go a long way."

Stephanie shook her head, moving to stand up and heading toward the kitchen to grab a snack. "Jeez Lydia, if you're so head over heels for Kyle Lancaster, maybe you should ask him out on a date."

Lydia snorted loudly at that notion, following her friend into the kitchen. "Oh please. If I ever went on a date with Kyle Lancaster, he'd probably spend the whole evening talking about how in love with you he is! I think I'd rather take a hammer to my violin."

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

The following morning, Stephanie headed over to the Royal Academy by herself to get some practice in, thankful that the BBC producers seemed to not be around today. She was also grateful not to see many students milling around either: the last thing she wanted was to be bombarded with questions about her connection with Kyle Lancaster again.

Stephanie found an empty practice room and began to set up, placing her sheet music on the stand before taking out her violin. She had just perched it on her shoulder and placed the bow against the strings, starting to tune it, when there was suddenly a loud snapping sound, causing her to jump back in surprise.

Her violin's G string had snapped, and it now lay lopsided as it stuck out oddly from the fingerboard. Stephanie's shoulders slumped as she stared at it.

"Dammit," she murmured, bringing her violin away from her so she could inspect the damage. Thankfully, it only looked like the one string was broken: snapped violin strings were not uncommon, and Stephanie supposed with all the playing she'd been doing lately, breaking a violin string was inevitable. The string must have been holding on by a literal thread too since she had barely touched it with her bow.

At least it didn't break yesterday when I performing with Kyle.

Stephanie unscrewed the peg so she could remove the broken string and throw it away. She didn't have a spare with her, so she would have to stop by Lancaster's to pick up some new ones.

She couldn't help but smile to herself at the prospect of seeing Kyle's uncle again. He was such a sweet man, and Stephanie legitimately enjoyed his company; she quickly put away her violin and gathered up her things before heading out.

The walk to Lancaster's was quick, and thankfully the weather today was mild. Stephanie opened the front door to the music shop, hearing the familiar tinkling bell sound as she did so. The place was empty, and George was standing at the front desk, working on what looked like a violin bridge – he glanced up and smiled widely when he saw Stephanie walk in.

"Stephanie! It's wonderful to see you again," he said sincerely, setting down his tools before brushing his hands on his work apron. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"One of my violin strings snapped," Stephanie smiled ruefully, setting her violin case on the counter. "And I don't have any spares."

"Ah, that's unfortunate," George said sympathetically, moving over to a nearby shelf where some boxes of violin strings were stored. "But easy enough to rectify. I'd be happy to replace the broken string for you if you'd like."

"Oh, that's okay. I can change it out myself," Stephanie insisted, taking her violin out of its case.

"I insist," George said kindly, bringing the violin strings to the desk. "That way I can check to see if the other strings need to be changed as well."

"I guess, if you put it like that," Stephanie grinned, setting her violin in front of him. "Have at it."

"Thank you," George smiled back, starting to unscrew one of the violin pegs so he could put the new G string in. "You know, Kyle came by the music shop yesterday afternoon too."

"Really?"

"He mentioned that the two of you played together at the Royal Academy that morning, and he was wondering if you needed a tune-up for your violin afterward," George explained, working busily on Stephanie's violin. "I thought it was a rather odd excuse to come by here, but I think he was rather hoping you'd be here. He was a day too early, it seems."

George glanced up at Stephanie over his spectacles, his eyes sparkling, and Stephanie's heart thumped in her chest. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, I've embarrassed you," George said apologetically. "But it's so rare to see my nephew enjoy someone's company as much as he seems to enjoy yours. It's refreshing, to be quite honest."

"I did really like playing with him yesterday," Stephanie confessed, smiling slightly. "He's an amazing musician."

"The best I've ever known," George said, shaking his head and smiling as he thought of his nephew. "And he deserves to be. All the time and practice he'd put into his craft since he was a child has been incredible. I'd never known a man work so hard at something, but he loves music more than life. He's extremely passionate and devoted about the things he cares about."

Stephanie wasn't sure if George was talking directly to her when he said that, but she couldn't help but feel like he was. "I'm starting to see that."

It seemed that the more Stephanie learned about Kyle, the more she liked him. Not only was he handsome and had incredible musical talent, but the people closest to him seemed to hold him in the highest esteem. He was an exceptionally good person, and for whatever reason, he wanted to be with Stephanie.

Someone like him wants to be with someone like me.

It made no sense, but Stephanie didn't really want to question it. She knew in her heart that she wanted to give Kyle a chance, despite her misgivings about her past. She didn't want to let her cheating asshole ex-boyfriend ruin her future happiness.

Stephanie smiled to herself, eager for the next time she would see Kyle again.