Classical musicians and former lovebirds, Chloe Alistair and Kyle Lancaster, were caught the other day by their students arguing in one of the classrooms at the Royal Academy, where both are currently teaching a series of masterclasses over the summer semester.

According to the students who overheard them, Mr. Lancaster had been angry at Ms. Alistair for constantly flirting with him in public, while the latter insisted she had a right to flirt with him if it gave her free publicity.

Rumors of the two of them getting back together had been circulating amongst fans for many weeks now, but now it sounds as if all of that buzz had been manufactured by Ms. Alistair herself. Needless to say, fans are not happy with this revelation.

So how will Ms. Alistair talk her way out of this one?

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Over the next few days, news about the infamous argument circulated amongst everyone at the Royal Academy. The dozen or so students who had overheard their fight quickly spread the news around to everyone, and by the end of the day, everyone at school, including the teachers, had heard about it. By the following day, a few local newspapers had even picked up on the story.

Chloe had stayed rather quiet about the whole ordeal: she continued teaching her masterclasses as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, despite all her students likely knowing exactly how much of a shallow harpy she really was. Kyle had remained rather tight-lipped about the incident as well, but it was clear his students now admired him a great deal for putting up with how unfairly Chloe had treated him.

Stephanie heard about the incident from Lydia the morning after it had happened. The two of them were hanging out in her office, and Lydia had shown her a local London newspaper she had bought from a nearby newsstand. Stephanie read the story, and wasn't quite sure how to feel about it: on one hand, she was never one to believe gossip and hearsay, so this might have just been a false rumor that was spreading around and subsequently picked up by some local gossip rags.

However, if it was true, then it sounded as if Kyle had actually gone head-to-head with his ex-girlfriend in an effort to defend Stephanie from her.

The thought made her heart flutter.

Stephanie thought about her argument with Kyle the other day in the practice room, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt about how she had treated him. She had been in a bad mood after seeing him and Chloe being interviewed together, and she had taken it out on him, even though he didn't deserve it.

It was unreasonable for her to get angry. After thinking about it for a bit, Stephanie realized she should have taken into consideration Kyle's position as a famous musician who was often in the public eye: it wasn't as if he could have interrupted the interview and caused a scene the moment Chloe started flirting with him. That would be a ridiculous reaction, especially since Stephanie and Kyle weren't even a couple.

However, with this rumor circulating of Kyle and Chloe's fight, maybe Kyle really did confront Chloe over her obnoxious behavior. It may have inadvertently been Stephanie's fault that all of this was happening, and she hoped she could find Kyle at some point over the next day or two and apologize to him about all of this.

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London was often pretty wet and rainy, but this Thursday morning was more so than usual, with roiling gray clouds filling the sky and high winds causing the trees to sway. Lydia and Stephanie decided to take the bus to the Royal Academy that day to avoid getting too wet. Stephanie was forced to tuck her violin case under her raincoat as the two of them bolted from the bus to the front doors of the Academy - it was only about twenty yards, but the two of them still got soaked.

"Whew," Lydia panted, pulling her hood down and shaking out her hair. "What a downpour! How's your violin, Steph?"

"Okay, I think," Stephanie grimaced, bringing her violin case out from inside her raincoat and brushing off the few water drops that speckled the leather case. "I feel like I probably should have stayed home today."

"Oh nonsense. A little rain never hurt anyone," Lydia grinned. Stephanie rolled her eyes at her.

"No, but it can hurt my very expensive instrument," she pointed out. "Don't you have to be getting to class now, though?"

They had been running late due to the rain, and Lydia quickly checked her watch. Her face fell. "Bloody hell, yeah I do. I'll see you later, Steph."

"See you."

Lydia hurried off toward the staircase, and Stephanie turned the other direction and began making her way toward the practice rooms, still trying to shake the rainwater off her coat. She had hoped it would be warmer inside the building since it was so rainy and cold out today, but the heating in this old place hardly seemed to work when it was needed the most.

Stephanie shivered as she made her way toward the practice rooms, but decided halfway there to make a detour for the cafeteria. She wanted to grab a hot cup of coffee in the hopes that the hot drink would at least warm up her cold hands a bit before she attempted to play the violin.

Stephanie entered the cafeteria, noticing a few students lingering around before class, chatting with one another while grabbing a quick breakfast. Stephanie made her way over to the coffee machines and grabbed a styrofoam cup; she swiped her credit card through the money reader before the machine poured her a hot steaming cup of black coffee. She took her drink and made her way over to one of the empty tables.

The rain pattered against the window Stephanie sat beside as she sipped her coffee and checked her emails on her phone. Some students still lingered around nearby, and for the most part they kept to themselves, but about five minutes later Stephanie heard a small group near the door start chatting loudly and excitedly.

"Oh my god, we love you! Do you mind if we get a picture?" one of the girls asked eagerly.

Stephanie felt her stomach clench slightly as she glanced up. Sure enough, Kyle had just walked through the cafeteria doors and currently stood with the group of eager fangirls, smiling politely as he took a selfie with all of them.

Stephanie turned back to her coffee, staring firmly down into the dark steaming liquid. She knew she had wanted to speak to him at some point today, but she felt a bit unprepared to see him so soon already. She sipped her coffee, and a few moments later she saw a shadow approach her out of the corner of her eye.

"Despicable."

Stephanie glanced up to see Kyle standing there, a styrofoam cup of tea in his hand while gazing down at her with a disapproving frown on his face. She saw a flash of amusement in his eyes, however, and she couldn't help but smirk up at him.

"What is?" she asked, raising a challenging eyebrow at him.

"That coffee you're drinking," Kyle pointed out, nodding at her cup. "You dare stay in the great country of England and not drink tea like the rest of us?"

Stephanie couldn't help but grin in amusement. "Well, coffee is what we Americans like to drink. And it is, much like my home country, the superior choice."

Kyle snorted, shaking his head before moving to sit across from her. "You Americans certainly do like to be number one."

"It's because we're so good at it," Stephanie said primly, and Kyle chuckled. There was a comfortable silence between them for a few moments as they sipped at their respective drinks.

"...Everyone's been talking about you the past few days," Stephanie finally pointed out, feeling it was best to address the elephant in the room. "Did you really get into an argument with Chloe Alistair about your past relationship?"

Kyle let out a heavy sigh, keeping his eyes trained on the table. "I did," he confirmed, looking back up into her eyes. "I wasn't planning on fighting with her - I had foolishly hoped to just have a sensible conversation with her where I would politely ask her to stop flirting with me in public, but of course that was asking too much of her. She blew up at me, and unfortunately her students walked in on her saying something she probably shouldn't have."

Stephanie pursed her lips slightly. "I can't say I'm too upset at the idea of her embarrassing herself like that. I'm just sorry you had to be dragged into all this."

"I'm quite used to the publicity at this point, Steph – please don't worry about it," Kyle said to her, his expression soft. "But thank you for thinking of me."

Stephanie gazed back at him, feeling her heart rate kick up a bit at the look in his eyes. The question she yearned to ask him lingered at the tip of her tongue.

"Kyle," she began, looking down at her drink. "I'd been thinking a lot about our conversation in the practice room the other day, and I feel awful about what I'd said to you. And I hate the idea that that's what led you to... well..."

"To confront my ex-girlfriend about how she's been acting around me?" Kyle finished helpfully, and Stephanie nodded. "You don't need to apologize for that, Stephanie. My conversation with you in the practice room was what led me to confront Chloe, but it was because I realized you were right. I was uncomfortable with how she had been behaving around me, but I didn't do anything about it, and it affected you in a way I hadn't been mindful of. You told me that you had been cheated on in the past, and I should have realized how uncomfortable it must have felt for you to see how Chloe was behaving around me. I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

Stephanie could only stare at Kyle, too stunned to say anything for a few moments. No guy had ever acted so thoughtfully toward her before, and considering how rude she had thought Kyle to be when she first met him, this felt rather unexpected. "Um..." she cleared her throat, and she realized she was blushing. "Um, thank you."

Kyle smiled at her, his eyes glittering with warmth and good humor. "You're very welcome. But I'm afraid now it's unavoidable – you can no longer deny that you fancy me."

He looked pleased with himself, and Stephanie couldn't help but giggle, a blush stealing over her cheeks. "I never said I didn't," she said, looking into his eyes as she brought her cup of coffee to her lips. Kyle looked very happy at that comment, causing Stephanie's heart to flutter.

At that moment, however, someone approached their table. "Good morning." A stout, middle-aged woman with tortoise shell glasses and a colorful blouse smiled warmly at Kyle, and Kyle smiled back.

"Good morning, Professor Lyndon," he said kindly. "How are you today?"

"I'm very well, actually," she said, turning to look at Stephanie with an excited glint in her eye. "And I'm so sorry for intruding, but is this the young lady who played the Mozart violin concerto to your accompaniment?"

"Why, yes it is," Kyle said, smiling brightly at Stephanie, who blushed again. "Stephanie Ryan, this is Gladys Lyndon. She teaches violin and viola here at the Academy."

"It's nice to meet you," Stephanie said sincerely as she shook the woman's hand.

"You as well," Professor Lyndon said earnestly. "I must say, your playing was quite fantastic! Did you ever enroll in a conservatory?"

"I went to music school in America about six years ago," Stephanie explained. "But I never pursued music as a career. I just like to play the violin."

"Well, that really is a shame. You seem to have quite an eye for music," Professor Lyndon stated keenly. "But I must admit, I had an ulterior motive when I walked over here... the Royal Academy's string quartet is in dire need of a second violinist, and I'm holding auditions a week from today. I would very much like you to try out for it."

Stephanie could only stare at Professor Lyndon in surprise. "Oh, wow... thank you," she said, feeling a bit dazed. "I'm not even a student here though. Would that be a problem?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. An affiliation with the Academy is helpful, but not required," Professor Lyndon waved off. "I'd be thrilled to have you try out for the quartet. What do you say?"

Stephanie was speechless. It felt like such a long shot, but her heart soared at the possibility of being able to play violin in an esteemed quartet like the one here at the Academy.

"You should go for it," Kyle said with a smile, and Stephanie looked at him. "I think you'd do fantastic."

"That's high praise, coming from him," Professor Lyndon nodded approvingly at Kyle before looking back over at Stephanie. "What do you say?"

Stephanie smiled, her heart pounding in excitement at the possibilities. "I'd love to audition," she said to Professor Lyndon. "Just tell me where and when."