Symphony

Chapter Twenty-three

The bell for the end of the last lecture period rung through the college's main building, making the hallway to erupt with the noise made from the students filling them as they exited their lecture halls, classrooms, and practice halls. They walked about — some in groups talking as they made their way through the flood of other students.

Alejandro and Leonardo were still in the studio practicing together. They had decided to keep going even after the bell had rung. It was a short composition, and they'd be done in a few minutes anyway.

After a while, they concluded their practice, and Leo glanced at Al who was sitting on the stool by the keyboard piano. "That's it. I think we'll stop here," he said, making Al let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his long dark hair.

"Are you still here?" Al asked after a while. A handful of minutes had passed, and he couldn't really hear anything, but he hadn't heard the door opening or closing either.

"Yes," Leo answered in a mutter, sighing as he let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He wanted to talk to Al properly, but he didn't know where to start, how to start arranging his words. Al didn't say anything after Leo's response. The blind man just lightly pressed a couple of keys on the piano in front of him. The notes filled the air, fading just as fast. The room soon went quiet again, and the two didn't talk until Leo decided to speak up.

"I need to talk to you," he said in a quick breath. Al didn't move or turn his head towards Leo's voice. Leo frowned, his dirty blond brows c*****g with the action. He let out a sigh, walking over to where Al was before drawing aside the stool beside him to sit down.

"That night," Leo said, watching the man in front of him. "That night — that night I was a bit panicked, and I didn't really think through what I said."

Leo chuckled a bit. It came out sounding nervous and chocked like he was trying to suck the tension out of the air. "After I kissed you I felt scared. I didn't really know how to come to terms with how I felt — how I feel."

Those words seemed to grab Al's attention since the man turned his head towards the direction of Leo's voice. Leo watched Al bit his bottom lip. The man's eyes that were barely visible under his bangs moved about under the white cataract that blinded them.

"What did it feel like?" Al eventually said, making Leo's eyes to grow with surprise. He hadn't been expecting that.

"How does it feel? How do you feel?" Al continued to question him, making Leo look away from Al as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Do you feel like how I feel about you? Does your heart quicken at the thought of me? Am I the cause of your happiness, confusion, and sadness all at the same time? Tell me, because I need to know."

"Al, I..." Leo trailed, clenching and unclenching his fists that he had resting on the pant legs of his trousers. He didn't know how to put the words he wanted to say in proper order. His head was spinning — filling up with the beating of his own heart. What's this? He couldn't understand it. He was calm and collected on most occasions, but around Al everything just seemed to fall apart.

How did he feel? The most honest answer was that he didn't know. The room grew silent at Leo's words. The noise that had been coming from the hallway had faded away as the building emptied, leaving only the sound of the ticking clock by the practice room's door to fill the void.

Leo could hear himself breath — he could hear Al breathing. He looked up to look at the man, to observe his long oval face with sharp jaws, to feel the soft bronze skin, to observe the eyes that were peeking from under his dark bangs. He'd always thought they looked like white marbles.

"I know I'm in love with you," Al muttered, his voice soft and firm. "I'm not sure when it started, but I know I do love you. It might have been the first time we met. It might have been the sound of your voice. It may have been during one of our first few practices — maybe when I first got to hold your hand. It doesn't really matter when I started feeling this way for you, what matters is that I do."

Leo listened to Al's words, his mind running with everything from confusion, happiness, and fear. He kept quiet, not knowing what to say in response to Al's words.

Love. He thought to himself, closing his eyes only to be greeted with the memory of him walking into the hallway when Al had been playing — that day he'd been wondering about the building looking for a new instructor. He'd been drawn by the unique sound, and eventually captivated by the person behind the music.

"You said you need to talk to me, but it seems like I did most of the talking," Al said in a small chuckle, making Leo snap out of his thoughts. His face was getting warm with confusion, He ran his slim fingers through the fringe of his dirty blond hair as he looked around the room — looking at anything, but Al.

"if you don't have anything to say, maybe you should leave. Don't you have orchestra practice this evening?" AL asked, taking out the small brick phone he carried about from his jean pocket before pressing the button that called Esterphina's number. He let it ring for a while before terminating the call. He hoped she would see the missed call soon and come and pick him up. He was moments away from breaking down in tears.

"Al—"

"What?" The tone of Al's voice startled Leo. It had lost the cold calmness it had been holding. It was now sharp, nervous, and clearly filled with hurt. The sound of it alone made Leo's heart hurt. He leaned in, taking Al's face in his hands.

"Al..." he trailed again, taking a proper look at the man's face. Taking in his features, and pushing his bangs aside to look at his eyes with their pupils that seemed greyed out by the white and frozen in place — he was crying. Leo pressed his lips against Al's cheek, pulling away soon after. Al's brows c****d in confusion. The kiss had been soft and brief like it had never happened.

"I — I don't know," Leo ended up stuttering, still holding on to Al's face. "This is a new feeling, and I've been thinking about things for the past few days. Let's say I love you, let's say love is the feeling I'm currently experiencing. What happens when we graduate? When we're probably at different ends of the earth?" Leo asked, making AL bite his bottom lip, staying silent. The two maintained the silence, none of them saying anything.

"We don't have to overthink things," AL said, breaking the silence. He moved his hands until they cupped Leo's hands that were holding on to his face. "Let's think about now."

Leo stared at Al, eventually leaning in until their lips touched. He stayed still, feeling his mind fog over with emotion as Al made the first move by moving his lips against Leo's thinner ones. The two kissed in the quiet room, their tongues shyly meeting. Their hands moved to the sides of their bodies, riding up each other's tops. They touched each other's face, and neck.

They were burning, burning with the emotions that had started to bubble to the surface — erupting with the small given chance.

And while experiencing all this, while experiencing his heart heat and yearn for the man in front of him, Leonardo understood he was in love with the pianist.