The practice hall was empty aside from Leo, Marie, and Claire who were sitting on wooden stools at the far end corner of the room. Marie was humming a tune she was planning to practice playing tomorrow, while Claire was inspecting her violin as Leo read through hid offers on his email.

"Have you made a decision yet?" Marie randomly asked, making Leonardo look up from his laptop screen. He closed his MacBook a bit, biting his bottom lip before shaking his head in response. Marie's lips twisted into a small smile as she arranged the gathers of the long green skirt she was wearing.

"It's okay, you still have a lot of time," she said before looking over to Claire who was still tuning the strings of her instrument.

Leo smiled ay Marie's words, before opening the lid of his laptop to continue reading through the offers. Marie had said he still had time, but with every passing day, Leo knew time was running out.

"You should apply to the orchestra I'm looking into." Leo rose his head at hearing Claire's voice. He found her looking straight at him with her pink painted lips in a wide smile. "I mean, anyone would want to take you. You're a prodigy."

"If he wants to stay with anyone, I'm sure it's Alejandro," Marie said, making Leo smile at her as Claire's eyes widened as she took offense. Marie laughed at her expression, and soon an irritated frown was planted on Claire's small heart-shaped face.

Marie's laughter died down, and the three of them were all soon sitting in silence with small smiles on their faces. Marie was sitting in the center with Leo on one side of her, and Claire on the other.

Claire let out a sigh, dropping her violin before rubbing her sore hands together as she turned to Leo. "What orchestra offered Al a position again?"

"It's a well-established one stationed in France," Marie said, answering the question for Leonardo. Leonardo closed his laptop, bending to put it into his bag before sitting up straight on his stool.

"Yeah, what Marie said is true," he said, looking over at Claire.

"So, you're going to France?" she asked, bending her head to the side, and making her bob-cut hairstyle follow the motion.

Leonardo shook his head, running his fingers through his dirty blond hair with a sigh. "I don't know. I really don't." His voice came out shaky, and Leo soon realized that both Marie and Claire now had partially confused and partially worried looks on their faces.

"Sorry," he said before looking away from his friends. He tried to blink back the tears that were stinging his eyes, groaning with annoyance at himself. He wondered why he couldn't think about all this without getting overly emotional.

Marie reached out to pat his shoulder, massaging it a bit as Leo bend over to hide his face. After a while of trying to fight the tears, he started sobbing, not caring about being a mess anymore. Marie squeezed his shoulder, and Claire just looked on with a mix of worry and confusion. She had known that Leo and Alejandro had something. Everyone in the college had figured it out to an extent, but she hadn't known how serious it was.

"You can always apply to the orchestra that reached out to Al. You know that, right?" Marie said when Leonardo seemed to have calmed down a bit. He had started wiping his green eyes lean of tears, and his sniffling had turned into deep breaths. Leo sighed, looking down at the wooden floorboards as his eyes got blurred with tears yet again. He was breaking down, and he didn't know what to do.

"They're not looking for a conductor. I checked," he said, cleaning his eyes with the base of his palm as a small frown made its way to his face. Life was being unfair to him—extremely unfair.

"Then look for a group around the same city," Marie offered, taking her hand away from his shoulder. The look of worry hadn't left her face, and Claire continued to look on at Leo, playing with her bright silver hoop earring as her lips stayed in a small thin line.

"You can make your own orchestra," Claire said, making Leo and Marie look over at her. Claire looked away, picking at the lint on her trousers, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

"Some people create their own bands and orchestras after graduation. If you start your own orchestra, you can station it anywhere you want," she said before looking back up to them, "And you know, if you start one, I would join, and others will too. That's not even a question."

Marie took her gaze away from Claire's face to look back at Leonardo. He looked frozen in place like he was thinking deeply about Claire's words.

"We should get going. Everyone has left the hall apart from us anyway," Marie muttered, making her two friends turn to her.

"You're right," Leo said, getting up from his stool suddenly, before bending down to pick up his bag. "We should leave, and maybe grab lunch on our way home."

And just like that Leo changed the topic. Marie and Claire got down from their stools, picking up their things as they started a chat about what and where they should go to eat as they left the practice hall. It was early in the evening, and Marie wanted them to go to the little café she often went for coffee and pastries with Leonardo.

Alejandro was practicing with Kenneth in their usual practice room. Leo heard the music from the room as he and the girls walked past the partially opened door. A small smile made its way to his lips as he continued to walk through the hall with Marie and Claire. They were playing Liszt's Campanella, one of the most difficult piano pieces.

They're really going out of their way. Leo thought before he started walking down the stairs, hence leaving the hallway. The music faded away behind him with each step he took, and he was soon out of the college building and walking to the café with Marie and Claire by his sides.

As he talked and laughed with his friends, a part of him was still heavy and filled with worry, but there was a little hope mixed with it now. What Claire had suggested had lingered with him even after they ate together and went their separate ways.

"If you start an orchestra, you can station it anywhere you want."

He remembered Claire's words as he made a cup of coffee for himself at his apartment. He wanted to be rational, but his emotions were taking over his senses, and he just might take the risk.