The conservatory was bigger than she remembered it. Much, much bigger. Looking up at the facade, she didn't remember it being this large or intimidating. It was a gorgeous building - three stories tall with the most enormous arches over the main entry that she had ever seen. Some people wouldn't think of them as romantic in any sense, but she sort of did. Sure, they were large and at the right angle, terrifying, but that didn't mean they weren't romantic. There were so many stories, sonatas and cantatas that came to life there, that it was all romance in her mind.
Ally held onto the little carrier in her hand filled with a few coffees from Santoli's that Suzetta had sent her along with this morning and gazed up at the building, earning a few inquisitive looks from students and tourists who were passing by. She remembered it being confusing inside and without Mercede by her side - the Nicoletti daughter she had gone with for a concert - she was sure to get lost again. Ally hoped that Austin was standing right inside and watching her, laughing his butt off, because she didn't want to get lost at all.
A rush of music came out of the door as it opened, taking her out of her wondrous state and back into the present. Reaching it just as it was about to close, Ally made her way inside and her ears were flooded with a gentle sound from a string quartet practicing in the small hall for what she presumed was a concert later that evening. Before she could look for Austin, her eyes darted up the stairwell in front of her. Forget the arches, the staircase was the thing wowing her now. It was giant and never ending, looking like it actually was a stairway to heaven. The stonework was incredible and all Ally wanted to do was climb them...up and up and up...
"Hello, my White Queen."
Austin's voice made her turn around, and she was greeted with a big smile on his face. "Hi."
"You look curious."
"I'm always curious," she told him and lifted up the carton of coffees. "I bring gifts from Suzetta."
"I hope you don't take offense to this, but," Austin inhaled the smell of the brew, "she might be my favorite person in this city." He took out one of the cups from the container and sipped it slowly, making every drop count.
Ally could only snicker at him. "No offense. She's mine as well. Don't tell Gianna that though."
"Your secret is safe with me." He winked at her and jerked his head away from the grand staircase. "This way."
Ally slid into step beside him as he led the way around the first floor of the school. She half expected him to pull her into one of the many rooms they were passing, but he didn't. Instead, he took her to the end of the building that bled into the next one and just like something out of a dream, pushed open a door she hadn't seen, revealing another stairwell. A very well disguised stairwell.
"Weren't expecting that, were you?" Austin looked down at her, raising one eyebrow up as if he knew she was impressed and held open the door as she peered inside.
"Not at all," she shook her head, taking a few steps inside.
"There's more too," Austin hinted, taking her up a floor to store the extra cups of coffee in the tiny kitchenette before showing her the rest of where he had been working for the past month.
They had lingered at doors where choruses were practicing behind them and she laughed as he tried to sing along; he gave a few statues inappropriate nicknames when she tried to explain what they were about; he took her to a few balconies overlooking the courtyard and a few of the grander rooms and they even got lost when he tried to take her back to the room he had been working out of that morning from the other side of the building. Ally let her laugh echo down the hallways as he opened door after door, interrupting a few classes and private lessons as he did it.
"It's got to be this one," Austin pushed the barrier open, and was met with a black space instead of a full class. Closing it again, he turned back to Ally. "They really need numbers."
"I think you need a map."
"Nah, I know this place."
"Sure you do," Ally patted his shoulder. "It's not like we've been opening every single door in search of your room for the past hour or anything."
She laughed even more when he poked his tongue out at her, backing up only a few steps to the next room - and this time it was his room. "Told you."
Peering inside, she was almost surprised the room wasn't a complete mess. She had imagined paper all over the place, chairs turned upside down, you know, the works of a great composer. This one was almost the opposite. Music books lined the walls in stacks around the entire room and chairs stood in the middle of the classroom that students used for private lessons. Her eyes traveled up to the straight-lined teacher's desk that sat up on a mini-stage with a clarinet, oboe, viola, and trumpet hanging on the wall behind it like they were trophies and then over to the piano that sat flush with the wall, where she suspected Austin did most of his work. It was a cozy room, she decided as she stepped into the room further.
Austin skipped ahead of her, trying to clean up a bit of the papers from the piano and make it look a bit more presentable, like the other three quarters of the room. She could see notes after notes on the sheet music and words that looked indecipherable and knew they had to be written by him. "Okay, time to pay up."
"Excuse me, what?"
"Pay up. Play," he pointed towards the piano.
She shook her head and tried to make the smile on her lips disappear. "I think you should play me something first. You are of course, the musician amongst us."
All Austin could do was smirk at her, and pulled out the bench in one swift motion. Ally shut up after that as his fingers flew over the keys and he wasn't just playing a little melody either. He dived in and was literally playing her a symphony. The sounds were up and down and soft and slow and light and lovely and as Ally watched him fall into the music, she took a seat next to him on the bench, watching silently. The music he was playing was a story set on fire and the sounds he was producing were amazing. She was mesmerized how he submerged himself in it and couldn't take her eyes off of him for a second.
She had known he was talented, but somehow talented just wasn't the right word anymore. It was more than talent, it was more like power and genius and without even hearing one note from anything he was working on for his album, she knew his fans would love it. If they didn't, they were idiots. Watching his blonde hair cover the side of his face, Ally stopped herself from brushing it away as his fingers slowed down into a light flowing river of musical notes that made her want to dance, and she was a horrible dancer. He had just made the symphony he was playing for her, her absolute favorite and she had no clue which one it even was. She knew it wasn't Bach or Beethoven or even Wagner. Those ones she knew, but this one, this one sounded like something out of a dream sequence in a Gene Kelly movie...and it was absolutely wonderful.
Austin's hands slowed down even more, pressing the keys lightly before he looked over at her and she locked her eyes with his. "Does that work?"
Her mouth curved upwards. "That definitely works. That was amazing, Austin."
"One of the first symphonies I learned all the way through," he told her. "I could never get into the ones everyone knows...the 6th from Bach or 40th from Mozart. When I was in high school, my teacher put out this challenge to learn one of them and all my classmates chose those ones. I went with this one."
"I hope you got an A+."
He shrugged his shoulders, "B+, but I was still only sixteen and I know I messed up a ton of chords."
"What symphony actually was that? It's really pretty."
"La Peri, from Paul Dukas. Want to hear something I've been working on?"
Ally didn't have to think twice or even blink twice before nodding and Austin pulled out a few sheets of music from underneath a book on the top of the piano. Spreading it out, Ally studied the music before watching his fingers hit the keys once again. She found herself anxious to hear this new sound he had bragged about over their times at Santoli's and antsy on when he would actually start playing. He cleared his throat and turned to her briefly, giving her a glimpse of that charming smile she saw more than often.
"Everybody's got a time in their life," he sang softly, the sound of the piano echoing in the room underneath his addicting voice. "When everything hurts and nothing's right. But you gotta walk on, yea, you gotta walk on. Everybody's got a piece of their heart that's been stepped on and torn apart..."
More music came and Ally didn't take her eyes off of him. In fact, she found herself humming along with him.
"Sing with me," Austin said, not really asking her, but not forcing her either. "But you gotta walk on, yea, you gotta walk on."
"I haven't sung in a very long time."
"It's just me. Please," Austin beamed then, giving her the cheesiest of smiles she'd ever seen and there was no way she could say no. "From here," he pointed to a line of lyrics just beyond the part he played. "One, two, three..." and they sang together.
Ally had no idea how her voice would sound like after all these years. When she had last sang, well, it had been in the shower, but other than that, in front of people - it'd been so long. Years. And now she was singing again, and not just with anyone. With Austin Moon; with one of the most amazing men she'd ever met and if someone could pinch her now, she'd welcome that in spades.
"And I know there's hope," he started, her voice becoming almost silent again. "I see it in your eyes."
"So take me, touch me," Ally read from the music, "Cause with a little bit of love, we can win the fight."
"With a little bit of love we can see the light," Austin raised his voice a bit, smiling over at her as they sang one last line together, "With a little bit of love it'll be alright."
Austin's voice died out just as hers did and she suck in a breath. He was doing to exact same thing she was, glancing from his lips to his eyes and suddenly, they were back in the same situation they were in a week ago at the party...and this time there were no drunk people about to break them apart or any distractions. It was just them, in an empty room, singing one of his songs that was sure to bring him way more praise than his first actual hit song did.
"That was a great song," she finally uttered, her eyes still searching around his face.
"You think so?" Austin let his arms drop from the keys and slip to the outside edge of bench as he turned slightly towards her. "I wrote it on the plane ride here."
"It's really good," she told him again, feeling his face get a little closer. "Amazing, even." Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw him scooch more towards her.
"Amazing? I'll take that amazing."
"Yea, and the words were..."
"Ally, stop talking." His voice was low and his right hand slid up the side of her bare neck, cupping her cheek softly.
Austin Moon was going to kiss her and she was jumping for joy inside. Ally let her eyes flutter shut as he leaned in and she was thanking all lucky stars around her that there were no distractions around...at least, that's what she thought. No sooner than she shut her eyes and could feel his breath on her lips that the door opened wide and both of them broke any contact, looking towards whoever came in and interrupted them again.
"Mi dispiace, Austin," the man said, sorting through a few papers in his hands as he approached the desk beside them. "Didn't know you were in here. I thought you had that girl coming by."
"This is that girl," Austin's head was hanging down in between them and Ally pressed her lips together. He turned to face the piano head on once again. "Ally, this is Santo, my mentor and friend, or so I thought. Santo, this is Ally."
Santo's eyes lit up and just as he dropped his things on the wooden table, he walked over to them, taking her hand in his. "Quindi, tu sei la donna che ha sempre parlando. Sei ancora piu bella di quanto descritto," he told her in his native language and nudged Austin in the back. "Ora vedo comesi sta sempre cosi inspirato Austin."
Ally looked back at Austin, waiting for him to say something. Letting him sulk and curse his friend out under his breath a bit more, Ally exchanged pleasantries with Santo. "E'bello incontrare anche voi."
"Austin aveva ragione. Lei parla un italiano perfetto. Non c'e da stupirsi che sta innamorando di te."
"Santo!" Austin yelled at him which only made Santo laugh.
"Sorry, sorry," Santo put his hands up and backed away. "I have a meeting downstairs and then a lesson with Isabella on the oboe. So," he picked up the instrument that hung on the wall and his keys from the desk drawer. "I shall see you two later. It was great meeting you Ally."
Ally watched as Santo left the room and when she turned back she saw Austin, leaning over the piano with his face buried in his arms. "You okay there?"
"I can't believe that just happened," he mumbled into the whole in his arms. He pushed off the piano and slid off the bench, not letting her see the redness on his face. "Apart from that, Santo's a really great guy."
"He seems pretty cool. Especially since he had to have vouched for you for the conservatory," Ally pointed out and was met with a confused face. "You do remember that I'm a walking know it all about Venice right? You have to know Italian to get into this place."
Austin held back a laugh. "You caught me." Ally turned back to the piano and picked up another piece of sheet music from his pile. She spread it out and studied it for a moment. "No, you don't," he pulled it out of her hands from behind.
"But, I want to hear more."
"Buy the album," he told her in a hushed tone, placing it back under the book on top.
"Okay, how about a trade? I'll play you something if you play me another song."
Austin came back to the bench and took a seat on the outside of it. "Start playing."
And she did just that. It wasn't just any song either - it was the butterfly song. The one she had written when she was just five years old for a school pageant. It was the song that she had been so proud of, and Ally recalled it was the song that made her realize she wanted to be a songwriter then. Truthfully, it was the only song she remembered how to play by heart now. There had been other songs she had written, but this one just stuck with her. So, she sang the tune to Austin, her voice falling up and down with the easy music and looked over at him every so often, picking up on his amusement. "So glad I ended up like this, thanks to metamorphosis...I'm a butterfly," she tapped the end note, reaching across the keys in front of him.
Austin didn't have any reaction for a minute, but she did see his lips curve upward. "That was cute."
"Of course it's cute," she said, rather proudly. "I wrote it when I was five. Everything was cute then."
"When you were five?" Austin let his elbow rest on the top of the piano and looked over at her. "When you were five? I'm starting to think there's really nothing you can't do. I'm right, aren't I?"
Playfully shoving him at the compliment, Ally pointed to the sheets of music he had hid from her. "Another song please."
+++
He ended up sharing almost every song with her, something he told Santo and himself earlier that he didn't want to do. He wanted to keep it all secretive until he actually recorded it all and showed his label when he got back to the States. But she was Ally and he found himself wanting to share everything with her - all of his own secrets, the things that fans would never know, things about his crazy friends that he was sort of impressed by, how he actually zoomed to the top of the charts and why this record was the most important of them all - all of it. He felt that she was that type of person too. She wouldn't tell anyone, she'd keep his secrets safe with her...and it only made him want her even more.
Austin didn't exactly know when he had come to think of Ally as more than a friend. Maybe it was before the party, maybe it was at the party...but he didn't really want to go back to just friends with her. He wanted more. He wanted to kiss her and hold her hand and know all her plans for after Venice. He just wanted to be near her, because being near her was better than being far away from her. He had come to think of a bridge as far these days. He watched her get up from the bench and wander about the room a bit just as he slipped all his music back in his bag and pulled it over his shoulder. Somehow in between having their own adventure in the conservatory without getting yelled at, and singing to her like a boyfriend would a girlfriend, the day had passed them by and it was nearing seven at night - definitely time to get out of the building and head home.
"These are Wagner," Ally pointed out, picking up a few folders that were stacked amongst the books. "Have you been to the Wagner Museum?"
Austin nodded. Of course he had. Wagner was a huge inspiration in his life and the museum, set inside the Ca' Vendramin Calergi, had been one of his first stops as soon as he set foot on the island city. It was only three rooms, but in those three rooms, he had found a base rhythm for two songs and as he read Wagner's writing on a book inside while he was there, was sparked with an idea for the lyrics as well.
"Of course you have," Ally shook her head, her hands skimming over the folders before he caught it with his own, linking their fingers tight.
"I think we're due for some Santoli's," he suggested, not taking no for an answer from her. She was probably starving and so was he, and he wasn't ready to let her go just yet. Austin loved having her for the whole day and if he had anything to say about it, would welcome it until he left...until he left. His thoughts came back to bite him in the ass there. Now, instead of thinking about warm coffee and the sandwiches that he knew Suzetta would make them, he was thinking about what would happen after he left. Austin didn't know when he was actually leaving and Ally wasn't his girlfriend, but she was something. Hell, he didn't even know her plans. He knew she was graduating in mere months and after that she had a job with the Italian Embassy somewhere, but that was about it.
Ally gently shook him with their linked hands, probably noticing his sour face. "You okay?"
"Yea, just...," Don't tell her, Austin. Think of something else. "Just thinking about how I let you hear almost my entire album."
"I'm glad you did. I loved it," Ally jumped in step next to him as they reached the grander staircase she had been admiring earlier. "I'll definitely be buying it."
"I'll get you a signed copy," he joked and while they headed down the stairwell and towards the outdoors once again.
+++
Note: The song Austin "wrote" is David Archuleta's "Things Are Gonna Get Better" - mostly because I could not get it out of my head when I wrote this chapter