Until July *COMPLETED*

Chapter VIII

"So it was you!!". Briella furrowed her brows at his words.

"What?".

"That tune, that melody you just played... it sounds just like the composition I heard in school," Ryan began. "I was walking down the hallway when I heard this beautiful melody being played on the piano... I wasn't surprised when I saw I was in close proximity to the music room. But... I don't know... no one else seemed to have noticed the song being played...".

"That's because they might have gotten used to it..." Briella answered. "I used to play the piano there all the time... until I stopped for a bit...".

"Stopped? Why so?" Ryan couldn't help but ask.

"Ermmm... well, it's kind of a personal matter... all I'll say is that what happened really made me reconsider if music and if the piano were for me..." she responded.

"Was it really that bad?" he further questioned. 'And is this why she's always so saddened?'.

"Well... now rethinking it, I think it was just me being naive..." Briella responded, a chuckle followed her words. She mocked her words.

To Ryan's cluelessness, Briella recited the words her ex used the night they broke up.

A few moments of silence proceed to pursue next.

"What happened?" Ryan asked. He looked up into Briella's eyes, their gazes met.

He saw the way she was looking at him. She showed off a similar emotion to that only a handful of days ago when she had her outburst.

He could have sensed she was about to give him a lecture, a lesson about how she doesn't like when people don't mind their own business. So, he spoke up before she did.

"You don't have to answer if you are not comfortable in doing so..." Ryan said lowly. It was immediately after his words that he saw some sort of relief spread across Briella's face. She let out a silent sigh.

Once again, silence followed but only for Ryan to break it moments later. "But yeah... When I heard you play, I couldn't help but stand by the open door and listen for a bit. You played really beautifully, both now and then. I envy you, actually, for playing the piano so beautifully. I want to play like you.".

Ryan's words caught Briella by surprise. It was shown by the way her eyes widened ever so slightly. She felt some sort of sadness radiate throughout her body. She felt her eyes swell with tears, but she managed to keep them at bay. 'Dylan never told me such a thing...' her mind spoke.

Briella swallowed whatever was in her mouth before getting a hold of herself. "Y-you liked my playing of the piano?".

"Yes!" Ryan replied instantly after her. She sensed slight disbelief in his voice, his facial expression was to prove her sense correct. He felt disbelief at the thought that she even had to ask him such a question. Her playing said it all. "As I said earlier, you play the piano beautifully.".

A small break. Though no words were exchanged, Ryan kept a close eye on Briella, he looked at her as the ground seemed to have some sort of appeal to her eyes. She kept her gaze to the ground.

It was when Ryan thought the silence became all too deafening that he decided to speak up once again. "I wanted to learn how to play the piano, but...". A small pause. It was here that he, once more, got Briella's attention. She looked up and into his eyes. "I guess you can say I didn't have the time for it... I used to play a lot of sports... basketball and volleyball mostly when I was back home.".

Briella widened her eyes to the new information she has just been told. But then again, it would have gone on to explain why he got such a big, muscular frame.