Master Rutherford dismissed them soon after. As Leo packed up his stuff, his gaze wandered to Al who was still sitting patiently on his stool. He wondered where the man would end up spending his lunch break, and Leo had an urge to ask him to join him during lunch. That had been how he and Claire had become friends. Although Leo came off as proud and snobbish most of the time, he did enjoy the company, and his friends knew how nice and friendly he was behind his typical demeanor.

"Are you eating lunch with anyone?" Leo asked, eyeing Al with his blue eyes. He watched as a look of surprise took over Al's face.

"No," Al muttered, picking at the lint on his jeans. He wasn't sure why he felt flustered. Maybe it was because no one had ever bothered to ask.

"Esterphina, Al's sister, usually comes to pick him up sometimes," Mr. Rutherford informed, slipping into the conversation as he busied himself at his desk.

"That's not bad," Leo said with a sigh. "I wanted to invite you to eat at my table," Leo said with a sad smile. Al smiled too, thinking that was rather thoughtful of him.

"I could ask her not to come," he muttered, earning a hum of approval from Leo.

Leo guided Al to the cafeteria with him. Apparently, he didn't have to do much since Al pretty much knew his way around. That didn't prevent Leo from holding on to his hand as he felt around with his walking stick, though. He was too scared of the young man losing his way in the stream of students.

"Who's that?" James asked as Leo and Al approached his table, giving their conjoined hands a questionable look.

"Al, the player I was telling you guys about," Leo replied, eyeing Marie and Claire who were also at the table. They waved at him, before muttering their greetings to Al.

"Oh," James said remembering, his frown quickly replaced by a smile. Al was blind so that pretty much explained the hand holding. He let his eyes wander over the dark-haired man. So, this was the famed disabled player?

There was a scuff from the corner of the table. It seemed Claire just registered who the man in front of her was. Marie gave Claire a look of disapproval before turning her attention to Al.

"That was Claire. She's always bitter. You'll get used to it like the rest of us," Marie said with a chuckle as she rearranged the stubborn hair strands of her pixie cut.

"Oh," Al muttered, trying to find the distinction between the two girls' voices.

He was soon startled by the sound of a chair being pulled.

"Sorry," Leo chuckled as the blind man jumped away, "I thought you'd like a seat."

Al felt his face heat up in embarrassment as a couple of chuckles echoed reverberated from the table's surface. He took the seat, fiddling about with a stray toothpick his fingers had found on the table. Leo asked Al what he wanted to eat before excusing himself from the table to get it.

"How's Leo enjoying it?" Claire asked when Leo had moved out of earshot.

"Excuse me?" Al said with a frown. He wasn't sure if he was the one that she was talking to.

"Sorry," Claire muttered, remembering the man couldn't see and wouldn't know he was being looked at.

"Alejandro, how's Leo liking his lessons?" Claire asked instead. She felt a twig of pride at restructuring the sentence, it sounded so much better than the rest.

"Fine I guess," Al responded, thinking of what else to say. He hadn't been able to socialize with people like this before. "We played Sonata in E major." He added, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Really? I was just practicing that!" Marie chirped with clear enthusiasm in her tone.

They soon got into a full-fledged conversation about Bach compositions, stopping periodically to explain to Al who was talking.

Leo came over soon after with the cafeteria's excuse for food. He smiled, noticing that Al seemed to be getting along with his friends.

He'll fit in just fine. Leo thought to himself as he placed a test of food in front of Al.

He watched him eat, turning periodically to find Marie giving him curious glances. He ignored her looks and continued his observation of Al. The dark-haired man had seemed reserved and shy at first, and that was not the kind of person Leo could work with. It was nice and maybe a tad appealing to find out he was more than just that.

He turned to find Marie looking at him again. He acknowledged her stare with the rise of his dark brow. Marie blinked, a little startled. She waved him off, picking up her cup and sipping its contents.

She decided she could confront him later, now was just not the time.