Symphony | ✓

Chapter 47

The graduation ceremony was tiring. On the day people cried with their families and celebrated finally getting their degree Leonardo was stuck in the practice room behind the stage with the school's orchestra, trying to make sure the nervous rack of mostly first-year students had their performances down before they were called on stage. He would have completely lost it if Alejandro didn't stick by him; encouraging and comforting him with words, caresses, and quick kisses.

Most of the graduating students were in crisp formal wear. Leo was in black dress pants and he had on a long-sleeved formal top tucked into them. He had on a black-tie he kept adjusting every two or so minutes, and it was the same for Alejandro—everyone really. No one was used to dressing this way.

The graduating ceremony was half through. All that had to be done before the graduating students in the hall started fizzling out was the handing of diplomas. The few times Leonardo wasn't on stage or backstage in the practice room he would wiggle his way into the crowd to watch the ceremony for a few minutes before heading back. He mostly went out to see Marie and Claire, but sometimes he would smile at his aunt who had come in place of his parents. She had somewhere to be. She wouldn't even stick around until the end of the ceremony. Sometimes Leo's gaze would drift to the other side of the hall where Esterphina was sitting with people he guessed were Alejandro's relatives. The two elderly looking people sitting at her side stuck out more. They were probably Al's parents. A ball of nerves would form in his stomach whenever he caught any of their eyes, and he would look away.

Meeting Alejandro's parents had been something that had been dancing around in his head ever since Ale mentioned that his parents were going to fly in to see him graduate. Even though Leonardo had never seen them before e had come up with stand-ins in his head. He had imagined morphed older versions of Alejandro and his sister. Well, that was all he had to go by at that time. Looking at them from a distance only reaffirmed his visions of them. Only Alejandro's father was shorter than he had imagined, and Al's mother had a shot bob instead of long hair like Alejandro and Ester. They also seemed a lot older than most folks in attendance, which made sense since Alejandro and Ester were the youngest of seven—or was it, eight children? Leonardo couldn't remember.

"Leo!" Leonardo blinked, realizing that he had been standing in front of the curtains separating the event and the people working behind the scenes. He apologized to the person that had called him before heading back to where the orchestra members were.

Alejandro had already had his small performance with the school orchestra, and they only had a few short pieces to play before they had to listen to the valedictorian addresses and receive their diplomas. When the time came Kenneth went up to give a short speech, and so did Kenneth and the other students that placed first in their departments. James and Kenneth did a performance together right after, and the hall started to think out when they finished.

The sea of yellow graduating gowns and hats soon flooded the campus' compound. Whole families were clutters sharing food and souvenirs. For quite some time Leo didn't know what to do. He just held on tightly to Al's hand as people screamed their goodbyes to them both. Some students even tried to drag them to their cars. Marie and Claire seemed to have disappeared into thin air, and Kenneth had left with James to help him out with packing for tomorrow's flight.

"Leo! Al!" Leo turned towards the voice, a smile forming on his face when he spotted Ester walking towards them. She was in a fancy purple blouse and wine-colored jeans. She looked stressed. Leo didn't blame her. The whole scene was rowdy and unnerving. He had been frowning just minutes ago as well.

"My parents are looking for you two!" she said, coming to a stop in front of the pair. Her expression shifted, and she muttered something under her breath before putting her hands on her waist. "Wait, is anyone here for you?" Ester asked, directing her question at Leonardo. The man shook his head, making his blond hair that he had refused to style with gel hop around.

"Oh good!" Ester said before her eyes went wide with horror. "No, not good that they're not here, but good that my parents wanted to see you, and I already told them you would be happy to..." Ester rambled, looking away from Leo. Leo laughed, not taking her previous comment to heart.

After a few more seconds of trying to explain what she had meant Esterphina gave up and joined in to laugh with Leo. She got him and her brother to follow her back into the hall.

The hall was a mess now, and it was almost empty. Leonardo spotted the group of people gathered around some coolers of food and drinks almost immediately. He spotted Al's parents, and his stomach immediately twisted in nerves.

"Come on." He blinked at Ester's sudden push, just realizing that he had stopped walking forward. He let out a small apology before tightening his hold on hand and following Ester across the hall to the group of people that were Al's family.

"¡Este es Leo!" Ester said to the group when she, Leo, and her brother made it to the group. "Él fue quien ayudó a Alejandro este año," she added, making Leo raise his hand and waved nervously. He could somewhat understand what Ester was saying. He might be Italian, but he could pick up a Little Spanish.

"Hello," he muttered, watching as everyone in the group turned their attention to him. The eyes on him made him nervous, and he almost jumped back when Al's parents got up. He stood his ground, however, controlling his nerves as he watched the woman mutter a string of words a little too fast for Leonardo to pick up, but Leo was sure he caught a 'Thank you' somewhere. She walked over to him, pulling the blond-haired man into a hug. Al's father wasn't as affectionate, but Leo could see all the emotion in his eyes as he gripped his hand and gave him a firm shake. The two parents passed him by for their son who they pulled into a tight group hug. Leo was soon left standing outside the circle of chairs by himself. Many of the people in the group gave him smiles, and he smiled back at them.

"Hey, sit here," someone said, tapping Leonardo's shoulder. Leo turned, realizing that someone had gone out of their way to bring in two more chairs.

"Thanks," Leo said, sitting down before looking at Ester who was now talking to her relatives and sharing food. Al's parents eventually left him alone, and soon Alejandro was sitting next to Leo, joining in on the conversation as he gripped on to Leo's larger hand.

Meeting Al's family had Leo in his nerves, but he calmed down after spending close to an hour with them, talking and eating. They were nice people, and even though Al had told Leo ahead of time that his family knew about them Leo was still pleasantly surprised regarding their indifference to their personal display of affection. He wasn't used to it.

Leo's parents were reserved, not very social, and generally very unaffectionate. Being at the center of so many chatty people while holding on to his boyfriend's hand felt odd in a good way.

Leo smiled at Al when the man rested his head on Leo's shoulder.

I should tell them. Leo thought, thinking about their relationship, and whether it was worth telling his parents or not. They probably wouldn't care. They'd be cold and uninterested as usual, but he would tell them anyway.

Being introduced to the family was all part of the process, right?