Kira blushed as she looked at Tommy. She couldn't believe that she was finally going to tell him everything she had been bottling up for three long years. She gestured to Tommy to hand her the wine bottle, and took a small sip.

"Tommy, I haven't been entirely honest with you." She began, staring at her feet for fear of finding his gaze. "About why I left, and how I felt about you."

Tommy's eyes opened wider as he heard this. Was Kira really telling him this? Had he really wasted three years he could have been with her?

"I couldn't face being around you, but not being with you." She continued. "I…I've loved you pretty much as long as I've known you."

Tommy and Kira stood in awkward silence for a moment, Tommy only managing to break the silence after what felt like hours.

"I can't believe you're saying this to me." He replied, staring at her. She was beginning to shiver uncontrollably as she continued to stare at the floor. "I can't count the number of times I've wished to hear almost those exact words."

"I couldn't take it not being with you." She sniffed, as tears began to run down her face. "I couldn't face the rejection. I'd convinced myself you'd laugh at me, so I grabbed my bags and ran."

"I could never laugh at you Kira." He responded, taking her hands in his. "You are without a doubt, the most beautiful, caring and intelligent woman I've ever met." He tried in vain to look into her eyes, but Kira continued to avoid his gaze. "I knew nothing could ever happen while you were my student, but I knew it would only be a few short months before I could tell you how I felt."

"But you didn't!" She snapped back, ripping her hands away. "You let me go to New York. You never said a word, never asked me to stay."

"I couldn't have." He replied, his own eyes beginning to shed a few tears. "When I heard you were leaving I figured I'd gotten my answer. I figured if I had a shot with you you would have stayed. I couldn't stand in the way of your dream."

"Some dream." She half-chuckled looking at him. "An apartment that isn't fit for the roaches, a stack of bills I can't pay and an empty refrigerator."

"I never knew things were like that." Tommy sighed. "You could have come home."

"No I couldn't." She replied looking into his eyes. "Not if it meant having to see you every day."

"Any time you wrote you always said things were going well." Tommy stated sympathetically. "What happened?"

"Talent agents kept on turning up nothing." She sniffed, wiping her face with her wrist. "See apparently good singers are a dime a dozen in the City."

"Kira, the only reason I let you leave was because I didn't want to be the one to stop you chasing your dream." Tommy shot back at her. "I didn't want to ask you to stay and risk you growing to resent me." He pulled her in to a passionate hug as he spoke. "I couldn't have faced it if you turned me down, and got scared off. I needed you in my life, even if it was only as a friend."

Kira rested her head on his chest, hearing the rhythmical beating of his heart as it accelerated. Pulling away a little she stared into his eyes, before an irresistible force just seemed to draw them together into the warmest, most passionate kiss of her life. She'd had boyfriends before, but none of them had made the world disappear so completely. Tears of joy streamed down her face as they parted. Tommy pulled out a hanky, wiping a mascara-streaked tear from her face.

"I always did say you wore too much eye make-up." He joked, showing her the hanky. Kira stifled a little chuckle and looked back into his eyes.

"I'll bear that in mind." She replied. "Now shut up and do that again."

"Anything you say." He replied, as the night stood still just for them.

Hayley found Tori and Ronny back in the main room, and went over to speak with them, hailing them with a wave.

"Guess we'll know pretty soon." She piped up, sitting down with them. "I'd say the signs are good, I just hope they don't screw up our hard work now."

"Tell me about it." Tori sighed, rolling her eyes. "That girl has so little self-confidence it's not funny."

"Yeah. That is a problem." Ronny replied. Hayley and Tori looked at each other before exploding into hysterical laughter. "What?" Ronny quizzed.

"Of all the personal qualities I'd say you lack." Tori began. "Self-confidence definitely ISN'T one of them."

"Hey where's Kira?" Conner asked, coming over to speak with them. "I noticed you talking with her earlier."

"Not sure." Hayley replied. "I'll let you know you were asking for her." With that Conner simply shrugged and left as the three girls continued to celebrate over their achievement.