[ ... or maybe he's not getting off the hook so easily, after all]

[exhaling a heavy sigh as he settles down on the bench, and he -- isn't ready to address the distance between them, yet. he just hums, instead, that in mind, and keeps to small talk] I did, once upon a time. It's been almost thirty years, since my mother finally let me out of my lessons, though.

[now, he regrets not sticking with it. at the time, he hated taking piano lessons]