After that particularly raunchy dream, it was embarrassing to see him and not imagine his lips pressed against mine. I found myself blushing madly in his presence. Maybe he knew. He didn't say anything, but how could he not notice? I was red ALL the time!

It had even begun to effect my playing. I made mistakes more frequently, and he tried to relax me. "What's wrong?" I would just shake my head in response. Sometimes he would even rub my shoulders softly. But that only made me shiver in desire.

Damn him.

A couple of months later, I was playing like I knew what I was doing. Work became crazy for Silvio and Dad, and the lessons finally ended.

On the last lesson, I thought of talking to him about… About what? That I liked him? Yea, right. Like I would ever do that. So I sat, suffering in silence.

But he seemed to understand.

He played a slow, mournful tune on Danny that seemed to express everything I wanted to say. He never said a word.

Neither did I. As he placed Danny on the stand, he turned to me. His eyes no longer frightened me. I think he knew that, too.

He kissed me softly on my cheek, lingering a little too long to be considered friendly. His lips were warm and soft, just as I had imagined they would be. I longed to pull him into my embrace and succumb to the dream, but I didn't. He pulled back and watched me with terrifying intensity, and then left, shutting the door behind him.

The silence was deafening.