Date: Sun, 07 Jul 2002 07:46:46 +0000
From: Spoon Mike <col_dot@hotmail.com>
Subject: Playing from the Heart - Chapter 15

Hi everybody! Spoon Mike here; with part six for your viewing pleasure. I
know, it's been a LONG wait, but my life has been so busy lately. College,
music, work, it's all kept me busy. I'm going to try to keep writing this
time. Wish me luck!

I really haven't read much Nifty in the past few months, but I have to take
a moment to plug my favorite story of all time on the Nifty Archive, JC's
Hitchhiker. If you haven't read this one yet, PLEASE do yourself a favor
and go read it! You WON'T be disappointed! Writer Boy is SUCH a fantastic
writer! Many thanks for the inspiration and comments!

MANY thanks go to my fans, cheerleaders, and everyone who's sent me an
email. Special thanks go to Writer Boy (my inspiration), RdrMike (my
proofreader) and Adam (my friend). Writer Boy: I wouldn't have written
anything in the first place if it weren't for you and your awesome
story. Without RdrMike and Adam, I might not have come back to this
story. Thanks to you three so much!

DISCLAIMER: This story, along with all of the following characters, is
pure, unadulterated fiction. I do not pretend to know any member of N'Sync,
or Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, or any of the other celebrities that have
appeared or may appear in this story. I have no idea what their sexual or
even food preferences are. Any and all songs used in this story belong to
their respective artists and labels. Mike Russell is a completely fictional
character and any resemblance to any real person is strictly coincidental.
If you're a minor, scram! If this type of material offends you, why the
hell are you here at this site in the first place?


Now, ON WITH THE SHOW!


Playing From the Heart - Chapter 15
By Spoon Mike

 	"No Ben, not like that!" I exclaimed as Ben misses a note. Ben
sighs. Today's lesson is not going well; something is going on with him,
and I can't tell what it is. He seemed like such a happy, easygoing guy
before, but he's hardly even cracked a smile since he got here. In fact,
the only thing he cracked was a reed, which he dropped clumsily when I was
reaching to take it from him for inspection.

"Ben, is there anything wrong? Anything that you'd like to talk about?"

	"No, Mike. Why do you ask?"

	"Well, you seem kind of nervous and jumpy and not like your normal
self." I took the clarinet out of his hands and set it on a small stand on
the floor. "Now, please talk to me."

"I'm not sure if I can." Ben looked at the clarinet, the floor, and his
hands -anywhere but at me.

"Please, feel free to talk to me about anything. We're friends after all,
so..."

"Friends? We're friends?"

"Of course! You're my student, and have been coming over to my house for
the past two weeks; you're definitely a friend in my book." I leaned over
and patted him on the shoulder. This seemed to calm Ben down, slightly.

"Well... a lot has been on my mind lately."

"Hmm..." I look at the clock. 7:20. Ah, I know! "Maybe we should stop the
lesson for now."

Ben looks up at me suddenly. "Why?"

"Well, we're not getting anywhere with the clarinet tonight."

He looked away again. "Oh."

"Ben, I have an idea. I'll cook us some dinner, and then let's watch a
movie or something. We'll have some fun, and come back to the clarinet some
other time."

"Really? You mean it?" Ben's eyes perked up.

"Sure, you're my friend, and I can see that you are upset about
something. Why don't we just have a nice restful night? We can reschedule
the lesson for another time."

"Alright, Mike. Thanks!" Ben already looked a lot better. Good!

We put away everything and went into the kitchen to make dinner. I decided
that we'd have spaghetti and garlic bread. Ben was very helpful, stirring
pots, setting the table, and stuff like that. He was even whistling around
the kitchen. What a character! I'm glad that he seems to be back to normal.

Dinner went great. The food was delicious, and Ben turned out to be a great
conversationalist. He opened up, and we talked about many things. He asked
about school, Jeff, and the orchestra, and I asked about his best friend
Matt and acting. It was one of the best dinners I've ever had. We bonded
together extremely well. Ben is really an awesome guy. Later, we put on
Spaceballs, a really funny Mel Brooks movie that parodies on Star Wars
heavily. We laughed so hard, and talked again after the movie ended.

About a half hour later, Ben stood up. "It's time for me to get going. I
wanted to talk to Matt, and I have to be up early tomorrow."

I walked him to the door, and gave him his coat. "All right. I had fun
tonight, Ben."

"I did too, Mike."

"Do you want to reschedule our lesson now? How about on Saturday?"

"That sounds good. I have a meeting until 5:00. How about 7:00?"

"Sounds good to me. See you then, Ben."

"See you then, Mike." Ben opened the door and left. I'm so happy that seems
in better spirits, but I wonder what could be bothering him.


----------------------------


	Tonight started out so badly, but ended so wonderfully! I had
dinner and watched a movie with Mike! He's such a gentleman, and cooks so
well. I haven't had such a good time in so long, ever since... well, never
mind that for now. No need to spoil my good mood. I practically danced
home. Corny, I know, but I can't help it tonight!

	I danced right through our front door, and into the den, where Matt
was busily typing away. When he saw me, he stopped and gave me his full
attention.

	"Ben?" he asked. "How did it go?" Matt's been worried ever since
that day last week. After I saw Mike and JC kiss last Thursday, I was
broken up over it for the past week. I was dreading returning to Mike's for
the lesson tonight. Thanks to Matt, I relented and went to the lesson.

	"Matt, it was so wonderful. The lesson, wasn't, I mean, but the
rest was, it was so, so...wonderful!" I spun onto a nearby recliner.

	"Whoa, slow down! What do you mean?"

"Well, after the lesson was determined to be a flop, He suggested that we
have dinner and we watched a movie afterwards! We had spaghetti and watched
a movie together, and just talked and talked! I feel so close to him, and I
think that he might feel the same, too!"

	"Hmm. Ben, what are you thinking of doing?" Matt could always tell
when I was up to something.

	"I'm going to tell Mike how I feel about him at my make up lesson
on Saturday." Matt looked surprised. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even
know that I was going to say that. It feels like the right thing to do,
however. I want to be honest with Mike.

	"But what about JC?"

	"Forget about JC. There's no way that Mike and he has what Mike and
I have."

	"Ben, are you sure that this is a good idea?"

	"Sure it is, Matt. All I have to do is tell Mike how I feel about
him, and I'm sure that he'll feel the same. You had to be there
tonight. I'm sure of it.

	"If you're sure..."

"I am, Matt. Thanks for caring. I'm off to bed, long day tomorrow. Good
night, Bro."

	"'Night, Bro." Matt replied, and went back to his writing.

	While getting ready for bed, I thought some more about
tonight. Sure, Matt may doubt that Mike will just leave JC and be with me,
and to be perfectly honest, I'm not as sure as I sounded when I was talking
to Matt. I have to try, though. I can't let JC win Mike from me. Mike
should be with me. I got ready for bed and went to sleep, full of dreams
about Mike.

To Be Continued...


So what did y'all think of Chapter 15? What do you think of Ben? Ready to
kill me yet for keeping you guys waiting SO long? I really am sorry, but
I've been busy, tired and stressed this past semester and summer. But, I'M
BACK! Remember, you can thank RdrMike and Adam for this!

Please email me at col_dot@hotmail.com . Suggestions? Questions? Threats?
All are welcome!  I have the story kind of mapped out, but you can still
influence changes. It's been so great to hear from everyone who's contacted
me, and I promise to reply as soon as possible. Don't be afraid to
write. Hope to hear from you soon!

Spoon Mike