Paul Tanner was an average guy or at least he liked to think so. He could've been great had his theater career bloomed. Unfortunately, his vocal cords gave out on him at the wrong time. Now he can't sing for any prolonged period or it would irritate his throat, resulting in serious coughs.

But Paul had come to terms with his career a long time ago. Ten years to be precise. It was in 1988 that he had to leave it behind to complete his degrees in music and education. Thankfully, his parents had saved enough money to support his college.

"Paul, your student's movie will begin soon." A female voice jolted Paul from his reminiscing of the good old Broadway days. He shook his head of melancholy and walked towards his living room.

Today was the premiere of his, currently favorite student, Troy's first film.

Paul was in awe of the inherent talent displayed by the young child he was tutoring in music. It didn't take Troy long to get the hang of most tunes he was taught, whether vocal or through guitar. Although Paul wasn't the best at playing guitar himself, he knew enough to guide another person.

If his talent in singing was carried over even a little in the acting department, Paul was sure he would witness a very good performance today from Troy.

He caught sight of the woman sitting on the couch and smiled at her. He bent down and pecked her on the mouth lightly. What he wasn't expecting was for the woman to grab his hand, pull him down on the couch, and then sit on his lap, straddling him.

Paul let out a little startled yelp as the woman's lips latched onto his and a warm tongue entered his mouth.

"Em!" Paul separated after a few minutes of the make-out session, "Rosie could walk in any minute. I don't want her witnessing anything R-rated, she's 5."

Emily rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "For a former actor you are way too stuck up. Don't worry, I put her to sleep myself. She won't be waking anytime soon."

"You better hope so," Paul warned.

"I promise! Now tell me what this movie is about," Em deflected the topic.

"I didn't ask Troy about the movie, because the title is [Sex Education] and that is hardly a topic to talk about with a nine-year-old without coming across as a predator," Paul answered drily.

"Please don't tell me it's about a child explaining to adults about sex. That would get embarrassing real soon." Em made a pained expression thinking of the scenario.

"It's a feature film, not a documentary. And his father, who is the writer and director of the film, has made a few good movies. Do you remember that movie, [The Fabulous Baker Boys]? It had Jeff Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer. Ring any bells?" Paul asked.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. Wait, that dude starred his own son in a film about sex?" Em asked, baffled.

Paul laughed out loud, "Believe me, I had a similar reaction when I heard about it the first time, and boy, was Troy mad at me. From what I could glean, he cares about his parents a lot and he was so excited about his film. His only complaint was that he won't be able to see it anytime soon. So either he doesn't realize the topic of the film or he is so used to it that it doesn't bother him too much."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Wow," Em breathed out audibly, "That's something."

"Every time I think about it, I make a promise to myself that I won't allow my darling Rosie to work in such a film, ever. If Melanie were here, she would definitely kill me if that were to happen." Paul shivered unconsciously remembering his first wife and Rosie's mother.

"I wish I could meet her," Em said with a smile.

"Me too," Paul said back with a reminiscent smile of his own.

Just then the commercial that was playing on the screen ended and the movie started.

Paul perked up, "Oh it's begun. Now be quiet and let me enjoy the movie."

(Break)

[Censored]

Paul could see that Emily had a hard time controlling herself as she cried silently over the sudden tonal shift of the movie. Only the hug from Paul stopped her from bawling out loud enough to wake Rosie. With great effort, they continued watching the movie.

Paul knew Emily was a crier, but this was too much. She had never cried so much or so freely in front of him. Ever. Something was not right about the situation.

[Censored]

Then the movie comes back to the present where Mark is having a meeting with a therapist but his facial expression is totally blank as if he is numb to the world.

His eyes convey the truly hollow look that the movie is trying to portray. The therapist asks the kid a slew of questions but he remains silent. Then the therapist passes Mark a video recorder asking him to record anything he thinks that would shed light on his thoughts about the incident, his family life, or any thoughts of the past he wants to talk about.

In the very last scene, Mark is talking to the audience, "And that's how I got stuck talking to you all about sex." Revealing that all this time Mark was actually talking to the recorder for his therapist telling them his story.

"I hope one day, I can go back to how things were. Mummy and Daddy loved me, Jenny didn't hate me and everything was okay." Then he frowned a little in contemplation, "Till then, see ya."

With that, closing credits fell and Emily couldn't stop a fresh wave of tears from falling down her cheeks as her boyfriend hugged her from her side wiping his own tears meanwhile. Emily put his head on Paul's shoulder and after wiping her tears one more time said, "It felt so real."

"It's okay babe. The movie is over now," Paul reassured her. He knew of Emily's past and the type of hardships she had to endure growing up, from her own scumbag father nonetheless. (Thank goodness the man is dead!) Had Paul known the true extent of the story of the film, he would have preferred avoiding it altogether.

"Yeah it is, isn't it?" Emily asked rhetorically before noting, "Your student is very good at acting."

Paul grinned at that sudden change in subject, "That he is. At this point, I'm thinking, is there something he can't do?" He chuckled at his own question silently.

"What else is he good at?" Emily didn't hide the curiosity in her tone.

"His voice is amazing, he can play the guitar as if he has been practicing for a decade and he is at the top of his class academically with perfect scores." Paul counted out, "The only thing he is not good at is P.E. and from what I have gathered, it's because he is not very interested in a physical group activity."

"Not to mention, he will become hot as hell one day," She joked.

Paul couldn't agree more. It was quite easy to tell that Troy would become one good-looking dude in the future.

"I just hope he doesn't get blinded by the limelight," Paul muttered as he hugged Emily once more. "So many of these child actors do."

Emily hummed noncommittally before looking up at her boyfriend, "Enough talk about your student. I wanna have some real [Sex Education]. With live demonstration. Now."

Paul grinned, "I'll be happy to provide you that." With that, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to their bedroom, bridal style, all the way kissing her passionately.

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AN: RR Moderators have told me to edit out some parts of the story if I wanted to keep it here on this platform. I have. If you want to read the uncensored version, try Web Novel, AO3, or Scribble Hub.