Chapter 14

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Lilly couldn't remember ever bringing a girl over for dinner, nor could she remember her parents being so interested in anyone she was dating. Of course, she thought, she had always been very reluctant to talk about girls she was seeing, until Miley, anyway. Miley had just taken over her mind and made it impossible not to think about her. But Lilly knew the town's, and Michael's, crazy talk about her girlfriend had spurred her parents into asking Miley over and she hoped everything would go well. Miley had, after all, a tendency to be a bit quirky.

She glanced around the table, forcing herself to remain calm. There really was no reason to worry; Miley was sweet and adorable and had actually shown up on time, wearing shoes and non-tree climbing clothes. Of course, she had only been on time because she'd been forced to take the truck when it started raining. It was still raining buckets and Lilly suddenly realized she'd begun feeling uneasy around thunderstorms, as well. Lilly grasped Miley's hand under the table and squeezed it, trying to ease the nervousness Miley must surely be feeling. Miley turned to her and grinned, not a hint of anxiety on her face. Lilly shook her head, smiling. She should have known.

"So, Miley…" started Heather almost as soon as they began eating and Lilly suppressed a roll of her eyes. Here came the interrogation. "What are your plans for the future?"

Lilly nearly choked on her food. Did Miley even have plans for anything, let alone her future? Why hadn't she thought to coach her girlfriend before this dinner so they could get through alright? Then she remembered she had tried, but Miley had gotten distracted and antsy and suggested they go swimming. Lilly thought she heard thunder, but for once Miley did not seemed concerned.

"You mean after school, Mrs. Truscott?" asked Miley politely, voice sweet and innocent, and while with anyone else it might have been an act, Lilly knew here it was not. She just hoped her parents could truly see Miley for who she was.

"Sure. Do you have any plans for college or jobs?" Lilly looked at her father, wondering what he was getting at. It wasn't as if she and Miley were about to get married; there was no need to ask such silly questions.

Miley shrugged, seemingly unperturbed. "Momma wants me to take classes, but college is expensive and we don't have much money. And it's harder to get in if you're home schooled. Maybe I'll take some classes online, that way I could stay with my mom and grandma."

She smiled at the end and Lilly knew she was thinking about how much fun she would have living on her grandma's farm. Her parents, on the other hand, didn't seem as excited by the prospect of living life in Crowley Corners for the next forty years. Heather shook her head, seeming confused.

"Don't you want to go out and see the world? Be on your own?"

Miley looked at her, slightly confused. "No. Momma and grandma are the only family I have left, why would I wanna leave them?"

The two parents glanced at each other, discomfort clearly written across their faces and Lilly wanted to smirk at them. If they were going to ask these stupid questions, they deserved the utter bluntness with which Miley approached normally painful subjects. Her parents knew about Miley's father and brother; Lilly had spent some time talking to her mother about the superstitions, especially since Michael seemed to be so taken by them.

"So, you plan to stay in Crowley Corners for the rest of your life?"

Before Miley could answer, an ear-splitting noise sounded outside and the room was dipped in darkness. Lilly could now feel her girlfriend's hand trembling in hers and knew immediately what had happened. She turned to look at her, but could see almost nothing in the near darkness of the dining room. Her parents were already moving and Heather came back just a few moments later, holding some lit candles that threw soft, flickering light across their faces. Lilly glanced at Miley, worried, but the only thing giving away her anxiety was the way her eyes seemed to be slightly drawn.

"Looks like lightning hit a power line or something. Nothing to worry about, " said Ken Truscott, sounding unperturbed. He looked at their guest. "Miley, do you get a lot of lightning strikes around here?"

Miley smirked and Lilly noticed the tension draining out of her. "You could say that."

Lilly almost laughed, but thundering footsteps coming towards the dining room stopped her. She looked up to see Michael coming into the room, and though the light was low, she could still see his face twisted in anger. He pointed his finger at Miley, voice full of venom as he spoke, "I told you something would happen! This is her fault. She did this on purpose. She's trying to kill us!"

Lilly wanted to jump her brother and put her fist in his face, but she was hyper aware of Miley next to her, still holding onto her hand. Miley's face did not change in reaction to his accusations, not into anger, nor sadness. Lilly gripped her hand tighter, as her father stood, his face even angrier.

"Michael, upstairs now! We will talk later."

The boy glared at Miley, but listened and turned on his heel, walking away. Ken sat back in his seat heavily, shocked by what had just happened. Even though his wife had filled him in on the supposed superstitions of the townspeople and his own son's actions, this had come as a surprise. The table was deathly silent, candlelight flickering across their faces. Heather shook her head.

"Miley, I am so sorry about that. I don't know what's come over him; Michael's normally a sweet boy."

Miley merely smiled softly, seeming the least shocked of the four occupants. "It's alright, Mrs. Truscott. I'm used to it."

She turned back to her food as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened and Lilly knew, for Miley, it really hadn't. Lightning strikes and horrid accusations were practically normal for her. Part of Lilly felt sad about the realization, but seeing the disbelieving looks on her parents' faces was almost priceless. The two adults stared at Miley then threw each other looks that spoke volumes.

Lilly suddenly worried that this latest statement from her girlfriend would be too much for her parents to take. She really wanted them to accept Miley, partially because she was totally falling for the girl and partially because she feared if her parents thought there was something to the rumors, Lilly herself would have to believe them, too. Her parents were, after all, very rational people. But neither of them said anything, both returning to their plates. The rest of dinner went smoothly, with everyone talking about much lighter and easier subjects and though Lilly couldn't tell what her parents were thinking, she knew she'd hear their opinions as soon as Miley left.

xxx

Lilly was helping to load the dishwasher, in part because she wanted to present herself as the extreme opposite of Michael at the moment and because she was anxious to hear what her parents thought of her girlfriend. Miley had left just a few minutes ago, having to adhere to her grandmother's strict curfew. It had thankfully stopped storming an hour ago and even the electricity had come back on after dinner. Lilly thought, overall and not counting Michael's appearance, the dinner had gone rather well.

"Man, am I stuffed. That dinner was delicious, hun," said Ken, coming back into the kitchen.

Heather laughed. "Thank the good folks at Luigi's; you know I couldn't have pulled that off."

Lilly closed the dishwasher and exhaled heavily, wondering how long it would take them to say something. She was desperately hoping they approved; her parents' opinion mattered greatly to her, but so did Miley. Heather, noticing the anxious look on her daughter's face, glanced at her sideways and smiled.

"So, Miley's quite…interesting."

It was practically a death sentence and Lilly hung her head. She thought it had gone well enough, but if her mother was trying to be polite then obviously she'd come away from this thinking Miley was crazy. And in a way, Lilly knew, Miley was crazy, but it was her own totally addictive brand of crazy that made her laugh and happy and feel alive.

"Lilly, you need to hang on to that girl. She's fabulous," said Ken, voice serious.

Lilly looked at her father, confused, but incredibly grateful. Of course, her father and Miley had spent quite some time bonding over their crazy love for competitive eating and when she had turned out to be able to answer most of his crazy World War II trivia questions, the deal had been sealed. Lilly herself had been taken by surprise; she knew how much Miley hated to do her schoolwork and she found it amazing the energetic girl had managed to retain all that information.

"Thanks Dad, I'm glad you like her."

Ken smiled and wrapped an arm around his daughter's shoulders, kissing the top of her head. Heather looked at them, seeing the worried look on her daughter's face and smiled.

"Miley is a sweet kid, a bit quirky, but very nice. And you're right Lilly, she has a very infectious personality. I agree with your father; you should keep her around."

Lilly felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. "So, you're okay with me dating her?"

The two adults glanced at each other, before Heather spoke. "Yes. Would you really stop if we weren't?"

"No, but now I don't have to sneak around." Seeing the reproachful looks on their faces, Lilly grinned, holding her hands up. "I'm just kidding, sheesh. I'm gonna go call Miley, y'know, make sure she got home alright."

The girl left the room, leaving her parents with bewildered looks in the kitchen. "Does anyone in this town not get home alright?" asked Heather no one in particular.

Ken laughed and kissed her cheek. "Oh honey, let her be. I think our little girl is in love."

xxx

Lilly trailed her fingers lightly across Miley's abdomen. A light sheen of sweat clung to the skin and Lilly smirked, thinking about the reason. She looked down at Miley's sleeping face and pressed a soft kiss to her girlfriend's forehead. Miley had a tendency to fall asleep after every time they made love and Lilly thought it was the funniest thing. And it gave her some time to study her girlfriend's features, to revel in the beauty that was Miley.

Miley blinked her eyes open sleepily, but as soon as she saw Lilly, a mischievous grin erupted on her face, a fire dancing in her eyes. Lilly groaned, grabbing the girl's wrist before it could fully make it's way down her abdomen.

"Seriously, Mile, five times isn't enough?"

Miley laughed, snaking her arm around Lilly's waist instead and pulling the girl on top of her. "I could never have enough of you, Lils."

Lilly smiled and leaned down, pressing their lips together gently. A fire erupted in her belly and she cursed herself; she was truly exhausted, but it was incredibly hard to keep her hands off of her girlfriend. Lilly rolled off of Miley, propping herself up on one elbow and trailing the other hand across her taut abdomen. Her fingers brushed against multiple scars, most from tree climbing incidents, according to Miley.

"Hey Miles, you never told me you liked history."

Miley covered Lilly's hand on her belly with her own, intertwining their fingers. She looked up at her girlfriend. "Oh no, I hate history."

Lilly made a face. "Then what happened to make my dad think you were absolutely fabulous?"

Miley shrugged. "I just tried to find out a lot of stuff about World War II. My grandpa fought in the war and I guess since I never really got to know him, maybe this was a way for me to get closer to him."

Lilly didn't know what to say to that, so instead she just leaned down and kissed Miley again. It was so easy to lose herself in the feel of Miley; Miley's smooth skin pressed against hers, their tongues brushing against each other, the brunette's hand clamped around hers. She heard a ringing noise and it took her several moments to realize it was her phone. Reluctantly, Lilly pulled away and reached for her discarded pants to grab her cell. When she saw it was Michael calling, she almost didn't answer.

"What do you want, Michael? I'm kinda busy."

"Lilly, mom and dad were in a car accident. You gotta come home right now so we can drive to the hospital."

She was falling, suddenly, spinning perhaps and Lilly blinked her eyes several times to clear away the buzzing in her head. Her hand shook and her face must have betrayed its shock, because Miley was sitting up, concern written on her face.

"W-what?"

"Leave your freak of a girlfriend now and get your ass over here before I leave you!" yelled Michael, distress in his voice.

Lilly swallowed, and shook her head. "Y-yeah, I'm on my way."

"And Lilly," added Michael, perhaps using her shock to finally get his opinion heard, "this is your fault, you know that right?"

He hung up and Lilly stared at her phone for several seconds, before scrambling for her clothes scattered around the hayloft. She pulled away from a confused and concerned Miley. Lilly grabbed her underwear, threw on her shirt and practically yanked her pants back on in record time.

"Lilly…what's wrong?" asked Miley softly, not bothering to get dressed.

Lilly spun in a circle, as if making sure she hadn't missed anything, and finally met her girlfriend's eyes. Nausea rose in her stomach, though she couldn't say why. Michael's final words rang in her head, taunting her. Her voice was steady as she spoke, hardly betraying her emotions, though she could not look at her girlfriend's face.

"My parents were in an accident."

Miley's eyes widened, panic etched on her face and she reached for Lilly's hand from her position on the floor. "Lilly…"

"Miley…I…I gotta go," said Lilly simply, pulling her hand out of reach. Without looking at her girlfriend, she left.