A/N: Alright sorry guys, this chapter is a little shorter and later than I wanted it to be. Life got in the way, family stuff basically. Although the chapters will likely always vary in length as I like to put in whole scenes so I have to find a good scene to stop on.
Mileyaddict-23 sorry your favorite scene still isn't in this one, but I promise it will be in the next one.
Chapter 4
The restaurant they had chosen tonight was a small intimate place with low lighting. Lilly really didn't feel like being here, and yet here she sat across from her long time friends Rico and his wife Rosalita. Oliver's arm was protectively wrapped around her as he sat beside her.
The four friends raised their champagne glasses clinking them together. "It's good to see you guys," Rico starts the conversation. Up until the waitress had delivered the glasses the table had been mostly silent with everyone deciding what they wanted to order.
"We were beginning to wonder about you two. We haven't seen you for ages," Rosalita comments further. Lilly puts a fake smile on her face, hoping that no one would notice. She loves her friends but tonight she has something else on her mind.
Knowing how much Oliver loves to talk, she figures he would answer so she didn't bother. She was proved right when she heard him speak up, "Now, now, no need to worried, just our little Lilly has been buried at work."
Lilly tries to maintain her smile as she feels Oliver rub her shoulder making her want to pull away, but she doesn't. She used to enjoy Oliver's touch. Well maybe it was true that it wasn't electricity between them, but it was comfortable at least. "What's changed?" she asks herself.
"You tell them about the ceremony?" Rico whispers to his wife, the two acting all conspiratorial. "No silly, I didn't tell them." She whispers back, smacking him playfully on the chest.
Watching their loving banter, Lilly briefly remembers a time when she had that too. It seemed like so long ago though, before Mikayla… "What ceremony?" Oliver interrupts her thoughts.
The two share a glance, deciding who should be the one to tell them. "Well, we're renewing our vows," Rosalita finally tells them.
"Hey, alright," Oliver bursts out excitedly, picking his glass up for another toast with the happy couple. Instead of congratulating her friends, Lilly finds herself studying Oliver's reaction, surprised at his enthusiastic response. Turning she gives off a smile as she joins in the toast.
The conversation continues about the ceremony as they all finish their drinks. Lilly's focus, however, has left the conversation as her eyes travel over to the bar. She watches as beautiful brunette passes her hand through the hair of the blonde girl sitting beside her. The two are obviously in love, making Lilly long for something that isn't happening.
Growing up though, she'd always been taught that such a thing was wrong. That it was a sin. She didn't want to believe it, but she was torn between what she had been taught and the church that raised her, and her own personal feelings on the subject.
Briefly Miley's face comes to mind and Lilly allows herself to indulge in the thought for a moment. As soon as she realizes what she's doing though she quickly wipes it from her mind and turns away from the girls. Switching her focus back to her friends, "I'm really, really happy for you guys," she tells them.
As hard as she's trying to make the night a good one, she can't help but let her eyes wonder over to the girls one more time.
After dinner she allows Oliver to take her back to his place, but her mind just isn't into it, making her more uncomfortable to be there than ever before. Not letting it show she puts on the same act she has all night, hoping that soon it will all be over and she can go home.
--
It was after one in the morning before Oliver dropped her off at the school. Getting through the front doors was no problem, as they were always unlocked. The real problem was going to be passing her aunt's room, as the floors were a little old and tended to make noise. Before she had entered the building she noticed the light on in the other woman's room so knew she was still awake.
Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she slipped off her shoes hoping that would help dim the sound. With her shoes in hand she starts ascending the stairs as quietly possible. Turning around the corner, she notices Kunkle's door is slightly ajar, so now she'd have to be even more careful than before.
Creeping as quietly as possible, she makes it passed the door and thinks she's in the clear. Almost as soon as that thought hits her though she hears a, "Lilly is that you?" Taking a deep breath, she stands there for a moment before slowly turning around and making her way back to the other woman.
Inside she finds the other woman pouring herself a drink, not noticing yet that she had in fact entered the room. A smile appears on Kunkle's face as soon as she does see her however. "Close the door please," she tells her niece, waving for her to sit on the couch beside her once the door is shut. "Come sit down. Keep me company for a while, hm. We hardly spend any time together anymore.
It was obvious that her aunt wasn't on her first drink of the night, making her slightly uncomfortable being here, remembering all too well what the other woman was like when she has been drinking. Sitting down a safe distance away so as not to offend, "we see each other all the time."
"Yeah but it's not like it used to be." Kunkle rearranges herself, scooting just a little bit closer to Lilly, studying her niece carefully. "You've been out with Oliver I presume. I don't know why you're still with him. He's not good enough for you," she finishes, taking another drink from her glass.
Reaching over, Kunkle begins brushing Lilly's hair back, making her more uncomfortable than ever before. Not wanting to stay there another minute, "I'm really tired, I'm going to bed." Moving away from the older woman's touch she heads out of the room. She hears Kunkle try to call her back but just ignores her and gets away as fast as she can.
--
The water was warm as Miley floated on her back, enjoying the quiet of the late night. It was well past curfew but she didn't care. This was the best time of day to enjoy the pool. No one else was around, all having long since gone to bed.
She'd never admit to it, but besides her music, swimming was one thing she truly enjoyed. It relaxed her after a long day and helped her distress. It was also her favorite workout. At home, they had a large pool that she'd spend hours in.
Of course towards the end she was using it most often to throw killer parties. People she didn't even know would show up to one of her parties, if only to see the great Senator Stewart's house. Of course her main goal was always to make her father notice she was alive, but it never seemed to work. He was always conveniently gone when she threw one.
She shouldn't have been surprised though, while she never has outright admitted to being a lesbian, she'd never hid it from him either. Her ex-girlfriend was practically living with them for awhile and still he was oblivious.
Not wanting to think about her father any longer her thoughts quickly shift to its favorite topic, a certain blonde teacher. Miss Truscott caught her the first time she snuck out after curfew to take a few laps. The two had spent a few minutes chatting and then the older woman had left without reprimanding her, so Miley felt she was off the hook, at least as far as Miss Truscott was concerned. If anyone else were to find her there would surely be consequences.
Splashing behind her made her stop thinking for a minute in order to pay closer attention. Realizing someone had joined her, she stood up and slowly turned around. Amber was slowly makes her way over to Miley. The two brunettes maintain eye contact, staring intensely at each other for a moment.
Miley briefly wonders why Amber is out here, but the question is quickly answered when Amber attacks her mouth, pulling her into a heated kiss. Without thinking Miley responds, not really taking an active part in the kiss, but allows Amber to keep kissing her and even deepen the kiss.
Miley tries to enjoy the kiss for a few moments, trying to decide what is going with Amber. Something inside her though says the whole situation is totally wrong though, so she pulls back slightly.
It takes Amber a few seconds however to notice that Miley is trying to put an end to their little make out. Separating herself from Miley, effectively ending the kiss, "What?" Amber demands.
Miley's still not sure what's going on with Amber, but she thinks she's got a pretty good idea. Besides which she's not the one Miley is interested in. "I can't," Miley quietly tells her.
"Why?" She doesn't seem upset, just honestly wanting to know. She's sure the two of them would be pretty good together. Sure she knows that Miley is into Miss Truscott, but that's never going to happen, so why can't Miley just taken what's being offered to her right now?
"Because I'm not interested in being your science project," Miley responds a little harshly. She knows she's probably just royally pissed off Amber, but at the same time she's sure that's exactly what she'd be two Amber if the two continued what they were doing. Some new toy that the other girl wanted to try out, but eventually she'd get bored and Miley would be back to where she started from. She wasn't looking for a friends-with-benefits situation here. She was looking for a real relationship… with Lilly.
Amber stares her down for a moment before letting the anger take over. Flipping water into Miley's face as she turns around, the other girl storms off out of the pool. Miley stands there stunned for a moment. She probably just made an enemy for life, but she couldn't regret doing what she believed was the right thing.
--
The classroom was completely silent as each student worked individually on the assignment Miss Truscott had given them for the day. Miley had been trying unsuccessfully to put all her concentration into the paper, not wanting to disappoint the teacher. Her eyes however had another idea and she found them constantly straying to the blonde in question.
She was sure that today she would make some progress with the object of her affection, though the other woman didn't know it yet. At the very least it would be one more thing to separate herself from the rest of the students in the room. The first task was getting Lilly to see her as a living breathing person and not just another sheep in the flock she had to tend.
Wanting to get back to the assignment, Miley rotated her neck around, trying to clear thoughts of the young teacher out of her head and concentrate on what she was trying to write. As she did so, she noticed that Amber was busy doodling in her notebook. Taking a quick look at the picture she noticed it was of girl dying a gruesome death. Not only that, but the girl looks suspiciously like Miley herself.
The last few days proved to Miley just how much the pool incident had affected her relationship with brunette. The other girl had avoided her whenever possible, and acted cold and indifferent when the two did have to associate with each other. Amber was acting as if she'd never been rejected before, and possibly considering who her family was that might be true.
She felt like Amber was probably plotting some way to get back at her, but she wasn't too worried, knowing that she could hold her own. After all what was the worst that Amber could do to her? Shrugging it off, she went back to writing her paper.
Lilly sat forward in her desk observing her students carefully. To her they all seemed like pretty good kids, but she knew that wasn't always the case. A lot of them had been sent here as a last resort, or as a preventative measure. Although the other staff here often complained about the students, so maybe it was just that she could relate more to them, having been a student here herself, making it easier for the girls to thrive in her class.
Seeing that everyone appeared to be hard at work she shifted her focus to reviewing the papers in front of her. Although she didn't get far before she was disturbed by a knock at the door. Before she can even turn her head all the way, Mother Kunkle's secretary was entering the classroom carrying a dozen red roses.
The entire class watches as the older woman sets them on the desk in front of Lilly, dryly stating, "they're not from me," before backing out the way she came. Lilly manages a "thank you," before hearing the door close behind her.
To say that Lilly was a little surprised was an understatement. The only person she could imagine doing such a thing was Oliver of course but he'd never done anything like that before. Reaching for the envelope tucked in between two of the flowers, she finds only her name and classroom number printed neatly on the outside.
Still believing they were from Oliver she was shocked to find no signature on the card inside. Instead neatly printed in the same pen as the envelope was a quote, "The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new EYES." The exact quote that was written in the book she had given Miley a while back.
Knowing now that the flowers didn't come from Oliver, she turned to look out at the class finding everyone had gone back to work except for Miley, who was staring at her, waiting patiently for her reaction, only confirming to Lilly that she was the one to send the flowers.
Each day the girl was trying harder and harder to get her attention, and each time it was becoming a little harder to ignore. If she would quite lying to herself she would admit there was a definite connection between the two of them. She could feel it now, staring into Miley's eyes, not needing words to speak to her.
Before her feelings could get too deep the logical part of her brain would remind her that it wasn't a good idea and for a moment at least it would all be forgotten.
