A/N: Okay list of excuses this time Grownup_Truscott and Little Clip are giant distractions, um work is keeping me busy, oh and my cousin's party, had a little bit too much fun lol.

On the flip side this chapter is longer than the previous couple. So Enjoy!

Chapter 6

"I didn't always want to be a priest. Oh no, I really wanted to be in the circus…" everyone laughs as Father Corelli continues to go on about his childhood and begging his father to take him to the circus.

For once Miley is listening intently to the sermon, anything to get her mind off everyone else in the room. It was the Sunday before school let out for Spring Break and the campus was beginning to fill up with parent's there to take their daughters home for the week. Once again her father has failed to show up or even acknowledge her existence. Too busy to be bothered with learning about what his only child has been doing the last six months.

Father Corelli goes into to talk about gypsies being the children of the devil, but all of this escapes Miley's attention as she hangs her head down no longer paying attention. Instead trying to just push everything out of her mind and for once let it become totally blank.

Across the room Lilly is thinking far too much about a certain brunette. Several times during the sermon she's had to stop herself from turning to look at the girl. Having caught a glimpse of Miley early, she saw how beautiful she looked today. Knowing that her aunt was sitting just a few feet away, she knew she couldn't risk trying to get a much longer view.

Her heart and mind continued to do battle with each other through the entire rest of the sermon until she was sure she was going to lose her mind trying to figure out what the right thing to do was.

"…If we're on a path to God, that's one thing, but is there only one path to God? Isn't God everywhere? And Everything?" Father Corelli finishes, leaving the question hanging in everyone's mind.

The church courtyard begins to crowd with people as everyone exits the building following the sermon, no one ready to leave quite yet. Miley only makes it as far as exiting the doors before she is stopped by Sarah's parents. The couple expressed wanting to meet the girl who has become such a good friend to their daughter.

"I just don't think it's a good idea," Lilly stresses to her aunt a few feet away from Miley, nervously playing with the cross around her neck. She's afraid that if she says to much the other woman might figure out what is really going on, and she just couldn't let that happen.

"She lives in your dorm. Therefore she's your responsibility," Kunkle tells her with an almost sympathetic tone, but it's clear she's not leaving it open for any arguments either.

"But what about me? I really need to get away for a few days." This break was the perfect opportunity to separate herself from the situation and maybe clear her head a bit. Fearing that if she didn't get away for awhile and figure things out, she might end up doing something she would regret later.

"You know how delicate the situation is," Kunkle reminds her of what Senator Stewart had informed her of when Miley entered the school. Her assistant walks up pulling Kunkle away leaving Lilly there alone. Looking towards the doors, she notices Miley is no longer with Sarah's family, but now alone and giving her a smile that tells her exactly what's on Miley's mind.

Turning away she takes a deep breath, just praying she can get through the break with her mind still intact.

--

Sitting in the windowsill of her dorm room, Miley looks down at the front yard as several of the girls reunite with their families. In the back of her mind she'd let the faintest hope that her father would actually show last minute, but deep down she knew that was never going to happen.

"It sucks that you have to stay here for spring break," Amber says to her as she packs up the last of her things, her parents waiting for just downstairs.

Miley just gives her a smile like it's no big deal. In all honesty she wasn't really stuck there. One of her father's secretaries whose, job description involved keeping track of Miley's schedule, had offered to send a car to bring her home for the break. She had almost said yes until she realized her father had nothing to do with the offer.

She'd much rather be alone here with no one around, then alone at home surrounded by people who didn't even know she was there.

And maybe, just maybe, she'd have a chance to get closer to Lilly.

--

The next couple of days went by slowly for Lilly and Miley. Lilly pretty much stuck to her room, grading papers and catching up with on a few things. She never dared venture out to far, afraid she'd run into Miley and not really know what to do.

Miley mostly spent her time in contemplation, finding odd spots to just lounge around such as the half wall along the second story deck, or in her favorite tree. The rest of the time she holed up in her room, guitar in hand, furiously scribbling things in her notebook and then going back to working it out on the instrument. She was hoping to get it done before the end of the school year, afraid of leaving and losing her inspiration.

--

Lilly takes a breath trying to gather her thoughts. She had been sitting in silence with Father Corelli for the last couple of minutes. The older man just smiled kindly at her, seeing the wheels of thought turning inside her head. He's known her a long time, and he knows she'll talk when she's ready.

"I love teaching," Lilly starts, "and I love feeling like I have a purpose here with the girls, but everything else in my life is just…" she pauses, not really sure where's she trying to go with it. Maybe if she talks everything out with someone she trusts, she finally find some answers.

"Is what?" he questions, trying to help her think it through.

"I don't know," she tells him honestly. "I guess I thought I'd have more figured out by now," she admits letting him in just a little to the confusion she's currently feeling.

He takes a moment, thinking about what to say. "Well maybe the best thing to do is not to try to figure it all out," he says slowly, processing each word as it leaves his mouth. Pulling out a piece of paper he starts writing his thoughts down, realizing he may of just had a really good idea.

Noticing his actions, "what's that?" she asks him.

He tells her it's a note for a sermon and she just sits there quietly for a minute letting him finish what he's doing, letting her own thoughts wander again to the confusion that has taken over her mind. She barely notices what he is doing now.

Finished now he turns to look her in the eye, "you've always been my favorite. Do you realize that?" he asks her sincerely.

Smiling she just lowers her head not really sure she believes him, "you said that to all of us." She's known this man for a long time, but even still he was always one to make everyone feel better about themselves.

He shakes his head, "Not true. No, you've- you know, you've always stood out from the rest, particularly the time that you and Mikayla ran off with all the wine from the rectory."

Turning her head back around to look at him, she's slightly shocked at what she's hearing. "You knew that was us?" she questions disbelieving. She didn't think anyone knew about that, it had been a secret between her and Mikayla. Neither girl had told anyone. Guess they hadn't been as sneaky as she had previously thought. That was the day everything changed for Lilly, the day she looked at Mikayla just a little bit differently.

That was also the last good day she had before everything became complicated, and her head and her heart did battle much as they were doing now.

"My problem is that I know everything," Father Corelli interrupted her thoughts. Looking deeply into his eyes, for the first time she sees just how much he does know. Yet here he sits, not judging her. Instead he reaches for her hand and holds it tightly within his own in a fatherly gesture.

In that moment she realizes he's always been more of a father to her than her real father, and obviously he shares a fatherly love for her. Being accepted in that moment went a long way to help her in figuring things out.

--

Spring break was almost over and Miley was starting to dread the campus filling back up again. She enjoyed having the place to herself for awhile, even though she hadn't seen as much of Miss Truscott as she would have liked. Already some of the girls had started coming back and Miley wanted to enjoy the quite as long as she could.

Guitar, blanket, and notebook in hand, she made her way across the grass trying to find a nice shading spot to enjoy the afternoon. Coming upon one of the larger trees, she sets everything down and begins to spread out the light blue blanket she took off her bed and brought with her.

After getting everything situated, she pulled a cigarette out of the pack she brought and sits the rest of the box down beside her before, lighting it up. She takes a drag on the stick wondering why she's doing it in the first place. She hasn't really been smoking like she did when she first came here.

Lying back across the blanket and staring up through the trees she realizes she only did it in the beginning to draw attention to herself. When she first came to this school she didn't know what to expect and she wanted to be viewed as somewhat of a bad ass so that people would leave her alone. She'd made honest friends now though and let people get to know the real her.

Now it seemed smoking had become a way for her to work through her thoughts. It helped clear her mind and take a step back, giving her time to figure out what her next move would be.

She was so lost in thought she didn't hear the gentle feet approaching from behind her.

Lilly had been wandering around the campus since her talk with Father Corelli, no real destination in mind. Seeing Miley just a ways in front of her, she had paused for a minute trying to decide what to do. She knew she had been avoiding the other girl, but she just didn't want to do that anymore. Making her way over quietly, she stopped just short of the blanket, "hi."

Looking up at the teacher, "hey," she responds casually, playing with the lighter still in her hand.

Knowing she probably didn't need an invitation from Miley, but feeling like she got one anyway, Lilly decides to take a seat beside the other girl. Kneeling down, she takes notices of the box between them and reaches for it.

Miley bolts upright into a sitting position as soon as she realizes that the other woman has taken her smokes. "Oh come on, don't take them."

Lifting the box up to look at it more closely, she holds it out to emphasize the question she's about to ask, "Where do you keep getting these?"

Miley just smiles and admits easily enough, "Sister Claire." Everyone on campus knows that woman is in the middle of just about everything and pretty much knows everything going on at all times.

Lilly just smiles with her, giving up hope of ever getting her to quit. Pulling one of the cigarettes out, she starts playing with it, letting it roll around between her fingers.

Miley watches as Lilly's defenses start to slide a little and taking the opportunity she flips open her lighter offering it to the other woman, "might as well."

Lilly lets out a sigh that sounds more like a laugh before telling the other girl she doesn't usually smoke. However, her actions as she lights the stick make it obviously that this isn't the first time she has. While she hadn't smokes a lot, there were a few times when she was a teenager that she had joined her friends a time or two as they all hung out away from the eyes of the Sisters.

Flipping the light closed, "neither do I," Miley tells her honestly and sincerely.

Throwing the box out in front of her, Lilly stretches her legs out in front of her, getting more comfortable. "You were smoking when I met you," she reminds the other girl.

"That was the day I started," Miley admits, giving Lilly a smirk.

They share a small laugh, both kind of studying each other. Something starts to shift between them as they share the moment.

The moment is quickly ended though when they both hear a couple of girls laughing in the distance. Seeing them walking across the grass not to far in front of them, Lilly quickly puts the cigarette out in the dirt beside her. It was already bad enough that she was sitting her with Miley like this, but to be caught smoking with the other girl- the consequences would not be pretty. Just the very thought she was smoking where any of the girls could see her is bad enough.

As soon as the stick was out of sight, Lilly sat back trying to play the whole thing off and just act normal again.

Seeing how quickly Lilly reacted to the whole situation, Miley knew that they'd never get far sitting here where anyone could see them. She was finally starting to make some progress with the object of her affection and she wanted it to continue. "You wanna get out of here?" she asks Lilly taking on a more adult tone then before.

Hearing those words, Lilly admits to herself how much the idea appeals to her but… "I can't take my student's off campus," Lilly tells her honestly, although the smile never leaves her face as she turns and watches Miley. In her heart she knows they are connecting on much more than a student/teacher relationship.

Miley smiles back at her, laughing, "who's going to know?" There weren't very many people around, no one really that would notice they were gone.

Lilly thinks about the question for a minute realizing the other girl is right, but at the same time it's really not something she should be doing. So reaching for the only excuse she could find, "Sister Claire," but both women know that's not much of an argument.

Both women just sit there for a moment exchanging flirty glances. Seeing that Lilly is about to relent, Miley lightly nudges her with her knee, making Lilly laugh and sit up studying Miley more closely. Enjoying this moment with Miley, Lilly knows that something is happening between them that she can't explain.

If she takes Miley off campus there is no telling what might happen between the two and it's something she has to consider before making her final decision.

A/N: On another note I'll try to have the next chapter up quicker, but I do most of my writing on the weekends and next weekend is PACKED, with the Hannah Movie coming out, MY BIRTHDAY! and Easter so I won't really be home, but I promise and try doing some writing during the week instead.

Happy Easter to all those that celebrate it and Happy Birthday to me LOL.