Forgive Me Father, For I Have Sinned

Wesley rubbed his face and then scratched out some writing on the paper in front of him.
"No...no..not that...let me see..." he spoke out loud to himself as he flipped through his holy bible looking for just the right words.
He was preparing his sermon for Sunday mass and thought if he chose the topic of adultery or fornication and lust he could possibly make sure Buffy got the message that there could be no future for them without him having to actually directly speak to her about it. Lord knows, that was the last thing he wanted to do. How embarrassing! So instead his mind told him that standing up in front of hundreds of others to deal with it would be somehow less embarrassing. He decided to stick with the tried and true topic of good old fashioned "sin" and throw in a bit of adultery on the side. He reached for his pen again and began writing.

William walked Buffy to the gym after their lunch period was over. He wanted to hold her hand but didn't dare as they passed yapping children throughout the halls. Father Charles watched them from across the gym as they said their goodbyes. Although they never once touched, he could see it in the looks on their faces. He smiled a hello to Buffy and told her he would be right back as he walked briskly to catch up with William.

"Father William...wait up" he called after him.
William stopped and turned to wait.
"Father Charles, what can I do for you?" William smiled.
"Well...I need to talk to you about something" Charles said.
"And that would be?" William asked.
"Sister Buffy" Charles said and waited for a reaction.
William's jaw briefly twitched.
"What about her?" William finally replied.
"Alright, I'm not good at beating around the bush so I'm just going to come out and say it. You. Buffy. You're so doing her, aren't you?" Charles said with a straight face.
"Jesus Charles! Is that anyway for a priest to talk?" William retorted.
"Hey! Look who's talking. I'M not the one boinking a nun!" Charles responded.
"Christ...keep your voice down! I am...not..doing whatever it is you think I'm doing." William lied.
"Right...seems pretty clear to me that there is definitely a snake in the Garden of Eden!" Charles told him.
"I'm not..." William began again but Charles cut him off.
"Look..I know what I see and feel...you can deny it all you want...but I'm telling you..if you continue on like this more important people than me are going to notice too and you're going to be in a heap of trouble. I'd like to think we're friends but, I AM a priest, William...and though I may not always sound like it, I do hold and take my vows seriously. I really should report this...but I'm going to give you and Sister Buffy a chance to come clean yourself. Look...some people are just not meant to be in the priesthood or sisterhood and that's O.K. But you need to choose...one or other. You can't have a relationship with Buffy AND be a priest at the same time and the same goes for her being a nun. You think about it...but don't think too long, William. I don't want to be forced to go to Father Wesley and the Mother Superior but I will if I have to. We clear?" Charles finally ended his speech.
"Crystal" William said tensely and then watched as Charles turned and headed back towards the gym.

The congregation filled up the church pews to full capacity. Buffy sat with her fellow nuns in their designated section and watched Father William who was perched on his seat on the alter next to his fellow priests. After the choir finished singing, Father Wesley stood and took his place at the podium to address his parish.

Sister Willow and Sister Tara noticed Buffy's gawking at Father William and they both exchanged knowing glances of concern with each other. Tara nudged Buffy and whispered "He's beautiful, isn't he?"
Buffy blushed and stammered, "Uhh...umm..I...uhh."
"Jesus, Our Lord, Buffy...that's who I was talking about" Tara pointed at the sculpture of Christ on the alter.
"Oh! Yes..Jesus...of course. Very beautiful" Buffy replied.
Tara shook her head slightly. She had seen this happen before with a few of her fellow sisters over the years. It was easy to spot a woman in love. This time was worse though, her fellow sister just happened to be in love with a priest. At least before, they had been non-clergy. She looked back to Willow who gave her a "We'll talk later" look.

Father Wesley cleared his throat and then began to speak, "His Word is written in Mark 7:20-23, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man. Honestly speaking, it is impossible to hide our sinful natures. Correct? We cannot help but to spill sin. We then regret, "I shouldn't do this." However, we find it impossible to truly change. Why is that so? Because each of us is born as a mass of sin. The Bible enumerates the sins of human beings: "For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. Isaiah 59:3-8
God says that there is adultery in the heart of every person. Do you agree? Do you admit that you have adultery in your heart?"

Wesley pointedly looked at Buffy. She blushed crimson red and bowed her head. She was aware of Father Wesley's mistake but he himself didn't know and she knew then that this sermon had been written for her benefit. It's not like she could just come out to Father Wesley and say, "Oh, sorry..you're not the priest I am in love with...it's this other priest" Oi! She should go on the Nun Dating Game. Instead of bachelor number 1, 2 and 3 it would be Priest 1, 2 and 3. Buffy wryly thought before returning her attention again to the mass.

"Yes, there is adultery in the heart of every person. That is why prostitution and other sexual offenses flourish in our society. It is one of the surest ways of making money in every period in human history. Other businesses might suffer from economic depression, but these vile businesses do not suffer as much because there is adultery dwelling in the heart of every single person.

We can be delivered. We should know that we are unable to be right or good before God by ourselves. Therefore, we should admit before God that we are sinners who are destined to hell and we can pray for His compassion, "God, please save me from my sins and take pity on me." Then, God will surely meet us in His Word. In this way, we can be delivered." Father Wesley concluded his address.

William had sat through the service with a controlled mask on his face. He almost flinched when Wesley startedon ton the adultery part but he had kept his face neutral, thank God. No pun intended. I am so glad that is over, he thought to himself as he watched Buffy, red faced fidgeting in her seat.

As everyone left the church, William casually slipped a small scrap of paper into Buffy's hand as he passed by her. She opened it up once she got back to her room. It said to meet him at the chapel that night. Same time, same place. She went through the rest of her daily activities in anticipation of the evening to come.

Arriving on time, she noticed William just walking up as well. They smiled and ran into each others arms. After kissing each other thoroughly, William led Buffy into "their" chapel and back towards "their" room.
"I missed you so much...I can't wait to get my hands on you." William said as he opened the door.
"I can't wait to get your hands all over me too" Buffy said back as he pulled her into the room with him.
Both of them turned from the door towards the room as they heard an audible gasp. They came face to face with Sister Willow and Sister Tara who had been standing there waiting for the couple to arrive.
"Bloody hell" William swore.
"Oh God" Buffy exclaimed.

Continued in Chapter 8- Truths and Consequences

A/N: Sermon Exerpts that are not direct biblical quotes were taken from http://www.bjnewlife.org/ and used without permission. I'm definitely going to hell now! :-)