This story is a continuation to How Darcy met Elizabeth. Thanks for checking it out :) Janie(mj)

How Elizabeth Becomes a Darcy

Elizabeth stood near the water's edge as the sun slowly went down. She couldn't believe how quickly their honeymoon had passed. The time spent here in this lovely little island getaway was truly an amazing experience for her. One she knew she would never have had if it were not for her beloved husband. She held her camera up and focused in on the sunset before taking one last photo.

"Did you get the shot you were hoping for?" Darcy called out to her as he came up behind her.

Elizabeth turned around and smiled as he walked up to her. "I did."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Tell me the truth, you're going to miss this place when we go back to the real world tomorrow, aren't you?"

"I would be lying if I said no. But honestly, I'm looking forward to seeing Jane, and my father again." Seeing the slightly disappointed pout on his face, she laughed. "Not that staying here longer with you wouldn't be amazing too."

"That was a pathetic attempt to save it, Mrs. Darcy."

Elizabeth gently caressed his cheek. "Oh, no, I really do love having you all to myself like this. It has been an amazing honeymoon, but don't you miss your sister and Richard?"

"Yes, I do, and you're right, the real world awaits us."

Elizabeth suddenly felt a twinge of nerves welling up inside her. "The real world…"

Darcy laughed. "Come on, Elizabeth it will all be fine. You will see we will return home and everything will pick up right where it left off," he said before kissing her softly on the lips.

Elizabeth enjoyed his kisses very much, but she couldn't squash the nagging feeling that was forming in the bottom of her stomach. As their kiss came to an end, she watched him as he walked away from her back up towards the house. "Where are you going now?"

"I am going to call Richard and make sure he has James there to meet us when our plane lands. As much as I hate to do it, I am going to make contact with the real world so that we don't have to deal with finding a cab tomorrow."

"Oh, all right. Well, I will be up in few minutes. I just want to take a few more pictures," she called out to him. The churning in her stomach grew worse as she stood there watching him go. For a brief moment, she had the distinct urge that she should call him back and tell him that they should remain on the island. She couldn't help but feel he was wrong about life picking back up where they left off. In fact, she was very sure that life wouldn't pick up where it left off. For one thing, her home would no longer be with Jane and her father at Longbourn. She would now be living in London or at Pemberley with Georgiana and Will. As the realization of how much her life was truly going to change hit her, and she sat down on the beach. Her eyes opened wider as she thought about what it might really be like as she became a Darcy. She swallowed hard and suddenly felt a strong need to talk to Jane.

Kitty sat at her dressing table trying to decide how she wanted to wear her hair. It had been two weeks since Lizzy and Darcy married, two weeks and she and Richard had been out a total of three times. She knew he wanted to take things slow, but this was snail's pace. Of the three dates they had been on, Georgiana came along with them for two, so she wasn't even sure if they counted as dates or not. She put her brush back down on the table and sighed. She liked Richard; he was so different from his cousin. He was open, funny, relaxed, and oh so handsome. But he was also reserved with her. Even after their first date went so beautifully he didn't kiss her goodnight when he dropped her home. She was sure he was going to, after all, they had such a fantastic time together, they laughed, danced, spent time getting to know each other; it was wonderful until he took her home. She blushed all over again as the memory of it came rushing back to her. There she stood waiting, beneath the stars, with the brilliant full moon shining down on them both. He told her what a great time he had, he gazed deeply into her eyes which made her heart beat just a little faster. She looked into his lovely green eyes; the moment was perfect until he leaned down and kissed her ever so softly on the cheek. She still remembered how disappointed she felt by it. She did her best to recover, wished him goodnight then went inside to find her mother standing near the window. It was to be double the humiliation that night. A perfect evening ruined by her busybody Mum.

Kitty picked up her brush and began playing with her hair again. Tonight she and Richard would be going out alone together, and she was determined that she would have her first kiss, even if she was the one to initiate it!

"Kitty, can I come in?" Mary called out through the door.

"Yes, it's open Mary."

The door opened, and Mary walked in to sit down on the bed. "I really need to talk to someone and Lizzy is still off the grid until tomorrow, and Jane is on a plane flying home."

Kitty turned and looked at her sister. She laughed just a little. "So what you're saying to me is I'm the only one here for you to talk to, is that it?"

"Well, I can hardly go talk to Mum."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Good grief, Mary I do have feelings you know! I'm more than happy to talk to you, but you don't have to make it sound as if I'm the last person you would ever consider on the planet to seek out in your time of need only to avoid going to Mum."

Mary could see she hurt her younger sister's feelings. "I'm sorry Kitty, I didn't mean to have it sound like that. The truth is, it's a little awkward for me coming to you about this because you're younger than I am. I'm the older sister now with Lizzy and Jane out of the house, and yet, here I am coming to talk to you."

Kitty smiled. "Now you know how I felt for all these years with Lydia always running the show!"

Mary laughed. "Yeah, I guess I do. Am I forgiven?"

Kitty nodded her head. "Yes, now tell me what you wanted to talk about?"

Mary took in a small breath. "You know Brandon and I have been dating, right?"

"Yeah, although I don't think Mum or Dad know yet."

"I promise you Mum doesn't know. If she did, she would badger me as much as she is you."

Kitty arched her brow. "True. So what's the problem?"

"The problem is Brandon, and I have gotten a lot closer. He's amazing, and I think I'm developing really strong feelings for him."

"You mean you're falling for him; as in love with him?"

Mary nodded her head. "I think so."

"Oh that's wonderful, so what's the problem? I don't think I understand."

Mary bit her bottom lip. "Well, Brandon wants to meet Mum and Dad."

"He already has met them, several times, in fact," Kitty said feeling somewhat confused.

"Yes, he's met them as Charles's friend, or Jane's business accountant but not as my boyfriend."

Kitty thought about it for a moment, and then her eyes opened wider, "Oh yeah, I see what you mean. You're worried that Mum will freak and start pushing the idea of marriage, asking about his bank account, blah, blah blah…"

Mary sighed heavily, "Yes, and although I'm pretty sure Brandon has feelings for me too I'm not completely sure. I mean he's this amazing guy why would he have feelings for me?"

Kitty shook her head. "Now you know very well if Lizzy were here she would tell you to stop that kind of talk right now!"

Mary smiled. "Yeah, I know she would, but Kitty I just can't help it. I'm not a confident person like you, Jane, and especially not like Lizzy. I really do care about Brandon, but I'm terrified he's going to wake up and realize he could do so much better than me. I do my best to put on a brave front, to pretend like things said don't hurt but deep down inside they do."

Kitty stood up and walked over to her sister. She sat down next to her on the bed. "Mary, that's just echoes of Mum in your ear. Honestly, don't let the things she has said to you shake your own self-confidence. You're an amazing woman, and Brandon really likes you. I can see it when he looks at you. It's so cute. Honestly, he reminds me of a schoolboy when he looks at you. He has that puppy love look in his eyes. He thinks no one is watching but I've seen it and he really likes you."

Mary laughed. "You make us sound so goofy as a couple."

"Oh come on, Mary. I didn't mean that in a bad way. I meant it in a good way. It's sweet the way he looks at you. And something else to remember, he has already seen Mum at some of her best or worst depending on your view of it."

"That's true, I guess."

"It is true; he knows how…" she hesitated for a moment, "How involved Mum can be in the lives of her children, and he's still calling you."

Mary smiled. "Thanks, Kitty, I feel better."

Kitty walked back over and sat down in front of her mirror. "Now if only I could."

"What wrong with you? I thought you and Richard were going out this evening?"

"We are, but I don't know how it's going to go. You know Mum was at the door waiting when Richard brought me home from our first official date. I felt so juvenile standing there waiting for him to kiss me with Mum peeking out the window at us. It was beyond humiliating."

Mary made a face, "See that's why I don't want her to know about Brandon and me."

Kitty sighed heavily, "Maybe you should just keep dating in secret. I don't know, Mary. But honestly, Mum isn't the only issue. I don't think Richard even knew Mum was at the window and he still only kissed me on the cheek."

Mary sighed. "Oh,"

Kitty blushed again. "What's worse is I thought he was going to kiss me, so I puckered my lips in anticipation of the kiss," she said lowering her head to the dressing table.

"Oh, Kitty I'm sorry that is embarrassing. Why do you think he only kissed you on the cheek?"

"Probably because of Lizzy, and the whole age difference thing."

Mary furrowed her brow. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that, but he's not really that much older than you. Besides, if you're ok with it why should he care about what Lizzy or anyone else thinks about it?"

Kitty shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know he just does I guess. I keep wondering how things will go when Lizzy gets back. I mean she seemed supportive when we last talked, so I'm hoping she will be when she gets back."

Mary sighed. "Well talk to her up front, tell her what's going on and ask her to give you some space. My experience with Lizzy is she's pretty good about giving people their boundaries."

Kitty smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I will talk to her as soon as I can," she looked back at the mirror. "Meantime, how do I get Richard to kiss me?"

Mary's eyes opened wide. "I don't know. Brandon kissed me goodnight on our first date. I didn't have to try to encourage him, but then Mum wasn't in the window because I met him at the theater instead of having him come here," she laughed.

Kitty laughed. "Richard insisted that he come here to pick me up; he said if it's going to be an official date then he was going to pick me up."

Mary stood up and walked over to the door, "Well I hope it all goes well for you tonight."

"Thanks, Mary."

Elizabeth walked into the house to find Will just getting off the phone. She took one look at his face and knew something was wrong. "What is it?"

Darcy shook his head. "It's nothing, really. Let's just enjoy our last night here before we have to return to the real world."

"Will, I can see something is wrong. Tell me what it is, remember we promised no secrets."

He walked over and pulled her into his arms. "If I tell you, you're only going to get upset, and I don't want you to be upset our last night here together."

Elizabeth smiled, "That's very sweet of you, but you can't protect me from trouble all the time so out with it. What's going on?"

Darcy pulled her closer and kissed lips. "Apparently Wickham is already having some issues at the new job."

"Oh no, really?"

Darcy took her hand in his and guided her over to the sofa. "According to Richard he's coming in late, he's missing days, he's even been caught gambling at work twice. They want to fire him."

Elizabeth knew well enough what that would mean. "I see." She laid her head against his shoulder and sighed. She thought about the trouble Lydia and Wickham would continue to be for them. "You believe he's trying to get fired?"

Darcy nodded his head. "I'm sure of it. Wickham's true desire in marrying your sister is to torment me. He can hardly do that thousands of miles away in the states."

Elizabeth's eyes opened wider. "Surely he can't possibly be thinking of coming back here now. Lydia is too far along in her pregnancy."

Darcy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what he's thinking, honestly."

Elizabeth could hear the frustration in his voice and felt terrible. "I'm sorry, Will. I hate that my sister and her husband are such a constant source of frustration for you."

"It's not your fault. Honestly, it's not even Lydia's fault. Wickham has always been bent on getting even with me for wrongs he believes have been done to him. Even when we were younger, he was always trying to one-up me, to get my father's attention for himself. Honestly, I've never understood it; his own father was such an honorable man."

"When he and I first met, he told me that your father favored him, and you were always jealous of that fact. Sadly I believed him at the time."

Darcy thought about it for a moment. "My father did favor Wickham in some ways. I have always been more reserved than Wickham. George is very outgoing, and my father appreciated that quality in him. I never resented Wickham for it though."

"Did you ever talk to your father about it?"

"I did, just before he died. I talked, and he listened, but in the end, his devotion to his lifelong friend clouded his judgment. George looked so much like his father, and as you know, he's good at fooling people. I don't think my father wanted to see the truth. He believed most everything George told him and sadly he never was able to see Wickham for who he truly was."

"That must have been very difficult for you."

"It was for a long time. Before my father grew ill, I was angry with him. I couldn't understand why he would refuse to see the truth about George. Then when he got sick, we talked. As I listened to him, I realized he couldn't come to terms with the fact that George had turned out as he did. He didn't see who George really was because he didn't want to."

"Do you think he somehow felt if he admitted George's failings he would be betraying his friend?"

Darcy shrugged his shoulders. "It's entirely possible. Harold Wickham was like a brother to my father. They were the best of friends. Harold even saved my father's life once, when they were very young."

Elizabeth was shocked to learn this news. "Really, what happened?"

"My father and Harold were out sailing when an unexpected storm came up. The smaller boat they were in was really having a rough go of it, but my father said Harold remained calm. They both worked to turn the boat around and were headed back to shore when a large wave came up. My father lost his footing and almost went into the sea. He would have drowned, but Harold grabbed hold of him and saved his life. My father said he was pretty shaken up by it all. He said Harold really came through for them. He navigated them back to shore and made sure they were both safe. I can remember my father telling me that story a thousand times in his life."

"Harold sounds as if he was an amazing friend. Its little wonder your father felt so indebted to him. It's too bad that it blinded him to George's true character."

"Elizabeth, I'm not sure what I'll be able to do going forward. I can't force George to stay in the States. If he comes back, he will be a burden to your father."

Elizabeth could see how this was weighing on him. "I feel bad for making you tell me any of this. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We promised to talk to each other and carry each other's burdens remember. I have to learn to do that more."

"Yes, but this being our last night here you were hoping to keep the world out just a little longer, weren't you?"

He smiled. "I was, but sometimes things don't always work out as we hope."

Elizabeth gently caressed his cheek, "Come with me," she whispered softly.

Darcy furrowed his brow, "Where are we going?"

"To watch the sun go down, then sit beneath the stars and have some dinner and watch the moon come up."

"Sounds romantic."

She smiled mischievously. "Oh it will be, Mr. Darcy, it will be…"