Disclaimer: No, I do not own Pride and Prejudice. Yes, this is yet another modernized version. Yes, they're all musicians. I know, it sounds like this has been done before but I don't think it has ever been done quite like this. Just trust me. I think that it has turned out pretty well.
"Five minutes Lizzie," Jane Bennet called as she poked her head into her sister's dressing room. "And please don't be late this time!"
"Don't worry so much Jane," Lizzie replied and turned from the mirror to look at her sister and give her a wink. "Am I ever late?" Jane's ladylike manners were all that kept her from snorting at her sister's remark and then she turned on her high heeled shoe to go check on the other band members. Jane was the manager for the band Forget Pride and had a difficult time keeping the five girls in line. Lizzie Bennet, her fraternal twin sister, was the lead singer. Lizzie's best friend Charlotte played the drums. Mary, Kitty, and Lydia were Jane and Lizzie's younger sisters. Mary played the keyboard, even if she found it demeaning that she couldn't have a real piano. Kitty played the base and Lydia sang back up and tried to play the tambourine, although she was usually off beat.
Lizzie walked out of her dressing room and towards the stage. She stopped at the sound booth for her headset and her hairdresser was right behind her to pin it in place and make sure it didn't mess up Lizzie's carefully constructed hairdo. "Elizabeth Elaine Bennet, you are not going on stage in those grubby sneakers!" her costume designer called as she came running up behind her holding a pair of calf high boots with stiletto heels. "You sit down right now and put these boots on. They were made especially for you and you will wear them!"
Lizzie groaned and sat down on the case for a speaker to take of her favorite pair of sneakers, which admittedly were three years old and had several holes in them. As Lizzie finished zipping up her boots Lydia and Kitty came giggling out of their dressing room, both of them covered in so much glitter they would look like iridescent blurs underneath the stage lights. "Oh Lizzie, isn't this so exciting!" Lydia squealed as Lizzie rose to her feet. "It's the last concert of our tour! Oh, I think now I might cry!"
"You'll ruin your makeup if you do," Mary pointed out sarcastically as she walked up to join her sisters. Lydia's eyes widened in shock and demanded that the nearest techie go and get her a mirror to make sure that her makeup was still perfect. Lizzie just sighed and shook her head. "Okay," Jane said as she and Charlotte walked up to the group. "You girls go out there and play your best. Just remember, we're at Longbourn and your hometown crowd is always full of your hardest critiques. So, it doesn't really matter what they say. There'll always be people who hate you just because they think it should be them up on the stage instead of you."
"Great way to pump us up Janie!" Lizzie teased. "I've always wanted to be told right before a concert that the audience is probably not going to me."
Jane looked at her sister mortified with her cheeks stained a dark red. "That's not what I meant at all Lizzie!" Jane exclaimed. "I hope that's not what you think I was trying to say!" Lizzie simply kissed her sister on the cheek and then grabbed her guitar from its stand right off stage. She lifted the strap over her head and then she and the rest of the band followed her out on stage.
Jane watched her sisters and Charlotte greet the crowd. This crowd seemed much more receptive to the band than she had expected. She'd been warned by all of her manager friends that the hometown crowd would be the worst. However so far, they had managed to sell out Longbourn Stadium and the lines she'd seen at the product tables had been astoundingly long. Maybe their hometown would be different. But Jane was not about to get her hopes up. There was still plenty of time for things to end badly.
Suddenly Jane felt someone tap her on the shoulder. "Excuse me…" a rather handsome young man with auburn hair began as Jane turned around. "You wouldn't happen to be Jane Bennet, would you?"
"Yes I'm Jane," Jane replied with a smile and then raised one perfectly arched eyebrow expectantly.
The young man stared at her for a moment as if in awe. He wasn't quite sure what he had expected, but the beautiful blond haired, blue eyed girl standing in front of him certainly wasn't it. He'd thought she may have been rather ugly, seeing as how she was the only Bennet sister not in the band. But that most certainly was not the case. She was the most beautiful girl that he had ever laid eyes on. He finally realized that he was staring and then shook his head as if he finally had recovered his senses. "Excuse me," he said apologetically. "My name is Charlie Bingley. I'm the manager for the band Dissolving Prejudice and we have a business proposition for you and your band."
"Let's go back to my sister Lizzie's dressing room," Jane said and then led the way and closed Lizzie's door firmly behind them to muffle the noise of the concert. "There, that's much better. Please have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?"
"Oh no, you're fine, I mean I'm fine," Charlie stuttered as they sat down on a light blue loveseat and turned very red in the cheeks. "I mean…"
"It's all right," Jane assured him, laying a comforting hand on his arm. Then, astounded by her own forwardness, turned ten different shades of red and snatched her hand back. They both laughed a little nervously and Jane managed to regain her composure. "So you said something about a business proposition?"
"Well, next week Dissolving Prejudice is going to be playing a concert just up the road at Netherfield and our opening band just canceled," Charlie explained. "We've searched everywhere close by and there just aren't any bands that the boys are willing to give a chance. So, when we realized that Forget Pride was going to be in town, I talked the boys into offering the slot to you girls."
"I don't think the girls are going to go for it," Jane informed him a little wistfully. "This is supposed to be the last stop on our tour and I know my sister Lizzie especially is ready to be done with this all and stay at home for a while. Besides, this is their second tour. They haven't opened a show in quite some time and I fear they might be a little insulted for you asking them that."
"Oh, this won't simply be another opening gig," Charlie assured her. "We'll split time on stage and ticket proceeds fifty-fifty. Besides that, you get to play for free; you don't have to rent the stadium or anything. The show is really close to being sold out too so…"
"I can't make any promises," Jane warned him apologetically. "I have to talk to my sisters and Charlotte first. But if there are no objections, I'll give you a call tomorrow. Where can I reach you?"
"Let me give you my card," Charlie said as he stood up and took his wallet out of his back pocket. He handed Jane a small business card with the Dissolving Prejudice logo embossed as the background. "Just call me on my cell phone any time after noon. I'm rooming with Will Darcy over at the Hilton just down the road from Netherfield and he's a bit of a late sleeper."
"So is Lizzie," Jane informed him with a smile as she took the card and walked over to where her purse rested underneath Lizzie's vanity. She took out her planner and stuck the card in with the rest of the many business cards and then turned around to face Charlie where he stood next to the loveseat. "So, I suppose you better be going," Jane began a little sadly.
"I suppose so," he replied with a little shrug of his shoulders. "You promise that you'll call tomorrow right?"
"Not until after noon," Jane assured him and then followed him out of the dressing room. The noise from the concert hit her full blast as they stepped back out into the wings. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."
They shook hands and then Charlie surprised her by kissing her cheek. Both of them turned a million different shades of red and then Jane went out to the lobby to go and check to see how the product tables were doing. She tried hard to get Charlie off her mind, but ever now and then her hand would absentmindedly stray to her cheek to the spot that he had kissed and she would turn red all over again. Little did she know, thirty miles away at a hotel near Netherfield, Charlie was doing the exact same thing.
Three hours later, Lizzie sank down onto the couch on the tour bus and unzipped her shoes. "My feet are killing me!" she groaned and closed her eyes as she wiggled her toes, glad that they were finally free of the boots. "I am so glad this tour is over. Tomorrow I am hopping the first flight back to Nashville and then I am going to sleep for a week."
"Not so fast Lizzie," Jane began a little hesitantly. "I need to talk to you girls about something first." Kitty and Lydia groaned, but Lizzie just arched an eyebrow without opening her eyes, letting Jane know that she had at least some of Lizzie's attention; the rest was focused on checking her eyelids for holes. "The manager from the band Dissolving Prejudice was here. They need a band to share the stage with next weekend. Their opener quit and they wanted to know if we would be willing to play. They'll split the ticket proceeds with us and…"
Lydia and Kitty squealed, effectively cutting Jane off. "Oh my gosh!" Lydia exclaimed excitedly. "We get to play with Dissolving Prejudice! This is like a dream come true. You've seen their base guitarist Jack Wickham, haven't you Lizzie? He is totally gorgeous! And let's not forget Fitz or Will Darcy, he is the perfect Mr. Tall dark and handsome! Please say we can Lizzie! Please?"
"Yes please Lizzie," Jane echoed softly. "I know that you want to go home, but I really think that this would be a good opportunity for all of you."
"Fine," Lizzie sighed dejectedly. "You know I can never refuse you anything Jane. Now, I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up until we get back to the hotel." Lizzie would have gone straight to sleep, if she hadn't been nearly squeezed to death by three pairs of arms. "I might change my mind if you all don't let me sleep!" Lizzie threatened grumpily and then walked back to the bedroom and climbed into the nearest bed.
Half an hour later Lizzie found herself being pushed by Jane into a hotel that did not look like the one they had left early that morning, or should she say the morning before. It was well after midnight, but Lizzie didn't have much of a memory of the hotel, so she could have been wrong. "Janie, I'm going to go get a drink from the bar," Lizzie said sleepily.
"No alcohol," Jane warned her. "You are starting that anti-alcohol campaign as soon as we get back to Nashville and if some lucky photographer gets a picture of you with a drink in your hand, we could both be in big trouble."
"I was hoping for coffee," Lizzie replied. "You know I can't sleep until I have completely unpacked and I feel too lazy to make coffee myself."
"Fine," Jane sighed. "Just don't be too long, and I seriously doubt that the hotel bar has coffee."
"What do you think keeps the bartender awake this late?" Lizzie asked with a yawn and then stumbled towards the bar. The bar was empty except for the bartender and one man sitting there looking down into something, but that wasn't surprising seeing as how it was approaching one in the morning. "Do you have any coffee?" Lizzie asked sleepily as she climbed up onto a barstool. "My head is killing me."
"You know coffee doesn't really help you sober up," the mysterious stranger said as he looked up from his drink, a cup of coffee.
"I think that is advice you should be giving to yourself," Lizzie replied as she suppressed a yawn and inhaled the aroma of the coffee that was sitting in front of her.
"By the way you stumbled in here, I would think that it would be you who needed to sober up," he spit back at her with a slight glare.
"I'll have you know that I haven't had any type of alcohol for almost two years," Lizzie informed him indignantly. "I need coffee because I am tired. I just performed a four hour concert and now my throat is a little sore and for some reason my sister decided that we needed to switch hotels in the middle of the night and I can't sleep until I've unpacked so here I am trying to get a cup of coffee in peace so that I don't pass out in the elevator on the way up to my room!"
"Well, I'm sorry, but when a barefoot woman stumbles into a bar in the early hours of the morning, what else is a person to suspect except that the woman is drunk?" he asked indignantly.
"The person has no right to form any conclusions about the woman at all," Lizzie replied, placing her hands on her hips, her coffee forgotten. "There could be any number of reasons as to why a woman is coming into a bar asking for coffee. And I don't see how the fact that I'm not wearing any shoes is at all relevant."
"I said I was sorry, why can't you just accept my apology and then we can go about our business," he suggested with a sneer.
"You know what I think of your apology?" Lizzie asked dangerously as she picked up the cup of coffee. "This!" Lizzie smiled enchantingly and walked over to him and then proceeded to dump the entire cup of coffee into his lap. "Apology unaccepted." Lizzie tossed a random bill from her pocket onto the bar and then stormed out.
The next morning Jane was up early and pulled her favorite white sundress with little blue and yellow flowers out of the closet and took a long shower. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, but you really couldn't tell. She just hoped Charlie was an early riser and took advantage of the free breakfast the hotel offered on Sunday mornings. She slipped on a pair of white heels and then made her way to the elevator. The elevator stopped at the second floor and a man got on. "Charlie!" Jane exclaimed as the door closed behind him.
"Jane?" he asked puzzled. "I didn't know that you were staying here. If I had, I would have invited you to breakfast this morning. You have to join me and my sister Caroline for breakfast. I insist."
"Well, if you insist," Jane smiled as the elevator stopped on the first floor of the hotel. She was keenly aware of Charlie's hand on the small of her back as he steered her towards the hotel restaurant. Charlie couldn't believe his luck. He'd met a girl who was an absolute angel and was having breakfast with her. He wasn't sure if that would be considered their first date, seeing as how he hadn't called it that, but he really hoped that she considered it a date. He hadn't really dated much since becoming the manager for Dissolving Prejudice. He had been told his home just outside of Nashville was very nice, but he had never seen it and had owned it for almost three years. Now that he had found a girl that he could spend time with, he would hate to let her get away…
Seven hours later at three o'clock in the afternoon, Lizzie finally stumbled out of the elevator. Her brown hair fell in spiral curls down her back, still damp from her hour long shower. She had on a pair of jeans and a tank green tank top that made her hazel eyes seem more green than blue and a pair of black flip flops. She looked more like a teenager than the twenty-four-year-old lead singer of a mildly successful country band. But, that was how Lizzie liked it. People generally didn't recognize her when she was free of her trademark black Stetson and makeup. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten about the man in the bar. After fuming about his rude behavior to Jane for the better part of an hour, despite the fact that Jane had dosed off in the first ten minutes of her tirade, Lizzie had promptly passed out and was quite willing to dismiss the whole thing as a rather crazy dream.
She most definitely had not expected to see the same arrogant man from the bar sitting with her sister and another man in the sitting area of the lobby of the hotel. It was one of the most surreal moments of her life. It was too bad that she had left her coffee back in the room, now she would have to face him unarmed. "Janie what are you doing up so early?" Lizzie asked with a yawn as she sank down next to her sister on a mint green sofa, directly across from the man from the bar.
"Lizzie dear, I hate to break it to you, but it's three in the afternoon," Jane replied with a soft laugh. "I've been up all morning. But I'm glad you are here. There are some papers that I need your signature on."
"Please tell me it's nothing from any lawyers faking lawsuits so that they can get my signature for their sons or daughters or third cousin seven times removed," Lizzie pleaded sleepily as she kicked off her flip flops and tucked her feet up under her. "I signed a grand total of eight hundred ninety seven autographs last night, and yes a few more would kill me."
"I assure you, these papers are not for anyone's third cousin seven times removed," the man sitting next to Jane said with a smile. "Unless you count me, because for all I know, I could be someone's third cousin seven times removed. I'm Charlie Bingley by the way."
Lizzie looked at him slightly stunned for a moment, no one had ever responded like that before. Then she burst out laughing and Jane started laughing with her. Before long the two sisters were holding their sides, they were laughing so hard. Leaving Charlie and the mysterious stranger completely mystified. "You have to understand," Jane began between fits of laughter. "That Lizzie here says that every time she is asked to sign something and most people look at her like she is nuts or sit there for an hour and try to figure out if there is such a thing as a third cousin seven times removed. Or better still, they start calling all of their family members on their way out asking of they have one. No one has ever actually joked back with Lizzie. She generally does it just to confuse lawyers and prove that they aren't as smart as they think they are."
After Jane's explanation Charlie started to laugh as well, which got Lizzie laughing all the harder, which then led to Jane laughing harder and that only added to the stranger's confusion. Then upon seeing the stranger's confusion, Lizzie laughed harder still and so the cycle continued for at least ten minutes until every eye in the hotel lobby was on them and upon noticing this, the stranger turned very red.
Finally, the laughter was brought under control, except for the occasional chuckle from Lizzie or Charlie and the stranger was finally introduced. "Lizzie, Jane, I'd like for you two to meet the lead singer from Dissolving Prejudice Will Darcy," Charlie finally managed to say. "He wanted to listen in on our business arrangements and insisted that he be here. He actually arrived just a few minutes before you did Lizzie. Will, this is Lizzie Bennet. She's the lead singer in the band Forget Pride."
"He didn't tell you that we've already met?" Lizzie asked with an engaging smile. "Mr. Darcy and I had the pleasure of conversing last night at the bar when I went there to get a cup of coffee."
"I hope the coffee had the effect you intended it to have Miss Bennet," Will said, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"It didn't serve the original purpose I had for it," Lizzie responded mysteriously. "But it ended up fulfilling my expectations beautifully. So Charlie, you said you had papers that I needed to sign…"
Several hours later Charlie sat on the edge of his bed pleading with his friend. "Come on Will, I think this is a great opportunity," he pleaded as Will stepped out of the bathroom buttoning a starched white shirt. "You two will sound great together."
"There is no guarantee of that," Will replied as he tucked the shirt into his black dress pants. "Now finish getting dressed or we'll be late for that charity ball you are forcing us to go to. Besides, Lizzie Bennet does not have enough talent to even tempt me to sing a duet."
"Now you're just being cynical," Charlie replied as he grabbed his bowtie from where it rested on the bed next to him. He got up and walked over to the mirror so that he could see what he was doing. "Besides, I think she's got a great deal of talent and she's rather pretty as well. If you gave her half a chance, I think you two would get along wonderfully."
"Are you boys ready?" a sultry voice, or rather what it's owner considered to be a sultry voice, called as the door that connected the room to the next one opened and revealed a very thin woman with red hair in a very short and very tight black dress stepped into the room. "What do you think of my dress Will?"
"Caroline you are not wearing that," Charlie stated flatly. "I told you to not even pack it and that there would be no occasion for you to wear it. Go put on that lovely dress you bought when we were in New York last week."
"I don't recall asking your opinion little brother," Caroling replied snidely. "I was asking Will." As Caroline spoke she walked over to Will and leaned over him as he was sitting down to put on his shoes, giving him ample view of her cleavage.
"Get off me Caroline," Will said coldly as he tied his shoelace. "And although I know very little of women's fashion, I am inclined to agree with your brother. I think that dress is inappropriate for the function that we are attending and you should change. The invitation said formal attire while you look fit to stand on a street corner."
Caroline straightened and stood their for a minute, her mouth gaping rather like a fish and then let out an indignant huff and walked back through the connecting door, slamming it behind her. "Bravo Darcy!" Charlie exclaimed, clapping his hands enthusiastically. "I have never been so proud! For years I've wanted someone to knock Caroline off her high horse and I really hoped you would be the one to do it."
"Don't congratulate me yet," Darcy smirked at the closed door. "I believe where your sister is concerned, I only won one battle, we have yet to see who will win the war."
Charlie laughed heartily, which brought out a chuckle from Will was well. "Oh, by the way," Charlie began as both men put on their jackets. "I invited Jane and Lizzie Bennet to attend tonight as well. They'll be waiting for us down stairs in about five minutes." Will just glared at him and then grabbed his overcoat from where it lay draped over a chair. Two minutes later they left their suite and made their way to the elevator.
A floor above them, Lizzie and Jane had their hands full with three younger sisters crowded in their room whining, scolding, screaming, and complaining in turn. "Lizzie I still don't see why we can't go as well," Lydia pouted as she sank down on Lizzie's bed. "I think it's unfair that you and Jane get to go and we don't. We're members of the band as well…"
"You can't go because you were not invited," Jane supplied for Lizzie. "We can't just bring three more people with us. The limo would be awfully crowded."
"You're going in a limo!" Kitty screeched as she sank down next to Lydia. "You two get to have all the fun!"
"Believe me Kitty," Lizzie said as she applied mascara to her long eyelashes. "If it were possible, I would let you go in my place. However Charlie invited us specifically and there isn't time now for us to call him and let him know of a change in plans. Jane and I needed to be down stairs two minutes ago."
"What!" Jane cried with dismay as she grabbed hers and Lizzie's wraps from the closet. After Charlie had invited them, Jane had dragged Lizzie to a nearby boutique to buy appropriate dresses and the sudden change in weather required wraps as well. "Oh, what is Charlie going to think of me now?"
"He's going to think it was well worth the wait," Lizzie replied as she twisted the cap back onto her mascara and opened her tube of lipstick. Jane dropped her wrap over her shoulders as Lizzie applied her lipstick and then grabbed her handbag from where it rested on the table by the door. Jane was wearing a midnight blue dress with off the shoulder sleeves that fell all the way to the floor and had a little bit of a train on it as well. "Okay I'm ready," Lizzie said decidedly as she grabbed her purse from the vanity and stuffed her wallet and cell phone in it. "Now we both have our cell phones. If anything goes wrong don't hesitate to call us." With that, Jane grabbed her hand and almost dragged Lizzie down the hallway and into the elevator.
"It seems your date is late Charlie," Caroline said snidely. "Perhaps she decided not to come after all."
"She'll be here," Charlie replied, his eyes never leaving the elevator. "She'll be here."
"It's rude for them to keep us waiting," Will remarked as he brushed imaginary lint from his coat.
"It'll be worth the wait," Charlie said as the elevator doors opened. "See there they are…" Charlie had known that Jane would look beautiful in an evening gown, but just how beautiful had caught him unaware. She looked even more like an angel than he had expected. With her hair piled up on top of her head and her eyes emphasized by mascara and eyeliner, she looked to Charlie like she had been sent straight from Heaven. "Jane you look fantastic!" he blurted out and then blushed again for what seemed like the millionth time since he had met her barely twenty four hours before. "And Lizzie, you look very nice as well,"
"Thank you," Lizzie and Jane replied in unison. Charlie offered his arm to Jane and she took it gladly with a little giggle. Will gave a little sigh and offered an arm to Lizzie as well. Lizzie eyed him with distrust, but linked her arm through his. Caroline stood and watched, hatred for Lizzie mounting behind her calm exterior. If anyone were to be on his arm, it should be her. However, Caroline Bingley was completely forgotten once Will had Lizzie on his arm. He hadn't really considered how pretty she was. With her dark curls piled up on top of her head and her makeup done, she looked like a real lady. Then of course there was the dress she was wearing. The forest green velvet dress showed off her slim figure that curved in all the right places. Will hadn't expected the same girl who had worn a tank top and flip flops in Delaware in the middle of December could look so beautiful. But, of course, he was not about to admit that to her.
Lizzie was not pleased when she ended up sitting next to Will in the limo. She stared out the window, hardly paying attention to anyone. Jane tried to engage her in conversation, but Lizzie was a little preoccupied by the gathering clouds in the sky. "How cold would you say it is?" she asked no one in particular.
"About twenty degrees," Charlie replied. "The weatherman on the television this morning said that it should snow soon."
"Jane," Lizzie said with a glare.
"Lizzie, how was I supposed to know?" Jane asked helplessly as she almost flopped back against the seat.
"What ever is the matter?" Caroline asked with false sympathy.
"Lizzie wants to go back to Nashville," Jane replied with a sigh. "I think she is angry with me because now she might not be able to go home. She was going to catch the redeye last night until I convinced her to do the concert next weekend."
"Oh how terribly disappointing," Caroline said, her voice dripping with even more fake sympathy. Lizzie didn't reply though. She continued to stare out the window, thinking about the apartment she had been looking forward to decorating for Christmas. She'd spent all of six nights in that apartment since renting it and had really looked forward to spending her first holiday there. She was going to get a real tree and buy all of the ornaments from every store within fifty miles. Lizzie sighed and then put her gloomy thoughts aside.
Just as Lizzie was ready to become sociable again, the limo came to a stop on front of a stately old home. Will and Charlie were the first to climb out, followed by Caroline, who promptly began to cling to Will's arm. As Jane climbed out she was assisted by Charlie, then Lizzie started to get out as well. She went to reach for the edge of the limo, but found a warm hand instead. She looked up and saw Will staring down at her. Their eyes locked for a minute, but then Lizzie remembered just how much she disliked him and averted her gaze, but her hand lingered on his just long enough for him to disengage the arm Caroline was clinging to and tuck Lizzie's arm through his.
Lizzie, too stunned to have much of a reaction, allowed her self to be led into the house, her wrap and her bag were taken from her, and then she was led into the large ballroom of the old manor. She was introduced to more people than she cared to remember. Eventually she found herself sitting down at a table, where man after man approached her asking for a dance. She obliged most of them, but after an hour she was so tired, she sought the refuge of the table.
"Come on Will," Charlie pleaded. "Don't just sit there and look angry. I know you don't really want to be here, but Caroline is your publicist and she insists that you need the exposure. Why don't you dance with Lizzie? From what I observed she seems to be a good dancer."
"Charlie, I do not want anything to do with Miss Bennet," Will replied angrily. "I don't want to sing with her. I don't want to dance with her. I really don't want to have anything to do with her! So will you just lay off all ready!"
Lizzie froze in shock. She had never overheard someone talking about her in such a manner. Apparently Charlie and Will saw her standing there because both turned as white as a sheet. Lizzie straightened her shoulders and turned on her heel. "Lizzie…" she heard Charlie call as she went to find Jane and inform her that she was leaving. She searched for her sister among the dancers and finally located her at the buffet.
"Jane, I think that I am going to leave now," Lizzie informed her sister. "You stay as long as you like, but I think it's time for me to head back to the hotel."
"Lizzie…" Jane began, her pretty brow wrinkling with confusion.
"Have a good time Janie," Lizzie told her sister as she started to back away. "I'll see you when you get back to the hotel." With that, Lizzie backed away from her sister and almost ran to the coat check. After receiving her wrap, she slipped outside into the cold night air. Snow was falling gently, giving the world a peaceful and soothing feel. Lizzie closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She could feel the anger and the tension slowly slip out of her body as she stood out in the cold. Why should she care what Will Darcy thought of her? No one's opinion of her had ever really mattered. His certainly shouldn't. But those dark eyes seemed to burn themselves into her memory and she couldn't escape them.