A/N: I thought I'd get chapter one posted now, surprise :)
Disclaimer: The usual applies, sadly I'm not Jane Austen.
Recap: After the events of A Hidden Kindness, George and Shane Wickham have been arrested, awaiting to be charged for the crimes they have committed.
Elizabeth Bennet was rescued from her kidnappers but has been signed off from her work duties and is receiving therapy to come to terms with what happened during her captivity. Her relationship with William Darcy is cracked but both are determined to fix it together.
William Darcy finally told his ex-wife that he needs to move on from the past and is focusing on a bright future with Elizabeth, determined to make it up to her and be a better man than he has been in the weeks leading to his girlfriend's kidnapping.
Lydia Bennet is still facing the decision as to whether her attacker, Jamie Smith, will see him serve a shorter sentence or whether he will have years added to his sentence. Whilst she, Georgiana Darcy and Denny Wickham are due to start their first year of sixth form.
Postings: Once a week until I run out of written chapters, will aim for Mondays but this may change.
Rating: M due to strong language, themes from the A Hidden Kindness which you may find disturbing, some sex scenes between consenting adults, read at your own risk you have been warned.
As always, please leave a review. Oh, and new readers, this story is a sequel to my story A Hidden Kindness, so I suggest you give that one a read if you have no idea what I'm talking about in this story.
A New Beginning
Chapter One
The sound of seagulls crying above their heads, waves crashing against the stony beach, the wet spray that bounced off the hovercraft whenever it made a landing at the landing pad in Southsea and all on a hot, clear day when the sun shone brightly in a cloud free sky were days that Lydia had come to enjoy in Portsmouth. It was the last week of June, officially three weeks since her last GCSE exam and her last official day as a year eleven at Rosings Park School and she was determined to make lasting memories this summer. While she knew that July would be a tough month, having the second anniversary of her father's death to come and the first one of Georgiana's father, she wanted to have some fun with her friends.
Lydia crossed the freshly mown common, scanning through the crowds of people who had decided to take advantage of the British heatwave with travel barbecues to try and find her friends. She'd just finished her first four-hour training shift as a barista at Boswell's café in the Cascades shopping centre in Commercial Road and it was a whole new experience that had nerved her at first, but she was now excited about. The prospect of earning her own money, working for something and gaining experience made her feel like a proper adult. She had been lucky to get a job straight away after applying just before her exams ended. Georgiana was still applying for jobs, having had two interviews for Primark and New Look but had been unsuccessful whilst Denny had managed to land a job working in Burger King. Kit was applying to several nail bars around the city centre but couldn't quite grasp the fact that the companies couldn't legally hire a sixteen-year-old girl due to the chemicals the employees were expected to work with, which is why they could only hire over eighteens.
Pulling her phone out of her shorts pocket, she pressed the call button next to Denny's phone number and pressed it to her ear. He picked up on the second ring.
"Lyds, where are you?" Denny shouted down the phone.
"Opposite the war memorial, where are you guys?" Lydia asked.
"Never mind I can see you!"
Ending the phone call, she turned around and smiled when she saw Denny approaching her. Hugging her friend briefly, the two walked began walking towards the war memorial.
"How was your first shift?" Denny asked.
"Do you know what? I enjoyed it," Lydia smiled brightly, "I never thought I would enjoy my first job, but I've already got two shifts for this week after today and another four shifts next week."
"That's great Lyds." Denny beamed.
"How's Burger King going?"
Denny's smile faded. The look on his face said it all. It had been two months since her sister's kidnapping by Denny's father and brother had made the newspapers and they were all having a rough time. Denny had been accused by their peers at school of being involved in the kidnapping whilst Lydia was being hounded by their peers over why she continued to be friends with Denny and asking for gory details of her sister being held in a 'murder basement' as the nightclub was now being referred to. Georgie had been suffering too, with people telling her that she should cut all ties with Denny due to their siblings shared past. Denny and his mother had also been harassed by journalists who were making documentaries on murderers and wanted exclusive interviews with Denny and Harriet to the point where Denny had to remain silent as he barged his way through the small crowd of journalists who were gathered outside his house every day.
"What happened?" Lydia asked.
"Some of the workers who have been there a lot longer than me threatened to lock me in the walk-in chiller to 'teach me a lesson' over what my brother and dad did to Elizabeth, Oscar and Sarah." Denny replied quietly.
"Did you tell a manager?"
Denny shook his head.
"Nope. I've only been working there for a few weeks Lyds, I don't want to be known as the work grass on top of a kidnappers and murderer's brother. I just wish I could change my biological family." He sighed.
"That doesn't mean you should put up with threats that could endanger your health and life, Denny. Who cares what they think?!"
"It's easy for you to say."
The pair stopped, with Lydia frowning.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned.
"Just that you seem to not care what others think." Denny answered with a shrug.
"I used to, not anymore." Lydia said dismissively.
Denny sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry, I just think you have it a lot easier sometimes." He apologised.
"We don't, Denny. I am constantly being told that I should stop being your friend by Jane, by our classmates. I know you had nothing to do with what happened to Lizzy, Oscar and that Sarah woman. I know you are nothing like your dad and brother. I know who you really are. As do Georgie, Kit, Mary and the guys. We want to be your friend, we'll get through this together because that's what friends do. So, when you're next on shift, have a word with your manager and tell them what happened because threatening is bullying in the workplace and shouldn't be tolerated." Lydia said defiantly.
She watched as his eyes widened in surprise, as if he had been dreading the moment that she would declare them not friends anymore but only for her to declare they would all get through this.
"Thank you, Lyds." Denny mumbled.
Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she hugged him tightly.
"You're my best guy, Denny, I'll always have your back." She assured him.
The two released the other and carried on walking to the other side of the war memorial until they reached a patch of grass where their friends were sitting.
"Look who finally made it!" Georgiana greeted cheerfully.
Sitting down next to her best friend, Lydia smiled. Kit was laying on the grass opposite her, her top cropped up as far as she could get it without exposing herself indecently as she tried to tan her stomach whilst Mary was sat above her sister's head wiping her glasses clean.
"How did the first shift go?" Mary asked.
"Really well, I know how to work the coffee machine and make the different coffees they sell there. I'm on kitchen training on my next shift to learn food safety." Lydia replied.
"Alright for some. I've been rejected for three interviews." Kit grumbled.
"We know you'd prefer to work in a nail bar, Kit. No need to be so moody." Mary said, nudging her sister in the ribs with her foot.
Kit sat up, throwing her sister an evil glare as she pushed her top down.
"Why don't you try applying for the make-up stands in Debenhams? They might be looking for staff." Denny suggested.
"That's an idea." Kit said, a littler cheerier.
"How about you Mary? Have you heard from any potential employers yet?" Georgiana asked.
Mary smiled and nodded.
"I'm a trainee at the music shop in Commercial Road, you know the one by the train station? I've also been accepted to volunteer at the civic office library on Saturdays." Mary announced.
"That's great!" Lydia said enthusiastically.
"We should do something to celebrate properly. How about bowling tonight?" Georgiana suggested happily.
"Bowling sounds good to me." Denny agreed.
With the twins in agreement, Lydia smiled at the thought she had. Whilst it had been a difficult period while everyone dealt with the aftermath of her sister's kidnapping and the stressful time of completing their GCSE examinations, her friendships with Denny, Georgiana, Kit and Mary were stronger than ever.
ooOoo
"Lizzy? Are you alright?"
Blinking twice, Elizabeth smiled up at her boyfriend and nodded as he took a seat on the sofa next to her.
"Yeah I'm fine." She replied.
Will took her hand in his and placed a light kiss to the back of her hand. It had been three months since her kidnapping and it had been a rough few months. Her therapy sessions were a regular once a week thing now that Dr. Richardson was happy she was opening herself up a lot more instead of closing herself off from the world, she was talking more about her ordeal to her family and her boyfriend, but she didn't feel like herself anymore. She was yet to have a full night of sleep because she still had nightmares about Wickham and Oscar, her mind picturing what kind of torture her ex-boyfriend had been through and the sleeping pills she had stopped taking a few weeks after her ordeal because she didn't want to rely on medication to sleep.
Then there were outings. The first time she had stepped out of the house to do something other than a therapy session with Dr. Richardson was to go and help Maddie and Ed with the food shopping and it had ended with her being too scared to step foot out of the car and had a panic attack because every male stranger who walked past them, she was convinced had some ulterior motive to harm her. So, Maddie had driven her home whilst Ed had insisted he do the shopping alone. So mostly, she stayed in the house and surrounded herself with company to try not to feel alone. But she did. The person she had been was gone, thanks to George and Shane Wickham. She no longer felt confident to go out by herself, she no longer felt the need to tease people and enjoy a joke. She didn't feel like smiling. She felt lost and alone.
But true to his word, Will had been by her side for the past two months. He stayed over when he could, had arranged with his cousin Richard to cover for him where TPA duties were concerned with Will only going up to London the early hours of Monday morning to Wednesday lunchtime to make his presence felt and deal with some of the business partners who were a little pushier by wanting to 'deal with the Darcy, not the Fitzwilliam' as his business partners had said. And when he was away, he was constantly calling or texting her to make sure she knew he was there to talk if she needed to. The days he was out of Portsmouth were hard, she missed him terribly. But she still had her aunt, uncle and sisters.
Jane had taken it upon herself to stay in Portsmouth a lot longer than originally planned. She had managed to hire a temporary manager to run Longbourn in her absence and was splitting her time in Portsmouth by staying with Charles or sleeping on the sofa at Maddie and Ed's. But while it was nice to have her sister around a lot more, Jane was starting to annoy her by the overprotective fussing she was doing over her.
"I was thinking we could do something today if you're feeling up to it?" Will suggested.
Elizabeth bit her lip nervously, silently weighing up the pros and cons in her mind of going out of the house, wondering if she felt up to it and if she'd have another panic attack. But before she could voice the thoughts running around in her head, Jane entered the living room with three cups of tea. Her sister handed a cup each to her and Will before sitting next to them on the sofa.
"Smart idea! Let's go out of the house when Lizzy could have another panic attack!" Jane said sarcastically.
"It was just a suggestion, I'm not pressuring her to go out if she doesn't feel up to it." Will said softly.
Elizabeth looked up at her boyfriend, noting how he was trying not to snap at Jane. That had been another tough thing for her to deal with. Having Jane and Will around each other all the time was like walking on eggshells. Jane disliked Will because Elizabeth had confided in her about Will's insecurities earlier in their relationship. Will, despite his best efforts, was finding it hard to put up with Jane's snapping, sarcastic comments and general hostility towards him.
"She's not going anywhere with you by herself."
"Why not? We need some time alone."
"You've had time alone with her." Jane stated.
"I think our definitions of 'time alone' are very different, Jane." Will argued.
"Yeah we all know what a male version of 'time alone' means! Talk about taking advantage."
Elizabeth's heart was beating faster in her chest. She didn't want to be sat in the middle of her sister and her boyfriend arguing over what they each thought was best for her. She felt like she wasn't twenty-five years old the way they were arguing. It felt like she was a little girl in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her parents the way Will and Jane were arguing over her.
"I just want some time alone with my girlfriend without you hovering over us." Will said through gritted teeth.
"Because you know Lizzy so well that you know what's best for her!" Jane shot at him.
"ENOUGH!" Elizabeth shouted.
The two of them looked at her in surprise, Maddie looked over at the three of them from where she sat in the dining room going through her admin paperwork she was working on. Everyone looked surprised at her outburst, but Elizabeth had had enough. She was sick of the squabbling, she was sick of the hostility. Placing her cup of tea on the coffee table, she stood up.
"Lizzy…" her sister begun to say.
"No, I don't want to hear it. I'm sick of the two of you, arguing all the time. Do you think that's helping me? Do you think arguing is what's best for me?" Elizabeth yelled.
The two of them looked uncomfortable as she eyed the two of them furiously.
"I'm going out, I need to get out of here!"
"Do you want me to come with you?" Jane asked, starting to stand.
"No! I need room to breathe Jane, you're hovering over me all the time. You're concerned about me and I get that but it's starting to feel like you're suffocating me." Elizabeth snapped.
She knew by the look of shock on her sister's face that she had hurt Jane's feelings by her outburst. But in the moment, she didn't care. She needed to get out of the house and not be around her sister for a little while, she could feel guilty and apologise to Jane later. Without looking back, Elizabeth walked out of the living room and pulled her shoes on and opened the front door; feeling the light summer breeze hit her body as her heart beat picked up its pace.
You can do this, Lizzy, you can do this.
Elizabeth took a deep breath and stepped outside the house, closing the front door behind her. Starting a slow walking pace, she took a right and continued walking down the street taking slow and deep breaths while telling herself silently that she could do this. She had missed being out in the outside world, had missed the glorious sunny days that came with the start of the summer. She had missed just going for a walk.
Behind her, she heard footsteps. Running footsteps. Her heart rate picked up, faster and faster hammering against her chest. Her breath quickened. She walked quicker, starting into a power walk until she felt an arm enclose on her wrist. Letting out a scream, the person who had grabbed her arm turned her around, only for her to see a frightened looking Will was the person who had grabbed her.
"Lizzy…"
She pushed him off her, leaning against the brick wall of someone else's house as she tried to calm herself down.
"Are you an idiot?" she breathed angrily.
Will frowned.
"Wha-"
"What part of you thought it would be a good idea to run after me and grab me like that, knowing what I've been through?" Elizabeth snapped as she tried to catch her breath.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think." Will quickly apologised.
"You scared me, Will." She said quietly, her voice breaking.
"I didn't mean to scare you, I promise. I just wanted to catch up to you, to be with you in case you needed someone." Will said softly.
Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh. While she had managed to calm herself down, she felt utterly useless with herself. She hadn't even managed to get to the end of the road she lived on without getting scared and panicked that someone was going to hurt her again. She felt sick, dizzy and felt the tears falling down her face freely. Will hesitantly wrapped his arms around her and stepped forward, enveloping her in a protective embrace. She cried into his chest, wishing that she wasn't such a failure.
"Lizzy, I'm sorry that I scared you. I didn't want you to be alone." Will whispered.
"How stupid am I, I can't even make it to the end of the road without getting scared." Elizabeth muttered into his chest.
"You aren't stupid, you've been through a lot and trying to deal with it." Will assured her softly.
"But I'm not dealing with it, am I?" Elizabeth cried, looking up at him through watery eyes.
"You're trying. You've made progress."
"How have I made progress?"
Will placed a hand on her cheek, softly caressing the skin and wiping away the tears that were starting to dry there. He looked down at her, with proud eyes and an encouraging smile.
"Think of it like this. You've gotten out of the house and made it down the street, no panic attacks. Okay, I scared you, but you didn't have a panic attack and if I hadn't scared you, you'd have made it a bit further. That's progress to me, Lizzy. You aren't stupid for getting scared." Will said reassuringly.
Taking a deep breath, she muttered a 'thank you' and buried her face in his chest again, just content to be calming down and held tightly by him. He was being supportive, trying to assure her that she wasn't a failure and that getting herself out of the house on her own choice was a step on the ladder to recovery. Dr. Richardson had warned her that it would take a long while for her to get back to the person she had been before being kidnapped but to her, it was looking like she would never feel like herself. All she was doing with her life at present was sitting indoors and only venturing outside to go to her therapy appointments.
"Do you want to head back home?" Will asked.
Elizabeth shook her head as she looked up at him again.
"No, I need to get out of there. Jane is smothering me with her constant hovering. Can we go to yours?"
"Of course. I can make us some lunch if you want, we can try and play Mario Kart if you like? If you're lucky, I might let you win a few."
The idea of just relaxing at Will's house, having a catchup with Alice whilst Will made them lunch and spending the afternoon playing a video game was the perfect way to spend a few hours out of the house. Nodding her agreement, the two of them held hands and carried on their way in the direction of Will's house.
ooOoo
"Maddie, we're back." Lydia called, closing the front door behind her and Georgiana as the two girls stepped into the house.
The teenagers entered the living room and saw Maddie and Jane stop speaking, hands on hips and both looking furious. Lydia looked between her aunt and sister curiously, until her eyes focused on the suitcases that sat between the two women.
"What's going on?" Lydia questioned.
"We're leaving, that's what's going on!" Jane answered sternly.
"What do you mean 'we' and what's happened?"
"Your sisters had a little snapping incident earlier today and Jane has gotten it into her head that she needs to go back to Longbourn and take you with her." Maddie informed her.
Lydia looked at Jane and scoffed in disbelief. She knew it had been a rough few months for everyone, but this wasn't the way to handle everything.
"Jane, come on, you're running away after one disagreement?" she asked in disbelief.
Jane shook her head.
"I'm not running away, I'm going back to look after our family business and you're coming with me." Her sister stated.
"I'm bloody well not!" Lydia protested.
"You're the child, I'm the guardian. I'm taking you home where you can be parented properly. Lizzy is not in the right mind to take care of you right now." Jane argued.
"Jane you're being petty, you know you are. Stop having a strop and making hasty decisions you know will cause shit for you in the long run. We promised we'd help Lizzy through this, we need to work through it together." Lydia pointed out.
"Lizzy doesn't need me around, she already made it perfectly clear that she felt suffocated by me-"
"Well maybe you need to back off a bit-"
"Again, that's what I'm doing. I'm giving Lizzy the breathing space she needs and the time alone she desperately wants with her precious boyfriend-"
"Leave my brother out of this." Georgiana interrupted.
There was a heavy and awkward silence in the room as everyone tried to get their frustration in check. Lydia took a deep breath as she watched her sister kick her suitcase across the room and scream out in frustration before sitting on the sofa.
"Jane, you can't just make rash decisions like this because of one argument. You need to talk things over with Lizzy and if you still want to go afterwards, then go back to Longbourn. But if you do decide to go back home, I'm staying here." Lydia informed her sister quietly.
"You don't get to decide-"
"I do actually," Lydia cut her sister off, "I'm sixteen and have just left school, I'm starting sixth form in September and I've just started my first job. I'm staying in Portsmouth for the next two years Jane, I'm old enough to know that this is what I want. I love you, you're my sister but you're just wanting to drag me home with you, just so you won't be on your own."
Without saying another word to her sister, Lydia gestured to Georgiana and the two teenagers exited the living room and headed up the stairs until they reached the privacy of Lydia's bedroom. Closing the door behind her best friend, Lydia let out a sigh of frustration as Georgiana gave her a sympathetic look.
"Are you alright?" Georgiana asked.
Pacing around the room, she shook her head. She was anything but alright. In the weeks since Elizabeth had been rescued she had found it hard to focus on her examinations and was stressing that she would just scrape a C grade, anything below a C and she would have to repeat her GCSE core subjects to at least get a chance of doing her A Levels. Then there was this awkward tension in the house because Elizabeth was afraid of venturing out due to panic attacks and surviving on little-to-no sleep every night because of nightmares and Jane had taken to being overprotective, hovering over her and Elizabeth to see they had everything they needed and arguing with Will over petty little things. At least now she worked at Boswell's she could escape the tension. But it was getting a bit much for her, dealing with the fears of failing her GCSE examinations, worrying about her sisters and if Elizabeth would be able to move forward from her kidnapping ordeal, to trying to ignore the awkward tension that had built up since May, to listening to petty squabbles between Jane and Will and being told by her classmates that she should cut all ties with Denny. And then there was that longing impatience of dread that she had been feeling since February: waiting for the letter to confirm the date of Jamie's appeal hearing and wondering if her attacker would have a lighter sentence granted or have a few more years added on to his current one.
"Things haven't been alright for months, Georgie." Lydia sighed heavily.
"I know," Georgiana agreed, "But try to focus on the positive, Lydi. We've left school, it's summer, we're growing up and getting jobs, you've got friends, family, people who love you."
Lydia smiled slightly and sat down on the bed next to her best friend.
"You know, moving here was supposed to be a fresh start for me and Lizzy. Look how it's turned out." She muttered quietly.
"You can still have a fresh start Lydia. A new beginning."
Her worries were still at the forefront of her mind and she didn't know how she was going to deal with them. All she did know was that life as she knew it was changing and she wasn't necessarily sure it was for the better.