If she thought about what had ruined her life, Caroline Lee could squarely place the blame on love. Love for her brother was what dragged her from Los Angeles to this stupid town in the middle of nowhere and she supposed it was her love for William Darcy, for it had to been love, that made her stay. Now it was Darcy's newfound love for Lizzie Bennet that led to her current situation: George Wickham.
They had met at the bar in Carter's one night during what the locals called "Swim Week". They had hit it off pretty well while waiting to order drinks. He was beyond charming and clearly the most attractive man in the place. He had flirted with her and she had flirted right back. They got their drinks, parted, and she returned to standing by the wall with Darcy, who continued to ignore her and fake text whenever Lizzie Bennet was within five feet of them. Wickham approached her later, after Darcy had disappeared somewhere, and asked her about her and Darcy. She might have had a few too many doubles, and he was so easy to talk to, so she told him everything. Her love for Darcy and how they were perfect for each other, his stupid crush on Lizzie Bennet and how it made her sick, and how much she hated everything about this stupid town.
They slept together that night in his hotel room.
Neither Bing nor Darcy even noticed that she didn't come home that night.
It was the morning after when he proposed The Plan to her. The Plan was simple: divide and conquer. Wickham would take Lizzie and help turn her against Darcy. It turned out that Darcy and Wickham hated each other more than anything, and seeing Lizzie with Wickham would irritate Darcy to no end. Caroline's mission was different. Instead of trying to get Darcy to hate Lizzie, a task she had already deemed impossible, she would say favorable things about her rival and encourage Darcy's feelings. This, Wickham informed her, would be worse than Darcy hating Lizzie. Darcy needed to get over Lizzie and there was no better way than by her breaking his heart. Then, heartbroken and vulnerable, he would be Caroline's for the taking.
Since that night, they had met up regularly, in secret of course, even after he had to leave with the swim team. They would share ideas, updates on their progress, or just because they needed something. Wickham wasn't able to do much on his part other than send Lizzie the occasional text to keep her interested while he was busy during the peak swim season. The bulk of their plan had been placed back on Caroline's shoulders.
When Lizzie and her sister came to stay at Netherfield a few weeks after, she saw it as a perfect opportunity to double their efforts. Having Lizzie and Darcy in close quarters would have been difficult to navigate if not for her cunning and Wickham's support. She would encourage Lizzie's obvious hatred for Darcy, all while pushing him in her direction. She would give Darcy 'girl advice' on how to capture Lizzie's attention. Having him try to ask her to dance one night without actually asking had been Wickham's idea and Caroline had to admit it was pretty hilarious to watch that play out.
However, after a month of playing matchmaker-of-sorts, she was quickly running out of steam. Caroline had done her best, but she couldn't keep going alone, especially since Lizzie had left Netherfield. Caroline had briefly thought of telling Darcy about Lizzie's video diaries, but knew that she couldn't now that she was on so many of them talking about him. Sadly, Lizzie hadn't allowed her to help edit them. Stupid girl.
Luckily, Wickham had some free time that allowed him to come back to town, albeit on her dime. She didn't mind paying for whatever expenses they incurred, she was going to be Caroline Darcy soon enough. Most nights would find them in his hotel room, discussing their progress, brainstorming and eventually naked in bed in a tangle of limbs for a couple of hours. She didn't mind the way these nights ended, and she figured he didn't either. It became more frequent that they would skip the talking and go straight to sex.
Caroline took a drag of her cigarette in true, clichéd post-coital fashion one night. George quickly took it from her hand.
"You know, I'm not sure if you can smoke in here, Care," he said before he put the cigarette to his own lips.
"Well I don't feel much like going outside right now, George, so this seedy little motel will have to deal."
"This is the nicest hotel in the area, actually. You made sure of that, remember?"
"It would be. God, I hate this place. How are things going with darling Miss Lizzie?"
"Oh, you know, still wrapped around my finger, just itching to hear all of the terrible things I know about Darcy. Are you keeping up your end?"
"Of course, my part is easy. He's so stupidly in love and trying to deny it. It's actually almost funny to see him around her."
"We'll soon fix that of course, and then he will be all yours," his tone almost betraying a bit of sadness as he said it.
His tone did not escape her notice. As if his interest in their plan was waning.
"Yeah, all mine," her words came out more half-heartedly than intended.
She was getting bored of 'The Plan' now. There wasn't much else she could do on her end. Darcy had stopped asking for her advice and Lizzie had George to bond over hating Darcy. So she decided to form a new plan of her own to get out of this town. The only reason she had agreed to come here was to make sure her brother didn't do anything stupid and the only reason Bing was so determined to stay was Jane Bennet. Caroline didn't hate Jane, well not entirely. The girl was just too pleasant and happy all the time for someone who had so little going for her. Caroline didn't understand her and didn't care for the entire Bennet family really. She was determined to break his attachment, and that would prove to be the easy part. Her brother fell in love so easily, but his mind was also easily swayed. A few hints here and there to plant seeds of doubt, invented excuses to keep them apart and maybe even pushing a guy or two or ten in Jane's direction whenever Bing wasn't with her was the easy part. Darcy even seemed to want to help her dissuade Bing, especially after seeing George with Lizzie, at the seemingly only bar in town, looking very cozy.
Except, she had felt something too that night. She didn't know what it was. It wasn't jealousy. No, it couldn't be that. (She wouldn't let it be that.) She could just call George up whenever she wanted and he would be hers. She was using him just as much as he was using her and at least she didn't have to hang around Lizzie Bennet all day acting all googly-eyed and flirty. Seeing him in Lizzie's videos made her feel the same way. Except that last one when he took his shirt off, because she had seen that, and more, many times before. She had briefly thought about showing that one to Darcy, but it was still a risky move. She needed to concentrate on getting back to L.A. as quickly as possible.
The thought of going back to L.A. had given her so much joy, and somehow she had started including George into those plans. Thinking about where they could go when they went back together, where they could meet, maybe even get coffee or go clothes shopping. It had never occurred to her that their arrangement would end once she left. She had found that she had actually been enjoying their time together apart from the great sex. He was charming and handsome and easy to talk to and made her laugh and also made her feel beautiful and wanted. She couldn't really say that about anyone else she knew. Caroline knew they were using each other but couldn't shake the feeling that sometimes when he'd call her for a rendezvous, it wasn't just about the plan or fulfilling needs but about her. Maybe he wanted her, and maybe she wanted him a little bit. But that was beside the point; this whole scheme wasn't about them. It was about breaking Darcy's heart so he could realize he loved her, Caroline, and not some silly little grad student who still lived with her parents. She would be his perfect wife; he just needed to see that. George was a fling, a physical thing. They were clearly the most attractive people in town so why shouldn't they get together.
Caroline was very good at focusing on her goals. She had almost thoroughly convinced herself that she had no feelings other than lust for George Wickham when he called her up for another hotel tryst on the night before Bing's party.
"Carebear," his stupid nickname for her coming through the phone like a whisper.
"I'm trying to perfect a birthday party here G Dubs, what is it?"
"I need to see you."
She checked her watch. It was 10 at night; she supposed she was as ready as she'd ever be for Bing's Big Birthday Bash.
"Well I could, I guess. If you need me so bad, I wouldn't want to disappoint you now would I?"
"That's my girl. I'll be expecting you shortly."
When she arrived at their room an hour later (because no one told Caroline Lee when to be somewhere), there were candles and rose petals everywhere.
"Trying to seduce me, Wickham?" she scoffed.
"Apparently this is the honeymoon suite, the romance package is included," he said popping a bottle of chilled champagne. "We just never specified when to use it."
"Who would honeymoon here?" she wondered aloud, while also trying to remember if that package had actually been included or not when she got the room. "What are we celebrating?"
"Lizzie Bennet let me go all the way tonight."
"Aw and you didn't stick around to cuddle?" she teased to tame a flare-up of what was definitely not jealousy. She just hated the thought of potentially being Lizzie Bennet's sloppy seconds.
"No way, not my style, plus she practically threw me out of her second story window like 10 minutes after."
"You did it in her bedroom? With her parents and sisters in the house?"
"They all went out for family dinner and a movie. Lizzie faked sick or something and invited me over."
"Our Miss Bennet has a sneaky side."
"So it would seem."
"And now you're here. I hope you don't expect me to cuddle with you to make up for it."
"Well not until later anyway."
"I hope you showered."
"I did. If you had come sooner, you could have joined me."
"Gross, George. Like you need me to help wash her off of you," her disdain was growing more evident by the second.
"I thought that you wanted me to taint her for Darcy."
"Yeah, but you just being near her was enough really. How is he going to know you had sex with her? Do you think she's going to tell him? Are you? Was he supposed to walk in on it?"
"Whoa, Care, calm down. Don't get yourself worked up about this, it just kind of happened. I didn't plan this. I would have told you first if I had. You know I was fine with all this going slow, holding hands junk with her."
"I need a cigarette," she said plainly and strode over to the modest balcony with her champagne flute and pack.
That was Caroline-code for don't talk to me. She needed time to clear her head and think about this, about everything. She curled up on one of the lounge chairs and placed her champagne on the table. She stared out into the night sky as her hands went through their well-practiced motions of lighting her cigarette. Darcy hated her smoking, so did Bing even though she had picked it up from him during his years as an undergrad for stress relief. He had quit easily, but she never thought about it. George didn't mind. When he'd sometimes take the cigarette from her and share a drag or two, it was almost like he was shouldering her burden or something.
Why had she blown up at him like that? He was right, she had wanted him to tarnish Lizzie in Darcy's eyes with a romantic attachment. They were both adults, why wouldn't it have led to sex? The physical part was their thing though. Would he have called her tonight if Lizzie Bennet hadn't tossed him out before her parents got home? Did George still want Caroline now that he had Lizzie? Would Darcy even want her after all of this? Did she even want Darcy anymore for that matter?
She had worked so hard telling herself that she loved Darcy, had always loved him, ever since Bing had brought him home on their first fall break from college. He was handsome and rich and her parents adored him. She knew that he had to be the one. But he had never given her a second look. Everything she'd done to show him that she was perfect for him and he never stopped seeing her as Bing's sister. And now he was head over heels in love with Lizzie Bennet, and that she was sure of since he had cryptically written to Gigi about Lizzie and then Gigi had texted her about it immediately wanting all of the details she knew her brother wouldn't give her. Darcy didn't tell his sister about anyone unless it was serious. If Caroline loved him, why wouldn't she want him to be happy, even if it meant happy with Lizzie. He could never be happy with Lizzie though; she hated him and had hated him before Caroline even started her plan. She was helping him, really, right?
But then there was George. She didn't even know what she was doing with George. Their arrangement had started as a mutual beneficial partnership but now when they were together it was different. She couldn't describe the way he made her feel. There was something between them, something electric and wild and free. As independent as she was, Caroline rarely felt free.
"Thought you could use this," he said, holding out the blanket from the bed. He was freshly showered again, hair mussed up and, more than likely, wearing nothing under the hotel robe. Typical George.
She put out her cigarette and took a sip of champagne. Silently, she took the blanket and he sat in the chair on the other side of the table.
"There's nothing between me and Lizzie. You, of all people, should know that. I don't even like her that much."
She remained silent, looking out into the dark, taking another larger sip of champagne
"It was just sex. She wasn't anywhere as good as you."
"It's not about that," she scoffed. As if Lizzie Bennet could be better than her in bed.
"Then tell me what it is about, Carrie, because you've never done this to me ever in the weeks we've been together. I've seen you do it at the bar when your brother is with Jane and Darcy is glowering at me, but you never shut down on me."
"Are we together, George?" she turned to him, eyebrow raised with skepticism.
"Sorry, I mean, you know what I mean. I don't know. Is that was this is about? You've been messing with my head, babe. I know what I want, for me at least. I'm pretty sure I do. But I can't tell if what we have is just convenience or something more. I've been hoping for more for weeks now. Do you- do you want to be together?"
He actually blushed as he said this. This was a new look for him. George was always so confident and cocky, and she was making him nervous. He had been trying to apologize to her. He thought she was mad at him, when really she was mad at herself. She had been trying to be okay with this new development in his relationship with Lizzie, but then she quickly realized she was not going to hide her feelings anymore. She didn't like with George being with Lizzie because he was supposed to be hers. She didn't want to think of him that way and it scared her. Falling for him was most definitely not a part of any plan she had made. Caroline could hardly think of an answer to his question before he spoke again.
"I actually like you, a lot, actually. More than any girl I've ever known. You're so different, so much better. You're perfect, Caroline Lee. You make me crazy. You make me want to stop this stupid plan of ours, just let fate take its course; to give up this crazy path of revenge and petty jealousies. I don't care about it anymore. I don't want Lizzie Bennet, I want you. You are the only thing I want."
Oh how she had longed to hear those words, albeit from a different mouth, but from George they felt so honest and real, almost like she could actually believe them. She knew he was a womanizer, and that he said whatever he could to get a woman into bed with him. She had heard some stories in passing. He had never been like that with her, she knew that much, because he never had to be. Amongst the schemes and pillow talk, they had gotten to know each other as people. She knew George Wickham. This kind of confession was not his style and the look on his face was actually honest for once. George wanted her. Not to use her as a means to an end, but because she was her. Could she let herself go like that? Could she free herself from the fate she had chained herself to, being the future Mrs. Darcy? All that she'd been working toward, gone in an instant? She didn't even know if this plan would work. Darcy might not come running into her arms and then where would she be. Here was a man willing to just abandon all of his objectives and his nature to be with her. Caroline Lee just needed to let go, for once in her life, and let her heart rule over her head.
"You make me crazy too, you know," she finally spoke. " I don't know what this is that we have, but I can't seem to stop myself with you. I wasn't supposed to like you. It was supposed to be Darcy. He was going to be my one great love. You know how I had this all planned out. I don't know how to fit these new feelings for you into my five-year plan, George."
"Well, Darcy's not all that great anyway. You won't be missing much if you don't become his trophy wife."
"Are you suggesting I become yours instead?"
"Never, I would clearly be your trophy husband. And I hope you don't expect me to work. I have a lavish lifestyle to maintain of course."
"Idiot," she laughed, swatting at him from across the table.
"You know you love me."
"Wow. No more Gossip Girl marathons for you. Why did I ever give you Netflix password?"
"Because you love me."
"Shut up. It's cold. Take me to bed, George."
"As you wish, m'lady," he said taking her hand and leading her inside.
They didn't speak of feelings again that night. Their clothes quickly fell to the floor and they channeled their feelings into the physical, as it had always been with them. But tonight, it was different. Before they had been hard and fast and carnal. Seeking release. It was enjoyable, yes, but just an impersonal fuck. Now it was slow and gentle and passionate in a way she had never thought possible with him. He had always made sure that she enjoyed it as much as he did, but not like this. He was agonizingly attentive that night. Worshipping her as if she was a goddess. She felt that a more romantic person would call it making love. All she knew was that this was something new, for both of them. She liked it. A lot.
Later, as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep in George's arms, she could have sworn she heard him whisper, "I love you, Caroline Lee."