A/N:
Hi everyone! I've got to be REALLY quick with this because a) I have to upload this by midnight or else I lose the bet and b) Made in Chelsea is on and I AM MISSING IT!
This is actually a one-shot that got quite long so I split it into three parts. It doesn't actually need to be split, the 'chapters' are more like 'line breakers', so- yeah. That. This was a story I wrote for MUSHMUSH for her Birthday (Despite the fact her birthday was 27 days ago but- Meh.) because I LOVE HER SO MUCH AND AM TRULY THE BESTEST BEST FRIEND EVER! So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUSH! LOVE YOU LOTS LIKE JELLY TOTS! ;)
Now toodle pips. I have a date with the telly and some rather rich 'toffs' if you do not mind. Read, enjoy and tell me what you think :D
-Ally.
Nothing but a get together.
He said "I'll shine for you.
I'll burn for you."
He said "I'll shine for you.
That's what I'll do."
-Rocky took a lover. Bell X1
Stars twinkled overhead singing a silent tune of hope and glory. If there was one thing that always made Fitzwilliam Darcy calm and confident; it was the stars. On a night like this he had ran through endless streets, down endless pavements with the stars as his only guidance. He had ran till his feet were sore, just to find her. Just to tell her. On a night like this he had sat across the table from her, marvelling at her beauty and general splendour, just wishing she could be his, when she told him that she was. On a night like this they had lay together on the grass in some distant fields, talking about their hopes and dreams when they had finally shared their first kiss.
It is needless to say but, the stars allowed what Will thought the impossible to happen. And he was relying on their luck more than ever tonight or, technically, this evening.
He knew all that had happened between them under the stars wasn't just 'luck'. He knew they were more, so much more, than chance, but that didn't stop him gazing out the window and warning the stars that if this all failed, he was coming to find them and make them wish they were never born. Or formed. Whichever really.
It was Elizabeth's birthday and he was determined to make it perfect in everyway. The rest of the day had been even better than he had planned and now, all that was left, was his plans for the evening. The evening that everything resided on. The evening that would change his life.
"Elizabeth!" He called through the bathroom door. "Hurry up!"
"I'm trying." She yelled back after numerous bangs of falling perfume bottles and cupboard doors. "You screaming at me every second through the door is NOT HELIPNG!"
He smiled slightly before resting his head and palms on the cool, wooden en-suite door.
"Can't I just-"
"NO!" She cut him off before he could even begin his pleading. "Will, I am trying to get ready-"
"You've been in there for AGES!"
There was a brief silence before Lizzie's reply came. William could just tell from the slight edge in her voice that she was standing behind the door with one eyebrow raised and hand on hip.
"Are you a woman Fitzwilliam?"
He tried not to smile at the way his name effortlessly slipped from her lips and muttered something barely coherent back. A year of living with Elizabeth and a daily battle each morning for the bathroom had taught him one thing; when she broke out with that line, there was no point arguing with her.
"Well, until you are darling, DO NOT even dare comment on the time I spend getting ready... ever."
William huffed and banged his head against the door while subtly checking the time. This really wasn't something he wanted to be late for.
"I don't even know why you're getting so tense..."
"Because we're going to be late."
"FOR WHAT WILL?! FOR WHAT!?"
He internally cursed himself for his stupidity and tried to think of a plausible excuse.
"For a..."
The bathroom door's lock clicked and the door slowly swung open, nearly sending Will toppling over. Elizabeth stood in the door way with one hand on her hip and a curling iron in her other. She stared at Will with one eyebrow raised, just as he had imagined her, with a look that told him nothing was getting past her.
"Well?" She asked, eyes boring into him.
"Well...?" He answered evasively, straightening out his waistcoat.
"What are we going to be late for?"
"Erm..."
"Where are we going?"
"Erm..."
"What are we doing?"
"Nothing?"
Her eyebrow slid up further.
"We are going to be late for, wait for it, nothing." She glared dryly.
"Mhmm." He nodded slowly as his eyes drifted over to the window, away from Lizzie's stare.
Her fingers rapped on the door panel as she waited for William to stop trying to avoid her gaze. William however found something interesting in the courtyard and tried his best to stay fixated on it.
"You're throwing me a surprise party aren't you?" Lizzie finally said.
"No." He scoffed, trying his best to sound casual.
"William." She said sternly.
"I'm not!"
"Will."
"Honest!"
She caught his eye finally and held it. The first thing that had drawn him to Elizabeth all those years ago, where her eyes. The way the dark hazel harboured some kind of wild passion had fascinated him, it still did, but her eyes, however beautiful they may be, sometimes scared the living hell out of him. Like now for example.
"Fine." He said defeated, over her protests.
So much for a surprise.
"Will!" She whined, stamping her foot. "Please tell me you're joking."
There are two things in life Elizabeth Bennet did not like.
Fake ass attention all directed at her just because someone else told them that that was the social convention. Or for pity. Or just to right out annoy her. Either way she hated it.
Surprises. Or unwanted surprises, to be more specific. Then again, who does like unwanted surprises? If you liked them then they'd be wanted surprises so- Look. She just didn't like them. At all. She hated them.
Will searched the room with his eyes desperately before, once again, settling on Elizabeth.
"Surprise...?"
"OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!" She screamed. "REALLY WILL!? REALLY!"
She pushed past him forcefully and began pacing the bedroom. He knew her reaction would be something like this. He just knew she take it over the top. That's exactly why he wanted to keep it a surprise. Ambush her with gifts and smiley people... She'd have no choice but to stay.
"When have I ever liked parties Will? WHEN!?" Her arms waved crazily in the air with each step, the movements getting more and more wild as she progressed.
If there was one thing William could not fault her on, it was that she made a rather elaborate show of being frustrated.
"YOU don't like parties. I don't like parties. NOBODY likes parties Will!? NOBODY!"
He attempted to take a few steps closer to her, but she rounded on him with an accusing finger.
"Hey!" Will held his arms up in surrender. "I would say it's much more of a get together than a party... It's like... A SURPRISE GET TOGETHER!" He waggled his eyebrows and grinned but Lizzie wasn't having any of it.
"Why would you do this?" She said more to herself than to him. "Why would you- I HATE PARTIES. I HATE PARTIES!"
"Get together Lizzie. It's not a party it's a get together." He took a few steps closer and tried to reason with her. She seemed to be working herself up into a panic and he knew best to intervene before she got too freaked out than sit back and let it spiral out of control.
"Don't you think you're being just the tiniest bit selfi-"
"Selfish? I'M being SELFISH!?" She screeched, puffing out her cheeks. Outstretching his arms he tried to pull her into an embrace but she turned away and threw herself down face first onto the bed. "Will." Her words were muffled slightly by the bed covers. "Honey, surprise parties are a BAD OMEN I tell you. A BAD OMEN."
Will dropped onto the bed beside her, rolling his eyes.
"Birthday parties can't be bad omens."
"YES THEY BLOODY WELL CAN!"
"But this one will be different... I mean, this one has been organised by moi for a start so" He shrugged and cocked up an eyebrow "How bad can it be? I don't know who organised your party last time but-"
"My mother organised that!" Lizzie rolled around and hit Will's hand away. Although he knew she was still angry, he could see the little spark in her eyes.
"And your mother is a lovely woman. Absolutely-"
Lizzie's fiery glare cut Will off before he could continue.
"William. I'm being serious. Why, for the love of all things holy, would you organise me a surprise party? I mean A SURPRISE PARTY?!"
"I thought you'd like it..." He stroked her curls gently and smiled weakly.
"Do you not know me at all?" All of her anger had seemingly evaporated into desperation and annoyance. "What was the one thing I told you NOT to do by any circumstances? I mean- A FREAKING PARTY!?"
"Lizzie." He said softly, pulling out the puppy dog eyes. If there was one thing he knew Elizabeth Bennet could not resist, it was the soft voice and puppy dog eyes. "I worked really hard on this." He batted his eyelashes and brushed his fingers against her cheek. "Please."
"Don't you dare use the puppy dog eyes on me Will. I am being serious." She glared at him menacingly, just willing him to say one more word. "Do I need to remind you of my previous parties? DO I? Have you forgotten why I absolutely hate parties? HAVE YOU!?"
For Will it had only been a matter of time before she brought this up. As much as he could roll his eyes and pin her down as dramatic, in his head he knew she had reason too. And he knew it was all his fault.
"Lizzie that was-"
"Three years ago today" She started in a storyteller like voice, sitting up "Jane and my mother had the genius idea of throwing me my first ever surprise party. Can you remember?"
"I don't know what you're talking about-"
"Anyway" She continued "My mother, being the lovely match making little devil she is, made sure she invited the two rich, handsome gentlemen from down the road as well as, like, everyone who lived in the whole goddamn town-"
"Lizzie I-"
"Would you like to know how this party ended William?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm and her eyes held back a wild tempest.
She took his ashamed silence as an answer.
"It ended with this random gentleman getting down on one knee, insulting my family and pretty much everyone I knew then asking me to marry him after only four months of acquaintance. FOUR!"
William pretended to look aghast and shocked.
"Who would do such a thing!?"
"Will." By her tone of voice he could tell she was in no mood for fooling around.
"Are you sure that was your birthday?"
"Yes Will." She sighed.
"I thought it was just a random-"
"Nope. Definitely my birthday."
"Really?"
"YES!"
He looked out the window briefly and saw a young couple walking hand in hand through the gate. The true weight of the task ahead finally dawned on him. He thought they were over this but maybe...
"I didn't get down on one knee though." He muttered as a quick smile graced her face.
"But you did propose."
"Accidentally."
"Still a proposal."
They sat in silence for a few seconds, that felt like hours, before Darcy finally said-
"I thought we were over this."
She sighed again and smiled gently, realising that Will could have interpreted her story as something else.
"I am. We are. I mean, that all happened before I slapped the living daylights out of you and said the cruellest words I will possibly spend the rest of my life trying to make up for. It wasn't a good day for either of us. I am just saying Will- BAD OMEN."
"That was one party." He laughed.
"True, true... Which beings us nicely to Two years ago today." She carried on through Wills groans and protest "When my mother, once again, decided to throw me a surprise party. And invite loads of guys because-"
"For some reason you were too chicken to tell her you were already in love with this hot piece of man cake?"
She looked at him quizzically until he grinned.
"To cut a long story short" She eventually started again. "The party ended with Wickham kidnapping my sister and leaving a sort-of ransom note in the form of a birthday card."
"Ah."
"You can't really argue with that now can you?"
Darcy paused and thought for a second.
"Third time lucky."
"WILL. In case you haven't noticed, they seem to be progressively getting worse."
He placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head up gently so he could catch her eye.
"What's the worse that could happen?"
"DON'T SAY THAT!" She near screamed. "Each time someone says that, I generally end up finding out a few hours later."
Sometimes in life it is impossible to keep the truth hidden and to keep your true motives hidden. Sometimes you have to tell...And for Darcy, now was one of those times.
"Elizabeth." He lowered his voice and gazed straight into her eyes "Look, I know all that stuff happened on your birthday, okay? How could I forget? But..."
Slowly she moved closer to him. Although she didn't say anything, her eyes gave him the courage to carry on.
"I screwed up badly when it came to you. Like, really badly. I can't regret that because, like you've said before, without all of that crap maybe we wouldn't be how we are now, but that doesn't stop me feeling bad about it."
"Will..." Every previous emotion dissolved from her face as she sat up straighter and placed her hand tenderly on his cheek.
"And I've managed to make up for being a complete arsehole to you... I think?" She chuckled quietly and nodded. "and I managed to make up for the whole Wickham business-"
"Will, we've been through this. That wasn't your fault." She pouted slightly and stroked his cheek, her eyes cast down. "The arsehole bit however- Well. Kind of deserved it but yeah... You were a bit of an asshat."
He laughed and placed his hand over hers.
"I made up for everything else but I never made up for ruining your birthdays. So today I've tried to give you the best birthday ever-"
"Which you have may I add." The corners of her lips lifted bringing him a long awaited sense of relief.
"I'm glad... Now let me make up for ruining your birthday party. Please. Don't make me beg."
The puppy dog eyes came out in full force and he knew it was only a matter of time before she succumbed.
"Plus, since I know all to well about your hatred for parties I made it more of a... Surprise get-together-now-lets-all-sit-down meal. Because, you know, who can argue with food."
He could see her physically wavering in her decision.
"There will be cake..." He prompted. "And lots of it..."
"FINE!" She whined, dropping back onto the bed. "But if anything happens, on your head it will be."
"So you'll come." he asked, suddenly like an excited child.
"Yup."
He punched the air and cheered while she pulled a pillow over her head and groaned.
"This is going to be hell isn't it?" She muttered.
"It is going to be AWESOME!" Will shouted, feeling like the roles had somehow been reversed. Wasn't he supposed to be the grumpy unsociable one? "As they say 'the party don't start till I walk in-'"
Elizabeth snapped up and prodded a finger against his chest.
"Don't EVER quote Kesha again... EVER." She tried to rearrange her face and look angry, but she couldn't help but smiling and climbing into Will's lap.
"I'm sorry for being such a bitch." She said, trying not to sound like an annoying child who had been forced to apologise against their own will. "I didn't know that's why you were throwing one... I just got a little freaked out an all. I work myself up a bit sometimes don't I?" Will nodded and laughed at her wide eyes. "You don't have to make up for anything, you should know that by now. You don't owe me anything."
"Maybe so but...it'll make me feel better."
"Who's the selfish one now?"
Darcy tapped his chin in mock deep thought.
"Still you."
Being the mature adult she is, Elizabeth blew him a raspberry before leaning up and placing a soft, tentative kiss on his lips.
"You're too good for me." She whispered through their kiss.
He nodded in agreement before pulling her closer into a deeper kiss.
When they had finally reached a mutual agreement to part, Lizzie pulled away and chuckled at his pout.
"On the scale of one to ten" She asked suddenly. "One being just me and you, ten being everyone in the world with the last name Bennet and Darcy, how many people are going to be there?"
"Erm...Three?"
She pondered on his answer for a moment before asking "Is Collins going to be there?"
Unfortunately not everyone is as skilled at lying as Lizzie. Darcy didn't even have to open his mouth before Lizzie had her answer.
"WIIIILLLLL!"
"He's kind-of-not-really family... and your mother made me."
"You let my mother help you with this?!"
A sudden darkness took over Will's face as Lizzie mentioned her mother.
"Oh yeah." He answered dryly. "That was definitely a new learning curve."
Lizzie couldn't help the pity she felt for him and also the slight fear for how her mother had managed to embarrass herself in front of Will this time. He had met her mother over three years ago and had told Lizzie many times since that her mother really was quite nice. Yet that still didn't stop the mild panic she felt each time she saw her mother enter a five mile radius of William.
"Are they all going to shout "SURPRISE" when I walk in, with party poppers and all that crap."
"Nope." He said smoothly, making a mental note to call Jane as soon as possible and tell her to hide the party poppers, silly string and streamers.
Lizzie sat up again and chewed the edge of her lip before slowly lifting herself of the bed.
"Well then. I guess I better go get ready." Will grinned from ear to ear as she rolled her eyes and meandered off towards the en-suite. He thought about beating her to it and locking the door behind him so he could use it first but- There had been enough drama for the day.
"I still don't get why you're rushing me though." She muttered as she opened the door. "What time does the party- I mean- meal start?"
"Eight. It starts at eight."
"WE'VE STILL GOT TWO HOURS AND YOU'RE RUSHING ME!?"
He grinned and winked, feeling that the stars, once again, were on his side. "We've got to drive there first."