Disclaimer: Jane Austen owns Pride and Prejudice. I just took her beloved characters, stuck them in a modern setting, tweaked them a bit to fit my story. If I was making money from this, I'd probably have a fridge full of Red Bull. I can assure you that my fridge is void of Red Bull because I just consumed my last can about two minutes ago.

Author's Note: This is the first of (probably) five chapters of deleted scenes for my story Closer. You can read these without reading Closer, but they probably won't make much sense. Enjoy.

The Space Between (Deleted Scenes) by everymonday

Chapter One: You Stole My Eyes And I Never Looked Back

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xx

"Where do you see us in five years?" Will asked. He was lying on his stomach on their bed, one arm under his head and the other was tracing circles on her leg.

Lizzie smiled at him and put down her book. "Together."

He smiled back, pleased with her answer. "Will we be married?"

Her eyes widened in surprise, not at his question, but rather at the lack of panic she felt from it. "If you'd like."

He pulled her from her sitting position so that she was lying face to face with him. He stroked her cheek tenderly, an unreadable expression on his face. "I would."

"You just have to ask," she whispered.

He moved so that he was facing her completely, head propped his arm. "Are you expecting a proposal any time soon?"

She shook her head. "We can't get married too soon. I don't want to steal Jane's thunder."

He laughed. "Dully noted." He kissed the tip of her nose, lingering a bit. "I love you."

She gave him another smile and pulled him back for a proper kiss. "I love you too."

"Where will we be in ten years?" he asked, poorly feigning indifference.

Lizzie gave it some thought. "Married. We'll be living in a bigger place."

"In the suburbs?"

She blanched. "Why there?"

He shrugged, not meeting her eyes, his cheeks reddening slightly.

She bit her lip, understanding dawning on her. "I guess it'd be nice for the kids…"

He turned to her quickly. "Kids?"

She nodded, smiling. "You want kids, don't you?"

He nodded too. "How many?"

She paused to think. "Two. A boy and a girl."

He grinned. "Will the girl be a dancer?"

"If she wants." Lizzie honestly hadn't thought that far ahead yet, but she honestly didn't believe she'd be disappointed if her daughter wasn't a dancer.

"That's not important to you?"

"I don't need a clone of myself."

Will brought his knuckles to touch her cheek. "I'd love a daughter that was a tiny clone of you," he said softly.

"She'd be a handful."

"You're a handful, and I love you more than anything."

xx

Dinner was served on fine china in Charlie's fine dining room. Charlie sat at the head of the large table. Jane was on his right, and Caroline insisted on being on the left. Will was either too tired or too apathetic to argue with her. He chose to sit next to Jane, leaving Lizzie to sit next to Caroline.

"I'm so very sorry to hear about NYCB, Elizabeth," Caroline said, with more glee than condolence.

Lizzie stared at her plate and stabbed her lettuce with more force than necessary. "It's fine."

"Will you be participating in fashion week, Caroline?" Jane asked.

Lizzie looked up to meet her sister's eyes, giving her a silent thank you as Caroline went into detail about her plans for fashion week. Lizzie breathed a sigh of relief.

She ate quietly, without removing her eyes from her plate. She let the conversation continue without her, even after they moved on from the subject of fashion week. Lizzie wasn't sure why she'd let Jane talk her into even going to dinner. Probably because you were still doped up on pain meds when she asked you, Lizzie thought.

"Elizabeth. Would you like more salad?" Will asked her.

She looked up, meeting his gray eyes for the first time since dinner had started. She tried not to notice how attractive he was even though the gray in his sweater really brought out his eyes... She looked down at her plate to realize that she had finished her dinner. She frowned.

"Lizzie?" Jane prompted, worriedly.

Lizzie rolled her eyes at Jane's tone. "Sure," she said to Will, accepting the large glass salad bowl he offered.

"Do all ballet dancers eat as much as you, Elizabeth?" Caroline asked.

"Not the ones that are anorexic," Lizzie replied bitingly, not looking up as she piled lettuce onto her plate.

"And I suppose you're not one of those," Caroline said, her tone almost disappointed.

"Seeing as how you just said I ate a lot, I would say not."

"Where's Louisa?" Jane inquired suddenly.

"She's gone back to LA," Charlie replied. "She was only here for Christmas."

Jane's attempt at a subject change did not deter Caroline this time. "How will you keep your figure now that you're not dancing, Elizabeth?"

"I don't know, Caroline. How do you keep yours since you haven't danced in years?" Lizzie asked. She speared a cherry tomato and stuck it into her mouth, barely tasting it.

"Dancing was not my career though. I've no idea what I would do if I lost my career," Caroline said.

Despite herself, Lizzie felt tears prick in her eyes. She stared at her plate and counted to ten to stay calm.

"Caroline, have you spoken to Ana lately?" Will asked just as Lizzie was reaching nine.

"What?" Caroline replied sharply, confused.

"Ana asked about you," Will explained slowly. Lizzie looked up to see a small smile on his lips and mirth in his eyes, as if he was enjoying some private joke. "She says she hasn't heard from you in a while, and wonders how you are doing."

There was a pause. Then Caroline said, "I haven't emailed her in a while. I do feel bad about that. I'll email her as soon as dinner is over. I've just been so busy lately."

"Good," Will replied simply, still with that humorous look on his face.

"Who's Ana?" Jane asked tentatively, giving Lizzie another worried glance. Lizzie was just glad for the distraction Will had provided, though she wasn't sure why he had done it.

"Will's sister," Caroline answered quickly. "She's a positive doll. She does ballet too, you know."

"Really?"

"Yes, but not seriously," Will added. "She did it for a while, but found she preferred other forms of art."

"Like what?" Jane asked quickly, obviously wanting to steer the conversation as far away from Lizzie as possible.

Lizzie sighed, wishing she'd just stayed home. She saw Charlie give her an apologetic smile. She shrugged in response. She hated everyone worrying about her like this. She hated letting Caroline get to her for even a second.

"She plays the flute and the piano," Will replied.

"Oh, I play the piano," Jane said.

Lizzie couldn't help but smile. "You can play Chopsticks, Jane."

Jane looked relieved that her sister was finally participating in a harmless conversation. "I can play other things too, Lizzie."

"Like what?" Lizzie questioned, grinning.

Jane blushed. She glanced at Charlie before mumbling, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

Charlie and Lizzie both laughed. Caroline didn't look pleased.

"Do you play anything?" Will asked her.

She scowled at him, wondering if he and Caroline were going to double team her. "Not well," she replied.

"You did go farther than I did with piano lessons though," Jane reminded her.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Jane, you quit as soon as Dad said you could. I quit a few days after."

"Only because you were a copy cat."

"Don't pretend you're not flattered, dear sister."

Jane laughed softly. Then she looked at Charlie, "Do you play anything?"

Lizzie turned back to her salad, feeling slightly better. Jane had that effect on her.

"What is your favorite book?" Will asked her.

She looked up, surprised he was addressing her again She chewed carefully before answering. "I don't really have a favorite."

"Well, did you enjoy Gatsby?" Will asked, staring at her intently.

She nodded. "It was a bit depressing, but I did love it."

"I agree," he said.

Lizzie snuck a glance at Charlie and Jane, who were still in conversation about instruments. Caroline was watching them shrewdly. "I like Milton's works quite a bit," she said.

Will made a face.

"Are you not a fan?" she asked.

"I'm afraid all I remember about Milton is writing essays about Paradise Lost all throughout my university years," Will explained.

Lizzie smiled. "Another reason I'm glad I skipped the college experience then."

Will's brow furrowed. "It's a lot of work, but a college degree does pay off."

Lizzie's smile faded. "For some people, I suppose."

"A college degree is very important in this country," he argued.

"Not for dancers," Lizzie argued back.

"You can't dance forever," he told her.

"Watch me," she replied.

"That's absurd."

"Look," Lizzie started quietly, not wanting to bring attention back to herself. "College is for people who don't really know what they want to do with their lives, so they go there to figure it out. Or it's for people who do know, and need a college degree for what they want to do. I wasn't either one of those. I knew what I wanted to do, and I didn't need a college degree to do it."

"Still. It's important. It can be a security blanket, if anything. A plan B."

"I wasn't going to spend some of my most crucial ballet years at a university just for a security blanket," Lizzie told him fiercely. "You're the only one here that actually went to college, you realize that? Don't be so judgmental."

Will looked around the room, and she saw surprise take over his expression. "Charles went to Stanford for a year," Will muttered.

"Yes, and a lot of good that did him, right?" Lizzie scoffed.

He frowned. "So, even now, you don't regret skipping college?"

"No." Lizzie sighed. "For me, college would have just been a four year detour to NYCB. If I'd gone to college, maybe I would have had that security blanket, but I think I would have been unhappy for four years. Why take up a spot in college that could have been for someone who actually wanted to be there?"

"Many dancers go to college while dancing," he argued.

"Yes, and they're still dancing in the corps. They don't advance because their focus is split."

"But-"

Lizzie cut him off. "Look, I'm not saying that a college degree is useless. You're obviously putting yours to good use. But college isn't for everyone."

Caroline, growing bored of the college conversation on one end and the instruments conversation on the other, decided to talk about what she knew best. "Will, is your sweater Versace?"

xx

"What are you doing?"

"Having a tea party," she said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Why are you standing on your hands?"

She smiled at him from her position against the wall. She was, indeed, standing on her hands. Her face was a dark red color, and he could see beads of sweat on her forehead that were threatening to fall to the ground. She began to move, and he thought she'd come to her senses, but instead she began to walk, on her hands, towards him. "Everything looks different from this position," she told him.

He snorted. "I'd imagine everything looks upside down."

She laughed. "Yes, but your shoes look even more polished than normal. And I can see all the scuff marks on the floor. I can feel every little piece of dirt on the ground under my hands."

Will opened his mouth to tell her it was unhealthy to have blood rush to the head for that long and it probably wasn't good for her healing leg, but she continued talking.

"Why are you here anyway? Charlie and Jane aren't here."

"I need to talk to you."

"So talk."

He tried to formulate his thoughts, but all that his mind could tell him was that Elizabeth Bennet was insane. She was insane and too dangerous a person for him.

xx

"Excuse me."

Lizzie stopped and looked at the source of the voice. "Hey, Dad."

"Lizard, do you realize you two are the only ones dancing?" he asked.

"Yes," Lizzie smiled. "It's better than Will standing around and brooding."

"I don't brood!"

Mr. Bennet laughed. "Well, I'm going to head back to my hotel soon. So would you mind not brooding for a while so I can talk to my daughter privately?"

Will looked exasperated, but agreed.

"I like him a lot, you know," her dad told her as he took Will's place.

Lizzie grinned, watching Will walk toward where Ana was still supervising the cup balancing. "Good. I do, too."

"You told me your mother liked him, so I was quite determined to hate him for the sake of disagreeing with her." Jasper Bennet sighed. "Will was just too irresistible."

Lizzie guffawed. "He's taken."

"I know, I know." Her father gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You seem very happy, Lizard."

"I am, Dad," Lizzie told him honestly. "I don't think I've ever been this happy."

"I can't imagine how annoyingly happy you'll be when you start dancing at ABT."

"Unbearably so."

Mr. Bennet rolled his eyes. "Good thing Will loves you."

"Good thing." Lizzie looked over her father's shoulder for a glimpse of her boyfriend, but couldn't find him in the room anymore.

"Dennis is betting that Will is going to propose before Charlie," her father said conversationally.

Lizzie missed a step. "What?"

"Just a friendly bet between two old friends."

"Dad!"

"Don't take it too seriously, Lizard."

"Me take it seriously? You're the one making bets about proposals!"

"I know. I'm only teasing, but Lizzie, you must know how crazy that man is about you."

Lizzie swallowed. "I'm crazy about him too."

"I know." Mr. Bennet smiled tenderly at his daughter. "You're beautiful in love, Lizzie."

A blush crept on her face. "Thanks, Dad."

Sensing her embarrassment, her father changed the subject. "Catherine is quite grown up these days."

Lizzie nodded. "Being away from Lydia has definitely allowed her to find more of herself. She's even applied to a few colleges."

"And Lydia? How's rehab going for her?"

"It's going well, I guess," Lizzie shrugged. "She's in a three month program and just finished the first month. Mom visits her every weekend and is spending Christmas and New Years there."

"Your mother coddles her."

"I don't disagree," she sighed.

"I heard they arrested Wickham." Lizzie wondered if her father was feeling guilty about being a bit absent during the whole Wickham fiasco and this was his way of making up for it. "They caught him with drugs, right?"

"Yeah, they're prosecuting him for possession and intent to sell." Lizzie shook her head, disgusted. "Did Jane tell you?"

"Will's sister did," Mr. Bennet said. "She's a character, just like her brother."

"Really? When I first met Ana I thought she was nothing like Will."

"I think they're very much alike, Lizzie. I think they're both a bit awkward, but they're both overcoming it. She's better at it than he is She hides behind her humor while Will just refuses to talk to people he doesn't know."

Lizzie laughed. "Okay, I get your point."

"She reminds me of you, too, actually."

"I'm awkward?"

"You both love fiercely. You're both very bright, determined, and ambitious."

Lizzie blushed again. "Are you trying to get something from me? What's with all the compliments?"

"I'm just very proud of the person you've become, Lizzie."

Lizzie stopped moving and wrapped her arms around her father. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, dear." He hugged her back tightly. "I really should be going now. I'll see you and Will tomorrow night for the ballet, right?"

"Right."

"I haven't been to the American Ballet Theatre in years. I'm quite excited that you decided to dance there." Her father dropped another kiss on her forehead.

"Only because you promised to visit me more," Lizzie reminded him.

"I remember." Mr. Bennet chuckled. "Good night, Lizzie."

xx

"If you asked me to give up ballet, I think I would," Lizzie admitted softly.

"Why would I ask you to do that though? I know it makes you happy."

"You'll get tired of it soon," Lizzie muttered.

"I don't ever get tired of seeing you happy."

"But if you did, get tired of it, I mean. If you did get tired of it, and ask me to give it up, I think I would if it meant keeping you."

"You'd be resentful though."

"You're missing the point!" she exclaimed. "This is big, Will! Monumental!"

He kissed her soundly on the lips. "I'd never ask you to give up ballet."

"You say that now, but what about-"

"Never." He kissed her again. "I know that asking you to give up ballet would be like asking you to separate your soul into two pieces. I know that ballet is as much a part of you as your foot or hand or something. I'd never ask you to give it up."

xx


Author's Note: Helloooooo. How are you guys? It's 4AM and I'm pulling an all-nighter because I have a huge exam tomorrow, and I'm wired from the huge can of Red Bull I just drank. I'm sure you don't care about that, but I just thought I'd let you know anyway. Don't ask me why I've decided now would be a good time to upload this. It must be because I adore you guys so much. :]

So, anyway. I hope you enjoyed the first round of these. I don't even know what to call them. I'll just say deleted scenes to keep it simple and consistent. That's mainly what they are. They're unbeta'd and the writing is probably inconsistent because some of them I wrote a month ago and some I wrote six months ago. I like the authentic, raw feel of them, personally, but if you find any jarring mistakes, do let me know. I've decided to have five deleted scenes per chapter and organize them out of order because I think it's more interesting that way (and to be quite honest with you, I honestly don't even know where some of these would fit in the story anymore). But do know that the first and last of deleted scenes in every chapter was part of an epilogue draft I wrote (because I wrote about ten epilogues before I finally decided on the one I had for the actual story).

Chapter title is from the song Vegas Skies by The Cab.

As always, I'd love to know your thoughts.