a/n: thank you guys SO much for your support on this story! I am so honored that you guys love it/like it. Whichever. You guys took the time to review/favorite/alert, and that just makes my day, so thank you. Even to you silent readers who are reading this, thanks for spending your time on it!

keep in mind, that Will, Charlie, and Jane are all 27 and Lizzie is 26. There will be cursing in this story, but someone kindly asked me in a review to keep it to an absolute minimum and to that I say that i will definitely try my best, because I have given this a T rating. However, they are mature adults and they are in circumstances that would make any sane person want to curse. Jane and Charlie's history will be revealed soon, and someone asked me to put in flashbacks to that summer, which I will also gladly do.

for those of you reading The Contract Rules, I am working on the last two chapters but I have hit a bit of a writer's block. If I don't finish it by the end of spring break (April 22), don't hold your breath for it until after the second week of May because i'll be off studying for APs. Sorry!


"Will!"

Will walked into the living room from the kitchen, the last bite of his sandwich halfway to his mouth, when he saw an accent pillow being thrown his way. Catching it with his free hand (and consequently dropping it, too. Damn silk), he let it on the ground and started walking carefully towards his assailant. "What are you doing, Jane?'

She turned around, panic clearly evident in her eyes. "I can't find my left earring."

"Uh," Will glanced up to look at the clock. "We're going to the airport. Why do you need to wear earrings?"

"Because I want to look good for my sister," she said innocently, smoothing down her dress. "And you know how New Yorkers are. Totally snobby if you're not dressed right."

Eyeing her as if he thought she was insane (which, incidentally, he did), he muttered an "okay" in a tone that clearly indicated the he didn't believe her, and then followed her out the doorway, stuffing the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth. He paused behind her when she stopped to take off her right earring and place it on the table in the foyer.

When she stopped again right in front of the front door, turning to face the mirror on the wall to fix her hair, Will walked around her to the coat closet. Grabbing a coat for each of them, he said, "Jane, Charlie's not going to care what you're wearing. He'll just be happy that he's alive after being in the same room with you for more than ten minutes."

Jane replied evenly. "I am not doing this for Charlie Bingley, Will, I don't know why you would think that."

Biting back his retort ("Ella doesn't care what you wear, ever, she just loves you, and besides you don't even go out of your way to look nice unless you want to look good for someone"), he shoved her coat at her and pushed her out the door. "Whatever. Let's just go. I don't want to keep El-Charlie waiting."

Thankfully, Jane didn't ask about the slip of tongue, and since they caught a cab within minutes, they were, for once, on time to JFK.

Maybe the universe hated them, or maybe it really loved them, but both Lizzie and Charlie were flying Delta, and, because Lizzie's flight had become delayed (as LAX to JFK usually was), they came out into the baggage terminal at the same time.

In a situation such as this, Will thought, pushing himself off the pillar he was leaning on as he saw Elizabeth appear, both parties were required to extend olive branches to keep the peace.

Elizabeth Bennet, with her bright eyes and shy smile, was definitely extending an olive branch.

And hey, he was still in love with the woman, so he was going to take all that she was going to give. Even if he was slighty pathetic for that.

"Hey Will," she bit her lip, trying to keep from smiling awkwardly. She didn't know what to say to the guy, except for 'I don't hate you anymore!', but that didn't seem to be acceptable. So she did the next best thing. "You didn't have to go through the trouble of coming to the airport, especially not for me."

"He didn't," another voice said, right next to her ear. Lizzie flinched in surprise, only to turn and find Charles Bingley's face two inches from her own. "He came for me."

"Charlie," she gasped in shock. "Oh, my God, Charlie! I didn't know you were going to be here." Excited to see him, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Yeah, it's all just one happy reunion," Jane muttered.

"Jane," Charlie turned his full attention on her, letting go of Lizzie.

"Hi...Charlie," she responded, her eyes widening at his gaze. She had been lying to Will earlier when she said she wanted to dress up for Lizzie. Will knew she was lying, of course, but now she was admitting it to herself. She was dressing up for Charlie Bingley.

And to show Charlie Bingley what he once had and what he had been stupid enough to lose.

"Well," Will said dryly, after several moments of Jane and Charlie simply staring at each other. "If this has been sufficiently awkward for all of us, can we leave?"

"Yeah," Jane said loudly, shaking her head and blinking furiously, taking the lead in the walk outside. Elizabeth followed, but not before sending Darcy a curiously amused look, leaving Will left standing next to the baggage claim with five bags and an unmoving Charlie.

"On the bright side," Will started. "At least Ella and I are friends."

"Yeah, how did that happen, anyways?"

Will shrugged. "I don't know. She smiled at me when she came out and I didn't jump down her throat by telling her she was horrible but I loved her anyways?"

"That might actually have done the trick," Charlie agreed.

"I definitely thought so."

"You got luckier than me, though."

"Charlie, it wasn't that bad."

"Jane looked amazing, Will. And you know Jane, she hates getting dressed up unless she's out to either impress or prove a point and in this case, it's obvious she's trying to do both."

"Charlie Bingley, meet Jane Bennet: The Bitch Side."

"Is it weird if that just makes me love her more."

"...Maybe."

"Because, she used to be...Jane, you know? All sweet and happy and bubbly. And she's still Jane she's just..she's standing up for herself."

"You hurt her, Charlie."

Charlie ducked his head. "I..."

"I get that you were hurt, too, but you screwed up, not her. Which means I'm going to side with her on this one."

"I don't even blame you for that."

"Good. 'Cause Jane's pretty awesome."

Charlie let out a large breath of air. "Yeah. But she hates me."

"You already knew that," Will pointed out. "We discussed this when we talked about you coming."

"I have to win her back, Will," Charlie said, completely ignoring his best friend's previous statement.

"I'm really not sure that's the best idea, Char-"

"I'm going to win her back," Charlie repeated, more forcefully this time. "If I can't have Jane Bennet, I'm going to die alone, because I won't want any other woman." Then, squaring his shoulders, he grabbed the rolling suitcase nearest to him and started walking in the direction that Jane and Elizabeth had gone off in.

Will looked around, and upon realizing that he was left with four very heavy bags, yelled at Charlie's retreating back. "Charlie! That's great, and all, but could you at least wait until after you help me with the bags? Charlie?" Charlie kept walking. "Damn it!"


What the hell was Will Darcy playing at, Elizabeth though to herself. Who comes to the airport dressed as if they just stepped off the cover of GQ magazine? Except Jane, of course, but that was different because Jane was still in love with Charlie and had to prove a point.

Unless Will Darcy was still...no. Do not go down that road, Lizzie, she stopped her train of thought. It was ten years ago and he probably doesn't even remember anymore.

Yeah, right. What guy forgets being shut down by a girl he already considers inferior. The male specimen had a habit of being egotistic, and Will Darcy circa eight years ago was no exception.

Whether that Will Darcy was this Will Darcy still remained to be seen, but if they were able to continue on like this, she wasn't that worried about working in the same office as him.

The silence in the cab was driving her (and everyone else) crazy. They had gotten one of those five-seater SUV cabs, one that reminded her of the cab she had lost her camera in during her previous trip to New York, three years ago.

When she had last seen Will Darcy.

don'tgotheredon'tgothere.

Right.

Will was sitting in the front of the cab, probably to ensure that he would be the one to pay the cabbie when they stopped in front of their apartment building. Lizzie made a mental note to ask him later how much the fare had amounted to so she could pay him back.

Wouldn't want him to think of her as a freeloader.

don'tgotheredon'tgothere.

She, Charlie, and Jane were sitting in the backseat, Charlie and Jane at the windows. When they were getting in the car, Charlie had tried to nab the middle seat, with Jane on his right, but Jane had promptly gotten out of the car, gone around to the other side, and pushed Lizzie into the seat, leaving Charlie no choice but to scoot over; it was a pretty genius move, if she said so herself. Unfortunately, it meant she was stuck between the girl-who-perpetually glared and the boy-who-perpetually-zoned-out. Her only other option was talking to Will, and since they were kindasortafriends now, it didn't even seem to be such a bad thing.

And so, in the middle of Z100's airing of the Glee version of Baby, It's Cold Outside, she leaned over in her seat as far as the grating would let her, and talked to Will's shoulder.

"So, how do you like living in New York?" she asked him. He turned his head in surprise, obviously not expecting her to start a conversation, but then smiled at her (it made it's way to his eyes, too). Before he could answer, though, Jane snorted.

She was, he realized, a very different person when Charlie Bingley was around. Maybe she was just trying to prove that she wasn't the same Jane he had left. The Jane who would listen to everyone around her and let them walk all over her.

"Well, excuse me for trying to break up the silence," Lizzie said to her sister.

"You're excused," Jane replied, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Jane!"

"What? You asked to be excused."

"You're not funny, Jane," Lizzie said in a tone that signalled that she didn't actually believe what she was saying.

"Actually," Charlie cut in eagerly. "She has this really good joke she tells where-" he shut up suddenly when Jane threw him a glare. "Right. Sorry, I'll just not talk."

"That's a good idea, Charlie," Jane said sweetly. "After all, you prefer writing letters to talking about things, anyways, right?"

At the mention of a crucial part of their history, Charlie blanched.

"SO," Will turned as far as he could, trying to shift the conversation back to easy waters. "Living in New York is great. I mean, the cost of living is high, but your sister is helping me with that, so, you know. But there's never a quiet moment."

"Yeah," Lizzie said. "I can already see that."

Will snorted again. "This Christmas is going to be interesting."

Lizzie turned to him, a smirk forming on her face. "You think?"

He shook his head. "I know."

She blinked for a moment, trying to remember why exactly she didn't like him. All those years ago, she had rejected him because he had insulted her, he acted as if he owned the place, he didn't talk to too many people, he never went out on dates. It was as if he was out to show the world that he was the best and he was going to make sure everyone knew that they didn't deserve to be in his company.

But somehow, this version of Will didn't seem to be like that. This version of Will had a dry sense of humor and an easy smile (he was smiling a lot). He was protective of her sister, but knew her well enough to keep enough distance between them; Jane was able to take care of herself.

Still, she'd only been in New York for less than an hour, so any changes in personality could be just temporary.

Then again, Jane wouldn't have been best friends with the man for the better part of a decade (God, a decade!) if he was insufferable.

So maybe there was something more to Will Darcy, Elizabeth decided, as they finally pulled up to the apartment building and she stepped down. After all, cab fare from JFK to the Upper East Side wasn't exactly cheap, and Will was paying, not even going Dutch with Charlie.

Maybe it wouldn't have seemed like such a big thing to anyone else, but to Elizabeth, it actually meant a lot.


a/n: sorry if you thought there wasn't enough dialogue. there will be next chapter, i promise, along with some darcy/lizzie action and some jane/charlie stuff. I'm going to write out a full-story outline for this story so that it makes SENSE throughout, and then i'm sure my chapters will get longer.

now, some questions: Should I do as Jane austen did and not have a single darcy/lizzie kiss in here and have them fall in love anyways? And, should I put Wickham in here, or should Will redeem himself to Lizzie in some other way?

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The-Passionate-Sun