A/N: Sorry for the delay guys. I meant to post this a long time ago and life interfered. It took me getting a set of reviews from a particular reviewer to get me to get off my ass and post the next chapter. Anyways, the song included in this chapter is "Fever Dreams" off their most recent album "Shade of Poison Trees." Youtube has one or two videos with the song on it if you want to listen to it.
--
Lizzie and Jane quickly hailed a cab after leaving the restaurant. They rode to their apartment in silence, each caught in their own thoughts. After paying the cab driver, they made their way up to their apartment, still in silence. As soon as the door was shut, Jane looked at Lizzie and said, "You are attracted to Will."
Lizzie tried to play it off by saying, "What do you mean? I had to talk to someone while you were all lovey dovey on Charles all night."
Lizzie started to walk down the hall towards her room, hoping Jane would drop it. "I don't believe that for a minute Elizabeth Bennet!"
Lizzie tried to ignore her, but it wasn't working since Jane was still teasing Lizzie about Darcy.
"Jane, do you mind dropping it? Even if I was attracted to him, which I'm not," she quickly added turning around so Jane couldn't see the blush, "I wouldn't want to get into anything right now. It's still too soon."
Jane sighed. "Lizzie, it's been almost three months since you caught George with that woman."
"That doesn't mean it's any less fresh," Lizzie told her as she put her pajamas on. "George has really jaded me. Especially since he was already dating Caroline when we started to see each other. I'm just glad that I didn't sleep with him or anything. That would have been horrifying for me if I had."
Jane watched Lizzie move around her room and realized that she wouldn't be able to get anymore out of her. She left her room and walked to the living room, glancing down at the paper on the table.
"Lizzie!" she frantically called when she saw what was on the front page. "Come here!"
Lizzie quickly walked down the hall and asked, "What's wrong Jane?" when she reached the living room.
She took the paper from Jane's hand and looked at the headline. She gasped when she saw the picture and caption that came with it: Caroline Bingley, girlfriend of William Darcy, CEO of Darcy Enterprises, pictured her with her long-time secret lover George Wickham.
"Will was dating Caroline?" Lizzie murmured incredulously
"It would seem that way," Jane said, just as confused.
Lizzie quickly put the paper down and made her way back to her room, shutting the door behind her. Jane watched her leave, worried that Lizzie might go back to the depression she had been in right after she and George had broken up.
--
Later that night, Lizzie was lying on her bed, thinking about Will Darcy. She had felt an immediate attraction to him that wouldn't go away. It seems that they had more in common than she originally thought. They had both been cheated on by their significant other. But Lizzie didn't allow her thoughts to stay on bad things. She allowed them to wander to Will and how handsome she thought he was.
Fever Dreams They can only haunt
you They can only haunt you They can only haunt you
Can
only haunt you
'Til the fever breaks
'Til the fever breaks
'Til
the fever breaks
Across the city, Darcy was thinking about Lizzie as well and how she had made quite the impression on him. While he was attracted to her, he didn't want to jump into anything at the moment. He figured he'd have to talk to her about Caroline if they both discovered that they wanted to pursue something.
Beneath your
skin But you're so
contagious And I have caught it too,
And your games
You're alone
Tell me, what am I to do?
When a fire, and a fever
rages
So who's to blame
Their thoughts were surprisingly similar considering Will didn't know about her dating George briefly. She knew it was something that she would have to tell him and hope that he wouldn't be turned off her completely if it ever got to the point where they might date.
Fever Dreams I've had enough of these moves But you're so contagious, so
contagious
They
can only haunt you
'Til the fever breaks
They can only haunt
you
I've had enough of these
moves
You get everything with
I've lost all I can lose
To
your skill and your games
--
The days leading up to the picnic passed by fairly quickly. The four of them were busy with work, trying to get as much done before Saturday so they wouldn't have to worry about anything happening preventing them from attending. So by the time Saturday morning rolled around, everyone was quite ready to have a relaxing afternoon.
About 11:30 that Saturday morning found Lizzie and Jane already in the park setting the picnic up, waiting for the men to arrive. About noon, Jane spotted Darcy and Charles walking towards them. When they were close enough, Jane called out to them and went over to greet Charles.
Darcy looked at Lizzie and smiled. Lizzie smiled back at him and then shyly glanced to the side.
Fever dreams They can only haunt
you They can only haunt you They can only haunt you
Can
only haunt you
'Til the fever breaks
'Til the fever breaks
'Til
the fever breaks
'Til the fever
breaks
Charles and Jane joined them, everyone exchanging pleasantries and sitting on the blanket. After passing the food out, the four of them made small talk, with Charles trying to get to know Lizzie since she was Jane's favorite sister and room mate. They quickly ate lunch and then Jane and Charles wandered off down one of the garden paths.
Lizzie and Darcy sat there for a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Darcy was uncomfortable because he liked Lizzie, but didn't want to seem like a love struck fool or hint at something that he wasn't willing to give to her at the moment. Lizzie was uncomfortable because of what she had found out a few days previously. She knew that Darcy was recovering from what she assumed had to be a very bad break up, which is why she didn't try to come onto him and just talked as she would to one of her friends. Darcy eventually broke it by asking, "What is it you do? I don't remember asking you the other night or you mentioning it earlier."
Lizzie cleared her throat before answering, "I teach high school English at a private prep school in Manhattan."
"Do you enjoy it?"
"I enjoy it to an extent. I love teaching English, so that's not too bad," Lizzie said. "But sometimes the students can be hard to handle, which is true for everyone."
"How so?" Darcy asked, laying down and squinting at her.
"Most schools have their trying days. A good portion of the time it's discipline related. At my school I think it's more attitude related. Just about everyone there has a lot of money and they flaunt it."
Lizzie paused for a moment before saying, "I guess you could say they've been spoiled for all their lives and when I make them do something that they don't want to do or hold them accountable for something they haven't been held accountable for before, they can get to be a bit bitchy."
Darcy laughed. "I know what you mean. My sister Georgia, who is now in college, was a little bit of a terror in high school. She wasn't as bad as some girls, don't get me wrong, but she definitely had her moments."
Lizzie nodded. "What do you do?" Lizzie asked him after a few moments of silence.
"I own the company my grandfather started, Darcy Enterprises."
Lizzie's eyebrows shot up. "You own it?"
Darcy nodded, trying to restrain his laughter from the look on her face.
"What's so funny?" Lizzie asked huffily.
"Your facial expression is quite priceless. I can honestly say you are one of the first people I've met that doesn't know who I am."
Lizzie shrugged and said, "I don't pay much attention to some things, Darcy Enterprises being one of them."
Darcy nodded and changed the subject. The two of them continued to talk and get to know each other, both of them thinking that they would really like to get to know the other person more as the afternoon wore on.
Eventually, Jane and Charles came back to the blanket, stating that they were going to go catch a movie and that they two of them were more than welcome to tag along. Both declined, stating previous engagements. After packing the picnic stuff up, Lizzie waved goodbye to Jane and Charles and then said, "Bye Will. I hope to see you again soon."
As she walked away, she heard Darcy say, "You can count on seeing me again Elizabeth."
But you're so
contagious
Tell me, what am I to do?
When a fire and a fever
rages
And I have caught it too,
So who's blame
For who gets
burned
For holding you?