The Thin Line between Love and Hate

A Pride and Prejudice- story

By: jakeline

Summary: A modern P&P with a Shakespearean twist. He said she wasn't pretty enough and she threw punch at him. After 12 years Darcy is back in Meryton and Lizzie still hasn't forgiven him.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be Jane Austen and most definitely not Shakespeare. I just borrow their work as an inspiration to this story, loosely basing it on Pride and prejudice and Much Ado about Nothing.


Chapter 3: Evil Sisters

"So, you met Will the other day?" It wasn't so much a question as a statement. Elizabeth glanced over at her sister Jane.

"Talked to Lydia?" she said.

"Yeah, she called and told me all about how gorgeous he was and that his friend was very charming. And that you were very rude to Will." Elizabeth groaned. Nothing stayed personal for long in her family. Even though they didn't live together anymore everybody knew everything about everybody's business within a matter of minutes.

"I wasn't really rude," Elizabeth defended herself. "It could have been far worse."

"Seriously, Lizzie, why do you dislike him so much? What happened?" Jane looked truly puzzled.

"Oh, if you must know, I once heard him say I was not pretty enough to date," Elizabeth sighed. It sounded so childish when she said it out loud.

"Well, that wasn't very nice of him," Jane said with a frown.

"No, well, he doesn't know I heard him. And then I poured my punch over him and never spoke to him again," Elizabeth said. "Childish I know, but I was 14."

"Well, then I can understand why you are so hesitant towards him."

"Thank you!" It felt good to finally tell someone about what had happened all those years ago, and not be judged by it.

"Well then, my mission is clear," Jane said with one of her brilliant smiles that could light up the dark.

"What?" Elizabeth's brow furrowed in wonder.

"To find you a knock out dress, of course!"

"It's not like I want Will's attention, Jane," Elizabeth objected.

"Even so, it feels so much better to show up and look drop dead gorgeous," Jane stated. Elizabeth admitted that her sister had a point.

"True." The two sisters went arm in arm into the nearest shop. Elizabeth took the opportunity to update her wardrobe with some basic items that were both comfy and fashionable. With Jane's excellent help she found the perfect dress for the party. Not too fancy, but no one would fail to notice her in the ruby red halter necked dress that clung to her hips and then fell softly down to her knees.

"Gorgeous," Jane stated when Elizabeth came out of the fitting room, feeling very self-conscious and very uncertain that this really was the dress for her. She thought it way too low cut for her taste.

"You think?"

"Yep, it's a keeper. Darcy's not going to be able to keep his eyes off of you, neither will any other man for that matter."

"I'm not sure I want that kind of attention," Elizabeth said.

"Every woman wants that kind of attention from time to time," Jane stated. "I'm a bit jealous that I can't pull off a dress like that." Jane was more of a pastel coloured person. Too bright colours made her look very pale.

"The only thing is, you look awesome in anything you put on, sis," Elizabeth said.

"That is so not true," Jane objected as she inspected herself in the mirror, holding a midnight blue dress in front of her.

"See," Elizabeth said, "that does wonders to your eyes. You should take it." Jane had always been the popular one in the family. Their mother always took pride in letting everybody know Jane had been elected Miss Meryton three years in a row when she was younger. Elizabeth would not be caught dead in one of those pageants and had tried her best to dissuade Jane from entering. But as usual, their mother had her way.

-xxx-

The day of the party had finally come. William was beginning to feel slightly nervous as he looked himself in the mirror. The face that stared back at him was clean shaven, the features strong, the hazel eyes piercing and surrounded by dark thick lashes, his mouth was generous but seldom smiling. The white, tailored shirt brought out the tan that was still on his face and the pinstriped suit fitted him perfectly. He drew a hand threw his unruly hair that never seemed to be able to stay in place, no matter how much he tried to tame it.

He fingered on his ties but decided against one. He didn't want to look overdressed. The suit jacked he could take off if necessary. He wondered how many of his old friends were going to be there. There were not many he had kept in touch with. Though internet was a wonderful thing, the emails didn't write themselves.

William had focused on his studies instead of making many new friends. He had found Charles the second day of college and they had been friends ever since. William had not given up his social life totally, but his father had made it clear that he expected much from his only son. He was after all the one who was going to take over the company after his father's retirement.

William sighed. Things could have been so much easier if he had been born a girl. His little sister didn't have as much on her plate. Of course she had her place in the company too, but she was not forced to go back to England. Georgiana was in charge of the company's charity department. A task that suited her perfectly, she liked planning big events without having to be the centre of attention. William realised he missed her. He knew she would come over for a couple of weeks in July, but it seemed ages away.

Georgiana was the one who had had most troubles with the move from England. She was a very shy girl and leaving all her friends had been very hard on her. William had done his best to protect his little sister and helped her in any way he could, but she had closed up. It took her years to come out of her shell again. William blamed his parents for that. At least he was newly graduated and off to college but Georgiana had to leave right in the middle of her education. High school is never easy, especially not if you are a shy girl from a foreign country.

William sighed. He regretted not fighting harder to bring Georgiana with him. But their father would not listen. He thought his daughter would be better off where he could have his eye on her. But William was pretty sure it was their mother who had put her foot down. She was not ready to part ways with her youngest, even though she was quite grown up.

The doorbell rang and William opened the door for Peter, Charles and Caroline.

"Willy, darling!" Caroline greeted him and kissed the air on both sides of his face. William clenched his teeth. He hated being called Willy, it made him feel five years old. He tolerated Will when it came to his family and friends, but preferred William for every other occasion. Caroline's perfume hung heavy in the air and he found it hard to breathe. She was a sweet girl but she tried too hard and apparently didn't know when to stop.

"Caroline," he said through gritted teeth as he took the trench coat she was handing him. Peter and Charles were both just wearing suit jackets as the weather was mild. They had decided to meet for drinks before the party at his place, since he was quite the bartender. For a rebellious year after college he had been working in a bar, unsure what to do with his life, not really wanting to follow in his father's footsteps. "Drinks?"

William led the way into his spacious living room. He liked his apartment. It was perhaps a bit too spacious for one man, but he liked the open spaces. He had filled them with dark lush masculine furniture, like his large leather sofa in oxblood red.

"I'll have a Dry Martini, shaken not stirred," Caroline said with her best imitation of James Bond as she plopped herself down on his sofa.

"Of course," William murmured as he walked over to his bar. "Peter, Charlie?"

"Well, a Dry Martini does sound great," Peter said. William didn't mind one himself. He took the shaker and put ice cubes in it before pouring gin and a dash of vermouth over the ice. He put the lid on and started shaking it.

"Charlie?" William looked over at his friend.

"I'll just have a beer," Charles answered.

"You're such a bore," William said as he finished shaking and took martini glasses from the shelf.

"I could go for champagne, but it seems pointless to crack a bottle open just for me," Charles said dryly.

"But I have all this liquor here and you want beer instead?" William gestured towards the vast amount of bottles on the shelves on the wall.

"Yes," Charles replied, annoyed. "I like beer. I promise I'll have a drink later."

"Fine, but I just can't understand your American's love for beer when the beer you have tastes like water," William said pointedly as he put olives on toothpicks in the glasses and walked over with the tray in his hands.

"You're such a snob, Will," Peter said as he took his glass.

"But you have to admit, Peter, the beer in America sucks."

"True, it does suck," Peter said good-naturedly and smiled apologetically towards Charles. William fetched Charles a Kilkenny from the fridge.

"At least here you can have a decent beer," he said as he handed Charles the bottle.

-xxx-

"So where's the guest of honour?" Elizabeth asked her friend Charlotte Lucas and took a sip of her wine as she gazed out over the crowded room, neither William nor his friends where anywhere to be seen.

"I suppose they're coming fashionably late to make a grand entrance," Charlotte answered and rolled her eyes.

"I bet," Elizabeth replied.

"You should see Darcy's secretary, she's really a handful," Charlotte said. Charlotte's family owned Lucas Lodge Restaurant and Assembly Rooms. Charlotte was the party organizer.

"I bet she has to be to be working for such an ass," Elizabeth snorted.

"Caroline Bingley was born a first class bitch, working for Darcy has nothing to do with it, I'm sure," Charlotte snorted.

"Related to Charles Bingley?"

"The evil sister," Charlotte giggled.

"Lydia says Charles is charming enough," Elizabeth said. "Ah well, you cannot chose your family, eh?"

"Speak of the devil," Charlotte said and nudged Elizabeth in the side as she nodded out in the room. Elizabeth followed her gaze and saw her mother marching towards her with Jane and Lydia trotting after in her wake. Elizabeth groaned.

"As I said…" She forced a smile on her face as her mother reached them.

"I hear you were very rude to William Darcy the other day, Lizzie," Mrs Bennet said with accusing tone as she reached them. Elizabeth stared hard at her younger sister. If looks could kill Lydia would be a pile of dust. Lydia shrugged her shoulders, taking no responsibility what so ever, as usual.

"I was not," Elizabeth said. "Not really, anyway," she added under her breath.

"I hope you try better to be civil to him tonight, Lizzie," said her mother.

"Seriously, mother, why do I have to? I don't get what all the fuss is about," Elizabeth said frustrated. "So, he's been away for some time. So, he owns one of the largest companies in town. I still don't get why we have to treat him like he's God." Her mother threw her an irritated glance.

"Lizzie," she exclaimed just as the doors to the room opened and revealed the guest of honour and friends. All eyes turned towards them. Elizabeth studied the man of whom they had just spoken. He looked very well in his suit, too well actually for her comfort. The effect he had on her was very troublesome indeed. She continued her survey towards his friend Charles Bingley, also dressed in a suit standing next to what must be his evil sister. Behind them came a third man who Elizabeth vaguely recognised but couldn't remember what relation he had to William. Caroline Bingley was dressed in an orange dress that oddly enough matched her red hair. She would probably be considered pretty if she hadn't had such a haughty air around her.

"Yes, I can see what you mean, Charlotte," Elizabeth whispered to her friend. Caroline's nose was up in the air and she looked at the crowd like she was ten times better than them. She looked bored already. Her brother on the other hand was smiling and greeting people. William was examining the room haughtily with his piercing eyes. Elizabeth took another sip of her wine and turned her back towards him. "This is going to be a long night."

-xxx-

William noticed her right away as he stepped through the doors. Elizabeth was wearing a dark red dress that hugged her body like a second skin. Her hair was pinned up loosely on her head and stray strands curled becomingly around her face. She stood by the bar, flanked by four other women, one he recognised as the waitress from the other day, sisters perhaps? On her left stood the party organizer, Charlotte was it? The older woman he assumed must be the mother. The last one bore no resemblance with the others. William mentally slapped himself for taking such an interest. Elizabeth and he were not going to socialize.

"Beautiful," he heard Charles say behind him. William turned towards him with puzzled eyes.

"Who?" He followed his friend's eyes and found that Charles was looking in the same direction he had just a moment ago.

"The blond standing next to your friend from the other day," Charles said with sparkling blue eyes. William sighed. "Do you know who she is?"

"No, I don't," William said. Charles looked very disappointed.

"But, you know her friend, right?" Charles' eyes lit up. William groaned silently.

"Well, I used to," he said.

"You have to introduce me!" Charles begged. Behind them Caroline snorted.

"Charlie, grow up! This is not high school. You can go over there yourself. Can't you see Willy doesn't want to?" she said.

"I cannot!" Charles objected horrified.

"Charlie, you are 30 years old, I think you can go and introduce yourself to a woman," William said.

"I'll go with you," offered Peter. "I don't mind getting to know new people." William was glad he didn't have to talk to Elizabeth.

"Fine, at least someone is prepared to help a friend in need," Charles said and followed Peter towards the blond and her friends. William watched as his cousin and friend make their way to the women on the other side of the room. Soon they were chatting away as if they had known each other for ever.

"I guess I'll make the social round," William said to Caroline. He needed to say hello to the people of interest.

"Don't leave me alone with all these people," Caroline said and took his arm.

"Why not follow your brother's example and make some new acquaintances?"

"I too need help," Caroline said and batted her eyelashes, trying to soften his heart.

William sighed, "Fine."

-TBC-


Author's note: Ok, so sorry for the late update. This chapter didn't really turn out the way I planned, but I hope you like it anyways. Next one will include more action, I promise.