Previously: Elise meets Darcy for the first time. They definitely do not hit it off. He calls her a bimbo and she overhears and decides to try to avoid him from then on.

4

Somehow, Elise awoke the next day in a surprisingly good mood. The sunlight was streaming through the blinds covering her window. Usually she would have been annoyed at being woken up relatively early when she had gone to sleep so late the night before, but she couldn't help the smile on her face the sun brought out. She rolled over in bed and reached to grab her phone off the nightstand. J.W. had started a game of scramble with her and she played him back. He'd won the round by several hundred points. She scrolled down the list of words he'd found, laughing when she saw 'TITS' amongst them.

Elise saw an alert on her phone telling her she had a new email. She braced herself before checking it. She'd applied months ago to several institutions for medical school and she had received and been to interviews from the majority of those she'd applied for. She had yet to hear responses from any of them. She'd started checking her email before every meal and every time she heard her phone 'ping!' her heart started to accelerate. She knew that it would take a while for responses to come but as time passed she couldn't help her growing anxiety.

As she opened her inbox, she could hear the pounding of her heart in her ears, her palms so sweaty that wrapped her bed sheet around the phone so that it wouldn't slip from her hands as she gripped it tightly. She saw that the email was indeed from one of the medical schools she had applied to and her heart rate somehow managed to increase further.

'Dear Miss Bennet'

"That's my name. MY NAME. This email is for me. Oh gosh. Wait… what's in it?" She abandoned her inner monologue to read further.

'We thank you for your application and attendance at interviews'

"BLAH BLAH BLAH"

'You are being offered a place at our institution's Medical School in the fall of 2012"

"YES!" she half shrieked- half hissed, jumping out of bed and bouncing up and down. She was suddenly aware that the noise she was making had probably woken the rest of the family. She abruptly stopped her movements and waited for the influx of family members rushing through her door, asking what was going on.

Nothing happened.

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

She suddenly found she had an excess of pent up energy, her hands trembling and her heart still racing. The sun was shining, she was energetic. It all seemed to add up to a swim before breakfast. Elise changed into a ratty, old swimsuit and hunted out her goggles from a drawer of random stuff (including a whoopee cushion). She contemplated her hair in the mirror. Somehow, Jen's handiwork had survived the night and the ringlets were still in place. She decided to attempt to savour the ringlets and grabbed a swimming cap out of the drawer of random stuff. She also sought out a towel and some sunscreen before donning a pair of shorts, an old t-shirt and some flip-flops. She took the stairs down and left via the back door out the kitchen.

The Bennet House was no mere house. Elise, who had lived in a small though upmarket studio apartment whilst in England suddenly felt as though her home was a holiday resort. The house itself was large, though nothing compared to the Lucas home. It did however have numerous unnecessary features including the elevator, a gym- complete with top of the range equipment- and a billiard room (just like Cluedo!).

The grounds were what made the Bennet home prime property. On their lands was a tennis court, a swimming pool and a guesthouse. It was a short while before Elise approached the pool, and at one point, Fran had bought a golf cart for ease of travel from the house to the pool area. The guesthouse, which had once been David Bennet's safe haven, overlooked the pool. It appeared that now even the guesthouse, filled with his books was not far away enough from Fran and her girls for David.

Elise laid down her towel on one of the deck chairs by the side of the pool. She shed her shorts and t-shirt and grabbed her swimming cap. "How to do this?" she wondered. She twisted her hair up and held it there with the wrist of her right hand. She then used her fingers on both hands to stretch the swimming cap wide and bring it down as fast as she could over her head. She tucked in the stray hairs as best as she could. She stood up, walked to the edge of the deep end and dived right in.

She emerged capless.

"Should have known it was too good to last."

She retrieved her cap from the pool floor and threw it over the edge of the pool at the shallow end, by the guesthouse. Her long hair flowed down her shoulders and back, now ringlet free. She looked at it sadly, shrugged, and resumed swimming laps up and down the pool, her hair swirling about her.

Unbeknownst to Elise, David Bennet had been incredibly serious about his two eldest daughters having 24/7 protection and in keeping with this, had installed the two hired bodyguards in the guesthouse of his family's home.

When they had arrived at their new residence the evening before, Charles Bingley, consistent with his giving nature, had offered his friend the room with the better view and French windows leading onto the poolside. Darcy, fatigued and in no mood to argue with his friend over who should take the better room, accepted the offer. He had glanced around the room briefly before unpacking his toiletries as well as an undershirt and track pants to sleep in. He proceeded to get ready for bed, climb in and fall asleep without checking whether the curtains on the French windows were closed or not.

As the sun now shone brightly and the landscape was no longer pitch black, Darcy came to the realisation that he had not closed the curtains when he was awoken by rays of light. He was groggy and disgruntled. He had dreamed of a woman, whose face he had no memory of other than a pair of clear brown eyes, beckoning him forth with her finger. He would move towards her, only to find she was the same distance away.

Suddenly, a head of long brown hair emerged from the water at the far end of the pool that he realised he was looking onto.

"Mermaid!" his groggy mind gasped.

Her hair was so long that it covered her shoulders and chest as she stood at the far end of the pool heaving deep breaths. Darcy was positive this woman had nothing other than her hair covering her. In his half-asleep state, having just awoken from chasing a mystery woman, his mind demanded that he learn more about this mermaid.

Without really registering his actions, Darcy opened the French windows and stepped out onto the poolside his mermaid had disappeared underwater. Though he was gradually waking up with the sunlight and spring breeze on his face, something still compelled him to move forward and discover her. He walked towards the edge of the pool nearest to him, surveying the far end of the pool. Had he been looking where he was going, he would have noticed a piece of wet blue silicone at his feet. Alas, he had not and he did not, and so it was with a loud splash and bump of his tailbone on the pool wall that he slipped into the water.

He stood in the water now fully awake and rubbing just above his bum where a bruise was most definitely going to form.

"Idiot! You should have realised from the dream, there was no way you were going to catch a mysterious mermaid woman!" he berated himself.

Elise who had been nostalgically indulging in her childhood game of swimming the lap of the pool underwater and counting the green tiles in the mosaic of the pool floor had not noticed the intruder in the water with her. She knew she was approaching the wall of the shallow end as the frequency of green tiles was diminishing, but she kept her face down to ensure she counted every last one.

Her surprise, when her eyes were met with a pair of manly feet on the pool floor, was great and she swam upwards lifting her head only to accidentally ram head first into the crotch of the individual in front of her.

"Oof! FUUUCK!" Darcy grunted and swore loudly hunching over in agony and covering his crotch.

Elise stood before him, still shocked and unsure as to whom she had head-butted, as all she could see of the recipient of her head-butt was a mop of dark curls. Elise began to apologise when Darcy popped up his head frowning intensely, though his body was still bent over and his hands still covered his crotch. Elise looked at him in confusion and annoyance; unsure whether or not she was still sorry.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'll tell you what I was not doing! I was definitely not asking for this!" he said, gesturing to his crotch, annoyed at her annoyed tone.

Elise glanced down and then brought her eyes back up to his face, lingering on the way over his chest. Through his wet white shirt, the muscles of his chest and abdomen were deliciously visible as well as what looked to be a small tattoo on his ribs on his left side. She realised she was licking her lips and quickly snapped her eyes back up to his.

"I said I was sorry! And that definitely wouldn't have happened if I'd known you were here! Which brings me back to my original question. Why are you at my house?"

"I'm not at your house. I'm at your pool and I'm only here because I came out of my residence," his arm flailing behind him in the direction of the guesthouse, "slipped and fell in. Believe me, I had no intention of encountering you."

"Hmph."

Elise realised that he was staying on her family property, thereby making her plans for avoiding him slightly more difficult. Having had enough of him, she swam to the side of the pool, climbed out, redressed, gathered her belonging and turned her back on him, walking away in the direction of the house. Darcy watched her retreating form, frustrated, disorientated and facing some lingering pain.

"What do you mean you're going back again?" Elise, now freshly showered and feeling more peaceful, sat in the kitchen chatting with her older sister.

"Well the school year isn't up yet. This is Easter break, and usually I wouldn't have come back but I had a job interview over here. So basically I have two weeks here, which means I can come scout out potential apartments with you in case you decide to go to San Diego…" she paused to squeal. When Elise had told Jen about her place at medical school, Jen too had squealed and bounced up and down."…and then I have to go back again for like, 6 weeks and then I'm home again!"

"I'm going to miss you over those 6 weeks," Elise made a show of pouting before returning to her smiles, "but I'm so gloriously happy right now I'll whine about it later."

"I'm so happy too, Ellie! It's great to be home, I missed everyone, especially you. And, oh gosh, everyone here is so great! Even Charles! And we just met and he's so sweet!"

Elise giggled at her sister and Jen blushed realising she was gushing.

"Are you still hating on Darcy?"

"I'm not hating on him, we just have a mutual dislike."

"Oh Ellie, he doesn't dislike you! He just has a frowny face."

"Well if he didn't dislike me yesterday, he definitely does today. I may have head-butted his family jewels."

"You may have- his- you- you what?" Jen spluttered.

Elise grinned.

Elise and Jen had chatted for most of the morning and they had made plans for a trip to San Diego. Elise wanted to spend a few days there checking out the university again and looking for suitable apartments. Elise decided she would head down there on Thursday, a mere 4 days away. Jen whose job interview was on Friday decided she would join her sister for the weekend. They'd decided to look into hotels as soon as possible, as they were going to be hard pressed to find a booking.

After lunch, Elise was still feeling the buzz of her recent university acceptance and she decided to channel it into something productive. She decided a trip to the bookstore was in order. She could buy some of the books she needed for next year, and she could even read through the basic stuff while she was free on holiday, she rationalised to herself ambitiously.

Elise knew that this was exactly the kind of errand that her father had hired Darcy to chaperone her for, but she was determined to evade him. All though Jen was her closest confidant, she knew that sharing her plan to sneak out with Jen would be a terrible idea. Jen was always looking out for her safety and she would likely either guilt trip Elise into taking Darcy with her or she would "accidentally" let it slip to Darcy. In a nice way, of course.

It would be best to sneak out without letting anyone know, including Hill. She decided that it wasn't too far for her to walk and so she changed into comfy shoes, went out the side door, peering out first to make sure that neither bodyguard was there and then speedwalked out the driveway. She walked fairly briskly to her destination, periodically turning to check that Darcy had not found her. On arrival she quickly forgot his existence, as well as the existence of the rest of the world, becoming engrossed in browsing through books.

After sitting with a pack of frozen peas on his crotch for half an hour, Darcy had been unpacking and becoming accustomed to his surroundings all morning. He assumed that Elise would call the guesthouse when she needed his services. That's what all these Kim Kardashian types did. He had seen her mother and her sisters. There was no doubt in his mind about what 'type' she was. However, when she had not called for him by the early afternoon he grew somewhat confused.

When Jenine called to inform Bingley she was headed out and to ask if he'd meet her at the main house, Bingley was on his feet in an instant and Darcy decided to tag along. He was realising the wisdom in Bingley's advice to get to know his charge and establish an idea of her schedule.

Jen greeted them at the door, smiling. She seemed surprised to see Darcy with her bodyguard and when he inquired as to the whereabouts of her sister, Jen's confusion increased.

"Oh, well, I actually thought you were with her, since I didn't think she was home," she replied, puzzled.

"Are you sure? She definitely never called the guesthouse for me, so I didn't think she would have gone anywhere."

"I'll just run upstairs and check if she's in her room," she said, hurrying away.

"Darce, didn't she tell you if she had any plans for today yesterday?" Bingley asked reproachfully, knowing perfectly well that Darcy hadn't had the chance to ask Elise of her plans in the short time they had spoken.

"I assumed she would call me when I was required."

"I really don't think she's at home," Jen said as she came down the stairs. "I'm pretty sure I remember her saying she wanted to go to the bookstore this afternoon to pick up some of the textbooks she needed for medical school."

Darcy's eyebrows rose slightly at the mention of Elise Bennet attending medical school. Kim Kardashian types did not go to medical school.

"Maybe she… forgot to call you?" Jen suggested, though not really believing it herself. Her sister was a wilful woman and Jen would not be surprised if Elise had deliberately left Darcy behind. Feeling that she should abide by her fathers instructions, Jen felt it best to direct Darcy to her sister. She knew her sister's preferred bookstore, as she should, considering the amount of time Elise spent there. She told Darcy where he would find Elise on Sunset Blvd and he quickly left with long and fast strides.

"Well, at least he seems to be walking ok…" she thought to herself as she watched him disappear.

Darcy entered the bookstore annoyed and somewhat out of breath. Who was this woman he was babysitting? She was obviously not the type of girl he had expected her to be. He found his way into the textbook section but she was nowhere in sight. He cursed under his breath.

He kept walking to the back of the store, until he spotted her. She was standing in the middle of two shelves, lined with old, worn out books. The shelves themselves were old and wooden. She was holding a tattered looking paperback in her hands and smiling to herself. His breath hitched. Instead of entering into the same gap as she, he walked to the other side of the bookcase and peered at her through the gap left by the absence of the novel she was holding.

"How am I supposed to guard you if I don't know where you are?" he demanded in a low voice.

Startled, Elise did the first thing that came to mind when she heard a bookcase speaking to her and slammed the book she was holding right back into it's slot. Angry bookcase speaks to you; you damn well give it its book back! In doing so, Elise bonked Darcy on the nose. Hard. Immediately his eyes begun to water and he scrunched up his face, pained.

It dawned on Elise that in general bookcases did not speak in voices astonishingly similar to that of her bodyguard. She walked around the shelf and found him clutching his nose.

"Haven't you snuck up on me enough today? Look, I know you don't want to be trailing me and to be perfectly honest I really don't want you following me around constantly. I thought I was saving us some trouble coming here without you."

Darcy, in a state of some shock stumbled over his words. "Look, uh, Miss Bennet... I… uh… I need to be able to do my job. Your father has asked me to be a bodyguard to you and that is what I intend to do. I… I understand that this may not be what you desire…" he trailed off. Most girls would be glad to have a strong man protecting them, wouldn't they? And even if he hadn't shown them the time of day, girls definitely appreciated (and ogled) Darcy's presence. What was not to desire?

"Whatever, I'll call you next time," Elise said, resigned to her fate.

She proceeded to pay for her purchases- and there were a good few- and before she could gather up the heavy bags, Darcy had already scooped them up. She glared at him, but when she remembered how many books she had bought, she smirked and decided to leave him to it. She marched off in the direction of home, Darcy trailing behind her.

As he remembered the earlier agony his groin had experience and felt the remaining sting from his nose and the weight of the ten tonnes of books in his arms, Darcy came to a conclusion.

"This woman is going to be the death of me."

A/N:

I'd just like to clarify a few things.

Firstly- I know that springtime is a wee bit late to be hearing back from universities but this is a work of fiction and I want it to be summer soon, soo I call artistic license!

Secondly- I have never been to medical school in the states (just in the UK), so what I know of it is fairly minimal and if I say something really stupid, please feel free to correct me and I'll try to sort it out. Or call artistic license again.

Thirdly- why did she get into UCSD med school? Well, San Diego is the only place in the states I've had the pleasure of visiting thus far (so expect inaccuracies in my geography throughout)- other than a brief stint at Dallas Fort Worth airport. So, I felt it only right to make a small dedication to the place. Also, I really wanted a 2 hour D&E car ride. Nyehehe.

Sorry this was such a long note! Also I've been asked to put in 'previouslies' at the start of chapters- does this work better? Thanks as usual to those who review/follow/favourite and to my beta! - N