A/N: Hello there! I am finally back with an update! This is the famous Netherfield scene, and I hope I give it justice. I actually have one more thing to say. I have created a tumblr blog, in honour of this story. You can find anything and everything related to this fic there, including chapter teasers and pictures of some things mentioned in the story.

You can check it out at:

packageofblessings . tumblr . com

If you have tumblr, please follow the blog as well.

In fact, I have uploaded the picture of the Bingley's house that they are at for Thanksgiving there, so make sure to check it out!

Regularly check out the tumblr blog, because I update it rather often!

Please enjoy the chapter!

Blessing in Disguise

Chapter Seven

What Happened at Bloomfield Hills

"Well, if you're done gawking at me, would you please tell me where Jane is?" Lizzie asked, trying to divert Darcy's attention away from her and whatever he was looking at.

He slowly nodded, but didn't really know to what he was agreeing. He still felt as if he was dreaming. What in the world was she doing here, in the middle of the night – wait, no morning?

He was going to open his mouth to ask her exactly that when they both heard a voice behind them, still drowned with sleep. "Who was at the door, Will? You'd think that we wouldn't be disturbed when we're on vacation, but…Oh Lizzie!"

Lizzie smiled at the very sleepy Charlie, who donned in nothing but a light blue t-shirt and matching pyjama pants. He stood at the top of what seemed to be a very long winding staircase. "Hi, Charlie."

Darcy looked the friendly gaze she set upon Charlie, and he couldn't push the passing thought of why it bothered him that she didn't look at him like that.

"Lizzie, what are you doing here? How did you get here?" Charlie said as he finally was down the stairs.

Smiling, she set down her backpack on the floor as she took off her sneakers. "I'm here to see Jane, of course. Where is she? Is she still sleeping?"

Charlie nodded, as he gestured to where Jane was up the stairs. He looked at the keys clutched in her hands. "You drove here?"

Lizzie looked startled as she looked deep in thought. She was currently focussed in the direction to where Charlie pointed at earlier. "Hmm?"

Darcy also seemed astonished when Charlie mentioned her driving. He looked at the keys in her hands and looked back to her eyes. He realized that this probably accounted for her less than appropriate appearance. But to drive here all the way from New York? What in the world was she thinking?

"You drove here?" Darcy piped in, repeating Charlie's question.

Lizzie seemed to hear his question and definitely did not let his rather condescending tone pass by. She looked at him straight in the eye. Darcy was taken aback by the fiery expression dancing in her brown eyes. "Yes I did."

"You must have driven straight here. Did you leave right when I called you yesterday?" Charlie asked, worried that he was the reason of her rash decision.

Lizzie looked back at Charlie, her gaze softening. "Yeah, about half an hour later. But don't worry – I took pit stops for coffee and refilling gas."

"You got here pretty fast," Charlie stated, still in disbelief.

"Yeah, well, I knew that I had to get here as soon as possible to make sure Jane was alright."

"But it was just an allergic reaction," Darcy whispered.

Lizzie had almost forgotten that he was still there so when he spoke, it fuelled her anger against him once again. "Exactly." That was all she said, but she hoped that it got her point across.

The only indication that he acknowledged her statement was a slight twitch of his eyebrow. She pursed her lips and looked back at Charlie. "Can I please go see Jane now? I need to check if she's alright."

"Oh, yes of course," Charlie said. He grabbed her backpack even though it only sported a few shirts and two pairs of jeans and few other necessities. Despite her protests, he insisted, especially since she probably was tired from the drive. Lizzie smiled at his concern and thought in the back of her head, that he would be perfect for Jane.

As she followed Charlie up the stairs, she had totally forgotten about Darcy who was still standing at the bottom of the stairs. Charlie looked back at him, "Hey, Will, go get some sleep."

With that the two carried on up the stairs. Darcy stayed in his place until he saw the two retreating figures disappear into a room. He sighed, trudging upstairs himself as he realized that he would not get the sleep he wanted to catch up on now. Especially with Elizabeth Bennet in the same house.

Lizzie thanked Charlie after they arrived at Jane`s room. Despite his insistence on preparing another guest room for her, she conveyed her wishes to stay with her sister. Charlie smiled, complimenting her sisterly affection and how it was inspiring.

Lizzie smiled and apologized for the inconvenience. Although he said that it was no problem, she noticed how hard he tried to stifle a yawn. She laughed, "Go to sleep, Charlie. We'll be fine."

Smiling, he quietly acquiesced and left the room.

Lizzie turned her attention to where Jane was sleeping in a huge canopy bed. Because it was still dark, she couldn't make out the colors of the room. She simply took off her jacket and her socks and slipped under the duvet covers.

As though Jane noticed the shift in the bed, she slowly opened her eyes. She looked to her right and saw Lizzie smiling back at her.

"Lizzie?"

"Yup," Lizzie gave her a toothy grin.

Jane, fully awake, sat up quickly. Rather too quickly for she clenched her head in pain. "Oww."

Lizzie frowned as she also sat up. She put her hand over Jane's head, to see if she was burning up. Thankfully she wasn't. "Are you alright?"

Jane smiled, as she nodded. Then, she turned the nightstand lamp on. She looked back at Lizzie and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Lizzie laughed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm here to see my sister. Why else would I be here?"

"Lizzie."

"Fine," she laughed. However, after she noticed Jane's normal porcelain skin was pale and there were dark bangs underneath her eyes, she sighed. "Charlie told me about your allergic reaction."

Jane sighed softly as she touched her sister's cheek. "I was fine."

Lizzie shook her head. "Charlie said that it was serious. That you broke out in hives."

There was silence that blanketed over the room, with only the wind only audible.

"Yeah, I did. But, I was fine after twenty minutes."

"Did you use your epipen?"

Jane nodded, before she sighed and set her head onto the pillow. She turned right and faced Lizzie, placing her right hand underneath her pillow. She looked up and saw Lizzie pulling up her legs to her body.

"I was so scared, Jane."

Knowing how hard it was for Lizzie to see anyone she loved in pain, Jane whispered, "This is why I told Charlie not to tell you. I guess he didn't listen."

Lizzie laughed softly despite the pain evident in her voice. "I'm glad he didn't."

Looking over at the clock behind Lizzie, Jane gasped. "It's four fifteen in the morning! What are you doing here so early, Lizzie?"

Lizzie's eyes widened and she shut her mouth before she let her tongue go loose.

Jane narrowed her eyes as she exactly knew why Lizzie didn't reply. "Did you drive here?"

When her sister didn't answer and simply laid back to let her head rest on the very comfortable pillow, Jane sighed. "You did, didn't you? Lizzie, did you even take any breaks? Why were you so foolish? You could have got hurt from the lack of sleep. You know it's dangerous to drive by yourself for so long."

Lizzie flinched slightly by her sister's slightly angry and pained voice, but she knew exactly how to change the topic. "What about you, Jane? You know that you are allergic to lobster. What exactly were you doing eating seafood?"

"I…" Jane covered her face with the pillow, a sign that she was embarrassed.

Lizzie laughed before pulling her away from the pillow. She looked at her sister's flushed cheeks and sighed. "You didn't want to say no to Charlie, didn't you?"

"I knew that I really shouldn't have, but Charlie kept on insisting that we try this seafood place where his parents always took him when he was a kid. The way he just brightened up when he talked about his parents really made me go weak. Did you know that his parents died just two years ago?"

Lizzie shook her head slowly, as she realized that she did not know that.

Jane continued, "So when he asked if we could go there, I couldn't say no. And when we got there, half the menu was in French and you know how helpless I am with French, so I just got Charlie to order for me."

"And he didn't know that you were allergic to seafood," Lizzie finished, with a sigh. She looked back at her older sister and replied, "It's fine, Jane, but please, don't ever do that again. I couldn't even drive straight because I was so scared about you."

Once she confessed her feelings, she instantly regretted them She noticed the flash of guilt appear on her sister's face before they quickly disappeared. As if on cue, she let out a yawn. Jane, at the sight of her yawn, whispered, "I think you should get some sleep, before we think about what we are going to do in the morning."

"We?"

"Of course. Now that you are here, I suppose we should both get back home tomorrow."

"But, what about Charlie?"

Jane's eyes dropped before she recomposed herself, "He'll understand. But now, Elizabeth, get some sleep."

Lizzie laughed at the use of her name before she muttered something incomprehensible, letting the sleep consume her.

"Charles!"

Charlie looked up from his place at the kitchen stove and saw his sister rushing into the kitchen. He raised his eyebrow at her less than appropriate attire, with her bathrobe tied around his waist and her hair still damp from the shower.

"Yes, Caroline," he muttered before tending to the bacon on the pan.

"What is Elizabeth Bennet doing here?" she shrieked. At that moment, Darcy walked in and muttered a "good morning" as a greeting.

Charles ignored her sister and spoke to Darcy, "Good morning, Will. Want some bacon?"

Darcy looked down at the bacon and back to Charlie's face. "I'm good with some coffee."

"My god, Will, you looked as if you didn't get a wink of sleep."

"No kidding," Darcy muttered as he placed a pot of coffee in the coffee maker. He felt slightly frustrated that Charlie was right in his observation. He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep since Elizabeth stepped foot in the house about five hours ago.

"Charles!" Both Darcy and Charlie looked back at Caroline, who was still standing there, with a flustered look.

"I asked you, what Elizabeth Bennet is doing here? I mean, she just passed by me in the hallway, before going in to the guest bathroom. She even had the nerve to say 'Good morning' to me!"

Charlie sighed before replying, "She came to see Jane."

"Jane? Whatever for? Surely it can't be for that ridiculous allergic reaction."

Darcy muttered, "Allergic reactions could get pretty dangerous, Caroline." After Lizzie's statement of her being here because of her sister's allergic reaction, he realized how serious it must have been for her to feel that she needed to be here.

"Well, I still think she's foolish for coming all this way. How exactly did she come here? We all know that she would not have been able to get a plane ticket this late. Did she drive here?"

"Yes." Caroline seemed surprised by who replied. She looked at Darcy who had turned his back towards her.

"Did you see her, Darcy? She was still in her jeans! Who in the world would sleep in their jeans? Her hair was all over the place!" She snuck a glance at Darcy, who seemed to be preoccupied with making coffee, "And her eyes – they were so red and tired. I bet that you don't find her eyes so attractive now do you Darcy?"

"Actually, they seemed to be brightened by the sleep and the relief of seeing her sister," he muttered before pouring himself a cup of coffee. He had seen Lizzie that morning, just for a passing minute. He saw her stumble out of her bedroom and walk towards the balcony that was attached to the greenroom. She noticed him but simply muttered, "Darcy." She pushed past him and walked towards the balcony. Though he wasn't surprised by the lack of tact in the morning, especially after her late night, he couldn't let the expression in her eyes escape his notice. Indeed, they were brightened by what seemed like relief.

He looked at Charles and muttered, "I'll be in my room."

With that, he left the two Bingleys in the kitchen. Caroline was astonished by his statement and rendered speechless, while Charlie simply went back to tend to his bacon.

Caroline huffed before hurrying upstairs behind Darcy.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep in? You must be exhausted, Lizzie," Jane asked, as she and Lizzie walked into the dining room at about nine thirty.

"I feel fine, Jane. You know me, I've gotten less sleep before," Lizzie replied, smiling as squeezed her sister's hand in reassurance.

She looked at what was in front of her and was definitely impressed.

Charlie must have heard them as he turned around from setting the table and smiled at the sight of the Bennet sisters.

"Good morning, sweetheart," he muttered as he laid a kiss on Jane's cheek. He didn't notice how Jane's cheeks flushed at the contact, but Lizzie did.

He apologized to Jane for the night before, but she said that it was nothing and that she was better.

Once she realized that Charlie was not going to notice her, she cleared her throat and he suddenly jumped. Moving his gaze from Jane to Lizzie, he flushed with embarrassment. "Good morning, Lizzie. I thought you were going to sleep in. Are you sure you don't want to sleep some more?"

Lizzie laughed when she realized right there and then that Charlie was absolutely perfect for Jane. She shook her head as she simply looked behind him and replied, "Are you kidding? And miss breakfast."

Charlie laughed as he ushered the sisters to the dining table and commanded them to stay there until he came back. Lizzie laughed as she saw him rush out of the dining room into the kitchen. She saw a mug of milk in front of her and took a sip of it. When he came back, she felt her mouth water at the array of food.

"What happened to the road trip, Charlie?" Lizzie muttered as she raised her mug in appreciation at the plate he set in front of her. She smiled graciously when she saw the glorious array of sausage, bacon and eggs on her plate. She grabbed her fork and dived into the breakfast she wished she had the past few months. She never realized how much she missed bacon until it simmered in her mouth. She salivated just at the thought of it.

"Hmm?" Charlie asked, as he set another plate in front of Jane. This time it was filled with fruits and hash browns and eggs. Jane glanced up at him and smiled, to which Charlie blushed slightly.

Lizzie noticed the exchange between the couple and rolled her eyes. "I thought you said you were going to surprise Caroline and Louisa with a road trip. What happened to that?"

Charlie sat down beside Jane with a plate of sausage, bacon, hash browns and eggs of his own. He took a sip out of his orange juice before opening his mouth to open. Before he could even start a sentence, they all heard, "A road trip? Are you serious? Could you imagine hours and hours spending time in a car driving who knows where? There was no way we were going to go on a road trip so, we persuaded Charles to come here for the holidays."

Lizzie looked up and saw Caroline lounging against the counter in her dark blue satin robe with matching slippers. She had her normally shoulder length hair up into a bun on top of her head, which Lizzie thought was the most ridiculous hairstyle girls thought up of. She never realized why girls wanted to keep their hair on top of their head like a tomato.

She curved her lips in response before returning her attention to Charlie. He shrugged sheepishly, "There's your answer."

"So did Jane know about this change in plans before Friday or on Friday?" Lizzie asked, her eyebrow raised.

Jane looked at her sister in embarrassment before admonishing quietly, "Lizzie."

Lizzie threw a look at her sister, signalling her to relax before Charlie answered, "Actually, Jane didn't know about it until Friday. Actually, none of us knew about it until Friday when I passed it by Caroline who thought it was "utterly nonsensical" to go on a road trip for Thanksgiving. So we decided to come to our home here in Michigan."

Lizzie smiled at his imitation of Caroline's words and thoughts of the trip. She took a sip of her milk and stuffed another spoonful of eggs into her mouth. Suddenly, she yawned and covered her mouth accordingly.

Jane looked to her sister in concern, as she asked, "Are you sure you don't want to sleep any longer? You only got about four hours of sleep."

Shaking her head, she dismissed the idea. "It's fine, Jane. Just need my breakfast and I'm good to go."

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Caroline pouring hot water from a kettle into a mug that had a tea bag immersed in it. Lizzie commented, "That's seems to be very little to be your breakfast, Caroline. Are you not going to join us for some eggs and bacon?"

The look that spread on her face was what Lizzie had expected to appear. The way her nose scrunched up in disgust, as if just the thought of eggs and bacon gave her nausea. "As you might not know, my dear Eliza, us models need to take care of our figures. I believe that a student like you would not understand the requirements in diets for beautiful women of this industry."

Raising her eyebrow, she simply muttered before sipping her milk, "Oh believe me, I understand."

Charlie must have heard her whisper as he let out a chuckle before continuing on to his breakfast. Lizzie glanced at the clock behind Charlie's head as it chimed ten o'clock. She noticed that Louisa or her husband was not seen. As well as another guy she really hoped she didn't need to see often.

She looked back at Jane and Charlie and suddenly a thought struck her. "Wait, if you say that you guys flew here, how did you get a ticket so quickly?" she whispered to her sister.

Jane looked back at her and was about to answer before she heard Charlie's voice. "Oh that? She didn't need to get a flight ticket."

Surprised and puzzled, she was about to ask him to clarify before she heard a deep, baritone voice from behind her.

"We all flew in my private jet, Elizabeth. We landed at DTW."

Instantaneously turning around, she felt her mouth go dry and a sudden headache appear when she saw the man she desperately wanted to avoid, even though she knew would have been impossible.

He stood there in casual clothes, which was very different from what she had seen him before in. He was clad in grey sweat pants and an Oxford pullover. His hair was still mussed but his eyes were definitely not angry or bloodshot red from lack of sleep.

Actually he looked as though he was content. What an odd combination. Darcy and content. Lizzie shook her head before she realized that he was staring at her as though anticipating an answer. She recollected what he had said and said, "Your private jet?"

He smiled slightly before nodding, "Yes."

"Wow, you must be pretty rich to be able to use your private jet whenever you want. Must be nice to be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want. I doubt you would have suffered from any true hardships," Lizzie replied as she bristled.

Suddenly, as though something angered him, his eyes darkened. He nodded in what she assumed to be his response before walking towards the window. He simply stood there, his back straight and rigid, staring out the window.

Lizzie was shocked by his lack of manners as he simply walked away from the person he was having a conversation with. "Presumptuous, rude jerk," Lizzie muttered before taking another bite of her sausage.

Jane must have heard her because she glanced at her sister's direction and was about to whisper to her. Jane didn't exactly understand why Lizzie had disliked Darcy so much. Seeing as she did, she simply hoped that she persuade her sister to be pleasant and nice to the company, seeing that they were their guests.

Suddenly, Lizzie asked, preventing Jane from speaking to her, "Hey, Charlie. Can you pass me a piece of toast?"

Jane sighed before returning to her own plate. She figured that she would just have to tell her later.

"Are you sure you want to go back now? Why don't you stay for one more day and leave tomorrow morning? I'm sure you need the rest, Lizzie. You both are welcomed to stay for one more day. Doesn't school start on Tuesday anyways?" Charlie asked. They were all sitting in the living room that had a beautiful view of the water fountain in the front that was now donned with icicles and snow.

Jane and Lizzie were sitting together in the loveseat, while Charlie sat beside them in a solitary sofa seat. Darcy was sitting at the desk, seemingly busy with his laptop. Caroline and her sister were in the adjacent loveseat while Jeff occupied the entire sofa couch, snores emitted from him.

Lizzie frowned as she realized that Jane would no doubt fall into Charlie's persuasion. But looking around at the company present, she wished that Jane wouldn't fall in that easily. She really wanted to go home, now that she knew her sister was well.

"Maybe Jane can stay and I'll go back to…" Lizzie offered, but stopped when she noticed Charlie's shaking of his head.

"Of course not, you just drove twelve hours to get here. I don't think driving back so soon will be good for your health, Lizzie."

Jane agreed and said, "I think Charlie's right. I'll convince Mama about staying here for one more night and you not coming over for Thanksgiving dinner."

Lizzie looked between Charlie and Jane and sighed. "Alright."

Charlie laughed as he gave her a hug. Jane smiled, before excusing herself to make the said phone call to their mother. She whispered into Lizzie's ear that she might be late coming down as she wanted to finish some research for school before coming down to join them. Lizzie sulked as soon as she said that, but agreed nonetheless.

Once Jane left, the room fell into uncomfortable silence. Charlie sat back into his chair, checking his iPhone.

Lizzie sat back in her chair and glanced around. She took open her textbook for Anatomy and reviewed what she had learned the past week.

She looked up at the scenery from the window for a few times before asking Charlie. "It's beautiful here, Charlie. How many times a year do you come to Bloomfield Hills?"

Charlie smiled, "About twice a year. We try to come here more often ever since our parents died. We grew up here, you know?"

Smiling, she leaned over to squeeze his hands. He looked up at her and smiled at her gaze. "I'm sorry."

Charlie shook his head, "It's fine."

With that, they both continued with what they were doing before.

A few minutes went by before she heard someone stand up and walk a few steps. Then she heard, "Wow, Darcy, you type so quickly."

Lizzie's eyes rolled as she glanced at the scene in front of her. Darcy sat with his back straight and continued to type. Beside him, stood Caroline hunched over to as if to see what exactly he was typing.

"Actually, I type rather slowly," Darcy muttered.

"Who are you writing to?" Caroline asked she noticed the long email on his screen.

"Georgie," his one word reply caused a response opposite to what he intended.

"Oh my dear, Georgiana! You must tell her how much I miss her. I would love to see her soon."

Lizzie looked up in confusion and as if reading her mind, Charlie whispered to her, "It's his sister."

Lizzie looked at Charlie in surprise, as he smiled. "Georgie is Will's sister."

"Oh."

Lizzie turned her attention back to her Anatomy textbook, but it seemed she couldn't get far as she heard the conversation once again.

"I'll make sure I'll tell her," Darcy drawled as he continued to type.

"Is she still playing to piano? Oh my, the last time I heard her, she was amazing. Oh my, is she taking her A levels this year?"

Darcy muttered, "Yes, she is still playing the piano. And yes, she is taking her A levels."

"She is so talented and accomplished to be able to keep up with piano while studying for her A levels."

"Yes, she is." Lizzie couldn't let the warmth in his voice escape her notice, as she realized that perhaps Darcy did have a warm side to him.

Louisa excused herself as she stood up abruptly and walked up the stairs. Caroline looked at her and shook her head, "I swear, I hope her morning sickness stops soon. I mean, it's not even the morning."

At this, Lizzie spoke, "She's pregnant?"

Charlie nodded, "About two months."

Lizzie frowned as she asked Charlie, "And you still let her ride an airplane?"

Charlie gaped at her blunt question and was unable to answer the question. Realizing her statement, Lizzie laughed, trying to relieve Charlie's discomfort. "I'm sorry if I sounded a bit forbearing. It's just that I don't really advise people to go on airplanes when they are pregnant. A precaution, I guess. But Louisa is rather early in her pregnant, so it should be fine."

Charlie nodded as he turned his attention back to his phone. He was a bit intimidated by Lizzie, but he knew that it was her way of being caring. He smiled as he thought that she would be a perfect doctor.

All of a sudden, to everyone's surprise, Charlie spoke up, "I don't know how you women do it."

Caroline looked at her brother in surprise and then slight annoyance. "What do you mean, Charles?"

"I mean, how you women are so accomplished. You cook, play instruments, learn languages. I mean, and you still find time to raise a family. How do you do it?"

Caroline smiled as she nodded, "Women are accomplished, I suppose. But I think there needs to be something more to the criteria of being accomplished. There needs to be something in her manner of walking and her expression. She needs to be sure of her place in the world."

Lizzie laughed as she realized that her response was exactly what she expected from Caroline. Her being a model and such. But she doubted that Caroline could exactly cook.

She was surprised when Darcy piped in for the first time. "She also needs to embellish her mind with continuous reading and academia. I don't know a lot of women who I would call accomplished."

Lizzie laughed slightly at his formal addition to the conversation. She closed her Anatomy book and muttered, "I'm sure you don't, Mr. Darcy. I'm actually surprised that you claim to knowing any women like that."

Darcy turned around so that he was staring right at her. Being accustomed to his intense gaze, she no longer felt intimidated by him. "You're rather critical of your own gender, Elizabeth."

Lizzie laughed as she replied. "The way you describe the "accomplished woman", it's as if she had to be a perfectly designed woman, equipped with all the things you've mentioned. It's like they need to be made of 'sugar, spice and everything nice.' Like the Power Puff Girls." She laughed at her own joke, but stopped when she noticed his confused expression.

"Maybe you're too old to know about the best thing that ever happened to television," she muttered. Thankfully, Darcy and Caroline didn't hear it, but Charlie did. He let out a bellowing laugh, and Lizzie smiled at him in response.

Caroline noticed the confused and intense gaze Darcy had directed at Lizzie, and realized that it was perhaps a good idea to change the topic.

"Eliza, why don't we walk around a bit? I know how fond you are of exercise and stretching your legs. It will be good for you, especially since you've been sitting in that one spot for so long."

Lizzie raised her eyebrow and looked back at her textbook. Not knowing why she did, she stood up and flinched slightly when Caroline grabbed hold of her hand and tucked it underneath her arm.

Then, they walked around the room, and Lizzie was able to finally survey the room in appreciation. As she looked up, she noticed the chandelier donned from the ceiling. She was startled when she heard Caroline pipe up from beside her.

"Why don't you join us Darcy? I'm sure sitting like that for so long would not be good for your legs. Stretching them would be good for you."

Darcy declined the request as he mentioned, "I wouldn't want to disturb what you really are doing."

Caroline looked at Lizzie in fake astonishment. "Whatever could he mean, Eliza?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes and mimicked her tone. "I have no idea."

Frowning slightly at Lizzie, she turned back at Darcy and asked him. "Whatever could you mean, Darcy?"

"I suppose you two would only have two motives for walking around. One, you two would be conversing about something in secret and I could not invade on your privacy. Or two, you believe that your figures would be best be admired from walking and I could very well do so from my position here."

Caroline laughed in jest as she replied. "Darcy! You are so shocking. How shall we punish him for such a speech, Eliza?"

Lizzie looked at Caroline and back at Darcy who was now staring at her. "Perhaps we can laugh at him for even suggesting such a mischievous thought."

Caroline stopped in her place in front of Darcy's desk. "Oh no, Darcy is not a man to be laughed at. He is perfect."

Lizzie looked back at Darcy, who was still staring at her. "Hm, a perfect man? So you agree that you have no faults, Mr. Darcy?"

Darcy looked as though he was surprised by her formal address of him. He simply shook his head, "Of course not. No man out there is perfect. I have many faults myself."

"Hm," Lizzie replied as she looked at him straight in the eye. "So what would you classify as a fault? Vanity? Pride, perhaps."

"I couldn't say. Depends entirely on the situation."

Lizzie narrowed her eyes as she thought that his response was exactly what he would say. Arrogant jerk. "So what exactly is your fault?"

"I—" Darcy paused before he continued, "I find it hard to forgive others if they have harmed me or someone I care about. Once they lose my good opinion of them, they lose it forever."

Lizzie looked at him, with a newfound interest. "So you agree that you are rather critical of anything or anyone you see."

Darcy thought that her tone was rather teasing and matched it with his own, "Then would you agree that you are too quick to judge of anyone you meet?"

Lizzie smiled tightly, before she heard a voice behind her. "Lizzie!"

Lizzie turned around and thanked her sister for the gentle distraction. Caroline was too, as she stood beside the couple and was astonished by the turn of events. She took her seat. Darcy looked at Lizzie's retreating figure towards her sister and could not help but feel something stirring in his chest. He quickly dismissed it as he continued with his emails.

Charlie gave a quick kiss to his girlfriend as he took a seat again. Lizzie smiled at her sister before returning to her Anatomy textbook, while her sister engaged her boyfriend in light conversation.

The only comforting thought Lizzie had was that she would be able to escape tomorrow morning.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Charlie asked as he stood at the entrance of his house.

Jane shook her head as she placed her suitcase down, before leaning over to give her boyfriend a kiss. "I'm sure we'll be fine, Charlie."

Charlie didn't look convinced. Caroline, Louisa and Jeff were still sleeping, seeing as it was seven in the morning the following day. Lizzie insisted that they had an early head start, seeing that they had school the next day. The night before they had dinner, but it had ended awkwardly with everyone doing their own thing. While they waited for Lizzie to come down, Darcy had stepped out from the kitchen and noticed them in the entrance.

He stood a few feet away from Charlie, hoping not to be noticed. However, Jane noticed him and stepped forward to engage him in an embrace. She broke apart first as she thanked him profusely for the flight in his jet.

He muttered that it was nothing before taking another sip of his coffee. Secretly, he had wanted to see Lizzie before she left. But he couldn't even understand why. Why did he feel like this, about her of all people?

The comfortable silence was broken when they heard Lizzie walking down the stairs. When Darcy glanced at her, he noticed that there was something wrong with her. Her face looked forlorn as though she had lost something.

Jane also noticed it because she asked right away, "What's wrong, Lizzie?"

Lizzie hadn't realized that she was in Charlie and Darcy's company when she responded, "Nothing."

"You don't look like there is nothing wrong. What happened, Lizzie?"

Lizzie smiled at her sister and muttered something incomprehensible.

"What was that?"

"I got another email from SUNY."

It had only taken those six words for Jane to fully understand what had gotten her sister so down. "Oh, Lizzie."

Charlie piped in for the first time as he asked, "SUNY? Isn't that University of Buffalo?"

Lizzie looked at him in surprise. "I didn't realize you were here."

Charlie smiled as he asked her again, "SUNY?"

Knowing that she had to clarify for him since he had heard the conversation and must have taken notice of her expression, she replied, "Yeah, it is."

"Why is University of Buffalo contacting you? Did you apply there?"

Darcy also was interested in this conversation, and so intended to stay there to hear the conversation from his place near the entrance of the dining room.

Lizzie didn't reply before Jane answered, "Yes, she did. Last year."

"Oh," Charlie smiled. "Are you thinking of going there next year?"

Lizzie shook her head as she muttered, "It's for pharmacy school."

Charlie looked at her in confusion, so she sighed before clarifying. "I applied there last year and got accepted for the pharmacy school there. But I deferred my admission for one year, hoping that…" She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Darcy finally understood the reason behind her mood. "You hoped that you would get into med school here."

He couldn't help but feel annoyed that she was turning to be exactly the opposite of who he wanted her to be. She was definitely not the light headed, lowly receptionist he thought she was originally. Instead, she was an extremely intelligent women who is driven by her career goals. And even has planned a back up, if things don't go her way. She was definitely more mature than what he thought, but he was certainly annoyed that she was like this. It made it easier to ignore her with his first impressions of her. However, the more he got to know her, the more impressed he was. And that was definitely not good.

Startled, Lizzie turned her attention to behind her and saw Darcy staring at her with an unfathomable expression. When did he get there? Was he hearing the conversation all this time?

She didn't want to answer to him, and Jane understood the reluctance in her sister's expression. "Did they ask for you to get back to them about the admission?"

Lizzie nodded, before tightening a hold on her backpack strap. "I think we better leave now, Jane."

Looking at her hard before softening her gaze, Jane whispered into her sister's ear. "We're talking about this later."

Nodding, Lizzie agreed before turning to Charlie. "Thank you so much for letting me stay here. I certainly had a great Thanksgiving."

Charlie blushed as he hugged her. "No, thank you for coming. You certainly livened up the place."

Lizzie laughed as she slipped on her sneakers. Jane was saying goodbye to Charlie, so she decided that she would give them some privacy. That left her with Darcy. Darcy had walked forward and stared at her before muttering, "Drive safely, Elizabeth."

"Thanks, Darcy. Happy Thanksgiving," Lizzie forced out through her clenched teeth and was relieved when Jane said that she was ready.

With one more goodbye to Charlie, they left the house and went into their car.

As Lizzie pulled out of their garage, Darcy looked out the window until the retreating car was lost. Charlie had left to go to the kitchen, to make some breakfast. Darcy stayed like that, staring out the window, unable to understand his tumultuous feelings about a certain brown eyed fiery woman.

Always exploring and unleashing,

ღ 'rEd RoSe-StArFiRe-RoSeFiRe'