A/N: Just a heads up, you aren't going to like Will in this chapter but try not to hate on him too much; he's only trying to do what he thinks is right at that time. All will be revealed soon. Enjoy.

Chapter Nine

While September had remained warm as summer drifted to an end, the drop in temperature became apparent to the citizens of Portsmouth. Lydia was already wearing her winter coat and had resorted to wearing her wellington boots on the way to school and the way home because she was tired of getting fallen leaves covering her school shoes.

It was a Monday morning, and she had spent the weekend going to the cinema with Denny and then shopping with Kit on Sunday. She had never known anyone who liked to shop as much as Kit Bartholomew but during her one-to-one time with Kit on Sunday, she had noticed just how much Kit was herself instead of agreeing with Laura or following the next best person. Kit had pulled her into every single clothes shop in Commercial Road to try on party dresses for Laura's Halloween party at the end of October and in the end, Lydia had bought herself a simple black dress while Kit had bought five from three different clothes shops.

As she walked in through the main entrance, she pulled off her wellies and changed into her school shoes and placing the wellies into her backpack before noticing that Georgiana was walking to the main entrance with her brother behind her.

"Morning Georgie." Lydia greeted.

"Morning Lydia, good weekend?" Georgiana asked.

"Yeah, went to the cinema with Denny and then shopping with Kit yesterday. I've got an outfit for Laura's party."

"Do you want to help me pick mine out? My lovely brother has decided my sentence will end on Friday."

"Sure, we can go on Saturday if you want?"

Georgiana smiled and nodded, bidding her brother goodbye. But before the two girls could head off to their first lessons of the day, William Darcy asked to speak to Lydia in private. Nodding, Lydia followed her friend's brother into one of the little offices just off reception and locked the door.

"Can I ask what this is about?" Lydia asked.

"I was away for the weekend and I've done a lot of reflecting over my sister's current state. She told me that you're aware that our father died recently and despite appearances, I know my sister is trying to deal with it in her own way and she's quite fragile right now." Will replied.

"I understand." Lydia replied, slightly confused.

"I know you do. But the incident with Laura over the bank holiday weekend has opened my eyes that Georgie needs to be kept on the straight and narrow, she doesn't need to get into that kind of trouble again."

Lydia frowned, taking a guess at where this conversation was leading.

"And you believe that the new kid at school is a trouble maker and could lead Georgie down a dark path?" she guessed.

Will nodded.

"I know about the court case you're going to be a part of soon and I know, to some extent, the trouble you and that man got into." He said quietly.

Lydia's eyes widened.

"That wasn't entirely my fault-"

"I don't want you to try and sway my decision, but my mind is made up. I would like you to stay away from Georgiana."

She wanted to be dreaming but she wasn't. It had only been four weeks but she was started to develop a friendship with Georgiana Darcy and it was evident that her new friend's older brother had done some digging into her past, but if he only knew about the court case that was due to take place in December, then he didn't know the full extent of what she had gotten into after her father passed away. She wanted to explain that she had only done those things because she wanted to punish herself, that she had trusted the wrong people and had gotten into the wrong crowd because she wanted to distract herself from the guilt she was feeling but Will Darcy didn't want to hear about her past and how she was trying to make a fresh start. He didn't want to hear how much she was trying to change.

"You can't just choose Georgiana's friends for her." Lydia muttered.

"I can and I will. Just looking at that article and the comment section told me the extent of trouble you got in and I don't want someone like that around my sister. She's all I have left. I have to protect her." Will stated.

Now she could understand just how much her sister disliked William Darcy.

"You want me to leave Georgiana alone? Fine. But we're doing an English project together and it finishes in two weeks, so I will be around for the time being."

"That's okay, just after the presentation is finished, stay away from my sister."

As he turned to leave, she called him back. He turned around to face her and she tried to remain expressionless, she didn't want him to see how much he had hurt her by demanding she stay away from Georgiana.

"Let me give you a little bit of advice. Watch out for Laura Annesley. If you think that a stranger who has just moved here is no good for your sister, then the 'friend' she's had since childhood isn't either. I've known girls like Laura and in the end, Georgie's going to get herself into some deep trouble because of the influence Laura has over her." Lydia warned.

Without giving him the time to reply, Lydia pushed her way past him and headed for her first lesson as the bell rang for first period.

ooOoo

Sat in the restaurant, Elizabeth checked her watch for the third time since her arrival. This was her rearranged fifth date with George and they had agreed to meet for seven o'clock at Frankie and Benny's for dinner. But he was late. She had been sitting at their table for the past forty minutes with one text message she had received from George after she had let him know of her arrival at the restaurant, which told her that he was on his way.

She'd had a bad day. The year sevens had come down with an outbreak of flu like symptoms and she'd had to send home five students in that year group, four in the year eight year groups and three year nines. Her boss hadn't been pleased with her sending home twelve students with these symptoms, Catherine said that it made Rosings look bad when it came to attendance but Elizabeth had insisted that these students weren't fit to be in school and if they remained, more students would be sent home because an epidemic would break out. Then she and Lydia had eaten lunch together in her office because Lydia was upset. Lydia had told her about her conversation that morning with William Darcy and how she was now being asked to give up one of the friendships she was building. That man infuriated her, who was he to find out about someone's past without even getting to know the person in question?

And now the one thing she had looked forward to after a grilling from her boss and finding out the reason why her sister was upset was now making her feel more annoyed and agitated. She liked George and she didn't know why he was this late for their date without explaining why to her in the text message. He didn't work on Mondays; he had told her that on their third date. As she pulled out her mobile phone to call George, someone sat down in the seat opposite her.

"Sorry, that seat is taken." Elizabeth said firmly.

The black-haired woman smiled.

"My name is Sarah and we both have one thing in common." The woman said quietly.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"What's that, exactly?"

"I made the mistake of trusting George Wickham. I've been watching the two of you-"

"You know, watching the two of us only makes you look like a stalker." Elizabeth pointed out.

But the woman didn't look offended, she simply gave her a small smile.

"I know what he told you, that he had his heart broken on his wedding day and that his best friend turned on him. It's all lies, there's a whole lot more to it and the roles reversed. George Wickham ruins lives, and whatever excuse he gave to you as to why he's running late for your 'date', he's probably screwing someone else." Sarah stated.

Elizabeth frowned.

"George wouldn't do that, he likes me."

"He might like you but George Wickham isn't exclusive. Just do the smart thing, don't trust him. Get out now before you start developing feelings for him, because when that happens you'll learn the truth and get your heart broken."

Before Elizabeth could reply, Sarah got up from the seat and left the restaurant. She thought about what Sarah had said, wondering if she was just jealous that George was moving on with her? Was Sarah the almost wife of George and had left him hurt at the altar? But she couldn't think on it any more as George came rushing over to their table.

"I'm so, so, sorry that I'm late. Denny had a school emergency-"

"Well, you're here now. A text to explain would have been nice though." Elizabeth replied icily.

George bent down to place a kiss on her lips but she moved her head, and his lips grazed lightly across her cheek. She wasn't in the mood for pleasantries, not after he had been so late for their dinner date and after a woman she didn't know took it upon herself to warn her to stay away from George.

"I'll text you if there's a next time." George promised, sitting in his seat.

"Try not to let there be a 'next time'." Elizabeth snapped, picking up the menu.

George frowned, looking at her through narrowed eyes as if trying to silently determine why she was in such a bad mood.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or am I supposed to put up with you being in a foul mood all night?" he asked.

She didn't look up from her menu when she replied.

"I've had a really shit day at work, my boss was on my case because I sent some kids home with flu-like symptoms. My sister has been told to not be friends with Georgiana Darcy because her arsy brother has decided Lydi is no good for his sister and then I'm sat on my own in a restaurant waiting for my date to arrive and he turns up nearly fifty minutes late."

"Look, Catherine de Bourgh is a stuck-up old cow, don't take it personally. As for Darcy, he's always been an arse. I don't get why you're in such a bad mood, I'm here now aren't I?" George huffed.

This time she did look up from her menu.

"George, I like you. I really do. We've been seeing each other for a few weeks now. But I don't want to waste my time, I want to take things slowly, get to know you a better."

"You aren't wasting your time."

"I want to be involved with someone who's honest with me, someone who won't get impatient because I won't sleep with them straight away."

"Have I not been honest with you?"

"Well, I want to believe you have been. But a woman told me that I shouldn't trust you, I just figured she was some jealous ex-girlfriend."

George frowned, his eyes narrowing in anger and his hands clenching into fists so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

"Did she say what her name was?" George asked, his teeth gritting together.

"Sarah, why?"

George banged his fist down on the table, making Elizabeth jump in fright and the few other diners around them stop eating their meals to look in their direction with looks of annoyance. Elizabeth quietly apologised to the other diners before turning back to George.

"What the hell was that all about?" she hissed quietly.

"I haven't seen Sarah since our wedding!" George replied, still with gritted teeth.

Elizabeth frowned.

"So, why would she feel the need to turn up now? Why would she want to warn me off you?" Elizabeth asked.

George relaxed slightly, unclenching his fists and picking up the menu; opening it to look at what he wanted to order.

"I have no idea, but she had no right to interfere in our relationship." George said quietly.

Elizabeth's eyes widened.

"Did I hear correctly?" she asked.

George looked at her with a little smile.

"Yes. You're my girlfriend, if it means that we can continue like this. I like you, Elizabeth," George replied, lowering his voice as he said the next part, "I know that I may have been impatient over the past six weeks since we've been together but each time I try and get to the physical part it's only because you stir up my need to be physical. But I can be patient."

Elizabeth smiled, nodding her head in understanding that they had an agreement to take their relationship slowly.

"You can be patient? I just want us to know each other properly before we take the next step."

"I can try."

The two shared a small smile before the waiter interrupted and took their food order, with both putting the unpleasantness of their night so far behind them and discussing more positive things since they had last seen each other.

ooOoo

"Georgie, dinner!" Will called from the bottom of the stairs.

Going into the kitchen and sitting at the table next to Alice, he rolled up his shirt sleeves and waited for his sister to come down the stairs. Ever since his sister had returned home with Alice from school, she had been in a foul mood when he thought her attitude towards him would improve since he had decided to end her punishment. But Georgiana remained hostile and angry.

Seconds after he had sat down, his sister appeared and sat opposite him, not saying a word to him but thanking Alice for cooking the cottage pie that they were about to eat together. Alice gave a small smile and the three of them tucked into their meals.

"How was your day, Georgie?" Will asked.

Georgiana rolled her eyes, shoving a forkful of food into her mouth and swallowing quickly; not caring that it was hot.

"Are you determined to make me as miserable as you are?" Georgiana asked bitterly.

Will blinked in confusion.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he questioned.

"Lydia Bennet was the one person who actually understood what it's like to lose your dad. Hers died last summer. She's the only one of my friends who got how it felt, the others are there for me, to distract me, but they don't understand. Lydia did. And you had the nerve to demand that she stay away from me."

It was evident to him that Lydia had told his sister about their discussion that morning. He had thought that the new girl would keep to herself after their little talk.

"I didn't mean it in a horrible way, Georgie. I've just found out some things about her and believe that she might be a bad influence on you." Will explained.

"Like what?" Georgiana demanded.

"I don't know the full extent but the impression that I got was pretty bad. You don't need someone dark-"

"You don't get to decide who I can and can't be friends with, I can judge for myself-"

"Your judgement is quite poor. I know it was Laura's doing for what happened to you two over the bank holiday weekend."

Georgiana stared at him coldly.

"Laura got the alcohol and she had the tickets for the show for a while, it was my idea to stay overnight in London. We're both responsible. Besides, I needed a good time."

"I want you to stay away from Lydia Bennet and I want you to stop spending so much time with Laura." Will stated.

Georgiana slammed her fork down on the table and pushed her plate away. He had never seen his little sister look so angry before, he had never seen her look at him in such a hateful way before.

"That won't happen." Georgiana replied.

"Starting from the weekend, we'll be spending a bit more time together. I let you have your space throughout the summer but now it's time we adjust to a new routine. We need to spend more time together, we're all each other has left." Will said softly.

Georgiana clenched her fists by her sides as she stood up from her chair.

"Right now, I wish that I didn't even have you!" his sister stated, her voice full of hate and rage.

Will froze in his seat, his fork falling from his hand as he tried to process what his sister had just said to him. He didn't register when his sister stormed out of the kitchen and stomped up the stairs to her bedroom; slamming the door as hard as she could behind her. He hadn't meant warning Lydia Bennet as a horrible thing, he had meant it in a protective, older brother way. Or at least, that's how he thought and felt at the time when he had made the decision to ask Lydia to stay away from Georgiana. He hadn't intended for Lydia or Georgiana to be hurt, but just from reading what he had read about this court case and in the comments that the girl was in question, Lydia Bennet, the protective mode had set in and he didn't want his sister being led astray.

"Fitzwilliam, she didn't mean it. She's just angry." Alice tried to assure him.

He didn't say anything in reply. He picked up his fork and continued to eat his dinner, wondering if his father had ever made as many mistakes as he had currently made when it came to taking on a role he clearly wasn't ready for.