A/N: Hello again! So we're up to chapter nine - hope you enjoy it!
A big thank you to every one who has taken the time to review; I really appreciate hearing your thoughts!
What a Difference
Chapter Nine
Will turned quickly as he heard Elizabeth's cry. She stood, staring into the middle distance, eyes darting back and forth as she processed what was being said at the other end of the line. Will frowned, concerned. Jane moved closer to her sister.
'No, Mum, I put her in a taxi about an hour ago… should've taken about ten minutes… yeah… well, wha-… I don't know… no, she was alone, do you think I'd put her in a car with a stranger?... I think-... Mum, I don't know; I'll call her… I'll call you if I can get through to her… ok. Bye.'
Elizabeth ended the conversation with a groan. In answer to Jane's inquisitive look she said: 'Lydia isn't home yet.'
Jane looked confused. 'Lydia? What do you mean?'
'I found her earlier when I was talking to – someone.' Elizabeth's gaze flicked involuntarily to Will. 'I put her in a taxi and sent her home, but she's not back yet.'
Jane's hands flew to her mouth. 'What's happened, is she ok?'
Elizabeth was scrolling through her phone book as Will and Charlie stepped closer. 'I'm sure she's fine. She's probably got stuck in traffic, or the taxi driver's taking her the long way round to keep as much of my money as possible.'
Elizabeth reached her sister's name and tapped the screen to call her. Jane's eyes were still worried as Charlie slipped an arm about her shoulders, and whispered reassuringly to her. Will, Elizabeth noticed as the phone continued ringing, was watching her intently. She smiled tiredly at him.
'Hi!'
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief she hadn't realised she was holding at the sounds of her sister's voice. 'Lydia? Where are you-'
'Hello?'
Elizabeth frowned. She raised her voice. 'Lydia? Can you hear me?'
'Heellloooo?' There was a definite smile in her sister's tone.
'Lydia, I swear if you're mucking about -' Elizabeth was cut off by her sister's squealing laughter.
'Ahhhh, gotcha! Nah, I'm not here; this is my answer phone! Leave me a message if you're not laughing too hard!'
Elizabeth closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath as the beep rang out, visualising all the ways she was going to make her sister pay. 'It's Lizzie, where are you? Mum's going frantic that you're not home. Call me as soon as you get this.'
'No answer?' Will asked quietly. Elizabeth shook her head.
'I don't know why she didn't answer. I don't think I've even heard her answer phone before because I've never known her to be separated from her phone by more than a few inches. Don't look so worried, Jane,' she said, forcing her voice to sound lighter than she felt. Her twin stepped closer into Charlie, who rubbed her arm, comfortingly. 'I'm sure she's fine. Probably can't hear the phone ring over her tantrum in the back seat.'
Charlie nodded in agreement, pulling Jane closer for a hug while repeating Elizabeth's words. Elizabeth looked at Will for a moment, the thought of how much she'd like a hug flitting across her mind. Instead she dialled Lydia again, only to hear it ring through and reach the same irritating message. Hanging up, she sighed and looked to the other three.
'I guess… we should go back inside?' She shrugged. 'I don't know what else to do other than keep trying her.' She looked at her phone, not thinking on anything but her mind oddly full. She was buffeted by Will's warmth as he stepped closer.
'Why don't we have a sit down for a minute?' he said gently. 'There's no rush to get back inside, and that way you won't miss her call if she calls back in a minute.'
Elizabeth smiled gratefully at him. 'Sounds good. What about them?' She nodded at Jane and Charlie, who were talking quietly without breaking their embrace. Will chuckled quietly.
'How about we sit down and see how long it takes for them to notice?'
Elizabeth suppressed a laugh and the pair moved to sit on the steps at the entrance of the club. The smell of the surrounding pine trees was heavy on the warm night air, while the gentle breeze tickled the skin on Elizabeth's arms. The car park was deserted now; even the smokers were nowhere to be seen. Jane and Charlie remained as they were; totally oblivious to the world.
Elizabeth let out a small 'oomph' as she sat, feeling muscles she hadn't noticed aching protest for a moment before relaxing against the stone still warm from the day's sun. She leaned back a little, placing her phone beside her and bracing the palms of her hands on the step behind, looking up the night sky and listening to the world. As she listened, the sound of the music behind her began to fade as she noticed other sounds of the night. The trees sang like the sea as the breeze played with their leaves. She heard the scampering of some woodland creature in the dark bushes to her right, the call of a nightingale and the steady breathing of the young man sitting beside her.
As the breeze stole past again, it brought with it the delicious smell of his aftershave, and another scent that seemed to be just him. From the corner of her eye, she studied him. His hair was still inexplicably well-composed. She restrained the sudden, wild impulse to ruffle the perfect mop, just to see what he would do. He sat easily, one hand clasping the wrist of the other as his elbows rested on his knees. He looked out across the car park, seemingly consumed in his thoughts, the remains of a smile playing on his lips. Suddenly, the breeze teased a single lock of hair atop his head, waving it back and forth at her. She suppressed a smile.
He radiated heat; she could feel it, creeping across her skin. Even though the night was warm, she involuntarily shivered at the contrast, resisting the urge to edge closer. He seemed to sense her tremble, looking back at her with bright blue eyes. For n instant, she was aware of everything about him; the colour of his eyes; the intensity of their expression. How his lips parted slightly as he turned, that trace of a smile not quite disappearing. That lock of hair, waving at her enthusiastically. The pulse of heat as he turned, and the rush of his scent. Her heart thudded almost painfully as her breath caught in her chest. She dropped her gaze and moistened her lips self-consciously.
'So… when did you move here?' His voice was deep and rough.
She looked up again. 'Almost a year ago, give or take. We saw the last of the summer before we started the new term. When did you leave?' she added, hesitantly, unsure whether she should touch on the reason for his leaving home.
He met her gaze steadily. 'I left for Derbyshire as soon as the academic year was over. Georgie was already settled and decided to stay at her boarding school over the summer. Once that decision was made there was no reason for me to hang around.'
'I guess we just missed each other.'
He smiled. 'Yeah, looks like it.'
'Why Derbyshire?'
'My aunt …' he hesitated, searching for the right word. 'Well, she's a bit of a business tycoon. She and my uncle started a B 'n' B business which took off; they ended up with about six before he passed away. Heart disease,' he added, answering her unasked question. 'After that, she carried on with the business, but it became hotels instead. She's got eighteen now, and wants me to come on board so I can "learn the family business". I studied around working, so it was a bit like a year's apprenticeship.'
'Woah,' replied Elizabeth, impressed. 'She sounds like a real battleaxe. I can't imagine doing anything like that!'
Will smiled. 'Yeah, she's a tough old lady. Part of the reason she's worked so hard is so she can pledge money into research and treatment for heart diseases. She's definitely a tough one - always better to stay on her good side - but you've got to admire her.'
'So how come you're the Chosen One? Why isn't she training up her own kids?'
Will's face clouded over. 'My cousin Anne passed away two years ago. Same condition as my uncle. She was my age.'
'Oh Will,' Elizabeth breathed, sitting forward and placing a hand on his arm. 'I'm so sorry.'
He smiled briefly, accepting her compassion, then studied the floor again. 'It's ok. I guess I felt slightly obligated to take it on; Georgie's too young to be thinking about things like this yet, and it was the perfect opportunity to get away from everything that had happened here.' He frowned, casting his gaze across the car park, looking at nothing. 'There was nothing to keep me here, and a million reasons to go. But it turned out to be much better than I thought it would.' He looked back at Elizabeth. 'Don't tell anyone; you'll ruin my super-cool reputation, but I really enjoyed the organisational side of things. Being prepared, thinking up new strategies; it was fun.'
Elizabeth smiled, forcing herself to keep her tone light as she asked, 'when do you go back?'
He met her eye. 'I don't know,' he replied, truthfully, after a moment. 'I didn't think I had anything to stay for but…' he pressed his lips together self-consciously, 'now I'm back, I've realised how much I've missed Charlie and my family. I've even missed the routine of going to school. I've got to take my final exams here; something about not really being registered in Derbyshire, so I'll need to be back for that. I guess I just need to decide how much I want to do remotely.'
Elizabeth dropped her eyes and played absentmindedly with a loose strand on her jeans. 'Oh,' was all she said. She tried to rationalise her thoughts into something that made sense but it was impossible. All she knew was the thing she wanted most to do – to ask him to stay, not to go away again – was absolutely the last thing she could say to a boy she'd only met three or four hours ago and had spent most of the night being rude to.
They were silent for a moment. Elizabeth looked impatiently at her phone. Will watched as she worried her bottom lip, lost in thought.
'It'd be odd being here without Georgie,' He offered, keen to break the silence.
Elizabeth grinned at him. 'You have a very different relationship with you little sister to the one I have with mine.'
'Really? I don't know; Georgie can be a real pain at times.'
'Of course she can, it's a speciality of being a girl. But while your little sister is at home with her friends, my fourteen year old sister is out, trying to look eighteen, chatting up random guys at the local bar, not going home when told and,' speaking pointedly at her phone, 'not calling back!'
Will laughed, leaning back on an elbow. 'And what were you like when you were fourteen?'
Mortified, Elizabeth cried, 'not doing that! Mind you, we were living in the back water of nowhere – no, scrap that; we were living in the dip in the marshes of the backwaters of nowhere when I was fourteen; there wasn't anywhere to go.'
Will grinned. 'So not too many places to hang out, then?'
Elizabeth shook her head. 'That's probably why Jane and I get on so well; we only had each other. Dad used to run a dairy farm out in the sticks; he always says we were milking before we could walk! But we couldn't do it alone; Jane and I were inseparable; we'd do it together or not at all.' She smiled fondly in memory of her childhood as Will laughed. 'We were an hour away from school by bus and Lydia always used to follow us, desperate to come to school with us. Even then she wanted to be older than she was.'
'Perhaps she was lonely while the two of you were at school. Maybe that's why she wanted to come.' Will commented.
Elizabeth stared at him. 'I hadn't thought of that,' she replied quietly. In that moment, her heart poured out to her little sister as she considered this new view on her life; always excluded, both intentionally and unintentionally, by her older sisters; alone for most of the day with no one to play with except a mother who disliked farm life immensely. No wonder she'd pushed all the boundaries when they'd moved here; desperate to be involved in someone's life.
She glared at Will, good-naturedly. 'Doesn't mean she's got a right to be such a pain in my - '
She was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. For a moment the pair stared at it, as the name 'Lydia' flashed on the screen, before Elizabeth quickly answered it.
'Lydia! Where are you?' she cried, her irritation unable to completely cover her relief that her sister had called. The sound of Elizabeth's cry drew Jane and Charlie's attention and they hurried over.
Elizabeth frowned. 'Hello?'
'What's going on?' Will asked quietly.
'Nothing, it's just … scratchy.' Elizabeth sighed. 'I think it's a pocket dial. I can hear…music, I think… I'm not sure.'
'Put it on speakerphone,' Will suggested, scooting nearer. Elizabeth deftly hit the buttons and the four huddled closer to listen. The noises were indistinct; muffled rustling and the occasional burst of clearer sound as the phone was jostled about.
'She could be anywhere,' whispered Jane. 'She could even be at home, playing her music at full blast just to annoy Mum - '
'Did Lydia have a bag?' Asked Charlie, suddenly.
Elizabeth quickly dragged up a mental image of Lydia from earlier that evening. High heels, low top, denim skirt but no bag. 'No, I don't think she – oh! She was wearing a denim skirt; that probably had pockets.'
Will nodded. 'That makes sense - explains the rustling noises, too. I'll bet it's still in her pocket.'
The muffled scratchy noises intensified for a few seconds, presumably as Lydia shifted her seated position. Her voice came through, surprisingly clear after they'd been straining their ears. Her voice was slightly slurred and sounded tired.
'I don't know. I think I'd just rather go home. I'm tired.' There was a pause, and when Lydia spoke again, she sounded, for once, as young as she was. 'Would you take me home, please?'
The four exchanged glances. Elizabeth realised she was gritting her teeth. She felt Will's hand gently rest on her arm, encouraging her to relax. She smiled grimly at him, but froze as a voice rang clearly through the phone. A voice that was deep and seductive, thick with promises.
The voice of George Wickham.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end! I'd love to know what you think.
B :)
