Recap: Bonfire night; D kisses E; E thinks it could be a bet.
Elizabeth didn't sleep well that evening. She tossed and turned reliving the entire day. How could they go from arguing the night before to Darcy kissing her? It was unfathomable. Her mind was in turmoil, trying to decipher how she felt about the kiss and what he meant by it. Oh that's right, he doesn't know. No matter which way she looked at it she couldn't convince herself that he might be interested in her romantically. He can't insult me and then want me in 24 hours... can he?
She tried to reinforce the idea that Darcy was the lowest of the low, that the bet between him and Richard was actually plausible. However, the longer her tired brain knocked it around it didn't really seem like something either of them would do. Elizabeth was tempted to venture downstairs for a cup of tea but couldn't face the potential run-in with him. She finally drifted off into a troubled sleep around 3:00 a.m. She dreamed she was working in a kissing booth at the wedding to help Jane and Charlie earn some honeymoon money. Darcy kept standing in line and then leaving right before his turn to kiss her. Elizabeth awoke feeling extremely let down.
"Lizzy," Jane whispered. "I hate to wake you up again but..." Jane paced the floor as Elizabeth tried to tend to her words.
"What?" Elizabeth asked sleepily.
"Mother's here. And Lydia and Kitty too."
"What?!" Elizabeth sat up in bed, wide awake. "I thought they were coming later on... just for the tea."
Jane wrung her hands, her face etched with stress. "As did I. Evidently Mary expressed interest in seeing UCLA so Papa and she drove separately to spend a day on the campus. You know how thrilled he'd be if any of them expressed an interest in college. They'll join us this evening but Mother allowed Lydia and Kitty to drive with her. She left at 2:00 in the morning to get here in time for breakfast."
Elizabeth gaped at her sister. "I don't know if I can do it, Jane."
"Please Lizzy, I need some help from my... MOH," she said tentatively.
"You said MOH," Elizabeth said happily. "Okay, fine. Are they downstairs?"
Jane nodded. "In the dining room."
Elizabeth's stomach began doing flip flops in preparation for her next question. "Is Darcy down there?"
Jane narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Not yet but Charles was going to rouse him and the other groomsmen. Is there anything you'd like to share with me, Elizabeth?"
Jane must be serious if she called her something other than her nickname. "Not at this moment. Darcy and I are continuing our attempt to get along."
"Yesterday looked so promising," Jane said. "What happened?"
Elizabeth desperately wanted to share with her sister but she didn't know what to say. "A story for another time. Don't worry. Darcy and I will come to some understanding, I'm sure." Jane nodded warily and Elizabeth squeezed her arm. "Now let me get my lion tamer costume on so I can head to breakfast."
Elizabeth paused at the edge of the dining room, afraid to enter. She heard the voices of her mother and two sisters simultaneously and the din was quite amazing. She took a steadying breath and walked confidently in to asses the scene. Her mother was holding court at one end of the table. Seated on her right was Bill, keeping pace and volume with her mother and on the other side was Jane, serenely staring off into the garden outside. Kitty and Lydia broke up the groomsmen, with Charlie attempting to interject occasionally and Caroline tried not to make eye contact with anyone at the table. Louisa and Darcy were not yet in the room.
Elizabeth walked to the sideboard to help herself to some food. She noticed Jane's delicious raspberry stuffed french toast and was giving herself a generous helping when she was finally noticed.
"Geez Lizzy, leave some for the rest of us," Lydia scoffed, looking around the table for approval. The room went silent for a moment and Elizabeth did her best to keep her head held high and not blush.
"Yes, Lizzy," her mother echoed. "You do want to fit into your bridesmaid's gown, don't you?" Elizabeth saw Caroline Bingley put her hand over a mouth to stifle her laughter.
"Mother," Jane said in a gentle reprimand.
"Good to see you too, Mom, Lydia, Kitty." She finished scooping some fruit on her plate and went down to sit next to Caroline Bingley as it was sadly preferable to her own family. She reached out eagerly for the champagne bottle in the center of the table and poured herself a healthy helping and added just a splash of orange juice.
"Getting started early, Eliza?"
She smiled sweetly at Caroline. "Yes Liney, I am." She pointed to Caroline's glass, "but then again so are you."
Caroline frowned. "This is just orange juice."
"Uh huh, right. Bubbly orange juice."
Caroline huffed and got up and left the table. Louisa slid into her place and leaned towards Elizabeth. "Nothing like family to make you drink, huh?
Elizabeth smiled at the sister she did like. "No kidding. Can I pour you some?"
Louisa laughed. "I certainly need it but no." She leaned in closer and whispered. "I'm pregnant."
Elizabeth's eyes lit up and she suppressed a squeal. "Congratulations! This is wonderful. Since we're whispering I take it that this is a secret?"
Louisa shrugged. "More or less. Jane and Charlie know. Arnold knows, of course."
Elizabeth noticed the absence of one name. "And Caroline?"
Louisa shook her head no. "I'm not ready to tell her yet. Sometimes family isn't as supportive as you'd wish."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean."
Elizabeth's mother went on to prove their point. She grilled Jane about the wedding details, causing her to tear up when her mother remarked how déclassé roses were. She hinted how terrible it was that Elizabeth had no date to the wedding, especially when she had some very eligible bachelors right under her nose. Richard, George and Bill all looked in her direction after this comment and Elizabeth never felt more like she wanted to blend into the wallpaper. Louisa kept making encouraging remarks which did help ease the tension and allowed her not say something she would later regret.
Elizabeth did her best to deflect anything her mother said to Jane but then it brought the attention back to her in full force. The final straw was when her mother resorted to the age old tactic of criticizing Elizabeth's tattoos. "Is there really nothing you can do to cover up those hideous things for the wedding tomorrow?" she asked loudly as some of the men were going back for more helpings of breakfast. Richard looked at her and rolled his eyes and Louisa squeezed her arm.
"No, Mother," she said tightly.
"I mean, it's bad enough that we have to see them every day but this is a wedding, Elizabeth. There will be people there, wealthy people, who may not want to be associated with someone who looks like you. Think of your sister and her future. How will people respond to Mrs. Bingley if her sister is a tattooed freak?"
The room was silent and everyone avoided looking at Mrs. Bennett and Elizabeth. Elizabeth's eyes teared at the repetition of Darcy's original insult. "I..." she said unsteadily.
The sound of someone clearing their throat caught everyone's attention. "Excuse me everyone," Darcy said forcefully, standing at the door to the dining room. "I must steal Elizabeth away from you for awhile. I need to go pick up my sister Georgiana from the airport and she has offered to navigate for me." He looked at Elizabeth with a gentle expression. "Are you ready to leave?"
Elizabeth was surprised but nodded mutely and rose to exit with him. "I don't believe we've met," a voice called from down the table. Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm Lizzy and Jane's mother Fanny Bennet. These are their sisters, Lydia and Kitty. And you are...?" Elizabeth downed her mimosa in one gulp and walked towards Darcy.
"William Darcy, ma'am." He gave a curt wave and held his hand out for Elizabeth to pass by him out the door.
Elizabeth could hear her mother faintly asking, "Darcy, did he say?" before she exited the front door after Darcy. She looked at him in wonder and gratitude for his rescue. He turned to face her on the porch.
"You don't need to go with me, Elizabeth. You can go stay up in your room. I just couldn't stand to hear her say those things to you."
Elizabeth blinked up in surprise at him. Without thinking she walked forward and wound her arms around his waist, pulling him in for a hug. "Thank you," she whispered. He held her, happy and surprised at her affection. He had almost expected her to throw something at him instead and told her so. "I might just have if I didn't want to get away so desperately. My mother spends her free time scheming about new ways to torture me." She sighed. "She knows the right buttons to push."
"Like calling you a tattooed freak? What kind of degenerate would do that?" He frowned at her.
"So you recognized your own words?"
"Yes," he replied contritely. "I did. When I knew you overheard them I was embarrassed that I had been caught. Now... Elizabeth, I am now wholeheartedly ashamed that I have ever thought that about you, let alone verbalized it. I am truly sorry." His face looked as dark as thunder. "No one should talk like that to you. Ever."
Elizabeth looked up at him, unsure how she got to this point with a man she just met. A man who cast aspersions one minute and kissed her the next. What was going on in that head of his? "Thank you. That was a proper apology." She smiled at him reassuringly. "Why don't we go pick up your sister. I'd really like to meet her if you don't mind."
He nodded and they walked over to the rental car parked in the circular driveway. He unlocked her door and opened it for her. Before closing it he leaned down. "And for the record, you were never a bet." Elizabeth pinked as he closed the door and walked around to the driver's side. Then what was I?
Elizabeth expected an awkward silence on the ride to the airport so she initiated the first conversation. "Tell me more about raising Georgiana," she said. Darcy went on to explain that he had left the house for school when she was only six. He moved back home when his parents died unexpectedly in a car crash. Elizabeth squeezed his arm tenderly as he recalled moving back home.
"Here I am, twenty three years old, really starting my adult life and suddenly I'm a surrogate father. It was completely overwhelming. Georgiana knew me, of course, but since I was only around on holidays we didn't really know each other the way a brother and sister should. I moved into my old room, right next to Georgie's. For the first week she wouldn't talk to me. Already at 11 she was having trouble processing life. And she had the most horrible nightmares every night. She would wake up screaming for our mother. I've never felt so helpless." He looked at Elizabeth with bright eyes. "Sorry if this is too much. I've never had a chance to share this with anyone."
"I'm honored you're sharing it with me. Discussing loss and your reaction to it is very personal."
He smiled. "That sounds like professional speak."
"I just took a couple classes in college," she shrugged.
He smiled at the similarity between her and Charlie. "Well, as I was saying I moved home and tried the best I could to give Georgiana a normal life. It went okay for a couple of years but as she hit her teens I could no longer handle raising an adolescent girl. I thought about hiring a nanny or companion but she seemed too old for that. So, in consult with some of my extended family I sent her away to boarding school. I told you about her dismissals. She truly has the sweetest heart. I think she is just incredibly lost."
Elizabeth nodded. "Sounds like it. Does she have any interests or hobbies?"
Darcy described Georgiana's love for music and her gift for art. "Um, Darcy, I hate to interrupt but where are we going? Should I actually be navigating?"
Darcy laughed. "I entered the address in the navigation system but maybe we should check. We're going to Carlsbad Airport."
"Oh, I love that airport. It is absolutely tiny but so much better than Lindbergh Field. I'm sure this is the right way then. We should actually be pretty close."
"Okay good. Georgiana flew into LAX last night and then was flying down here today. It's amazing that she's on her own for most of the year, doing her own things, living her life, but when I know I'm going to see her I suddenly fear for her safety."
Elizabeth smiled indulgently and they both saw the sign indicating the airport parking lot.
"Wow, this is small," Darcy remarked, turning the car into a parking space.
"Wait until you see the terminal." They hiked up a small hill to the main terminal to find it absolutely empty. They walked over to a television screen and studied it. "Looks like there are several coming in from LAX. Do you have a flight number?"
Georgiana's flight wasn't due for another 25 minutes so Elizabeth suggested they go over to the little restaurant next to the terminal. Darcy ordered some eggs and Elizabeth just got a cup of coffee.
"Can you tell me more about your family?" Darcy asked curiously.
She frowned. "They cause me to drink irrationally," she deadpanned. He laughed. "I'm semi-serious. Remember the drunk tattoo? I do have to warn you that there is a very good chance that I might get smashed at the rehearsal dinner tonight and the wedding tomorrow."
"I'll prop you up but I'm not going to hold your hair if you throw up."
"Gee, thanks Darcy. Um, my mom and dad were both teachers. My mom 'retired' when Lydia was born. She taught elementary school. My dad just retired last year. He was a high school political science teacher. Education is super important to my father but my mother only cares that her daughters are taken off her hands. I am terrified that she is grooming my younger sisters to be vapid, robot wives."
"Like Caroline," he observed.
"Pretty much, except without the modern day dowry to back it up. My father is very type A; everything has order, etc., etc. He and I get along better than my mom and I but I'm not sure I please him either. My job is too artsy and out there for him."
"Isn't teaching an art? And sometimes a little out there?"
Elizabeth smiled. "It is but do you remember your teachers who were hard asses? The ones that did everything by the book and you were sure had never been married or didn't remember what it was like to be a kid? That's my dad."
Darcy ruminated over this. "So your dad is pragmatic, your mother opportunistic-"
"Oh, good adjective."
"Your younger sisters are vacuous-"
"Triple word score Darcy. I like that one too."
"Jane is complaisant." She nodded in agreement. "And you are?"
She smiled at him. "What? What is your assessment."
He faltered. Exquisite. He longed to say it. "Enigmatic," he said finally. "You are still a mystery to me."
She smiled brightly. "I like that. It's good for a woman to be a little mysterious. I don't want you discovering all of my secrets Mr. Darcy."
"What am I?" he asked gamely. All of the adjectives she had attributed to him earlier flitted into her head: arrogant, awkward, asshat, attractive. She blushed at the last one. Darcy was looking especially handsome today. He was wearing jeans and a red polo shirt. His blue eyes popped against his dark hair and he looked a little tan. No fair that he can tan. She realized he had been waiting patiently while she was scrutinizing him.
"Unexpected," she finally answered.
"I'll take it. It's better than asshole." She smiled sadly remembering their conversation after tattoos. "Are you ready to get Georgiana?" He put some money on the table and escorted her back to the terminal, touching her back lightly to guide her. She shivered slightly and felt the loss of his hand as they arrived to the gate.
Elizabeth knew that judging people before she truly got to know them was one of her weaknesses. Sometimes she was uncannily accurate but often she missed the mark. What was worse is that she felt like such a hypocrite for doing it. She hated it when people looked at her and only saw the tattoos and then drew conclusions about her based upon them and nothing else. However, she did not expect the contradiction that was Georgiana Darcy.
Visually she met Elizabeth's expectations: Tight skinny jeans, a large, billowy tank top with arm holes that displayed her hot pink lace bra. There were no visible tattoos or piercings but she wore thick black eyeliner and had a purple streak in her blond hair. She had a scowl to match the one Elizabeth had often seen grace her brother's lips over the past two days but it was immediately replaced with an enormous grin when she saw Darcy.
"Fitzwilliam," she cried, embracing him. Elizabeth smiled at the tearful reunion. Darcy held onto his baby sister tightly for a few moments.
"I'm so happy to see you Georgiana. Did you have a good flight?" Georgiana nodded and then noticed Elizabeth.
"Who is this?" she asked her brother curiously. "Is this your girlfriend, Fitz?" Her voice rose in excitement as she noticed Elizabeth's tattooed arms. Both Elizabeth and Darcy turned a deep shade of red. Elizabeth recovered first as Darcy was still clearing his throat nervously.
"I'm Elizabeth Bennet. Jane, the bride is my sister. Your brother asked me to help him get here as I'm more familiar with the area. I just met Fitz two days ago." Darcy scowled at her use of his sister's nickname. Elizabeth winked at him, amused by his discomfort.
Georgiana's face fell. "I was hoping he finally started dating someone I would like," she said sadly.
Elizabeth laughed. "You just met me. Wait until you get to know me. You might not like me as much." Elizabeth saw an opportunity to tease Darcy further. "What kind of girls does Fitzy normally date?"
Darcy cleared his throat. "Why don't we get your luggage, Georgiana." He started walking out of the small terminal towards the single luggage carousel which hadn't even started revolving.
Georgiana smiled at Elizabeth. "Absolute bitches," she whispered.
"I figured," she whispered back.
A/N: D+E+G= Yay!