Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update...My internet has been really sucky for the last month and RL was really hectic as well. Anyways, here's the next chapter, let me know what you think and once again thanks to my beta Mab35!
Chapter 19
A few days later, Lizzy walked into her town house and made her way into the warm kitchen to see what Nina had on the menu. It wasn't often that she made it home in time to eat dinner that was still hot off the stove instead of having to zap it in the microwave. However tonight was the exception. Charlie had implemented her idea with the rest of the team and they seemed to be buckling down. Apparently the threat of being evaluated by their boss's boss was just what they needed to get moving and Lizzy couldn't be more satisfied with the results.
She found Nina pulling a tray of ramekins from the oven.
"Hi Nina" she walked up the surprised woman and kissed her on the cheek
"Lizzy! You're home early tonight. To what do we owe this honor?" She smiled warmly at the young woman as she grabbed a carrot from the salad bowl.
"Well, things are going great at work so I figured I could make it home early for once." She glanced at the tray, "Ooh and I couldn't have picked a better day. Nobody makes a chicken pot pie like you Nina."
"Oh go on now!" Nina couldn't hide her blush or the pleased smile that made its way onto her face. "Go wash up and be a dear and see if you can get Jane to eat. Poor girl has been out of sorts and I'm beginning to worry."
Lizzy frowned, "What do you mean? Where is she?"
"She's been spending a lot of time in her room lately, barely touches her dinner and she hasn't been going out to eat either." Nina sighed. She didn't like to impose but she couldn't help but worry. It had been so much easier with Lizzy. A plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies was all it took and Lizzie would begin chattering about all her problems and worries, ready to be advised and cuddled. Nina doubted Jane would do the same.
"I'm going to go check on her, see if she's okay." Lizzy's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Yes go on and see if you can get her to come down. I'll have dinner on the table in 10 minutes."
Lizzy walked out of the kitchen and made her way up the stairs and towards Jane's room. She knocked lightly and waited for permission to enter. When none was heard, Lizzy knocked again and slowly opened the door a crack to see if Jane was there. Sure enough, her friend sat on a sofa by the bed, idly playing with her cellphone.
"Jane…can I come in?" She asked softly, not wishing to force her presence. Jane nodded and Lizzy entered the room, shutting the door behind her. In the short time Jane had been living there, she had managed to put her stamp on her room. After Lizzy had insisted that they make their living arrangement permanent, Jane had had the room painted a soft ivory color to complement the plush dusty rose carpet. The room was tastefully furnished with a cream-colored armoire, vanity and sleigh bed while the Victorian sofa and chair in the sitting area was upholstered in light pink and cream velvet. There were pictures of her family as well as Lizzy and Charlie spread around the room and the off white curtains that covered the floor to ceiling windows, were pulled back with dull gold sashes, letting the moonlight shine through.
"Hey…what's wrong?" Lizzy's voice was barely above a whisper. It felt wrong to speak in a louder tone with Jane looking so melancholy.
"Nothing, don't worry about it." Jane's soft voice was weak with disappointment.
"How can I not worry when you're sitting here like this?" Lizzy sat beside her friend and faced her. "Did something happen at work?" When Jane shook her head, she continued, "Is everything okay with your family?" When Jane nodded, Lizzy felt she couldn't take it anymore, "Janey please you gotta give me something here! I'm starting to freak out!"
Jane sighed, and turned to face her friend, "I think Charlie wants to break up with me."
Out of the possible answers to her question, that was the one Lizzy had least expected. Jane and Charlie were joined at the hip. It didn't make sense. "What? That's ridiculous! Where did you come up with that? You guys are always together."
Jane shook her head, "I haven't seen him for the past few days."
Lizzy was speechless. "Umm did he say he wanted to break up?"
Jane sighed, "No, but he called and said that things were moving a too fast and that maybe we should slow down a little." She grabbed a tissue from the side table and wiped the stray tear that had managed to escape her efforts at controlling her emotions.
"Ok, well that's not breaking up. It's ok to take things slow. I mean, it's not like you have to get married tomorrow. You've been dating for, what, 2 months now?"
"2 and ½ months," Jane corrected her friend. It seemed essential that Lizzy acknowledge every day of her relationship.
"Okay but see, there's nothing wrong with slowing down and trying to figure out if you guys are meant to be." Lizzy tried to reassure her friend. Personally, she didn't see anything wrong with going slow.
Jane gave her friend a pitiful look, "Lizzy, he hasn't called since then." That information silenced her friend. It really didn't make sense for someone who was as enamored as Charlie had seemed to be to just back off all of a sudden, at least not without a reason.
"So…what happened? He just came up with this at the spur of the moment while you guys were having dinner?" Lizzy tried to make sense of the situation.
Jane sat up, resigned to go through it once more, only this time, out loud and not in her head. "Well, we had plans for Sunday evening and all of a sudden, he called me and said he couldn't make it. I told him it wasn't a problem and we could just meet the next day but he started going on about taking things slow, getting to know each other better. He mentioned something about getting our priorities straight, and not being together for the wrong reasons. I thought we were together because we cared about each other!" Jane couldn't control her tears anymore and they fell freely. Lizzy reached out and took her friends hand in hers, trying to offer whatever comfort she could. They sat silently together for a few minutes.
"Oh crap," Lizzy glanced towards the door, remembering the dinner that was probably getting cold as they sat there. "Listen," she turned back to Jane, "things will work out, don't worry. Guys like Charlie scare easily but he won't let you go. Now, I promised Nina that I would bring you down for dinner. You have her worried." She stood up, still holding Jane's hand but Jane didn't budge, "I'm really not hungry, you go on without me."
Lizzy sighed, "Come on, please? You'll feel better one you have some food in your stomach. Besides, you'll hurt Nina's feelings and you don't want to do that do you?" She knew Jane would not risk the possibility of hurting someone. And sure enough, her softhearted friend reluctantly stood and followed her out of the room.
As they sat at the table, Jane picked at her food, playing with the vegetables and chicken, while Lizzy devoured hers while deep in thought.
It just didn't make sense. Lizzy reflected to herself; What could Charlie have meant when he said 'wrong reasons'? They only things she could think of were people that entered relationships with secret agendas, like money or connections Charlie wasn't the type to even to imagine that Jane would have ulterior motives. Was it Caroline? Was she the one influencing her brother against his girlfriend? No, it was obvious that Charlie didn't take his sisters opinions seriously. But then what could it be? Or who? Who would warn Charlie against Jane? Who would Charlie take advice- Lizzy sat up straight, her shock evident on her face. She recalled her weird conversation with Charlie from a few days back. He had mentioned something about Will giving him advice and even when they disagreed, he bowed to Will's superior intelligence. She growled under her breath, resolved to get to the bottom of this.
"Sweetie, listen, I have to run a quick errand." Jane nodded listlessly, not even bothering to look up. Her gloomy demeanor made Lizzy even more determined to fix this. "Promise me you'll finish your dinner. Nina will be offended. Her pot pie is a family specialty and there's never been leftovers ever." She stood and waited until Jane finally put a piece of chicken in her mouth, "Good girl, I'll see you in a bit." Lizzy ran to grab her purse. With no time to call a car, she decided to drive herself and grabbed her keys, rushing out, a woman on a mission.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
The slam of a door reverberated followed by a piercing shriek, "William Darcy! Where are you?"
Will and his cousin gave each other puzzled looks over the billiard table. The two were enjoying a quiet night at Will's place, playing pool and drinking beer.
"It's finally happened," Richard's voice was full of awe. Will looked at him in confusion, waiting for him to explain.
"One of your rejected exes has cracked and is out for your blood."
His cousin made a face at him, "Be serious for once Richard,"
"How do you know I'm not?" the playful redhead retorted. The sound of footsteps getting closer could be heard and both men watched the door to see who exactly had come to exact revenge. Needless to say, both were shocked when a livid Lizzy marched in, face red, eyes wide. She threw her purse onto the pool table so forcefully it caused the contents to come sprawling out.
"What the HELL is wrong with you?" She burst out. Will could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. Richard whistled, tossed his cue onto the pool table and moved out of the line of fire. "I'll just…sit over there." He sidled away and went to take a seat on a chair across the fuming brunette and her reluctant opponent, where he would have a prime viewing spot.
"What? What did I do?" Will objected holding his hands up in a defensive gesture. Lizzy walked up until she stood directly in front of him. "How could you? You think you know everything don't you? Well you don't! And your stupidity is hurting people!" She kept yelling at a very confused Will. He turned to look at Richard for a possible explanation but his cousin just shrugged with a baffled expression on his face.
"Ok, calm down.." Will tried to cut into Lizzy's tirade but with little success. His attempt to soothe only aggravated her even further.
"Do NOT tell me to calm down," She pointed her index finger at Will, "I'll calm down when you admit you're an ass and fix what you broke!"
Will once again turned anxiously towards his cousin, sending him a silent plea for help. Richard took pity on him and tried to intervene, "Uhh Lizzy, sweetie, you're going to have to fill in some blanks." Lizzy turned her furious glare towards him as he tried to look like he was not affected by her anger when in reality he was. Who knew that little Lizzy would grow up to have such a temper? "See, Will here, as well as myself, have no idea what you are talking about."
Once again Lizzy interrupted, not caring what else he had to say, "Well, maybe you don't know what I'm talking about, " She turned back to Will, "But William knows exactly what's wrong."
"Actually I don't…"
"Yeah he really doesn't…"
"FINE! If you insist on playing dumb…I'm talking about Charlie and Jane and that horrible advice you gave him!"
Will felt the color drain from his face, "Who…uh… who told you about that?"
"What? You thought I wouldn't find out?" She shrieked at him.
"Umm, guys I'm a little out of the loop here," Richard halfheartedly waved his hand trying to get their attention. But both parties ignored him.
"Listen Lizzy, I didn't-"
"You didn't what? You didn't tell Charlie to dump Jane?"
"What? Will-" Richard jumped in disbelief. But his cousin didn't allow him to continue.
"I didn't say that!" he yelled at Richard before turning back to Lizzy, "I didn't say that!" He insisted to her but she refused to listen.
"Don't try to deny it! I'm not an idiot! The minute Jane told me what Charlie said, I knew it had to come from someone else! There's no way Charlie would have behaved like that on his own!"
"Actually…" Richard tried again to put his 2 cents in.
"Shut up Richard!" Lizzy yelled at him while still glaring at his cousin. "Why did you do it?" Will opened his mouth to defend himself, but she went on yelling, "Do you have a problem with Jane? You don't like her?" Once again Will opened his mouth to protest and again Lizzy drowned him out, "Were you jealous? Is that why you did it? You're jealous of your friends happiness?" Will didn't think Lizzy's voice could get any louder.
"Lizzy give him a chance-"
"Stay out of it Richard!"
Richard raised his eyebrows and sat back in his seat. Will couldn't see any other way of getting her attention, "LIZZY!" He yelled over her. She shut her mouth and glowered at him, "I DIDN'T TELL CHARLIE TO DUMP JANE!"
"DON'T LIE TO ME WILLIAM DARCY!" She shouted.
"I'M NOT!"
"THEN WHY IS HE AVOIDING HER?"
"I DON'T KNOW, ASK HIM!"
Richard's head swiveled back and forth as though her were watching a tennis match. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. "ENOUGH!" He bellowed. "You guys are giving me a migraine! I'm going to need a whole bottle Percocet if you don't shut up!" Both Lizzy and Darcy stared at him, speechless and breathing hard. He hurried on before either of them could begin yelling again, "Now, calm down and speak like rational adults. Lizzy, explain…without yelling, what exactly happened. Did Charlie really breakup with Jane?"
Lizzy took a deep breath and exhaled in attempt to calm her rage, "He cancelled plans with her saying something about slowing down and trying to make sure they were not together for the wrong reasons," she paused to glare at Will before turning back to his cousin and continuing, "And he's been avoiding her ever since. He did not come up with that on his own and we all know that Caroline doesn't have that kind of influence over him. William, however, does." She crossed her arms and scowled at him.
"Ok, wait-"
"Wait Will, did you give Charlie any advice?" Richard prompted, praying the answer would be a firm NO.
Will sighed, "Yes but I didn't tell him to break up with Jane."
"There," Richard sighed with relief, "See Lizzy-"
"I did tell him that it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to slow down." Will admitted hesitantly. Richard hung his head in defeat. 'Let the fighting recommence' he thought to himself.
"Why? Why is it your business how fast or slow they go in their relationship?" Lizzy's voice was still full of rage but thankfully she had lowered the decibels.
"Charlie has a habit of rushing into relationships and getting his heart broken." Out of the corner of his eye, Will could see his cousin nodding in agreement and this gave him the courage to go on. "I was looking out for a friend. You would have done the same in my position."
"Oh get off your high horse Darcy!" Lizzy snapped, "I would never interfere in my friend's relationship. I would support her!"
"Even if she was about to be victimized?" Will countered.
"Are you saying Jane is using Charlie? She doesn't need his money or connections! She has ME! If she wanted to use someone, I would be the logical choice don't you think?" Her voice was scathing.
"How do you know you aren't being used?" Will insisted.
"Because I know her. She's my friend and I trust my friends. Unlike you! You think I'd be best friends with her if she were a gold digger? Do you think I'm too stupid to be able to tell the difference? "
"This is not about trust! And no, I don't think you're stupid. What is so wrong with taking things slow in a relationship? Charlie always charges into things headfirst, I just told him to not to rush. Is that a crime?" Will turned to his cousin for support.
Richard cleared his throat, "Lizzy there seems to be a little bit of a misunderstanding. Nobody advised Charlie to dump Jane. He probably wanted to take some time to think. I'm sure he'll call Jane soon." Lizzy took no comfort in Richards mollifying tone. She took a deep breath, "You better fix this William. If Charlie breaks Jane's heart because of you, I will never forgive you. He's sitting at home thinking about whether or not to end his relationship with my friend, all thanks to you! You made him THINK!" In any other situation, what Lizzy had said would have caused them to snicker but laughter was the furthest thing on any of their minds. She grabbed her purse and stormed out. Will noticed her keys still lying on the billiard table. He picked them up. "Did she drive here?" Before Richard could respond, Lizzy marched back in, grabbed her keys from his hand and marched back out with one last glare. Will turned to his cousin, "She really shouldn't drive-" Even with his mind in a turmoil, Will's first thought was for Lizzy and her safety, but before he could finish his sentence, Richard stood up nodding, "I'm on it," He rushed out behind his angry friend, intent on making sure she arrived safely home.