"My freshman year I met George and he was everything I was not. He was the star of the soccer team, could chat up any girl, and had a fake ID. I was the leader of the school newspaper. George invited me to a party. He took me under his wing, so to speak. It was not until years later that a realized he had most likely heard about my family and chosen to befriend me because of it. We were always together. He got me to try things I never thought I would. He was always pushing the limits. Street racing, skinny dipping, breaking into the school to stuff Anne Elliot's locker full of condoms..." He actually chuckled here for the first time.

"But then his Mom died and his Dad got remarried. His Stepmother, had younger children and did not want George around, so he spent more and more time at my house. My Dad took him in. For some reason, he saw a kindred spirit in George. The only thing was, as he got older, small stunts turned into bigger ones. Each time he got caught, my Father would bail him out and have a word with the judge. The night of our graduation, he called me drunk at some party. I went to meet him, against my better judgment, but by the time I got there he was with my then girlfriend, Angela Monroe, locked in John Willoughby's bedroom. I went home, broke into my dad's scotch, drank more than anyone ever should and passed out. The next day, I got a visit from Angela. She said she was sorry. That she didn't know how it had happened. One minute she was drinking punch with George, waiting for me to get there, and the next she woke up in a strange bedroom. I forgave her, but we both knew it was over. Once you have lost that kind of trust, it can never return."

Then Will closed of his eyes; there was a brief moment of considering whether he should go on, but in the end the story had to be told. "I didn't see George until he came off his bender three days later. He claimed that she had seduced him and that she was a, word that I will not repeat, so who really cared. I told him that it mattered to me and I thought it was wrong and I didn't want to hang out anymore. After that, I don't know what happened. We went on to with our separate lives. It wasn't until my father's passing that I heard from him again. Apparently, while I was off at school, George was still taking advantage of my father. He had been given a job at Darcy Publishing. As I was processing my Father's will, I informed him that he had received a small inheritance. When he received the money, he quit his position at the firm and we thought that we would finally be through with him. It wasn't until some months later that we found he had embezzled from the company for all the years he had worked there."

"He argued that my father knew about the money and was helping him with various investments. I don't believe it but, due to some legal loopholes, he is still a free man. It left the business on the brink of bankruptcy;, we are only now getting back on our feet by pandering to the …" He was clearly trying to remember something, while she sat trying to process this whole mess. "… idle minded martini set. It has been a struggle but I think now we are to a point where we are again known for the quality of most of our work."

Ellie stared at him with a puzzled brow. This was not what she had expected at all. She twirled around many thoughts in her head. She opened her mouth to question, but before she could even figure out what she truly wanted to know, they were interrupted.

"I hate to break up your little chat, but I think my dear cousin is about to turn into a pumpkin." Richard joked, gesturing to Ana, who sat at the bar with an arm under her chin and her eyes barely cracked.

"Please excuse me, we had better be going; I didn't realize the time." Will headed in his sister's direction, then turned back, "I'm glad we were able to talk, Elizabeth; I hope you have a good night."

"Night Will," Ellie replied as he headed out the door, Ana tucked into his arm.

"Have a nice chat did we?" Richard asked as they closed out the tab.

"I don't really know."

"You seemed to at least not fight toward the end." He commented.

"We weren't ever really fighting, I don't think." She returned. "We are just ... well, I think we are just trying to figure each other out."

"And how's that going?"

"You know that song Two Steps Forward, TwoSteps Back?" Ellie asked

"Yeah?"

"Well,it's something like that."