My trip south got delayed by a day, so therefore you get another chapter that you wouldn't have otherwise had- Enjoy. Snow.
Chapter 25
The next morning Lizzie was still in a bit of a daze, as she stopped off at the cafeteria before class to grab a coffee and a doughnut. Charlie had indeed apologised and asked for Jane to take him back, and to both his and Lizzie's relief she had said 'yes'.
Now as Liz stood waiting for her order she had plenty of time to reflect on current events. Thanking the lunch lady and gathering up her 'breakfast' she turned around to find George Wickham leaning against the bar looking at her.
Lizzie couldn't believe how completely opposite her feelings were upon seeing him now she knew his true character.
"Lizzie Bennet, looking fine." Wickham remarked with a wink, "Have you missed me?"
"Not as much as you might think." Lizzie answered, walking past him "I've got to get to class."
Wickham hurried to keep up with her, "I heard that you spent a weekend at Darcy's hotel and met Miss. Georgiana."
"What's the matter Wickham, afraid the charade is up?" Lizzie threw over her shoulder
"Liz" Wickham protested, "You can't truly believe Will Darcy over me."
Lizzie sniggered, "Keep it up George, you could get a Oscar for this performance."
Wickham grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around, obliviously to the students who had stopped walking to see what was going on. Lizzie stared pointedly at his hand until he removed it.
"You know I like you Lizzie. Everything Darcy and Georgie say is a pack of lies, they're just jealous." Wickham remarked
"Jealous of what?!" Lizzie asked, beginning to lose her temper, "Wickham let me spell it out for you- Will is my boyfriend, Georgie is his sister and my friend, you are not winning me over by spouting abuse about them."
"Your boyfriend?" Wickham repeated in shock, "No Liz – anyone but him!"
"Sorry" Lizzie replied, "I don't want anyone but him."
With that she walked the last few metres to her class, upon entering through the door she heard Wickham's parting remark yelled at her back
"You'll regret this! You'll all regret this."
Charlotte, Jane and Lizzie went out for drinks that night. Lazing on the lounge with a vodka sunrise in her hand Charlotte turned to look at Lizzie
"You know you never did tell me what went on between you and Will on the weekend."
Jane eyes widened, "Will? As in Will Darcy? Lizzie have you been keeping secrets from me?"
Lizzie heaved a sigh and fixed Charlotte with a 'Thanks alot' stare
"We had a fight" Lizzie confessed, "Things got messy."
"I take it this was after you bailed out of the shopping trip with Georgie." Charlotte prompted
"Who's Georgie?" Jane asked, momentarily lost
"Georgiana Darcy, Will's sister." Lizzie clarified
"You've been spending time with his family!" Jane exclaimed, "I can't believe I didn't know any of this."
"Colin's company is owned by Darcy's family." Charlotte informed, "He owned the hotel we stayed in."
"He owns a hotel?" Jane asked, "I think I'm going to need another drink."
Charlotte only smiled, and Lizzie got the distinct feeling that she knew something "Well this fight may have been bad enough to send us home from the conference early, but I hear it wasn't bad enough to stop you declaring rather vehemently to George Wickham that you were Darcy's girl in the middle of a college walkway this morning."
Charlotte caught Lizzie's eye and she knew she couldn't hide her feelings any longer. Jane too was staring at her sister, she knew her to be very forthright, but not normally when it came to matters of the heart and public places.
"Have you two made up?" Jane asked
Lizzie glanced down at her drink, "I'm not sure."
"You're not sure?" Both girls asked in unison
"He sent me an e-mail apologising and explaining." Lizzie informed, "He said he thought he was falling in love with me."
Charlotte grinned, "I knew it! When Georgie and I caught you asleep together on the couch in your hotel room we knew something more was going on."
Jane just shook her head, "I'm going to get us another round of drinks, and then I want to know the finer details of this tale."
Across campus in Charlie and Will's apartment the two guys were involved in a similar situation.
"I can't believe all of this has happened and you didn't even tell me." Charlie exclaimed
Darcy shrugged in apology, "It all happened rather quickly."
Charlie just shook his head, "Well, that adds a whole nother meaning to something I heard today."
Darcy frowned, "What did you hear?"
"Well it wasn't me actually; it was Lizzie's friend Toby." Charlie explained, "He said that Wickham is back and that he was harassing Liz on her way to class." Charlie noticed the change in Darcy's expression and quickly added, "Just let me go on. Apparently he was saying you were a liar and not to listen to a word you said and Lizzie turned around and told him that you were her boyfriend and pretty much to stop while he was ahead."
Darcy blinked, "She said that I was her boyfriend?"
"Yeah, are you?" Charlie asked, looking as confused as Darcy
"Well I just assumed that after the almighty fight we had we were over before we'd begun" Darcy considered, "But I guess she never actually broke up with me."
"Grrrrrrrr" he exclaimed in frustration, standing up and grabbing another beer from the fridge, "If she's going to go around saying things like that in front of half the college how come she hasn't even answered my e-mail?"
"I don't know." Charlie replied honestly, "But at least it sounds like she got it and it had the desired effect."
Darcy sat back down and buried his face in his hands, "Women."
"We didn't know what we were in for getting involved with the Bennet sisters did we?" Charlie remarked, "Well I had my reunion with Jane yesterday, maybe you should have yours with Lizzie tomorrow."
Darcy took another swig of his beer, "Maybe your right" He agreed