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Chapter 28
Lydia was picked up the next morning by Mr. Bennett as planned. Will was nervous to meet him but found that he needn't be as Lizzie and Jane's father was very impressed with both his eldest girl's boyfriends and their large parts in tracking down his younger daughter.
It was discovered that Wickham had gotten Lydia's e-mail address from Colin, who had been told that Wickham had photos from the party that he wanted to send to her.
Wickham had heeded Darcy's warning and left the campus for good, transferring out to another college and army reserves base. Lizzie had a suspicion that Will might have dropped a line to the nearby base about Wickham's track record for running away with young girls, but she was not going to berate him about it, far from it. Lizzie found herself very proud of Will and the way he handled situations, in fact her opinion of her boyfriend could only go up.
Colin's exchange time with their college was almost up and Charlotte was spending the majority of her time with him to make up for the time they would miss when he went back home. They had agreed to spend time together in the holidays and ring every night.
He was another person that Lizzie found had gone up in her opinion. She could still only stand him in small doses, but she saw how kind he was to Charlotte and how much he card for her and had decided that he mustn't be quite so bad after all if he was able to make her bestfriend happy.
Lizzie was sitting on the lounge in the cafeteria musing over these revelations when Toby plonked himself down next to her.
"Hey you" He remarked, "You look like you're miles away."
Lizzie blinked her eyes and refocused on him, "I was"
"Have you finished the essay Mr. McLeod set?" Toby asked, stealing the remnants of her lunch from the table
"Nearly, I've only got about 600 words to go, but I have a feeling that those last 600 are going to fight me all the way." Lizzie confessed
"Wanna finish them together tonight?" Toby offered, while chewing , "We might be able to swap ideas and make the words flow better."
Lizzie pulled a face, "I can't tonight, Will is taking me out to dinner. He's had it arranged for a while. What about tomorrow in between classes?"
"Yeah that sounds good" Toby agreed, "Soooo" he winked, "You and Will Darcy are getting serious?"
"Maybe we are" Lizzie acknowledged with a grin, "What's it to you?"
"I'm just making sure my girl's being looked after." Toby remarked
"I am" Lizzie answered
"You know I thought in that very first history lesson when we were all in the same group that you had finally met your match with Will." Toby revealed, "And I don't necessarily mean just romantically either."
"You know me too well for me to be able to plead ignorance of what you mean." Lizzie smirked, "But what about you Tobes, any lovely women you've had your eye on of late?"
"Well there is one...." Toby answered, "You know Veronica Lewis?"
Lizzie raised her eyebrows and nodded, "We sit together in modern literature."
"I thought you did." Toby replied, "I don't suppose you could put a good word in for me?"
Lizzie tilted her head and considered her friend, "I suppose I could do that. But you'd owe me"
Toby tapped the side of her nose and stood up, "I've gotta go to class. I'll see you tomorrow Beautiful ."
Lizzie waved him off with a dismissive hand, before looking back at her lunch and realising there was nothing left.
That night Lizzie, dressed in all her finery, sat across from Will in an expensive restaurant not far from the campus. Will had encouraged her to order what ever she wanted, including desert. That fact alone made her realise that he knew her well.
She thought about what Toby had said about Will being her match in more ways then one. It was true, he always stood up to her, and never just let her get away with everything like other boys would. She had actually come to enjoy the verbal sparring that had originally made her dislike him. He challenged her, but at the same time looked after her.
Even with her feminist ideals and working class background Lizzie found that she didn't feel put down or belittled. In the course of knowing her, Darcy had learnt how to make his opinions known in a more subtle manner and not let his aloofness come across as much as snobbishness or superiority.
Yes she decided, Toby was right, they were getting serious. She was dangerously close to falling deeply in love – and for once that was a good thing. A very good thing.
A few months later Lizzie was lying on Darcy's bed doing history revision while he checked his e-mails. Suddenly her reading was interrupted by Will yelling "Yes!"
"Geez" Lizzie exclaimed, sitting up quickly "What was that for?"
"I just got an e-mail from Georgie saying she got into nursing here! It was her first choice too!" Will informed proudly
Lizzie smiled at his enthusiasm, "Is she going to live on campus?"
"I promised her she could live here if she got in." Will confessed to Lizzie with a slight blush
Lizzie laughed and shook her head, "You spoil her."
"Maybe I do." Will agreed, walking over to the bed "But you may recall that I also spoil you."
Lizzie blinked innocently, "Why I don't know what you mean."
Darcy smirked and wrapped his arms around her, "Plus if she's living here for at least her first year we can keep an eye on her, help her get settled in."
"We hey." Lizzie repeated, picking up on the plural, "Does that mean I'm a permanent fixture on the Darcy calendar."
Will kissed her softly before pulling back to look into her eyes, "You know you are. In fact I wanted to talk to you about something relating to that very area."
"Oh yes?" Lizzie inquired
"Charlie is also asking Jane, but I was wondering if maybe you, might want to, perhaps..." He stumbled over the words
"Spit it out Will." Lizzie encouraged none to delicately
"Move in with me." He finished
Lizzie pulled back for a second to consider the proposal, Will took this is as uncertainty and immediately began to backtrack "I don't want you to see it as trying to take away your independence or your personal space...."
He stopped and looked up to see Lizzie gazing at him with a bemused smile.
"What?" He asked
"You're very cute when you're flustered." She remarked
Darcy rolled his eyes before becoming serious once more, "Is that a yes?"
Lizzie rewarded him with a smile, "Knowing Charlie he's probably already got someone moving our things."
Darcy allowed himself a small smirk at her wit but wouldn't let her get away without a proper answer, "Elizabeth?"
"Yes I will move in with you." Lizzie finally agreed
Now Darcy let his grin grow as he threw himself backwards onto the bed taking Lizzie with him. Lizzie squealed and pretended to fight him off but soon relented as he kissed her hard on the lips.
Laying together staring up at the ceiling Lizzie observed, "Imagine us - one big happy family."
"I hope so." Will answered, ignoring her cynicism
Together they snuggled in close, pushing Lizzie's books out of the way
"Stay the night?" Will requested
"Soon you won't have to ask." Lizzie pointed out
"I like that idea" Will replied, closing his eyes "I like it alot."
