A/N: I feel like I have to clarify my last A/N, so read the A/N at the end of the chapter. Happy reading!

Chapter 29: Moving Forward

Elizabeth Bennet sat with her hands folded on the table in front of her. Her feet were crossed under the table. She decided that if she were to rate the ten most awkward moments in her life, this one would probably make the list. Scratch that. Most definitely would make the list.

"So, uh…"

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "You already know all the details. There's nothing you have to ask me as my lawyer that would help you build a case."

Darcy smiled slightly across the oak table while crossing his arms loosely over his chest. "Can I ask you questions not as a lawyer, but as an ex-boyfriend?" he leaned in closer, and raised an eyebrow. Even across such a wide table, he was too close for comfort.

Lizzy winced and leaned back in her chair, and he smirked slightly as if he knew why. "I'd prefer if you didn't use that term."

"Why? No, don't answer yet," he held up a hand. "I, as your lawyer, could come up with an innumerable number of reasons why that would hold true. One, perhaps you would prefer ex-lover. No? Then my next suggestion is that you feel real guilt about the ordeal you put me through, and perhaps certain allegations may have been true?"

Lizzy stood up and turned away, her fists clenched. She closed her eyes tight for a moment, then thinking better of her actions, turned around and sat back down, pasting a smile on her face. "Of course, Mr. Darcy, I would like to thank you for the thoroughness of your work as a lawyer. To answer your question, I do not prefer the term because I'd prefer to keep our relationship purely professional."

A flash of disappointment passed through his expression, but passed so fast that Lizzy was not sure it had even been there. To tell the truth, she was a little embarrassed by the term and after so much recent drama, she was frankly too aware of him, which is why she had insisted to Charles that she was fine and didn't need a lawyer, let alone Darcy. However, Charles had insisted, perhaps even more vehemently, knowing that timing would be crucial if things were to happen as they should.

She wanted so desperately to get the whole thing over with, but obviously, Darcy did not have the same agenda. Something was different. He seemed more energetic, and more like the Darcy she had known in high school, the one who maybe she had been infatuated with for some amount of time, a short amount of time, she insisted.

"So did you have feelings for this Fitzwilliam Darcy during your relationship with him?" he asked.

Lizzy swallowed nervously. "Don't you think it's a little ridiculous that you're arguing this case? Shouldn't that be illegal or something?"

"Please answer the question, Ms. Bennet."

"Okay fine. I did have a little obsession with the aforementioned person for a very short amount of time, really minute and even infinitesimal, I'd say. Maybe like 3 hours or something. Or like 2 days. Maximum."

A little grin slid over Darcy's face, then faded off just as quickly as he resumed his mask of professionalism.

"And regarding the engagement? Were you responsible?" he questioned.

"Yes," she admitted, "but only at the behest of Anne."

"And you claim to have no personal agenda in the matter?"

"I don't just claim, I didn't have any personal agenda in the matter," she insisted.

"And everything you have told me is true?"

"Why would I lie?" she snapped.

"Touchy," he commented. "Well, then, I suppose that will be all for now. I will be in touch soon since you seem to be in such ill humor right now."

Lizzy didn't respond, and Darcy let himself out of the apartment. It was ten more minutes before Lizzy realized that she had forgotten to give the journals back. She had meant to, but she had forgotten, and now she would have to find another time to do it. She sighed and flopped on the sofa, hugging the cushion close to her.

Maybe she should read the journals after all. It wasn't like it would make him any easier to understand. What was he thinking right now? Why had he asked so many questions that he surely already knew the answers too? Was she so unworthy that it was amusing to him to torture her? Lizzy groaned into her pillow.


"This doesn't mean anything," Lady Catherine finally said, turning back to her daughter.

Anne stared at her mother in shock without saying anything. Finally, brushing her hair back with her hand, she managed to speak. "I can't believe you. I really can't even imagine how screwed up you are. Here I was thinking that this would be enough, and that you would realize that all your stupid prejudices and arrogant pride were all useless, but you are just the same as you've ever been. I'm glad that I turned out nothing like you. I'm glad that I'm going to be marrying the man I love, and I won't regret it, just like you probably regretted marrying Edward de Bourgh."

"I don't regret anything," Lady Catherine hissed. "You still don't understand, do you? You were born in this family. You have a duty to fulfill. You have expectations to uphold. You're the silly one. Come back to your senses and we can still salvage this wreck."

"No, the only wreck that we can't salvage is you. Besides, being an illegitimate child anyway, I've probably disgraced the family enough." Anne turned around and stalked out of the room. She found Richard milling around the hallway aimlessly and grabbed his arm.

"Richard, we're leaving right now," she told him, pulling him as she walked.

"So did you—"

"No, we're just leaving. I'm sick of trying to reason with her. There is something terribly, terribly wrong with that woman, and I am at my patient's end."

Lady Catherine had followed her daughter out into the hallway and stared desperately at her retreating form.

"Wait, Anne, you're making a mistake! You don't understand. Please, please, I'm begging you!"

Anne stopped, and jerked Richard along in the process. "No, you're the one who should understand. I thought you would, having gone through something similar when you were younger. Unfortunately, you are simply the greatest disappointment of my life. At least my father had the courage to sacrifice something for the person whom he loved. You, you're just pathetic and weak, spoiled and indulged by your family's wealth. That is not who I want to be. So thanks for nothing, and don't bother trying to contact me in the future. Oh, and if you want to do me a final favor, retract your lies about Lizzy. She doesn't deserve to be caught up in these politics."

Lady Catherine gazed after her daughter, knowing that it was probably the last time she would ever see her. Richard glanced back one more time with an inscrutable expression before turning his back on her forever. She returned to her room and sat down, running a hand over her face. She had lost this battle. Her daughter was simply too stubborn to listen to sense. But it wasn't the end. Lady Catherine de Bourgh was not one to give up, and even if she had perhaps lost this one battle, there was always the hope of her legitimate nephew. He must not, under any circumstances, marry that hussy: Elizabeth Bennet.


Lizzy sat stock-still on the couch, having put aside the blue journals. She had, in the end, not been able to overcome her temptation to read the books, and now she didn't know what to make of them. Given that they were written by a high school boy, of course some rather inappropriate things were written about her. However, given his young age at the time, she was surprised at the profundity of his words, and particularly of his feelings for her.

She was deeply flattered that she could have captured his attention like that, even for a time. And perhaps that was enough, it was maybe all she could hope for from such a great man, the leader of a company, a worldly man of both wealth and breeding. It suddenly hit her how unsuited they were to each other.

She was also surprised about his intellect. She had always known that he was smart—he wasn't the best at concealing his virtues, nor did he really make any attempt to do so in his youth. However, when he wasn't writing about her, he was writing his thoughts, and Lizzy found them to be mature beyond his age. If she had known all of this at the time, she might have admired him a little more, and might have realized how much he had condescended to ask for her.

Slowly, slowly, her regret was fading away, replaced instead by gratitude for everything he had done for her. Moreover, having thought about the situation so much, she was suddenly struck by inspiration, and she sat down in front of her computer. For the first time in a long time, she sat down to type uninterrupted with feverish fevers, hardly noticing when the sun had slipped far beneath the horizon.


Darcy nearly dropped his coffee as his phone rang in his pocket. He gently put down his coffee and picked up his phone. Glancing at caller ID, he noted that it was not Lizzy, but rather Charles Bingley. He didn't know rather to be disappointed or relieved.

"Hello?"

"Darce, I'm worried."

"About what?" Darcy shifted to lean back into his office chair.

"Nobody's heard for Lizzy for a good two days. Every time we call, we get her voicemail, and she apparently hasn't installed her landline yet."

"Well, why doesn't Jane go see her?" Darcy asked, picking up his coffee again and taking a sip.

"Um, about that…" Charles paused sheepishly, "we're not in town right now."

"Oh?" Darcy raised an eyebrow, but he couldn't prevent the corner of his mouth from twitching up as well. "I take it that things are going well?"

"Yes, the vacation was a good idea, and Jane is absolutely amazing as always. We're so happy, but we're also both worried for Lizzy. Would you please go check on her?"

Darcy considered the proposition for a moment and almost wanted to refuse, but instead, he told his friend that he would be happy to go check on Lizzy.

"Thanks so much, Darce. You're the best," Charles laughed.

"No problem. I'll let you know if there's a problem."

"All right, talk to you later."

Darcy hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He downed the last of the coffee and dropped the cup in the trash on his way out.

He first went to a small deli two blocks from Lizzy's new apartment to pick up some food. If he knew Elizabeth Bennet at all, she was probably writing right now and living on caffeine. It would be good for her to have some real food. Honestly, couldn't she simply take care of herself properly? She seemed always to need someone to mop up her messes.

Carrying the paper bag in his left hand, he nodded to the doorman as he walked into the building. When he finally got to Lizzy's door, he knocked three times in succession. There was no response, which didn't necessarily mean anything, Darcy told himself. It was likely that nothing was wrong, and that she was simply not paying enough attention to notice that someone was at the door, so he knocked again, louder this time.

It was a few long moments before she shouted out from inside, "I'm busy, go away. I don't want to buy anything."

Darcy covered his mouth as he began to laugh slightly. "I'm not here to sell anything, my dear. Just open up."

There was a considerable pause. Finally, the door opened, and there was Lizzy with her reading glasses and her hair carelessly up in a bun. Certainly, she exuded laziness, Darcy noted as he raked his gaze over her figure, diminished by the large sweatshirt and pajama bottoms she was clothed in. Yes, she had had more attractive moments, but none of that really mattered to him as he found her quite adorable, despite her careless appearance.

"What other questions did you have?" she asked.

"I didn't come here as your lawyer. I brought you food," he held up the bag with a grin.

"Come in," she sighed and retreated from the door.

"Hungry?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

"Starving, actually. How did you know?" she glanced at him as she pulled out a seat at the kitchen table, which was covered with a variety of handwritten pages surrounding her laptop. She rapidly pushed most of the loose pages into a single pile to clear up space for the lawyer.

"Charlie called me because he and Jane are worried about you. They haven't heard from you for a while," he took a seat, placing the bag on the table.

"Well, I called Jane yester—what day is it?"

"It's Thursday," Darcy smiled slightly.

"Oh. Well you still haven't told me how you knew I would be hungry," Lizzy took the bag absently, opening it and pulling out its contents.

"Please, Lizzy, what else would you be doing besides writing?"

Lizzy smiled slightly. "Right. Well, which one of these is yours?" she asked, holding up the two sandwiches in the bag.

"I already ate," he replied. "They're both yours."

She looked up at him. "Thanks." She looked surprised.

"So what are you working on?" He asked, while she unwrapped the sandwich.

"I'm not really sure," she admitted after taking her first bite. "I guess it's sort of a side project. Maybe it'll only be a short story, but it's about this girl who for the longest time had exactly what she wanted, though she didn't realize it. But upon losing it, she discovers what she has lost, and moving on from the loss, she proceeds to become a successful individual, never forgetting what she had. It's all very vague right now because I haven't figured out the specifics, but I like it. It's been calming to write it down."

Darcy smiled. "It sounds interesting. Good luck!"

"Are you sure you don't want the other one? I feel bad," Lizzy held out the other sandwich out to him."

"No, really, I'm fine. I'm sure you haven't eaten in a while. I'll just go now. Make sure to take care of yourself."

"Wait," Lizzy stood up, and grabbed his wrist.

He turned around, and Lizzy let go of him, embarrassed. "I haven't thanked you yet."

"I think you did already. Really, it's no problem."

"No, it's about Lydia. I know what you did for her. I know she's ridiculous, and I know how much you hate Wickham, so it means a lot to me that you did all of that for her."

Darcy smiled bitterly. "I didn't do it for her, I did it for you."

Lizzy stared at him as he left, and she didn't move for several seconds after the door had shut. Was she wrong after all?

A/N: So, I think some of you misinterpreted my last A/N. I didn't mean that I would BAMBAM finish the story up, but bring it to a gradual close, rather than drag it out for another plot turn or so. I will stick with this story until the end, but I feel like it's already winding down to a close. I mean, I could make more stuff up, but I did feel like it was coming to a close. However, I have been encouraged by your kind comments, so thank you. I may continue it for a little while yet, but I have envisioned Lizzy and Darcy getting together very, very soon. However, the question is whether I should extend story beyond their getting together. I think I will though. So thank you all, and let me know your thoughts in a review.

Also, hooray for over 100k words!