The Thin Line between Love and Hate

A Pride and Prejudice- story

By: jakeline

Summary: A modern P&P with a Shakespearean twist. He said she wasn't pretty enough and she threw punch at him. After 12 years Darcy is back in Meryton and Lizzie still hasn't forgiven him.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be Jane Austen and most definitely not Shakespeare. I just borrow their work as an inspiration to this story, loosely basing it on Pride and Prejudice and Much Ado about Nothing.

Chapter 36: Cheesy Comments and a Nasty Witch

He showed Elizabeth all his favourite spots in the garden, or park as she preferred to call it. He guessed she was right. It was too large to be called a garden. In fact, they had two gardeners that took care of it all.

"I wonder how Jane's doing," Elizabeth said as they sat down on the little dock on the beach, which was his favourite place of them all. He had been coming here since the dock had been built. To just get away for a moment or two and breathe in the salty air of the ocean.

"I'm sure she's just fine," William assured her. Even if Mr Bingley had been blind when it came to Caroline, he was sure both he and his wife would be hospitable enough to welcoming Jane into their home. He was sure Charles had told them just how wrong Caroline had been about Jane.

"I just hope Caroline hasn't been feeding them lies about my sister."

"Don't worry. Charlie has been there the whole time. In this case I really do hope that they listen to him, and not to her. I'm sure they think highly enough of their son not to think he'd stay with someone who had been cheating on him."

She sighed and leaned closer to him. Her hair tickled his cheek as the breeze caught hold of it and tossed it about. She hadn't bothered with putting any restraint on it. He loved her hair, especially loose like this. The soft curls that spread like a halo around her face when she laid down on the bed, the feeling of the strands that tickled his face as she bent down to kiss him sometimes was amazing. He soothed her hair down, away from his face. He let her fingers run through the locks before he rested his arm around her shoulders.

"Having one's own beach has its advantages," Elizabeth mused.

"It certainly does," William agreed and kissed the top of her head.

"It's really peaceful here. Just the sound of the waves to keep one company." She gazed out of the horizon with a dreaming look on her face.

"And me," he whispered in her ear, before placing a soft kiss in the hollow just below it. She shivered slightly.

"Mhm," she said non-committally.

"I love to watch your hair blow in the wind," he said and regretted it the next moment. It sounded even cheesier than in his head.

"What?" she sat up and turned to him. "Have you been watching Dirty Dancing without me?"

"No?"

"Neil says that to Baby," she informed him.

"Oh." She sat on her knees watching him closely. "Well, I do remember this one scene..." He sat up on his knees too, and leaned over so that he was on all fours.

"Really?" She cocked an eyebrow. "You've actually seen it?"

"Oh, yeah," he nodded seriously and inched closer. "It was Gigi's favourite for a while."

"I see." His face was level with hers and he bent closer and placed a small kiss on her cheek.

"Remember this?"

"Mhm," she whispered. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the lips.

"I do hope I'm interrupting," a female, and all too familiar, voice drawled from behind them. They broke apart and tried to focus on the figure that came down the dock.

"Caroline," William said through gritted teeth.

-xxx-

The sound of Caroline's shrill voice made Elizabeth's stomach turn into a hard knot of ice. With clenched teeth she tried her best not to jump up and slap Caroline smugly grinning face.

"What are you doing here?" William asked darkly and without an ounce of welcoming in his voice.

"Willy, dear," she tittered, ignoring Elizabeth's glaring eyes. "I heard you were back in town and I wanted to welcome you in person. Your father said I might find you here." She gave Elizabeth a satisfied look, as if to say that that was how close she and Mr Darcy were. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Whatever for?" William said. "Haven't you done enough damage?" Caroline pursed her lips.

"Oh, that was ages ago!" She waved one hand dismissively.

"But still fresh in memory," Elizabeth said through gritted teeth. Caroline shot her one disapproving glance, and then turned back to William.

"I come bearing invitations to a charity ball at Bingley Corp next weekend. I do hope you can come," Caroline batted her lashes at William and Elizabeth felt vile rise in her throat. However, this event did produce a perfect opportunity to get back at her. Caroline handed William a thick crème envelope with gold lettering.

"You're working for your dad now?" William asked.

"Oh, yes. He, unlike some people, likes what I do," Caroline said.

"Don't count on us being there," William said with dark voice.

"Your dad has already accepted for you all." William sighed. Elizabeth gritted her teeth.

"See you next week," Caroline smiled a sunny smile and walked off, waving as cheerfully as ever.

"God, I really don't like that woman," Elizabeth muttered under her breath as soon as Caroline was out of sight. "And who are your father to accept on our behalf?"

"He's all about appearances, you know. It won't look good for the public if the Darcys and the Bingleys are arguing."

"Do you guys really have that much impact on society?" Elizabeth asked unbelievingly.

"Well, Pemberley Communication and Bingely Corp are two of the largest businesses in Boston. We donate lots of money to welfare and other charities. And we usually work very close together, seeing as the families are old friends."

"Well, don't I feel like the poor cousin from the other side of the pool," Elizabeth remarked lightly.

"But you're not," William objected. "You are my girlfriend." He kissed the tip of her nose and she smiled.

"I think I'm going to need a bit of persuasion," she said softly. Chasing the images and thoughts of Caroline away.

"Luckily I can be very persuasive when I want something," William replied as he let a soft rain of kisses cover her face.

"That's very lucky indeed," Elizabeth murmured.

"Convinced yet?" he whispered a few moments later when Elizabeth was all putty in his arms.

"I'm getting there," she answered.

-xxx-

The first meeting with Mr and Mrs Bingley went rather smoothly, Jane thought. Caroline was nowhere in sight and for that she was thankful. She was also informed about a charity ball that their company was throwing the next Saturday.

Jane had been shown to a room that she was not to share with Charles, and she frowned a little, but didn't say anything. She was just happy to be near him. They hadn't really gotten that far in their relationship yet, but she had hoped that that step would have been taken now.

"Don't worry, we'll only be staying here a couple of days," Charles had said when he saw her reaction. "Mum and dad are a bit old fashioned, you know." Jane smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"I think I'll survive." But just barely, she added silently. They had been away from each other for weeks and they wouldn't even be sleeping in the same room! God, how old fashioned could people in the 21st century get?

Jane Bennet had found that Charles was very like his mother, while Caroline seemed more like Mr Bingley. Jane liked Mrs Bingley immediately. She was as open and likeable as her son and was eager to get to know her son's girlfriend. Mrs Bingley had promised to take her dress shopping for the ball.

"You are welcome to invite your sister, too," Mrs Bingley said.

"I will, I'm sure she will be in need of some fashion advice," Jane smiled.

"And I wouldn't mind meeting her," Mrs Bingley added.

"I'll text her right away." Jane took out her mobile and started texting.

-xxx-

Caroline's appearance had surprised William greatly. He really didn't get what she was after, or why his father was even talking to her after what she had done to Georgiana. Surely he wouldn't just let it go? William made a mental note of having a private conversation with his father as soon as an opportunity came. Perhaps the ladies could take an afternoon shopping for the ball. Elizabeth would probably need something new, Georgiana loved shopping as much as her mother, so he guessed that wouldn't be a problem.

Good thing was that Peter would have come by then. This ball could be a good thing after all.

"So, what are we doing for the rest of the day?" Elizabeth interrupted his plotting.

"I don't know? Want to go into town?" There were a few places he wanted to show her. Boston was a great city for tourists.

"I'm kind of knackered," she said, "but I'm not sure I want to hang out here all day, either." William checked his watch, it was only three and they had a couple of hours before dinner. Elizabeth's phone beeped before she could say anything.

"Oh, it's from Jane!" She quickly eyed through the message. "She and Mrs Bingely are going shopping someday soon and want me to go with them. So I guess everything is going well."

"I told you not to worry," William said.

"I know, but still..." Elizabeth said and shrugged. "Caroline could just as easily show up there."

"Charlie wouldn't let her," William said.

"She showed up here," Elizabeth pointed out.

"True, and I still don't get why." Elizabeth started typing a reply to her sister.

"When do you think I would be able to go meet them?"

"Whenever you want to," he said. "Friday might be a good day. And I'm sure my sister and mother would like to tag along, too."

"Great, we'll make a day of it," Elizabeth said and continued typing a message back to her sister. William did his best to chase Caroline out of his head, but she stubbornly kept popping up. He was suddenly worried about everything. She had shown that she was capable of basically anything. She had proven that a couple of times now. Getting back at her was getting more important now than ever. The ball would be an excellent place to put a little plan in action. He wondered how his father would take to public ridicule, but William realised that he really didn't care what his father thought. Apparently he didn't take the situation seriously enough. You would think that using one's daughter like that would have made a bit of difference. Then again, his father wasn't aware of the pictures taken of him and Elizabeth, thank God. That would have made the whole situation even worse. Not for Caroline, but for himself and Elizabeth. Mr Darcy wasn't really fond of public display of emotions and thought it was something that was best kept inside the comfort of one's own home. Preferably with the blinds down.

"So, what do you want to do now?" William brought himself back to reality and Elizabeth. He had suddenly and image of him and her in one of those Swan boats in the Public Garden after a stroll therein.

"Why don't you surprise me?" William grinned. A ride around the lagoon in an old Swan boat would certainly surprise her.

-xxx-

Elizabeth wondered what William was up to as they climbed into the SUV again. He had a smile on his face that she hadn't seen since he was little. He looked like he was up to no good, but in a more mature way. She guessed he needed to get Caroline's surprise visit out of his head.

Although she was tired she enjoyed the drive into town. She looked forward to whatever William had in mind. She couldn't believe Caroline had managed to come into their lives again so soon after them coming to Boston. She was unbelievable. Elizabeth couldn't believe how she dared show up like that. What had she expected? To be welcomed with open arms, or what? Well, Mr Darcy had apparently been welcoming enough. Elizabeth snorted softly.

"We're here," William said and chased the thoughts of Caroline away. Elizabeth smiled and decided not to let that woman enter her head again for a very long time. She got out of the car and looked around. "This way," William said and took her by the arm.

-TBC-

Author's note: I know it's a bit short, but Christmas is coming and I wanted this out before going on holiday! I hope you didn't mind me putting in some Jane/Charlie action too...