A/N: Hey everyone welcome back. It has been so long and so much has happened in the last four years. So this is another little part of out groups life that I just cooked up randomly. It's based on a lot of things I have seen recently, some of which you might recognize. One part is from a Chinese drama. I have not cleaned it up much so forgive my mistakes please.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pride and Prejudice. This is just for fun.
"I just collected my suitcase from baggage claim. I need to get a taxi home now, so I'm going to hang up now." Lizzie was on the phone with William while walking towards the gate of JFK.
"I should have come to pick you up. You have been away for three weeks and I could not even receive you." William really missed his girlfriend of six months and was feeling down about not being able to receive her at the airport.
"It's alright Love. I understand that you have an important meeting. Just come to my place when you are done, Alright?"
"Okay, I'll be there. See you then; and I missed you. A lot."
"I missed you too. See you." Lizzie was smiling as she hung up her phone.
As Lizzie was on the drive home, she could not help but think about the past six months of her life. After the whole Caroline fiasco, she and William had started dating. The guy she could not stand six months ago was now a very important part of her life. In fact, she could no longer imagine her life without him in it.
A few months back, Jane and Charlie had gotten engaged. Also, Lizzie's friend from work, Charlotte had joined their group a couple of months back and was now an integral part of it. All of them suspected that something was going on between Charlotte and Richard, but both of them denied it.
"Do you need help with the bags, miss?" The cab driver asked as they stopped outside Lizzie's apartment building.
"Oh no thank you for the offer. But I only have one bag and it's not that heavy. Thanks for the offer though." Lizzie paid the driver and got out of the cab.
As Lizzie entered her apartment, she realized how clean it was. She smiled as she thought about how thoughtful her boyfriend was whom she had left her keys with.
For some reason, her fridge was full of juice. So Lizzie decided to order takeout. As she got dressed after her shower, the doorbell rang.
"Wow, the restaurants deliver fast these days." Lizzie talked to herself as she went to open the door.
However, Lizzie was both happy and disappointed to see Jane on the other side. Happy because she had not seen her friend for three weeks. Disappointed because she was hungry and the food was not there.
"Lizzie! It's so great to see you." Jane hugged Lizzie happily, making her feel guilty for not being happier to see her friend.
"It's great to see you too Jane. Aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" They walked towards the couch after shutting the door.
"It's my lunch break, and I wanted to see you." Jane sat on the couch while Lizzie grabbed a drink for her from the fridge.
Lizzie handed Jane a juice bottle. "Here you go. My fridge seems to have a lot of juice in it."
Jane sipped on her juice slowly as Lizzie asked, "So, what's going on with everyone?"
"Oh you know. Same old same old. Although, Charlie and I have not spoken to anyone since last weekend." Jane put down the juice bottle.
That was news to Lizzie. "Really! Why?"
"You don't know?" Jane was surprised William had not told Lizzie.
"No, I talked to Will a couple of times, but he did not tell me anything." Lizzie curiously looked at Jane.
Jane sat forward a little, "We kind of had a fight."
"When? About What?"
"We decided to play monopoly last weekend. Well one thing led to another and suddenly I was fighting with Charlotte, and Charlie was fighting with Richard, and William was caught in the crossfire."
"You fought over monopoly?"
"Yeah. We did. And it got a little out of control. There were cookies involved." Jane and Lizzie were sitting face to face.
"How could there be cookies involved in a fight?"
Before Lizzie could get her answer, her doorbell rang.
"Oh thank God. My lunch is here." Lizzie got up to go at the door, but Jane suddenly grabbed her arm.
"What! No. Don't answer that, it could be Charlotte, or William."
"Relax Jane. They are at work. It has to be my lunch." Lizzie freed her arm.
Jane saw that Lizzie had no intention of stopping so she ran towards the kitchen. "Don't tell anyone that I'm here."
Lizzie reached out with her arm to stop her, but decided to give up and went to open the door. Turns out, Jane was right. Charlotte was on the other side.
Charlotte immediately grabbed Lizzie in a hug, "Lizzie! I'm so glad you're back."
"It's good to be back." Lizzie shut the door behind Charlotte who was already headed towards the couch where she spotted the half-drunk bottle of juice.
"You're having juice. Got any more?"
Lizzie thought about the dozen bottles of juice in her fridge. "Yeah, I'll just get you one."
Lizzie went to the fridge, where Jane was begging with her hands to not tell Charlotte she was there. Lizzie assured her that she would not say anything and got the juice for Charlotte.
"So, I heard about the monopoly fight." Lizzie handed the juice to Charlotte.
"Oh. How much do you know?" Charlotte removed the lid.
"Not much. Just that you had a fight and there were cookies involved." Lizzie could not help but be curious about the cookies.
Charlotte was still reeling from her fight with Jane. So she did not hear Lizzie about the cookies. "It's not on me. Jane was the one being stingy. All she had to do, was sell me just of her properties. But God forbid, anyone else get a fair chance." Charlotte vented out all her thoughts, while Jane's jaw dropped in anger. But she stayed where she was.
Just then the doorbell rang again.
"I hope it's my lunch this time." Lizzie got up to open the door.
"No! No! Wait! You can't just open the door it could be Will or one of the others." Charlotte frantically grabbed Lizzie.
"Will is in a meeting, and I doubt it could be anyone else. It's most probably the lunch I ordered." Lizzie freed her arm from Charlotte's grip and walked towards the door.
"Okay fine. Just don't tell anyone that I'm here." With that Charlotte ducked behind the couch, realized her head was showing and laid down on the ground. Lizzie let out an annoyed sigh and walked towards the door while rolling her eyes.
As Lizzie opened the door, she realized that she would have to wait longer for her food as Richard stood on the other side.
"Hey Liz, so great so see you back." He gave her a quick hug and casually walked towards her couch where he sat down with a thud.
"Please, come on in." Lizzie said to herself and shut the door.
Richards questioningly looked at the two open juice bottles on the coffee table. "You're having two juices at the same time?"
"I was very thirsty." Lizzy quickly replied.
"Got any more? I'm thirsty too." Richard put his feet up on the coffee table.
"Just get your feet off the table and I'll get you one." Lizzie walked towards the kitchen and got a bottle from the fridge for which she had to reach around Jane who had helped herself to another juice bottle and was sipping it quietly.
Lizzie handed Richard the juice and he quickly opened it and took a sip. "Ah this is good."
Lizzie sat down beside Richard, "So were you involved in the monopoly fight?"
"Oh, you heard?" Richard put the juice bottle on the table.
"I just want to know what happened to the cookies."
"Oh I'll tell you what happened…" Just then the doorbell rang again.
"Finally!" Lizzie got up to open the door.
"No Lizzie! Don't open it. It could be Will and he's mad at us."
Lizzie turned around. "Will is in a meeting. That's the lunch I ordered." This time Lizzie was sure and turned around again.
"Whatever. Just don't tell anyone I'm here." Richard also ducked behind the couch and came to a stop on seeing Charlotte already there. Lizzie was almost at the door so Charlotte pulled him to the floor beside her so they were lying on the ground face to face.
"Hi." She whispered.
"Hi." He whispered back.
Jane could see the whole thing from her vantage point and made a coy expression. She already suspected that something was going on between them.
Meanwhile, Lizzie opened the door to be disappointed once more. As this time, it was Charlie on the other side. She could not help but think that the heavens were playing a cruel joke on her.
"Hey Lizzie! Welcome back." Charlie hugged Lizzie and walked in to sit on the couch. Lizzie hung her head in exasperation and shut the door.
"So how was your trip?" Charlie asked Lizzie as she took a seat on the couch.
"It was good." Lizzie answered quickly. "So Charlie, will you tell me about the monopoly fight and what exactly happened to the cookies?" She was really hoping to get an answer this time.
"Ah the monopoly fight. I had nothing to do with that. It was all Richard." Richard almost revealed himself at that but Charlotte stopped him.
As if the situation was not chaotic enough. The doorbell rang again.
"Please God! Let it be my lunch this time." Lizzie prayed silently and got up.
"No Lizzie don't open that. If it's Will, he'll kill me."
"It's not Will. It's my lunch." Lizzie continued walking towards the door.
"Okay. Whoever it is. I'm not here." He ran to hide in the kitchen and stopped on seeing Jane. Before he could say anything, he heard the door open and quickly hid with Jane.
Lizzie opened the door to Will holding a large bag of food.
"Hey! Oh my God I missed you." Lizzie hugged him tightly and he hugged her back.
"I missed you too." Will said with his face buried in her hair.
They walked inside together and Will shut the door. "What happened to your meeting, and why are you holding my food?" Lizzie pointed at the bag in Will's hand.
"My meeting was cancelled at the last minute so I went to the restaurant and they were just about to hand your order to the delivery guy so I took it, added more to the order and brought it along." Will placed the bag on the coffee table. "You must be tired. I'll get the plates and we'll eat together." Will headed towards the kitchen.
Lizzie remembered the four people hiding in very obvious places in her apartment and pulled Will's arm to forcibly push him on the couch. "You don't have to do that. Let's just sit and talk for a while."
Will was surprised at his girlfriend's odd reaction but went along with it anyway. "Sure Lizzie, how was your flight?" He then noticed the three bottles of juice on the table and questioningly looked at Lizzie.
"It was good." Lizzie pretended that she did not notice Will's questioning gaze.
Just then Charlie tried to take the juice bottle from Jane. "Give it to me, I didn't get one." He whispered.
"No. It's mine." Jane forcibly pulled it back from Charlie's hand which caused her to collide with the fridge.
"What was that?" Will got up to look.
"Something probably fell in the fridge, leave it." Lizzie tried to stop Will. But she was too late as he was already in the kitchen and had seen Jane and Charlie.
"Hey Will." Charlie awkwardly waved. Will just looked at them quizzically.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Not the same thing they are." Jane pointed in Charlotte and Richard's direction.
Will slowly turned his head towards them and raised his eyebrows. They both sheepishly raised their heads and smiled awkwardly.
Lizzie dropped down on the couch with her face in her hands. She did not know whether to be relieved or angry at this turn of events.
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Will asked again as Richard and Charlotte stood up.
"I'm here to see Lizzie." Jane, Charlie, Richard and Charlotte all said at the same time.
"And you decided to play hide and seek?" Will asked again.
Richard spoke up, "I was only hiding because I didn't want to see him!" He pointed at Charlie.
"And I didn't want to see her!" Charlotte pointed a finger at Jane.
Charlie and Jane pushed past Will to get out of the kitchen, "It's not like I was dying to see you either." Charlie walked in front of Richard.
Lizzie finally stood up. "Will anyone tell me what happened with the cookies?" She was losing her patience.
Richard decided to answer her question, "All I asked him was for one railway." He painted at Charlie. "But, instead of selling me the railway, he threw cookies at me."
"You ate them!" Charlie pointed with both hands.
"Correction! I caught them perfectly, and then ate them." Richard rubbed his hands together. "I wasn't going to throw them back, they were delicious."
"I know they were delicious! I helped Jane make them and you ate them all." Charlie cried.
Jane let out a loud sigh, "Charlie! You need to stop telling people that. You just put chocolate chips in them. Even a monkey could have done that." Jane had had it with Charlie bragging about helping her make the cookies.
Charlie's jaw dropped, "Hey! Whose side are you on?"
"Mine. I lost the game and the cookies."
"Oh! Boohoo, so sad. I'm the one who lost the game because of you." Charlotte went up to Jane.
"What are all of you crying about? I wasn't even involved in your fights, but I still got hit by cookies and my ears hurt from Jane's voice for a long time." Will finally interjected.
Charlie turned to Will, "That was an accident Will, you know I was throwing those at Richard."
Richard added, "You could have just caught them like me."
"I'm sorry if I'm not always ready to catch cookies thrown at me." Will was annoyed.
"And what do you mean by 'my ears hurt'. My voice is not squeaky." Jane turned her attention to Will.
"Tell that to my eardrums." Will pointed at his right ear.
"ENOUGH!" Lizzie stood up. Everyone stopped talking and looked at her. "Now, can you all please reflect on this stupid fight, and realize already, how ridiculous it is?"
After a few moments of silence, Charlie spoke up. "I guess I didn't really need the railway. Throwing the cookies may have been a little over the top."
Richard added, "I didn't need the railway either. I could have charged good money for it. Although, I'm not going to apologize for eating the cookies. He literally threw them at me." He pointed at Charlie.
"I would have probably done the same." Charlie remarked sheepishly.
Charlotte spoke up, "I already had a full property set, I didn't need to complete another one. Even it was a prime property."
"I could have asked for anything from Charlotte for the last card, instead of holding on to it." Jane looked down.
They all went silent. Lizzie looked at Will pointedly, "What? I didn't do anything wrong!" He said to Lizzie, but finally gave in at her continued stare. "Okay fine. Getting hit with the cookies was not big deal. It's not like they were rocks."
"And?" Lizzie kept looking at him.
Will sighed deeply, "And I shouldn't have said that about Jane's voice. I'm sorry Jane."
"It's okay Will." Jane smiled.
After another few seconds of silence, Lizzie interjected again, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you were all here in your lunch break. Shouldn't that be over by now?"
Will went to Lizzie and put his around her waist "Not me. I'm done for the day."
Charlotte remembered suddenly, "Oh God, I'm going to be so late. I'll leave now, bye Lizzie." She ran out.
"Wait. I'll come with you." Richard ran after Charlotte.
"You two still have some explaining to do." Lizzie cried behind them.
"We'll head back to work too. Hey let's have dinner this weekend and talk about your trip." Jane came forward.
"Sure. See you then." Lizzie confirmed.
"Bye guys. We'll let Charlotte and Richard know about the weekend plan." Charlie said while walking out the door with Jane and shutting the door behind them.
"Finally! It's over." Will sighed with relief. Then added, "You know Lizzie, our friends are kind of crazy. See what happened when you're not around? We really need you to keep them in check."
"You mean; you still need me to out crazy the crazy?" Lizzie put her hands on Will's shoulders.
"Exactly." Will kissed her lightly.
"Nothing to worry about then. I do it with you all the time. Now can we please eat, I'm famished." Lizzie removed her hands from Wills shoulders and walked towards the kitchen.
Will smiled dreamily. Then understood what Lizzie had just said, "Wait! Did you just call me crazy? Lizzie…."