Disclaimer: If you sue me, I shall laugh and point at the disclaimers in earlier chapters.

Author's Note: Hee hee, I did it! I made his last name Darcy! **points at chapter title triumphantly**

~*~

Chapter 11

"'I have always considered poetry as the food of love,' said Darcy.

'Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. - Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it away completely.'"--'Pride and Prejudice'

Before he knew what he was doing, Ricky closed his eyes and fell asleep. The realization of the events of the day had taken a lot out of him. He simply slumped onto his bed and was dead to the world.

A cross between a 'thunk' sound and a tapping one made him stir. He opened one eye and got up, walking groggily to the window to see what had happened. Trying to suppress a yawn (and failing miserably), he rubbed his eyes and opened both this time, only to look down and see someone standing down on the ground beneath his window. The sight surprised him, but then he snuck a glance at the words he had written the night before and then at the clock. It was 5:30 a.m. and the sun had not yet risen. He yawned again, stretching his arms out wide and opened his window after a rock was thrown against it, once again making the 'thunk-tap' noise. With his neck stuck out the open window, he saw that the bandana worn by whoever was below his window was decorated with red maple leaves. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he recognised Anne's face. Then about the memories of the previous day flooded back to him.

Oh... Right...

"Come down here!" Anne said in a loud whisper. Ricky was halfway through a nod when he stopped.

"How?" he asked, using the same voice.

"Climb down, of course," she replied, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans and rolling her eyes.

"Uh... right." He awkwardly stuck one leg out the window and put his foot down on the ledge. "What now?"

"Get both legs out and jump down, just make sure you curl up into a ball when you jump, or you might break your leg."

Well, that's reassuring, Ricky thought as he clenched his teeth and clambered out the window, crouched down on the ledge and closed his eyes.

"One..." he muttered, eyes still shut tight. "Two..." He loosened his grip on the ledge-- "Three." And jumped, landing with a 'thud' on the cool, damp grass. It must have rained earlier.

"Alright," he said, getting up and brushing bits of wet grass off his shirt. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to tell you that Nora is in a right state," Ricky raised his eyebrow when Anne said 'right state'. It didn't seem like the sort of thing she would usually say. "I've called her about five times and she never answers--"

"Maybe that's because it's 5:30," he interrupted.

"I meant I called before. While the sun was up," Anne looked pretty vexed.

"Alright, sorry..." He was hunched over a bit, as though proving his submission.

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying... She hasn't answered and her mom says that she took some Goosebumps books, went into her room, and hasn't come out since she got home, except for dinner."

"So? Doesn't she do that all the time?" Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say.

"No, it doesn't. Think about it. Eleanora Abigail Jones never--"

Ricky burst out laughing.

"Shh!"

"Sorry." But instead of looking defeated, this time he was still giggling. "That's her name?"

"Yeah, it's her full name."

"I thought her name was Eleanor..."

"Well, that's what she tells people, because Eleanora is so old fashioned --not that she isn't old fashioned herself."

"And Abigail?"

Anne glared at him. "Is there a problem with that name?"

"No, it's just..."

"What?"

Ricky shrugged. "Not her."

Anne seemed pleased with that answer. "Yeah, I guess it isn't. Well, anyway, she went into her room with Goosebumps books. I mean, c'mon, she hates Goosebumps. She calls it a 'disgrace to literature'."

"Ah..." So THAT'S it...

"Right. So, I sure hope that your plan works out, because she's gotta be pretty upset if she's reading Goosebumps," she smiled a smile that seemed to say 'wish you luck, you'll need it'.

"Me, too." He sighed. Now he was going to have to go back inside. Again.

"Oh, and here's some tea, I figured you might need it," Anne said as she handed him a mug with a lid. "Although, I don't know if you like it. It'll have to do, though, because I have no clue where to get coffee at this time of night --well, morning--in this country. I mean, if I were in Canada, I'd just run down to the Tim Horton's and get you an iced cappuccino. But I'm not. Which kind of sucks. Not that this country does, but it's just really... unfamiliar."

"Um... right." He had stopped listening the moment she said the word 'Canada'. That girl could ramble on and on about that country.

Maybe it helped that she was from that country.

"It's Earl Grey," Anne told him, pointing at the mug.

"Right... I'm not that much of a tea person, so I'll just make myself something, alright?"

"Oh... sure. Good luck," she said. "And Ellie--"

"Just call her Nora, will you?"

"Fine... She's going to the library tomorrow, just in case you wanted to know. But she won't be there until afternoon, because she's... um... well, she's going shopping..."

"For what?" he asked, curious.

"None of your business. It's girl stuff," She smiled, turned and walked off, sipping what was in the mug. Ricky wasn't that sure it was really Earl Grey tea.

~*~

Ricky repeated the words Anne had recited to him over and over again in his head as he walked into the library. He had that part perfect, now he just had to find Nora. It was already 2:00 p.m., so he guessed she'd be in the library.

He guessed right.

He had to call her name softly before she noticed him, too deep in the book ('The Accidental Tourist' by Anne Tyler) to notice him before that. When he did get her attention, her eyes narrowed and her mouth became a thin line as she balanced a large pile of books in her arms and attempted to walk to the checkout desk. 'The Science of Harry Potter', a fairly large hardcover book, tumbled off the pile and Ricky stooped to catch it just before it hit the floor. He held it out to Nora and she snatched it away, not meeting his eyes.

When she finally reached the checkout desk, he asked her what she was doing.

"I'm avoiding you," she replied, still not looking at him and handing her library card, which was in pretty good condition, considering how often she must have used it, to the librarian.

"Look, I have something I've gotta tell you, so just listen," He stood in front of her, and with the amount of books she was carrying, it was hard for her to go anywhere. She sighed.

"Fine."

"I'll carry some of those," He took most of the books from her pile, ignoring her cries of "I can carry them myself, thank you very much!" and "You really don't need to do that!"

Still looking quite peeved, she walked outside and turned to look at him for the first time. "What do you want to say?"

He took a deep breath. This was the moment he had been waiting for. The moment he had prepared for, but he didn't really feel prepared at all. It was in that fraction of a second that he realized Nora wasn't that ugly at all. Or maybe it was that he didn't mind that she had some excess weight around her middle, and she had the normal amount of acne for a 14-year-old girl. But, whatever it was, he thought, in that moment, that she was beautiful, just the way she was.

He smiled. I wonder if I've fallen in love... he thought, then jerked himself back to reality and told himself to stop being so sappy.

Ricky cleared his throat. "Well, I..." He took another deep breath and set his books down on the ground. "...In vain... I have struggled--" he noticed that Nora's mouth was now hanging slightly open. "It... Will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I--"

"Admire and love you," Nora finished for him, still gaping as though he had just told her he loved her.

Well, actually, he had done just that.

Ricky watched as a few tears rolled down her cheeks and she practically jumped on him, dropping her books, burying her face in his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck. He looked down and upon seeing her feet hanging about an inch off the ground, he put his arms around her. Partially, he did it because that was what guys usually did in movies, partially because he meant what he said (or tried to say, anyway), and partially to keep her from strangling him by keeping all her weight on his neck.

Nora was giving off these strange noises, halfway between sobs and laughter, as though she didn't know which she should be doing. Finally, when the 'sobter', as Ricky now called it, subsided, she sniffed and whispered, just loud enough for him to hear, "You're my Mr Darcy."

Ricky grinned stupidly. It was the best he could hope for from Eleanora Abigail Jones. And then, without warning, he kissed her. Their lips met for but a second, but it was enough for him to loosen his grip on her, for her to fall to the ground, taking him with her.

"Just snog already, will you?" Called a familiar voice. Ricky rolled his eyes. Nora followed his example.

"What?" Anne asked, trying to look innocent. That was before Nora stood up and hit her over the head with one of the books she had been carrying. She didn't seem to mind, though. "Aren't I the one who's supposed to do that? And with a slate, I believe."

"Will you leave me alone, Carrots?" Nora asked, laughing. Anne laughed, too, and actually listened to her. Ricky held his head in his hands. This was too much for him. He had kissed Nora, Nora kissed him back, and Anne was being pleasant. And what was up with 'Carrots'? Anne had brown hair, not red.

He sighed. It was probably one of those girl things.

"Hey, Ricky," It was Nora. He looked up --or, down, rather-- and saw her smiling at him.

"Hey, Eleanora," She scowled.

"Richard."

"Abigail."

"Dick." She grinned triumphantly as he opened his mouth to retort, but no sound came out. There was a silence, and then, "I love you, too."

He blinked, but then remembered what had just happened. "Me too."

"Yeah..." she smiled, and he wondered if she hadn't mentioned that his last statement wasn't correct out of politeness, or because she didn't care if he mutilated the English language.

~*~

Ricky was arrested only a few hours later. Nora didn't get to see him before it happened. She cried all night, sometimes quietly, sometimes shaking almost violently with sobs. One thing kept running through her head kept keeping her awake.

She never got to tell him he had beautiful eyes.

What was even worse, was the feeling that in truth, she undoubtedly believed that.

~*~

Author's Note: Two more chapters! Just two more chapters! WEEEEEEEEE!

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