A/N: Thanks for the reviews, as always; keep 'em coming. Also, there is some language in this section, so sorry if that offends you. Enjoy!

She was interrupted from her thoughts as a short, extremely skanky looking girl stumbled over to her, and promptly puked all over her bare feet.

"Oh my God! Lydia! What are you doing here? Does Dad know you went out? Ugh!"

"Lizzy, stop being such a slut and come help me. Ha ha. I'm going to be sick again!"

Lizzy grabbed her youngest sister's hand and dragged her out of the house. The second they were outside, Lydia began puking again, and Lizzy found a hose and sprayed the vomit off her feet.

"How did you get here?" Lizzy asked angrily as soon as Lydia had stopped throwing up.

"Lord, what a nervous wreck you are, Liz!" she hiccupped. "Well, you can stop staring me down with those dark flashy eyes of yours. I'll tell you all in a bit, just give me half a second – say, could I have the rest of your beer? My mouth tastes like shit."

"Here," said Lizzy, holding it out to her. But as soon as Lydia grabbed for it, Lizzy tipped the cup over, spilling the contents onto the grass.

"You bitch! God. Oh, I'm sorry Lizzy, I didn't actually mean it, you know. I'm not even that drunk, honest, I just can't drink like I used to since I got so sick last month. Ha ha, would you look at those trees! They're spinning in circles. What a joke! Fine, so you want to know how we got here, well, how do you think? Kitty drove, like the typical whore she is. Lizzy, you aren't my mother, so stop looking at me that way. I'm fifteen years old, okay? I can do what I want. Mom knows we're here, and it's not as if Dad would care – you know he wouldn't, so would you just effing calm down? Ha ha, I said 'effing.'"

"Lydia, exactly, you're fifteen! You won't even be legal for another three years. This is a college party. Do you know anything about frat boys?"

"Mmm…"

"God. Well, how are you getting back? Is Kitty drinking?"

"Hell if I know. It's not as if I was going to stand around with her all night. But she probably is. We're spending the night; that was the agreement. The hottest boy – George, I think was his name – he has the cutest butt – said I could crash in his room. Lizzy! What is your problem?"

"You will do no such thing. You can stay in my room with Kitty on the futon. Jane can share my bed."

Lydia stomped her foot on the ground like an upset child who didn't get dessert, and was about to run off, when suddenly she passed out. Luckily, Will Darcy had just come outside with Caroline, and was able to catch her before her head hit the ground. Lizzy, thankful it was dark, blushed deeply, as she imagined the foul stench of sweat, beer, and puke, that Will must be breathing in at that moment. She went over and helped him place her on a nearby bench.

"Thanks so much, Will," she said sincerely.

"It's no problem," he said, wiping his hands on his shirt, presumably to rid them of Lydia's filth. "Is she your friend or what? She looks a little young…"

"My little sister Lydia," said Lizzy shamefully.

But as soon as she said it, she felt a surge of prideful anger. Who was he to make her feel embarrassed of her own relations? The president of the student assembly? Psh! The only reason he got the position was because his Aunt practically controlled the school with her hefty alumni donations.

"You can get back to your girlfriend now," said Lizzy coldly, indicating Caroline, who was sitting on a bench nearby, groaning. "We'll manage just fine on our own."

"Right. Actually, she's not my girlfriend. Look, the reason I came out here was because I did want to apologize for the incident earlier today. However, I think you should know, if your head hadn't gotten in the way, it would have been a truly incredible throw. Over seventy yards, I'd say."

"What! You are full of it. You were standing thirty yards away from me, and not an inch farther. And the ball would have hit the ground in another yard or two if my head hadn't had the audacity to get in its way. I'm sure of it."

Will looked somewhat taken aback by this feisty young woman. If he had said such a thing to Caroline Bingley, she would have oohed and ahhhed over it for hours, commending him for his incredible athletic ability. He wasn't going to take this kind of treatment.

"No offense," he said, "but I think I'd have a better clue as to what constituted seventy yards than you would."

"Why is that?"

"I'm a guy. I watch a lot of football…"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot football fans were the only people on the planet blessed with the ability of ascertaining distances," she spat.

"Are you this hostile toward everyone, Lizzy, or am I just lucky tonight?"

Lizzy suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Perhaps she had been unnecessarily belligerent. So what if he was exaggerating about the seventy yard throw? In fact, she admitted to herself, it was remotely possible that he was right. She had been rather disoriented for awhile after being hit in the head.

"I think you must be lucky," she said, looking up at him.

Will smiled, and for some reason Lizzy found her eyes faltering. She began nervously twisting a strand of hair. Will suddenly felt an almost overpowering urge to take that strand and gently smooth it behind her ear. But he restrained himself.

Just then Lydia coughed, hiccupped, and proceeded to rid her stomach of any particles that still remained in it. Lizzy was surprised to see that she was crying. With instinctive sisterly affection, she put her arm around the girl and stroked her hair. Will observed the two of them quietly.

"You okay, Liddy?"

"Why do I always do this, Liz?" she sobbed.

"I don't know, honey, but you can always stop, you know. You don't have to do it."

"I do have to, Liz. It's too late. Oh Liz…" she rested her head on Lizzy's shoulder.

Though the girls had grown apart in the last few years, Lizzy had not forgotten the bond they shared in their childhood. No one could help themselves from loving little Lydia Bennet – the baby of the family – with her silly jokes and her constant cheerfulness. And Lydia had always loved Lizzy the most, back in those days, though she couldn't say quite why. Maybe it had something to do with the sparkle in Lizzy's eyes as she'd concoct a ridiculous fairy tale at night, while tucking the little girls into bed.

But it was different now. A frivolous, nervous mother and an apathetic, jaded father, combined with relative poverty, had not been a strong enough match against Lydia's growing vivacity, and so the happy little girl had evolved into a reckless, pleasure seeking teenager. Lizzy considered all this with no small guilt on her own part. If she had paid more attention to Lydia in those later years, perhaps she would have grown so wild. But Lizzy had been undergoing her own metamorphosis, which was prompted most strongly by an overwhelming desire to escape from her home, and thus had not the patience or perception to interfere with Lydia.

At this moment, though, with Lydia curled up against her like a little girl, the only thought in Lizzy's head was how to help her, how to comfort her.

"Will," she said suddenly, "I'm going to take my sister home now. Thanks for your help."

Will had been standing off to the side somewhat awkwardly for the last few minutes. He wasn't sure exactly what the right thing to do would be. Part of him wanted to go back into the party…why shouldn't he, anyway? He barely knew Elizabeth Bennet, and had no great desire to know her sister. But something had made him stay. Perhaps, subconsciously, he saw something of his own sister in the girl.

"Let me walk you guys home," he said.

"What? Oh, no, really, we'll be fine. I don't live that far. Landrum, you know."

"Still, I'm going to walk with you. You have to cut through that dark woody path to get to Landrum. There's no use arguing about it, Lizzy," he said firmly. "After all, clearly you aren't even safe in an open space like the Sunken Gardens in the middle of the day anymore, right?"

"Very funny," said Lizzy. "But what about…what's her name?" she asked, indicating Caroline Bingley, who was still sitting on the swing outside the house, muttering to herself.

"She'll be alright. Bing knows she's out here."

And with that the three set off, Lydia in the middle, Lizzy and Darcy on either side of her, both holding one of her arms to support her. When they got into her dorm, Lizzy helped her sister onto the futon and pulled the covers over her.

"Now, Liddy, if you feel like you're going to be sick and you can't make it to the bathroom, I've put the trash can right beside you. So try not to puke all over the futon. Also, there's a large cup of water on the table by your head. Will you be alright alone, or do you want me to stay with you?"

But Lydia had already dozed off. So Lizzy and Will left the room, carefully locking the door behind them, and headed back to the party.