I'm back in less time than I thought I'd be! Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed. The amount of people interested is really encouraging. Also, particular thanks to those who commented about liking Georgy. I think she's pretty cool too.

Chapter One: The Universe Hates Lizzie Bennet

(Lizzie)

Lizzie's been able to see for as long as she can remember.

She started talking to ghosts at four. It was mostly an accident, a whisper heard while walking past a cemetery. Her innate childish curiosity dragged both her and Jane into a garden full of dead people which led to a few rather odd but pleasant friendships with several people who had passed on. Although, when she tried to contact some of their living relatives, they were significantly less impressed with her newly acquired skill.

At six, she was accidentally scarred for life when she touched a pillow in Jane's room that had been associated with her first kiss. After Jane got over the blatant invasion of privacy, she helped Lizzie research a rare skill called psychometry that allowed her to produce specific details about a person's life by touching them or an object that was linked to a memory. She spent six months after that snooping around her mother's room.

Even back then, she had not had the slightest interest in her younger sister's lives.

By the time she was eight, she had a pack of tarot cards, a scrying bowl, and a set of lithomancy stones that she was still pretty bad at using. But her abilities were growing stronger, as was her mother's interest in exploiting them. Her memory of the next ten years would consist of going to school, convincing people of her mother's mystical powers after school, and sitting in her room, figuring out ways to become stronger after that.

The memories of sceptics, insults and even death threats aimed at her powers are almost worse than those of how her mother used her.

But just because she's used to people doubting her doesn't mean that it hurts any less when they do.

"Why are we here?"

Jane shoots her an exasperated look, "Charlie likes this place."

If Lizzie were Jane, that would be a huge red flag, "Is Charlie a mob boss?"

Jane stares at the napkin that used to be arranged in a fancy shape (maybe a swan?) but has now been viciously mutilated by a bored Elizabeth Bennet.

Truly one of the world's most dangerous creatures.

"Not every fancy restaurant is a hotbed for crime."

"Of course not," Lizzie scoffs, "but every fancy, sleazy, Italian restaurant definitely is."

"You're exaggerating."

She's really not though. The place looks straight out of The Godfather, for Christ's sake! Tacky tiled floor? Check. Open bar? Check. Round tables with excessively long tablecloths and wiry chairs? Check. Lizzie's pretty sure that before the end of the night, she's going to get shot through the window for some vendetta for a crime she can't even remember committing.

At least the martinis are good.

"Charlie as a mob boss," Jane snickers, "he calls me to kill spiders."

"No one will ever see it coming."

Jane shakes her head and smiles, "He works for the government, Lizzie. That's like the opposite of being a criminal."

"Untrue," Lizzie points a finger at her. "That NSA shit was crazy. Has he been spying on me?"

"Your job is basically spying on people."

"It's not spying if it's consensual."

Unimpressed, she raises an eyebrow, "Remember my first kiss?"

Lizzie grimaces, "Don't bring it up. I've seriously considered bleaching my brain to wipe out that memory."

"What memory?"

Her sister stands up gracefully and Lizzie follows her lead, turning towards the unfamiliar voice that just came from behind them.

"Hey Charlie," she gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and Lizzie's briefly afraid that his smile might just blind everyone in the restaurant.

He turns to Lizzie, "You must be the great Elizabeth Bennet. I've heard pretty much everything there is to know about you."

Lizzie shakes his hand and smiles, "Apparently not since you don't know which memory I had to bleach out."

He gives her a pained look, "I'm guessing that I don't want to know."

They all take their seats again and she shrugs nonchalantly, "Maybe not, but you already asked so I'm going to tell you anyway. I touched a pillow in Jane's room and saw her first kiss. It was… exactly what you'd expect it to be: disgustingly sweet. The guy even asked her if it was okay before he did it!"

"Heaven forbid he do that!" Charlie exclaims in mock horror, ignoring her brief reference to her psychic skill. "I take it your experience was a little different."

Lizzie's mind flashes back to the completely unwanted lips of Billy Collins pressed up against her own in second grade.

A memory she will (unfortunately) never be able to wipe out.

"You could say that."

Suddenly, Jane looks at Charlie like she's remembered something important, "Where's Will?"

"He had to take a call. You can call him Darcy-"

At that moment, Lizzie notices a man walk into the restaurant and completely stops listening to Charlie. He's obnoxiously over dressed, sporting a business suit that he was probably born in, brown hair casually styled, clear blue eyes searching the place for something or someone. Lizzie's definitely irritated by how attractive she finds him because he also just happens to be the asshat that waltzed into her store a week ago. Then, his eyes meet hers and his confident stride falters. His eyebrows raise as he looks between her and Charlie as they both put two and two together at the same time.

What did she do to the Universe to deserve this?!

The man just stands there for a moment before walking over in a hilariously reluctant way, shoulders pinned back rigidly, lips pressed into a thin line and eyes firmly fixed on Charlie. When he gets to the table, he gives Jane a forced smile and sticks out his arm, "Hello, I'm Will Darcy."

"Jane Bennet," she gestures towards Lizzie, "and this is my sister, Elizabeth Bennet."

She doesn't bother telling him to call her Lizzie like she usually would. Instead, there's a drawn out silence as both of them size each other up. She quickly realizes that he probably doesn't want to mention what happened between them. Which means Lizzie definitely wants to mention it.

"Hey dipshit. How's it hanging?"

"Lizzie!"

She doesn't bother acknowledging her sister's distress or Charlie's confusion. Her eyes stay on Darcy's to gauge his reaction. To her surprise, he rolls his eyes and sits down, clearly more comfortable now that he knows how to play the situation. He seems fine with the choice she's made for their relationship: blatantly hostile.

He let her make the choice.

(But why?)

A silence stretches on as Lizzie continues to stare at Darcy, who picks up a menu and starts perusing the options. The indifference makes her blood boil.

The tension is interrupted by Charlie, "You two know each other?"

"Know is a strong word," he winces, but other than that he gives no indication of recognizing her reference to their previous conversation. She pushes harder, "I'm sure Darcy is more than happy to explain."

He finally puts down his menu and shoots her a look, but sighs and says, "Georgy dragged me into her shop a week ago."

"Dragged being the keyword there," she adds with a nasty smile, "but he seems to have forgotten to mention that he insulted me and I kicked him out."

Charlie gapes at him, "Please tell me you haven't already pissed off my girlfriend's sister."

Darcy ignores him, eyes glued to Lizzie, "Having a different opinion than yours is not an insult."

"It is when your opinion is that I scam people out of their money!"

Jane touches her arm gently, "I'd rather not end this night with an assault charge."

At this point, she's convinced that punching Will Darcy in his stupidly attractive face would actually be a public service.

"He started it," she grumbles, rolling her eyes but relaxing back into her chair.

"Real mature," Darcy says under his breath. He's gone back to analysing the menu with studied disinterest.

Here's the thing: Lizzie totally knows that she's acting like a petulant child. But something about Will fucking Darcy gets on her fucking nerves. He seems to be the very definition of that guy. The asshat that wears a suit like it's a second skin. The entitled douchebag that walks into every room like he owns it. The bratty customer that feels they have the right to insult her in her very own store.

And also, the kind of guy she'd like to take down a peg by showing him just how many ways she can make him come apart.

So yeah, the man sitting in front of her seems to fit all the criteria of that guy. And he's her sister's boyfriend's best friend.

Great. Just great.

But when she looks over at Jane, she's giving her that earnest look; a silent plea to behave. And God knows that Lizzie can't deny her sister anything.

So she sighs internally before looking at Charlie, "So Charlie, what do you do?"

"I work for the government."

"NSA?" Oh come on, she has to have some fun.

Jane shoots her a panicked look, but Charlie just laughs, "No, I'm not spying on you." He shrugs when Jane gives him an odd look, "You'd be surprised how often it comes up."

Lizzie asks another question, which leads Charlie to launch into some mildly funny work story that keeps the table relatively relaxed as they order their food. Darcy remains silent for the most part, but every once in a while, Lizzie catches him looking at her like he knows her, but doesn't know how. Lizzie tries really hard to ignore it.

She keeps an unnecessarily close eye on Charlie, though. Jane's a little too kind and trusting for her own good, so no risks can be taken when screening her potential suitors.

And yes, she's aware that she sounds like an old time father trying to sell off his daughter. But she's just protective so everyone can go ahead and fuck right off, thanks.

Unfortunately, her position as 'advice giving little sister' is rendered useless by the fact that Charlie is literally perfect for Jane. And not that kind of crap perfect where people accept each other, flaws and all, in the movies. No. He's real perfect. It's a little freaky if she's being honest. He's cheery and a little funny, but not in a purposeful or offensive way. He works for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, which is exactly the kind of thing Jane's boyfriend should do since she runs a charity. He even smiles too much, but the smiles are usually aimed at Jane and filled with so much admiration and adoration that Lizzie manages not to puke from the frequency. All in all, Charlie Bingley is a little bit ridiculous, a little cute, and decidedly Jane's type.

What really gets her though is the fact that his aura is so strong and kind that she can't help but think it means good things to come for their relationship. In fact, it's a little like the impression she originally got from Darcy's sister. It's funny how well first impressions can reflect someone's true personality.

But Charlie's also… a little boring. Which is the only reason why she turns to Darcy once he's finished his story.

It's definitely not because she's interested in talking to him or anything.

"So suit boy," Lizzie drawls, "what blatantly immoral job do you perform on the daily?"

For a moment, he looks a little surprised that she's talking to him. Then he processes her question and an irritated look crosses his face, "Wearing a suit hardly indicates that what I do is immoral."

Lizzie scrunches her nose, "Yeah, but in your case, I feel like it does. Take your pick: executive at some soul sucking oil company or investment banker at some soul sucking Wall Street company."

Charlie's laugh rings out before Will can answer, cutting through the tension like a knife, "Close. He's actually a corporate lawyer."

"Wow, and you had the balls to call my job exploitative? That's next level."

He rolls his eyes, something he seems to do a lot around her, "At least people know that I'm actually a lawyer when they hire me because I have a degree," he cocks his head mockingly, "does Harvard offer a psychic degree?"

"No because, believe it or not, most people that go to Harvard aren't smart enough to be psychics," she looks him up and down exaggeratedly, "yourself included."

"I need to go to the bathroom," Jane squeaks, "Lizzie, come with?

She knows that Jane is just trying to keep the situation from escalating, but she's annoyed by the request nonetheless. It's probably because she wants to show Darcy that she's not just some batshit crazy college dropout running a failing business to keep the lights on. Because she's so much more than that and for some reason, she needs him to know that.

She shouldn't care so much about his opinion. She doesn't.

(Liar.)

Lizzie nods and stands quickly, barely sparing a glance back at the table as her and Jane walk to the bathrooms that are situated around the nearest corner. Once they're in the cozy, dimly lit room, Jane steps into the nearest stall.

"Wait, you actually have to go to the bathroom?"

"Yeah," Jane replies, "but I also need you to stop provoking Darcy.

"Why should I?" she examines her appearance in the mirror, long patterned skirt and white lace top clashing horribly with the vintage Italian feel of the place. "He's a dick, you saw it yourself."

"Actually, he's pretty quiet," Jane says thoughtfully, "you're jumping to conclusions. Tons of sane, good people are skeptical of psychics."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to be rude about it."

She hears her sister sigh, "Then do it for my sake. Please."

Lizzie hesitates, but then nods despite the fact that Jane can't see it, "Fine."

"Thank you," Jane says, "You can head back to the table if you want. Try to be friendly."

"Yeah whatever," she says as she steps out of the bathroom and back to the table, eager to get a look at the dessert menu. She's about to wrap around the corner when she hears Charlie say something that makes her stop dead in her tracks.

"You like her."

The somewhat immoral need to know everything sparks up within her. She presses herself against the wall to avoid being seen.

Darcy scoffs, "That's insane. And as a matter of fact, so is she. She's a fucking psychic, for God's sake. She's a whackjob, straight out of a nuthouse."

"That's rude," Charlie snaps, "and I think she's more than that. She's pretty cute too."

"She's average at best. Anyways, crazy people aren't really my type"

Fuck him and his entitled pretty boy attitude. If he wants crazy, he'll get fucking crazy.

"Whatever man," Charlie replies, "I can tell when you're interested in someone and you're definitely interested in Elizabeth Bennet."

Lizzie doesn't get to hear his response, "Please tell me you're not spying on my boyfriend and his best friend. It's just called stalking if you're not a spy."

For a brief second, she considers telling Jane what she just heard, but quickly decides against it. Jane's rather angelic view of the world is something that Lizzie hates to break if she can help it.

"I just had to check my phone. Didn't want to do it at the table."

Jane nods, clearly relieved. Lizzie's only a little surprised that she bought her fake excuse. Then again, people will usually believe what they want to be true, even if the signs are clearly pointing to something else.

Lizzie grabs at the dessert menu instead of making conversation when they get back to their seats. Her plans on studying it in detail are promptly interrupted by Charlie, who seems determined to ruin her plans.

"What does your shop sell?"

She tenses instinctively, but when she looks at Charlie, he seems sincere, "I mainly offer psychic services, but I also sell some stuff to help people connect to the spiritual world or better understand their relationship with time."

"What kinds of services?"

"I do tarot and palm readings most of the time because that's what customers like best, but I know lots of techniques that I usually practice on my own time. Sometimes it even helps develop the field. Divination is way more like a science than you'd expect."

Next to him, Darcy tries to cover up a laugh with a cough and fails miserably. Lizzie gives him a sharp look, "Problem?"

"No…" he sobers instantly, "no of course not. Go on. What do these different techniques look like?"

The way he says it bothers her more than it should, but she gives a proper response anyway "Scrying sometimes, but that's a little sketchy so I tend to avoid it. Lithomancy stones and tea leaf readings are safer and more standardized. Sometimes I do psychometry, but it's hard to find willing participants."

Jane groans, "Not everyone wants to trust you with the responsibility of keeping their deepest, darkest secrets."

"Please. Responsibility is my middle name."

"You literally told Charlie about my first kiss an hour ago."

"That's irrelevant" she dismisses with a wave of her hand, "I'd be much better with clients."

"I'm willing," Charlie says, smile bright and open.

"What?" Jane and Darcy say at the same time.

"That's great!" Lizzie exclaims. "This is going to be so much fun."

Charlie nods, meeting Lizzie's enthusiasm.

Darcy, on the other hand, seems less than eager, "You don't even know what that is."

He shrugs, "I trust Lizzie."

He's so perfect for Jane.

"It's not painful or anything. I just have to touch you or an object you've associated a memory with. But we should do it in my store. The energy will be better there."

"Of course it will be," Darcy mumbles and Lizzie gives him a venomous look.

"I could do a tarot reading too if you'd like," she says, turning back to Charlie, "customers usually like that one better because it's more theatrical. Free of charge of course."

"Are you sure? I can pay if you want?"

Darcy begins to protest again, but Lizzie cuts him off, "No worries. Although, if you start coming more often, I'll have to ask for compensation."

"I don't think that'll be a concern," Darcy says, but Lizzie just ignores him.

The rest of the meal passes by peacefully and once they're all done dessert, Lizzie grabs her purse and stands.

"Jane, you're cool with driving us to the store?"

Jane hesitates, but then nods, "Sure."

"Sounds great," Charlie says, following Lizzie to the front of the restaurant.

"I assume you don't want to go," Lizzie gives Darcy a pointed look.

He cocks his head and considers, "I want to come."

Lizzie raises an eyebrow at him, "Careful, you don't want to start coming off as open-minded, do you?"

"I'm going to make sure that Charlie doesn't lose all his money."

Lizzie gives him a tight lipped smile, "Great. Off to the nuthouse we go."

She revels in the confused expression that crosses his face when she impulsively spits his own words back at him.

Point for Lizzie.

So this chapter is obviously kind of a set up chapter since not much happened. Thankfully, next chapter is when things really take off.

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