Hey Friends,
Sorry for the long wait! But here it is, it continues! - albeit like 10 years late :\

Faithinfools xx

Don't stop, don't stop believing
In truth and grace in the grievance
You want someone to want you for who you are
I want someone to try, or let me down easy, easy tonight
Easy, easy tonight

Let Me Down Easy - Gang of Youths

Richard had found her sitting in the rain, staring at a large oak tree in front of her and quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around his lady. He reached down and gently lifted her chin towards him.

"Hey." He whispered.

"Hey." She said softly back.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked. She shook her head, no. "Come." He said, helping her to her feet, walking her towards the cottage. She was shivering, her whole body undergoing violent shaking as they walked back.

"I've got to go, Aunt Catty will live up to her namesake if I don't go and make my presence known." Richard said solemnly as they reached the cottage. She cracked a small smile. "Go get warm and dried up, I'll be back later to check and see how you're doing okay?" He said.

"Okay. Thanks Rich." She said softly.

"That's okay." He replied, "what are boyfriends for?" He kissed her on the lips and gave her hand a squeeze before braving the rain once more. Elizabeth shook her head. Charlotte wasn't home yet and neither was Collins, both still working out at Rosings. She went into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes and turned on the hot water feeling the stress wash away from her. She sighed. What had Darcy been thinking? What had she been thinking? God, for him to tell her he loved her, what was going on? She was sure he saw her as his little sister's annoying friend. Eugh, she wanted to forget that the whole day had happened. And what would she tell Rich? She couldn't tell him his cousin had told her he loved her. How could she? She wished this day had never happened. Shaking her head, she stepped into the hall and turned in shock as she heard a strangled gasp. She stumbled as she recognised Darcy staring at her in the shadows. He reached out and caught her.

"I –"

"Please" He said quietly, letting go as soon as she was stable as if his hands were burning. "I am only here to give you this, please do me the favour of reading it." He said watching her intently, sadness in his eyes. She nodded. "Goodbye Elizabeth." He murmured, drinking her image in before leaving her standing alone and cold in the dreary hallway.

Elizabeth walked into her room, throwing the letter on her bed, not bothering to open it. She got changed slowly before settling herself down on the alcove next to the window in silence for God knows how long until a knock at the door disturbed her peace.

"Come in" She said quietly.

"Hey." Rich poked his head around the door. "Who lives here? Seriously, I walked towards the door, about to knock and it literally swung open for me." He said, a smile gracing his face jokingly, his eyes worried.

"Rich," she said haltingly, "How did you get here, to Rosings I mean?" Richard looked at her, his brow furrowed.

"I used Pemberley's jet, why?" He asked.

"Can we" She started, "Can we get away from here?" She asked him, "Just for a little while, I have 4 days until I have to be back training." She said quietly, "And I don't think I can take it much longer here." He looked at her concerned.

"But what about your friend Lizbear? Won't she be upset?" Richard asked, thoroughly confused. He hadn't met Lizzy's friend who had been working when he arrived at Rosings.

"Yes, but I'm sure she'll understand, I just…" She fell silent. She didn't know what she felt, she just knew she needed to get away.

"Elizabeth." Richard said soothingly. She flinched, only one person called her that and when Richard said it, it wasn't the same. "Are you okay?" He asked, bending down in front of her and holding her hands in his. She looked into his eyes.

"No." She replied truthfully.

"Want to talk to me about it?" He asked.

"Not just yet." She breathed quietly. "I don't feel I'm ready, well, to tell you the truth, I don't know what I feel." She said.

"Okay," Richard said, resigned, "but you will have to tell me one day, please, so I can prove to you that I am there for you, when you need it." Elizabeth looked deep into his eyes then, a small smile christening her face.

"I know." She whispered.

"Shall we get away?" He asked her giving her a small smile.

"Please." She replied.

Elizabeth looked at the mess around her. Her clothes were strewn all over the room, Charlotte still hadn't come back home and Richard was making calls, ready for their departure and arrival to a new unknown destination. She stared blankly at her clothes, just as she had been for the past 2 hours. How could he say he loved her? He didn't even know her. He wanted to marry her for gods sake! She still couldn't believe it. How could he believe she would attach herself willingly to a man with no honour or integrity. She shook her head. He was a lying, deceiving, somehow in love with her asshat anyway. He was a bizarre man. She sat playing with the letter between her hands. She didn't owe that man anything. The nerve he had to give it to her… She couldn't believe it. She tossed the letter into her handbag and resumed her "packing".

Both Elizabeth and Richard had packed their bags that night, well Elizabeth had, Richard just picked up his bag from Rosings, told his Aunt he was leaving without the slightest remorse, picked Elizabeth up from Charlotte's house, and off they went. Elizabeth left Charlotte a note on her desk explaining that she had had an unfortunate run in with Darcy and that she would explain it all later.

Richard looked towards Lizzy, she was still off. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was but he knew she was upset. They had been in the air for at least half an hour now and she was still twirling what looked to be a crumpled up, slightly damp letter between her hands. She hadn't opened said letter but had been staring blankly in front of her for the entire flight thus far.

"Open it." He said. She startled and looked at him blankly. "Open it Lizzy, if it's making you this upset, open it. How much harm can one letter bring?" Lizzy gave him an emotionless smile.

"If only that were true Rich."

Elizabeth had been back from her adventure to Kent and her impromptu trip with Richard to Barcelona for 2 weeks, slowly, steadily working her way towards her first championship since she had been back. She still hadn't opened the letter.

"What is holding you back Lass?" Jerry asked, frustrated at his charge. She was so close to being back to the top of her game yet her times were now consistently under on the slalom, her half-pipe run was still unpolished and she still hadn't made any roads towards fixing her big air problem. "I know you're better than this, you know you're better than this. You're purposefully holding back on some of those moves and you've never held back your potential before, that's what made you famous Lassie. So what is it?" Jerry asked her gently. Elizabeth huffed and sat in the snow, taking her goggles off and rubbing her eyes.

"Jerry…" she started.

"No. Not any more Lassie, either you come clean and out with it or I refuse to coach you any longer." Jerry said, arms crossed. "There'd be no point you see." Sighing, Lizzy shook her head in defeat and pulled out of her pocket one crumpled, weeks old piece of paper, slightly stained and slightly mottled.

"I haven't read it." She said quietly.

"What is it about?" Jerry asked.

"I don't know." She replied, confusion clear in her voice.

"Then what are you so afraid of?" He nudged her gently. "I think Elizabeth, you need to face your fears, you are worried that whatever is in that letter will either confirm or deny your theory and you don't know whether or not you want what you think to be true or false. I can see the inner turmoil in you Lass, by my advice, you had best open it, do not let it eat away at you."

"Its from Darcy." She whispered.

"All the more better reason, you've never seen him eye to eye and perhaps this is your chance. Give him a chance Lass." Jerry said sternly. "Alright, let's call it a day, your homework is to read the letter." Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Really?" She asked him.

"Yes."

It wasn't until the sun had gone down and the night skiing had begun that Lizzy had made herself a hot chocolate and was curled up in her bed staring at the letter. "Come on Lizzy, you're such a wuss, just open the damn thing." She muttered to herself. She shook her head and reached out a trembling hand and opened the seal. "Good first step." Then she began to read:

Elizabeth,

Please, do not trouble yourself further thinking this letter contains more of the feelings that thoroughly disgusted you when we last spoke, I will not humiliate myself anymore by repeating how I feel. I am mortified enough as it is and you've made it abundantly clear that you despise me.

The true purpose of this letter is to address some of the things you accused me of when we last spoke and I would be very grateful if you gave me the chance to explain my reasoning behind everything. Firstly, Jane. I admit, willingly, that I along with Caroline did have something to do with their split. I watched her most continuously and never saw partiality on her behalf. Charlie is like the brother I never had, I have watched him fall in and out of love several times Elizabeth, only to have his heart broken by women who love his money more than the man himself. He is a man who makes many rash decisions in his life and I thought that this would be one of them, especially when your mother continued praising Jane of her "catch" so to speak. My judgment in this case was flawed but please understand that I stand by what I did, it was only out of my love for him as a brother that I intervened and if I have caused Jane any hurt, I am deeply sorry, that was never my intention.

As for Mr Wickham, I suspect Georgiana told you her side of the story but I think it's best that I tell you mine as well. George and I were best friends when we were growing up, his father worked for mine and they were very close. We were almost brothers. During our time together as young boys he got into a lot of mischief and there were many incidents surrounding the estate that I covered as I did not want to let my father see the real George Wickham, especially as Wickham's father had passed away 5 years earlier and my father had his own failing health. After my father passed, Wickham was given one of our smaller properties, a church, in hopes that he would someday become the rector of that church. He came to me after the funeral and demanded a lump sum instead of the living, I agreed and gave him excess of 40,000 pounds, the amount similar to the living. That was the last time I was to see him, or so I thought. He came back 3 years later having squandered all of the money I had given him gambling and dealing and demanded the living that was bequeathed to him by my father. I flatly refused and he swore his revenge. A year later, I went to visit Georgiana in Ramsgate, by the sea where I discovered she had met George and they were to elope. I was enraged, I told George that he did not have my permission and he said it didn't matter as they were eloping. I then told him that due to Georgiana being underage, and me being her legal guardian, I was within my rights to refuse Georgiana her inheritance. When George realised he was not going to get a cent, he dumped her and left. Georgiana was heart broken, this was almost a year ago and she has not quite recovered just yet.

As for why I never told anyone or tried to warn many about the harm this man could do… I wanted to protect my sister, her reputation would never be the same if word had gotten out and I want desperately for her to have a normal teenage life. Perhaps, I could have tried harder and found a way to warn others about him but I doubt many would have taken me seriously.

Lastly, Richard. I hope you two are very happy together and I apologise if I have made things awkward in your relationship. Elizabeth, I talked to Richard before I left and he made me aware that you overheard my conversation with Charles on the night of Charlotte's party. I should never had said that about you and I am abundantly sorry, I was in a foul mood that night but that is no excuse for my behaviour. I am so sorry for the hurt I have caused you Elizabeth, take care of yourself and good luck for the competition.

All the best,
Will

And that was when the formidable Lizzy Bennet started to cry.

Over the next few months Lizzy began to retreat within herself as she practiced for the championship. She had started a routine, she would go out on the slopes for a morning run, then practice with Uncle Jerry before teaching 4 rounds of classes before going back out onto the slopes to practice again until it was so dark that she couldn't see 10m in front of her. She would come home promptly, speak to Richard on the phone or over skype for half an hour while she ate dinner and collapse into bed promptly after.

The only thing she didn't practice was the big air. She continued to work on her slalom run, her time getting quicker and quicker. It was now a 1.34, so close to her aim of 1.30 and even her parallel which was always the worst of the two was now down to 2.30. She was quietly proud of herself, her runs were becoming faster and faster each time she went out on the slopes. On the halfpipe her frontside and backside 720 mute grabs were becoming more and more clean, she was finally learning to land her new frontside 1080s, her execution was almost perfect and with her run fully memorised even with a few hard landings and unintentional simple ollies, Lizzy felt that it was coming along. The big air was the only thing that really stood in her way now, but every time she looked over the edge of the large jump she froze, her mind immediately flashing back to Henry's body, bruised and broken. She had thus far avoided the jump but knew she couldn't keep it up for much longer. She would have to face her fear at some point.

She sighed as she rode down the mountain after her 5:30am morning run towards Uncle Jerry's hut, ready to go out to the practice slopes with him on the chopper. Lizzy looked down at her watch. Perfect. Still a whole hour and a half until she had to be ready to teach. She slid up towards Uncle Jerry's hut, hand poised to knock on the door when to her surprise it opened and on the other side was Jane.

"Jane?" Lizzy asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Jane shook her head and scoffed. "Get inside Elizabeth." Lizzy gulped. Jane never used her full name. She walked into the entry way and down the narrow hallway into the small space Uncle Jerry called his accumulative kitchen and dining room. Uncle Jerry was sitting in his slacks at the kitchen table, his hands clasped together. "Uncle Jerry? What's going on here?"

"Sit down Elizabeth." Jane said firmly. Lizzy promptly dropped into a seat across from Uncle Jerry.

"Okay… So what is this all about?" She asked.

"What is this all about? Lizzy, what happened to you? Ever since you came back from Rosings you've barely said a word to me. You don't go out, you don't talk to me, to Uncle Jerry, to mum or dad, to anybody Lizzy! Not only that, you barely get any sleep! The number of times I've heard you walking around in the middle of the night is ridiculous! I can't do this anymore Lizzy! I can't watch you turn yourself into some sort of snowboarding monster. All you do is snowboard and sleep, you barely eat! You're as scrawny as I've ever seen you!" Jane shouted, her arms making frantic movements before she collapsed into a chair. Lizzy just raised an eyebrow.

"Okay… Jane, if its really worrying you I can eat more, its not big deal." Lizzy said, shrugging.

"Of course it's a big deal! Lizzy, you barely talk to me anymore! What happened at Rosings?" Jane asked, her eyes full of concern. Lizzy looked away, oh Jane, she thought, if only you knew. "I even talked to Richard and he said something had been up with you too. You're not as "spunky" as you used to be." Jane said. "And I don't know how I can get that Elizabeth back."

"I'm sorry Jane, that is one thing I can't tell you, I…. It's not my secret to tell." She said quietly, Lizzy turned to Uncle Jerry. "And what do you have to do with all of this Uncle Jerry?" She asked.

"I agree with Miss Jane, you have been working yourself entirely too hard." He said, his eyes betraying his stoic face.

"But you said I needed to train and that's all I've been doing!" Lizzy said angrily. "That's what you're supposed to do if you're a good competitor."

"Aye, but you don't need to do it til the death Lass. What also makes a good competitor is one that knows their limits, on and off the field."

"I am fine!" Lizzy mumbled angrily.

"You are not fine!" Jane screamed. Lizzy, looked up at her sister in shock. Jane never screamed, she barely raised her voice. "Lizzy you are retreating into yourself! I have already lost him, I will not lose you too!" Jane shouted. She took a deep breath in and sighed, rubbing her face in her hands. "I have arranged for you to do a tour of the peak district with Aunt Maddie and Uncle Ed." Lizzy stood up and walked around the table and hugged her sister.

"I am sorry Jane. I did not mean to scare you like that." She whispered. "I will make a larger effort. I didn't mean to worry you." She kissed Jane on the head. "If you think this is what's best for me I'll go." Jane sagged in relief.

"Thank you Lizzy." She said tiredly.

"I promise I won't ever leave you." Lizzy said seriously, "on purpose that is." She said with a sly smile. Jane turned and hit her sister playfully.

"Lizzy!"

"I'm kidding Jane I swear!" Lizzy said backing up, laughing. "I'm guessing it's okay by you then Uncle Jerry?" He nodded.

"Go enjoy yourself Lass. Come back ready to train hard, it'll only be a month until championships by then and you still haven't conquered the big air." He said seriously, giving her a half-smile. "Now go, both of you, out of here, you're disturbing my peace." Lizzy rolled her eyes at him. "Aye, you are right, I haven't had a moment of peace since you've come back to me." Lizzy just huffed.

"Come Lizzy, Maddie and Ed are arriving at 10am sharp and as soon as they come, I'm shipping you off." Jane said, getting up before giving Uncle Jerry a hug, "Thanks Uncle Jerry."

"You're welcome Jane, come back and visit me soon." He said seriously.

"Yes, it's been too long hasn't it?" Jane mused and together the two sisters walked out of the hut and back into the snow. They walked in silence, quietly enjoying the cold crisp air that formed mist as they breathed in and out.

"I am sorry Jane." Lizzy said finally, "You know that right? Please tell me you do, you're my best friend." She said, her eyes flickering up towards Jane's face.

"I know Lizzy." Jane said, "but I meant what I said, it wasn't just you that lost Henry that day, it was me too, and I won't lose you as well. I won't let you go back into your shell again. It took me months Lizzy, MONTHS to even begin to see you look the same as you used to." Jane said seriously.

"I'm not the same girl I used to be Jane." Lizzy sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

"I know." She replied quietly, "And I still haven't figured out whether or not that's a good thing." Lizzy looked at her sister quizzically, but Jane ignored her and looked straight ahead. "Hey, isn't that Wickham?" She asked Lizzy, concerned. Elizabeth turned to see one George Wickham sauntering his way down towards them, followed by Denny. Lizzy's mouth hardened into a frown.

"Let's go quickly Jane, I don't want to talk to that bastard." Lizzy said harshly under her breath.

"Lizzy, Jane, good to see you both." Wickham said confidently.

"No." Lizzy replied shortly. "We'll just be on our way then." Lizzy said moving both girls around the men when Wickham reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Hold on, what happened? Did I do something wrong?" Wickham asked, mockingly.

"Let go of me George." Lizzy said warningly, he quickly let go in response. "Maybe next time you tell stories, make sure you tell the truth." His eyes narrowed.

"I see." He said shortly. "I'm going racing for the championship too you know and when I win that big trophy and that huge lot of prize money all for myself…" He moved himself closer to her until their noses were almost touching, staring her in the eye before moving towards her ear. "I'm going to take your sister out and screw her for everything that she's worth…. Lydia was it…?" He whispered. Lizzy screamed with rage.

"Why you piece of no good, lying shit." She yelled at him, punching him as hard as she could. "You absolute arsehole, you stay away from my sister." She shouted at him with rage. He looked at her, blood pouring from his nose, he laughed.

"My, you are a feisty one. I might keep away from her but will she keep away from me?" Said through the blood.

"Lizzy, let's go." Jane said quickly pulling her sister away from him. "What did he say Lizzy?" She asked her sister worriedly as soon as they were far enough away from Wickham. "What did he say?"

"He said he would screw Lydia." She said angrily. "And you know what, at this rate, she'd probably let him." She said, shrugging her sister off and walking purposefully towards the house. "Come on Jane!" Jane shook her head and ran after her wayward sister.

What happens next...?
As always, R&R xx