Chapter 23

When Lizzie woke the next morning, nestled amongst the pillows and feathered duvet, the sun was already rather high in the sky. It took her a moment to recollect her surroundings, but once her eyes had fallen on the clock, and she saw that it was almost eleven, she shot out of bed and raced down the hall to Georgiana's room. Cursing herself for neglecting her responsibilities, the whole reason she was even at Darcy's house in the first place, and on only her second day, she was already failing. She ended up stumbling into Georgiana's bedroom with a slight trip as she exclaimed the girl's name.

"Georgie!" she cried while she corrected her balance before coming to a halt, surprised to see Georgiana sitting up in bed, staring back at her with a great big smirk on her face.

Georgie was changed from her nightgown and her hair had been brushed out and she had a book lying in her lap as she looked up at her friend.

"Cute pyjama's" she said by way of greeting, a teasing twinkle in her eye.

"You're up!" Lizzie exclaimed, Georgiana, still unable to laugh without causing pain, smiled instead.

"So it would seem," she responded, still smirking.

"I overslept," Lizzie said, "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay," Georgiana replied, "William told me to let you sleep in."

"He did?" Lizzie questioned, her thoughts turning to Darcy for the first time that day. She felt herself blush remembering the events that had transpired in the kitchen last night.

"Did something happen last night?" Georgiana asked, looking far too innocent for her own good.

"I'm going to get your next does of medicine ready," Lizzie said, instead of answering. She left the room quickly with Georgiana calling after her teasingly,

"Is that a threat?" followed by a melodious giggle.

And so it was, the rest of the week went by in much the same manner, although rather quickly, and Lizzie was incredibly frustrated. When she'd spoken to Katie on the phone earlier that day, and said that very thing, she had been teased mercilessly.

"Yeah, in more ways than one," had been sisters response, followed by a lot of unnecessary comments about Will's attractiveness and sexual prowess. In the end, Lizzie had hung up on her. But the conversation hadn't done anything to help her mood.

Because he'd missed all of the last week, Darcy had to put in a few extra hours at work every day, so he wasn't getting home until late and was often leaving before, or very soon after, Lizzie got up in the morning. What was frustrating her was that ever since their discussion, and their kiss - that burning, intense kiss- Darcy hadn't said anything more about it!

And it wasn't as if he was being cold or distant, in fact, her was being utterly friendly and charming and, well… perfect. So it was, that every time Lizzie got fed up enough to broach the subject, he'd go and do something ridiculously sweet and wear her down again. Like bringing her hot cups of tea, or the morning he'd made her breakfast, or yesterday when he'd surprised her by inviting her sisters and Charlie over for dinner.

Then there was the fact that every night after Georgiana had gone to sleep, early because the medication she was on made her so drowsy, he'd bring his laptop out into the living room where she was watching TV or reading, and he'd sit on the couch with her and work instead of leaving her on her own and shutting up in his study.

So it was, on Thursday night, while he was proof reading a report on one end of the couch, that he reached out and started rubbing her feet with one hand as her legs were curled up on the couch between them. It had taken a moment for Lizzie to register this familiar domesticity as abnormal, and she'd turned her head to look at him. He was absolutely absorbed in his work, his left hand rested on the keyboard as his eyes scanned the screen, his right hand still held her foot.

"Darcy," she whispered, but he didn't hear her.

"Darcy!" she said again, this time capturing his attention. He looked up, a slight smile on his lips. She pointedly glanced down at her feet and his eyes followed. He stopped his ministrations as if he'd just noticed what he was doing, but he didn't remove his hand.

"Darcy, what are we doing?" she asked.

"Well," he started, "I'm working, and you appear to be watching television."

"Very funny," she retorted, rolling her eyes, "No, you know what I meant. What are we doing about, us?" she asked, sounding braver than she felt.

Darcy sighed, and moved his laptop onto the coffee table, not removing his hand from her foot. Instead he gave it a light squeeze, put his other hand around her ankles and pulled her feet into his lap as he turned to face her.

"I know I haven't been around much this week, but that will change after tomorrow. I've been busy, but I wanted to give you some space," he said, "You're kind of forced to be in my company here, and I know you probably wanted to get away, get some distance…"

"Darcy…"

"Lizzie," he countered, that has been happening a lot more recently, he'd been calling her Lizzie.

"Look our… conversation the other night dragged up a lot of old issues, we both probably needed time to process it. But if you're ready to continue… or rather, when you're ready, then so am I."

Lizzie took a moment to think about that. Darcy wasn't avoiding her, but was giving her space to think, space she hadn't realised she needed.

"So, what now?" she asked after a moment of contemplation.

"Well, that's kind of up to you," he replied, she raised her eyebrows quizzically and he laughed.

"Look Lizzie, I think it's pretty obvious what I want. I like you, I have for a long time, and I want to be with you." He was leaning closer to her now, and she felt a little overwhelmed.

"Will…" she whispered,

"I love when you call me that," he murmured.

"Will," she said again, this time smiling at him. He gazed up into her eyes and smiled back.

"I'm still so, I don't know… I can't seem to figure out what I want." She admitted, he nodded, his face turning solemn.

"I understand," he said, pulling back. She grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"I do know that I can't seem to stop thinking about you," she said, "I know that I'm attracted to you, and I know that my feelings aren't going away." He smiled again, settling back close to her.

"I know that I like kissing you," she whispered, blushing, and he chuckled.

"Mmm, I like that too," he said back, reaching up to touch her rosy cheek.

"Can we just…" she hesitated, her eyes flicked to his for a moment before the rest of her sentence fell into the ether.

"We can take it as slow as you want to," Darcy said, finishing her thought.

"Thank you," she said, returning his smile.

Darcy squeezed her feet again and she looked down at where his hands held her.

"Is this okay?" he asked, stroking the top of her toes. Lizzie nodded. His hands began to trail their way upward, coming to rest just above her jean covered knees.

"How about this?" he asked again, she nodded again, her eyes falling shut as she enjoyed his touch.

His hands continued his trail up her body, caressing the outside of her legs and resting on her hips.

"This?" he asked, and she nodded again. His hands moved to hold hers and squeezed them once before trailing up her arms. She felt him shift his weight so that he was almost hovering over her. She felt him lean forward, one hand finding purchase on her waist, the other pushing her hair back behind her ear. She felt his breath on her cheek when he whispered.

"What about this Lizzie?" His lips were right by her ear and she shivered in anticipation and nodded again,

"How do you do this to me?" she murmured, and he chuckled,

"I could ask you the same question," he whispered back, leaning closer still.

"Can I kiss you Lizzie?" he asked, she waited barely a second before she whispered yes.

His kiss was searing, and it wasn't long until their tongues were duelling and Will's weight shifted, pushing her down into the soft cushions of the couch. The hand he held on her hip snaked its way beneath her and encircled her back, pulling her closer, the other slid around to the back of her neck, holding her to him. Her hands ran up the length of his back and threaded through his soft hair. Soon, they were making out like teenagers in his living room, the late night news playing on the television. Darcy's laptop went to sleep, and they kept on kissing, caressing each other. They lost track of time, of everything really, expect for each other, they couldn't pick how long it was before they stopped, pulling back from each other. Lizzie opened her eyes to meet his, darkened with desire and warm with emotion.

"We need to stop," he breathed, his voice deep and husky.

"I know," she said, leaning up and brushing his lips again.

"Before I can't stop," he said, returning the gesture.

"I know," she repeated, they stared at each other for a moment, and then he was leaning back down to meet her mouth. Luckily, for their intent to take things slow, they were interrupted, when Georgiana's soft voice called out for one of them.

"I'll go," he said, resting his forehead against hers, both of them breathing heavily.

"Mmhmm," she murmured back, unable to find her voice. He lifted himself up off her, pulling her back into a sitting position, even though he only wanted to lie back down, him on top of her.

"You go to bed," he said, "If you don't, I won't be able to stop myself from taking you to mine," he said, kissing her chastely one last time.

"Goodnight," she whispered, as he quickly made his way to the stairs, leaving Lizzie alone in the darkened living room. She took a moment to gather herself before she turned off the TV and made her way up to her room. She paused outside of Georgiana's door, which was opened a crack, and heard their siblings having a hushed conversation. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she heard Georgiana let out a little squeal of delight and thought she could guess the topic. Blushing, she tip-toed the rest of the way to her room and shut the door behind her.

Darcy was no fool, and he wasn't going to fool himself into thinking he'd be able to get any sleep tonight. Not after a kiss like that, and not without the woman he'd been kissing lying beside him. After he'd tended to Georgiana and she was down for the count, Darcy wandered the halls of his house, thinking back over the details of his and Lizzie's relationship. He tried not to linger on the negatives, but instead focused on the progress they'd made these past few weeks.

Of course, it had all started at the benefit at Netherfield, which seemed only fitting considering their history there. Darcy cursed in his head at the unfortunate accident that had torn them apart three years ago. He decided he could squarely place the blame on Caroline Bingley and not feel guilty about it. That gave him some semblance of pleasure, but he knew that when it came down to it, the whole debacle was his own fault.

Being with Lizzie at the benefit this year, had made Darcy grasp how stupid he'd truly been by shutting her out. He couldn't fathom a life without Lizzie in it in some capacity, now he hoped it was going to be in the right capacity. It might take them some time to get back to that level of intimacy, but he finally felt like they were on the right track. And next time they were together, he was going to make damn sure she knew it was him, and make it matter.

Thinking of sleeping with Lizzie inevitably drew him back to their couch session earlier. He'd felt horrible when he'd though she was turning him down, guilty and depressed and broken, too much emotion for the brief moment that had passed before she'd pulled him back to her and he'd been flooded with relief. Then they'd snogged shamelessly for god knows how long, he couldn't remember a time past his teenage years when he'd had a make out session like that. He silently thanked the gods above that he'd been able to control himself and not turn into a caveman on her. That would have surely scared her away. At least that part of his teenage self hadn't resurfaced!

The early hours of the morning found Darcy lying on his bed, the door to his room open giving him a perfect view of the guest bedroom door. Which was firmly closed, there was no glow coming under the door, so he assumed Lizzie wasn't having the same difficulties sleeping as he was. It wasn't long before his mind started off on a tangent about Lizzie living here, sharing his bed and his home, doing all those sickeningly domestic things together like cooking and cleaning, but he somehow doubted they'd be nearly as mundane if Lizzie was involved. Thoughts of Lizzie at Darcy House turned to thoughts of Lizzie as Pemberley, and Will found himself anxious to make the trip they'd spoken of last weekend. Tomorrow he'd start to make the plans, he was determined to have her at Pemberley and do it soon. He couldn't wait to see how she liked it there.