Eight years ago

Two weeks before the beginning of college, all the Darcys and George drove to Boston.

Everyone helped the guys moved into their dorm and they walked around the campus. At some point, George offered to take a picture of the Darcy family in front of one of the famous buildings. William was now as tall as his father, as during the summer he had grown 5 inches.

When they were walking around Harvard Square, someone screamed William's name. It was Fitz, with his family. William hurried to hug his friend and immediately asked for an explanation. In their calls, Fitz never mentioned Harvard; he had talked about staying in Seattle for college.

"Well, what can I say? I wanted to scare the heck out of you when I surprised you in one of your classes...," Fitz said to his best friend.

The whole group ate dinner that day and spent the rest of the weekend together. Soon it was time for the families to leave and let George, Fitz and William begin their college experience.

Fitz was very surprised by William's new attitude and encouraged him to make new friends. William was still shy but agreed to go to parties as long as they did not interfere with his classes and homework.

When Fitz suggested to his friend to meet girls and date, William answered that was not necessary, as he had already met someone. Fitz gaped at his friend.

He had met a girl in his introduction to economics class. Her name was Andrea, a redhead with green eyes. Apparently, William had a thing for redheads.

They had worked together in several assignments and so he had the chance to talk to her. She was a very lively and clever girl, which reminded him of her...

Except, this time, William knew exactly what not to do.

One day, he gathered the courage to ask her if she wanted to have coffee with him. Andrea accepted the invitation, as she had found him charming and attractive and he had blushed when he spoke to her.

That was the first of many dates and marked the beginning of a lot of firsts for William Darcy.

At the end of their first year in Harvard, George decided that he wanted to take a break from school. William Sr. was disappointed to hear of his decision, but as he had promised George's father to look after his son, he gave George a job in Pemberley.

William was sad to see his friend leave but he knew that George never really liked school and hard work, despite his intelligence. He preferred to spent time in other (more pleasant and less serious) activities.

That was the beginning of the deterioration of their friendship.

Over the summer, Ann and Georgiana visited William and Fitz in Boston; and they finally got the chance to meet the famous Andrea, whose name was in all the phone conversations William had with his family.

Ann was very pleased to see his son cheerful and in love with a good girl and so she invited Andrea to San Francisco for Thanksgiving. William had avoided making plans in the long run in respect with his relationship with Andrea but was happy to see that his family approved of her.

Andrea was certainly more popular than William and she had friends in different clubs around the university. One night, wanting to cheer up her boyfriend after George's departure, she invited him and Fitz to a party organized by the diving team. And that was where William Darcy met Bing Lee.

Bing came from a privileged family in Chicago. They had made their fortune by investing in different businesses but his father had always dreamed of having a doctor in the family and had imprinted that idea in his son's head.

Bing had recently joined the club and was walking around the party when he saw William standing by himself in one of the terraces of the place.

Fitz was somewhere, talking to a guy named Brandon; and a friend of Andrea had stolen her from William.

Bing started talking with William and the latter enjoyed the talk. Bing was very open and talkative, and William knew more than necessary about Bing's life. When Andrea joined them, she was glad to discover that that her boyfriend had made a new friend. By the end of the party, William decided to join the diving team and to pursue his friendship with Bing Lee.

Everything was perfect in William's life. His junior year was going great, he had two best friends with him and a loving girlfriend.

He never imagined his life was about to change when he received a call from his aunt Catherine, a cold night in October.