A/N: If you don't know this by now, you're really not paying attention. I don't own Pride and Prejudice. I do own various characters like Lizzie's cousins and her friends and Will's friends, but that's about it.

And I really do appreciate all the reviews I've been getting; it's encouraging.

Chapter Fifteen: She Moves in Such a Way

Lizzie's POV

You might wonder how I could be friendly towards Will Darcy after what happened to Jane in February. And I actually have an answer for you. It's all Steve Logan's fault. The night before I left for Chicago I was talking to Steve and Becca and we started talking about that fateful night in February. At one point, I said that I couldn't understand how or why Will had forced Charlie to dump Jane. Steve's response stunned me.

Flashback

"You think that this guy forced Charlie to dump your sister? Lizzie, I've met Charlie before; he's not that dumb. In order for Will or anyone else to have talked Charlie into breaking up with Jane, he had to have doubts about her to before he talked to Will. To break up with someone just because someone else told you to is a sign of idiocy and inability to think for yourself. That's not Charlie."

I looked at him. "But Will said that he told him all about how Jane didn't really like him and that stuff."

He sighed. "Elizabeth Anne, if Adam told me that Becca didn't love me, I wouldn't believe him. Adam is my best friend, but Becca is my soul mate, my other half, my better half," he said with a smile as he squeezed her fingers and she smiled back at him. "Now I know that what happened to Jane was terrible and I feel sorry about that, but maybe we need to realize that Charlie might not be 'the one' for your sister. If a man doesn't have enough balls to tell his friends that they're jackasses and ask his girl if she actually cares about him, then he doesn't deserve her. You don't just go dump a girl because your best friend says she doesn't care about you. That's just stupid."

I looked at Steve. "Are you saying that what happened isn't Will's fault?"

He nodded. "Bingo was his name-oh! Just because he told Charlie that being in a relationship with Jane was a bad idea doesn't make it Will's fault. That means that Charlie is a moron who listened to his friends instead of asking Jane if what he had heard from his friends and sisters was the truth."

End Flashback

Steve was right. Jane made some stupid decisions but those were her decisions. Will didn't put bottles of liquor to her lips and make her drink them. He also didn't put a gun to Charlie's head and make him dump Jane. People make their own decisions and sometimes those are some pretty dumb decisions, but that doesn't mean that those dumb decisions are someone else's fault. Did Will Darcy influence other people's stupid decisions? Yes, he did; but he didn't force anyone to do anything. Will had told Charlie his honest opinion of my sister and Charlie had acted on Will's advice. That was hard to face but that didn't mean that what had happened was Will's fault.

And Will was turning out to be a good guy. He was good with my cousins and with his niece. Emily was such a cute baby and her mom, Gianna, was a great girl herself. She was energetic and a great mom to her daughter. She was planning on going back to school in September, but that was going to require a lot of help and support from her brother and other family members. "But Evelyn has promised to baby-sit Emily while I'm in classes and I know that my brother will find ways to help out. He always does."

"He sounds like a great big brother," I replied. Gianna and I were at the beach with Emily and my younger cousins while my uncle was off playing tennis with Will.

"He's a wonderful brother," Gianna said. "He takes care of the people he loves. I think it has a lot to do with his childhood. Our mother lost five babies between Will and me. That was hard on her and my father, but it was also hard on Will. He was a little boy who kept watching his mother get pregnant and then lose the baby."

"Your mother lost five babies?" I asked. Five children…my mother gave birth to five babies; all of whom are still living. I can't imagine what it would be like to have younger siblings die.

"Emily is named after the first baby who died," Gianna told me. "When Will was two, our mother had a baby named Emily Christina who was stillborn. I named my daughter Emily Anne, after the first baby Emily and after my mother."

I nodded. I was starting to really get the idea that growing up as William Darcy had not been easy. Just because you're rich doesn't necessarily mean that life is handed to you on a silver platter. "What was Will like as a kid?" I asked her.

"He was loving, caring, and nuts. He loves sports, especially football and he's also a good distance runner. He took care of me a lot when I was younger; you do realize that he's ten years older than me, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," I told her quickly. "He told me about it when we were both in New York at Easter time."

"Oh, he told me about that," she said quickly. I could tell by the look on her face that he'd also told her about how he asked me out and I said no. this was going to be a little bit awkward. Based on the information I had at the time, it made sense to refuse Will, but now, it doesn't. If he were to ask me out again, I would say yes in a heartbeat. I know that the whole Jane and Charlie thing would complicate things, but I like him and I think I might like to date him. Call me crazy or say it's just hormones or pheromones or some other chemicals if you like, but I think this might be real. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure he hates me now.

The Bingleys arrived on Friday and we all had dinner together again. It was really good to see Charlie again and no one was really happy to see Caroline but such is life. It took Charlie barely two minutes to ask me how Jane was doing. He asked after my whole family but his focus was especially on Janie. He wanted to know how she was doing and how work was treating her. I told him that she was doing well and keeping busy. I told him that the rest of family was well. "Lydia is in Fiji with a friend's family," I said. "Katie and Mary are both working for my dad, and Jane is still working at the library."

"How is the library?" he asked. We were sitting on the patio of the hotel restaurant talking. Will, Gianna, Emily, Charlie, Caroline, Uncle Edward, Aunt Sophie, my cousins, and I were sitting around enjoying drinks before dinner.

I smiled, but decided to avoid actually telling him how my dear, darling older sister was doing. "There are still a million books there and there are still a bunch of librarians working there."

"And how's Jane doing? Is she seeing anyone right now?" He looked slightly nervous as if I might tell him that she was, indeed, dating someone else.

I could have been mean and lied to him but that was just cruel. It might kill him if I did that. "No, she's still single," I told him. "Literally the only interesting thing that's happened to her lately would be the fact that she locked herself in the bathroom about a month or so ago."

He looked at me, confused and probably a little amused. "What happened?"

"She was taking a shower before work one day and she accidentally locked the door to the bathroom. I needed to get into the bathroom since I was leaving for work before she was. So I tried to open the door and it wouldn't open. So I make her come try to open the door and it turns out that it's jammed. So we're sitting there shaking the door back and forth frantically. And finally it opens up. But for about two minutes we thought we were going to have to take the door off its hinges and we were both freaking out. Thankfully, I was able to get in and she was able to get out."

He smiled. "I'm glad to hear that." I could tell he wanted to ask more about my sister but he wasn't sure how to do it without it being awkward. Jane was doing better now than she'd been in ages. She wasn't dating anyone right now, but the last she called me, which was Monday, she'd told me that she had a date with Matt Perkins. He is nineteen years older than her and all, but he's also pretty good-looking in a dignified older man way. I think that they could actually have a pretty solid relationship if they tried. He's a really great guy and a sweetheart.

"So, Liza, how is Michigan treating you?" Caroline asked me in a snooty tone. "Have you had lunch with anyone famous recently?"

"No, but I haven't been in Michigan for about two weeks now. It is possible that someone interesting might have visited. Jeff Daniels and his family stayed at the Longbourn once when I was younger."

"Jeff Daniels is a pathetic C-list wanna-be."

I rolled my eyes. This was coming from the woman who was the biggest poser I knew. She acted like she knew everything and everyone, but she really wasn't as important as she thought she was. She was just a normal person. Her family was wealthy but she wasn't a Rockefeller or a Hilton or anything. But Caroline Bingley wanted to be something special. She was hanging all over Will all night and for the first time ever, I realized how much he really did detest her behavior. Will Darcy actually was a genuine person who cared about others. He loved his sister and his niece fiercely and I admired him for that. I really wanted him in my life.

The next day my aunt and uncle were out for a walk when I decided to check my email. Lo and behold, I had two new emails from Jane that had been sent in the past twenty-four hours.

To: "Elizabeth Bennett" "Jane Bennett" July 19, 2008

Subject: Bad News

Lizzie,

We got a phone call from Mr. Forrester today with some bad news. Lydia has run off with Damien Wickham. They took off on Tuesday or Wednesday; we're not sure when and they don't know where they went. All we know is that Lydia told Kristi that she was going to marry Wickham.

If it is convenient, please come home soon.

Love,

Jane

As the shock of the first email filled me, I opened the second, only to find more bad news.

To: "Elizabeth Bennett" "Jane Bennett" July 19, 2008

Subject: More…

Lizzie,

Lydia and Wickham are together in Chicago. Dad is flying down there to find them and bring them home. Mother wants him to force them to get married; I'm not sure how he feels about this. But that's what Mother wants. I think she'd just be happy if one of her daughters would get married.

Tuesday night, Lydia snuck out of her hotel room and ran off with Damien. The next morning they found the note she'd left them and discovered her absence. They believed that this was just a joke and they could easily find Damien so they didn't alert Mother and Dad until today. But they couldn't find them and then they discovered that they'd flown to Chicago together. They're probably hiding out together someplace there. I don't understand all of this. But I trust Dad and Uncle Ed to figure things out. Oh, don't tell anyone outside the family; this all is so embarrassing. I cancelled my date with Matt Perkins because I don't want him to know about this. It's so messy and I just want this all to blow over. Why did Mother and Dad ever let Lydia go to Fiji with the Forresters?

Dad wants Uncle Ed to join him in Chicago. He thinks he'll need his assistance. Please ask Uncle Ed to help; I'm sure he will. Please come home. We need you. Everything is in an uproar. Mother has gone to bed claiming to be having a nervous breakdown and won't see anyone. You must come home. You're the only one who can bring order to this house, to this family. We need you. I know you must be having a wonderful vacation and I'm sure it's great to spend time with Aunt Sophie and Uncle Ed and the kids, but if it's at all possible, please do come home. I need you.

Love,

Jane

Just then, there was a knock at the door. I jumped up, leaving my laptop open on the couch and ran to open it. Will Darcy was standing there with two cups of coffee in his hands. "Lizzie," he began. "I came over to see if you and your family would like to…oh dear God, Lizzie, are you all right? You're as white as sheet. Did something happen? Are you sure you're all right?"

I felt faint and I grabbed the doorframe to steady myself. "I just got an email from Jane with the most horrible news. I need to go tell my aunt and uncle; we need to leave immediately."

He set the cups of coffee on the porch and taking my arm, he led me over to the couch. Once I was seated, he said, "Let me go after them or we could send one of your cousins. But you don't look very well."

I nodded and sighed. "Fine, send Ben or Emma to get them."

He dispatched both Ben and Emma before coming back and sitting down next to me. "Are you all right?"

I shook my head and picked up my laptop. "Read Janie's two emails," I told him before biting my lip. "Lydia ran off with Damien Wickham and my mother is probably going to make her marry him. But he's not the kind of person you want your seventeen-year-old daughter marrying. He's a womanizer and a scumbag."

"I know," he said, looking up from my laptop that I'd long ago named "John Thornton" after the hero of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.

"I don't want my sister with him. I want him as far away from her as I can keep him. He's self-centered and he basically raped your sister. He deserves to die."

Will put my laptop on the nearby coffee table and awkwardly put his arm around my shoulder. "Lizzie, Jane said you shouldn't tell anyone outside the family about this."

"I know," I told him, leaning against his solid frame. "But you understand this better than anyone. You know what Damien is. You don't think he's weird and sick purely because he convinced a seventeen-year-old girl to run way with him. You know that he's a sex-crazed maniac. And we need to go hunt him down so he doesn't hurt my sister."

He took a deep breath and rubbed my shoulder. "Lizzie, slow down. Take a deep breath and look me in the eye. Just take a minute and breathe."

I looked into his big brown eyes and tears started rolling down my cheeks. "My baby sister is destroying herself and her family. She's going to kill my father. He's no spring chicken and he can't handle this. And my mother will just die from this. It's horrible for her socially. She lives off her social life. This is going to end their marriage. What am I going to do?"

I looked Will over from head to toe and started crying. He was so strong, so handsome. Why hadn't I seen all this when we first met? I could be dating him, possibly engaged to him right now. But no, I had been stupid. Now I was single and he would never be interested in me. My little sister had run off his arch-enemy and soon I would be connected to that man for the rest of my life. This was the closest I'd ever been to him and I'd never be so close to him again.

Will's POV

Lizzie and her family left on Saturday afternoon. My heart was breaking for her. The last thing she'd told me before leaving was "Don't tell Gianna about this. I don't want to hurt her."

I gave her my word and I wouldn't tell my sister unless it was absolutely necessary. Then I told Gianna and Charlie that urgent business demanded my immediate return to Chicago and I flew back home that evening. I went to Mass with Rick and Evelyn the next morning and then I set out on a hunt to find Damien Wickham. I wasn't sure where the snake was hiding with his newest prey but I had a few guesses and I knew of a few people who might be able to tell me where they were.

So I began searching. I knew Mr. Bennett and Edward Gardiner were conducting their own search but I knew I needed to help. This was for Lizzie. I loved her so much and I wanted to protect her and her family from the pain that my family had endured. I love Emily; she is a wonderful niece. But I don't want anyone to rape my sister ever again. She deserves better than that. Women in today's society really do deserve better than the way the men around them treat them.

It took me a great deal of time (almost a week) and a ridiculous amount of money (let's not go there) but I found Damien and Lydia. They were hiding in Chicago, as we all suspected. They were staying with one of Damien's friends who lived in a large house north of the city. I took Damien and Lydia to the Gardiners' house where they were faced with her aunt and uncle's wrath. As Lizzie had predicted, her parents forced the pair to marry despite the fact that Damien was thirteen years older than Lydia. I thought it was a disgusting idea. I was thirty and I couldn't imagine marrying a seventeen-year-old girl. But her parents wanted them to get married and she seemed to think he wanted to marry her, so on Saturday, August 3, I stood up as Damien's best man as they married. The only people in the church besides the bride and groom were the priest, the bride's father, her aunt and uncle, and me.

The ceremony was brief and simple. The bride wore a dress that they'd picked up at a department store a few days earlier and the groom wore one of my old suits that I did not want back. He could keep it. It might sound snobbish and rude but I don't want one of my suits back after that man wore it. I hated him. I couldn't understand what girls like Lydia saw in him. She might be Lizzie's sister but she wasn't cut from the same cloth as her oldest two sisters.

Seeing Lydia at the front of that church professing to "love, honor, and cherish" Damien "all the days of her life" broke my heart. I wasn't sure that either one of them understood the meaning of those words. And Lydia Bennett was so different from her sister. Lizzie was so proud of her dark brown curls while Lydia dyed her hair blonde and straightened it. I knew that all the Bennett girls had naturally curly brown hair and I loved the way those curls looked on Jane and Lizzie. I just wished that Lydia could learn to accept herself as she was and stop hiding under skimpy clothing, make-up, and chemically treated hair. When I saw Lydia in her wedding dress, I wished that things were such that I could marry her older sister.

Lizzie was old enough to get married. Her life was stable. She wasn't going off to Fiji and getting drunk with random older men. She was hard-working and happy where she was. She had a job and was in a place in her life where she could possibly start dating.

After the wedding, we all went out for a quick luncheon and then Damien and Lydia drove to Meryton with her father to see her family. Lydia had been legally emancipated from her parents and was moving to California with Damien. I didn't approve of this at all and I suspected that Lizzie was also opposed but I couldn't do anything about it. The Bennett family had not taken my advice. In fact they didn't even know what I had done in relation to this marriage. Of course, I had asked that they not know. I told Mr. Gardiner that I was merely acting as a friend of the family and I wished to do so anonymously. I had done this for Lizzie and I was not going to let anyone know what I had done unless it was absolutely necessary. My chances with Lizzie were over. She had made her feelings perfectly clear to me in April and everything was over. We could be friends; her short stay at Pemberley had taught me that much. But beyond that, nothing would ever happen. At lunch, I overheard her father tell her aunt that she was taking a date with her to Charlotte Lucas and Ethan Collins's wedding.

A/N: Please review! I hope you enjoy.