A/N: I still don't own the story. I do love it though. I'm also really grateful for all the reviews I've been getting. Just for anyone who is wondering at the end of chapter nineteen, Will and Lizzie had been dating for about three weeks.

Chapter Twenty: Welcome to Paradise

Lizzie's POV

Will and I spent Sunday and Monday together. It was amazing. We just talked and talked for hours on end. And then Monday night he had to go back to Chicago. He was planning to visit for a weekend later in the month and then I had a work conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan in mid-October. He was going to meet me there and I was going to show him around the city in which I'd spent my college years. Then in November, I was going to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with Will and his family as well as Uncle Ed and Aunt Sophie. And then if things continued to go well, I'd be spending part of my Christmas holidays in Chicago with Will. He was going to come to Meryton for the first week of the holidays and spend Christmas Day with me, and then we'd go back to Chicago afterwards and stay there until I had to be back for work. We would spend Christmas with the Bennett family and New Years with the Darcy family. I was enjoying getting to know this amazing guy.

I know I hadn't liked Will when we first met but that had completely flipped. He was such a good guy. He was a good friend and brother and uncle. My friends and family liked him too, and that meant a lot to me. On Labor Day, Will and I went to Traverse City with Jenny, Hannah, Kyle, Alex, Jane, and Charlie. While we were there, Kyle and Alex told me that they approved of Will. "He's a good guy with a strong personality. He won't let you walk all over him. He'll love you and respect you," Kyle told me. "And he won't mess with you."

"He'll take good care of you," Alex added. "But he won't belittle you or make you submit to him like you don't matter. You're important to him and he's going to fight to keep you in his life."

"I'll keep that in mind," I replied. "Thanks for always looking out for me."

"We have to," Alex said. "We don't have any sisters and you don't have any brothers, so we have to look out for you."

I hugged each of them and then walked over to my boyfriend. I hugged him and kissed his cheek. "What was that for?" he asked.

"They approve of you. You have no idea how rare that is," I said. He wrapped his arm around me and I leaned against him; this was rapidly becoming the position in which I was most comfortable.

"You're very important to them," he told me. "They treat you like you're their sister."

"It's because all they have is each other and their younger brother, Connor. They needed a sister and they found me."

"Steve also thinks you're his sister."

"Again, no sisters," I explained. "Steve doesn't have any sisters, just younger brothers, so he likes having someone he can baby and protect from the big, bad world that's filled with evil men who hurt women. I think it actually really helps them in their romantic relationships to have the experience of protecting a woman from hurt and suffering. I don't understand it but I think it's wonderful for them. And I love it. I know that I can trust them to be there for me if they ever need me. Once when I was really having a tough time in college, Kyle drove to Ann Arbor and brought Alex back so they could entertain me and keep me sane."

"You've really managed to find some good friends."

I nodded. "I think so. You have good friends too."

"Who else have you met besides Charlie?"

"I've met your cousins," I replied firmly. "And when I come visit you in Chicago, I want to meet more of your friends."

"You will," he replied. "I promise."

In mid-October, I had to go to Grand Rapids for the tri-annual meeting of the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools. The meeting was on the third Thursday and Friday of the month. It was interesting, as always, and it was great to be back in Grand Rapids. I'd spent much of my college career in that city and I loved it. Char called it a "manageable Chicago." There are some great restaurants and other really cool places to see in the city. And Will had never been there before, so I was going to show him around the city a little bit. Plus, I was getting to spend time with my man.

While I was in Grand Rapids, I was staying with a family that I'd known pretty well during my college career. Jim and Beth had been good friends and helped me out with a variety of things, like transportation after Char totaled my car. They were a great family and I didn't see them much now that I was living over two hours away. So I wanted to spend some time with them Thursday. The conference ended around three on Friday and then Will was planning on getting into town around four.

I missed Will. Seeing him once a month was hard especially when I knew he was stressed with work and his aunt who had decided to hate him forever. Apparently I wasn't the sort of person a Darcy should have been consorting with. But it wasn't my fault that a Darcy had fallen for me. And since I liked him back, I saw no reason to spurn his advances just to make his psycho aunt happy. She was his aunt and she didn't speak for him. If he wanted to be with me, then that was great. I wanted to be with him too.

At four o'clock, I met Will in the lobby of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel at the corner of Pearl Street and Monroe Street. It's a huge hotel and one of the best in Grand Rapids. It used to be the undisputed best but then the 26-floor J.W. Marriot was built right across the street. But one wing of the Amway has 28 floors and it is an amazing hotel. Will had just arrived and was checking in when he called me and told me he was there. I met him in the lobby and after saying "hello," he picked me up and kissed me. "I've missed you, Lizzie," he told me as he put my feet back on solid ground.

"I've missed you too," I replied, hugging him. "How are you?"

"I'm good," he replied. "The car ride was a bit long and I don't want to sit down in a car again for a while but I'm here and I get to see my beautiful girl."

"It's good to see you too," I said. "Do you want to go put your stuff in your room before we go exploring?"

"That'd be great."

His room was extremely nice. It was on the fourteenth floor and it had two beds, two very nice beds. There was a television, a desk with a chair, a table with chairs, a good-sized closet, and a large bathroom. There was a book filled with information about room service and local restaurants. "All this place needs is a kitchen and you could live here," I remarked.

"This is from the woman who lives in a four-bedroom condominium that has three bathrooms and is owned by her father," was Will's reply.

I laughed. "Hey, I pay rent to live there."

He smiled at me. "I know you do. I just think it's funny that you guys rent that place from your dad."

"We're not going to take hand-outs. We're adults with real jobs and real lives."

"I know you girls are adults. It's just fun to tease you and Jane."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say. I think we should go eat."

"Where do you recommend?"

"Well, there's a TGI Friday's on Monroe; that's okay. And then there's the BOB, which has a couple of restaurants in it. There's the Dog Pit on Monroe Center. There's the Mezze and San Chez."

"What would you recommend?"

"The Dog Pit is pretty low-key; it's just hot dogs. The BOB has a steakhouse and fancier restaurant and a more burger-joint type place. The Mezze is Mediterranean food and San Chez is a tapas place. They actually are in the same building and kind of share a menu. It's a pretty calm, quiet place early in the evening. We can just walk around downtown afterwards. And if you're interested, there's a coffee shop nearby that sells gelato."

"We'll go to this Mezze place," he said, smiling at me. "And then, we'll see about the gelato. It depends on what we want later on."

"You're going to behave yourself, Mr. Darcy," I teased as we left his room and headed to the elevator. "I'm the sort of girl who won't do that kind of thing until after she's married."

"Of course, Miss Bennett," he replied. "We will remain the perfect picture of propriety and modesty."

"And we actually will behave appropriately. We will have a good, solid relationship that won't overstep any boundaries that we aren't ready to cross. And to be frank with you, I don't plan on sleeping with anyone until I'm married. I only want to be with one guy in my life and that will be the guy I marry. I'm not opposed to pre-marital kissing, but I'm not into all of that physical stuff. For one thing, I'm not much on physicality to begin with and for another, I just want to do this the right way. I have my morals and principles, and I plan on sticking to them."

A speech like that would drive some men away, but that didn't really bother me. I was pretty sure that Will would stick by me no matter what. And I was pretty sure that he actually agreed with my moral decisions. He looked at me and smiled. "Lizzie, I'm with you on this. I want to keep this relationship PG. I don't want to mess around or just go looking for a good time."

I nodded. "All right, I just want us both to be on the same page. I want to take things slowly and do them the right way. I don't want to end up like Lydia or something like that."

Lydia had recently informed our family that she was pregnant. No one other than my mother was really surprised. Mary had used this announcement to pronounce judgment on Lydia and her loose morals even after we reminded her that Lydia was actually a married woman now. The fact that the baby might have been conceived before the wedding didn't really matter. They're married now and that's that. I might not approve of my sister's life choices but that doesn't mean we should judge her. I think we should love her and try to help her in any ways we can. I love Lydia even though I don't agree with her life.

Dinner was amazing. We sampled foods ranging from Spanish empanadas to tabbouli; we tried Moroccan foods and Spanish foods and Lebanese foods. It was wonderful and I didn't want to eat another bite when we were done. The food was so good and it was great to just spend time with Will. We also sampled some Sangria, which he wanted to know my honest opinion of because I lived in Spain for five months during college. "You've had real Sangria, made by the Spaniards. What do you think of San Chez's?"

I smiled. "It's good. The real stuff made in Spain might be a tiny bit better but their stuff is pretty darn close to the original. Actually, we went to San Chez for my twenty-first birthday because the guys knew I wanted to drink Sangria."

"Who did you celebrate with?" he asked. We were walking towards the Grand River so I could show him various interesting locations nearby.

"Jane, Char, Jenny, Hannah, Meg, Mary, Beth, Becca, Steve, Kyle, Andrew, Adam, and a couple other people, it was actually pretty small. It was much easier to deal with than Meg's twenty-first."

"What did she do?"

"She had a big party with drinking, dancing, and other stuff like that in our house. It was insane and not very intimate. I really preferred my small celebration with only the people who were most important to me there. What did you do?"

"Watched my idiot cousin and Caroline Bingley try to drink each other under the table," he replied with a wry smile. "A bunch of us went to a bar and Anne and Caroline just got drunk while the rest of us watched. It was pretty awful. Thankfully, a couple days later, Charlie, Rick, George, Greg, Jake, and Jonathan took me out for drinks. It was a much better experience on the whole."

"I want to meet Greg, Jake, and Jonathan. I hear so much about them and I want to actually meet them."

"Well, then when you visit for Thanksgiving, we'll all go out for dinner together on Friday night. Greg's fiancée will be in town and you can meet Jon and his wife. Jake's perpetually single, so he probably won't have a girl with him. But he'll be in town; he always makes sure to be in Chicago for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think his mother would die if he didn't."

"I know the feeling. I think if I ever missed Christmas dinner, my mom would have a heart attack. She wants all of her babies at home for Christmas."

"I always want to spend Christmas with Gianna," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She's the only family I have."

"But you volunteered to spend Christmas with me in Meryton."

"I never said I wasn't going to bring my sister and my niece along," he replied. "After all, Charlie will be up in Meryton and I think this year George and Rick will be in Seattle for Christmas so I'll have to bring Gianna and Emily to Meryton with me."

"Fine, be that way," I replied. "Bring your family to my hometown and see if I care what you do."

He cocked his head and smiled. "I think I will. I think you like my sister and my niece more than you'd admit."

All I could do was smile as he kissed me. I was in extreme danger of falling in love with this boy.

Will's POV

The weekend in Grand Rapids was perfect. I got to hold my girlfriend and talk to her and spend time with her and kiss her. We explored downtown Grand Rapids and ate at some really good restaurants. She showed me the campus of her alma mater, Grand Valley State University, and we even hit the mall to cure boredom. And on Sunday, we went to Mass at St. Isidore's, a beautiful old church that Lizzie loves because of the beauty of the building. The church was gorgeous and it was really nice to go to Mass with Lizzie.

After Mass, we went to Big Boy's for brunch and then wandered around talking to each other for the last little bit before we each went home. I was driving back to Chicago alone, but Lizzie was driving with Kyle. "We drove down for the conference together," she'd explained. "And he's been staying at his parents' house all weekend. So I'm going to drive out to Coopersville and pick him up and we'll head back to Meryton. I hate driving back to Meryton from Grand Rapids alone."

"How long of a drive is it?"

She shrugged. "I'm not quite sure, probably about two and a half hours. It's about two and a half or three hours from Kyle's parents' house. It depends on who is driving."

I smiled. "Who is more likely to speed?"

"Alex," she replied with a laugh.

"I was wondering about between you and Kyle," I teased.

"Well, Kyle probably drives faster than I do, but Alex is the fastest of the three of us."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not sure, but he drives the fastest. Mrs. Kilpatrick thinks it's really funny because he's the one who drives the fastest and he's a doctor."

"Well, obviously, you and Kyle have to be a good example for your students and Alex has to be able to make it to the hospital on time during emergencies."

"Good explanation," she smiled. "I think you might have something there."

It was hard saying good-bye to her. "We'll see each other again at Thanksgiving," she reminded me as I checked out of my hotel. "That's only five weeks away. And if you ever get really bored, you can visit Charlie for a weekend."

"Why can't you come visit me?"

"Because I'm coming to you for Thanksgiving," she replied with a teasing smile.

"Well, you've never come to Chicago to see me before."

"I have a job that requires me to be in Meryton five days a week. I only get breaks a few times a year. And when the students get days off, I usually still have to work because of something like parent-teacher conferences or a conference like this one. I rarely get just a day off for now reason."

"Whereas I can almost come and go as I please," I said sadly. "I only have to be at work when I have meetings or court dates."

"And you have go around and check up on all your hotels," she reminded me.

"Technically, they are resorts and spas," I teased her.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Darcy," she said before looking at her watch. "Will, it's about two o'clock and I told Kyle I'd pick him up by three. We really need to get going."

I nodded. "All right, well, this has been one of the best weekends of my life. Thanks for spending time with me. And I'll see you again soon."

"I'll see you in Chicago for Thanksgiving," she replied. "And until then, call often and email more often."

"And think of you constantly," I told her. I hugged and then we kissed. "I'll see you at Thanksgiving."

"Thanksgiving," she replied before walking to her car.

The drive home seemed longer knowing that I was driving away from Lizzie. Long distance relationships suck. I couldn't wait until I saw her at Thanksgiving. I was jealous of Charlie who lived in Meryton and could see Jane whenever he wanted. Greg could see Melissa at his leisure; they lived in same city. And of course, Jon had his wife; he didn't have to wait weeks or months to see her because they lived in different states or their jobs kept them both so busy that they didn't have time for anything more than monthly visits. I wished that Lizzie lived in Chicago or that I was in Meryton. Then we could see each other more. I thought of the Beach Boys' song "Wouldn't it Be Nice?" I knew how that feeling felt. I wanted to spend my life with this woman. But we weren't ready to marry each other yet. We still had more work to do in our relationship.

When I got home, I had dinner with Gianna and Emily. My sister was busy with school but she was making her life work. I was proud of her and I loved her so much. Gianna and Emily were so important to me and I was glad that Lizzie had accepted them. They were the princesses in my life. Lizzie was the queen but they were a close second. "How is Lizzie?" my sister asked.

"Beautiful and wonderful," I replied without a second thought. "She's amazing."

"I'm really looking forward to seeing her at Thanksgiving. I like her and I want to get to know her better."

"I'm glad. She's a good person."

"She seems like it," my sister replied. "She really liked Emily when we were in Virginia. She's good with little kids. She'll make a great wife and mother someday."

I nodded. I wanted to keep her. She was a great person and she was what my grandmother would call a "keeper."

A/N: Kind of shorter, especially on the Will POV but I hope you guys enjoy it. Have a happy thanksgiving!