First off, I am SO sorry for the wait! Second off, this is NOT the last chapter! OK, go read!
Chapter 29 – We Can Work It Out
"Will, I'm so glad you're here, I really am, but I have plans…"
"With Jane. I know. It's fine, go."
Will had been back in the States for barely an hour and already Charles was ditching him. He didn't mind much; he needed to take some time anyway to figure out how exactly he would go about talking to Eliza. He was tempted to ask Charles to find out where she lived so that he could run over there right now… but no. He was too jet-lagged… or so he told himself.
"Will, what's up? You're acting weird," Charles said to him.
"What do you mean?"
Charles shrugged. "Why are you here in the first place?"
Will sighed, sinking into the couch. He and Charles were in the living room, which was flooded with light near the end of the day. Charles narrowed his eyes and sat down across from him on the coffee table.
"If this is about Jane…" Charles started, but Will cut him off.
"No, it is definitely not about Jane." He paused. To hell with it. "It's about Eliza."
"Eliza?" Charles repeated, and Will cringed at his shock.
"Yes, Eliza," he said.
Charles was silent a moment, and then gasped. "You're in love with Eliza!"
Will ran a hand through his hair in agitation. "Yes."
"Well, this is fantastic! Come on, I'll go ask Jane where she lives, and…"
"No, Charles."
"No?"
"I need some… time." Will looked at his friend with pleading eyes. Charles seemed to take the hint.
"Alright." Then he smiled. "Would you be terribly angry if I told Jane?"
Will growled and rolled his eyes. "As long as she doesn't tell Eliza," he said dejectedly.
"I'll make sure of it!" Charles said, and then jumped up and bounced out of the room. Will sunk his face into his hands; he had to admit, telling Charles was a relief. But it also made him feel vulnerable… not to mention exhausted. Blocking all thoughts for the time being, he fell back onto the couch and went to sleep.
"Lizzie, I have to ask… what was that whole Catherine thing about?"
Eliza sighed and turned away from Jane. She started scrubbing her dishes with a little more force than necessary; Jane had just dropped by after a date with Charles, and even though she was asking about Lady Catherine with concern, Eliza could tell her mind was still half with Charles.
"Was it about Will Darcy?" Jane suddenly asked.
Eliza dropped a dish, startled. Soapy water splashed up and into her eyes; she cried out and staggered back. Jane caught her and led her to a chair, pulling off her gloves. Eliza whimpered and started rubbing her eyes furiously, trying to get them to tear to get rid of the burning soap.
"Why would you think that?" Eliza said, her eyes clamped shut.
"I'm sorry, I just… you seemed to act so oddly around him, and then his aunt shows up?" Jane said.
"I acted oddly? Really?" Eliza said, squinting her eyes. Jane was looking at her shrewdly as she nodded.
"Dammit," Eliza said. She paused as her eyes finally started to tear up. "Alright, fine… it was about Will."
"It was?"
"Yeah… she thought we were engaged," Eliza said, hoping that Jane wouldn't laugh.
She didn't. "She did? So why did she come to see you?"
"She thinks I don't deserve him. I'm not good enough for him," Eliza said, suddenly thankful that her eyes were already streaming tears, because otherwise her crying would have looked questionable.
Now Jane laughed. "How ridiculous."
"Yeah," Eliza said halfheartedly. "It doesn't matter anyway… he hates me."
"You sure about that?"
Eliza opened her eyes to slits and looked at her sister. Jane had a knowing look on her face.
"Yes," Eliza said.
"And do you hate him?" was Jane's next question.
"I…" Eliza threw her arms up in frustration. "No. I don't. At all."
Jane smiled and placed her hands on Eliza's upper arms. "And honestly, Lizzie, I don't think he hates you either."
"How do you know?" Eliza asked quickly. But Jane just shook her head.
"Come on, let's go put some eye drops in your eyes," she said, helping Lizzie stand. As they walked to the bathroom, she turned to Eliza and said, "You want to go home with me for dinner tomorrow?"
"Will, come on, wake up. Will!"
Will drowsily opened his eyes to find the figure of Charles hovering over him. Giving a small jump of shock, Will sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Charles, God, you scared me," Will said.
"Sorry, mate. Hey listen, you want to come over to the Bennets with me tomorrow?" Charles asked hopefully.
Will eyed him suspiciously. "Why?" He paused. "Oh God, you told Jane, didn't you?"
Charles shrugged apologetically. "I did. But I told her not, under any circumstances, to tell Eliza. But come on… she said Eliza would be at home tomorrow for dinner, I thought maybe we could go over and visit afterwards."
Will's stomach twisted. But then Aunt Catherine's words rang throughout his head: and can you believe it, she said she wouldn't not say yes! He grinned and turned to Charles.
"Alright. I'll go."
Charles grinned as well and clapped Will on the shoulder. He strode out of the room, probably to call Jane. Will, however, could not stop grinning. Yes, he thought, this was it.
Will spent the majority of Sunday pacing the house. How to get Eliza alone? What to say? Perhaps she would say something first… but what if she didn't? He would have to say something first… unless it felt as if she would. Finally, around eight o'clock, he told Charles he would go perfectly insane if they didn't leave right now. Charles smiled happily and obliged; they left the house and started out toward the Bennets.
Will found that he still could not stop grinning.
"How's your eye, Lizzie?"
Eliza glared a little at her sister. They were back at home in their old upstairs bathroom, and Eliza was just noticing that her eye still looked a little red.
"Fine… you never apologized though, you know," Eliza said.
"What? I didn't do anything!" Jane said, laughing.
"You made me drop the dish!" Eliza exclaimed, playfully hitting her sister in the arm.
"Nonsense," Jane said.
Eliza laughed and examined herself in the mirror. She wore jeans and a black tank top; nothing exciting. She had spent a good deal of time straightening her hair that day, and she was happy to note that it had not erupted into frizz yet. She brushed her bangs over her reddened eye and smiled.
Just then she heard the front door open. Cocking her head, she pulled the bathroom door open a little further.
"How nice to see you again, Mrs. Bennet," she heard a deep, slow voice say. Eliza jumped several inches in excitement.
"Will!" she practically yelled, and without waiting for Jane, she rushed to the stairs. Hurrying down them, she halted halfway. Standing right there in her foyer were Will and Charles. Will was wearing pressed chinos and a blue shirt; he turned immediately upon hearing Eliza's footsteps. She grinned widely in happiness.
"Will!" She then noticed her mother right below her. Mrs. Bennet stared at Will coldly before turning around and walking away.
"You're back," Eliza said, trying to quell the butterflies in her stomach. She composed herself and then made her way to the bottom of the stairs. Will smiled in return and nodded.
"Yes, I am," he said. Eliza then felt her sister's hands on her shoulders as Jane leaned over her to peck Charles on the cheek.
"Hello, Will," Jane said warmly. "It's good to see you."
"You, too," Will said softly; Eliza's smile faltered as he fixed her with a thoughtful gaze. She suddenly became very aware of how foolish she was being. Her heart rate returned to normal as she diverted her gaze back to Charles.
"Will and I were just wondering if you two would like to go for a walk on the beach," Charles said. "It's so nice outside still."
"We'd love to!" Jane said quickly; Eliza turned to her sister with a raised eyebrow. Somehow the whole thing seemed a bit… choreographed. But Jane just smiled and pushed Eliza toward the door.
On the way to the beach, Jane and Charles commanded most of the conversation; Jane asked Will about his flight and Charles asked Eliza about her apartment, but mostly they stood in between Will and Eliza and talked loudly about what they had done the day before. Eliza was suddenly wishing she could just turn back; clearly Will had not come here for her. The look on his face had said everything – she had hoped that perhaps his aunt had told him what she'd said, and that maybe he'd come here to talk to her, or to at least apologize for the complete rudeness that his aunt had shown her. She mustn't get her hopes up… besides, they were with Jane and Charles – what could happen?
The beach was cool and a bit windy. It felt refreshing after being in the house for the past few hours. Eliza shivered a bit, staring at the sand. She wasn't listening in the least to what Jane and Charles were saying. Their voices were soft murmurings in the background as she forced herself not to stare at Will.
"Would you like to keep going?"
Will's voice jerked her out of her thoughts. She looked up to find that they were perfectly alone; Jane and Charles were nowhere in sight. She looked around wildly.
"Where'd Jane go?" she asked.
Will chuckled. "They decided to sit down back there," he said, jerking his head toward a dock a few yards back. Squinting, Eliza saw the outlines of two people sitting by the water.
"Wow… I completely blanked out," she said.
"Yeah, I could tell," Will said with a smile. She returned the smile in embarrassment.
"So, would you like to continue?" he asked again.
"Oh! Yes, I would love to," she said. He nodded and they continued walking on. Eliza kept glancing sideways at him… she had to say something. She just had to.
"Is something wrong with your eye?" Will suddenly asked.
"What?" she asked in surprise.
"I noticed it was a little red back at the house," he said.
"Oh… no, it's fine, I just got a little soap in it yesterday," she said. He stopped and turned to her.
"Are you sure? That can be pretty harmful," he said, sweeping her bangs off her face and placing his fingers gently around her eye. His touch was so intoxicating that she had to turn her head away.
"It's fine, really," she said, continuing to walk. His shoulders fell but he followed alongside her, his hands in his pockets. They walked in silence for several minutes; Jane and Charles were no longer visible. Eliza continued to glance at him every few seconds – he, however, kept his head down, apparently lost in thought. They were nearing a dock when Eliza couldn't take it anymore. What if she never saw him again?
"I'm sorry, I can't do this," she said, halting and placing a hand on his arm.
He looked at her, clearly startled. "What? Is something wrong? Do you feel alright?"
She took a deep breath and shook her head. "No, actually, I don't. Will, I can't take one more step without thanking you."
His eyes widened. "Thanking me?" he repeated.
"Yes… for what you did for Lydia. Ever since I've known about it, I've wanted to thank you. And trust me, if the rest of my family knew about it, I would not be the only person thanking you."
He looked uncomfortable, and shifted his weight. "I'm sorry, Eliza, if I've distressed you… you weren't supposed to find out. I didn't realize your aunt and uncle were so little to be trusted."
She again placed her hand on his arm. "No, don't blame my aunt. Lydia, actually, let it slip first, and then I pleaded and begged my aunt to tell me the whole story." She paused; she was clearly upsetting him, and she felt awful. "Just believe me when I say that if the rest of my family knew, they wouldn't treat you so… well, you know."
He gave an incredulous laugh and looked up at her. "Eliza, please, if you're going to thank me, do it for yourself only. Your family owes me nothing. Whatever I did, I did it for you."
Her heart skipped a beat. Silence fell between them, and Eliza turned and started walking again. He followed, but just as she was climbing the steps up the dock, she felt her hand grasped by one much larger and warmer than hers. She turned instantly to find Will staring longingly up at her. He took both of her hands into his.
"Eliza, please…" his voice broke.
"Yes?" she said quickly.
He stepped up so that he was barely an inch below her. "Eliza, I have not stopped loving you for a moment for over a year. If anything, I love you even more ever since New Year's. I can't get your voice out of my head… and I don't want to. I want to be with you forever…" He paused, looking down at her hands. "But one word from you, and I will never speak of this again."
Eliza was breathless by the time he had stopped speaking. She stared down at him for several moments, a smile playing at her lips. How to say all that she wanted to tell him? How to tell him that she now loved him so much she had cried herself to sleep when she thought she'd never see him again? For once in her life, Eliza was speechless. In the end, there was nothing she could say. She would just have to show him.
She gently extracted her hands from his and placed them on either side of his face. She gently rubbed one thumb along his cheek and the other on his lower lip.
"Eliza…" he whispered. She grinned.
"It's Lizzie," she said. And with that, she lowered her lips to his. He didn't take long to respond; instantly, one arm was wrapped around her waist, while the other hand buried itself in her hair. His lips were strong but warm, and he tasted like peppermint. She deepened the kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist; he stepped off the stairs and lowered her gently onto the sand. His lips moved slowly but fiercely against hers; she soon lost her wits completely and smiled into the kiss.
How long they stayed on the beach, neither of them could tell. It wasn't until the cold ocean water rose to nip at Will's feet did he end the kiss. While Eliza made to stand, he buried himself in her neck; he couldn't stay off of her. He still couldn't believe that the night had gone the way it did – the moment she had placed her hands on his face, he had lost all sense. She laughed into his ear and threw her arms around his neck.
"Will," she murmured. He groaned and kept kissing her jaw line. She laughed again, but placed her hands under his chin and brought his face up to hers.
"I don't think I said it before, so just so we're clear… I love you," she said, smiling. Will grinned and kissed her firmly on the lips. He had never felt so elated in his life. He wanted to stay on that beach forever, but Eliza was soon looking at her watch.
"Will!" she exclaimed. "It's eleven o'clock!"
He laughed, unable to contain himself.
"I can't believe my mother hasn't sent out a search party by now," Eliza said with a smile. She took his hand and began leading him back towards the road; he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. It wasn't until they were nearly back at the Bennet's house that he noticed how serious Eliza's face had become. Oh God, she's not having second thoughts already, is she?
"Is something wrong?" he asked, letting her hand go. She smiled slowly and turned to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest.
"No, I just… I mean, what now?" she said. He frowned.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, you're in London and I'm here… and my family is so… and I have school…" she mumbled into his shirt, as her arms wrapped him tighter. His euphoria dimmed a little; he hadn't thought that far ahead.
"We'll think of something," he said. She looked up and rested her chin on his collarbone.
"You promise?" she asked.
"For you, Lizzie, anything."
A/N: Egats! I really do apologize for the ridiculously long wait. School just became so overwhelming, and… well, I'm sure you all can relate.
So in some ways this is the last chapter, but I am going to do an epilogue (that hopefully will not take a month to complete). I know this chapter is a little short but I didn't want to ruin the happy-happy-joy-joy-ness of this chapter with all the mandatory well-what-comes-after stuff. So stay tuned!
Please review! Especially if you've been reading but have never reviewed, it's always nice to hear from everyone once the story is over. Please?
Love, luck, and flying Ringwraiths,
Emma the NazgulQueen