Lizzie staggered into the hotel, weighed down by all of her purchases. Christmas was in a few days and Lizzie knew that she needed to get her Christmas shopping done, just in case they weren't able to get back to Nashville. Lizzie had completely abandoned hope. Not only was it two days before Christmas, but a large snow storm had settled over Nashville and it was unlikely to clear up for Christmas. Besides, it was highly unlikely that she and Jane both would be able to get a flight and Lizzie couldn't imagine a Christmas without Jane.
Jane and Lizzie had always been together. From birth they had been inseparable. Their mother liked to tell of how both of them cried all night the first five nights after their parents had brought them home from the hospital, but then slept like angels after their father had gotten the idea to put them in the same bassinet. Then, on their eighteenth birthday, Lizzie and Jane had left home together to go to Nashville. Lizzie had dreams of being a country music star and Jane wanted to go to a college in the area. So, they left home and attempted to fulfill their dreams on their own. They'd always shared every holiday together and as much as Lizzie wanted a quiet Nashville Christmas, she wanted Jane with her more. She would have plenty of years to have her Christmas. Jane was far more important.
"Here," a voice said pleasantly and lifted some of the packages off the top of Lizzie's pile. "Let me help you."
"Thanks Charlie," Lizzie sighed gratefully as they started walking towards the elevator. "I was worried that my arms were going to fall off. I've been Christmas shopping all day. By the way, do you think I could store some of this stuff in your room?"
"Why would you need to do that?" Charlie asked with an amused smile as he pressed the up button on the elevator.
"Jane is magnetically drawn to Christmas presents," Lizzie replied as they stepped into the elevator. "No matter where I hide them, she always finds them without meaning too. She decides to vacuum under the beds or clean out the closet or something of that nature and so she stumbles across all of her Christmas presents before I get a chance to wrap them."
"Of course you can!" Charlie laughed heartily. "I would hate to ruin Jane's surprise Christmas morning." The elevator doors opened and Lizzie and Charlie made their way down the hallway to the room that Charlie shared with Will.
"I forgot my key," Charlie frowned and then pounded on the door. "Will! Open up!"
"I can't believe you forgot your key again," Will grumbled as he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi Darcy," Lizzie said sarcastically. "I'm fine, glad you asked. Now can you please move? This stuff is heavy."
"Don't be such a Scrooge Will," Charlie joked. "This is all for Christmas's sake. Lizzie needed somewhere to hide her presents. And where is your Christmas spirit?"
"I think he was working the day they passed it out," Lizzie joked as Will stepped aside and let her and Charlie in. "You remember the line, don't you Charlie?"
"Oh yes," Charlie replied as Will stepped out of the way so that the two could enter. "I thought that we were going to have to stand there for days. And all for the sake of a little Christmas spirit!"
Will stared at Lizzie and Charlie as if they were nuts and watched silently as Lizzie produced several large rolls of wrapping paper. "Okay boys," Lizzie sighed as she settled down on Will's bed and pulled the first bag she could grasp towards her. "The name of the game is wrapping. There's a different kind of wrapping paper for each of my sisters and Charlotte. All of the techies' gifts get wrapped in the snow man paper. As you pull a gift out of a bag, ask me who it is for and then get the appropriate wrapping paper. I got all of the techies the same thing, so that doesn't really matter. I got them all those light up glasses. I think the bag is the one over by your foot, Charlie. Lydia's gifts get wrapped in the paper with the blue snowflakes, Jane's in the red with the Christmas trees, Kitty's in the green with the Santa Clauses, Mary's in the white with the red and green snowflakes, and Charlotte's in the green with the teddy bears. Any questions?"
"Since when am I helping?" Will asked with the frown.
"Since I forced you to," Lizzie replied as she pulled on of Lydia's gifts from the bag and grabbed the blue wrapping paper. "Charlie, that bag next to your hand has scissors and tape in it; can you toss it to me?"
"Who is this for?" Charlie asked as he pulled a book out of a bag and tossed Lizzie the bag she had requested.
"I'll give you one guess," Lizzie replied as she tore open the package with the scissors in it. She pulled out a pair with black handles and handed them to Will, who had sat down next to her on the bed. She then reached over and handed Charlie a pair of scissors and grabbed the last pair out of the package. She tossed the package back into the bag and then pulled out the tape and repeated the process.
"Mary?" Charlie guessed with a sheepish smile and then turned very red when Lizzie laughed.
"Charlie, I'm shocked!" Lizzie laughed. "I thought that you held Jane in higher regard than that?"
"NO!" Charlie exclaimed. "I hold Jane in the highest regard!"
"Chill," Lizzie smiled. "I was just teasing you. So have you gotten Jane something for Christmas yet?"
"I've been trying," Charlie replied with a sigh. "But every time I think I have found the perfect present I find something else and then I can't decide which one she'd like more and I can't make up my mind."
"Would you like a hint?" Lizzie asked as she set the present she had been wrapping on the floor and grabbed another out of the bag. She handed it to Will and then handed him the appropriate paper. "At that little jewelry store down the street there's a necklace that Jane completely fell in love with. I was going to get it for her and have one set aside. But I'll write a note saying you can get it if you want me to…"
"Lizzie you're an angel!" Charlie exclaimed and threw his arms around her in a brief hug and then ran to the desk and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. He tossed them to Lizzie and Lizzie quickly wrote a note and then Charlie dashed out the door, leaving a startled Lizzie and Will sitting there staring at the door. "Well," Lizzie stated matter-of-factly. "We have work to do."
Three hours later Charlie finally returned to the hotel and realized that he once again had forgotten his key. He knocked in the door of the room he shared with Will and received no answer, so he went down the hall and stashed Jane's present, as well as a few other gifts he had picked up while he was out in Fitz's room and went down to the lobby, hoping to find Jane before she made any plans for dinner. He'd made reservations at a little Italian restaurant while he had been out.
Five hours later Charlie and Jane had come back from dinner and Charlie once again knocked on the door, only to receive no answer. He knocked a little harder and still received no answer. A floor below Jane opened the door to the hotel room she was sharing with Lizzie, only to find it empty. It looked as if Lizzie had never returned from her shopping trip she'd gone on in the early afternoon and it was after eleven.
Lizzie yawned sleepily as she woke up. Her cell phone was going off and she started to slowly sit up to go and find her purse. Suddenly a warm arm shot around her waist and held her in place. "Don't go," a very sleepy Will grumbled and Lizzie was just about to give in and snuggle back into his warm chest when it dawned on her just where she was and what she was doing.
"Let me go!" she yelled and almost flew out of the bed. "What the heck happened here?"
"Why are you yelling?" Will asked as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Lizzie felt her heart melt a little when she saw him sitting there in bed looking like a little kid who just woke up from a nap that was a little too long. "What time is it?"
"Almost midnight," Lizzie replied as she frantically gathered up all of her packages.
"What?" Will yelled and flung his legs over the side of the bed. "You mean we've been sleeping for the last five hours?"
"No duh, Sherlock," Lizzie replied sarcastically and finished stuffing the wrapped packages back into the bags that were scattered across the room. "Well, thanks for your help." With that, Lizzie slipped out of the room and made her way to the elevator. She had carefully averted Charlie's curious eyes and ducked her head until she slipped into the elevator. She sighed as the elevator doors closed behind her and leaned against the oak paneled wall. Her ringing cell phone ended up being left under Will's bed. Will watched as the door closed behind her and was left wondering what had just happened.
By Christmas Eve the snow had only managed to get worse. Hotel guests were recommended to stay at the hotel and not try the dangerous venture to the airport. Lizzie sat there in the window seat of her hotel room and stared out at the bleak whiteness that surrounded her. When she was little, she had loved snow and prayed for days when the snow was too thick to do anything but go outside and play. But this time, she was a little too depressed to think of all of the snow's possibilities.
Down in the lobby Jane carefully set her cup of hot cocoa on the coffee table and snuggled back into Charlie's side. "I'm really worried about Lizzie," she sighed and chewed on her lower lip. "She never gets this depressed. I just don't know what to do to cheer her up this time. I guess I just didn't realize how anxious she was to get home."
"Don't blame yourself Jane," Charlie said comfortingly and let his head rest on hers. "There's no way you could have known that a snow storm would set in and we would be stuck here for over a week."
"I know I just wish Lizzie would perk up," Jane replied, staring off in the general direction of the elevator. Will had been silently during this entire exchange, although he had been sitting across from Jane and Charlie, nursing a coffee cup between his hands. Suddenly he stood up and set his coffee cup on the table. With slow and deliberate steps he made his way towards the elevator. Lizzie had just walked over the coffee pot to make herself a pot of coffee when someone pounded on the door. "Will?" Lizzie asked with a frown. "What do you want?"
"Get your coat and come on," Will commanded as he walked into the room.
"I don't really feel like going out anywhere," Lizzie replied as she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the wall.
"I didn't ask," Will said stoically and walked over to the closet. He pulled out one of Lizzie's coats and tossed it to her. "Put that on."
"Will…" Lizzie began and then shrieked as Will picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "PUT ME DOWN!" she screamed as Will grabbed her coat with his free hand, seemingly oblivious to the pummel of Lizzie's fists on his back. "FITZWILLIAM DARCY PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!!!!" Lizzie screamed as the door to the elevator opened and Will stepped out into the lobby. Caroline turned three different shades of white and then four different shades of red when she saw them as she walked out of the hotel restaurant. Jane immediately sat up straight when she heard Lizzie's voice and looked around, finally locating her sister. When she saw Lizzie thrown over Will's shoulder, she couldn't help but laugh. "Jane Margaret, this isn't funny!" Lizzie called to her sister as Will walked through the doors to the hotel and then dropped her into the snow.
"Lizzie, stop pouting," Will said sternly. "It is Christmas Eve and you have no reason to be the least bit unhappy. You are here with your sisters and your friends. You have the world dangling at your fingertips. Stop moping around and be thankful for what you have. My little sister is alone at school this Christmas because I couldn't get a flight home and I'm not sitting around moping am I?" With that, Will stalked back into the hotel, leaving Lizzie sitting there in the snow, her jacket sitting in her lap. She watched him go and suddenly felt a little ashamed of herself.
About an hour later the hotel manager knocked on Lizzie's door. "Miss Bennet," he began rather apologetically. "We were wondering if maybe, jut maybe, you would be willing to sing a little tonight. Just a few Christmas songs. Some of the guests are rather depressed because they can't get home to their families tonight and we are hoping to raise their spirits a little."
"I'd be happy to," Lizzie replied. "Would you like the rest of my band to play too?"
"No," the manager replied with an apologetic smile. "We've asked Mr. Darcy to sing as well though."
Lizzie arranged a smile on her face and then sank back against the closed door after the manager had given her all of the details. She was still wearing her soaked jeans from when Will had dropped her into the snow and a light green sweater that made her hazel eyes seem more green than brown. The manager had requested that she dress up. Lizzie groaned and then walked over to her closet. Jane had a little red dress that would be perfect for the occasion and she'd let Lizzie borrow it several times in the past. Lizzie dropped the dress onto her bed and then walked into the bathroom to take a nice long bubble bath before she had to get ready.
Promptly at eight thirty Lizzie walked out of the elevator and into the lobby. A piano had been set up in the middle of the lobby and Lizzie frowned a little. She had never had the patience to learn to play the piano. She had stopped after learning her scales and "Mary Had A Little Lamb." Lizzie hoped that all she had to do was sing. Lizzie had her hair curled and piled on top of her head. The red dress accented her narrow waist with the black satin sash and a black velvet chocker with a diamond pendant showed off her slim white throat. Those little black heels made her legs look long, sleek, and gorgeous.
Will stood back behind the piano, blocked from Lizzie's view, but he could see her very well. She looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her in that red dress. If he hadn't already fallen in love with her, he would have said she was dangerously close to stealing his heart. She walked over to the piano and looked around. Will watched as her perfect spiral curls caressed her shoulders and he once again thought of how smooth her skin looked. "Miss Bennett!" the hotel manager cried as Lizzie approached. "You are right on time. Please, have a seat here on the piano bench."
"I don't play the piano," Lizzie said with an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks. "All I really know are scales. I can go get my guitar…"
"Oh you won't be playing," The manager assured her, instantly setting Lizzie at ease. "Mr. Darcy is going to play and the two of you will sing!"
Lizzie opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again, suddenly aware that she had nothing to say. She silently sat down on the edge of the bench and stared down at her lap, not looking up when Will sat down beside her. "You do know enough about piano sheet music to know when to turn the pages, don't you?" Will asked quietly, leaning in to whisper into her ear. Lizzie sat up ramrod strait when she felt his warm breath against her ear and when he pulled away slightly, found herself missing the warmth. "Of course I do," Lizzie murmured, barely moving her lips. Part of her wanted to be angry with him, but his close proximity was causing her mind to start swimming.
After their impromptu concert, Lizzie and Will took at least two dozen pictures with fans. Some wanted pictures of just Lizzie and Will at the piano and then a professional photographer in the group took advantage of the situation. He pulled out his camera and started snapping pictures of Lizzie and Will sitting together on the piano bench. He started promising the he would develop the pictures and then sell them in the lobby the day after Christmas. After that, the fans stepped back and watched as the photographer had Lizzie and Will pose in at least two dozen different positions. He had Lizzie stand and turn a page of sheet music. He had the two of them sit there on the bench with Will's arm around Lizzie's shoulders. Suddenly one of the fans watching looked up. "Hey look, they're under the mistletoe!" the fan called excitedly. "Give her a kiss Will!"
Because of the last pose the photographer had them in, Lizzie's face was just a few inches from Will's. Their eyes locked and he paused for a moment, as if he were asking permission, and then gently pressed his lips to hers. The photographer and the fans went wild snapping pictures, but Lizzie and Will were both completely oblivious to their surroundings. What had started out as an innocent 'under the mistletoe' kiss had become more passionate and Will's hand had come up to gently caress her cheek. Lizzie finally broke the kiss because of a lack of oxygen. Will's forehead rested against Lizzie's and they sat there for several minutes, neither one moving. The photographer snapped at least a dozen pictures of the two of them sitting like that and then Lizzie stiffened and pulled away from Will. She rose to her feet and then ran from the room, leaving Will and a group of very confused fans behind her.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS LIZZIE!" Jane cried excitedly and pounced down on Lizzie's bed in a blur of pink silk pajamas and blond curls. Lizzie groaned and tried to roll away from Jane as she pulled the comforter over her head. Jane, usually so reserved and quiet, turned into a maniac Christmas morning. She acted more like a four year old than the twenty four year old she actually was. "Come on Lizzie!" Jane pleaded and sank down on the bed next to her sister. "Get up! It's Christmas!"
"What unholy hour are you trying to wake me up at this year?" Lizzie asked as she cracked an eye open, trying to see around Jane at the alarm clock by the bed.
"Lizzie it's six thirty," Jane replied as Lizzie sat up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "It's a whole two hours later than when I first tried to get you up last year."
Lizzie groaned and then snuggled back down deeper under the covers. "Wake me up when the sun is awake too," Lizzie grumbled and curled into a ball. Suddenly, they heard a pounding on the door. Lizzie growled and curled up tighter. "That's probably your sisters."
"They're your sisters too," Jane laughed as she went to answer the door.
"Not when they're trying to wake me up this early!"
Jane opened the door and found herself swept into Charlie's arms. He kissed her soundly on the mouth and the pressed a small square package into her hands. "Merry Christmas Jane," Charlie whispered into her ear as she tore away the silver wrapping paper.
"Is there anywhere I can go to sleep like a normal person?" Lizzie called as she stood up and wrapped the extra blanket on her bed around herself, completely disrupting their romantic moment. "You two are way too mushy for six thirty in the morning!"
"You can go back sleep in my room," Charlie replied and tossed her his key. "Will's going to be out for another hour or two."
Lizzie nodded her head and slowly shuffled towards the elevator. After the door closed behind her, Charlie focused his eyes back on Jane. "Now, where were we?" he asked with a grin and Jane turned her attention back to the small white box in her hands.
Three hours later, Will stretched and finally sat up. He looked over at the alarm clock and saw that it was nine thirty in the morning. "Charlie didn't wake me up at some unholy hour like he usually does," Will mumbled to himself and then looked over at Charlie's bed. He was shocked to see that there was a human shaped lump in the bed. The year before, Charlie and Caroline had been staying with him and his younger sister for Christmas. Charlie had gone into the den and blasted "Carroll of the Bells" on the sound system that had speakers in every room at four thirty in the morning.
"Lizzie, Will, time to get up!" Charlie cried as he threw the door open. Will's eyes widened when he looked over and saw Lizzie sit up sleepily Her brown curls surrounded her head in a messy halo and the white tank top she had been sleeping in had ridden up and exposed the pale smooth skin of her stomach. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and Will got an eye full of her long smooth legs because of the pair of guys' boxers she was wearing. She stretched lazily and exposed even more skin. "I suppose Jane is attempting to keep Lydia and Kitty away from their presents," Lizzie commented as she walked towards the door.
"I would say attempting is the correct word," Charlie replied with a laugh. "Now come on you too, we've already waited long enough to open presents and I should hate to keep those ravenous females waiting for us in the lobby from their presents and breakfast."
"Can I at least go and get dressed?" Lizzie inquired as she gathered her blanket up in her arms.
"Your sisters aren't," Charlie replied as Lizzie and Will dutifully followed him out of the room and down the hallway towards the elevator. "My sister felt the need to complete her entire morning routine before seven o'clock. But your sisters are still in their pajamas."
Lizzie laughed and wrapped her blanket around herself, wishing that she had remembered to wear her slippers as she danced lightly to keep her feet from getting too cold on the cold tile floor of the elevator. "Lizzie get your butt over here and let us open our presents!" Lydia screamed as soon as the elevator doors opened and Lizzie stepped out.
"I think I will go and get a cup of coffee first…" Lizzie began mischievously just to be silenced by the cry of "NO!" by all of her sisters and Charlotte all at once.
"Maybe I won't get my coffee after all," Lizzie laughed and then took a seat next to Jane on a sofa.
Four hours later Lizzie was once again sitting in the lobby with Jane, Charlie, Will, and Caroline. She and Will both had laptops settled on their laps and Will was very intently typing, stopping every few moments, and then would start typing furiously again. Lizzie had an e-book pulled up and was reading a new novel by one of her favorite authors. With being on the road all of the time, it was very difficult for her to get all of the novels she wanted, she she'd signed up with an internet library that let her get a new book whenever she wanted one. Jane and Charlie were sitting very close together, laughing and talking quietly, and Caroline was sitting rather primly perched on the edge of a chair reading the latest issue of some fashion magazine. "Goodness Will," Caroline exclaimed as she set her magazine aside. "You are such a fast typist. I do believe you put the rest of us to shame."
"Gina is much faster than I am," Will replied as he continued typing furiously. "She tells me very often that I must be the slowest typist she has ever known."
"You mean Georgiana?" Caroline asked with a fishy smile. As a matter of fact, Caroline always rather reminded Lizzie of a fish with her buggy eyes and narrow face. "How is my dear Georgie? I haven't seen her in so long. I do believe that she must be as tall as I am now."
Caroline did not see the faint shutter that ran through Will's shoulders when Caroline compared herself to his beloved baby sister. "No," Will corrected, still not looking up from his laptop. "I believe she is probably closer to Elizabeth's height than yours. She's telling me what she thinks of all of the presents I had sent to her at school. Apparently, Gucci is all the rage at her boarding school right now and her roommate is going to kill her so that she can steal the Gucci purse I ordered for Gina."
Lizzie looked up from her book with a slightly shocked look on her face and then smiled as she returned to her book. "And what has so completely captured your attention Eliza?"
"Lizzie," Lizzie corrected with a glare. "And I am reading a novel that I didn't have time to go out and buy. I subscribe to an internet library and so I decided that since I'm stuck here, I'd read a book."
"You must be a very great reader Eliza," Caroline commented as she picked her magazine back up and flipped through the pages. "I do believe that you could hardly find pleasure in anything else, other than your music of course."
"I'm not a great reader at all," Lizzie replied with a dry laugh. "It's actually just a great way to pass the time and tune out my sisters when I'm stuck on a tour bus with them for three days straight." Will stopped his typing and looked up at Lizzie, their eyes locking for a moment. Lizzie finally broke eye contact and went back to her book. "I know I really should get up and take a walk or something, but I have wanted to read this book for several weeks now and don't want to be interrupted for several more chapters at least." After effectively shutting herself out from future conversation, Lizzie went back to her book, only occasionally glancing up and each time she did her eyes met Will's.
The day after Christmas dawned bright and clear. The snow had stopped falling and the weatherman reported that it was finally above freezing Roads would be cleared and the airport would finally reopen. Lizzie skipped down the stairs, tired of taking the elevator all of the time, and happily pranced into the lobby and over to Jane. She stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of the tear streaks coursing down Jane's cheeks. "Janie what's wrong?" Lizzie cried as she rushed over to her sister. Jane handed Lizzie a piece of paper and stared down at her feet. Lizzie smoothed the paper on her leg and then flipped it over to read it. It read:
Dear Jane,
I know my leaving may seem sudden, but Will wanted to get home to Gina before the end of her vacation and so we left on the first flight out this morning. Unfortunately we will not be going to Nashville for a few months at least so I guess this is goodbye. Will's aunt is the bands producer and she wants them all in New York for a while. I wanted to say it in person, but we are leaving at four thirty in the morning and I don't think you want me to wake you up for that. I hope I see you again soon.
Your friend,
Chares Bingley
"Oh, Jane," Lizzie exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her sister. "Let's go home."
"Yes Lizzie," Jane replied as she rested her head on her sister's shoulder. "I want to go home."