-1Chapter Six- Cattelaya Orchids

After Lizzy had finished her gleeful and solitary romp in the water, she came back to the group who all stood by the car watching her. Jane smiled at the exuberance of her twin while Charles, standing very close to Jane, was just happy to see Lizzy having fun. Louisa and Richard both started coddling her, teasing her about being childish. Will just stared, her shapely and still somewhat tanned legs were covered in sand and her skirt was spotted with water, her hair had come loose of the clip holding it up off her neck and was very becomingly curled about her face. With a deep breath he frowned at his thoughts, he could not be interested in this…this child! It was absurd; he was Will Darcy, one of the youngest and richest men in the business world, hell he had been named in Hollywoods Top 100 Most Eligible Bachelors. He could not go around becoming infatuated with an impulsive and juvenile high school student. Lizzy saw the frown and immediately assumed he was frowning at her, and her poor opinion of him, having recently risen because of his good taste in books, plummeted at what she thought was his disgust with her behaviour. Caroline on the other hand felt it necessary to lecture Lizzy on how very unbecoming it was to be all wet and covered in sand. Lizzy just snorted at her, saying, "Sands back baby" and proceeded to sit on a step of the porch leading into the house to wipe the sand off her legs.

"Lizzy," she looked up at the sound of her name, Darcy stood there her suitcase on the ground in front of her and her bag and book held outstretched in front of him. "Take my book too; I finished it on the way up here." When she took her stuff from him, he turned and walked away without another glance. Lizzy frowned, she would never understand him, nor, she felt, would she ever consider him a friend. He was too proud and distant to befriend, even if he was undeniably attractive and read the same books as her. By then she had cleaned herself up sufficiently to be let inside and everyone else had their stuff together and were waiting silently on the porch as Charles fumbled about in his pocket for the key.

"I have it." Darcy stepped forward holding the key out, "You declared you could not be trusted not to lose it and asked me to hold onto it." He handed the key over to Charles who smiled brightly at his friend. Lizzy frowned slightly; she could not understand the relationship between these two men. Charles was too sweet and outgoing for Lizzy to comprehend his friendship with Darcy who was quiet, withdrawn, proud and quite honestly extremely rude.

When they got inside Charles told them how the house was set up so that they could choose rooms. "Downstairs are two bedrooms, a room with a single bed, and a room with a double bed," Louisa and Richard claimed the double bed, "and upstairs are two rooms with double beds. Will and I will share one and you three young ladies can split yourselves up or move a mattress upstairs to all share." Lizzy saw him look at Darcy who was looking at him with positively the most gratitude she had seen in her life, Caroline had been talking about sharing a room with him not so discreetly in the trip up.

Caroline looked at Jane who had shifted slightly towards Lizzy unconsciously preferring her sister, and Caroline in a moment of honest empathy, although with a touch of her usual self-absorbedness, exclaimed, "Oh I must have the single bed, I simply cannot let another person disrupt my beauty sleep!" Lizzy squashed a laugh as she muttered, "Yeah you need it." Darcy was the only one who heard it from where he stood behind her and she could not see him smile at her remark.

"Alright guys, lets unpack and do our own thing for the rest of the day then meet up for dinner and plan our week." Charles said and everyone made a break for their rooms, Lizzy and Jane were surprised when, as they reached for their suitcases, they were gone and Will and Charles were already half way upstairs with them. The girls looked at each other and shrugged racing up after the men to see their rooms. Upstairs held a long corridor with four identical doors leading off, two on each side, and ended with a window looking out onto the sand. At the end of the hallway on the left was study with a desk and bookshelves covering two walls, a large window with a window seat facing the water on the wall opposite the door, on the other side of the hallway facing the study was a large bathroom with a shower and spa. The two doors closest to the stairs were the bedrooms.

"Beach or neighbour view?" Darcy asked the twins who just gave him a 'don't be dumb' look. "Beach it is, he said opening the door to reveal a very exotic Mediterranean décor, which now Lizzy thought to look, was copied by the rest of the house. Beds with brightly coloured spreads were up against the walls, and opposite them was a wicker couch with cushions matching the beds, curtains coloured the soft pink found inside a shell were pulled wide to offer a beautiful view of the beach, and showed the girls they had a small balcony with a set of small chairs and a table.

"Perfect!" Jane smiled brightly, "I love it, it is so beautiful." She turned to give Charles a hug for bringing them, and when they finally parted, after many moments went red at her audacity. Lizzy just smiled, things were going swimmingly.

Will spent the hours before dinner on the beach. After helping the girls to their room (and watching Charles hold the girl he was half way to being in love with) he had gone to the room he was sharing with Charles, thank god, and unpacked. Then without so much as a 'bye' to anyone but Charles, he donned his runners, a sleeveless shirt and a pair of basketball shorts and set out along the beach.
"Graffiti decorations
Under the sky of dust
A constant wave of tension
On top of broken trust
The lessons that you taught me
I learned were never true"
He couldn't help but think about his own life, and certain unsavoury recent events before he moved to Hertfordshire, where problems remained but compared to what had happened, what had almost happened, they were nothing but pent up frustration.

Alone with himself and his music he felt the world grow smaller until it was just him on the beach, his feet pounding the sand. All the frustration he had felt these past few months, over Caroline's persistent clinginess, missing his sister Georgina, and most of all his pointless obsession, for an obsession it was, with Elizabeth Bennet. She was not everything he would choose in a woman, he liked them taller, curvier, and had always had a taste for redheads, he liked girls who were shyer, who wore glasses (yes, he was one of those boys who had fancied the hot librarian). Lizzy was not anything like that, she had brown hair, she was petite, although still quite voluptuous and her green eyes were never covered by glasses. His mind picture her as he ran, twirling and laughing as she splashed through the water, he had called her a nymph once, and a siren just recently, somehow she was both those things with a big dollop of personality and attitude. He smiled as he remembered the way she had stared at him in confusion when he handed her suitcase to her, the sunlight on her hair illuminating, he stopped rigid, illuminating glinting red hairs running through the natural highlights of her hair. So really that was one of his criteria she fit, he had already thought her to be quite sensually curved, and really she was the right size to lean in to kiss….no. Fitzwilliam Darcy, you are not changing what you like in a woman just because of this little vixen. He began to run again, regaining his rhythm as a second voice in his head argued, things change, why can't your taste in women? He shut the thoughts out and ran on, music blaring in his ears repeating over and over. It is just you, and the beach, just you and the beach.

Lizzy also spent the afternoon at the beach. Set up in one of the deckchairs from the house she put on her bikini, making sure no one else was going down so she could, grabbed a towel and her book and lay in the surprisingly warm sun. She had almost finished The Passion when it began to rain, clouds that had come out of nowhere were black and dark, and a crack of thunder caused her to jump in surprise and she dropped her locket, which she had been idly playing with as she read. She fell to the ground patting the sand desperately to find it when the rain grew heavier, throwing her book in her bag, she dropped it under the chair as she continued looking, now shivering in cold.

Will was almost back when it began to rain, storm clouds that he had been watching anxiously bore down ominously, pouring rain and soaking through his already soaked top. Ducking his head, he began to sprint when he saw a swimmer still on the beach, clad only in a bikini and searching desperately for something in the sand. He ran up to her, and it was only when he tapped her slender wet shoulder and she turned towards him in surprise that he realised it was Lizzy. Her chestnut curls were plastered to her body and across her face, and as soon as she saw him, she slapped a hand down on her hip. "Darcy?" she cried over the rain, he could only nodded as he took in the sight of her in a small deep blue bikini, water slithering down his skin.

"Why are you out here?" He finally called back after they had simply stared at each other in silence for a time. He was shocked to see her eyes fill with tears, well he assumed they did because the rest of her face took on the form of someone quite upset.

"Oh Darcy it's my locket. I dropped it somewhere and now I cannot find it. My Nan came me that!" she made a hiccupping noise. It seemed to him that she had already given up hope of finding it.

"I'll help you look, it will be quicker." He said tearing his eyes from her and dropping to the sand to look. After five minutes of fruitless searching Will stood and felt his foot brush something smooth, he looked down and saw with triumph a silver gleam. "I have it!" he yelled grabbing her shoulder, gasping at how smooth her skin felt. "Quickly, grab your stuff and get inside, you might get sick as it is." She nodded and throwing her drenched towel about her shoulders and grabbing her bag, they ran back to the house where Jane now stood on the porch waiting anxiously.

"Oh Lizzy!" She exclaimed throwing her arms about her twin, ignoring the fact that Lizzy was drenched through and wetting her clothes. "Oh Lizzy you are so cold, lets get you into the shower. Why did you take so long to get back?"

"I lost my locket," Lizzy said through chatting teeth, "Darcy helped me find it." she turned to him "Thank you, it was a very special gift from my Nan before she died, I wear it everyday."

"Oh, Will your back!" Will had exactly three seconds to watch Lizzy walk away for a shower-naughty thoughts Will!-before he was enveloped in a huge and lethal hug by Caroline. He just looked at her as she blathered on about how concerned she had been and how she was just getting ready to go out looking for him, then she did it. She moved forward and pressed her lips against his. Cold, wet and fanatsising about Lizzy, Will was too shocked to react until she pushed her tongue against his lips. He pushed her away, "No Caroline," he said wiping his lips. He glared at her, blushing furiously, embarrassed that everyone had seen that angry that it had happened at all-but feeling glad, Lizzy had not seen it. That is until he moved past into the house to use the downstairs bathroom and found her on the steps in hysterics.

"You saw," he said feeling quite put out, it really was not his day.

"Mostly," she said, still chuckling as she rubbed her eye.

"Mostly?" he questioned, she just shrugged and ran up the stares with another laugh.

Dinner was fun, for Lizzy at least. She sat between Darcy and Caroline. Caroline keep sending him forlorn looks full of unadulterated lust, and Darcy kept glancing at her with a look of combined fear and disgust. Then again, he kept looking at her with that strange intense glare, it made her uncomfortable, there was something in that look that stirred her blood, something that sent a shiver down her back. Glancing down at her food, she looked across the table at Jane and Charles who were having an animated discussion about what she planned to do after she finished school.

"I'm not sure, I wanted to go into Law for awhile then I did yr 11 Legal and decided it wasn't right for me. I think I might become a teacher, or a social worker, maybe even nursing." Jane said smiling at him.

"Very noble pursuits Jane. You would be wonderful in any of those, you're so sweet that everybody loves you." Charles said smilingly coyly back.

"Well, yes, err…" she blushed and cast about for another topic. "What should be do tomorrow?"

"I think we should spend the day at the beach if it's warm enough, and we can go out for lunch." Louisa suggested. Everyone nodded and agreed as they cleared away their dishes, when Charles went to put his stuff in the dishwasher Lizzy called out, "No I'll wash, and it saves more water." Darcy offered to try and Lizzy chucked him a tea towel over her shoulder, not turning away from the dishes, afraid to catch that look on her again.

Caroline sat in the other room, having moved her chair out of the line of the TV so that she was able to watch the goings on within the kitchen, as though Lizzy and Will were going to have some sort of sexual encounter on the kitchen bench. Hardly likely, Lizzy snorted as she thought of it. Darcy turned to her with an enquiring expression and she blushed as she thought of how to explain she had been thinking very naughty thoughts. "Random thought came to mind, sorry." The rest of the night continued without further ado, they simply sat in the lounge, Jane and Charles sitting snugly on the couch, trying to be discreet as they held hands, Louisa sitting on her husbands lap on an arm chair, Caroline sprawled across another armchair constantly stretching to allow Darcy to watch her non-existent breast rise while he determinedly stared at the screen, or discreetly at Lizzy as she lay half asleep on the floor, as he lay comfortably across the window seat.

The next morning began with a breakfast of mixed fruits and cereal, before everyone put bathers on and ran out to the beach. Will had the opportunity to notice that Lizzy wore a black one piece, and commented on it as they walked down to the beach. Lizzy glanced discreetly at her sister and said "I prefer people not to see more of me than strictly necessary, I was sunbaking alone yesterday and so felt able to expose myself to nature." She smiled at him with that certain sparkle she got in her eyes when something was not exactly, as she said it was, but ran off to jump on Jane before he could question her. The day at the beach turned out to be a lot of fun, Rye had a sandbar about 50 metres out into the water, which kept the worst of the waves off the beach and Will was amused to see that Lizzy was so short that the water almost reached her shoulders where it met his ribs. She saw him looking at her and laughing and realised why, and grabbing a hand full of sand from the sandbar she piffed it at him, missing by metres but making him smile more. She scowled at him thinking it was unfair that he could be so unbelievably handsome and so undeniably inaccessible. She was watching him covertly from the corner of her eye as she and Louisa sat on the sandbank hitting a beach ball, he was floating contently in the waves further out, looking good in his black boardies with diagonal blue strips down the sides, and a black t-shirt. She shook her head, he was proud and insulting, he called her a savage, frowning severely she turned her attention back to the game.

Will was watching Lizzy play, her petite frame stretching for the higher shots Louisa kept making, and she was slender but athletic still. She could have been a dancer with the grace she had, unconscious grace though it may be, he amended as she dived for the ball and landed rather spectacularly over the edge of the sandbar and emerged from the water spluttering and laughing with Louisa. SHe was amazing, amazing but unattainable, there was things he had to do in his life and dating a 17 yr old girl, no matter how perfect she was, did not appear on his 100 most important things to do list.

Like the afternoon before the warm weather was invaded by thunderclouds and everyone ran inside amidst squeals, Lizzy's of delight as she spread her arms and ran in circles her face upturned, and Caroline's of distress as she, the only one not to touch the water that day, screamed that her hair would get wet.

Once inside everyone changed and met back in the living room looking for something fun to do. Richard and Louisa pulled out a couple of bottles of vodka, raspberry cordial and lemonade. "Mixes anyone?" Richard suggested, a cheeky smile on his face.

"Richie, that's not appropriate, Jane and Lizzy are underage." Will scowled.

Lizzy rolled her eyes and said, "Oh please, I'll have one. Don't worry William I believe I'm safe with you."

After some rather pointless conversations, which Caroline either monopolised or mutilated with her opinion, and a number of drinks apiece Charles ordered Pizzas so that no one had to cook. While the pizza was on its way Lizzy suggested they play a game.

"A game? Oh lets play Sardines please!" Caroline sent a lusty look Darcy's way, letting the whole room know her intentions.

"No, I'm not a fan of sardines," Lizzy said, unconsciously coming to his rescue, "I'm claustrophobic." She pursed her lips in thought, "How about Truth or Dare?" Nobody seemed to have any objections so Lizzy decided to explain a more fun version than get asked a question, choose the next victim. "So we need a bottle," she grabbed one of Richards empty beer bottles from the trash. "So we spin it and that is the next person to be asked a question. It means we can't pick on anyone."

The doorbell rang and Charles went to collect and pay for their food, which they set up on the floor around them.

Lizzy span first because it was her idea, it landed on Jane. "Truth or Dare?"

Jane thought quickly, "Truth."

"What did you and Trevor McKay really get up to when you got lost on the Tasmania excursion?" Lizzy asked. Jane blushed and muttered, "Nothing ("You have to tell the truth," Lizzy reminded her)-oh alright, he tried to kiss me, but I didn't like him so I told him so." Lizzy clapped her hands in delight, "I've been trying to get that out of her since yr 10." Jane spun the bottle and it landed on Will.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." Will was game and he was sure Jane was too nice to humiliate him too much. Jane frowned in thought, 'I'm no good at thinking of dares.' and Will was quite content until Lizzy leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Jane nodded and said, "Play your guitar for us."

"Ok, I'm not very good but a dare is a dare." Will was just relieved Lizzy had not dared him to run naked along the beach, although then she might have wanted to see him- stop it Will!

"He spends his nights in California
Watching the stars on the big screen.
Then he lies awake and wonders
Why can't that be me?
Cause in his life he's filled with all these good intentions.
He's left a lot of things he'd rather not mention right now.
But just before he says goodnight,
He looks up with a little smile at me and he says

If I could be like that
I'd give anything
Just to live one day
In those shoes.
If I could be like that, what would I do?
What would I do?

Now and dreams we run."

Will finished the song to applause and surprise, Lizzy in particular was looking at him strangely. "You lied," she cried, "You said you weren't good!"

"My sister is the real musical genuis in the family." He answered stiffly, not sure how to reply to her compliment.

"Oh dear Georgina!" Caroline cried, unhappy with being ignored for so long. "How is she?"

"Good, I emailed her this morning and she had been studying hard." Will answered his face lighting up as he explained that she was hoping to get into Julliard and how she was currently living with his Cousin Richards parents.

"How tall is she now? It has been so long since I saw her, she must be as tall as me now." Caroline gushed.

"Actually, Georgina is really quite small in stature, more akin to Lizzy than you." Will said, and Caroline frowned. He looked around and said, "Shall we get back to the game?" He spun the bottle and it landed on Lizzy. By now, of course, everyone had had quite a bit to drink and Charles was sending goo goo eyes Jane is way as she blushed.

"Truth or Dare?" Will challenged Lizzy.

"Dare. And don't be shy, I want a good one where I actually have to do something." Lizzy met his challenge with an iron will.

"Ok," and jokingly he suggested, "Get a tattoo or a piercing somewhere other than your ears." He was shocked to see Lizzy laugh.

"So I just have to have a tattoo or a hole in my body?" Lizzy asked.

Will frowned, sensing he was missing something but as no one else seemed to have the foggiest what she meant, he said, "I was joking, that wasn't the dare." Lizzy silenced him with a hand and pulled off the hoody she was wearing, leaving herself in a singlet and jeans.

"will both do?" She asked impertinently as she pulled up her top and revealing a belly piercing. Jane gasped, and said "Lizzy, when did you…you didn't…" Lizzy shrugged.

"You said both?" Will questioned and she grabbed the left side of her jeans and pulled them down to reveal a soft pink Cattleya Orchid tattoo.

"Lizzy!" Jane exclaimed but Lizzy just shushed her. "It's my favourite flower, in the language of flowers it stands for maturity and charm, the two things I lack and hope it will bring to my life."

Will could not help but feel that she did not lack either quality but said, "That's why you wore one piece bathers out today and held your arm funny when I saw you yesterday!" Lizzy blushed nodding affirmative.

"Lizzy! Mama is going to kill you!" Jane said earnestly, but then a little bit of hurt came into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have told her."

Lizzy dropped onto her knees in front of Jane and threw her arms around her twin's shoulders. "I know, you're my twin and best friend, but if she found out then at least you could claim ignorance." Jane smiled and hugged her twin back. Will watched this show of sincere sisterly love with interest. It seemed that Lizzy was not above doing things that would get her into trouble, but she was too fiercely protective of her sister to include her in it.

"What about your father? Won't he be angry too?" Charles asked eyeing the sisters with interest.

Lizzy and Jane looked at each other and laughed, "Lizzy never gets in trouble with Papa, and she is his little girl." Will was surprised again, by the twin's mutual love, even though a parent favoured one it did not cause jealousy in the slightest.

"We're both his favourites, he just thinks that I'm more like he was when he was a child than Jane is." lizzy explained hugging her sister. "loud, obnoxious and rebellious."

The next few days past without rain and so the group spent more time in the sun than they did sleeping. The night before they were due to go home Louisa and Richard brought out the alcohol again. Much drinking ensured. Caroline passed out before midnight and was carried to her room by Richard who then proceeded to bid everyone goodnight and whisked his wife of to their room over his shoulder. Jane somehow ended up sitting in Charles lap with her arms around his neck and head on his shoulder. Charles just stared down at her in awe, his arms around her waist. Lizzy saw this and, astute even in her drunken revelry, silently grabbed Will's hand and dragged him out onto the porch so they could give the two some privacy.

Lizzy and Will were both very drunk, Will was not a heavy drinker and so was overcome by the alcohol content in his blood relatively quickly, as for Lizzy, she was just a lightweight as he delighted in telling her. It was three am and they had spent most of the night alone, and arguing. Lizzy was sure, without the slightest doubt that he and Caroline would be perfect for each other, but when he in his denial questioned her she could not give an answer other than, "There was a helluva lot of passion in that kiss the first day here."

"What!" Will was shocked, he had not even moved but to push her off.

"Yeh, she was totally passionate about it and you were totally passionate about getting out of it." Lizzy laughed so hard that she fell off her seat. Will pulled her up and said, "That was mean, I don't want people to think I like her, she's…." However, exactly what she was Will could not, in his current state, express.

"Caroline." Lizzy finished with decidedness. He nodded, it really was the only way to describe her. Then she added, "I am not mean, I just tell it like it is."

"That's called being blunt, wouldn't call that an endearing trait." Will said without thinking.

"Neither is pride, which some people have in abundance." Lizzy retorted.

"Well others seem to be determined to wilfully misunderstand their fellow man." Will said.
"Well know we know what we think the worst possible traits in a person are, and you know mine is to be undeniably blunt, what of you William Darcy? What would you consider a failing of your otherwise perfection?" Lizzy stared at him, challenging him to say nothing, that he had no faults. He would not give her the satisfaction of lying.

"When someone loses my friendship, they lose it for good." Will said, a little too proud of himself for Lizzy.

"That sir," she said, getting up a little unsteadily, "is a failing indeed." Lizzy walked away to her bed, leaving a confused Will behind. He began to see that paying too much attention to Lizzy was going to make his head ache.

A/N Ok, so I want Lizzy to be very confused by the way, she feels about Will. I want her to be attracted to him as well because I do not think that his sudden nice behaviour later on will be enough to win her sudden love. I think it should build up earlier but be repressed by Wickham and the Jane-Bingley thing. Because from personal experience it is the person, you protest against the most that you secretly want to be locked in a cupboard, or washed up on an island alone with.

Also I know that I have deviated away from the story more than I originally intended too but like I said, it's modern, and I want to set up their characters a little more. PLEASE REVIEW. I am a little disappointed that I only have 6 reviews of almost 12,000 views. Don't break my heart people, leave me some love…or hate…I'm just happy to know people are reading it. Comments and advice are welcome.

Runaway by Linkin Park

Be Like That by 3 Doors Down