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Chapter 10

William and Lizzie went to the art show in separate cars. Even if they hadn't, William knew that Lizzie wouldn't have enjoyed the ride. She put up with the Mercedes he had at the beginning of their marriage, but a few months ago, he indulged up to a Ferrari. He loved it. Lizzie, not so much. She said it was loud, dangerous, a waste of money, and ostentatious. They had a huge fight over it (their first fight as a married couple) and they still hadn't spoken. William was worried she would never forgive him. Why should he worry? They weren't going to me together much longer. Right? Maybe if I keep telling myself that, it won't hurt so much. Maybe we can go back to friend. Who am I fooling, after this, I'll never see her as anything other than the girl who stole my heart and didn't even know it.

He found a spot close to her car and walked to the door of the gallery. Introducing Lizzie Bennet was written on the door in big blocky white lettering. Something sickened him with the fact she was using the name Bennet. Did she really care for him that little? Or did she think that he still wanted to go through with their plan? Either way, this show was for Lizzie Bennet, not Lizzie Darcy. As long as shes happy...

When he opened the glass door and saw her art for the first time, and he couldn't help but whistle softly to himself. This stuff belongs in a museum, not a show room. I always knew she was good but this is... Unbelievable. William was handed a little sheet of red stickers and told that if he wanted to purchase one, to put it on the title plate with his name after being approved by the studio walked around, awestruck by Lizzie's work and slowly realized they were all memories that they had shared along their life. Their houses as kids at different parts of the year, the neighbors cat, halloween when they were kids, senior homecoming, college parties, even one of Charlie; all of them bright and bold and fresh.

"Can I ask, if there's a theme." He pulled over the woman who gave her the stickers.

"Yes sir. The show is call Memories, but you'll have to ask the artist what the significance of everything is." She turned and greeted a new visitor.

Then William came to the last painting. It was standing in a room all its own, a big spotlight hitting it. It took him all of three seconds to realize that it was of he and Lizzie, sitting in the park with her head on his shoulder. The title was The Favor and he was almost brought to tears. He saw little hearts bubbling subtly in the background and wondered if she felt the way he did all along. He heard an all too familiar laugh and turned to see Lizzie surrounded by a group of men, all holding drinking glasses and knew what he had to do to get Lizzie back. He found the dealer that owned the studio and paid up-front for the painting, but made him promise he wouldn't say who he was. The dealer agreed and just put the little red dot from his sheet on the corner of the name plate and sat back and watched people stand in awe of the marvelous paintings.

As the show wound down, every painting had a sticker on it's name plate. Lizzie was standing by the one he now owned and sighed. "Simon. Who bought it?"

"I would have to check the receipts. I can't tell you off the top of my head." William saw Simon's eyes shift to him in the back corner of the gallery. Lizzie didn't seem to notice.

"I almost wish this one didn't get sold. Its my favorite. This moment, it meant a lot to me. This person, he... I really care about Wi..." Lizzie stood there with her arms crossed. She almost said his name! His heart soared. "Funny thing is, I don't know if he ever knew."

"I can tell you like him. I bet you'll get your answer soon enough. Congratulations, Lizzie. You can lock up when you're done?"

Lizzie nodded and stood there with an empty glass of champagne, staring at the painting. William silently crossed the gallery and stood a few feet behind her. "I love it too. That's why I bought it." Lizzie spun on her heels and stared at him, eyes wide in surprise. Now that he saw her dress, he was speechless. Its tit long sleeves accented the muscles on her long arms, the length showed off her legs. It fit in all the right places and you could see a faint sparkle around the belting it had.

"You bought it?"

"It spoke to me." William smiled at her. "It's colors shone in the light and the style..." He trailed off. "I'm not fooling you am I?"

She laughed "Not one bit." She bit her lip. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I came to see my wife's show. It seems that neither one of us has actually filed for divorce yet," William began walking towards her, "and I am quite sure that I wouldn't sign the papers even it you had filed. I miss you Lizzie. I miss waking up and seeing your face. I miss the coffee and the way you let me hold you close to me. I miss Charlie sleeping by our feet. I miss protecting you." William paused. "I miss us." William was now right in front of his wife, looking down at her, pleading for her to come back to him. Lizzie bent down and put her glass of champagne on the floor and looked up at him.

"Thats funny. I miss us too." She smiled back at him. He wrapped his arms around her like he used to and this time, he kissed her. And she kissed him back. It was like fireworks going off in his stomach and he loved every millisecond of it. He pulled her even closer, and they stood there, for what seemed like eternity, just kissing each other. When he finally pulled away, she was still smiling. "Now can we please go home?" He smiled and lead her out the door. She plugged the security code in, turned off the lights, and locked the door.

He escorted her to her car, holding her hand the entire way. She unlocked her car and he stopped her from getting in. She turned and he pushed her up against the body of her bug. She smiled as kissed her again, just to be sure this was real, and the fireworks went off again. He put her in the car and followed her all the way home. When they got inside, they were both so tired, they fell asleep wrapped up together on the sofa. Right before he drifted off, he kissed her on the top of the head.

"Tomorrow, Lizzie. Tomorrow I will tell you I love you."

When William woke up, Lizzie was already in the kitchen.

"Lizzie, I have to tell you something." He took a deep breath.

"Can I say something first?" He nodded. "I love you William." She bit her lip and looked down at her feet.

He walked over to her and gently pushed her chin up. "And I love you, Elizabeth." She jumped up into his arms and kissed him.

The rest of the day was spent moving Lizzie's things into his room, and on Monday he went to work happy.