Ahem: a collection of stories for my little sister's birthday. I shall put my music library on shuffle and pair her top 10 ships with the first 10 songs. Each ship gets a story related to the song with decreasing times: ship #1 gets 10 min., ship #2 gets 9 min., ship #3 gets 8 min., etc. So ship #10 is a hot mess 1 min. panic attack.

You don't HAVE to listen to the song first...but you might want to. And author's notes are bolded.

2. ElizabethxFitzwilliam (Pride and Prejudice) – "Ask" by The Smiths – 9 min. timer

I've written a song challenge fic for Tyvy for this song already, lol. Also HAHAHAHAHA WHAT Mr. Darcy's name is Fitzwilliam? Dang, no wonder he goes by Mr. Darcy! Also, I just informed Jason of this fact, and he had legit never heard of Mr. Darcy. So you can make fun of him, if you want.

Fitzwilliam sat at his desk. Scribbled elegant verses onto the crumpled page, another age, a third page, concluded it was frightening, and threw them in the fire. He watched them burn and twist and blacken, and the flames, he felt, matched what his head and heart must be feeling.

He loved her – most ardently – and it she would just give him any slight indication that she felt or at least could feel the same…

She could ask him to do anything, and he would gladly acquiescent.

Anything…

He turned from the fire as he felt his cheeks turn crimson at the thought of what certain things he would like her to ask of him.

He could ask her, he supposed. Tell her. Something. But he was too shy. Too coy.

Too prideful.

Too prejudiced.

So he would continue to spend warm, summer days indoors, ruminating on the insufferable, bewitching girl who, quite suddenly, had crumbled his pride as easily as the fire burnt the parchment.

She could tell – couldn't she? Maybe? The nature of things between them was no different than the smoldering words on his papers. Nature was just another language, so why couldn't she read it?

Perhaps he should continue as he always did. Solitary, dark, distant.

For all he knew, she despised him.

Yes, it would be far better for all involved if he never said one blasted thing to her.

Have her figure things out for herself or else leave him alone to wither with his cursed verses on paper.

But then again...if he never asked her...wouldn't it stop him from doing the only thing in life he truly wanted to do?

Why was this nine minutes? I kept reaching the end over and over, and it was like THERE'S STILL FIVE MINUTES LEFT, okay, let's come up with more...