Lizzie's day with Charlotte was a nice reminder from the old days, though some things seemed to be different. For one, Charlotte had grown up. She had a, though Lizzie hated to admit it, man in the house and this had brought out her inner woman. They no longer gossiped about girls, giggled about boys, but instead talked of serious things like government and school. Charlotte would be staying with Collins for her senior year, and Lizzie knew it was futile to argue. She had now lost her sister and her best friend. To make her feel better, Charlotte reminded her that since Charlie was gone, Caroline would be also.

This actually made Lizzie feel better, surprisingly.

As the hours passed on and their dinner with the Bourgh's became closer and closer, butterfly's found their way into her stomach for some unknown reason. Charlotte had an idea for her friend's nervousness, the fact that another dinner with the Bourghs would mean another dinner with Ms. Bourgh, but Lizzie couldn't shake the feeling that this was not the case.

Her suspicions were proved correct when they, once again, walked into the living area and saw the tall, dark form of William Darcy gazing out of a window. His companion was not Charlie, but someone entirely different. He was stouter than Darcy, and had blonde hair. Darcy did not notice them at first, but his friend's introduction to the girls and Collins prompted Darcy out of his trance.

"Charlotte, Elizabeth, William, this is... er, William and William," Ms. Bourgh paused for a moment due to the fact that there were three Williams in the room. Annie smirked at the pause and did a little wave to Lizzie. "William, the tall one, is my godson. The other William is my late husband's first son, before he married me."

Lizzie was unaware of the wave. In fact, she was unaware of most of her surroundings, she was so shocked that Darcy was there. She suspected she resembled a frog, with her mouth open wide. The girl couldn't close it either, she merely stared at Darcy in awe.

"Pleased to meet you," the stout William said gently, smiling and sticking out his hand for her to shake. This shook her her out of her temporary attention lapse and gripped his hand firmly. "You can call me Fitsy, everyone else does. My stepmother is the only one that won't... conform."

"Young people don't understand traditions anymore," Ms. Bourgh commented, disgusted. "And William, why aren't you introducing yourself?"

Darcy had been looking at the guests but had made no move to shake hands. "Because I know them all already. I went to school with them." There was something in his deep voice that made Lizzie want him to talk forever, and it took all she had not to turn her head and look in his eyes, though she felt his on her.

"Did you?" Ms. Bourgh was shocked. "Why didn't you tell me this last night, Miss Bennet? You must have known William was my godson."

"It didn't turn up in the conversation, and the fact drifted from my mind."

Ms. Bourgh's lips thinned, sizing her guest up. "Well, I'd love to hear more of your year together in school."

"Lizzie, would you like to finish the tour we started yesterday?" Annie asked, interrupting her mother.

"Impulsive girl," Ms. Bourgh turned furiously to her daughter just as Lizzie breathed out a relieved, "Yes." The host turned back to Elizabeth, having heard her answer and brusquely flourished her hand. "Very well, get out. Come back for dinner."

Lizzie couldn't leave fast enough. The piercing gazes that Darcy was throwing her alone nearly drove her mad, let alone the never ending insulting pit that was her host.

* * *

"What do you do in your spare time, Elizabeth?" Lizzie may have narrowly missed confrontation before in the living area, but because of that the dinner subject was now directed almost entirely to herself. Ms. Bourgh's hounding nearly drove her to scream but she pressed on.

"Mainly reading, ma'am. I don't have much spare time any more, since I started up the I.B."

"You don't do sports?" the lady asked incredulously. "Every young person I know, exempting my ill daughter, plays sports!"

"I plan on playing tennis next year, if I can deal with both homework and sports at the same time."

"You should be able to manage it, the workload isn't too difficult if you know how to handle it," Darcy added quietly from the seat next to her. These were the first words he had said to Lizzie all evening, and she was shocked they were to back her up.

"Even William's little sister, who is in one of the topmost rated high schools in the country, has time for after school clubs and sports."

"With all due respect," Lizzie added, beginning to seeth. "We are number one in Massachusetts, and fifteenth in the country!"

"Besides, Gingy doesn't go to an IB school," Darcy rumbled, not looking at Lizzie but at his aunt.

"Her name is Georgiana, Darcy. If her mother wanted her to be named Gingy than she would have done it." She went back to Lizzie in a matter of seconds, reminding her prey of a lion. "And what instruments do you play?"

"I played the flute until freshman year."

"The flute? That's not a practical instrument at all," Ms. Bourgh scrunched her nose. "The piano or violin is more cultured. If you play the flute, well, you might as well play the triangle." Lizzie swallowed her anger and focused on cutting her meat, perhaps a bit rougher than she might have normally. "How many sisters do you have?"

"Four others, besides me," Lizzie answered evenly, trying not to betray any emotions.

"Oh, your parents should have had at least one boy... who will pass on the family name?"

"Excuse me, but that was not on my parent's main list of priorities. My mother would have kept on trying for a boy, but we couldn't afford another child."

"Where did you learn your manners?" their host asked incredulously. "Barbarians? How dare you be sarcastic with me!"

Lizzie bowed her head, more upset at their rude host than any shame over her sarcasm.

There was a silence for a while until Fitsy interrupted with a jovial laugh. "You say yourself all the time that boys bring nothing but trouble!" he winked at his step mother. "That reminds me of the time you nearly bit my head off when I crashed into your Chinese vase! You were angry as Satan until you realized it was a fake! And how about that other time..." and so Fitsy went on throughout the remainder of dinner, interrupted his stepmother's critiquing words with stories of his childhood.

"Thank you for saving me back there," Lizzie whispered to him as they went back to the living area to wait for dessert.

"Don't worry about it. You can repay me by telling me some stories of your own!"

"About what?" Lizzie asked curiously. In the short time that she knew him, she found Fitsy to be a hilarious person, and a sweet one. She briefly considered flirting, but then decided that the less Christmas dinner she would have to spend with Ms. Bourgh, the happier she would be!

He gestured to his tall friend that was walking behind them. "You can tell me about your adventures with this pirate!" Darcy looked as if he desperately wanted to roll his eyes.

Lizzie was a bit apprehensive, but smiled anyway. "Anything special you want me to talk about?"

"How about the first time you guys met?" Fitsy winked at his friend and Lizzie got even more nervous.

"Well, technically we met at a dance. I don't even know why he bothered to come though, he didn't talk to anyone except Caroline. Besides her, he just sat in the corner and moped."

Fitsy gave her a half smile and punched Darcy in the shoulder. "That sounds like the ol' tyke! I'm surprised he didn't dance with you, you're pretty... well, pretty!"

Lizzie bowed her head in embarrassment. "Well, thank you. I wasn't quite up to his standards."

"That's not tru-" he began, but was interrupted by his stepmother.

"What are you talking so loudly about back there? It sounds like gossip. William, get up here and walk with me," she scolded them. Darcy made a move to go to the front with Annie and Ms. Brough but the elder rolled her eyes. "Not you, the short one."

"She'll never acknowledge me as her son, will she?" he asked out loud in a joking whisper to Lizzie.

"Now!" she screeched from up front.

"Hm, not that I'd want her to," he winked and moved to the front, leaving Darcy and Lizzie walking side by side in an awkward silence.

A few moments of silence passed, and the air grew thick around them. Finally, Darcy cleared his throat. "Hm, I was... ah, wondering if I could drop by tomorrow. I need to give something to Collins." His words were rushed at some points, and slow in others. Lizzie picked up on this and wondered why he should be nervous.

"I don't think it would be a problem," she answered softly as they rounded the corner and went into the room.

"Good," he replied back in his deep voice, almost sounding relieved. They soon parted from each other's side and they took seats on various couches in the room. Fitsy got a game of poker going on one of the tables, much to Ms. Bourgh's displeasure, and the girls huddled together in a small group, all hoping not to be noticed by the host.

Ms. Bourgh, annoyed at sitting all alone, was reduced to insulting everyone's ancestry, including her own daughters, and her rant didn't stop even after Charlotte, Collins, and Elizabeth excused themselves and left the house without staying for dessert. Up until that moment, Lizzie had never felt bad for Darcy, but whenever she thought of Ms. Bourgh's red, angry face and her stinging insults, she wanted to present him with the Nobel Peace prize.

* * *

The next morning Elizabeth had completely forgotten about Darcy's upcoming visit and wished Collins and Charlotte well after breakfast when they set out for Phoenix. They would be gone until dinner, and Lizzie had the car and the house all to herself until they came back. She was just about to take advantage of the car and do some exploring when she saw Darcy's car come up the driveway. She cursed at herself under her breath and left the house, keys still in her hand, to greet him.

"Hello," he said blankly, getting out of the car. He fidgeted with the ends and toyed with the third button of his shirt, which threw Lizzie for a loop because he looked more comfortable than he'd ever had before. The first two buttons were open and he was wearing loose fitting cut offs, and Lizzie surmised that he would hardly be this casual had he not been in the scorching heat of the desert. "I just came to... is Collins here?"

"What? Oh... no, they went to Phoenix. I'm sorry I... forgot to tell them you'd be coming."

"It's alright," he answered quickly, nearly leaping back into his car.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked almost as quickly. After the words rushed out of her mouth, she realized she had no idea why she said them. He was obviously in a rush, why did she try to keep him here?

"Just for a little bit," he replied quietly, almost sounding relieved. Lizzie gave him a thin smile and let him in the house. He was silent for a moment, his left hand deciding if it wanted to rest in his pocket or not. Lizzie took this as another sign of nervousness, though why she could not say. "It's a nice house."

"Yes my friend worked very hard on it."

"Your friend?" he asked distractedly.

"Yes, Charlotte... my friend."

"Oh yes, Charlotte of course." His voice cracked as his eyes ran everywhere but where she was standing. "How is she?"

"You saw her last night, she's fine." Lizzie was beginning to get suspicious, her eyebrows raised as he spent a longer amount of time than necessary to look at a photograph.

"Right, I remember yes..." he was blubbering now.

"Would you like some coffee, Will?"

The use of his name snapped him out of it and he looked straight into her eyes. Lizzie felt an inexplicable surge of warmth the moment he did so. "No thank you," he answered quietly after a moment. "I'll just... come back another time... thank you."

With that he left the house and quickly strode to his car. As it sped along the road and out of sight, Lizzie was left staring out the window in astonishment and wondering what exactly was wrong with what she said.

* * *

"And then he did what?" The inhabitants of the Collins household were enjoying Lizzie's first dinner in Arizona without the stress of Ms. Bourgh. Charlotte was talking to Lizzie on one side of the table while Collins was reading the paper because he didn't get the chance to in the morning.

"He just left, do you think it was something I said?"

"No," Charlotte said, a smile beginning to creep on her face. "Wait you said he was fidgeting?"

"Yes, a lot."

"I think he likes you," Charlotte announced proudly.

Her friend rolled her eyes. "Okay, William Darcy likes me. He hardly spoke to me all last year."

Charlotte shrugged. "Everyone expresses themselves differently. Besides, he detests Will," she added quietly, gesturing to oblivious Collins. "Why would he want to see him?"

Lizzie could only bite her lip in response. 'Impossible...'