"Hey, have any of you guys seen Lydia? It's no biggie, but I probably need to take her out soon." Jane yawned and went to finish setting the table. Lizzy blinked.

"Will, have you seen Lydia?" she asked. He took a minute before answering.

"Not since last night. She's probably under someone's bed somewhere. I wouldn't worry about it."

"I heard her barking after I went out for my… " She clapped her hand to her mouth. "Oh God."

"What?"

"I think she got out."

"How?"

"Well, Charlie said the door blows open sometimes, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I went out for a walk this morning, and I heard her barking, and I think she must have gotten out." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "She's tiny, and fat—you know how coyotes love fat dogs— and she's never been in the cold. At least, not cold like this. She'd gonna die and it's all gonna be my fault and Jane's gonna kill me. I'm to be killed." Darcy wrapped her in a hug, and she curled into him.

"It's going to be ok. We'll find her." The hug broke and Darcy left. Lizzy sniffled and continued to flip pancakes.

She finished and carried everything to the table, where Charlie and Jo were sitting over coffee. She sat down.

"Lizzy, thanks so much for cooking breakfast."

"Well, Will helped. I can't really take all the credit." Charlie raised an eyebrow, which caused Jane to furrow her brow.

"Speaking of Will, where is he?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know," Lizzy replied, anxiety slightly tingeing her voice. "He helped cook and then he just sort of left."

"Well, snoozer's losers, as I always say," Charlie said. "Shall we dig in?"

"Charlie, honey, wait a sec. At least give him a minute or two," Jane said, placing a hand on his. If Lizzy had been her normal self, she would have rolled her eyes at the domesticity. Charlie looked at his watch.

"I give him two minutes, then the bacon's gone," he said. Lizzy stared into her lap, finger tracing around the edge of her coffee mug. Jane looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"You ok?" Lizzy didn't respond. "Lizzy. Lizzy!" Lizzy snapped to attention.

"What?"

"You ok?"

"I'm fine." Jane looked at her, narrowing her eyes.

"No you aren't."

"Jane. Stop."

"Lizzy—'

"Don't do this. I don't want to do this."

"I'm not doing anything."

"You're older sister-ing."

"That's what older sisters do when younger sisters are upset."

"I'm not upset."

"I don't believe you."

"Jane, just stop."

"Should I feel uncomfortable?"

"Charlie, quiet, I'm interrogating my sister."

"Jane, you don't need to interrogate me. You really don't need to be interrogating anybody."

"What's going on? Are you worried about something?"

"No."

"Are you worried about Lydia? Lizzy, she's gonna turn up."

"I'm not worried about Lydia."

"There's no need to be," they heard as a door slammed. "I found her." Lizzy shot up and ran to the living room. There, slightly covered in snow and holding a happily panting and squealing dog, was Darcy. Will Darcy. Fitzwilliam Darcy, who had just saved her life. Or, at least, her sister's dog's life.

"How did you do that?" Lizzy asked. He shrugged and put the dog down, then started to towel her off.

"I'm good with animals."

"But you were gone for literally fifteen minutes. If you were going for proper dramatic tension, you would've taken a few hours."

"Then I would've missed breakfast," he said, standing and smiling. "I see you're back to joking." Lizzy's eyes shot back to the ground.

"You found Lydia. That's all that matters now."

"Darcy! If you don't mind gracing us with your presence, I'd love to start breakfast," they heard Charlie call. Darcy smiled and looked at Lizzy.

"We should head in there," he said.

"Yeah," she replied.

The four sat around the table. Charlie and Jane ate and laughed and smiled, while Darcy merely ate and Lizzy did nothing at all. Eventually, Jane dropped her fork.

"What is up with you two?"

"Nothing," Lizzy said, still staring into her untouched pancakes. Darcy didn't respond, as his mouth was full with a critical mass of bacon. Jane rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair.

"Fine, I won't push it. Charlie, wanna help me do the dishes? After all, these two cooked for us." Charlie smiled, grabbed one last piece of bacon, and began to clear plates.

"You guys can go sit in the living room, if you want. Rest up and digest before we head up to the mountain," Jane said with a smile. Lizzy obeyed and walked into the living room, assuming Jane and Charlie wanted a bit of space. Darcy followed her. They sat down.

"So," she said.

"So," he replied.

"Why do all of our conversations start like this?"

"Well, technically, I should be asking you, considering you're responsible for starting most of our conversations." She was quiet for a moment before she began to speak.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I was quick to judge, to say unfounded things and…you shocked me and, well, you scare me."

"I scare you?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"I mean, you're older than me—"

"Only by two years."

"You're more experienced than me—"

"Nothing that can't be changed."

"You're richer than me—"

"A minor detail."

"You're rather too tall—"

"I'll kneel," he said with a grin. She smiled despite herself.

"You're taking away all of my excuses."

"That is rather the plan. I'm trying to open up a bit more."

"Why are you treating this like a joke?"

"Because it's sort of funny."

"I owe you…I owe you so much."

"Lizzy," he said, taking her chin in his palm. "You owe me nothing."

"But Lydia."

"I'd do it over and over again. It wasn't that big a deal."

"Darcy, I—"

"Before you speak, I must have you know. My feelings are unchanged. I'm not that fickle that I'd forget how I felt a day ago. But if you want me to stop, I'll stop. We'll manage through this vacation and part as friends."

"No."

"No… what?"

"I don't want to be friends," she said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Oh," he said, his hand retreating and his eyes dropping to gaze at the floor. "That's fine. I shouldn't have expected…"

"Oh, you big idiot," she said, grin coming to her face. She pressed her lips to his, resisting the urge to crawl into his lap. At least, while they were sitting down, she had the advantage of being able to make a move.

At last, they broke.

"So, I guess that's what you meant," he said, scratching behind his ear.

"Yeah, that's what I meant. I mean, if you'll have me." He smiled, eyes lighting up as she spoke. His hair was still slightly damp from the snow, unbrushed and tousled. The dark tufts clung to his cheeks. He really was unbelievably attractive, when she took the time to look at him.

"Of course."

"Called it," they heard Charlie say from the kitchen, before Jane shushed him. The pair giggled, and kissed once more.

"Ok, I should let you all know that I've never really been skiing and thus, have absolutely no idea what to do or how to do it."

"She's just being annoying," Jane said. "Don't indulge her."

"I'm just trying to set the bar low, before anyone is shocked to see me tumble down a hill."

"Don't worry," Charlie said. "I'll push Darcy down and then the two of you can match." Lizzy laughed while Darcy rolled his eyes.

"As funny as you think, you are, Charles—"

"Stand-up ready, my friend. Well, here we are." They reached the base of the mountain and began to put their skis on. Lizzy nearly fell over, which she considered a bad sign. After much effort—some a little more than most— they skied over to the chair lift. It was only in pairs, and Lizzy and Darcy were forced to sit together, much to everyone's chagrin. The chair began to move.

"Eep, it's so high."

"It's not that high, darling." She giggled, and he frowned. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No, darling," she said, feigning his voice. "Darling." She slipped back into her normal voice. "How is your voice so deep?"

"It's been that way since birth, actually. I didn't cry, but merely recited Shakespearean sonnets."

"Cute." The chair lift stopped mid-air. Presumably, someone had fallen down. Lizzy turned to look back down the mountain.

"Wow," she said. The landscape was spread out beneath them, miles and miles of white, snow-capped peaks. "You don't really get this down south. I suppose you're used to it." He turned back around to face the same view.

"It's always beautiful, no matter how much time you spend looking at it." When she turned to roll her eyes in his direction, she found he was staring at her.

"Time to turn on the charm, I suppose."

"What else would I be doing?" Lizzy scoffed and looked forward. "God, is this thing ever gonna move?"

"I hope not," he said quietly. She smiled.

"Hon, if you find me cute when I'm dressed up like a marshmallow, you're a keeper."

"I hope so," he said, smiling.

"Stop, you're making me blush," she deadpanned.

"I hope so," he said, that cheeky grin still painted on his cheeks. His eyes seemed to glow deep blue, with concentric circles of green and gold. They gained complexity every time she looked at them. His cheeks were growing pink in the cold.

Eventually, the lift started moving again and soon they reached the top of the mountain. The wind blew as they met up with Jane and Charlie.

"Hope the ride wasn't too torturous," Charlie said, grinning cheekily. Jane whacked him in the shoulder.

"Don't listen to him. So, you guys ready?"

"Umm," Lizzy said, knees shaking slightly. She really hadn't ever been a proficient skier. "Maybe you guys should go on without me and I'll met you at the bottom? I wouldn't want to hold you up."

"You two go on ahead," Darcy said, gesturing to Charlie and Jane. "We'll meet up with you later." Charlie and Jane shrugged and took off down the mountain. With them sorted, he turned to Lizzy.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "I've just never really liked skiing."

"Bad experience, or?"

"Will, don't push it." He cocked his head.

"You called me Will."

"It's your name, isn't it?"

"No one but my mother ever called me Will." Lizzy clasped her hand to her mouth.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry—I didn't mean—"

"No. It's fine. I've missed it."

"I like it too. But seriously," she said, gesturing at the mountain. "Just go on without me. I'll take bunny hills all the way down or something."

"Lizzy, listen to me. It's gonna be ok. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I fall down the mountain and die."

"I'm serious."

"As am I. Statistically, it could happen."

"It won't." He held out his hand and smiled. "Come on, it'll be fun."

She looked up at him and smiled.

Author's Note: And there it is! This, being super short, was actually really fun to write. I'm currently planning the next big one—don't hold your breath but it should be coming in at least the near vicinity of time—but in the mean time I might do a few more short ones like this. It's fun to drabble on with characters when you just have the time experiment with new things. Maybe I'll do Pride and Prejudice in Space, who knows?

As to the response to this, you guys have been amazing. There's no way I would keep writing without all of y'all supporting me and dealing with my admittedly sparse update schedule. But you have all left the most amazing reviews and inboxes, and it's really kept me going. So, thank you. I hope you like this one, and I hope you like what's coming up next.

As always,

Much love and best wishes.

Zoe