"I'm not in the mood to dance with the one girl that not even the nervous geeks will dare to ask, Charlie – just go away and dance with Jane, you'll have much more fun."

Elizabeth Bennet brushed past him, and he could hear her laughing.

fade

"I hate you, you know," were her first words to him, and he swallowed and nodded, knowing she'd overheard.

"Okay."

fade

"Is she okay, where is she?" she asked desperately, and he stared at her, taking in her flushed cheeks and bright eyes.

He pointed upstairs, and continued staring at the spot in which she'd stood, long after she had left.

fade

They were dancing, waltzing actually, pushed together by a friend and sister; her expression was annoyance itself and his face was perfectly blank, though his eyes could not conceal his disdain.

The fabric of her dress was rough and warm against his fingers, and he wasn't sure he was breathing.

fade

He caught her hand and yanked her back just before she fell, pulling her up against his chest; she stared at him, so close their breath mingled, and their eyes met.

"Let me go, you idiot, I don't need your help."

fade

He hadn't seen her in a year, and neither one mourned the loss.

She didn't care; he saw her every night in his sleep anyway.

fade

When he saw her, his mouth dropped open, and she shot him a glare; "I don't want to be here, certainly not with you, but my best friend is dating your aunt's adopted son, and I am going to enjoy myself on my Spring Break, got it?"

He might have answered, had he been able to summon up more than, "Oh."

fade

"Are you stalking me?" she asked casually on one of their walks, and he stopped in his tracks to stare at her.

"What would you do if I was?" She smiled instead of answering, and they began walking again.

fade

He couldn't talk properly, looking into her eyes; they made his heart beat too fast and his voice say odd things like "I love you."

She was still staring at him, utterly shocked by that last sentence, when he stepped forward and kissed her.

fade

He loved the way her name looked on paper, in his elegant script: Lizzy.

The letter she received was typed, and addressed to 'Elizabeth'.

fade

She couldn't look at him, blushing and stammering out short half-sentences, such as "I didn't – we thought you were – look, I don't think – I never – I read your – maybe we should go, you might not want…"

He couldn't look away.

fade

"This is my sister, Georgiana," he said, and they smiled at each-other, but that was unimportant.

What made his heart skip, and his breath catch, was that she smiled at him, too.

fade

Her sister was having Wickham's baby, and the man refused to acknowledge it as his child; Lizzy couldn't stop sobbing, and she was leaving tomorrow.

But she was crying into his shirt, and it gave him an excuse to put his arms around her and bury his head in her neck.

fade

Charlie was there to apologize, and Will thought that maybe she liked him now, but she just stared at him silently.

He didn't say a word to her, because if he had, he knew that it would have been I, followed by love you.

fade

When his aunt visited, he was bored and slightly annoyed with her, until she said, "…and she actually told me that she refused to not marry you!"

Will leapt from his seat, gave his startled aunt a kiss on the cheek, and dashed out of the building, straight for his car.

fade

"My aunt visited me," he panted, and she stared at him, completely stunned by his sudden appearance out of nowhere, especially since the next thing he did was reach out, grab her shoulders, and yank her forward until their lips met.

After they stopped for air, she ran her fingers down his cheek, freezing him, and whispered, "Tell her 'thanks'."

fade

"But she hates you," her father frowned, and Will couldn't help the wild grin that spread over his face.

"I know," he laughed, suddenly giddy.

fade

"I love you," he told her, and she leaned up and pressed a kiss to him that, despite all they'd done, rendered him completely incapable of speech, let alone movement, and shocked him to the core – in a good way.

"Ditto," she grinned, falling backwards onto the sheets, the ring glittering around her finger.

fade.