I had originally not considered adding to this one-shot story, but a few folks expressed an interest in my doing so and I found myself considering ideas of how it could continue, and well, here you go - the story is now officially a two-shot!

The IHOP Scene

Darcy sipped his coffee and studied the girl beside him out of the corner of his eye. He could tell that she was trying not to smile. He could also tell that she knew he was watching when she made an exaggerated show of slowly ripping open yet another packet of sugar and adding it to her cup. That was the eighth packet.

He never should have raised his eyebrows when she added the first three all at once, now she was just daring him to comment.

Bingley sat across from them with Jane. Those two were making no secret of enjoying the sugar showdown, their eyes flicking back and forth between Darcy and the girl, faces sporting twin grins. Darcy wanted to tell them both to "just shut up, already!" but of course neither of them had said anything, and besides, that would have been the same as conceding defeat.

He wasn't quite ready to concede, though he'd known after the fifth packet that he'd already lost the game. He'd lost before he'd even known it had started.

The foursome had stayed at the bar until closing time, after which - unwilling to call it a night - they had adjourned to IHOP. At 3:00 a.m. they were almost the only customers.

He considered the happy couple sitting across from him. Bingley and Jane appeared to be cut from the same cloth: happy, friendly, golden cloth; and each was as sweet as an eight packet - no make that nine packet - cup of IHOP coffee. Anyone looking at the pair would think they had been together for years, not just the last few hours.

He barely caught himself in time to keep from rolling his eyes, then noticed that there was only one sugar packet left in the holder: perhaps he would win this little game after all.

The last packet was torn and added with a flourish; the coffee was stirred. He almost sighed with relief until the girl slowly finger-walked her hand back to the sugar holder and pinched a packet of Sweet-n-Low. Darcy finally broke.

"Oh, for heaven's sake! Enough!"

Jane, Bingley and the girl all erupted in gales of laughter and Darcy stopped fighting his smile. Chuckling, he stretched one arm behind her to give her a brief side-ways hug before resting it along the back of the seat and asking the waitress to bring a fresh cup and more coffee.

"You're outrageous, you know that, right... Karen?" he questioned.

"Yep, and..." she drawled, giving him a grin, "Nope!"

"Aww, c'mon, just give me a hint, then."

She shook her head, mirth-filled eyes sparkling. He'd been trying to guess her name ever since their first dance. She had refused to tell him on the grounds that he should have been paying attention when Bingley made the introductions; after all, she had cared enough to learn his name, hadn't she?

"You'll tell me won't you, Jane?" Darcy pleaded, giving Jane - who he felt was the weakest link here - his most soulful look.

Jane looked pained and began to speak but the girl cut her off with a scowl and a pointed finger.

"Nuh-uh! Don't do it, Sis! Or I'll tell Charles what Billy Collins called you back in 7th grade!"

"El, you wouldn't!" Jane gasped, turning bright red.

"The 'ell I would!" Her sister retorted, then she, Jane and Bingley all started laughing again, leaving Darcy with the feeling he was out of the loop.

"Did I miss something?" Darcy asked, looking around at them all.

" 'ell, Darce, I dunno," Bingley chimed in, then snapped his fingers and said brightly, "Oh hey, did you ask her if her name is 'Cindy'?"

The three clowns all burst into various giggles again and Darcy gave them each a measured, sour look. The waitress arrived with a fresh cup for the girl - who he was fairly sure wasn't called "Cindy" - and topped up their coffees all around. As the waitress (Martha, he noted) left he got up and went to the adjacent booth and returned with a fresh supply of sugar packets.

"Here you go... Cindy?" he winced, peeking at her as he tossed down the packets and slid into his seat.

Bingley snorted and shook his head gleefully, "Ha! Better just get her number, Darce!"

Darcy shot Bingley a glare that quickly softened when the girl surprised him with a kiss on the cheek and a whispered, "Thanks," before she snatched up three of the sugars.

He turned to her and smiled, "Anytime."

An easy silence fell between them as they drank their coffee and watched Jane tracing the lines on Bingley's palm giving him an impromptu, amateur reading. He was evidently destined to live to the extremely ripe old age of 117 and die surrounded by no fewer than 144 descendants.

Before long Darcy went back to studying the girl beside him out of the corner of his eye, and he knew she knew it. She was returning the favor, each of them trying hard not to be the first to smile.

Finally Bingley interrupted their contest, giving Jane a wink and a nudge.

"Hey Darce, what do you call a cross between an elephant and a rhinoceros?"

"I dunno, Bing, what?" he replied, warily.

" 'ell if I know!" Bingley chortled, "Get it? Get it? Eliphino?"

"Oh Charles," Jane giggled and hugged Bingley's arm but her sister gave Bingley a narrow-eyed look and threw a thimble of coffee creamer at him.

"Sheesh," Darcy groaned, "You see what I put up with... Angela?"

"I think I'm the one who put up with that one, Will, and... nope!"

Bingley set the creamer back on the table and smirked, shamelessly.

"El, I hate to say it, but we should probably be heading home," Jane said.

" 'ell, Jane, it's not like we have to get up early."

" 'ell, why don't we all go back to my place," Bingley offered, "We can watch a movie, play a game..."

Darcy looked at them all curiously, wondering if he'd missed some memo and this was "Talk in a Bad British Accent Day," when finally something clicked into place with a hazy fragment of memory from earlier in the night.

"El? Your name is 'El'?" he asked, turning to her, smiling, hopeful.

"Nope," she replied primly and his smile turned rueful.

Laughing, she put her hands on either side of his face, looking into his eyes.

"My nickname is 'El'," she clarified, patting his cheek softly, "Now you only have to guess the rest."

He chuckled, "Well, I'm guessing it's not 'Eliphino'." That earned him a sharp poke in the ribs while Bingley and Jane laughed and got up from the table.

"Took you long enough to catch on, Darce," Bingley grinned, "We've only been giving you hints all night."

Darcy just shook his head.

"So, are we all going over to Bing's?" he asked, standing and helping El from the booth. When the others all nodded their agreement he added, "I'll just get this and meet y'all outside."

While the others made their way to the door, Darcy dug his wallet out of his back pocket and laid $20 on the table. Then he took one last drink of coffee and almost choked. It was cold and horribly, cloyingly sweet!

"My God!" he set it down fast, backing away.

He heard a suppressed giggle and whipped his head around to stare at El, who was watching him from the restaurant entrance, one hand holding a door open, the other hand over her mouth.

"Are you finished with your coffee, Sweetie?" she asked, feigning wide-eyed innocence.

"Why you little... Oh yes, I'm finished with my coffee... Sweetie." He advanced with a mock scowl, growling menacingly; she screeched and fled through the door.

He chased her down in the parking lot, picked her up and held her tight to spin around and around in shrieking, squealing circles before setting her back on her feet. They clung to each other, dizzy, staggering and laughing before the world stopped spinning.

He took her face in both hands, tilting her head back to stare into her laughing eyes.

"I caught you, El," Darcy's voice was low, husky, "Now I'll never let you go."

She blinked up at him and whispered, "Maybe I'm the one who caught you."

I hope you enjoyed my little story - thank you for reading, and don't be shy about leaving a review!

-Kelly