A/N: Hello Readers!

Wow, I really wasn't expecting such a response of requests for an epilogue - thank you so much! And thank you all for your support.

There's a proper Author's Note at the bottom; for now I'll just say thank you and enjoy - it's a long one!

What a Difference

Epilogue

Elizabeth yawned widely, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she pulled the end of the mounted washing line across the garden to the apple tree. Winding it safely around a sturdy branch, she trekked back, dragging the remaining line back to the wall of the house, securing the end to a hook in the wall. Stepping back inside the house, she pulled the wet washing from the machine, dumping it into the wicker basket below. As she straightened, adding a bag of pegs to the pile and wincing at the ache in her injured hand as she lifted the basket, she surveyed the view from her back door with pleasure. The trees and bushes seemed to glow in the late morning sun, the bright petals of their flowers shining with colour. The low wire fence running around the edge of the garden gave way to extensive fields, white fluffy dots peppered throughout. The low cry of the sheep rumbled through the air. With the sun high in the sky, a warm breeze and such peace surrounding her, Elizabeth found it hard to reconcile the awful events of the night before.

After calming their mother and putting Lydia to bed, Jane and Elizabeth had parted ways with little more than a wave goodnight, too exhausted to discuss the night's events. As she'd blearily blinked the ceiling into focus the following morning, Elizabeth's stomach had churned unpleasantly as the memories of the night before began playing through her mind, tripping over one another as they demanded attention. Arriving late; speaking to George; sending Lydia home; shouting at Will; dancing with Will; calling Lydia; driving in the dark; punching George; saying goodnight ... a cold, sick feeling coursed through her as she realised for the first time, just how close to real danger her little sister had been. If it hadn't been for Will...

Will.

She couldn't think on him without blushing. She was frustrated that her memories of him were clouded with tiredness; had he really looked at her like that? Could he have felt the electricity that seemed to spark when they touched? Her confusion over how much was real and how much her tired brain, spurred on by the dreams that followed, had influenced her thoughts mounted until she'd thrown back the covers and begrudgingly got out of bed.

After a quick shower and dressing, carefully arranging her hair to hide the newly-bloomed bruise on her forehead from George's blow the night before, Elizabeth descended the stairs to find her mother still in high dudgeon from the night before, slamming kitchen cupboards and placing items on the side more firmly than was strictly necessary. Fortunately for Elizabeth, her mother had moved on from the verbal tirade of the night before, deciding that the silent treatment and an increased number of chores was a greater punishment for the light of day. 'You can start by putting the washing out. Your Aunt and Uncle are coming to stay tomorrow,' was all she said as Elizabeth entered the kitchen. When Elizabeth asked if she could have breakfast first, she received little more than a grunt. Jane smiled sympathetically across the breakfast table.

Now outside, Elizabeth found her thoughts returning to Will. She collected a fistful of pegs and began attaching them to the hem of her shirt.

Stop being so ridiculous, she told herself. You've barely known him for five minutes and you're getting dangerously close to obsessing over him! He's probably just going to go back to Derbyshire as soon as the summer's over; he said himself he's got nothing keeping him here. Why on earth would you think he'd even think of staying for a girl that was horrible to him half the night, and dragged him into some serious drama for the rest of it?

But the memory of kind blue eyes crashed through her attempt at mental discipline, coupled with a slow-spreading warm feeling as her thoughts strayed to how he'd made her smile; how kind and gentle he'd been when they first found out Lydia was missing - how he'd thrown everything into finding her little sister. She remembered how safe she'd felt with him; even as they'd sped through the dark country roads and made their way through the pit that was 'The Lodge' she'd felt protected. She was so grateful he'd been there last night, but she couldn't fathom how on earth to thank him.

The memory of their goodbye stepped up and heat rose in her cheeks. The embarrassment she'd felt when she realised he was simply trying to get to his car door to go home made her stomach churn even now; she grimaced at the memory of it.

Picking up a sheet, she shook it out before stretching up to peg it to the line. Pulling the fabric taut to help the creases fall out, she spoke sternly to herself.

'That, Elizabeth Bennet, is enough. No more obsessing over blue eyes, sweet smiles and great hair, no matter how likeable he is.' She froze as a deep voice spoke from the other side of the sheet.

'How likable who is?'

Elizabeth froze. Slowly peering around the sheet, praying the person standing on the other side wasn't the only person she knew it could be, she smiled sheepishly.

'Hello.'

Will Darcy, leaning against the frame of the back door, returned her smile easily. Blushing, Elizabeth grabbed at another sheet in the basket. It had become knotted and entangled with a towel and she crouched beside the basket to work it free. She glanced up at Will to find him still smiling at her.

'At the risk of sounding rude,' she began, 'what are you doing here?'

'Jane pointed me in the right direction,' he replied scratching the back of his head absentmindedly. 'Charlie was rather anxious to make sure Jane got home ok last night, and since neither of you sent us a text...'

'Oh,' Elizabeth replied, trying to ignore the disappointment blooming in her stomach that Charlie was the only reason for his coming over. 'Yeah, sorry about that. War erupted on all fronts when we pulled onto the drive. In my defence,' she added, 'I don't have either of your numbers, so you've really only got Jane to blame. I dare you to go and demand an explanation from her.'

Will laughed. 'I wouldn't dare; apart from the fact that I'd be powerless against the serious Bambi-eyes she's got at her disposal, she's got back-up.'

Elizabeth grinned. 'Speaking of Charlie; how did you manage to lose him between the front door and here?'

Will grinned. 'He found Bambi; I figured they'd appreciate a little privacy.'

Elizabeth chuckled. 'Yes, I can imagine you'd feel like the biggest third wheel in existence today with those two around.' She straightened up, pulling the now disentangled sheet with her. She pressed her injured hand covertly against her thigh and flexed it slowly, coaxing the ache from her stiff knuckles while trying to conceal her discomfort from Will.

'How's the hand?' he asked casually, stepping from the shade of the doorway into the sunlight.

'Oh it's fine,' she replied with a flippant wave. He took her small hand in his, gently running his fingers over her knuckles as he had the night before. Elizabeth, heart pounding in her ears, noticed how blue his eyes were in the light; how the corner of his lips curled upwards as if he were enjoying a private joke as he examined her hand.

'It's not too bad,' he decided. 'I think you might live if you really put your mind to it.' She grinned at him. 'How's the…' his words trailed off as his eyes wandered to her new, carefully arranged fringe.

'It's ok,' she finished for him. 'Just carefully concealed.' With her free hand, she lifted her hair to reveal the bruise. Will's jaw tightened as he lifted a hand to her face, tracing the air above the tender skin without actually touching her. As Elizabeth watched him, she suddenly felt foolish; anger towards herself rose quickly – how dare her heart beat so fast whenever he came close? What were these thoughts doing, manipulating the tiniest little action on his part into something more than it was? She was behaving like an idiot, and it had to stop.

A look of confusion flitted across his face as she frowned and gently withdrew her hand, stepping away. 'Really, I'm fine,' she muttered. Desperate for a moment of space to regain her composure she lifted the sheet to the line, dropping it like a curtain between them. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

Will didn't speak for a moment, concealed by the sheet. Elizabeth fumbled for the pegs at the hem of her shirt. As her injured hand twitched in pain, a peg flew from her, landing on the grass at her feet. In a flash, Will's hand was next to hers on the line, securing the sheet with the lost peg.

'Here, let me.'

Elizabeth didn't reply as Will peered around the sheet.

'Want a hand?' He asked cheerfully. 'Since you're somewhat at a disadvantage this morning.'

'Umm, ok,' she replied, throwing a mental thank you to her mother that this load only contained bed sheets and towels. 'If you really want to.'

Will bent down to retrieve a sheet.

'How was your mum when you got home?'

Elizabeth laughed as she secured the sheet with a second peg. 'Oh, she was great. Brought out the big Guilt Guns and I'm on washing duty from now till the next blue moon.'

Will frowned as he searched for the edge of his sheet. 'Blue moon?'

'Yeah, blue moon. Didn't you read Enid Blyton as a kid?'

Will chuckled as he lifted the sheet to the line. 'Clearly not as much as you. Should I assume that the next blue moon's a long way off?'

Elizabeth grinned as she grabbed a towel from the basket. 'Not as far off as you might think. Once Lydia's awake and Mum's convinced she's not dying – one of the crazier points of last night, by the way; Jane and I had to wrestle Mum to stop her from trying to give Lydia mouth to mouth. Very bizarre moment in my life. Anyway, when Lydia wakes up, I'm hoping I'll start looking a whole lot better in comparison.'

'How did Jane manage to escape punishment?'

'She didn't; she's got washing up duty. I think Mum's planning on using every possible utensil when cooking for the foreseeable future.'

'That sucks.' Will stooped to pick up another sheet.

Elizabeth laughed. 'Trust me; it could be a lot worse. It's when you get handed dusting that you know you're in trouble.'

'Why's that?'

'You know that whole white glove dust trick? Well Mum actually has white gloves and she will test in the most obscure places. She particularly like the top of door frames and behind cabinets; all the places you'd be looking at on a normal day.'

Will chuckled. 'Yeah, my Mum's the same, but with her it's windows. One way to get a workout!'

Elizabeth smiled. 'Hey – how's your sister this morning? Was she ok last night?'

Will smiled warmly, obviously touched she'd remembered. 'Yeah, she was fine; all the paranoia was all in my head. She said she had a great time catching up with old friends. She hadn't realised how much she'd missed them.'

'I'm glad to hear it; sounds like she deserves some fun.'

Will's hair fell forward as he bent towards the basket, rekindling Elizabeth's wondering from the night before about how he kept his hair so perfect. As he straightened, he automatically flicked his head, sending his hair back across his forehead, looking as soft and flawless as before. Elizabeth smiled to herself, blushing and hiding behind a sheet when Will spotted her looking.

Will pulled the towel in his hand to the line with a smile, and the pair continued to fill the line in comfortable silence, slowly moving away from the house.

As they neared the tree where the line was anchored, Elizabeth took another sheet, noticing the basket was almost empty. She glanced over at the house; they were far enough away that they shouldn't be overheard. She absentmindedly registered that from her side of the washing line, the sheets entirely shielded the house from view. She pegged the sheet in her hands up slowly, realising that if she was ever going to say anything to him, it had to be now.

'Look, I want to thank you for all your help last night. We wouldn't have …' she faltered, and took a steadying breath. 'I really don't want to think about what would've happened if you'd not been with us.'

Will chortled and Elizabeth glared at him. 'What's so funny? I'm serious!'

'Oh, no - I know you're being serious - and you're welcome; I'm just glad I was there to help.'

When Elizabeth's frown did not disappear, he rolled his eyes. 'I was laughing because ... well,' he hesitated. 'You've got a bit of a habit of being blunt.'

Elizabeth blanched, cheeks reddening. 'Have I?'

Will smiled again. 'Last night? You came to apologise for listening to George? I think the conversation went something like 'I'm sorry, I thought you were a jerk but it turns out you're alright'.'

'Hang on,' Elizabeth tapped her chin in thought. 'I don't remember saying you're alright...'

'Oi!' Will cried in mock-outrage, throwing the wet towel in his hand over her head. Elizabeth erupted into giggles as she fought her way out. 'Alright, alright, I surrender! And yes,' she added as Will pegged the towel up. 'I don't know if I've got a habit of being blunt, but in situations where there's a sorry or a thank you to be said, things tend to get done a bit quicker if you just say it.'

'Makes sense I guess.' Will replied easily.

'Anyway, thanks. I know we didn't get off to a great start so you really didn't have to -'

'What makes you think we didn't get off to a good start?' Will interjected, dropping his hands now the towel was secure and looking intently at Elizabeth.

'Well,' Elizabeth paused before embracing her new-found bluntness around this particular boy, and simply blurted it out. 'I behaved abominably to you! Let's count the ways, shall we?' She tucked the sheet she was holding under her arm and began counting on the fingers of her uninjured hand. 'I was rude; I believed a pack of lies from a stranger; I shouted at you; was rude again; dragged you into a horrible situation to help find Lydia - I've run out of fingers; shall I start on the other hand or have I made my point?'

Will laughed. 'Elizabeth, I'm hardly blameless!' Suddenly looking uncomfortable, he grabbed the sheet from under Elizabeth's arm, lifting it to the line, hiding himself from Elizabeth's view. 'You weren't far off the mark last night when you said I didn't want to talk to anyone,' he continued. 'I wasn't exactly Mr Cheerful. I'd been dragged there by Charlie to meet his Dream Girl; I didn't want to leave Georgiana alone; Caroline had been texting me all day, and I really wasn't looking forward to spending an evening in a room full of people desperate to know the latest gossip about what happened with me and George. All in all, it wasn't shaping up to be a great night. And then…' he finished pegging the sheet on the line and stepped back into view. 'I met you.'

Elizabeth was silent, absently trailing her fingers along the white sheet, smoothing out imaginary creases as she contemplated his words.

Will inhaled deeply, a small smile on his face as he continued. 'I met you and you argued with me. You threw your drink over me – you yelled at me! And then,' he chuckled, 'you apologised – terribly, I might add –'

'You're not painting a great picture of me right now, you know.' Elizabeth interjected, trying not to laugh.

'But,' Will continued, shooting Elizabeth a look that clearly said 'shut up', 'You were funny.' He continued, smiling as he looked down at the spare peg in his hands. 'I don't always find it easy to talk to people; but you,' his blue eyes were piercing as he looked at her. 'You're ... ridiculously easy to talk to. Asked me all questions I would normally hate to be asked, but,' he shrugged, 'I didn't mind it so much.'

Elizabeth stared at the sheet in front of her as she smoothed out invisible creases, unable to meet his gaze. Will cleared his throat, self-consciously.

'So.' Ducking under the line he stepped close, taking Elizabeth's uninjured hand and opening her palm, spreading out her five fingers. 'I'm glad I was there to help with Lydia. Don't think for a second I would rather have woken up this morning having done nothing.' He gently curled the first of her fingers back down into her palm. Elizabeth smiled wryly as she realised what he was doing. 'George can be persuasive when he wants to be; Lydia and Georgiana can both testify to that. I don't blame you for listening to him, especially since I'd given you no reason to give me the benefit of the doubt.' He curled down another finger, gently holding the digits down. 'You were quite right to shout at me. That's not an open pass to do it in future, mind; but I was mean to you and I probably deserved it.' He curled in her thumb. He frowned in concentration at the last two fingers. 'I can't remember what these were for -'

'I think they were for a double-dose of rudeness,' breathed Elizabeth, cursing her heart for pounding solidly as he smiled at her.

'Well,' Will replied, 'I think we're equal on the rudeness scale for the evening, so we can discount those.' He curled down the last of her fingers, covering her newly-made fist with his other hand.

'So… friends?'

'Hmmm,' Elizabeth tapped a finger against her lips in mock-thought. 'Not sure about that. How about … 'newly formed acquaintances'?'

He grinned, catching onto her game.

'Acquaintances?' he mused, leaning a little closer. 'Can't think of anything vaguer than that?' he quoted her words back at her, eyes sparkling. She laughed, tilting her head slightly as she playfully replied, 'Well I'm under some pressure right now; I might need you to check back in a minute.'

'Perhaps if I play my cards just right and some day I'll manage 'pal'.'

'Some pal you'll be; you'll be running back to Derbyshire to finish conquering the world in a few weeks.'

'Unless I stay.'

Elizabeth's eyes widened; she pressed her lips together nervously. 'Do you think you will?'

Will held her gaze for a moment. 'Talking to Georgie this morning has definitely made me realise how much I've missed home; missed my family; my friends. Maybe it's time to return to the nest. Who knows,' he added, raising a brow, 'I might even make some new friends.'

Elizabeth laughed. 'And I'm sure they'll be delightful, and never dream of throwing you straight into the path of totally unnecessary drama mere moments after meeting you.'

'Maybe,' Will considered, his voice low. 'But I imagine life wouldn't be half as interesting without friends like that.'

'Well, we wouldn't want you to be bored now, would we?' Elizabeth half whispered as Will leaned a little closer. She was intensely aware of him; how his bright blue eyes seemed somehow darker as they stared steadily into hers; the heat that seemed to be once more emanating from him, drawing her in. He raised a hand and gently brushed a few wayward strands of hair from her face, his fingers ghosting over her skin, sending tingles down to her toes. His breath brushed her cheek; her heart thumped almost painfully and she felt a little lightheaded as the tension between them intensified.

'Lizzie!'

Jane's voice rang across the garden, breaking the moment as Will and Elizabeth jumped apart, colour flooding both their faces. With a shy smile to Will, Elizabeth leaned between the sheets obscuring them from view.

'Here!'

Jane stepped from the house into the sunshine, towing a beaming Charlie by the hand. Shading her eyes from the sunshine with her free hand, she and Charlie made their way across the grass.

'Charlie turned on the charm with Mum and persuaded her that he needs help – oh! Hi Will!'

Jane slowly grinned in understanding as she looked from her twin to Will, taking in their red faces and general awkwardness in their private corner. 'I didn't know you were here.'

Will mumbled something about Charlie being easily distracted.

'Anyway,' Jane continued brightly, 'Charlie's explained to Mum that Will's got a lot of unpacking to do today, and Charlie's promised to help him clean and set up his furniture and whatnot since Will's staying with him, and they could really do with an extra couple of hands to get things done, and she's agreed to let us go and help out.'

Elizabeth was confused. 'I thought you were staying with Georgie?'

Will frowned slightly at Charlie, clearly suspicious. 'I am,' he replied, slowly. 'And I've only got one suitcase and it's already unpacked.'

Charlie grinned. 'I know, but I figured that on the way to your house, we could get rather unfortunately lost and perhaps end up walking round the lake for a while, particularly in the area of the ice cream stand.'

Elizabeth looked at Jane, shocked. 'And you knew about this?'

Jane nodded, still grinning.

Elizabeth blinked. 'Are you seriously telling me that you, Jane Bennet, ray of sunshine, lover of light and truth, have willingly engaged in conspiracy and fibbery?'

Jane beamed. 'Yep.'

Elizabeth solemnly placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. 'I've never been prouder of you.'

Charlie laughed.

'But Mum's not an idiot; she'll think on it for five minutes, realise she's been had and we'll be dusting for the rest of our lives.'

'So let's not be here in five minutes.' Jane grinned, blushing slightly at her own confidence.

Elizabeth laughed incredulously. 'You,' she declared, pointing at Charlie, 'are a bad influence! What did you do to my twin?'

Charlie raised his hands in surrender.

'It seems to me,' cut in Will, 'that there's really only one thing we can do.'

'What's that?'

Elizabeth felt soft fingers graze her palm. She watched as Will gently but deliberately entwined his fingers with hers. She smiled up at him, as he leant closer.

'Run.'

Squeezing her hand, a huge grin on his face, Will pulled Elizabeth across the garden, abandoning the now-empty washing basket on the green grass, leaping over the step at the back door, Jane and Charlie in close pursuit. Barrelling through the kitchen, laughing, Elizabeth yelled out a farewell to her mother who peered through the door to the front room to see what the noise was all about. As they passed the stairs, they cried a goodbye to a groggy-looking Lydia descending in her pyjamas. Jumping through the open front door into the bright sunshine once more, leaving behind Lydia's shrieks about Will Darcy seeing her in her pyjamas and her mother's scolding, the pair threw themselves into the back of Charlie's car waiting on the drive. The four erupted into laughter as the doors slammed shut, poorly imitating the squeal of tyres on tarmac as Charlie carefully backed onto the road, their happy voices echoing around all the way down the street.

- FIN -

A/N: Thank you for reading until the very end! This is the longest story I've ever written and it would mean a lot to me if you'd share your thoughts!

A huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review; each and every one has encouraged me to post the next chapter. I couldn't have finished this without you.

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