You guys have made me feel SOOO guilty about not finishing this story! Good for you! :D

This is the last chapter and then the epilogue. :( Because it is over, :) because it is almost complete!

Leaving the kitchen, and much less shaky, Lizzy spied Georgiana coming down from her room. "Georgiana! You look beautiful! I LOVE that jewelry. It looks like it is from this little shop next to my family's bookstore, Zinnia's."

"Oh, thank you, Lizzy! Will got it for me. Isn't he sweet? I see you have some too! I am glad you didn't listen to Will! That jewelry is just the thing!"

"Oh, Georgiana, I think Will bought me this too! I wanted to thank him. I don't know how he knew, but I have been wanting this particular set for a long time!"

"He came down awhile ago. Maybe he is in the dining room?"

The two women went in search of their generous giftgiver, but couldn't find him. Finally it was time for the reheasal to start and Lizzy was needed by Charlotte. Scanning the room, Lizzy could not spot Will. Or Mrs. de Bourgh.

"Odd. Maybe Mrs. de Bourgh is giving Will even further reason not to care for me. Like he needs that."

As the rehearsal ended and the dinner began, Lizzy finally saw Will. He was escorting his aunt to her seat and turned immediately and left. Lizzy hopped up to try to talk to him, but by the time she got to the foyer, Will was gone. She called his room, no answer. Waited a few more minutes and called again. No answer. Sadly, Lizzy went back to her table and finished her meal. Distractedly talking to all the others involved in the wedding.

Tomorrow would be the wedding. And after that, would she see Will anymore?

OOOO

Charlotte could not have been a more beautiful and happy bride. And Bill was almost handsome in his charcoal grey tuxedo. He couldn't stop smiling when Charlotte came down the aisle in her gown. She was breathtaking. And for a moment, Lizzy was afraid Bill had actually lost his breath and was about to pass out.

The ceremony was lovely and not a dry eye left. Charlotte and Bill gave each other a sweet kiss and turned to face their loved ones.

"I'M HITCHED!" shouted Charlotte. Everyone laughed and clapped as the bride and groom ran out to the gardens for photos.

Lizzy and the rest of the wedding party followed them out and the next hour was spent taking pictures. They were all anxious to leave, Lizzy most of all.

"My lips are sticking to my teeth! Haven't we had enough? Come ON!" Lizzy whined.

Charlotte turned to Lizzy and flashed a brilliant smile at her, "Shut up, Lizzy. This is My day and I have been putting up with everyone's demands - Mrs. de Bourgh, my mother, John, and I've been pretty patient. Now, you will stop complaining, and SMILE for me, or so help me..."

"Put that thing back where it came from or so help me! Put that thing back where it came from or so help me!" Lizzy began singing a line from Monster's Inc. The whole wedding party burst into laughter and the photographer shot away.

"Great pictures, everyone. Great. Fantastic," Pearl, the photographer, said, sounding almost bored. "Those are some great memories. Great. Memories. Okay, now we are just going to get some of the lovely couple, here, and so the rest of you guys can head back inside. Enjoy the reception."

The reception, like the ceremony, was elegant and beautiful. The crystal sparkled, the fresh flowers filled the air with a lovely, subtle scent, the food was superb. Pierre had really outdone himself.

Lizzy had not been able to get Darcy alone before dinner was served, and she was starting to get frustrated. "What is this, some kind of conspiracy to keep us from talking? Is he avoiding talking to me? He's avoiding talking to me. That's it. I offended him somehow, even more than I thought I already had and he has-"

"LIZZY! They're cutting the cake!" Lydia shrieked. Lizzy smiled at her baby sister. The detective in charge of the case had managed to track Wickham down and brought a variety of charges. Nothing that would lock him up for too long, but he had a record now and he was being deported back to England. Lydia was able to find some type of closure in that, and Lizzy and her younger sisters were closer than ever.

"Okay, Lydie, you know not to get in my way for cake!" The two sisters ran together to the table to watch.

Happily, Bill and Charlotte did NOT smash cake into each other and Mrs. de Bourgh and Mama Lucas sighed in relief.

"Mary," Mrs. Bennet approached her middle daughter, "your performance was flawless! Absolutely lovely!"

Mary couldn't contain her happiness at her mother's praise. Jerome came over and grinned at her and grabbed her hand. Mary was glowing. The awkward little girl was gone and in her place stood a beautiful young woman. Who smelled a little. So did Jerome. They had stopped wearing deodorant a few weeks before and the day was a bit warm. Fortunately her mother didn't notice or pretended not to.

Kitty and Captain Denny were in a corner with John and Charlotte's younger brother and sister. Lizzy and Lydia walked over with slices of cake for all of them and passed them out.

"Captain, Kitty tells me that you are planning on switching over to the campus nearby, in the city."

"Yes, Elizabeth, I am. It's my last year and then I will become a firefighter. Hopefully for the Meryton Fire Department."

"Wow, that's an exciting field! And please, call me Lizzy," she smiled at her sister's boyfriend. "Well, I need to make sure everyone who needs cake has it, and that Bill and Charlotte don't needs anything. Talk to you guys later!"

Lizzy spied Will and Georgiana and, grabbing a few slices of cake, made her way over there. "Hey, you two! I brought cake! Does that buy me a seat here?"

Georgiana laughed and grabbed a piece of cake. "Mmmm! Chocolate! My FAVORITE! But I need coffee. You two want coffee? I'll go grab a few cups."

Lizzy watched as Georgiana made her way to the table where the coffee was put out. She saw her greet Caroline. Caroline excietdly reintroduced her to Betty, from the dress shop. The three of them began to talk excitedly.

"Well, she's already forgotten about us," chuckled Darcy. "Lizzy, I-"

"Will, I-" she stopped, laughing from embarrassment. He nodded at her to go first. "Will, first, I want to thank you for the jewelry. I- well, let me say, I love it. I have wanted that jewelry for so long, and I was so disappointed when it was gone. But I want to offer to give it back, that I cannot accept it, but I can't. It is beautiful, but it is even more beautiful because it came from you. Will, I don't know if we will ever see each other again, but I will always treasure this gift and our friendship." She let out a breath when she finished, not sure how she would be received.

"Lizzy, I also have waited along time for something that I want and was disappointed when I didn't get it. Lizzy, I want to tell you how much I lo-"

"LIZZY!" screamed little Bella. "It's time to play wif' us! You PROMISED you would play wif' us!"

"Okay, Bella, I will, just give me a second," Lizzy stammered. "What was he about to say?"

"Lizzy! LIzzy! Lizzy! LIzzy! Lizzy! LIzzy!" a little boy, Christopher, started chanting.

"Ah, the little boy from the Meryton's Business Owners' Dinner. If I recall, he didn't like me much." thought Darcy. "Tell you what, Lizzy, it is obvious that we aren't going to get a chance to talk now. Why don't we go play a bit with the kids and afterwards, maybe we can get a chance to talk?"

Lizzy gulped, "Yes, sure, Will. You guys go ahead to the smaller ballroom, I am going to go get some others to join us."

Soon Lizzy arrived with several other guests, young and not-so-young, in tow. They played a few silly games, like Simon Says and Mother May I. Then Cristopher shouted, "Gossip! Gossip! I wanna play Gossip!"

Sighing, Lizzy sat everyone in a circle. Cristopher sat beside her, and Darcy on the other side. Playing a few rounds, Lizzy and a few others were ready to move on, when Cristopher begged for just "ONE MORE ROUND! Please Lizzy! Pretty please!"

"Fine! Who wants to say the phrase?"

"You do! You always say the funniest ones!" giggled Cristopher.

"Okay. Hmm. Okay, got it," said Lizzy, and she leaned over to Cristopher and whispered, "The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain."

Cristopher eagerly whispered to the next person, and so on, til it got to Darcy. Darcy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, Lizzy, I must say, I am a bit surprised at your forwardness. But, yes, I accept."

"Huh?"

"Well, the phrase is, 'William Darcy, will you please go out with me, and we can discuss making this arrangement permanent.' So, yes. I accept."

"But I didn't sa-"

"YES! You did! You IDIOT girl! Just say yes too! Oh, my Darcy. Darcy. Darcy, Darcy. That was, how you say, a good one," once again Pierre was on hand.

Darcy grinned at Pierre,"It was, wasn't it? I finally did something right!" Turning to Lizzy his voice got low, "Elizabeth Bennet, you must, PLEASE, let me FINALLY tell you, how much in love I am with you. Do me the honor having coffee with me later tonight...and maybe for the rest of our lives?"

Lizzy just nodded.

And as the rest of the group looked on, Darcy winked at Cristopher. On this cue he and other children began singing, "Sha la la la la la, go on and kiss the girl."

And so...Darcy did.

OOOO

Finally after all the wedding hooplah, Darcy and Lizzy got their coffee, and a chance to talk. It was late, but Pierre, not surprisingly, had prepared a little table and served them some coffee and cake.

"Sit! Eat! Eat! You need to get fat for the fat little babies! Eh? EHH?" Pierre was beside himself. "I am going to be a grandpa!"

"Simmer down, there Pierre. We have a bit to go before that happens," smiled Lizzy.

"Pah! It will happen soon! You young people shouldnot even try to plan your lives, you will do it wrong and then I will have to fix it AGAIN! Just listen to me now! I see a beautiful weeding, a Winter wedding, in about four months, and-"

"Pierre!" Lizzy had gotten up from the table and walked over to him. Grabbing his hands she said, "I promise that I will let you AND my mother plan the most horrifically ostenatious wedding in the history of horrifically ostentatious, but you HAVE to let Will and I decide when. And I am NOT letting you choose my hairstyle."

Pierre nodded and went back inside humming the song from the Little Mermaid.

"So!" smiled Darcy, "Finally a chance to be alone."

"How did you know?" blurted Lizzy. "What if I was still the spiteful girl that turned you down a few months ago? How could you have, I don't know, risked my rejection again?"

"Well, there's this thing called BODY LANGUAGE," Darcy answered smugly. "You weren't exactly repelled by me. I hoped. But what convinced me to put my heart out, to risk the ultimate humiliation in front of your friends, your family, MY friends, my family, but worst of all CRISTOPHER?"

Lizzy nodded, "Yeah, all that."

"I heard you talking to my aunt. Through the vents. I saw you leaving with her and I could only guess what was going on."

"You KNEW she was gonna attack me and you didn't say anything?"

"Well, I was on my way to rescue my fearless maiden," Darcy answered sarcastically, "when I heard the first part of your conversation. I thought she just wanted to thank you. I didn't realize she would berate you. And I was about to walk in when Pierre stopped me. We heard the rest of it. You didn't seem to need any help, by the way."

"Well, I guess it did help me to finally be honest to myself about my feelings. I am sure I would have gotten there eventually anyway, although you would have been married to someone else. And I probably would have been angry with you for thinking I needed saving. Are you sure you want to be with someone so insane?"

"Insane? How boring would my life be with someone nice and normal, calm," Darcy grinned at her scowling face, "because then, she'd be just like her lovely sister, who is perfect for Charles, but not me, because I need someone who will remind me that I am not, gasp, perfect. I need...YOU."

Lizzy looked down and blushed. "I cannot believe I am acting like a teenager, blushing! Pull it together, Bennet!" Clearing her throat, she looked up to find Darcy staring at her, with a small smile. To cover her embarrassment, she decided to ask a question. "So, how did you orchestrate all this? How did you make Cristopher your new bestie, your partner in crime?"

"Partner in crime? Are you going to say something corny like, 'Because I stole your heart'?"

Lizzy threw her head back and laughed. That rich chocolaty laugh that Darcy loved. "Noooo! Maybe how you ASSAULTED me when you kissed me with out permission!"

"First of all, I was simply obeying a very wise little man named Cristopher who began SINGING for me to 'Kiss the Girl'. How can I possibly go against that. Thirdly, you didn't seem to, um, object. And thirdly, there may or may not be an all expense paid trip to Legoland for a few families in there."

Lizzy gasped and her jaw fell open. "You cannot possibly be serious! You bribed them? And SUCH an expensive bribe! You are joking! Please tell me you are joking!"

Darcy shrugged. "What's a few thousand to get my Lizzy's attention?"

And so began a beautiful, yet insane, relationship.

Yes, I gave Kitty a fireman. I felt she deserved it, being somewhat overlooked sometimes. Mary had a big part in the wedding and got her mom and smelly boyfriend's approval.