A/N: The Unconventional Series was planned prior to episode 83; once it is canonballed, I will let you know. (I'm trying to get this out before today's episode but it might not go up until after, so there may be some AU elements now.) It is not necessary to read parts one through seven of the series to understand this; however, this is an almost direct sequel to part one (Unconventional) and it takes place sometime during part seven (An Unconventional Decision)

Summary: Darcy reflects on his relationship with Lizzie Bennet. How could something, someone, so messy be so beautiful?

An Unconventional Mess

Gigi had always said William needed a little more mess in his life. He'd always brushed it off. William liked order. Loved it even. He'd had his plans and he'd had the determination to follow them through. But Gigi had never let up. It was a daily routine for her to tell him to get messy. When he'd gone away to Harvard, she'd even texted him.

Then their parents had died. And life got messy. And Gigi stopped telling him that a little bit of mess in his life would be good for him. When he first realized that his daily routine was missing her admonishments, he was disconcerted. On the one hand, he was happy to have the nagging stop. On the other, it was just one more comforting part of his routine that he'd lost.

But his routine readjusted. His life was forced back into order. And he stopped thinking about messes.

Then, Lizzie Bennet tumbled into his life. Her wild love of life that simmered just beneath her calm exterior had terrified him. No matter how reasonable and put-together she had looked that night they danced, he could tell – she was a mess. And William Darcy did not like messes. He hated messes as much as he loved order

So how could something, someone, so messy be so beautiful?

He'd fought so hard against loving her. Not because of her family. Not because of her socioeconomic standing. But because he couldn't have such a mess in his life, not when he'd fought so hard for his order. So he'd separated himself from her mess. And when he'd arrived back into his well-ordered life, it had felt so empty.

He needed a little mess in his life.

But she'd had no interest in being his mess. But William fought for order in his life when everything seemed empty after his parents' death. He could fight for mess.

And he'd gotten it. Lizzie Bennet decided she didn't mind bringing some mess into his life. In fact, she preferred causing a mess in his order.

It took little time at all for him to realize that she liked when he looked a little messy, and in fact, she loved being the one to mess him up. She would pull him down for a kiss and muss his hair instead. Or grab his tie and make sure it was slightly askew. When he made their bed in the morning, she would always have to sit and bounce on it a couple times. It was a game they played. He would tidy; she would mess. One of his favorite moves in their game was to re-groom himself when he got to his office in the morning, so should he and Lizzie bump into each other at work, because of their agreement to keep things professional at all times in the Pemberley offices, all she could do was glare at his tie and hair. And the moment they left the campus, she would rip off his ties, rumple his suit, muss his hair. It was one of his favorite times of the day.

Lizzie Bennet was the mess in William Darcy's life, and he wouldn't give her up for all the order in the world.