In this case, Mrs. Bennet's eagerness meant the entire family had to wait around for fully half an hour before various friends and acquaintances showed up, at which point the two youngest Bennets made their escape to the dance floor. Meredith, the middle child, had taken her usual seat as far from the forming crowd as possible and pulled out the book she brought with her to any social function.

Thus it was that only the two eldest were still watching the door when the strangers arrived. Their attention was, quite naturally, drawn to the two young men in the group, and both were quite pleased with what they saw.

"Man, Jane, he is fine! Shame he seems to be taken...."

"Oh, you mean the taller one! I rather prefer the other, myself."

"And lucky for you, he doesn't have a woman hanging all over him! You have all the luck."

Their friend Carl Lucas informed them that there was still hope, for the taller of the men, William Darcy, was unmarried, "and from what I could tell during our brief meeting yesterday, he doesn't seem too fond of Caroline Bingley; I got the feeling he only tolerates her because his friend there, Charles, is her brother."

"Maybe, but chances are I'm not exactly his type. Pity; he doesn't know what he's missing!"

Jane's laughter caught Charles Bingley's notice; he looked around to identify the source, and as soon as he'd gotten a glimpse of her face, he dragged his friend over to meet her. The y were inevitably trailed by Caroline.

"Carl, hi! Good to see you again."

As Charles's eyes had remained fixed on Jane while he greeted Carl, the latter decided to have some fun with him. "Hey there, Charles, William. Caroline. How's it going?"

"Oh, good, good. I'm glad you came; I think you may be the only person we know here," Charles replied hopefully.

Carl grinned, and ignored the hint. "Oh, I'm sure you'll feel right at home in no time. Southern hospitality and all that."

Charles gave up. "Would you introduce us to your friends?"

"What, you want to meet these two? Whatever for?"

"Men! They never grow up; why do we continue to put up with them, Jane?" drawled the second-eldest Bennet.

"All right, all right! Charles and Caroline Bingley, William Darcy, these are my good friends Jane and Larry Bennet."

"Nice to meet you, Larry. Jane."

After shaking hands with Charles, Larry reached out towards William, who just stared at him. Since Caroline's expression managed to convey both scorn and disgust, Larry just shrugged and mentally assigned the two of them to the "hopeless" category.

"So, Jane, would you like to dance?"

"Don't believe in wasting time, do you, Charles?"

"Larry, stop it! It's not fair to start teasing someone you've barely met," Jane mockingly chided her brother.

"Ah, yes, of course, my dear. I'll refrain from further teasing until we've known each other for at least a week. If that's all right with you, Charles?"

"Certainly!" Charles laughed. "But only if you allow me to steal your sister away from you for a few minutes."

"Well, all right, if you must," Larry replied in his best exaggerated pout.

Charles led Jane to the dance floor, and it immediately became clear that neither of the remaining newcomers had found the conversation at all amusing. A few eternal moments of silence followed before William excused himself to go in search of a drink, Caroline scurrying after him.

Larry and Carl exchanged glances, then burst out laughing. "Somehow I get the feeling those two don't know what to make of you, my friend."

"Ya think? I suppose if I went all queeny every time they're around, Jane would soon take pity on them and tell them it's just an act to annoy them...in which case, of course, it wouldn't be any fun. Oh well. At least one thing is certain...."

"Hmm?"

"Now we KNOW I'm not William's type!"

As it happened, William was still close enough to catch his name, and although he couldn't make out the rest of the conversation, he was certain they were laughing at him.

It's not fair, he thought. How can he be so comfortable among all these people, despite being clearly different from them, while I can barely manage to speak two words even to those I know?

That evening, after the party, the Bennets observed their family ritual of gathering in their den to dissect the event, although most of those present could predict the others' reactions, from having had much the same conversation several times before.

Mrs. Bennet was overjoyed at her eldest daughter's having spent much of the evening in the company of Charles Bingley, whom she promptly dubbed "such a delightful young man". Not having exchanged five words with him phased her not in the slightest; his reported bank account, and apparent preference for Jane, convinced her that he could be nothing other than charming. His friend William, however, had not made so good an impression, having omitted to dance with any of the Bennet girls.

Mr. Bennet noticed his favorite child's grimace at William's name and leaned forward, concerned. "He didn't say anything to hurt you, did he, Larry?"

"No, Father. Only stared a bit," he shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Well, if he starts causing problems, son, you let me know, understand? I won't have anyone giving you trouble like that, I don't care how rich he is."

Mrs. Bennet could not let this go! "Well, really, David, there's no need to go that far! We mustn't risk alienating him over such a trifle. He is Charles's close friend, after all, and besides, he may still develop an interest in one of our girls! Jane, of course, is out of the question, and Meredith will insist on going out of her way to avoid men, but Kathi and Lori are such sweet, lively girls that they're bound to attract a rich man eventually--"

"Really, Mother, you shouldn't throw them at men like that. It isn't polite. And besides, they're too young for him," Meredith interrupted.

"And I don't want him, anyway. Too stuffy! He didn't even dance once, did you notice? Ugh! What a bore!"

Larry and his father exchanged bemused glances. Utterly typical comments from all three. If someone didn't change the subject soon, Kathi would jump in too, and no one else would be able to get a word in for the rest of the evening.

"We're all agreed on William, I see. But Jane, Charles does seem like a great guy. With perhaps less great taste in friends than in women," Larry teased. "When are you seeing him again?"

"I'm not sure. He said he'd call. But, Larry, I don't think William's as bad as all that. I mean, he could have been more polite, true, but perhaps he doesn't like large parties like that any more than Meredith does. And you have to admit, you were coming on a little strong. Maybe if you'd acted more naturally..."

"Oh, Jane, where's the fun in that? Besides, best they know right off the bat. That way I can find out if they're going to have a problem with me before I've wasted time and effort becoming friends only to be cast aside in horror. No, I quite approve of Charles, but you'll forgive me if I don't go out of my way to avoid offending the prejudices of his sister and friend."

"No one is going to offend anybody! Laurence Bennet, I forbid you to do anything which might jeopardize your sister's chances with Charles! Absolutely forbid it! You are to behave, do you hear me?"

David Bennet just sat there during his wife's speech, amused as ever by her ability to reorder her view of reality to suit her own preferences. Their only son had never given in to his mother's demands in his life, and was hardly likely to begin now.... His two eldest children abandoned their attempts to have a semi-rational conversation in her presence and retreated to Jane's room, where they could talk in peace.

To neither's surprise, the conversation soon returned to Charles Bingley.

"Seriously, Jane, he does seem really nice. If you like him as much as I think you do, I say go for it. I suppose maid of honor is out of the question, but d'you think you could convince him to let you have a best man for your wedding instead?"

"Now, Larry, don't you think it's a bit early? I do think he seemed charming, but we don't really know what he's like--or if he's even interested!"

"Oh, he's interested. Trust me, I'm a guy, I know the signs."

"Oh, really?" A wicked gleam appeared in Jane's eye. "If you're so hot at telling when a guy's interested in someone, how come I have to practically threaten you before you'll ask one out?"

"No fair! That only happened once, and you know it."

"Yes, but it did lead to your longest-lasting relationship so far, so the point stands."

Larry stuck his tongue out at his sister. "If that's the way you're going to be, then I'm going to bed. But don't be surprised if he calls and I say 'I told you so!'" he called over his shoulder as he left the room.

Chapter 2

Over the next several weeks, Jane and Charles saw a lot of each other. Although most of the time they went out alone, both were too sociable to not spend a lot of time with a group as well, completely oblivious to the strain this put on their friends. Larry liked Charles himself very much, and was truly happy for her sister, but could live without ever seeing William or Caroline again. Still, he refused to let them and their prejudices get to him, their attempts at intimidation merely making him more determined to stress his differences, since they so obviously made the others uncomfortable.

For his part, William thought Jane was nice enough, but didn't know what to make of Larry. He had thought at first that he wanted nothing to do with him, but since then his automatic disgust had faded and been replaced by unwilling curiosity. He found himself surreptitiously scanning crowds for a glimpse of that same Larry Bennet whose hand he couldn't bring himself to shake upon being introduced, and chiding himself for doing so. Something about the other man fascinated him, and although he still found it impossible to carry on a conversation with him, William was unable to resist listening to Larry's interactions with others whenever they happened to be together. He finally decided that what intrigued him so much was Larry's utter confidence in himself--and his courageous willingness to be himself and dare society to disapprove.

In the privacy of his own mind, William had to admit that he envied the other man. Hardly a day went past when William did not struggle to play the roles other people expected of him, or worry about whether he was guessing correctly what those roles were. He knew many people thought he was rude for not liking to engage in casual conversation, but he would prefer they think that rather than realize how constantly afraid he was that he would misunderstand some remark and respond in a way that might reveal too much of himself, his true thoughts. No, much better that he be thought cold and even arrogant, if it meant his real self was able to stay safely within the walls of his own mind. But it must be so freeing to be more like him--No, it was impossible. His own incompetence at social interaction would cause any attempt at similar openness on William's part to fail disastrously. So he stayed quiet, watching Larry when he had the chance, admiring and longing for that sense of balance he knew he'd never possess.

Caroline simply did her best to pretend that Larry Bennet did not exist.

One afternoon Larry answered the phone to hear a frantic voice.

"Larry? This is Charles. I--Jane--"

"Whoa, calm down a sec, tell me what's wrong. You sound worried. Did something happen to Jane?"

"I don't know. I mean, yes, I think so, but I have no idea..." He paused to take a deep breath, then forced himself to continue. "I--we were having a picnic. I'd just reached over to pour Jane some more wine, when suddenly she gasped and when I looked up, she was very pale, like bone, and when I asked her what was wrong, she just winced and tried to pretend it was nothing, but there was obviously something...and finally she asked me to call you and say that she didn't have her bag with her, and you'd know what that meant, and I swear she was about to start crying, and she looks really awful, and I don't know what to do..." He was clearly out of his depth.

Larry swore under his breath. "Okay, first, calm down, and listen to me. Let me guess, you were drinking red wine, right? No, don't bother answering now, I'll explain everything when I get there. What we need you to do is find her some place to lie down, somewhere cool if possible, and as dark and silent as you can make it. Don't try to talk to her, except to let her know I'm on my way; the sound will just give her more pain. I'll be there as soon as I can. Absolutely don't try and get her to eat anything, although it might be a good idea to leave her some ice water--oh, and a cold cloth. She will be okay, it just may take a while."

"Absolutely, anything I can do that might help." Charles sounded relieved to have someone who seemed to know what he was doing to give orders. "What's wrong?"

"Migraine. Look, we'll talk later; I'm out of here. Will see you as soon as I can, okay?"

"Right. See you soon. And--thanks."

As soon as he'd hung up, Larry ran for Jane's room, grabbed the medicine kit she kept on her bedside table, and went looking for his father, to explain what had happened and get the car keys.

"Absolutely not!" interjected his mother. "I need the car to take Kathi and Lori shopping! If Jane hadn't insisted on taking the other one, you could have that, but I simply can't do without mine today."

"Faith, I think this is a little more important than your shopping trip--"

"Nonsense, David! It's perfect. Jane's just faking, to get an invitation to spend more time at Charles's place. I couldn't have planned it better myself. There's absolutely no need for Larry to go tearing over there and interfering."

"No, Father, just drop it," Larry said before this fantastic assertion could be contradicted. His mother looked smug, and swept out of the room, keys jangling. "By the time we would have been done arguing about it, I could run there and back. Which I might as well start doing now, and save all that time, especially since the chances of our actually winning that argument are slim."

His father sighed. "You're right, of course. I just wish...well, never mind. You just get our Jane taken care of, poor thing. Go on!"

Grateful his father, at least, understood, Larry threw Jane's bag into his backpack, slung that over his shoulders, and took off. He arrived at the Bingley house only slightly out of breath, and was immediately shown to the room his sister had been put in by a grateful Charles.

Opening the door cautiously, he was pleased to see that his instructions had been followed. He slipped inside, then closed the door as silently as he could, waiting a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before attempting to cross the room. He sat on the edge of the bed, and reached to take Jane's hand.

"How bad is it?" he whispered.

Jane attempted a weak smile and started to sit up. "I've had worse."

"That's not what I asked, love. How bad?" He gently wiped the tears from his sister's cheek.

"About...an eight."

Larry paused, considering. "Should be able to deal with this ourselves, then. Here, I brought your meds." He held out the small bag, which Jane snatched eagerly. While she was rummaging through the various bottles to find the ones she wanted, he poured her a fresh glass of water from the pitcher he'd spotted on the nightstand. Once the pills had been frantically swallowed, she lay back down and gave a relieved sigh.

"Thank you."

"Hey, anything for my big sister, you know that. Now I'll leave you alone to let the drugs do their work, and go try to soothe poor Charles's fears. He's been very worried about you."

"Oh dear, it's all my fault--"

"Nonsense!" Larry breathed harshly. "You know you didn't to this on purpose. Just rest, and we'll talk when you're feeling better."

He crept out of the room, and stood in the hall for a moment, not quite ready to face the people he knew waited for his explanations just yet.

Charles returned from showing Larry to the guestroom to find his sister and best friend dissecting their guest's arrival.

"I don't believe it, it actually looks like he ran all the way here! How vulgar. No normal person would dare show up at someone else's house looking like that, dripping with sweat." Caroline shuddered. "How disgusting. I'm sure you would never do such a thing, William!"

"That's true, I would not." Because I would be too afraid of what people like you might think to ever dream of doing it.

"And there was really no need for him to have done any such thing. If the Bennets can't afford a second car, he could at least have shown some sense and walked instead."

"Caroline--" her brother warned.

"No, really, Charles! I still don't see why he had to come over at all. It's just a headache..."

Caroline trailed off as she realized Larry had joined them. He ignored her, and crossed the room to sit by Charles, who leaned forward, eager for news of Jane's condition.

"She'll be all right. Now that she's taken her meds, it's just a matter of time. I don't think there'll be any need to take her to the emergency room; at least, not unless it looks like the drugs aren't working," her brother explained wearily.

"Emergency room?!"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it. Yes, we've had to take her on occasion, but I really don't think we will this time." Larry paused, glanced at Caroline and William, and then braced himself for their reactions. "Jane suffers from migraines. Has, ever since we were kids. She doesn't get them often--generally just once or twice a year--but when she does, they're bad ones. As you probably noticed.

"Unfortunately, Jane being Jane, she doesn't like to talk about them--even while she's having one. She says she doesn't want to be any trouble for anyone, and while that's true enough, I think it has more to do with growing up around our mother. You see, she doesn't believe in migraines," he virtuously refrained from sending a pointed glance in Caroline's direction, "and thinks Jane only pretends to have them in order to get attention. Which shows how little she knows about her own daughter...well. Anyway, it's gotten to where Jane doesn't like to mention anything that's wrong, because she's afraid that she really does come across as being a complainer, or clamoring for attention. It's quite possible that her headache was starting before she met you today, and that she didn't want to say anything, until it was too late. Was it red wine you were drinking, by the way?"

Charles nodded. "Why, is that bad?"

"I thought so. There's something in alcohol that can serve as a migraine trigger, and apparently there are larger concentrations of it in red wine than white, or clearer forms of liquor in general. It doesn't always cause problems for her, but if she was developing a headache anyway..."

"I see. Is there anything I can do?"

"Actually...yes. I hate to ask it, but I know from past experience that although the headache itself shouldn't last more than a day or so, it may take a couple more days before her sensitivity to sound and especially light will fade enough for her to go outside without finding it very painful. Would it be all right if she stayed here temporarily? I imagine it's also a lot quieter than things tend to be at home, between my mother and the girls chattering all the time...."

"Absolutely, that's no problem! In fact, why don't you stay, too? I'm sure Jane would feel better knowing that you're here, and you'll know how to take care of her better than we would."

"I don't know, I wouldn't want to be in the way...." Larry hesitated, Caroline's frantic signaling to her brother to withdraw the invitation impossible to miss. On the one hand, anything that annoyed Caroline was all right with him. On the other, he wasn't sure he wanted to spend any more time than necessary with her or William, particularly when the only person who could stand a chance of making everyone behave civilly was indisposed.

"Nonsense, I'm sure you'd be no trouble at all. Isn't that right, Caroline?"

She looked startled at being asked such a question, but recovered quickly. "Charles, I'm sure Jane's brother has better things to do than to hang out with us!"

"But who better to take care of Jane? None of us knows what to do for her, after all."

"I agree. I think it might be a good idea." Three heads turned in amazement. The object of their scrutiny shifted uneasily in his chair "What? Charles has a point. And it seems to me that Jane might wish to have her brother with her when she's not feeling well."

The corner of Larry's mouth quirked up. It seemed Caroline-baiting gave him and William some common ground after all. Perhaps he might be willing to overlook Larry's preferences for a day or two if his presence would bother her enough; in which case, Larry was all for the idea. He truly did want to be near his sister, and if William was willing to call a temporary truce...well, it just might be worth it.

"Perhaps you're right. I'll just need to run back home and get a change of clothes for each of us, that kind of thing. Do you mind if I bring some work with me? Missing a couple of days' worth of classes isn't a problem, but I have a lot of phone calls I need to make..."

"No, not at all. Make yourself at home. Want me to give you a lift?" Charles offered, relieved to know that Larry would be around if needed.

"No, thanks. I'll just take the car Jane came in, be home and back in no time."

Chapter 3

A little more than an hour later, Larry returned, bringing with him a bag full of clothes and toiletries for himself and Jane, another of work he hoped to get finished, and his father's best wishes for Jane's speedy recovery. Charles gave him the use of a study with a private phone line, so he could make as many phone calls as needed without worrying about tying up the main line. A few hours later, Larry emerged; at Charles's invitation, he grabbed a Coke out of the fridge and joined the others in the living room. Not caring for the program they were watching on TV, he browsed the shelves until coming across a book that looked interesting. Caroline spared him a contemptuous glance.

"What, is the Miss America pageant not good enough for you, Larry?"

"Nothing of the sort; I'm sure plenty of people enjoy it. I'm just not one of them."

"I see. Larry," she informed the others, "looks down on TV and would rather spend all his time reading while we boring, ordinary people watch silly things like this."

Larry sighed. "That's not what I said, or what I meant. Miss America just isn't my style, that's all."

There was nothing Caroline could say to that, so she turned to William. "Isn't it amazing how they find so many girls of such talent and intelligence?" There was no reply. She continued on as if she'd received a hearty agreement. "And such style! What wonderful taste they all have. I'm always impressed that they managed to find 50 contestants of such quality."

The three men were by this point stifling laughter, with varying degrees of success.

"Wouldn't you agree, William?"

"Um." He was clearly struggling to find a polite reply, carefully avoiding meeting Charles's eye. "Yes, I can honestly say I never would have imagined there were so many young women who can twirl a baton like that."

Caroline found this answer perfectly satisfactory, and was encouraged to continue the conversation. "And they're all so bright, and dedicated to improving the world!"

"I can't help thinking it might be nice if people like them spent a little less time shopping for the perfect dress and a little more time, say, reading," William remarked in a low voice. Not, however, quite low enough; Larry burst out laughing, and Caroline sent a glare in his direction before pointedly turning up the volume. Larry decided it would be best to leave the room for a bit, before his determination to be polite to Caroline fell completely apart. He excused himself, and went to see what he could find in the kitchen that Jane might be able to eat.

Twenty minutes later, he entered her room and quietly set a tray on the nightstand. "Jane? How're you feeling?" he whispered.

She opened her eyes and gave him another weak smile. "Better, at least."

"That's great. You'll be back to normal in no time. Here, I brought you some soup. D'you think you can eat any?"

Jane took a moment to examine her current condition, then sat up and nodded. "I think I'll be okay. Thanks."

"Any time, sweetie." He sat and watched carefully as she took a few tentative sips of broth.

Jane, not comfortable with even her brother's familiar scrutiny, asked what the others had been doing all evening. Larry grinned.

"It seems Caroline bullied Charles and William into watching Miss America with her. When I left them, she was declaring how wondrously intelligent and talented all the contestants were. I decided to make my escape before I said something you might convince me to regret."

"Thank you. I know she's unpleasant to you, but it would mean so much to me if you got along."

"I know it would. And since you're not feeling well, I'll even spare you my lecture about how some people don't deserve your incredible kindness....But I'd better leave you before I say something I shouldn't."

"All right," Jane smiled. "Thanks for the soup. And the company. I hope that tomorrow I'll be able to go down and join you."

"That would be lovely. But not if you're still hurting, you hear? I won't let you make yourself worse."

"No, Larry. I promise."

"Good. Night, then; I'll stop by in the morning, make sure you're still doing okay." He left before Jane could try to convince him she felt better than she really did. Not wanting to confront Caroline again, he decided to retreat to the room Charles had given him and take a look at some of the work he'd be missing by skipping classes to take care of his sister.

The following day was far too close to a repeat of the previous evening for Larry's taste. He spent as much time as he felt he could closeted in the study, but thought he should join the others for lunch since he didn't want to appear ungrateful for Charles's hospitality. It was a beautiful day, so they unanimously decided to take their sandwiches out on the back porch, where there was plenty of room for those who did not wish to converse with each other to spread out and pretend they were simply too far away. Charles sat next to Larry and asked how Jane was doing.

"Much better, I think. When I peeked in this morning, she was sleeping. With any luck, she'll be good as new by tomorrow."

"I'm glad to hear it. But please don't rush her; I would hate for her to return home before she's ready because, I don't know, she feels she's been here too long or something. It's really no trouble, you know."

"Thanks, Charles. We really appreciate it. But I think we probably will have to leave tomorrow or the day after at the latest--having a few days off from classes has been great, of course, but if we start getting too far behind...."

"Oh, I understand completely. What are you studying?"

"PoliSci." Larry decided he was going to ignore the surprised glance William shot him from the other end of the deck. What, does he think that because I'm gay I must be a theatre major? Sheesh..... "I just have one more year to go before I get to try and figure out how to pay for grad school," he sighed.

"Won't your father help you?"

"Oh, certainly he would. It's just that he can't. Haven't you wondered why Jane and I still live at home?" Charles nodded sheepishly. "Well, it's simple. With five of us kids, not to mention our mother's extravagant spending habits, if we want to go to college we pretty much have to go to a state school, since there's no tuition. Our father's paying my and Jane's other fees, but living expenses would just be too much."

"But...what about your job? Does that not pay enough to cover a small apartment somewhere?"

Larry grinned. "Not at all. It doesn't pay anything, in fact; I work for a charity on a volunteer basis. I suppose I could get something else, but this is important to me, and I want to do it while I can afford to."

"What kind of charity?"

"Fundraising for AIDS research." Charles seemed interested, so he explained in more detail some of the programs his work touched on. When he finished, Charles declared that he wanted to make a donation, and went in search of his checkbook. While he was gone, Larry's thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected voice.

"Would you like me to give something as well?" William asked tentatively. When he received no response other than an amused glance, he repeated the question.

"Oh, I heard you before; I was just trying to decide how to answer. I'm well aware that you're hoping I say 'yes', so that you can look down on me for my audacity. So I believe I'll say no, we'll get along without your money."

"I didn't--I wasn't--I meant..." William spluttered, taken aback. "Oh, forget it," he muttered, returning his attention to Caroline in an effort to disguise his embarrassment. Just as the situation was growing too awkward, Charles returned and handed Larry a check, which he accepted gratefully before returning to the study and his textbooks.

Once again he felt he ought to spend at least part of the evening being sociable, even though two of the three people around to be sociable with would rather he disappear. Luckily, the TV remained off this time; he didn't think he could take more of Caroline's taste in programming. Instead, William had his laptop out and was apparently writing an email to his sister. At least, that's what Larry gathered from the comments Caroline made every five minutes, perched on the arm of his chair and reading over his shoulder.

"Jesanna will be so happy to get such a long email!"

William ignored her.

"And how fast you type! You must be typing 90 words a minute!"

This got a sigh. "Not quite that fast, Caroline."

"Don't forget to tell her how much I look forward to seeing her again."

"You had me do that ten minutes ago," he muttered.

Caroline took another look at the screen. "Oh! Why don't you use prettier colors for the words? Here, I'll change it for you--"

"NO! Thank you. If I want to change colors, I can do it myself."

A bored sigh, then a pause while Caroline tried to think of another way she might engage him in a conversation. "So, do you always write your sister such long, interesting messages?"

"Long, often. I can't tell if they're interesting or not."

"Well, you write so easily, that I'm sure it's because you have tons of fascinating things to say."

"William, write easily? Nonsense, Caroline; there's all that effort to find four-syllable words where one would do nicely," Charles teased.

"I can't help it if I prefer more variety in my vocabulary than you do."

"Yes, and Charles types so badly, too. You can't tell what half his words are supposed to be, the letters are all out of order!"

"I'm sorry, Caroline, but I think of things to say so quickly that my fingers can't keep up, and keys get pressed out of sequence," her brother protested.

"Well, Charles, we can't all be perfect typists," Larry interjected. "I'm sure your friends are kind enough to care more for what you have to say than just how you say it, especially when you admit your failing so candidly."

"Candid? I'd hardly say that. He just pretends to be honest about his faults because he thinks they make him interesting."

"Do I? How?"

William and his friend exchanged teasing glances. "Well, you said your typing's bad because you think very quickly. If that's not an actual virtue--since it says nothing as to the quality of your thoughts--at least, you think, it should be interesting, because who doesn't admire a quick thinker?"

"That's not it at all! I do a lot of things quickly; that's just the way I am. I mean, if I were to decide to take a trip to, say, London, I would be just as likely to leave the next day as to plan every detail for months. More, in fact."

"Yes, but if someone asked you to wait a couple of weeks, you would decide to do that just as quickly as you decided to make the trip in the first place. Another request, and you'd cancel it entirely. You make choices quickly, but you don't stick to them."

"But is that a bad thing?" Larry interrupted. "If a friend asks you to do something, you should of course at least consider it."

"Ah, but you see, Larry," Charles explained, "William would like it much better if I ignored all protests and stuck to my original plan, once it was made."

"So, according to William, it's not a virtue to make such a decision quickly, but once made, it cannot be rethought?"

"That's not what I said! But, for the sake of argument, let's pretend I do feel that way. I would like to remind you that we don't know anything other than that a friend asked him to postpone a trip; not why, or for how long."

"So in general there's nothing to be said for doing what a friend asks, just because they're a friend, without waiting to be talked into it?"

"It's hard to say. How close are these friends? What is the one asking the other to do? What reasons does he have? Is it logical for the first man to assume that the other would not ask this favor lightly? Without setting parameters, there's no point in continuing the discussion."

"Yes," Charles broke in, "we must agree first on everything about these fictional friends. Especially don't forget their sizes--I know I wouldn't be nearly so inclined to do as William wishes if he weren't so much taller than me! He can be quite intimidating at times, you know, particularly if he's been bored."

Larry would have been amused, but he noticed that William, who had started to shed his apparently habitual reserve and really get into the conversation, appeared slightly offended at his friend's description and began to withdraw once more. Having enjoyed the argument for its own sake himself, Larry felt he could sympathize a little, and chose not to make his opponent even more uncomfortable by laughing.

"I forgot, Charles, how much you dislike arguments. Trying to end this one, I take it?"

"If I can. You're right, I never have understood why you like them so much yourself; they just make everyone involved angry in the end, and I see no point to it. You know you won't change each others minds, so why get worked up over something like this?"

"Well, I'm always up for a good debate, but like you said, there's little point in continuing this one. Especially if you dislike it so much. So if William's agreeable, I say we just call it even," Larry offered.

The reply was lost in an enthusiastic welcome from Caroline, whose mind had been wandering in her boredom at this discussion in which she had no part, and who had just noticed Jane standing in the doorway. As soon as he noticed her presence, all thoughts of arguments flew out of Charles's head, and he rushed over to lead his guest to a chair before dimming the lights and returning to ask her in a whisper if she was sure she should be out of bed. Larry, having caught a glimpse of his host returning from the library with a pile of books on migraines earlier that afternoon, just sat back grinning at the sight, once he was assured himself that his sister felt considerably better than she had the day before. The rest of the evening passed in a less heated manner, with Charles and Jane doing most of the talking, only occasionally interrupted by Caroline. William had retreated into his usual silence, and Larry preferred to simply watch the attentions being paid to his sister, unwilling to tell Charles that at this point there was probably little need to be so cautious.

The next afternoon, Jane insisted she felt completely herself again, and said that she and Larry had imposed on the Bingleys' kindness long enough. Despite protests, sincere and insincere alike, she would not be talked out of their returning home that very day. Larry wouldn't hear of her helping to pack their few things, so she spent a few last minutes in the living room with Charles, Caroline, and William while he checked the guest rooms and study to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Caroline, who was glad that their guests would be leaving, decided that there would be no harm in being extra-nice to Jane during these last few minutes, and sat next to her on the couch for a chat.

"I hope your pesky little headache has gone away," she declared.

Jane merely thanked her for her concern, and said that she was feeling much better.

"And now you're leaving us, and going back to that horrid family! Really, Jane, I am so sorry for you. I don't know how you can stand it, having a brother who's a--"

"Caroline!" Charles warned.

"--fop," she finished defiantly.

"Finest in the shop!" declared a voice from the doorway. The other four turned to find that Larry had entered and indeed struck a most foppish pose. Caroline had the courtesy to blush for her indiscretion, but Jane just grinned, and picked up the cue.

"And we have some shepherd's pie peppered with actual shepherd on top," she sang as her brother swept her into his arms and waltzed her around the room. "And I've just begun. Here's a politician so oily it's served with a doily; have one."

"Put it on a bun. Well, you never know if it's going to run!"

Suddenly Jane broke off, unable to stifle her giggles any longer. Charles was smiling at them fondly, clearly amused, but it was obvious that Caroline and William thought they had taken leave of their senses. "Sorry. Inside joke. Um."

"You should watch Sweeney Todd someday, Caroline. I think you would find it most...interesting," Larry suggested with a straight face. And boy, wouldn't I love to see her reaction once she realised what it was about!

Caroline wasn't sure what they were talking about, but she did know when she was being made fun of, and preferred to leave the room rather than remain for who knew what further treatment. Larry watched her go, and shook his head. "Either she changed her mind about what she was going to say, or she's unclear as to the real meaning of 'fop'. It being Caroline, I'm inclined to go with the latter," he commented wryly. "No offense, Charles, but your sister isn't exactly the brightest girl I know."

"Or the most polite, I'm afraid. I'm really sorry about that, Larry; I wish I could say she means well, but..."

"No big deal. I'm used to people like her. And, actually, she's not nearly as bad as some."

"That doesn't make it right. I am getting tired of Caroline's attitude, and not just towards you. One of these days, she's going to realize that she has no more friends, and come crying to me about it...and I'm very much afraid that by that time, I won't be able to sympathize, even if she is my sister."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that for a while, Charles," William broke in. "I really don't think she'll notice when people don't want her around, not for a long time anyway." Trust me, I know what I'm talking about here...

Jane, feeling the conversation was becoming too critical of Charles's sister, who she was sure must have some good qualities, despite her inability to accept Larry for who he was, pointed out that it was nearly as impolite for them all to be standing around talking about her, and changed the subject. A few minutes later, she and Larry were on their way back home--not a moment too soon, in the latter's opinion!

Chapter 4

A few weeks later, Jane and Larry returned home from classes to find the rest of the family gathered in the living room, along with an unfamiliar young woman of about their age. When they entered the room, their mother jumped up and tried to hurry them forward for an introduction.

"Jane! Larry! You must come meet Colleen Williams. She's the daughter of my dearest childhood friend, who's come to stay in town for a few weeks and looked me up. I've told her you would be happy to show her around, introduce her to everyone, make her feel right at home! Go on, say hello!"

They did so, though Larry couldn't help wondering just what their mother was up to. She had a disturbingly familiar look in her eye, and Faith Bennet with Big Plans was a force to be reckoned with. So far, though, there was nothing to accuse her of aside from clearly wanting her eldest children to entertain their guest.

As the evening wore on, however, Larry began to notice something peculiar. Although he knew that his mother had never considered him among her favorite children, tonight she seemed to be intent on drawing him out. Nearly every five minutes she was encouraging her son to talk with Colleen, or volunteering him to show her around. And Colleen seemed eager to take her up on those offers; the looks she gave Larry were unsettling. Not so much because they were admiring--Larry had become used to the fact that, far too often for his tastes, women sometimes found him attractive and wanted more from their acquaintance than he was willing to give--but because there was a spark of possessiveness as well. He couldn't figure out why she might feel possessive towards someone she'd just met, but he wouldn't be surprised if his mother had something to do with it. For the rest of the night Larry struggled to maintain a friendly demeanor; the instant Colleen went home, he dragged Jane into his room and exploded.

"Jane, what on earth does that woman think she's doing?!?"

"Who, Colleen?"

"No, our mother! Pushing Colleen at me all night, as if I cared. Or even might care. I'd swear she's trying to fix me up, except even she really ought to know better..." Larry calmed down some, now that he was finally able to voice his frustration. "Is this what you girls feel like every time she tries to convince some cute guy that they ought to fall in love with you? Gods, how annoying!"

"Now, Larry, are you sure that's what she's doing? I think she's just trying to make her friend's daughter feel comfortable; it's not like Colleen knows anyone here, really. It's only natural that Mom want us to be friendly."

"Jane. Jane, Jane, Jane. Have I told you lately that you're far too good to be related to that woman?" He shook his head. "No, I would be very surprised if her intentions are that innocent. I felt...like I was some prize, being shown off before a potential buyer. And that Colleen--she seemed pleasant enough for the most part, but every now and then, when she thought I wasn't paying attention, she would look at me as if...as if she owned me. Like she just knew that I was going to be 'hers', because she'd decided so!"

"But, Larry, I didn't see any such thing. Are you sure you're not misinterpreting? It would be no surprise if she found you attractive, and maybe that's what you saw..."

"No, Jane. I'm positive it's more than that. I've dealt with being the object of a woman's attraction on occasion; it hasn't made me feel this...disgusted? revolted?...since I realized I'm gay."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, except that I still think you're overreacting. I'm sure Colleen's quite nice, and you're just seeing things that aren't there."

"Hmph. We'll see. But don't be surprised if some day soon you hear me saying 'I told you so', because I did."

Every time he saw Colleen over the next few weeks, Larry grew more certain his mother was up to something. Unfortunately, he saw her quite often, since Faith had soon invited the girl to stay with the Bennets rather than continuing to pay for a hotel. In his calmer moments, Larry had to admit that Colleen wasn't all that bad--when her attention wasn't on him, at least. But her almost constant flirting was driving him to spend as little time at home as he could, to the extent that he jumped at any chance to join Jane and Charles, even knowing that William and Caroline would inevitably be around as well. He didn't really like them any more than Colleen, but at least they were content to leave him alone most of the time. And it always cheered him to see Jane with Charles; his sister's happiness was obvious to him every time the couple were together, and though he knew saying anything on the subject would only embarrass her, privately Larry was convinced that Jane was truly in love. And for her, he could endure anyone.

Except, perhaps, Colleen.

Once, when Lori and Kathi wanted to go to the mall, Mrs. Bennet "suggested" that Larry be the one to drive them--and that he take Colleen too, "for company". Meredith declared that she had been wanting some new books, but since she'd never bothered to get her driver's license he still wasn't off the hook. A pleading glance at Jane prompted her to go along as well, but her presence was small comfort.

After pulling into a parking space surprisingly close to the mall entrance, Larry twisted around in his seat until he could survey the car's less reliable occupants. "You all be back here at 4:00, or I'm leaving without you," he said sternly.

"Only two hours?! That's ridiculous!" Lori complained.

"Tough. And four means four; at 4:01 I'm pulling out of here, and I don't care if I can even see you coming through the exit as I do. Understand?"

Lori and Kathi looked at each other, then at their brother. Deciding he was serious, they grudgingly agreed before getting out of the car and running for the mall doors. As the others made a more leisurely entrance, Jane quietly asked Larry if he didn't think he was being a little harsh.

"Not at all; you know those two. They'll have us here all day if we let them. And don't you have a date you'd like to be on time for?"

She grinned shyly. "I suppose you have a point."

"Good. Glad that's settled." He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Colleen and Meredith were still following them. "Hey, Mer, isn't the bookstore in the other direction?"

"Oh. Um. Yes, but...didn't Mother say she wanted us to show Colleen around?"

"What a great idea! Thanks for the offer, Meredith; I'm sure Colleen would love for you to show her the mall! Jane and I will see you in a couple of hours..."

"But, Larry, your mother specifically said she wanted me to keep you company," Colleen reminded them sweetly.

"Oh, you don't want that. And besides, I have Jane. We're probably just going to hang out at the Food Court or something; I'm sure it'll be very boring for you."

"Not at all. And I'd hate to have to tell your mother that I just abandoned you as soon as we got here."

"Fine, whatever." They walked in silence for a few minutes before he noticed that Meredith was still with them. "Bookstore?"

"Oh, I just thought I'd come with you and get a drink first..."

Larry just sighed. Meredith was acting strangely lately, but as long as there was even a slight chance she'd keep Colleen busy, he wasn't going to question it.

The four of them were just sitting down with their Cokes when he thought he recognized a couple of people heading their way. He nudged his sister. "Hey, Jane, look over there. You see who I see?"

"Where? Oh! Charles! And William, I mean. But they don't seem to have seen us...." her voice trailed off.

"Want me to call him for you?" Larry raised his hand and called out "Oh, Cha--" before she pulled his arm back and shushed him.

"Larry, no!" Jane giggled.

"Who aren't we waving to?" Colleen asked, craning her neck to see who might be behind her and not recognizing anyone.

"Nobody," Jane and Larry replied simultaneously.

It was the sound of their laughter that first drew William's attention away from his conversation with Charles. Once he identified the source, he interrupted his friend to point Jane out; Charles immediately made his way towards their table, William trailing along.

"Jane! Larry! We were just talking about you," Charles declared. "Hi, Meredith."

"Talking about us? Oh dear. Why does that scare me?"

"No, no, nothing like that, Larry!" Charles laughed. "Nothing bad, I promise."

"Besides," William put in, "Charles couldn't say anything negative about anyone if his life depended on it."

"A perfect match for our Janie, then," Larry replied, ignoring the couple's blushes. "But surely you're not going to try and tell me the same goes for you...?"

William looked taken aback. "Why, no, I...I would never pretend to be as easygoing as Charles. I'm quite aware of my faults, thank you, and excessive kindness isn't one of them."

"But you think kindness is a fault, then?"

"When taken to extremes, anything can be a fault, yes. It's hardly a good thing to be so kind and generous that everyone who wants to can push you around." Charles's cry of protest drew his gaze away from the challenge in Larry's eyes. "Come on, Charles, you have to admit that nearly any unscrupulous person could talk you out of the clothes off your back, and you wouldn't have the heart to say no."

"Larry, who are your friends?" Colleen said sweetly, tired of listening to him have a conversation she couldn't join. William now noticed a flash of annoyance in the other man's eyes, and couldn't stop himself from thinking how unusually expressive they were.

"Colleen Williams, Charles Bingley and William Darcy. Colleen's the daughter of some childhood friend of our mother's, or something," he added.

"Yes, that's right, and Mrs. Bennet is kind enough to let me stay at their house while I'm in town. Dear Larry has been showing me around." William's brows went up when he saw Colleen place her hand possessively over Larry's on the table. But isn't... he began to think before Larry, scowling, pulled his hand away and William's question was answered. Just why this indication that, whatever Colleen might want people to believe, they were not involved made him feel relieved, William didn't know--and he wasn't sure he wanted to examine it too closely. He was grateful when Charles's voice drew his attention from this uncomfortable line of thought.

"Actually, I'm glad we ran into you; I was going to tell Jane tonight and have her pass the message along, but now I might as well do it myself. I'm having a party next weekend, and would very much like it if you all could come. You too, Colleen," he added generously, blithely unaware of how much some of the people present dreaded such an idea.

Jane's acceptance of the invitation was a given; Larry's of course followed. Once she knew Larry would be going, Colleen declared that she would also be there, and even Meredith said she might be as well. Thus it was settled, everyone but Jane and Charles wishing at least one of the others had had other plans.

Charles remained standing there talking to Jane for another hour; recognizing that they were likely to be there for quite a while longer, William had just pulled out the empty chair next to Larry and begun to sit down when a familiar face, being dragged in their direction between Lori and Kathi, caught his notice.

"There you are! We've been looking for you!"

"Sorry, Lori, but I'm not going to lend you any money," Larry broke in.

Lori shrugged. "Oh well, the dress wasn't that hot anyway. But the main reason we wanted to find you is to introduce you to George."

Larry eyed the man his youngest sisters were fawning over with some distrust. He was definitely good-looking, which explained why Kathi and Lori had struck up an acquaintance with him, but George appeared to be a few years older than himself; there could be nothing good in his picking up girls their age. "No offense, George, especially since I don't even know you, but are you aware of how old these two are?"

"I'm aware they're far too young for me, even if I were interested," he replied with every appearance of sincerity. "Which I'm not. You must be Larry. I've already heard a lot about you."

Convinced that, if nothing else, the stranger's lack of interest in the girls was genuine, Larry's examination turned appreciative for a moment before he shifted his attention to what else had been said. "Oh? If it was from Lori, I suggest you not believe a word of it."

Lori, who had been sulking ever since George agreed with Larry's moment of playing Big Brother, protested. "Not at all! Everything I said was true. Wasn't it, Kathi? Don't pay any attention to him, George, or he'll have you thinking I'm a liar or something," she pouted. "Anyway, these are Jane and Meredith, our sisters. Oh, and Colleen. She's just staying with us for a while. Oh, and that's Charles, Jane's boyfriend, and--"

"William Darcy. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Not nearly long enough," William said coldly.

George smoothly slid into the seat William had pulled out for himself, and looked up boldly. "Why, thank you."

William struggled to get his temper under control as Charles extended yet another invitation to his party. If he's not careful, the whole city will be there. On reflection, William decided he wouldn't mind having to deal with the whole city as long as one particular person decided not to attend. He stood there listening to George's conversation with Larry for as long as he could bear it before interrupting his friend. "Charles, we had better get going."

Charles tore himself away from admiring Jane. "Do we have to?"

"We're going to be late; should've left half an hour ago. I'll meet you in the car," he replied shortly, before stalking off.

Larry couldn't resist watching him go. Wonder what that's all about.... Half an hour ago, William hadn't seemed in any rush; in fact, he'd been about to sit down with them. Then the girls had brought George over, and his unusually friendly expression had become even more guarded than normal. Deciding to add it to the list of things he would never understand about William, Larry turned to find George smiling at him a bit sadly.

"I bet you're wondering how we know each other."

"Well, the thought did cross my mind."

"I'm perfectly willing to tell you, but I would hate to cause a rift between friends..."

"Friends, William and me? Hardly," Larry snorted. "We tolerate each other because of Jane and Charles, but that's all. We're most definitely not what I would consider friends."

George's smile broadened. "Good. In that case, I'll tell you frankly what happened between us. A few years ago, I was working for his father's company. Quite high up for my age, in fact; Mr. Darcy liked me, I always believed, and I was on track for an executive position one day.

"But William had always been jealous of the time his father spent training me, so not even the thought of how it might hurt Mr. Darcy kept him from..."

"And? Kept him from what?" Larry prompted when he failed to go on.

"You must understand, this is rather painful for me."

"Then you don't have to tell me; sorry, I'm not usually this nosy."

"No, it's all right. I want to tell you. I think you'll understand." He glanced over at the others briefly, to confirm that Lori and Kathi were still arguing over who got to show their new clothes to their sisters first rather than paying attention to him, before turning back to Larry. "You see, there's only one explanation I can think of. One day, I ran into William while I was out with my boyfriend; the next, I had no job, a promising career destroyed overnight...How he convinced his father to fire me, I'm not sure, but somehow he did."

Larry barely restrained himself from crying out, livid. "That's outrageous!! And illegal--I hope you sued him for discrimination. That self-righteous, smug, arrogant bigot!" he fumed.

"Oh, no, I couldn't do that. After all his father had done for me, I couldn't repay him by telling him his only son is scum."

"Well, then, you're clearly a better man than I. I would never be able to just take something like that quietly, no matter what the incentive."

George smiled again. "At any rate, it's in the past now. I've moved on; my current job isn't nearly as good as the one I had before, and it doesn't have as good a future, but it's all right. And I'm not going to let William intimidate me, now that our paths have crossed again."

"Good for you! Does that mean you're going to Charles's party despite his being there?"

"I'm not sure. Are you?"

Larry sighed. "I don't have a whole lot of choice; Jane wouldn't enjoy it as much if I stayed home."

"Then perhaps I'll see you again next Friday. I would like that."

"Yeah. Me too."

George glanced at his watch. "Ack, I've got to run. It was very nice meeting you, Larry." He said a quick good-bye to the rest of the group, then left. Larry sat there for a few minutes, trying to get his anger at William's treatment of George under control until he could tell the whole story to Jane in private.

Chapter 5

The day of Charles Bingley's party was met with varied feelings by those in the Bennet household. Jane, of course, was looking forward to seeing him again, even though they'd gone out just the night before. Lori and Kathi were simply happy to have plans, and hoping there would be enough cute boys present. Colleen hoped to succeed in convincing Larry to dance with her. To everyone's surprise, even Meredith didn't complain about going, as she usually did. Only Larry had come to dread the evening, knowing that pretty much his only chance of enjoying it would be if he somehow managed to avoid Colleen, Caroline, and William the entire night--and since Jane would be too busy with Charles, his only help would have to come from Carl Lucas. Even the thought of meeting George again was no real comfort; under the circumstances, it would just remind him of what William had done, and the thought still made him too angry for words. But he had to go; even if his mother wouldn't make his life miserable all evening if he stayed behind, he knew Jane would be unable to enjoy herself as much if she were concerned about him. So he went, determined to stay just as long as he had to, and no longer.

Upon arrival at the Bingleys', they discovered the party already well underway. The younger girls were immediately dragged off to the room serving as a dance floor, while Jane's attention was soon monopolized by their host. Larry was left standing just inside the doorway, Colleen clutching his arm and Meredith standing off to one side, looking at them forlornly. The instant he spotted Carl, he detached himself from Colleen and made his way as quickly as possible to the other side of the room.

"Thank god you're here! There's not going to be anyone else I can really talk to tonight, I just know it."

Carl laughed. "What are you talking about, Larry? You're one of the most friendly people I know! Don't tell me you're so flustered by this George guy that you're suddenly tongue-tied."

"Unfair! Besides, I don't even know if he's going to be here. He was invited, but I haven't seen him so far.... Anyway, that's not what I meant. I was actually thinking more about having to avoid certain people, which is going to take most of my concentration anyway. At least with you I can relax a bit. Hmm, I wonder if it would discourage Colleen any if I were to flirt with you? It might finally get it through her thick skull that I'm not remotely interested in her, and never will be. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

"I'm hurt that you think you can just use me like that. After all we've been through together..."

"Oh, hush. Besides, I just remembered that it would probably be a bad idea. I don't want to cause a scene and embarrass Jane, and who knows what William would do, the jerk."

" What does Jane say about it all? I mean, has Charles said anything about it to her? Because I can't quite see him being such good friends with someone who could do something so...mean-spirited."

"When does Jane ever say anything bad about anyone, even if they deserve it? Same goes for Charles. No, she just says that she can't believe it, and that George must have been mistaken--that even if William was behind his losing his job, there must have been some other reason for it. But that's Jane; she'd try to make a saint out of Jeffrey Dahmer if she could!"

"I don't know...I think she may have a point. At least, from what you told me, even George couldn't be certain that he was fired just for being gay. William seems to get along with you well enough."

"Hardly!"

"About as well as he does with anyone, I mean, other than Charles. He just doesn't seem to be the rabidly-homophobic type."

"Believe me, Carl, they seldom do. It's the seemingly-normal ones you've got to watch out for, anyway; the obvious psychos are a lot easier to avoid."

"You would know more about that than I do, of course, but be careful before you decide that William's trouble based on one uncertain story; you know you have a tendency to get...overenthusiastic where things like this are concerned. I'd hate to see you launch one of your little crusades against someone who doesn't really deserve it."

Larry was a little hurt that his best friend could think him incapable of judging others fairly, and thought it best to let the subject drop for the time being. Not least because William himself proved to be closer to them than he had realized.

In fact, William had noticed the heated discussion, and while eavesdropping wasn't something he usually did, the glares sent in his direction once or twice left him certain that they were talking about him. He couldn't think what he might have done to get Larry that angry, though, and before long his curiosity became too much for him; he began moving towards Larry and Carl, hoping to overhear something that would give him an idea. Unfortunately, the argument was dropped before he could really hear anything useful, and William was stuck pretending to be fascinated by the choice of snacks that had been set out for nothing.

It wasn't long before Carl asked some girl to dance, leaving Larry by himself. Just as William was working up the nerve to go say "hi", that girl from the mall bounced over and began to lay claim to him.

"There you are, Larry! I've been looking all over for you!! Why did you run off like that? No matter, I've found you now. Don't you just love this song? It's so great to dance to," she hinted, none too subtly.

Seeing the annoyance and even revulsion on Larry's face at this attack--for there was really no better word for the way the girl assumed ownership of him--William decided to come to the rescue. The whole situation felt far too much like his own dealings with Caroline for him to be insensible to the other man's wish for an escape; and so he took a deep breath and tapped Colleen on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Larry and I were just about to go have a private discussion."

Larry stared at him in surprise for only a moment before picking up the cue. "That's right, Colleen. Guy talk. You'd be bored silly."

"Are you sure?" she pouted. "Because we haven't had a chance to dance together yet."

"Believe me, you don't want to dance with me. I'm terrible. No rhythm. Why don't you go find someone else to dance with?"

"But I don't know anyone else!"

"Meet them, then. Have one of my sisters introduce you to someone. There are lots of nice guys here, promise."

"You'll be fine. Shall we go to the study?" William suggested, hoping he sounded more casual than he felt. It would, after all, be hard to keep Colleen away if they stayed with the rest of the party, but he had no idea what he and Larry could talk about. He had just jumped in, without thinking--something he never did; and now he knew why he didn't act on impulse more often. He just wasn't skilled enough with people to pull it off. He was now stuck with having at least a pretend conversation of reasonable length, and couldn't think of anything to say. Why did he let himself get into this?

As they walked down the hall, Larry suddenly broke the silence that had existed between them since abandoning Colleen. "Thanks," he said grudgingly. "I've been trying to get away from her for ages."

"Um, no problem," William managed. "She reminds me a bit of Caroline. So I know how you feel."

Larry looked at him strangely. "I don't quite think you do, but now that you mention it, I can see something of a resemblance myself. So," he inquired as they went into the study and sat down on opposite sides of the room, "what do we do now?"

William shrugged. "How long do you think you'll need to avoid her?"

"Forever. But realistically? Who knows? With any luck, she'll meet someone else to follow around all the time."

"Don't count on it. Caroline never has," William replied glumly.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, contemplating the tenacity of their respective unwanted admirers, before William made another attempt at conversation. "So...seen any good movies lately?"

"Oh, nothing you'd be interested in, I'm sure. I doubt we watch the same kinds, or look for the same things in them."

" Then at least we could get a discussion going; unlike Charles, I don't mind differences of opinion. Try me."

"Well...one of my favourite films of recent years is Burnt by the Sun," Larry answered, the now-familiar challenging expression in his eyes and a touch of smugness in his voice.

"Excellent choice! And a prime example of a CSK film." William grinned at the surprise on his companion's face; clearly Larry hadn't expected him to even know what movie he was talking about.

"CSK?"

"Oh, sorry. A theory of mine. It stands for Cute Slavic Kid syndrome. Although that's not really accurate..."

Silence fell once more as Larry tried to think of a response. "Okay, I give up. What on earth is Cute Slavic Kid syndrome?"

"Haven't you ever noticed how many Slavic films have cute kids in them? Not like Hollywood's idea of cute kids--but ones that are naturally cute, without having to work at it, and who can also act. They're not confined to Slavic films, but that's where I noticed them first, hence the name. Nadya in Burnt by the Sun, the kid in Kolya, and so on. I don't like children, but somehow the European filmmakers seem to find adorable ones."

"Hmmm...now that you mention it, I see what you mean." Another pause. "I never would have figured you for someone who watches foreign films."

"There's a lot you don't know about me."

He couldn't quite catch Larry's next comment, but it sounded like he muttered "Not as much as you think". But that made no sense; he knew Charles was aware of how much he disliked being talked about behind his back, and respected that--one of the biggest reasons they had been friends so long. Caroline, of course, wouldn't go near Larry unless she had to. And who else here knew him, really?

Then he noticed that once again Larry was glaring at him, and remembered. George Wickham was back. There was no telling what lies he might be spreading this time...and clearly Larry believed them, whatever they were. William was surprised to find that this bothered him; he knew a lot of people disliked him, thought he was cold or arrogant, simply because he didn't bother to pretend an interest in people which he didn't really feel. He'd long ago grown used to their opinions, even indifferent. It must be because this time it's got to do with Wickham; if people don't like me, fine, but at least it should be for real, not because of some lie made up by that jerk, he decided. Yes, that had to be why it mattered this time; it's not like he cared what Larry might think of him more than he did anyone else, after all.

"Don't believe everything George Wickham says, about anything," he warned, feeling uncomfortable about discussing himself with a near stranger even indirectly like this, and uncertain how much of the past he wanted to reveal. Somehow he doubted Larry would believe him in any case, but he couldn't resist trying to clear himself of whatever the accusation might have been.

"I never said anything about him; interesting that you just jumped to that conclusion. Besides, what reason would he have to lie?" Larry shot back.

William couldn't stand it any longer; if he didn't get away soon, he would explain everything, and he'd promised himself that what had happened would remain in the past. If people chose to believe Wickham's lies, there was nothing he could do about it anyway. "What reason does he ever have for his lies? If you'll excuse me, I believe this conversation is over. I don't intend to return to the party, so feel free to hide in here for as long as you want. I doubt Colleen will know I'm gone," he managed to say, though he couldn't prevent some of the bitterness from creeping into his voice. Without waiting for a reply, William stalked out of the study and retreated to his room.

Chapter 6

As he paced the length of his room, William fumed. Why must Wickham always ruin everything for me? Without even being in the house, he'd managed to destroy what was beginning to develop into a perfectly enjoyable conversation. And if Larry's reaction was anything to go by, it appeared that he was once more working on ruining William's reputation, just as he was starting to think he could become more relaxed and comfortable around some of these people! It was too much. He'd tried and tried, but he could not stand around and watch himself be dragged through the mud like that. Again. He had to get out of there; he would absolutely not explain himself to Larry Bennet. Or anyone else. If La-people wanted to believe him capable of whatever baseness George was attributing to him this time, let them. He didn't need their good opinion anyway, right?

He had to get out of there.

Over breakfast the next morning, William casually mentioned that he felt like taking a little vacation. "Why don't you come with me, Charles? I'm sure you could stand a change of scenery, too, after all this time stuck in this place. It'll be fun."

"I don't know, William...I kinda like it here. Where were you thinking of going?"

William shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I'm leaning towards Vienna."

"Oh, yes, Charles! We must go! I simply adore Vienna; such exquisite shops! That's a wonderful idea, William," Caroline gushed. William tried to stifle a groan; why hadn't he been thinking enough to wait until she was out of the room before proposing the trip? Now if Charles did decide to come with him, they'd be stuck with his sister as well. Just what he wanted.

"I don't know...it's winter, not like you can see much right now. And it'd be so much colder than here. I'm finding I like having a warm winter."

"Come on, Charles. It's Fasching; I thought you liked that kind of thing."

"Vienna's fasting?"

William sighed. "Not fasting, Caroline, Fasching--Carnival. You know, balls every five minutes, and so on."

"Oh, balls! Yes! I would be thrilled to accompany you to some. I just need to find the perfect gown...."

Oh, great. When will I learn to think before I speak, around her? Not only am I going to have to attend some myself, I'm going to have Caroline hanging all over me. Again. This is not working out as I'd hoped.

Still, he had to admit that in the end she was more successful in persuading her brother to leave than William alone would have been. The instant Charles caved in, William called his travel agent and booked their plane tickets for the first available flight. That evening found them settling into their seats, after a whirlwind day of packing and, in Caroline's case, re-packing.

As soon as the flight attendants had taken their coats and brought them pre-flight drinks, Caroline proceeded to pull the Duty-Free Shopping catalogue out from the seat pocket and flip through, alternately cooing over the items for sale and criticizing the selection. Glad that at least he had managed to maneuver her into sitting across the aisle from him and Charles, with her brother safely in the center, William began leafing through the on-board entertainment guide, already bored. He hated travelling. Life would be so much better if he could get from one place to another without it. But it could be worth it....when he needed to get away from a place. Like now.

William looked over at his friend. Charles had been fretting all day; he didn't want to be separated from Jane for any length of time. It had William a little bit worried, since he liked Jane, and knew she was a very sweet person, but had never seen in her any indication of feelings as strong as he knew Charles had for her. And then there was her brother....He knew Larry had probably told her of Wickham's accusations against him, whatever they might be, and of course Jane would take her brother's word over his own. What if she in turn said something to Charles, and managed to convince him they were true? Charles was easily his best friend--quite possibly the only real friend he'd ever had, the only person who'd never wanted anything from him--but he had to admit that there was a very good chance that even the optimistic Charles Bingley could be tricked by someone as good at lying as Wickham...especially if the lies were presented not by George, but by someone above reproach, and whom he loved as much as he apparently did Jane. William wouldn't stand a chance in that case.

All in all, he decided, it was a good thing he'd been able to persuade Charles to come along on this trip. He would have company--normally he preferred doing things alone, but he knew he'd be too likely to end up spending most of his time sitting in his hotel room, brooding over Wickham's return into his life, if he didn't have someone pushing him to get out and do things; Charles probably wouldn't hear whatever lies were being told about him, which meant their friendship could continue; and maybe, if they were all lucky, Charles would find his feelings for Jane fading without her nearby. William really didn't want to see his friend get hurt, but the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed that that's what would happen if their relationship continued the way it had been going. He just had to take care not to let Charles's thoughts dwell on her, and eventually time would do the rest.

The flight itself was as trying as William had feared; spending ten hours on a plane with Caroline Bingley was not one of his better ideas. Still, they made it to Vienna in one piece, and at last were able to collect their bags and proceed through Customs and Passport Control.

"Caroline, did you really need to bring so many suitcases? It's not like we're going to be here for that long, after all," her brother complained. Naturally, she was refusing to carry more than her carry-on herself, and expected the two men to haul her luggage as well as their own.

"Of course I did! I must be prepared; I couldn't possibly go to a ball if I didn't look my best, could I?"

William held back a sigh. This was going to be a long trip.

The Customs officers looked like they were going to pull them over for an inspection when they saw all the bags, but luckily decided to wave them through after all. Passport Control was a breeze, and at last they were through with the formalities and could begin the trip into the city itself. William couldn't resist leading them towards the train station. A taxi would have been much easier with all Caroline's luggage, but making her take public transportation was one of the few ways he could annoy her, for a change. When they got to Wien Mitte, however, he decided it was probably better to take a cab from there to the hotel rather than force her to switch to the subway system. No need to inflict Caroline on the poor people of Vienna any sooner than he had to, after all....

At length they arrived at the Imperial and checked in--three separate rooms, thank goodness. It was undoubtedly a luxury, but worth every schilling, since if they had gotten a suite it would have been that much harder to get some time to himself. Caroline immediately lay down for a nap, while William and Charles decided to take a walk around the city, hoping that by staying up all day they would avoid prolonged jetlag.

"I told you it would be cold here," Charles complained after they had been walking a few minutes in silence.

"Wimp," William grinned, trying to look as if the cold weren't bothering him as well.

"Oh, come on! Don't tell me you wouldn't rather be back in Atlanta too. Your nose and ears are bright red already. I like Vienna too, but not in the middle of winter."

"Actually, Charles, I'm very glad to have left Atlanta right now," William said soberly. "I'm hoping that here I can...recharge, as it were. Vienna's very relaxing for me; it's like a whole other world...a perfect escape. It seems as if time moves differently here," he mused.

Charles stopped walking and stared at his friend, a little worried. "William? What are you trying to escape from? Are you having some problems I don't know about, or something?"

William made a conscious effort to appear cheerful. Or as cheerful as he ever did, anyway. "No, no, nothing you should be concerned about. Just...some of the people there were getting to be too much for me, that's all. I'll be fine." Charles continued to watch him carefully, looking for signs that something was wrong. "Really. I can take care of myself, Charles. So. What do you say we walk around the Ring? That ought to wake us up a bit, especially in this weather. I want to do it anyway at some point while I'm here; it's kind of a tradition with me."

Charles shrugged and let the subject drop, knowing that there was little chance of getting his friend to talk when he didn't want to.

When they returned from their walk, both very glad to be back in the heated hotel, Caroline had not yet risen from her nap. Or, rather, she hadn't emerged from her room; there was no telling if she was still asleep, or just busy re-applying her make-up. Perfectly willing to leave her to either one, the men sat in William's room trying to decide what they wanted to plan on doing during their stay. The time of year ruled out walking around very much, and while William wouldn't mind spending most evenings at concerts and similar, he thought it best to limit the opportunities for Caroline to complain. She pretended to enjoy the symphony and so on, but only because she thought it showed her to have good taste; there was only so long she could keep up the pretense. Still, William refused to be in Vienna without taking advantage of the city's cultural offerings; it was one of the things he loved about the city, that people could appreciate the arts without seeming to feel like they had to apologize for it. It made a refreshing change from the attitudes he'd so often been surrounded by in the US, where if you didn't like whatever was deemed "cool" or popular at any given time, you were considered strange at best, even something of a freak. He hated it. Hated having other people dictate what he should or shouldn't like, how he should behave, who he should be. And there was no way he was going to let himself be kept from enjoying one of his favorite things about Vienna by Caroline of all people. He and Jesanna had inherited their love of fine music from their mother, and now that she was gone it had become more important to him than ever. One of the reasons he got along so well with Charles was that his friend was willing to go with him sometimes; he never pretended to be more interested in the performances than he really was, unlike Caroline--but he also didn't spend the entire evening complaining about being there, also unlike Caroline. In return, William would sometimes accompany Charles to events that were more to his liking, and they each had someone they knew well who they could attend things with if they didn't feel up to finding a date yet didn't want to go alone. It worked out well, and with any luck her brother's presence might keep Caroline from being quite as much of an annoyance on this trip as she normally would. Deciding it would be best to fit the more "cultural" events into the beginning of their stay, before Caroline had time to tire of feigning interest, just to be on the safe side, William proposed a night at the opera on the following day. Charles willingly agreed, so he ventured back out into the cold in order to buy the tickets, very glad they were staying so close to the Opera House.

Yes, it was going to be one long trip....

Chapter 7

Larry was worried. It had been nearly a week since the Bingleys' party, and Jane hadn't heard from Charles even once. She hadn't said anything, but it was clear to him that his sister was upset. So was he, for her sake--so much so that even Colleen's persistent attentions had faded into little more than an annoyance.

He watched with half-attention as Jane rifled through the day's mail. Junk, junk, junk, bills, junk, more bills, magazines for Kathi and Lori...it seemed like the usual collection, and since he wasn't expecting to receive anything himself, he was about to turn away when he saw her face light up. With a glance at Larry, she held up a postcard that had been buried among the garbage that sometimes seemed threatening to take over the mailbox. "From Caroline!" she exclaimed happily.

"Oh? Go on, then, read it! Does she say where they are?" Privately, Larry was already concerned; why would Caroline feel the need to send a postcard, rather than simply picking up the phone? And why had it been Caroline who contacted Jane in any case, and not Charles? His misgivings grew as Jane's face fell once more.

"She says...they're in Vienna. All of them--Caroline, William, and--Charles. They left the day after the party. She doesn't expect them to leave there for at least another couple of months."

"Oh, Janie. That can't be right. There's got to be some mistake--surely Charles can't stay away from you that long, without even saying goodbye. I'm sure you'll hear from him soon."

"No, she must know what she's talking about--he's her brother, after all. Don't you think I would know if you realized you weren't interested in someone you'd been going out with after all? Especially if you went halfway around the world to get away from him....He probably didn't tell me he was leaving to spare my feelings."

"I refuse to believe that! Yes, you and I know each other very well, but I can't believe that Caroline is that perceptive, even with her own brother. This has got to be her fault, or William's. Yes, I'm sure of it; William doesn't want his friend dating you, because of me. That low-life jerk...."

Jane looked doubtful. "I don't believe that. William has always been perfectly pleasant to me, and if you're trying to say he doesn't like us because you're gay, well, he's known that since we first met. Why would he just start coming between me and Charles now? It wouldn't make sense. And I just don't think he'd be that cruel. I know you don't like him, but--"

"Don't like him? Jane, the man's a bigot! You heard what he did to George...."

"Yes, but we still don't know for sure what happened. George himself told you that he was only assuming that William was behind his being fired, and what his reasons might have been."

"Fine, whatever. It's beside the point, anyway. We should be talking about what we're going to do to get your man out of the clutches of his evil sister and his stuck-up friend. Any ideas?"

Jane only managed a weak smile. "I appreciate the thought, Larry, but it's no use. He's decided he would rather not be near me, and I just have to accept that. And I will. I'm sure I will, in time. But...please don't say anything about this to the others. Okay?"

"Anything for you, Jane. My lips are sealed. But if you ever need to talk about it, you'd better come to me and not keep everything to yourself, all right?"

She nodded. "Thanks, Larry."

"Hey, what are brothers for?"

"Well, from what I've read, I'd say they're generally for teasing the life out of their poor, innocent sisters," Jane grinned, feeling a bit stronger already, just from knowing that she would never be truly alone.

"Ah, well, it can only be expected that I would fail as a brother too, the way dear old Mom thinks I've failed as a son. What can I say?" he responded lightly.

"Larry, don't say that! You know you haven't--"

"I know, I know," he broke in before she could finish. "And I know you and Father don't think that way. But she does. I'm not going to try to be someone I'm not--but that also means I'm not going to play the loving, dutiful child to someone who keeps trying to force me to be what she wants."

"Don't talk like that. She's our mother--"

"Jane, just drop it. You'll never convince me she's been a good one to me, or even you. Or Meredith. And she's far too lenient with Kathi and Lori; treats them more like a couple of much younger friends than her daughters. They may like it, but it's not good for them, and one day they might actually realize that. No, as far as I'm concerned that woman should never have been allowed to have kids, and I don't imagine I'll ever change my mind on the subject.

"But enough depressing talk. Let's go get some ice cream and complain about how it seems like midterms are practically upon us already, or something."

Jane went along, and tried to appear cheerful, but Larry wasn't convinced. He continued to observe her carefully over the next weeks, and was so worried that he completely failed to notice the way Colleen was looking at him with even more determination than ever in her eyes. Her possessiveness had grown to become such a constant annoyance that it was almost commonplace; he'd lived with it for long enough that there were times he barely noticed anymore. He'd even stopped complaining when she announced that, once more, her visit was being extended. When he stopped to think about it, he resented her attitude as much as ever, but otherwise he had enough going on in his life without worrying about some silly girl who refused to accept reality. His classes were keeping him busier than usual, he and George had started seeing each other pretty frequently--still mostly casual, and he wouldn't consider himself to be falling in love with the other man, but Larry thought there was at least potential for a relationship between them, and was interested in exploring it--and above all, he was concerned for his elder sister. He simply didn't have time or energy to try and convince Colleen of his complete lack of interest in her.

It was therefore a shock when he opened the door to his room one night and found her waiting in his bed.

He stood there in the doorway for a moment, the surprise too great for him to form a coherent sentence at first. When he did speak, his anger was so strong that he sounded almost calm. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked tightly.

"Waiting for you, of course, my dear." She smiled, sitting up and allowing the sheet to fall from her shoulders. A small part of Larry's mind noticed and was grateful that at least she'd had the sense to wear lingerie; it would be slightly more difficult to bring himself to throw her out of the house if she were naked. "Come join me."

"Get out."

"What?" She actually seemed surprised; he couldn't believe it.

"I said, get out. Now. Or I'll throw you out. What made you think you could just come in here like this?"

"It's okay, you don't have to pretend with me. I know you're just too shy to make the first move, so I'm making it for you."

"What on earth are you talking about? I'm not at all shy, ask anyone who knows me. I just don't--and can't--have any interest in you romantically. So leave."

"No, it's all right, I understand. Your mother explained how you're just scared of being rejected, and it was up to me to make sure you knew you wouldn't be--I don't mind, really I don't."

"My mother. Figures. Whatever else she told you about me, forget it. I'm not scared, I'm not worried, and I'm most certainly not interested. What I am, is gay. And right now, I'm also very angry, and I'm asking you for the last time to get. Out. Of. My. Room. And. Leave. Me. Alone."

Luckily for her--and him, Larry didn't want to think about what he might do if she insisted on staying in his bed--Colleen did the smart thing for a change, and left the room. He could hear her running down the hall to the room she'd been given, where she slammed the door. It sounded like she might be crying, but frankly, he couldn't bring himself to care. He'd had enough of Colleen's throwing herself at him, not to mention his mother's helping her do so.

It was a long time before his anger cooled enough to allow him to sleep. What he really wanted right then was to throw something, but he forced himself to calm down. Violence wouldn't solve anything, and he knew from lots of prior experience that talking to his mother wouldn't get him anywhere, either. She seemed determined to never understand him, and he was tired of it. Lying in his--now otherwise empty, thankfully--bed, he decided that he'd had enough. He wasn't sure how, but he would make the time to get a paying job, and as soon as he had saved enough, he was moving out of there. With any luck, Jane would agree to come with him, but even if she chose to stay in their parents' home, he was leaving. She would understand his reasons, he knew, and so would their father; as for the rest of the family, he couldn't care less what they thought anymore.

The following morning, he was relieved to see that Colleen did not join him and Jane for breakfast, the way she had been. He didn't want to see her just yet, and more importantly, he didn't quite trust himself not to do something he would regret if he did see her. Not willing to take the chance, he made Jane rush through her breakfast and grabbed his own to eat in the car. There was no way he would run into their mother that early in the day, but he wanted to be gone before Colleen could come downstairs. On their way to class, he told Jane what had happened the night before.

She was amazed. Her ability to explain away the bad things people did was stretched to its limit trying to come up with an alternative explanation for Colleen's behavior; in the end, she had to admit defeat. She was unwilling as ever to acknowledge that Larry's interpretation of their mother's behavior towards him was accurate, but she didn't argue with his plan to move out. He managed to convince her to join him without too much difficulty, and they began plotting ways to earn the money, and which parts of town might contain apartments they could afford.

With any luck, they could talk their father into helping out with the deposit and first month's rent, and possibly be in their own place within a couple of months. Larry would miss having his father around, but couldn't wait to be free from the rest of the family he would be leaving behind. In any case, Jane would be graduating at the end of the term, and he would be alone for the next year and a half in any case, until he'd finished his own degree. Plans had already been made for Jane to spend the spring in Europe before she had to worry about settling down into the "real world"--their favorite aunt and uncle had contributed most of the funds for the trip as a graduation present--and she would have been moving out of the house shortly after her return anyway. Now, they were just moving up the date for her departure, and getting him away from the torment that was their mother at the same time. It wasn't long before Larry found himself looking forward to the change.

Chapter 8

William was going to lose his mind, he was sure of it. Caroline was an even worse travelling companion than he had imagined, and used her inability to speak any language other than English as an excuse to hang around himeven more than usual. He'd tried telling her that there were a lot of people in the cities they'd visited who spoke English, sometimes quite fluently, but she refused to listen. It was probably better that way; Americans had abad enough image in some places without exposing the people to someone like Caroline.

But it was still harder on him. They had finally left Vienna before she could drag them to more than one ball; that was torture enough. William could think of few things he hated doing more than wearing tails and spending hours watching hundreds of total strangers waltz around the room. Particularly when Caroline Bingley spent most of those hours hanging off his arm and trying to wheedle him onto the dance floor. It didn't help that Charles was still looking unusually somber, enough so that William was growing concerned. His friend wasn't forgetting Jane Bennet as quickly as he'd hoped, and he had to admit to himself that so much of his own energy was being directed towards not strangling Caroline that he couldn't devote as much to distracting her brother as he felt he should. When he found himself spending hours at a stretch sitting in the Stadtpark despite the freezing temperatures, solely because he knew Caroline wouldn't venture out in that weather, William realized that it was probably time to leave the city. If he ever hoped to enjoy it again, getting out before she had completely ruined it for him was the only thing to do.

So they'd left. South first, towards the Mediterranean and warmer weather. Unfortunately, Caroline didn't respond well to the...attentions of the Italian men, and her reaction to seeing people drinking the fresh well water straight from the fountains...well, Rome was just not the place for her. Visions of Caroline's injuring herself skiing--possibly intentionally--and wanting him to carry her everywhere kept them out of Switzerland, so he decided to find another relatively warm climate and ventured to Barcelona next. Never one of his favorite places, the culture just didn't resonate with him the way some did, but Caroline couldn't complain about the weather as in Vienna, and there was some interesting architecture, certainly. He developed a sudden intense fascination with Gaudi's work, having discovered that Caroline found going around looking at the exteriors of buildings extremely dull. So she shopped, and he wandered; Charles vascillated between the two.

As warmer weather approached, William decided to head north, to the Netherlands. Not exactly a place he could imagine Caroline enjoying, but then, that was kind of the point; with any luck, she'd give up and go home. Much to his surprise, he was presented with a chance to convince her that would be the best plan before they even left the airport.

They had collected all their luggage--Caroline's by this time having multiplied even beyond the several bags she'd brought initially--and she and William were waiting for Charles, who'd just gone into the men's room. William couldn't believe his eyes when out of the women's stepped a familiar face.

"Jane? Jane Bennet?"

She caught sight of them and smiled in pleased recognition. "William! And Caroline, how nice to see you both. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you!"

"Oh, well...I finished my degree last week, and my aunt and uncle gave me this trip as a graduation present. Forgive me if I start making no sense; I just arrived, and am a little jetlagged. What brings you to Amsterdam, Caroline? I thought you were in Vienna...."

"We were, but it was so dreadfully dull there, and the weather! How anyone could be expected to put up with that climate, I can't imagine."

"We, ah, left Vienna several weeks ago, and have been travelling around since," William broke in before Caroline's diatribe could really get underway.

"That sounds lovely. Is there any place I should definitely visit, or avoid? I'd love any advice you could give me at all, in fact; this is my first time in Europe."

"Jane, dear, whatever you do, stay away from Italy! Those Italians are simply barbaric! And you'll find the people in restaurants over here quite impossible; do you have any idea how difficult it is to get something as simple as ice in your drink? Don't even bother trying to find a real diet Coke.... And don't get me started on the impudence of asking you to pay to use a public restroom!"

From his position safely behind her, William looked over Caroline's shoulder at Jane and tried to convey a warning to ignore everything that was being said. He didn't think Jane was foolish enough to listen to such nonsense, but you never knew. She caught his eyes and gave a slight nod, so he felt reasonably certain he didn't have to worry about that. Unfortunately, it left him with time to worry about his friend; Charles could come out at any moment now, and he still wasn't ready to come face-to-face with Jane Bennet without potentially grave consequences.

An awkward silence fell as Caroline trailed off. It was impossible to know for certain, of course, but it looked to William like Jane was trying to work up the nerve to say something, and he was terribly afraid she would ask after Charles. Caroline seemed to get the same idea, as she suddenly began wishing Jane a pleasant trip, all but urging her to leave them.

"Yes, how selfish of us, keeping you standing here when you're probably exhausted from the flight. You must be wishing to get to your hotel and take a nap," William added, trying to be more subtle than Caroline.

"Oh, yes, you're right, of course," Jane agreed, though with less enthusiasm than she'd had upon seeing them initially. "I would like to take a shower.... Well, um, enjoy the rest of your trip. It was nice seeing you again."

They said their goodbyes, and William watched as she carried her luggage towards the airport's train station, trying to convince himself she didn't seem disappointed.

"Well, that was close," Caroline said snidely as soon as the other woman was out of earshot.

"What was close?" her brother's voice asked, causing both his companions to turn around guiltily.

"Oh, um, nothing. Just...heard some people say the weather was pretty horrible yesterday, you know," William temporized.

"Oh. Then I guess it's good we came today, isn't it? Shall we go find the hotel?"

The three settled into their hotel, then Charles decided he was going to take a walk around the neighborhood before dinner. Caroline seized the opportunity to corner William for a private discussion.

"William?" she called, knocking briefly on his door before opening it and entering without invitation. "William, dear, we really must talk about what we're going to do about that Jane."

Why yes, Caroline, it's all right if you come in, I don't mind, thanks for asking, William thought sarcastically. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, don't you think it's a little dangerous, having both of them in the same city like this? What if Charles sees her? I'm just sure she'll try and find him, and then all our hard work to separate them will be for nothing!"

He sighed. On the one hand, he was growing tired of Caroline's acting like they were all chummy co-conspirators. He was increasingly worried that she might one day say something to reveal their...concerns...to her brother. And while he still felt it was for the best that Charles be separated from Jane before his heart was completely lost, he had no doubt that his friend wouldn't see things the same way.

On the other hand, he couldn't deny that after seeing Jane that morning, he was beginning to feel a little guilty as well. She hadn't said anything, of course, but he had gotten the impression that something was wrong; she didn't seem quite as lighthearted as he remembered her being. He didn't think she would try to seek out Charles, no matter what his sister believed, especially since Jane didn't even know he was still with them; but he was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, if the two did run into each other, Jane would not be quite so indifferent as William had previously expected. It was all too confusing, and he wanted nothing more than to be done with the whole mess.

Yet Caroline wouldn't let him. Of course.

On a third hand, if he encouraged Caroline in her little Jane-paranoia, might he possibly convince her to take her brother and return to the US? While he'd miss Charles's presence, that would be more than made up for by the lack of Caroline. Knowing as he did that Jane was not presently at home, he wouldn't have to worry that Charles would seek her out and maybe be told of Wickham's lies; and as his other reason for talking Charles into this trip, helping him to forget about Jane Bennet, could only fail if they all remained in the same city...well, why not?

Suddenly he realized that Caroline was still speaking to him. "Oh, um, yes, you're completely right, of course. We must do something."

"I knew you'd see it my way! What do you suggest?"

"Oh...well, clearly the only thing for you to do is take him back home. I'll stay here and see what I can do to make sure that, uh, if Jane seems about to return home, you'll receive ample warning," he volunteered, knowing full well he'd do no such thing, but hoping Caroline would buy it anyway.

"Go back without you?" she pouted.

"You need someone here to keep an eye on things; and who better to accompany him home than his own sister? He knows you've been...unsatisfied with the trip, so he'll believe you when you tell him you're ready to return."

"Oh, well...I suppose you do have a point...."

"Excellent! I'll make the travel arrangements. If possible, you'll leave tomorrow; um...is that all right? I think it would be for the best if you get him out of Amsterdam as soon as possible, after all."

"Very well, for Charles's sake. But I do wish you were coming with us."

William tuned her out again, finishing the conversation and steering her towards the door on auto-pilot, his thoughts once more consumed by his own reasons for sending Charles back.

There was, and perhaps would always be, despite his best efforts, the chance that Charles would hear the story against him from someone other than Jane. That annoying brother of hers, most likely. Just like Wickham, to find the one person who already disliked him the most, and find some way to twist the facts of their prior acquaintance into something that was no doubt perfectly calculated to cause the strongest reaction. But at least with Jane in Europe, there wouldn't be much chance that Charles would be spending much time with Larry. He hoped, anyway.

He sighed, called the airline regarding changing the date for Charles and Caroline's return tickets, and spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to decide how to broach the subject to his friend.

That evening he managed to convince Caroline to wait until after dinner before mentioning the change in their travel plans. They gathered in her room, and after some small talk William cleared his throat.

"So, Charles.... Caroline and I were talking, while you were out taking your walk. And we decided, since she's been rather...uncomfortable with, um, the lack of, well, various things that she's accustomed to back home, that it would be for the best if she returned to the States. And she didn't want to go back alone, so since you're her brother and all...would you mind accompanying her?"

"Oh. Well, sure; not that I'm not enjoying seeing more of the world, of course, but if you're so unhappy, Caroline, of course I'll go back. If that's all right with you, William; I'd hate to leave you alone if you'd rather--"

"No, no, I'm fine by myself, really," he assured his friend hurriedly. "I travel by myself all the time; it's nothing I'm not used to."

"Well, in that case...sure," Charles agreed. "When would you like to leave?"

"Tomorrow," Caroline exclaimed, trying unsuccessfully to hide her glee at having once more separated Charles from Jane Bennet.

It's a good thing he's so unsuspicious by nature, William thought. Otherwise he'd know for sure that something was up.

"Having discussed it with your sister, and being relatively certain you would feel that way, I went ahead and switched your tickets; your flight leaves at one. I'm sorry to see you leave so soon after we got here, but at least you got to see a bit of the city this afternoon...." He really was sorry, too; but other considerations were just too strong to ignore.

The three spent their final evening together in conversation, William so relieved that he would soon be able to have the kind of trip he preferred, with just his own wishes to consult, that he even managed to feel charitable towards Caroline. The next morning, he accompanied them back to the airport where they said their goodbyes, and returned to the city with a heart much lighter than it had been since the Bingleys' party.

A few days later, William returned to his room after having spent a very satisfying day at the Rijksmuseum; his enjoyment was enhanced by imagining what Caroline's comments would have been, safe within the knowledge that he wouldn't actually be subjected to them, for a change. He thought that he would have to return to Vienna, at least, now that he was free from her and could perhaps enjoy the city once more. A few more days in the Netherlands, then he'd head back to Austria, he decided....

Deciding to check his email before going to grab a bite to eat, William booted up his laptop. Not surprisingly, he found a message from Charles waiting, nearly illegible as usual. Sighing, he ran it through a spell-checker to clear up most of the problems, then sat down to read the account of their return flight.

He was chuckling at some of his friend's more biting comments about his sister as travelling companion when a name in the next paragraph caught his attention and killed his amusement.

Ran into LArrry yesterday. He seems to have gotten rid of that Coleen at last--poor guy! She's seeing Calr Lucas, remember him? I don't really understand--she seamed like a nice girl, but I wouldn't have expected her and carl....

William didn't pay much attention to Charles's thoughts on Carl and Colleen, being too concerned about the first name in the paragraph. So he's seen Larry already. Presumably Larry hasn't passed along anything George told him, or Charles wouldn't sound so...normal. But it's surely only a matter of time.

Suddenly another thought, equally horrifying, occured to him. What if Larry mentions his sister's trip? If Charles confronts Caroline, she'd never be able to convince him we didn't know about it. And if he still feels as strongly about her as I suspect, he'll never forgive me for not telling him. This situation just can't get any worse, can it?

Try as he might, William was unable to drive the thoughts of Larry Bennet--and what he might be telling Charles--from his mind. They haunted him, it seemed, and even attempting to focus on what he would do once back in a Caroline-free Vienna couldn't get rid of them. When he got there, he found that situation unchanged; for the first time, his favorite city failed to work its magic on him, and he might as well be in Alabama for all the notice he gave his surroundings.

Instead of his usual activities when in the city, he spent many an hour sitting in the Stadtpark or the grounds at Schönbrunn, or when he was feeling particularly broody, wandering through the Lainzer Tiergarten; anywhere he might escape that "city" feeling, and possibly find a nice, isolated spot where he might think, free from the distractions of other people.

William was a worrier. He worried by nature, and he worried by habit. He worried so often that it was almost comforting. Now, he was worrying about the various ways Larry Bennet might make his life miserable even from the other side of the world, all unknowingly--worrier or no, he didn't want to even consider what might happen if the other man set out to intentionally destroy his life. Yet all too frequently, he found his worrying mutating into musings on the very person he should be worrying about, or worse still, memories. He'd see a film, think of Charles' party, and wonder what Larry would think. He'd go to the opera, and flash back to the time Larry and his sister put on that impromptu performance of Sweeney Todd in the Bingley living room. Each time he tried to focus on his current problem, an image of eyes filled with intelligence and humor came to him, and that in itself was worrisome. William Darcy, unable to concentrate on worrying? It was...frightening.

It was also true. He would sit down, all prepared to think up all the ways this person could ruin his life, and then...get distracted. Usually he would end up contemplating his admittedly brief acquaintance with Larry instead. He'd disapproved of him from the beginning--William hated to draw attention to himself, and disliked people who did. And even among an attention-grabbing family, Larry Bennet definitely stood out. But William was willing to admit, at least to himself, that he'd had to revise his initial judgment. While Larry was indeed outspoken and perhaps a bit over-confident, he was also smart and amusing and, with a few exceptions, friendly. He seemed to generally have good taste, as well--George Wickham aside. In a way William...well, he admired him. Admired and envied his courage.

All of which only made it harder to remember that Larry was, even if inadvertantly, now his enemy, thanks to George. He would've liked to get to know him better, but that didn't seem terribly likely at this point. Larry had clearly heard something that turned him against William, and if he returned to Atlanta now, things could only get worse. The last thing he wanted was to be near Wickham again. He couldn't avoid it forever, he knew, but there was no need to rush things.

Still...he couldn't help wishing things were different.

Larry was liking living on his own. He couldn't wait for Jane's return, of course, but being away from his mother and younger sisters? That, he couldn't get enough of. So the apartment was smaller than they would have liked, and traffic meant it took longer to get to campus and work than from their parents' house; he'd deal. The important thing was, since he'd managed to turn his volunteer position into a paying one, they could just about afford it, and after hearing of Colleen's antics their father had been more than willing to make up the difference.

He had to admit that, having been used to living with so many other people, he was finding it kind of lonely. He knew that once Jane was back from Europe the situation would improve, but that was still months away. George provided some enjoyable company at first; then he found a job in Dallas, and there was an end to that. Larry wasn't heartbroken, certainly, but he'd liked having someone to spend time with--now that Carl Lucas was going out with Colleen, their friendship had become somewhat strained. Soon after George left, Charles returned and renewed their acquaintance; but, again, Larry found it hard to be as comfortable as he'd like, unable to forget Jane's heartache--or what Charles' best friend had done to George. They got along well enough, when they happened to be together, but he couldn't really see himself becoming close friends with Charles. Not anymore.

Larry looked forward to each and every message Jane sent--emails, postcards, long detailed letters, he loved them all. The descriptions of the places she was visiting made him long to see them with her, but more importantly during such a long separation, they allowed him a chance to glimpse how she was doing. He wasn't very pleased with what he saw. She was clearly hurting, but refused to confide in him no matter how often he begged, hinted, or ordered that she do so.

That made it all the harder to respond casually to the occasional inquiry Charles made into his sister's health or whereabouts. He was still mad at Charles for leaving the way he did, and it was hard to know just how much anger was called for without knowing how deeply Jane had been hurt. What's more, Larry didn't want to say anything that would betray his sister's feelings, since they obviously were not returned, despite the way things had once seemed. It didn't help that Charles had seemed surprised as well as disappointed that Jane was away, and later mentioned that his own trip had been suddenly cut short--in Amsterdam. Doubts over whether he'd actually even known Jane had seen William and Caroline there weren't helping Larry make up his mind about how guilty Charles was in all this; and Larry's loyalty to his sister demanded he decide. He couldn't bring himself to be friendly with anyone who would hurt Jane like that, no matter how innocent they appeared.

Or had he been right all along, and it was William who'd forced the couple apart? Had Jane been made to suffer because some bigot disapproved of him?