A Higher Education

by Rosalie Stanton

  But those thoughts, however logical they were, had no place in her post-coital haze. A few minutes later, Elizabeth became aware of cool air against her otherwise sweaty skin. Of the shift in weight on the bed as Will sat up and disposed of the condom.

  “Elizabeth,” he said to the room.

  She forced an eye open.

  “Will you stay?”

  “Huh?”

  “Tonight. Stay tonight.” He turned and looked at her, a soft smile on his face. “I need to…” He nodded toward the bathroom. “I just don’t want you to be gone when I get back.”

  Something awful twisted in her chest and for a horrible second she thought she might cry.

  God, she had fucked things up rather spectacularly, hadn’t she?

  Whether she actually replied or not, she couldn’t say. After a moment, though, Will climbed to his feet and padded toward the bathroom. The light in there went on and the door closed. Everything inside her seemed to fall as her brain commanded her limbs to seize the chance to flee.

  But that wouldn’t be fair to him.

  Also, she wasn’t sure that she could move at the moment.

  When Will stepped out of the bathroom and saw she was still in his bed, his shoulders dropped and a long sigh filled the air.

  “I know we need to talk,” he said, moving toward her, naked still. “I just…I don’t think I can talk…right now.”

  Good. Because she knew she couldn’t.

  Elizabeth didn’t say anything. She just nodded.

  Will gave her a smile, then leaned over and kissed her brow, which seemed oddly chaste given what they had just done. Then he was in bed with her, his skin against her skin, and the room went quiet again.

  Sleep did not find her. Elizabeth lay awake, listening to Will’s rhythmic breathing for what felt like years. Eventually, she couldn’t ignore her bladder any longer and climbed out of bed. When she came back into the room, her eyes sought the clock on the nightstand, and her gut took what felt like the umpteenth dive that night.

  It was chickenshit, leaving him in the middle of the night, but when her mind took her to what awaited her in a few hours, she knew she couldn’t do it. The morning after talk or the we can’t do this conversation she’d come here to have in the first fucking place.

  She couldn’t do any of it. The way she felt now, the wrath of Will Darcy would be immeasurably better than confronting whatever the fuck had just happened.

  Elizabeth dressed in a hurry, amazed but thankful when Will didn’t stir. Though she didn’t have much to put on, she felt like she might as well have been channeling every high school marching band in the vicinity for as much noise as she made. But either Will naturally slept like the dead or he’d been relaxed beyond the telling of it, because he didn’t stir once.

  Not even when a part of her wanted him to as she reached for the door handle.

  Not even when she closed the door a little harder than she needed.

  Nothing.

  That sick feeling was back, but Elizabeth refused to dwell. Instead, she expelled a deep breath and started for the stairs. Gray streaks had broken through the night sky. Soon the harsh light of day would descend in all its unforgiving glory. She wanted to be home before that happened.

  Elizabeth had almost made it to the front door when she heard her name.

  Her stomach sank. It wasn’t Will.

  “Elizabeth,” Caroline Bingley said again. “What on earth are you doing here?”

  Elizabeth turned. Caroline was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, wearing something that only women in showbiz and adult films would consider appropriate bed attire, and nursing a cup of coffee.

  “Leaving,” Elizabeth said, forcing a smile onto her face. “I, ahh, climbed into the wrong bed last night.”

  Even from a distance, she could tell Caroline had one of those perfectly plucked eyebrows arched.

  “Won’t happen again,” Elizabeth continued, backing up until her spine hit the door. “Have a good night—err, morning.”

  Then she turned and made a break for freedom, not daring to chance luck again by looking back.

  18

  When Will opened his eyes, there were scant indicators that anything remarkable had happened. No warm Elizabeth beside him, no running shower, no forgotten pair of panties. Hell, even her side of the bed was cold. Had it not been for the scratch marks on his shoulders he might have ruled it all an elaborate fantasy.

  But there were scratch marks, and his lower lip was a little swollen from where Elizabeth had bitten it. Not to mention he felt far too relaxed for someone so sleep deprived.

  Once he settled on the fact that yes, last night’s amazing sex had actually happened, Will found himself in the best mood he’d been in since…well, likely before his parents died. The fact that Elizabeth hadn’t been there to share the morning with him was unfortunate but, he decided, not all that surprising. Not nearly as surprising as the way she’d randomly showed up last night. And being that this was Tuesday, there was a very strong chance she had that god-awful early morning class and she’d needed to rush back to Longbourn to get ready.

  The fact was, it had happened. Elizabeth had sought him out, come to him, leapt into his arms and ridden him like a good horse. That had to mean she felt it too.

  That had to mean…

  Well, perhaps he was better not putting labels on things.

  Will glanced at the clock. He had about a half hour to get to campus. If he hoped to be presentable, he needed to drag himself into the shower now. Which he did, though inexpertly as his body kept protesting every time he commanded himself to move. He’d functioned on less sleep before, back when sleep itself hadn’t been the precious commodity it was these days.

  But last night had been worth it.

  And after showering in record time, he was still mostly on schedule. Will threw on clothes, dropped the books he’d need into his backpack, and had almost broken to freedom across the common area when her voice shattered the pleasant calm his thoughts had occupied.

  “Will!”

  A shot of irritation bolted down his spine. Will froze, plastered on a smile, and turned to nod at Caroline. “Sorry, I can’t talk,” he said. “Going to be late for my accounting class.”

  “You will never guess who I ran into this morning.”

  There went his stomach.

  “Elizabeth Bennet,” Caroline said, arching an eyebrow. “It was barely dawn and she was here. Would you know anything about that?”

  Will paused, the fire beginning to fade. “You saw her before she left?”

  “Quite the little criminal, isn’t she?”

  “Criminal?”

  “Well, I can only assume sneaking out the way she did.” Caroline arched an eyebrow. “So…”

  Will blinked at her, unsure what she wanted him to say. Explain, perhaps? Provide her with an innocuous reason for Elizabeth to be in a state of disheveled dress and leaving Netherfield Heights at an ungodly hour? But Caroline was not an idiot—she had to know why. Occam’s Razor was enough for her to go on.

  But then he remembered the night Elizabeth had previously stayed at Netherfield Heights. How Elizabeth had teased him about Caroline having feelings for him. It hadn’t been breaking news or anything, but he also hadn’t thought there would be cause to worry or explain when he started dating women that weren’t her. After all, they had been in each other’s lives for years and he’d had girlfriends before.

  Maybe she thought being here together would make things…well, different.

  “Will?”

  He gave his head a shake and rejoined the present. “What?”

  Caroline frowned, but forced a smile the next instant. “Elizabeth Bennet. Do you know what she was doing here last night?”

  Yes. Me.

  “Elizabeth and I…” He paused long enough for the sentence to finish itself without help. Either Caroline was exceptionally slow or a glutton for punishment, because she just looked at him expectantly un
til he felt compelled to continue. “I like her, Caroline. A lot, actually. She and I have gotten, well, close over the past few days.”

  The color in Caroline’s cheeks had started to pale. Her mouth formed a very thin line. “I see. Well…I’m surprised, Will. She doesn’t seem your type.”

  He shrugged. “My type hasn’t exactly been… Well, I don’t know if I have a type.”

  Except he saw that she disagreed right off. You do, her eyes seemed to say. I’m it.

  The thought made his stomach churn. Will plastered on a smile. “Anyway, I’m going to see where this goes,” he said. “With Elizabeth.”

  “Elizabeth Bennet.”

  “Yeah. I thought that was who we were talking about.”

  Caroline stared at him for a few empty seconds, then shook her head and contorted her face into the faux smile he knew so well. “Well,” she said at last, “I can’t say I saw that coming. Especially after everything we told Charlie.”

  “What does this have to do with Charlie?”

  “Well, we know Jane wasn’t interested in Charlie for Charlie, so…”

  Will held up a hand. “Whatever happened there is completely separate from Elizabeth and I,” he replied. “Elizabeth isn’t interested in the Realis Society, or any society that I’m aware of.”

  “But she’s a scholarship student.” Caroline said the words the way others might say child molester. “Even if she’s not after—”

  “Caroline, I appreciate your concern, but it’s unfounded. Believe me, if Elizabeth was after my money, I’d know by now.” And he wouldn’t have had to chase her as hard as he had. “I like her. I like her more than…well, more than I thought I could like a person.”

  Caroline’s mouth was now so thin it practically dissolved into her face. “She stayed the night here. I assume you slept together.”

  Will stiffened, his eyes narrowing.

  “I’m just saying, she’s not the kind of girl who can be a good influence on Georgiana.”

  That was too far. Will took only a little satisfaction in the knowledge that Caroline saw she had overstepped. Her eyes went wide and she edged back, her cheeks pinking.

  “Georgiana is my concern,” Will said softly. “And I think… I think you’re wrong. Elizabeth has a healthy attitude toward—”

  “You can’t be serious!” she blurted, the pink on her face fast-tracking to tomato-red. “Just the other night, she was yelling at you for saying then that you hadn’t slept together. Hadn’t. You were trying to protect her reputation and she threw it back at you. Need I remind you that Georgiana—”

  Will held up a hand and, thankfully, Caroline stopped talking before she could dig herself in any deeper.

  “Caroline,” he said after a moment, his voice tempered, “I repeat: Georgiana is my concern.”

  “I can be concerned too, Will. I love her.”

  “I know you do. But I don’t… Elizabeth is different, but she’s not… She’s not a bad influence. I think she could be good for Georgiana. God knows I’ve tried everything else.”

  Caroline sniffed and rolled her eyes but made no further comment. She didn’t have to. After so many years of knowing her, Will could guess at what she wanted to say.

  “Anyway,” he said, turning, “I better get going. I’m already late.”

  Caroline mumbled something he couldn’t understand, then made a shooing motion. He didn’t bother hesitating. There was no need to drag out an already awkward conversation.

  He wondered what Elizabeth would make of it. And it occurred to him that he could ask. After last night…

  Well, nothing was certain, but he had a good feeling.

  He couldn’t wait to see her again.

  * * *

  There was little to no hope Elizabeth would manage the walk of shame without Jane being any the wiser, but still she winced as she crossed the threshold to their room and met her friend’s eyes.

  Jane had clearly been waiting. She sat on her already-made bed, her backpack ready and beside her. Her arms were crossed and she arched one flawless eyebrow. “Oh, hi, Elizabeth. So you do live here?”

  For someone who had been crying her eyes out just hours before, Jane looked much too chipper. Something Elizabeth would have relished had it not been at her expense. As it was, she could only muster a grunt that might have been hello in another life.

  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  “Nope,” Elizabeth said, flopping onto her bed. Which might as well have been a slab of concrete.

  Will’s bed had been warm and bouncy. And she could have awoken there this morning.

  But then she would have had to talk to him, and given how swimmingly that plan had gone last night…

  Ugh. She so sucked.

  “Was it at least good?” Jane asked.

  “Was what good?”

  “S-E-X. I’m assuming you didn’t ninja-sneak out of here to get homework done, on account of all your things were still here.”

  She inhaled a deep breath, once more feeling like the world’s biggest moron. “I really didn’t…mean for any of this to happen. And that might be the dumbest thing that has ever been said in the history of forever.”

  Jane was quiet for a moment, then sighed. “I’ve got maybe a half hour before I have to be on campus. If you need to talk—”

  “I don’t.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Elizabeth closed her eyes, willing herself to calm before she had some kind of cardiac episode. “There’s a guy I’ve been… Well, I don’t know what. And I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about you and Charlie, and I decided I needed to tell him that whatever our thing was was over.”

  “Lizzie, just because Charlie and I—”

  “No, I need to get my act together. What happened with you and Charlie was a big ole reminder of why I don’t want to get involved with anyone.” She paused, winced. “And I’m sorry. I know that’s my making your breakup about me and that’s lame and not cool, but I was doing some major wallowing and decided that the best way to end this thing was to do it last night before my hormones talked me out of it.”

  “And what happened?”

  Elizabeth groaned and dragged her pillow over her face. “My hormones talked me out of it,” she said against the pillowcase.

  There was a lengthy pause. “Do you like this guy?”

  “Let’s just say my feelings about him are very mixed.” In that she couldn’t convince her body not to do stupid things when she was around him, and that confused the hell out of her. Elizabeth was perfectly rational and in control of herself in all areas aside from those that concerned Will Darcy.

  “Well,” Jane said thoughtfully, “maybe that’s for the best, then?”

  Elizabeth hesitated before dragging the pillow off her face so she could favor Jane with a skeptical look.

  Jane offered a small smile. “What happened with me and Charlie shouldn’t affect your relationships.”

  “I don’t want a relationship, though. I really, really don’t.” She forced herself to sit up. “And I really don’t want one with someone like… Well, anyone I can’t get a good read on. Because if someone as freakin’ open as Charlie Bingley can turn out to be a jerk, then why even bother?”

  A frown pulled on Jane’s lips. She released another deep breath, then rose solemnly to her feet. “I’m not giving up,” she said as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “Charlie…caught me off guard. But I don’t regret what happened with him. If nothing else, the experience showed me what I want.”

  Elizabeth smiled weakly. “That’s something.”

  “I think so.” Jane squared her shoulders. “I am t-minus fourteen hours into this breakup, so who knows where I’ll land on it tonight. But if I let Charlie sour my view on all relationships… Well, he doesn’t deserve that much of my headspace.”

  “Definitely not.”

  “And,” she continued, “he doesn’t deserve credit for making you swear off men, either.”
/>
  “He didn’t. He just reinforced it.”

  “Well, maybe don’t consider that ship sailed just yet. That you left here with your mind set on ending something and you ended up…” Jane gestured, going a little pink. “This guy must be something else. I know you.”

  Elizabeth snorted and shook her head. “Either that or I just really needed to get laid.”

  Jane barked a startled giggle at that. “And on that note, I’m gonna assume you’re okay and see if I can grab a coffee before class.” She started for the door, then paused, her hand on the knob. “Oh. Before you got back, Caroline called.”

  Elizabeth’s stomach knotted. “What? What’d she want?”

  “To tell me that the final acceptance and rejection letters for the Realis Society were going out today, and to warn me ahead of time that the news wasn’t good.”

  “Oh, Jane—”

  Jane held up a hand, plastering on a smile. “It’s okay,” she said in that it’s-really-not-but-I’ll-fake-it-till-I-make-it tone. “I think it’s for the best. There are a lot of Society events and things that would have had me over at Netherfield. And even if that wasn’t the case, I think… I don’t know if I could be around Caroline and not ask about Charlie and I don’t want to be that girl, you know?”

  “But still, this sucks.” And it sucked doubly so that it came on the heels of a breakup. Elizabeth bolted to her feet and crossed the room to drag Jane into a hug. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “I can’t believe you let me whine about having had awesome sex like it was a big problem or something.”

  Jane pulled back, grinning. “I didn’t know the awesome part.”

  “Oi. Me and my mouth.”

  “Wanna repeat tonight? You, me, plus our weight in calories?”

  “Uh, I don’t think I can tonight.” Jane pulled a face. “Not only am I still full from that last gallon of ice-cream, but I said I’d meet some classmates for a dinner-slash-study session. Since I lost last night, I really need to hit the books to keep from falling behind. Especially for the class that Charlie was helping me with. I’m probably going to camp it out in one of those private rooms at the library.”