Netherfield Prep (Austen Reimagined: P&P #1)

by Elizabeth Stevens

  “Sorry. Night, Annie.”

  “Pfft. You need sleep too. Austin won’t want you if you like an old bag.”

  I laughed and let her get back to sleep. It took me slightly longer, with my mind stuck on Austin, but finally I fell into a comfortable sleep where I dreamt not so chaste dreams of Austin and his stormy grey eyes.

  Chapter Fifty-Four: Austin

  “She’s still staring at you,” Jax whispered.

  “What?” I asked, turning around in time to see Lily look hurriedly away.

  “I don’t know why you don’t just go and talk to her.”

  I stretched my neck. “Because I can’t. Not yet.”

  “What do you have planned, brother?” Jax asked, sounding terribly excited.

  “Nothing.” I frowned.

  “Nothing? You don’t usually have nothing planned. Aren’t you going to declare your undying love for her and give her Mum’s ring?”

  I looked at him. “Have you been talking to Amanda?”

  He grinned. “So, it’s true!”

  “Her and her bloody big mouth.”

  Jax laughed and clapped me on the back.

  “Dude, no. I’m not proposing to Lily. Like I told our big-mouthed sister, I don’t even know if she’ll date me. Plus, you don’t just propose to people. There’s meant to be the months or years of dating first.”

  Jax shrugged and stuffed a sandwich into his mouth. “Dad didn’t need months of dating, and look how that turned out.”

  “I’m not Dad and Lily isn’t Mum.”

  Jax just shrugged again and I sighed, knowing it was pointless to try to argue with him.

  “Why don’t you go and talk to her? See how she feels?”

  “I can’t.”

  “I won’t bother asking why when you’re in a mood. But, I will say that you’re not going to know by avoiding her.”

  We both looked at Lily. She was in the process of sitting on the bench next to Anne, but missed the seat and fell on the grass. Anne lost it, laughing as she and Kate helped Lily up.

  “Speaking of, when are you planning on talking to Anne? I thought it was going to be the other day? Was that not why we went to Longbourn?”

  Jax grinned as though he had a plan. “It’s not the right time, yet.”

  “You’re mad,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Madly in love, maybe. At least I’m not a pansy about it.”

  I thumped him, but let Lucas have my attention and Jax went to talk to Anne.

  Jax barely left Anne’s side for the rest of the picnic; they talked and laughed like they’d used to, only there was much less of Anne’s previous hesitation. I could easily see now how much she liked him, and I was embarrassed to realise I would have seen it before if I hadn’t been such a numpty about everything.

  As fate would have it, I didn’t even have to try to avoid Lily; someone always seemed to have my attention. But, that didn’t stop me looking at her. And, I found her looking at me as often as I looked at her. I couldn’t tell what was going on in that pretty little head of hers. She looked worried and annoyed, but Kate seemed to be able to pull her out of whatever was running through her mind.

  I was pleased to see her and Kate seemed close. I’d been worried how Lily was going to react to her, but, if anything, they looked closer and much more genuinely affectionate than they’d ever been. I’d heard about Anders’ visit. It seemed that, now at least, Kate had been set to rights on that matter.

  I did find myself next to Lily at one point.

  “Hi,” she said, seeming nervous.

  “Hi,” I replied, feeling just as nervous.

  I wasn’t sure why I would be nervous around Lily really. I mean, I’d liked her basically the whole time I’d known her and that hadn’t stopped me being charming and calm, or an arse. Now, though, I felt all sorts of confused.

  I guessed it was because, for once, I couldn’t guess what she was thinking.

  Almost since the first time I’d met her, I’d been able to at least hazard a guess at what she was thinking; she’d been attracted to me but thought I was awful, she’d been attracted to me and hated me, she’d been attracted to me and been unsure about me, then I thought she’d been attracted to me and falling for me.

  But, this? I had no idea what this was…

  And, yes, I am quite aware how arrogant I sound when I say I knew she was attracted to me. But really, it’s not like the strength of our physical attraction hadn’t been obvious to everyone.

  “Nice day for it.”

  “Yeah,” I replied, “cold, but nice.”

  I saw Williams look at us with interest and I wondered how he felt about Lily. When he gave me his patented ‘tap that!’ look, I decided that whatever he had felt about her, it had passed.

  I smiled at him ruefully and shook my head. Turning to Lily, I saw she was looking at me. She seemed to study me intently.

  “Do I have something in my teeth?” I asked.

  “What?” She blinked. “Oh, no. Sorry…” She smiled self-consciously.

  We stood in silence for a few minutes until Lucas demanded I play some guitar and Brickwell wanted ‘We Are the Champions’ again.

  I gave her a smile.

  “Go on then,” she said, nudging me.

  “You-”

  “Lily!” Kate called, waving Lily over to join her and Gemma.

  “Just a sec.” She touched my arm, then walked over to them.

  I watched her go until Lucas yelled, “Oz!”

  “Yeah, yeah. Want, want, want. Why doesn’t one of you learn an instrument?” I asked them as I picked up my guitar.

  ****

  My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket.

  Amanda: Where are you? I’ve just pulled in. Have something for you.

  Me: Rosings common room, want me to come to you?

  Amanda: Nah, be there in a few minutes.

  Me: Okay. See you soon.

  “What was that?” Jax asked, trying to look over my shoulder.

  I pulled my phone out of his eye line. “Manda, she’s come to visit her little brothers.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because she loves us so much.”

  “No, dude, really, why?”

  “She said she’s got something for me.”

  “Why not me?” Jax asked. “I’ve been good!”

  I laughed. “I doubt it’s a reward for any perceived goodness. She probably wants to yell at me for something.”

  Jax looked unsure. “Would she bother coming all this way for that?”

  I shrugged. “How am I supposed to understand anything our sister does?”

  “Hm, good point.” Jax nodded.

  By the time Amanda arrived, Jax had decided it was a reward for something and he was quite put out he wasn’t getting one.

  Amanda walked into the common room as though she owned the place, obviously looking for me. When she found me, she looked stern and beckoned me over.

  “Oh, consider me corrected, Oz. I don’t want whatever she’s dealing out. You can go on your own.”

  “My brother, ladies and gentlemen, the gallant fop,” I said dryly as I stood up.

  I was barely to Amanda before she grabbed me and pulled me down the corridor to Jax’s and my room. She opened the door and pulled me in.

  “Right, so I had some luck, but wanted to offer you something else instead.”

  I looked at her, thoroughly not comprehending a word she said. “Pardon?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I know you said you thought only hers would do, but I wanted to at least give you the option. You don’t have to take it. But, well, I love you boys and it would make me happy-”

  I took her by the shoulders and smiled. “Mandy, what are you on about?”

  She blinked. “Oh, Mum’s ring.”

  “What?”

  She pulled two boxes out of her bag and held them up to me.

>   “You got it?”

  She grimaced. “I did, but,” she selected one box, “I wanted to give you this.”

  I frowned, not recognising the box. I took it and opened it. What I found made me swear strongly.

  “Mandy, I can’t accept this…”

  “Why not?”

  I looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “Mand, this is your mum’s ring…your real mum…”

  “I know that, Oz.” She fidgeted a little. “But, well, I want you to have it, give it to whoever you want, keep it, I don’t care.”

  “Mand, no I can’t.” I tried to give it back to her but she shook her head and pushed my hand back towards me.

  “You can and you will. I have two reasons for this Oz; one, I thought Jax might want the option of Mum’s ring, second, this one will mean just as much to you. If you ever ask her, I want you to give it to Lily. I want her to know there’s a place in our family for her.”

  “Mand…” I breathed, not knowing what to say to express my gratitude.

  She cleared her throat and I knew she was fighting back tears.

  “Right, look. I’ve got Mum’s and I think Jax should have it, honestly. Anything so Fleur doesn’t get her hands on it. But, I don’t think we should give it to him now. We don’t need to give him any reason to go proposing to Anne already.”

  I laughed. “No, true. We’ll give it to him when we deem him ready.”

  “When who’s ready for what?” Jax asked. “Oh, man, I knew it was presents!”

  Amanda laughed. “It’s not presents, Jax.” She shared a look with me and I knew we came to the same understanding.

  “Amanda’s just given me her mother’s ring,” I said.

  “Well, we all knew Mum gave you her ring. You’re supposed to give it to Fleur,” Jax said, smiling.

  “No, Jackson. Amanda has given me her mother’s ring.”

  It took a moment, but understanding finally dawned on Jax. “Oh…”

  Amanda stepped forward and held out the second box, one Jax and I knew as well as our own faces. “And, this, Jax, is for you.”

  Jax looked at us, gobsmacked. “Why?”

  I shrugged. “Because, if I ever do propose to…anyone, I’m only going to need one ring.”

  Jax reached out and took the box, opening it reverently.

  “But, this does not give you permission to go and propose to Anne now,” I said sternly.

  “But-”

  “Jax, we are not Dad. We’re still at school for pity’s sake.”

  Jax nodded as though he agreed, but I could see the gears turning.

  Heaven help us… I thought as I shared another look with Amanda.

  Chapter Fifty-Five: Lily

  We’d decided we needed to do more walking, get our fitness up, do something else with our time expect eat cheesecake and kill zombies.

  “I’m not sure whose terrible idea this was,” I laughed as it started raining.

  “It was yours!” Anne replied.

  We made a run for the rotunda and managed to make it before we got too wet. I held the door open for Gemma and Kate and we skidded inside with a laugh.

  I’d never really been in it before, but it was a beautiful old building. I had no idea what it was for, but it was a round, glass structure with stone columns, marble floor and a roof painted with stars.

  “It’s a shame Marie missed this,” I said, looking around.

  Marie had started our walk with us, then decided to go and practice her piano or something. Hopefully, she’d got back without getting wet.

  I shook out my hair and watched the rain beat against the windows.

  “It is very pretty.” Anne smiled, spinning around in the middle of the room.

  I took her hands and joined her, laughing.

  “Oh my God!” squealed Gemma.

  “It’s Jax and Austin!”

  Anne and I stopped spinning and turned to my sisters. Anne bumped into the back of me as the two boys came through the door. I put a hand out to steady her and we slid a little on the marble. I giggled, but managed to keep my footing for once.

  Jax looked a touch startled and Austin was looking at him expectantly.

  “Boys, how are we?” I said, smiling and trying to catch Austin’s eye.

  Yes, I wanted to smile at him and see him smile at me, but I was, for the moment, a touch more interested in what the boys were doing here. There was an air of expectation hanging around them and I felt laughter threatening to escape. I looked back to Jax, biting my lip to stop myself laughing.

  “Good, good. How are you?” Jax asked.

  “Fine. Aren’t we fine, Annie?” I asked, trying to nudge her out from behind me, but she seemed determined to hide.

  “Good, that’s good.” Jax smiled widely. “Marie said you were headed this way.”

  “Right, yes, of course.” I nodded.

  Austin looked at Jax with exasperation. Gemma and Kate were clutching each other and failing not to giggle.

  I was about to open my mouth to suggest Gemma, Kate and I had something very important to do, but Jax got in before I had a chance.

  “Well, looks like the rain’s stopped, we’ll uh…see you later.”

  “Oh, yes. Later.” Anne finally spoke.

  “Right. Ladies.” Jax bowed and hurried out.

  Austin rolled his eyes and finally looked at me. “Excuse us.” He nodded once, with a hint of a smile, and followed his brother out.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Kate asked as she and Gemma looked out the window and watched them walk away.

  I plonked down on a bench. “I’m sure I don’t know. Those Coopers are some very strange boys.”

  Anne sat next to me, although she was quite a bit less relaxed than I was. Which was remarkable, considering Austin’s wet hair had done a stellar job of quite vividly reminding of the time I’d seen him wet at Pemberley. I took a deep breath and forced my mind not to wander down impure paths.

  “Oh my God!” Gemma squealed again.

  “What?” I asked, not bothering to move.

  “They’ve stopped.”

  “Who’ve stopped where?”

  “Jax and Austin,” Kate replied, looking back to me for a moment. “They’ve stopped under one of the trees. Jax is wandering back and forth, waving his hands around and Austin’s just…watching him.”

  They were silent for a while and I wondered what the boys were doing. I didn’t, though, care enough to get up and see for myself.

  “Jax just bowed,” Gemma said.

  “Now, Austin’s bowing.”

  Gemma hit Kate as though she wasn’t right next to her watching. “They’re coming back. No, Jax is coming back. Where’s Austin going?” Gemma turned to me.

  I snorted. “How in the hells am I supposed to know?”

  Gemma and Kate scrambled from their perch as Jax came back into the rotunda.

  “I…uh…” He smiled at Anne and was looking an awful lot more confident than he had when they’d burst in there previously.

  “Right, Gem, Kate, haven’t we got that…?”

  “What?” Kate asked and I wanted to throttle her.

  I winked at them. “We should…”

  “Why are you winking, Lil?” Gemma asked. “What do you want me to do?”

  I sighed and hung my head. “We have that…thing with Mum and Dad…remember…” I said, looking at them earnestly.

  They both opened their mouths in recognition at the same time, then nodded.

  “Yes, the thing.”

  “Very important thing.”

  I smiled at Jax, then at Anne. “Sorry, must dash. I’ll see you guys later, yeah?”

  I grabbed Gemma and Kate and dragged them out with me just as the rain started again.

  “Oh, can’t we wait-”

  “No!” I said.

  “We can just wait under one of the trees,” Gemma said.

 
“Ugh, fine.”

  We huddled under a tree.

  “What do you think they’re saying?” Gemma asked.

  I turned and found them peering at the rotunda. I could just see Jax’s and Anne’s shapes through the misted glass.

  “None of our business until Anne shares it,” I replied. “Now, stop ogling.”

  A little while later, Kate giggled. “Is she nodding? I think she’s nodding!”

  “What?” Despite myself, I turned around and saw Anne fling her arms around his neck and he spun her around.

  When they started kissing, I decided getting wet was preferable to intruding on their moment. I grabbed my sisters and pulled them back towards the main building.

  “Lily!” Gemma cried.

  “You know, you’re pretty strong…” Kate mused.

  I sighed. “I will buy you both cake if you come along with no more fuss.”

  They practically ran me down in their hurry to get to the café. I thought about sending Anne a text to tell her where we’d be, but I didn’t want her to feel obliged to be in any hurry to meet us.

  ****

  Anne finally resurfaced just in time for dinner and had an incredibly dazed smile on her face.

  “I take it, it went well,” I laughed as she plonked onto the bed.

  “Oh, Lily, why is everyone not as happy as me?” she laughed.

  “Annie, it pleases me to hear you so happy. Tell me everything!” She flushed and I amended my statement, “tell me all the non-dirty bits.”

  She laughed again. “No, it wasn’t like that. It was just a bit odd. Wonderful, but odd.”

  “Tell me, tell me!”

  “Well, you all left and I asked him how he was, and he said fine. Then, we stood for a bit all awkwardly. I was asking if he was okay when he blurted out…oh, but you’ll never guess.”

  “What? Jesus, don’t leave me in suspense!” I said.

  “He asked me to marry him.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” I asked, doing a double-take.

  I’d been so ready to jump up and down and yell hooray, but I was a bit unsure about it now.

  She was laughing again. “I was nodding before I realised what he’d said and said yes just as he stammered that he obviously didn’t mean marriage marriage, but that he already knew he was in love with me and wanted to be with me. He started babbling, telling me he was quite sure he’d want to marry me one day, but he knew it was early, even though his dad only proposed after knowing his mum for a few months, and they were our age at the time. Then he said that didn’t really matter at the moment and we could deal with that later and would I go out with him.”