Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lizzie Bennet gave the best hugs.

William once noticed this many months ago when he observed her wrap her arms around Jane during their stay at Netherfield. He observed it time and again while he reviewed specific videos after her internship at Collins and Collins, wondering what it would be like to have her pull him close, wrap her arms around him and whisper platitudes in his ear. Everyone always seemed to pull away feeling somewhat comforted, if not for anything more than having her implicit support.

And now? Now he knew. Now, it was the only thing he could think about. Lizzie Bennet, pulling him towards her and squeezing the breath out of him.

Yes, he quite enjoyed everything about Lizzie as long as she was touching him, but her hugs were quite possibly his favorite thing (partially because she could give those in public without making him, or anyone else for that matter, uncomfortable).

Fortunately, in fifty-two minutes, she'd be doing that very thing for the first time in nearly a month.

Due to the amount of luggage, Lizzie chose to travel by train — that and she wasn't particularly fond of flying if she could help it. She texted that morning with a picture of the final draft of her thesis only moments before submission to Dr. Gardiner. Shortly after, she bid her family goodbye and boarded the train with her 'eleventy billion bags'. Upon reading that text, William laughed at her wording but felt his heart race with excitement.

Throughout the train ride, she amused herself by regaling him with an epic tale of her fellow travelers via text. At one point during a board meeting he was caught smiling at a quirky message, much to the presenter's dismay. Clearing his throat, William returned his focus to the meeting, but even then he longed to be sitting beside her, listening to her whisper the tragic story of The Widow in Seat 3B.

Finally the time arrived for him to call it a day. He left Lizzie a voicemail, knowing that she abhorred talking on the phone in public places, and then slid into his SUV for the ride home. He showered quickly, changed into more casual attire, and set about getting dinner ready. Nothing too fancy, just wine and pasta, per her request. Lizzie was to stay with him through the weekend, then migrate to her new apartment on Monday.

Just as he set the sauce to simmer, his phone chimed with an alert from Lizzie: 20min out. Longest 20min EVER.

William nodded in agreement, then rolled his eyes at himself, since his phone couldn't agree with him. He set the table and walked around, making sure everything looked acceptable. Of course it was, because he liked things to be in their proper place. Well, everything except Lizzie.

He climbed inside his SUV and drove the short distance to the rather ordinary train station. It was small, but served its purpose, which was to bring him Lizzie Bennet. 

In order to distract from the interminable wait, he perused the magazine stand, seeing but not registering. He'd been like this all day, zoned out and full of anticipation, like a child the night before Christmas.  Honestly, he couldn't bring himself to care. The only thing he's been able to concentrate on was the fact that in seven minutes and twenty-two seconds, his girl would be in San Francisco.

An announcement alerted him that the train would be pulling in a couple minutes late. Every minute seemed like an eternity, especially when he had to wait an entire day to see her. Finally the train approached on the track, coming to a screeching halt, taking all his willpower not to hop aboard and pull her off bodily.

Passengers started debarking the train, wheeled luggage thrumming loudly on the grooves in the pavement. His height provided him the advantage of seeing her once she set foot on the steps. She scanned the crowd, a luminous smile gracing her features once she spotted him. He offered a useless wave and discovered that his feet already started moving toward her.

Moving past a large group of tired travelers, he came to an abrupt stop when he was no more ten feet from her. She was here. In front of him. Looking tired and beautiful and so very lovely. They took each other in, drinking in smiles and blushes and then she tossed her head back and laughed.

Defying gravity and physics, she somehow leaped the entire distance and landed in his arms, wrapping her own tightly around his shoulders. He held her tightly, her toes grazing his shin as he squeezed her even tighter, pressing his nose in the warmth of her neck. He had no idea how long they stood there, her hair curtained about them and her wicked lips promising adventures in a sea of sheets.

"Excuse me?!" a man tapped William on the shoulder, causing him to pull away from Lizzie. "I'm sorry, Miss, but where do you want these?" The employee pointed to the luggage cart packed high with matching luggage that could no doubt be a graduation present.

"William? Could you put me down?" Lizzie smiled at him, pressing her hands on his shoulders as he regretfully lowered her to the ground. She smiled at the employee apologetically and together they lead him to William's SUV.

Somehow they got home in one piece, their car ride full of conversation and kisses at stoplights. Once William parked, Lizzie pulled out an overnight bag, opting to leave the brunt of the luggage in his vehicle. Lizzie let him carry her bag up the drive as he led her to the front porch of a contemporary townhouse. William then unlocked the front door, glancing back at her as she told him about her tearful farewell brunch with Dr. Gardiner.

Once he shut the door however, it was like a switch had been flicked and they both realized that finally, they were alone. No family members, no phone calls, no housekeepers, nothing. Nothing would interrupt them.

She tucked her hair behind her ear shyly and he cleared his throat. Then, she dropped her purse and he dropped her bag, preparing to catch her this time as she executed another gravity-defying leap into his arms. A flurry of activity followed. Clothes were shed, walls were bumped into, and something really expensive broke.

They didn't make it past the foyer.

The next time, she was wearing his shirt and he his boxer briefs, serving her pasta between wine-filled kisses and licking tomato sauce off her fingers. In a long mental catalogue, he added that his counters were the perfect height and that Lizzie was incredibly giggly when she drank red wine. Her face was flushed and her eyes were glassy as she pulled him close for another kiss, her legs locking around his waist.

They made a small mess, nothing a good scrub couldn't fix. Whenever that would be.

After he gained the strength to walk and she got her breathing under control, he led her around the apartment, offering monosyllabic descriptions of each room.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want to stay in my room or one of the guest rooms, so I prepared this one, just in case," William said as he flicked on the lights to a well-decorated room with a large bed.

"Yours is fine." Lizzie squeezed his hand as he turned off the lights and led her to his bedroom. Her eyes lit up gleefully upon seeing his large, dual-headed shower.

"We're definitely going to enjoy that later." Her impish smile made William swallow hard, knowing that she meant it. She excused herself to use the restroom while he returned to the kitchen, putting away what he could before she rejoined him. Lizzie offered to help him wash the dishes, and together they cleaned up everything as she asked him about his day.

The sheer domesticity of the scene made his heart squeeze in a pleasant fashion, but he didn't dare let on. He was fully prepared to wait out Lizzie Bennet, however long it took for her to come around to the idea of a forever with him.

Right now, she was fixed on this night, and if the look in her eyes was anything to go by, it was going to be good.

Tossing the hand towel on the counter, Lizzie grabbed William’s hand and pulled him to his bedroom. He took a seat on his bed and stilled her fingers as she started unbuttoning his shirt that she wore. Her eyebrows drew together as he turned her hands over, kissed each palm slowly, and then looked up at her as he clasped her hands in his.

She sighed, a small smile on her face that he couldn't read. He wrapped his arms around her, tucking her between his legs with his head buried in the valley between her breasts. When she wrapped her arms around him again, he exhaled slowly, soaking in her warmth and scent and sheer comfort. She placed a kiss on the crown of his head, her fingers tracing in decipherable letters on his back.

This. This moment of quiet and together and devotion. This was what he wanted. What he'd been craving. Something that only Lizzie Bennet could provide him.

“I missed you,” she placed another kiss along his brow, “so very much.” Her words, a soft echo to his gesture, set his skin afire.

Eventually his hands started roaming and the shirt fell away. They spent the rest of the night and early morning following through with some of her wicked whispers from earlier, exceeding both their expectations.

Later William drifted to sleep completely exhausted, relishing the feel of her curled up in his arms. Yes, Lizzie Bennet gave the best hugs, but he wasn't half bad either.