Brides and Prejudice

Trevi Fountain

Will Darcy didn't know how his sister dragged him to Italy. But what were the chances that he'd run into Lissa Bennet. For all he knew, she could've still been home. Probably throwing knives at a picture of him and Chase...

Still, every brunette he'd seen from a distance with slightly olive skin and at a height just above his chest made him catch his breath as his eyes lingered till said woman turned around to figure out why they felt eyes on him. He'd ducked as quickly as he could when every time he'd been wrong, but a few were faster than he. And they were not exactly unwelcoming in their return glance over at him.

His little sister was very right when she told him that the line of creepy and flirty depended on attraction. And it seemed most of the women found him to be the latter.

"Will, come on! I want to get to Trevi Fountain before it gets too crowded." Georgie Darcy cried as she looked behind her, trying to get her brother to move a little bit faster. Usually, he stayed exactly step to step with her. But he was utterly distracted. She wanted to roll her eyes. Maybe her friends were right, all men were the same, even her usually aloof brother could not stop staring at the Italian women. 

"I'm coming Georgie, slow down, you know I'm not a teenager anymore!" Will nearly grunted.

"Don't talk like such an old man! You're not even thirty yet!" Georgie laughed as she turned around, the white ribbon in her hair flying behind her as she threw a pretty smile over at her brother. Her white strapless sundress embroidered with handstitched lilacs, fluttered slightly above her knees, upon her twirl. If Will Darcy looked like he stepped out of an Armani commercial as Lissa had once remarked, then Georgie Darcy looked like as if she was filming a Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume commercial at all times. 

Will grunted again as he turned to glare at another man next to him that was looking at his not even seventeen year old sister a little too closely. The shorter and by far scrawnier man flushed and looked away quickly, veering away from them. Will was starting to get a headache. Not only was he preoccupied because every brunette he saw reminded him of Elisabeth Bennet but he also had lustful stupid Italian males that stared at his little sister like meat to deal with every 100 meters. If he heard "ciao bella" one more time aimed at Georgie in a leery tone, he was going to end up in jail. 

~

Lissa loved Italy and Rome was one of the most beautiful cities she'd ever been to... but if there was one tourist attraction Lissa could call overrated- as much as it killed her and made her sound bratty- it was the Trevi Fountain. Sure the sculptures were gorgeous and they were so well preserved, not to mention the fountain itself was aesthetically pleasing in every way. However the amount of people that frequented the small area at all times made her feel claustrophobic and reminded her of how old she was. She had officially become old- she could no longer stand large crowds and if there was a word after beautiful to describe the fountain, it would be crowded. But it was the first place that Jean had on list of things to do so Lissa had navigated the metro system and they were currently being shouldered and walked into as Jean took in the sight, her eyes drinking in every detail. The gorgeous fountain was even more beautiful as it reflected off her sister's eyes, Lissa could not help but think. Not that she was biased... who was kidding, if there was anyone that loved and praised Jean more than their mother, it would be Lissa. She was proud to admit that she was by far Jean's best fan and it was quite vice versa. When they were younger, it wasn't too uncommon for people to think that they were fraternal twins, the two girls so close to each other, that they could almost tell how the other was feeling even if they were at opposite ends of the school.

After drinking everything in, Jean took the best picture that she could with her phone of just the fountain sans random tourist. Satisfied, Jean looked down at her phone and sighed happily. "Come here," Jean grinned as she gestured for sister. Lissa grimaced as she knew it was "selfie" time, but she didn't put up much of a protest as a smile tugged on her lips because at last she was truly enjoying Rome with her sister.

Jean checked the photograph of them. She knew how much Lissa hated "selfies" as they were apt; Lissa preferred her expensive cannon rebel, a gift she'd bought for herself on her fifteenth birthday, having been old enough to finally get an official job at the local bakery and that camera was for portraits and landscapes, only. "We really look like twins now," Jean couldn't help but say as she looked at the photograph of the two of them.

Lissa looked over Jean's shoulder to check out the photo. With Jeans dark hair and green eyes, standing next to her, Lissa's dark hair and hazel eyes, the two really did look almost like twins. "Yeah, now I don't look like the changling in our family, but," Lissa turned to mock glare at her sister. "You're a blonde and that's how nature intended for you to turn out, and that's how I like my sister. In addition, I'm supposed to be the boring smart brunette here. You cannot just steal my identity. I feel very naked without it." Lissa jested.

Jean couldn't help but laugh. Lissa was very many things, but boring was definitely not one of those things. However she said nothing as she was starting to get used to her dark hair. It had faded from the severe funeral black that it had been on the first day she'd died it to a more raven like color that had a sheen to it and that almost made it look brown with direct sunlight. Her hair no longer felt attention grabbing. She felt truly like a wallflower for the first time in her life. Her personality had always been like that of one but her bright blonde hair had always made her stood out. Even in their family, no one else had her blonde hair, Kady was the closest but everyone considered her more of a dirty blonde whereas Jean's hair had always been compared to yellow and gold. Golden girl... she'd been called more times than she had ever been comfortable with.

Lissa sighed, well at least Jean didn't say no right out. "Come on, aren't you going to throw a coin?"

Jean's eyes widened as she had almost forgotten! "Oh! Yes, of course, where..." She didn't finish as Lissa dropped a euro in her hand.

"I've got you," Lissa winked at her sister, a double entendre in her words.

"I love you," Jean said as she tilted her head at her sister.

"I know," Lissa teased. "And you know I love you too. So close your eyes and throw the coin prettily so I can get a good video."

Jean closed her eyes with a smile that was almost as bright as the ones she flashed before her wedding day. Jean held the coin in front of her before tossing it behind her.

Lissa videoed the whole thing in slow motion, the video captured the moment that the window blew a small but strong gust that caused Jean's hair to flutter across her face, giving her an almost ethereal look. However the video also managed to catch a masculine voice say "what the hell", as Jean's coin had veered a bit due to the gust and hit someone's head.