I didn't believe in love at first sight.

I never had.

But I believed that love was something that could sneak up on a person.

It was impossible to tell when it had begun, and no one could predict where it would end. All that they knew was that there was love where there hadn't been before, and that it had them completely and utterly trapped.

My hand fit into Will's as though his had been made for mine. Like someone knew that we would meet someday, and our hands would need to be carved ­just so for when this moment came. We wove easily through the dancing students, finding a safe spot where we could feel alone in this crushing throng of slow-moving teenage bodies. Will's hands rested on my hips. I could feel his strong fingers through the fabric, holding me securely but gently, like some precious object he didn't dare to damage. I placed mine upon his shoulders, but soon moved them to the nape of his neck.

As we swayed slowly in time with one another I said, 'Thank you for what you did for Lisa. There aren't many people who'd jet off to Rome to save a girl they barely knew. And... I imagine that you had something to do with Charlie coming back for Jenny.'

'I didn't just do it for them,' he said. 'I knew the moment you got that phone call that I had to do something. I never wanted to see you look so frightened or hurt again. If that meant flying out to Italy and exposing my family's secrets, then so be it. I'd give up everything I own to keep you safe and happy. My reputation, my money... my pride and snobbish ways. As for Jenny, I knew that her happiness meant more to you than your own. Charlie's means just as much to me.' He said it with a smile, and I blushed. I dreaded to think just how many times I'd called him a snob during our acquaintance. That smile faded when he begged, 'If you feel the same way you did at Christmas about being with me, please just tell me now. If you don't... well, I'll be silent on the subject forever if you say the word. I know we've kissed, but we've never actually talked about -'

'I don't want to think about how I felt at Christmas,' I said. 'Angry, mostly. Drunk, for sure. Snogging your cousin. Which was, in hindsight, probably a bad idea.'

Will winced. 'I'd been trying to forget that last part.'

'I also slapped you. It wasn't my finest moment.'

'The things I said to you at the time were totally out of order. I'm surprised you didn't break my nose.'

'I might have if I had better aim,' I admitted.

'Beth, all joking aside, which I know is difficult for you,' he said. 'I love you. I've been in love with you almost since we first met. That night in the rain when you stubbornly tried to save Jenny. Every time you turned your nose up at me and stuck to your morals, never swayed by my family name or money. With every sarcastic comment, witty retort, and display of fierce loyalty to your friends, I just fell deeper. Please, give me a chance to keep falling in love with you every day from now on. Tell me you love me, too.'

Most men would have turned and run as fast as they could in the opposite direction in the face of such things. Sarcasm and stubbornness weren't necessarily endearing traits yet, here we were, two idiots completely in love with one another and likely the last people to realise it. I'd been offended at Christmas that Will had verbally bashed his feelings for me, reminding us both of why it was a socially unacceptable match, and why he'd hesitated to tell me what was in his heart. The class divide between us was practically a chasm, and I'd been as sensible of it as him. At every turn I'd told myself that he was a wealthy snob, and that he couldn't possibly be interested in me. Rather than reminding myself of our differences, I ought to have thought on our similarities, and those included our feelings for each other.

'I do,' I said. My cheeks were on fire, and I was grateful for the low lighting. 'I think I liked you for a while and, before I knew it, I was so deeply in love that I felt like I was drowning in the feeling. When you didn't come back with Charlie, I thought -'

'I wanted to come back,' he said. 'All I wanted to do was find you and hold you. I was so afraid that you'd have been scarred by Rome and that you'd have blamed me -'

'How could I -'

Will brushed his fingers against my throat. The bruise wasn't nearly as visible as it had been upon our return from Italy, but the greenish-yellow tinge had yet to fade entirely. 'I never should have let him get close enough to do this to you. Not just in Rome, but before that. It was my family who allowed him to gain a position of trust in another school.'

'If it hadn't been here, he'd have found a job elsewhere. Only Gideon is responsible for his actions. I didn't blame you for any of it,' I said. 'But, if you were so scared, what made you come to prom? Something must have changed your mind.'

'I might have heard what you said to Madame Courtenay,' Will admitted. 'That it was none of her business if you were to go out with me, and you didn't rule out ever doing so. It made me realise that I needed to ask you again. Even if you turned me down, it would be worth risking my heart if there was any chance that you'd say yes.'

'Your mother was eavesdropping,' I realised. 'I suppose I should thank her. If she hadn't, I might never have been able to do this.'

'Do what?'

I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his once more and tried to convey to him all the love in my heart. As I breathed in his expensive, musky cologne and delighted in the softness of his hair as I pushed my fingers through it, I thought upon all the times he'd endeared himself to me: All his awkward attempts to get to know me, how he'd bravely tried to sit beside me in class so that we could become better acquainted, the way he'd tried to keep Gideon away from me to keep me safe, that night in the rain, how kind he'd been to my friends, to my father, to me...

I'd been trying so hard to see the worst aspects of his personality since the terrible first impressions that we'd made upon one another, I'd been blind to the best parts of him.

The parts that I loved.

'Be my girlfriend,' he whispered against my lips. 'I know we're not equals, but I'll do everything I can to match up to you.'

'It'll be a lot of hard work,' I replied. 'Do you think you can dedicate that much time to it?'

'Even if it takes a lifetime, I'll never stop trying to be the man that you deserve.'

I flung myself against him, my head on his shoulder and his arms around my waist. Grinning like an idiot, I consented, 'Of course, I'll be your girlfriend! I'm never letting you go again.'

'Never?'

'Are you kidding?' I asked, pulling back to look up at him. 'The second I do, Lisa's going to get her claws into you. I'm basically your bodyguard, now.'

'That sounds fun,' he teased. 'Will you wear leather?'

'You wish,' I scoffed.

'Well, maybe after graduation...'

I slapped his arm lightly in reprimand. Rather than argue or scold me, Will laughed and, my God, he was beautiful when there was joy in his eyes. He picked me up and turned me around, my dress floating around my legs like something out of a fairy-tale. When he set me down, he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my fingers tenderly.

'I have one last question,' he said.

'What's that?'

'Will you go to prom with me, Miss Bennett?'

'Why, Mr Darcy, I thought you'd never ask.'