Pride & Prejudice
By Simarillion

Fandom: TV show RPS (Supernatural, Prison Break, House M.D., Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Smallville, Coupling, Grey’s Anatomy, Numbers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ally McBeal, Desperate Housewives, Will & Grace)
Rating: G to PG-13
Pairing: of interest: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, Wentworth Miller/Hugh Laurie
Warnings: AU, slash, M/M, evil! Chad
Beta: draft version (unbetaed)
Summary: There's nothing of greater importance than gossip. Besides marrying your children off. So when Mr. Padalecki announces the opening of a new Padalecki gallery on Third Street, it comes as no surprise that both gossip and marriage plans are on the daily schedule.
Disclaimer: None of the herein presented happenings and events are true. Everything is 100% fiction and that includes the sexuality of the characters. We don’t claim to be in the know about their relations and private affairs and we don’t make any money with the creation of this story.
Notes: The idea of a Jane Austen AU cames to me a very long time ago, with a different Austen novel as the plot and in a completely different fandom. It re-surfaced this summer though, and when talking about it with duchess_of_hell, it soon became clear that the writing of this story would be my summer project.
I absolutely adore the cast of the fic and it took me and Susi hours to decide which actor would be the right one for which character. It was great fun though, and made us laugh so hard at times, that people were looking at us funny.

[Previous Parts]



Chapter Twenty-Two

The next morning when Wentworth Morgan arrives at the breakfast table he does not only find his aunt and uncle and Mr. Laurie present. They are joined by Mr. Jared Padalecki and his siblings, as well as a young woman.

The young woman is introduced as Ms. Alexis Laurie. She is also the little girl from the photographs. Wentworth divides his attention between Ms. Laurie and Mr. Padalecki, who inquires after Wentworth’s family and in particular Jensen Morgan.

Talk is easy with Alexis Morgan, and soon Wentworth knows that the young woman plans to apply for Harvard and Yale, and that she volunteers for an organisation which tries to make the public aware of the dangers of global warning. The young man is impressed to learn that she helped her brother start a campaign to help with organising funds to rebuild the destroyed homes in New Orleans. The interests of young Ms. Alexis Laurie vary greatly from Wentworth’s own sister.

The noon is spent talking and enjoying the beautiful day. The house is full of catering staff and the artists for the music entertainment. After the third time one of them hinders one the workers, Mrs. Hennessy throws them out of the house and now the group has set up their base at the small lagoon.

Around midday the first guests for the party arrive. Some are flown in via chopper but the majority arrive on their yachts.

A festive mood is to be felt and the catering personnel make sure that every one of the newcomers is immediately catered with champagne and canapés. Wenworth enjoys himself at the party, and he finds himself enjoying Mr. Laurie’s attention as well. Hugh Laurie is almost constantly at his side, involving the young man in his discussion, constantly asking for Wentworth’s opinion.

In the late afternoon the day takes a very different turn though. When Wentworth goes to his room to get a jacket he finds he has a message waiting on the voice mail. Curious to find out who tried to contact him here in the Caribbean he listens to the message.

“Wentworth, it’s me, Jensen. I am sorry to interrupt your holidays but there is something you have to know. Charisma disappeared. She told mother and father she was to stay with a friend at their place in San Francisco but she went with her friends to Tijuana instead. Yesterday morning she had been gone, leaving a note to say that she is running away together with Chad Michael Murray. So far the police have not done anything since you have to wait for 48 hours before you can file for a missing person. Mother and father are beside themselves with worry. I am already on my way back from Princeton but I don’t know what to do and how to help them. Please come home as fast as you can.”

The message shocks Wentworth greatly and he has to sit down on the bed. He cannot believe his sister being irresponsible enough to act in such a thoughtless manner but he remembers Mr. Laurie’s description of Mr. Murray and fears for Charisma.

Wentworth forces himself to return to the party to inform his aunt and uncle about the incident and talk about the fastest return route to Santa Monica. But the young man never makes it further than the kitchen where he has to sit down again. In horror he thinks about what could have happened to his little sister.

It is in that state that Mr. Laurie finds him a short time later. Mrs. Hennessy noticed Wentworth and alarmed her boss to the troubled young man. Hugh Laurie asks Wentworth Morgan for explanation of his disturbed state and Wentworth cannot help but relay the message he just heard to the other man.

“It is my fault,” is Mr. Laurie’s reaction.

“No it is not. There is nothing you could have done about that. Nobody could have prevented it from happening.”

“It could have been prevented if I had made public the true nature of Mr. Murray. Now your young sister has to suffer from my negligence. My pride and carelessness resulted in this disaster.”

Wentworth once more assures Mr. Laurie that it is not something that could have been so easily avoided. He furthermore points out that Wentworth himself did not inform his parents about the vicious nature of Mr. Murray.

“You have to immediately return to your family. They will need you now."

Hugh Laurie sends Mrs. Hennessy off to find Mr and Mrs. Dempsey while he stays with Wentworth.

“You can travel by helicopter to Miami where my private jet will wait to take you Santa Monica. I will make sure that you arrive in California as quickly as possible.”

“I cannot accept this. This is too much trouble for you.”

But Mr. Laurie refuses to listen to Wentworth’s protests and insists on the young man accepting the help being offered. When Wentworth’s aunt and uncle join them and the young man has finished telling them about the tragedy happening in Santa Monica, they agree to accompany him back home. Once more Hugh Laurie offers his means of transportation.

Only an hour later the three find themselves on their way back to the United States. Mr. Laurie assured them that he would have the yacht taken care of, even offering to berth the yacht at the harbour of the island.

The whole journey back Wentworth worries about his sister while his aunt and uncle phone friends and Mr. and Mrs. Morgan to help where- and however they are able to. There are no updates so far and the one phone call Wentworth Morgan makes to his brother does not reassure him at all. Jensen tells him some more details about the exact course of the incident and he describes the situation at the Morgan home.

It takes eight hours for the three travellers to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport and the short drive from there to Santa Monica is the hardest time for Wentworth. Upon entering the house Sandra Morgan rushes to the newcomers and wails about the troubles that have befallen her family. Jeffrey D. Morgan is more composed but his face is haggard and it is easily to see that the incident has taken its toll on him.

While Samantha and Patrick Dempsey retreat together with Mr. and Mrs. Morgan to discuss further measures to take and what has been done so far, Wentworth follows Jensen upstairs where they retreat to Wentworth’s room.

“The police has been informed now and they started the search for her, but the investigations are complicated by they fact that she disappeared in Mexico. They are not sure who responsible for the search. Father insists on her being somewhere in the States but the police say that as long as there is no proof for that assumption they have to assume that she still remains in Mexico.”

“What a mess this whole situation is and it is my fault that all of this happened.”

“Wentworth you could not have foreseen this to happen.”

“I knew about the true nature of Chad Michael Murray’s character and I did not tell our parents and I also failed to warn Charisma about him,” argues Wentworth.

“Wentworth, your doing so would not have changed anything. Surely you must realise that. She lied to our parents about going to Mexico and none of our warnings would have been heeded. She is much too stubborn to do as told.”

Wentworth Morgan throws in that they can not say for sure that this couldn’t have been avoided by revealing Mr. Murray’s past dealings with Ms. Laurie. The two brothers discuss the topic further and in the end they come to no conclusion due the circumstances that both are of a different opinion.

Wentworth notices that Tom Morgan is more anxious than the rest of the family but his younger brother does not reveal what has him such a state. The older Morgan brother suspects Tom to know something about circumstances around Charisma’s disappearance.

After dinner he corner’s the adolescent and it takes not a long time until Tom Morgan admits having known for some time that Charisma had been planning to run away with Mr. Murray. The young woman had kept her brother updated about developments in Mexico and on the evening before her disappearance she sent Tom a text message in which she informed her brother of a plan to leave Tijuana and go on a road trip through the south of the United States.

Wentworth has Tom show the message to Jeffrey D. Morgan who does not waste a minute to take his son’s cell phone to the next police station and inform them about the new revelations. Finally the investigation and search starts in the U.S. as well.

But the next day there is no change in the situation and Jensen and Wentworth have to return to Palo Alto because classes start again. There is a reluctance to leave their family in this time of worry, but their father assures them that they will be updated regularly about the status quo.



Chapter Twenty-three

The worry about the youngest Morgan sibling had kept the parents from noticing something different as well. Three days after their return to college, Jensen and Wentworth get a call from their father who informs them that he had all his credit cards cancelled, including the ones for his children.

There had been two large withdrawals made with Charisma’s card in Mexico on the day of the girl’s disappearance. To prevent any other withdrawals Jeffrey D. Morgan had all the cards cancelled. He promises his two oldest sons that the new card will arrive at the end of the week.

A week later there is finally news in the case. At a cash machine in San Antonio, Texas Charisma’s card was retracted. Finally there is some proof for the presence of either of the refugees. Four days later there is the report of a sighting of Charisma in Houston but after that there is silence again.

Wentworth has troubles concentrating in class and most of the time he spends blaming himself for the whole disaster. None of his friends, not even Jensen, are able to convince him otherwise.

Two weeks after that his worry changes from fear to anger. He starts a quarrel with his older brother when Jensen tries to calm him down.

“How can she do that? She must know that this will show our family in a very unfavourable light. Everyone will look down on us because of her behaviour. It’s bad enough that everyone thinks us to be stupid because of our mother’s odd moods and now our sister discredits us even further.”

“Why would you think that? Everyone who knows us would never discredit us because of our sister’s running away,” reassures Jensen.

“There has been enough ridicule already. Especially you have to understand what I am talking about. Our family’s antics cost you Mr. Padalecki’s favour after all.”

“That is not fair. If Mr. Padalecki had cared for me he would have not cared about my family’s action. I don’t believe my future chance at happiness being slightened by Charisma’s behaviour. Why are you being so full of resentment? You make it sound like you suffered loss because of this incident.”

Wentworth is loath to admit that he assumes to have lost Mr. Laurie’s good opinion over the whole Mexico affair. His brother did not know how much Wentworth’s feelings had changed towards the older man.

Even though Mr. Laurie had helped Wentworth to get home faster, there had not been a word from Hugh Laurie after that, not even an inquiry after the safety of the journey. Surely all of his chances with Mr. Laurie were gone now.

And some more days pass by before the news reaches them that Charisma Morgan has returned home. She was accompanied by two police men and she even had with her the money that had been withdrawn from Mr. Morgan’s account.

Wentworth and Jensen return to Santa Monica for the weekend to welcome their sister back and get some more information about what happened and how their sister was found.

At home they find Charisma grounded to her room and their parents in an odd mood. They are both happy and relieved about their daughter’s safe return but they are as well angered about the young woman’s behaviour. Tom Morgan is the only member of the family that actively seeks Charisma out and spends some time with her.

The information that they get is scarce. Charisma showed up at the police station in Santa Monica and asked the officers if someone could accompany her home. Apparently she had been afraid of arriving alone, and facing her father on her own.

She had refused to talk about what happened and only mentioned being in Texas for some of the time. After it had been assured that the young woman had not been sexually abused or hurt in any way, their parents had grounded the young woman for the rest of the time until summer. Charisma not revealing what she did and why she ran away did not help any to relieve the strain that is in the relationship between her and Sandra and Jeffrey D. Morgan.

Wentworth finds it hard to believe that his sister returned all on her own to Santa Monica but since nobody has any clues about what happened and Charisma refuses to talk about the whole incident the only thing he can do is welcome his sister back and ponder about had been going on.



Chapter Twenty-four

At the weekend that Wentworth and Jensen Morgan visit their family, news reaches them. Faster than a wood fire the news spreads that Mr. Jared Padalecki has returned to Santa Monica and that he plans a new exhibition at the gallery during the Easter break.

Jensen Morgan’s reaction to the news is very restrained and he pretends not being affected by Jared Padalecki’s move back to Santa Monica. When another rumour is added to the talks though, the young man cannot help but discuss the situation with his younger brother.

“Mrs. Teri Hatcher told mother that Mr. Padalecki bought the house next doors to Mr. Laurie’s house. The information seems to be valid since father’s sources reported the same. I wonder why he chose this time to acquire property in Santa Monica.”

“It might be that he chooses to stay for a longer time again and does not want to stay with his friend all the time.”

“But he could have easily rented out a place that would have suited for his purposes.”

Wentworth speculates that there is always the chance that Mr. Jared Padalecki has a reason to believe that he will in the future remain more often for a longer time in Santa Monica. He refers to the gallery and the special exhibitions that are planned in summer and in autumn.

“Still I wonder about his motivation about that move. It’s not like it has any impact on me for I am over my infatuation with Mr. Padalecki.”

When his statement is only answered with a disbelieving look from Wentworth, Jensen hurries to point out that he is not in love with the man anymore and that he considers it to be fortunate that he can talk in a group that includes Mr. Padalecki without becoming nervous.

Surprisingly two days after the brother’s speculations about the return of Jared Padalecki, said person visits at their apartment in Palo Alto. Wentworth answers the door only to find Mr. Padalecki waiting. His wordless stare is answered by a slightly hesitant smile.

“Good Morning!”

“Good Morning, Mr. Padalecki!”

Fortunately Wentworth has recovered far enough by then to bid their visitor in. Jensen is out on his morning run and so the younger Morgan brother invites Mr. Padalecki for breakfast.

“I did not know that you were considering to look for accommodations here in Palo Alto. I thought you bought a house in Santa Monica only a short time ago.”

“I am not here to inspect any houses or apartments. Actually I am here to talk to Jensen.”

Wenworth informs Mr. Padalecki that Jensen is out running, but reassures him that he will be back any minute now. The rest of the time is spent in silence since none of the two men know where they stand with the other, and therefore choose to not say anything at all.

Jensen Morgan returns when Wentworth refills Mr. Padalecki’s cup of coffee. The younger brother excuses himself and leaves the two men to each other. He dresses quickly and leaves for his friend Sendhil Ramamurthy.

For reasons unknown it strikes him as odd that the young man showed up without any prior call just to talk to Jensen. Wentworth is distracted all the time while he works on a course project with him and has to excuse himself earlier than he originally planned to leave. On the way back to his apartment the young man wonders what his brother will tell him about Mr. Padalecki’s visit.

At the apartment he finds the place empty but there is a note in his room which was left by his brother.

Wentworth,

Thank you for giving us the chance to talk about what happened last year and this Christmas break.

Jared informed me that there has been a great misunderstanding and that he was led to believe that my interest in his person was not true. He now knows that not to be true though and asked me to consider a relationship with him. He bought the house so he could stay close to me.

We are out for lunch and I might not return before late this evening. I am so glad that things worked out in the end. Thank you once more, brother.

Jensen

Wenworth is merry for this fortunate turn in the whole affair. He considers calling his parents but chooses to refrain from doing so for his brother surely wants to do that himself. The young man wonders though about who told him about Jensen’s true feelings.

After some deeper thinking he still has not found the answer but has become hungry. The preparations and the act of cooking keep the young man busy and he does not even notice his older brother return home. Only when Jensen enters the kitchen to relay in detail the events of the last hour, becomes Wentworth aware of the other person’s presence.

The younger Morgan brother rejoices seeing his brother in such high spirits. The glow that has been gone since last summer is back and increases Jensen’s good looks. Excitedly Jensen Morgan describes the talk between Mr. Padalecki and the older Morgan son. Conversation had been stinted in the beginning but once the misunderstanding had been cleared up there had been an ease and familiarity that had not existed before.

In very clear words Mr. Padalecki had proposed to Jensen and offered time to reflect on the proposition. The offer made includes not only a relationship between the two men but also the possibility of Jared Padalecki moving permanently to Santa Monica to be closer to Jensen.

When Wentworth asks how Mr. Padalecki was made aware of the misunderstanding and why he had chosen to return himself to California for the new exhibition, Jensen cannot answer them to the younger brother’s satisfaction. Wentworth suspects some interference from a third party and he suspects that either Mr. Milo Padalecki or somebody else who knows of the whole story has made Jared Padalecki aware of Mr. Laurie’s ministrations.

Another proof for this theory is the absence of Mr. Laurie. The young man finds himself disappointed by this fact and he wonders if he will ever meet Hugh Laurie again.

Jensen Morgan is anxious to return to Santa Monica and it is a fortunate fact, that in three weeks start the Easter holidays and the two brothers are to return to their family for a whole week. The older brother bridges the time with long phone calls and online chats.