It was late in the afternoon of a day that had been spent lazily in bed, resting, laughing and making love. Two bodies lay comfortably beside each other watching the screen before them as they grazed at plates of food.

"I don't know," Caroline said, "I still think Jeremy Brett was better."

Faust glanced at her briefly before returning to the screen. "Well, that goes without saying. Are you going to eat that?"

Without comment or thought, she passed her half-finished sandwich to him. It was one of their odd compatibilities; she ate like a bird, he ate like a horse, but both remained thin as rails. "Are you staying tonight?"

"That was my plan," he said, as he smiled at her, "Unless you want me to go."

She cuddled closer. "I do enjoy having you all to myself."

"Likewise," he murmured as he lifted her chin and kissed her.

"Mmm, but I worry about the tour."

"Caro, the tour will be okay for one night. They're just driving to Seattle and unpacking. They'll call us if anything happens."

Fate could not ignore an invitation like that, but the interruption did not come from the phone, but from Caroline's laptop, which dinged loudly to announce that she had email.

"Leave it," he said as she moved.

"I just want to check and I'll come right back."

Rolling away to look back at the TV screen, Faust waited.

"It's here!" Caroline announced.

"Good, now come back to bed."

"Just a minute," Caroline said distractedly as the printer came on and started producing pages of type.

Faust gave up what he knew it was a losing battle. Caroline had been distracted ever since Suzanne had called earlier, saying she would email the drafts of the interviews over as soon as they were ready. While Caroline had a professional responsibility to make sure they were fairly written and presented the bands in a positive light, Faust also knew enough of his lover to know she was also just flat out nosey.

"So, I'm assuming you are going to read your brother's first?"

Caroline looked at him like he had grown a second head and Faust laughed at her. "You're the one who likes sappy love stories, you read it," she said as she climbed back into the large bed and handed him a set of papers.

"You're starting with Darcy's?" he said with a knowing grin.

Caroline was already reading, "Oh, listen to this:

Fitzwilliam Darcy (28) is without a doubt the most well known member of the super-successful rock trio Slurry. The master guitarist is well known in the press as a flamboyant playboy whose name has been connected again and again with whispers of scandal that have never been proven, but are widely believed.

Upon meeting Darcy, I am struck by his physical appearance. He's very tall, (6'4") yet moves with an almost feline grace."

Faust rolled his eyes and muttered something about "yeah, when he doesn't have a stick up his-"

SMACK Caroline hit him with her papers and continued reading.

He is dressed in his trademark black, his clothes revealing that he is as fit as he appears on stage.

"How much longer does this go on for?"

"I'll skip ahead."

The world first learned about Darcy's relationship with Lizzy Bennet when she was arrested in August on drug charges which were soon dismissed. Bennet, aged 25, had been gathering increasing attention for her work in her band Long Borne Suffering. The arrest propelled her to the front page, especially when her relationship with Darcy was revealed.

Since then, rumors have been following the couple as they continue on the Grind Tour, fueled by the large diamond Lizzy has been seen wearing on her left hand.

"We're engaged," Darcy confirms publicly for the first time. The couple has not set a date, stating, "We'll worry about it after the tour."

I ask the couple about their relationship, and how it came to be.

"We'd never met before the tour," Darcy explains.

"I hadn't even seen him on stage before the tour," Bennet adds, laughing.

Darcy gives her with a look of affection. "And I think we both tried to fight the initial attraction, because we were both very focused on our careers."

Bennet agrees, "I know it took me a long time to overcome the image of 'Fitzwilliam Darcy, Guitar God' and the prejudices I had created in my own mind, and get to know the real person. And even then it was hard to believe that he could be interested in me."

"I was interested," Darcy laughs, speaking more to Bennet then me. "I was captivated, but I had no idea you didn't see it."

"I started to see it, but then you backed off, and then I backed off, and then there were the VMA's," she's smiling, and turns to me. "It was like we could communicate non-verbally, but as soon as we started talking, we got off track."

The attraction that had flared between them was being smothered by the pressures of the road. The couple needed to escape the tour, and their roles in it to allow the relationship to bloom.

"The tour had a break in July, and were separated for most of it. During that time, Elizabeth and I met, quite by accident, at Tanglewood where I was performing, and it was there that we were able to discover each other outside of our 'tour personas', and we found that were more alike then we knew."

"That's when the relationship really took off," Bennet says with a smile.

"This relationship never could have happened if we didn't respect each other, as artists and as professionals. Music has been a huge part of our relationship, because it's an important part of who we are. Our music is our main, best mode of expression, and by coming to understand each other's music, we were able to understand, and love, each other."

But it wasn't until Bennet's arrest on drug charges that they-"

"Blah, blah, blah, we know that part. Enough of this, is there anything we don't already know?"

"Umm, said Caroline, scanning. "Oh, this part's good."

Faust gave her a doubtful look, but listened as she read.

I ask them about their plans for the future.

Bennet laughs. "There is a song Will wrote, called Crawling in the Dark, and it's about not knowing what lies ahead. That's the way I've been feeling lately. After this year, I can't even try to predict what's ahead of us."

"I can," Darcy says, "We're going to be happy together. We're going to do what we love."

Bennet smiles and squeezes his hand.

Darcy turns to me again, "It sounds trite, but it's not. One thing I've learned with Elizabeth is the willingness to accept new ideas without prejudging them. She's right; in many ways we are crawling in the dark, but we aren't uncomfortable in that situation. It's more a state of finding our path, and if that means we have to build a new path to go down, then we can do that."

Caroline stopped, a thoughtful look on her face. Her lover knew what she was thinking; she was pondering her future and all the what-ifs that had been left behind. He also knew it was best to move on. "That was lovely, now it's my turn to read." Faust announced.

Caroline smiled gratefully and rested her head on his chest, letting his London accented voice wash over her.

I was intrigued by the opportunity to meet Charles Bingley. Slurry's popular front man is known for his engaging personality on stage, but he's the most reclusive member when it comes to the press, rarely giving out interviews.

Bingley, (27) a tall, Bay-area native, came in hand-in-hand with Jane Bennet, the sister of Lizzy Bennet and the other creative half of LBS creative dynamo, and I knew something was up.

"That's not very nice to say about Char."

"Well, Charlotte doesn't write any songs, does she?"

Caroline shrugged and Faust continued reading.

Jane is a 26-year-old beauty whose stunning good looks and evocative voice have quickly made her a favorite of photographers.

With obvious pleasure, they announced that cupid's arrow had struck again and that not only were they engaged to be married shortly after the end of the tour, but that they are expecting twins this spring.

Both of them laugh good-naturedly at my surprise. "It's been hard keeping this secret," Bingley adds kindly. "With the twins, we knew that we didn't have much time, so we thought this would be a good way of letting it out."

I am surprised. I knew that there were three relationships to cover, but nothing had prepared me for babies.

"She knew? But she hasn't covered Richard and Charlotte yet."

"I think Lizzy told her in order to get the interview."

"We plan on returning to our home in California after the tour and having the babies there," Bennet explains, with a fond look at Bingley. "Then we're going to both take some time off from touring and work on projects from home."

"Both bands want to record new CD's and after that, I think we are going to focus on our children for the next year," Bingley adds. "We are not quitting the bands, that's for certain, and we will tour again. But when you look at the big picture, it's more important for me to have this time with the babies, rather then being out on the road away from them and Jane."

Bennet says nothing at this, and I sense she is pulling away from the conversation.

I ask Bingley about family. "Family is very important to me. I've always been very close to my parents and I'm sure you know that Caro, my sister, is our tour manager. "

Charles and Caroline Bingley are themselves twins and are described by everyone as being very close.

I ask Bennet about how they came together. Did she have the same difficulties as her sister? "Oh no," she replies quickly. "I think I fell in love with Charles at first sight."

"I know I did," Bingley adds with conviction. "I saw Jane performing, and I knew right then she was the one."

Bennet blushes slightly at this. "Of course, it took a little while for our relationship to develop, but," she smiles, "it didn't take long." Sitting together, arm in arm, Bennet and Bingley are a vision of domestic happiness and frankly, I'm not buying it.

"OH My God!" Caroline shouted, laughing so hard that Faust had to stop and let her recover. "Does it really say that?"

"Read it yourself." He pointed out the words on the paper, producing more laughter from Caroline. When she quieted down to just the occasional giggle, he asked, "May I continue?"

...I'm not buying it. This is Charles Bingley, whose well known for singing the "Smack my ass" song and whose name has been connected with some very interesting women, including Shannon Doherty and Carmen Electra. I ask him about this.

He laughs, completely unembarrassed. "I'm no church-boy, that's for sure, and I'm certainly not trying to make anyone think I am. However, I'm very happy with my life right now, and I'm comfortable with who I am. I'm a performer; I love that part of my life. And yes, I sing about sex." He shrugs, "I like sex a lot. I don't know too many people who don't. But I sing about other things as well. I don't think you can classify Slurry's work as being solely about one topic."

Bennet sits up, and the cuteness is gone. "You should also know Charles didn't write Control. I'm not apologizing for it. I think it's a good song and frankly, songs about sex, even wild sex, have are nothing new. I don't believe, no matter what Slurry's critics say, that Control or any of their other songs, are going to cause society's moral decline and ruin."

"The way I look at it," Bingley adds, "is that every sexual act, Hell, every act between two people, is about control. Someone is doing something to someone; someone is letting them do that. That's what happens in human sexual relations, and anyone who's had sex knows it. That's what the song is about. It's about that giving and taking of control, and the emotions that go along with it."

I'm finding I have to rethink my assessment. Clearly there is more here than at first glance. "Charles, you are described as the most outgoing member of Slurry on stage, why have you been so reticent when it comes to the press?"

"Do you really think the press has needed my help? They seem to find plenty to cover on Slurry. I didn't think you needed more material," he explains slyly. "We know we can't escape the media attention, even if we would sometimes prefer it. That's why we're here today. But I honestly don't think I'm that interesting, to the press. I'm a musician, I do my job, I have a fiancé, and a family on the way. That's really all there is."

I ask Bennet about her experience with the media. "It's been really mixed. We were first covered as being the third opening band for the Grind tour, and many people were taking about how that seemed to be a doomed position. Then there was the coverage of the bottle incident, then Lizzy's arrest. Frankly, I've been surprised at how few good things the press has found to say about the band, but I guess that is their job."

"I'm afraid that even what we have talked about today will be twisted into something negative. I wish I could be believed when I tell people that I do love Charles, with all my heart and that I'm not doing it for money or fame."

"Okay, enough of this. It's making me sick."

Faust lifted an eyebrow, "It's not that bad."

"It's my brother," Caroline said, "it's that bad. Would you want to read a love story, with details, about your sister?"

"Alright, you've made your point. Richard and Char then?"

Caroline picked up the last set of pages, settled against him, and began reading.

I'm looking forward to the final appointment. Richard Fitzwilliam, Slurry's drummer, doesn't have the string of rumors that follow Darcy like a parade, but insiders say that he, not his cousin, is the real party animal.

He walks in and I'm not disappointed. He looks exactly like a prototypical rock star: long hair, jeans, big well-muscled drummer's arms, and miles of tattoos.

"God, do you think she needed to change her panties after this or what?"

Faust looked away as he smiled, and Caroline knew she had embarrassed him, even as he agreed with her.

He greeted me with a surprising degree of politeness, his easygoing charm winning me over right away. When I get ready to begin, he asks me to wait for Charlotte Lucas, who he's expecting momentarily.

Less then a minute later Lucas appears. She is the drummer for Long Borne Suffering. She seems tiny besides the towering Fitzwilliam. Her dark hair is cut in a sleek, flattering style and she's wearing a tight vinyl tank top and pants, under a long leather duster. She apologizes to me for being late, explaining she was shopping for the photo shoot.

Then she turns to Fitzwilliam, who is gasping like a trout, and things get interesting.

Lucas turns in a circle for him, and asks if he likes it, and he is reduced to nodding. He shifts himself awkwardly as she sits down beside him. As he struggled to regain the use of his mouth, I start with Lucas (27).

"Well, now we know what happened to them," Caroline said dryly.

"I told you Char was seen with handcuffs. Has the hotel stopped complaining about the noise?"

Caroline shook her head." They gave up. It wasn't helping. I think they have just stopped putting people in the adjoining suites and are planning on billing Richard for them."

"That'll work."

When asked about her relationship with the man beside her, Charlotte smiles brightly. "We're engaged."

Those words seem to break the spell Fitzwilliam is under. He suddenly has one arm around her back and the other is holding her hand. "Char is the most important person in my life, and I'm so happy she has agreed to marry me.

This does get my attention; three relationships in two bands. Fitzwilliam laughs, "Yeah, we're getting the water tested." He has a relaxed way about him, which is sharply punctuated as he periodically reacts to Lucas. I'm getting the feeling that it will be a challenge to hold on to his attention.

I ask them about how their relationship started, comparing it to their band mates. "Oh, we were the normal ones. We just started having sex."

Fitzwilliam grins and nods, "It's true. We started out being purely physical. And that really worked for us."

Fitzwilliam is clearly still working with Lucas on a physical level as he tries to slip his hands on her. Lucas fixes him with a blistering look and continues talking. "For us, the hard part was moving past that physical level and trusting each other with our emotions."

Fitzwilliam seems to remember I'm here as I ask him about the difficulties of a 'Rock Star relationship'. "It's hard. I'm not going to tell you otherwise. We travel for months at a time and it's a real challenge to remain grounded in that atmosphere. You get in a very weird headspace, feeling disconnected with the rest of the world. That's part of the business, but that's also when you get into trouble."

Fitzwilliam's been in trouble before. Two years ago, he was arrested for DWI. "I'm an alcoholic," he states flatly. "I'm in recovery, but that never goes away. " He looks at Lucas, and I see communication between them. "That's been a stumbling block in our relationship too. It's difficult for anyone who's in recovery to let him or herself be loved. You have a lot of issues with self-worth and you're hypersensitive to the fact that you don't want to drag someone, especially someone you love, into a co-dependant role."

Lucas takes his hand as he says this. She is radiating love and support. "I'm not blind to Richard's problems, and how they have affected me. But when you love someone, you don't get to pick just the good parts of them. You love them for who they are, and they love you, and together, you work out a balance."

I ask them about their plans, and they both laugh. Fitzwilliam says, "Right now we're just trying to finish the tour. We take things one day at a time."

Lucas nods, "We're not really the planning members of the groups." They laugh again.

"Plus we're both the type who manage to always land on our feet, so we can take it easy right now, and not worry about the future. It'll come soon enough."

"They're good," Faust said softly.

"Yeah, I know. Surprises the hell out of me," Caroline said.

"Caro," he said, a mixture of sadness and concern in his voice. "I've clearly been neglecting you, if that's the best you can see in people."

"It's not negativity, I'm just being realistic", she argued. "None of them are going to have an easy time of it, and I think Rich and Char have most difficult road ahead of them." She looks away, "Sometimes relationships fail, even for good people. There's no bad guy, they just don't work out." She motioned towards the papers, "We've got three relationships that are in a very high stress situation. The odds for them are not great. Richard even said so."

He looked at her for a long moment, and she waited, knowing that his silence was as meaningful as his words. "We've got four relationships, Caro." Caroline said nothing, but her lips became a thin line, as her eye's searched his. "And I have faith in all of them."

Caroline choked back a sob and she put her hand up to caress his face as she kissed him. It was rare that either of them talked about their relationship. Theirs was different from the others, she realized, because they were different people. They weren't artists, who were at home in the spotlight. Their feelings were kept quiet and well managed, just like their lives, but Caroline realized, as she slid down on the bed and into his arms, they were just as strong as any, and their happiness was just as sweet.

End