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It had been a few weeks since the “Incident”, as it had come to be known in the Bennet household. While things weren’t exactly back to normal just yet, Lizzie was finally able to stop worrying about her sisters and focus on her schoolwork. While she didn’t regret cutting her independent study short to be with Lydia in her time of need, she did realize just how far back it put her and it was looking as though the next few weeks were going to be a scramble to finish her thesis. She was missing interviews, and some key statistics about Pemberley, and trying to formulate a coherent and comprehensive report without those details was proving to be difficult. Lizzie rarely left her room, except for bathroom breaks and to sneak food and tea occasionally. The last social interaction she had experienced about something other than Lydia or her thesis was seeing Jane off to New York, a bittersweet send-off that still stung when she thought about it. At least she had Lydia to take her mind off of things. While she wasn’t anywhere near the vivacious whirlwind of energy that she had been prior to the Incident, Lydia was slowly emerging from her shell. She had started spending more time with her old friends, was back to school being tutored by Mary, and had even gone out tonight.
“At least some things have gone back to normal…” Lizzie sighed as she proofread yet another page of her thesis. She was curled up on her bed in leggings and a sweatshirt from her alma mater, her hair piled high on top of her head, and the glasses that she rarely wore perched precariously on the end of her nose. She couldn’t help but imagine old Lydia saying reason number nineteen why Lizzie Bennet is perpetually single. She didn’t HAVE to be single; there had been one suitor in recent months… too bad she had messed that up. Lizzie flopped back in exasperation, regretting allowing her mind to wander in that particular direction. Thankfully, the cheerful chime of her text alert interrupted her self-pity party.
heey nerd!sis can you come pick me&eems up from carter’s? emma && i had a weeee bit more to draank than we meant to & cant drive. xxxooooo lydeeaaaah
Lizzie glanced over her glasses to read the text. She sighed, and quickly texted back. be there in 10ish, i’ll wait outside.
“I’m going to pick Lydia up from Carter’s, be home in a bit!” Lizzie called towards her dad’s study as she grabbed her windbreaker and car keys. She pulled on a pair of sneakers as she walked out towards the car, just as rain had started to fall. “Typical” she groaned as she flipped her hood up over her head.
Thirty minutes later, Lizzie was sitting in the parking lot at Carter’s, still waiting impatiently for Lydia and Emma to stumble out of the bar. The girls weren’t responding to texts nor were they answering her phone calls, and Lizzie was growing more and more irritated. With a groan of annoyance, Lizzie clambered out of her car and stomped towards the bar, fully intending to drag both her errant sister and friend out by their hair if she had to. She nodded familiarly towards the bouncer, a former high school classmate who knew exactly why she was there and waved her through. Feeling incredibly out of place in her lazy day sweats, she scanned the crowd for a whirlwind of red hair, and instead saw a set of broad shoulders in a crisp and impeccably tailored white shirt, sitting alone at the bar and nursing a glass of scotch, neat.
Lizzie felt the colour rise in her cheeks and the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She hadn’t expected to see Darcy anytime soon, let alone at the local dive bar, but there he was, looking brooding and forlorn and surprisingly human. While she’d understood his silence since the Incident, she hadn’t come to terms with it. The last few days at Pemberley had felt… different, to say the least. Part of her had started to see a future where William Darcy was an integral part of her life, but it had seemed as though that fantasy had quickly been burst. But here she was, standing in a too-big sweatshirt in a greasy bar, with everything to gain and nothing to lose. Realizing he hadn’t noticed her yet (early on at Pemberley she had wondered if Darcy had Lizzie senses, as he always managed to leave a room immediately prior to her entering it), Lizzie garnered up the courage and took the stool next to him. “Mind if I join?”
Startled out of his musings, Darcy glanced up at his new companion, and his eyes widened. “Ms. Bennet… I – I wasn’t expected you.”
“I figured that.” Lizzie waved the bartender away when he came to take her order, shaking her car keys as an excuse. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you still be in San Francisco?”
“Bing was here a few days ago, as I’m sure you know.” Darcy shrugged. “He wanted some emotional support, and I felt an obligation to offer it. I wasn’t ready to leave when he was, so I’m taking advantage of the peace and quiet to finish up some work before going back.” He threw back the last of his drink and motioned for another. “I got… distracted for a few weeks and needed some time to catch up.”
Lizzie blushed. “Thank you for that, by the way.”
“Lizzie I –“ Darcy started to speak, but was shushed quickly.
“No, let me finish.” Lizzie took a deep breath, and let the emotions of the last few weeks come to the surface for the first time. “I know what you did for my sister. I know that you put your own reputation, the reputation of your company and your family, as well as your personal safety on the line to help her, and I am forever grateful for what you did, but even more so for why you did it.” She smiled sadly and rested her hand lightly on his arm. “You’re a remarkable man, William Darcy. I know that we had a… rocky start, to say the least, but I’d like to start over, if you’re okay with that.”
Darcy looked taken aback for a moment, and shook his head. “I’m not okay with that, to be frank.”
Lizzie quickly pulled away, and furrowed her brow in confusion. “Oh. Okay then, well, I’ll leave you to your drink.” She felt the tears welling up in her eyes, and reached up to brush them away. “Goodbye Darcy.” She stood up and rushed out the door and into the rain, holding back sobs, not seeing the look that crossed Darcy’s face as she ran away.
Lydia and Emma were leaning against the car when she made it across the parking lot, holding their clutches over their heads while waiting for her to unlock the doors. “Hey loser! We’ve been waiting like, foreeever for you!” Lydia’s frowned, seeing her older sister’s expression. “Hey, you okay?”
Lizzie snuffled, and nodded. “I will be.” She looked back at Carter’s, and then put on a smile for the younger girls. “Did you have a good night?”
“Oh my God, sooo good! It was totes amazeballs, right Em?!” Lydia chattered excitedly as she folded herself into the passenger seat, her rambling putting a genuine smile on Lizzie’s face. Lizzie half-listened as she went to start the car, but was startled by a knocking on the window. A nearly-drenched William Darcy smiled sheepishly at her. Lizzie sighed, told the girls to give her a minute, and climbed back out of the car.
“What can I do for you, Darcy?” Lizzie crossed her arms defensively, and leaned back against the door of her car. “I thought you made yourself pretty clear back in the bar.”
Darcy scrubbed his hands over his face and back through his hair, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. “I might only be saying this because I’ve had too much to drink, but that doesn’t make it any less true. In fact, I think it makes it even more honest because I’ve always been a bit of a rambler when I’m inebriated.” He looked down at his feet, and then up through his lashes at Lizzie. “You didn’t let me finish, Lizzie. You said you wanted a fresh start. I don’t want that, not in the slightest.” He reached out to touch her shoulder, and squeezed gently. “Our relationship, as tumultuous as it’s been, has been eye-opening for me. I don’t ever want to forget any moment of it, even the moments that you’ve hated me.” He waited to gauge her reaction, and seeing no indication telling him to stop talking, continued. “Yes, I helped Lydia by dealing with that insufferable lowlife. But I didn’t do it just for her. I did it for you. I did it because I still love you Elizabeth Bennet, and if you’ll have me, if your opinion of me has changed at all, I’d like to spend as much of the foreseeable as I can proving just how much I love you.”
Lizzie’s face broke into a smile at these last words, and she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and smothering him in an embrace. “Of course I’ll have you, William Darcy.” She pulled away and looked up into his eyes, standing on her tiptoes to steal a quick kiss. “I’ll have you today, and tomorrow, and the day after that.” Darcy grinned and pulled her close, burying his nose into her hair and inhaling her scent. They stood like that for a while, until they were interrupted by Lydia clearing her throat.
“Should we call a cab or something? Because as stoked as I am to see my dorky big sister finally get with my even dorkier saviour, I’d really like to go home and eat my weight in French fries.”
Darcy and Lizzie glanced at each other, and broke into laughter. “C’mon, I’ll drive you home.” Lizzie stood up on tiptoes again to whisper in his ear. “And maybe, after I’ve dropped off these two, I’ll come back and we can pick up where we left off.” She waggled her eyebrows and pulled him towards the car.
Darcy flushed and followed. Carter’s was officially his new favourite bar.