Chapter Text
Lizzie was watching the view count go up, 100, now 500, now 2000. People are fast, are they just sitting by their computers waiting for her to post her video? A thought she used to love and is now wary of.
She was thinking about her video. Why had she said that? Force of nature. Well, it was true, he was, but now she couldn't stop thinking about it. Her choice of words, the way his presence had made her feel, just him in general. The atmosphere of the room always changed when he was around. The air was thicker, objects foggier, perspective askew. She was pacing around in the den with her phone in her hand. She wasn't going to use it. Probably not. She wanted to, but she was nervous. What could she say to William Darcy?
“Um, hi Darcy.”
“Hi, who is this?”
“It’s Lizzie.”
“Oh. Hi.”
“…”
“Listen, I've got a lot of work to do, it’s super important. I have to go.”
click
“oh, ok. Bye.”
Ok, it probably wouldn’t go like that. He’d probably remember her voice, right? Of course he would, she was being dramatic. If she called he would probably be extremely polite and a little awkward, like he always was. She wouldn’t be able to tell what he was feeling unless she could see his face, specifically his mesmerizing blue eyes. With those dark brows that would knit together in an intense stare. Maybe his mouth would quirk up in a slight smirk.
“Lizzie?” Lizzie snapped her head up to see Lydia poking her head in “Why are you staring at your phone like that?” Lydia asks
“oh, I was just… thinking…”
“About Darcy?”
“No” she insists like the stubborn person she is. She narrows her eyes “maybe. I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m thinking.”
“I’m going to put you out of your misery” Lydia says as she heads to sit down on their well-worn couch.
“I’m not miserable, Lydia” she really wanted to assure her sister she was okay. She was trying to be the strong older sister that Lydia could count on. She was determined to be there for her in her time of need, to really listen to her. She had just been... distracted.
“Really? Could have fooled me by the way you were staring at your phone.”
“How was I staring at my phone?”
“Like it holds the answers to all your problems but is purposely not giving them to you. Just come sit.” Lydia was patting the cushion next to her. When did Lydia become the strong together one? Then she thinks sadly that she probably was like this before and she had just chosen not to notice.
“Ok, so I’m totally not supposed to tell you, BUT you need to hear this. You’re dragging the whole house down with your little sighs and sad looks and weird behavior.” Lydia surprised her again. Wasn’t she supposed to be the sad one and Lizzie the one who helps her? She thought she had been more subtle about all that. She was feeling down lately, but she applauded herself that she had been hiding it so well. “Because this is such a major secret, and you’re totally going to owe me, like, big time after this, you need to promise that you won’t let this information go to waste, ok?”
“Okay…” Lizzie responded, not sure if she should agree to these terms.
“It was Darcy.” Lydia blurts out.
“What was Darcy?” Lizzie unconsciously starts to tense up. A warmth from somewhere deep within starts spreading throughout her body. The same way it did when Charlotte brought up his name yesterday. It had only got more intense as their conversation continued before and Lizzie didn’t really want to relive that. “You know, I don’t even wa-“
“Darcy got the video taken down. It was him. And Gigi.” All Lizzie could do at the moment was stare back at Lydia “Ya, so apparently he like, went on a hunt for Geo- for Wickham, but they couldn’t find the sneaky bastard so Gigi ended up calling him and he downloaded some program or something and then Darcy went after him.” At this point Lizzie’s mouth was hanging open. Lydia went on “he found him, threatened him until he got the information he needed about that stupid company and then he bought the company and stopped it all.”
Lizzie needed a minute to take it all in “He threatened him?” she asked, imagining all 6 feet 2 inches of Darcy standing over a whimpering Wickham. It was not an unpleasant thought.
“Ya, Darcy told him that he’d help me sue him for so much that every penny he ever made in his entire pathetic life would belong to me. That scared Wickham, so he ended up giving Darcy the information.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Well, he called me. Befo-“
“He called you?”
“Ya, it was super awkward at first. He wouldn’t even let me talk in the beginning, which, as you know is hard to do. He called me before he went to take down Wickham. He told me he knew where Wickham was and that he was going to stop him, if that’s what I wanted.” Lizzie sat in silence staring across the room. That warmth that had temporarily been stopped by her astonishment was back and more intense than ever. Lizzie had a million questions but she couldn’t really form them into coherent thoughts.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks half-heartedly, still trying to rearrange some thoughts.
“He made me promise not to. He was dead serious. He made me promise it, like, five times. He had a whole speech about why it was important to him that no one know. And I was totally on board with that until now, seeing how sad you are when you don’t have to be. Sisters first, right?" Lydia flashes Lizzie a bright smile that Lizzie tries to return, but she ends up grimacing instead "Lizzie, he’s OBVIOUSLY still into you, you need to just snap out of it and call that hot piece of mancake!”
The millions of questions floating around in her head were starting to make her feel dizzy; she couldn’t even scold Lydia for calling Darcy a mancake. Then, like the force of nature he is, Darcy popped into her head clearing away all her confused thoughts. His warm bicep under her hand, his shoulder gently rubbing against hers, his hand on her shoulder, on the small of her back…
“Ok.” Lizzie stands up. Decision made.
“Yes! You’re going to call him?”
“No” she says as she searches the room “I’m going to San Francisco.”
“Really? That’s like a six hour drive!” Lydia responds excitedly.
“It’s okay, it’s early, I’ll still get into the city at a pretty good time.” Darcy will still be at his office, she thinks. He always worked late.
Lizzie didn’t even stop to grab anything except her phone and purse. In a few hours, sitting in her hot car, she’ll wish she thought about this a little more. A toothbrush and some clothes probably would have come in handy after a 6 hour car ride.
She’s just about to run out the door when her thoughts clear for a second. Lydia. She goes back into the den, Lydia’s already got her phone out and is texting someone furiously. Lizzie grabs her in a hug and squeezes.
“Lydia, Thank you, really.”
“No problem, sis. Like I said, you owe me big time.”
“You’re the best, I love you.”
“Love ya too, sis. About time you realize who the best Bennet sister is!”
Lizzie laughs and runs out to her car. She’s got six hours to think about what she’s going to say when she sees him. Hopefully by the time gets there she thinks of something good.