Disclaimer: I don't own Pride and Prejudice or the Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
I don't know where this idea came from, but I love The Beatles, and I think Darcy would too. So, this will just be a couple stories of how Darcy knew Lizzie was perfect and such. Yeaaaah.
Thanks for reading!
For as long as he could remember The Beatles had been a constant in his childhood house, and he has fond memories of his parents cooking dinner to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band and his father spinning his mother around the room elegantly. He can still recall his happiness at the first time his mother grabbed him off his stool and danced with him while "When I'm 64" was pumping through the speakers. By the time Gigi was 3, she was humming "With a Little Help From My Friends" at all hours of the day, and constantly asking Will to sing to her.
After the accident began the time of going through all his parents' possessions and deciding what its new home should be. The clothes were donated except for some of his dad's cufflinks and his mother's dresses, the books adapted into his personal library, and their furniture spread throughout the rest of the house and their ski lodge. Eventually, Gigi's apartment would also gain some of the furniture their parents had purchased when starting their new life together. His parent's complete box set of The Beatles remained in their sanctioned spot in the living room, next to the stereo. It was such a big part of their childhood that neither him nor Gigi could imagine getting rid of them; instead, the box set sat untouched and the stereo silent. There were no more impromptu dances in the kitchen or duets sang in the car, and no more debates on if John or Ringo was the best.
Darcy begged Bing to let him skip out on this wedding- after all he'd only been in town a few days and would know no one and he wasn't even that close to the groom, so he really shouldn't be obligated to go and it is rather annoying to be expected to attend a function where everyone is a stranger. But Bing merely tuned out his complaints with a simple shake of his head and firm "You're going and that's final." He had pouted for the entirety of the two days before the wedding, hoping Bing would see just how miserable he was but without success. He found himself being shoved into a car and driven toward the banquet hall with a feeling of unease growing in his stomach.
It's not that he didn't want to attend- he actually really liked the groom and looked forward to catching up. And this wouldn't be the first event where he knew very little people and would be forced into many social interactions in order to make acquaintances. On the contrary, he spared very little anxiety at the idea of small talk with the locals of the town. Bing would never guess and Darcy would never tell, but the reason he truly wanted to avoid going was because of the reception. It had happened at every wedding reception he had ever been to, and every one he would probably ever go to. Logically, it made sense- it was upbeat and encouraged people to get up from their tables and migrate to the dance floor. Not to mention it appealed to all generations and all dancers. Darcy repeated that mantra to himself over and over again, preparing himself for when the DJ would inevitably play "Twist and Shout". He was sitting at his designated table, just having finished dinner when the familiar bars started to fade in.
He felt the familiar tug at the bottom of his stomach as a different wedding reception came to his mind. It was the summer her turned 8 and his mother was 6 months pregnant with Gigi. One of the senior executive's son was getting married to his college sweetheart, and in the weeks leading up to the ceremony, nothing else was spoken of at Pemberley Inc. He remembers his mother buying him his first bowtie for the event, because Darcy had requested one to match his fathers. She had also bought him matching suspenders on a whim, because she thought it was just too adorable. Darcy can still remember the pride he felt when his father finished tying his tie and stepped back to admire his handiwork and ruffled Darcy's hair and said "Looking good, kiddo." That night was the first night he learned that other people liked The Beatles just like his parents. His delight at watching other people spin around to "Twist and Shout" only mirrored his mother's as her father tickled her stomach while spinning her. It was one thing to watch his parents dancing in the kitchen; it was another to see them together on a dance floor.
He pulled out his phone and quickly composed a message to Gigi.
Miss you.
He didn't have to wait long for Gigi's reply. He chuckled quietly to himself as he read what she had sent him.
"Twist and Shout" off the 'Please, Please Me' album, released in March of 1963.
He stopped questioning how Gigi did things like that- how she knew exactly what was making him miss a wedding she only sort-of attended. He chalked it up to her being Gigi and having been the only ones together for so long, but he knew it was different. She was the greatest thing in his life, plain and simple. He turned his eyes back to the dance floor, praying for the song to end soon- though he knew there was still another two minutes left. He shook his head and focused on the dancing attendees. He would wager a significant amount of money that not a single person in the banquet hall could name a single Beatle's album- much less the album that song they were currently dancing to made its debut. His eyes focused on one of the few people still left sitting down. Her auburn hair was pinned at the nape of her neck and her blue earrings matched her simple, strapless summer dress quite nicely. Her eyes were lit with amusement at the two redheads dancing near her, wildly twisting their hips and spinning in quick circles, all the while gesturing her to join in. She simply shook her head and remained seated, watching the crowd intently like he was. He watched as her feet tapped elegantly to the beat and she laughed as the younger-looking red head spun straight into another couple and toppled to the ground. It was at this accident that the girl finally stood and walked over to the girl on the ground. She was still laughing slightly as she reached a hand out to pull her to her feet and fix her dress. He watched as the older girl quickly spun the younger girl and tickled her stomach, causing both girls to explode into another laughing fit. It had been years since he had seen any one do that, and he felt another pang of sadness hit his chest. The girl continued to laugh as she and, what he assumed, her sisters finished dancing to the song together, all the while spinning and twisting into each other.
Later, during a much less fun song and dance, he would learn that her name was Lizzie and her sister Jane was the one who had been dancing with Bing all night. There would be no spinning or tickling or laughing during their dance, nor there as many people on the dance floor with them. If someone were to ask him, he would tell you he really doesn't remember much of what happened during that dance or the reception all together. He could tell you that the bride and groom shoved cake at each other, he had caught the garter and she the bouquet, and it had been painfully long. The only true detail he can remember is the way her hair fanned out around her face as she spun and danced with her sisters and how much it reminded him of another woman he had watched spin all his life.
