I've wanted to write an LBD fanfic for a while now, but as Hank Green pointed out, creating is terrifying, especially in a fandom that's as high quality as LBD. So, here's my humble addition. No Lizzie/Darcy beyond a little hint here or there, sorry for anyone that's looking for that. This is going to be focused pretty solely on Lydia, and how she gets from where she is as of Episodes 69 and 70 to going off to Brighton and her own downfall. I don't know how far into the arc I'll go yet. That's going to depend a little on how fast the episodes get us there. Sorry for any mistakes I may have made. With that, I hope you like the story.

Lydia Bennet glared at her laptop, scrolling through the admissions requirements on the Fresno State website. She'd forgotten how hard it was to get into real college. Her high school years hadn't exactly been very...academic, meaning even the party schools she'd wanted to go to wouldn't take her with her low GPA and less-than-stellar SAT scores. So, community college it was. While her work ethic there hadn't been that great either, she felt ready to turn over a new leaf. Her midterms had been awesome, so all she had to do was get Mary to help her when finals rolled around, and she'd finally move on to a real school. She could already imagine the conversation with Lizzie, "Yeah, I'm totes acing my classes. I'm almost as much of a nerd as you are, except I'm actually fun and not totally depressing."

This, however, was a lot more work than she thought it was. All this stuff about foundation classes and minimum GPAs made her long for a drink. She couldn't even apply until next fall anyway, considering she'd already missed the deadline. Oh, well. She didn't really need to be worrying about college yet anyway, right? It's not like it was that big of a deal. Plenty of people got community college degrees and they did just fine. She was sexy and cool and fun and talented. Everyone on the internet said so. It wasn't like she wouldn't find a job somewhere.

She closed out of the page and threw her laptop off to the side on her bed. What to do now? Jane had left a few days ago, so she could always raid her closet. She wouldn't mind. In fact, Jane was always giving Lydia clothes, which Lydia suspected was a sisterly attempt to get her to cover up a bit more. She could play with Kitty for a while. "Or," she thought, smirking as she heard Lizzie's raised voice across the hall, "I could go put in an appearance on Lizzie's vlog." That was it. Lizzie had been moping ever since Jane had left. She could probably use a little fun, and no one was better at fun than Lydia Bennet.

She got up and crept across the hall, hoping to make a sneak attack. She stood just outside the door to Lizzie's room, listening for whatever complaints or snarky impersonations she was doing this week. Timing was everything, so she'd have to wait until a particularly dull moment to make her entrance. "So, I've decided Jane was right. I need to face my fears..." Lydia tuned out for a second as Lizzie started talking about her project. Was she really going on about that again? She got it. Lizzie was graduating. Her thesis was important. Blah blah blah. She wasn't leaving until May, so who cared? She started turning the doorknob, pushing her bangs out of her eyes, when Lizzie's next words stopped her cold, "I took Professor Gardiner up on her offer to visit Pemberley Media. I leave the day after tomorrow. Don't worry, though, I'll still do my videos from there."

Lydia frowned, moving away from the door, drawing her hand off the knob as if it was on fire. She sank down against the wall, sitting on the floor and attempting to process what she'd just heard. Lizzie was leaving again? But...she'd only just gotten back. It was Christmas, for God's sake. Why couldn't she just ignore Mom for a few weeks and stick around? It was no fun when no one else was at home. Sure, she had Mary, but she had work and Eddie and Lydia didn't want to screw things up after last time. Her other friends...well, they were all too busy worrying about requirements and majors and choosing classes for next year. They had other friends now, new college friends who all talked about their jobs and their futures. Lydia didn't really like the future. It was too far away and too hard to think about.

She sat there for a while, thinking about it all. She barely noticed the door opening until she saw Lizzie standing in front of her, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Lydia? Were you listening in again?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" Lydia blurted out, regretting the words the second they came out of her mouth. They were too sad. She wasn't sad around Lizzie. She wasn't sad around anyone, except Mary sometimes.

Lizzie shrugged, "I don't know. I didn't tell anyone, except Charlotte and Jane. I wasn't sure Mom would be too thrilled I was leaving so soon. She probably had plenty of handsome suitors lined up to introduce me to. I didn't really think you'd care that much, Lydia."

Lydia, thousand-watt smile already pasted back on, waved a hand, "I don't. I just wanted to say goodbye to the viewers before you go. Your videos obvs need more adorbs."

"Make your own videos, Lydia. Isn't that why I've been plugging them for the last two weeks?" Lizzie replied.

"It's so much work to make videos when I can just show up on yours." Lydia whined, wrinkling her nose. "Besides, you still owe me for Ricky Collins."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Fine. I think Charlotte's still in there. Ask her if you can film something and she'll edit it in. I have to go tell Mom and Dad."

"Have fun!" Lydia trilled as Lizzie stalked down the stairs. Once she was out of sight, Lydia walked back into her own room, throwing herself down on her bed and staring at the ceiling. So, it was true. Lizzie was leaving, and she hadn't even planned on telling her. But, of course she'd told Charlotte and Jane. The responsible, smart people got to know everything, but Lydia the mess gets left in the dark, pushed out of the way. Well, she was smart. She was an adult. She just had to let Lizzie know that. That was why she had to get into real college and soon. She'd keep looking. Maybe there was a college that had an application deadline in January. All she knew was she had to get out of the house. She'd beat them all to it and leave them first.

Where had Lizzie said she was going? Pemberley something something? She grabbed her laptop once again, entering the name into Google. After trying a few different spellings, she finally found what she was looking for. Pemberley Media, main offices in Los Angeles, CA, affiliates in London, Tokyo, and New York. CEO...Lydia gasped as she saw the two words that followed. William Darcy. Lizzie was ditching her at Christmas to hang with Darce? She shook her head, and almost laughed, even though it didn't feel all that funny. So much for family first. Apparently Lizzie would prefer to spend Christmas with a douchebag who had insulted her and everything she loved.

Lydia shut her laptop, suddenly claustrophobic inside of the house. She needed to be outside, at Mary's, at Carter's, anywhere else. She wanted to get into some trouble. Not just wanted, she had to. She rifled through her closet, searching for something that made her look 22. Eventually she settled on a sequined hot pink top, a barely-there white miniskirt, and a pair of high heels that looked like a disaster waiting to happen. This was definitely a Carter's kind of a night.

After throwing on the clothes and touching up her makeup, Lydia teetered into the kitchen, grabbing her purse off the counter, checking to make sure her fake ID was still in there. Yep, there it was. Hooray for Mary Pickford and people too lazy to take carding seriously. She was preparing to leave as she heard a voice behind her, "What are you doing?"

Lydia whirled around to see Lizzie, who gave her a disapproving look as she took in her outfit.

Lydia glared at her in return. She wasn't in the mood for Lizzie's lectures. She really couldn't make her disappointment in her younger sister more obvious if she tried. What was so wrong with having fun? "I'm going out. You can come with, if you're not still all sad."

"Lydia, it's Sunday. Do you really think-"

Lydia cut her off, "I can do what I want, Lizzie. I don't need you telling me what to do."

Lizzie sighed, "I just don't want you doing anything stupid. I mean, isn't that Whack-a-Mole guy stalking you now? He's probably waiting out for you at Carter's."

She cringed a little at the thought of Ben or David or whoever he was. Totes creepy. Lizzie's concern was almost enough to convince her to stay, but there was still that first part. The immediate conclusion that Lydia was obviously going to be irresponsible and stupid. Part of her wanted to prove Lizzie wrong, but a louder, more insistent part wanted her to be as stupid as Lizzie clearly thought she was. It would serve her right. She smirked, pulling her keys out of her bag, "I can take care of myself. Besides, I'm meeting a friend there. He'll keep Whack-a-Mole boy at bay."

Lizzie gave her a puzzled look as she asked, "Which friend?"

Lydia shrugged, smiling deviously at her, "Just a guy. Not like you'd know him, considering you barely talk to any."

Lizzie threw up her hands, "Whatever. Just call when you need a ride, okay? No drinking and driving."

"Obvs." Lydia said, turning away from Lizzie and walking towards the door. But, she turned back as she was unlocking the door, another question occurring to her. "Hey, Lizzie!" she yelled.

"Yeah?" Lizzie called back.

She tried to sound as blasé as possible as she asked, "Are you coming back from your thing in time for Christmas?"

Lizzie sounded unsure as she responded, "I think so. Why?"

"I might have other plans, that's all." Lydia said smugly as she threw the door open and walked out towards her car. As soon as the door shut, she pulled out her phone. Okay, so maybe that thing about meeting someone had been a lie. But, she did have a plan. She scrolled through her address book until she found the right number, remembering when he'd given it to her that he'd said to call him if she ever needed a partner in crime.

The phone rang a few times before he picked up. Lydia used her bubbliest voice, oozing enthusiasm as she said, "Hey, George! It's Lydia Bennet. You want to meet me at Carter's? I haven't seen you in like forever, and I could so use a drinking buddy."

After a few minutes more of flirting and flattery, she hung up triumphantly, with George set to meet up with her at Carter's in thirty minutes. She unlocked her car and sat down in the driver's seat, pulling down the mirror to reapply her lip gloss. She started the car and blasted the raucous pop song that came over the speakers, grinning giddily as she thought of the night ahead of her. The fun she was going to have was almost enough to make her forget the coming weeks without Lizzie and Jane entirely. Who needed sisters? Between boys and alcohol, there was plenty to keep her busy.