They were cuddled up in the den later that evening, enjoying each other's company, enjoying the comfort of finally being together as a couple when Lizzie's phone beeped with Charlotte's birthday tweet. She couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face as she sat up a bit to type out a reply, shaking her head slightly. Charlotte's comeback actually made her giggle as she swiftly typed out a response, prompting an inquisitive look from the handsome man next to her,
"Just teasing Charlotte a bit" Lizzie explained, the mischievous twinkle in her eyes growing as she relaxed back into William Darcy's arms again.
"How long are you going to make her wait for the video?" he asked, his voice laced with amusement at her antics. Lizzie looked up at him and replied, "That, is to be decided," with wicked glee behind every word. They settled back into comfortable silence, focusing on the television and passing the a few more hours together until a loud rumble from Lizzie's stomach interrupted the debate they were having about whether books were better than film adaptations.
"Hungry?" Darcy asked, raising an eyebrow at Lizzie's feeble attempts to ignore it.
"Well, an unexpected birthday present made me miss my Chinese," she shot back, her voice mock annoyed, unable to disguise the happiness behind her words. Hearing this, Darcy stood up, saying "We can't have that, can we? Honey and walnut shrimp should be here in ten minutes," and walking out of the den with his phone before Lizzie could react to the sudden cold at her side.
When he came back in, Lizzie was smiling down at her laptop, typing out a message concealed from her his view. When Darcy sat down and saw she was composing an email to Charlotte he smiled, asking "Should I expect many, uh, interesting tweets from your viewers tomorrow?" With a small laugh, Lizzie looked up at him and said, "oh, they're not seeing the best bit until Thursday!" and put her laptop away to move back closer to him, delighting the comfort it gave them both. They spent the rest of the night in a similar way: eating Chinese, talking and watching television until Lizzie was practically falling asleep on her boyfriend's chest. As adorable as it was, Darcy couldn't bring himself to put Lizzie through the discomfort of sleeping on the sofa and so made his excuses, parting with a kiss to stay at Netherfield for the night with the promise of reunion tomorrow.
The next morning, Lizzie woke up with a smile on her face, instinctively reaching for her phone. She smiled down at a "Good morning" text from William, asking if she wanted to join him for breakfast and quickly replied, agreeing to be over as soon as possible. She then reached to her laptop to check on the status of the vlog upload, finding that she'd slept in and the video was already up. She smiled at the thought of her viewers' reactions and went to check her emails. As well as many business emails Lizzie couldn't be bothered with, she saw two from Charlotte, as one simply saying 'TEASE' and the second warning her that the rest of the footage had better be on its way, or she might have to face an angry mob at her door on Thursday. Probably taking too much delight in the fun of teasing her nearest and dearest, Lizzie sent the rest of the footage over with strict instructions not to upload it until the usual time. Lizzie was more than ready to disappear into her new-found private world again with her new boyfriend.
Once dressed and ready, Lizzie crossed the hall to check in with Lydia, giving her a quick recap of last night and making sure that she was okay, a habit she had developed over the past month or so. After rambling on for a few minutes about her plans, telling her baby sister to call her anytime for anything every few sentences, Lizzie was interrupted with "So…why aren't you with him already?" from a smiling Lydia. Even then it took several minutes of Lizzie fussing, repeating over and over that she'd have her phone on, for Lydia to be left in peace to go back to sleep. Once Lydia had convinced her that yes, she'd be alright and yes, she'd call if she needed to, all Lizzie wanted to do was get to Netherfield. She ran downstairs, gave her father a kiss on the cheek and skipped out of the door towards the biggest house in the neighbourhood.
Lizzie rang the doorbell at Netherfield at the same time as Gigi Darcy called her brother. Knowing that Lizzie was waiting for him was just one of the reasons why William decided to ignore his phone, instead swiftly walking to open the door. When he did, all rational thought disappeared from his head, a sensation he was looking forward to getting used to. He didn't have to try to think for much longer though, as he soon found himself lost in another sensational kiss. When they finally pulled away, a bit more flushed and less tidy than before, their eyes met and they leaned into each other once again, smiling.
"Hi,"
"Hi,"
Before either of them could say anything else, the ringing of Darcy's phone cut into through the air and he reluctantly moved away to check on it. Finding herself alone again, Lizzie took a deep breath, steadying herself against the door for a minute before following William into the living room, just in time to see him put his phone down, his face unreadable.
"Anything important?" Lizzie asked, catching his attention,
"No, I don't believe so," he replied, smiling at her as he circled his arm around her back and started to guide her into the kitchen where a feast of a breakfast was waiting for them.
When Lizzie saw this, her face lit up with excitement and she all but jumped up and down, exclaiming "William! You made this?" With a satisfied smile, William let go of her waist and gestured, saying "Help yourself," with a small nod to confirm Lizzie's suspicions. Before he had finished speaking, she was sitting on one of the stools, peering at the food, trying to decide what to eat first. After observing her for a minute in quiet admiration, William sat down opposite his girlfriend and allowed them to fall into a comfortable silence as they ate.
Afterwards, the full couple were sat in together in the living room watching mindless television and relaxing when William's phone lit up once more with a call from Gigi. Lizzie watched as he flipped the it over, settling back into the nest they'd made in the sofa, seemingly undisturbed. This confused Lizzie, she had never known him to act so indifferent when it came to his sister,
"Not answering?" she asked.
"No. She will ask about last night, I do not want that to be in the public domain right now," Darcy replied. Lizzie looked up at him, enjoying the feeling of being in a private little world for once. She leaned up to give him a peck on the lips before saying "Well, no one else has to know until Thursday, then. I think I owe my viewers the rest of what happened at some point" and, seeing his agreement in a small nod, settled back into his arms to listen to the soothing rhythm of his heart.
There they stayed for most of the day, finding that hours slipped away while they sat there: talking, kissing and occasionally watching whatever was on the television playing in the background. Lizzie ran out to do a food run in the afternoon after finding the kitchen at Netherfield surprisingly low on the basics and decided to pop back in at home, just to make sure everyone was okay. She walked in, however, on her mother and father having a romantic dinner themselves while Lydia was spending the night at Mary's. Not wanting to interrupt, or hear her mother go on about "that fine man of hers", Lizzie called Darcy, agreeing to stay the night with him, as he had suggested before she left. After running upstairs to pack an overnight bag, she left for Netherfield once more with no thought to anything other than getting back to William Darcy. She didn't, therefore, see Gigi's growing frustration at the mocking silence she was receiving from both her brother and his new girlfriend.