Chapter 1

After the voicemail, Lizzie didn't really know what to do with herself. She'd turned off the camera, and then for the longest time, she sat and stared at her phone. She tried to focus on her thesis. But it didn't really work. Every two seconds she checked her phone. Was it charged? Was the ringer on? Of course it was. But it wasn't ringing.

She was an idiot. It was the stupidest message. The way she'd said "Chat" like that? Eugh, she was disgusted with herself. She had half a mind to leave another one apologising for the first. She heard Charlotte's voice in her head "What, so he can think you're completely insane?"

She got very little work done that day.

Darcy was in his office at Pemberly Digital, staring at his phone. He had a missed call from Lizzie Bennet. A missed call. From Lizzie. Lizzie. Stupid board meetings. There was a voicemail but he hadn't played it yet. He was still so surprised she had reached out to him at all. He daren't wonder at what she had said.

He put the phone to his ear and listened.

She wanted to… chat? What did that mean? She'd sounded odd. There was tension in her voice. Was she mad at him? Had she found out? Gigi had mentioned something about the last couple of videos but he hadn't had time to watch, and mercifully, they were both so busy with the Domino project that she hadn't been able to force the issue.

He thought about returning her call immediately, but he hadn't a clue what he would say. Not the slightest idea. He stared at his phone a while longer before shoving it in a drawer and trying to focus on something productive.

He got very little work done that day.

Lizzie had sent the video to Charlotte for editing and half an hour later her phone had rung. She'd caught her breath in her throat but of course it was her bestie, not Darcy.

"Hey, Charlotte!"

"You CALLED him? Did he call you back yet?"

Lizzie sighed. "No, he hasn't."

"Well he's probably working. I KNEW you like him. It's so obvious."

"Shut up, this whole thing is already so stupid. Don't make me feel any worse."

"Do you think he's watch your videos?"

"I have no idea, Charlotte. Do you think he would have called back if he was? How am I supposed to even guess at what he's thinking? I haven't heard a peep from him. I'm sure if he wanted to talk to me he would have called me on his own. I mean, well I had thought that maybe he would have said something after the website came down."

"He's not really the kind of guy to ring you up and ask you to congratulate him. What was he supposed to say?"

"I don't know! But if he didn't want me to know what he'd done then maybe he would have called just to chat, and be, well, normal."

"Nothing between you and Darcy has ever been normal!"

"I know! It's so crazy. I don't even know what I'm expecting from him now. It just seems mad to never speak to him. And of course, I HAVE to thank him, for what he did for Lydia."

"I'm sure he'll hate that."

"Well, maybe he will, but I have to do it anyway. Look, I'd better go. Mom's calling me downstairs. And I don't want to miss him if… well, you know, just in case."

They said goodbye and Lizzie headed downstairs to find her mother in the kitchen, fussing about dinner. Lizzie checked her phone one more time, trying to figure out what he was thinking, and why he hadn't called.

Darcy, for once, had left shortly after 5pm. He was hardly working anyway so there seemed no point staying late in the office.

He cracked open a beer and pulled off his tie when he got home, and sat at the island in the kitchen with his laptop open. He brought up her YouTube channel and realised he hadn't watched any of her videos since Gigi had forced him too over the holidays, and that was months ago.

He watched their exchanges at Pemberly Digital. Awkward, at first. And then, still awkward, but friendly. And then he had asked her to the theatre and he saw again the look on her face, and the twinkle in her eye. Had she been planning on saying yes? He'd felt sure at the time, but then, after she'd gone, and he hadn't heard from her, at all, for weeks, he supposed she was maybe glad to escape him again after all.

After she was home, she hadn't mentioned him once. Pemberly was nice… but nice didn't mean anything really. And she hadn't looked like she'd enjoyed saying it. Awkward was probably the word she'd wanted to use. It wasn't until Charlotte had pressed her that she'd even acknowledged his existence.

He didn't really know what to think. He still couldn't figure out why she'd called.

Lizzie stared at the fishtank. Everything else was dark and still, but it glowed and bubbled faintly. She'd got used to it now but tonight she couldn't sleep anyway. She tossed and turned. He couldn't have been working all night, surely. But he hadn't called. He hadn't texted, emailed, or even tweeted. It was still radio silence. She wasn't really surprised. But she was disappointed. Would it really be that difficult for him just to speak to her one more time? What could he be thinking? Lizzie shoved her head under the pillow to try and block everything out.

In his kitchen, Darcy was sitting, several beers later, all caught up. He had seen the last episode posted – the one with Caroline. He knew that in the morning would be a new video. One she had filmed today, maybe before, maybe after she'd called him. It was too late to call her now, so he might as well wait and watch that one too.

Caroline's appearance had been unexpected, and all her arguments unfounded. He had no idea what he led her to behave as she had, but he was too preoccupied with Lizzie to dwell on it

Lizzie. Precious Lizzie. Snarky, judgemental, and every bit as awkward as him. He had not often dwelt on a description of his "perfect woman" but now that he had met her, he couldn't imagine anyone better suited to make him happy. And he had been so sure that she would feel the same. But she had knocked him back, and ripped him apart for everyone to see. And then, afterwards, they had made friends, a little, and he had hoped things might develop between them. But he had never really had the chance. It seemed George Wickham couldn't help but try and ruin his life.

And now she had reached out to him. She had called. Left a message. Asked to chat. What did it mean? What did she want from him? He had come full circle and was back where he had been earlier on, in his office, wondering what on earth she could be thinking? He closed his laptop, and went to bed, shoving his head under the pillow to try and block everything out.