A/N: In the light of Episode 82, I had to write this. I'm not very good at expressing "furious" so if Darcy doesn't seem anywhere close to being as made as he should be, that's why. But I also kept in mind his characters, so it's not like he'd be flailing his arms around and throwing punches. A reference to Darcy's original letter has also been incorporated into the story, a rather obvious one, I think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pride and Prejudice or The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
It was ten in the morning.
Crash!
Gigi opened her eyes to find herself on the floor, cushioned only by her blankets. "What the..." she muttered, before turning her head and spotting a pair of feet next to her. She jumped up, furious.
"George! What the heck?"
The tall young man was laughing. "I'm hungry."
"So eat something; there's plenty here."
"I wanted brunch."
"Ugh, get out of my room, you loser," Gigi said, still genuinely a little annoyed but mostly just playing.
Wickham took a few steps back until he was at the doorframe. "All right, look, I'm leaving. But we're still going to brunch."
Gigi put a hand on her forehead. "Okay, okay. But you're paying!"
"Whatever you say." Wickham backed out and closed the door.
Gigi dusted herself off and threw her blanket onto the bed. She took a light blue skater dress with a lace overlay from her closet and pulled it over her head, then going to the bathroom for her morning routine.
Truth be told, Gigi was actually happy that Wickham had woken her up, even if it had been rather rude. She was so busy with school now that they hardly ever got time to do anything fun. And she loved going out with Wickham. Whenever they were together, Gigi felt like she was floating. He was so gentle and charming; he made her feel like a princess.
Well—when he wasn't waking her up by pulled her onto the floor, at least.
She'd never been in a serious relationship before, but she was definitely enjoying her first one so far.
Jerking herself out of her thoughts, Gigi put down her brush and listened. Voices were coming from the living room.
But no one else was there…
Frowning, Gigi opened the bathroom door and went towards the sound. "George, who are you talking to—oh my God." Gigi's heart stopped.
Darcy was standing in the front door, staring at Wickham, who was lying on the couch. It was her worst nightmare. Darcy didn't know about the relationship because Gigi knew that he wouldn't take it lightly. She had, however, thought of what she would say to make Wickham more favorable in her brother's eyes-and while she'd thought about it long and hard and was somewhat convinced that it would work, she hadn't exactly planned on needing it so soon.
Darcy turned at her voice.
"Gigi."
She couldn't speak. "William—what are you doing here?"
"I decided to pay you a visit," he said.
Any other time, Gigi would have been overjoyed. But now? She could hardly meet his eye.
"You wanted to visit," Gigi repeated. She was still in shock.
"Yes. Although, I didn't mean to visit him." Darcy was looking at Wickham.
Wickham didn't even move to get up. Instead he stayed lounging on the couch, where he lazily raised a hand to acknowledge Darcy. George, sit up, at least! Gigi begged. She could tell Darcy was infuriated.
"What business do you have here with my sister?" Darcy asked, his voice hard.
"Brunch business, I think," Wickham said. His nonchalance and total unconcern of the whole situation made Gigi cringe, when Darcy himself was so clearly bothered.
"Why would you being to brunch together?"
Wickham looked amused. "What do you think?"
"You two...you two are dating?" Darcy turned to Gigi, still frozen. She nodded once, slightly.
Darcy shut his eyes. He seemed to be attempting to contain himself. "All right," he said, opening his eyes. "You," he said, addressing Wickham again, "can leave this place right now. I don't know what's been going on or how long it's been going on, but it's ending right now."
Finally, Wickham stood up and faced Darcy. "Hold on, William. You're not in any place to be ordering me around, not after what you did."
"You squandered that money through your own doing in no time at all. No one in the world would be stupid enough to risk that again," Darcy shot back.
"Do you realize I was practically on the streets?" Wickham said, ignoring Darcy. "I was hardly able to pay the rent. That is, until Gigi came along."
"She's got nothing to do with this," Darcy said coldly.
"Oh, she's got plenty to do with this!" Wickham said, a small snarl behind his words. "She was considerate enough to realize I need a job and gave me one. I'm the one who got her on the swim team."
"I don't care what you've done," Darcy said. "I've said it once, and I'll say it again. Leave now."
Wickham examined Darcy. "Nah, I don't think I will, thanks. I still like your sister. Besides, I need her, and she needs me. We complete each other. It's better for her if we stay—together." He stumbled over the last word.
"Oh, don't be so pretentious as to think you know what's best for Gigi," Darcy scoffed. "You don't know the first thing about her." He turned to Gigi. "I don't want you involved with him any longer."
"Jesus Chris, don't be such a buzz kill, Darcy! " Wickham groaned.
For a while, Darcy just looked at Wickham. He seemed to be trying to figure something out. After a calculating moment, he said, "You know, I always figured you to be a cheat and a liar, but I didn't think you were a coward."
"William!" Gigi cried. It was the first time she'd spoken during the argument. She left her place by the wall and stood between the two of them. "Don't say that!"
"Why not?" William said, eyeing Wickham with immense loathing. "He can't even get revenge for himself on his own; he has to use an instrument to have it do it for him. To have someone to hide behind."
Wickham rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Gigi was confused for moment, but quickly collected herself. "Don't say that!" she said again. "Look, William, I know you don't like George, but I do! He's different now. Please, give him a chance."
"Why?"
Gigi looked at Wickham. "I love him," she said. "And George loves me too."
"You love him?" Despite the great affection he felt for his sister, Darcy didn't make any attempt to hide the disgust in his tone.
"I do."
"And you love her?"
Wickham straightened. "Of course. How could I not?"
Darcy was shaking his head. "Unbelievable. You're despicable."
"Stop it!" Gigi said. "William, he loves—"
"No, he does not!" Darcy interrupted loudly. "Can't you see it, Gigi; he's manipulating your feelings and using you to get back at me. He does not love you." Darcy winced as he spoke. He hated being so harsh with Gigi.
"He's not using me!" Gigi almost shouted. "I love him; how can you say that about someone your sister loves? Why can't you just put aside your own stupid feelings for once and think about mine!?"
"Do you really think that, Gigi?" William said. He was angry, but with either herself or Wickham, Gigi couldn't tell. "You think that I don't care about how you're feeling?"
"Obviously not, or else you wouldn't be—making all these accusations about him using me and—"
"Georgiana." His voice was deadly, and Gigi fell silent. The two siblings stared at each other.
"You're still wrong," Gigi said softly.
"You don't believe me?" he asked, his voice quiet but still holding a dangerous tone. "You don't think he's not after me and the money I never have him?"
Darcy took out his checkbook. "William, what are you doing?" Gigi demanded, a little panicked.
"Proving it." Darcy ripped the check out and held in front of Wickham.
"Well, that was just a waste of a check. George isn't going to—" Gigi broke off. While she had been speaking, George had reached forward and taken the little slip of paper. Now he was reading it, his face growing more and more delighted.
"Thirty thousand?" Wickham laughed. "Thanks a lot, Darcy. That was a whole lot easier than I thought it would be." He put on his jacket and went to the door.
"Wait..." Gigi stared in front of her in consternation for a moment and then caught up with him at the door. Darcy stayed where he was, watching the scene unfold.
"George, why'd you take that? And where are you going?" Gigi asked. She felt numb.
Wickham kept on putting his shoes on. "I took it because I'm not letting thirty grand go down the drain. And I'm going back to my own place. Send me my things, okay? You know the address."
"But—I don't understand!" Gigi said. She could feel her throat tightening and knew tears would be threatening soon. "You can't just leave like this; you just said you love me!"
Wickham shrugged and gave her a wink. "Sorry, peach."
"George—" Gigi took a step forward, but he was already closing the door.
Gigi stood still, staring at where Wickham had been standing a second ago. "Gigi..." She heard Darcy walk up to her.
"Shut up," Gigi said, and she heard her voice shake. "Just shut up, William."
"I only did what I had to."
"You ruined everything!" Gigi screamed, turning around. "I hate you! It was perfect, and then you ha-a-d to ru-ruin it! Why are you s-so selfish; you're always th-thinking about y-yourself!"
"You don't hate me. You hate what you saw," Darcy said.
Gigi shook her head. "No. Just l-leave me a-alone, William." She avoided his eye and ran back to her room, where she fell onto her bed, sobbing.
"…but I cannot help supposing that the hope of revenging himself on me was a strong inducement. His revenge would have been complete indeed."
- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter XXXV
Gigi stayed in her room with the door shut for the rest of the day, but Darcy had expected as much. At noon and six-thirty, he knocked on the door to see if she wanted something to eat, to which there was no reply. He instead left her favorite lunch and dinner at the door, with a note slid under the crack to let her know.
At eleven, he finally heard her door open. He was working in the office when he saw her. She looked like she'd taken a nap, and she had changed into her pajamas. More importantly, she looked like she wanted to say something. Darcy swiveled his chair around completely to face her and waited for her to speak.
"I'm sorry," Gigi said meekly. "I don't hate you. In fact, I love you. You're the best brother anyone could have."
Darcy said nothing: Agreeing (which he privately did) would make him sound conceited, and he was making a point not to put himself in an unfavorable light at the moment. He waited for her to continue.
"And I'm sorry that I said you were selfish."
"I hope you know that I took no pleasure in any of this morning's events," Darcy said.
"I know," Gigi said. "I'm sorry I s-said you o-only care a-about yours-self when th-that's completely un-untrue." She felt herself breaking down a little and sniffed. "And I'm r-really s-sorry that I said you ru-ruined everything when-when there was n-never anything in the f-first pla-a-ce."
That was it. Saying that made her realize how stupid she'd been, falling so quickly and so foolishly for someone she knew had a dishonest history. She should have known all along Wickham was just leading her on, just getting close to her so he could get his money and revenge. But she hadn't, and had, like an idiot, been completely convinced of his good character. Then to think that she had actually defended him! She had been prepared to defend him with everything she had, only to realize that everything she was defending him against was reality...
And then Gigi heard Darcy sitting on the floor with her; she hadn't seen him because her face was in her hands. She turned around and hugged him while she sobbed over the day, over every decision she'd made ever since getting into contact with Wickham again, over her entire relationship with him. Gigi felt Darcy's arms go around her and hold her tightly.
"It's all right," he said gently. "You're a little fighter, after all. You'll get through it. I know you will, because you always to do."
She might have hated him earlier in the day, but at that time, Gigi couldn't have been more grateful for her brother.
-fin-
A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review!
