Charlotte's Cut
(LBD97) Charlotte wasn't trying to troll when she edited their birthday video. Not much, anyway.
It was near midnight when Lizzie finally sent her the raw videos for editing even though it was very early in the evening when Darcy showed up at the Bennets' doorstep instead of the delivery guy that Charlotte expected. She was almost afraid that Lizzie would turn the camera off in time and she would have to wait until the day after to find out what happened between Lizzie and Darcy. But she needn't have worried; Lizzie, as usual, forgot the camera was even on the moment she heard "Excuse me, Lizzie" and left it on throughout the whole thing.
The first time Charlotte watched the footage, she was sure there was a great, stupid, silly grin plastered to her face. More than once, she found herself – most uncharacteristically - imitating Maria celebrating the news of the fourth season of Sherlock the week before – that is, cheering and jumping up and down and yes, even pumping her fist. (In hind sight, really? Since when did her best friend's love life become prime-time entertainment?)
Charlotte always sympathised with Darcy's awkwardness more than most but she was still glad and relieved to see that he was more at ease sitting next to Lizzie confessing his still-present-and-undying love for her than he was standing towering over Charlotte at the threshold to the Bennets' home. Granted, his stiffness at the door could have been due to the fact that Charlotte was determined to warn/threaten him of the consequences of hurting Lizzie before she would send him in to her.
As she finished editing her conversation with Lizzie at the beginning, Charlote considered what happened in the den after Darcy came in. Her first instinct was to leave it more or less uncut, leaving in all the cuteness and squee-worthiness (as Maria would call it) as a treat for the fans. Then, watching it again, she saw the way Lizzie practically glowed with happiness and how Darcy's whole face was transformed by joy and realised it was all too tender and precious a moment for her to be sure that Lizzie would be comfortable with the whole world seeing. (She wasn't even quite sure Lizzie was thinking straight when she sent it to her; there was nothing…indiscreet, but it was just…intimate.)
It was too late (or, more importantly, she couldn't be sure what Lizzie was doing…with whom…) to call and ask whether Lizzie minded leaving this in. Of course, it never stopped Charlotte before, but this was different – maybe after everything, her best friend deserved to keep this to herself. Besides, while on the one hand, she was sure Darcy would not mind if Lizzie was all right with it, on the other, she knew him enough to know that he was an extremely private person, and it was bad enough that his first confession of love was broadcasted more or less without his knowledge or permission. As happy as this second one ended, Charlotte felt bad for putting it out there without so much as a 'by your leave'.
So, in the end, she left it all out, sending a silent apology to the fans since she was well aware that they had been looking forward to this for as long and almost as much as she was. Though, if Lizzie wanted to share what happened after all, she could always do it on Thursday's video. With that thought in mind, Charlotte couldn't help but leave in a teaser in the form of Darcy's torso. It would serve both as a hint to the fans and a nudge for Lizzie. Then again, considering the enthusiasm of their viewers, it probably wouldn't be exactly a very subtle nudge. They probably would end up doing the equivalent of dropping cartoon anvils on Lizzie's head with demands to know what happened next. It was up to Lizzie if she wanted to do something about it.