This is an AU version of the events of episode 84 of LBD. In this version, the bad news that Lizzie gets is something much more tragic, and her reaction is larger. Also, in this version, she isn't vlogging. It is mostly from Darcy's point of view. I wrote this because I watched that episode like a hundred times and wanted so badly for there to be something deeper to it. Please note that it ends a little abruptly. I know it's weird, but it's where the story wanted to end.
"Hello, Lizzie," he said, entering the room with a trepidatious step. Friends they might have been becoming, but he wondered suddenly why he ever thought she'd agree to go out with him. After all their fraught history, she was going to laugh in his face.
"Darcy," she said in greeting, and the smile she graced him with seemed sincere enough. He took a deep breath, wiped his hands on his pants. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
"You have a new phone?" he asked, delaying the inevitable.
"Waited out my old contract," she said. "I'm now the proud owner of the same phone everyone else was getting two years ago. Patience really pays off, eh?"
She seemed pleased. He thought, perhaps his patience would pay off as well.
"That's nice," he said. That's nice? Seriously, Darcy, get your head in the game.
"Did we have an appointment?" she asked, her brow furrowing in a way that distracted him from every doubt he had.
"No, no."
She waited, and when he didn't say anything else, she laughed.
"Did you need something, then?"
"No." He took a moment to realize what he'd just said, then shook his head. "I mean, yes. I had a question for you."
She waited long enough to make that mocking smile creep up her face again. Darcy knew if he didn't go through with it right now, he would never have the courage again. It was time. He took a deep breath.
"I was wondering if you'd like to go to the theatre. Tonight. With me."
The expression on her face was hard to read at first, but soon a smile blossomed across her face. She had just opened her mouth to speak when her phone gave an incessant ringing sound.
"You can get that if you need to," he said, gesturing to the phone.
"Sorry. It's just…" she trailed off, then answered the phone.
What happened next changed everything about where he had seen this day going. It changed everything in her life. He only heard her side of the conversation, which was short and shocked.
"This is Lizzie. … Wait, what? Are you sure? … Okay, I'm coming. I'll be there as soon as I can."
She hung up and stared into space for a moment, her face a picture of devastation. He wasn't sure what to do.
"Lizzie, are you all right?"
"No," she said. The word seemed to break the reverie, because suddenly she was standing, reaching for her purse. Frantically, she began to throw items from her desk into it.
"What happened? What can I do? Lizzie, stop," Darcy said, reaching out to grab her wrist. A small part of his brain noticed that it was the first time he'd ever touched her, and her skin was as soft as he'd expected. But the gravity of the situation silenced the voice immediately.
"I have to go," she said. But his touch on her arm seemed to crack something in her, because she fell back to the couch next to him, burying her face in her hands.
"What's happened, Lizzie?" he said.
"Darcy, it was the police. There was an accident. My mom and dad, my little sister, they were all killed in a car accident on their way to visit me." Her words were flat and emotionless, but once she'd gotten them all out, she began to sob.
He knew they didn't have the kind of relationship where he could gather her into his arms. That was far in the future; he'd barely asked her on a first date. But he found himself reaching for her anyway, pulling her towards him. At first she resisted, one hand on his chest, and then she gave in and collapsed against him, sobbing onto his dress shirt. Her left hand clutched his right hand until he was concerned about bruising, and her right hand yanked so hard on his shirt that buttons might start popping. He was her lifeline, and he couldn't even revel in it. Her misery soaked into him with her tears, and he found himself crying as well. His free left hand held her tight.
She cried like this for several minutes before coming to her sense. She was clearly embarrassed at the display, wiping her face with a sleeve and scooching away from him as she mopped.
"I'm sorry, Darcy," she said.
"No, don't be," he said, but she was lost in her embarrassment and grief. Any progress they'd made as friends had disappeared with her parents and sister.
"I have to go. I have to get a flight and pack my apartment."
"Please let me help you," he said.
"You can't help. No one can."
"Yes, I can," his voice quietly confident. "Wait here. I'll get a car and a flight, and you'll be on your way as fast as humanly possible."
He stood to go, stopped when she touched his arm. The light touch sent a shiver up his spine.
"Thank you, Darcy," she said. Her voice held a tone of sincerity he'd never heard from her before. All mockery and laughing, all teasing and frustration was gone. This was the deep Lizzie, the one he'd never seen before, and wasn't sure if he would ever see again. He swallowed back the tears he'd shed for her, for her and him.
"Five minutes," he said.
It actually took about fifteen minutes to arrange. He spoke to his personal assistant, who was on the internet within seconds to book her a flight, and Darcy himself called the car service. The next flight was only an hour and a half away, giving them barely enough time to get there if she left right away. It took an extra two minutes to explain to his assistant the need for someone to get to Lizzie's apartment and pack up a few essentials to be shipped out immediately. The last few minutes of the time was spent panicking when he went back to get Lizzie and found her no longer in her office. He was instantly on the phone to security, who informed him she was waiting out front for the car.
Darcy took one extra minute to lean against the wall in his own office, allowing his own grief, both at the deaths of her family members and the lost opportunity to pursue her, to overtake him. But there wasn't time for much of that. He needed to help her, needed to be the one who took care of things.
After all, that was what he did. He took care of those he loved.
And he loved her, he realized. More than he had even a few months ago when he'd first asked her out. These last few minutes of having her nearby, and actually speaking to him (even if most of the speaking had been uncomfortable) had solidified feelings that he had to put aside now. There was no time for any of that.
"Lizzie," he said, coming outside to stand beside her. She turned a streaked face to him.
"Darcy, I …"
He nodded. "I know, sweetheart. Come on, let's get you on a plane."
He helped her into the back seat of the black BMW, handing her the overly-laden purse. He was about to turn to go, when she stopped him with a touch.
"Darcy, wait," she said.
He turned back to her.
"Come with me. Please."
He didn't hesitate, just climbed into the car next to her. As he closed the door, he inventoried what he had with him versus what he should probably have. A stop to his condo would be a good idea, but the flight was leaving in an hour, and they needed to get to the airport. Besides, he had his wallet with him, and his cell phone, and everything else was replaceable.
She was silent on the way to the airport. She kept flipping her phone around and around, like it might ring and take back the horrible news. He wasn't sure what to say, so he said nothing. Once she looked up at him, but it was agony in her expression, and he wasn't sure if she even saw him sitting there.
This was seriously not how he saw this day going.
The flight was rough. Lizzie spent it alternating between stone-faced shock and quiet sobbing. Darcy couldn't do anything but offer his hand, which she occasionally held onto like a single clip on a mountain climb, squeezing until his fingers were white and then dropping him like she'd forgotten they had become friends.
She said almost nothing the entire flight.
They had barely touched down when Darcy was on his phone, arranging a rental car to take them directly to the hospital. In a daze, Lizzie climbed into the passenger seat and dropped her seat all the way back, covering her face with one arm.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to need you to show me how to get to the hospital," Darcy said, interrupting her sadness.
"It's the only hospital in town," she muttered.
He followed the signs, not willing to interrupt her for anything trivial like knowing exactly where he was going, although knowing where he was going was exactly his m.o. for the rest of his life.
And this moment, this change for Lizzie, meant that he had no idea where he was going in the future.
He dropped her off outside the hospital. For a moment, he wanted to suggest that he come in with her, to follow through on the plea she'd given outside his office to come with her. But she had pulled herself together, and her eyes were steely and determined, and he thought now he would just be in her way. Better to run a few things behind the scenes, go get cell phone chargers and clothes for the both of them, arrange for dinner to be sent.
Leave her alone, he told himself.
Even if it's forever? asked the gloomy side of his brain.
Even then. She will have enough to deal with now, with almost her whole family gone. Someday she might let him in again, but for now, it was enough to be able to help her from within the tinted windows of his luxury car.
At least, that was what he was going to tell himself. Even if it meant forever.
"Goodbye, Lizzie," he said. She gave him a half smile, and then was gone.
Thank you so much for reading! Please R&R.