A/N: So I'm not entirely happy with how this turned out but I figured I should just upload it now before I self-consciously delete it all

Disclaimer: I own neither Pride and Prejudice nor The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Lizzie was back, and Jane was back, and Lydia's heart was cracked in half. She kept expecting him to come back, walk through the door, and hug her.
Sorry, Peach. he would say. I made a mistake.
But he didn't and Lydia knew he wouldn't. Ever.

So she ate the cookies Jane made for her and watched the movies Lizzie let her pick out and cried when she thought no one was listening.

She had wanted to be angry at Lizzie, at first, for not being there for her. She really did. But she couldn't bring herself to, not after Lizzie came into her room after turning off the camera with a tear streaked face and hugged her with a fierceness she never had before.

Mainly, Lydia was just sad.

She would stare out the window for hours on end, wondering how the man across the street could just mow his lawn like nothing was wrong. Or how the woman walking her dog could flirt with a man in a polo shirt in times like these.
And she would let the tears leak out until they dried on her face and when Lizzie or Jane brought her a cup of tea, they would pretend not to notice it.

Lizzie and Lydia were tentative around each other, although they had both apologized. They talked a little more each time, on the days that Lydia ventured out of her room or when Lizzie took a few minutes' break from her laptop, where she had been trying to find a way to take down websites day and night. Though the time would be brief, it seemed as if they were getting to know little things about each other for the first time.

But Lydia could see the sadness in Lizzie's face, hear it in her voice. Lizzie was upset, really upset, about something, and yet she shoved it aside to help distract her little sister from her real life nightmare. And so they would both try to ignore the lapses into silence when Lizzie seemed in another world.
(Lydia really loved Lizzie, she just didn't know how to say it.)

It didn't help that Lydia thought it was her fault that Lizzie was sad. She didn't know why, or how, she just knew.
She tried to talk to her about it once but all she got in response to her, "Are you okay?" was a, "Yeah! I'm fine." Before a hasty change of subject.

But one day, when Jane was out and they had the house to themselves, Lydia had walked up to Lizzie's door, hand poised to knock, when she heard Lizzie's voice from inside, talking on the phone.

There was a few minutes of mutterings that were incoherent to Lydia's ears until one particular sentence came through the door.

"Fine. Fine! I would have said yes. Are you happy?" But her voice wasn't angry, it just sounded tired and run down, like someone who was running a marathon and who should've stopped a long time ago.

There's a pause and then, barely audible through the door, "He does?" Another hesitation. "I miss him too." Lizzie murmured softly, her voice carrying that sad note that Lydia heard in her own voice every time she spoke.

Lizzie cleared her throat, "Gigi... I...have to go. I'll call you later."

By the time Lizzie stepped out of her room, Lydia was safely downstairs.

Who was Gigi? And who was Lizzie talking about? The questions kept her busy and helped (slightly) to keep her mind off of dimples and blonde hair and blue eyes.

And then, just as suddenly as it had been put up, the site came down. No notice or anything. It just disappeared in between clicks of the refresh button. The whole family let out a collective sigh of relief and tried to act nonchalant around Mrs. Bennet.
Mr. Bennet returned to his bonsai trees, Lizzie's videos had an air of hopefulness and Lydia actually got a decent nights sleep. But her heart was still broken, and Lizzie was still upset and her father still felt like he had let the family down.

When the doorbell rang one afternoon, Lydia was surprised to see a dark haired girl about her age, standing nervously in the door frame.
She was even more surprised when the random girl gave a small squeak and ran to hug her, a look of concern on her pretty face.

"Who...who are you?"

The girl stepped back, fixed Lydia with a bewildered gaze, and opened her mouth to respond.

"Shit."

Both of the younger girls swiveled around to find Lizzie, who had just spoken, standing in the doorway, staring, dumbfounded, at the girl with black hair.

"What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see if Lydia and," she gestured to the two sisters. "you were alright, and you stopped answering my calls and-"

Lizzie sunk into the couch and buried her face in her hands but her head popped up again almost immediately as an alarming thought hit her. "Oh god, please tell me he's not in the car or something, Gigi."

"No, he's not. It's just me."

Lizzie's face disappeared behind her hands again.

"Wait, you're Gigi?" Lydia spoke from the corner. She still didn't know why this Gigi was in her house or why Gigi cared about her, but as she examined her more closely, she realized she looked very familiar.

Same nose.

Same cheekbones.

Same eyes.

Lydia let all the air whoosh out of her in one breath.

"Darcy's sister."

Gigi nodded and nervously bit her thumbnail.
And then it hit Lydia.

Crossing the room, she sat down next to Lizzie. "You miss Darcy?" Her tone wasn't accusatory, just curious, but Lizzie's head shot up.

"How did you know about that?"

"I heard you on the phone that day when..." she jerks her head at Gigi.

"Do you like him?" Lydia asked softly.

Lizzie stared at her hands for an unnervingly long time before dipping her chin just enough to be interpreted as a nod.

Gigi yelped and pulled out her phone, probably to text Fitz or someone but Lizzie stopped her.

"Gigi, as much as I love you, you should probably leave." The corners of her mouth lifted in an apologetic smile. "I need to focus on my family right now." Lizzie looked overwhelmed.

Gigi nodded understandingly and was out the door, but not before squeezing Lydia gently on the arm.

"I've been there before. It gets a lot better. I promise."

Lydia's eyes widened and tears that hadn't been there a few minutes ago threatened to spill out.

"Episode 82." Gigi smiled kindly and shuffled out the door. "And start answering my calls." She yelled at Lizzie, already down the sidewalk.

Lizzie went into the kitchen to make tea for them both and ended up just spilling the entire story. How he could be funny and sweet and endearing. How he loved his sister so much and showed a completely different side of himself when he was with her.

After Lizzie had gone to sleep that night, Lydia booted up her computer. Putting "Lizzie Bennet" into the search engine, she scrolled down until she clicked on Episode 82.