Just because this had to be done...
Bilingual
Lizzie Bennet, despite being someone who had a passion in the field of communications, was - in all honesty - not the best of communicators. And it's not only because of her inability to really hold her tongue at the appropriate moments - as she had mentioned, a certain someone could probably sue her for all she's said about him- or her inability to say the right things at the right time - aka, letting someone down nicely, calmly asking him the right questions and calling out Bing during their awkward Pemberley Digital "meeting". No, it was also due to the fact that she was absolutely horrible at learning languages. Sure, a whole lot of people could speak English; but a minority couldn't, and that meant that she would always have this barrier between her and them.
Amusingly enough, the first person who had discovered this embarrassing secret of hers was her boyfriend of three months: Will Darcy. She had been dragged- she firmly stands her ground at this description- to AT&T's annual Don't Text and Drive benefit to serve as his arm candy. ("No Elizabeth. You're not just my arm candy. I know for a fact that you're an intelligent and amazing conversationalist and a very charismatic person. Not to mention the fact that you're one of the three most beautiful women I know. What possible reason would I have for not bringing you here with me?")
Aside from Pemberley Digital, several other major companies were invited, including international ones. Which led to Will's discovery of her little problem. As Will was the one who actually knew many of the people milling about the hotel, she had docilely followed him around, joining the conversation when she felt like it wasn't too awkward anymore. And that was when the problem came. Some of the people Will brought her to talk to were not English speakers. As in, they could barely speak English at all. So, she had quietly stood beside Will as he conversed with them on what she presumed was the Stock Market and Europe's instability in French, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, German and even Nynorsk.
At first, he hadn't minded how quiet she suddenly became but as the third person excused himself and the fourth one took his place, Will had realized that his girlfriend - the one who had the ability to charm anyone she met with a smile and a witty comeback- had not said anything other than 'Hello' and 'Nice to meet you'. So of course he had to call her out on it. And of course she 'fessed up - how could she not after seeing the worried look on his face? (He actually asked her if she wanted to go home because he was more than willing to let her go and sleep before she took a turn for the worse.)
The worried look immediately transformed to an amused one that included not so subtle lip twitches upon her confession. "You're the woman who absorbs every literary fact within seconds and can - despite ridiculing me - quote and explain literary phrases from generations and eras far before our time. You can translate Shakespeare to 'Normal speech' for Gigi for her European Lit Classes. How can you be this inept at languages?"
She had refused to answer him verbally, choosing instead to shoot a piercing glare that he was absolutely immune to. And his response was to mercilessly tease her about it for a whole month and "accidentally" reveal the fact to Gigi, Charlotte and Jing, as she referred to them. This of course led to Gigi telling Fitz, who, in turn, decided that the whole world should know it and promptly informed them in a tweet that involved the caps lock on his laptop and the overuse of exclamation points.
( FitzontheFitz: NO WAY! THIS IS PURE GOLD! HEY PEOPLE, YOU SHOULD ALL KNOW THAT TheLizzieBennet IS TOTALLY PATHETIC WITH FOREIGN LANGUAGES! SHE CANNOT, ABSOLUTELY CANNOT SPEAK ANY OF THEM UNLESS YOU WANT HER TO BUTCHER IT AS HORRIBLY AS HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN'S PORTRAYAL OF ANAKIN SKYWALKER! #omg #absolutelyhilarious #thankyouggdarcy #can'tgetoverit #thisisperfect #stomachhurtsfromlaughing #lizzieissopathetic)
And that was how the whole world found out that Lizzie Bennet was sadly monolingual for life.
At least that was what she had thought as she dramatically whined to Will after she had gotten over her "William Alexander Fitzwilliam Darcy, when I am done with you, you will not only never be able to walk again, the only coherent thought you would have is 'I want to die'." stage. He had looked on with amusement as she moaned about how her reputation was in tatters and how she would never be able to show her face outside ever again because apparently, some of her viewers followed Fitz and had retweeted it which led to it being tweeted by more viewers and by Lydia who had somehow discovered it which in turn led to probably the rest of her viewers and more knowing this humiliating fact about her. Every single account she had was flooded with asks that were deliberately sent in a foreign language and really, she wanted to curl up in a ball and just die.
Until she realized during one of those nights when she was wallowing in self-pity that, no, contrary to what the world believed, she was not monolingual. She was, in fact, bilingual.
You see, she was an expert in another language, a language so difficult to understand that only two other people - one living and one who had passed one- who could understand, much less speak it. Lizzie Bennet was an expert in the language known as William Darcy.
What Will lacked in words and in verbal communication he made up for in body language and other subtle cues. If only one knew where to look, one would be surprised at just exactly how much he was saying. And Lizzie knows where to look. In fact she knows pretty much everything.
She knows that he unconsciously raises his eyebrows when he's forcing himself to speak or when he's pointing out facts he's not quite comfortable with.
She knows that he blinks more when he's at a lost for words or stumped in an argument.
She knows that he raises his eyes to something or someone only to drop it before doing it again when he's really nervous or uncomfortable. Usually the former as nervousness is probably the only reason why he'd be that uncomfortable anyway.
She knows that his words become more clipped the shyer or more irritated and uncomfortable he is.
She knows that he likes fidget with his hands when he's not very relaxed and that the more awkward the situation was, the stiffer his posture and bearing became.
And wow, that's a lot of telltale signs about him being uncomfortable. Which isn't really surprising seeing as he always is uncomfortable when not being in his "CEO" mode.
Which leads to what she knows about CEO Darcy.
She knows that CEO Darcy is a completely different person from the Darcy the viewers first saw or the Darcy in a normal public setting. CEO Darcy is an eloquent speaker whose passion for his projects and interests is clearly evident in the rise and falls of his voice.
She knows that CEO Darcy is an excellent boss whose concern for his employees went far above the workplace.
She knows that CEO Darcy would willingly go to work on his day-off or at 1 in the morning because HR can't process the health benefits package forms and the like or because HR is the one in the hospital with food poisoning.
She knows that CEO Darcy has a scholarship fund for at least eight of his employee's children and about twelve or fifteen more innovative college students who showed great potential.
But it's not these things, these facts about Awkward Darcy or CEO Darcy that make her an expert.
It's her knowledge of Will, just Will, that makes her so good at understanding and comprehending the almost obscure language that is Will Darcy.
She knows that his favorite lullaby is the Beatles' Blackbird because his mother used to sing it for him when he was young.
She knows that no one else can sing it to him, except for her, because she's slowly taking over his mum's job: comforting him, telling him to stop being a worrywart, reminding him to relax, actually making him relax, calling him out on his shyness, giving him little surprises and just kissing his little cuts and bruises away.
She knows what an honor this is and just how big of a compliment that was that he gave her.
She knows that his favorite food is actually peppermint- or rather anything with peppermint.
She knows that, on his off-days, he loves nothing more than to stay in bed, listening to his music while watching/re-watching Sherlock episodes, a pot of tea on his bedside table.
She knows that he secretly plays the guitar and that he holds onto that skill and that hobby because his father taught him how to play.
She knows that he actually leaves little notes for himself around his house that remind him to buy something for Gigi or to tell Lizzie about this thing he found while reading news articles on the internet.
She knows that he used to write force himself to write with his right hand because his dad did it even though he really was a leftie.
She knows that he is afraid of dogs because one bit him the wound got infected, leading to a hospitalization.
She knows what his favorite parts in a play or opera are because he actually mouths the words to himself as they watch.
She knows that, while he's not very fond of pets, he'd willingly adopt a cat because she loves cats.
She knows that when he's staring at her intently it's because he's mesmerized by her and he actually finds her beautiful, like for real.
She knows that he pretends that he's not exhausted from a long day because he doesn't want their dates to end early.
She knows that he likes to call her Elizabeth because it's a beautiful name and no one else calls her that.
She knows that when he calls her Lizzie that it means that he's irritated with her.
She knows that when he suddenly crushes her in a hug and murmurs Elizabeth that what he's really saying is "Don't leave me"
She knows that when she whispers, "Never" in response that his face lights up and it is an absolutely breathtaking sight.
She knows that him appearing on her doorstep with thirteen sunflowers meant "I'm sorry. I know I messed up again."
She knows that when he grabs her hand, he's not being possessive. He's scared.
And she knows that when he willingly swallows up his dignity and puts on a bowtie and a newsie hat, it's his way of saying "I Love You".
Lizzie Bennet may not be able to understand or speak the "conventional foreign languages". But she can understand Will Darcy very well. After all, she needs to do that so that she can bake him peppermint brownies, just the way his Nana and Mum used to- the perfect way to reply and say "I love you too"
A/N: Because it's almost three in the morning, this story is just unedited. I needed to get it out after all the feels from Episode 80. I'm sorry if it turns out to be crack-ish. My head's spinning already and I think my brain just shut down. Feel free to leave your thoughts, protestations and feels about DIZZIE down there. THANK YOU!