The Lizzie Bennet who greets the camera today is not the vivacious Lizzie, nor the snarky Lizzie, nor the seething Lizzie, nor the sad Lizzie that we've seen in varying degrees of frequency throughout her videos thus far. Today, Lizzie is uncharacteristically calm and content, but also serenely amused, as if she has a tremendous secret that she's keeping under wraps. She takes a breath and opens her mouth, then thinks better of whatever she's thought of saying, and tries again. After a few repetitions of this behaviour, she laughs and shakes her head. "Forget it," she tells the camera happily. "There's no way to open this episode that will do it justice." Something very close to a giggle escapes her mouth. "My name is Lizzie Bennet...and...I bet you're all going to just loooove this."

The theme song and animated logo follow this cryptic statement, before bringing us back to Lizzie, dressed in a different outfit. "Good morning, Internet!" she sings out from her usual spot in her bedroom. "Today is Saturday, and I decided to record today, because..." her whole body seems to wilt a bit, "...I don't really have anything else to do." She utters a self-deprecating little laugh. "Well, Bing's coming by any second now to pick up Jane for a whole weekend of 'Jingy bliss', and Charlotte's out of town, of course, so what am I supposed to do, hang out with Lydia?" More laughter. "So, to keep myself from going stir-crazy, I thought I'd just turn on the camera, and see if I can work up the nerve to-"

Her monologue is interrupted by a timid little knock. Behind Lizzie, her door opens a crack and Jane's face peeps timidly in. "Hey, Lizzie..."

Lizzie smiles and swivels happily around. "Hi, Jane, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing," comes the perpetually cheerful voice, peeking into the room a bit further. "It's just that Bing's probably going to show up any minute now, so I wanted to say goodbye before I head out!"

Lizzie grins back briefly at the camera before looking at Jane again. "Aw, that's so sweet of you! Well, I hope you and Bing have a wonderful time!"

"Thanks, Lizzie!" chirps Jane.

As her older sister starts to withdraw her head and leave, Lizzie says, "Oh, wait, Jane?"

"Yes?"

"Can you just make sure to close the door all the way before you go? I don't want Mom barging in unexpectedly."

"Oh, Mom's not here," Jane tells her.

"She's not?"

"Nope!" comes the chipper reply. "She and Dad and Lydia went out to a movie. And I think they're going to have lunch at a restaurant afterwards. And maybe shopping later. They'll be out most of the day."

Lizzie looks back at the camera for a moment, frowning confusedly. "Wait...Mom? Went out with Dad? And Lydia? Really?"

"Yep! I think Mom and Dad are trying to...you know...bond with Lydia more, strengthen the parent-daughter relationship, make her feel better about herself, give her motivation to stay out of trouble. All good stuff, y'know?"

"Yeah..." Lizzie replies slowly, favouring the camera with another surprised glance. "Yeah, I guess...that is really good." She and Jane share a fond smile. "Well, in that case," Lizzie says, her tone upbeat, "why don't you leave the door wide open when you go?" She turns back around to the camera, looking amused. "We've never been able to do that before!"

In the distance, a doorbell sounds. Jane looks around. "Oh, that'll be Bing!" she says excitedly. "Gotta go! Bye, Lizzie!"

"Bye!" waves Lizzie. "Have a great time!" She turns back to the camera as Jane leaves. "So, where was I?" she asks rhetorically. "Oh yes." She sobers. "I was trying to work up some courage. Right." She takes a deep breath. "Well, um, Lydia kind of let something slip that she said she wasn't supposed to, and I ended up finding out the truth about how she got bail money and really good legal defence, and..." Lizzie takes another deep breath, this one slower and stronger. There's a short pause as you can see her mind trying to work out what to say. At this point, though, behind her, a man walks in to stand in her open doorway. His head, naturally, is too high up for the camera to see who it is, but he's wearing suspenders...and the bottom tips of a bowtie are visible near his neck. You can see his chest rise with breath as he prepares to speak, but Lizzie, unaware of his presence, resumes talking first.

"I really, really need to express a lot of gratitude," she says, "and...well...eat a lot of crow." She laughs at herself again.

The man behind her takes advantage of this pause in her monologue to make his presence known. "Lizzie," he says, softly but firmly.

Lizzie's reaction is electric. Her eyes fly wide open, and she jumps in her seat, shooting one quick, horrified look at the camera before spinning around. "Darcy! How...what are you doing here?"

One of Darcy's hands open in what might be an apologetic gesture, as he says, "I came with Bing when he came to pick up Jane. She said I could come in and see you." His tone intensifies as he clarifies, "I wanted to see you."

"Oh," Lizzie says, still dumbfounded.

"May I...come in?" he asks courteously.

"Of...of course," she replies. The look she gives the camera as she swivels back round to face it is unmistakenly of the deer-in-the-headlights variety.

Darcy, meanwhile, pulls up another chair and sits beside her. Once seated, his glance falls on the camera. The classic oh-god-you're-filming eyebrow quirk occurs, but this time, his mouth twitches as well, possibly with - could it be - amusement? "You're filming," he says, but with far less irony in his tone than the audience is used to hearing.

Lizzie can't help but let out a chuckle. "Yes," she says sheepishly.

Darcy actually smiles slightly and turns his gaze back to her. "I...suppose I don't really mind," he says, with a steadying breath, and a possibly tender look.

Lizzie misses his expression, though, because she's looking down at her lap, taking a steadying breath of her own. She also misses seeing him try to start speaking, and unknowingly interrupts him by looking up suddenly and bursting forth with what she wants to say. "Darcy, I...I really have to tell you..." He swallows as her earnest eyes meet his. "I can't begin to thank you enough for everything you did for Lydia. There really are no words...what you did was so...amazing. I still can't believe it."

Darcy's answering expression is a combination of embarrassment and dismay. "It actually wasn't my intention that you should ever find out about that."

Lizzie's mouth quirks. "Yes, well, Lydia's unfortunately not the best at keeping her mouth shut. She told me about the bail money...and the lawyer...and how you managed to persuade George to tell the police the truth about her involvement by arranging to get him off on a lesser sentence."

Darcy looks somewhat uncomfortable throughout all this, glancing uneasily at the camera now and then. "I suppose I should have remembered that discretion is not one of her...strengths." After a blink, he hurriedly adds, "That isn't meant to be an insult-"

Lizzie gives him a deeply amused smile. "Oh trust me, I'm not going to take offence at anyone saying that Lydia isn't the silent type." As Darcy smiles back, she presses her point. "But really...it was the most incredible thing to do, especially since it meant having to deal again with George...I know how hard that must have been for you," she admits in a low voice. "And believe me, if the rest of my family knew the truth, they would be just as grateful as I am."

Darcy stiffens a bit, looking awkward. Finally, he meets Lizzie's eyes again. "Well, I...I'm not really concerned with anyone else's..." There is a pause, during which the intensity of his gaze deepens. "Lizzie, you must know that everything I did...I did to make you happy."

The ensuing pause is extremely long, and Extremely Meaningful. They continue to stare at each other, each person's breath starting to come just a little bit faster. Finally, Darcy breaks the silence and the gaze by glancing down.

"I didn't come here for thanks, Lizzie," he tells her quietly. "I came because I saw your last video, with my aunt's...atrocious behaviour." He makes a grimace of disgust as Lizzie tenses in anticipation of his reaction to that. "On the one hand, watching that was horrendous. I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am for how she treated you." He looks back up at her, his look entreating. Lizzie seems relieved. She smiles and shakes her head, probably to assure him that she doesn't consider him responsible for Catherine's actions, but he continues before she can say anything. "But on the other hand, when you refused to promise her-" His look becomes very intense. "I have to know," he says, a little desperately. "Do you still feel...the way you did...at Hallowe'en? Please tell me, I can't stand not knowing anymore." He swallows again as his voice drops to a shyer, more confessional tone, light years apart from the arrogant confidence that accompanied his first declaration of love. "My feelings haven't changed at all. Except...to become even stronger," he adds.

Lizzie lets out a quick exhale. A dozen different reactions seem to steal over her face at once, and her eyes are suddenly glistening. Finally she lets out a tender smile, and reaches up a hand to touch Darcy's cheek. "Will..." she says softly.

Darcy inhales sharply at the physical contact and the use of his first name, and unconsciously leans closer to her.

Lizzie begins shaking her head slowly, disbelievingly, and she slides her hand past his cheek to tangle itself in his hair. She, too, leans closer in, pulling him until their foreheads are touching. "My feelings are completely the opposite of what they were," she whispers against his lips.

With an inarticulate noise, Darcy lets out the breath he'd been holding, and moves his head forward just that one inch it needs, so that his mouth reaches hers. Their kiss is somehow strong, soft, slow, frenzied, passionate and tender all in one. It seems to go on forever. Their hands both reach up to tangle in each other's hair until finally Darcy pulls her head back to rain kisses down her jaw and neck. Gasping, she pulls her head back up to meet his mouth again, but her eyes land on the camera first and she utters a surprised and embarrassed, "Oh!"

Darcy mistakes this for an expression of pleasure and continues his loving assault on her throat. This is clearly extremely distracting for her, but she eventually manages to gasp out, "Camera! I should turn it...off!"

He immediately withdraws and turns to the camera with a wide-eyed look of shock. Gazing back at her, he says, breathlessly and meaningfully, "Yes. Please."

She laughs and reaches out to the camera. The last thing the audience sees before the screen go black is her not-so-apologetic glance for her viewers, and her free hand reaching back behind her to tug off Darcy's bowtie.

Fin.