Disclaimer: blah blah not mine blah blah stop rubbing it in! Blah blah jerks.
Author's Note: A big huge thank you for all the reviews and follows and favourites, yes, even the reviews saying that my friend was right and I'm a dick for the cliff hanger last time. Hopefully this will make it better?
I had originally intented for this fic to be 10 parts, but for anyone who read my last multi-part fic can tell you... stories have a tendency of getting away from me. Currently, I'm working on part 13. And no, I'm not going to post them all at once. Again, I'm a dick. Sorry.
Again, thank you for your kind and supportive reviews. They keep me editing and writing and posting on a daily basis...and also keep me anxious and having dreams where people hunt me down if I don't get the characters right. So thank you, you guys keep me going and keep me wanting to do things well.
The Netherfield Effect.
7. Going Home.
She had to get out of that house so much so that she didn't care that she didn't have anyplace to go home to. She would go anywhere: to Mary's or Charlotte's. Hell she would sleep in her car if it meant being away from that place - being away from that man.
Money. That was the reason he gave for breaking Wickham and Gigi up. George Wickham, a man who had grown up with Darcy, who was practically a brother to him was cast aside because he didn't have fortune enough to consort with someone of the name Darcy.
If that was really how Darcy felt, then what the hell was he doing with her? Was it a game? Was he slumming it? Lizzie no longer knew. She no longer wanted to know. She just wanted to be far, far away.
She tossed her bags on the bed and started stuffing things inside.
"Lizzie?" Jane's worried voice called from the doorway, coming closer when she noticed her sister's distress, "What's wrong?"
"I have to leave."
"What happened?"
"Darcy..."
"Did you two have a fight?" When Lizzie didn't answer, Jane moved forward and put her arms around her little sister, stopping her before she could pack more things. "Tell me what's wrong. Lizzie, you're shaking."
"I thought I was beginning to understand him. I thought I had been wrong about him. I was wanting to have been wrong about him." She paused, realizing that she was close to tears. Crying over Darcy? A month ago she never would have dreamed that possible. "But I don't think I was."
"Come and sit. Maybe we can talk about this."
"No. Not while under the same roof as him."
"Lizzie..."
She broke free from her sister, trying to make Jane understand that things weren't as simple as she thought they were. "He cares about money, Jane. He cares that we don't have it. And if you're not careful he'll make Bing care about that too."
Jane's frown deepened, not having seen her sister this upset over a man before. "Lizzie. Do you... you really do care about him."
She paused, her hands buried in the mountain of clothes she had tossed into her suitcase. Jane had asked the question of the moment. The question that she had fought herself not to answer. Did she really care about him? Could she have fallen for him as Jane did Bing? It didn't matter, she reminded herself, closing the lid. She was saved from answering just in time. At least she could thank Darcy for that.
She swallowed the growing lump as she zipped up her suitcase. "No. It would be stupid of me to have."
"No. It's never stupid to care about someone. Now, are you sure you two can't work this out?"
"There's nothing to work out. We're from two, very different worlds. After leaving here, I doubt I'll ever have to see him again."
Jane knew her sister better than that. She knew that there was a lot that she wasn't saying. But she also knew that Lizzie needed to do things in her own time. And so she merely nodded, grasped her sister's hand tightly in her own and made a phone call.
~*~LBD~*~
The hotel room was small, and no where near as well decorated or ornate as Netherfield. And for that, Lizzie thought there was no place better for her to spend the night although she felt guilty for Jane coming along with her. She had told her that she would be okay, Charlotte would be there. But Jane wouldn't hear of it. There was no way she would let her sister be alone when she might be able to do something to help ease her pain.
"We still need to do a video for tomorrow," Charlotte reminded her when the three were settled in for the evening.
Lizzie nodded, "I know. And I think I know exactly what I'm going to say."
Charlotte met Jane's eye, "Why do I suspect more Darcy bashing in our future?"
Lizzie would have liked to say that she was being fair in her retelling of the events of the day. She would have also liked to have said that she wasn't as upset as she appeared on film. But she wasn't fair and she was upset and she knew that Charlotte might have been able to use at most three minutes of the thirty they had filmed while Jane had stepped out, claiming to have an errand to run.
She returned to find Lizzie leaning against the bed, drinking down a beer quicker than she normally would, Charlotte on the other side of the room, headphones on, pouring over the footage, her expression almost painful. She met Jane's eye and told her with a frown that they might need to film a disclaimer to put at the beginning of this video.
Jane sat beside Lizzie, taking the fresh beer the younger woman had opened from her grasp, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?"
"What happened between you and Darcy."
"No... it's just, I slept with him, Jane. I know that nothing happened. We were just looking at the stars, but I slept that night. I slept beside him. You know how big that is."
"I do." She assured her, smoothing her hair, "Is that why you're upset?"
"I don't want to talk about it. But I have to say that men shouldn't be so much work."
Jane smiled, "I know, sweety."
Lizzie was silent a long moment, taking the beer back into her possession. "I wanted to be wrong about him. But I wasn't. He's a prick. All men are pricks." She took a long drink.
"I'm sure they are, sweety." She looked to Charlotte, "How many has she had?"
The dark-haired woman shrugged. "I don't know. She's been hiding her empties. I found one in the toilet. What did you find out?"
"According to the contractor, we can move back into the house tomorrow. Mom already knows and I told her Lizzie isn't feeling well so we'll be heading back as soon as we can."
"And she accepted that?"
"More-or-less." Her phone started to ring. It was Bing. "Hey," she answered, taking it in the bathroom. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, but I miss you," he confessed. "I kind of got used to having you and Lizzie here. What happened? Caroline said that your place was ready but when I went by there the crew said you weren't moving back in until tomorrow and Darcy's in a mood..."
"I'm sure all will be explained in Lizzie's next video. You might want to warn Darcy about that. I'm not sure what she filmed, but with how mad she was and how much she's drank since then and how long it's taking Charlotte to edit it... I think it's safe to say that he might not want to see it right away." There was a crash from the bedroom. "I have to go."
"Okay, call me if you need anything. And Jane?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
She smiled. He had never said that to her before. "I love you too."
~*~LBD~*~
Bing paused outside of Darcy's room before knocking. He entered when he heard the terse permission given. Darcy was standing at the window, body tense and still. Bing hadn't seen him that wound up since his first day as Pemerberley's CEO. He knew that whatever was going on right now was bigger than either he or Lizzie was saying.
"How are you doing, Man?"
Darcy didn't turn. "I take it that you have heard."
"Not really. That's why I'm here. To talk."
His shoulders slumped. "I don't wish to talk about it."
Bing nodded, "You sound like Lizzie. She won't tell Jane what's wrong either." The younger man studied his friend closely when he mentioned the woman's name. "They left, you know."
Darcy sighed, "I am aware."
"Must have been some fight."
"Bing..." Darcy warned.
"And I like to think that I know you. And I know that you don't fight about things unless you really care about them."
"Bing, don't try to be clever about this. She is gone, and it is over. I'm leaving town and she will never have to see me again."
"Isn't that a little drastic?" He asked with a laugh, "Considering that you're my best friend and I'm dating her sister. At some point you're going to have to be around her again."
At this, Darcy turned, eyebrow lifted, "Then you're serious about Jane?"
"I'm in love with her."
"Well, that is serious."
Bing waited for the argument that didn't come. "What? That's it? No warning about her family, about her situation, about her being genuine?"
"Right now I feel that I'm the last person who should be giving lectures about the merits and follies of whom one finds themselves falling in love with. I only hope that you are more successful than some in gaining a happy ending."
Bing nodded, moving to the door. He paused, remembering Jane's words. "Oh, Jane told me to warn you about Lizzie's next video. She's really upset with what happened today. Jane didn't want you to watch it unprepared."
Darcy found it hard to breath for a moment after Bing left. Lizzie made a video in the heat of the moment, while she was angry at him. He could only imagine the depths to which she abused him... but if she mentioned his sister...
He took out his phone, and dialed the number that he knew off by heart but hadn't had a reason to call in months. He had recited the digits as he fell asleep. He had wanted to talk to her to much as of late. He wanted to make everything right again. Gigi. His little sister. Lizzie's words that night in the kitchen had given him hope that they might yet find their way back together again after so long being apart. He just had to give her time. But if Lizzie was going to share with the world what he feared she would, he could no longer afford to be patient.
"Hello William," the uncertain voice of his sister came through on the other end. He had never heard her so awkward and shy around him since their parents were buried. At least the anger was out of her address, for that moment at least.
"Gigi, I'm sorry for calling you so suddenly, but something important has come up that I needed to warn you about..." he took the next five minutes telling her about his time with Bing and Lizzie and her videos. A further five to explain to her why he wasn't upset about how she was portraying him and then to talk her down from excitement over him liking this new woman in his life. Then he got to the point of the call. George Wickham. He paused and had made multiple false starts in telling her the lies the other man had told Lizzie about him, and about Gigi.
"I'm telling you this, but not because I wanted to hurt you. Lizzie is upset about what happened and I don't know what she is going to say on her videos. While I don't think she'll say anything about you, I didn't want you to be caught unawares if I am truly wrong about her."
Gigi was silent a long moment. "William, what're they called?"
"What?"
"Her videos. I want to watch them." He tried to protest. "No. You're telling me that some stranger has insulted you for months, and might be airing my personal laundry in less than 10 hours. I want to see who this girl is so I can understand why you aren't more angry or hurt about what's going on. You don't accept people talking bad about you."
He smirked and told her, glad that there was someone in his life that really did understand him the way he had hoped Lizzie would. She kept him on the phone as she brought up the first video. "Wow, she's pretty."
Darcy sucked in a deep breath, "She is at that."
"I'll call you back when I'm finished."
He was waiting impatiently by the phone for her return call. He picked it up on the first ring, both ends of the call silent for a long moment until finally... "You really like her."
Darcy sighed, "Gigi."
"No, I get it. She's a little like mom - she has spirit and life. She must have done quite a number on you for you to have made that bad of an impression on her."
He found himself smiling. It felt good to be talking to her again like they used to. "You have no idea."
"So what are you going to do?" He was silent. "You're not planning on running away, are you?"
"I wouldn't call coming home, running away."
She made a clucking sound that was a fair impression on a chicken. "This isn't you. I haven't seen you give up on something you want ever. So why..."
"Because she doesn't want me."
"Are you sure? Because I don't know, she seems pretty into you at the end there. And if she got mad enough to leave the house rather than see you over a fight... I'd say it was more than just anger going on. Will you promise me you'll at least stay until the next video comes out?"
"You're going to watch it, aren't you?"
"Of course. If she says anything about me, I'll need to know right away so I can contact the lawyers."
"All you'll get out of her is her second born."
"What?"
"Nothing. Just, let me handle this, please?"
"Only if you promise to actually handle it. I'll call you after the video. And William, I'm sorry."
He smiled, feeling relaxed, "Me too."
~*~LBD~*~
It was 9am and more than one person was sitting in front of their computer waiting for Lizzie's video to upload while the woman herself lay on the hotel bed, feeling the effects of too many beers the night before.
Darcy had just gotten off the phone with Gigi, assuring her that he was going to watch the video when Bing came into his room, wanting to be there for his friend incase it really was as bad as Jane told him it might be.
They sat in silence as the alert came up. The new video was posted.
Whatever Darcy had been expecting this wasn't it.
It was Jane and Charlotte sitting in front of the camera, the lights in the hotel room low.
"So today we're doing something different," Charlotte was saying. "I'm back and that means that Lizzie is no longer at Netherfield."
Jane smiled apologetically, "Something happened while there and well, that's why we're here."
"When Lizzie filmed this video she wasn't in the best frame of mind."
"She and Darcy had a fight," Jane put in. "A really big fight."
"And because we're trying to be fair, I wanted to let you all know that what follows happened in the aftermath of that argument. The views that will be expressed are those felt in the heat of the moment and not entirely reflects the actual views that Lizzie feels while in her right mind. So with that, I'm Charlotte Lu."
"I'm Jane Bennet..."
"...And Lizzie was really pissed off."
After the title sequence Lizzie was on screen, her face was flushed and eyes red from unshed tears and frustration. She looked rattled. She looked more upset than Darcy had ever seen her before. And that surprised him. He knew she was mad, but upset? He was confused but also drawn more into the video.
He lost track of the descriptors she spewed at him when Charlotte cautioned her from off camera not to use language that they'd have to edit out. His temper rose when she accused him of controlling the lives of his friends like a puppet master. He found it amusing when she told him she wasn't going to play his games any more. He was surprised when she said that money was more important to him than loving someone. Then his heart ached when her voice broke a little as she talked about her own financial situation, how she refused to have him think he was better than she was just because she had to struggle in life. It gave her character - something she now felt him lacking. And finally his heart swelled at the end of the video when he realized that she didn't mention Gigi or George at all.
She had kept her word. She didn't tell. It wasn't about anyone else. The video was about them. Him and her - and how much one had hurt the other.
He wasn't sure when Bing left, only that when his phone next rang, he was alone.
"William," Gigi told him as soon as he picked up, "You have to do something."
"Yes, I know." He assured her, swallowing the dryness that had overtaken his throat, "Don't worry, I'm on it."
~*~TBC~*~
A/N: Okay, so another cliff hanger, but at least this one isn't quite as bad?
