Notes:


Thank you very much to booknoser321 for betaing this chapter. Thanks also to erinwert for being the advanced guard and providing me feedback on the content of this chapter.


Uncharted - Chapter 7

"Wakey! Wakey!"

Lizzie moaned and covered her head as something heavy landed on her. She cracked an eye, confirming that something was her scrawny but definitely heavy younger sister.

"C'mon, Lizzie! Aren't you ready for Lydia and Lizzie's epic day of sisterly awesome?"

Groaning, Lizzie gently pushed her sister off. "Can't I at least wake up first?"

Lydia sighed dramatically. "Fiiiine. But hurry, we're already wasting time. There's so much to do and see and —"

"Lydia, I love you and I mean this in this nicest way possible, but, get out!"

Huffing, Lydia pulled herself off the bed. "You have ten minutes!" she said before bounding out the door.

As soon as she was gone, Lizzie burrowed deeper into her pillows. She was excited to spend the day with her sister in the city. They hadn't done anything like that, just the two of them in ages, but the truth was, despite the fact that she'd just been sleeping, she was exhausted. Between continued nightmares about her impending company and vivid dreams about William that left her breathless, hot and dissatisfied, Lizzie hadn't managed to get any quality rest. With a loud sigh, Lizzie reluctantly rolled out of bed, stumbled around for suitable clothing, and made her way to the bathroom to get ready.

She emerged a few minutes later, in time to see William pulling on his suit jacket and picking up his briefcase. He beamed at her and quickly came over to greet her.

"Good morning, Lizzie. I was afraid we were going to be like passing ships in the night."

"Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night."

William's brow instantly furrowed. "Is everything all right?"

For the briefest of seconds Lizzie contemplated telling him everything, but the clatter of a plate in the kitchen quickly reminded her that they were not alone, and William had a job to get to. Lizzie shook her head. "It's fine. Just restless." She rolled up onto the balls of her feet and kissed him lightly. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Definitely!" He turned to look back at Lydia. "You two have a good day!"

"Oh, we will," Lydia called out. "We have a very detailed plan."

His gaze met Lizzie's again and she shrugged. "I shall leave you to it then."

Lizzie watched him as he descended the stairs and left for work, her cheeks flushing slightly as random images from her dreams the night before flitted into her consciousness. She stood at the top of the stairs for several long moments until Lydia snapped her fingers, drawing her attention.

"Earth to Lizzie, we have sister things to do, remember?"

Lizzie startled, then smiled. "Yes, of course. Just let me have some coffee, and we can get going."

LB-LB-LB-LB-LB

After an extremely busy morning, during which Lydia had dragged Lizzie all over, she (and her feet) were eternally grateful to have some rest while they sat in a restaurant near Fisherman's Wharf and waited for their food to arrive. So far, they had ridden a cable car, explored dozens of touristy shops, sampled chocolate at Ghirardelli's, window shopped the boutiques in Ghirardelli's Square, and wandered around the wharf. After lunch Lydia wanted to head over to the Haight and then explore Golden Gate park.

Although Lizzie had done a lot of those things already, mostly during her outing with William and Gigi when she'd been at Pemberley, she was thoroughly enjoying experiencing them all again with her sister. More importantly, she was enjoying the chance to be with Lydia without any drama, family interruptions, or other shenanigans. It was nice, and it made her slightly regret the missed opportunities between them during all those years where they had been so busy shutting each other out.

Lydia's mood had taken a turn, however, and Lizzie was perplexed as she watched her sister huff and lean her face melancholically against one hand, her elbow resting against the table.

Nudging her sister gently with her toe beneath the table, Lizzie said, "Yo. Mopey, what's up?"

She sighed and dropped her arm, sitting up straighter. "I'm not sure I want to just go home and go back to school."

"But I thought your classes were going well?" Lizzie frowned, trying to work out where her sister was going with this.

"They're fine, I guess. It's just…" Lydia fell silent, her finger tracing the droplets on the side of her water glass.

"What?" She kept her voice even, not wanting Lydia to think she was judging. They'd come a long way in the past few months and she didn't want to spoil it by slipping back into old habits.

Lydia hesitated for a moment, then sighed heavily. "I don't know what I'm doing with my life, or like what I want for my future. It seems like kind of a waste to be taking all these classes without having any kind of goal in mind."

Lizzie nodded. "Well, what do you think you want to do? For example, where do you see yourself in five years?"

"That's just it. I don't know. I mean I'm interested in lots of things, but this whole thing with… with George, it's made me realize that I want more out of my life, and right now I feel like I'm just drifting aimlessly without any direction."

Lizzie considered her Lydia's words for a long moment. She could relate to that. Before she'd decided to start her own company, she'd felt much the same way and she said as much to Lydia.

"So how did you figure it out? How did you decide that opening your own media company was what you wanted?"

"It didn't happen overnight. I talked to different people, listened to what they said, did a bunch of research, spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting on it. I also talked to Charlotte a lot. In the end I made the choice that felt right. Doesn't mean I don't still have doubts."

Her sister gaped at her. "You do?"

"Of course I do. I've spent the past week questioning my choices - it's scary, but I'm working through it and taking it one step at a time."

"Well, I don't want to start my own company, I know that." Lydia wrinkled her nose. "Too much work."

Lizzie laughed. "Fair enough." She took a sip of her water, thinking. "Maybe you need to take a step back. Try a few things out, get some life experience and maybe then you'll have a better idea of what you want to do? I know seeing how Collins and Collins and Pemberley Digital operated helped me a lot."

Lydia bit her lip self consciously, something Lizzie hadn't seen her do since they were little. "I was kind of thinking that maybe I should leave school for a bit." She looked at Lizzie nervously as though expecting a reaction, but Lizzie just smiled encouragingly. "I mean, like I can finish the classes I'm taking right now, but after that… I don't know, maybe I can move to a big city and work a bit, try to sort out what it is I want."

"Do you have any idea where you think you might want to go?"

"The first thing that comes to mind is here or New York. But that could just be because I miss you and Jane."

Lizzie reached for her sister's hand. "You don't have to figure it all out right now. Once you're back home, talk to mom and dad, and maybe even Mary. Do some research. Think about the kinds of things you think you might want to do and go from there. And anytime you need to talk, you know you can call me."

"Thanks," Lydia relaxed in her chair. "You've gotten better at that, you know?"

"At what?

"At making me feel better," Lydia hesitated. "I never used to feel like you had time for me or wanted me around, and whenever you did give me advice, it always felt like you were judging me."

Lizzie looked away, guilt rising as her sister's words resonated deep within her. Everything Lydia was saying had been true, although Lizzie hadn't realized it back then. She'd always been so sure that she was the one who was right and Lydia was just being a nuisance. "I'm sorry I made you feel that way,"

"It's okay, I didn't say that to make you feel bad. I just mean that it's not like that anymore, and that's nice. It's really nice."

They smiled at each other. "You're right, it is."

LB-LB-LB-LB-LB

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of movement, laughter, and adventure, and by the time they returned the apartment, both girls were exhausted.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay one more night?" Lizzie asked Lydia as they flopped onto the sofa to catch their breath.

"You wouldn't mind?" Lydia looked at her hopefully.

Lizzie smiled and shook her head. "Of course not! Today was really nice, and I don't want it to end."

"I think I'd like that." Lydia leaned against Lizzie's shoulder like she used to when they were little girls, and, not for the first time that day, Lizzie felt a pang of nostalgia. "What about Darcy, though. You two were going to spend time together tonight, weren't you?"

"We have lots of time for that. He'll understand." Lizzie nudged her sister playfully. "Besides, we can force him to watch girly movies with us and watch him squirm."

Lydia's eyes widened. "Seriously? Oh my god! Yes! This is going to be awesome." Her stomach growled loudly then, and both girls laughed.

"Perhaps first I should order us a pizza or something?"

"Pepperoni?"

"Of course!"

"Then I'm in!"

"Okay, why don't you go ahead and pick something? I'll be right back." Lizzie slipped from the room and started to rummage through drawers in the kitchen, looking for a delivery menu or a phonebook.

She was looking through her third drawer, which held kitchen linens, when her phone rang suddenly, causing her to jump. A glance at the caller ID informed her that it was William and instantly her face spread into a wide smile.

"William!" she chirped happily, as she opened a fourth drawer, this one filled with extra cutlery. She quickly closed it.

"Hello, Lizzie." His voice sounded tired and weary.

Lizzie paused, giving him her full attention. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes and no. There have been some complications with the arrangements for Gigi's trip to Sanditon on Saturday. Nothing dire, but there is still much to sort out, so I am afraid I will not make it home before nine. I am sorry."

"That's okay. Lydia's going to stay until tomorrow morning now and we were going to force girly movies upon you, so you've foiled our plan and escaped."

William chuckled. "Seems my timing was fortuitous then." His voice suddenly grew muffled and Lizzie could hear voices in the background. The muffled voices stopped and William spoke again. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'll let you get back to work. I'm supposed to be ordering us pizza right now anyway. Hey, do you have a delivery menu somewhere?"

"There's a folder in the drawer of the table in the hallway."

Lizzie spun to face that direction and sighed. Of course it would be in the one place she'd never think of to look. "Thank you!"

"Of course. Gigi just arrived so I should go. You and Lydia enjoy your evening."

"Thanks William. We will. I hope you manage to work everything out."

"I am certain we will. Nothing a few phone calls and a mountain of paperwork can not solve."

"Sounds thrilling."

"Boundlessly. All right. I really must go. Take care, Lizzie."

Before she could respond, the line went dead

To Be Continued….

Note:


You may have noticed that I didn't switch into William's POV at any point in this chapter. That was a very deliberate choice because I felt like the focus here needed to be more on Lizzie and Lydia. The next chapter will be in his POV though, so don't worry, there's a lot more William to come!