I stretched out the Lydia/Wickham arc to give Lizzie enough time to find out she's pregnant... You guys will see what I mean. At the end of this chapter she'll be a little over a month pregnant already. Thanks to FF user SOLYAHU who inspired part of this chapter and the next!
This is a long one! About 5K!
Lizzie was in the den making a video to kill time. It had been a few days since she'd been at home and there hadn't been any progress on finding Wickham, so she was very antsy. She was confessing how guilty she felt to the camera, when Jane walked in.
"I just feel really bad. Like this is all my fault. If only I hadn't been fighting with her! I-"
"Whoa, whoa, Lizzie, sweetie this isn't your fault. George made his choices and he should be the one to carry the burden of the consequences, not you. And just to update you, Dad called and said he's on his way back; his detective buddy couldn't dig anything up on Wickham's whereabouts.", Jane said with a sigh.
Lizzie chuckled. "You know, you sound kind of like Da-…. Nevermind. But umm Janie, when are you going back to LA? Fashion Week starts soon and I'm sure Bing misses you."
Darcy had said something similar when Lizzie had been blaming herself after she found out in San Francisco and she almost said it aloud. In order for Darcy to have found out about Lydia, she had to have been with him at 7 in the morning; and to explain why would have been very difficult. "…this isn't your fault. You cannot blame yourself for George's actions…" is what he said. Has it really only been a few days since she had woken up next to him?
Jane shook her head sadly and faked a smile. It didn't light up her eyes like it always did, so Lizzie knew wasn't genuine. "Don't worry about it, it's just a job…"
"Wait, tell me what happened, Janie. Is everything alright?"
"Well, I told my boss I had a family emergency as soon as Charlotte called me. He said I was crazy if I thought there'd be a job waiting for me when I returned. So the day we both arrived was my last day. After work, Bing dropped me off at the airport and now I'm unemployed… But it's worth it. I'd be miserable over there knowing that I'm not supporting my baby sister."
"But Jane! She doesn't come out of her room. She doesn't answer our calls. She doesn't listen to us when we try to speak to her through the door… You could've been working at Fashion Week! It could've been something positive in all this mess…"
"It's okay, Lizzie. It just wasn't meant to be, that's all. Something better will come along; just you wait and see… By the way, have you watched her videos?"
"Nope. I tried but I feel sick to my stomach seeing her with that bastard."
"Well, maybe you should. We may think she's not listening to us but she is… more than we know. Now stop moping, and let's help Mom finish off the muffins."
"Mmmm! Muffins!", Lizzie said excitedly, cheered up by the thought of food. She had missed her mother's cooking while she was away and now consumed as much of it as she could.
"Girls! Come take some of these chocolate chip muffins to Lydia! And some milk, too! Nothin' like a full stomach to distract you from an broken heart!", their mother called from the kitchen. To explain Lydia's mood and the absence of the 'nice young swimmer', they'd all told Mrs. Bennet that they had broken up.
While the Bennets were at home feeling restless and doing their best, Darcy was out and about doing what he could to stop the release of the tape. He had taken Fitz into his confidence and asked him to assist him. He hadn't returned to work since the day Lizzie left and Gigi was worried about him. He didn't tell her what he was doing because he didn't want her involved. "In no way do I wish to return to the way our relationship was last year. Wickham only brings trouble and we do not need to talk about him.", he thought as he texted Gigi back.
She'd wanted to know what he was planning to do about the tape. He said nothing; not involving Gigi was for the best…
She called him while he was awaiting a fax from the porn company that had the rights to the sex tape.
"Is she using the Domino demo? Really Gigi?", he thought angrily but that faded into concern for his sister's emotional state. He ended their conversation abruptly in order to stop her from pressing him.
The fax ended up being useless and he punched the table in anger. "Damn it!"
A few weeks had passed and Lizzie was wallowing in desperation and guilt because the release date was getting closer everyday and still no sign of Wickham or any way to stop the release. She was filming to relieve stress, when Lydia appeared out of nowhere.
Nobody had actually seen Lydia for weeks. She came out when everybody else was asleep or out. She took the food they left outside her door and left the empty plates and cups outside. She had her own bathroom, so she really didn't need to run into anybody.
Lydia finally broke down in front of Lizzie. They shared a moment of mutual grief and guilt and shame, and they cried together.
"Lydia, I love you. Mom and Dad and Jane love you. you're Mary's best friend. Your family loves you and we will be here for you no matter what, you got that? You are loved, Lydia, and I'm sorry if any of us ever made you feel like you weren't.", Lizzie said through tears, while rocking Lydia in her arms.
"It's just that... you never called. And Jane never called. When I called Jane, she was super busy and I thought it'd be best if I just didn't bother, you know? And George; he made me think you guys were against me… and I believed him!"
"It's okay Lydia. He's a manipulative asshole and he picked on you when you were weak."
"But he's my manipulative asshole, Lizzie! I am still in love with him! And I thought he loved me too…"
"Lydia, it's not your fault! How many times do we have to tell you?!"
"But it feels like it is…", Lydia said, letting the tears flow freely.
"You know what? I don't wanna hear you talking like this anymore. Let's go to the kitchen and eat some food, okay? Mom made four-cheese lasagna last night with some apple pie for dessert and there's plenty of left-overs! I put some in the oven to heat up a little while ago and I can smell it already…", Lizzie suggested.
"Really? I can't smell anything.", Lydia said sniffing, as Lizzie dragged her towards the kitchen.
Lizzie had gained a couple of pounds; nothing too noticeable. Her appetite had increased a lot in the past few weeks and she began eating at least two helpings of food for most meals. Nobody really noticed except her mother. She was just glad someone was enjoying her cooking and she always believed her girls were all too skinny. Mrs. Bennet was full-figured herself and she just felt her daughters should be a little plumper.
Not to mention her sense of smell had gotten much better. She could smell her mother's food way before she called everyone over for each meal.
Lizzie had also been napping a lot. Jane noticed that, but attributed it to Lizzie staying up late researching Novelty Exposures and searching for Wickham. They shared Lizzie's room now, so she knew pretty much what Lizzie was up to all day.
Lizzie didn't notice any of these things. And she especially didn't notice when her period didn't come. She was too caught up in Lydia's drama to pay attention to herself.
Darcy seemed to locate a number that may belong to Wickham but had no way to track it or find out who it belonged to. He got it from one of the 'street sources' he'd hired. He was back at Pemberley Digital but as soon as he heard there was a lead, he called Fitz and they started working together to find him again. It turned out to be a dead end. Unless someone picked up that phone, there was no way to track it.
Darcy sighed and said to Fitz, "I think I'm going to have to buy Novelty Exposures."
"What?! Darcy do you know how that's going to look?"
"I know, I know. If any of our partners or investors find out I acquisitioned a pornographic business, we would be in danger of them backing out of Pemberley… but I don't think I have another choice. I can't let that scumbag win, and if that tape gets out Lydia will be ruined…"
"Darcy, dude, you are either incredibly dumb, or a really good person. And right now, I can't make up my mind.", Fitz joked.
Darcy smiled but he wasn't happy. He'd wanted to avoid doing this. This could really mess up the reputation of what his father had worked so hard on. "But I've got to do this for Lizzie… I can't stand to think what she'll feel like if this gets out. And I won't be there to comfort her…"
It took a few days, but on the day before the video was supposed to be released, the site was taken down. William Darcy was now the sole proprietor of Novelty Exposures, the porn company. The paperwork took longer than expected because the original owners didn't believe someone was really willing to pay millions for their business, and they thought someone just wanted to uncover their identities. But finally, he had access to all their records and he had the company's copies of Lydia's video destroyed. He also had a P.O. Box where they sent a check as payment for the video. The P.O. Box's address was in LA, so at least they knew he was somewhere nearby.
It was the week after Valentine's Day and Mrs. Bennet was still baking heart-shaped cookies, which Lizzie was practically drooling for. To distract herself until they were done, Lizzie decided to film a video cursing George Wickham's name and wishing she'd never met him. But soon after she'd started recording, Lydia walked in and announced the site had been taken down.
"WHAT?! Seriously?!", Lizzie asked, taken aback completely.
"Mmhmm. I don't know who or why but it's gone.", Lydia said, hoping that maybe it was George who had come to the rescue.
"This is great! Let's go tell Dad and Jane!", Lizzie said excitedly as she looked at the deactivated website on her phone.
"Oh and thank you to whoever did this! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We appreciate it so very much.", Lizzie added quickly before shutting off the camera and hugging Lydia.
Later that night, Darcy watched her video and felt relieved. "I did it. I stopped it. Look at her, she looks so happy. She's practically glowing.", Darcy thought as he smiled to himself. His thoughts quickly went back to another time when he had made Lizzie glow with happiness. He tried not to think about their night together, and stopping the release of the tape had taken up much of his thoughts for the past weeks. But now that it was stopped, he was, for the most part, relaxed and Lizzie took up the majority of his brain space again.
However, Gigi would put an end to that relaxation. She called him and gave him something new to worry about.
"William, I'm glad you've stopped the release of the video! It's really honorable what you did, and I know you did it for Lizzie, so you should tell her! But before you lecture me on staying out of your business, hear what I have to say. I think we should continue looking for George…"
"But why?"
"Because George isn't stupid, William! He could have kept a copy of the tape for himself!"
"If he releases that video anywhere else, he'd be breaching his contract with Novelty Exposures and we could sue him. He's a money-man, Georgiana. You, of all people, should know that.", Darcy replied, flinching at the last part of his speech. He didn't mean for it to come out like that.
"I know, William, but I know from experience that George doesn't always do as told.", Gigi said blinking rapidly to hold back the tears. She knew her brother hadn't meant to hurt her, but it did sting.
"What do you mean, Gigi?"
"So, while George and I were… living together… we umm kind of made a tape of our own… and wait- please don't say anything, William, just hear me out. It was supposed to be just for fun. But then I told him to delete it and he did, right in front of me. But one day, I was snooping around and saw that he backed it up onto a DVD. All it said was "Gigi' in permanent marker. I thought maybe it was pictures we'd taken on our trips together… yes bro, we went on vacations together… but umm, yea. But it wasn't pictures. It was the video I thought he'd deleted. So he backs his stuff up, Will. He isn't dumb."
Gigi was blushing profusely and was so embarrassed and ashamed and she thought her brother would be angry with her. He wasn't, though.
"What did you do with the video?" was all Darcy asked.
Gigi was shocked and was expecting him to yell like he had last year, when they had been fighting about George.
"I broke the disc into tiny pieces and burned it in the fireplace… and then I checked everywhere for any others. You see, we have to look for him! I don't think he was looking to make money off of mine, but with Lydia's he was, so it'd make sense for him to keep a copy!"
"I see your point. Thank you… for sharing, Gigi. I'll look into that number again. Good night, Gigi. I love you.", he said, hoping to break the tension.
"I love you, too, big brother.", replied Gigi with a smile.
The next day, Gigi was doing the Domino demo and called Fitz to find out any updates on the number; she was still kind of iffy about calling Darcy. She had promised Fitz she would only text Wickham, but she called and left him a message. When he called her back, she couldn't not pick up.
"Hey, Peach!"
"Hey… George, where are you?", Gigi said with her eyes beginning to water. She hadn't spoken to him since the day he walked out of her condo with a check between his fingers.
"How are you doing, Gigi? It's been a while. I miss your pretty little face."
"George, seriously! Where are you? We need to talk."
"What does this button do?... Click for video…" *click*
"No, don't press that!"
"Oh hey, Gigi! Wow, you are as beautiful as I remember... Do you still wear that perfume I like? You know, the one with-"
"George Wickham, do you know you almost ruined her life with that website?!"
"I had nothing to do with that, the tape was stolen. I loved her- wait, what do you mean almost ruined her life?"
"The website is down, George! How could you do that to her?"
"Well, that's good! Whoever stole our tape must have felt bad about it! I'm glad for her 'cause that must've been really tough…", he said with a fake smile and flaring nostrils. He was actually really angry.
"George where are you, so we can talk? I know that website wasn't it. I know there's more-"
"Look, I gotta go… Bye."
"George Wickham, tell me where you are! Don't hang up!"
Gigi started sobbing at the end of the call. That was so emotionally draining for her. She felt disgusted that she had once loved that man.
*Incoming call from WILLIAM DARCY*
"Gigi, did you call Wickham?"
"I'm sorry, William, don't be mad! I just-"
"No, don't apologize! You got him to download Domino. He accepted the Terms of Service…We can track him. I just got an email in regards to the unknown number."
"Really?!"
"Yes. Good job, Gigi. Now seriously, leave the rest to me."
Darcy was so excited. Finally after all this time, he could find Wickham and give him the ass-kicking he deserved.
But while Gigi and Darcy were busy talking, Wickham was researching how the website had been taken down. He emailed one of the previous owners, who emailed back almost immediately, boasting that he was now a millionaire and that some dude named Darcy bought out his company.
George was fuming.
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Darcy, you piece of SHIT! Ahhhhh!", he screamed.
He was kicking and punching the inside of the van he'd bought with the money from the tape. He was living in it and was hiding out until the real money would start rolling in, but apparently that would never happen now, thanks to Darcy.
He owed a load of money to some people. George was a gambler and was counting on this money to pay back his debts and to start a clean slate in a different state.
"I guess I have no other choice now…", he thought mischievously as he texted Lydia. He was going to blackmail her.
Lydia had been watching a movie with Lizzie in the living room, but had gone into the kitchen to get some snacks. Lizzie had a sudden craving for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so Lydia had just gone to the kitchen when her phone buzzed.
"Lydia! Somebody texted you!", Lizzie yelled.
"It's Mary! Just text her back saying, 'Yea, I'd like to sleep over.'"
"'Kay!"
But when Lizzie read the text message it wasn't Mary. It was Wickham.
From: Babe
Lydia, you stupid bitch! Did you really think I was in love with you? I wasn't! And don't think you're safe just because you got Darcy to take the site down.
I still have the original video and I'm not afraid to sell it. I know some people who would definitely get off on a slutty ginger like you.
Call me so I can tell you where to meet me so we can have a little chat. And if you tell anyone, I'll put the video up on every porn website I can think of, for free.
And I'll send it in an email to everyone you know. CALL ME, PEACH.
Lizzie gasped and she started tearing up. "No way! Wickham is so evil! And wait a minute… Darcy took it down? Really? Why? I better call him…", whispered to herself.
She had thought many times about calling Darcy since she'd last seen him but never had the guts. Now, though, she was calling on behalf of her baby sister.
"Lizzie?", Darcy said, not even trying to conceal the surprise in voice.
"Hi, Darcy. I umm… know that it was you that took down the website and thank you sooo much for that, really-"
"It's okay.", he said matter-of-factly. "This was what I didn't want! Who told her?!"
"Well, I'm sure my family will find some way to make it up to you. But that's not why I'm calling. I have Lydia's phone, and Wickham just texted her! He's basically black-mailing her! He says he has an original copy of the video and I just thought to call you since you were the one who took the site down…", Lizzie replied in a hushed voice. She didn't want Lydia to hear.
"What?! That bastard! Excuse me. But it's okay! I know where he is. I can track his location with Pemberley's new Domino application."
"What the hell is that? Have I really been gone that long?"
Darcy almost laughed. "It's fairly new. It was released for a beta test shortly after you'd gone. Gigi called him and-"
"Wait, what?! Gigi spoke to him? Is she okay?"
"She's fine. She just really wanted to help find him and she did. She was the one who got him to download the app. I'm headed to his location as we speak."
"Wait! Where is he? I have a couple of words I'd like to share with him!"
"He's in LA. That's quite a distance from where you are…"
"I don't care! Come on Darce, it's my baby sister we're talking about here."
"Alright. Well, what I can do is confirm his location for myself and then when you get here, we ambush him together." "Together.", they both thought that sounded really nice.
"Sure thing. Give me the address and I'll find a way to get there."
"Lizzie, don't be ridiculous. I'll have a car pick you up and take you to one of my private planes. I would prefer that you fly commercially, but we don't have the time for that."
"Alright. Thanks, Darcy.", she said in awe. "There he goes again, being super nice. After he bought up a company to save my sister!", she thought astonished.
"No problem, Lizzie. I'll text you any necessary information. I've got to call some people and make arrangements."
"Okay, bye."
"See you later, Lizzie."
Darcy couldn't believe it. He was going to see Lizzie again in a few hours. He thought he'd never see her again. Well, not never because Bing and Jane were dating, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon. And they were going to be alone together. "The last time we were alone together…". He shook his head. "Thinking about sex with Lizzie Bennet is best left to a time when you're not driving."
Lizzie had to think of an excuse as to where she was going and a way to keep Lydia from receiving texts from Wickham. She quickly texted him back saying
To: Babe
I'll call you in a few days. I need time to think. Why would you do this to me? Never mind; answer me when we meet face-to-face.
Don't text me or call because if any of my family members see that you're contacting me, they'll get the police on you.
From: Babe
Fine. But don't think too hard. Call me or I will make this tape VIRAL.
She deleted his texts and texted back Mary for Lydia. Hopefully sleeping over at Mary's will keep Wickham off of Lydia's mind.
"What a heartless bastard!", Lizzie thought angrily. "How am I gonna get out of here? Hmmm… I know! I can say Dr. Gardiner found me my last company to interview for my independent study… It's a bit of a stretch but they won't know the difference, right?"
Lizzie set Lydia's phone down and when she got back she told her the 'good news'.
"…But it'll only be for a couple days I think. I'll be back with you before you know it! I'm kind of glad you're going to Mary's for a few days."
"Yeah, no prob. It's for school so I totally get it."
Lizzie smiled but inside she felt horrible for lying to Lydia. "It's for her own good. If she knew what Wickham wanted to do, she would go into a major depressive state. She is just starting to get better."
"Well, lemme go tell Jane and Mom and Dad. By the way, the sandwiches are soo good! You think you can whip me up a couple more for the road? A car is on its way to come pick me up and I would love to have some of these later on."
"Sure thing, sis!", Lydia said excitedly and hopped up to make more. She liked feeling useful.
Lizzie explained the situation to everyone. No one seemed to suspect anything. Jane probably would have, but she was currently talking to Bing on Skype.
The car arrived and she was on her way to the airport. She knew she was going in order to confront Wickham, but she couldn't help but think of Darcy. She thought about him on the plane as well. But as soon as the time to meet him again approached, she felt nervous. She absent-mindedly smoothed down her dress and hair as she waited for Darcy's jet.
Darcy was impatiently awaiting Lizzie's arrival. After speaking with Lizzie earlier, he had rented an inconspicuous looking car- something Wickham would never suspect him of driving- and proceeded to find the coordinates that the Domino application had provided for him. He reached the area where Wickham was, but then showed some kid a picture of Wickham and asked him if he'd seen him around. He had. He was staking out in a van in the motel parking lot. "Thanks, kid.", Darcy said and gave the kid fifty dollars.
It took everything he had not to go barging in on that van and knock Wickham out, but he knew Lizzie was on her way, so he took note of the address and left to pick her up.
When Lizzie finally walked out and he first laid eyes on her, his heart swelled and he felt whole again. He didn't realize it until then, but he had been feeling like a piece was missing since she'd left him in San Francisco.
He cleared his throat before saying, "Hello, Lizzie. You look well. I hope your flight went smoothly." What he really wanted to say was "Lizzie you're even more beautiful than I remember and I missed you so much.", but obviously he wasn't going to tell her that.
Lizzie cleared her throat as well and replied, "Hi, Darcy. Thanks. It was good…". The nervousness was on full blast.
They stood there awkwardly for another few seconds before Darcy said, "Well, it's getting late so I don't think it'd be best to confront Wickham now. I know his location and I have somebody watching him in case he leaves. I… uh… booked us rooms in a nearby bed and breakfast. I didn't think it'd be wise to rent a room in the same motel where he's staying because he might recognize us… is that alright?"
"Oh. Okay, yeah that's good.", Lizzie replied. "Separate rooms… of course. I guess he forgot about that night. It's for the best, I guess.", Lizzie thought irritatedly as she followed Darcy to the car.
"What's this?", Lizzie said when they got to the car.
"Oh, this is a car I rented."
Lizzie burst out laughing. "Not that I'm used to driving around in Range Rovers and Rolls Royces but William Darcy in a Toyota Camry?"
They fell into an easy conversation after that; with Lizzie teasing Darcy and him retaliating. Like old times; before sex complicated everything.
They were nearing the B&B, when all of a sudden Lizzie's stomach growled loudly. "That's the second time in front of him.", Lizzie thought as her face reddened out of embarrassment.
"Aren't they feeding you at home?", he teased.
They stopped at a nice-looking taco shop and the teasing continued. "You eat tacos?"
Darcy thought they were having a nice time but then Lizzie started dozing off. He was discouraged by this and started thinking that maybe the chemistry they had before was gone now. But Lizzie was having a good time; it was just that the growing baby was sucking the life out of her and she hadn't napped today (she was too nervous on the plane).
Darcy and Lizzie got to the B&B and then he walked her to her room. This was eerily similar to their last night together. That was on both their minds but this time, it was Darcy that invited himself in.
"Lizzie, I'd like to talk about tomorrow. Do you mind if I come in for a few minutes?"
"Sure.", Lizzie said. She was too tired to care anymore.
Lizzie sat on her bed and Darcy sat in a chair at a little table in a corner of the room. He informed her that tomorrow afternoon they were going to confront Wickham for the tape and if he didn't give it up willingly, he would threaten to sue for copyright infringement.
"Sounds like a plan.", she said yawning. She was obviously tired because she had laid back on the bed , so Darcy tucked her in. He guided her sleepy body to the bed and had her lay down. He took off her shoes and covered her up. He didn't dare try to help her into her pajamas lest he come off a pervert (but come on, Darcy, you've seen each other naked already).
Lizzie was slipping quickly into dreamland but managed to mumble a "Thanks, Will." before falling into a deep and restful sleep.
Darcy smiled at the name. Nobody called him that; not even Gigi. He sighed as he looked back at her and turned off the light. Tomorrow they would face Wickham. Together.
Next chapter 100% chance of her finding out she's preggers. I promise.
