Sappy romance was so lame. That was what she liked about Eddie. He didn't bring her stupid flowers that would wither up and die after sitting in a vase of dirty water for a couple of days. He didn't try to make idiotic sweeping gestures to prove his adoration, or waste money at diamond stores with the assumption that something shiny and sparkly would give her heart palpitations and make her swoon into his arms. Gross.
They would just hang out together, and talk about stuff that both of them liked. Sometimes they'd both sit there reading. She wouldn't change it for anything out of a gag-worthy movie romance.
Oh, that was another plus about her and Eddie's relationship. It wasn't aired all over the Internet. Sure, some details showed up on Lydia's videos, but it mostly stayed off-screen. She shuddered to imagine what it would be like to be exposed to squealing fangirls. They might even make gifs of her and Eddie. Gross, gross, gross.
After everything that douchey Wickham guy did to Lydia, she figured it was a good idea for all of them to keep a super low profile when it came to social media. She did a little rooting around to help Lydia figure out who had taken down the website, but that was it. She didn't even visit YouTube at all after that. She talked to her cousins the normal way, over the phone and in person. Like actual human beings. What a shocking concept.
She came by to visit Lydia one day in late March, and on their way to Lydia's favorite "froyo" place they passed by Lizzie and that Darcy guy, strolling along the sidewalk, holding hands and being generally sickening. Lizzie didn't even seem to notice her own sister and cousin walking by and waving.
"Oh, are they together now?" she asked Lydia.
"What?" Lydia squawked. "You didn't know? Didn't you see the video?"
"Nope."
"But I'm sure I must have mentioned it sometime."
"Nope."
"Oops. Are you totes mad to be left out of loop?"
"Nope."
"Oh. Well, cool. They're actually not super annoying." Lydia giggled. "Darce has been really nice to me, in his weird awkward way. He's leaving in a couple of days. Then Lizzie'll probably drive us crazy counting down the weeks till she graduates."
She shrugged. "They seem happy. Whatever. But ugh, please tell me I don't look at Eddie like that."
"No way. Lizzie is way worse. It's kind of sweet, though. I'm glad she's happy."
She glanced at Lydia, then asked quietly, "Does it make you jealous?"
Lydia frowned. "A little. Not as much as it used to." She managed her way back to a smile. "Thanks for asking."
"You're kind of awesome, you know that?"
Lydia bumped her elbow, laughing. "So are you."