June was hot as hell, and this afternoon was no different. Lizzy had on the AC, but with the ovens on, it didn't help much. It was like some kind of sick joke that wedding season was also the worst season to make cakes. Everything melted. Right now Lizzy was cursing at some decorations that didn't want to cooperate with her.

She checked the time. Fitz will be here soon. She checked her reflection, and was not impressed. Her hair was in two French braids, and she wore Lord of the Rings tank top and shorts. Oh boy, this is not professional. How did those youtube bakers always look so cute? Unfortunately, there was no time to change, because Darcy walked in at that moment. And of course, he looked perfect. Suit and bow tie. Perfect hair. His usual frown. Lizzy quickly turned away from the mirror, and smiled in greeting.

"Hi, you're a bit early," she said. Darcy nodded. Just once. Just once I'd like to get an easy response. "Anyway, I'm starved, so I thought we could walk to this place near by. I kind of need the air."

"Of course." He set down his tablet, then pulled off his jacket to roll up his sleeves. This guy needs to stop undressing in my kitchen, she thought as she watched him.

"A bit over dressed for the weather?" Lizzy teased.

"Yes." He picked his tablet back up, and waited for Lizzy to grab her phone and wallet to head out. With the breeze, the heat wasn't terrible. Besides, the place, Lizzy's favorite place to get a bahn mi, was only a 5 minute walk. She tried to talk to Darcy on the way, but she wasn't getting much conversation from him. Like pulling teeth.

When they got there, Darcy insisted on paying, which was a little annoying to Lizzy. She felt she should have done it since he was her client, not the other way around. But it was hard to argue with a guy who barely said anything. They went and sat down to wait for their order, and Darcy pulled out his tablet.

"Besides the vegan options," Darcy began, "Charlie also has some other changes he wants to appeal to some of the guests." Right to business then.

"You mean, he wants to have their favorites to kiss ass," Lizzy joked. Darcy looked at her, and gave a small smile.

"Yes, but it sounded better the way I said it."

"Of course you'd think that."

Darcy passed her the tablet, which showed an email from Charlie listing particular favorites of some of the top guests. Lizzy was impressed with whoever dug up this information. Or maybe scared of whoever did it. There were quite a few different exotic fruits as well as some things she would never want in a cupcake, but she had a few ideas. If Darcy liked her vegan samples, they should be good to go. A worker brought them their sandwiches, and left. Darcy hardly seemed to notice, and was looking at his phone.

"Is something wrong?" Lizzy asked, grabbing her drink. Darcy just shook his head. "Oh come on, it's not like we have to talk about the party all the time, and I don't think that text was from work."

"No, it was from Georgie," Darcy admitted.

"Oh, how is she?" Lizzy was actually interested. She immediately took a liking to the girl, and wouldn't mind having her be a topic of conversation. Darcy shifted in his seat, and busied himself with unwrapping his sandwich. "Come on," Lizzy prodded him.

"She's mad at me," he finally said.

"Yes, I could tell that from your face." He looked at her in surprise. "I have 4 sisters, Fitz, I know what a sibling fight looks like." Darcy nodded.

"It's nothing bad. She just doesn't want to get ready for the party with Caroline."

"Can't say that I blame her." That actually got a small laugh out of him. It was really barely more than blowing air out of his nose.

"Yes, well I thought that she would prefer being around another girl. I know she loves us: Rich, Charlie, and me, I mean, but I think she would be better off with Caroline." Darcy's eyes dropped again, and Lizzy caught him take a breath before looking up again.

"Mmm I don't know," Lizzy said. "Not that I'm her family or anything, but I know I wouldn't want to force my sisters to spend alone time with people they didn't like."

"The alternative is being around a bunch of guys. It's not very fair to her."

"Hey, there's another alternative," Lizzy said, brightening up a little. "She can come with us?"

"Us?" Darcy asked. He looked confused.

"Yeah. Me and Char and my sisters. Well, Lydia and Kitty will probably be off with my mother, but she could get ready with me, Char, Jane, and Mary."

"No," he answered, shaking his head. "No, I don't want to dump my-"

"It's not dumping, I like Georgie. She's sweet. Besides, Jane and Charlie are going out again, so she'll already know Jane. She went out to lunch with both of them. And Mary is about her age anyway." Darcy just stared at her a moment. Lizzy couldn't read his expression, but she was slightly worried she had offended him. He probably doesn't like the idea of his sister hanging out with Mary.

"You're sure?" he finally asked.

"Yes," Lizzy insisted. "You'll see. It won't be a problem. I'll pick her up in the morning, since we're getting ready at my parents' house. It'll be fun." Darcy blinked a couple times, then nodded, and texted his sister.

"Thank you," he added.

"Happy to help. By the way," Lizzy began a bit more cautiously. "Why did you invite my entire family?"

"That was Charlie's doing," Darcy answered. "He thinks Jane is trying to keep him from seeing them much, other than you, so he saw this an on opportunity to talk to them again." Clever boy. "And Charlotte is Colleen's plus one I believe… I don't pay close attention to what Catherine says to me."

"That's a little hard to believe. You're such a good listener," Lizzy said with a smirk. Darcy shook his head.

"You mean I don't talk a lot," he explained. Lizzy smiled and shrugged, making him smile.

They finished up their lunch, and headed back to her kitchen. The rest of their meeting went smoothly. Darcy picked out what he wanted, and made his requests for other flavors. He also gave Lizzy instructions for transporting the cupcakes, and how they'd be picked up. It was still weird talking to Darcy, but Lizzy found she was getting along with him much better now. Which was good since he was Charlie's best friend, and she hoped Jane would stay with Charlie. That was the only reason she was being so nice to him, she told herself.

G: Thanks for letting me come over

G: Sorry, it's Georgie. Fitz gave me your number.

L: Good, and we're all glad to have you join us

G: Can I get some advice? Fitz isn't much help.

L: sure. Go for it.

Lizzy wondered if the girl had trouble making friends. Or maybe they were in England. She made a point to get her acquainted with Mary since they were close to the same age. Georgie sent her two pictures. One was a lilac dress, and the other was a coral dress.

G: he says they both look fine, but I need more help than that.

L: hold on, I just so happen to have my best friend here who is perfect for this

L: she says the second one would bring out your eyes. She can also do you makeup it you want. She says she has the perfect shade of lipstick for it

G: really? That would be great

L: awesome. I'll see you soon

G: thanks

Lizzy looked up from her phone. She and Charlotte were sitting in her parents' living room since the kitchen down stairs was too hot.

"So now Darcy's sister is texting you?" Char asked.

"Yeah so?" Char only smiled more. Lizzy rolled her eyes. Lydia ran down the stairs, and headed right for the door. "Hey, where are you rushing off to?" Lizzy called to her before her sister could leave. Lydia stopped, and turned to give her sister a dirty look.

"None of your business," she snapped.

"It was just a question. Unless you're hiding something…" Lydia stared at her, then heaved a sigh and answered.

"I'm going out with George. There. Happy?"

"Uh, no. George Wickham?" Lizzy thought it was just a distant crush.

"Yeah. What other George do we know?"

"Lydia, you shouldn't go out with him."

"I should do whatever I want," Lydia snapped. Lizzy stood up, and tried to control her temper. Yelling would only make things worse.

"No you shouldn't. George is like 10 years older than you. You should be hanging out with guys your own age."

"Oh my god, Lizzy. Leave me alone. I'm not a child."

"Uh, yeah you actually are. Last I checked you were 16."

"Which is old enough to not have to listen to you. You're just jealous I got Wickham." Lizzy bit her cheek to keep from yelling at her.

"Lydia, don't see Wickham anymore," she said firmly, keeping her voice down. Lydia rolled her eyes again, and opened the door.

"Whatever, Lizzy," she said as she left. Lizzie stared at the door. She wanted to run out and pull her sister back in the house, but that would only make things worse. She wanted to tell her little sister exactly what Wickham was like, but she couldn't do that to Georgie. She would just have to hope that Lydia figured it out before she got into any serious trouble. Charlotte cleared her throat. Lizzy had totally forgotten she was there.

"That was awkward," she said.

The party was tonight, but Darcy wasn't going to worry about it. This was Charlie's idea, so he dumped all the last minute worry on him. Instead he was just going to mentally prepare for talking to bunch of people he didn't know. He was at his apartment with Georgie and Rich going over some small things. Georgie wanted to pick out what Darcy and Rich would wear. At least, that's what Darcy thought she wanted to talk about.

"Fitz," she said seriously. "We need to talk."

"Is something wrong?" he asked. He wondered if maybe Georgie was having second thoughts on getting ready with the Bennets. Rich was looking concerned too.

"Sort of. I asked Rich to be here today, because I think you need help."

"I thought it was because you liked me," Rich said, feigning offense.

"I do," Georgie assured him. "But this is more important. Fitz, you need help flirting." Darcy's eyes widened, and he shook his head.

"Come again?"

"You need to learn how to flirt," Georgie repeated. "It's for your own good, and Rich is like the smoothest guy I know." Rich's look of confusion turned into one of deep pride.

"Oh yes, I see," Darcy said. "I'll take lessons from Rich, and then I can have any man I want." Rich laughed, but Georgie glared at her brother.

"It's the same basic principles no matter who you're trying to impress," she insisted.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone," Darcy said.

"You're trying to impress Lizzy."

"We're not talking about this." As far as Darcy was concerned, Georgie had just crossed a line. She had no business talking about this.

"Oh come on, Fitz," she complained. "It couldn't hurt. I know you practiced with Charlie when he was worried about talking to Jane." Darcy whipped around to glare at Rich. How could he tell her that? Rich shrugged. "Just practice with Rich. It'll be easy. You're you, and Rich is Lizzy."

"We're not doing this," Darcy said firmly.

"Fitz, you know what your idea of flirting is?" she asked.

"Elizabeth," Rich said in his best impression of Darcy. "How is your family?"

"See, not flirting," Georgie explained. "That's just a basic inquiry."

"Elizabeth, I hate your family," Rich continued. Darcy bit the inside of his cheek. "Also, watching from a distance does not count."

"See, you need practice," Georgie concluded.

"I really think I'm too rich to have to flirt," Darcy said defensively. His sister just stared at him. Her eyes said it all. He finally had to look away, which probably pleased Georgie.

There was no way in hell he was doing this, and he couldn't believe they would even bring this up. It was bad enough Lizzy knocked him down whenever he talked to her, he didn't need this from his family as well. Richard leaned back to recline on the couch dramatically, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back. Georgie hugged Darcy's arm, and smiled up at him.

"Seduce me, Fitzwilliam," Rich sighed amorously. Just then Charlie let himself in with Lizzy. They stopped when they saw the scene of Rich reclining on the couch and Georgie looking expectantly at a frowning Darcy.

"Oh good, you're here," Darcy said drily. "You can take her now." Darcy picked up his sister's things, and walked them to the door. Georgie pouted, and followed. When she got to the door, Darcy gently pushed her out.

"Geez," Lizzy said. "Back to your rude self I see, Mr. Darcy." Darcy put his hand on her back to gently push her through as well.

"Yes, Miss Bennet, but trust me on this. She deserves it." With that, he gently pushed Lizzy out, making her laugh.

"Darc, stop it," she giggled. He smiled at her, and felt a warmth surge up in his chest.

"I'll see you tonight. Georgie, behave," he said, and closed the door. He turned back around to see Charlie and Rich staring at him. Darcy frowned, and looked at the floor. He crossed his arms, and looked back up.

"I can flirt just fine," he said defensively.

"Oh yeah, every woman just loves to be shoved out the door," Rich said. Charlie and Rich laughed at him, while he left to start getting ready.