Lizzy Bennet rushed into the hospital with hope swelling in her chest. For the first time in days, she finally had a reason to be happy! He didn't abandon her! He just couldn't call! She laughed at her own silliness, and did a quick heel-click in the air, just for fun (she got some weird looks, but hey, she was happy).

She raced to the front desk, and peered around, half expecting to see Will around a corner somewhere. He wasn't. She was just about to ask the receptionist when she saw a familiar messy blonde head walk out of a nearby room.

"Richard! Hey, Richard! Richard Fitzwilliam!"

The doctor looked around for a second before spotting her. When he did, his eyes lit up with mild panic, like a schoolchild who forgot his homework, and was now being asked to turn it in. "Uh, hey Lizzy," he greeted, still staring.

Lizzy normally would have registered the guilt and discomfort on the man's face, but she was too caught up in her newfound hope to worry about that. "How's it going? Happen to know where your cousin is?"

Okay, now she saw the guilt. He was positively fermenting in it. "Um," Richard said, "he's out of town."

"Oh." She deflated a little, then perked back up. "D'ya know when he's coming back?"

"No, I don't." She sagged a little again.

"Oh, but he called, and he asked me to give you his number!" Richard pulled out a crumpled slip of scratch paper from his pocket (a grocery list with a string of digits scribbled on the back).

Lizzy beamed, and took the paper. His fingers closed around hers. "Wait, Lizzy."

She blinked up at him, and tilted her head. Hope and confusion permeated her features. Seeing this, Richard looked even more guilty, and he swallowed discontentedly. "Look, Liz, there's something you should know. Before you call him."

She nodded, slipped the paper into her purse, and motioned for him to continue. He did, hesitantly,

"See, I normally wouldn't say anything, but…" he looked around, and noticed a gaggle of nurses who had their eyes pinned on their conversation. Hurriedly, he ushered Lizzy into an empty waiting room and kept going.

"Darcy's been acting kinda shady recently. Skulking around, saying things he doesn't mean to good people, making excuses.. I dunno. He's been… off, lately."

Lizzy nodded warily. She wasn't sure she liked where this was going.

"He talked to Bingley, the morning before he left. Was saying some.. pretty weird things. Trying to convince the guy Jane didn't like him, make him break it off with her. I have no idea why. Something about.. a catch. Or a trick. Something like that. Anyway, Bingley was crushed, but he took it to heart. The poor guy just can't tell when someone's using him— Not that Darcy was! I'm just sayin'."

Lizzy caught her breath. Wait, what? Bingley broke it off with Jane? Was THAT why Jane hadn't called in the last few days? Lizzy had just assumed she had been busy with work (Jane HAD been getting a lot of offers recently), but maybe there was something more. She made a mental note to check up on her sister after this. ...wait. WILL did this? WILL? Lizzy couldn't imagine him engineering a job interview, much less a breakup.

But Richard wasn't finished.

"And… Bingley brought up you. And.. I've never seen Darcy like that. He was… horrible."

"What did he say?"

"Ahh, I shouldn't repeat it.."

"What."

"You don't want to know," he tried, backpedalling.

Lizzy pressed on, even though she was afraid of what she might find. "But I do."

"Ummm.."

"What. Did. He. Say."

Richard winced, as if he was sorry he had said anything at all. "He said… he called you names. Annoying. Opinionated. A… a b-word. He said he didn't even like you, that he had just played along after the first day or two. He said that he was… just…."

"Just.. what?"

"...using you."

"For what, I may ask?" Lizzy's voice was dangerously low and perilously calm.

Richard reddened with shame, and didn't meet her eyes. "To- to get in your pants," he finished in a whisper.

Lizzy recoiled, both physically and mentally. She couldn't believe it. She— Darcy had— He had seemed— She had to get out of there.

Numbly, she walked to the door. It was as if she was watching someone else move her legs in her place. She heard Richard's voice, calling out over her shoulder, "Lizzy! I don't know what he was thinking! He's always been a good guy, I swear! He would never.. He hasn't ever… He's never been like this."

She turned back, and Richard's heart stopped when he saw tears in her eyes as she looked back at him and plastered on a smile. "It's okay. Will already made his choice. And... I wasn't it, I guess. No biggie." Her voice cracked on the last word, but she was already out the door by the time the tears fell.

Richard stood there for a moment. One thing registered in his mind. Will. She had called him Will. Darcy HATED his real name; even his girlfriends and family members called him Darcy. The only people who had ever called him Will were the ones he had truly loved and cared about: His parents, Georgie, Richard himself, Bingley (sometimes), and… Elizabeth Bennet.

Well, Richard thought, I'll be damned.

Then the moment caught up with him. It all came crashing down. The things he had said to Lizzy, the horrible lies he had unwittingly repeated.. oh my god. And she was walking away.

"LIZZY!" He called, bursting from the room like a gazelle being chased by a horde of predators, "LIZZY WHERE ARE YOU?! WAIT A SEC!"

He raced down the hall in time to see the edge of her coat slip outside. He ran after her, calling her name, but it was too late. The hospital doors swung shut behind her. He sprinted outside, but could catch no sign of her in the tumult of the sidewalk around him. She had vanished like the light of day as the sun dipped below the horizon. The sun was gone, and there was no moon to guide him. Lizzy Bennet was nowhere to be seen.

Somewhere, about 3 hours North of where a silly, sandy haired doctor was being crushed by guilt in the street, a man with ebony curls and a rarely seen smile, shivered, and wondered why she had yet to call.. and why the sun was setting so early...