NOTES: Darcy's POV. Him talking with Georgie, and a very fun conversation with the girl of his dreams. Mostly dialogue, but my style of dialogue, which is like half thoughts and half descriptions lol.

Added in some heart-fluttering fluff, just bc I love y'all ;)

Will post again soon! Thank y'all for all the lovely comments and suggestions, they really help. Take care! ~Vinny

The floor of the kitchen was very comfortable. It was cold, but firm against Darcy's joints. The ceiling fan swirled dust mites above him. He would have to talk to his maid about the cobwebs.

But for now he was just laying there, on the floor, not thinking about anything.

Actually, that was a lie. He was always thinking. He couldn't stop thinking.

Darcy curled his bruised knuckles into a fist, gently banging it on the floor next to him. "I want to take things slow." What the hell did that mean?

Was she embarrassed? Hell, he was embarrassed too, but that didn't mean he wanted to avoid her. Was that what he was supposed to do now? NO. He needed her! But.. did she want him? Things had been going so well… Where had he gone wrong?

There was a knock at the door. A very persistent, quiet knock.

"Come in," Darcy called, not bothering to get up. He knew who it was.

Georgiana slid the door open and peeked inside. "Hey," she said, softly, looking around.

"Hi."

"What are you doing on the floor?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Okay."

Georgiana sat down next to him, crossing her legs and curling up into a pretzel. "I'm sorry about this morning."

Darcy sighed heavily. "'S not your fault."

"Well, it kind of is. I didn't even think to knock."

"Why would you?" He asked, sitting up. "We've never had a reason to knock just to go into the house. And, besides, I thought you were still in Orlando."

"Surprise," Georgiana smiled, awkwardly, holding out her hands.

Darcy just put his own over his face. "I'm sorry," he said. "You.. shouldn't have seen that."

She shrugged. "Is.. she your girlfriend?"

"I hope so."

"Ahh."

"She hasn't texted me again after she said 'we should take it slow.'"

In a typical, quiet Georgie fashion, she just nodded, laid down beside him, and nestled up shyly to his side. "Tell me about her. Please."

Darcy exhaled. There was so much to tell. "What.. do you wanna know?"

"The quirks. The things you like. The things you don't. Her name, maybe. I dunno."

His eyes crinkled. "Well, she's pretty odd. She has.. very strong opinions, and stronger emotions. She… likes herbs. We planted a garden together, outside the cafe— that's, uh, where she works. She laughs like… I love her laugh. And her freckles. And her eyes— god, her eyes, Georgie. She's… silly, and smart, and understands me. I really… I like her a lot, Georgie. I like her a whole lot."

He thought for another second, then added, "Oh, and her name's Lizzy."

Darcy could feel his sisters smile as her cheek pressed up on his ribs. "You.. sound happier, when you talk about her."

His own smile began to fade as doubts crept back in. "Yeah..," he said, swallowing, "yeah, I guess I do."

"So.. why are you in panic position on the floor?"

Darcy sat up quickly. "I'm not in PANIC position," he cried, almost haughtily, "I'm in.. in THINKING position!"

"Well?" Georgie asked mildly. "What are you thinking about then?"

He flopped back down. "Thinking about panicking," Darcy mumbled begrudgingly.

"Wanna tell me why?"

"No."

"Okay," Georgiana whispered. He looked over at her.

Georgie had always been a small, thin, will o'the wisp of a girl. Her blonde hair was the color of candle wax, and it dripped off her shoulders and into her eyes, which were a lighter version of Darcy's. Her clothes hung off her bony joints, fidgeting nervously as she climbed to her feet, and her lips— as thin and pale as the rest of her— trembled, just slightly.

"Should.. I go?" She asked in a soft voice.

Before she could say another word, Darcy crushed her in a hug. She stiffened, but melted into him and one of his hands threaded into her candle wax hair.

"Thank you for coming," he whispered into the air far above her head. "I missed you."

Darcy could feel her ribs creak as she breathed him into, moving to hug him tighter. "I missed you too, big brother."

After a second, he pulled away, but still held her at arm's length. "You're staying here tonight. Right?"

Georgiana grinned back shyly. "If you'll have me."

"Always, Georgie. Always."

With one last pat, he let go of her, and moved to the door. "Need some help unloading your stuff?"

"Oh no, it's fine," she twittered, "I didn't pack much. I'm only here for a few days. Early vacation."

Darcy nodded in assent. He fondly watched as Georgiana skittered out of the room and through the door. A second later, his phone buzzed.

He nearly lost an eye trying to yank it out of his pocket faster than the speed of light.

It was from Lizzy.

Darcy's hands already shaking, he opened up his messages and read what she'd typed.

'Good morning, Mr Darcy. Have you ever been to laser tag?'

...there were no wikihow articles about what to say to THAT. So, he decided to answer honestly, and eagerly.

'I don't believe I have.'

The response was immediate. His heart beat a little faster as he read.

'Oh my my, Mr Darcy! That will never do! We must remedy that, as soon as possible.'

'What means of remedy do you have in mind, Ms Bennet,' he typed back, smiling.

'Are you free tonight, by any chance?'

'As a matter of fact, I am.'

'I'll call a half hour ahead then. Other than that— it's a surprise ;)'

There was a pause, where in which Darcy simply grinned down like an uncomprehending idiot at his phone, and by the end of which, Lizzy had texted one last time.

'I missed you today, Fitzwilliam.'

His eyes stared down at the message. His fingertips erupted into butterflies. His heart felt like it was swelling to twice its normal size, his ribcage heaving with every glorious breath.

Darcy pressed his phone to his chest as he smiled up at the ceiling. She liked him. She missed him. And he was going to see her tonight.

Almost on autopilot, his hands typed out, 'I missed you too.'

Then, as an afterthought, he added a heart emoji.

Lizzy texted back, with a laughing emoji of her own, 'Jesus Christ I didn't even think u knew what those were!'

'What!' Darcy replied, grinning ear to ear that they were finally back to normal. 'Excuse you, I am ADEPT at online communication such as texting.'

'I can tell,' Lizzy wrote back (he could almost picture her raising an eyebrow in a tease), 'since you texted me 9 TIMES this morning'

He winced. 'Ah. Sorry about that. I probably came across as a stalker huh'

'Nah, ur good. The award for Stalker in my life goes to Mr Ricky Collins of —shire High School.'

'Should I ask?'

'Better not. I'll tell ya bout him later lol'

Then, a few seconds later, another message popped up, accompanied by a silly closeup of Lizzy's eyes looking frantic and darting around. 'Lately I've been accumulating stalkers tho'

'Oh?' Darcy texted back, intrigued. 'Tell me more.'

'This dude called me, TWICE, late at night, and didn't even say anything! Just sat there—heavily breathing. Hella creepy, amiright?'

It… may or may not have taken a splash of cold sink water on his face to get Darcy's brain working enough to respond. And even then, all he could manage was a quick, 'Really sorry, I got to go. See you tonight?'

Lizzy's response, though well-meaning, did nothing to calm his nerves.

'See ya then, creep 3'

Still— Darcy would never admit for the world that he screenshotted those texts, and kept them in his favorites folder, for many months to come.

But that was all in the future. Right now, he had a second chance with Lizzy Bennet.

And that was all that mattered.