NOTES: Darcy's POV. Normal length; the beginnings of the birthday party

It.. has come to my attention that I am.. what the kids call, a 'soft-boy.' I may or may not have started crying when I wrote some of this chapter. It was very sweet to create, and I hope all you guys enjoy it as much as I did. The next will be coming soon— Look forward to seeing how y'all will like what's coming up ;)

Have a great day/night! ~Vinny

"Will you please tell me where we're going?"

"Not a chance, big brother."

Darcy sighed, then coughed, a loose thread from his blindfold getting into his mouth. Graciously, Georgiana allowed him to stop and rest for a bit, just to regain his breath, before tugging him back onto their path.

Darcy huffed in a kind of amused annoyance at his little sister. "Why are you being so insistent? We never do anything for my birthday. Exce—"

He stopped in his tracks, horrified at the thought. "Wait, you're not taking me to that karaoke bar, are you?"

"What? No!" Georgiana laughed. "I'm on your side, not Williams'."

Reluctantly, Darcy urged his feet to move again. He stumbled a bit on a curb, and for the fourth time, asked her why he needed a blindfold.

"Williams said Lizzy requested it. Something about ambiance."

He couldn't help but smile at that. "That sounds like her," he said.

Now, it was Georgie's turn to stop. "You.. you're sure she'll like me?" She asked, her voice nervous and just off to the left in front of him. "It won't be awkward."

"I.. uh," Darcy made a conscious effort to keep his smile in place. "I'm sure Lizzy will love you. And it— it probably won't be awkward!" Oh god, it was going to be so awkward.

"Okay, good." There was a pause, as if she was breathing deeply. "I'm.. I really am excited to meet her."

Darcy squeezed his sister's hand as she pulled him along.

She squeezed back, and the connection was comforting, but Darcy couldn't help but feel a stab of loneliness. It was pathetic, really. He had just seen Lizzy that morning, but already, he missed her so much. He hoped, wherever he was being led, she would be there.

As it turned out, Darcy didn't have much time to hope, because within 20 seconds, he was stumbling up a stumpy flight of stairs, heard heavy metal doors bursting open, and then the blindfold was ripped off his face by his smiling sister.

He was enclosed by shelves, ensconced by books. The edges glimmered with pearls of green and gold light, the beams bouncing off sparse ribbons and dimly visible decorations. In front of him, there was a table, with a cake. It had blue icing, and candles topped with M&Ms. The candlelight reflected in her smile; Lizzy's eyes were lit up with an inner glow.

She was smiling at him.

His mother had smiled at him like that.

It was his eleventh birthday. Every other year, there was a party thrown in his honor— really to bring investors and producers into one place for the good of the company, his dad's at the time— but this year? He had gotten sick. Fever. He had gotten to stay home, and his mother had made him a vanilla cream cake. He had laid in her lap, while she petted his hair and sang him some old song in Italian, that she had learned in boarding school.

It seemed like yesterday that she had been there, holding him, smiling at him, loving him, But now she was gone.

He had never had a birthday like that again, nor had he wanted to.

But Lizzy was here, now.

And she was smiling at him.

And Darcy didn't know why tears were pinching at his eyelids, or why he said nothing for a long moment, then wrapped up in a hug, whispering over and over again, "I love you. I love you so much."

"Ohh… Fitzwilliam," he felt (more than heard) Lizzy say, "I love you too.."

Her hand was buried in the back of his hair. It was small, and warm, and he loved her so much in that moment, he thought it would last forever.

Then, in a soft whirlwind, she was pulling away, and kissing him in a laugh that swallowed his tears, and suddenly the room was abuzz with noise— music, playing from a propped up iPhone near the centerpiece— and Darcy was smiling like he had never smiled before.

"Did you do all this?" He asked, speaking into the space behind Lizzy's ear as he pulled her back into an embrace, unwilling to let her go just yet.

"What? You mean the Christmas lights and a cake?" She giggled quietly, "I mean, yeah. I know it's not much, but—"

"Thank you," Darcy cut her off. His hand lingered on her cheek as he brushed back that curl of hair that never seemed to sit still. "Just.. Just thank you."

Lizzy's cheek dented into a dimple, and her smile leaned to confused. "Well.. then, just you're welcome."

He kissed her slow, savoring every flush of her skin against his, delighting in her warmth. This tender moment was interrupted, rather rudely, with Williams giving off a wolf-whistle and clapping like he had won an Emmy. "Nicely done, Darce!" he laughed, "But don't forget there are other people here too!"

Darcy pulled away this time, or maybe Lizzy pushed him, and they both turned reddish. But nothing could quench Darcy's smile now. He got up from his temporary seat and pulled his cousin into a bear hug.

"Thanks, Williams," he laughed, sincerely happy.

He felt William's clap him hard on the back. "Hey, no problem, man! I'm just glad we can celebrate your birthday PROPERLY for a change!"

"Like with cheap booze, fancy presents, and an in-between cake!" Lizzy chimed in, grinning.

Darcy felt one of his eyebrows raise in his smile. "Would you, perchance, care to explain how a cake can be 'in-between?'"

"Oh sure!" she laughed. "It LOOKS like shi..," her green eyes darted to Georgiana, then back to Darcy. Her smile only dimmed for half a second. "Well, it doesn't look too good, but it was expensive as hell!"

"Please tell me you didn't spend a week's worth of tips on CAKE," Darcy joked.

Lizzy's smile may have wavered for another millisecond, but before he could really tell, Williams butted in, "Oh don't worry, I paid for the cake. Only the best for the BIRTHDAY BOY!"

Darcy laughed, and though it felt somewhat forced to begin with, he found himself falling into a natural pattern of easy chuckles as Lizzy stood to be by his side, and introduced herself to Georgiana.

"Hi, I'm Lizzy. I take it you're.. uh, Georgiana?"

"Yes. Though.. uhm, I would actually prefer.. If you called me Georgie."

He felt his shoulders loose just the tiniest bit of tension at that. Georgie was a nickname reserved only for family, and very close friends. This was a good sign.

"Alright, alright!" Williams called out, easily overpowering the hum of soft orchestral music in the background. "Let's have you blow out the candles then, and then we can eat the in-between cake and get you some PRESENTS!"

Darcy threw his head back and laughed, just at the enthusiasm in his cousin's voice, and at the laughter and love bubbling in his heart. His sister stared at him as if he were a ghost, or perhaps a baby deer first learning to walk— something in between the two, most likely. His cousin looked at him like an old friend would, after years apart. And Lizzy…

Well. Lizzy looked at him as only a woman violently in love can. She looked at him as if he were nothing more or less, than himself. Because to her, that was without question, the most wonderful thing in the world.