NOTES: Darcy's POV. long chapter, very fluffy cause y'all requested that :) Next is prbly going to be getting ready for the gala, which, if you're paying attention to my foreshadowing, is not gonna be all 'tea and crumpets'.

Also, just letting y'all know, I have a Bio test coming up very soon, and dress rehearsals for a new play (YAY!) this week. I'm going to be very busy, but, as I have found out, I write more when I'm stressed. So whether I'm gonna post even more or a lil less is really anyone's guess.

Anyway, have great day y'all, and don't forget to comment! 💕 ~Vinny

"So, what's this book about again?"

Darcy knew the answer. It was pretty self-explanatory. The book Lizzy had gotten him for his birthday was a novel called 'Dragon Rider,' and there was already a synapsis on the back cover. And, with a quick google, he could easily find what the story was about.

But he liked to see Lizzy's eye twitch.

She stabbed her finger at the cover, which depicted an indigo dragon flying over a mountain range with a small boy tucked between its wings.

"THIS," she said, "IS ABOUT DRAGONS."

"Yes," Darcy replied, with what he knew was a shit-eating smile, "But what kind of dragons?"

Before Lizzy could launch into ANOTHER detailed rant about the plot of the book, Williams interrupted with a groan. "Oh my god, you guys are such nerds."

"Hsh," Georgie shushed, elbowing her cousin.

Darcy gave them both a look, then smiled at Lizzy as he moved to open the next present.

"This one's extra nerdy, just warnin' ya," she whispered into his ear.

Darcy's grin widened as, from out of the box, he pulled a snowglobe. It was incredibly detailed, with what looked like a moss-ridden forest on the inside, and rocks encrusted with fake crystals holding up the base. In the middle of the snowglobe, suspended above the forest scene, was a golden ring.

His eyes went wide. His mouth dried up. His heart hammered in his chest, pumping blood like race cars to and from his veins. Lizzy had gotten him a… a… a ring? Was this…

"It's the one ring to rule them all!" Lizzy cried happily. "From the Hobbit! You see, there's even elvish detailing on the ring!"

Darcy peered in closer to the snowglobe. Indeed, there were little Elvish letters written into the ring's gold surface. It was very thoughtful of her to get him this— he collected snowglobes, and he was touched that she remembered that, and got him one he had never seen before. So why was he feeling disappointed?

"You okay?" Lizzy's hand was on his shoulder. Her face was studying his, her eyebrows pulled together by some invisible string. "I.. I thought… I saw snowglobes in your office, so I thought you might.. like…it."

Quickly, Darcy shook himself off. He smiled at her. "I don't just like it— I love it!" He gave Lizzy a tight hug; partially to hold her, and partially so that she couldn't see his face.

For just a second, he had been so, so happy, thinking that she got him a ring. Thinking that she was promising to always be his.

When he released her, Darcy noticed a tightness in her green eyes. A little worry. He wondered if that had been a test- to see if he was ready to get married? Had he passed or failed? Was he overthinking? They had only been together for a few weeks— wasn't it way too soon to be thinking about that?

And why did he want, want so badly, to think about it?

"Anyway, um," Lizzy was saying, clearing her throat, "Here's the last present. I hope you like this one."

Darcy nodded, and took the last present. He was still a bit shaken, so he took his time unwrapping this one. He smiled down at it. Lizzy used so much tape, wrapping presents.

When he removed the lid, Darcy lifted out three pens. Three very, VERY nice pens. He oohed appreciatively, and ran his hand along the smooth ivory surface. It was painted to look like vines were crawling up it, up to the gold-sheen cap.

After a second of admiring, he frowned slightly up at her. "This is really, really nice Lizzy, but..," he hesitated, "wasn't it too expensive?"

"No, no, not at all!" She denied, very quickly. "Don't worry about it."

His frown didn't diminish. At least, not until Lizzy put her hands over his, and guided him to turn around the pen. Then the next. Then the last. She had had them engraved.

The first was simply Mr Darcy, written in flowing black script, the words glowing out ebony on the pen's sleek cap. The second was, of course Fitzie D. He snorted at that one, and showed it to Williams.

"Look at the last one," Lizzy said, quietly, a smile of her own dancing across her lips. "It's my favorite."

The last pen, nestled among the wrapping paper, read simply, My Fitzwilliam.

He looked up into Lizzy's smiling, hopeful face.

"I love you," he said.

There was no preamble. No stammering, or stuttering. There was no hesitation. Neither was his voice was not clogged with emotion; he was simply stating a fact. There were 24 hours in a day. The Titanic sunk in 1912. Candy corn was gross. There were infinite stars in the sky, her hand was in his, and he loved Lizzy Bennet. With all his heart.

"I love you too," she said, then her mouth was on his, for just a moment.

"AWWWW," Williams said (obnoxiously) as they pulled away. "That's SOOOO cute!"

Darcy didn't look, but he judged from the meaty crunch sound and resulting "oW!" that Georgiana had once again elbowed her cousin in the ribs, harder this time. Good girl.

"Well!" Darcy grinned, pushing his chair back and standing up, "That was a lovely birthday party." He kissed Lizzy softly on the cheek. "Thank you."

From the other side of the table, Williams laughed. "Much better than the gala'll be, that's for sure!"

"You're going to that too?" Lizzy asked.

"Yep!" Williams said, his mouth twisting with mischievous glee. "Wasn't invited, of course, but they won't turn me away. I'm family, after all!"

"You're trouble, that's what you are," Darcy chuckled.

His cousin shrugged affably. "Isn't it possible to be both?"

"Well, you guys can go to the gala without me," Georgie intervened, looking vaguely ill as she got to her feet. "I'm not much for parties."

"Neither is Fitzwilliam, and he still has to go!" Lizzy laughed, playfully rubbing his shoulder.

He caught her hand and stilled it on his arm, and smiled at her. "Yes, but I'll have you with me. That makes a world of a difference."

Lizzy looked so cute when she blushed. Her freckles all but disappeared.

"Still, ya better look out, Liz!" Williams interrupted— and Darcy had thought he was blind to social cues—, "Those vultures on the board'll see you as fresh meat!"

She laughed, and Darcy hoped she thought Williams was joking. The high society that would be present at the gala could be vicious. Especially to outsiders, who weren't born into billions.

"I'll be fine," Lizzy said, jokingly. Darcy was the only one close enough to notice there was no twinkle in her eye. "I'll have my knight in shining Armani to help me out!"

They all chuckled at that, though it seemed they all knew that it wasn't untrue enough to be funny. Slowly, they all began to tidy up. The in-between cake was dead and gone, gobbled up until nothing but blue crumbs and bluer icing were left, and Darcy helped his short girlfriend to take down the higher-up ribbons.

"I'm disappointed in you," he said, not willing to take much more silence.

Lizzy looked startled. Darcy made sure to crack a smile, to let her know he was just joking. He gestured around at the bedazzled library. "I mean, ONLY ribbons, streamers, cake, christmas lights, and three amazing gifts?! What kind of a girlfriend are you?!"

She laughed, and it was a wonderful sound. "One with a very demanding boyfriend, it would seem. What more could you want from a birthday party?"

"Clowns."

Lizzy smacked him.

"Okay, okay, fine! I get it, I think clowns are creepy too. So.. what about…," he tapped his chin, thinking. "What about balloons?"

Lizzy's whole body shrugged along with her shoulders. "Ah. I just don't like balloons much—" she grinned at him, and her dimple winked. "They always pop at the wrong times, ya know?"

Darcy nodded, though he was struggling to keep from laughing at the mental image of Lizzy jumping like a scared cat at the sound of a balloon popping. Before he could inform her of this hilarity though, the library doors opened, and Lizzy's friend Violette stepped in.

"Hi y'all," she said, breathlessly, "Sorry I'm late, I meant to help clean up, I—"

She stopped in her tracks. Across the room, a garbage bag of streamers fell to the floor. Darcy wrinkled his brow, wondering why his sister was blushing.

"Oh. Hi, Georgie," Violette said, her voice considerably higher than it had been before.

"Hi Violette," Georgiana replied. Her thin face was the color of roasted ham.

"Do you two know each other?" Lizzy asked into the silence.

Her purple-haired friend turned to her slowly, eyebrows raised. "Georgie is.. We met on the.. new app I've been using."

Lizzy's green eyes went wide. "Y-you mean the… dati—"

"Yup!" Violette cried. "Anyway, how can I help!"

Georgiana licked her lips, and stared at the floor as she spoke, quietly. "I.. I need some help with the.. streamers. Over here."

"Oh. Thank you." Violette's footsteps echoed across the silent library, and eventually, they all turned back to their work.

"What was that about?" Darcy whispered, when he felt the time was right.

"Did you know that Violette was bisexual?" Lizzy whispered back.

"Um. No?"

"Neither did she, until a few weeks ago. But then she tried a dating app, and then… realized…"

"Wait wait wait," he whisper-shouted. "Georgie's on a dating app?!"

Lizzy put a hand over her mouth, obviously trying not to laugh. "Calm down, tiger," she snickered, patting him on the shoulder, "She's an adult. You need to learn to let go."

"Easy for you to say," Darcy grumbled. Lizzy laughed again.

After about 10 minutes of Darcy trying to discreetly sneak glances at his little sister, and also trying to focus on cleaning up, the library was back to tip-top shape.

"Shame to take down the Christmas lights," Williams said, taking down the Christmas lights.

Violette shook her head happily. "Nah dude, my dad would KILL me if we left them up."

"Does your dad own the library?" Georgiana asked timidly.

"Um, yeah," Violette smiled at her, "He's the librarian."

Darcy folded his arms as the two women grinned at each other like they were in middle school. He hadn't had to chase off any girlfriends for Georgiana yet— he was not looking forward to having the 'stay-away-from-my-sister' talk.

But then he glanced at Lizzy, and she was looking at him with that tilted smile. Her green eyes sparkled, as if to say, 'what? Are you really gonna do that? Go on, then.'

Darcy didn't take the unspoken challenge. He sighed, and uncrossed his arms. He took Lizzy's hand. She held it, until the moment she had to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Lizzy said, as they stepped out of the library into the starry city sky.

"Yeah.. I need to take Georgie home," he responded, though his breath was stolen by the wind. "So… yeah, I'll.. pick you up at six."

"Sounds great."

Lizzy squeezed his hand, then let go, and began to walk down the sidewalk to the right. Then, suddenly, she stopped, and looked back. Their eyes caught in the darkness. In an instant, Lizzy was back in his arms, and she was kissing him. Darcy kissed her back, happily, hungrily, wishing this moment could last forever.

But he knew it was perfect because she had to leave.

And as she did, Lizzy Bennet leaned her forehead against his, so that Darcy could feel her warmth and dreams and love flowing through her skin. Into the delicate silence, there was a whisper, almost lost to the night wind.

"Happy Birthday, Fitzwilliam Darcy."