A/N: I lied! I have split the last chapter into two, so will have one more chapter after this! Thanks for reading!
Chapter 5: College
The irony of the situation was not lost on Lizzie as pulled up the yellow monstrosity she was forced to buy. Lizzie had been chastised by Charlotte when Lizzie had revealed her plans of showing up to the party as a 'social media influencer' in sweatpants. An argument had ensued with Lizzie claiming all of the young kids were wearing designer sweatpants, baseball caps, and sunglasses, with Charlotte ultimately winning the fight when she pointed out that Lizzie did not in fact own designer sweatpants, and that she was just going to show up in her ratty college sweats, put on a random baseball cap, and call it a day.
She groaned as she looked at herself in the mirror. Twelve year old Lizzie was screaming on the inside as she took in her attire for the day as freaking Belle from Beauty and the Beast. But not Belle running through the French countryside singing about her poor provincial life in a very sensible day dress – the only costume available the day of Halloween at the nearest Halloween shop that wasn't a slutty version of anything was this yellow cupcake dress. When given the choice between showing up as a slutty nurse (definitely poor optics with that one) and Belle, Lizzie knew that it wasn't even a choice.
It wasn't like Lizzie had purposefully left this till the last minute. Work had gotten really busy, Lizzie had vastly underestimated the demand for sensible adult costumes, and then this whole Darcy thing had blown up in her face. So she had scrambled this morning after waking up with a splitting hangover from getting drinks with Charlotte last night (where she had spilled the beans on her pseudo-ex-relationship with Darcy) to find something in her closet that could pass for a costume.
When she had gotten to the office an hour early to meet with Charlotte to finalize the details for the day and change into their respective costumes, Charlotte had taken one look at the sad lump of clothes Lizzie had pulled out of the old plastic bag she had found in her apartment and thrown Lizzie's poorly laid plans out of the window.
"Belle? Really?" Charlotte deadpanned as Lizzie walked out of the bathroom after changing into her newly acquired costume. Unlike Lizzie, Charlotte had planned in advanced for her costume, and was currently dressed in a sensible Hogwarts uniform.
"It was either this or a slutty nurse costume."
"That certainly would have caught Dr. Darcy's interest." Charlotte whispered, wagging her eyebrows at her, poking Lizzie with her plastic wand.
Lizzie groaned, smacking her friend on the arm. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything to you."
"I'm offended that it took you so long to tell me. I thought we were friends. I told you about that time that I had food poisoning and vomited on that pharmaceutical rep when he asked me out." Charlotte sniffed.
"Everyone had heard about that by the time you told me. And you were the hospital hero for that too. Everyone hated Mr. Collins." Lizzie gave her friend the side eye, only to duck quickly into the women's bathroom again as she saw the object of her derision turn the corner, her poofy, polyester skirt rustling loudly behind her.
She had just barely managed to make it back safely into the women's bathroom when she had heard Charlotte's overly loud voice greeting Darcy.
"Dr. Darcy! What a pleasant surprise!" Charlotte's voice drifted through the bathroom door, an octave or two higher than it usually was. Any higher and only dogs would be able to hear her.
Lizzie couldn't hear Darcy's response, as he was talking at a normal human being's pitch.
"… Oh Lizzie?! No! I haven't seen her yet today! We have the Halloween party today so she is taking care of things for that! Very, very busy, our Lizzie!" Lizzie winced. Charlotte was literally the world's worst actress.
More muffled speaking on his part.
"Yes great! We certainly hope to see you at the party tonight, Dr. Darcy!" Lizzie almost audibly groaned at Charlotte encouraging him to show up at the party. Add world's worst friend to the list of her accomplishments.
"Now that man could be a social media influencer." Charlotte remarked as Lizzie snuck back out of the bathroom when she was sure that Darcy had left, her voice conveniently back to a normal octave.
Lizzie side eyed her friend. "What are you trying to say about me?"
"I'm saying that I would buy whatever he was trying to sell on Instagram as long as he looks at me with that smolder." Charlotte replied, waving an imaginary fan at her face as if she was flustered.
"I'm inviting Collins to this party tonight." Lizzie growled out as she balled up her clothes that she had changed out of and started to stalk away from Charlotte.
"You wouldn't dare!" Charlotte called out after her friend.
"Consider him invited! I'm calling him now!" Lizzie yelled over her shoulder, laughing loudly at her friend's protests fading away as she made her way back to the office.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The day flew by as Lizzie and Charlotte traded texts threatening each other with various pieces of blackmail they had collected throughout their years of friendship in retaliation to Lizzie's threat of inviting Collins to the Halloween party. Lizzie was grateful for the distraction. From getting ready to the party, spending some time with the children that saw her and really believed that she was Belle, and also peeking around every corner to make sure she didn't run into Darcy, she really was becoming more and more frazzled as the day went on. By the time it was almost time for the party, Lizzie had managed to get through the day with only three close call Darcy sightings, one smashed pumpkin, and eight skeptical children (Which Lizzie still considered a win, as the fact that she was able to convince any children that she was Belle was a miracle in and of itself).
I'm telling your mom about that boy in college that proposed to you in front of his entire frat. Your mom will be distraught that you could've been Mrs. Danny Declan Hamway the Third over a decade ago. – Charlotte
I'm telling your mom that the real reason you broke your arm in college was that you tried to do a one woman keg stand despite having never done a handstand in your life. – Lizzie
I'm going to tell Jane's children when they're old enough to understand me that you're actually Princess Belle but you are trying to go incognito so that you're forced to pretend to be Belle around them or face their disappointed faces. - Charlotte
Lizzie stared at that last text in horror as she imagined the chaos that would bring into her life. Lizzie cursed herself when she noticed Fitz (dressed as a mad scientist, wild grey hair and all) and Darcy (costume-less, unless he decided to dress up as a doctor, which was decidedly not a costume) walking towards her. She had been so distracted at Charlotte's ridiculous but also terrifying threat that she failed to notice her surroundings.
"Oh ho, a princess?!" Fitz boomed at her. Lizzie groaned and glared at Fitz. "Never took you for a princess type." Lizzie thought she heard a muttered "she's not" coming from Darcy's direction, but since she was currently ignoring said person, she didn't dignify his muttered statement with a response.
"They ran out of costumes at the shop today."
"You just got your costume today? That seems unlike you." Fitz asked, twirling his fake made scientist beard around his fingers.
"I've been… distracted." Lizzie replied, refusing to make eye contact with the distraction in question.
"If you need help with something, just let me know!" Fitz responded, unaware of the tension in the room. "I know you are more than capable of handling things, but don't be afraid to ask."
"It's fine. Just a one time occurrence." At Fitz's questioning look, Lizzie continued, "Let's just say that I let my guard down and made a mistake. It won't happen again." Lizzie felt a bit of satisfaction when she saw Darcy flinch out of the corner of her eye. Unwilling to spend any more time around him, she bid a quick farewell to the pair before moving in the opposite direction towards the café.
Hopefully the fact that Darcy wasn't wearing a costume meant that he got the hint from her and was not planning on showing up to the party tonight.
Lizzie wasn't feeling that optimistic.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the last chapter :)