Disclaimer: Ngozi Ukazu owns Eric Bittle and the rest of the Samwell crew, and Hank Green and Bernie Su own this iteration of Lizzie Bennet and company.

A/N: This is going to mostly follow canon, except that I'm imagining that the Lizzie Bennet Diaries took place in 2014-2015 to line up with Year 2 of Check Please.

"Oh my God," says Lizzie, spotting a blond head she recognizes. "Eric Bittle?"

The head turns, and, sure enough, it belongs to the short, 19-year-old baker-slash-hockey-player. His always-large brown eyes get huge. "Lizzie Bennet?" He starts in Lizzie and Charlotte's direction, and it takes a couple seconds for him to notice who's next to her. "And Charlotte Lu, oh my goodness! Where are my manners?" When he reaches the women, he sticks out his hand and shakes Lizzie's hand first, followed by Charlotte's. "It's so great to meet you both, oh my Lord," Eric gushes.

Charlotte cuts a sidelong glance at Lizzie. "Lizzie? Are you gonna tell me who this is and why you know him?"

"Oh, he's a vlogger I follow," says Lizzie, noticing that Eric's eyes get even wider at that. "He's from Georgia, but he goes to college in Massachusetts, and he bakes and plays hockey."

Charlotte frowns. "You don't care about baking or hockey. At all."

Lizzie shrugs. "Maybe not, but Eric is hilarious."

Charlotte rolls her eyes. "Yes, because you really needed more hilarious vloggers to follow while you procrastinate."

Lizzie gives Charlotte a playful shove. "He updates like twice a month. It's fine."

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but I'll just leave you two alone now," Eric starts to say.

"No!" says Lizzie. "I mean, sure, if you want, but like, I'd love to get to know you."

Charlotte looks at her phone. "And there's a networking event I want to be at that starts in three minutes, so I'm off. Have fun, you two."

Eric watches Charlotte leave before refocusing on Lizzie and saying, "I was wondering if she'd be as hardcore in person as she is in your videos. She totally is."

"Oh yeah," says Lizzie. "She's so driven. She's gonna go so far someday."

"Kind of like Jack," says Eric.

Lizzie nods. "How's that going, anyway? Do you still hate him?"

"No," says Eric. "We're starting to be friends, I think. How about your tall annoyance?"

Lizzie grinds her teeth together. "Still just as much of a tall annoyance as ever, last I saw him. At least he's not here."

Eric nods. "Right." Then he gets his starstruck look again and says, "I had no idea you followed me!"

"Oh yeah," says Lizzie. "I've been following you for a couple years. You feel like some sort of long-distance younger sibling to me at this point, honestly. Like, I was so proud to watch you move all the way to Massachusetts and figure things out in college this year. But how did you find my videos? I've only been vlogging for a few months, and you've been concussed!"

"Yeah, I was only approved to spend a lot of time with screens about a month ago. You can guess how fun it was trying to do all my final projects and papers and exams while concussed, I bet. But summer in Georgia is boring, so I've spent a lot of time surfing YouTube, and the family drama in your videos is priceless. You make even the Bittles and Phelpses seem tame."

Lizzie snorts. "Yeah, that's what a lot of my fans say. I mean, not about your family, but about their families. You know. But you're doing better, with the concussion? I was worried!"

Eric smiles. "That's sweet. Yes, I'm doing better." Then he sighs. "I know the summer isn't even half over, but I'll be glad to be out of my mother's house when it is, good Lord. The way she's been hovering over me, you'd think I'd nearly died and was still in some sort of danger! I got a concussion in April and it is nearly July."

Lizzie makes a face. "Still pretty sure your mom is saner than my mom."

"Oh, I'm not going to argue that," Eric says, laughing. "I'd drink with you to annoying mothers, but that would require a drink."

Lizzie looks around. There's a drinks table at the other end of the ballroom. "I could get us something," she offers.

"Oh my goodness, you could!" says Eric. "I'm not used to being able to get alcohol when I'm not at school. I'm almost surprised you're offering, though. Didn't you once point out that it was illegal for Lydia to go to Carter's?"

Lizzie rolls her eyes and starts heading toward the drinks; Eric follows. "You're more responsible than Lydia."

Eric raises his eyebrows. "You sure? Just because I don't put videos of my drunken escapades on the internet doesn't mean they don't happen."

Lizzie looks considering for a moment and slows down, but then she speeds back up again and says, "Everyone is more responsible than Lydia."

Eric laughs. "Okay, I won't argue with that. I at least don't run with scissors."

Lizzie nods. "Exactly."

When they get close to the drink table, Eric hangs back a bit while Lizzie orders two drinks and shows her ID. When Lizzie rejoins Eric and hands him his drink, he says, "So, what's been your favorite part of Vidcon so far?"

Lizzie takes a sip of her drink before answering. "I really enjoyed hearing from the Greens yesterday. And Hannah Hart is really cool, too. Honestly, everything other than running into Ricky Collins has been pretty incredible."

"Oh my Lord, that's right!" says Eric. "I saw your video from yesterday—that was hilarious!"

Lizzie rolls her eyes. "Easy for you to say. You didn't have to deal with him."

Eric throws back the rest of his drink and says, "Well, you don't have to deal with him right now either. What do you say we hit the dance floor?"

"Oh, I don't really—" Lizzie begins.

Eric puts his hands on his hips. "Are you going to tell me you don't dance, Miss Bennet?" Somehow it sounds different than when Ricky called her that yesterday, less affected and more affectionate. "Because if so, you'd better be prepared for me to teach you."

"Oh my God, you're not allowed to ever meet Lydia," says Lizzie, but she throws back the rest of her drink, leaves her glass next to Eric's on one of the high tables scattered around the room, and follows him onto the dance floor.

OoOoO

Eric wishes Vidcon could last forever, but a few days later he finds himself reluctantly unpacking in his childhood bedroom in Georgia, feeling giddy and overwhelmed by everything that happened in the last few days and, at the same time, deflated to be back at home and know that nothing has changed. He'll go back to camp tomorrow and help out with arts and crafts like he hasn't just been schmoozing with video creators from all over the world.

Right after he puts his clothes in the washing machine, his phone pings with an alert from YouTube. An account he follows just posted a video. He unlocks his phone and sees that it was Lizzie. (Lizzie who he met and who's apparently followed him for years, good Lord.) He watches the video right there in the laundry room, frowning at Lizzie's impending homelessness. And then—wow. Staying at Netherfield. Well, that's one solution.

Eric opens his phone contacts once the video is over. He got Lizzie's number after they danced together for several songs on Friday night, but . . . does that really mean he can text her? They're not friends. But could they be? Eric thinks he'd like that.

saw your video, he texts. are you okay?

Yeah, Lizzie replies. I mean, it's going to be hell. But I'll survive. I'll have Jane.

i don't want to presume anything, Eric types, but, if you want, you can talk to me, too.

Don't worry about presuming. That sounds great! comes Lizzie's quick reply. Then: I'm so happy that Bing and Jane are going to get to spend more time together, but I seriously don't know how I'm supposed to endure this much time with Darcy.

Eric bites his lip. From what Lizzie's said about Darcy, it seems like he has a lot in common with Jack. Maybe Darcy just has social anxiety and acts like a jerk because he doesn't know what else to do. Eric's pretty sure that's what Jack was doing at the beginning of the year. At the same time, Lizzie doesn't seem like she'd be receptive to hearing anything positive about Darcy from Eric. Instead, he texts back, with a little help from your friends?

Yeah, probably, Lizzie replies.

A/N: The rest is written, so I should be able to post chapters daily!