Chapter 10: Reactions

After uploading today's video, Lizzie and Darcy sat next to each other in front of the camera. Lizzie assured him that within 10 minutes of posting that video they'd see some reaction from her sisters or Charlotte and thought it'd be fun to catch it on camera. So there they sat, and were supposed to be making exaggerated waiting faces for Lizzie to cut into a montage. They were mostly succeeding at smiling at each other silently like a pair of high schoolers stealing glances in homeroom.

"Are you certain something's going to happen? I mean..." He was interrupted by his own phone buzzing. "Gigi," he said looking down at it.

"Not who I expected," Lizzie said with a smile."

For a minute she just listened in amusement at Darcy's side of the conversation. "Hello? ... How did you even ... Fitz, of course ... Yes, I do ... Yes, she is ... The whole graphic design department? ... I'm sorry ... I thought she hated me, what would be the point of ... yes, I know human beings share their feelings, I just ... Maybe I could tell you the whole story if you'd let me complete a sentence."

At this point, Lizzie's own phone rang. "Hey Lydia! What's new?" She remained casual just to contrast her sister's exuberance.

"OMG, WTF, Whateves, YOLO, FTS, PQZ!" Lizzie had to hold the phone away from her ear to shield her from the piercing squeal.

"Have you lost your ability to speak in words? I don't even know what that last one was."

"Darcy?! OMG For reals? Darcy?"

"It kinda just happened."

"But you hate him, he was mean to you!"

"Not as mean as I was to him."

"Yeah, you were kind of a B."

"But now we've both apologized and moved on."

"Are you happy?"

Lizzie looked over at Darcy, who was anxiously trying to explain their checkered past to his sister. He looked up and met her eyes and they both fell silent for a minute and smiled at each other. "Yes, I am," Lizzie said with a smile in her voice.

"Good! I hope you played some whack-a-mole during that cut scene!"

"Lydia!"

"What, you were sitting on his lap, are you saying something wasn't popping up and you weren't swatting it around?"

Lizzie blushed, but deflected the question. "I am so glad you're not on speaker phone right now," she said, looking into the camera and grimacing.

"That's not a denial!" Lydia shouted excitedly. "Anyway, I'm late for class! Enjoy making out with Darceface! He better treat you well or he'll have your crazy, energetic sister to deal with!" With that the whirlwind of her conversation with Lydia was over.

Lizzie looked back over to Darcy, who was still talking to his sister. "I was laying in bed missing her and did the only logical thing ... Gigi! No, not that! ... I googled her and found her videos. I stayed up all night watching them. It was illuminating ... You'll just have to watch the videos yourself then. Anyway, the next morning I made things right with Bing then I tried to move on with my life. This trip was an opportunity to see her again and things just ..." He trailed off as he looked up at Lizzie and brushed his thumb across her cheek. "Soon, I hope ... yes ... I'm sure she will ... Ok, love you too, goodbye."

"You watched them straight through in one night?" Lizzie asked, "Isn' that like, four hours of me being mean?"

"Closer to four and a half hours of you being you," he replied. "Even when you're being critical you have a way of doing it with such a a mixture of sweetness and archness that is bewitching even as it stings." Lizzie found herself wondering for the thousandth time since he arrived at Collins and Collins how she'd ever thought him devoid of emotion. She leaned forward and kissed him. Before the kiss reached a point that would necessitate another cut scene, they heard Charlotte's voice from down the hall and jumped apart.

"Oh my god!"

"I know." Lizzie replied as Charlotte bustled into the room, pausing momentarily when she saw Darcy sitting next to her.

"Darcy just ..." Darcy blushed slightly and tucked his chin in.

"I know," Lizzie repeated.

"And then you ..." Charlotte was obviously still processing this development.

"I know."

"All day yesterday, you had all day and you didn't tell me anything!"

"We wanted some space," Lizzie said with a shrug. "It's new, and we wanted some time to process our own feelings before processing everyone else's reactions."

"Oh my god! I totally knew it! I new he liked you. Or that it was a definite possibility."

"Yes," Darcy said as he pulled Lizzie closer to make room for Charlotte to join them on the bench, "I've been meaning to thank you and Jane for trying to point out my true motivations."

"No problem," Charlotte replied, "sometimes Lizzie gets tunnel vision and only sees what she wants to see."

"Hey!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"What? Would you rather you'd been right in this scenario?" Charlotte goaded.

Lizzie looked at Darcy, who suddenly wore an insecure expression. "No, this time I'm happy to be wrong." Darcy's brow cleared at this and he resumed his now habitual adoring gaze.

"Well, Mr. Darcy, we've got a meeting with Catherine DeBurgh in ten minutes, and you know how she hates to be kept waiting. So unless you want her to come looking for you, I suggest you two wrap up." Charlotte gave Lizzie an excited squeeze and left the office. She returned five seconds later to close the door behind her.

"So, now people know." Lizzie said, turning to Darcy.

"Yes," he replied his lip twitching up in an endearingly embarrassed smile. "Gigi apparently drew quite the crowd when she watched today's video at her desk. I have no doubt that by lunch most of my employees will know."

"Are you ok with that?"

He shifted his weight. "Mostly ... I'm ok with them knowing I have a girlfriend. I'm less comfortable at the idea of having my sister and a half dozen of my subordinates watching us kiss."

Lizzie felt the familiar twinge of guilt she'd been having since she'd read his letter. She'd said so much about him and somehow hadn't even considered how her vlog would impact his life and now internet notoriety was unavoidable. "I'm sorry, I know you didn't sign up for this. You're not exactly a fan of the limelight."

"Lizzie, if public scrutiny is the price of being with you it's a price I'm willing to pay." She couldn't for the life of her figure out what she'd done to deserve such devotion. Eventually he broke the gaze and looked down at his pocket watch. "I really ought to get going. I'll see you for lunch?"

"I'ts a date!" She replied and he gave her a smoldering look that she felt even after he left the room. So far there had been a lot of kissing, holding hands, and discussion of feelings, but they hadn't been on an actual date yet. Suddenly lunch was a new milestone. After a moment's happy reflection, she smiled at the camera and said. "Ladies and Gentlemen, William Darcy. My boyfriend."