Chapter 20
"Holy crap!"
Darcy chuckled.
"You actually live here?" Lizzie asked, looking up at Darcy's townhouse through the windscreen, and not even bothering to cover up her expletives.
"Yes, I actually live here" Darcy answered with a grin.
"Holy crap!" She said again.
"If I'd known that showing you my house was enough to impress you, I would have done it years ago," he teased, and she threw an icy glare at him.
"Joking," he chuckled, and her expression changed for a split second to a grin before slipping back to its neutral state. She leaned back in her seat, and continued to peer up at his townhouse.
"I gotta tell you, I could get used to living in a house like this Darcy. I might not be able to leave. How would you feel about swapping apartments?" She teased.
"Fat chance," he grinned, trying no to let himself envision a future where Lizzie did stay at his house forever. Her innocent teasing had given him a whole world of other ideas.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the hospital then?" Lizzie asked, "Just let me know when to come and get you…"
"Sure,"
"I mean, I could pick you up in the morning, if you want?"
"Sure," he repeated, not bothering to hide his smile, but stopping himself from saying what he really wanted to say, which was, 'or you could just stay all night.' No, it was much too soon for that. Even though, he supposed, she'd be doing exactly that tomorrow. He suppressed the smile that wanted to escape. More composed he bid her goodnight.
"Thanks for the lift Elizabeth, I'll see you in the morning," he said, opening the passenger door.
"See you tomorrow," she replied, watching until he disappeared inside his huge house before she turned the car around and drove back to her own flat.
"I'm in big trouble!" Lizzie yelled the moment she entered her apartment, she bolted the door and went into the living room. Jane wasn't there, but Lizzie could see her bedroom door was open, and Katie stood in the kitchen with a spoon in her mouth and an open tub of ice cream on the counter that separated the two rooms.
"What have you done now?" She asked, through a mouthful of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Jane came in then, a serene smile on her face.
"Oh nothing, just volunteered to live with William Darcy while his sister recovers from surgery!"
"What?" Both of her sisters said in unison, Jane's expression was priceless, Lizzie was sure she'd never seen her so shocked, and she could tell that Katie was seconds away from subsiding into a fit of laughter.
"It wasn't intentional!" Lizzie cried, "I didn't even think about what it would mean when I offered. I was just thinking about helping Georgiana."
"Of course you were," Jane said sympathetically,
"Yeah, of course you were," Katie repeated, but her tone was full of mirthless teasing. That's when the giggles hit.
Lizzie fell back into the throw pillows and picked up the one that looked like an owl, a present from their mother, and hugged it to her chest. After a few minutes of glaring at her, Katie stopped laughing, but she was short of breath when she said,
"Just admit that you're in love with him!"
"How about you, just bring me the damn ice cream!" Lizzie retorted holding out a hand demandingly. Katie, still chuckling, grabbed some fresh spoons and came over to the couch. Handing Lizzie the tub she sat up on the coffee table and crossed her legs underneath her.
Jane declined the spoon Katie held out to her and took to stroking Lizzie's knee.
"So what are you going to do?" She asked anxiously.
"Yeah, what are you going to do?" Katie repeated again teasingly, this time with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Lizzie couldn't help but laugh. Katie was very good at making her laugh, she wished she'd realised that sooner, since it was only recently that Lizzie had credited her little sister with her own personality, instead of just being Lydia's sidekick.
"Get you mind out of the gutter Katie!" Jane admonished, slapping her lightly on the leg, breaking Lizzie's private moment of seriousness.
"Hey! No fair, I know you were thinking it too!" Katie shot back with a grin, "It's not like they haven't done it before anyway!"
"Kate!" Jane cried,
"Please, don't remind me" Lizzie groaned into her pillow "Doing 'it' before is exactly how I got into this situation,"
"Oh puh-lease! You loved it!" Katie said, "And don't even try to lie about it, you looooooove him!"
"Stop teasing her Katherine," Jane interjected, "We can't just make jokes about this situation. It's not all fun and games. Will is Lizzie's boss, she can't just act impulsively. She has to be mature about it."
"Boring," Katie said, taking another spoon of ice cream with a wink at Lizzie who smiled back.
"She's right though," she said, "I can't be stupid about it. He is my boss. If I get into anything with Darcy then I'm in it. You know? There's nothing casual about it."
"Nothing about you is casual Lizzie, and nothing about your feelings for Darcy has been or will ever be casual." Katie said, suddenly sounding very grown up. Jane and Lizzie both stared at her, slightly shocked.
"What?" She asked, "Just because I think this is hilarious, doesn't mean I don't know how serious it is. Give me some credit!"
"She's right too," Lizzie said to Jane with a laugh, "I don't really know what I feel for Darcy, but I know it's more than casual… I just need to figure it out. Ugh! Why is this so hard?"
She hid her face behind the pillow and Jane patted her shoulder.
"Everything was so easy for you Jane, with Charlie," She said, the pillow muffling her voice, "Why can't it be that easy for me?"
"It would have been," she replied, "If you and Darcy hadn't acted so stupidly three years ago,"
"Hey, that was not my fault!" Lizzie cried, dropping the pillow, "He started it, he…" she stopped short, "Actually, I don't even know what really happened. We never quite got to that part."
"Well, you're going to be living with him now." Katie said, "You'll have plenty of opportunity to work things out."
Lizzie threw the pillow at her.
"But I still think you should sleep with him," Katie added dodging the attack , and this time even Jane burst into laughter.
The next morning Lizzie was parked outside the Darcy townhouse, staring up at it again in wonder, was it just her imagination, but had it actually grown bigger overnight?
She took a few deep breaths to gather her nerves, then locked her car and ran up the front steps, hitting the bell before she could hesitate again.
It was barely a few seconds before the door swung open to reveal Darcy, looking much more revived that he had last night, and very debonair in his casual blue jeans and green polo shirt that brought out the flecks of green in his warm brown eyes. He'd shaved too since last night, and his previously stubble covered jaw looked smooth and soft.
"Hey," he said, pulling Lizzie out of her daydreams just as she began to contemplate his dazzling smile, and that little dimple on his right cheek...
"Hi," she replied, he stood back and held the door for her to step inside. And when she did, she felt her jaw drop again.
"Darcy, this place is amazing!" she exclaimed.
"Uh, thanks," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Let me show you to the guest room," he continued, leading her up the stairs.
On the landing he led Lizzie down to the bedrooms, past several doors to the end of the hall. He opened the last door on the right into the guest room and Lizzie looked around. The room was beautiful, rather empty and devoid of knickknacks as you'd expect of a guest bedroom, but it was bright and airy, decorated in whites and greens. The large French doors opened out onto a tiny balcony overhanging the courtyard below, the sheer white curtains billowed in the slight breeze.
"It's lovely, thanks Will," she said, quietly, suddenly feeling very unsure of herself.
"You're welcome," he said back, matching her volume. She put her bag down by the end of the bed and turned to face him.
"Uh, the bathroom is right next door," he said, gesturing backwards to the door. Lizzie followed him back to the hall, "And Georgiana's room is at the other end of the hall." He paused taking a breath and blowing it out slowly, "And, uh, that's my room right there," He murmured, gesturing to the door opposite her new room.
"Right," she said, "Great, thanks…" she trailed off, she was pretty sure they were both thinking about the implications of sleeping right across the hall from each other. About what had happened last time they'd roomed side by side. Darcy cleared his throat then, and Lizzie snapped back to attention, she wasn't even sure how long they'd been standing there.
"Shall we head over to the hospital then?" She asked.
"Yeah, let's go. Time to bring Gigi home!" he said breaking into a smile and turning back towards the stairs. Lizzie followed behind him, trying to shove thoughts of Darcy's naked body out of her mind. Now is not the time!
Later that afternoon, they were back from the hospital and Elizabeth was up in Georgiana's room, the patient sat propped up in bed by mounds of pillows and watched curiously as Lizzie was nervously making her way around the room tidying things that didn't need tidying.
"Lizzie," Georgiana called her attention after several minutes of silence had passed, Elizabeth turned to face her friend and crossed the few paces across the room to her bed. She sat on the edge and gave the younger girl a smile.
"Do you need anything?" she asked,
"No, I have everything I need," she replied, gesturing to the array of snacks and entertainment options that Lizzie had gathered by the bed for her
"And then some," she added with a giggle "No, I just wanted to say thank you again Lizzie, it means so much to me that you're here."
"You don't need to thank me Georgie, I'm just doing the same as anyone else would do,"
"It's very sweet that you think that," Georgiana retorted, and Lizzie grinned. She didn't actually think that. In fact, Lizzie was almost certain that she was the only person in the world who would volunteer to be their bosses live in nurse. Especially given the incredibly complicated, pseudo relationship that they had going on. She didn't say this to Georgiana though, the last thing she wanted was for her friend to feel like she was an imposition, and so Lizzie let the conversation drop.
"Lizzie, what about your work?" Georgiana asked after a moment, at this Lizzie sighed. It was a thought that had occurred to her several times over the past twenty four hours, and a question she didn't have all the answers for.
"Well, let's just say, it's a good thing that I'm doing this as a favour for my boss, isn't it?" Lizzie teased and Georgiana smiled. They both looked up with a shock as they heard a deep chuckling coming from the doorway to see Darcy standing there, his long body leaning up against the doorframe.
"I assure you both, that Elizabeth's job is in no danger," he said with a smile, "It is after all, your quietest time of year, isn't it Elizabeth?" he asked, to which she nodded her agreement.
"He's right Georgie, the months following the benefit are very quiet for me. Mostly I just help out with other people's projects and maintain relationships with the clients. And that is something I can do from home." She smiled and gave Georgiana's hand a reassuring squeeze.
Across the room, Darcy felt his body stiffen as a shot ran through him at Lizzie's calling his house her 'home', it left him feeling all warm inside and he had to take a moment to recover himself before he could move, and reveal his real intention in coming up to Georgiana's room.
"I've brought you some dinner Georgie," he said, turning around her picked up the TV tray he'd placed on the side table outside her bedroom door. He carried it across the room and arranged it on her lap.
"Thanks Will," she said and inspected the meal. Steak with mashed potatoes and vegetables, all slathered in rich gravy, her favourite comfort food. Back at Pemberley their housekeeper used to make this dish for them all the time and it made Georgiana feel at home.
"And you've cut it all up into bite size pieces for me," she giggled, "How thoughtful… and how depressing!" she added with another laugh. Lizzie smiled, knowing it must be so frustrating for Georgiana to have no use of her left arm.
"I've made some for us too Lizzie, did you want me to bring it up, or will you come down?" Darcy asked, the end of his sentence tailing of hesitantly. Lizzie was hesitant herself, of two things. Firstly, leaving Georgiana alone in her room, and secondly, of being alone with Darcy.
In his house,
For dinner… it all felt rather intimate.
Georgiana however, was too quick for them both.
"She'll go down with you Will," she answered for her.
"Are you sure Georgie?" Lizzie asked.
"Of course I'm sure," she replied, spearing a piece of meat with her fork, "Not that I don't' appreciate your help Lizzie, but I'd like some alone time, and you need some grown up time, away from the invalid." She popped the food in her mouth and chewed, savouring her first meal outside of the hospital with glee.
"Now get out!" she cried, still chewing. Her brother frowned at her manners but didn't say anything and Georgiana shot him an innocent grin.
"Alright, but you call if you need anything!" Lizzie demanded, after Georgiana had nodded her agreement to that, Lizzie and Darcy left the room and headed downstairs. Leaving Georgiana alone to enjoy her meal, and commend herself on her matchmaking skills. She may have been restricted to her bed, but as long as Lizzie was here, she was going to do everything in her power to push her brother and her stubborn friend together.