William had tried to focus on work, but his mind was always wondering about the outcome of the conversation between Elizabeth and his sister.
It was way past lunchtime when Georgiana showed up at his office. The look on her face told him everything. He hugged her, secretly wishing he could offer the same comfort to Lizzie.
"It was very bad, she really did not have idea how evil George is," Gigi said against his chest.
"Oh…"
"And you were right; she did not read your letter. She thinks George took it."
William's grip around her tightened. He was getting angry.
"Ouch," Gigi groaned.
"Sorry, I did not notice," he apologized and released her.
"Come," she said and brought him to sit on the couch with her.
Gigi did not dwell on the details but William got the overall picture. He could only imagine how disappointed and disconsolate Lizzie was.
"She was very troubled at the end; I had to ask her to wait before leaving," Gigi said.
"Why did you let her go then?," William asked.
"Because she needed time and space to process everything. But she has our numbers if she wants to call."
Gigi sighed, and put her head against his arm.
"Speaking of calls, Aunt Catherine called me. She found out that I missed two weeks of school and wants to 'chat'".
"I can get you out," William offered, knowing that probably chatting with her aunt was the last thing Gigi needed.
"That's fine, I'll deal with her. Besides I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving," Gigi responded, "I might just get home late, you know how 'intense' she can be."
"I am aware."
"But we can still celebrate tomorrow, do something fun?," she said, not totally certain.
"Gigi, I am on the mood to celebrate…," his brother murmured.
"I know, William, but maybe a happy moment is all we need, don't you think?," she replied, squeezing his hand.
William smiled slightly, perhaps she was right.
Georgiana stayed with him a little while until she had to leave to see her aunt.
Alone once again, he tried to work, but that was not distracting him. He kept thinking about Lizzie and decided to linger in Pemberley, in case she would appear there or call him.
Tired of staring at the computer or his phone, he went to the rooftop to get some air. It was chilly, but he did not mind it.
He was pacing around, looking at the city, when he heard noises behind him. He turned around and saw a shadow coming from the door.
As the figure walked into the light, he realized who it was.
"Elizabeth…," he said.
"Oh, William," she replied crying.
Lizzie had not expected to encounter William there. She knew it was late, as she had not seen many people at her arrival. She had also hoped that no one would see her in that state. She hated feeling stupid, used and disappointed.
"Elizabeth," William said again.
He was not sure if he could approach her or knew what to say. He only knew that he wanted to comfort her and make her sadness go away. And kill Wickham.
When she heard her name one more time, she spoke.
"Please, forgive me."
"What? Why?," he asked disoriented.
"For treating you badly, not listening to you, putting Gigi close to him… everything."
"You don't have to apologize!," he replied.
"Of course I have to. I acted so stupidly, so blindly. I should have been more intelligent than that."
She wiped her tears, looked away and wrapped her arms around her.
"Listen, I know him and how manipulative he can be. You were with him for a long time and you trusted him," William said.
"I did and he betrayed me," she answered, trying not to cry again.
"Elizabeth," he uttered. This time he approached her and put a hand on her arm. It was until that point that he noticed that she was wearing the blue lace dress he loved on her. And that she was very cold.
"God, you are freezing! Let's go inside," William said and guided her to the door, still touching her. Lizzie felt the warmth from his touch and welcomed it.
They took the elevator and went to his office. The room was pleasantly warm and Lizzie sighed relieved. She had not realized how cold she was.
"Please sit," he said and pointed to the couch. He took the phone and called the cafeteria to get hot chocolate for her.
"Do you want something else?," he asked, still on the phone.
"No, thank you," she replied.
William hung up and looked at her. Her eyes were still watery and red, and she was rubbing her right wrist.
"Are you still cold? I can raise the temperature if you want," he offered.
"It's fine." She could not understand such hospitality from his part.
William walked to the couch and sat next to her.
"Do you remember the day I asked you about him?"
"Yes," he answered and turned to her.
"That was the day after he had told me his story. Part of me could not believe him because you could not be that horrible person he talked about. I wanted answers but you were so reluctant to talk about it, so I looked for Fitz."
"You know why I didn't want to talk about him, but maybe I should have," William responded.
"It does not matter now. When you actually tried to talk with me, I shut you down," Lizzie stopped and wiped her eyes again. She breathed deeply a couple of times before continuing.
"When I got to Fitz's office, I heard you two talking about him, and I stayed to listen. I heard how much you hated him and suddenly his story made sense. That's why I never let you explain, I felt I did not need to hear more. How idiotic..."
William exhaled and looked down to his hands. That explained why she had believed George. He could not tell her how hurt and disappointed he had felt by her actions. But now that he knew why she had acted like that, all those feelings were gone.
"And your letter. I never saw it. He took it."
William closed his hands and his knuckles became white.
"Georgiana was right. He lied because he was jealous of you. That's why he made me destroy our relationship. He saw you as a threat."
George jealous of him did not make any sense to William. It had been him who was jealous of Lizzie's boyfriend, before even knowing who he was. Besides, Lizzie had never made obvious any special feelings towards him, except for friendship. That night at the pool had been an accident and William justified her reaction because of the particular circumstance.
"You're too good to show it, but you probably hate me for bringing him back into your life," she sighed.
Looking directly into her eyes he said very serious, "I could never hate you, Elizabeth."
Lizzie held his gaze. There was something about his eyes that prevented her from looking away.
For an instant, she thought she saw affection(!) in his eyes. She did not have time to process that because someone knocked on the door.
"Excuse me," William said as he stood up to open. It was the hot chocolate he had requested for her. He thanked the person and closed the door again.
"Here you have."
"Thanks," Lizzie said and starting to drink.
William walked to the panel of windows behind his desk and stared at his reflection.
He had almost given in and kissed her. He wanted to let her know that she was not alone and that she was loved. He wanted his kiss to wash away all her sadness and make things better. But kissing her now was to take advantage of the situation. She was vulnerable and he could not do that to her.
When he finally looked at her again, she was reclined in the couch with her eyes closed, holding the chocolate cup.
"Lizzie?," he murmured.
"Yes?", she answered.
"Oh, I thought you had fallen asleep."
"No, I am just very tired."
"Do you want me to drive you home?," he asked uncertain.
"No," she immediately said and straightened, "he might still be there. He did not leave when I told him to."
"That bastard!," William thought. He hated him. He breathed to calm himself and say something more.
"Is there someone you want to call? Jane perhaps?," he suggested.
"Not now, it's late for her and I don't want to worry my family. And my best friend is abroad, so... When I feel better, I'll talk to them."
"As you wish", William said. None of them spoke for a while, until Lizzie rose from the couch.
"I think I'll go now."
"Where?," he asked, worried.
"A hotel, I guess. Or I can stay here, in one of the napping pods. Thanks for listening to me," she said and walked towards the door.
"No, wait," he said.
"Yes?", she turned on her heels.
"Please, don't misinterpret this, but would you consider staying at my house?"
Lizzie frowned. That was an unexpected offering.
"I don't think I can...," she answered.
"I just don't want you to be alone if George dares to look for you. There is plenty of room; and Kate, my sister and I won't bother you. We will just be there in case you need anything."
"Ah..."
"Just for tonight. I want you safe."
She sighed. She did not want to be alone, especially after the way George had reacted. However, staying at the Darcy house was not what she had in mind. But she was exhausted.
"Okay, thanks," she finally said.
"Right," he answered, "let's go."
She nodded. William took his jacket and left his office with her.
"You don't have anything on you. Did you leave your bag in your apartment?," he asked while they were on the elevator.
"Mmm…I think my purse and my coat are in my car, I'm not sure," she said. She truly did not remember with all that had happened.
When they reached the parking lot, they went first to her car so she could retrieve her things. They were walking to his car when they both perceived an insistent beeping coming from Lizzie's bag. She slid her hand inside and found her cellphone. She had a lot of missed calls and text messages from George. She did not bother to look at them and turned off her phone.
"Is everything all right?," William asked.
"Yeah," she murmured.
William knew there was more behind her simple answer but did not push her.
They drove to his house in silence. Lizzie was looking through the window when William's phone rang. He waited until they stopped at a red light to see it.
"It's Gigi. She just got home and is waiting for me with Kate. I should probably text her that we are on our way," he said. He typed a quick reply and put the phone down.
"William, who is Kate?," she asked as she had heard that name already.
"My parents hired her as the housekeeper after I was born but she is more than that, she's family. She still takes care of the house and to some extent, of Gigi and me. She's a great woman."
"Oh, I see… so she knows him?"
"Yes, she does. And she is aware of what he did to Gigi," William said.
"And does she know about me?," Lizzie asked.
"She has heard of you before, but I haven't mentioned your relationship with Wickham to her," he replied.
"Do you think Gigi has told her about what happened today?"
"If she has, it will be with the best intentions. I'm sure Kate will try to help you in any way she can."
Lizzie sighed and looked at the window again. It was still hard to digest that William was being so nice to her despite everything, and that people around him wanted to help her.
Her mind went back to her first week at Pemberley when Fitz had told her that William looked after the people he cared about. Could George have been right for once when he said that William was still interested in her?
She closed her eyes for a minute, thinking about that, and the next thing she knew William was calling her.
"Lizzie, we are here."