Lizzie had never seen William so mad. His face was red and he looked ready to jump at George's throat.

Once they were outside the building, Fitz asked her if she was okay. She just nodded, more concerned about William.

William just walked the car and opened the trunk. He put the suitcase on it and grabbed the other one from Fitz, without saying a word. He was about to take the bags from Lizzie, when she stopped him.

"William," she called, but he would not look at her. She could tell he was breathing hard, and probably counting to a hundred.

"William," she said again, touching his arm.

He slowly lifted his head and looked at her.

"Are you okay?," Lizzie asked.

"I should be the one asking that," he replied dryly.

"I'm sorry…," she muttered.

"Lizzie, what are you apologizing for?!," William snapped.

"Him," Lizzie responded. She was ashamed of George's behavior and felt responsible for William's current state.

"Don't apologize on his behalf, he's responsible for his actions," he said back.

"Still…,"

"No. Come on," William said and finished the conversation.

He proceeded to take her other bags and put them in the trunk. He walked around the car and opened the door for her.

Once again, they drove in silence.

William slowly got calmer and regretted the way he had treated Lizzie. George always got on his nerves.

As soon as they arrived to the house, William and Fitz helped Lizzie with her belongings and put them in her room.

Fitz left first but William lingered to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie, I did not mean to be harsh earlier. I know this is not justification, but I can't help react like that," he said, looking into her eyes, so she knew he was really sorry.

"I understand, William, you don't have to apologize," Lizzie replied.

"I just wanted you to know that I wasn't angry at you," he said.

"I know," she responded.

William sighed relieved and left her to settle.

Seeing George behave like that made Lizzie sick. If she had been so blind not to see his true self and she had loved him, what did that say about her? How could she be that naive and stupid?

The day before had been so pleasant, that she had momentarily forgotten her problems. But now all the sadness and anxiety she had pushed away were coming back to her. She hated feeling that, but she could not repress her feelings. Even if she had promised not to cry again, she could not to stop the tears that were already in her eyes.

She quickly texted her sisters, telling them about the change of plans and emailed Charlotte, who was still abroad, to arrange a time to talk to her.

After that, she curled up on bed and let everything flow.

Hours later, Lizzie woke up. She went to the bathroom and washed her face, hoping that the puffiness of her eyes would disappear.

She looked at her phone to find another text from George. It said that he was sorry for what had happened in the morning and that he would stop bothering her. If what she needed was time, he was going to give it to her.

Lizzie frowned; she could not believe him and deleted the message.

She opened her bags and started organizing her things, when someone knocked. She opened the door and met William.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hello," she said shyly.

"Kate and I are about to have dinner, and we wanted to know if you would join us or have something here," he said, secretly hoping she would go with them.

"No, I'll go down now, thanks," Lizzie said. She had not noticed how hungry she was.

They started to walk in silence towards the kitchen, until Lizzie decided to say something.

"What happened with Fitz?"

"Oh, he left a while ago, and asked to give you this," he reached for his pocket and gave her a card.

"It's Brandon's card, in case you need any help with …," William did not finish his sentence.

"Thanks," Lizzie said and took it. She had wanted to break the ice and make sure that everything was good between them, but George had come up again.

"William, about tomorrow…," she started.

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I tag along with you?"

"No, of course not," he replied, smiling a little.

"Thanks, I'll get my car there, so you don't have to drive me around every day," she said.

"I would never mind," William said in his mind, but nodded instead.

He had thought for a minute that Lizzie might want to take a day off, but he knew her and how much her job meant to her. Besides, working could a good therapy.

Lizzie was thinking the same. Work would occupy her mind and there were also a lot of projects that needed her attention.

"I was also wondering if I could take a book from your library," she said, "I like to read before going to bed."

"Be my guest. There's a great variety of books, I'm certain you will find something you like," he responded.

"Thanks. Maybe you can show me later and make some suggestions?," she said shyly.

"Absolutely," he replied, felling suddenly relaxed and happy. He had noticed that her eyes somewhat red, and he assumed she had cried. His anger was threating to get the best of him, but her last comment had calmed him.

Lizzie had purged a lot of sadness and anger and now, she did not want to be alone. Besides, William had been instrumental on how she had felt the day before that she wanted to spend time with him. She just felt at ease with him.

Kate was waiting for them and they enjoyed another delicious dinner. After that, William took Lizzie to the library. He showed her his favorite books and suggested some titles as she had asked. They ended up talking about books for a couple of hours, until they realized how late it was.

They said goodnight and went to their rooms.

The next day, Lizzie left with William for Pemberley.

She was a little concerned of what people might think by seeing her arrive with him, but no one seemed to notice. They took the elevator together, and when they arrived to Lizzie's floor, she just turned to him and nodded.

Once in her office, she sat on her desk, breathed deeply and started to work.

During her lunchtime, she noticed that Charlotte had answered her email, and told her she could talk to her later that day. The week before her encounter with Georgiana, Charlotte had been sent to Japan by Collins.

William did not look for her during the day, and Lizzie appreciated that he gave her space and time. Just at the end of the day, he stopped by her office to offer her a ride to his house.

She thanked him, but she was going to stay longer so she could talk with Charlotte.

"In that case, I'll see you at h… later," he said. He was about to say "home" but he thought that implied a lot of things.

Shortly after that, Charlotte called her friend on Domino.

"Hi, Lizzie! How are you?," she greeted her.

"Hi Charlotte! How's Tokyo?"

"Amazing, but that's not the reason you wanted me to call…," Charlotte said.

"How did you know?," Lizzie asked.

"Before I left, you told me you would email me but you wanted to call instead. Besides, I can tell you look troubled…"

"Oh Goodness, Char! You do truly know me well," Lizzie sighed.

"Yes… now, tell me what's going on?"

Lizzie braced herself and for the second time, she recounted what George had done to William, Georgiana and her.

Charlotte often interrupted with curses and threats to kill George.

"Well, you can stand in line with Lydia, Jane and me…"

"Oh, I hate him!," Charlotte exclaimed, "I cannot believe he was capable of all that! He was so…"

"Charming," Lizzie finished for her.

Charlotte was very offset that she could not be there for her best friend and tried to convey her support.

"I am so sorry, Lizzie. You know I love you and how much I wish I could be there," she said.

"I know, Char, thanks," Lizzie responded.

"And where are you staying, if George has refused to leave your apartment?,"

"I am staying with William," Lizzie replied.

"You're staying with Darcy?! How that happened?," Charlotte asked surprised.

Lizzie explained the situation and how much he had helped her to get through this problem.

"I know I can't stay there for long. I know we are friends, but he's still my boss, and I don't want people to jump to the wrong conclusions."

"Sure, I understand," Charlotte said.

During the wedding, Charlotte had never got the chance to talk with Lizzie about Darcy. It was the first time she had ever seen him in person. He was very handsome, but different to George. There was something in the way he held himself that made him look more… attractive.

And being the observant person that she was, Charlotte had noticed the animosity between Darcy and George and Lizzie. But that was only unidirectional; William did not look at Lizzie with the same feeling. She could tell that his regard to her friend was something different.

They talked a little longer, until Charlotte had to leave. After that, Lizzie left Pemberley and went to Darcy's house.

As the week progressed, Lizzie found herself learning new things about William.

She discovered that he drank his coffee black in the morning, always had a fruit with breakfast; would exercise after work, and changed his contacts before dinner.

She also observed the relationship he had with Kate. They were there for each other, but they also gave each other time and privacy. The two nights that Kate had not been at dinner with them, he had told her that she was with her boyfriend. William had blushed a little, and Lizzie found it "cute".

After dinner, she and William would talk about many different things (that did not include work). He often made jokes and she liked that side of him. She remembered their conversations before the debacle and she was glad they had that again.

William was very happy, because every day he could see the change in Lizzie's mood, for the better.

He enjoyed when they spent time together after work, in particular after dinner. Even tough they had different schedules, they always coincided for dinner. They had good conversations, just like before. She looked relaxed when she was with him, and that was enough, for now.

He was getting so used to having her around and treasured all the small moments. He loved the way she smelled on the morning, how she ate Kate's pastries, how she let her hair loose after work, and when she laughed because of his jokes.

Despite the circumstances, his birthday and those days had been some of the best he had ever had.

It was Friday afternoon, and William was on a meeting with Lizzie and her department.

The fourth episode of the miniseries was ready, and they had finally decided to submit it to the festival. When they finished the meeting, Elaine stayed with them a little longer to discuss some details.

"Alright, I'll go now. Happy Valentine's," she said to them and left.

Neither of them had remembered the date and its implications.

"Oh, I didn't notice…," William said.

"I guess that means Kate would be out today," Lizzie joked.

"Yes, most likely," William replied.

They stayed silent for a minute.

"So, we could do some… we could go to the house together… if you want," William stuttered. He had been so close to ask her to do something together, but that just seemed too forward.

"Yeah," Lizzie said and smiled, "we could watch a movie or something…"

"Great," he answered and also smiled.

"Just let me email Elaine the report she asked me," Lizzie added.

She opened her inbox, and saw an email from George. She had not heard from him since the last Sunday. The subject was "I just left the apartment, and I left the"

Lizzie sighed loudly.

"What is it?," William asked.

"I think he's finally gone," she replied and clicked to read the rest of the email.

But she was not prepared to see what was on it.

Pictures of her, on top of George, naked.