Author's Note: Oh. My. God. So I messed up. I accidentally posted my second to last draft of this story which is a COMPLETE 180 to the end. THIS is how I originally wanted it to end, but I've been having a ton of trouble with it. So of course once I finally got it right I post the wrong one. Anyway, this is the correct ending. Enjoy!

William doesn't believe in waiting for the perfect moment.

Of course he wants tonight to be as close to perfect as possible, but he won't wait around for a signal from above. Proposing to Lizzie Bennet is not something you leave in the hands of the universe.

Those were his thoughts last month when he made a reservation at Gary Danko. And last week when he confirmed it. And last night when he made sure they had the bottle of Dom Pérignon he had dropped off. And just now when he sent a text to the maître to remind him to put it on ice after the restaurant had started to screen his calls.

William knows you can't wait around for fate to take care of things.

Gigi made him watch "Serendipity" once, but she shut it off after 20 minutes because he made his disapproving face when Kate Beckinsale hid her phone number in a book rather than just give it to John Cusack. He told her the characters were being impractical; she told him he missed the point.

The fact was he understood it too well. Serendipity wasn't about hoping the universe would sort out everything for you. It was about stumbling onto something good you didn't even know you were looking for and acting on it. Serendipity was catching the garter and dancing with Lizzie at the Gelson wedding. You didn't leave the rest to chance.

Not that all this planning made him any less nervous. After all, you only ask the love of your life to marry you once in your life. Or at least he hoped he only had to ask once. No. They had discussed this. He had already promised that his aunt wouldn't pick the venue. Tonight is the night.

He leaves the office early – Mrs. Reynold's practically leaps out of her desk to give him a hug – and heads out to the company parking structure.

William walks up to his car as his COO Harry Stetson heads toward the office. They nod at each other and Stetson slows down a bit.

"So, big celebration tonight, huh?"

William smiles and nods before catching himself. Aside from Reynolds, tonight's not public knowledge. Thankfully his board is used to their CEO being taciturn when things stray toward personal subjects.

"I've been hearing rumblings of a promising new web app. Try to keep Miss Bennet from acquiring PD until after I've cashed in my stock, eh?"

Stetson winks and keeps walking toward his car. William is left with his keys dangling from the door, utterly confused.

He slides into the driver seat and scrolls through his inbox. There's a slow flood of vague emails, lots of winking emoticons and hints at something concerning Lizzie. He slogs through a dozen before someone mentions Y Combinator.

Oh.

Being selected by Y Combinator is the Silicon Valley equivalent of arriving on page 6 and Bennet Diaries has landed above the fold. Lizzie's start-up will get funding and resources and an indispensable network of people. William can only imagine the flurry of activity taken place at their headquarters (aka Lizzie's apartment).

A text from Lizzie comes through, "Hey! Call me when you leave work J"

While he might not believe in the perfect moment, he does acknowledge that there is such a thing as the wrong moment.

He calls Gigi and Fitz to make sure they don't text Lizzie or tweet any of their covert, yet public, messages about spring weddings or weird photoshopped images of eagles and tigers getting married they've been threatening to make.

He calls the restaurant to cancel the reservation and the maître laughs for a good minute before he realizes William isn't joking.

It's not until he calls Lizzie back that William's disappointment begins to ebb. Her excitement and joy flows through the phone. The sound of cheers and Queen play in the background. It's been a long year for Bennet Diaries and it's about time the world saw what she's been working on with her team. He sits up straighter as she describes the phone call and how she was sure they were calling to tell them no. He's can hear her smile and feels himself smiling back into the phone.

She feels bad about dinner (he never told her where they were going) and he tells her to stop, because this is important.

He volunteers to pick up more alcohol (he needs time to call off a few dogs) and Lizzie puts in an order for a dozen pizzas because a startup celebration is really only a step above a frat party. Their current budget calls for beer and fried food for personal celebrations. They will have to wait a few more years for fancy client meals and a black tie celebration when they go public.

William is half way home when he decides to turn back around and pick up the Dom Pérignon from the restaurant. It seems appropriate for tonight.

As he walks to Lizzie's door he can still feel the ring box press into his thigh. He feels it as they pop the champagne and he catches Lizzie's brown eyes from across the room. He feels it as Lizzie gives a teary eyed toast thanking her team for all their hard work. He feels it as Lizzie forces him to participate in something called "The Wobble."

It's still there several hours later when the team is on its fifth toast and the clock is striking 2 am. Eyes are bleary, but ecstatic and the only thing that still feels real is Lizzie leaning into his chest and that weight of the box as the team hits the fifth verse of a very slurred Bohemien Rhapsody.

They filter out around 3 am and Darcy begins to clean up the empty bottles and cardboard boxes. Lizzie watches him for a bit and catches his hand when he passes the couch, pulling him down next to her.

"Leave it for tomorrow," she says, pulling at his rolled up sleeve. "I just want to stay here for a little longer."

She sighs. The weight of the past seven hours is released in that sigh and suddenly it's them, just them in a trashed apartment in the heart of San Francisco. He smiles and settles into the couch.

"Thank you for tonight," she says suddenly.

He stares at her, not sure what she's thanking him for.

"Just, thank you for the beer and the champange and not hating me for canceling dinner and for hanging out with my crazy team in our crazy office," she looks at him carefully. "I couldn't have asked for a more supportive partner in all this."

He thinks about their future and how things will change. Late nights like this won't be uncommon, but they also won't all end in champagne and toasts. They'll be long and exhausting and rewarding and hard.

William might not believe in perfect moments, but he does believe in moments that are exactly right right. There will be other nights, other romantic dinners, he knows this as strongly as he knows Gigi is staring at her phone, waiting for him to text her back.

He stretches his arms and yawns, Lizzie is watching him carefully. He raises his eyebrows and she just smiles.

"William Darcy, will you marry me?"

He thinks of the ring in his pocket and knows this is right. It's a moment that's pretty damn perfect.